When Usagi woke up the next morning, Misaki was still asleep. It wasn't abnormal for him to wake up before the boy, but the events of last winter reminded him how heavy the boy slept when he was feeling ill. His thoughts made him anxious and he reached over to feel his lover's forehead. He softly brushed Misaki's bangs aside and placed his cold hand on his forehead. Usagi's hands were always cold, and Misaki always felt warm to him, but after so many years Usagi could tell when his lover was Misaki temperature and when he was feverish.

Misaki felt warm, but not Misaki warm, he was slightly warmer than that. "So the first stage has already begun." Usagi sighed and slid off the bed.

The movement caused Misaki to stir and his eyes blinked open. "Usagi-san?"

"What?" Usagi asked softly as he petted his lover's hair. He wondered if the boy knew he was already in the first stage.

"You're up early. Are you going somewhere?"

"It's almost nine in the morning."

"Hmm. I feel cold." Misaki mumbled as he buried his face in his pillow; not at all concerned by the late hour of the morning.

"I think you're in the first stage, Misaki. Hold on, let me grab the thermometer and we'll see."

Usagi quickly retrieved the thermometer from the bathroom and they checked Misaki's temperature. "38.7 degrees. That was fast." Usagi hadn't expected his lover's fever to be so high already.

"I still feel cold." Misaki's voice was muffled by the pillow which he had snuggled his face into once more after the man had finished taking his temperature.

"Since it's this low, we can keep you warm to prevent your fever from rising, but if it begins to get any higher we'll have to start keeping you cooler."

"I know. It's not like this is a first for me." Usagi noticed how oddly tired the boy sounded despite having slept through the night.

"His fever must be making him feel lethargic." Usagi thought to himself before saying, "If you're tired Misaki, then go back to sleep. I'm going to call my father to see if the researchers have already started working on your cure, and maybe they'll know a fever reducer I can get for you. Regular fever reducers may not work considering what's causing it."

"You're going to leave, Usagi-san?"

"Only for a few hours. I'll be back soon; my father just wanted me to meet with the researchers today. If you need anything though I want you to call me. Stay in bed unless you have to go to the bathroom. I'll go get you a bottle of water as well."

"I got it. You don't have to fuss over me, you know. It's just a fever."

Usagi didn't appear to have heard him as he left briefly, but returned to the room with a bottle of water and he ruffled the boy's hair to gain his attention once more. Misaki lifted his face from the pillow and looked up at his lover with his big emerald eyes. Usagi, overcome by desire, immediately took advantage of the situation and sneaked a kiss from him.

"Pervert! Didn't you get enough last night?" Misaki demanded, springing back to life.

"No." Usagi answered bluntly and honestly.

"Well I did!" Misaki hissed as he swatted at the older man with his pillow.

"Don't act as if you didn't love it. You were moaning so loudly last night, I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors heard you."

Misaki glared at his lover, and growled low in response which just made the older man chuckle, "I'll be leaving after I get dressed. Remember to stay in bed and call me if you need anything."

"Yes, yes." Misaki waived his hand dismissively as he sank back into his pillow.

"And Suzuki-san is here in case you need someone to cuddle while I'm gone." Usagi teased as he pushed the bear next to the boy.

Misaki's head snapped up and he tossed his pillow at the older man, which bounced harmlessly off of his chest instead of his face, where Misaki had been aiming. Usagi snickered and simply gave Misaki back his pillow and he waited for the boy to settle down before he tucked him in tightly to keep him warm.

After Usagi finished dressing he left and Misaki silently watched him go. "Maybe it's because of my fever, but I feel so lonely right now even though Usagi-san just left. I know he had to leave in order to help me get better, but still… I want him to hurry back. I won't say that though. I remember all too well what happened the last time I was sick and I asked someone to hurry back. I became an orphan. I can't lose Usagi-san too, so I'll bare the loneliness. It'll only be for a few hours anyway. Usagi-san said so himself. He'll be back. I'll just sleep until then. That'll be good for me anyway."

Misaki pulled Suzuki-san closer to him and inhaled the bear's scent deeply, "I can smell Usagi-san's scent. I'll just pretend that Usagi-san is sleeping next to me and I should be able to fall asleep really quickly, and then I'll just stay asleep until Usagi-san wakes me up."

Misaki nuzzled the stuffed bear and cuddled it snugly, "Goodnight, Usagi-san."

After a few hours, Usagi returned, and he immediately went upstairs to check on Misaki who was still sleeping. Despite his fever, he looked so peaceful as if he was completely oblivious to the threat on his life he was now forced to face while conscious.

Deciding to check on the boy's temperature, Usagi retrieved the thermometer and placed it under his lover's tongue, which was made easy by the fact that Misaki's lips were slightly parted. "38.9 degrees this time." Usagi was surprised at how quickly his lover's fever was rising.

