AN: This is going to be a two-parter. As the title suggests, this is going to be Yotsuba's side up to a certain point. Next chapter will pick up from where Fuutarou leaves and carry through the rest of the day.

Chapter 6: Sick Day Part 1: Yotsuba's side

The morning did not begin pleasantly. Yotsuba awoke far before her alarm. It wasn't the well-rested feeling she was used to. Instead, it was a woozy, nauseous feeling. She started coughing. Her stomach began to churn. She felt something coming up. She bolted to the bathroom, flocked on the light and barely made it in time.

She tried her best to keep it down. Fuutarou had to go to work in a few hours. She didn't want to bother him with something like this. She'd go on a run to the hospital. That was always her plan anytime she got remotely sick. Her father was one of the head doctors after all. He'd take care of her.

She just ...had to ...keep it down. She couldn't keep it down. She began getting legitimately worried. If Fuutarou found out he'd worry about her. He'd probably even stay home and take care of her like a gentleman. He would definitely be weary about taking her to a hospital. His way of dealing with sickness was to power through it with as little medicine as possible.

As much as having him wait on her hand and foot was tempting, she would feel way worse than any sickness could ever make her feel if she dragged him down with her. What if he got sick? What if he was already getting sick? The thought made her vomit even more.

She couldn't help but groan in misery. She took some toilet paper to clean her chin. She became acutely aware of just how icy the tile floor was. She pressed her head against the floor and it actually felt good.

"You okay?" Fuutarou asked as he walked in. She wanted to lie. She wanted to tell him she was hot in that room and just wanting to cool off. She wanted to ease his mind and tell him everything was alright. But she was a terrible liar. He would see through any and all deception.

"I'm fine." She groaned. Yotsuba was, unsurprisingly, not smart enough to remember how bad she was at lying. And was unsurprisingly the least convincing human being in the world. Her assurance that she was fine sounded more like a declaration that the world would end.

"You're not fine." Fuutarou said. He knelt down and lifted her head up. He took some toilet paper and wiped her mouth. He then put the back of his hand on her forehead. "You are burning up."

"You always think I'm hot." Yotsuba tried to joke.

"Not funny." Fuutarou said. "This is serious."

"Don't worry about me." Yotsuba pleaded. "I'll ride up to the hospital while you're at work."

"You're not going to ride up anywhere!" Fuutarou shouted. "Look, hopefully it's just a fever. If you're still sick tomorrow I'll take you to the hospital myself. But today, I'll just stay home and take care of you the best I can."

"Please don't." Yotsuba said. "It'll make me feel even more sick if you have to miss work to take care of me."

"I'm sure they'll understand. Besides, aren't you the one who always wants me to stay at home?"

"Not like this!" She cried. "If you're going to be home, I want to be able to do stuff. I want you to stay home to take me out and make love and all that honeymoon loveliness. Not play nurse."

"Well I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Just, call Raiha and see what she's doing."

"She has school today." Fuutarou pinched the bridge of his nose. "But maybe she can come by for a little bit. I'm pretty sure Nino is off today so I'll call her. Just go lay back down." She tried to get up but her legs felt cramped. Fuutarou caught her before she fell back to the floor. "You're always finding ways to stretch yourself thin." He whispered.

Yotsuba enjoyed the brief moments in Fuutarou's arms. She listened to his heart beat. It was disappointing to feel a calm beat come from his chest. He was worried, but knew she'd be alright. She blushed as he tucked her in bed and kissed her forehead. It was tearing her heart in two. Her better judgement continued to win out but deep inside she wanted nothing more than to cuddle with him all day. But then, she'd end up getting him sick too.

She could hear the faint sounds of Fuutarou carrying on a conversation in the other room. It was a little insulting to be honest. She wasn't some kid that couldn't take care of herself. Then again, with this fever, maybe it wasn't so bad to have someone waiting on you. And it'd be better to be someone with time off rather than someone who had a steady job that needed him.

