Lol… I didn't realise this first bit was so short, oops. OH WELL.

This is the end of the first document, all 159 pages of it. Things get a little different from here on out. Fuahah.

Thanks for reading~

Characters belong to their respective owners. Ragnarok Online © Gravity.

At 8pm, an exhausted but elated Keiran dragged himself up the stairs and down to Kuronosu's office on the first floor. Dinner had been a loud affair, as those who had stayed behind had deemed it necessary to organise a feast to welcome the DBers home. Keiran and his friends had claimed the very end of one of the tables in attempt to avoid the noise, but had been joined by Chris and Shiz, who were being a pain as usual and were demanding to know what drops everyone had got and criticizing their choices.

She loves me, she loves me... Keiran thought over and over as he wandered along the hall, a dreamy look on his face, narrowly avoiding walking into a Crusader who was going the opposite way ("careful!"). Twice already he had walked into walls because he wasn't paying attention. He had no idea if he was going to be able to explain his situation with the card to Kuronosu when he couldn't concentrate for longer than two seconds, but he couldn't just not go.

Kuronosu's office door was covered in notices, as was the notice board beside it, explaining the guild rules, latest news on guild alliances, advertisements for cards that were of use to Paladins... He knocked on it hesitantly.

"Come in~"

Kuronosu looked up from his desk as Keiran entered, setting down his pen from where he had been doing the crossword in the daily paper. He had abandoned his armour for the night and was wearing jeans and a plain white tee, his deviruchi hat and toast equip perched on the desk beside him, but he still wore his rosary, resting on its silver chain around his neck. He looked so normal... If very tired.

"Ah, Keiran..." he said with a tired smile, stuffing the paper into a drawer and gesturing at a squishy looking chair in front of his desk. "Please do sit down."

"Yes sir." Keiran sat, fidgeting nervously. Why he was nervous, he didn't know. Maybe it was being in an office of someone superior, like visiting the principal's office at school. Kuronosu's office was nothing like the average teacher's office. It was large and brightly lit, with swords and shields decorating the walls with little plaques under them explaining their origins. On the bookshelves around the room were framed photos – here was one of a younger Kuronosu standing in front of two people who quite obviously were his parents, holding a young grinning girl on his shoulders, and there, Kuronosu on a very shiny pecopeco with brightly coloured ribbons tied up the length of its neck.

"A peco show, at Alberta." Kuronosu said, following Keiran's gaze to the photo. "My first, and last. Three 3rd place ribbons, a 2nd, two 5ths and a broken arm..."

Keiran said nothing, but fixed his attention on Kuronosu.

"Labyrinth was a little over-excited – threw me into a tree." Kuronosu sighed, straightening up in his seat. "So, you had something to talk to me about? A card..?"

"Yes sir." said Keiran, fishing the card out of his pocket and sliding it across the desk for Kuronosu to see. "Um... I'd like to donate it to the guild... But," Now, how do I say this without sounding stupid... "There's a Paladin, Xin; he gave me the card-"

"Yes, Darius told me." Kuronosu said kindly, peering at the card over bridged fingers. "You'd like to see it come back to Xin somehow?"

"...Yes sir, if that's at all possible."

"Of course. That's not a problem at all. ... However."

Keiran blinked. "Sir?"

"I do think you deserve this card." The Paladin held up his hand to silence Keiran's protests, and continued with a smile, "Although I can understand your reluctance to accept it too. So, I will accept this card for the guild, and be sure that its worth is returned to Xin, but I insist that you are rewarded – if you had been a Crusader, your actions would probably have got you Knighted."

"But I didn't do anything! Kiba-" Keiran spluttered. You can get Knighted for pointing out an enemy? What.

"Would also have been Knighted. And as such he too, will be rewarded." Kuronosu said, smiling. "Is there anything you and your friends have need of? Anything at all."

"Anything?"

"Anything. Be it a pool table or an automatic soap dispenser for the bathroom."

Keiran snorted, hastily turning it into a cough, which caused Kuronosu to raise his eyebrows.

Clearing his throat, Keiran stared at the closed curtains thoughtfully, what did they need? They had everything they could want already didn't they..? No. Not quite.

"Sir... There is something." Keiran said slowly. Was it too much...?

"Yes?"

"The Knight swordsmen, sir, they have a common room..."

"Ahh." Kuro said, leaning back with a creak, looking thoughtful. "I know just the place. Of course, it'll take a little while to get furniture for it, but it will happen..."

Keiran gaped at him. "But sir-"

"I won't hear any complaints, if that's what you want, then that's what you'll get."

"But-"

"Nope. Not having any of it."

"But the money-"

"We were very lucky with our event. We have money to throw around – more than enough to get you guys somewhere cosy to hang out before bed."

"... Thank you Sir..."

"Is there anything else?"

"Sir! I couldn't ask any more of you-" Keiran half-wailed, horrified.

"Keiran, is there anything else you want?" Kuronosu said, quite forcefully.

"... A stereo" he muttered weakly.

