As Kurea slept, Kanda sat on the floor cross legged, wondering what to do with said female. She had been asleep for almost an hour now, her face red and hot to the touch. He had put a cold cloth on her forehead, but it seemed to do nothing to quell the fever. The bluenette had informed General Tiedoll of the incident, but the man was too busy to check up on the girl, which was strange, but Kanda dismissed it, figuring that the general was busy with other affairs, and would see her when he was done. He always did, he was a good master because of that.
"You're just not having a good day today." He said to the sleeping form, knowing that she couldn't hear him. Standing up, he brushed off his legs, exiting the room to make another pot of tea, seeing as how his first cup had been ruined. When he entered the small kitchenette, Marie was sitting at the table, enjoying a glass of juice. He turned his head toward the samurai as he entered, giving him a slight nod in greeting.
"How is she doing?" The blind man asked, knowing that she was with him, but not that she had collapsed and had a raging fever.
"Che, what do I care?" Kanda sneered, grabbing the small porcelain pot off the counter, pouring water from the tap into it, setting it onto the stove, lighting it. He really hated himself for not understanding what it was about her that made him lose his control, to loosen the facade.
Marie left it at that, downing the rest of the glass and heading to the doorway after he had set the glass in the sink. "I'll be in my room if you want to talk, and you know Master will always listen." The blind male stated, and then left the room, leaving Kanda to his thoughts once again.
He scoffed at Marie's back, did they really think that he didn't know that?! He just wasn't one for talking. His team really pissed him off sometimes.
Turning back to the counter, he found another tea cup, as well as the leaves that he placed in the kettle that had started to whistle. Letting it brew a few moments longer, Kanda stood there, staring out the window at the pouring rain. It hadn't let up yet, and was coming down as hard as it had been when they had gotten caught in it. Taking the pot and cup with him, Kanda left the kitchen, returning to his own, shocked when he saw that the neko was up, and looking about, confused.
"Kanda..?" She rasped, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before she let out a tiny squeak, bringing her arms up to cover her chest, making the samurai notice that by sitting up, her towel and the comforter had fallen, and that her long hair, albeit wrapped around her body, did little to cover her chest. Looking away and suppressing a blush, Kanda made sure that she was covered before he turned back around. "...Sorry." She said after a few awkward seconds, the comforter pulled up to her chin as she leaned against the headboard.
Kanda didn't respond as he carried the cup and pot all the way into the room, setting it on the desk before walking over to the side of the bed, putting his forearm on her forehead, feeling that her fever had only been slightly subdued.
"I'll be back." He stated, crossing the hall into the bathroom, rifling through the cupboard for some fever reducers. Finding what he needed, he returned, filling the cup with tea and handing both the pills and cup to the female. "Take these." He commanded.
"Thank you." Kurea mumbled, downing the pills and tea before wiping her mouth, returning the mug to the samurai. Setting the cup back onto the desk, Kanda thought of what he should do next.
"Can I ask you a favor?" Interrupting his thoughts with her soft voice, the male shrugged in response. "Would you be willing to get me some clothes?" Looking at her face for the first time since he re entered the room, Kanda could see the deep blush on her cheeks.
"I guess." He said in his cold voice, striding out of the room and across the cabin to her's, all the while wondering what he needed to grab. Stepping over the soaking wet pile on the floor in the doorway, Kanda entered the girl's room, noticing the different types of clothing strewn about. Stooping to pick up a pair of dark blue panties and spandex shorts, the samurai looked around the room for some sort of top. "The hell does she wear?! How am I supposed to know what she needs?" He spoke aloud, exasperated by the task at hand.
Picking up and tossing random clothing around the room, he managed to find a light grey bra, and a tank top. Balling the fabric up under his arm, Kanda left the room, noticing that Daisya had left the living room, and entered his room for about the fifth time in the last hour. "I found what I could." He growled, tossing the items onto the bed and closed the door, sitting down and facing it, his eyes shut as he tried to calm himself. 'This entire day has been a mess, I need to meditate,' he thought, as he heard the rustling of fabric as the neko dressed.
"You can turn around now, thank you, again." Turning to face the female, Kanda let out a deep sigh, nodding at her as she walked over to him. "Is there anything I can do? You look a little stressed." As she got closer, he could see that her eyes were still bloodshot, and her cheeks had yet to lose the reddish-pink tint they had, either from embarrassment or the fever, Kanda couldn't tell.
"Just let me meditate." The bluenette responded, getting up and retrieving his mat from the corner across the room, setting it up in front of the window, which made him notice that it had stopped raining.
"May I join you?" Kurea asked. She didn't want to leave Kanda's side yet. Despite his cold demeanour, she found it calming to be near him. She received a 'che' as a response, and took it upon herself to plop down next to him, mimicking his pose.
They sat like that for a good ten minutes before Kurea's mind began to wander again, causing her to think of Xavier, and she found her face wet with tears shortly after. The neko made no sound as she cried, not wanting to disturb Kanda from his peace, instead choosing to sit there for another thirty minutes, eyes closed, until she felt something being draped over her shoulders. Kurea opened her eyes, noticing that her entire body was covered in goosebumps, and that she couldn't feel her legs or fingers.
"I'm such a mess, I'm so sorry." She whispered, looking at Kanda's back as he returned his mat to its corner. Looking down, she noticed that the item around her shoulders happened to be one of the male's white button downs. Sliding her arms into the sleeves, Kurea stood up, wobbling as she regained feeling in her legs.
"Would you like some tea?" Came the response to her statement as the samurai turned to face her, his features softened as he had a questioning look on his face. She nodded, giving him a small smile as he left her alone to make some. Looking out the window, Kurea noticed that it had gotten really dark, making her guess it was well into the night. Her stomach let out a loud grumble, signalling that she needed food.