"Raiha is on her way." Fuutarou said. "She's going to swing by the pharmacy and grab some medicine on her way here. Then she has to go to school."

"Okay." Yotsuba sniffled. She grabbed a kleenex and sneezed.

"I also talked to Miku." He continued as he handed her a glass of orange juice and set a bin by the bed. "Nino is off work but sleeping. Mku is going to tell her what's going on. Knowing her she'll insist on taking you to the hospital. Or barring that, come here to play nurse for you."

"Thank you."

"The bin is for puke by the way."

"I figured."

"Alright, I'm going to head out. You're fine until Raiha gets here right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. Have a successful day at work." She gave him a smile. He bent over and kissed her forehead again and then rested his forehead on hers.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She whispered back.

He left right after that. Yotsuba was only alone for a few minutes. But those minutes were deafly quiet. The only noises were a ticking clock and the occasional sniffle from her nose. Yotsuba had no appetite. Even the orange juice, usually her favorite drink, tasted bitter in her mouth. She hated being sick. She hated being bedridden. There was so much she wanted to do today too. She wanted to go for a run. She was going to see if there were any kids on the soccer field. She was going to hang out with Itsuki when she got off work. And now she was stuck at home feeling miserable and congested.

"Yotsuba-Ni-Chan!" Raiha called as she opened the door. She entered the room and rolled her eyes at how pathetic Yotsuba looked. "Feeling any better?"

"No." Yotsuba whined.

"Aww, I brought you some medicine." Raiha said as she took a seat on the bed. Yotsuba sat up so she could drink the cherry-flavored elixr. It tasted bad going down but Yotsuba stomached it. "I can't believe my brother. Leaving you home alone at a time like this." She shook her head.

"I'm the one who insisted he go to work." Yotsuba admitted as she curled up into a ball.

"But aren't you always complaining about not spending enough time with him?"

"Well…" Yotsuba laughed. "You'll understand when you're older and find a boy you love."

"I don't know." Raiha said.

"Do you have a boy you like?" Yotsuba asked.

"No." Raiha scoffed. "I um…" She began fidgeting with her fingers. "No." She shook her head.

"Well now you have me curious." Yotsuba teased.

"It's...I'll just say that ...I've been doing a lot of thinking about that. Is it weird to not ever find a guy you like at my age?"

"Could be." Yotsuba shrugged. "But who cares if you're a little weird."

"Maybe it would be easier if I was beautiful like you." Raiha sighed.

"Don't be down on yourself." Yotsuba said.

"I'm not. I'm not a socially inept loser like my brother was at my age. And unlike you, I'm a straight A student. No offense."

"None taken." Yotsuba giggled. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be getting to school?"

"It's alright if I'm a little late. My homeroom teacher loves me and will understand." She bragged. "Anyway, I'll swing by after school with Itsuki-Chan."

"Mmm, I don't know." Yotsuba said. "Nino is already coming by. I don't want to get everybody sick."

"Well let me know when you feel better." Raiha said as she scooted off the bed.

"It was good seeing you again." Yotsuba said.

And with that, Raiha was gone. Part of Yotsuba already missed the younger girl's company. But she knew it was a hard life for her. She had school, a part time job, and her own social life with friends. The only one that got to see her with anything approaching regularity was Itsuki. And that was because Itsuki worked at the same highschool they had all gone to.

Over the next hour Yotsuba threw up two more times. Her body felt so dehydrated and deflated she ended up passing out. By the time she woke up, the aroma of pricey shampoo broke through the congestion in her nose. Nino was sitting in a chair listening to music on her laptop. Yotsuba tried sitting up, and got her sister's attention.

"You're awake." Nino said as she took the headphones off.

"Yeah." Yotsuba stretched her body.

"Don't exert yourself." Nino said as she closed the laptop and set it down.

"Jesus Nino, I'm just stretching."

"Hold still." She took something out of her purse. "Say ahh."

