Omg i got a random flash of inspiration!!! Yay! Sorry for the long wait and thank you to every one who reviewed and favourited!! Can i ask though...maybe for a bit more ConCrit in review... NOT that I'm not entirely grateful for the reviews i get!! I think I'm damn honored considering how long i take to update! Sorry.
Any way here's a little bit about this chapter on Ryou's speech...which is more or less screwed. Heh. I don't know much about these illnesses to give an accurate account. So I'm using what i know and the rest is personal experience XD
I had some EVIL throat virus once and it made me loose my voice...it was so funny because all my vowels kind of disappeared half way through my words and some words disappeared altogether because my throat wouldn't let me use anything high or low...i ended sounding like a robot; monotone XD I tried singing like it and it was hilarious! So this is what's basically happened to Ryou's voice, so his words are ca-fluffed XD
Hope you enjoy this chapter!! Also expect something very cliché -and found in quite a few fics, i found out after writing this- at the end of this chapter.
Dis-is so boring-claimer: DON'T OWN.
"N-nine missed calls...oops,"
"Is there a problem Ichigo-san?" Keichiiro asked, hanging up their coats.
Ichigo sighed and looked slightly guilty. "I had no signal in the forest and I had to turn my phone off in the hospital...my parents couldn't contact me," she explained, looking through her messages with a morose expression. "They must be worried."
Keichiiro smiled and walked over to the cafe's phone. "Ichigo-san go on upstairs and warm up, I'll contact your parents and let them know what happened."
"Uh, really? Arigatou Akasaka-san!" she cried, before running up to the floor above.
They had gotten back to the cafe half an hour ago, Ichigo had been sorting things out downstairs whilst Keichiiro had been getting Ryou into bed, to rest.
All of the lights were out and Ichigo was being very careful as she climbed the stairs to the top floor, hoping she wouldn't trip over and fall down them. Tentatively she walked up to the closed door just down the corridor to her, she could see the faint glow of the light inside, spilling out from the door.
She knocked softly on the wood before opening the door a crack, looking around the room to make sure she wouldn't walk in on anything she didn't want to. Phew! He's asleep.
Ichigo opened the door further before stepping in, her gaze gliding over to the bed in the corner; something didn't seem right there... but she'd worry about it later. She smirked as she set her gaze on the person asleep under the sheets, grinning evilly. Akasaka-san must have made him go to bed, heh like a kid being told by his parents...now it's him being ordered around for once. Demo... I wonder when the last time was he got ill; he looks so hot and uncomfortable.
She knew he had taken some medicine earlier but it didn't look like it had helped his fever at all, she was shocked at how hard he was breathing. Ichigo didn't even realise that her body had moved when she found her self by his side, her hand placed gently on his head. There was a cloth on it, but it didn't seem to be cooling him down at all, he was still burning up and it worried her.
"Ichigo-san?"
Ichigo jumped and pulled back her hand, turning around to see Keichiiro standing at the door, smile still in place.
"A-Akasaka-san, I didn't hear you come in, heh heh," she laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "So uhm, what did my parents say?"
"Don't worry they weren't angry, although there was a lot of shouting in the background," he told her. Ichigo could only sweat drop, Otou-san.....baka.
"They're both glad that you're safe and they're okay with the arrangements for tonight," he smiled, walking over to her. They were both talking in hushed voices in case they woke their sleeping friend up.
"Oh that's good, arigatou Akasaka-san," Ichigo thanked him, gratefully. "Wait...what arrangements?"
"Oh didn't I say?" Keichiiro asked aloud, his face not revealing the evil glint in his eyes. "You'll be staying here for the night, it's still late and you are ill. Your parent's both agreed it would be best for you to stay here for the night."
"N-nani! I-I-I I really couldn't, it'd be too much trouble and w-where would I sleep?!" Ichigo asked, voice rising as she panicked. She clamped a hand over her mouth as Ryou moved behind her. Oops. Calm down it's not like it's anything bad! Besides it's only a night...
"But what about clothes..." she thought aloud.
