.:. 12 .:.

Subaru Sakamaki cringed once he arrived at his brother's sickbed. He did not want to be here, nor should he have been here lest catch influenza himself, but Yui had coaxed him into agreement. Admittedly, he understood all too well the consequences of an idle mind.

He was glad for an excuse if Shu thought to tease his concern; he was not here out of worry, or kindness, but fulfilling a promise.

The room was sweltering, and Subaru shed his fur-lined robes and dabbed the perspiration from his brow. The hearth was ablaze and an extra stove squatted in the corner, its orange glow piercing the dimness. The effort made to heat the chamber sickened him when he thought of his mother withering away in her tower.

In the eyes of his father, a wife was disposable; an heir was not.

Subaru dragged over a stool. Shu lay on his back, sleeping, his golden hair matted with sweat. His eye-lids trembled and his brows were drawn, his cheeks brilliant with fever.

Sickness rarely befell upon himself, and a part of him pitied Kanato and Shu for their poor immunity. Whereas Kanato had been born weak and small, Shu had been struck down with a deadly fever shortly before his mother's death.

Lady Beatrix's untimely demise remained a mystery. She was a sickly woman herself—though she hid it well, for she was proud—and some said it was the critical condition of her only child which finished her heart. Though there were countless other rumours, of course, such as suicide as a result of her husband's infidelity, or the most famous, homicide.

Sometimes Subaru wondered whether his father pursued his own mother out of love, lust, or fear for his lineage. Though he knew Christa—when calm—would insist she was besotted, when possessed by madness, however, he could not help but believe the latter. It was a sad union, built on selfish lies.

"I suppose," Shu croaked, unmoving, and Subaru had to wonder whether he was sleep-talking. "I should offer you... my congratulations."

Subaru blinked away his thoughts, unable to comprehend his brother's words. "Hah? You awake?"

With difficulty, Shu propped himself up and grimaced with each cough. They rattled his shoulders, and his nightshirt slipped down to expose the sharp edges of his bones. Subaru questioned his eating habits as it was, and they were confirmed by a quick scan of the room. A bowl of untouched soup lay on the nightstand, the fat forming a layer of skin; another was placed by his feet, half-eaten by his cat.

Shu pressed the heel of his palm to his eye and slit the other. He glared at him for a long while before murmuring, "You troublesome brat... I warned you not to intervene." His voice quivered with anger. "I was protecting your neck—so was that woman. Next time... think with something other than your fists."

Subaru was stunned into silence. He spluttered nonsense before settling on a curse. "How the hell—"

"It is easy to feign sleep when one gets enough of it... or, when servants lack the tact to whisper. Still, you're as transparent as ever. If I can see through it, did you believe our old man wouldn't?"

Subaru bristled and kicked back the stool. "What the fuck do you know? Maybe if you'd quit moping your mouth could invent some decent shit. It's mine—she's mine, and that's the end of it."

He booted the nightstand to release some pent-up frustration and stalked towards the window. He yanked back the curtain, paying no mind to Shu's irritated hiss as white sunlight poured into the room.

"I'll protect her with everything I've got," he continued, more to himself. "That bastard has already imprisoned one woman, and he won't do it a second time. I'll set them free, both of them. I... have to. I can't abandon them—I won't."

Subaru could not catch a glimpse of his mother's tower from Shu's window; only the dark stretches of skeleton trees and the swirls of smoke puffing out from Yui's chimney. He felt reassured that she and Eve were warm beside the hearth, but having developed a habit of pining towards a lonesome tower, it unsettled him not to be able to see the weathered, circular brickwork and the arrow-slits, or the white flashes of her person.

Later, he resolved, he would bring her some porridge drenched in honey and steaming milk, bread and furs, and attempt to light a fire if the seeping drafts of snow allowed it.

"...No," he heard Shu murmur from the bed. Subaru turned from the window to see his cat, with snow starring her fur, curled against his chest. Shu sated her nudges with a scratch behind the ear, but his eyes stared at nothing.

"Freedom is a dream of fools," he continued, "that woman is chained to that letter as much as I am chained to this name." His gaze focused. "Your efforts are worthless... not everyone can be saved. Better you accept it and quit acting like a spoilt child. Even the richest of men cannot behold everything."

Subaru's cheeks burned with fury. Him, a spoilt child? Worthless efforts?

He burst across the room and snatched up the front of his nightshirt; Lily barred her canines and swung her claws. His wrists were tattered, but he did not loosen his grip.

Shu, always unaffected by his temper, stared back at him with weary eyes and lips pressed thin. His indifference acted as fuel.

