Mystery Illness

Author: Trans

Pairing: WatarixTatsumi

Warning: Not really sure yet. Yaoi of course, and hopefully some hanky-panky at some point. A tad of angst never hurts…

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I do not own Yami no Matsuei  although I DO have my very own Watari plushie.

Beta reader: Tinker-Bell-Greenleaf (Thank you so much!)

AN: I'm finally getting into this story, so I'm having an easier time typing.

Chapter 7

Watari's eyes flickered open. Without his glasses he couldn't read what the clock on the wall said, but if he could, he'd know it was past midnight. Instinctually his hand bent up to touch the spot at the end of his pillowcase. Nothing was there. A momentary confusion rushed through him before he remembered 003 wasn't here anymore.

The room wasn't dark as he expected it to be. He turned his head enough to see the lamp on the far wall on, next a chair (which hadn't been there before). Watari quirked an eyebrow. Tatsumi was sitting in the chair, still buttoned up in his suit, files open in his lap, and currently dozing. The image was adorable.

Tatsumi's glasses had slid to the very tip of his nose, threatening to fall off at any moment. Strands of wavy hair had come out of place, draping over shut eyes. The secretary's face usually hard, like his comments, was relaxed and smooth. He looked young and innocent.

Watari frowned, recalling his rather lame behavior earlier. He really wished he hadn't nearly passed out. But the remembrance of Tatsumi carrying him, tucking him in, was enough to make him smile again. He never imagined Tatsumi would actually stay. The chair couldn't be comfortable, he'd get a crick in his neck sleeping like that, and his papers were ready to fall from his lap at any moment. Leave it to him to try and work at a time like this. He'd be angered when he realized he'd fallen asleep, leaving the lamp on, to waste electricity.

Muscles stretching like thick tar, it took him a full minute to get himself up. Trying to be quiet, he stepped over to the chair, and smiled. First the files were moved, set in a neat stack on the ground. Using nimble fingers, he plucked Tatsumi's glasses from their precarious perch, stetting them on top of the paper stack. Blinking down at the innocent face, Watari wasn't sure what to do next.

Tatsumi was beautiful like this, but Watari was sure that the moment he stirred, his face would harden with annoyance again--he would leave. Watari swallowed. This was all his fault. He'd become careless with 003. He should have never left her alone, especially in such a state. Now he'd have to find her, or he knew he'd have more than a secretary with a stiff neck to deal with.

Brushing the hair from Tatsumi's face, Watari pulled back startled, when blue eyes fluttered open. There was a moment of sleepy confusion, and then they cleared into alertness. "Watari-san?"

"Hey, you'll be sorry in the morning if you sleep there." Watari gave him a charming smile.

"Tatsumi straightened in the chair, wincing, already having gotten a neck ache. Blue eyes blinked for a moment. "Where are my glasses?"

"I took it upon myself to remove them." Watari sat down on the edge of his bed, a little lightheaded, and not wanting to show it.

Tatsumi picked up his glasses, placing them back over his eyes, his appearance instantly becoming sharper. He didn't look like a man who only a moment before was sleeping, and Watari thought it would take hurricane winds to mess-up the immaculate persona. Tatsumi glanced at the clock then, and raised his eyebrows. "You should still be in bed."

"And leave you in that chair? Besides--you left the lamp on. Wouldn't want to waste electricity now would we?" Watari grinned at the disgruntled look on Tatsumi's face as he turned to the aforementioned lamp.

"You weren't well earlier. I thought it best if someone was here to keep an eye on things."

"You can't sleep in a chair Tatsumi," Watari said firmly. Shrugging his shoulders, his grin turned mischievous. "I don't mind sharing the bed as long as you don't hog the blankets."

Tatsumi gave him a dead-panned look. "If you have enough energy for jokes, then I can go home, and sleep in my own bed."

I wasn't joking, Watari thought. He knew it'd be rude to ask for the secretary to stay any longer, but his brain was already throwing scenarios around. "Fine, go if you want."

Tatsumi was quiet for a moment before catching on, "You are going to start working right now if I leave, aren't you?"

Watari's grin widened. "How'd you guess?"

"Its only been a few hours. You should get more rest."

"So should you. In a bed. And look there just so happens to be one right here."

Tatsumi's eyes narrowed, but his lips twitched in amusement. "Are you coercing me?"

Watari was never big on blushing, but he had to keep his brain firmly on pure, mundane thoughts, to avoid blushing now. He was coercing Tatsumi into bed with him. To sleep. He just wanted to sleep, he reminded himself. The last thing he wanted right now was to be alone, and if he had to let go of a little pride to keep Tatsumi's company…

"I'm persuading."

