Introduction (8 feb 2021)

It's still a challenge to keep the time intervals between publishing new chapters short. Instead of a few days or a week, this one also took several weeks to complete. Not because of a lack of ideas, as I actually have new ideas for at least 2 or maybe even 3 new chapters after this one. Just finding the time and energy to focus on writing has become harder lately. But the enjoyment of creating new content certainly hasn't become any less, in fact it might even have increased. I had a great time writing this chapter and I hope you will also have a great time reading it.

Note: If you want to comment on this story, or any of my other stories, you're welcome to leave a review, preferably as registered member, as this allows much more interaction between writer and reviewer. If there are parts you felt lacking, or disliked, please let me know this as well. Things can appear amazing in my perception, while others might think very differently. I'm eager to hear such feedback as well, since praise is always nice, and can confirm being on the right track, criticism is often what helps more to improve.

Chapter Prologue:

After the scene with Mami on the pedestrian bridge, where Kazuya confirmed his feelings for Ruka, he had managed to get his girlfriend - who was freezing after she had gone outside without her coat, to look for him - safely back home again. The next day Ruka had come over to Kazuya's place again, but was everything really ok?

In Sickness and in… - part 1

"So, what do you want to do today, Ruka?" Kazuya asked, as he put down a cup of tea right in front of her, on the small table.

However, Kazuya didn't get a reply. Instead, Ruka just kept staring at some fixed spot on the wall, as if he wasn't even there. 'Ruka sure is unusually quiet…' Kazuya thought. 'Maybe she's still a bit shook up over the whole situation with Mami yesterday…' When looking a bit closer, he did notice Ruka's eyes were looking quite a bit less lively than her normal outgoing and cheerful self.

"Ruka?" Kazuya inquired, after still not getting any reaction from the dark-haired girl.

"Huh? Sure…" was Ruka's reply, her voice almost sounding as dejected as the young girl's overall appearance right now.

'Could it be she's still worried about the job at the Karaoke village?' Kazuya continued wondering. 'Or perhaps she's concerned about grandma's health? Ruka's grandma had died a few years ago, so she had told me a while ago, when we were still in our 'trial relationship' phase…'

"Is something wrong…?" Kazuya carefully inquired, after racking up enough courage to ask.

"I-I'm sorry…" Ruka stuttered, "…I don't feel that great…"

'What does she mean with that!?' Kazuya started worrying in his mind. 'Could she mean to say she's not feeling too well, or that she just isn't comfortable being with me right now, after all the things that have happened yesterday?'

"M-Maybe I'd better go home…" Ruka interrupted Kazuya's derailing train of thought; "I'm not the best company… at the moment…"

'Well, actually there have been far more occasions where I haven't been really pleasant company for Ruka…' Kazuya started reminiscing, thinking about the many times that he had taken Ruka's presence mostly for granted, often because back then he'd often had been dreaming of Mizuhara. Suddenly he heard an unexpected sound and quickly turned around…

"I got ya!" Kazuya yelled, as he lunged forward to be there just in time to prevent Ruka from falling over, down on the floor. "Ruka, what's wrong? Did you trip over something?" he asked, while still supporting her.

"I-I think t-that I need… to l-lie down for a moment…" Ruka stuttered.

As quickly and gently as possible, Kazuya helped Ruka to get to the futon that was still lying on the ground, after he had not yet tidied up his room this morning. While she was trying to get a bit more comfortable, Kazuya began to notice Ruka really didn't look too good. 'Maybe her heart condition is acting up again?' was his initial thought, until he casually brushed aside some hairs on her forehead with his hand briefly touching the skin.

"Wait, you're burning up!" Kazuya said, with a voice revealing being shocked.

'She's way too hot!' it went through his mind, with a slight touch of panic. 'I mean, Ruka is always hot, she looks just great usually… but now she's literally hot, and not in a good way!'

"I do feel a bit strange…" Ruka whispered, as she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed.

'Not good, not good at all!' Kazuya started panicking more. 'Ruka must have contracted something when she went running around outside in the cold breeze yesterday, without her winter coat…' he quickly concluded. 'So, now what to do!?'

"Let me check something…" Kazuya said, after regaining himself a little, then getting his laptop, and putting it down on the table.

'How to treat a sudden high fever?' he thought, as he typed those words into his favorite internet search engine. A long list of more or less helpful suggestions appeared on the screen. 'Had it been me, and Ruka having to take care of me, she probably would have instantly known what to do in such a situation…' Kazuya almost thought out loud, remembering how becoming a nurse was still Ruka's first career choice. 'But it's up to me now. I need to be there for her. I can do this!' he repeated a few times in his mind, in order to try instilling some more confidence in his own nursing abilities.

"Ok, how do you feel?" Kazuya nervously asked.

