Chapter 9: The Sickness (Yep, Jack's listening to Disturbedbe very, very afraid. I guess you can see where THIS is going)
(I still don't own a damn thing. I haven't even used my lunch money for three weeks now. I owe to many people cash. I sure as hell don't have any animes or characters tucked away, not even in my Swiss bank account.)
Usually when Aoshi woke up, it was to the perfect clarity that he traveled in the rest of the day. Generally about 5 minutes before the alarm went off. He would sit, let his eyes adjust to the light creeping over the horizon (He had a bus to catch, in the winter months not even a crack of the sun would reach him until at least halfway to school), and maybe stretch of meditate a bit before putting on a shirt, slinging his back pack, and donning his black-on-silver headphones.
Today, he woke up to the keening of the alarm (something he hadn't heard for YEARS, he always turned it off as soon as he was conscious), and to world was swimming in a haze. A pounding, dead-tired haze. And the clock wasn't even right! It said it was eighteen minutes AFTER the alarm was set-
Which means Aoshi's head spun as half-memories half-dreams rose from an unusually swampy subconscious I've hit snooze twice
Sliding out of bed with all the grace of a redwood being felled, Aoshi reeled slightly before falling in the vague direction of his dresser. Clothesalmost ready
Just need my sanity
*
As if to spite his strangely weakened state, Misao, Jack, and Omasu were all acting as though they were concealing IV drip bags attached to their arms, full of jolt cola. Jack, especially, was discovering the joys of provoking people in lousy moods. Particularly people who were usually (In all modesty!) calm, smooth, and centered.
After discovering that poking or pulling Aoshi's hair 'on accident' wouldn't draw any kind of response, Jack shifted his aim to Misao, who he brutally tortured with cruel ear-flicks until Aoshi got tired of hearing the only person he really cared about whining.
"Stop." He snarled.
Jack, who, as we've mentioned, passed the ninth grade by the slimmest of margins, did not, in fact, stop. He continued. And poked. And poked. Until Aoshi grabbed his hand and yanked hard enough to slide him out of his seat.
"UNG?"
Omasu laughed. "You've been owned, bro."
"Feh. The icy villain took advantage of my pre-dawn weakness."
"Oh come on, like you could ever beat Aoshi in ANYTHING at any time of the day! Besides sleeping in class I mean. Or maybe passing-requirements-squeaking-by."
"Well he has an advantage. He fights on the side of TRUE LOVE."
Jack, Omasu, and the traitorous Misao 'Aww'-ed simultaneously, and Aoshi decided that this was in fact going to be a very, very bad day.
*
Aoshi hated always being right. When it comes to surviving bad days, not even knowing about them in advance can really save you. I miss the bliss in ignorance
For one thing, he was sniffling. Blowing one's nose sounded like the most degrading experience imaginable to Aoshi, so he generally suffered his few nasal afflictions in silence. But this, this cruel clogging of one nostril, was obnoxious to the point of fatality.
And, as he had learned by cruel, humiliating experience, the only way to clear, even temporarily, this respiratory blockade was to sniff in a loud and public manner that made people stare and made him wish that it was possible to die from sheer embarrassment.
It feels like I'm going to, but I imagine that that would be to easy for Aoshi Shinamori, butt of the cruelest joke the Gods set upon this earth. Aoshi did not, of course BELIEVE in any joke-setting-upon-earth gods, but he wanted to just so he'd have some kind of rational explanation for why he suddenly felt as though all he wished to do (after sleeping 8 hours!) was curl up and never move again.
For another thing, his head, which he had always prided himself on keeping clear of all irrationality and illogic, was stuffy. Not in the same way his nose was congested, this was a metaphysical stuffiness that slowed thoughts and made them into hate-twisted anagrams of what they were supposed to be. And what's this, now I'm drowning in self-pity? Pathetic.
And finally, and perhaps most foul of all, he needed a drink more desperately than mere words or even thoughts could express. His water bottle hung in it's traditional place on his backpack, empty before second period even began.
Aoshi's eyes narrowed, making a few people who were watching him gulp visibly. There's a reason I bring that water bottle. I know I can drink all of it without having to use one of the school bathrooms, so I never drink anything else He shivered at the thought of having to use facilities besides the ones he maintained as his and only his at home. It was utterly disgusting to use a toilet that someone ELSE had used before him, thousands of people no doubt, and the idea of a urinal made him want to vomit copiously.
Standing up with my-ah, that's just unpleasant. Aoshi's eyes narrowed further, and the gulping kids considered running for it. Aoshi NEVER looked angry, they were sure that at any moment he's pull out a pair of MAC-10 sub machine guns and tear holes in all of the fools who had DARED snicker at his sniffling.
I may have no choicebut I'd rather die of thirst than consider the use of these unsanitary facilities, and trying to stick out the day with a bursting bladder is far to risky
But
*
Lunch. Misao chattering, as per usual. Hungry. Not usual. Thirsty. Downright strange. Head pounding. Unbelievable.
Aoshi's day was not improving in any way, shape, or form. His usual refuge from life in general, his lunchtime meditation, was afflicted with worldly problems. And hungers.
Never before had he let Misao's constant stream of words annoy him. He always wrapped himself in it, absorbing most of it, but only really hearing the tone, the comfort and attention, and letting himself ignore the meaning for the most part. Instead, today, each word seemed to be a large rock dropped from, say, a 747 at thirty thousand feet directly to his head.
And since when was he hungry at lunch? A gobbled poptart on the way to the bus stop was all that sustained him before dinner on most days, lunch was to valuable a time for reflection to mar it with food.
And the thirst Feels as though a large desert has been relocated to my throat. And it's felt like this ALL DAY. And pretty soon I'm going to tire of one of these FOOLS who surround me, and disembowel them with their own fingernails. The image comforted him in a gruesome way. He almost smiled.
