Chapter 19

Kyomi woke up the next morning to a cold hand on her forehead. Her eyes flew open to see Hatori sitting on the edge of Tohru's bed where she had slept the night before. He was checking her temperature and her breathing. She barely registered all this before the pounding in her head made itself known. She also realized her throat was stinging and her nose was stuffy.

"I got a cold?" She rasped out to Hatori.

"Just a cold and nothing worse." He said as he continued examining her.

"Humid night air and sleeplessness probably didn't help either…" She mumbled around the thermometer in her mouth. Hatori looked at her sharply.

"Did Shigure do something?" He said sternly.

"You sound like a dad Tori…" Kyomi said blushing slightly. "But no, he didn't do anything I didn't do."

"That's not encouraging." He said as he took the thermometer out of her mouth. "Shot or liquid medication?" Kyomi glared at him.

"Can't I have option number three?"

"I didn't bring any swallowable pills." He replied knowing what she was asking for.

"Fine I'll take the shot… It's over faster at least." Kyomi said. Hatori nodded and started prepping.

After he gave her the shot, Hatori put away all his things and sat back down on the bed.

"What is going on with you and Shigure? Ayame's noticed something too so I wanted to hear from you." Hatori watched his friend's cheek blush as she tried to hide her face under the covers.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure myself. All I know is that I'm seeing more in him than just a friend and its weird…. Not necessarily bad…. Or unwanted…" Kyomi's face disappeared deeper and deeper under the blanket as she continued speaking until all Hatori could see were her eyes peeking out.

"Hm" Hatori said as he stood up and grabbed his things.

Kyomi sat up. "I know you don't necessarily trust him Tori, but please don't interfere too much. I want to see this out, whatever happens. We've been too good of friends for too long for either of us to risk that and besides, there are two teens in this house who would very willingly get revenge for me if I only ask." Kyomi had an almost evil smirk on her face as she finished her statement. Hatori chuckled at her.

"That is true. He has always turned to putty in your hands anyway. Just so you know, he's been oddly quiet and absent from the main estate ever since the beach. Lay down and get some rest. I'll leave your medicine downstairs for you. Have Shigure call if you need anything else." Hatori ruffled her hair which earned him a pout from the fever stricken woman and he left quietly.

He found Shigure standing outside in the hall leaning against the wall.

"You were eavesdropping?" Hatori said as Shigure followed the doctor down the stairs.

"I would have been able to hear from downstairs anyway. I just wanted you to know I heard. Are you satisfied with the answers you received?" Shigure asked as the two friends sat down at the table to have some tea.

"I'm not dissatisfied. I also intend to honor Kyomi's wishes. Besides, between Kyomi and those two boys, they can keep you in line better than anything I can say." Hatori said smirking at the slight paling of Shigure's face at that thought. "You know you live with the martial arts master's son who is also the brother of the woman you are interested in…" Hatori said driving the knife in even further and further paling Shigure's face.

"Oh, what am I getting myself into?" Shigure moaned covering his face with his hand. Then he smiled. "I wonder… Is there anything I won't do for her?" Shigure mused as the two men finished their tea in silence, each in their own thoughts. Shigure thinking about the relationship he had with the woman asleep above his head. Hatori was thinking about the same and was slightly shocked at the ease he had in imagining them together.

Kyomi napped until early afternoon. Hatori had informed Ayame what was going on who had promised to watch Luc for the rest of the day and then bring him over to Shigure's after the shop closed. Kyomi was very comfortable in bed and snuggled up deeper under the covers when she woke up. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she caught the sounds of quiet scratching of a pen. She opened her eyes to see Shigure sitting with his back to her at Tohru's table writing.

"Hey Shi, what are you writing?" Kyomi asked sleepily.

"Something that is purely for my own enjoyment." He said not looking up from the paper in front of him.

Kyomi sat up on her elbow enough to be able to read over his shoulder. "A romance? I didn't know you had that in you." She joked as she let herself fall back onto the comfortable bed.

"After all the stunts I pulled on you in elementary school, you shouldn't be that surprised." He replied.

"That's true. Some of the overtures I got then could have been straight out of a shoujo manga." She giggled remembering some of the extravagant ways he had confessed to her.

"A few of them were. The rest were all with help from Aya." He said with a chuckle himself.

Kyomi laughed at the information. She had guessed about Aya, but she hadn't known Shigure had read shoujo for her.

"Did you read the shoujo for me or were you already reading it for yourself?" She asked curious as to what the answer was.

"I already had a few, but it grew to a sizable collection once I started going after you." He said with a tinge of pink in his cheeks.

"You have blushed more in the past two days than I have seen you blush in all the time since I've been back." Kyomi studied the back of her friend's head. "What has been up with you the past few weeks anyway? You've been acting weird." She asked, wondering if she had guessed the answer correctly or not.

