The time was now mid-October. Makoto and his family had returned from Okinawa and school had started again. Life was back to normal, as normal is it got in a family with three unusually outstanding kids and one unusually normal kid. The only thing that was changing was the fact that Rei would graduate from elementary school in about half a year and Makoto was doing all he could to support his oldest child in this.

As if this wasn't enough, the owner of the hospital in town had started buying machines to spare the doctors some work. However, since there wasn't that much work in the hospital to begin with, most had felt like their work was taken from them and resigned. This just meant that the remaining staff got much more busy, this included Makoto.

"Are you okay, Makoto?" Haruka wasn't looking up from his book as he asked this, but Makoto could sense the hint of concern in his voice as if he had been able to see it in his eyes.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Makoto asked. He was preparing dinner, chopping vegetables while rice were boiling.

Haruka wasn't sure of how to answer. It was most something he had sensed for a while now. Makoto had seemed a bit more stressed out lately and he feared something bad was coming.

"Reminds me," Makoto said. "The temperatures have been dropping rather quickly, so be careful with what you're wearing out and take care. I fear a cold might be coming,"

"It's already here," Rei said. "About a third of my class was absent today."

"Same here," Rin said.

"More than half my class was absent," Nagisa said, then a sneeze escaped him and he rubbed his nose to wipe the snot off.

"Use a tissue!" Rei exclaimed in disgust.

Makoto smiled. He liked to listen to how Rei would look out for Nagisa and how Nagisa would usually go along with it and do as Rei said, most of the time. A slight worry was also sneaking in though. He wondered if Nagisa had caught the cold too.

It turned out he had. The following day, early in the morning, Rei went to report that Nagisa refused to get out of bed and didn't look too good either. Makoto then went to check on him and noted that Rei had been right. He didn't look too well. He really looked sick. He also had a fever. This caused Makoto to go take a look at the other three too. They didn't seem sick though.

"Can we go to school then?" Rin asked.

Makoto nodded. "As long as you're not sick, you have to go to school," he said.

"What about Nagisa?" Rei asked.

"It's Saturday today," Makoto said. "If possible, go home as fast as you can. Since we're low on staff I can't take the day off. I'll be home to make dinner though," he smiled.

"Okay," Rin said. "Let's go," he turned to Haruka and Rei.

Makoto went to work too, without much of a worry. He was sure his children would be fine. However, he was proven wrong at this when he came home that same afternoon. Only Rei and Haruka were up and Rei didn't look too good either. Only Haruka showed no sign of that cold that was spreading.

"Where's Rin?" Makoto asked as he started preparing dinner. Haruka came to help and answered the question.

"He wasn't feeling good, so he went to bed," he said.

"Rin wasn't?" Makoto found it a little weird. Rin didn't seem like type who would let himself be forced down by something as petty as a cold. On the other hand, neither did Nagisa and he had been sick at home all day.

"You should lay down too, Rei," Makoto said.

Rei, who had also entered the kitchen, shook his head. "I don't feel that sick," he said.

Makoto nodded. "You don't look as sick as Nagisa did this morning either, but if you lay down now there's a chance you may get better sooner," he said.

Rei nodded. "After dinner then," he answered before he went to do his homework for Monday. Haruka continued to help Makoto with the dinner.

At the table, Rei talked about how the cold had been spreading. Over half the students at the elementary school had been absent today. He had heard that the 3rd graders had been put in two classes instead of the four they normally were. He also said that students from other classes had been in his class today because there were too few present in their own.

Haruka said that he had had classes with Rin, which also meant that one of their classes hadn't had enough students because in this year, Rin and Haruka were in different classes.

After dinner, Rei did as he was told and went to bed while Haruka and Makoto stayed in the kitchen to wash up.

"We should go to bed early too," Makoto said as they were almost done washing up. They had been silent all the way up until now.

"Are you sick too?" Haruka asked.

"No," Makoto answered. "I'm just concerned about the both of us. It would be bad if we catch cold too."

Haruka nodded but didn't continue the conversation. He just helped Makoto until they were done and then went to do something else. Makoto had no idea of what. He went to check on the other boys in the meantime though.

Nagisa was awake when Makoto came in. He was still having a fever. It seemed to be the same as this morning. Makoto found it was a good sign that it hadn't increased at least.

Rin was asleep when he went to check up on him. He clearly had a fever too and Makoto went to put a cool cloth on his forehead.

Rei was awake. He also had a fever and he said that he was actually glad he went to bed. It felt like he wouldn't be able to get up by now. Makoto just told him to get better soon and get some rest before leaving.

The following day they were all still sick, but Haruka still seemed unaffected by the cold. He helped Makoto out with breakfast and prepared tea for everyone and also helped Makoto take care of the other three. Rin commented that he felt pathetic, having Haruka take care of him, and demanded that he would return the favor. Haruka didn't comment on that.

Makoto was just grateful for Haruka's help. He would've felt worse if it had just been him.

But Haruka couldn't help him forever.

The following day school was out because too many students had called in sick. Makoto had to go to work though. When he returned he found that Rei was already up and preparing tea in the kitchen and Nagisa was with him. Rin was sitting up in his bed, with Haruka sleeping next to him. It now looked like the black-haired had gotten sick.

Makoto picked Haruka up and carried him to bed. At least it seemed like the other three had gotten better since yesterday. That gave him some comfort at least.

The following day, everyone but Haruka was up. School was still out, so Makoto went to work, confident that Rin, Rei and Nagisa could take care of Haruka.

On Wednesday Haruka was better. He woke up on his own and felt like he couldn't sleep any more even if he wanted to. He missed the bathtub more than anything. But before he could manage to get out of bed and sneak to the bathroom, the door was torn open and Rin stood there with wide eyes and a horrified look on his face.

"What's going on?" Haruka asked.

Tears started welling up in Rin's eyes as he put the words together for what he wanted to say.

"It's Makoto…" he started and then concentrated to put the rest together. "He has a fever. He's really sick!" He looked to be in a panic.

"What?" Haruka asked as he got out of bed. Even he had trouble comprehending this. He knew everyone could get sick, but Makoto? To all four of them, Makoto had become a pillar of strength, someone they could rely on no matter what happened. If he was sick, then Haruka wasn't even completely sure of what to do.