It was a couple of days before spring break would start. The days up until now had been relatively warm, but just the day before the weather had changed drastically and it had started raining a lot.
Nagisa was moody when he came downstairs. He was still wearing his pajamas and claimed that it was too cold to change into normal clothes. Makoto laughed at this as he filled rice in three bowls and had Nagisa go and place them on the table.
"Is Rei up?" Makoto then asked.
"I don't know," Nagisa said. "The door to his room was closed."
Makoto got a little worried as he nodded and headed upstairs. He had to drag Nagisa out of bed from time to time, but Rei was usually really good at getting up when he had to. He would normally be up by this time because it was Thursday and he had to go to school, but he wasn't.
"Rei?" Makoto knocked on Rei's door. "Are you up?"
There was no response, so Makoto walked inside. Rei was lying in bed with the blanket pulled up to his chin. He was sound asleep, but woke up once Makoto approached.
"Makoto?" he asked. "Good morning…" He didn't sound so well, Makoto picked up on this right away. He sounded tired, like he hadn't been sleeping all night, and like there wasn't enough air getting through his nose.
"Good morning, Rei," Makoto said, kneeling down beside the bluenette. "How are you feeling?" he asked. He felt like he had to, seeing as Rei looked to be sick, but Makoto wouldn't just force him to stay in bed if he was feeling fine.
"Tired," Rei answered. "I couldn't really fall asleep," he said.
"Do you want to get up?" Makoto asked.
"Why are you acting like this, Makoto?" Rei asked. He didn't seem to understand why Makoto seemed so worried about him.
Makoto smiled. "It doesn't look or sound like you're feeling that well, so I thought you might be sick," he said.
Rei didn't respond right away. He was hardly ever sick. He couldn't even remember if he'd been sick before. But if Makoto said he looked sick, could there be something to it?
He tried sitting up and get out of bed, but once he did, he started sneezing and his nose started running. He also found that he felt like lying back down rather than stand up. Did this mean he was sick? Even so, he wanted to try getting up and so he stood.
"Are you sure about getting up?" Makoto asked.
Rei looked up. No, he wasn't.
Makoto placed a hand on his forehead and felt. He seemed to be warm too. This settled it for Makoto and he smiled kindly at Rei.
"I'll call the school to tell them that you'll be absent," he said. "You've got a fever and a cold so it's best if you stay at home, and rather in bed. I will have my mom come pick up Nagisa to prevent him from being infected," he said.
"Shall I go back in bed?" Rei asked.
"You'll do better with some sleep," Makoto said. "Are you hungry?" he asked, remembering that he was actually in the process of preparing breakfast downstairs.
Rei shook his head. "Not really," he answered.
Makoto nodded. "Then go back to bed. If you get hungry or thirsty or anything then you just call. I'll stay home and take care of you, that okay?" he asked.
Rei nodded as he went back to bed and covered himself with the blanket. Makoto got up and left the room. He didn't close the door. It would be easier for him to hear if Rei needed anything like that.
"Where's Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked when Makoto came back downstairs. He was sitting by the table, waiting for the rest of the breakfast to be served.
"Rei's sick," Makoto said. He finished the last of the breakfast and put it on three plates. Then he put one plate and one bowl of rice in the fridge, either for Rei if he wanted it later, or for himself at lunch-time or something.
"Really sick?" Nagisa's round eyes got even rounder if that was possible. He looked very surprised. He'd never imagined that Rei could get sick. It seemed like an impossibility.
"It's just a cold," Makoto said. "But you'll stay with grandma and grandpa for a couple of days until he gets better."
Nagisa bit his lip. He didn't really want to be separated from Rei for that long. They had never tried that before, but something in Makoto's tone told him that he didn't have a say in the matter and he had to trust that Makoto knew best. He did want Rei to get better soon.
After breakfast, Makoto went to call first the school to say that Rei had caught a cold and would be absent for a couple of days and then his mother to ask if she could come pick up Nagisa and have him over for a while. She agreed to come and said she would be there within an hour.
"Mako-chan," Nagisa said once Makoto had hung up with his mother. "Can I see Rei-chan before I go?" he asked.
Makoto thought, then he smiled and nodded. "If he's awake, you can," he said. "But I don't want you to wake him up. He needs as much sleep as he can get," he explained.
Nagisa nodded. "Will you help me pack?" he asked, knowing this was what he had to do now as he was prepared for when Makoto's mother came to pick him up.
"Sure," Makoto said and they went upstairs. They both tried to make as little noise as possible as to not wake up Rei while they were packing clothes, painting books, crayons, and anything else Nagisa would need while he was away.
About 15 minutes before Makoto's mother would arrive, Rei woke up and called for Makoto to get him some water. Nagisa was the one who got to bring a bottle of water and a glass to the older boy. He walked in with the things, slowly.
"Are you really sick, Rei-chan?" he asked
Rei looked up and smiled as he saw Nagisa approaching. "It's not so bad," he answered.
"Are you gonna die?" Nagisa asked. He put the glass and the bottle on the table next to Rei's bed, screwed the cab off the bottle and poured water into the glass.
Makoto, who was standing outside and listening to the conversation, had to hold back chuckles at this. It seemed Nagisa's imagination had been running wild.
Rei also had to fight back an amused smile, but he failed. "Of course not. I'll be fine soon," he said. He was pretty sure of this himself, especially because he knew that if there was a chance he would die, he would be in the hospital rather than at home. "Are you going to Makoto's parents' house?" he asked.
Nagisa nodded. "I'll stay there until you're well, so get well soon, Rei-chan" he demanded.
Rei smiled at this too. "You'll be home before you know it," he assured the blonde.
Nagisa responded to the smile and wrapped his arms tightly around Rei, hugging him tight. Rei responded to the hug, feeling happy that he was cared for so much.
Then the doorbell rang and shortly after, Nagisa left the house with Makoto's mother.
Rei was only sick for a couple of days. He was back to school the following Monday, and this was when Nagisa returned home as well. Spring break was approaching now, and it wouldn't be long before Nagisa started school for real. Rei would start in fourth grade then too, so this was what the little family was putting its focus on now.