A few days after Fia had returned from her family, it snowed again.

"I wish Angel would come out here and enjoy the snow," Fia sighed as she began making a snowman.

"I could get her out here," Karma smirked and formed a snowball. He aimed for and hit the window right next to Haven's head. The sudden noise caused her to fall out of her chair in surprise.

She opened the window. "AKABANE!" she yelled before slamming the window shut and disappearing deeper into the apartment.

Fia dead-panned. "That's not what I meant, Karma!" She rushed over to him with a concerned expression. "What are you thinking?"

Karma grinned. "And 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Haven came stomping out of the building in winter attire and a very annoyed expression on her face. She started chasing Karma around, trying to pelt him with snowballs. All of which he dodged easily. They chased each other around the lake next to the apartment complex.

Fia sighed and did her best to shuffle through the slush after them. "Hey! Be careful!" she shouted. "It's slippery!"

Suddenly, Karma lost his footing on a patch of ice. He grabbed onto the first thing he could reach, which happened to be Haven's coat. The two of them went rolling down the hill and into the lake with a splash. Fia and a group of bystanders went rushing to the lake's edge and waited for the two to emerge.

"Haven?! Karma?!" Fia carefully stepped around the icy shoreline and called to her friends.

Karma popped up first, gasping for breath.

Fia rushed over and extended her hand to him. She pulled him onto more stable ground, punched his arm as hard as she could muster, and then hugged him tightly for a few moments before gently wrapping her scarf around his frigid body. "Wait here," Fia said as she trotted back to the shore to search for Haven. Biting her lip, she sent out a silent prayer. "Haven, where are you…?"

After what seemed like an eternity, the surface of the lake broke again. Haven's white head began bobbing towards the shoreline. Fia helped her friend onto the shore. Fia couldn't decide if Haven's quivering was due to the cold or rage. Even so, Fia pulled off her coat and draped it over the smaller girl's shoulders.

Karma definitely seemed annoyed but he forced his shivering body to move closer to the girls. "Fia, she doesn't need that. She's an ice queen anyway," Karma snarled.

Fia frowned and turned both of her friends around. Pushing them from behind, Fia began herding them home. "C'mon, we have to get you guys back as quickly as possible." She waved good-bye to the crowd of bystanders as if to tell them that everything was going to be okay. She hoped it would be anyway.

"This is all your fault!" Haven pouted as she pushed Karma into a snow drift.

She turned around and shot them both strict glances. "Can you two leave each other alone?" she sighed exasperatedly. "I just want to get you back before you guys catch colds." Fia pushed open the front door their apartment unit and shook the snow from her body. "Nagisa!" she called. "Can you please come here?"

The bluenette came running when he heard his housemate calling. He looked from the girl without a jacket to the two who had ice forming on their skin and clothing. "What happened?" Nagisa asked as he helped the two icicles inside.

"They fell into the lake," Fia sighed. "We need to get them into dry clothes and warm them up." With that, she grabbed Haven's hand and began dragging her back towards their bedroom. "C'mon, Angel. We can thaw your feet out later."

Nagisa turned to Karma but the redhead was already stomping his way back to their bedroom on his own. Sighing, Nagisa followed.


The two sick patients were situated on opposite couches in the living room. A good idea, right? NO! The two bickered like there was no tomorrow, making their voices weaker and health worse by the second.

"At least I can cook," Karma coughed.

"For your information, I can safely use a microwave now!" Haven retorted as she sniffled.

"Wooow, I'm so impressed," Karma said sarcastically. He grabbed another tissue from Nagisa and blew his nose. "Ugh…"

Nagisa shook his head. He was sitting in a chair between the couches so that he could pass tissues to whoever needed them, but the mediator part of this job was harder than he'd expected. Then again, it was Haven and Karma that he was sitting in between. "Um… I think Fia's making some soup," Nagisa commented, hoping to change the subject.

"At least it won't have mustard in it," Haven snapped.

"You're still holding on to that? Talk about a major grudge," his voice was becoming more and more nasally by the moment. "You got a decongestant, Nagisa?"

He nodded and pulled it out of Fia's first-aid bag at his feet. Passing the container to Karma, Nagisa turned to see how Fia was doing in the kitchen. She seemed preoccupied with making a hearty chicken stew.

"You sure there'll be anything left in your head after you use that?" Haven coughed and grabbed her computer, which was lying only a few inches from her.

"Ha, that's funny coming from you, tremble-hands," Karma growled.

Nagisa shot his friend a look. "Karma!" he whispered harshly. Sighing, Nagisa put a thermometer in Karma's mouth, both to take his temperature and silence him.

