His mind was racing, and he felt heat all around him. It was like being trapped in a furnace, with no doorway to escape through. He was burning up, just like he had been in Kyoto. That brought up worse images and feelings than what he already had to deal with. He moaned and shifted under heavy covers for a longtime, burning, until something wet was placed over his eyes. The world of heat vanished, and it was cold. He felt the cold travel over his cheeks, and down over his neck, and onto his chest.

Hisoka then gasped and opened his eyes. Above him, the world was hazy and everything was spinning. He was forced to close his eyes again as a headache tugged at his head. The pain and heat were returning, and Hisoka wasn't sure if he could survive it again. He loudly groaned and shifted, waiting for the pain to come again, but it never did. Instead, a gentle hand went up to lightly massage his temples, followed by the dab of a wet cloth. Hisoka opened his eyes again, slower this time, and he found the sight of worried amethyst eyes staring down at him.

"T-Tsuzuki…"

"Shh… try not to speak quite yet, Hisoka."

"What… what happened? Why are you here?"

"…I told you it could have been serious…"

Hisoka threw him a tired look of confusion. He then felt Tsuzuki's hand fall on his hand, which had a bandage on it, and he began to remember.

"You've had a fever for the past two days… The blood loss was almost beyond safe limits."

"…I knew that…"

"Then why? Why did you wait so long to get help?"

He couldn't form words, or more, he didn't want to. Instead, he let his body take over as he rolled onto his side away from his partner and cried. Tsuzuki rubbed his back, but that only made the boy sob louder. He started to roll further away, and Tsuzuki had trouble reaching him from his chair beside the bed. He moved to the bed and leaned over onto Hisoka's shoulder, hugging him.

"Hisoka, tell me what is wrong."

"I-I'm scared…"

"What are you afraid of?"

It took him a moment before he could answer.

"What is it?"

"You… that you don't really care about me…!"

He said it. He let out his secret fear, and continued to cry. Though he expected the man to be upset with him, Tsuzuki hugged him tighter, projecting no negative emotions.

"YOU are my partner now… I'll never care about anyone more than you. You're my friend, and I will defend you no matter what."

"P-promise?"

"I swear it."

The pain was gone. Not the one in Hisoka's hand, but the one plaguing his mind, and the one in his heart.