"Ah, to annoy the Crusaders, no doubt." he said, grinning. "Your wish is my command."

Keiran wilted, sliding down the leather with a squeak. "Thank you sir..."

Suddenly Kuronosu stood up with a flourish, stuffing the garm baby card into a filing cabinet by the door. "Come on, come and give me your opinion on this room then."

Reluctantly, Keiran followed the Paladin out of the office and up the stairs to the swordsmen's floor, half-jogging to keep up with his long stride, where he paused beside the guy's bathroom facing the door opposite, which Keiran knew was there but he never bothered to look behind.

Kuronosu rattled the handle experimentally. "... locked." he muttered, digging into his back pocket and fishing out a key, that he then stuffed into the lock, opening it with a click.

"Master bedroom key." Kuro said, grinning as he returned it to his pocket and opened the door, flicking on the lights. "Okay, in we go."

The room, in Keiran's opinion, was perfect, and he told Kuronosu so. It was about three times the size of his and Darius' bedroom, with four long stained glass windows and a protruding fireplace in the middle of the wall opposite the door. Apart from the fireplace and a few shelves on the side walls, coated in a thick layer of dust, the room was completely empty.

"Hmm, it'll need a good dusting, and airing out." Kuronosu observed, sneezing as he shoved a window open to let in the cool evening air, sending up a cloud of dust and dead moths.

"I can do that, sir." Keiran said hastily. He didn't want the Paladin to give him anything else – it's not like he had done anything, really.

Kuronosu raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded, forcing the other windows open. "Very well. And you're sure there's nothing else you want?"

"No sir."

"No you're not sure?"

"... There's nothing else I want, sir." Keiran said flatly. "Thank you."

"Ho-kay." Kuronosu said with a smile, shooing Keiran out of the room in front of him and tugging the door closed. "I suppose we should both head to our beds then. We have lessons tomorrow, after all."

Keiran suspected this meant Kuro would be taking their classes again, hoorah! And nodded, saying a formal goodnight and excusing himself with a bow, rushing to tell Darius the exciting news (not that he would care).

* * *

(Early May)

"Darius." Keiran said.

Darius looked up from his book. "Mm?"

"Daa-reeus. Daa-REE-us. ...Dah-RAI-us."

"..."

"Daraaaaaaaaaai-us. Darius. Dariusssssssssssss."

Darius returned to reading with a frown.

"DAAAAH-REE-USssssssssssSSSSssssssssss!" Keiran exclaimed with a flourish.

"What?" Darius said, slamming his book down.

Keiran smiled stupidly at him, doing a good Krazy impersonation. "Nothing!"

"Why do you keep saying my name?"

"I like the way you can say it so many different ways! Da-raaaaaaiusss!"

"... Good God."

"Daaaaa-ree-yusss."

Darius sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going, Deeraaiusss?" Keiran asked, watching him upside-down from where he was sprawled on his bed with no shirt on – it was 4pm and the day had been, and still was, very hot.

"For a run."

Keiran blinked, "you run?"

"When I can."

"Can I come?" he sat up, eager to relieve his boredom – the common room was clean, but the furniture was yet to arrive, despite it being a whole month since the DB event, and as a result he felt there was nothing to do (and he had a theory test on biblical events in two days that he didn't want to study for). He'd already done so many sit-ups that it hurt to move, restyled his hair six times, spent at least an hour staring at the mirror poking his nearly visible abs, and had tidied his side of the room.

"I thought you didn't like running?" Darius said, pulling his hair back into a tiny ponytail.

"I don't." Keiran said, seeing if his hair was long enough to tie up. It wasn't.

"... Then why do you want to come?"

"I'm bored."

"Why don't you go see Saphira?"

He pouted. "Astarte stoled her away."

"Ahh..."

"Yeah..."

"Alright, you can come." Darius said with a sigh. "But don't expect me to wait for you. ... And I want you to wear a t-shirt."

"Why?" Keiran asked curiously.

"Just do it."

"Okay." Keiran scrambled to his feet and found the least tight t-shirt he had, which proclaimed in loud pink letters 'I 3 LKs pallys'.

Darius gave it a withering look before setting off out the door at a brisk walk.

Even at that pace, Keiran had issues keeping up with him, and was puffed before they'd even got outside. When Darius broke into a jog as they crossed the courtyard, Keiran whimpered and sprinted to catch up to him before he turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

Jogging beside him along the edge of the moat, Keiran tried to copy his breathing pattern, but just couldn't seem to manage it; maybe it took practice? Instead he would run until he couldn't breathe anymore, then would walk, wheezing for a minute, then sprint to Darius' side again. And repeat.

Every time he caught up, Darius would tell him he was doing well, and to keep going - the pain in his legs would go if he ran through it. Keiran found this hard to believe; his calves were on fire, as were his lungs; hell, even his arms hurt.

Finally Darius stopped, and stood, hands on his hips and chest heaving, staring out over the ocean, sweat running down his face.