"That bed is a full," Tatsumi pointed out.

"Better than a twin."

Tatsumi didn't answer to that and Watari sighed. "I guess I have work to do then…" Standing up he walked to the bedroom door intending to demonstrate that his threat was serious. His plot was foiled however, when the room spun upon itself on his third step.

Watari braced himself for the fall, but was stopped by something hard but yielding. He paused…Tatsumi had been sitting too faraway to have caught him…Turning his out of focus eyes, he saw the shadow beneath the bed cradling his shoulders. "Oh," Watari gasped in surprise.

"I told you to stay in bed," came the exasperated sigh. Tatsumi stood up and went to his side. "There is no point in arguing." Tatsumi's hands were strong like his shadows but much warmer. He put an arm carefully around his shoulders, and pulled him up effortlessly.

"I didn't expect that," Watari confessed faintly. He was worse off than he thought. His legs were shaky, and a sharp throb returned to his temple with vengeance. Giving in, he allowed Tatsumi to lead him back to bed. "My death really sucks," he pouted.

"The problem will still be there in the morning for us to fix. For now get some sleep." Tatsumi pushed the stubborn blonde down.

"I wasn't joking you know," Watari confessed while rubbing the side of his head. He hated migraines, but in the situation he mused that he'd have to get used to them. "You could sleep here."

To Tatsumi's credit he didn't react outwardly. Watari couldn't tell if he was annoyed or embarrassed from the blank look his face held. "I shouldn't."

What did that mean? Watari studies him quizzically, trying to decipher the statement. He hadn't said, ' I don't want to', 'No', or made some other logical statement about bed size or having his own place to sleep. He said, 'I shouldn't' which implied -that is if Watari wasn't over thinking like he was prone to doing- that he wanted to but thought it a bad idea.

"Why not?" Watari pushed.

"It's hardly appropriate," Tatsumi replied delicately, as if it was Watari's illness that was making him so difficult. It wasn't, or at least Watari thought so. Illness couldn't control ones vocal cords for them. He wasn't sure though, if he would be so bold if he didn't feel like shit, or was so desperate.

"We'd just be sleeping," Watari teased. This time Tatsumi did look a little frazzled.

"Yes, and we can do that just fine in separate beds. You must not be thinking straight." Tatsumi placed a hand on his forehead as if to check for a temperature.

'Not thinking straight', what world choice, Watari grumbled inwardly. If only Tatsumi knew…not that it wasn't obvious. Watari sighed in frustration, looking up at the man Watari thought too appealing for his own good. Some people were naturally handsome, and some were equally ignorant to the fact.

Tatsumi frowned. "You have a fever. You should take something."

"I'm fine. I'm thinking perfectly straight."

"Right," Tatsumi said distractedly. He wasn't listening. "You have some normal medicine in this lab don't you?"

"Yeah. In the bathroom medicine cabinet." Watari tried to laugh but it came out a little weak. "I never thought you'd be the one taking care of me."

"Considering you are our resident 'doctor,' I don't think there is much of a choice. Would you rather I call someone else in?" Tatsumi took his comment completely wrong. Watari scowled.

"You're doing fine. I'm just surprised is all."

Tatsumi gave him a small smile before leaving to get some medicine. Watari wondered if he really might be so feverish to imagine Tatsumi being this nice to him. It was delightful though, so he didn't care if he was having a hallucination.

Tatsumi returned with a glass of water and two tablets. Watari accepted them, downing the pills and sipping at the water. He studied him again, the man he was used to seeing angry over budgets and his antics in the lab, sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at him kindly.

"You sleep with 003 every night, correct?" Tatsumi was gazing at him with understanding. Watari felt embarrassed to admit a weakness, but swallowed his pride.

"Yeah."

"So you're not used to sleeping alone," he stated sympathetically.

"No…not really. Not since I became a shinigami."

"Scoot over." Watari looked at him with wide-eyes. Tatsumi….was really going to stay? Complying, he made some room to his right. Tatsumi drew the covers up over Watari's shoulders, before sitting fully on the bed. He propped some pillows up against the head board so he could recline back comfortably atop the blankets. Apparently not lying down all the way, and not being inside the bed, allowed him to bypass his embarrassment. Watari accepted it gratefully.

"Thanks."

"Just go to sleep."

((Insert Break))

"I brought you some homemade breakfast!" Wakaba declared as she marched into the lab.

Watari lifted his head from his arms, shaking himself awake. He couldn't recall nodding off, but his computer was still running the search he'd set up. It was taking longer than he thought it should. Considering the time, it could just be called morning now, and he'd been working for a few hours. "Your in early Wakaba," Watari commented.

