By the time Natsume got here, I'd been running around on my feet for several hours straight, cleaning up as well. When he walked in, he looked around the place and frowned. "It looks spotless." He said, shooting me a look as I stood in the kitchen, putting away a glass I had just washed and dried. I blinked, glancing around before giving a shrug.
"The guys aren't up and about to make it messy." I excused before turning to face him. "Thank you so much for this, I'll go get you the money for everything." I said, making to go and get my purse but Natsume held out an arm to block my way before I could even move past him.
"Don't worry about it. Let me look at you." I gulped slightly, awkwardly looking away as he turned my head towards him and felt my temperature, observing my closely. He moved his hand a little, making sure for himself that I wasn't ill before he dropped his hand. "You look pale and tired." He announced and I pouted slightly in annoyance, hugging my waist slightly.
"It's been a rough couple of days. Thanks again for the food, I'll find a way to pay you back somehow." I said quickly before beginning to unpack everything, however when Natsume shrugged out of his jacket and slipped off his tie I blinked at him, watching as he rolled up his sleeves. "You don't have to stay if you need to get going Natsume, I didn't mean to impose on you like this…"
"Its fine, I was done with work for the day anyway." He informed me before beginning to help me unpack everything. He even stayed and helped me prepare food, quickly putting something together then sectioned it up so that everyone had a portion. I set some aside for Yusuke as well just in case he wanted to eat and I sent out a message to everyone asking who wanted food. Those who were asleep didn't answer and when I received a string of messages I set up that number of dishes. I was glad to see Iori was awake, I'd been spoon feeding him for the last couple of days now. "You've been doing all this by yourself all this time?" Natsume asked in a low voice and I nodded my head, focusing on my task. "You should depend on others a little more, you shouldn't have to do this on your own."
"It's alright, I don't see it as a bother at all. I just want everyone to get better and be back on their feet." I said, still not glancing his way as I focused on what I was doing, preparing a few fruit slices for Wataru as I knew he liked it when I cut the apples to look like bunnies.
"That's not the point." Natsume sighed, running a hand down his face as he leaned against the worktop. "When was the last time you ate?" I paused slightly, trying to think. Now Natsume was mad, he flew at me like a fiery breeze and grabbed my wrist, pulling me over to the table and made me sit down. "You stay there and don't move. I'll give everyone their food whilst you eat something. You can't keep going like this."
"I haven't really had much of an appetite, it's not like I've been starving myself or anything." I protested, trying to stand back up but I was forced back down again. I'd forgotten how strong he was, it felt like he wasn't even trying to put me back in my seat. "Natsume, I'm fine, really!"
"Just eat." He ordered, putting some food down in front of me and I looked at it. No matter how tasty it looked, I just couldn't work up the stomach to eat it. I was too worried about everyone else. "Eat." Natsume reached out and picked up a fork, twirling it into the noodles as he knelt down next to me. He blew away the steam and turned my face to meet his, his other hand pulling on my chin to open my mouth as I stared at him, too taken aback to react before he placed the noodles into my mouth. Naturally I closed my mouth, chewing on the food as I continued to look at Natsume with slight alarm as he gave me a sinfully handsome smile. "There, leave the rest to me kiddo."
I looked away again, disliking the way he then ruffled my hair and walked away to bring the food to the others. He still doesn't see me as anything else but a child. Quite honestly it makes me so mad, he acts so easy around me whilst he doesn't even notice how fast my heart is pounding in my chest. Any faster and it'll break my own ribs. Reluctantly I forced myself to eat as much as I could though I only managed a few more mouthfuls before I was full, so I left it on the side for the time being and finished cleaning up, making sure the kitchen was spotless before I got another text.
Kaname wanted to know if we had any painkillers so I went and got some from the medicine cupboard, making sure it was the right packet before I then brought it to Kaname's room. He sat up when I knocked and entered, giving me a smile. "Now seeing you is better than any medicine, little lady. You've been taking care of me so diligently, I feel like I could just stay ill forever." He said to me as I went to his side and popped out two tablets for him.
"Don't be silly, I've already got several calls from the shrine asking how you're doing. They really want you to get better again, so you can't let them down." I answered as I then passed him his drink so that he could swallow the painkillers. His fever was gone but Kaname was still displaying signs of infection so I forced him to stay in bed and continue taking his antibiotics. Sighing deeply he lay back down, turning his head to look at me and I blushed slightly seeing as he was in bed shirtless. "Do you need anything else?"
"How about your lovely company at my side? I think if you were to let me hold you in my arms I'd be cured." He said, holding out his arms but I just arched an eyebrow at him. He just didn't know when to stop flirting. I didn't hold it against him as it was just part of his nature, all the same there were times when I couldn't quite tell if he was still messing with me or he was actually being serious.