"At least I still have brain cells," Haven replied as she began typing on her computer, or at least trying to. Due to the fatigue of being sick and freezing earlier, she wasn't able to steady either of her hands. She growled in frustration and shut her computer, slightly harder than usual. After placing it on the table, she rolled over and curled into a ball, pulling the blanket up over her head.

"Dinner's ready! I'll bring over the bowls in just a few moments!" Fia proclaimed from the kitchen. She brought over three bowls of the stew and distributed them among those in the room.

Nagisa smiled as he accepted the bowl. "Thank you, Fia. What about you?" he asked with concern. "Don't run yourself ragged."

Fia shook her head with a smile. "I'll eat soon," she promised. Fia shuffled over to Haven. "Hey, Angel, do you want to eat…?" she asked tentatively. She gently pat Haven's head through the blanket. "It should help with the fever."

Haven uncurled and motioned for Fia to place it on the table. She did so and walked over to make sure Karma was eating. Haven picked up the spoon and tried to ladle some broth into her mouth. She put the spoon down and sighed.

"Haven?" Nagisa asked with a concerned expression. Haven looked at the soup bowl, then the spoon next to it, then her shaking hands.

"Fia, could you get me a straw?" Haven mumbled.

She smiled regretfully at Haven and mouthed "we don't have any. Need some help?" Fia gestured her head towards their room, where they could at least speak freely.

Haven sighed and nodded almost unnoticeably. Nagisa went over and picked up the spoon. After ladling out some soup, he brought the spoon up to her lips, cupping his free hand underneath to catch any falling drops.

"Here," he mouthed with a soft smile. Haven sipped it and gave him a small, embarrassed smile of gratitude.

"Aren't you two cute?" Karma called teasingly.

Nagisa brought the spoon up to her lips again. Besides a slight blush from both of them, they ignored Karma's comment.

"Can't even eat on your own, can you?" Karma taunted. In his feverish state, all semblance of a filter had disappeared.

"Karma," Nagisa shot his friend a severe look as Haven pulled the blanket over her face and curled into a ball again. "Just eat your soup," Nagisa sighed and went to see if he could coax Haven out of her blanket enough to finish eating.

Karma threw his thermometer at Nagisa and begrudgingly sipped at his soup. Suddenly, Karma doubled-over in a violent coughing fit. He tried to put the bowl down but his hacking combined with the sudden onslaught of feverish shivering made him lose his grip. The bowl hit the floor and Karma soon followed suit, unable to control his convulsions.

Nagisa read the thermometer as Fia rushed over to Karma's side. "103.7 degrees?!" he said incredulously. As soon as Karma's coughing had subsided into shortness of breath, Nagisa attempted to help Karma back onto the couch. Haven peeked out from underneath her blanket, a worried expression on her face.

Fia frowned and ran to get a bucket of cool water and a few washcloths. She kneeled down beside Karma and gently dabbed at the sweat on his forehead before lightly laying the folded, cool washcloths on his forehead and neck.

Karma hissed at the sudden icy feeling and attempted to throw the towels off of him. Fia swatted his hands away and tried to properly situate the towels once again. Annoyed, Karma threw Fia off of him and shakily stood up. Tossing the towels onto the floor, Karma staggered towards his bedroom. His coughing seemed to rattle his body and become more extreme by the minute.

Fia slowly pushed herself up from where she found herself on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Nagisa asked Fia as he offered her a hand.

She hung her head and silently accepted his help. Fia stood sluggishly and rubbed her sides, hoping that they wouldn't bruise. "I'm fine…" Olive eyes met light blue ones. "I just… Can you please make sure that he's okay?" she pleaded quietly.

Nagisa nodded and quickly followed Karma.

Fia forced a strained smile. "Angel, want to head back to our room too…?"

The blanket got up and started walking unsteadily to the girls' bedroom. Fia, carrying Haven's bowl of stew, followed Haven and the two took seats next to each other on Haven's bed. Haven was rolled up in a ball with the blanket covering her face. After awhile of trying to coax Haven into coming out of her cotton shell and getting her to eat, Fia sighed and shuffled across the hall.

"Nagisa?" Fia called quietly into the boys' shared bedroom.

The bluenette quickly appeared at the door. "He's cranky and won't talk to me, but he's calmed down. How is Haven?" he inquired quietly.

She shook her head and handed him Haven's bowl. "She won't eat. Will you go see if you can talk to her?"

Nagisa looked over his shoulder as Karma began coughing again. "Are you sure you want to be alone with him?"

