Author's Notes: Yay! Chapta numba five! readers sweatdrop Ahem… I've been looking forward to writing this one I think it'll be fun to write :D

Many many thanks go to Unicornfan, who gave me a link to translated Rurouni Kenshin manga so I can finally start reading it for myself! YAY!

Disclaimer: I did not create and therefore do not own Rurouni Kenshin. In light of this some of the characters will probably be OOC. But isn't that what fanfics are all about?

Fever Days and Sleepless Nights

Chapter 5

Kaoru awoke the next morning with an aching head and streaming eyes. Not to mention that her throat felt like someone had stripped out the insides (very painfully) and replaced them with sandpaper.

She slowly sat up and noticed with concern that Kenshin was attempting to rise to his feet.

"Kenshin? What are you doing?" she croaked hoarsely.

Thankfully, Kenshin's attention was distracted and he sat back down again, looking at her with worry.

"Kaoru-dono, you look awful," he said truthfully.

"Kenshin no baka! I feel awful!" said Kaoru. Way to state the obvious.

Not having the strength to stand up, Kenshin instead crawled over to her futon and placed a gentle hand on her forehead.

"Kaoru-dono, you also have a fever," he said gravely. "Sessha must fetch Megumi-dono, or get Yahiko to do so."

"Kenshin, you can't go!" exclaimed Kaoru. She had to stop doing this talking thing; it was agony. But she couldn't let him go. "Please, stay here and look after me," she begged before breaking off in a fit of coughing.

"Alright," Kenshin consented, coughing also.

The two invalids sat like that for a while, racked with painful hacking coughs, until finally Sano poked his head round the door, having been woken up by the noise.

"What's up with you, Kenshin?" he asked, then his eyes widened and a grin broke out across his face as he saw Kaoru.

"Hey Jou-chan! You two been spending the night together?"

Kaoru gave him a death glare amidst her coughing. Sano frowned.

"Don't tell me you're sick too. It's a good thing I'm better now."

"Yes, you can go and get Megumi-dono," said Kenshin, his throat completely dry.

Sano went off to wake Yahiko upand send him to fetch Megumi.

Megumi diagnosed Kaoru as having the same illness as Sano had had, and Kenshin still had.

"Just stay in bed, and don't try to do anything," she said. "The rooster here can take care of things. I'd stay, but I have to get back to the clinic. Good luck," she added with a fox-like smile.

"Sooo," said Sano brightly as he turned to the pair. "Want some breakfast?"

Kaoru blanched, and Kenshin only managed to shake his head while coughing still. Sano sighed and rolled his eyes. It was definitely going to be tough with these two sick and all.

For the next hour or so Kenshin and Kaoru slept or just sat and comforted each other with their presence and a weak smile or two. Sano looked in on them and thought they were asleep, but then Kaoru sat up and tugged at his sleeve.

"Hn? What is it, Jou-chan?" asked Sano, sitting down to get to her level.

"Sano…my students will be here any minute…we can't turn them away," Kaoru whispered. "You'll have to teach them…"

Sano was about to protest, but he looked at the sick woman's pleading eyes and knew he had to say yes, if just to put her mind at ease.

"Don't worry Jou-chan," he smiled. "Yahiko and I will teach them." From the other side of the room, Kenshin groaned in his sleep. Kaoru turned to him, and Sano went off, shaking his head at their predicament.

"Oi Yahiko!" Sano said as he came across the boy, who was relishing his freedom. "C'mon, we can't stop work just because Jou-chan's sick. Her pupils will be here soon, and we gotta teach them, for her sake."

"Awwww," Yahiko complained. "How am I supposed to teach them? I'm a student myself!"

"Come on Yahiko," Sano said impatiently, "Jou-chan's always been there for us, it's time we were there for her."

"All right," Yahiko grumbled…

Kaoru and Kenshin lay side by side, on separate futons, parallel to each other. A kenjutsu teacher and an ex-hitokiri. Red hair and black. Blue eyes and violet.

Sleepy eyelids lifted, to reveal said violet eyes, tired yet strangely happy. Kenshin turned his head to look at the sleeping angel next to him, and raised himself up on one unsteady arm to smile at her. She's so beautiful…

His smile faded as Kaoru turned over, coughing weakly and sweating, her sleep no longer a peaceful one. What Kenshin wouldn't give to see those beautiful eyes open again, to light up with happiness, or even with anger… To see her better, he would gladly sacrifice his own health. Such as it was.

Kenshin lay down again and slowly slipped into an uneasy sleep.

…Yahiko stood in front of the row of students, uncomfortable under their curious gaze. "Uh, hi," he said tentatively.

"Where's sensei?" asked one. "Who are you?" asked someone else.

"I'm Myojin Yahiko, Tokyo samurai," said Yahiko importantly. "Kaoru's got a fever, so me and Sanosuke are gonna teach you."

From the porch, reclining lazily against a pillar, Sano waved and grinned.

"Sano! Get your lazy butt over here and help me out!" Yahiko yelled. The students sweatdropped.

"Keep your hair on, I'm coming!" Sano ambled over to Yahiko and smirked. "You know, you sounded almost like Jou-chan right then. You'd better be careful you don't turn into her."