Almost.
To top things off, he kept on becoming strangely cold and shaky, then going back to feeling as though he were actually physically on fire. Added to the pain of his head, the hunger and thirst
What could this mean?
*
"Mrs. Shinamori? I think that your son needs to be picked up. Yes, Aoshi. Well, he just threw up over most of his fifth period class"
*
Misao was inconsolable. She was completely convinced that she should have noticed Aoshi's illness and sent him home before it could worsen.
"And now he'll hate me FOREVER!!" She sobbed.
Jack could laugh, but the look in Omasu's eyes said that he would never be forgiven, so he retreated before his humor could bubble to the surface.
It's a sad day when Kenshin and Sano prove to be the bastions of sanity unto which I flee
Behind him, Omasu comforted the smaller girl with a sisterly hug.
Bad, bad idea.
*
As Jack peeled away from the road, up his driveway, he enfolded Omasu with a one-handed hug, his other arm to busy supporting the bulging snot-colored backpack he carried his usually-non-existent homework in.
"Sayonara, nee-chan," He said, his customary farewell to Omasu.
*
Later, at Sano's house, Jack exchanged a high-five with Kenshin, their hands sweaty from the tight grips they had on their controllers, as Katsu and Sano groaned in the background.
Later, Kenshin kissed Sano softly on the lips as he stepped through the door to go home.
Later, Sano spittle-charged profanities at Katsu's latest sniper attack caught the taller boy in the face, making him wince.
Later, Kaoru gave Misao a tight hug when the short girl showed up on her door-step, worried about Aoshi and looking for comfort.
Later, Yahiko accepted, reluctantly, a good-night embrace from his older sister.
*
And so, when the morning came, none of the friends got out of bed voluntarily. Aoshi didn't get out of bed at all of course.
The rest were dragged by convenient appendages or clothing, forced to stand on the cold floor, examined carefully, and sent back to bed with various medications in them.
Misao was overjoyed, of course, to share anything with her beloved Aoshi. She spent the day thinking about him, writing in her diary, and doing homework. It seemed like a holiday, and she felt glad that she was taking penance for not noticing Aoshi's sickness in time to stop him from drenching that unfortunate class in poptart and stomach acid.
Omasu snarled to anyone who offered comfort. It was a very scary side of her personality, and her family quietly reminded themselves why they feared her getting any diseases so much. She spent all day in bed, demanding occasionally that food, medicine, or books be brought to her, and threatening horrifying deaths to any who disobeyed.
Jack slept until four in the afternoon, at which point he woke up and invented several new languages to swear in. He spent the rest of the day re-writing songs he truly hated in disgusting ways.
Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum!
Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum!
Mr. Sandman
Bring me some weed!
And of course
It's just (ah)
A little crush (crush)
Not like I faint
Every time we-
He ended with a word that was definitely not in the original version, and made him laugh for several minutes until he began coughing again.
Kenshin looked so unbearably cute wrapped in his sheets with his hair askew and his eyes half-closed that his parents couldn't bear to rouse him. They left some medicine and called the school before fleeing the intolerably pathetic coughing. Kenshin spent most of the day e-mailing teachers to maintain his 4.0 GPA (Five point oh if weighted for honors), and laughing at the re-written lyrics Jack sent him over instant messenger.
Sano made it to third period before he gave up and called in a ride home, at which point his temperature was an impressive hundred and seven. After a few hours of sleeping, he ate fully half of the food in the house, noticed Kenshin was on instant messenger, and told him to come over or face dire consequences. Cuddling occupied the rest of their day, although neither of them were up for any kissing.
Yahiko spent the day trying not to admit to himself that the massive speakers were giving him a headache. He couldn't perform to the music, but he still wanted it on, and he couldn't bring himself to lower it past a few hundred decibels or so.
Get up come on get down with the sickness!
Get up come on get down with the sickness!
Get up come on get down with the sickness,
Madness is the gift that-has-been-given-to-me!
Kaoru just spent the time banging on Yahiko's door and screaming for him to turn it the (truly un-Kaoru-like-word) down.
Katsu decorated his entire body with scenes of strange creatures fighting, imaginary ideograms, and fake wounds or scars. His sheets were completely ruined by ink stains in the morning, and it took a full hour of showering to get the smearing colors off his skin.
Aoshi spent the most miserable day of his life trying to stave off self-pity and avoid the use of any drugs whatsoever, which he considered weakness. He watched television for the first time in three months, and did not speak a single word to anyone for more than twenty four hours. In the end the Nyquil was mixed with his drink at dinner, and he was to tired to complain about the awful taste, even if he had known what it was. About one hour after he cleaned his plate, he collapsed against the wall and spent the night cross-legged on his bed, sound asleep.
*
Day two brought new horrors. Or, if you're Aoshi, day three, and he only had the old horrors.
Everyone was forced back to school, with no excuses accepted. After all, colds only last twenty four hours, right? Everyone knows that!
The next day half the student body as well as the vast majority of the teachers and almost all of the parents stayed home sick.
Get up come on get down with the sickness,
Open up your hate and-let-it-flow-into-me!
(There. It's a chapter. Read it and tell me to get better soon, or else I won't. And you don't want that, because I WILL keep writing sucky new chapters. (Like I write any other kind of new chapters!) And to those who HAVE told me to get better, thank you. There. I SAID IT!! GOD I hate it when I'm to sick to be cuddled. Maybe one of my friends will get itinfluenza makes me evil, I'm wishing it on my friends for my own selfish purposes. Special thanks to Nyquil for making it so I could sleep last night, even if it does taste like ass. Extra special magic thanks to Mik-chan, because that e-card still makes me laugh. And love to Koishii, because I always do that. L8r, all.)