Mondays were always a drag. However, I wasn't complaining today, even if I woke up early today, even if Mum gave me hell over "making extra food and wasting money." Although she did shut up after I said that I owed someone and the bento was my way of thanks. I made my way to school unknowingly having a skip in my step.

When I was nearing the school gates, I heard a small ruckus between two people near me.

"Oi, Haru! Stop pushing yourself. You need to go home!" Makoto's voice rang out.

I turned and saw Makoto trying to grab hold of Haru, while Haru himself was sluggishly making his way towards the school. Curious on what the fuss was about, I walked towards them.

"Good morning, Makoto-senpai, Haru-kun," I greeted, then frowned. At a closer view, Haru's eyes looked droopy, his cheeks were flushed, and he was breathing heavily. "Umm, you don't look well, Haru-kun," I noted.

"He has a fever," Makoto stated, taking Haru's school bag in attempts to ease some weight off his shoulders. "Apparently, there was a power outage last night in his neighbourhood, but he still took a bath... in cold water and without drying his hair properly."

Hesitatingly, I reached up and touched Haru's forehead. He was burning up! I thought, worry flooding through me. "You need to go home and rest," I said, knowing that he probably won't listen to me. If he wouldn't listen to Makoto, the more he wouldn't listen to me. "Your fever is pretty bad."

"No," Haru shook his head, then placed his hand on my shoulder. "Bento," he rasped out.

"What?" I blinked. "Did you... just come to school for the b-bento?"

Haru nodded.

I looked at him bewildered. "I have it with me," I said, holding his bento box up, "but please, go home and get some rest." I handed the bento over to him.

Makoto took the bento from me. "I got it," he said. "I'll bring Haru home. Can you stop by the faculty room and explain things to the teacher that I'll be late?"

I nodded.

Talking to Makoto's homeroom teacher wasn't too much trouble. He was a bit annoyed by Haru though. He mumbled things about slowing down Makoto because Haru was a weirdo despite being great in his grades. That angered me, but I didn't say anything for fear that I might put my scholarship at stake.

I wonder if Haru felt the same as I did. I shook my head at the thought. Of course, he wouldn't. His friends loved him, and he was special. I was below average, and I was just a member on the volleyball team and now in the swim club just to keep her scholarship intact.

"So that's what happened to Haru-chan..." Nagisa said as he munched through his third packet of sweet melon bread. "But he went all the way to school for your bento, Kai-chan. Isn't that... interesting?"

I choked on my egg roll. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said and took a sip of my orange juice.

"Haru-senpai does seem fascinated with you," Rei nodded, doing the classic glasses lift. "With the right observations, I can compose a hypothesis stating that he likes you."

"He likes the bento boxes I make for him, not me," I laughed and pretended to rub my nose, but I was actually hiding the fact that I was madly blushing.

"It would be interesting to find Haru with a girlfriend though," Kou mentioned. "After you guys done well reaching nationals last year, Haru-senpai has been talked about a lot by some girls now."

"Really?" Nagisa said in awe. Then he pouted, "It's a bummer how it's only Haru-chan though."

"Makoto-senpai is also among the talk too," Kou noted.

"Ehh? Me?" Makoto chuckled bashfully. "I don't really have time for girls, and Haru, well... Haru loves the water."

"What about us?!" Nagisa whined with his arm around Rei's shoulders.

I laughed and continued on with my lunch. Does Haru only love the water though? I thought.

"Ne, Gou-chan, you think I can skip practice?" Nagisa asked Kou once the bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the say. "It's my older sister's birthday. I have to help out with the party."

"Eh? But Rei-san also has some matters to attend to," Kou frowned. "We can't have practice with Kai-san being the only member."

"We can put off practice today," I offered. "I think a break is good. We have been practicing hard this month."

Kou blinked. "Do you have somewhere to go too?" she asked.

Haru's place.

"I just wanted to catch up on homework," I lied.

"The one due next week?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I wanted to finish it, so I can then focus on practicing and improving my time. Busy, busy, busy..." I laughed half-heartedly.

"Hmm, that really isn't a bad idea," Kou said thoughtfully. "Well, maybe just this once."

"Yes!" Nagisa cheered. "Thanks, Kai-chan!" Then I had all the air knocked out of me when Nagisa squeezed me for a massive hug.

I knocked at the door to Haru's house. No answer. I knocked again. For another minute, there was still no answer. I took a peek at the back, but nothing was there. I went up to the front and knocked for the last time.

I really didn't want to do this, but I twisted to doorknob and was actually surprised that Haru didn't leave it locked. "Hello?" I whispered loudly.

I passed the living room and ended up in the kitchen. To my surprise, his house was absolutely normal. Seeing how he loved to swim, I expected that he would have a pool in his house, but his house was almost like mine. Just normal, livable, no traces of being extravagant.

Then I heard a loud cough that made me jump and almost soiled myself from the shock. I followed the sound from a hallway and found a door that was left ajar. I really, really didn't want to peek in, but since I was already technically trespassing, I just threw all reason out the window.

I stuck my head through the gap of the door and saw Haru under the covers, coughing and slightly panting. In other words...

He looked like shit.

Well, not the literal kind of shit.