"... I didn't, realise... we, were... so... close... to-the-sea." Keiran wheezed, falling to his knees in the grass, his breath coming in short gasps, as breathing any other way was too painful to bear.

They were on a cliff, quite high above sea level, near the rear of the castle on the east side. There were huge ragged boulders all around, scattered throughout the grass and a few trees here and there. Over the ocean, gulls called to each other as the waves crashed violently into the cliff face below. Seriously, he really hadn't known there was a cliff that size anywhere near Prontera.

Darius smiled, coming to sit beside him as he toppled onto his back and flung his arms out wide.

"The castle blocks it from view," he said simply, his breathing quicker than usual, but not pained like Keiran's. "Look, you can see Izlude from here."

Keiran heaved himself upright with difficulty and followed Darius' pointing finger with his eyes. Far, far in the distance was a splotch that didn't quite look the same as the rest of the horizon. "Ah." Damn being blind... "Hey Alex," he said with a wave, and fell over again.

"We'll take a shortcut back, I think." Darius said, eyeing Keiran's jerking chest with concern. "You don't have asthma, do you?"

"No... no... Just really- unfit." Keiran waved a hand in a don't-worry-about-me way, closing his eyes and trying to get his breathing under control. "Ouch."

"What's wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"Lungs- hurt."

Darius' eyebrows contracted with worry, "come on, you should get back to the castle before you catch a chill."

Keiran tried to snort, but it hurt too much. "A chill- right... It's like- 30... degrees."

"I'm serious." And that he was, his face was completely flat as he held out a hand to help Keiran up.

"..." Keiran said, pulling himself to his feet. "My legs, hurt."

"That's normal, especially since you've rested."

Keiran shivered; up here on this cliff there was a breeze, and although it was warm, where it touched his sweat it was cold. He was serious...

Darius noticed, and despite them both being sweaty, wrapped his arm around Keiran's shoulder as they walked, rubbing it to warm him.

"What about- you?" Keiran gasped, clutching his chest.

"I'm not sick, I'll be fine." Darius said, chewing his lip.

"I'm... not sick, either." he protested. Then had a coughing fit.

He wanted to scream – it felt like he was ripping up his lungs with every breath he took to recover, and it was all he could do not to as he tasted a metallic tinge in his mouth – blood? He ran a finger over his tongue and looked at it - no blood, so why the taste of it?

"Keiran?" Darius asked.

He coughed again in reply, gasping in pain as he tried to breathe.

Darius looked panicked as he spun Keiran around to face him. "You really don't look well."

"Really..." Keiran managed to say, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, still looking for the source of the blood-taste as his lungs threatened to catch on fire.

"How fast can you walk?"

Keiran demonstrated; walking as fast as his sore legs and burning lungs would allow, pausing occasionally to cough until he gagged, Darius chewing his lip to shreds as he did his best to shelter him from the increasingly cold wind.

"I'll be back, okay? Just keep walking after me." Darius said when they were beside the moat, before turning and darting away.

Keiran stared after him, hugging himself as he walked, one foot in front of the other along the moat bank. Why was Darius so worried? Surely he wasn't going to die, was he? ...

He had another coughing fit, and when he recovered, Darius was rushing back to him carrying what appeared to be a whole duvet, which he wrapped around Keiran's shoulders and rubbed vigorously before encouraging him to keep walking.

Without the wind chilling him, Keiran felt a little healthier, although he couldn't stop coughing and was now bringing up large amounts of God knows what with each fit.

By the time they had crossed the moat via a tiny bridge and entered the castle, Keiran was fed up with coughing and the taste in his mouth. Darius led him straight up to the bathroom and pushed him into a shower, taking down the shower head and making sure it was a suitable temperature before taking Keiran's duvet away and replacing the head back into its holder. Keiran stood, still fully clothed, under the spray, savouring the warmth.

"Take your clothes off," Darius ordered from outside the cubicle. "I'm going to go get you a towel and some clothes. Don't change the water temperature."

Keiran heard the bathroom door open and close, signalling Darius' departure. He stared at the wall blankly; the water wasn't as hot as he liked, but he didn't turn it up - he could just imagine how much harder it would be to breathe in the steam. And anyway, Darius had told him not to touch it. He stripped off and tossed his sopping clothes onto the floor, watching the dye run from his new red socks and swirl around his ankles. Like blood...

His legs were shaking, and when he coughed, he almost fell, just catching himself on the shower fixture. Slowly he sank to his knees, the water cascading down his back. God, this sucks, he thought sulkily, his ears pricked to any sound that might indicate Darius had returned. Why me?

Cough cough gag.

"Keiran?"

Keiran didn't reply, gasping for breath on the floor, and Darius let himself in, his hands full of clothes. Taking one look at Keiran, he flung the clothes over the door out of the wet and in a series of quick movements, turned the water off and wrapped Keiran's shoulders in a fluffy towel, heaving him to his feet to wrap another around his waist.

Keiran hardly noticed, as he was once again trying to rip his lungs to shreds, leaning heavily on Darius as he dragged him out of the shower to sit on the duvet.

