Cye felt dizzy and lightheaded all of a sudden. One minute, he was warmer than a day in the sahara desert, and the next, he felt like an ice berg. He was shivering, nonetheless. Whether he was hot or cold, it didn't matter. He could hardly keep still. His legs burned, and the bandages were awful. They itched, and hurt and overall were uncomfortable. Then, he felt hot and cold at the same time. All of the bit of him that hurt began to ache even more, and Cye thought he would go insane.

All of a sudden, it felt like a weight had been lifted. The cold went away, and the heat settled into welcome warmth. That's when Cye could finally find the strength to open his eyes once again. This time, he wasn't in the bathroom. The walls were a light color, not actually white, but close enough to compare. He was up to his neck in comforter, and he could feel something cold against his neck. Maybe an ice pack. He remembered that when he was young and had a fever, his dad would put an ice pack there behind his neck when he slept. But, who else knew that? Cye knew his father couldn't have been there, so he turned his head to see a slouching figure seated in a chair by his bed.

It was Kento. Though their beds were close together, Kento chose the uncomfortable chair? Ye found he still couldn't move, especially with the heavy comforter on top of him, so he settled for staring at his best friend. The other ronin's head was down, and he thought him to be asleep. But then, someone knocked on the door, and Kento jerked, revealing he was awake. But then, why was his head down? Why could Cye feel a deep and heavy sorrow fall over his dear friend? This sorrow was weighing them both down. Not sure why, but Cye closed his eyes again as the door slowly opened, feigning sleep. From the sound of the new voice, it was Rowen who entered. The clattering of silverware and dishes caught his attention, but confused the wounded ronin.

"Kento…?"

"…"

"I know you can hear me, Kento."

Cye and Rowen both could tell that Kento wasn't asleep, but then, why didn't he answer the others' calls? Rowen let out a deep sigh.

"Kento, this is ridiculous… Cye isn't going to want to wake up to see you like this. Can't you see you'd only hurt him?"

"…"

Kento's head only fell lower. Rowen sighed, and tried again.

"What I mean to say… you're not doing any good by just sitting here and moping. Cye will wake up when he's ready!"

"And what if he NEVER wakes up, Ro?"

"Kento… come now, don't be silly! You heard Sage… Cye just needs rest now! He's not going to die!"

"But what about a coma? HUH? You didn't think he might go into one of those, DID you!"

"…"

"…I want to help him… give him my strength, my energy… but I can't… I can't do anything… but sit here. So, that's what I'm doing."

"…Well… I guess I can't argue with that. You could at least come down to eat something. It's been almost three days, and you haven't left this room."

"I don't feel like eating right now…"

This shocked Cye. Kento? Not wanting to EAT? Three days! This almost made him give up his act, but what Rowen said next made him feel a little bit better.

"I figured you'd say that, so I brought you up some."

"Thanks, Ro… I'd have starved on the first day if it weren't for you."

"No problem. You just keep an eyes on water boy over there…"

"Right."

And Rowen left. He was glad that Rowen was there to help, and if he could have just awaken sooner, Kento probably wouldn't have been in a funk. Thinking Kento would be scarfing down food by then, Cye opened his eyes, only to see Kento return to the way he was when he first woke up. Cye was sadder now. How could he help his friend? He needed him, and just when he was about to speak, Kento spoke.

"Cye…"

Cye quickly closed his eyes again, and when there was silence, he wondered if he'd been caught.

"Cye…"

He almost jumped as Kento touched his hand. His touch was soft and gentle, and insecure.

"I'm sorry, man… I should have been in that kitchen, not you. If I had kept my senses open, I would have known something was up, and we would have gotten you out of there before it blew!"

Kento's grip on Cye's hand tightened a lot as the other continued to degrade himself over the incident. Cye wanted to open his eyes and tell Kento he was okay, but his legs were starting to hurt again, and Kento's grip was hurting his hand, too. Soon, he felt like giving up the act, but just before he could, he felt several droplets of water fall onto the hand that Kento had suddenly let go of. Cye opened his eyes to find his best friend hiding his head in his arms as he sit hunched over by the bed. Kento was crying.

