Chapter 9

"Why are you coming with us?" Lacus asks in annoyance.

"Relax, as much as I would love to come on your job with you, I have my own things to take care of. We shall go separate directions when we get there. I kept my word."

"Good."

Mika sighs in exasperation, another random drop in from Ferid. They were almost ready to leave when he showed up and said he was going with them. Of course he'd be in the backseat with Mika because Rene cared nothing about seniority, but as long as he kept his hands to himself, it should be fine.

"If you're coming, let's go. I don't know if the weather will hold," Rene says with a glance at the darkening sky. "We should do this fast."

They load up and once they make it to the location about 45 minutes away, Ferid disappears while they crouch down to wait. It's another simple task, the man hired a hitman to kill someone from Krul's organization who was trailing him and Krul's returning the favor with her own people.

"Krul never used to go after so many people," Lacus comments.

"Her position didn't used to be this unstable."

Mika remains silent, they're right, but he's not going to add fuel to the fire by giving his opinion. The fact is people consider Krul soft because she doesn't have a thirst for blood. Leadership passed from her brother, Asuramaru, to her when he passed and her subordinates consider her an unfit leader. It's been brewing for a while now and there are whispers of insubordination from those closer to the top.

If Krul can't get it back under control, other branches may step in to put in a new leader and it likely won't end well for her. Mika doesn't approve of the increase in attacks, but he also realizes it's unavoidable. They have yet to stamp out the root of the dissension, but it's something Krul is putting her best effort to finding. There's benefit for him to though, the more stable Krul's position is, the safer he is. He doesn't know what would happen to him if Krul were taken out, he's not even related to her by blood.

"There he is Mika," Lacus' nudge bringing him back to the situation at hand. "Well, isn't he a giant. I'll shoot the bodyguard and immediately you go after the target. Rene's covering us."

"Got it."

"Now."

Lacus fires and hits the bodyguard right over his heart, he goes down instantly and the target looks around before taking off back the way they came. Mika jumps up from their hiding spot and takes off after him. He doesn't get far past the bodyguard before he feels a hand grab his ankle sending him painfully to the ground, his gun flying out of his hand. "Lacus!" Mika yells as Rene jumps over him to take up his pursuit.

"I'm here," he responds letting loose a carefully aimed bullet. "Sorry about that," he says pulling Mika up. Lacus pats the bodyguard's chest, "Looks like he had a bullet proof vest, but he's finished now."

"Yeah, so am I."

"He's been taken care of," Rene states returning to their group.

"Where is he?"

"I left him where I shot him."

Mika shoots a look at Lacus, "Did you check?"

"I made sure he was dead."

"Let's go then," Lacus huffs.

"I have to find my gun first."

"You better hurry," he says as a drop of rain hits him in the face.

Mika turns and begins searching the alley, the darkness isn't helping him at all. He's crouched near the back of the alley when they hear the sirens. "Mika, shit! Hurry up! Someone must've called!"

"I can't find it," he yells back frantically.

"Fuck! We can't stay, leave it or meet us at the car!"

"You're gonna leave me?!"

"You dropped it! We can't all be caught!" Lacus grabs Rene and they take a sharp right out of the alley and across the street. Mika curses internally, he can't leave his gun, it's got his fingerprints all over it. The sirens have gotten obnoxiously louder by the time he locates his gun in a corner. It's too risky to try to leave without being seen. Mika can already see the flashing lights when he makes the decision that his best chance to go undetected is the narrow strip between a bush and the fence. He makes a mad dash for it and crouches down to wait.

~~~~~
"Where's Mika?" Ferid questions them.

"Someone called the cops and they got here a lot faster than I would've thought possible. Mika was in the middle of searching for his gun when they arrived. I think he's out there hiding somewhere until they leave."

"It's pouring rain."

"And he's probably miserable, but he can't move until they're gone if he doesn't want to be caught."

"My poor Mika," Ferid frowns sadly. "This will probably take a while, they'll want to get all the evidence they can before the rain washes it away." Ferid suddenly smirks, "I'll meet you all back here shortly," and he disappears around the corner.

~~~~~
Mika leans closer to the fence, careful not to make a sound. This was the closest hiding spot he could get to in the spur of the moment and it's not the best. He's fortunate it's darker and he has his hoodie pulled over him, if not for that, his pale skin and blonde hair would make him an easy target to see in the flashing lights.

