After escaping the tentacles, Miyagi continued to drive until he was certain that he had left the tentacles far behind. Hiroki was still in the back with Misaki who at the moment was feebly attempting to open the door, but Hiroki held him back with great ease, "Pull yourself together, you idiot! You're in no condition to go out there!"

"But Usagi-san is still out there!" Misaki's hoarse, strained voice was barely audible.

"I didn't see them back there, which means that they'll see the tentacles and notice we're not around and leave." Hiroki pointed out.

His logic seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the clearly delirious Misaki still tried to squirm away from the older man, "I have to get to Usagi-san!" he gasped before he was seized with a violent coughing fit which halted his struggles.

"Dammit! Stop struggling, you're going to make yourself worse!" Hiroki barked.

Misaki's coughs grew more intense until the boy suddenly shot up and he pushed on the button to roll the window down and made it just in time to get sick outside of the car. "Ah, shit! Where's Nowaki's bag?" Hiroki growled as he tried to reach the other side of the backseat without moving his broken leg.

"I'll get it, Kamijo. You just help him." Miyagi said as he turned around and grabbed the bag.

Hiroki decided to try comforting Misaki by rubbing small circles on his back and he handed him a can of juice, as they didn't have any water, for the boy to rinse his mouth out with. "What am I looking for?" Miyagi asked.

"His medicine; it should be in a prescription bottle."

"Most of these are prescription bottles." Miyagi responded dryly.

Hiroki was about to make a vicious remark when Misaki, having used up the last of his energy getting sick, fell back against Hiroki and started to shiver. Hiroki rolled up the car window and then placed his hand on the boy's forehead and cursed at how hot he felt. "Professor Miyagi, have you found the bottle yet?" he asked as he reached down to remove the cotton ball and tape that was still on Misaki's hand from the I.V.

"Maybe if I had a little help from my assistant I would have found it by now." Miyagi muttered.

Hiroki rolled his eyes and place Misaki back against Suzuki-san so he could help the older man look for the boy's medicine. Misaki lethargically leaned against Suzuki-san and nuzzled the bear, it was so soft and it smelled like Usagi which greatly comforted him.

"All right, I'm pretty sure this is the one. Takahashi-kun, is this it?" Hiroki questioned.

Misaki had surprisingly fallen asleep and Hiroki, greatly irritated and on edge after being separated from Nowaki, angrily shook the boy awake, "Hey! Pay attention, we're doing this for you!" he snapped, "And if you get worse then Akihiko will be pissed off at us for it! We don't have Nowaki with us so there's not much we can do if—"

"Kamijo, enough. Yelling at him isn't going to help; he's obviously very confused and delirious, be more gentle and you'll get better results from him." He pointed out before addressing Misaki, "Takahashi-kun."

Misaki didn't have the will to lift his head and simply looked up at the older man with glazed over, half opened eyes. "Takahashi-kun, is this your medicine? I can't tell." Miyagi held out the bottle to the boy.

Misaki shakily raised his hand and, after a few attempts, managed to grab the bottle. He couldn't tell just by looking at it, and he fumbled with the cap trying to open it until Hiroki snatched the bottle from him and opened it before handing it back to him. Misaki sniffed the bitter liquid and nodded his head, confirming that it was indeed his medicine.

"Good, now where's the syringe?" Hiroki wondered and both men rummaged through the bag to find it, while Misaki shivered and tried to warm himself with Suzuki-san.

When Hiroki found the syringe, he filled it up to the mark that Nowaki had left and then squirted the mixture inside of Misaki's mouth. Misaki, who had fallen asleep again, was surprised by the sudden movement and the bitterness of the medicine caught him off guard. He rolled down the window again and almost didn't get his head out in time to get sick again.

"Kamijo, you need to work on your bedside manner." Miyagi sighed as he rubbed Misaki's back comfortingly.

"Dammit! Where's the ginger?" Hiroki hissed.

"We ran out of candied ginger." Miyagi reminded him.

"Well the kid can't keep anything down without it, apparently." Hiroki handed Misaki the can of juice once more to rinse his mouth out with.

Misaki finished off the juice and limply fell back inside; he was breathing heavily and shaking badly; his throat was also burning after getting sick twice. He was extremely frustrated with being sick, and he was so scared for Usagi that he just wanted to cry.

