Disclaimer: "SERVAMP" and its characters belong to Tanaka Strike, Frontier Works, Kadokawa, and affiliates. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

A/N: Well, what do you know... I did update after all, haha. :'D Reviews are appreciated as usual. :-)

The Sick Series: Misono & Snow Lily

It all began with a sneeze.

And then another.

And another.

By the time he realized something was out of the norm, he had drenched three boxes of tissues, two packets of sherbets, and in the process of soaking his 100% silk handkerchief – all in the span of his morning breakfast.

"Misono, don't you think you should just rest at home today?" his ever-present Servamp, Snow Lily, asked as he avoided a ball of tissue thrown haphazardly his way in frustration.

"I 'ad- ACHOO! An 'portant proje- ACHOO! T'day!" the petite Eve protested intelligibly between his sneezes. His eyes were a little blurry, and he felt like he just rubbed his nose with a sheet of sandpaper.

"Misono," Lily repeated, this time patiently in a tone laced with honey. "I absolutely understand your applaudable commitment to your duties, but think of all those poor kids who will fall sick from being close to you~ You don't want that to happen again, right?"

The rich boy frowned as he remembered the last time he forced himself to attend school while sick and managed to somehow contract the whole class with conjunctivitis – thankfully his family had enough fortune to pay for all the hospital bills and also donated a little 'extra' to the school so they didn't spread the news around.

Still, it wasn't like Misono could just skip the class today; what with his not-too-stellar attendance mark due to either his ailing health or emergency rounds of Jin-dispelling scouting with Shirota.

Of course, his school being catered to the rich meant that they would be willing to overlook a lot of things, but it would kind of taint his reputation anyway – and rich classmates with too much time on their hands tend to gossip like idle housewives.

Eventually, he decided to use his last resort.

"Lily…" he croaked out after successfully clearing his nostrils enough to form an order, "go execute Plan B."

The Servamp smiled kindly as he excused himself from the Principal's office after fulfilling what he was assigned to do.

The 'Plan B' his Eve was talking about was Lily going out and convincing the whole school with his persuasiveness so the younger Alicein could get away with skipping his classes (by "persuasiveness", Misono meant hypnotism – but well, it wasn't that important of a detail anyway).

The boy entrusted his vampire to think up of the reasons – but while Lily was a perfectly sensible guy, sometimes he forgot that his charge was already in High School and still used embarrassing and dubious reasons such as 'going for a round of vaccination shots at a family clinic' or 'attending Shichi-Go-San ceremony at a shrine in Kyoto'. Thankfully, the attractive Servamp's "persuasiveness" prevailed.

Satisfied after convincing the school that Misono was out for an urgent family excursion with his father, Lily quickly returned home to check out on the purple-haired boy.

Seemed like the Eve's condition had gotten worse since the last time he saw him as he made a mental note not to tell Misono that he looked like a certain magical reindeer. The few empty tissue boxes were quite worrisome, though, so did the many branded, wet handkerchiefs lying around.

"Oh... you're back," the boy said without looking. He was busy stuffing his nose with a few pieces of tissue paper.

"Misono-"

"I know," the human interrupted before the Servamp could finish expressing his concern, "I will go rest now."

With that, Misono stood up and made a beeline to his bedroom – but he only managed to walk a few paces when he swayed and had to be caught by Lily before hitting the floor.

"Misono! Are you all right?" the vampire asked as he carried the boy bridal-styled to his bedroom. Lily always acted lightly when they were in front of others, but he was actually pretty concerned about the boy's health.

"I'm okay, it's just… the room was spinning for a moment, but I'm fine now," he groaned as he covered his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You really shouldn't push yourself…" the other commented as he tucked his charge into bed and covered him with his thick blanket.

"Let me get your medicine and something warm to drink," he added as he rushed out of the room to ask the servants to prepare the necessary.

After downing several different pills and drinking a cup of warm milk honey, Misono finally fell asleep. Satisfied with his work, Lily smiled and was about to go out and treat himself with some cigarettes when he heard a soft ringtone. It came from the boy's new smartphone.

Confused, the vampire took his Eve's phone on the desk and saw the word "Shirota" flashing on the screen. That was weird, Mahiru-kun usually texted instead of calling.

Still, he took the phone with him and went out of the room in case he woke Misono up before swiping the screen to answer the call.

"Mahiru-kun?"

"Ah… Lily, is it...? Good… I need your help…" a familiar, sluggish voice boomed out from the speaker.

"Kuro?" the other asked rhetorically, "what's wrong?"

The Servamp of Sloth proceeded to explain about Mahiru's condition – about how the boy was down with fever and currently resting in his room.

"Oh dear, Mahiru-kun as well?" Lily asked with concern. Seemed like his Eve wasn't the only one getting sick.

"What do you mean...?" the elder brother asked, though it sounded as if he didn't really care much about the answer.

"Well... Misono just caught a flu bug and was sneezing non-stop. I have been tending to him, and it seems like he managed to catch some sleep now."

"Kisama-chan as well, huh…? Geez, what's wrong with Eves falling sick at the same time… So bothersome…"

Smiling to himself at his brother's casual response, he added, "Anyway, if Mahiru-kun is having a fever, all you need to do is get him the – Oh no, talk to you soon, Misono is calling for me!"

Lily quickly hanged up before Kuro could say a word. He just heard Misono calling him from his mind-link. Dashing to his Eve's room, he opened the door and quickly tended to the boy.

"Misono, what's wrong?" he asked when he reached the boy's bedside. The human looked pale and his lips dry. He wasn't responding. The vampire's heart was instantly gripped with dread.

"Mi-Misono…?" Lily was about to grab and carry him outside to look for help before he realized that the boy's chest was moving and he could hear the faint sound of his breath inhaled and exhaled evenly.

"Ah, sleep talking?" Lily announced to himself with relief. It wasn't the first time it happened, so he should know better. Still, with how weak Misono's body had been, Lily was constantly on the edge whenever the boy fell sick.

He leaned closer to Misono and fixed the strands of hair covering his eyes. He looked so similar – a bit too similar – to him. A light yet sentimental chuckle escaped Lily as the visage of a young man very much like the boy materialized in his mind.

"How long has that been?" Lily mused with a sigh as he recalled the features of his previous Eve. He was almost every bit like Misono – only taller and more confident with an almost perpetual smirk not unlike the ones demonstrated by the kid's brother.

"Look at how much he has grown, Mikage…" the vampire murmured to the air surrounding the spacious room as he gazed tenderly at the sleeping Misono.

"I still remembered your expression when you held Misono for the first time – I was as surprised as you were too," he continued as if his old master was just beside him, listening with a nod of his head.

"Despite everything that happened with your son and his mistress, everyone loved him and accepted him as part of the family… I was so afraid that he would not be welcome, but I'm glad… I'm so glad…"

The vampire trailed on while adjusting his Eve's blanket. There was a stir, and Lily watched patiently in silence as Misono slowly opened his eyes and looked at his Servamp.

"Lily…? Were you talking to someone?" he asked sleepily.

The vampire's gaze soften - he smiled and shook his head lightly, "Ah no, just talking to myself."

In a distant, the wind blew; the sun shone brightly while the birds flew high – and someone up there was listening with a smile.