Unfortunately though, his hoodie does little to keep the rain out, he's already soaked through and it's all he can do to hold the shivers and chattering of his teeth in. The longer this crime scene is active, the colder he gets, but this wasn't some random guy and they're intent on combing the area for any trace of evidence they can find. Mika wedges himself farther into the corner between the bush and fence, hoping he won't be seen.

He's unsure of how long it's been when he's awoken by his phone vibrating, he's shaking so hard it takes him some extra effort to reach his phone to answer Rene's call. "H-hello?"

"Where are you? They've finally left, but there's probably still some surveillance, so be careful when you come out. We're by the car two blocks down."

"Alright." Mika hangs up and stands, he's so stiff and can't stop shaking. What he wouldn't give for a warm shower right about now. He's thrilled when he sees Lacus' SUV, what he's not thrilled about is Ferid standing beside it giving him a shit eating grin, this can't be good.

"You look like a drowned rat, Mika!" Lacus yells from the driver's side.

"I feel like one too."

"You can't get in here like that, you'll ruin the seats."

"Are you kidding me right now, Lacus?"

"Nope, but Ferid thought ahead…"

Mika glances over to Ferid who's still grinning at him, but he now has a thick blanket spread open in his hands. "I thought you'd be cold and might want a little warmth."

Despite how cold he is and how warm that blanket looks, Mika still has his pride, "No thanks, I'm fine," and he opens the door.

"Mika," Lacus warns, "If you ruin my seats, you're paying for it."

Mika rolls his eyes, "Okay I will." Lacus turns back around, seemingly satisfied.

"Mikaela, dear, you're going to get pneumonia."

"I'd rather get pneumonia than be near you." Ferid tsks, but climbs in the backseat with him and they're off. Mika shivers against the door, the heat is barely doing anything with his clothes soaked through, just making him feel sticky and soggier, especially his shoes. He slips them off, bringing his knees to his chest, curling up smaller, he can practically hear his bed calling to him.

Ten minutes later, he hears Ferid unbuckle his seatbelt and Mika shoots him a half-hearted glare in warning which he promptly ignores before sliding closer and throwing the blanket around Mika's shoulders. Ferid gathers Mika in his arms and as much as Mika hates it, he's too stiff and tired to protest much. "Why are you so stubborn? Where did that come from? You never used to be this way."

"Shut up," Mika mumbles, squeezing in closer to the warmth. He really hates Ferid sometimes.

~~~~~
The next morning Mika wakes up exhausted. His head feels like cotton, he's hot, he's cold, and he's thirsty, but too weak to move. He considers calling out to Krul, but remembers he's home alone. He digs out his phone and sends a quick text to Rene, maybe he'll take pity on him and bring him some medicine later. He doesn't see their response though, because the next minute, his head is heavy and he's out again.

~~~~~
Yuu approaches Lacus and Rene's table which is conspicuously missing Mika. It's not odd that Mika isn't at school, but what is odd is that Lacus and Rene are here while he isn't.

"Hey guys, where's Mika? He's not answering his phone."

"If I had to take a guess, he's probably at home sick."

"He was fine a few days ago."

"True, but he got caught in the rain yesterday. I don't know what he has, but he said he didn't feel well."

Yuu frowns, "He didn't reply to any of my messages."

"Maybe he fell back asleep," Lacus shrugs. "Though, he could probably use some help. Krul's gone and he's there all alone, probably sick and suffering."

"Why didn't you guys help him?!"

"Aren't you his boyfriend? We are helping him, I'm telling you. Go take care of him or something. If you care enough to skip school, that is."

"Of course I care!"

"If he's asleep, he probably won't answer the door, you'll have to climb up and go through his balcony doors."

"Okay." Yuu gives a glance and a quick wave back at his friends before heading out the door. He did promise himself he'd help Mika after all.

Rene turns to Lacus, "Doesn't Mika's balcony have hidden spikes?"