"You wanna go? I don't give a shit, sick or not. I'll beat your ass!"

"She isn't yours," Shu said, cold. "She will never be yours."

Subaru's rage boiled over. With a growl, he threw a punch, and Shu was knocked back against the bed-frame. He was already disorientated by sickness, and he wobbled forwards and scrunched his eyes, convincing his body not to retch. He could not part with the minuscule amount of food he stomached.

"...Satisfied?" he muttered, dragging his forearm across his lips, revealing a smear of blood. Over his fever-red cheeks was the blooming of a bruise.

The youngest clicked his tongue and turned away, though Shu did not see the regretful glance he paid to his throbbing knuckles.

"What, and she's yours, is she? Give me a break."

Shu did not give an answer; he settled himself under the covers and flipped his head away, snapping his fingers to summon his cat. Lily licked the soup from her whiskers and leapt up onto the mattress, purring into his neck.

Subaru wondered how animals could adore such an insufferable man.

"Leave," he muffled into the pillow. "I'd rather listen to that doctor's belittlement than your screeching."

"Bastard!" Subaru fumed, raising his fists once more. "I asked you a question!"

"A ridiculous question is not worth an answer," Shu countered, eyes closed. "That woman would barely let me steal a kiss when we were young, never mind get between her legs. Believe what you want, do what you want... I don't care. Just... get out. You're noisy."

Subaru uttered a curse and seized his robes, freezing when the pouch of herbs Yui had prescribed tumbled from the pocket.

He was wracked with guilt. Why did he open his mouth? He should have prepared a cup of medicine, changed the cloth on his forehead, stewed the coals, aired the room, and fled. No, he had to lose his temper; he had to make things worse. He had to punch him...

"Like hell I will," Subaru grumbled, ripping open the loaf a serving-girl had left earlier and stuffing the powdered root inside.

Shu cracked open an eye and crinkled his nose at the pungent herbal stink. Subaru took the pan of boiling water from the stove and began to brew the tea Yui had instructed, almost burning his hands at Shu's sudden decision to speak.

He half-wished he would go to sleep and ignore him. It was mortifying.

"You've... been spending too much time with that woman," he said, sweating from the hot steam. "I don't need a babysitter, least of all by a loud-mouthed brat. Send a woman in to entertain me if you're seeking to be of use."

Subaru slammed the tea down onto the nightstand, sloshing water and ringing the bottom. "Shut up and get this down your throat. Otherwise I'm not leaving."

"Blow on it," Shu ordered, the corners of his lips lifting. "It's too hot. You can't expect me to drink something with all that steam coming from it, can you? Or are you trying to scald my mouth, as well as blacken my eye?"

Subaru clenched his fists to his sides. "I'll fucking spit in it. See how you like it then."

With a faint smirk, Shu sighed, sat up, and drank.

"Disgusting," he mumbled into the cup. "You really are a worthless excuse of a nurse."

Despite the infuriating nature of his taunts, he took it as a sign of his recovery.

If he has the strength to be an asshole, Subaru thought, he has the strength to eat.

He lobbed a portion of bread at his chest, hoping the hard crust pained him a little. The soft white inside was dappled green with herbs, and Shu blanched at the sight, flicking it away like a speck of dirt on a jacket.

"That furball is getting fat," Subaru said, nodding towards his pet. Lily sniffed the bread and batted it between her paws, rolling crumbs about the sheets. "Eat your own goddamn meals. You look like shit."

Shu gave a thoughtful frown as he pulled the bread apart with his fingers. "That woman... she's worried, right?"

Subaru snorted and took up his stool. "Don't get off thinking you're special. Cricket'd lose her head over a dead fly."

He nibbled at his food and turned his head to the window. There had been no snowfall for days, but the air remained bitter, the sun bright but cold. The village was stuck in a lull of whiteness.

Shu's lips parted to speak, but he closed them, took a bite and slowly chewed. The herbal aroma cleared his nose, though his tastebuds remained numb, and he could taste very little.

"Our old man," Subaru began, his voice loud after their brief silence. "He... wants to see them. Don't know what he's hoping for—that kid's got her face. He's wasting his time."

An idle habit, he withdrew his dagger and polished the blade on the wool of his robes. He turned it over in the orange stove-light, entranced by its glimmer.

His attention caught, Shu coughed and asked, "When?"

"To hell if I've spoken to him," Subaru replied. "Been avoiding him like the plague."

Shu tossed the breadcrumbs to an awaiting Lily and sneezed into his hands. "Wise..." he drawled, swiping at his watering eyes. "So, you thought to visit me... a carrier of disease."

