A/N: Here we are, the second chapter. Thanks for the reviews I got. I wasn't sure how many I expected, but I got more than I thought I would, I guess. XD Anyways, this was fun to write. I hope it's fun to read, too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ryohei or Hibari, sadly. But they own my soul. So do Ken and Chikusa and Yamamoto and -names many characters-

.:X:.
Ryohei's Decision
.:X:.

When Hibari suddenly went from struggling against Ryohei's iron grip to dead weight, Ryohei immediately knew something was wrong.

"Oi, Hibari!"

The prefect was completely unresponsive, breathing heavily. He gave Hibari a gentle nudge, but Hibari just shivered and let out a little moan. Ryohei's eyes widened considerably. Hibari was way more ill than he'd let on if he'd passed out.

The boxer doubled his pace while holding on tighter to his sick classmate, trying not to jostle him. This was so weird, he thought to himself. His house loomed into view as he rounded the last corner. Kyoko was out doing something with her classmates, some sort of report, and their parents were out. Ryohei couldn't help but feel both relieved and worried. No awkward questions (especially from Kyoko, who knew Hibari about as well as Ryohei did, which wasn't saying much), but at the same time, no one to help him out. The only sort of first aid he knew was the kind of injuries inflicted during boxing.

Now stood the problem of how he was going to get the spare key from the potted plant next to the door. Ah… well, he'd always wanted to try this…

He gave the plant a kick on the bottom and the key, to his joy, went flying up into the air. Quickly shifting Hibari for the briefest of moments, he reached out and snatched the key out of midair before returning to his previous position.

"Wow… I didn't know I could do that," he said to himself, grinning widely and inserting the key into the lock. That was cool.

Closing the door with his foot, Ryohei carefully ran to his room and set down Hibari as gently as he could. He wasn't used to seeing Hibari looking so… vulnerable. The prefect shuddered violently as his body made contact with the comforter, before he went back to that motionless state from before. Ryohei considered him worriedly for a moment. Hibari's temperature was flaring, but Ryohei was afraid to leave him alone to grab a wet cloth and call for an ambulance. At least Hibari wasn't going into convulsions or anything.

Suddenly he found himself reaching out and brushing a strand of hair out of Hibari's face. "Hey," he said, surprisingly soft. "I'm gonna go get something for your fever, alright?" Why he was talking to Hibari when the guy couldn't even hear him was completely beyond him. But it somehow did some good. Hibari's face unclenched slightly, and Ryohei almost grinned. It was so weird to see Hibari like this. "So just… stay here," he ended dumbly. Like the guy was going to go anywhere.

Then again… knowing Hibari… the moment he caught wind of the fact that he'd been taken to the Sasagawa household, been seen in this state, and found comfort in Ryohei's voice…

Well, he'd make an attempt to kill Ryohei and head back to his house before you could say "extreme."

Ryohei stood up and backed out of his room slowly, watching Hibari with a keen eye. Maybe he was being overprotective, but he'd read about these kinds of things when he'd looked up overdoing himself in boxing. A high enough temperature could send Hibari into violent convulsions, despite his age; he could hurt himself. A really high temperature would result in death. Ryohei wasn't entirely sure how high Hibari's temperature was, but it was at least over a hundred. He thought about the pamphlets he had read. Convulsions caused by fevers usually happened only in young children, and Hibari obviously did not classify as a 'young child'. And anyways, it was usually the sudden rush of the temperature flare rather than the temperature itself. If the fact that Hibari hadn't suddenly just fallen unconscious instead of sort of drifting was anything to go by, this wasn't the case.

Either way, it was now or never…

The minute he reached the threshold, he sprinted across the hallway and took a screeching left straight into the bathroom, where he promptly tripped over the toilet and toppled headfirst into the tub.

He got back up and rubbed the bruise forming on his headache before grabbing a towel, running it under some cold water, wringing it out, and nearly flying back into his room.

Hibari was fine.

Ah well. Better safe than sorry.

He folded the washcloth over twice until it could rest against Hibari's forehead without obscuring his eyes, and laid it down carefully on his temple. Hibari's breath hitched from the sudden cold, and he moaned in appreciation of the sudden coolness at the same time he shivered from it.

