One more snippet for this story. It's not terribly relevant, but the plot bunny snuck up on me and demanded to be written. I'm not sure how this fits in chronologically with everything else, but we could all use a bit more Rintori fluff in our lives.

Enjoy~

Sick Day

Rin was sick. He could no longer deny it. Not just runny sinuses, no it was coughing and headaches and dark circles under his eyes, a sore throat and elevated temperature. Despite shuffling through work in a drowsy haze, covering pesky coughs, and sniffling profusely, the stubborn deputy was wont to admit his impediment. At least until Sousuke inevitably noticed and asked RIn if he wanted to take the rest of the day off to recover. Which of course he refused until Sousuke's request became an order and Rin ended up at his tiny apartment fitfully trying to rest.

He'd texted Makoto, Haru, Nagisa, and Rei to let them know he couldn't make lunch at the cafe, and as expected they all replied with well wishes and offers to come over and fix him soup or something to 'help him feel better'. Rin rejected their offerings on the grounds of not wanting to infect anyone else.

Feeling exhausted but too stuffy to sleep, Rin's mind had drifted off to a state of oblivion that was almost comfortable when his doorbell rang.

With great discomfort, he rose to his feet and stumbled over to the door, opening it slowly.

"What do you want?" He grumbled to the visitor.

Before he could finish the statement, the visitor in question had jumped up and placed and awkward kiss on his chin, completely missing his slightly gaping mouth.

Nitori had quite forgotten how much taller Rin was than he, and fell a couple inches short on his greeting kiss. Nonetheless, the mobster would not be deterred by his misstep.

"I've come to care for you in your sickness!" He announced, holding forward two plastic bags full of mystery items.

"You knew I was sick and you still tried to kiss me?" Rin grumbled, barely piecing together the shorter man's rambling.

"Eh, It's worth the risk," he shrugged, "are you going to let me in?"

"First tell me how you found my address - wait, how did you know I was sick in the first place?"

"Let me in and I'll explain all," Nitori gave Rin an experimental shove to see if he'd move from the doorframe. The bleary deputy allowed Nitori inside with only minor complaining.

"Remember when I had Momo kidnap Gou?"

"How could I forget?" Rin leaned against the closed door, eyes half-shut.

"Well when he did, he confiscated her phone and ransacked all her information, for reference, of course. One of the things extracted from her phone was your place of residence. Good thing I had it too. Evidently you've been ignoring the help your other friends offered, so if you won't accept a favor from a friend, you can accept one from me."

"How do you know about my friends?" Rin broke into a coughing fit as he finished.

"You mean quiet Haru who's totally in love with the kind tall one, Makoto? Let's not forget the bubbly little Nagisa and his bespectacled husband Rei. I was watching them in that quaint little cafe you're always hanging around. They were talking about you, concerned that you weren't taking good enough care of yourself. But they wanted to respect your boundaries and not impede on your residence if you didn't want them."

"You have no such qualms," Rin muttered between coughs.

"Exactly, so after listening in on their conversation awhile, I stepped forward and claimed to be an intern at the police station who had befriended you, yada yada, I convinced them to give me some homemade soup to deliver to you and here I am."

"Why are you keeping tabs on me and my friends?" Rin asked suspiciously.

"My reasons for you should be obvious. As for your friends, it's good to know who they are...for future reference," Nitori caught Rin's mortified expression and clarified, "so, if the mob ever targeted them, I'd know who they are and be able to dissuade the other mobsters, nothing nefarious, I swear."

Rin made a disgruntled noise and shifted his weight, still leaning against the door.

Nitori shook his head, "you look awful. You need bed rest, come now," the smaller man hooked an arm around Rin's waist and began dragging him to his bed. The deputy put up surprisingly little resistance, allowing Nitori to deposit him onto the rumpled covers.

"I brought some soup you can heat up later," he called over his shoulder as he bustled into Rin's tiny kitchen, setting the container on the counter. "I also brought some drugs - no not the kind you're thinking of - some cold medicine to help with all that congestion and cough drops. I wasn't sure what kind to get so I bought cherry flavored to match your hair."

Rin sniffled in response, too tired to come up with a retort.

Nitori returned to his bedside with a glass of water and a pill, "drink up!"

Although he didn't like the thought of a mob boss ordering him around, Rin obeyed.

"Some of the side effects are drowsiness, so you'd do well to take a nap," he pressed the back of his hand against Rin's forehead.

The redhead almost jumped at the shocking cold of the boy's touch.

"Mmm, just as I thought, you've got a fever. A pretty high one too. It's gonna have to break soon or you'll need to see a doctor."

Rin made a face at the thought. He did not want to see a doctor.

"The resolution is simple: bundle up and try to sweat it out," Nitori began pulling several blankets and a heavy quilt over Rin, pausing before the redhead was completely covered to climb onto the bed beside him.