"Cye, I'm sorry…! I said I would protect you, and I've failed you twice already! Please forgive me…"

Cye gently smiled and grabbed Kento's hand, which was moving away from his own. Cye held it and squeezed weakly, causing Kento's tear-streaked face to lift and stare at him. The moment his head went up, Cye's other hand outstretched to wipe his friend's tears away. Kento was frozen in shock.

"There is nothing to forgive, Kento."

"Cye!"

Kento broke out of his stupor and rose from his chair. He grabbed Cye's hand and cried some more. The pressure on his hand was hurting him again, and he tried to shift so he could sit up.

"Easy there, big fella…"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Sorry…!"

Kento loosened his grip, and then he pulled his seat closer to Cye's bed, still holding hid hands. Cye tried to sit up, but didn't make it that far and laid back down. He groaned at the movement and Kento got worried. He laid his hand over his friend's forehead, and wet a washcloth that had been set on the nightstand. He wrung it out and dabbed it on Cye's flushed face.

"That's better…"

"I bet. You've been out with a fever for some time."

"Oh, really now?"

Cye tried to act like he didn't know, and resisted the urge to laugh.

"Yeah. You scared the crap outta me, man!"

Kento wet the cloth again and set it over Cye's forehead. Though the others' voice expressed relief and joy, the expression on his face was still sad. Cye returned the look, and then a smile.

"I'm sorry, Kento."

"What are YOU sorry about? You're the victim here!"

"But I must have worried everyone half to death… I should have been paying more attention."

"No, you couldn't have known! This isn't your fault…"

Kento held onto his hand again, and brought it to his head.

"And it's not YOURS, either."

"Huh?"

"I heard you. This wasn't your fault…and like you said, none of us could have known this would happen! It was just some freak accident!"

Kento was about to break into tears again, but when Cye smiled, he did also. He leaned in and hugged his friend. Cye managed to shift around enough to weakly return the affection.

"There, there, Kento… I'm okay now."

"I'm hella glad, Cye!"

Then, there was a soft rapping on the door, and three smiling faces glanced in. Cye's smile grew, and Kento let go of him, and helped him into a sitting position as the others file in.

"I thought I heard more talking in here than usual…!"

"HA ha… wise guy."

Cye laughed softly. He was still very tired, but he felt better knowing all of his close friends were there with him. Ryo and Rowen sat on Kento's bed, and Sage took a seat on the other side of Cye's bed. He reached over and checked Cye's pulse and then felt to see if the cloth had been replaced.

"It appears that everything is in order."

"DUH. I know how to take care of sick people, too, Sage!"

"I never said you didn't."

"No, but I bet you were implying that you did it better…"

"Maybe I was."

"Huh? Oh, so that's how you want it, huh?"

Kento leaned over Cye's legs and tried to get to Age. Sage leaned over to meet him, and they had a brief wrestling match. Cye laughed and used a small amount of his energy to pry them off of each other.

"Oh, you two…!"

Though he was laughing, the scuffle had taken a lot out of him. Ryo snappe his fingers and Rowen shook his head.

"Come on, guys… lets not overwhelm Cye. Remember, he just got up from a three-day nap!"

The other two nodded and Cye settled down in his bed a little.

"Has it really been that long?"

"It seemed like longer to us, bro."

"When we got you cleaned up and in bed, we thought you would recover quickly enough… but then your fever got worse."

"Really…"

Cye didn't look happy. He slumped down more, but Sage spoke up.

"But your buddy Kento here didn't leave your side for even a moment."

"Well, except to use the bathroom, of course."

Kento blushed. It was a funny sight, indeed and they all had a good laugh. However, Cye felt even more drained and warm again, and that's when he began to feel very uncomfortable. He groaned, and Sage set a hand on his knee, very gently.

"Are you okay?"

"My legs… they feel very strange to me."

"That's not surprising."

"Sage, I think it's time to change the bandages."

"I agree, Ryo. Rowen?"

"I'm on it."

Rowen and Ryo got up from Kento's bed, and before Cye knew what was happening, Rowen was lifting the end of his blanket up in a way that his legs were uncovered, and quickly getting cold, but he couldn't see around it. Sage and Ryo disappeared behind the blanket. Cye tried to twist around to see, but Rowen kept moving the blanket in his view.

"Hey! W-what's going on? I want to see!"

"No can do."

"What?"