A vein popped on Yahiko's forehead but he controlled himself and turned to the waiting students, who were yawning and tapping their feet impatiently. Yahiko sweatdropped as he realised he didn't have a clue what to do.

"How am I supposed to teach them? What do I do?" Sano shrugged. "What does Jou-chan tell you to do?"

"Ah…right." Yahiko turned and addressed the students. "Okay everyone, I want you to do 1,000 swings!"

The students just stared at him like this O.O

"1,000 swings!" one of them asked incredulously.

"Er…isn't that what you usually have to do?" said Yahiko.

"No," someone else said. "Kaoru only asks us to do 100 at a time."

"Oh. Right. Do that then." Witch many sideways glances and rolling of eyes, the students complied.

"Way to go, kid," Sano muttered sarcastically.

"Shut up! It's your fault! That's what Kaoru always tells me to do."

"Yeah, right after you call her 'hag' and insult her cooking," Sano replied.

Yahiko: . ……..

Kenshin sat bolt upright on his futon, dizzy from his sudden awakening. He'd had the most horrible nightmare! He dreamt that he hadn't finished the laundry…and Kaoru had to wear a dirty kimono…then she hit him over the head with her bokken… He shivered at the memory and slowly got up, careful not to awaken Kaoru. He was feeling unusually hot for some reason, and he had a headache…however, laundry was laundry and had to be done. He stumbled unsteadily towards the door and out onto the porch. ((Or wherever he does the laundry)) Soon, he was up to his elbows in soapy laundry water, scrubbing clothes. There were so many! He couldn't remember the last time he'd done laundry. He couldn't seem to remember much, actually… But laundry was good, he could remember laundry. He did it every day. Except when he needed to go to the market…

Megumi smiled as she entered the dojo through the gate, having finished at the clinic for the time being. Here was Kenshin, doing the laundry, as usual. She frowned, about to greet him. Wasn't he sick? He had a high fever the last time she saw him, surely he couldn't have got better so quickly…

Kenshin looked up from the laundry and smiled as he saw Megumi. There was uncertainty behind the smile, however; he didn't seem to sense her coming. Still, she didn't need to know that. She might worry. "Ohayo, Megumi-dono!"

"Kenshin, what are you doing?" Megumi asked him.

"Um, laundry?" Kenshin said, figuring from the tone of her voice he was doing something he shouldn't. "Shouldn't I be?"

"No, baka! You should be in bed! You're sick!"

"Am I?" Kenshin seemed genuinely surprised, and Megumi felt his forehead worriedly. Still hot. "Hmmm, maybe you're delirious…" she pondered out loud.

"Oro?" said Kenshin. "Delirious, de gozaru?"

Megumi looked her favourite patient up and down. "You seem to be yourself," she said, "but you shouldn't be up, laundry or no laundry. Come on, let's get back inside. How's Kaoru?"

Kenshin frowned for a moment, and then gasped as he remembered. "Kaoru-dono! She's sick!"

"Yes, don't you remember?" Megumi frowned. "But don't worry, I'm sure she's all right," she added at the stricken expression on his face.

Kaoru was sleeping a light feverish sleep when they entered the room, and woke up immediately. Her face was flushed.

"Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin dropped onto his knees and put a hand to her cheek. "Sessha is so sorry for leaving you…"

Kaoru smiled weakly. "It's all right…" she said before her speech gave over to coughing. Megumi shook her head.

"I'll make you two some tea," she said, "and something for your fever. Stay there. Where IS that baka rooster?"

The rooster-head in question was learning the hard way it wasn't so easy teaching kenjutsu. He made a mental note to insult Kaoru a little less. Yahiko, on the other hand, was thinking how easy Kaoru's students had it. The hag worked him much harder! They also weren't very good, he thought, walking round correcting their grips. One of them had it COMPLETELY the wrong way. He showed the guy how to do it the right way, muttering, "You don't hold a bokken like that, stupid…"

"Oi!" said the student indignantly, hearing him. "What did you call me?"

"Well you did have it completely the wrong way round," said Yahiko, unrepentant.

"It's easier that way! I usually hold it like that; it works just as well as the other way."

"Oh yeah?" said Yahiko. "Bet it doesn't work as well."

"It does!"

"Prove it."

The challenge was undisguised. Yahiko and his opponent got into fighting positions, with their respective grips. The rest of the students gathered round curiously to watch, Sano among them smirking. Yahiko was gonna make mincemeat out of this kid.

"I warn you, I'm the best in this class," said the student confidently.

"Oh yeah?" said Yahiko. "Well I'm in a whole new class. I'm from a long line of Tokyo samurais!"

"I'm still going to beat you." And with that, the student launched an attack on Yahiko, and the battle commenced.

Author's notes: Well, I think I'll leave it there! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. Please don't hate me! Just let me know how I did in this chapter. I was trying to get the balance between fluff and humour, and not put the focus on Kenshin all the time. Although, we all do love him!

By the way, I wrote an Inuyasha fic which so far has only one reviewer! T.T Now maybe I'm getting too used to the good life of having lots of readers, but I don't really feel like carrying on if no one's going to read it. I know I should be used to it, what with the amount of people who take my quizzes, but they're different; I couldn't not write them. I live by my quizzes. So if you think you'd like them, go to Quizilla (dot com) and look for me!