Achoo

Summary: Baron's sick. Haru's sick. How did everyone get sick? Common colds or not, these two will face it together. AN: I suck at humor. But I tried for the fun of it. (BARONxHARU)

Chapter 3:

"Achoo." The sneeze came out of nowhere. It had been about a couple of hours since the little group at the table had finished their meal and had proceeded to past the time by doing various activities. From charades, to quilting, to homework… the list goes on. And the two sickies in the room didn't feel any better than they had since the beginning of the morning. Right now Haru was wrapped in a blanket, from shoulders to toes, as shivers coursed through her body. Baron was in a similar state as the heavy breathing rendered him numb while his nose felt stuffy; a few sniffles escaping through the cat's nostrils. Both sets of cheeks were colored red from the sickness too as their noses felt inflamed. Hiromi had passed a tissue to her sick friend the moment she heard the sound erupt from her throat.

"Wow, you're really worse for wear, Haru. And Baron doesn't look any better. I feel bad that you two are going through this." The lighter brunette exclaimed. She felt horrible for getting Haru sick and was currently wondering if there was anything else that could be done for her and her… acquaintance, as the darker brunette put it.

Hiromi knew that there was definitely something more going on between the girl and the Creation, but Haru being Haru denied any kind of hints and advances about her feelings towards Baron. Whenever she tried to get something out into the open, Haru was quick to shut the topic down. She was pretty good at getting Hiromi to change the subject. Especially if you mention Tsuge around her. Mentioning Tsuge was Haru's main weapon of topic changers. However, practically everyone knew how the two felt about each other, even if they would never admit it to themselves or each other… or anyone else for that matter. Even Baron had to deal with his fair share of teasing.

Muta never made it easy and would just bluntly ask the Creation how Chicky had been doing. And even though the fat cat would already know, or would just head on over to her house, he was thoroughly entertained by Baron's reaction. The tawny cat could always feel his tail curling upon itself at even the slightest mention of the human girl while his whiskers bristled, and a cough caught in his throat proceeded to make things worse for him. He always attempted to respond with the same answer every time, and he knew that it was becoming repetitive for him. The cat figurine just didn't want to express his feelings, even though that's exactly the opposite of what his heart was telling him to do.

"Yeah. It feels as if… (sniffle)… my body is covered in ice… while my head is on fire." The darker brunette described, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead with a blanket-covered hand. She dabbed her nose with the offered tissue before blowing into it, lots of raspberries flying before the white fabric flew out of her fingers and onto the floor. Tsuge was quick to grab the tissue off the ground with a gloved hand and place it inside of a trash bag. The less germs scattered around, the better for everyone.

"Well hopefully you two will recover soon. But I must ask Baron… how on earth did you end up sick also?" Naoko asked, resting in her armchair while looking at the two sick figures slouching on the couch; exhaustion wreaking havoc on their bodily capacities. Baron propped his head up from its slouched position as he proceeded to respond to the question. But before he could…

"Achoo!... achoo!" The sneezes flew out, but Baron was quick to bring up a part of the blanket currently wrapped around his body up to his nose. Sniffling up whatever mucus was trying to escape, the dapper cat looked over in the redhead's area.

"To be quite honest… (sniffle)… I do not know. All I really know is that I had begun coughing into my elbow a few days ago, and before I knew it I had ended up with sniffles and a splitting headache. I had only begun developing a fever… (cough)(cough)(cough)… yesterday before my condition decided to worsen. The numbness followed soon after." The Creation explained, rubbing his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. He leaned back against the couch, the back of his head making light contact with the wall behind, and breathed heavily through his mouth. His eyes were shut heavily as if he was about to fall asleep at any moment. Deciding her condition couldn't get any worse than it is, Haru decided to follow suit and lean back. Though her head rested on Baron's right shoulder.

"Well that doesn't really give us much to work with. Looks like we will have to treat this as if it were the common cold. I will get some more medicine for you two. I just hope the medicine works for Creations." Naoko mentioned, getting up from her seat and walking into the hallway towards the bathroom. Hiromi just sighed again as she watched her friends wasting away from their colds. What no one expected was for a blue light to appear out of nowhere and startle the couple. The two sickies were too out of it to notice anything.

Out of the portal popped out a large white cat with a brown patch covering his left ear. The portal quickly closed behind him as a black crow flew out seconds away from the light disappearing into thin air.