"Ah I'm sure Ryou has some clothes that will fit you," Keichiiro told her, causing Ichigo's entire face to invent a new shade of red.
"N-no! I can't wear Shirogane's clothes," she cried. "That'd be j-just wrong, and they're his clothes, so uh that'd be pretty..well um. Eh!"
Keichiiro held back a grin as Ichigo's ears and tail popped into place, her blush only intensifying. Ichigo could only think that there were so many shades of red; what with her own fever and the continuous embarrassment...she didn't think it was possible for there to be any more!
"It'll be fine Ichigo-san, it's only a night so there's no need to worry," Keichiiro said, trying to offer some comfort; even though his thoughts had an ulterior motive.
He walked over to Ryou's cupboard and had a quick look through the bottom drawers, before returning with some neatly folded clothes in his arms. "Ryou's grown out of these, so they were going to be given away or thrown."
"Oh..." Ichigo sighed, staring at the pile unhappily.
"They'll probably fit, they're just shorts and a t-shirt so they won't be too big on you," Keichiiro explained, handing them over to her with a smile as usual.
"No uh...it's fine," she assured him, smiling weakly. This feels odd, like some thing's going to go wrong. I'm not going to enjoy this, especially what with how I've been acting with Ry-Shirogane...
"I'll just go and change, ne?" The koneko jumped up from the bed and ran into Ryou's bathroom. Closing the door behind her she slumped against it, sighing heavily.
What on Earth, why would okaa-san agree to this? She knows I quit work and everything....so why did she have to agree with this! Kyah I'm gonna wear Ryou's CLOTHES...and sleep at his home, this is not going to end well.
Ichigo sighed again, coughing into her hand and groaning. She eyed the clothes in her hands sceptically and shook her head as she conceded to defeat, well it's not like she could just walk back out in her own clothes. What excuse could she come up with so quickly?
"Let's just get it over with," she said, tugging off her dirty clothes and chucking them to the floor. She held Ryou's top at arms length and studied it curiously, it was still a size or two too big for her, but compared to the rest of the blonde's wardrobe; it was a fairly normal t-shirt, it looked like something you'd wear in the summer though.
As for the shorts; they came to just above her knees and she had to draw the string around them tightly, just so they wouldn't fall down to her feet. Well what did she expect? They were guys clothes and they weren't made to fit women.
They fit pretty well, all things considered, Ichigo thought oddly. Well let's find out where I'm sleeping.
The red head fought back the urge to sneeze before gathering up her clothes and making her way out of the bathroom.
"Aka-ah achoo! Grr, Akasaka-san where will I be sleeping?" Ichigo asked, rubbing her nose furiously from the continuous itch. "Akasaka-san? Huh he must have-cough-gone down stairs."
Ichigo looked around the room and then set her dirty clothes in a pile by the door. Clearing her throat she walked back into the bathroom, catching her reflection in the mirror; the larger clothes hung off her shoulder loosely, flowing downwards to show just how small her frame was, in comparison to the top. She blushed at the sight and shook her head, fiddling with the neck of the top. It doesn't look too bad...but this is embarrassing. Ryou will tease me mercilessly if he sees me in this...
Ichigo rubbed her eyes and yawned, making her way back out of the bathroom. She glanced over to Ryou's bed and began to walk over there, staring down at him. He doesn't look like his sleeping well, so much for rest. He's so hot...baka why'd you have to go get ill? I'm supposed to be mad at you! Hmph see I'm not just a weapon, I- not that I know why- am bloody worried about you jerk, so...so- oh why do you have to be such a jerk?! I'm not meant to care about you or worry; I'm supposed be angry and cold.
She frowned, bringing herself to sit on the bed, her hand carefully brushing the blonde hair from his face. "Jerk...you could of got pneumonia or...or hypothermia, if I didn't find you...you're such a baka, but why do I even care?"
The confused girl took her hand away and sat back still in thought. This cold charade she had put on, meant only for when she was around him or Aoyama, had gone. She didn't know why, but every time she tried to act that way in front of the blonde jerk she started to feel guilty, like she had done something wrong. Why did she have to feel guilty, when he was the one who had spoke to her like that? He should feel the guilt, he should apologise and...and he shouldn't have scared her.