"I've got to go give the others their antibiotics. Give me a shout if you need anything else, okay?" Kaname chuckled, letting his arms drop to rest around his head.
"I can never win against you, can I?" He said warmly before closing his eyes. Leaving him to peace and quiet I closed the door behind me, however when I turned and saw Natsume frowning at me. I almost jumped out of my skin, hand flying to my chest where my pulse quickened in a panic.
"Natsume! Don't sneak up on me like that, you almost gave me a heart attack." I exhaled after a moment, shaking my head. "I'm about to do the medicine round before going to bed, I can handle it from here if you need to go home." But Natsume just continued to look at me, expression hard and contemplative so I blushed, touching my neck as I felt it flush deeply. "So um, goodnight."
"I'll help you." He finally said, pushing himself upright before following after me, though I glanced at him shyly before I went around to everyone's rooms who needed to take their antibiotics, either reminding them or waking them up so that they could then take them. Iori was back into a rather deep sleep so even as I shook him, he didn't wake up. "You want me to wake him?" Natsume offered but shook my head, sliding into a sitting position next to Iori before I lifted him up, letting his head rest against my shoulder.
"It's okay, I've done this numerous times now. He may not look it, but he is partly conscious." I explained as I tilted a drink to his lips and sure enough, Iori's lips moved and he drank a little. "Can you pop out two tablets for me please?" I spoke in a soft whisper, holding out my hand and Natsume complied, dropping two tablets into my hand and I carefully shifted them across to my other palm before I reached to the bedside next to me. There was a bottle of honey with a nozzle top and I slowly smeared a few drops onto Iori's lower lip, making him groan and his tongue slid out to lick the sweetness and I quickly popped the first tablet into his mouth before giving him a drink, helping him to swallow before I repeated the process. All the while Natsume was just watching me and his heavy gaze made my cheeks remain permanently red until finally I was able to set Iori down. He sighed contentedly, going into the most relaxed state I'd seen him in a while and when I checked his temperature, I was relieved to find it had gone down. "He's getting better." I smiled, looking up at Natsume.
"That's good. Come on, you need some rest too." He said to me quietly, reaching out to take my wrist but I jerked back out of pure reaction, already overly anxious just with him being so close to me.
"I'm fine, there's some other things I need to do first so I'll just get them over with." Then like a breeze I rushed past him, bowing my head to hide my face as Natsume blinked after me. I made the excuse on a whim but in reality, all that really needed doing were the bins and the ironing, but the latter could wait until tomorrow. Tying off the plastic bags to take them outside I turned to see Natsume had followed me.
"It's not a bad thing for you to relax every once on a while. Come on, at least let me do that for you." He extended his hands to take the bins, leaving the offer open and I glanced at him before nodding my head in defeat. I was pretty tired, he was right about that and Natsume was just trying to look out for me, so I handed them over. "Get some sleep kiddo." My head remained bowed even as he turned away and left, none the wiser. I really hate that pet name. It sucks. Right now, however, I was too exhausted to be that bothered by it. My bed felt like such a long way away and the sofa was so much closer so I dragged myself over to it, collapsing down and closed my eyes, feeling the darkness of the evening wash over me as I drifted for a few minutes, until I felt someone gingerly shaking my arm.
"Big sis?"
"Hm…Wataru? Oh hey, you're up." I said as I forced my eyes open, lifting myself up onto my arm as he looked at me winsomely, holding his stuffed bunny by one arm. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm feeling a lot better but I had a nightmare. Can I snuggle with you?" He asked and instantly my heart flew out to him so I nodded my head with a smile, reaching out and he instantly snuggled into my chest, letting me wrap my arms around him as he used my arm as a pillow and I dragged a blanket that was resting over the sofa to cover us, my hair pooling forwards as Wataru curled into me, holding his bunny as well and I could feel the soft material tickling my skin. "Goodnight big sis."
"Goodnight little bunny." I murmured before my eyes slid shut. For a while they didn't open, however when I felt someone pushed their arms underneath both me and Wataru, I blinked blearily, catching someone's clean scent before I hazily fell back asleep again for a few minutes before I managed to open my eyes a little more when I was being placed down on my bed, Wataru still tucked in close to me. "N…Natsume?" I questioned, seeing his familiar silhouette in the darkness. His hand reached out and framed my face, brushing through my hair for a few moments as my eyes flickered, struggling to stay open. He'd managed to carry both me and Wataru at the same time? He really must be strong, my cheeks warmed slightly at the thought.
Before I knew it I had dropped back into sleep, the last sensation I remember being Natsume's fingers combing rather softly through my hair.