"Oh it's you Muta. How's it going?" the lighter brunette asked, getting over her shock as she addressed the white cat on the ground. Tsuge popped out from behind the armchair as he took note that his girlfriend didn't seem too scared of what just transpired.

"Eh, not much Chickety. Just came to see how Baron and Chicky were doing as of right now. The birdbrain told me about her being sick too." The fat cat responded. In Muta's point of view, Haru was Chicky and he had taken to calling Hiromi Chickety, so as to tell apart who he was talking to.

"Seriously, are you ever gonna let go of that stupid insult?" Toto said to himself, sighing in irritation. He had enough of being called a birdbrain and wished that his cohort would finally come up with something more original.

"Well they're still as sick as they can be. And it doesn't look like it's gonna clear up anytime soon." She said as she looked back at Haru and Baron. The two of them looked like they had passed out, which wouldn't be surprising given their condition. If anyone knew what they were going through it would be Hiromi, given how sick she had been a few weeks ago.

"Muta was looking for cures in the Cat Kingdom for Baron's condition, but apparently he came up with nothing. There's nothing in their books that can help with curing Baron. But that's also because he's a Creation, and little is known about our anatomy." Toto explained as he perched himself on top of the armchair next to Tsuge.

"But aren't you a Creation too, Toto? Wouldn't you be able to tell what's wrong with Baron?" Tsuge asked, gently stroking the crow's feathers. Toto appreciated the stroking, but now wasn't the time to lose himself to it.

"Well I'm a Creation made of stone. Baron is made of wood. Our anatomies are completely different from each other. Believe me, if he was made of stone then I would definitely know how to help him with the knowledge I have. Only ones who know about the wooden anatomy are Wood Creations themselves, like Baron for example." Toto explained further. He knew it was moot at this point since Baron was too far gone into his sick state to explain anything about himself.

"Well I appreciate everyone for caring about Baron and my daughter, but there's one problem. I apparently have run out of medicine for them. I must have used it all up when Haru had first gotten sick." Naoko had come back into the room and held a few empty capsules where medicine would have originally been.

"What do we do now? It's not like we can go out and get more. The pharmacies are already closed given how late it is." Tsuge exclaimed as he looked at Haru sniffling against Baron's shoulder and Baron continuing to breathe heavily through his nose. They definitely had fallen asleep.

"We can go back to the Bureau probably. Baron tends to store medicine for all clients with all sorts of injuries and ailments." Muta suggested. Everyone looked at him in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry is there a full moon out or something? Cause I don't remember you ever having a brilliant idea like that since… oh I don't know, forever!" Toto exclaimed, surprised that Muta could ever think of something like that.

"Hey! I'm capable of common sense as much as anyone else in this room." Muta retorted, insulted as always by Toto's pestering. Toto chose to restrain himself from anymore remarks the moment he heard Baron practically coughing his lungs out. The dapper cat opened his eyes to see his companions had joined in inside the house.

"Um… (sniffle)… might I ask… (sniffle)… what is going on?" The Creation asked, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes in order to think and hear clearly. The numbing haze didn't help much though with that prospect.

"Not much. We're just planning on taking you and Haru to the Cat Bureau to get better." Toto responded, the crow flying over to land on Hiromi's shoulder in an attempt to get a tiny bit closer to the cat without being too close in sneezing range. The words had reached Baron's ears, but it took a few seconds for his brain to comprehend what he heard.

"Oh… umm… (sniffle)… alright then… (cough)… feel free to marry Hiromi… as you see fit…" Baron answered in response, his eyes closing again as he drifted back into dreamland.

Everyone was flabbergasted and taken aback by the dapper cat's response. How did he get "marry Hiromi" out of taking him and Haru to the Cat Bureau? Hiromi's face turned red from the implication and how the cat had just given consent for something that has never been brought up before. Tsuge was set aflame inside as he heard that, thinking that the crow was trying to steal his girl or something. Naoko covered her mouth as she snickered from the response, wondering how long it would have taken for Baron to be affected by delirium. Toto and Muta said nothing as their mouths just hung open in shock. How on earth did Baron even come to that response was far beyond their grasp.

"Maybe we should get him and Haru to the Cat Bureau, tout de suite." Toto recommended as he continued to stare at the passed out cat in shock. Hiromi didn't even look at the crow on her shoulder as she raised her hand to close his beak back up.

"Yeah, maybe we should."