"Yep."

~~~~~
Yuu buckles his seatbelt and starts his car, he really shouldn't be skipping school, but what's the worse they can do, tell Guren? He could just lie and say he went home because he wasn't feeling well, it's not like Guren's home enough to know if Yuu's there or not.

He arrives at Mika's house shortly and as Lacus said, no one answered when he rang the doorbell. Well, reaching his balcony shouldn't be harder than rock climbing, if he can do that, he can definitely do this. He begins to shimmy up the column and almost immediately he feels his hand pierced by something sharp. What the hell?

He flips his hand over, but there's no sign of what stabbed him, just blood on his palm. Yuu wipes his hand on his pants and brushes it gently over the column feeling sharp points every so often. He internally groans, this is probably to discourage people from climbing the balcony and Lacus probably knew all along.

Sighing, Yuu peels off his jacket and wraps the sleeves around each palm and begins the climb again, ignoring the stings in his palms and trying to avoid letting his legs touch the column. Jeez he wants to kill Lacus for not warning him and why the hell is Mika's balcony spiked anyway? Is he that worried someone's going to break in?

Yuu hauls himself over the railing and heads to the door, he turns the doorknob and of course it's locked. He knocks on the door, getting progressively louder and impatient when he doesn't receive a response. His efforts are finally rewarded when he sees the curtains move and the door opens.

"Yuu-chan, what are you doing here?" Mika asks sleepily.

"I was worried about you. Lacus said you were home alone sick."

"Hmm."

Mika's lackluster response is all the reminder Yuu needs that he doesn't feel well. Yuu gets a good look at Mika supporting himself on the door frame, he's sweating, his eyes are unfocused and glazed over, plus he's shivering. Yuu grabs hold of Mika's shoulders and gently leads him back to the bed. "Do you have any medicine?"

"Probably…"

"Have you taken any?" Mika shakes his head. Yuu looks around the room, there's no water, no medicine, nothing to help a sick person. Even if Guren had to work, he'd still try and make sure Yuu was comfortable before he left, but it looks like Mika just stayed in bed miserable all morning. Yuu places a hand on Mika's forehead, "It feels like you have a fever. I'll be right back."

Yuu returns momentarily, after raiding Mika's medicine cabinet, with water, medicine, and a thermometer. Mika's already dozing back off, so Yuu goes ahead and slides the thermometer in his mouth, checking the temperature when it beeps. Yep, just as he thought, Mika has a fever. "Here Mika swallow this." Yuu rouses him lightly and Mika dutifully swallows the medicine before curling up on his side. "The water too." Mika groans. "Just drink, you baby. I'm trying to help you."

Mika forces himself back into a seating position and without opening his eyes lets Yuu hold the water bottle to his mouth, taking a few small sips. "Mmm Yuu-chan, I'm glad you came," he murmurs sleepily.

"Me too."

"Promise you'll stay with me?"

"Duh."

"Forever?"

"Forever?"

"Forever."

"Uh, forever's a long time, Mika."

"I've liked you a long time, it feels like forever."

Yuu combs his fingers through Mika's hair, "Have you?"

"I have."

Yuu gives a huff of laughter, "You should get some sleep." He slides off the bed and watches Mika fall back onto his pillows with his eyes shut. Yuu looks down at Mika and smiles, he never looks this vulnerable awake, it's a nice change.

After bringing more medicine and water to the night stand, Yuu strips out of his jeans and climbs in beside Mika and the next second he feels a warm heavy weight drape over him. Apparently Mika's not as asleep as he thought.

"Yuu-chan…."

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he murmurs tiredly.

Yuu eyes widen in surprise, "You do?"

"So so much….for a long time."

Yuu's pretty sure Mika wouldn't be saying this to him if he was in his right mind instead of tired and disoriented from his fever, but he can't help but be curious. "How long's a long time?"

"Feels like...forever. I watched...you a lot...all the time." Mika snuggles his head under Yuu's chin, his sweaty face rubbing against Yuu's neck. "You...never noticed...but Shinoa did. She...hated it….mmm….didn't...want...me near you…."

Yuu lifts a hand to brush back the sweaty bangs from Mika's forehead, looks like he's actually asleep now. So, Mika's been watching him for a long time, huh. And Shinoa's known….forever, probably about the time she started her anti-Mika campaign. That was over a year ago, though. So, Mika's been in love with him that long and never said anything.

A lot makes sense now: why Shinoa was so against Mika when Yuu hadn't ever spoken to him, why Mika's smiles were always so warm towards him, and most of all why Mika was so eager to spend time with him in the beginning.

Yuu unconsciously begins playing with the hairs at Mikaela's nape, he squirms a bit, but otherwise gives no reaction. But, Yuu considers, for all the questions it answers, there's still more unanswered. Where did Mika's reputation come from? Why are he and his friends so secretive? Why is Shinoa against him? Why wouldn't Mika ever say anything to him before?

Ugh, so many questions, he could just ask Mika when he feels better, but he's positive he wouldn't get an answer, he only got this much because Mika was delirious. Speaking of which, Mika's body is scorching, that can't be good, but he gave him medicine so hopefully it helps. Yuu looks down at Mika's flushed, but peaceful face and promises himself again, he will help Mika.

