CHAPTER 1: SICK AND DOWN (PART III)

Kuro Usagi kept her eyes on the blond teenager as he walks towards the field but to her surprise, he immediately scampered away from the rest of them. This gained her attention more and opted to follow him discreetly. She stopped a few meters away from him which was far enough not to get caught. The male continued his work in silence.

'He looks pretty worn-out...' was what she has noticed immediately.

Izayoi halted his movements to look up the sky. From the distance she have been watching him, she swore she saw an unusual smile forming. Seeing it made Kuro Usagi's heart twist in pain.

'Eh...?'

The teen's knees wobbled beneath his weight. Just by that, she was quick to abandon the equipment she held to run to the teen. Kuro Usagi praised herself for her timing as he caught him on time. Izayoi slumps to her body but she managed to keep him standing.

She winces at his blazing skin, "I-Izayoi-san!"

"That... rest... Can I get it now?" he said weakly, in which he was still able to smile.

"Of course you idiot! What were you thinking?!"

"Great..." he replied and his body instantly becomes limp against Kuro Usagi's arms. She wasn't prepared for the new weight and sent her to her knees.

"Jin-bocchan!"

That familiar heaviness was weighing him down again. It was hard to move around being lightheaded but even so, he lifted his sick body to an upright position. He comes down to the kitchen in need of water to ease his dry throat.

"Little Izayoi?"

He froze on his attempt to open the fridge. He turns to his foster mother with a small scowl; he was not expecting her to wake up this early.

"Are you alright, little Izayoi?" the woman asked as she approaches him.

He intended to reply back but the sudden itch of his throat made it impossible. Instead it came out as a coughing fit. The woman kneeled beside him to pat his back gently.

"You're having a fever." She said when she felt his head. What happened next was a blur; he was already lying back on his bed with a wet cloth over his forehead. The blanket was tucked up to his chest to keep him warm. The previous thirst for water was gone.

"I should have noticed sooner..." he craned his neck to the source of the voice again. His foster mother was holding a thermometer between her fingers and by the looks of it, she had already checked his temperature and it's not a good one.

He had seen a couple of those looks; he wouldn't be surprised if he wakes up in the orphanage again.

"Are... you sending me back?"

The changes of expression of the woman in beside was subtle. She had raised her brows so as to express her confusion."Send you where?"

"You know what I'm talking about..." he coughed.

The frown on her face deepened. "I think your fever is affecting your brain."

"Tell me!" he propped himself up. The woman was about to scold him but, "You're bringing me back to that place, aren't you?" After all, it all comes down to that every single time he's sick or that he's too forward.

"Why are you thinking about that now, Izayoi?" she said after a moment. Her face wore mild surprise. "You do realize that you are my son now by law, right? Why would I give my son back to the orphanage when we have so many games to play?"

Izayoi's eyes widened by a fraction. He was loss at words.

The woman smiled warmly at him as she helped him sit on the bed. "You know, you're just thinking too much. No wonder you got sick." She said softly. "Don't get out of bed, I'm getting you some food, alright?"

"I can take care of myself." He scowled.

"No you can't." She retorted.

"Yes I can—"

"Let me be frank with you, little Izayoi. You are my son. That enough could probably send a message to you." She said with a trace of disappointment in her voice. " Your past experience might be rough with other foster parents but I'm different. I promised to change your life, didn't I? Allow me to take care of you as a mother would."

"..." Izayoi didn't realized that he had stared up to her blue eyes. He looked away and pouted to himself, feeling something light blooming inside of him. "D-do what you want..."

The woman chuckled lightly at his reddening face. "You're such a tsundere, little Izayoi."

The moment he opened his eyes, he immediately registered that he was back in his room. It was already evening, judging from how the light was on. The door opened without a knock but he didn't care; he could only look at the person with tired eyes.

Kuro Usagi met his gaze with surprised ones. "Y-you're awake!"

"Y...a," he scowled at his scratchy voice. He couldn't even form words properly. "How long... was I out?" he said after a few attempts of clearing his throat. Kuro Usagi was worried that he'd damage it.

"A day and a half. You're fever was too high, Izayoi-san." Kuro Usagi said.

'No wonder I feel heavy...' he thought as he intended to move his sore limbs.

"We're worried you know." Izayoi glanced at Kuro Usagi once more and saw glazed eyes. "You should have just said that you're not feeling well. Kuro Usagi and the others would have understand that."