Ryohei sighed and grabbed the chair next to his desk. Straddling it, he stared at Hibari for a moment, muttering something that sounded oddly like "Baka…"

About a minute had passed when Ryohei realized that Hibari was completely soaked to the skin. Now, he knew that being wet was not in anyway going to help Hibari's fever at all, but on the other hand…

Eh. He was out like a light bulb anyway.

Though, Ryohei had to admit as he rustled through his clothes drawer, this was not going to be comfortable. And he shuddered to think what was going to happen to him when Hibari woke up and found himself in sweatpants and a shirt that, sadly, was two sizes too big for him.

Ryohei wasn't entirely sure how to go about doing this. Either way, he might see things he probably might not want to see.

He sighed deeply and walked back over to his bed. Hibari hadn't moved at all. Somehow, Ryohei just felt like he had to talk to Hibari.

Yeah, like he had any idea what to say to the unconscious kid on his bed. Not to mention the fact that he was about to change said unconscious kid into his own clothing.

Ah well.

"Yo, Hibari."

The prefect barely stirred save for a slight twitch of his eyebrows at the sound of Ryohei's voice. The cloth across his forehead moved slightly with his face, dripping water down his cheek.

"Yeah. Um… you're really wet, so, I'm gonna change your clothes."

He hadn't been expecting a response. And he didn't get one.

This was going to be awkward—to the extreme. But it had to be done if he wanted Hibari's fever to break.

Carefully hoisting Hibari up into a sitting position, Ryohei inwardly winced as he leaned the prefect's head against the bed rest and reached for the red tie around his neck, grabbing the damp cloth with his other hand as he did so. Kami, but he was going to receive hell for this. Bracing himself as though expecting Hibari to suddenly spring up and punch him into next week, Ryohei gently undid Hibari's tie and slid it off. Nothing happened. Hibari's face twitched slightly from the contact, but other than that he was out.

Almost out of himself, Ryohei carefully undid the buttons on Hibari's shirt and pulled the tail out of his pants. God, this was wrong… Ryohei grit his teeth, steeled himself, and tugged off Hibari's shirt.

The span of time it took him to pull the huge sweater over Hibari's head would put Joshima Ken in his Cheetah Channel to shame.

Ryohei sighed as he took a hold of Hibari's hand and gently put the sleeves on. That was the most awkward thing he'd ever done in his life. He had to laugh, though, as he looked at the huge grey sweater on his classmate. It was so large it dipped off his shoulder about an inch and a half.

But now came the hard part.

Pants.

Oh Kami.

He took it back. This was going to be the most awkward thing he'd ever been through.

It was while he was mentally preparing for this that he had a sudden inspiration. He looked around his room and, of course, couldn't find any scissors. Damnit. He shot another glance at Hibari, making sure nothing was happening. Besides the unhealthy flush across his cheeks and slightly labored breath, Ryohei was sure nothing wasn't going to happen in the amount of time it took him to get a pair of scissors from the kitchen.

Paranoid as always, Ryohei backed slowly out of the room, keeping one eye on Hibari, then once more flew out of his room and dived into the kitchen. He got up, swearing colorfully, and rummaged through the drawers and cabinets.

"Damnit, Kyoko, where do you keep those stupid scissors…" Aha. They were sticking out of the knife holder their mother had recently bought. He grabbed them, and, at that moment, heard a noise coming from his room. Looking at the hallway in concern, he transferred the scissors in his hand so he could run without the fear of impaling himself and charged down the hallway, this time reaching his room without injuring himself.

"Oi!!" Ryohei shouted. Hibari didn't answer. He was far past coherent thoughts. The prefect writhed on the bed, gasping for breath, his body arching.

"Shit shit shit!" Ryohei swore loudly, crossing the length of the room in two strides and chucking the scissors on the floor. He leapt onto the bed and placed a knee on either of Hibari's, as well as a hand over his wrists. "Oi, Hibari!" What the bloody hell was going on? He'd been fine two minutes ago, and now suddenly Ryohei was fighting to keep the guy from tumbling clear off the bed.

