Ayame placed the cool clothe back on his little brother's sweaty brow. Hatori was checking on Kyo first because his fever was high than the silver-haired child's lying under his older brother's watchful eye. He worriedly looked at the small child as he groaned in is sleep. What could've caused both children to get so sick so suddenly? He hadn't even gotten a chance to see the children playing! Tohru had come to sit with him for a while to share the good news about the boys' friendship. Only Tohru's reminder to him that Kyo was sick also stopped him from running into the other child's room and squeezing him half to death.
The snake looked up as the door opened and a very worried Hatori entered to knell by Yuki's side. "Hatori?" The doctor grunted, but held his hand up. Ayame wanted to scream at him, but knew that wouldn't make the examination go any faster. Yuki groaned again in his sleep as Hatori prodded his stomach. Ayame smoothed the child's sweaty hair back while Hatori rubbed at his own eyes. "Hatori?" Ayame repeated worriedly. He didn't like his friend's actions. "What's wrong? Do they have the same thing?"
The doctor sighed and looked at the small form lying beside him. This was going to be hard. How could he cure them without causing any more physical or psychological damage?
"They both have the same thing, but it isn't anything that I can easily fix. I'm still not entirely sure what the problem is; however, I think this has something to do with the medicine in the shot Akito made me give them. I know a way to heal them, but I'm not sure it's worth the risks."
"What are the risks? What do you mean? How serious is this? What exactly is going on?" The dragon rubbed at his eyes again.
"I would prefer to only explain it once so let's move Yuki to Kyo's room. It'll be easier for me is they're both in the same room anyway. I promise I'll answer all your questions once Yuki's settled in Kyo's room." Hatori sighed in relief as Ayame picked up the child and exited the room. He gathered Yuki's bed things and followed his best friend.
Kazuma looked at the pair questionably, but remained silent, all of his attention focused on his sick boy. "Did he tell you what's wrong with them?" Ayame shook his head to the softly spoken question while recovering Yuki's small body. Once Yuki was settled both men turned to Hatori, concerned expressions on their faces.
"They're sick from whatever de-aged them; I don't know if Akito intended for this to happen, or if it's a complication. I won't lie to you about this. It is really serious. I won't know how serious it is until I check the blood samples I took and find out what exactly was in those shots. For now, they're fine, but you must keep their fevers down. I have a theory as to what's wrong, but I hope I'm wrong."
"Why?" Kazuma immediately asked. "Why do you hope you're wrong?"
Hatori hesitated. This was the part he didn't want to tell. "If I'm right, then this is affecting their brains and the damage could be permanent."
"What kind of damage?" Ayame was clutching Yuki's hand. This couldn't be happening, not now, not when he was finally healing from all the damage Akito had inflicted.
"It could damage their motor skills, like walking and talking. If I'm right, and unfortunately, I think I am, I can stop any damage from happening, but there will be a lot of risks involved. The medicine I would need to give them can also damage them permanently. It could cause them to loose their hearing and sight. It could also put them in a child-like state for the rest of their lives. They would have the mentality of a small child; none of this is good, but if I'm right about it affecting their brains, they'll die if it isn't treated. I know you probably have questions, but I really need to go run these tests so I can start treatment," Hatori turned to go, but looked back as the foursome, suddenly overwhelmed. "Everything will be fine, I promise." There was no way he would allow those two to die.
Author's Note: It's short, I know, but this is how I want the chapter to be. This was supposed to be posted a week ago, but my laptop charger fell apart, literally, and I didn't have a charger until yesterday, but then fanfiction wouldn't work. So… yeah. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!