'What kind of lame question is that, Kazuya!?' he immediately called himself to order. 'If Ruka had been feeling ok, she would not be lying down on my futon, and looking like this, you dummy!'

"Too… warm…" Ruka said with a weak voice, in reply to Kazuya's question.

"Oh yes, of course, I will get you something to cool down!" Kazuya said, while trying to sound calm and collected, but failing rather miserably at that; "Just don't go anywhere, ok?"

'Yeah, keep this up with the bad questions and poor advice! Like Ruka is really in a condition to go running around right now anyway…' he further criticized his lack of good moves. Kazuya dashed to the kitchen and returned with a small cold and damp towel, then carefully draped it over Ruka's hot forehead.

"Better?" Kazuya inquired, with his voice and expression both appearing very hopeful.

Ruka relaxed a little and nodded shortly, this time making Kazuya sigh, but unlike Ruka earlier, it was a sigh of relief. For about half an hour, Kazuya simply sat there, being silent, and just closely watching his currently bedridden girlfriend breathe, while monitoring her every move or sound. 'She looks so much like back then in the hospital, when she had suddenly collapsed on the street, after breaking up the trial relationship, because I didn't allow it to get anywhere… So cute and vulnerable at the same time. And again, it's because of me, that Ruka is not feeling well…'

"H-Hey, it's not your fault…" Ruka's voice suddenly brought Kazuya back to the here and now.

"Huh? Wait, how did you guess what I was thinking?" was all a baffled Kazuya could say.

"I know you for quite some time, remember?" Ruka continued, her voice sounding barely a touch louder than mere whisper volume; "Just because you were so dense all the time, and failed to notice me, doesn't mean I felt the same way about you all that time…"

Kazuya felt a blush appear on his cheeks, both for Ruka having read his mind, and for embarrassment over having ignored her presence for so long, in the past.

"Oh… ok," he replied; "So, eh… are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Just a bit…" Ruka answered; "Can you get my phone from my bag?

"Sure, just a sec…" Kazuya said, as he walked over to Ruka's handbag, and carefully took out the young girl's smartphone.

"You can unlock it with 311017, that's the code…" Ruka continued her instructions.

"Hmm… these numbers sound so familiar…" Kazuya wondered; "Wait a second, isn't that?"

"The date that we started our trial relationship, yes…" Ruka admitted, as Kazuya thought he saw a slight blush appearing on her face. Although he wondered if it might just have been from the fever instead; "Now I want you to call my mom and tell her I'll be here a little longer."

Kazuya nearly dropped the phone when he heard Ruka suggesting he should call her mother. 'What if she blames me for Ruka not feeling well?' A visit to the Sarashina family home had been on the todo-list for a while, but so far Kazuya had never met or spoken to Ruka's mother before. So, he started to feel a little nervous…

"My mother's phone number is the first speed-dial spot, she wanted me to put her there," Ruka continued, "… you are on all other 9 positions, btw…" she added, with a slight twinkle in her eye.

'She must be feeling a little better…' it flashed through Kazuya's mind, before he fully went back to worrying about calling Ruka's mother.

"Let me first get you some medicine, then I will make the call," Kazuya suggested, trying to buy himself just a little more time.

Ruka nodded, and Kazuya went away to take some pills from his medicine kit, then returned with those and a water bottle

"These should help further bring your fever down," Kazuya said, as he presented the medicine and the water to Ruka.

"Thanks…" the dark-haired girl responded, before washing down the pills with some water; "So, can you call my mom now?"

"Oh, sure…" Kazuya reluctantly agreed; "Here goes…"

He unlocked Ruka's phone again and selected the first speed dial number. After a series of different tones, he heard the regular sound, which indicated the phone on the other side of the connection was probably ringing. 'Just don't pick up the phone, please…" Kazuya wished, without speaking out loud, hoping he would not have to talk to Ruka's mother.

"Hi Ruka, dear. Is something wrong? You usually don't call home so early on a Saturday when you are away. Or did that Kinoshita boy do something?" Kazuya heard Ruka's mother's voice taking the call.

'Uh oh, that doesn't sound too positive!' Kazuya started worrying even more now.

"Hello? Ruka? Are you there?" Ruka's mom further continued.

"Eh, Kazuya? When you call someone, it's very common behavior to say something back, when the call is answered," Ruka spoke, as she noticed how he had frozen on the spot.

"Huh? Ok, yes!" Kazuya suddenly came to his sensed again; "I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Sarashina, this is Kinoshita, Kazuya speaking…"

"Oh…wait! Is something wrong with my daughter?" Ruka's mom asked, with a touch of worry clearly audible in her voice.

"No ma'am… I m-mean, yes there is sort of, well… eh…" Kazuya stuttered, feeling increasingly uncomfortable by the minute.

