Misaki looked up at the clock and then tiredly back at her paperwork. 6 in the morning. She'd had no sleep this week. Not with the school's Open House coming up. She thought it'd be a lot easier this year, what with everyone somewhat co-operating and everything, but unfortunately, no. Her Vice-President had the flu. The accountant and sports clubs' representative were still out of town on vacation and the other members were slacking off...again. Her eyelids were heavy, but she had to stay awake. She still had another 2 hours to do the council work before homeroom started. She ran her left hand through her bangs, stopping when her palm touched her forehead. Hot, she complained. It was too hot. She'd already taken off her sweater and blazer. Anymore and it would be breaking school rules. Shit, gotta concentrate.

Misaki took a deep breath, pushed back her wild hair and filed the paperwork like a machine. By 7:30, she was done. Misaki leaned back on her chair in relief, but she still couldn't let herself sleep. She reluctantly stood up and left the council room. She walked around the school, doing her daily inspection. It was quiet. Homeroom started in 30 minutes, but only a few people from some classes had shown up. She sighed and went back to her homeroom. Class 3-1 was absolutely empty, deserted. She welcomed the unnatural clam of the class before opening the windows to cool herself down. Misaki plopped herself down in her seat, front row, right next to the window. It could be extremely distracting, but also useful. Trying to keep her eyes open, MIsaki stared out the window. She observed the people arriving per minute, how many were breaking uniform regulations, how many girls, how many guys. She was so absorbed by keeping herself occupied, she didn't notice Usui Takumi sneak up behind her.

As she stared out the window, Takumi quietly leaned down and blew on her neck. The cold air rushing past her neck caused Misaki to snap out of her reverie and turn her head around almost violently. Already knowing who it was, she was going to yell at Takumi but his face was extremely close. He just smiled casually and brushed some of her hair back.

"Good Morning, Pres." he greeted, smiling, "You alright? You're a little pale."

It just so happened this year that they were in the same class, not to mention he sat right behind her. Misaki's face was bright red.

"Mornin' Usui." she grumbled.

At that very moment, she was glad the class was empty. Her face was bright red. She tucked her head into her crossed arms on the desk to hide her blush. She sighed, feeling the warm air run out of her mouth. She needed to cool down. The breeze coming in from the windows wasn't enough, especially now that Takumi was there.

As he sat down behind her, she could feel his stare burning into her back. She sighed, knowing he already knew something was wrong. She waited, yawning, for homeroom to start. The buzzing of the classroom slowly got louder as it filled with students. The day was like any other. Focus on studies, keep Takumi from distracting her during class, stay awake, torture the boys during the breaks and work with the student council after school. By the time she reached the café, it was late. She was so tired, she didn't even greet the manager as she stalked lifelessly to her locker to get changed. After changing, Misaki splashed her face with water and slapped on a smile. She rushed out to get to work and was surprised to see Takumi at a table drinking coffee. Recently, he hadn't been showing up as a customer, he'd been in the kitchen.

She ignored the severed pattern and continued to serve customers with as much of a smile she could muster. She was exhausted and swirls of colour danced across her vision, but Misaki wasn't about to rest any time soon. After work she still had a long walk home and another couple hours of studying and council work. After about an hour into her shift, Misaki spotted the manager sitting with Takumi. They were discussing something thoroughly and Takumi had at least 4 pages of notes in front of him and still writing. When she noticed the manager's dizzy tone and swirly eyes, she laughed tiredly. Takumi was overloading her brain with details again.

"Hey Usui! Isn't it about time you leave?" she called uselessly.

He just smirked mischievously at her before turning back to the manager. She sighed, checking the clock, time for her break. The café was too stuffy. She went out the back door, into the alley and leaned against the bricks. She breathed in the cooling autumn air. Much better, she sighed, relieved. She moved to wipe the sweat off her forehead with her forearm only to swab more on from her arm. Frustrated, she leaned down to wipe it on the skirt of her uniform. She closed her eyes and sat on the cement.

"I knew it!"

Takumi's voice caused Misaki to snap open her eyes only to stare him straight in the face. He was squatting down in front of her, inspecting her. His deep green eyes boring into her. She was annoyed.

"Knew what, idiot Usui?" she asked, uninterested.

She pushed him out of the way and stood up, about to walk away.

"Ever heard of personal space?" she asked annoyed at his sudden appearance.

He stood as well and pulled her to him, her back to his chest. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and slapped his right to her forehead.

"Yup." he answered simply.

She shivered. His hand felt so cold against her forehead. Almost like a block of ice. She barely noticed as Takumi draped his sweater over her shoulders and sat her down by the alley door. Her flesh was covered in goosebumps. Takumi took her face in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. It was burning, but to her, everything was suddenly immensely cold. The cold of Takumi's forehead and the night air mixed with the warmth of her body and his sweater were making her dizzy. The exhaustion hit Misaki full force. Her eyelids drooped and her body felt limp. It was as if her brain had hit an off switch she didn't know existed. When she tried to lift herself off the ground, she only succeeded in falling onto Takumi. Takumi wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her warm.

