Chapter 3: 2 guys, a girl & a fever

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Hanayuki reluctantly opened her eyes when the alarm clock went off. Reaching out blindly, she turned it off. I'm so tired...

She forced herself to sit up and swung her legs to the side of the bed. Then, she stood up. That's funny. Isn't it supposed to be morning already? Why is it getting darker and darker in here?

The last thing she saw before darkness took over her was the whole room turned upside-down.

---

"She looks so pale."

"How long has she been sleeping, ojisan?"

"What did the doctor say?"

"Guys, keep it down. You're going to wake her up."

"Look, she's waking up!"

"See! I told you guys to keep your voices down."

"Hana-chan!"

"How are you feeling my dear?"

"Okaasan..." Hanayuki croaked.

"Shhh... don't talk just yet, my dear. You're down with fever. You need to rest more," said Mrs Anzai, as she brushed away the hair from Hanayuki's face.

"How long have I been sleeping, okaasan?"

"Well, I found you lying on the floor at about 7 in the morning." Mrs Anzai looked at the clock on the wall. "It is now almost 6. That means you've been sleeping for about 11 hours or so."

"Sou ka? No wonder I feel so tired," said Hanayuki. She looked past Mrs Anzai to see Anzai-sensei, Sakuragi, Rukawa, Miyagi, Ayako, Ichiro and Haruko standing a little further behind. "Hey guys. You're all here."

"How are you feeling now, Hana-chan?" asked Sakuragi.

Hanayuki laughed a little at the question. "Um... tired?"

"Oh."

Ayako whacked him on the head with her fan. "Baka, she just said so earlier and you had to go and ask her again."

"Do'aho."

"Rukawa, don't make me fight you here."

Thwack!

Thwack!

"Not a chance," said Ayako, brandishing her fan.

Mrs Anzai clapped her hands a few times. "Alright, everybody out of this room. There're too many of you here, I can hardly breathe myself. Hurry up now."

"Take good care of yourself, Hana-chan," said Sakuragi, before leaving the room.

"Hai, I will," Hanayuki replied. "Thanks for coming to see me guys."

When they were all out of the room, she turned to Anzai-sensei. "Otousan, the dinner tonight..."

"It's cancelled. I've already called them up to tell them what happened," Anzai-sensei told her.

Hanayuki nodded her head slightly. "Ok."

"He said he'll be coming over to see you though. Later tonight," he continued.

"Ok."

"For now," Mrs Anzai chipped in, "you are going to rest. A lot."

"I've already slept for 11 hours, okaasan. It's more than enough rest as it is."

"Not in my opinion, it's not. Now go to sleep. If you need me, I'll be downstairs in the kitchen. I'll be coming up to check on you every 10 minutes or so, alright?"

"Right," said Hanayuki, sighing softly. Smiling a little, she added, "Arigatou, okaasan." She closed her eyes, and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

Mrs Anzai's eyebrows creased a little as she looked at her daughter. She looked at her husband, who looked back at her.

"Daijoubu. She's a very strong girl. She'll be up and about in no time," Anzai-sensei assured her.

"I know. I know she's a strong girl. After all she'd gone through, there's nothing else she could be. It's just that, I can't help but wish that she didn't have to be."

Anzai-sensei approached his wife and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go downstairs," he said, guiding her towards the door. After taking one last look at Hanayuki, he closed the door behind him.

---

Later...

Hanayuki opened her eyes when she felt, rather than heard, someone walking into the room. Turning her head slightly, she smiled weakly at the person sitting beside the bed. "You're here."

Smiling back, he said, "Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, and exhausted. I can hardly lift a finger."

He reached out to take her hand. "I'll give you a hand then."

Hanayuki smiled again. "Thanks." She made a move to get up, and he quickly helped her into a sitting position, making sure that she was comfortable.

"You really should take it easy, Yuki. You're stressing yourself out."

Hanayuki raised an eyebrow. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not. I'm not having a fever because I'm stressed out. Nobody gets a fever from too much stress."

"You are having a fever now, from too much stress. Tell you what, from now on, I'll come and pick you up once every two days. That way, you won't be too tired out."

When Hanayuki opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand to stop her. "Look, if you have to go to school in the morning, attend practice in the afternoon, and then come to my house at night, you'll find yourself having fever every now and then. We wouldn't want that to happen, now, would we?" he suggested.

Hanayuki looked at him in disbelief. "First of all, I didn't have a fever because I was too stressed out. That's absolutely ridiculous. Second, I'm not going to have a fever every now and then. That's totally unthinkable."

"Any more protests and I'll make it once a week."

A look of defeat registered on Hanayuki's already tired-looking face, as she sighed and nodded her head. "Fine."

"Good!" He looked around the room. "You know what, this is the first time I've been to your room."