Subaru shot him a terrible look. "My valet warned me... though he thought to warn father first, the two-faced bastard. Tomorrow he's saying—there hasn't been fresh snow in days. The forest should be safe for a rider."

A gesture of finality, Shu emptied his cup and said, "Prepare my horse."

Subaru, as the suspect in the case, was led to believe he would fetch Yui and her child from the woods. He blinked and tipped his body backwards, stunned.

"Hah? Fuck that. Some good you'll be—you're sick as a dog. You looking to find a nice spot for your grave out there?"

Shu pursed his lips. "I'd chose a grave in the forest over this bed... if you won't saddle her, I will."

Renewed with energy, he untangled the sheets from his limbs and rose, stumbling blind. He felt intoxicated; his head was light and spinning, his bedridden legs trembling. He shivered in the warmth.

Subaru's protests fell on deaf ears. Shu flung a robe around his shoulders, shuffled into slippers and exited the room with Lily quick on his heels.

"Oi!" Subaru yelled, careening around the corner and startling the passing maids. "You can barely walk! You're mad if you think you can ride in that condition!"

But Shu Sakamaki had already vanished.

.:.

Sora sighed at his stool beside the cradle, his head hung into his hands. He had long forgotten his supper keeping warm in the oven, until his groaning stomach sent a reminder.

Giving the cradle another swing, he reached for his bowl of porridge and black bread. It was a big portion, and he suspected Miss Yui had sacrificed her meal again. She still had her childbearing fat, she would insist. But he could not believe it upon seeing her with a needle and thread in hand, taking in her baggy dresses.

"Miss Eve," he mumbled with a mouth full of oats, "aren't you tired of crying?"

He wished for the babe to hurry and grow. He wanted a playmate with a tongue which talks, not shrieks.

She was a clingy thing who would wail whenever set down by her mother, and the black creases underneath Miss Yui's eyes confirmed her endless attempts to rock her into slumber. Sometimes, when Yui had reached her limits, she would bundle herself in furs and swaddle Eve to her chest and take a walk through the forest. She would return wearing a weary smile and red-cold cheeks, but with the prize of a quiet infant.

Sora wondered whether she detested the seclusion. But it was winter, and the frost was not kind to the young.

Sora bit into his bread, and Eve, having caught onto the notion of food, silenced and stuffed her fisted hand into her mouth. He gave a gap-toothed grin.

"No... only bigger kids get this," he said, his smile faltering as her cries returned. "Uh...! Wait!" Clumsily, he ducked and hid his supper underneath the stool, wrapping arms around his protesting stomach. "Suppose this is fair..."

Sullen, he glanced to the window and to the silver-violet sky. Sora frowned. It was time for Eve to be fed, but Yui was nowhere to be found. She was in the barn, putting the livestock down for the night, but she was taking longer than usual.

Suddenly, breaking the silence, was the sound of hooves beating against the snow.

Earl, was Sora's first thought. Had the horse escaped?

It was a silly notion if one was aware of the animal's temperament. A lazy beast, he would be reluctant to move even if a thousand carrots dangled before him.

Bandits?

Miss Yui had told tales of the rouges who lurked in the shadow of trees, but had hastily assured him not to worry. Thieving men wanted little to do with a cottage owned by a great lord, and even less with a woman whom many still presumed to be too heavy with child to provide easy pleasure.

Sora's curiosity overwhelmed him and he stepped to the window. There he saw the silhouette of Yui pressed against the door of the barn, her hands drawn to her face. Her braid shone against the new moon. Before her was a tall, pale horse, an elegant thing compared to the likes of Earl. Their rider was incompetent, and he was almost hurled from the saddle. The horse fidgeted, kicking away the snow caught in its feathers and throwing its head.

Yui broke free of her surprise and rushed to help the rider dismount before the horse decided first. He collapsed against her, and she stumbled under the weight. As an afterthought, the man caught the fallen reins and pulled the horse along. They reared and gnawed a hoof into the snow, but after another tug and a string of words Sora did not catch, it followed them into the barn.

A while later, Yui emerged from the outhouse, her head earthward and her cloak snatched close. He gasped and dashed back to the stool, red-faced at the thought of being caught spying.

The door opened, and Sora shivered at the cold gust of air. Miss Yui sighed and rubbed her temples, her eyes riddled with distraction. Taking a glance at her wailing, flailing child in the cradle, he thought she would burst into tears herself.