"Keiran, speak to me." Darius said in a worried tone, rubbing Keiran's hair dry with yet another towel.

"Hi," he spluttered, clutching the towel around his shoulders closed.

"I sent Arthur to get help."

"So they'll get to see me naked too?" Keiran asked, his voice hoarse.

"I'm sorry about barging into your shower, but-"

"I don't care..." He coughed again, groaning.

Darius tossed a dry towel over his head and proceeded on to drying Keiran's shoulders and chest. It felt good; warming and soothing...

The bathroom door opened and Hikari stepped in, accompanied by a puffed Arthur, both looked worried and confused.

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked, approaching the pair.

On cue, Keiran began his most violent coughing fit yet, doubled over with pain while he tried to swallow the stuff he was coughing up, which made him choke...

Darius was saying something, but he didn't hear what it was over the amount of noise he was making. Then Hikari was beside him, pushing him down so he was laying flat on his back. Keiran tried to roll onto his side – he couldn't cough if he was on his back, but Hikari pinned him down with a strong hand on his chest, "just a sec."

Hikari pressed his ear against Keiran's chest, listening as he spluttered, his eyes streaming. He sat up, allowing Keiran to roll over, and said something to Darius, once again drowned in his coughing. The pain in his chest subsided somewhat as he was enveloped in a green light; but Keiran knew you couldn't heal colds, just like you couldn't heal fevers, nor whatever was ailing him now – only physical injuries.

"That's all I can do for him, I'm afraid." Hikari was saying. "We'll get him to the infirmary-"

"No." Keiran rasped. He hated sleeping in hospitals, or anywhere medicine related – something about the smell, and how clean and plain they were... He also didn't want to be alone.

"... no?"

"I want my own bed."

"But Darius-"

"It's okay." Darius said quietly. "I don't mind."

"He's going to cough all night." Hikari said warningly.

"That's alright."

Hikari sighed. "Suit yourself. Then let's get him to bed."

With Darius under one arm and Hikari under the other, Keiran was half-dragged, half-carried to their bedroom, where he collapsed, coughing, into bed. Arthur had brought the pile of still-dry towels and Keiran's clothes, and also a huge woollen blanket, which Hikari spread over the bed.

"Are you cold?" he asked, placing a jug of water and a glass from somewhere on his bedside table.

Keiran shook his head, burrowing deeper into the covers. It was much too early to sleep, really; probably only around 6, but it didn't look like he was going anywhere for a while... Tomorrow was Sunday-

"You'll probably have to skip church tomorrow if you're still coughing like that in the morning." Hikari nodded as Keiran started again. "But then you'll have the whole day to rest..." He stood up from where he had been sitting at the end of Keiran's bed. "I'll let Kuro know, and you'll be in my prayers tonight."

With that he left, closing the door softly behind him.

"What, am I dying or something?" Keiran asked, wincing at the pain in his throat - Darius and Arthur were standing beside his bed wearing grim expressions. Arthur glanced fearfully at Darius, who shook his head and smiled.

"No, you'll be fine." He rubbed the back of Keiran's hand where it was holding the covers away from his face, then closed his eyes and whispered a quiet prayer for Keiran's fast recovery, joined by Arthur.

"... You guys should go get dinner. I'm not worth going hungry over." Keiran said when they'd finished, feeling grateful, and he attempted a smile, but choked and coughed again. So annoying!

Darius scowled slightly, but gestured to Arthur that they should leave. "Try and get some sleep," he said gently with a final squeeze of Keiran's hand.

"I had planned on it," he muttered as they left, the door closing with a soft click. And coughed.

_______

His sleep was, quite plainly, shit. Every time he finally fell asleep, he would wake up, choking and spluttering, only to roll over with a frustrated groan and try getting back to sleep; Darius watching anxiously from his own bed. Several times he woke up to find his blanket had slithered its way to the floor and left him shivering, but cough-free, then when he tugged it back over himself, he would start coughing again until he gagged.

But somehow he made it through the night, and woke up next morning with a cough to see Darius coming back into their room carrying a tray consisting of Keiran's usual breakfast (half a bowl of cereal, three pieces of toast each with different spreads, an apple and a glass of milk) which he lay carefully on the bedside table.

"Morning," Keiran croaked, sitting up.

"Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Shitty, but thanks for asking." He sniffed. "And now my nose is running."

Darius gave him a sympathetic look as Keiran reached for the bowl of cereal, "Would you like some toilet paper?"

"Oh no, you don't have to – you've already done so much for me, like breakfast, thank you very much by the way. So I'll just sniff."

"I'll get you some anyway." Darius said with a reassuring pat on his shoulder, before picking up the now half-empty water jug. "And I'll refill this for you.

He departed, leaving Keiran feeling rather useless as he snorted cornflakes all over the bed. Hastily he put the bowl down until he'd finished choking, then sniffed loudly. WAIL!!! He hated being sick, more so than most people – being sick restricted the things you could do – you couldn't socialise, which, for Keiran, was a big issue.