~~~~~
Yuu wakes up sometime that evening and the back of his shirt is soaked through with sweat that isn't his. Yuu makes a face, that's gross, but he chose to climb in the bed with Mika, at least his fever appears to be broken now and he's sleeping peacefully, albeit on top of Yuu's back and with a death grip on his shirt, but still, he's resting.

He wiggles out of Mika's grip and his shirt is plastered to his back, he really wants a bath. Yuu heads into Mika's spacious bathroom and takes a seat on the edge of his garden tub to run water. He's waiting for the tub to fill when Mika appears in the doorway, still paler than usual, but his eyes are clear and focused. "Feel better now?" He receives a shrug in reply. "Do...you want to take a bath with me?"

Mika hesitates for a brief moment before nodding and making his way over to straddle Yuu's lap and lean against him. Yuu grabs Mika's waist to steady them from falling in the tub, "You're pretty clingy today."

"Why are you taking a bath now?"

"Because you sweated your fever out all over me and I feel gross."

"Oh."

They lapse into silence as the tub fills until Yuu catches a whiff of something fruity and glances behind him to see that Mika has dumped bubble bath in the tub and its rapidly filling up with bubbles. "Really? Bubble bath?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, plus….I've never taken a bath with another person and this makes it less awkward.

Yuu laughs, "You could've just said no."

"I wanted to."

Yuu lifts Mika off him, shutting off the water and peeling away the rest of his clothes, stepping into the tub and doing his best not to watch Mika undress. An erection is the last thing he needs right now.

Yuu slides into the water until the bubbles tickle his chin, only opening his eyes when he feels Mika settle across from him. He watches Mika idly play with some bubbles, but he looks more tired than anything if the dark circles under his eyes are anything to go by.

He really shouldn't right now, but…"So...you've liked me for a year, huh?"

Mika freezes, "W-what?"

"You've liked me for a year and used to watch me all the time."

"I didn't- I mean, I don't- no?"

"You were kind of like stalker, but a pretty good one since I never noticed. Did you follow me home sometimes too?"

"I wasn't a stalker! I haven't liked you that long!"

"Don't lie to me, Mika," Yuu taunts.

Mika sighs, "Did Lacus and Rene tell you that?"

"No, you did, when you were burning up with fever."

"I-it's not like that. I wasn't a stalker, I just...you...and I couldn-"

Yuu leans forward and cuts him off with a soft kiss. "It's okay, Mika. I'm just joking with you. I...don't know if it's love yet, but I really like you too." And it makes Yuu's heart melt, the relief that comes over Mika's face when he says that. He hadn't realized how important it was to Mika to have his feelings reciprocated.

They finish bathing in silence, though it's not uncomfortable in the slightest, before Yuu gets out and rifles through Mika's dresser for clothes. He yawns and goes back to the bed, then cringes when he feels the sheets are still damp, he doesn't particularly want to sleep in sweat after a bath.

"Mika! Where are your sheets?"

"Why?" He shouts back from the bathroom.

"Because your sheets are still cold and wet."

Mika comes out of the bathroom looking at lot better than when he went in, "Forget about that. I'll change them later." He grabs a blanket and gets comfortable on the couch.

"We can't both fit on there."

"Yes we can."

"But-"

"Yuu-chaaan! Come sleep on the couch with me!"

"Fine, fine. You don't have to yell." Mika grabs Yuu and yanks him down into an embrace the moment he's close enough.

"Really, thanks for coming."