Fia smiled wryly. "I can handle myself. Thank you, Nagisa."

He nodded. "No problem. I'll do my best." With those words, Nagisa made his way to find Haven and Fia stepped into the daunting room ahead of her.


Quietly closing the door behind her, Fia sighed. She looked about the room with a wonder-filled expression. The room looked so completely, absolutely average that she almost couldn't believe that two professional assassins lived there. Still, Fia found herself smiling at the Sonic Ninja poster up on the wall and all of the books neatly standing on the wall shelves.

Fia shuffled over the black and red bed that she could only assume was Karma's. "How are you feeling?" she asked in a low voice.

Grumpily, Karma pulled his blanket back slightly and glared at her with a single orange eye.

Fia bit her lip. "I'm not going to force you," she started, "but I really do think it would be good for you to get some food and water in your system." She reached out to him but he pulled the blanket back over his head.

He growled. "Don't touch me."

She shook her head in disappointment. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, go the fuck away," he spat more harshly.

Fia frowned slightly. "I'm not going anywhere," she said quietly but firmly, "so you might as well let me help."

The next couple of minutes were spent with the pair arguing back and forth.

"I just want to help!" Fia sighed exasperatedly. "It hurts me to see you like this!"

"If you don't go, I'll force you to go!" Karma yelled.

"Then try it!" she stomped her foot. "I'll just keep coming back until I know you're on your way to getting better!"

"Why are you being so stubborn?" he shouted.

"I care about you! That's why!"she yelled back. "What about you?!"

Karma broke into another fit of turbulent coughing. Fia, concerned, sat down on the bed beside him and rubbed his back.

"This isn't making you better. Please… Just let me help you…" she begged. Karma heavily leaned against her and weakly nodded. Relief flooded Fia's body as she hugged him tightly. "Thank you…" she whispered hoarsely.


"Haven," Nagisa called as he approached her bed. The blanket ball moved slightly. He sat on the bed next to her and placed the soup bowl on the nearest table.

"Do you want me to help you with your soup?" Nagisa asked.

"I'm not hungry," Haven's muffled voice replied. Nagisa sighed and looked around the room, thinking of how to get the ill girl to eat.

"Hey, Gisa," the girl began, "would you answer some questions?"

"I'll answer a question if you eat a spoonful of soup," Nagisa replied. Haven removed the blanket from her head and sat up.

"Fine," Haven grumbled as Nagisa got the bowl.

After she had swallowed, she asked, "What do you see in Karma?"

"I know it's hard to see, but if you can motivate him, he can work really hard. He's very confident in himself and very determined about what he wants to do in life. He has been since I met him in middle school. And he really does care for those around him, even if he doesn't show it," Nagisa explained.

Haven sighed reluctantly. She didn't feel like she knew Karma well enough to really assess his personality, so for now, she'd have to trust Nagisa and Fia's judgements.

"Do you know what you want to do with your career?" Haven asked. Nagisa brought another spoonful of broth to her lips. She drank it slowly.

"I really had no idea until the end of middle school. I decided to become a teacher then," Nagisa smiled, "My last middle school teacher was the best I've ever had."

Their conversation continued like that, Haven asking questions and Nagisa answering after she swallowed a spoonful of soup. When the bowl was empty, Nagisa got up to check on Fia and Karma. He had heard several loud noises coming from his room. He was about to leave when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Haven. Something was slightly different about her.

"Don't leave, Gisa," she said in a voice two octaves higher than before as she pulled him by the arm back to the bed. Nagisa put the bowl down and placed his hand on her forehead. She was burning up. He pulled a thermometer out of his pocket and placed it under her tongue.

"104!? Haven, I'll be right back," Nagisa said calmly as he pried her off of his arm.

"Okay, Gisa! Bye, bye! Come back quickly," she squeaked and began happily bouncing in place on her bed.

Nagisa left the room with the bowl and spoon and came back momentarily with a bucket of cold water and a washcloth.

"I feel fine!" Haven protested as he made her lie down. Nagisa sighed.

"It's cold," she complained as he placed a wet towel on her forehead.

"If you stay here and lie still, I'll keep you company," Nagisa sat on the edge of her bed.

"Okay!" she smiled happily and grabbed hold of his hand. "When I was younger, I got sick a lot," Haven admitted, "Earnest wasn't patient enough to keep me company then."

"Who's Earnest?" Nagisa asked. Haven had been mentioning him quite often recently.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Haven giggled and gave him a knowing smile. Nagisa sweatdropped and smiled back at her.