Padding down the hall, Kurea walked through the dark cabin, following the light glow of some candles coming from the kitchen. Entering the room, Kurea went to the cupboard, grabbing the first four boxes of whatever looked good, which just so happened to be a box of crackers, some sort of chocolate covered fruit, pasta and chocolate chip cookies. Setting them on the counter and grabbing a pot for water, she silently walked around Kanda, who glanced at her only when she went to fill the pot with water. Setting the pot of water on the stove next to the kettle, Kurea went and sat down in a chair, bringing the cookies with her.
Sitting cross legged, she munched quietly on them as Kanda finished the cups of tea. Following suit, he sat down across from her setting the mugs in front of each of them, hunching over his as he waited for it to cool a little.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, shocking the neko. He looked at her with his serious expression, waiting for an answer.
"Like shit."
"That's to be expected."
"Well you asked, so I answered." Taking a sip of her tea, Kurea stood, putting the pasta into the boiling pot, stirring it then returning to her seat with the crackers.
"They're worried about you, you know?" Kanda continued, his voice slightly less cold as he stated this.
"And you aren't?"
"I just don't want to have to deal with more work because one exorcist died in the line of duty and the other offed herself out of grief." Kanda looked away, his eyes narrowing as he glared into space, his retorte losing some of its bite by the end of it.
"I'm not that stupid. Again, thank you, though. For everything. I somehow feel calm in your presence." Looking at him, Kurea gave him her most sincere look, even though he still refused to look at her. "Have you ever lost someone?" She inquired, taking another sip of the hot liquid.
Kanda's head snapped back, his eyes hard and cold as he looked at her. "Yes." He responded, grabbing a cracker from the box.
"Care to share? I mean, you've seen me at my lowest, I'd like to hear about yours." Leaning forward she placed her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers.
"It's not something worth sharing."
"C'mon." She whined.
"I said no."
Leaning back, crossing her arms across her chest she huffed. Noticing that the pasta was done, she grabbed a plate and fork, filling the plate and sitting back down. Shoving a forkful into her mouth she chewed in silence for a while, thinking of something to say to her companion.
"Fine, you're too traumatized to talk about it, I get it. Whatever. You'll tell me eventually." She smirked, a challenging look on her face.
Looking back at her with intense eyes, Kanda responded with, "I doubt it." Grabbing another cracker, he stood up, bringing his cup to the sink.
"I… I have another favor to ask for… Um…" Her stuttering made the samurai glance at her, and eyebrow raised in question.
"What?"
"C-can I stay in y-your room tonight?" Looking down at her feet as she stood, Kurea fiddled with the hem of the button down, which came to just above her knees.
"Why?" Kanda turned and faced her, his arms crossed over his chest, eyebrow still arched.
"I d-don't want to be alone." Kurea's voice weakened by the end of her sentence, tears filling her eyes once more. Squeezing her eyes shut, the neko waited for the rejection, yet she could only hear Kanda shuffling everything in the kitchen around, putting her food back into the cupboard and putting dishes in the sink before he blew out all but one candle, heading to leave the room.
When he got to the door he stopped, looked over his shoulder at the girl still standing ramrod straight in the middle of the kitchen. "Are you coming?" He asked, sighing as she looked up in shock at him.
"Really? You mean it?"
"Don't question my decision." He snapped back, leaving the room. Following quietly, Kurea finally looked at Kanda's back, her face beet red, even though he couldn't see her. She regretted asking for this big of a favor, but she couldn't bring herself to sleep by herself, she didn't want the nightmarish dreams to come back. Not yet. She hadn't slept alone in over a month, yet the person who usually filled that empty space, was gone now, and would most likely appear in these nightmares if she were to be left alone.
"I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience." Kurea mumbled, following the samurai as he delved into the darkness of his room, the small candle losing the strength of its light.
"Take the bed, I'll be on the floor." Kanda said over his shoulder, setting the small candelabra on the small night stand next to his bed, grabbing one of the two pillows on it, lying down on his side next to the bed, giving Kurea enough space to walk alongside it.
"No, this is your room, I'll sleep on the floor." She said, grabbing the other pillow, clutching it her chest as she waited for the male to get up and lay down on the bed.
"I already told you what to do, listen to me. I don't care, just take the damn bed already and go to sleep." Kanda mumbled as his face was slightly in the pillow, glaring at her from the corner of his eye.
"There's more than enough space on this full size bed, we can share it. Please, I've already troubled you enough today,and I-" Kurea's rebuttal was cut short as she saw a flash of blue, and strong arms picking her up and tossing her onto the bed, then hands on her wrists, pinning her down. Staring up with doe-like eyes, the neko was met with an intense cobalt stare, a wave of nerves clogging her throat as she stopped a shriek of terror from leaving her lips.
"Stop. Fine. I'll sleep on the damn bed, just…." Kanda snarled as he bit his tongue, letting go of the female as he bent to pick up the pillows off of the floor, Kurea's having been dropped in the fiasco.
Unable to speak, she nodded, taking the pillow from his extended hand, hugging it and turning to face the wall, curling into a ball, taking up as little of the bed as possible. Kurea felt the bed dip again as Kanda crawled in, and then the gentle wave-like motions as he tossed and turned, looking for a comfortable position.
Letting out a sigh of defeat, Kanda finally settled down; choosing to lie on his back, glaring at the ceiling. After a few minutes, he heard the female's breath even out, signaling that she had fallen asleep. Closing his tired eyes, Kanda followed suit.