A tear trailed down the koneko's cheek dripping softly onto the blanket beneath her, she wiped it away absently, wondering only why this person who teased her and berated her, could cause her so much pain. He could've died, he could've never been found in time and it would have been left as nothing but hard feelings between the two. She didn't want to loose someone she cared about, even if she didn't know why she did in the first place. Maybe it was all the times he had saved her, or the times he had done something nice for her, he was always looking out for her even if he did annoy her endlessly.
She had hurt him so much this month, along with her friends and herself, whether it was intentional or not it still cut her deeply. How many times had Ryou been injured because of her lately? Surely it was getting a little out of hand by now? Slapped, cut open, scratched, she wouldn't have been surprised if she had cause him to get ill!
She took the cloth, now warm, from his head and rinsed it out, replacing it with a cool one. She had never seen him asleep properly before, she guessed if it was a normal day he'd be sleeping peacefully, instead of fitfully. He reminded her of a child; needing to be taken care of, scared of the situation maybe. How he could sleep like this was a mystery to her, it looked like such an effort.
The door clicked and Ichigo turned around to face Keichiiro walking into the room.
"Ah those fit alright then, Ichigo-san?" He asked.
"Hai, anou~ where am I sleeping Akasaka-san?" She asked, taking her mind away from her thoughts and onto something a bit more concerning.
"Where you're sitting," he replied, pointing to the bed.
"E-EH! D-demo I can't share a bed with Ry-Shirogane! It's too small and it'd just be s-s-so—You can't be serious!?" She cried, astonished or rather, stunned by the idea. There was a slight pause before the familiar sound of the koneko's ears and tail coming into place was heard.
"Ah it's not a single bed Ichigo-san, and it will be easier to take care of the both of you if I have you in the same room," he explained, putting a finger to his lips signaling for her to quieten down a bit. "Ichigo-san, I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to, it's just for conveniences sake so I won't have to go from room to room."
"O-oh, that's uhm, well I guess...maybe, just for that reason, you know if Shirogane's so ill and all," Ichigo stammered, feeling the world spinning around her. She was wearing his clothes and now she had to share his bed! If there's a god...he or she hates me. "B-but only for the night! 'C-cos it'd be a-an annoyance and cause trouble otherwise."
"That's fine Ichigo-san," Keichiiro smiled, nodding his head. "Well get some rest, I'll check on you two in the morning."
"Hai... Oyasumi nasai Akasaka-san," Ichigo said, grudgingly. Her tail whipping around in anger and embarrassment.
--
"Mnn...zzz," -Blink blink- Sooo hot...Gnn.
Brown eyes opened heavily and moved blearily around, taking in the horizontal view of the morning world from where she lay. Hm...my bed's on the wrong side of the room...How odd.
Ichigo's eyes closed once again as she started to doze off, no where near yet awake. Mm, the window was in the wrong place too...That's strange. My throat feels weird..........Eh?
"Eh!! WHERE AM -cough cough- Ugh...oh yeah -cough-" Ichigo's words trailed off as she tried to clear her throat, it felt as if some one had put sand paper down there. "Itai."
The bed shifted beside her, and still not quite awake, the koneko tilted her head confusedly. Why was the bed moving? She couldn't work it out. It was too early for her to think coherently, not that her head was going to let her anyway; she could hear the blood pounding in her ears.
Ichigo sighed and dismissed it as her cold playing tricks on her, she laid back down and rolled over, eyes half open staring ahead. Ichigo blinked, and blinked again as she stared dazedly at the blonde head in front of her. Etto...Ryou is in my bed...
She blinked again and her eyes widened to the realisation. It was a moment in time when you'd have to see it to believe it. Ichigo had never screamed so loud in her life, tumbling violently backwards out of the bed, with a thud onto the floor. Ichigo's eyes were wide open and her face had turned a brilliant red over the top of her fever. She held one hand tightly around her neck; if any thing, the one thing she regretted at that moment was screaming. If her throat didn't feel cut up before, it now felt like someone had attacked it with a razor. "-ch..."