Hiroki felt a stab of sympathy pierce him and he decided to try being more gentle with the boy, "I bet your throat is hurting you now, isn't it?" he asked as he rolled the window back up for Misaki.

Misaki nodded and Hiroki grabbed the throat spray from Nowaki's bag, "Come on; open your mouth." Hiroki pulled Misaki against him so he could tilt his head back and have easy access to his throat. Having Misaki put most of his weight on his bad leg made Hiroki grit his teeth to prevent himself from uttering a painful cry.

Misaki forced his mouth to open, which was difficult to do with his shivering, but he managed. He hated the spray for making his throat feel numb and causing him to struggle every time he swallowed, yet at the same time he appreciated it for relieving his pain.

Seeing him wince at Misaki's weight, after Hiroki sprayed the boy's throat, Miyagi grabbed Misaki and placed him on the passenger seat. "Sit up here for now, Takahashi-kun. Let's allow Kamijo to stretch out." He suggested and he retrieved Suzuki-san for Misaki as well.

Misaki hugged the bear to him and tried to stop shivering. The sheet he was wrapped in originally was still loosely wrapped around him from the waist down, but that left his upper half uncovered. Miyagi lowered Misaki's seat back so he could lie down and rest before he covered him back up with the sheet and then he buckled him in.

"There, now let's start for the inn. We said we'd meet up there so we'll just get a room and wait for them to come." Miyagi decided.

"I agree, we need to get out of here…" Hiroki's voice tailed off before he could utter his desire to go back for the others.

"We can't go back, Kamijo. I want to, but we both know they're not there, and they could be anywhere. If they're in the woods we can't very well drive a car through all those trees."

"No, you're right, and I never thought otherwise." Hiroki lied.

"For right now our priority should be for Takahashi-kun's well-being; he is still one of our students until spring, maybe even longer since no student will have met their requirements by the beginning of spring." Miyagi joked. He wanted to keep the atmosphere light for the others.

Hiroki secretly appreciated his co-worker's effort, but Misaki was asleep again and hadn't heard a word. "Is that normal?" Miyagi asked.

"Nowaki said that even with him being as sick as he is, he should still be able to stay awake. Falling asleep like that is not a good sign, but there's nothing we can do about it without Nowaki. We can't even give him another dose of medicine until a few hours go by."

"Should we wake him up?"

"He'll just fall asleep again, may as well let him rest." Hiroki sighed.

Miyagi started the car and Hiroki took out Usagi's written directions for the inn so he could guide Miyagi to their destination. The two weren't sure how long it would take for the others to catch up, but decided to pay for their room for up to three days. Miyagi chose to bring their bags into the room first and set up their futons so Misaki and Hiroki would have something to lie down on. He retrieved Misaki first before going back for Hiroki and Suzuki-san lastly. Miyagi's head started to throb painfully and he sat down on his futon as he tried to breathe through the pain.

"Professor Miyagi?" Hiroki grew concerned for the man and his very recent concussion.

"I'm all right." He assured.

"Let's turn off the lights." Hiroki suggested.

He stood up with some difficulty and hopped over to the light switch, but Miyagi turned on the lamp light which filled the room with a dim light so they could all still see. As Hiroki sat back down, Misaki started to stir and it became obvious to the two that the boy was having a nightmare, but they hadn't expected him to suddenly shoot up into a sitting position and scream, "USAGI-SAN!"

"Takahashi-kun, calm down; you're fine." Hiroki hissed.

Misaki was panting heavily and he looked around wildly before he started to calm down and he grabbed Suzuki-san to comfort himself. "We should make the most of this situation." Miyagi started a conversation, "Let's order something to eat soon."

"Takahashi-kun still needs ginger." Hiroki pointed out.

"I'll go get some candied ginger for Takahashi-kun. Kamijo, why don't you help Takahashi-kun take a bath, I'm sure a bath would help him feel better."

"Fine, are you sure you're okay to move around though?"

"I'll be fine so long as I take my time. If I start to feel dizzy I'll just sit down for a moment." Miyagi assured him.

Hiroki accepted the older man's reasoning and when Miyagi left, Hiroki slid over to Misaki, "Takahashi-kun, sit up. I need to take your temperature to figure out how hot the bath can be."