Experimentally he picked up his cereal again, and stuffed a spoonful into his mouth before he could start coughing again. Unable to breathe through his blocked nose, he had to eat with his mouth open, disgusting himself so completely he didn't know if he could eat any more.

And so, when Darius returned a few minutes later, carrying the water jug, a whole roll of toilet paper and a bright green bucket, Keiran was staring at his cereal with longing, sniffing every second or two.

"Why the bucket? I don't think I'm gonna puke," he asked, reaching for the paper with flailing arms.

Darius passed the roll to him. "It's for your used tissues."

"Ah, you're so clever." Keiran said thickly after he'd blown his nose, feeling nauseated by the sopping tissue; even Darius had his nose wrinkled.

"Charming," he said dryly, holding out the bucket. "Was there something wrong with the food?"

"Oh my God, it's awful." Keiran said, the tone ruined by his illness-altered voice. "Not your food, I mean- I can't eat it, I can't breathe." He pouted, and had yet another coughing session. "This sucks so bad – I can't sleep, I can't eat; I can't do anythiiiing!"

"Just take smaller mouthfuls."

"... Okay."

"Alright, I need to get going," Darius said, glancing at their clock – a pocket watch hung on the wall. "Make sure to rest well, drink lots of water, and don't push yourself."

Keiran blew his nose again. "Yes mum."

Darius patted him on the head. "There's a good lad. See you in a few hours."

"Tell Saphira sorry for me?" Keiran called as Darius got to the door.

He paused and looked back, smiling. "Sure thing."

"Cheers." Flashing him a brief smile, Keiran tentatively picked up a piece of toast, taking a miniscule bite and managing to swallow it without disturbing himself too much. "Hey it works..." he told the empty room.

After forcing himself to eat all three bits of toast and had written the apple off as a hopeless cause, Keiran dragged himself out of bed with the woolly blanket around his shoulders and went in search of warm clothes. His search turned out a pair of track pants, some woollen socks he'd never worn before, and a fur lined jacket, all of which he pulled on gratefully, then tottered down the hall to the bathroom with the blanket trailing along the ground behind.

Several minutes later, feeling a little refreshed, Keiran wound his way down the stairs, his coughs sounding harsher than ever in the unnatural silence that had fallen over the castle. Usually, at any hour of the day, you could hear someone laughing or shouting, the clashing of swords and spears from the courtyard, the clank of heavy armour, people singing... But now, with all the inhabitants away at Prontera Church, it was deathly quiet. It made Keiran feel very lonely.

Still expecting to see people as he turned each corner, he headed for the library – the only room he could think of where the silence wasn't alien, with his bucket and roll of loo paper tightly in his arms and his blanket over his shoulder. There, he dragged a couch into the sunniest spot he could find and collapsed onto it, wheezing.

It was another lovely day, Keiran observed sulkily, staring out across the fields. That meant everyone would probably be going training for their afternoon off, and he wouldn't be able to join them...

Kuronosu had told them there would be a Crusader exam in July, but, as he didn't expect that any of them were ready to become Crusaders just yet, had said to think of it more as test to see how they were doing. The next exam would be in January of the following year, and he was adamant the majority would all be able to pass by then... However, this didn't stop Keiran from wanting to do his very best in the first one – you just never know, the exam might be really easy. Hah. Hah...

Mostly, Kuronosu explained, it was set up so that if there were any swordsmen from the previous recruitment that had failed their other exams, they could take it again without having to wait a full year. And it coincided with the Paladin exams which were held four times a year, in January, April, July and October.

Keiran coughed violently, tugging the blanket up under his chin.

So anyway, everyone was making the most of the mild weather and were going out to the fields nearly every afternoon after lessons. And as today was a day off... and it was so damn sunny, it was almost guaranteed that the swordsmen would all go. Sucky. Of course, he could still go, but he didn't think he'd be able to so much as wave a sword, let alone practice his energy consuming skills... And Darius probably wouldn't let him.

He'd have to stay home and ... study for his test tomorrow. Ew. He wondered if his illness was enough to get him exempt from it... or from classes - not that he wanted to miss classes, which, with Kuronosu back in charge, were very entertaining.

Stupid disease, Keiran thought, and, sniffing, he reached for a random book. He blinked at the cover thickly. The title was written in faded gold; The Language of Amatsu - for dummies. ... Darius could speak the language, couldn't he? Why not try learning it – surprise him a little, maybe. Keiran flicked it open, and was greeted by a whole lot of ... pictures? Characters. What the hell! Some text in English at the very bottom of the third page caught his eye; 'By the end of this book, you should be able to read this story.'

Oh really. Keiran stared at the page dubiously. Hey that one looks like a face... He sniggered, triggering another long session of coughing, and turned to the next page, which thankfully was written in English, with minimal squiggles.

Keiran spent the next two hours sprawled on the couch testing sounds and muttering phrases from the book, punctured by coughs and sniffs, until his watering eyes refused to focus anymore and it slipped from his fingers to land with a thunk on the floor. Admitting defeat, Keiran dropped the pen and paper that he had been practicing the characters called hiragana on beside it and sighed. Or at least tried to; it came out as more of a raspy choke.