She licked her cracked lips and forced through a smile, "Sora, is all well in here? Sorry—I am so sorry for leaving you alone with her. Evie can be a handful."

She hushed the child and took them into her arms, turning away and unfastening the strings of her bodice. She pressed the babe's head to her breast, encouraging her to feed.

"You are welcome to go home to the church anytime—I could not bear you being here unless you wish for it. I would never think ill of you if you decided to return."

Sora shook his head, his shaggy hair bouncing about his face; he took a spoonful of his cold porridge and swallowed. "My place is here," he said, "'tis what the father wishes too, I know it. Our heads may hurt, Miss Yui, but I'd take a noisy babe over a silent one."

She gave a ring of laugher, her eyes flashing anew. The lines marking her forehead were no more. "You are a wise soul, Sora. Thank you for saying that..."

Eve, winded and heavy-eyed, occupied her crib once more; Sora lugged over his soot-dusted blankets.

"One of the animals has taken sick," Yui said, her eyes stuck to her hands. "I must stay with them tonight."

Sora, who did not want to spill the sight he saw, humoured her lie. "Is... Is it Earl?"

"No, no. Do not worry yourself—I will return every hour to check up on the two of you."

He frowned and glanced down to the patchwork throw strewn across his lap. "But... are you not going to sleep, Miss Yui?"

Her lips formed a small smile. "Sleep in my bed. I would feel better with the thought of you having a good rest."

Packing a bag with the contents she raided from the medical cupboard in the kitchen, she left for the barn. The drowsiness he had felt after gobbling his supper was no more. Sora stared at Eve's sleeping face in a trance of thought. He knew Yui to have been married, and though he saw no jewel on her finger, it was a piece of knowledge gained through passing talk. He was a quiet boy, one blessed with keen ears.

The thing which confused him—a thing which perplexed even the minister!—was Eve's parentage. His mother had taught him that one must be married to have a child, and those who did not, were one of foulest creatures on this earth. It could not be somebody as kind as Miss Yui. She must have remarried, but to whom?

Sora had grown accustomed to Lord Subaru's visits. Initially he was terrified at the mere sight of him, and the brutal way his fists banged against the front-door would reduce him into a quivering heap. But along with the tender meats and bright vegetables he presented, he added honeycakes, especially for him. Though his brash way of talking and his quick temper were still things which made him uneasy, he deduced that any man who gave him honeycakes was one to be trusted. Miss Yui warned him frantically against this.

Perhaps he was her husband, though he saw no ring, and they did not share a lodging.

Plucking at a distant memory, he recalled the alcohol-stinking, green-eyed man who once occupied Miss Yui's bed. Husbands and wives shared beds. Could it be him?

Sora's head had begun to throb, and he could no longer see the cradle in the blackness. Fumbling for his blankets, he plopped down onto the bed, the old springs groaning underneath him. As sleep tugged at his consciousness, he realised that Eve's circumstance did not matter to him.

He would hold the Komori's in the highest regard all the same.

.:.

The sweet smell of last summer's hay seeped into her nose as soon as Yui Komori entered the barn. She had fashioned a bed from scattered straw and cowhide, hoping a layer of skin would reduce his complaints of itchiness. It was a draughty outhouse, with rotting beams and cobwebbed rafters, and she was suddenly grateful for its small size and the animals heat.

Shu Sakamaki, who she had regretfully left in a fitful sleep, was awake and cringing at the hens pecking around his feet. He slit his eyes at her.

"You have some nerve to house a lord in a barn, woman."

And you have some nerve to make me this worried, fool, Yui thought, pressing her lips to keep it inside.

"The children are in the house," she said, "and I will not have them sick."

She dropped the bag beside him and kneeled, her fisted hands trembling in her lap. Shu hummed, bemused.

"You know," he drawled, his voice scratchy. "That's a nice scowl you have there... are you angry with me?"

"Yes!" Yui cried, flinging her arms in exasperation. "Yes, I am very angry at you! You are as mad as they come, Shu Sakamaki—" she stopped at the lump lodged in her throat; her eyes were wet. "It is winter," she pushed on, determined to make him see fault. "You are barely dressed and you are unwell. What possessed you?"

"Then dress me," he said, pointedly ignoring her question.

Yui puffed her cheeks; his eyes laughed, bluer with fever.

She rummaged in her bag and pulled out furs, blankets and shawls. She draped the lighter layers around his shoulders and over his outstretched legs, but when she reached for the furs, he swatted them away.

"No more," he said. "I am too hot."