"No problem." Yuu adjusts until he's more comfortable, "Although I do want answers since I took care of you. Mika? Mika? You're not asleep, I know you're just pretending." Yuu pokes him in the side and receives no response. "Ugh, fine," Yuu relents even as he feels Mika shaking slightly with laughter.

~~~~~
"Mikaela! Are you okay? I heard…" Krul trails off as she sees Yuu looking at her in surprise.

"Uh hello?"

"Oh. Yuuichirou. I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah...Mika wasn't feeling well, so I came to take care of him." Yuu rests a hand on Mika's forehead, "He seems to be doing better now though."

"I see." Krul scrutinizes him so long, he starts to shift uncomfortably, aware of his position atop Mika.

"Um, yeah. So, I think I'm just gonna head home."

"At least stay for breakfast, " Krul finally says. "I've been wanting to talk to you anyway."

"S-sure." Yuu looks down at Mika and prays he wakes up soon, despite how deeply asleep he clearly is.

"You can just leave Mikaela. I'm sure he'll wake up sooner or later."

"Right." Yuu waits until Krul leaves to shimmy from under the blanket and pull his pants on before making his way downstairs. He takes a seat at the island and watches Krul prepare breakfast, the last time he sat here, he had a much better view, but probably best not to think about that right now.

Krul sets an omelette in front of Yuu and observes him casually. "So Yuuichirou, you're dating my son?"

Yuu pauses mid bite and places his fork back down, so it's going to be that kind of talk. "I am."

"And how is it going?"

"I think it's going well."

"I suppose so, you did come over and take care of him. How did you know he was sick?"

"Lacus and Rene told me." Yuu notices her eyes widen in surprise, did she not know Mika was friends with them? Maybe she doesn't trust them either.

"Yes..that's how I found out this morning also. I can only wonder why he didn't call me." Her eyes narrow slightly at Yuu. "How close are you with them?"

"Not close at all. They're Mika's friends, they only told me, so I could help him."

Krul nods slowly, "Yuuichirou, how much do you like my son?"

What an awkward question. "A lot?"

"You should be sure of that before you stay with him any longer. Mika gets attached and if you stay with him, you'll be with him for the long haul and you may find yourself in over your head. Wait too long to decide you don't care for him as much as you thought and it may not end well."

Yuu blinks in surprise. Did he just a get a warning from Mika's mom? Just what the hell is going on, clearly she knows or she wouldn't be warning him. What is he supposed to do with that? "Are you telling me to...break up with him?"

"Not at all. You're young Yuuichirou, I'm telling you to make sure he's what you really want before getting too involved with him. You may or may not be able to tell, but Mikaela is the loyal type. If you let him, he will love you with everything he has and give you anything. He may seem a bit distant sometimes now, but he will only be able to keep it for so long before his want to be close to you overpowers most everything else. Be sure it's what you want before things go too far. I don't want both of you to hurt unnecessarily, especially him. Despite everything, he still has a soft heart and you make it softer."

Yuu silently finishes his breakfast, he needs time to process this and he doesn't have a clue where to start. He almost jumps a foot when he feels his phone vibrate, he forgot it was in his pants' pocket. Yuu goes pale when he sees numerous missed calls and texts from Guren and that it's 9:30am. "Uh I have to go to school and my guardian wants me home, he's worried."

Krul looks up at the clock and frowns, "It's a bit late to try and make school, I'll take care of it," she says with a wave of her hand. "Go see your guardian and if you do skip school, Mikaela's not going either and I'm sure he'd love the company. But after you've given what I said some thought."

"I will, thank you for breakfast." Yuu pats his pockets for his car keys and hurries out the door.

~~~~~
Mikaela stands hidden just outside of the doorway fighting back tears. Why did Krul have to say that? Sure, he'd eventually run into problems with Yuu, they're already starting to and Yuu's been prying, but he's been handling it! If she tells him something ominous like that, what's he going to think? And he's not weak just because he loves Yuu! He can't deny he's done some things he wouldn't have done if it wasn't for Yuu. It still isn't fair, he's been nothing but loyal to her, he should at least get this. He pads silently back up the stairs to his couch where he cries himself back to sleep.

~~~~~
Yuu tries to stealthily unlock the door and enter the house, but it's a no go. The minute he opens the door, Guren is there waiting for him. "And where the hell have you been, Yuuichirou?"

"I was at Mika's house."

"You couldn't answer a single call or text?"

"I was...busy. I didn't even see them until this morning."

"Busy. You couldn't tell me you were staying the night?"

"I forgot. I didn't even think you'd be home to notice!"

"I NOTICED! What am I supposed to think when you don't show up or answer calls and your friends haven't seen you since lunch?! LUNCH! Meaning you skipped half a day of school!"

Yuu sighs, "I'm sorry, Mika was sick and alone, so I went over to help him. I didn't know I was going to stay that long."

"Where was his mother?"

"At work."

Guren makes a noise of frustration, "You're grounded."

"What?! For helping a friend?"

"No, for being irresponsible! Next time send a message, so I won't be up all night worrying about you. Go do something with yourself quietly, now that you're finally home, I can get some sleep."

Well he clearly won't be going back to Mika's today or anytime soon, but perhaps it'll give him some time to think.