It was cosy here, in the full sun... He burrowed deep into the soft couch with the blanket tucked tightly in around him, a drink bottle and roll of toilet paper within easy reach... He let his eyes close... And was jerked awake by a fresh outburst of coughing.

"Go away..." Keiran croaked to himself, biffing another saturated tissue into the bucket, which was getting rather full. Still cursing, he rolled over and curled up, and, somehow, fell asleep.

_____________

Some time later, when the sun had moved around to cast Keiran's couch into shade, he was woken by a soft click; someone had closed the door. People!

Keiran rolled over to investigate.

"No, go back to sleep." Darius said very quietly with a gentle smile, putting Keiran's now empty bucket down beside the couch, before seating himself in an armchair by the window and opening his novel.

Coughing, Keiran heaved himself up to sitting position. "'Can't now you're back."

"I can leave if you'd like." Darius said, quite seriously, making to stand up.

"No- no, don't go!" Keiran spluttered, smothering his cough in the blanket. "It was really scary here with no one around – I need people."

Darius sat down again. "I know what you mean... The first time I was here by myself, I was six, it was a Sunday like today and I'd been left behind as Father didn't trust me to stay quiet during the service. ...I spent the whole time in Father's bed with the covers over my head praying I wouldn't die."

"You?" Keiran laughed, and coughed, "never!"

"Oh I did. Ask Sir Kuronosu – he was the one who found me afterwards."

"Don't... make me laugh..." Keiran wheezed after he'd finished dying.

"I'm sorry." Darius said with a smile. "Is that why you're here? Because the silence anywhere else was eerie?"

"Yeah... It was too quiet in bed, even... What's the time?"

"2pm."

"Wha-? Why aren't you out training?" Wow I slept for ages.

"Oh I didn't feel like it." Darius shot him a grin over his book.

"The others..?"

"They've gone."

"Saphira..?" Keiran asked hopefully.

"She wanted to come visit you, but I told her you probably didn't want to give her whatever it is you have-"

"Damn right I don't."

"So she went with them with a little persuasion. Oh," said Darius, getting to his feet, "she made you sandwiches."

Keiran wanted to squee with happiness, but accepted the plate Darius handed him carefully and lifted the corner of one triangle curiously. "Chicken" he said dreamily, "God bless her."

"She said she loves you and to get better soon." Darius said with a smile, settling back into the chair. "Also, I have a message from Blank."

Keiran raised an eyebrow as he blew his nose. "... ew. Do I want to hear it?"

"Possibly not."

"... alright." He sighed, nibbling at the sandwich. "Let 'er rip."

"He says, quote: what the fuck, you fucking pansy, unquote." Darius said mildly.

"Those words should not come out of your mouth..." Keiran said, staring in disbelief.

"They shouldn't come out of his either, but they do, and there is very little we can do about it."

"Where do you think he gets it from?" He put the sandwich down to protect it from his cough germs.

"I presume it's from his upbringing... Meaning no offence to his parents, of course."

"He did say his dad's a Stalker..."

Darius looked thoughtful. "Hm... I don't think that solely is enough – after all, not all rogues are incapable of stringing two sentences together without swearing."

"Do you know some rogues, then?"

"Yes, and so do you." Darius shot him a pointed look.

Keiran looked blankly back at him.

"... It's good to know that when we go our separate ways that I will remain in your thoughts." Darius sighed. "Eilk, Keiran, she's a Rogue, remember?"

"Oh!" Keiran said with a jolt, starting another coughing fit. "Fuck, oh, yes of course." Darius rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone, I'm sick."

After finally finishing one half of the chicken sandwich, Keiran hmm'd/coughed. "I wonder when she'll come visit... Have you heard anything?"

"From her personally, no." Darius said, not looking up form his book. "There are rumours, however, that messengers have been sent to Morroc to discuss a possible guild alliance between the Crusaders', Knights' and Rogues' guilds."

Keiran pricked his ears.

"Note; these are only rumours, and are hardly likely to prove true unless war suddenly breaks out. ... Which is extremely unlikely, unless..."

"Unless the murders continue..?"

Darius itched his chin. "The thing about them is that we can't prove who is responsible."

"But it's the Assassins, isn't it?"

"We can't prove that. And even if it is an assassin's doing, is it an individual breaking the guild laws, a freelance assassin with too much time on his hands, or are they being organised by the guild itself?" He shook his head. "There's nothing solid to pin it to."

There had been three more murders over the last month and a half since the poor acolyte girl had been killed in Prontera, bringing the total up to six since February – two merchants, one in Al de Baron, the other Alberta, and an archer in Payon, all of them girls, and each murder more horrifying than the last; there were stories going around that the freak was dismembering his victims now... Keiran shuddered and crossed himself. The speed this guy was killing at was disturbing, and if people weren't worried before, they were now – if he kept up at the rate he was going at, there would be no first classes left by the end of the year.