"Trust me, you don't need to see this. It's for your own good."

Rowen could hardly stand the sight of it. Cye was frantic now, and he kept trying to see. Kento set his hands on Cye's arm, trying to get him to calm down, but it only succeeded in making him more worried.

"Kento, stop! Let me see! I want to see my legs! I want to see them!"

"Cye, calm down! Please, calm down?"

"No! Let me see, damn it!"

That did it. Cye had shifted in such a way that cause pain to go down both of his legs. It made Sage's and Ryo's patch job difficult. Cye could only partially compress the painful yell that came next. Cye hugged his torsos he tried to get his breath, but he intended to continue the fight again. Kento took that change to latch onto him, hugging him so not only the blanket was in his way, so was his best friend. Kento was always stronger than Cye, and in his weakened state, he stood even less of a chance at getting free. He struggled a little bit before settling against Kento and felling silent.

After a moment of just shivering in silence, a sob broke free from Cye's throat. Kento loosened his hold, but still not enough for Cye to hope to escape. But no, the other had given up that fight, and resigned for crying. Eventually, he let his hands free and Cye brought them up and wiped away some of his tears. They just wouldn't stop coming.

"Why are you doing this…?"

"I'm sorry, Cye, but you don't need to see it. It would only make you feel sick."

"I can't even feel my legs… what if they're cutting them off? I don't want that."

"Well, who does?"

"Kento, how will I swim without my legs…? How will I walk around and cook and clean, and-"

Kento set a hand over Cye's mouth and shook his head.

"If that's what you're worried about, I'll make you a deal. You have to lay back and stay still, and I'll make sure they don't cut off your legs. I'll tell you exactly what they're doing, okay?"

"A-are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Kento's smile fell only a little as Rowen let him take a peek behind the blanket. Cye waited impatiently and sorrowfully as Kento took his time in checking out the situation. After a minute of waiting, Cye tried to sit up, but because Kento had the forethought to set a hand on his chest, Cye didn't get far. With a shaky voice, he lay back down.

"H-how is it?"

"Um… well, it's better than the first time I saw it!"

That didn't make him feel any better. Cye groaned and rolled his head to the side.

"Kento…"

Tears started to form in his eyes, and Rowen scolded him for saying such a thing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Don't worry Cye, your legs are still there!"

"What are they doing?"

Kento looked back behind the blanket.

"They're still removing the bandages now."

Kento's face almost turned green, Cye looked at him with worry.

"Kento…?"

"Um, it's nothing."

That's when Ryo poked his head up from behind the blanket, trying to seem okay.

"How are you holding up, Cye?"

"I've been better…"

"I'm sorry about this… We have to clean you up again, okay? It… might sting a little."

Kento reached out his hand, and Cye took it in his shaky own.

"Just squeeze my hand if it hurts, okay?"

"What if I hurt you?"

"You wont. I'm positive I can take it."

"O-okay… Go ahead, Ryo."

"Right. We promise to make this quick."

Ryo's head disappeared behind the blanket again, and Cye waited for the pain to come. Thought he thought he was ready for it, he wasn't. When Sage dabbed the antiseptic on one of his ankles, Cye nearly jumped out of his bed. Kento tore his eyes away from the sight and held his friend down. The pain came really bad at first, and then dulled, only to be replaced by a searing pain on another part of his leg. Cye squeezed Kento's hand so hard, he thought it could break, but Kento just barely squeezed back, to comfort him. Tears came to his eyes and flowed freely in streams down the water bearer's cheeks, but Kento had his hands full and couldn't wipe them away. He could just stand there and watch his friend suffer.

When the antiseptic came to his sensitive thighs, Cye couldn't hold back his screams any longer. One ripped through the air, and eve Rowen couldn't stand to look. He was tempted to cover his ears, but his hands were full holding the blanket up. Thankfully, the job was done quick, and when Ryo gave the signal, Rowen let the blanket down. Cye was near unconsciousness, and his grip was lessoning on Kento's hand. Once he was free, Kento stepped back as Ryo set Cye down and covered him up. The boy was sweating profusely, but was otherwise okay.

Once Cye was asleep, Rowen set a hand on Kento's shoulder and they turned the lights out. Kento left the room for the first time in three days. Not much later, Mia called, saying she was coming back.