"Hmm, I see. So what do you think of it?"

"Nice. Very nice. What wouldn't I give to be able to spend the night here," he commented.

"Excuse me-" Hanayuki started, but was cut off.

"Don't worry. I know very well that the only person who can do that is Rukawa."

Hanayuki shot him a warning glance. "Now hold on a second. I never said-"

"He is very lucky, ne, that Rukawa."

"You're pushing it," Hanayuki warned.

"Hai, hai. Gomen nasai," he said, laughing. "But really, I truly envy that guy."

Hanayuki shook her head. "Mattaku. You know, you remind me so much of someone." (A/n: Mattaku means something along the line 'I cannot believe you'. That is, according to my understanding. Do correct me if I got it wrong.)

"Dare da?" (Translation: Who?)

"Aki."

"You mean Sendoh Akira? In what sense?"

"Can't really tell. But, to put it simply, both of you like to do things which annoy me to no end."

He laughed again. "Oh really? I didn't know that. You know I never really got to meet or talk to him in person."

"Indeed."

"Maybe one day I should, don't you think?"

"I'm sure you'll have the chance to do so in the future. Anyway, don't you have classes tomorrow?" asked Hanayuki, frowning a little.

"I have one at 9 in the morning."

The frown on her face deepened. "Then what're you doing here?"

"See you, of course."

"Well, now that you've already seen me, you can go back and rest. You don't want to end up like me too, do you?" Hanayuki said, gesturing to herself.

"I'm not as weak as you are, you know," he insulted playfully.

Hanayuki narrowed her eyes. "You're so lucky I'm out of energy, or you would've found yourself thrown out of the window."

"I'd like to see you try," he said laughingly, before holding up his hands in surrender mode. "Alright, I'll go. You take good care of yourself, you hear?"

"I will. Now get out of here."

"I'm going already. Geez! You could've shown some appreciation for my coming to see you," he mumbled in mock resentment.

"You should appreciate that I couldn't move from this bed and throw you out myself," Hanayuki called after his retreating back.

In response, he looked back and stuck out his tongue. Hanayuki made a face, before bursting out laughing and waved.

As soon as he was gone, Mrs Anzai walked into the room, carrying a bowl of hot soup.

Setting the bowl on the bedside table, she sat down and smiled at Hanayuki. "I see you're feeling much better already, Hana-chan."

"Who wouldn't, okaasan, after sleeping for-" Hanayuki glanced at the clock, "-almost 15 hours straight."

"Even so, you're not just energized, but happier as well. I knew he would be able to cheer you up." Mrs Anzai placed her hand on Hanayuki's. "He's a good boy."

"Yes. He is a wonderful person." Hanayuki leaned back against the pillow propped up behind her. "If it wasn't for him, I would never have been able to manage everything up till now."

Just then, her phone began to ring.

"I'll get it," said Mrs Anzai, reaching for the phone on the bedside table. "Moshi moshi."

There was a pause, as she listened to the caller. "You wish to speak to Hana-chan?" She glanced at Hanayuki, who gestured for the phone to be given to her. "Please hold on a second."

Hanayuki took the phone from her mother and spoke into the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hana! Long time no see. How are you?" Sendoh's voice came through.

Hanayuki's lips curved into a small smile. "I'm fine, Aki. How are you?" She looked up when Mrs Anzai tapped her on the shoulder. "Aki, I'm sorry, but can you please hold on for a while?"

Lowering the phone, Hanayuki addressed the older lady. "Yes, okaasan?"

"I'll be downstairs if you need me. Make sure you finish the soup," Mrs Anzai instructed.

"I will, okaasan. Thank you." Hanayuki waited for Mrs Anzai to disappear behind the door before putting the phone to her ear again. "Aki? Gomen. Anyway, how are you?"

"Well, at first I wasn't doing so well, but after hearing your voice, I'm feeling much better already."

"After all these months, you didn't change, did you?" she asked, smirking a little.

"Nope. My feelings for you will never change."

"Right..." said Hanayuki, amused. "Anyway, I'm sure you called for something, Aki-kun?"

"I knew it, Hana. You are the only one who understands me this well."

"And I'm sure you understand me well too. Well enough to know that I'll hang up on you if you don't get to the main point," said Hanayuki.

"Alright, alright. I called to ask if we can arrange a practice game for our teams."

"A practice game?" Hanayuki echoed.

"Yeah. Like what we did last year. Only this time, we'll be coming over to your school and not the other way round," he explained.

"In other words, you'd like to come and visit?"

"And play, Hana. Don't forget play."

A sudden thought occurred to Hanayuki. "Tell me, Aki. Are you, by any chance, the one who proposed this practice game to Taoka-sensei?"

"Hana, you're absolutely brilliant! How did you know?"

