2: Every now and then I get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears...




Yohji and I were in the middle of discussing whether ducks had teeth or not, with Yohji constantly asking Aya to support his argument. I forgot how we ended up with this debate, all I know is it begun with Yohji pleading Aya to buy warm gloves for all of us. I remember Aya saying something about gardening gloves, but how we ended up with oral structures of ducks is beyond me. Anyway, that was when Omi had come in, looking far too disheveled to be smiling.


All three of us abandoned what we were doing to further examine him, worry evident in both mine and Yohji's faces, nearly concealed but somehow obvious in Aya's eyes. "Omi, what happened to you?" I asked.


"Ah, it's nothing," he mumbled, walking with the stride of a drunk man. "The school nurse sent me home after the teacher made me go to the clinic. But I feel fine..."


I was angry at myself, which was really an escape from my sickeningly overbearing concern for him. I made sure, every day, to observe and know what was going on with Omi -- a hobby, you might say. And yet, somehow my scrutiny managed to miss something like this? I mean, for God's sakes, the weather was getting increasingly worse, and I still allowed him to go outside in shorts?! I admonished myself mercilessly, vowing to never let this happen again. Ever...


I put an arm around him, leading him to his room. He was too unaware of his surroundings to protest, I noted gratefully.


Aya and Yohji hadn't followed, knowing my proclivity towards protectiveness whenever Omi was concerned. I sat him down firmly, trying to look as if my worry for him wasn't commandeering my entire brain and its every function. "Omi, you're going to stay here and get better, okay? That's not negotiable." I realize that nothing's ever not negotiable when you're dealing with Omi. As it was, I was already sinking into his liquid eyes, swimming and diving into azurite pools, drinking them. They were dimmed, slightly, but still very much capable of stealing any coherent thought that might've entered my mind.


I actually had to dig my nails deep into my palms in order to pull myself away from his imploring gaze. I was determined not to give into him, and do what was best for him. "No," I replied to his unasked question.


"But Ken! I have so much homework to do!"


I sighed. "Omi, you're bordering on creepy already. You idiot. You know you're intelligent, and can easily do better than half your class without so much as opening a book."


Omi blushed, I think. It was hard to distinguish, considering his fever already had him all red. "It doesn't matter if I can be smart or not, I still need to accomplish my assignments. I have to maintain my grades."


"So do it tomorrow," I replied, busying myself by looking for a thermometer.


"Wh-?! Ken, you are not making me stay here tomorrow. I'm fine as it is, those nurses-"


I sat beside him, thermometer on one hand, the back of his head on the other. I stuck it in his mouth as gently as possible, which was probably not very gently at all. "Sorry," I said, genuinely contrite. I let go of his head and stroked his hair once as my penance and offered him a small smile. "Omi, it's just two days before the weekend anyway. Why jeopardize your health for a few subjects?"


Omi actually started to reply, so I put a finger on his lips. "Don't talk, we're taking your temperature." Omi had an adorable expression of helplessness on his face, then he resigned with an exasperated glare, which turned out kinda cute as well. I grinned for my small triumph. "It won't be so bad, you know, an extended weekend plus actual sympathy from our dear Aya."


We sat quietly for a moment, and it was pleasantly comfortable. That is until he decided to lay his head on my shoulder. It wasn't exactly the first time he did it, but he still managed to elicit an increased heart rate every single time he became affectionate with me. I hoped he couldn't feel my heart pounding ferally against my chest. It was a bit awkward because we were sitting on the edge of his bed, with nothing to lean on. I put my right arm around his back so he could lean on it too. And even with my abnormally beating heart, nothing ever felt so perfect as this did.


Stupidly, as I often am when Omi is near, I had forgotten to check my watch. Hell, it's surely been longer than 3 minutes. I took the thermometer and held it against the light, and, well, freaked out.


"Holy fuck! Holy-!" I forgot where I put the thermometer, or if I even put it down. I just moved according to what my panic told me. It told me to half-carry half-drag Omi to where his pillows were (right before realizing that I should've just brought the pillows to him), then push his shoulders down onto his bed.


"Oww! Ken?!" Omi exclaimed in irritation.


He tried to get up, only to be pushed back into bed again. "Stay down. Stay down, you are not allowed to move."


