Title: The Viral Revolution III: Counter-Attack

date written: 11-06-06

Oshitari opened the door, somehow managing to look as though he were leaning on it because it looked cool, and not because without a prop he would probably fall over. His parents were out at the moment and it was rude to ignore a guest, so, dutifully, he had ventured forth from his room and made the long trek to the foyer. Despite the fact that he felt as though the journey had almost killed him, he was doing his best to appear nonchalant. With this in mind, still clutching the door, he looked at his guest.

He blinked.

"Gakuto, what are you doing here?"

The acrobat glared at him and pushed his way inside, almost dislodging Oshitari's hold on the door and knocking him down. He set the bag he'd brought with him down in the foyer, taking off his shoes and giving his doubles partner a quizzical look.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

Oshitari wasn't sure what he should make of this statement coming from someone who, the last he had heard, was almost as sick as he was and yet was nevertheless invading his home. He was about to ask the same question back, but Gakuto had already picked up his bag and moved out of the room. Nonplussed, Oshitari followed the redhead unsteadily back to his own bedroom.

"Gakuto—"

"My house is boring," Gakuto announced, tossing his bag once again on the floor and then practically collapsing on top of it. "We're both sick. We both have the same bug. We might as well hang out together while we get better."

Oshitari raised an eyebrow at this logic, moving to sit, hopefully with a little more grace, across from Gakuto. He noted his doubles partner's flushed face and the glazed look in his eyes, coming to the conclusion that Gakuto was indeed just as sick as he was. How on Earth the acrobat had even managed to make it up the stairs, much less all the way to his house, was a mystery that could only be explained by sheer stubborn will-power.

"Gakuto, I'm not sure that—"

"No arguments, Yuushi." Gakuto glared at him again, and Oshitari sighed. Gakuto's thinking was clearly affected by the fever, but when he went into his stubborn phases it was usually futile try to talk him out of whatever he was demanding. So, for the next hour or so, they sat on the floor of Oshitari's room, talking and having as much fun as is possible when the people involved feel as though they could keel over at any moment.

"I had a surprise visitor today," Oshitari said at one point. Gakuto grimaced.

"You too? I swear, if I never see another one of Atobe's creepy butlers in my life I can die happy. The guy went on for ten minutes about eating right and getting enough sleep. He brought about six million packs of tea with him, too," he said, pulling his bag over and opening it to reveal that it was, indeed, full of tea. "Said it was 'good for me.'"

Gakuto made a face.

Oshitari almost felt offended. He hadn't been given any tea. The man had merely come into the house on behalf of "Atobe-sama" and lectured his parents for half an hour on the best ways to keep their son healthy. It was one of the most amusing things he'd ever seen, not least because his father was a doctor.

"Jiroh said he's been freaking out because everybody's sick." Gakuto continued, rummaging in his bag. "…You want any of this? There's no way I can drink all this crap. I hate tea."

"How sweet of him," commented Oshitari dryly, accepting a handful of the tea. "I suppose we should be pleased that he's worrying about someone else's well-being for once."

"Yeah. Lucky us."

"How are the others doing?"

"Like I would know. All I get is Jiroh's report which lasts only as long as he can stay awake."

"And that is?"

"Everybody's sick now except for Jiroh and Atobe, Hiyoshi's still coming to practice, which means that he'll probably end up killing himself, and then something about planning a counter-attack."

"Pardon?"

Gakuto shrugged.

"It's Jiroh. For all I know he was talking in his sleep." The redhead shivered and drew his arms around himself. "Is it cold in here, or what?"

Oshitari smiled, retrieving a blanket from his bed and draping it around the two of them. They stayed that way for a long time, relaxing into the soft blanket warmed by the feverish heat of each other's bodies. It had been three days since they'd gotten sick, and whatever the virus was it was both unrelenting and incapacitating. Three days of weakness, chills and feverish thinking. Three days of utter misery. And yet, thought Oshitari as he and his doubles partner curled up on the floor of his room wrapped in the warmth and comfort of a familiar presence, somehow he wouldn't mind if they could stay like this forever.