Yesss! This fic is finally getting updated! I greatly apologize for how long it took; I was on a writer's block for a long time, and actually almost lost interest in the series. Everything's fine now, though!

That said...I should announce there will only be two chapters left of the story, this one being the second-to-last.

With all that out of the way, enjoy! c:

-Chapter 7-

"Let's do this!" Athena exclaimed at the start of the infamous Dr. Mario theme. The two had only just finished building a pillow fort, and were now playing the aformentioned game on Simon's 3DS.

"No, I need a red pill, RED PILL!" the raven-haired teen shouted in excitement and frustration, already absorbed into the game.

"The bottle's filling up fast!" the ginger-haired girl squealed.

"Aah!" they both yelped as the words "GAME OVER" came up on screen, accompanied by its own theme.

"Maybe starting on level 15 wasn't such a good idea after all..." Athena remarked with a hint of regret.

"Let's start again, but on level one." Simon suggested, to which he got a cheerful 'okay' in response.

Simon reminisced as he heard that same track, which he had been trying to tune out for the past few minutes, to no avail. And when he heard Apollo shout in discouragement, followed by the others shushing the loud attorney, he couldn't help but try to chuckle softly only to end up coughing loudly. He caught his breath for a few moments, but soon found himself sitting up, before he went into a harder coughing fit. He only managed to catch his breath for real when a hand started to gently rub and pat his back. It surprised him to see it wasn't Athena, who, despite being awoken from the coughing, was still lying down somewhat and clearly half awake, struggling to keep her eyes open. She must have wanted to make sure he was alright.

"I'm fine, Athena." he assured her. "It was just a cough this time."

She slowly nodded at hearing those words as she fell back asleep.

"She really worries over you." Klavier whispered.

"Mm." Simon nodded. Though he really couldn't blame her; they had both been ill with measles for nearly a week and a half now, yet in that time he often wondered which of them was sicker.

Up until the day before, Athena's stomach was doing somersaults every other hour, and objected to any food that wasn't saline crackers. Not to mention how irritated her rashes got from her scratching them so much. Plus, her fever barely went down at all...

Meanwhile, in Simon's case, his stomach calmed down about a day and a half after that...instance at the courthouse; he really didn't like to think about it! His rashes, while he couldn't stand to look at them, they were surprisingly not the slightest bit itchy. And even though he still had a fever, it did actually go down, from 103 to 101, though now he started to get chills bad enough to ask Klavier to fetch him some warmer clothes to sleep in.

Actually, now that he thought about it, there was no need to wonder who had it worse!

"How many times has he lost so far?" Simon asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"He's on his sixth attempt." The blond man answered.

"Six?" The sick man questioned. Don't they have clients to get to?

"Oh ja. Forehead keeps getting stuck on level 8, and says it's the game's fault 'for being so hard'!" Klavier explained as he held back a laugh, while Simon scoffed at the very thought.

"Slow day, perhaps?"

Klavier simply nodded in confirmation. It was true, they did have trouble getting new clients, particially due to the epidemic. At that moment, they heard Apollo shout in frustration again. Both men shook their heads as they heard him resign from trying at another attempt.

"Ah, good." Klavier mumbled. "He's finally taking a break. Eh? What are you-" he asked, surprised to see the still sick Simon sitting at the edge of the bed, readying to stand as his hands moved from his PJ bottom covered legs to the frame. "Need help?"

"Would be greatly appreciated, yes." the taller of the two confirmed, as the blond man took his hands to carefully pull him up. "My gaming skills are a little rusty, but..."

"You're going to show Herr Forehead how it's done?"

"That, and I could stand more than 10 minutes out of bed."

"So, it's not my fault I keep losing?" Apollo inquired when Simon's turn came. The taller of the two had just given him some tips on playing the game correctly, which he made sure to remember for the next time.

"Well...Not entirely!" the samurai prosecutor smirked. He caught a glimpse of the red attorney glaring at him with a hint of irritation. He brushed it off as he continued on.

As the pair kept playing, they soon heard a door open, followed by footsteps along with a weak 'where is everybody?' that no doubt came from Athena. Their suspicions were confirmed when the ginger-haired attorney entered the room, still PJ-clad and very obviously sick, though she seemed to be getting just well enough to make it as far as she did on her own. After they greeted her, Apollo helped her over to the couch when it was established she wanted to join in. Even if she did more watching than playing, Athena was just glad to be out of bed for a little while! Comfortably tucked under Klavier's arm, his nice cool hand gently rubbed against hers, she watched the screen as the colorful pills slowly, then quickly, descend, rotating at a rapid pace, before meeting with the targeted viruses, whether by wedging between them, or simply stacking on top of one another, they would pop away from existence; occasionally multiple viruses would be done away with at once! It was engaging, satisfying, and strangely relaxing all at one time.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" she heard one of the guys ask, though she couldn't figure out who since he was speaking so softly. After watching the on-screen action for awhile, fatigue took the opportunity to take over again, leaving Athena struggling to keep her eyes open, which obviously didn't go unnoticed.

She simply nodded, not looking in any particular direction.

"She's exhausted!" chirped Widget.

"...Really, Widget?" Athena mumbled, wondering how she managed to forget to take the robot necklace off. She let out a few coughs before taking her focus back to the screen.

And there's chapter seven! Whew! Sorry if this isn't as good as it should have been. Like I said, I've been burning out. But that won't stop me until the next (and final) chapter is done.

Until then, honest reviews, please!