No thieves had turned up dead yet, which was like a huge flashing arrow pointing straight at either one of the thieves' guilds; assassins or rogues. Darius had pointed out that they had been lucky and hadn't lost any swordsmen yet either, but there had been traces of poison on the bodies, and Knights and Crusaders don't use poison. As Keiran didn't want to believe that the guild that has raised such a normal person as Eilk could be responsible for such evil, he blamed the assassins, who he had seen nothing of other than the Eremes at the DB event, and that alone had been enough to make him see just how deadly they were...

"Anyway, let's leave that topic behind," Darius said suddenly, closing his book with a flourish and swivelling to face Keiran, who was coughing again. "Good book?"

"Hm?" Keiran wiped his streaming eyes on his sleeve. "Oh. I guess, yeah. I mean, hai."

Darius laughed. It somehow didn't sound like his usual laugh... "mou, nihongo o hanasemasuka?"

Keiran stared at him. His expression must have been really amusing, as Darius clamped his fist over his mouth and snorted, waving his hand in apology.

"...nani?" Keiran hazarded; he knew that meant 'what'.

"iie, gomen, gomen."

"Waka..." Keiran seized his page of notes and glanced down it, "wakarimasen..?"

"A, sumimasen ne." Darius sniggered. "Boku wa haiyai hanashisugimasuka?"

"I give up! What are you saying!?" wailed Keiran, swallowing some water in a vain hope that it would stop him coughing as he laughed – it didn't.

Through chuckles, Darius said, "I asked you, first, if you could already speak Japanese, then I apologised and asked if I was speaking too fast."

"... Yes, you were." Keiran looked at his piece of paper, grinning. "Um. Ore no ringo- ore no ringo... oishi sou ja nai, yo. Omae o tabetai, yo."

Darius buried his head in his hands and laughed like Keiran had never heard him laugh before; loudly and openly. It made Keiran grin along with him; even thought he knew Darius was laughing at him. When he finally emerged, still chuckling, there were tears running down his face.

"Sorry, sorry… But, you do realise what you said, right?" Darius asked in an unsteady voice, brushing away the tears.

"Uh, something about an apple?"

"You said 'My apple doesn't look tasty. I want to eat you', extremely informally."

"Oops," Keiran laughed, collapsing in a fit of coughs.

"Let me see that." Darius said, taking Keiran's piece of paper and the book. "Oh I'm not surprised; this book is rubbish. ... And you've copied it down wrong anyway."

"Psh. How do I say it formally then?"

"That depends on how formal you want to be. A suitable way to say it (although I don't know why you would want to), would be; 'Watashi no ringo, oishisou jaarimasen. Anata o tabetai desu.' …I think what you really want to say is 'anata no tabetai desu' – I want to eat yours."

"Yeah probably..." Keiran said with a grin. "You'll just have to teach me sometime. Oh!" He broke off, coughing again. "Can you look in the front of the book and tell me what that big paragraph story thingy says?"

Darius flipped back to the front and looked at the pages in question. "...hm"

Keiran looked up from his frantic search for loo paper questioningly.

"It's a short children's story about a boy and his dog."

"Can you read it to me?" Blowing his nose, he settled himself back into the couch with the blanket pulled up to his chin, clearing a space for Darius to sit beside him, but not too close – didn't want to give the poor guy any more germs than he'd probably already picked up, and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Sitting down, Darius smoothed the page out. "In English?"

"No, Amatsan- Japanese, whatever you call it."

"Japanese," he said. "Even though you won't be able to understand it?"

"Yeah. I want to hear you speaking it some more..."

Darius raised an eyebrow at the sniffling, watery eyed Keiran briefly, took pity on him, and began reading.

His reading voice in Japanese was deeper than in English, Keiran observed thoughtfully, letting Darius' words roll over him as he started to drowse. Deeper it may have been, but it was just as soft, and his words ran together smoothly, with only slight changes in tone to indicate that someone in the story was speaking... Keiran smiled softly; sleep was just there – if Darius would just keep reading, and if he could not cough for another minute...

Just one more minute...

On the edge of his subconscious he heard Darius shift – lying the book down and leaning back with a gentle sigh...

BANG.

Keiran jerked upright to see Darius face-palm.

"Shh!" Someone told the door angrily, "Sorry Darius, is Keiran-"

"Sleeping?" Keiran said with a groan, dragging a hand through his hair, strange how these people always know our names... "Not anymore."

"I was going to say here actually. But since you are here..." said the Crusader, who Keiran had only ever seen once or twice before. "Sweet, that makes my job super easy."

Darius gave Keiran an apologetic look as he sank back into the couch, sniffing, then turned to the newcomer. "What can we do for you?"

"Urm. Sir Kuronosu is looking for you, well, Keiran. ... and he's not looking, he's waiting, I'm doing the looking, but-"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Keiran said peevishly. "Where is he then?"

"In your room" said the Crusader, scowling at Keiran's tone.

"And is he coming here, or am I going to him?"

"You're going to him, duh."