"What are you doing?" Rin croaked, eyes wide.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything pervy, we've only just confessed our undying love for one another, let's not move too quickly now." Nitori chuckled as he snuggled in beside Rin.

"Undying love? I feel like that's giving yourself a bit too much credit." Rin shook his head, "Honestly Ai, you're going to get sick being so close to me." He hoped reasoning with Nitori this way would work, overlooking his discomfort of the boy's closeness.

"Do you think I care?" He lay on his side; the two of them barely able to fit on Rin's tiny cot, "besides, this way you'll be warmer." He pulled the quilt up under Rin's chin, resting his own head against Rin's shoulder, nuzzling into his messy hair.

Rin couldn't tell if it was the cold medicine, or him simply conceding to the whims of the mobster he had unwitting let into his apartment, but he soon found himself relaxing, allowing the boy to snuggle flush against his body, one arm curled under his chin, the other thrown carelessly across Rin's chest. The redhead shifted one arm to stretch off to the side, his other hand resting lightly against Nitori's lower back. Between the sleep medicine and his overwhelming exhaustion, Rin was soon fast asleep.

Nitori watched him intently as his breathing slowed to a gentle rate; his mouth hung open, snoring softly through his congested sinuses. The mob boss smiled, enjoying the warmth and closeness lying beside Rin brought him. A pleasant shiver ran through his body as Rin adjusted his hand to rest flat against the small of his back. With a sigh, he set his face into the open pillow beside Rin's head, soon falling asleep himself.

An indiscernible amount of time passed before Rin's eyes snapped open. He was vaguely aware of shivering despite being covered in heavy blankets. A sheen of sweat clung to his entire body. Rin would have sat up in a rush were it not for a him being restrained by an arm wrapped possessively around his head. Ai. Now he remembered why he had felt so ridiculously warm. The smaller man's face was pressed into the pillow beside his head, making Rin wonder how in the world he could breathe.

He shook the silver haired man, "Ai, wake up."

"Mmm?" he moaned sleepily.

"Why am I sweating?"

"I dunno," Nitori mumbled, "why is the sky blue?" His head popped up, blue eyes shining, "your fever broke, dummy," he pulled the corner of one blanket free to dab off Rin's face. "you're looking better already."

Rin smiled weakly, eyes still heavy lidded. "I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"Darn right you do," Nitori grinned hesitating a moment before asking, "c-can I kiss you?" They were so close already, why miss the opportunity?

"You're going to get sick," Rin warned.

"Psh, I'll take my chances," Nitori leaned over him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Rin instantly slid the hand resting on Nitori's lower back up to the nape of his neck, demanding a little more from the kiss. He was happy to oblige, especially when Rin started running his fingers through his silky hair.

Nitori pulled away as soon as Rin had to turn his head to cough, pressing another kiss to the tip of his nose and then his forehead.

"That's enough for today," he chortled, sliding out from under the covers, "would you look at the time, I'm almost late."

"Late for what?" Rin coughed.

"Hmm, like I'd tell the deputy of the police that," Nitori gathered up his coat and hat, "the soup is on the counter, microwave it when you're ready, drink lots of water and take one more pill before you go to sleep tonight, okay?"

"Okay, okay," Rin sighed, "thanks Ai."

"Don't thank me just yet," he smirked as he exited the apartment.

Rin slept most of the rest of the day, feeling good enough to return to work in the morning.

"Back already, deputy?" Sousuke greeted.

"Yeah, I think the worst is over," Rin smiled. The dark circles under his eyes had dissipated and though his nose was still runny, it had subsided to a healthy flow.

"That was fast, did you see a doctor?"

The redhead jumped slightly, remembering the events of the previous day, "er, no, a um...neighbor of mine dropped off some soup, and I just turned the heat up and sweated out the fever."

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Sousuke clapped him on the shoulder before returning to his desk.

Back at the mob's other hideout, Nitori sneezed.

"Oy, boss, you catch a cold?" Momo asked, appearing by his side.

"Probably," the mobster shrugged, wiping off his nose with the sleeve of his trench coat.

"How'd that happen? You haven't been hanging around any sick people," Momo pried.

"Must have caught it from someone passing me on the street," Nitori said evasively.

"Rotten luck," the orange-haired mobster sighed, "oh hey, so that raid yesterday went well. Would've gone even better if you had been there the whole time." He raised an eyebrow.

"I was out on personal business-" Nitori turned his head to cough. Damn, he really was coming down with whatever Rin had, with no one to blame but himself. "I bet that jerk isn't even going to visit me when I'm sick..." he muttered.

"What?" Momo asked.

"Nevermind," Nitori shook his head, stifling another cough. "show me what you and the boys got from yesterday's raid, I'm sure it still needs to be inventoried."

End.