I barged in without thought and placed my hand over his head. He was burning up! Even more so than early this morning. He was also drenched with sweat, which was absolutely not helping with his body temperature at the moment.

I lightly shook him awake. "Haru-kun?" I said gently.

His eyelids fluttered open. "Kai?" he muttered.

Upon the realisation that this was the first time he spoke my name, my heart skipped a beat, but this wasn't really the time to be all giddy of a crush.

"Yeah," I said. "You need to change your clothes, Haru-kun. Can you please change?"

"Mmm," Haru mumbled, starting to drift off to sleep again.

"Hey, hey," I tapped his arm to wake him. "You need to change or you'll get worse. Sit up so you can change."

No response.

I shook my head and looked around his room. I saw his wardrobe in the corner and dug through all the swimming trunks to find comfortable clothes. Once I got him a shirt, I shook Haru awake for the third time.

"Haru-kun, please," I sighed. "Wake up. Sit up and change."

Blue eyes lazily stared at me. "Nakahara-san?" he rasped, switching back to my last name. "Why are you here?"

"I came to check up on you," I said. "I thought Makoto would be here." I slid and arm under his back and helped him sit up.

"Working... children... swim club," Haru muttered, swaying from where he sat.

"Come on, change into this," I placed the shirt on his lap.

Haru stared at the shirt for quite a while, then he began to pull off his shirt. I looked away and resisted the urge to stare, which was absolutely silly since I've already saw him shirtless countless times during swimming practice.

Then I heard sounds of struggle. I turned and laughed softly at the sight of Haru struggling to get his shirt off his head and arms. That amusement soon turned into heat in my veins. His struggle caused him to flex his muscles... and those droplets of sweat trickling down his chest were almost sinful.

I coughed in attempts to clear my head and rose to help Haru. Kneeling on the edge of his bed, I pulled on the edge of his shirt. The stubborn piece of clothing came off his head and made his hair stick up in funny places. I balled up the sweaty shirt and dabbed at his chest to wipe off his sweat. I also made sure to keep him eyes straight up to keep my sanity.

Probably feeling really shitty, Haru couldn't stop breathing heavily through his mouth. His hot breath fanned on the nape of my neck, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. I quickly ran the used shirt down his back and pulled away. Knowing that Haru could barely function, I helped him put on his new shirt.

"There 'ya go," I sighed, pleased at my accomplishment. I got off my knees and sat on the edge of his bed. "Do you want some water before lying down?"

Haru nodded.

I jogged out of the room and got some water from the fridge. I ran back to his room and handed him the glass. He downed the entire drink and set it on his bedside table.

"Thanks," Haru said.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "What are teammates for?" I gently patted his shoulder. Then I giggled at the sight of his hair that was still a mess. I ran my fingers through his soft strands, and Haru seemed to like it because his eyes began to slowly shut. I pulled my hand away and lightly pushed him back on the bed to lie down.

"Why did you stop?" Haru mumbled, his eyes opening again.

Smiling at his childish behavior, I sank my fingers in his hair again, combing through the locks and smoothing out the tangles. Then I realised that Haru kept on staring at me instead of going back to sleep. I stared back in question.

Should I make a move?

I leaned down and pressed my forehead against his burning one. My hand that was in his hair slid down to his cheek. Slowly I leaned further and placed my lips on his. His lips were soft, but also extremely warm. But what surprised me was when Haru actually kissed me back.

I gasped then smiled, kissing him several more times. One of his hands was set on my hip and the other was gripping the back of my school vest. Haru's kisses were so innocent and gentle, but they were also very honest. Just like his love for the water.

We both pulled away at the same time, and I suddenly felt bad because Haru's face looked redder than before.

"I'll go get you a towel," I said and rushed to Haru's bathroom. I found some fresh towels, and I took one and soaked it in cold water. I went back to his room and set the damp cloth on an asleep Haru's forehead.

"Haru?" a familiar voice called out. Heavy footsteps grew louder then Haru's bedroom door opened, revealing Makoto looking worried as ever. "Oh, Nakahara-san, you're here," he said. "How's he?"

"Asleep," I said. "His fever hasn't gone down a bit"

"Well, I bought some medicine, and my mother had me bring Haru some porridge," Makoto said. "Thanks for watching him, Nakahara-san. Really."

I nodded. Then I stood up and grabbed my bag. "I should be going now."

"I'll take over from here," Makoto assured me.

(Two days later)

"Haru-chan! Welcome back!" Nagisa whooped the air and hugged a well-rested Haru once he appeared in swimming practice.

"Drop the '-chan'," Haru muttered, frowning.

I chuckled and snuggled on my two layers of towels. Lately, I've been sneezing a lot and wiping my runny nose. It was either overworking my self or...

My eyes looked at Haru, and his eyes caught mine. My gaze slid lower and focused on those lips. Lips that I kissed over and over. I broke eye contact with him and sneezed for the nth time.

"Oh, shit," I mumbled, grabbing my hanky and blowing my nose. "Never kiss a sick person."

Yes, you have permission to be mad. As my apology, I made it twice as long and extra fluffy. *wink wink* Sigh... I wish he existed in real life. I wish I had a bishie of my own.

Anyways, follow/favorite and leave a review. What did you think of this chapter? Yes, yes, or YES? Love 'ya, loves!