Karma grimaced. "What are you doing…?" he asked between coughs.

Fia removed her forehead from his. "Your temperature isn't going down at all," she said worriedly as she replaced the cool towels on his forehead and neck. "Thank you for eating, at the very least."

He shook his head slowly as he weakly leaned back against the headboard of his bed. "I don't know if I'll be able to keep it down."

She smiled warily. "Let's not let you get dehydrated. Do you think you can drink some water?" Fia asked tentatively.

"Maybe if you give it to me by mouth," he smirked.

Fia shook her head. "If you have the energy to joke around, that has to be a good sign." She held the glass up to his lips so that he could thirstily gulp it down.

"You aren't going to blush?" Karma asked, slightly disappointed.

"Tease me again when you're better. I promise I'll blush for you then." Fia helped Karma to lie down.

"I'm sorry about earlier," he mumbled as he caught a glimpse of the minor bruising forming on her arms.

She shook her head. "It's nothing. Does your head still hurt?"

He sighed. "It's worse than Ms. Bitch's yelling."

"Can I try something?" Fia requested hesitantly.

Karma rolled his eyes. "Would I be able to stop you anyway?"

Fia laughed dryly as she lifted his head and placed it her lap. She gently ran her hand through his hair.

"What are you doing…?" Karma's cheeks reddened. He hoped Fia couldn't tell over his raging fever.

"This used to make me feel better when I was little," she explained. Fia gently massaged his scalp and he groaned softly. "Does that help…?" She asked with slightly pink cheeks.

Karma smiled appreciatively. "Y-yeah… You mind staying like this for awhile while I try to sleep?"

Fia shook her head with a soft, contented expression. "Not at all…"


Nagisa replaced the towel on a sleeping Haven's forehead. He had managed to convince her to take a pill for the fever before she had fallen asleep. That had been about fifteen minutes ago, but her fever still hadn't gone down. At least she had stopped babbling, that couldn't have been good for her fever.

He sat back down on the edge of the bed and took her hand again. Looking at the sleeping girl's face, he realized they had met only about five months ago and here he was taking care of her like it was the most natural thing in the world. He sighed softly. There was still so much to learn about her though. She didn't give information about herself as often or as easily as he hoped, but from what he did know, he believed she would make a reliable teammate and a good friend. Maybe more than a friend if things went well, but that was a question he'd answer later.

Haven rolled onto her side and the towel fell off of her forehead. Nagisa swept the some hair out of her face replaced the washcloth carefully. Haven mumbled quietly, causing Nagisa to pull back quickly, in fear that he had woken her up.

"Gisa, don't leave," she said softly in her sleep. He went back to his place next to her and placed her hands in his.

"I won't," he whispered back, smiling.


Fia frowned down at Karma and as she gently ran her hand through his hair. Still feverish, Karma was sweating profusely and shivering intensely. Fia turned over the cold towels resting on his forehead and neck. He reached up from where he was resting on her lap and touched Fia's face.

"I'm the sick one, why are your eyes red and puffy?" Karma's voice was hoarse.

"Isn't there… anything I can do?" Fia bit her lip to distract herself from the pain wrenching her heart into a tight knot. It hurt her to see anyone in pain, but someone she cared about? That was probably the worst torture she could go through.

Karma coughed violently and groaned in pain. "Well…" He forced a strained smile. "That song you sang to your siblings… was really nice…"

Her eyes widened slightly as they met his. Her gaze softened. "Bear with me here," she laughed lightly, "I want to tailor it to you." Fia cleared her throat and began to sing quietly to the tune of 'You are my Sunshine.' The melody filled the room and Karma closed his heavy eyelids to listen.

"You're name is Karma. Stupid Akabane.
You're a sadistic, teasing jerk
You never know, man, how much I hate you.
Angry I am every single day."

"Now you're sick, though, and I've been thinking.
Maybe you're not so bad yourself.
I thought, 'Karma, I might be mistaken,'
So I will sing to you this song."

"You are still Karma. Dumb Akabane.
I can't help but smile when you're here.
Despite your teasing, I kind of like you.
Karma, please get better soon, okay?"

He laughed, although he could hardly speak in his fatigue. "What the hell was that?"

Fia blushed profusely. "Y-you asked for a song, didn't you…?"

Karma smiled. "I guess I did. Would you pass me a tissue?" Fia did as he asked and he blew his nose before discarding it the almost-full trash can next to him.

"You look like Rudolf again," she teased as she poked his stuffy nose.

"You really won't let that go, will you?" Karma smiled bitterly but he grabbed Fia's cheeks and pinched them.

