Sunako opened her eyes blearily as she heard a muffled curse coming from across the room.
She felt awful, like she just wanted to sleep undisturbed. Her nose was stuffy and couldn't breathe properly. She stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling – it wasn't in her room, the proof of that the sunlight pouring through the open curtains. And the soft bed beneath her was definitely not the coffin that she usually slept in. She began to panic a little, wondering where she was.
A huffing noise accompanied the muffled curses and she looked across the room. Kyohei was holding the door open while trying to balance tea and a bowl of soup on a wooden tray as he tried to enter the room, which as she now got a better look around, could see was his bedroom.
"What? Why am I..." her voice petered out as his head shot up at her voice and he scowled ferociously at her as she lay in his bed.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to make chicken noodle soup? It took me three attempts before I realised if you cut the chicken up smaller it would cook more quickly," he complained, placing the tray on his bedside table.
"I've never really thought...w-w-why am I...?" Sunako asked, confused and a little put out as to why he was making soup; that was usually her job.
He glared down at her. "You're here because you're ill and you need someone to take care of you. As I don't have lessons today, I drew the short straw! And that reminds me," he added before she could get offended. "Next time you're ill, you tell somebody. You were so tired that you fell asleep in your rocking chair and didn't wake up until now, despite the fact that I carried you all the way down here."
"I just didn't want to be a bother," she mumbled.
He sighed in exasperation. "I'd hoped by now that you would know you could trust us."
She bit her lip, feeling guilty. "I-I-it's not that I don't trust you. I didn't realise how bad I felt until this morning and I thought a nap once you had all gone would make me feel better. I'm just used to looking after myself."
He huffed in annoyance, shaking his head. "Well, you're not alone anymore. Tell somebody next time. Anyway, have some of this soup and then get some sleep. Hopefully, you'll be better by the time the others get home. Discovering you in here is the last thing I need," he muttered, leaning forward to lift her into a sitting position.
Unfortunately, as he lifted her toward him, his face came into her direct line of vision and she squinted in distress. "Ma...ma..."
"Huh?" he asked absently, focusing only on sitting her up.
"Ma-mabushii!" CRACK!
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
They both cried out in simultaneous expressions of pain as she head-butted him in response to his dazzling good looks.
"Geez, even when you're sick!" He leaned forward again, this time having the forethought to tuck her face into his shoulder so that she couldn't see his face.
She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in deeply. She wished that her blocked nose wasn't preventing her from inhaling the comforting scent of him that she found quite pleasant.
"Here, eat this and then sleep for a few hours," Kyohei said, placing the tray on her lap, rubbing the bridge of his nose absently at the lingering pain from the head-butt.
She ate the chicken noodle soup he had prepared; it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be. He hadn't added any seasoning, so was quite bland, but she felt happy that he had made it for her.
She could feel him watching her intently as she ate, his arms folded as he silently waited until she had finished.
Just the action of eating the soup had sapped her strength and she sighed heavily. "That was nice. Thank you," she mumbled as he took away the tray and placed it back on the table.
He nodded at her, seeming a little uncomfortable himself. "Okay, just take one of these tablets and then sleep and we'll see how you are when you wake up."
She took the tablet he passed to her with some of the now cool tea. This time remembering to conceal her face, he helped her to lie down. He tucked the blanket tightly around her and patted her twice firmly on her shoulder. "Feel better," he directed.
She was almost asleep when her good manners surfaced and she roused herself enough to say quietly, "Thank you for taking care of me."
Kyohei stood where he was, unable despite himself to tear his eyes from her peacefully sleeping face. When she was awake, she seemed always to be worrying about something or other, so this was a rare opportunity to watch her, undisturbed.
She wasn't what could be strictly described as beautiful, but there was something about her that drew him to her. She would do anything to help someone in need. Despite being a hikikomori and unable to look directly at most people, she would always force herself to do what was needed if the situation needed it.
He found himself getting angry at what the careless words of an ignorant high-school boy had done to the sensitive young girl that Sunako was and a part of him could quite cheerfully have tracked Murata down and beat some sense into him.
Sunako stirred in her sleep and turned on to her side, facing away from him, shattering his reverie and he realised that he had been actually staring at her like some love-struck high schooler.
Scratching his head impatiently, he was glad that none of the others were in the house to witness him watching Sunako while she slept. Shaking himself, he purposely walked out of the room, leaving Sunako sleeping in peace.
He stopped abruptly on the staircase and exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?"