"Ken...?" Omi whimpered, irritation being quickly replaced by something very close to fear.


"No, you are not allowed to talk, or to, to breathe heavily, or think too much. No strenuous activities!"


"Ken...?" he repeated, more meekly.


I pulled a chair beside his bed, sat on it and crossed my arms. "I'm going to make sure you fall asleep and I will monitor all the activities that you do from here on out."


"But... I don't want to sleep."


"Well then, stop talking. You'll get tired of doing nothing and eventually fall asleep."


"...Ken, you're scaring me."


"Good, we're even."


Omi had to deliberate on that for a while, but he finally understood what I meant. Hey, I wouldn't have acted so callously towards him if I hadn't found out that he wasn't "just fine". It scared me, to see how unwell he was, and it was worse than my own life being threatened.


He sighed and turned to face me. "I really don't want to sleep."


"It's really not an option." My arms still crossed.


"Can we just talk? Please? It won't be strenuous..."


Well, this time, he didn't even need his eyes to get what he wanted. All he had to do was simply asking for something, and I deliquesced. "I--Alright." My arms went to my lap, ashamed of their earlier position. "I'm sorry, I just. I didn't realize your fever was that bad."


"Why? What was my temperature?"


I shook my head. "No, forget it. All you need to know is you're not going to school tomorrow, because you'll be concentrating on getting better. And just, don't argue with me."


Omi gave me a half-smile as an indication of him obliging to my request. "Alright, if it'd mean so much to you." He reached out towards me and took my hand. His hand was as it always is -- soft and pliant -- only with intensified heat. "But only if you stay with me. Okay?"


My heart is caught in my throat, and I try to ignore the burning in my eyes. "I'll be here as long as you need me." Dammit, what the hell?! My promise made my urge to cry more irrepressible. But I could hold it in. Why... do I want to cry? I had to hold it in.


Omi smiled contentedly and wedged my hand between his cheek and his pillow. "Thanks."


Oh, God.


No. Okay, no, we've been through this...


Okay, fine. You want to do this the hard way? Fine.


Let's try Omi's wonderful equations, those he tries to appear not to be so enrapt with, lest Yohji be moved to torture the poor kid some more. Anyway. Right, here we go. (Note: This would be a great time to remind you why you offer Omi homework help for every damn subject except Math.)


"Hey, do you hear that noise from outside? It sounds like... it sounds like they're remodeling or something," Omi said, his eyes to the door.


"Umm, nope," I replied distractedly, thinking of my mathematical equation.


Anyway.


Given: Ken = male. Omi = male. Ken + Omi = Ken's desire. Prove: Ken = not heterosexual.


"Listen! It's like there's some chaos or something going on outside," Omi said, looking like he was about to jump up any second, but was restraining himself.


Ken and Omi are congruent (gender-wise). Omi belongs to set "male". (subset "effeminate male". Irrelevant.) Ken belongs to set "male".


"Ken, you have to let me check what's going on outside. Or at least you should check it out," Omi said persistently.


Simplify given: Ken + Omi = Ken's desire. Divided by Ken and you get [Omi = desire].


"I'm sure Aya and Yohji can handle it. It's probably another female riot or something," I assured him.


Heterosexual males' desire = {(female)}. Bisexual = {(female), (male)}. Homosexual male = {(MALE)}.


"But... it wouldn't hurt to check," Omi murmured softly.


Omi is in set "male", and not an element of heterosexual males' desire, therefore Ken = not heterosexual.


When Omi let go of my not heterosexual hand, I found I had less to object to and could do as he asked. I opened the door, and was caught unprepared by something that had dashed in and had caused Omi to scream.




[[ Author's note: I'm sorry, I didn't like this chapter either. -_- I just felt the need to write it, in gratitude to everyone who sent feedback. I was so overcome with pleasant surprise to see positive reviews. ^_^ Because I was, and still am very much so, insecure with this story. But please feel free to criticize when you feel I need it and when it's helpful. Don't ask for me to "hurry up and get them together" quick, though, as I am quite a slow and somewhat dramatic author. ^_^ Let's be patient, ne? Again, thanks so much! You all motivate me boundlessly. ^_^ ]]