"I wanted to come see you without Tatsumi getting mean about it!" She huffed at the indignity of it, probably still mad at him for ordering her from the room on the previous day.

"You won't have to worry. Tatsumi is sleeping in the back." Watari offered Wakaba a chair, yawning.

"Really?" Wakaba sent a sly glance to the backroom door and giggled. "I hope I made enough food then."

Watari waved his hand. "He was playing nurse last night, so I decided to let him sleep in. He'll probably be angry about it when he wakes up."

"He stayed with you? The whole night?" Wakaba was wiggling her eyebrows comically.

Watari laughed. "He didn't want me to work all night. You know how he is about wasting electricity." Watari wondered if that was the truth, or if Tatsumi had stayed for reasons beyond that. He could dream, couldn't he?

Wakaba gave him a knowing look. "Right." She passed him a plate she'd pilled with food. His stomach twisted angrily at the sight of it, the smell which would normally be delicious, making him nauseous. He paled slightly.

"I understand how 003 was feeling…"

"It's no good? You should try to eat something." Wakaba watched him in worry.

"I don't even want to think about food. I'm sorry Wakaba." Watari felt bad for putting his friends efforts to waste.

"You need to eat," a masculine voice came from the main lab entrance. Watari looked up to see Tatsumi walking in, wearing a fresh suit, and holding two mugs of coffee. Mouth open in confusion, he glanced at the backroom door, Tatsumi, Wakaba, and then back at Tatsumi. The only conclusion to draw was that Tatsumi had left when he'd fallen asleep at his desk, because he'd been sure that he was still sleeping when he'd left the room.

Tatsumi blatantly ignored his confused expression and set a mug of coffee down in front of him. "I apologize Wakaba-kun. If I'd known you'd be here so early, I'd have brought you coffee as well."

Watari could take a hint, and hoped Wakaba wouldn't let it slip that he'd already told her Tatsumi had stayed the night with him. Tatsumi didn't want anyone to know because as he so put it, 'It's hardly appropriate.' Watari would oblige him, but only because he truly appreciated that Tatsumi had stayed despite this opinion.

"Good morning," Watari said brightly.

"Good morning!" Wakaba chirped right afterward, looking between them with such a look that anyone should have been blushing. Watari hid his grin in his coffee cup instead, and Tatsumi seemed immune. "Its fine, I'm more of a tea drinker myself." She gestured to her packed breakfast and asked hopefully, "would you like to join us for breakfast?"

Tatsumi frowned. "Actually I have a morning meeting I must attend. Can I trust that you'll keep Watari-san company?" Tatsumi gave him a side-ways glance. "See to it that he eats a decent meal."

She smiled slyly. "Of course! I'll take good care of him for you." She broke out into giggles this time, and Tatsumi just shook his head.

"I'll check-in on your progress later Watari-san. If you are still feeling ill, please do not over exert yourself."

Watari nodded, frowning as the secretary walked out of the lab. Last night he'd been a lot more personable and relaxed. Now he was back to his usual uptight self. Of course he wasn't known for his big public displays of emotion…so perhaps he was just overreacting. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little jaded with that 'good morning.'

"Tatsumi brought you coffee." Wakaba was somewhat composed again, and grinning like mad. "He worked in here yesterday, took care of you all night, and he brought you coffee."

He decided to omit the fact that Tatsumi had also bought him dinner, and shared the bed with him. As it was, he feared that he'd started the road for some outrageous rumors. He'd have to reign this one in real fast.

"He's a good guy."

Wakaba wagged her finger. "No, Tatsumi is a good guy when he likes someone. Sure he is generally polite to everyone, but he never goes out of his way to be nice."

"You think he likes me?" He tired to make it sound nonchalant, but the nervous tapping on his coffee mug gave him away.

"He does, and you like him!" She squealed. "This is so perfect! You are just what he needs! Oh, and he's swooping in during your time of need. Its like a romance story. The chivalry!"

Watari chuckled lightly, sipping at his coffee to calm his stomach. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Right now…isn't exactly the best time for me to be worrying about romance."

She frowned sadly, and patted his shoulder. "I know. You must be worried sick."

"Yeah. Can you…not tell everyone about Tatsumi being nice? I know its silly, but I'm afraid if he hears any rumors he'd get so self-conscious, he'd start treating me indifferently again."

Wakaba got up and gave him a big hug. "No worries! I'll keep my lips sealed."

Watari hugged her back, wondering if she was right. Maybe Tatsumi did like him back. Unless he could get 003 back though, it wouldn't matter if Tatsumi did return his feelings, and Watari couldn't ignore the threat in that…