I felt like I was going to puke. The light of the bright room stung my eyes, making me dizzy and distraught. Was I still at Shujin Academy? Did I die? My vision was fuzzy as my eyes glanced around the room: bright lights, bright white walls, sterile white floors, computer, desk. I struggled to get up, but I felt a hand push me back down.

"You really should rest, you're running a very high fever," a voice said.

A fever? When did I start running a fever? Where was I? How long was I out? I tried to ask any questions but I let out a groan instead. My head hurt and I still felt like puking. I didn't want to be restrained in a white room with a computer and a poster on the wall about eating healthy.

I heard a door open and slam shut, bringing a gust of wind with it.

"How is she? Is she ok? She just kind of collapsed," I heard a voice say.

"She'll be ok," the other voice responded. "She just has a fever, probably because of last night's weather. You weren't caught out in it, were you? She should rest and avoid physical activity for a while. I wouldn't worry about her."

I slowly tried sitting up again, this time succeeding without the resistance of a hand pushing me back down. I slowly looked around as to not agitate my headache anymore. A doctor's office. Sitting in front of me, clipboard in hand, was a punk women in brightly colored makeup and fishnet tights. She appeared to be scribbling quickly on her clipboard, not bothering to look up at me at all.

I looked next to her. Kurusu sat on a stool, looking concerned. He looked as if he wanted to say something.

"You're awake," he smiled softly. "I was starting to worry about you."

Kurusu? Worrying about me? I probably did die.

"What's wrong with me?" I inquired, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Just a fever," the punk girl said. "Probably from the rain or something last night, I dunno. You'll manage."

She seemed to be the doctor? But she sure didn't do a very good job of it. She seemed very unconcerned and busied herself more with some papers on her desk than she did with her patient.

"You're free to go, though I don't recommend going very far in that state. Maybe your boyfriend will let you stay with him until tomorrow," she mumbled, not looking up from her papers.

"Uh, it's not-" I started.

"That'll be ok. I'll see that she gets better," Kurusu said, offering his hand out towards me to take. I took his hand in mine, slowly steadying myself on the floor. If I wasn't burning up so much, I probably would've been thrilled to even hold hands with Kurusu.

I felt too feverish and lethargic to process much as we made our way out of the doctor's office and out onto the streets. The sky was dark, the moon hanging from the murky blackness, sprinkled with a few stars. How long had I been out? A couple of hours at the least. I felt too unwell to ask questions on our way back. I held onto Kurusu's arm as tight as my feverish body could, careful not to collapse again. We came up on the LeBlanc cafe, which appeared to be closed down for the night. Kurusu dug around in his pocket, pulling out a key and letting us in.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing to a booth.

I slid into the booth, resting my head on the sticky table as I watched him prepare something out of the corner of my eye. He set a cup of green tea in front of me and slid into the seats across from me.

"Try to at least get something into you, ok? You had me really worried there," he stated. He looked down at the table, picking off a sticker left on from earlier. He didn't look up at me.

I took the tea with both hands and took a small sip. I still felt incredibly nauseous, but I'd drink twenty green teas if it pleased Kurusu. We sat at the booth quietly until I finally finished my drink, which seemed to take ages, before he spoke.

"So what are you planning on doing? You're welcome to stay here. Will your sister be ok with that? I don't think it'd be such a good idea for you to go out with a fever," he said.

I nodded slowly. Sae, my sister, worked late, sometimes not even coming home for dinner. I was alone most nights. She wouldn't mind. In fact, she wouldn't even know I wasn't there.

"Do you have a guest room or something?" I asked meekly. Knowing that Kurusu lived in the attic of a coffee shop pretty much answered my own question for me. The only room this building had was his bedroom.

"I'll let you have the bed," he said, smiling. Seeing his smile caused butterflies in my stomach. Or maybe it was the nausea and green tea. I felt my stomach lurch.

"Um, excuse me," I muttered, just loud enough to be heard and ran to the bathroom.

I leaned my head against the seat of a toilet that probably hadn't been cleaned since the stone age. I was so embarrassed about stuttering, passing out, ending up in the doctor's, and then puking just moments earlier. Kurusu got to witness my social awkwardness in all of its glory. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and stood up, observing myself in the mirror.

I looked like someone hit me with a bus, backed up, and then hit me again. And then another bus hit me. My skin was ghostly pale and my hair was slicked back out of my normal bright red eyes were dull, tired. I had fifty shades of dark circles under my eyes and my makeup was running down my face. I rinsed my face in the sink and smoothed my hair, trying to look at least a little presentable. How could I, the student council president, display such behavior? I was so ashamed of myself for letting a crush - and a fever - do this to me. I reached for my phone in my pocket. I had several texts from Ann.

Ann: Hey, how did it go? Did you totally steal his heart? ;) 3 [16:02]

Ann: Hellooooo? [17:38]

Ann: Did it go better than expected? Are you all fuckin' or something lmao? [19:10]

Ann: Text me back! [19:26]

I chuckled. Oh, Ann, I wish. I probably ruined any chance I'd ever have with this boy ever now. I texted back.

Me: Oh, yeah, I'm in his bed lol [21:29]

Ann: SO YOU WHAT? [21:31]

Me: I puked in his bathroom after passing out lol [21:35]

Ann: UR GROSS [21:36]

Ann: xoxoxo [21:36]

I figured I'd fill Ann in later. I was too embarrassed to say anything else.