"I'm ok, mom!" Ruka said, as she gestured Kazuya to give her the phone, which he promptly did; "I just felt a little under the weather after I got here, that's all."

"Are you sure it's nothing serious? What do you feel? Nausea? Pain? I can come pick you up if you want…" Ruka's mother said in quick succession.

"Nah, mom… you really don't have to do that, I'm feeling quite a bit better already," Ruka tried to take away her mom's overly concerned feelings; "Kazuya is taking such good care of me," she added with a smile.

'Ruka might be right, she does seem somewhat better than a little while ago…' Kazuya thought, as he noticed Ruka starting to look a bit more like her usual outgoing self. Ruka quickly finished the phone call, and asked Kazuya to put the phone back in her bag. Then Kazuya remembered something.

"I need to make another phone call!" the young college student suddenly exclaimed.

"Hey, can you please keep it down a little more, my head still feels somewhat fuzzy…" Ruka reprimanded him for making too much noise.

"Oh… sorry, but it's important…" Kazuya started, then noticing Ruka giving him a somewhat glaring glance, "… naturally not more important than you, but still, I really have to do this. It's for us both."

"Ok, but try not to talk so loud, for me…" Ruka sighed, as she turned over to lie on her right side.

"I'll go to the kitchen, that way you should barely be able to hear me at all," Kazuya suggested, as he took his phone from his pocket and walked over there.

'There is still that business with the Karaoke Village… since we both went away without letting the boss know anything, he must be pretty mad at us…' Kazuya thought, while he was browsing through his list of contacts. After selecting the corresponding number, he pressed the 'dial' icon. The phone rang a few times before someone took the call…

"Karaoke Village, how may we help you?" the rather deep but friendly voice of the Karaoke Village's owner greeted the caller.

"Hello, sir. This is Kinoshi…" Kazuya started, but the owner abruptly interrupted him.

"Kinoshuto! Just the person I've been looking for. I wanted to have a word with you about yesterday afternoon!" the owner started ranting, now no longer sounding as friendly as he did earlier.

"Eh, i-it's Kinoshita, sir… a-and I can e-explain…" Kazuya stuttered.

'Maybe correcting him with my name wasn't the smartest thing to do though…' Kazuya quickly reflected upon his own words.

"Well, I'm listening…" the owner responded, still with a firm, but slightly less angry voice.

"You see… ehhh, there was this problem with…" Kazuya tried to come up with the right way to say what he had in mind.

"You're wasting my time Kanoshiza!" the middle-aged man interrupted him; "And if there is one thing I really hate, it's wasting time on slacking employees!"

"It was to support women, sir!" Kazuya shouted, much louder than he had intended.

For a moment the person at the other side remained silent. Kazuya felt some sweat drops appearing on his forehead. 'Ok, I've really done it this time…' he thought, while waiting for a response.

"Aaah, so you have been listening after all, when I gave you that advice…" a really friendly voice spoke through the phone.

"Ehhh, yes. Most certainly, sir!" a still rather surprised Kazuya confirmed.

"Fine, I will let you keep your jobs, for now…" the owner gave in; "But son, that doesn't mean you get off the hook that easily. I expect you to work longer shifts the upcoming week, unpaid, naturally."

"Naturally, I'll do whatever you say! Thanks! Thanks a lot, sir!" Kazuya cheered.

'Well, that went better than expected. Some extra hours, I can handle that…' Kazuya thought, after he had ended the call. A smile started to appear on his face.

"What happened in the kitchen? I heard you shouting, and now you have this strange smirk on your face…" Ruka greeted him, as he entered the living room.

"Oh, I'll tell you later, first we have to get you back on your feet again," Kazuya avoided giving a direct reply; "Can I get you something?"

"Well, I think I'd like a fresh cup of tea. The one you made earlier is all cold now…" Ruka pouted.

"On it!" Kazuya replied instantly, as he dashed towards the kitchen, to take further care of his still somewhat debilitated girlfriend. 'In sickness and in health' it briefly flashed through his mind, as he put on the kettle with some fresh water. 'Nah, it's way too soon to think of that... or… is it?'

(To be continued…)

Chapter Epilogue (22 feb 2021)

And that brings chapter 18 to a close. I hope you liked this chapter. See you all in the next one!

Disclaimer

Please let me know what you think of this story and leave some feedback in the form of a review. If you are logged in on this fanfiction website, and post a review as registered member, I can even reply to your comments. I'd be happy to have some more interaction with the people who read my stories!

Btw, since I am not a native speaker, there will likely be some silly mistakes in this story. And in punctuation, maybe I made the same mistakes as in previous stories, or even made new mistakes. Hope you can bear with me and see through that. Helpful tips and suggestions are welcome.

Stay safe, and maybe until soon!