Hibari coughed a horrible, gasping cough that ripped and tore at his throat. It wasn't just one cough, either. It was more like a sudden attack of asthma. What stunned Ryohei even more was that Hibari was awake, roused by his own painful coughing. He swore at Ryohei between coughs, eyes shut tight.

"God—damnit—get—off—me—"

"Like hell," Ryohei growled, tightening his grip and dodging the knee aimed for his groin. Hibari just fought harder, still trying feebly to throw the admittedly currently-stronger teen off him. Ryohei realized that part of the struggle was involuntary, and wondered whether Hibari even knew that Ryohei was on top of him, or if it was all part of some fevered dream. Then he wondered whether Hibari was actually awake.

Only one way to find out, he thought.

He waited until the coughing had stopped, then reached out and gave Hibari a few quick little taps on his cheek. Immediately, blue eyes flew open and Ryohei found himself staring right at a very confused and scarlet prefect.

There was a long pause.

"…what are you doing?"

"You were coughing."

Another pause.

"…and why are you on top of me?"

Ryohei wasn't entirely sure how he could explain this one.

So instead he sort of just got up and sat back down on the chair. "What were you dreaming about?"

To his extreme amazement, Hibari turned a bit redder. "Why in the hell are you asking me that?"

Ryohei shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "You seemed like you were dreaming about something that was bothering you. Fever-induced, maybe, but worrying enough." He watched in faint amusement as Hibari's eyebrows shot up and he looked blown away for a moment. Then the eyebrows furrowed and Hibari became haughty and distant once more.

"I told you to mind your own business. "

"I repeat. Like hell."

He was satisfied to see the corner of Hibari's lip twitch in irritation. "I swear, Sasagawa, just leave me alone and I can—"he stopped talking for a moment, staring hard into the comforter. Ryohei rose out of his chair, concerned.

"—get out of here," Hibari finished in a strained sort of voice.

Something clicked.

"You were trying to hold in a cough, weren't you?" Ryohei accused.

"No."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

This went on for some time until Hibari finally took a swing at Ryohei's head and went back to sleep, obviously exhausted from his coughing spell.

Ryohei waited twenty-five minutes before deciding to finish what he'd started before.

He picked up his old pair of sweatpants and cut the bottom with the elastic, pulling out the rubber band until the bottom of the cuffs were widened. He winced when he realized that even with this… he'd still have to pull off one pant leg in order for it to work.

Well, it'd be better than just taking Hibari's pants off completely.

But still…

He sighed. Hibari was out like a light. There was no way he'd wake up. Ryohei kept telling himself that as he reached over as fast as he could and undid the button and zipper. He closed his eyes, hoping that would help. It did, to some degree. The only problem was that he'd have to open his eyes in order to avoid… well. He didn't like thinking about that.

Grey eyes opened once more and Ryohei took a deep breath, preparing himself again. He carefully took a hold of Hibari's ankle and pulled at the fabric, slowly, looking at the wall with a very set expression on his face. The minute the entire pant leg was off Ryohei snatched up the sweatpants and shoved them up Hibari's leg, still looking very determinedly at the wall.

Finally. Now it wouldn't be that embarrassing. He slid the fabric on the other side, and then pulled the rest of Hibari's pants through the pant leg of the sweats.

"Oi…" he muttered, throwing them on the floor and leaning back, hand over his eyes. "That was… awkward. To the limit."

He glanced through his fingers at the sleeping figure on his bed. It didn't look like Hibari, with the oversized sweater and pants. Hibari always wore very casual yet distinguished clothing. In fact, Ryohei wasn't entirely sure if he'd ever seen Hibari in anything other than their school uniform. There were dark circles under his eyes, his face was red with fever and his hair was sticking to his cheeks from sweat and rain.

Ryohei sighed. "Baka," he repeated, and leaning back against the chair, started to hum softly under his breath.

:X

A/N: This was both the most difficult-to-get-right thing I've ever written and also the most amusing. XD

Also, the plot hole with Hibari speaking to Ryohei before his clothes are changed will be explained. Next chapter we're actually going to get somewhere instead of just skipping from one POV to the other. XD We'll get to see the other characters, too.

Reviews?