Yui frowned. It was winter, and he was being betrayed by the heat of fever. His condition would surely worsen if he was exposed to the cold. She brushed his hair back and rested a hand upon his forehead. It had been hotter when he first arrived in his mad, stumbling glory, though the temperature was still a cause for concern. She retreated, when his hand pushed hers back.

"Leave it," he murmured, "your hand... it's cold."

"Then I will fetch snow."

He gave her a hard stare, as though challenging her to move. If he were a child, she might have said he was pouting.

"Alright." Her mouth softened into a smile. "Tell me how you feel."

"Would you like my lips to show you?"

Yui fell backwards, coughing on dust. She could feel the heat to her ears.

"How amusing... to see you blushing like a maiden. Your lewd reputation faults you, however..."

She hung her head. "D-Do not make a fool out of me."

"Then do not doctor me," he returned, his voice edged.

Yui paused and chose her words carefully. Conflict was an easy thing with Shu, but resolving it was not.

"A doctor's job is to help people," she started, "because they are concerned for their well-being. If that is the case, then yes, I am doctoring you. If you wished for it otherwise, do not come stumbling to my door, half-dead, and ask me to sit by idly. Because I will not do it—I cannot."

With a mouth full of words, he opened his lips to belittle her argument, but all was lost with a series of hacking coughs. Yui's gut turned to ice as she reached out to him, but he shooed her away, as he had with the furs.

Shu appeared healthy enough sitting, mindful of the common symptoms of a cold and his fevered flush. Yui knew a fever banished any appetite, and she doubted he had eaten well in days, all of which accounted for his spinning head and his limbs behaving like an uncoordinated foal's.

She prayed his fever would break tonight. He could not travel to the castle in his condition, nor could he stay lest his absence arouse suspicion.

Shu cupped a hand around her neck and brought her dangerously close. He radiated heat and her frozen skin ached to touch it, to be nearer still.

"…You want to know why I am here, you impossible creature? I am here because that man is demanding an audience with you. Tomorrow. He is demanding an audience because two fools are indulging a lie."

Yui gulped and skirted her eyes away. "I see you were not convinced—"

"Yui," he hissed through his teeth. "End it."

Hurt flashed in her eyes, and she snatched out of his grip and stood. "Please rest. I must check on the house."

She scurried from the barn and inhaled the night air, starved.

Yui did not return to the cottage immediately. She turned back to the doors, squinting through a gap in the wood. Shu remained lounged on his straw-bed, and with a great sigh, he ungracefully rose and joined his mare at her post. She blew at him and nudged her nose into his chest; his body blundered, and Yui almost marched inward to force him to rest.

"Horses are far less troublesome than women," he said, circling his knuckles into her forehead. "And far more," his voice grew louder, "obedient."

He tossed his head to the barn doors; Yui squeaked.

"U-Um…!"

"I thought you were checking on the house? Or… could it have been a ruse to spy on me? How indecent… you were hoping to see me naked, weren't you?"

With a haughty blush, Yui tumbled into the barn. Her braid was frayed, the wispy strands framing her face frizzed. Shu found amusement in her madness, and his smirk did not shift.

"I-I would do no such thing…!"

"Are you imagining it already? Dirty girl… your face is all red."

She hid her face into her hands, groaning. "S-Shu… please, enough."

Yui heard the rustling of fabric, and when she peeked between her fingers, she saw the multitudes of shawls pooling around his ankles. He tugged his off-white nightshirt over his head; her throat went dry. Automatically, her eyes travelled along his bare skin, the candlelight shadowing the muscles in his abdomen.

"Pervert," Shu breathed a laugh. "Close your mouth. It's not like you haven't seen a man's body before."

Yui, mortified, snapped her lips closed and shook her head. "What… what are you doing?"

"I said I was too hot," he clarified, flunking down onto the straw-bed. "If you are too prude to undress me… then I will do it myself." Shu pawed through the bag, his frown deepening at each medical appliance he stumbled across.

Yui twisted her hands. "But you will freeze!"

"Then," he said, arching an eyebrow. "Warm me with your body."

She gaped, her voice shrill. "W-With my what?"

"You heard well," he dismissed. "Or are you going to make a sick man ride to the tavern?"

Yui's heart jolted at the thought; she angled her chin and dug her heels into the hay.

"I... I believe the warmth of your horse will serve you well enough. You prefer them to women, after all."

Sulking, she flipped her hood and slipped out of the barn, the bitter air stealing the heat from her cheeks.

Tomorrow, she redirected her brain. I have to think of tomorrow.

A/N: I think everyone needs a little Shu x Yui on Valentine's Day ^^

allyelle~