Shigure's hand froze as he decided how to respond. It's not like he could just blurt out that he had been in the process of falling out of love with one woman and falling back into love with her after nearly twenty years. "I have been experiencing a slight readjustment of the heart you could say." Shigure responded teasingly. "It will hopefully be completed soon and you will be the first to learn of the results." He continued writing after that.

Kyomi didn't want to push it anymore than that for now. He had all but told her that his heart was changing and she suspected who resided in it was changing too. She could only guess as to whose positions were changing, but if last night were anything to go by, she suspected it had to do with herself. Regardless, she had to figure out her own heart as well. Who would have thought after so long together and then apart, he would be the one to make her heart do flips again after so long. It's like her heart was waking up again after a long hibernation and it just would not calm down easily. She was craving the closeness she had previously known with her husband but didn't want to jump into something only to lose it again. She was doing her best to be thankful for the relationships she had and to just enjoy them for what they were. Kyomi watched his hand as he wrote. She had almost fallen back asleep when he put down the pen and gathered his things. "Would you like a snack? Tohru should be home soon. She was worried about you and left some soup in the fridge."

Kyomi stirred from her drowsiness. "That sounds lovely."

Shigure took his things downstairs and returned shortly with the soup and tea for them both. Kyomi had thrown her robe on and climbed down to sit at the table. She had laid her head on her crossed arms on the table. She felt a bottle settle on her head and she lifted her head just enough to move her hand and grab it as she sat up.

"Oh, I forgot it was medicine time too. No wonder I feel like crap." She said as she took her medicine.

"It was technically time a few hours ago but I couldn't stand to wake you. You were snoring too soundly." Shigure teased her.

"Puppy! You should have woken me up so I wouldn't have felt so bad!" Kyomi whined at him.

"Sleep is an important medicine too. Plus you wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep with me around." Shigure opened his fan to wave it in front of his face. Doing his exaggerated best at being handsome and alluring, his eyes piercing as he gazed at her over the top of the fan.

Kyomi stifled a giggle before she looked up and met his eyes. She felt her own face warm and her chest studder. She wasn't able to meet his gaze so she sipped her soup and responded. "Watching you write almost put me to sleep a few minutes ago so that's not a problem…"

"My apologizes for not amusing her highness. I will endeavor to rectify that problem in the future." He said as if he were speaking royalty, still staring at her over his fan.

Kyomi couldn't take it anymore and reached behind her to grab a pillow and fling it at his head. Her aim was true and the pillow whacked him right in the face.

"Stop staring at me like that! It's weirding me out!" She said embarrassed, but also sad that he wasn't looking at her anymore. Shigure was fast however and moved to sit next to her before she could barely blink. He put a hand on the table and leaned over her slightly, forcing her to look at him with a soft finger on her chin.

"Could it be that my lady is embarrassed yet doesn't want me to stop." He said, his voice dropping in volume and pitch.

Kyomi had leaned slightly away from him and was caught in his gaze. It took everything in her to hold herself back from launching at the man in front of her. She was seconds away from losing that battle when she suddenly felt dizzy and lost her balance and fell back, accidentally knocking Shigure's hand off the table causing him to lose his balance as well. She fell on her back and Shigure managed to catch himself over top of her with his hands on either side of her. The door opened with them in this position.

Two teenage boys stood in the doorway with fury in their eyes. They kicked the dog spirit possessed man out of the bedroom with dramatic tears flowing down his face.

"It seriously was an accident, you don't have to kick him out you know…" Kyomi said fruitlessly as they went downstairs and left Tohru with Kyomi.

"Are you feeling any better Onee-chan?" Tohru asked sweetly as she put her things away from school and changed out of her uniform.

Kyomi groaned and buried her face in her folded arms on the table. Tohru freaked out and her voice got very high pitched as she said, "Oh! I didn't mean anything by that! I just wanted to know if your fever and cold were doing better is all!"

Kyomi chuckled at the girl. "No no no, its not you sweet girl. I think I'm losing my mind is all." Kyomi lifted her head enough to rest her chin on her arms. "How can a boy that annoyed and pestered you so much as a child, suddenly make you want to kiss him?"

Tohru's face registered shock, but then understanding. "You love him don't you?" She asked kindly and softly.

Kyomi's eyes widened in realization and then she started to tear up. "After all this time…. Why is it him? He's my best friend and I don't think he sees me the same way. He's been teasing me just like when we were kids, but he has always done that even when he wasn't constantly confessing to me." The tears were flowing freely now. "I'm just not sure what to do about it."

Tohru didn't think she had any sage advice to offer this time. She just hugged Kyomi. "I think you will know what to do when the time is right." Kyomi let herself cry for a short time and just sat with Tohru. Afterwards, the two girls finished straightening themselves up and Tohru tucked Kyomi back into bed with orders to rest. The teens sat at the dinner table eating that night with an oddly quiet and contemplative older man. They wondered about him, but didn't ask. As he ate, Shigure thought long and hard about how to best take care of his best friend and possibly the only woman he has ever truly loved.