Chapter Eleven: Someone I like

I was never a morning person. Not when I was a kid and especially not now as a teen. But for this particular morning, I had woken up with a heavy head and eyes so groggy it was like staring through plastic. My mind was absolutely blank as I dragged myself into the bathroom in an attempt to prepare myself for another day.

Yeah, I hated mornings.

"If Log x (1/8) = -3/2, then x is equal to. . ."

I stared at the question, long and hard. I hadn't felt any better since morning, in fact, I felt worse. I had to constantly excuse myself to go to the bathroom and make it look like I was actually feeling okay. I hadn't even the strength to tie my hair properly, so instead opted for the good old hair clip.

With an irritated sigh, I thought to myself, 'things couldn't get any worse'. Yeah right. I had spent a hard half hour just blankly staring at the wretched math question in front of me. There was absolutely no way I could work that out. What the hell kind of question was that anyway?

"This doesn't even make sense." I grumbled, drawing small stick figures on the page. I guess I could forge a note explaining why I couldn't complete the work.

Giving up, I was about to shove the paper back into my bag until the familiar voice of Toushiro breathed beside my ear, "1/4." He said simply, seating himself down across the table from me.

With a blank stare, I gaped at him. Unbelievable!

He gave me a funny look and took both my pen and paper, writing the answer down on the sheet. He pushed it back to me and grinned wickedly, "Such a simpleton." He teased lightly, taking humor in my baffled expression. If I didn't feel so groggy and heated I would've asked him to teach me how he got the answer.

"What do you want?" I inquired, trying to sound impatient as I packed away my books into my bag. Here came that feeling again, the rise of my food making its way back up my throat.

"Our science project," Toushiro said slowly as he eyed me carefully, "Its due one week from now and we've made no progress."

With a sigh I looked back to him, I already knew where this was leading to and I was in no mood for arguments. Whatever he wanted to do, I'd comply. "Do I even need to give you permission to come over? You'd probably go anyway, whether I liked it or not."

Toushiro's mouth curved just the slightest, "After school, I'll meet you at the front gate."

Swinging my bag over my shoulder I agreed and picked up my science text book. "Whatever. Just don't make a habit out of it."

"Don't be late." He called as I walked away, "I wouldn't be bothered looking for you."

"You don't look so hot." Karin had said the moment I had taken a seat beside her. It was last period, and I was hell bent on making sure I made it through the next hour without any glitches. Besides that, I actually liked History.

I gave Karin a small smile, "Just a headache." I said dully, pulling out my books and placing them on the table.

She lifted a brow, disbelieving, "Yeah right, Hina," she placed her hand on my forehead and compared my temperature with hers. When she took her hand back, her eyes narrowed. "Are you crazy? You're burning! What were you thinking coming to school today?"

"I'm fine, really." Even with that being said, it was no where near as convincing as I would have liked it to be.

Karin features darkened, "I'm taking you to the nurse. You need to rest."

Quickly, I waved a hand in protest, "Seriously Karin I--," My hand flew up to clutch at my head. It was that weird spinning feeling again, like everything around me had suddenly spun around so fast around me that it left me almost breathless.

Of course, that only helped in making Karin more worried, "Oh my gosh, Hina, hey Hina!" Her hands grabbed my shoulders quickly to help keep my balance. By now, she was really starting to panic.

In a rush, she packed away all of my things and quickly asked our teacher to excuse us from class. She held my bag and helped to walk me to the nurse's office. I had argued with her saying that there would be no point since school was almost finished and that it would be a waste, but Karin wouldn't have it.

"Hina, I love you and I want to make sure my best friend is okay." Her tone was soft, but still none the less demanding. So, with a defeated sigh I let her have her way.

I'm not sure exactly what happened after Karin had escorted me out of the classroom, but as I looked around, I knew for sure I was no longer in school grounds. I was lying comfortably in my bed, with no recollection of how I even got here. I was sure I didn't sleep walk.

"About time, stupid." A low voice called. Of course, I already knew who it was. He just couldn't seem to leave me alone.

Using whatever strength I had left, I attempted to push myself slightly up, but only managed to prop myself up on one elbow. A tiny yawn escaped me, "What happened?" I asked, still tired and dizzy.

Toushiro walked up to my bed and sat beside me, "You looked like shit back there."

I frowned at his words, hey, I was sick. Could you blame a girl for looking like crap when she was ill? "Gee, thanks."

"You're stupid. You should've stayed home."

"Your face is stupid." I had mumbled out when he was done scolding me.

He chuckled at my words, "Feeling any better?" before I could answer he had lightly pressed his forehead against mine, "Hmm, you've cooled down a bit."

When he pulled back I had to quickly turn my face the other way to hide the sudden blush that made its way across my cheeks. Darn his good looks. "Ugh, go away!" I groaned, inwardly begging that he actually wouldn't go since I needed someone to help cook me dinner. Yeah, as selfish as that sounded, I was a complete wreck when it came to cooking.

Toushiro grinned, "I'm not going anywhere. It'd be on my conscience if I left you while you were still sick and you managed to get yourself into more trouble." He flashed me a smug smile, "Besides, don't you feel better having a man around the house?"

At that, I laughed. "Oh yeah, I feel perfectly safe now." I teased, actually enjoying the fact that we were able to have a normal conversation that didn't end in insults.

Leaning back down onto my bed, I pulled the covers up over me, "How'd I get here anyway?" I asked, curious to how I had magically teleported from school to my own room.

"Oh that. I saw Karin walking you to the nurse's office and you had fainted in her arms. It looked like she was struggling to drag you there so I offered to help carry you. You're really not as light as you look."

I frowned, "Well sorry if I actually like to eat."

He laughed, "Relax. I was just joking."

With a sigh I asked about Karin, it was odd that she too didn't stay here with me. I mean normally, if your friend was sick, you long time and childhood friend would be there to look after you and yet, here I was, talking to the guy that I had known for almost a full two months.

"She stayed for a bit. But she was acting kinda strange. She must've caught one of your weird diseases."

I kicked him, earning a pained grunt from him. "Okay, okay jeez."

I yawned then, "You know Karin's really great. . ." I had mumbled the moment my eyes fluttered closed. I had almost forgotten about trying to help Karin. "She . . . she really likes you . . . you know . . ."

By now, my words were just a jumble of whispers that wouldn't form into proper sentences. I was just so tired. "You should . . . give . . . a chance."

The bed creaked and the mattress I was on seemed to sink a little, "Yeah well, I already happen to have someone that I like," I felt warm lips descend upon my own in the briefest of touches before the bed creaked once more, and it felt oddly empty.

"Get better quickly, Baka-Peach." Was the last thing I heard before everything shadowed away and darkness engulfed me.

zZz

I'm. So. Effin. Tired.
Late up-date I know. It's been a rough week.
2 of my dogs are missing, and my rabbit passed away.
/sigh/

Shit happens . . . I'm just an unlucky girl.

R.I.P Cheza, nothing compares to how much I love you. (L)