A mysterious heat wave had struck Chaldea, warming up the entire complex, even its nooks and corners, to an even, unseasonably hot 42 degrees Celsius. Or at least, that's what everyone told Gudako, who appeared to be the only person in literally all of Chaldea to not be bothered by the excessive temperatures.
Her strange resistance also applied to the mysterious disease that had swept through Chaldea at the same time. It hadn't been long, but already most of the staff and even some Servants had called in sick.
It was precisely because Gudako was just about the only healthy person left that Nightingale had given her the task of looking after the first few casualties in the infirmary while she went around dragging anyone feeling even slightly under the weather (read: literally everyone) back to the infirmary.
Considering she had yet to return after almost an hour, Gudako could guess she had either picked a very stubborn and quite healthy first target, the heat was getting to her as well (despite having already changed into her Halloween costume due to it covering pretty much nothing) or just both.
Well, for now that was fine, as the head nurse's absence gave the Servants and humans already in the infirmary a moment to breathe without having to worry about amputations and the likes.
Speaking of patients…
"How are you feeling, Amakusa?" Gudako asked as she took the once wet, now dried cloth off his head to dip it in the water basin next to his bed. As she submerged her hands in the water she noted it had heated up again, and that it just wasn't worth adding ice cold water from the tap to it at this rate.
With his usual smile, the Ruler weakly replied: "I fear I am not improving. Please give my apologies to the young Santa Lily, that I won't be able to join in on her celebrating." Gudako could tell he wasn't exaggerating from how pale he seemed.
"Hey now, no need to start thinking so negatively yet: Christmas isn't here yet, so there's still time for someone to figure out what's going on." Well, that would have to be someone other than Da Vinci and Sherlock who usually do this figuring out thing, because the former was sick in her own bed, and Sherlock was stubbornly working on something in the hangar while refusing to take off his cloak. When he eventually collapsed from heat stroke, he would have only himself to blame.
Gudako wrung out the cloth, noting that despite the water's temperature, touching it still cooled her hands down a little, so it should help the Ruler. She then placed it back on the man's head, and given the slight sigh he let out as he briefly closed his eyes, he appreciated it.
"This is quite the Christmas, huh?" Gudako noted with a wry smile.
Amakusa had been amongst the first to collapse, and as he did so in the middle of cleaning her room, she felt rather responsible. Hence why she was mostly here in the infirmary to keep him company, at least as long as the place wasn't crowded by more patients.
This also allowed her to dodge the not-enviable task of informing Jeanne Alter Lily Santa (Gudako, when she did use the full title, had long given up trying to remember in what order all the words were supposed to be put) that her mentor had collapsed and as he himself had predicted likely wouldn't be able to take part in the Christmas celebrations at this rate.
Well, someone would find Gudako to let her know what needs to be done if the cause behind all of this was found, so for now she just had to focus on nursing the man laying on the bed in front of her.
She pressed her hand against his cheek, and as expected, his body temperature was so high it felt like it was burning. But-
"Ah, Master. Could you please keep your hand like that for a moment? It's pleasantly cool."
Gudako was surprised by the sudden request from the Ruler, but managed to reply: "A-ah, sure, long as you like." Amakusa closed his eyes again and leant into her touch, sighing in relief. Certainly, as Gudako was unaffected by the heat, her regular skin temperature must've felt like a cool cloth compared to Amakusa's.
Seeing how much he was enjoying this, she absentmindedly placed her other hand on his opposite cheek, and Amakusa mouthed a 'thank you' in reply.
"…" Gudako felt kind of bad for enjoying this when Amakusa was feeling unwell because of the fever, but she just couldn't help but marvel at the peaceful expression on his face. It wasn't like she was doing something inappropriate, but just touching him like this felt so intimate it made her heart beat faster.
Cradling his face in her hands like this made her feel-
An incredibly loud banging sound came from somewhere behind Gudako, causing her to jump up with yelp. Amakusa's eyes also snapped open in surprise, but she spun around to face the direction of the sound – the entrance to the infirmary – before he could catch a glimpse of her face.
Standing in the entrance of the room, the door almost off its hinges from the force it'd been hit with, was Nightingale. Nightingale, with numerous Servants slung over her shoulder (including Beowulf, who was still trying to put up a fight despite the fever having gotten to him).
"Master, we've got more patients! I need you to-" Nightingale stopped dead when she looked at Gudako, before promptly asking: "Master, your face is red. Is the heat getting to you after all?"
"Eh? Um, just a little bit, I'm feeling fine." Nightingale nodded.
"In that case, please leave the infirmary. I have more patients to take care of, so I need to place more beds." Gudako nodded, quickly said goodbye to Amakusa and left.
Once outside, she let out a big sigh, before placing her hands on her cheeks. While nowhere near as warm as Amakusa's, the heat she felt from them indicated that she'd been blushing quite heavily. Well, of course she was. After all, right before Nightingale burst in she'd realized she had been leaning towards the Ruler's face.
Slapping her own cheeks to snap her out of this, Gudako marched back to her room, resolved to not think too much on what had almost occurred.
