Kyon sighed. Itsuki's fever was supposed to be gone by this morning, however it had only grown worse when he had gotten up to give him medicine for the last time. He had called Yuki, who simply said, ''Most likely, the main cause is stress.'' before hanging up. Kyon wondered why she hadn't bothered to explain a little further, but figured he would just listen to her. Now the obvious solution was to get Itsuki to calm down, however it was hard when the esper was either passed out or hallucinating.

''No...'' Itsuki moaned. He had been saying things like that the whole time. Toshiro and Haruhi were still asleep since it was so early in the mourning and they had been up together all night. Kyon smiled to himself. He didn't exactly know what they had been doing in his room... but Toshiro probably hadn't liked it one bit, considering Haruhi and her torturous ways. Hopefully, Haruhi had called her parents to tell them she was staying here for the night. He decided to go check on the two.

When Kyon walked into the room, he found Toshiro and Haruhi curled up on his bed together. The boy immidiatly went downstairs, got out his camera, and took as many pictures of the two as he possibly could before they woke up. Toshiro shrieked while Haruhi leaped up and attacked Kyon. He smirked. The SOS human definitely wasn't about to give up these pictures easily, it was revenge for all the times she had taken pictures of Mikuru.

''I didn't know you were interested in that kind of stuff, Haruhi!'' the boy teased. He suddenly felt like a forth-grader teasing another kid. Why was it that Haruhi sometimes brought out the childish side in him? It was either that, or the parental side.

''I was tired, shut up! I didn't relize we had fallen asleep next to each other!'' Haruhi shouted as she struggled to get the pictures from Kyon, but because it was so early and she had such a late night, the ''god'' was still exhausted, and to her absolute displeasure, couldn't beat Kyon for the first time since they had met. She gave up after awhile, but gave him a dirty look before she asked, ''How's Itsuki doing?''

Kyon frowned, remembering the esper, and answered, ''He can't relax because... nightmares are giving him a lot of stress, I guess. His fever got higher, but it should go down once he calms down a bit.''

Toshiro and Haruhi both looked very disappointed. Toshiro got up and went to go see his twin, and Haruhi followed. Kyon stayed in his room to clean up the mess the girl had made with all his manga.

When they were sitting at the esper's bedside, Haruhi suddenly asked Toshiro, ''Hey, why are you and Itsuki staying at Kyon's house, anyways? Shouldn't you have brought him home? I mean, where are your parents?'' She had been a bit curious and figured she should ask.

Toshiro gave her a hurt look before saying, ''Um... they're... they're not really living with us anymore.''

''What do you mean? Do they work overseas or something?'' Haruhi questioned, slightly confused.

''Well... you could definitely say that they're very far away. Neither Itsuki or I will ever see them again, though.'' Toshiro said quietly. He lowered his head.

Haruhi finally seemed to understand. ''Oh... they're... dead? So you guys live alone?''

''Yes... it's been like that for awhile. Five years, to be exact.'' the boy said before letting out a rather depressed sigh.

''You guys lived alone when you were only ten?'' Haruhi continued to question him, for now she was a bit concerned. Usually she could care less about other people's problems, but Toshiro seemed so upset all the time. The girl sort of felt a need to help.

''Well... our uncle hired a caretaker for us before he left to travel... but she... broke the rules.'' Toshiro then lowered his head and mumbled sadly, ''That's why I hate people... especially women.''

Haruhi did not take that comment very well. She stood to her feet without another thought about it and yelled, ''How could you possibly say that? What could that woman have possibly done to you to make you think that all females are bad people? You think I'm a bad person, now? Do you think your mother was a bad person, too? I guess it's a good thing she's dead then! And it's good your father's dead, too! Would you be happy if Itsuki was dead? Then I hope he dies for your own good!''

Haruhi regretted it as soon as she realized what she had said. Immediately, the girl's eyes widened as she felt the guilt and embarrassment strike her, even harder than Toshiro's hand striked her face. Her hand rose up to the burning red mark on her right cheek as she watched Itsuki's twin rush out of the room. Anger and sadness was written all over his face when she caught a glimpse of his tears pouring out.