Izayoi sighed. "Sorry..."

"Kuro Usagi is sorry too," The rabbit said with a slight bow. "If it weren't for my negligence, Izayoi-san should have been—"

"Hold on a second there, Kuro Usagi—" he coughed into his hands. "Don't go blaming yourself over someone's fault. I... It was mine to blame since I was too carried back in the past."

"Eh?"

"...It's just that..." then he sighed. "N-nevermind. Forget I said anything." He muttered as he resigned to his bed.

"Izayoi-san's lying. If it's nothing, he should be able to tell it straight, am I right?" Kuro Usagi said. "If it's okay, I want to know what's bothering you. You had been an anchor for No-Names. This time, it should be us." The rabbit said worriedly.

Izayoi smiled ruefully to himself. How stubborn...

"Please?"

"...Fine."

"I've been adopted a lot of times. Nobody wants me as their son since I'm too good for them. Every single time that I step into my new foster parent's home, in a matter of weeks, I'll be immediately sent back to the orphanage." Izayoi began. "A lot of circumstances taught me that there's no one in the world that I can rely on, like whenever I get sick. More often than not, people always turn their back on me. There are instances that made me think that there's still hope for me to be loved though. I just had to wait."

"But it was painful to wait... I gave up along the way. There's just no-one in the world capable of doing so to someone who is far more different from them." He closed his eyes.

Kuro Usagi pursed her lips in disappointment. She could feel sadness within his tone. For more than who knows how long, he was forced to live in isolation because of his uniqueness. She, who was born in aristocracy, was luckier than Izayoi was, as her kind treated her with love and adoration.

"Well, that was until I met this person." Kuro Usagi was suddenly sent back to reality. "She was very stubborn and even had the guts to declare that she wants me as her son." He chuckled rather fondly, only to mildly cough in his hands.

"You sound fond of her, Izayoi-san."

The teen only smiled. "Well, the stubborn old woman rekindled that candle for me. She gave me the chance to live like a normal child should. It was the happiest moment of my childhood, to be honest." He said. "But eversince she passed away, it seemed that I've reverted back to my old self. Idiotic, right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kuro Usagi murmured sadly.

"Don't be. I'm sure she's enjoying her time there... knowing that I'm alright."

"What was that?"

"Nothing..." he said, a small smile playing on his face.

Silence played a bit between them. Kuro Usagi still looking bothered and when Izayoi was about to confront her about it, she spoke up in a silent tone.

"Izayoi-san, you know that you can rely on us too, right?" She said, eyes on her lap. "You've helped us many times before. You've let us rely on you too many times even if it was difficult. In this case... please allow us to help you when you need it." She raised her head as Izayoi's eyes widen at her words. "Here, we're family. And families always look for each other's back, right?"

"... Saying such things like that, who am I to refuse?" he said with a small smile. Kuro Usagi's eyes lit up in happiness. "I accept it."

"Are you sure you're alright standing up already?"

Izayoi knitted his brows together at the question—which was asked many times just that morning. It was getting a bit annoying but the smothering... it feels so heart-warming.

"I'm fine. Lying down for two days is making me sick even more." He said. His voice was still a bit hoarse but still, he was getting better.

Kuro Usagi steps in front of him and feels his forehead and sighs. "You're still warm, Izayoi-kun. Won't you get sick even further?"

"I won't. Stop worrying already." He said. What a mother hen.

"I will if you go back to bed." Kuro Usagi said.

Izayoi sighed. He opened his eyes and suddenly envisioned a woman in Kuro Usagi's stead. He shook his head and looks at who was now looking at him worriedly.

"I'm going back, I'm going back. Sheesh, I just wanted a walk..." Great. Hallucinations.

Even in the end, you're still right... Mom.

And, this concludes chapter 1. Hope I was able to shape Canaria's personality right. AND I apologize for the grammatical errors. Welp. I might have missed a few.

OH MY GOSH. The reviews, the favorites, the follows. I. CAN'T. BELIEVE. IT. YOU ARE MAKING ME SO HAPPPPPPPPPY~

I didn't believe that people will like my stories. ・゜・(ノД`) THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Candidate of Origin: Thank you very much! I was scared that I was going overboard with Izayoi's personality XD Thanks for reviewing! :)

Moving on for a while (since I might overdo it), I'm open for suggestions! :) Keep up the reviews, follows, and favorites because it makes me motivated to improve my writing! X'D *throws kisses to everyone*