"Nm...Ichi-?"
Ichigo looked up, barely hearing her name through the whisper that had been said. Leaning over the bed was her blonde former boss, his eyes were unfocused and he seemed to be concentrating very hard on trying to focus on her.
"You're..." he pointed down to where she was sprawled on the floor in a tangle. "Why?"
"Uh-uhm...well I'm not qui-i ah-achoo!...quite sure at the moment," she told him, laughing embarrassedly and scratching at her nose.
Ryou grunted, and winced at the pain that cut through his chest. His hair was mussed up, his bangs were falling loosely over his flushed cheeks. Ichigo wondered why he was even bothering to try to talk to her, it was obvious from his labored breathing and whispered words that it wasn't much good.
"You should lay down...You look like you're going to pass out," she told him, untangling her legs from the covers.
"Who could sleep..." Ryou tried to smirk, even as his voice began to cut out. "...w-th you're...noise?"
Ichigo rolled her eyes and stood up, dusting her self off. Was it her or was the room spinning slightly? She bent over Ryou, who was looking up at her with an attempt at an amused expression, not that it worked with his dully glazed eyes, and pushed him backwards.
"Rest -cough- Akasaka-san's orders, and the doctors," she scolded, reprimanding him.
Ryou rolled his own eyes at her words. Hypocrite, he thought. She wasn't looking so good herself and he was certain that there never used to be two Strawberry's before...Okay maybe she was right, he did need rest.
"Ichi---," Ryou didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before it cut off and he burst into a coughing fit. He sat up with his hand over his mouth trying to catch a breath or stop himself. He could feel every breath tearing up through his lungs, it was making him feel sick and dizzy; he couldn't breathe.
The next thing he knew a glass was being pressed into his hands close to his mouth. He drank half of the glass hurriedly in one breath- or what ever it was he had left in him- and nearly choked as the cold water scratched against his throat. The drink was taken away and Ryou gulped in the air greedily, his entire chest felt bruised and he was shaking from the adrenaline. A small thought in the back of his mind wondered just why he was reacting so much to an illness, they never usually bothered him enough to make him panic in the slightest before.
A cool hand pressed against his head and his tired eyes traveled up to the source. Ichigo was watching him with her own panic evident in her eyes, she had never had an illness like this before and she had never been near anyone who had had it either. She didn't expect something like this; it looked painful and she didn't know how to help.
Ryou stared at her, an eyebrow raised in confusion, he was still panting heavily, unconsciously leaning further into her cool hand. "W-why...are y-you...nng," he paused, taking in a deep breath that threatened to bring on another coughing fit. "...here? At the...cafe? I-in he..re?"
His eyes traveled downwards sleepily, and he concentrated hard as he stared at her. Ryou gave a half hearted smirk as he pointed to her clothes. Ichigo blushed under her fever as she noticed this.
"Akasaka-san's idea...What do you mean 'why am I here?'?" she asked, moving his hair away from his face without noticing her actions. It was hard for her to hear what Ryou was saying, he sounded like he had to force the words out for them to even make an audible sound.
"Can't...-member much..." Ryou said in his sore voice. He took the glass back from Ichigo and drunk some slowly. "'Bout yesterday -cough- th-t is."
"Well uhm, you got caught in the storm and a tree hit you. So you passed out and caught a cold," Ichigo explained. She never claimed she was any good at doing it though. Ichigo cleared her throat before continuing. "I was picking up some shopping but the post office was closed, and I got caught in the rain and found -cough- you in the forest...with lots of blood...and you looked like you could've been dead."
Ryou waited for her to continue, fitting her explanation into the gaps in his memory as he tried to figure it out. Well so far he could only remember the hospital -the stitches in his head, that is- and the storm that had paralyzed him with fright. It also explained why Ichigo was ill too. He really wanted to lean against the wall, but he couldn't find the strength to move.
"...and there was the hospital, and you had stitches heh heh," Ichigo grinned at the memory of Ryou's sulking expression. Ryou scowled in response. "...and then we ca-cough- came back here...and Akasaka-san made me stay over. So that's it I think?"