Kyon had been at the doorway the whole time. He walked over to Haruhi looking disappointed and furious. ''Personally, I don't think that was the right thing to say.'' he said in a serious voice.

Haruhi just looked out the doorway, shocked. Kyon sighed. He knew that this was the wrong way to approach things, no matter how angry he was. ''You better just go apologize. I know it really isn't your thing to do that, but at least try.'' Haruhi snapped out of her trance and nodded. She exited the room, taking rather slow and nervous steps.

Suddenly, Kyon heard a painful moan. The boy looked over to Itsuki and saw the esper's eyes were open. ''Itsuki... hey, you awake?''

''Y-yes.'' Itsuki mumbled, then let out a cry of pain. He quietly began to groan again. Kyon figured he should help, but he didn't exactly know what to do.

Itsuki yelled again. Toshiro and Haruhi were gone, and Yuki had said that it was just stress, so he didn't want to call her and bother her again. Ah, that's it! He needed to get rid of the stress. But... what exactly was the cause of the stress?

''Itsuki, what exactly hurts?'' Kyon asked quietly.

''Everything... B-but I can't... I.. I c-can't move!'' Itsuki stammered. Kyon nodded and went into the bathroom. He looked for something... anything that could possibly help him out. But unfortunately, all the medical supplies was with his family while they were on vacation. Kyon finally gave in and got out his cell phone and dialed Yuki Nagato's number.

''The medicine wore off.'' was his answer when he asked.

''Is that all it is? Will he be okay?'' Kyon asked, a bit confused at the simple answer.

''Once the fever goes down, it will cause him less pain.'' the alien answered.

''Are you sure? Is this really a normal fever?'' Kyon questioned, seeing as it just didn't seem quite right.

''Not entirely, Itsuki Koizumi is an esper. His body is built differently, and the way he heals is also different. There will most likely be many complications, however as long as he stays calm and rests, hopefully he will be healed in about a month.'' Yuki explained. Kyon figured he understood well enough.

''Alright, thanks Nagato.'' he replied. The alien hung up. Kyon saw Itsuki cringing in bed. He figured that he should still try to make the fever go down, but the esper already had a wet cloth and plenty of water with him, there wasn't much more Kyon could do. The human began to pat him on the shoulder in attempt to comfort the esper.

''Just relax.'' Kyon mumbled. Itsuki gasped for air and shook. The other teen placed his hand on the esper's head and said, ''Just breath... relax.''

''I'm... I'm s-sorry.'' Itsuki mumbled, opening his eyes and looking at Kyon sadly.

''For what?'' Kyon asked.

''For being... s-such a... bother.''

''Don't apologize, I guess I'm just doing a favor for you, and sort of for someone else as well, I guess.'' Kyon said, remembering that Toshiro had asked him to look out for Itsuki. Then, he remembered the fact that Itsuki had been hallucinating all day. Maybe this was the cause of his stress.

''Hey, Koizumi? Is anything bothering you? Nagato said that your fever won't go down until you get rid of some stress you apparently have. You've been having nightmares and have been hallucinating all day, so does that have anything to do with it?''

Itsuki opened his eyes and stared for awhile at Kyon. Then, he stammered quietly, ''It depends... would you like... to hear what makes you happier?''

Was the fever boiling the esper's brain or something? What kind or answer was that? Kyon looked at him with an angry expression and responded, ''No, I want to hear the truth.''

''Well, there was a woman once... i-in my life who didn't do n-nice things. She hurt Toshiro too. I was having... n-nightmares about her. Can I j-just settle with that? I'm... very tired. I could try to continue, though.'' Itsuki mumbled. He seemed to be in a daze.

''Well... look, I don't know how to make you feel any better! I've never taken care of someone before like this! The most I can do for you is whatever you tell me I need to do.'' Kyon complained.

''Kyon... I never told you you had to do anything. I can do it all myself, if you wish.'' Itsuki gave one of his famous fake smiles.

''No, you can't! What about Toshiro? You seem to look out for him. How are you supposed to do that when you need to stay in bed for a month? You... you need to be taken care of this time. You won't get better if you don't have someone there for you. I know Toshiro can do that, but maybe he needs a little help.'' Kyon said awkwardly, blushing and shifting from side to side.