"Nyeh!" Fia grabbed his hands and pulled them off. "Dun do that!" she pouted.

Karma laughed. "Who's red now?"

Fia stuck her tongue out at him. "You're one to talk!"

"That's different. I'm sick, you're just blushing, Tsu-chan~," he chimed.

"A-Am not!" She tried to crush his hands in hers in retaliation but they were stronger than she thought. He pulled on her hands and grabbed her wrists.

"You're still a terrible liar, Fia…" Karma laughed and pulled her closer to him.

Fia blushed tomato-red as her face came closer to Karma's. "K-Karma?!"

He propped himself up on an elbow and leaned towards Fia. Karma rested his cheek against hers as he whispered in her ear, "Thank you, Fia." Slowly lowering his head back into her lap, he released her wrists and closed his eyes.

The girl hesitated to respond and, before she knew it, Karma had fallen asleep. She was really glad that his coughing had subsided and that his fever was slowly lowering. He might actually be able to get some sleep now. "You're welcome…" Fia slowly coaxed Karma's head off of her lap and onto one of his own pillows. She quickly changed his towels one last time and pulled the blanket tighter around him.

Fia sighed softly and tried to push herself onto her feet but her aching body screamed in protest. She glanced at the clock on Karma's nightstand and laughed quietly. The analog clock had knives for hands. She couldn't say she expected anything less from Karma, but she couldn't say she wasn't surprised when she realized how late it had become.

Turning to look at Karma, Fia smiled softly. He looked peaceful, if not a little lonely. Maybe she was just projecting though... She turned off the light and crawled into bed to curl up next to Karma. Nuzzling into his back, Fia smiled drowsily. Karma was warm… A feeling of security settled around Fia as she drifted off and was carried away by a dreamless oblivion.


Olive eyes fluttered open slowly to the sound of a beating heart. Confused, Fia tried to sit up and look around, but she found herself trapped in Karma's arms. She realized quickly and with horror that she must have rolled closer to Karma in her sleep. Her face flushed.

"Morning, Tsu-chan~," Karma sang. He tightened his grip on the girl. "So you are the perv Gio said you were!"

Fia's cheeks burned as she tried to escape his arms. "I-it wasn't l-like that!"

"Oh, no~?" he teased. "You're even sneakier than Lupe! Pretending to take care of me just to sneak into my bed." Karma laughed as he grabbed Fia's chin. "You shouldn't have said that I could tease you all I wanted when I got better~."

Her neck, face, and ears became scarlet. She tried to respond, make any sort of retort, but she just stuttered and squeaked.

Karma snickered. "Go ahead and keep blushing, Tsu-chan. You promised me that you would."

The fierceness of Fia's scowl could only be rivaled by the fierceness of her glowing face. "S-SCREW YOU!" she finally got out as she smacked his face with a pillow and ran for it.

"Gladly~!" he called after her as he cackled loudly.

Fia began screaming as she ran around the house and looked for a place to hide from Karma's teasing.

Nagisa sighed and smiled. Looks like someone was feeling better again. In her sleep, Haven nestled closer in Nagisa's arms, trying to hide from the noise.


Karma: (grumbling and scrubbing) Why do I have to clean the carpet?

Nagisa: It was your bowl of soup. Besides, Fia still hasn't come out from the pantry.

Karma: (sweat-dropping) She's still hiding in there?

Fia: (from locked pantry) Nagisa! T-Tell the asshole that I-I don't want to see his stupid face!

Karma: (smirking) Sure, that's why I woke up to your face pressed against mine, right?

Fia: NAGISA! TELL KARMA THAT HE'S STUPID AND A MEANIE!

Karma: What are you? 5?

Nagisa: (sighs) Karma says he'll apologize if you come out.

Karma: Like hell I will!

Nagisa: Who took care of you through the night?

Karma: …

Nagisa: And put up with your arrogant attitude?

Karma: …..

Nagisa: And is bruising -

Karma: Alright, alright! I get it! I'll tell her I'm sorry when -

Fia: (popping out of nowhere) You're forgiven~.

Karma: When did you get here?! (looks from open pantry to Fia)

Fia: (giggles) Not telling~! Hey, Nagisa. You remember our promise? Can we put it to use next time?

Nagisa: (nods with a hesitant smile) Sure thing...

Narrator: (reads over next chapter) Why do I like destroying homes? I mean Fia's backstory isn't completely okay, Haven's family's a mess. Next time things will get hairy for the four housemates. (sigh)

Haven: (walks in with bedhead) What did I miss? (yawn)