Takumi was worried. Everywhere he touched, Misaki burned with fever. She was barely aware of her surroundings. He carefully wrapped his scarf around her neck. Her breaths were congested as if the air was incredibly humid. He lifted her into his arms finding she was incredibly light. Damn. She's been skipping out on meals. That's why I always see her in the council room during lunch. Trying to stave off hunger with work. He looked down at her. Misaki's eyes were closed, but she was still conscious. He leaned down to her ear.

"Don't fall asleep, okay." he whispered lightly.

If she fell asleep now, there was a great risk she wouldn't awake for at least a day or two. He rushed her through the alley door and sat down on the couch in the employee area off the café. He lay Misaki across his lap, trying to expose her to the warmth of the room. She was red with fever and the best thing to cool her down was probably some water, but he wasn't about to leave her here to get some. He sat there unmoving trying his best to cover her with his sweater and scarf. He'd managed to get her into the sweater without making her feel like she was suffocating and draped the scarf over her legs to keep her from shivering. Takumi was beginning to lose face. He was trying to check her temperature for the thousandth time when the manager came through the curtain.

"Satsuki-san!" he called. "Can you get me some cold medicine, a thermometer and a glass of cold water!"

Satsuki looked confused until she saw a red Misaki lying on the couch. She didn't even have time to go all 'moe' on them before she ran off. She came rushing back a few minutes later with a large glass in one hand and two jackets tossed over the other arm.

"I'm sorry, there's no medicine in the store. Erika and Subaru gave me their coats to keep her warm. And here's the water." she explained hurriedly. "I'm going to run down the street to the market to get a thermometer and some cold meds. Wait here! If you need anything, call Subaru-chan, she's on her break." With that, Satsuki ran out the door with her coat and wallet shoved into her pocket.

Takumi grabbed the water and made Misaki sit up as much as she could with his right arm as a support. He gently pushed the rim of the glass to her lips. "Come on Ayuzawa! You have to drink the water. If we don't cool you down from the inside, your temperature will keep rising."

It was no use. She was barely conscious anymore. "Come on, drink Ayuzawa! You can't fall asleep." He was panicking. Misaki didn't even know he was there anymore. She was semi-conscious, drifting in and out of La La Land.

In a split second decision, Takumi brought the glass to his lips and sucked in a gulp of the water. Then he quickly pressed his lips to hers. With his left hand to her face, he desperately pushed his lips forcefully against hers, prying them open, letting the water flow through. It took a few tries before she began swallowing the water and when she did she swallowed slowly, coughing. When he pulled away, she was gasping for air.

"You have to keep drinking." Takumi warned hurriedly. "You can take the medicine after you eat something."

His voice was rough. She could tell he was shaken up. She tried to grip the glass in her hand but it slipped through her fingers. Takumi barely caught it in time. She was sleepy and the world looked like a kaleidoscope of colours. In attempt to ease the dizziness a bit, Misaki leaned against whatever was closest...which happened to be Takumi. As he wordlessly pressed the glass to her lips, she noticed that her hair was loose. All the arm and leg bands including her boots had been removed. She thought about saying something but stopped herself when she noticed Takumi's mood. Misaki silently sipped the water and was still drinking when Satsuki came tumbling through the door. She shoved the thermometer into Misaki's mouth and handed Takumi a refill of water. Even if it seemed Satsuki was gone, she had joined Subaru in peeking through the edge of the curtain to the kitchen.

Misaki didn't even notice she was still on Takumi's lap. After finishing off the water, Takumi placed the glass by his feet and gently cradled her face in his hands. Misaki's blush was indiscernible through the fever. She continued to feel like an idiot when he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers in an effort of cool her down. She closed her eyes and pressed back weakly against him. The silent atmosphere was broken by the beeping of the thermometer. He gently pried it from between her lips and frowned at the results. Takumi looked up to glare at her.

"Is Ayuzawa an idiot!?" he fumed. "You have a fever of 102! Do you know why? Because you've been skipping out on meals and overworking yourself. Overworking youself puts enough stress on the body, even with a healthy diet, but your completely skipping out on 2 meals a day! TWO! You don't even wear a proper jacket and you wander around in thin clothing! It's not summer anymore, Ayuzawa! Its cold out there. No wonder you're sick!"

His breath was ragged as he tried to catch it. Misaki was conscious enough to catch parts of his little rant and said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm sorry." Her voice was hoarse even after all the water she drank and it came out in a throaty whisper. She blushed hard as she realized that his hand was still caressing her face. His thumb moved in soothing circles and he gave her the gentlest look she'd ever seen.

"You idiot." Takumi whispered before getting up.

As he stood, she tried to get up, but he held her down. She wasn't quite stable. "Sleep. I'll wake you up when your shift ends and take you home. You're too weak to work." he scolded before she could protest.

Her face was suddenly burning with an unknown heat, but Misaki didn't even bother looking up at him before dozing off.