There was a moment of awkward silence that passed by the two. Ryou was the one to break it as he swayed into Ichigo's side heavily. Ichigo could feel the heat radiating from all over him and moved him to lay back against his pillows to sleep.
She lent over to the desk near the bed and took the cloth from the basin, ringing out the water and placing it over his forehead. He groaned and turned his head to the side to look at the strawberry headed girl. His eyes refusing to stay open for more than a few seconds.
"Thank...you," he whispered, softly. I don't know why she's still here, she could have left a while ago...demo, I'm glad she stayed; that she's even speaking to me...I guess that's some kind of accomplishment, for what ever the reason. Why though?
"...Why?" he asked her, after a few minutes off silence. It really was impossible to sleep; he was exhausted, but the fact his body felt as though it were on fire was preventing him from sleeping.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow, pressing the damp cloth against his red cheeks softly. If Ryou hadn't been as ill as this, he would have had to have commented on her actions, if only to see her blush.
"Why what?" she asked, genuinely curious.
"Why are you...you still here," Ryou breathed in deeply, steadying his breath. "Talk-ng to m...me? Or j-just this?"
He placed his hand over her own, which was holding the cool fabric to his head. He removed it, resting his hand back onto his chest.
Ichigo blushed; she hadn't really noticed what she was doing at all. It just seemed natural. Why am I doing this? Shouldn't I have just left? Wasn't I angry with him? Mou...he's ill though. I can't leave him like this...if I was this ill, if I looked this scared...surely anyone would look after me. My kaa-san would be with me every minute, too worried to leave...It's not okay to just leave. Angry or not I do care about him I guess. But I really should pay attention to what I'm doing...I don't even remember picking this thing up!
"'Why am I still here?' Because okaa-san wouldn't leave me alone when I'm ill," she told him, leaning back against her half of the bed. The covers up around her waist. "Because she wouldn't leave me when I'm scared or when I need to be looked after. I guess I just learned from her...I won't leave someone on their own, it's better if you have someone with you..."
Ryou forced himself to look at her, fighting against his heavy lids. Ichigo was looking away in the general direction of the window, he knew she was blushing.
He turned away from her and closed his eyes. Okaa-san...I remember when mine would panic when I was ill..., he thought, remebering a time long ago. He barely noticed the bed moving as Ichigo yawned and pulled herself back down under the covers. She was so tired, maybe if she just slept for a little while longer she'd feel a bit better.
Ryou had already dozed off, his head lolled onto the koneko's shoulder and his breathing leveled out some.
Ichigo didn't mind at that particular moment; her mind was mostly craving sleep, although there was that one part that continued to make her blush. The only thing that bothered her, was that after several long agonizing minutes; her nose started to itch.
It was starting to become a problem, if she was going to sneeze then hurry it up! Mou...I just want to go to sleep...
She put her hand up to her nose and scratched it; she didn't know if it had worked because her tiredness had numbed all her senses...she'd probably been awake for at least an hour for all she new.
Within a few seconds that itch came back. She groaned and scratched her nose again, feeing something brush against her hand; that wasn't right...
The tired-and extremely vexed- girl, forced her eyes open. It took a while for her vision to adjust and she scratched her nose again for what felt like the hundredth time. It was only now, with open eyes, that she saw the source of the annoying tiggle on her nose; a dark grey ear. It looked oddly familiar, but it wasn't long before realisation hit her. Alto's ear?...Ryou has cat ears!!!
It took the female koneko every effort not to burst out into hysterics at the sight of them. Oh the fun she was going to have!
Told ya! Very cliche; but this was my general idea from the start...after i planned it all out i got bored and read some more TMM fic...turns out quite a lot of people did that part TT-TT Oh i'm so unoriginal!!!
Well hopefully i can start the next chapter and get it up before next year XD
Oh and as for college...i'm considering killing the place! They're making us draw naked people!!!!! TT-TT -sobs- Oh the horror!
Hope you liked this chapter, R&R Please!
Until next time!