Misaki forced himself up with his shaky arms and Hiroki took the thermometer out of Nowaki's bag. After hearing the thermometer go off he checked the temperature, "39.4 degrees…" Hiroki let his voice trail off, "Shit, it's getting high again. It's not 39.5 degrees yet, so it can be a hot bath, but it's so close that I also think he should have a luke warm bath… then again, he is still shivering so maybe a hot bath would be better…" Hiroki was indecisive about what to do as Misaki's fever could get worse if he made the wrong choice.

"I need to stop him from shivering, that's the priority. I'll have him take a hot bath." Hiroki finally decided.

He left Misaki so he could get the bathroom ready before returning for the boy, "Come on, Takahashi-kun. I can't carry you, you'll have to stand."

Misaki had some trouble standing as his legs felt dead underneath him. Hiroki supported Misaki as best as he could, but for the most part, Misaki had to use what little strength he had left. Hiroki escorted Misaki to the bathroom, and stayed in there as Misaki undressed and washed himself off before his bath, but Hiroki kept his back to Misaki the entire time; too uncomfortable to turn around and see too much of the boy who was not only his childhood friend's lover, but also one of his students. Hiroki only stayed in the bathroom to make sure Misaki didn't fall and hurt himself.

Misaki enjoyed his bath for a while until he felt a little better and then he got out of the tub. Hiroki handed Misaki a towel, and after the boy dried himself off he grabbed the change of clothes Hiroki had gotten for him and he redressed himself. He picked up his worn clothes and then the two exited that bathroom. The steam from the bath had made Misaki cough more and his throat start to bleed again and the spray had also worn off, causing his coughing to feel increasingly painful.

"Lay back down and I'll spray you again." Hiroki told him.

Misaki did as he instructed and got into his futon and settled himself in a temporary position on his back. Lying on his back hurt and made it difficult for him to breathe, but he could bear it for a moment. Hiroki sprayed the back of Misaki's throat and then he quickly turned over on his side; he started to cough aggressively and his breaths sounded wheezy.

Hiroki rubbed Misaki's back hoping it would help him breathe. Besides the coughing, Misaki did seem better after his bath, he seemed more alert and he stopped shivering. Misaki's coughs eventually grew weaker and Hiroki removed his hand. "I'm going to take a bath now; you should take the time to rest." He told Misaki as he stood to retrieve some clothes before hopping into the bathroom.

When he came out, Misaki was sleeping and Miyagi had finally returned and was deciding what to order. "When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago."

"Where did you go? You were gone for a long time."

"I had to sit down a few times, but I made it. Now help me pick out something good."

Hiroki sat down next to him and the two started to study it, but they heard Misaki stirring again from another nightmare. Hiroki slid over to him and shook him awake, "Takahashi-kun, wake up."

Misaki shot up and gasped as he opened his eyes. He panted for a moment and looked around wildly before deciding that he was safe and he fell back onto his futon, but stayed awake. "We're ordering food right now, what do you want?" Hiroki asked him.

"I'm not hungry." Misaki mumbled. He was more worn out than anything else and he felt so very lethargic without Usagi by his side.

"You have to eat or you'll get worse; you're already not doing good as it is." Hiroki scolded himself for sounding more irritated than concerned for the boy.

Misaki knew Hiroki was right, he had gotten sick twice and he hadn't eaten anything for a long time. He needed to eat, but he felt too ill to eat. "Takahashi-kun, I got some more candied ginger for you, eat some and we'll order something light for you to eat." Miyagi said as he passed the bag over to Misaki.

Misaki nibbled on the candied ginger while Miyagi and Hiroki ordered their food. The ginger did help Misaki's nausea, but he still couldn't get himself to eat much. After eating, Hiroki gave Misaki another dose of medicine and Misaki quickly took a drink of water to rinse the bitter taste from his mouth. The medicine made Misaki feel tired and he laid down to go back to sleep. Hiroki pulled the blanket up to cover Misaki's shoulders and keep him warm to prevent his fever from rising any higher since it had started to go down once more.

Miyagi decided to take a bath after eating and Hiroki settled down to go to sleep, but stayed awake regardless; his mind was reeling after his separation from Nowaki, and he felt too anxious to sleep. Miyagi exiting the bathroom brought Hiroki back to the present and Miyagi climbed into his futon; he didn't look good, but Hiroki wasn't sure if he should point it out. Instead, he grabbed the bottle of pain pills from Nowaki's bag and took one with a bottle of water and then he handed one of the pills to Miyagi, "Here, take it."