"Alright then. Thank you." He waved his hand dismissively, reluctantly dragging himself to his feet. "Er... I'll tidy this mess up later."

Coughing and spluttering, Keiran and his blanket made their way to the bedroom, followed by Darius, who deemed it necessary to bring the bucket. The Crusader had gone elsewhere thankfully, as Keiran would have liked to strangle him.

Sir Kuronosu was standing outside their bedroom door, staring blankly at the wall. Recently there were frown lines starting to take root on his handsome face, and those, coupled with the staring for hours at a time, made Keiran think he was a lot more worried about the murders than he was letting on. He was still the same happy person to talk to though, and he didn't let it effect his teaching... But Keiran couldn't help but feel sorry for him, having to deal with it by himself. Hopefully he had someone he could talk to...

"Oh, Keiran!" Kuronosu said in surprise, smiling. "I was expecting Don to come back and tell me where you were, not for you to show up yourself. You should be resting!" He ushered them into their room and as the boys went to sit on their beds, pulled up a chair. "... Why is there a dining room chair in here?" he asked curiously.

Keiran opened his mouth to explain, but choked and started coughing again, so Darius explained how it had randomly turned up in the middle of the hallway one day and they had adopted it until someone came to claim it... which hadn't happened.

"Oh..." Kuronosu shrugged expansively – he was wearing his full armour today, and looked around. "I'm glad to see you're keeping your room at least somewhat tidy."

"Yes Sir."

"Anyway! I'm not here to discuss your room; I'm here to discuss you."he nodded politely at Keiran, who blew his nose loudly. "And your ...illness."

"Sorry," Keiran said, feeling rude.

The Paladin waved his apology away breezily. "It's hardly your fault; we all get sick some time. ... To the point then: are you well enough to attend classes still?"

"Uh. I want to come to class..." he said truthfully, "but I don't want to annoy everyone..."

"Or put their health at risk?" Kuronosu finished, and at Keiran's nod, continued, "Well, I am more than happy for you to take as long as you need off to recover-"

"But-"

"No, let me finish. And once you're feeling better, I personally will give you catch up lessons – you're very bright, you'll have no problems."

But I don't want to miss class! Keiran could see another one-sided argument coming up – you just couldn't win against Sir Kuronosu when he was feeling generous, and sagged. "Thank you very much, Sir."

"Not at all."

"... Am I not allowed to go to classes?" he asked hesitantly, just to make things perfectly clear for himself.

Kuronosu looked at him consideringly, and he started coughing again. "... I would prefer it if you didn't, but I can't stop you wanting to learn, can I?" He was smiling kindly, but there was something in his voice...

"Okay, Sir... I'll take some time off." Keiran said dutifully.

"Good, good. Oh and you don't have to worry about coming down for meals, I have some people who seemed very eager to help you out when they found out you were sick, and have offered to wait on you."

... Thought Keiran, I hate you, stupid disease. He didn't like this at all. Sure he was sick and incapable of doing much, but did everyone else have to think he was completely useless too? I don't want to be waited on by anyone! ...I'll just have to get better super fast.

"And the test tomorrow – you can take it later."

"Thank you Sir."

"I trust Darius won't tell you all the answers?" Kuronosu winked at Darius, who had a Bible open in front of him.

"No Sir. I won't tell him even how many questions there are." Darius said with a sly smile. Keiran stared at him in disbelief. Stingy bastard.

"Twelve, but that's good to hear." Kuronosu got to his feet and patted Keiran on the shoulder. "I'll pray for your fast recovery – I can see that not being able to do anything for a few days is going to be very difficult for you. Rest well, and don't strain yourself. I'll look forward to seeing you again in class."

With a farewell to Darius, Kuronosu replaced his deviruchi hat on his head and strolled out, closing the door lightly behind him.

Keiran fell back with a sigh, and coughed violently. "This is gay. This is the gayest thing that has ever happened to me."

"I'm sure there have been worse things in your life than a little cold." Darius said, shuffling into a better reading position.

"This is not a little cold. And you have no right to be mean to me when I could quite easily blame you."

"I wasn't being mean-"

"You were."

"How is it my fault?"

"You made me run."

Darius laughed uncomfortably. "I did not make you run."

"You did."

"No, I seem to remember you begging me to let you come..."

"Bad memory," Keiran said as he unwound some more toilet paper off the roll; it was starting to look rather empty. "And after I told you not to let me run all that time ago too!"

"..."

Keiran glanced over at him; Darius' expression was one of guilt as he gazed vacantly at the pages before him.

"I'm joking, you know..." Keiran muttered, feeling guilty himself now. "I don't blame you."

Darius said nothing.

"... And I don't want you to blame yourself, either. I just got unlucky, okay? Believe it or not, I have my bad days too."

The corner of Darius' mouth twitched.

"... Now are you going to get this decrepit old man some more loo paper, or do I have to get it myself?" Keiran chucked the empty tube at Darius, who caught it deftly in one hand and threw it back, chuckling.

"I'll get it for you this once, but this will be the last time, ever."

* * *