"AHH." Yotsuba's mouth hung open and Nino examined it before sticking a thermometer into it.

"When it beeps, tell me what it says." Nino stated as she stood up. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Nothing. I don't even feel hungry."

"I'll make you some soup." Nino left the room. A few minutes later the thermometer started beeping. Yotsuba took it out and read it. Thirty-seven-point-five degrees celsius. A mild fever. Nino entered the room a few minutes later. Yotsuba groaned as she was forced to unfurl the blankets in order to eat.

"Thirt-seven and a half degrees." Yotsuba stated.

"Not too bad." Nino said. "Not hospital worthy...probably."

"Yeah, it'll pass." Yotsuba took a sip of chicken noodle soup. The texture of the broth didn't sit right with her. It tasted good, but it hit her stomach like a brick. Absolutely no appetite was certainly one of the worst parts about being sick. No wonder her body felt sore and deflated.

"When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

"Yesterday for lunch. Come to think of it, I think I started feeling sick last night." A dreadful thought crossed her mind. "Oh no. Fuutarou and I...we...well ...you know...if I got him sick and then insisted he work and he didn't tell me so I wouldn't worry…"

"Stop." Nino held her hand up. "If he got sick that's his own problem. It's not like you purposely got him sick. And it's especially his fault if he's trying to power through it."

"You're right." Yotsuba lamented. "I wonder what got me sick."

"It's just that time of year. Miku was sick a few days ago."

"Is that so. First I'm hearing about it."

"Nothing serious. Just a mild cough. But when you work with food...yeah I made her stay home and she ended up visiting papa."

"I wonder if I should have done the same."

"Possibly." Nino nodded. "You've been puking. Miku didn't."

"Hmm, that is strange. We've always had a weak immune system but I've never vomited out of the blue like that."

"I…" Nino hesitated. "This is so awkward to even think about. There might be something more to that. Yotsuba, when was the...last time you had um...your period."

"Same time as usual. It's about due, same as yours and Itsuki's." Yotsuba thought for a moment.

"Okay well, do you and Fuu-Kun…." Her face turned bright red. Yotsuba understood what she might be getting at.

"You think I'm pregnant?" Yotsuba asked.

"No, just...maybe. It's a possibility." Nino said.

"You're right about that." Yotsuba sighed. "We haven't exactly been trying, but we're not shying away from it either. I try to get it in every night and well, not a fan of condoms."

"I REALLY don't need that information Yotsuba!" Nino raised her voice. "What if you were pregnant?"

"I'd...I think about it a lot you know. Kinda have to when you...you know. I'd be worried but also happy. I'm ready. More than ready to have kids. I'm just not sure Fuutarou-Kun would share my excitement."

"Stingy bastard better at least pretend for your sake." Nino huffed. "I did grab a pregnancy test while I was out."

"Okay, let me see it." Yotsuba took the test from Nino and then stumbled into the bathroom to use it. A bit of excitement filled her heart. She began to think that this was it. She thought of some fun ways to tell Fuutarou if it turned out positive. Her heart raced as she handed the test back to Nino and sat down to await the results.

"Yotsuba...it's negative." Nino said.

"Oh." Yotsuba gave a heavy sigh and curled up into a ball.

"Is that a relieved sigh or a disappointed sigh?" Nino asked.

"I'm just typical run of the mill sick. What do you think?" She looked over to Nino. There wasn't a trace of judgement in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I might have gotten your hopes up." Nino sighed.

"You did nothing wrong. It was a possibility." Yotsuba said. "I think I'm going to lay back down." She ducked under the covers.

"Let me know if you need anything." Nino said as she put the headphones back on. She noted that Yotsuba had only taken a few spoonfuls of soup. Yotsuba's head hurt. Her stomach felt like it was made of lead. And the one thing that would make this sickness worth it, wasn't happening. And that feeling, it was a feeling of powerlessness, not a feeling of longing, that made her want to cry.