"Just a lucky guess," Hanayuki answered, stifling a sigh.

"So, what do you think?"

Hanayuki gave it a thought, before replying, "I guess it's fine. When do you think you guys can come over for the game?"

"Oh, anytime. How about next week? Is that enough time for your team to prepare for the game?"

"Excuse me? What are you trying to imply here, Aki?"

"Hahaha! Nothing, nothing! Really! Hahaha!" Sendoh laughed nervously on the other side of the line, having heard the threatening tone in Hanayuki's voice.

"Uh-huh..." She couldn't help but smile at his always-cheerful-no-matter-what attitude.

"So we'll see you guys next week Saturday afternoon, right?"

"Yeah."

There was a momentary pause. "I really look forward to seeing you again." This time, there was no hint of a smile in Sendoh's voice, which goes to show Hanayuki just how much he meant what he had just said.

She smiled ruefully. "Yeah. Me too."

"Well, I'll see you then. Good night, Hana."

"Good night, Aki."

Hanayuki gazed at the phone for a moment, before placing it back on the bedside table and took the bowl of soup with both hands, savouring the warmth emitting from the soup through the bowl.

What wouldn't I give to be able to spend the night here.

My feelings for you will never change.

Hanayuki smiled to herself. Baka. Maa, I guess I'm very lucky to have 2 bakas as good friends.

---

Room 114, Fukasawa University...

Hanagata looked up from his textbook when his roommate walked into the room.

"You're early tonight," he remarked.

Fujima plopped down on his bed, giving Hanagata a tired smile. "Yeah. Something unexpected cropped up, so I came back earlier."

Hanagata took off his glasses and wiped them with his shirt. "You know, I really don't understand. I mean, your parents are not at home and won't be for most of the year, so why do you still have to go back home every night?"

"I told you, I have to make sure that everything at home is alright. Okaasan specifically asked me to do so before she left for America," said Fujima.

"Still, every night is a bit too tedious, don't you think?"

Fujima laid on his back, his hands cushioning his head. "Well, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right," said Hanagata, putting on his glasses again. "I say once a week is good enough."

"No, that's too little," said Fujima.

"Ok, twice a week then."

"Nope."

"Three times a week."

Fujima shook his head. "Two days once. That would be perfect."

Hanagata raised his eyebrows. "Are you kidding me? What's the difference between that and going every night?"

"The difference is, I don't have to go every night if I go once every two days," came the reply.

Hanagata sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, have it your way." He returned to his book, only to close it a couple of minutes later. He turned to face Fujima again. "You know, we can always take turns to go. I don't mind. After all, two heads are better than one."

Fujima smiled gratefully at his friend-cum-roommate-cum-team-mate. "I know. Thanks a lot. But, well, I can handle it myself just fine."

"That's what you say. This is what I say: you need help."

Fujima chuckled a little. "No, I don't. Look, I promise I won't hesitate to ask you for help when the time comes, alright? So, you really don't have to remind me every now and then."

"Yeah, let's all cross our fingers and hope that it would be sometime before the day I die," Hanagata said.

This time, Fujima laughed. "What is it with you and help, Hanagata?"

Hanagata laughed too. "What, can't you accept the fact that I'm one very helpful guy?"

"Well, not when you keep on insisting that I need help. Really, didn't anybody ever tell you that you should only give help when and where it is needed?" Fujima sat up. "Never mind. You know what, I would very much like to call it a night now. I'm dead tired."

Hanagata held up his hands in surrender mode. "Alright. Fine. Whatever. I'm going to bed too." He stood up and turned off the lights, leaving the small table lamp on his table on. "Good night, Fujima."

"Good night." Fujima buried his face deep into the pillow, pulling the blanket around him, before sitting up suddenly.

"What's wrong?" asked Hanagata.

"Nothing. I almost forgot to set the alarm clock, that's all," Fujima replied. He reached for the alarm clock on his bedside table.

"Oh, I remember. You have a class at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning, right?"

"That's right. Poor me."

"Yeah, poor you. Anyway, good night again," Hanagata greeted for the last time, before dozing off to sleep in an instant.

Fujima yawned, his eyelids getting heavier as he snuggled under the blankets once more. "Good night, Hanagata."

---

Author's notes: Thank you to aki midori, Hikaru Itsuko and Jen for reading and reviewing. Just to let you know, the title of this story, 'For As Long As It Takes', was suggested by aki midori. aki's a fantabulous fic writer. I'm proud to say that I've read almost 99 of aki's fics, all of them Senru, though I never and still don't like the pairing. That just goes to show how good a writer aki is. Oh yes, before I forget, I need opinions from you guys. Would you like me to include some basketball matches, or would you rather I leave them out completely? Do tell me your thoughts.