"It won't get as bad as it did last winter. The researchers gave me some fever reducers for him. It'll stay low after he takes them, but he needs to eat something first. I hope Misaki won't mind the food I ordered. I think he'll like it."

Usagi left to dish out the food and afterwards he went back upstairs to wake Misaki up. He hated the idea of waking the boy when he looked so cute, but he wanted to give him the fever reducers as soon as possible to prevent prolonging his suffering. Usagi leaned down and cupped Misaki's cheek with his hand, "Misaki. Misaki, wake up. Misaki." Usagi stroked his lover's soft cheek and the boy's eyes slowly opened.

"Usagi-san?" Misaki's eyes opened completely as a clarity washed over him, "Ah, Usagi-san!"

Misaki sat up and rubbed his tired eyes with his arm, "Back already? That was quick."

"It's almost two in the afternoon, Misaki."

"Oh, r-really? I must have slept the entire time."

"I brought home lunch, are you hungry?"

"Mm!" Misaki perked up at the mention of food.

"Would you like to eat in bed or at the table?"

"The table." Misaki chose quickly.

Usagi carried Misaki to the table and after they ate their late lunch, he gave Misaki one of the fever reducers. Misaki didn't want to go back to bed once he finished eating as it was still only midafternoon and Usagi decided it wouldn't hurt to allow Misaki to stay up for a little bit longer.

Misaki took a bath, refusing Usagi's aid, and when he was done, he went into the T.V. room where Usagi was watching a new episode of one of his shows. "I'm not sure if it's just because of my fever, but for some reason, I really want to be comforted by Usagi-san."

With that thought in mind, he sat down unusually close to the older man who noticed his lover's action. Misaki pretended to read a "Da Man" manga to hide the dark blush on his face, which he could not blame entirely on his fever. Usagi decided not to say anything and simply leaned over towards Misaki, and he wrapped his arm over the boy's shoulder before he pulled him closer to him.

"Usagi-san, will the fever reducers break my fever?"

"No, but they'll keep it low so you shouldn't feel so bad."

"That's good. So you met with the researchers today? How did it go?"

"They seemed dedicated, but they aren't specialists; they were researching something else before my father called them, but they all seemed very eager to accept his offer. They think they'll be able to find a cure by the time you enter the third stage, but…"

"What?"

Usagi paused before forcing himself to finish his sentence, "If they haven't found one by the time you start to lose your sense of touch… they think it would be best to place you in a medically induced coma."

"Huh?" Misaki let the older man's words sink in, "Oh… I see."

"Will you let us do that?"

"I can see why they would want to do that. Total sensory deprivation would probably make me go insane." Misaki tried to hide how scared he was at the thought of going to sleep and never waking up, "No, I can't let these thoughts get to me. I have to be brave for Usagi-san's sake." Misaki took a deep breath before saying, "O-okay."

Usagi gave the boy a tight, reassuring squeeze with his arm, "That's right; Usagi will stay by my side the entire time, so it won't be scary."

Misaki surprised his lover by snuggling up against him, "Misaki?"

"What?"

"…Nothing." Usagi decided not to spoil the moment.

"What are you watching, Usagi-san?" Misaki asked as he set the manga aside on the couch cushion next to him.

"A comedy show about a commoner and his family."

"Ah, is that so?" Misaki's voice was flat, purposefully lacking enthusiasm.

"Look, they're eating sausages cut into octopi."

"They have children, one of who is a toddler, so it makes sense."

"The adults are enjoying them too."

"Usagi-san, it's a T.V. show." Misaki pointed out.

Usagi seemed to have ignored his lover's statement and simply patted him on the head. Misaki shrugged inwardly and let the man watch his show in peace. Truth be told, Misaki didn't mind doing those things for the older man, but he like acting as if it was a hassle. Just as Usagi like to tease Misaki, Misaki also liked to tease his lover, but no matter how much he complained or pointed out to the older man that he wasn't a child anymore, he would always cut sausages into octopi and peel apples into bunnies for him because he loved Usagi.

Misaki smiled a little as he thought of his lover and he found himself nuzzling the older man's chest unconsciously, "Usagi-san's heartbeat is so fast… is that because of me?" Misaki wondered.

Usagi on the other hand was finding it increasingly difficult to focus on the T.V. as the thought of taking the boy right then and there on the couch became ever so tempting with each passing moment. However, he didn't want to touch the boy until his fever decreased, but as Misaki had only just taken the medicine he knew he'd have a long wait.

"Misaki, when the medicine takes effect, I'm going to pay you back for that." Usagi secretly promised the unsuspecting boy.

After a few hours, Misaki eventually feel asleep against the older man's chest and Usagi carried his lover to bed and he took off his shirt before he slid in next to him. Misaki stirred a little until the older man wrapped his arms around him and the boy settled in his embrace and Usagi soon after fell asleep himself.