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Chapter 6

Akashi Seijuurou.

I heard myself whispering his name over and over again. Akashi Seijuurou.

I stopped right at the doorway to his bedroom. He was standing at the same place I left him. His eyes softened up as I slowly approached him, this time with much more confidence. I stopped a foot away from him.

"Akashi Seijuurou."

I didn't even know why that was the only thing I was capable of saying. Perhaps it was the only thing I was thinking about. Or perhaps I just loved the ring to hearing his name aloud. I didn't know. I just knew I needed to say it. I needed to call out to him—I needed him to know.

I lifted my right hand to touch his forehead. It was hot. Extremely hot.

"You have a fever." I quickly felt around his face. He was heating up.

While I was letting panic set in, I heard him let out a sigh of relief. I didn't quite understand why he was able to be at ease when he was the one with the fever.

I was surprised when I felt his warm hand brush across my face. As gently as he could manage, he began wiping away the tears trickling down my face. I honestly didn't even realize I was crying. I must be unconsciously feeling guilty for accusing him of pretending earlier. But now's not the time for this. He needs attention.

I blinked back the last tears as I removed his hand away from my face. He looked at me. I couldn't tell what or how he was feeling, but I could make out a half smile. Better than what he usually expressed.

"Akashi!" I yelled in frustration. I immediately dragged him to bed. "Why on earth are you in tank top and shorts?"

I lifted the covers from his bed and moved my head. On queue, he slipped under the warm blankets where he let out a sudden shiver.

"Who were you planning to impress anyway? You're sick and you're wearing close to nothing." I put my hand back on his forehead.

Oh goodness. He's burning up. I should just take him to the hospital.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." I searched his room for a phone. There was none. "Where's the phone?" I turned my head to look at him. And there, in his hand, was the wireless phone.

"Hand it over," I demanded. But instead of obediently handing it over to me, he hid it under the covers.

"I don't need to go to the hospital."

I stared at him. I would have never imagined that there would be a day when Akashi would say something with such difficulty. If it weren't for him being sick, I would be laughing—as cruel as that may sound.

"If you don't go, you might die."

"I'm…not going to die."

"You…" He seriously had a death wish.

"Too bad for you, huh?" he joked.

But seriously. That was not funny. I actually took offense to that.

"I don't want you to ever die."

Upon hearing my truthful confession, despite how tired he was, he forced his eyes open to look at me.

"So don't die while I go get you some medicine and water."

He nodded and shooed me away with a weak wave of the hand. I would have thrown something at him, but he was sick. I'll withhold for now.

I rushed down the stairs and explored the house. I probably had no right to wander his huge house. But hey, I was saving a life—sort of.

When I finally fetched a cup of water and dug up some medicine hidden in the concealing walls of a cabinet in some other room in the grandiose mansion, I crept into the room where I found a strangely pleasant sight.

I gently placed the water and medicine on the nightstand. That sly devil had the guts to fall asleep when I was desperately scavenging his house for some medicine. I then cleaned up the unsightly mess on his floor and even neatly arranged the "get well" letters and placed it next to him. I ended up sitting on his bed to take a rest and accidentally, just accidentally, I glanced over at him.

Watching him sleep had its perks. For the first time in a long while, I could actually look at his face without having to shy away. His face. Well, compared to before, he's much less cute. He used to smile much more.

After seeing that he was resting properly, I once again ventured into the kitchen. When he wakes up, he must eat something. I quickly scanned the empty kitchen. There was barely any fresh food. How long has he been depriving himself? No wonder he's still sick.

I opened the cabinets and finally found the stash of chicken soup cans. At least there was something. Almost lost hope for a second there. I conveniently grabbed a pot and turned on the stove.

As I waited, I couldn't help but hug myself by the elbows. I didn't notice it earlier, but the house was extremely cold. There was no warmth, no welcoming feeling at all. I looked around to observe the wide space in front of me. Such a big house, yet there was only one person. Has Akashi been living alone this entire time?

I treaded over to the long dinner table, big enough to sit twelve guests. Atop the clean surface, there was a simple note, typed up on a clean sheet of white paper.

I read through it (by accident). I couldn't quite grasp the older Akashi's concept of parenting. No one should write a note like that. What kind of single father tells his kid that he'll be leaving for a business trip for god knows how long through a petty business letter?

I clenched my fist so tightly that my fingers began to hurt. I didn't understand why I was so angry. But when was I ever not when it came to Akashi?

When the soup was ready, I carried it carefully up to his room. I think I woke him up when the door creaked open. He immediately sat up with surprise written all over his face.

"Why are you still here?" he asked nonchalantly.

This boy seriously had issues communicating nicely to me. I'm pretty sure it's only me too.

"Where's your dad?" I asked bluntly.

"Overseas business. Maids were dismissed." He answered my questions without even hearing them. Guess Akashi's recovering rapidly.

"Here." I stuck out a spoon for him. "Drink it when it's still hot."

He took it and quietly drank. Thank the gods that he didn't order me to feed him. I was worrying that he might—and I just might if he looked at me with those eyes.

Akashi paused ever so often to look at me and then would continue with his slow soup consumption. I have never seen someone consume plain old chicken soup so slow especially when he didn't need to chew anything at all. When it got too awkward, I glanced at my watch. 5:15.

"I gotta go." I threw on my jacket and strapped my bag onto my shoulders. "I need to make dinner back home." I didn't even realize that I was at his house for much too long. I hurried out the door, but then slowed down to take a look back at Akashi. "I…"

He looked at me blankly. He was keen on showing no emotions, but the light in his eyes dimmed a little.

But I had no intention of leaving him alone in that condition. Absolutely not.

"Give me your key."

He tossed me something. I caught it, barely.

"Lock the doors." He cast his eyes down onto another object.

I made my way back into the room next to him. I put my hand on his forehead in which triggered him looking back at me with widened, perhaps stunned eyes.

"When I come back, I want your fever to go down even more. So get more rest."

"I just woke up."

"Go back to sleep."

"You sound like my mom."

"You sound like Akashi Seijuurou."

"I'm bored."

"Read those letters. The girls put their hearts into writing those."

"Is there one from you?"

"No."

"Then what's the point of reading them?"

"To put you to sleep."

With that, I waved my hand and went sprinting back home all the time planning out what to do next.

Dear Mika, please don't make a big deal out of this.