I sighed, not very reassured. I washed up and climbed the stairs to the attic. I still felt sick, as if I really did have a fever and didn't just have an embarrassing breakdown in front of my crush. If I was going to the stay the night I guess it had to be in Kurusu's bed. Unless he was a dick and gave me the couch.

As I climbed to the attic, I saw that he was sitting at the table, the bed made for me in the corner of the room. He stood up abruptly, putting his hand on my forehead.

"You're still really hot. You're burning up. How do you feel?" He asked.

I felt even hotter now that the guy I was into had his hand on my forehead after I puked in his house.

"I feel… Really unwell... " Saying the words took a lot of energy out of me. I didn't make eye contact with him but instead watched the ground. "I want to lay down."

Without saying anything, Kurusu put his hand on my back and guided me to his bed. In any other scenario I probably would've been ecstatic, but today, I wanted to rest. I eased myself into his bed, pulling freshly washed sheets over me, feeling my eyelids grow heavy. He made sure I was comfortable before going downstairs, and I didn't see him for a while after

I awoke really late into the night. All the lights were off and not a hint of sunlight came through the windows. I felt hot and uncomfortable. I pushed the blankets off of me and sat up, trying to cool down.

Both Kurusu and Morgana were nowhere to be found. I had assumed they'd be sleeping at the table or something, but maybe they decided to leave me some privacy. A girl spending the night at a criminal's house. What an interesting thought that was.

I felt my forehead. My fever had to have gone down. My throat was dry and scratchy. I staggered out of bed, feeling around for something to put my weight on. I needed a water or something, something easy on my stomach. I should've had Kurusu leave a glass on my nightstand, but I already felt too burdensome. I crept down the stairs, slowly, slowly, very slow. I didn't want to trip and knock myself out or anything. Or that's what I told myself. I didn't want to draw any attention to myself that might get Kurusu's attention. I wanted to get a glass of water and go back upstairs as soon as I could.

Downstairs was dimly lit by a single bulb, the yellow light bathing the tables in a golden haze. The cafe looked ominous and dangerous without the friendly, cheery glow of the overhead lights and the too-loud television. If I had to live in the attic of this place I'd probably find myself quite uncomfortable. I made my way to the back of the counter, opening up a variety of cabinets and drawers until I found a glass for water.

"Not that one," I heard a voice say. "Chief uses it for special occasions."

I whipped around, startled, glass still in hand. Kurusu was sitting in the booth closest to the door, closest to the painting of Sayuri. I hadn't noticed him due to the dim lighting. He had several books open in front of him and even more empty cans of coffee cluttering the table. He looked tired, Gucci bags underneath his eyes.

"What are you still doing up?" I asked, trying to sound collected and calm, as if he hadn't just startled the shit out of me.

"Studying," he said, eyes fixated on the books in front of him. "There's a few tests this week and I didn't really want to pull a Ryuji, you know?" He chuckled.

Oh, so the criminal boy studies? Granted it was last minute studying but he did study. Maybe instead of having him take me all over town I could help him study things. Afterall, I was a third year. I knew all of that second year stuff like the back of my hand.

"So what glass can I drink out of?" I asked. "I don't want to intrude on you nor Chief's hospitality."

He shrugged. "Just take it. We'll put it back before he even knows it was used."

I nodded, filling the glass with tap water. Bubbles swirled around the glass, and I noticed dust rising to the top of the liquid. When was the last time this thing was used? I sighed, pouring out the water and rinsing the glass. Once I filled it again, I slid into the booth across from Kurusu.

"I can't sleep, really," I smiled softly, avoiding his gaze.

"Don't sit on Morgana," he said without looking up. I just in time noticed Morgana, curled in a ball at the corner of the booth. His breathing was quick, as if he were dreaming. Maybe he was dreaming about catching mice. Or maybe he was dreaming about more human things, like taking Ann on a date to a dessert cafe.

"You look a bit better," Kurusu remarked, finally looking up from his books. "More color in your face."

I nodded. I definitely did feel better. I still felt feverish but I definitely was better than before. I was grateful for that. I wanted to spend this one on one time with Kurusu without worrying about puking or passing out. My face flushed just thinking of that.

"Uh, I'm… sorry for earlier," I muttered, smiling softly. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"It's ok," he said, a hint of a smile on his lips. "It makes things more interesting around here. If it were Ryuji or something, I would've left his ass." He laughed. He scribbled intently at the work in front of him, eyes darting across the page.

"What is it?" I asked. "I can help if you need it. School is one of the only things I'm good at." I chuckled softly.

"It's nothing much. Get back to sleep, you could really use the rest."

He was right. I sipped the water slowly before returning it to the place where I found it. I mumbled a goodnight but he didn't look up.


I'm gonna be honest and say that I didn't think anyone would read this. I hope you all stay tuned in haha.

Here's a weird thing!

When my boyfriend and I first started dating, he was driving me around on my birthday, I got so anxious and nervous bein' around him that I had him pull over to multiple gas stations. I spent my birthday puking up pasta in a Shell gas station. SUPER EMBARRASSING! Kind of funny to think about now though.

THanks for the support, gang! Kisses!