"But they're for your leg."

"My leg will be fine, if your head is hurting you it's stupid to make yourself suffer."

Miyagi decided to take the pill rather than argue with him and after a moment of silence, he decided to break the quiet, "How's the kid?"

"He's better now, he's not shaking anymore, his fever went down slightly, and he seems more energetic, but still I can tell his separation from Akihiko has impacted his health."

"Well at least we're staying at an inn for a few days. Resting in a room and eating proper food will help him a lot more than traveling around in a car."

"Why do you care about him so much?" Hiroki accidently wondered out loud, "Ah, I mean, you don't really know him that well and all."

"Don't you care about him? I care because he's the youngest of us and our student so that makes him our responsibility."

"I didn't mean to seem cold, you know. Well from a perspective, I don't think much of the kid. He's a good kid, but he's also a little stupid and careless. However I can tell that he and Akihiko love each other very much. I was worried about Akihiko for a while. I thought he'd be stuck pinning after someone who was never going to love him in that way. He wasted ten years of his life doing that, but he found someone who can actually love him back and I'm just glad that he's happy too."

"Awww! You do have a sweet and caring side, Kamijo!" Miyagi teased.

"Shut up!" Hiroki spat before he threw his pillow at Miyagi because he didn't have anything hard and heavy within reach.

Miyagi caught the pillow easily and taunted the younger man, "A pillow fight, Kamijo? Aren't we a little old for that?"

"You're so annoying! Has anyone ever told you that?"

Misaki started to stir in his sleep and after looking at each other uncomfortably, Miyagi quickly decided to reach out his hand and stroke the boy's hair to lull him back to sleep. Miyagi was slightly uncomfortable with the contact as Misaki was his student, but also because he could picture the look on his own lover's face if he saw what he was doing. When Misaki became still once more Miyagi took his hand away from him, "Damn, Kamijo, have some respect for the ill." He smirked.

Hiroki was about to make a biting remark, but glanced uneasily at Misaki and decided against it, "Just give me back my pillow." He growled lowly through gritted teeth.

Miyagi tossed Hiroki's pillow back to him and he turned his back on the older man and muttered, "Good night." Before he plopped down on the futon.

"Good night." Miyagi echoed as he turned off the lamp light. He laid down, but he couldn't fall asleep, he was too anxious about Shinobu.

Shinobu liked to act vicious, but Miyagi knew that underneath that rough exterior and damn near permanent scowl, the boy was in fact very sensitive and a bit of a cry baby. Shinobu excelled at academics with the greatest of ease, but as Miyagi had pointed out to him, he was completely useless in a survival situation which meant that he was vulnerable if left alone.

Miyagi looked over at where Misaki was sleeping. Misaki was a year older than Shinobu, but the two were exact opposites. Shinobu was quick to anger whereas Misaki was much more mild mannered, and Misaki could cook, but Shinobu still struggled. One thing Shinobu was better at than Misaki though was academics. Miyagi recalled how Misaki's grades were usually average at best, and he supposed that when he had received better grades it was undoubtedly due to Usagi's tutoring.

"Those two could never get along, they're complete opposites." He smiled a little at the thought of Shinobu trying to tutor Misaki and flying into a rage the moment he got an answer wrong.

"I think I helped to keep the mood light for them. Takahashi-kun was much harder to distract, but that was probably because he's so sick right now. I know that I distracted Kamijo though. I have to use my God given talent of irritating others with my humor in order to keep the mood light. So far I think it's working, but I'll have to try harder with Takahashi-kun, we need to get his fever to stay down. I wonder how Shinobu is doing. Kusama-san is with him, so that makes me feel a little bit better about our separation. But still, my headaches keep getting worse and worse. I'd never admit this in real life because it's way too embarrassing, even for me, but Shinobu being with me when I'm like that makes me feel like I'll be okay. I wonder if that was how Sensei felt when she was dying. Did my presence help her feel brave? If this turns out to be more than just a concussion… I really want Shinobu to stay by my side until the end." Miyagi found himself thinking as he drifted off to sleep.