Itsuki stared for awhile into Kyon eyes. Kyon stared back for a bit, then noticed tears forming in the esper's eyes. ''What's wrong, does something hurt?'' he asked.

''No... I just...'' Itsuki could finish before he started to sob. Kyon just smiled and patted him on the back in comfort.

''Kyon... why do you even care?'' Itsuki whispered.

''I don't know... I can't help it. I... love you. Er... like a friend, I mean!'' Kyon said the last part laughing nervously. What the hell was wrong with him lately, anyways? Since when was he so... compassionate?

''Yeah... me too.'' the esper replied before moaning again. Kyon fixed Itsuki's blankets and stood up, and suddenly the other boy got a shocked expression on his face.

''Oh my gosh! Where's Toshiro?'' the esper asked, trying to sit up again. Kyon stopped him and gave him a light push back onto the bed.

''Well... Haruhi kind of said some pretty nasty things to him, and he ran off. She went after him though.'' Just as Kyon said this, Toshiro appeared at the door again. His eyes were red and puffy, and anger and depression were written all over his face.

''Oh Itsuki-kun! Your awake! I'm so sorry I didn't stay by your side!'' Toshiro panicked once he saw his brother's opened eyes, rushing over. ''Eh? Have you been crying? What's wrong?''

''Oh... just a nightmare. I'm fine, are you alright?" Itsuki asked his twin, putting on the smile again.

''Yes, I'm okay.'' the twin mumbled, wiping away his own tears as well as his brother's.

''Where's Haruhi?'' Kyon asked, curious because she hadn't exactly been mentioned yet.

''She's downstairs making lunch or something.'' Toshiro mumbled, sounding angry.

''Oh, I'll go help her.'' Kyon replied, deciding to leave the brothers alone. It also made him a bit nervous, seeing Toshiro so angry. He went downstairs and saw Haruhi making sandwiches. ''Hey, how'd talking to him go?''

''He just said he was going to go see Itsuki again when I tried saying I was sorry, so I told him I would make lunch, eat here, then leave.'' Haruhi grumbled. She was sounded annoyed but also a bit sad. He was about to try to say something to her to cheer her up, but suddenly his cell phone rang. Kyon stepped outside for a bit more peace and answered the phone. The voice that greeted him seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite recognize it.

''Can I ask who's calling?'' the teen asked.

''Sonou Mori. It's been awhile, hasn't it? Anyways, it seems we have a bit of a problem.'' Mori said politely. Kyon remembered the organization and realized the reason she may be calling.

''If it's about Itsuki being at my house, sorry nobody called that um... organization of yours. I think his cell phone got destroyed or something and he forgot. Do you need to know what's happened?'' Kyon asked.

''Oh no, that's not necessary. We're aware that somebody escaped jail who may be after Koizumi-kun. She told us what she did herself when we caught her. We just didn't know where Koizumi-kun was. But if he's at your house alive, that's good! Is he alright?'' Mori asked.

''It'll only take a month for him to recover and he can go back to being an esper and doing his jobs, I guess. That's all thanks to Nagato, though. Anyways, if you found the woman that did that to him, that's good! There's less to worry about now!'' Kyon smiled. It seemed that things were starting to get better. Maybe this would relief Itsuki of his stress, too. Hopefully, he'd be able to recover quicker with less to worry about.

''I'm afraid that there's still something to worry about... she has an ally, and she escaped even from us once that ally of hers arrived. We don't know how but it seems that Ryo...'' before Mori finished her sentence, there was some sort of loud explosion.

''Mori-san? Mori-san?'' Kyon called through the phone. It started to buzz, but suddenly there was complete silence.

A sweet yet deadly voice spoke on the phone, ''Kyon-kun, you're not my main target anymore. Someone helped revive me, so now we'll work together and kill Itsuki Koizumi instead as a deal. We've already destroyed all the other espers. Pathetic.''

Oh no...

That voice...

Kyon feared it far too much to forget it...

Ryoko Asakura.

Well this is her last chapter she wrote. She hopes that you all liked her story so far. Now I'll be taking over it and I hope I can keep it going in character and that it will be interesting. Credit to BananasForMonkeys