Keitaro stirred in his sleep, mumbling slurred words. He would weep a few times, so quietly, no one would hear him. He would yell a couple of times, but no one would hear him.
In his dreams, he would smile, cry, laugh, or even scream. They would be happy, and at times, sad, but it would always be with his mother.
Kagome… mommy…
Keitaro felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He snapped his eyes open and began to breath heavily, as though coming up from the water.
"Its okay, Keitaro." Sango's warm voice cleared his mind.
He looked to the side to see Sango getting a damp cloth from a bucket that stood next to the door.
She came back and slowly laid the cloth on Keitaro's head. "You are boiling hot. Maybe it's a fever. I can't really tell yet, I would have to wait for Kaede. But, she is not here tonight, nor the next morning."
Keitaro opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. It felt as though someone stole his voice.
He just blinked to confirm he heard her.
Sango bent down and kissed his cheek.
"You are so cute…" she caressed his small dog ears and gave them a playful tug. "Now go back to sleep, you need it."
She stood up and walked out of the cabin. Just then, Keitaro realized that it was already day. When the door opened, a crack of light entered the cabin, almost blinding him.
I don't wanna sleep… I wanna get up…
He began to rise from the floor, before he heard a soft tapping on the door.
Thinking it was Sango, he laid down on his back again and closed his eyes. The door opened slowly, Keitaro began to breath slowly, pretending to sleep.
"Don't pretend you're asleep with me." an annoying, high-pitched voice said at the door. "We're twins, I know you're not asleep."
Keitaro opened his eyes. He growled silently as his eyes laid on Shinobu who leaned back on the wall, giving him a smirking expression.
"'He's sick. A high fever, I think. I would prefer him to rest.', Sango said. Ha! I don't think you're sick at all…" Shinobu walked towards him. "you're just seeking for attention…"
Anger erupted inside Keitaro, he felt as though he wanted to grab Shinobu by the neck and…
"I…I'm …" he couldn't even speak. His throat was tired. Maybe, he was really sick.
Shinobu sat down next to his futon and sighed. "Even if you were sick, be a man and suck it up." she raised her hand and began to gaze at her nails.
Shinobu looked at Keitaro and her smirk expression dropped.
"Gosh, you're red like a tomato… and you're sweating like mad…" she furrowed her eyebrows and rested her raised hand on his forehead.
Her eyes popped and she took her hand back.
"You're really hot!" she stood up and began to look around the room for the bucket. "I know I saw it…--aha!" she went to the bucket, then stopped, and went back to Keitaro. She grabbed the cloth from his head and went back to the bucket.
What is she …doing?
Shinobu returned back to his side and laid the cloth on his head, the cloth newly damped with colder water.
She
carefully fixed its side, making sure it touched his fore-head. She
then quickly grabbed her sheets, from the other side of the cabin and
brought them to him, covering him up to his waist.
"Here…" she tucked him in and sighed, still sitting at his side. "Gosh…why didn't you tell me you were so sick?"
Keitaro gazed at her, wanting to speak, but couldn't. He just cleared his throat, hoping it would help him to use his voice.
'I… c-coul-dnt." he gorged.
Shinobu looked down and raised up from the floor. She began to walk towards the door.
Keitaro gasped silently, he wanted to thank her, but couldn't. His voice wasn't up to it.
As Shinobu reached the door, she looked back at him and gave him a short smile. She exited the cabin, closing the door slowly behind her.
The first time ever, his sister really care for him…
Thank you, Shinobu.