I cried out and thrashed on the bed wildly, sweat pouring down my body. I was so hot. I pushed at the covering, whining and tearing at my kimono. The blankets were yanked off me and a cool rag bathed my forehead and neck. A cup was pressed to my lips and a foul tasting mixture slide down my throat. I coughed and gagged, trying to turn my head away. A scorching hand was laid on my cheek and my head was turned back.
"You have to drink it," Akisame said. I moaned, but consented, gulping down the bitter drink. The rag came back and wiped the sweat from my face again. I panted and reached up, weakly pulling at my kimono until it slid completely off my shoulders and I was naked. Akisame said nothing, just began bathing my chest in cool water.
"So…hot…" I complained.
"I know," Akisame said gently. "Your fever has finally broken."
Akisame lifted me up and turned me so I was leaning against his chest. He pushed aside my long hair and rinsed the back of my neck with cold water. His hand trailed down my back, cool water dribbling down my spine.
I pushed away from his hot skin and panted, whimpering in discomfort. The rag came again to the front of my neck and chest, then moved to my bare shoulders.
"How's she…whoah!"
I looked over and saw Sakaki staring at us wide-eyed. I know I must have been a sight, naked from the waist up, the belt the only thing keeping the kimono on my body, my hands clutching at Akisame as I sat in his lap, panting.
"Her fever finally broke," Akisame said. "Can you get me another bowl of ice water?"
Sakaki blushed, but nodded and scurried out of the room, returning moments later with a bowl of plain ice.
"Too hot," I whined as Akisame tipped some water into the bowl Sakaki brought.
"I know," Akisame said tenderly, the rag coming up to bath my face. He quickly tossed another rag at Sakaki. "Get her back and neck."
Sakaki blushed again but dipped the rag in the new bowl and began to run it over the feverish skin of my back. His touch wasn't as gentle as Akisame's but was no less welcome as the cold rag mopped up the molten sweat seeping from my pores. I gripped the front of Akisame's kimono, moaning. Akisame reached into the bowl, dropping the rag and retrieving an ice cube. He trailed it over my skin, making me sigh in content.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yessss," I hissed. Sakaki peered over my shoulder to see what Akisame was doing. He blushed and jerked back.
"Uhm…your…ya know…are showing…" he muttered, reaching around and trying to tug my kimono up, but the slickness of my skin only had it falling again, lower this time.
"Don't care," I said. Sakaki blushed darker but grabbed an ice cube from the bowl and ran it over the skin of my back and neck. I sighed in content as the ice began to cool my skin.
"You sure know how to make a guy uncomfortable," Sakaki said.
"Huh?" I responded, the last remnants of my fever making my mind fuzzy.
"It's kind of hard for a man not to get excited with…well….this…" Sakaki clarified. I looked up at Akisame who was chuckling, his hand never stopping the movement of the ice over my cooling skin.
"So take a cold shower," I sighed. "Just take me with you."
"Geh!"
"Wait…I didn't mean it like that," I said, scowling. "That sounded perverted." Akisame tossed his head back and laughed.
"Poor Sakaki's going to get a nose bleed," he said.
"I'll kiss it and make it better if he does," I said flippantly.
"I'm out," Sakaki declared, standing up and subtly hiding his crotch. He turned and left, but not before dropping the ice down the back of my kimono.
"Hey!" I called.
"You deserve it for teasing me," he replied, strolling out the door.
"I guess that was mean," I mused. Akisame smiled down at me.
"Do you feel better?" he asked. I nodded.
"I'm kind of cold now," I laughed. He dropped the ice back in the bowl and fished out the one Sakaki had put in my Kimono. He then wrung out the rag and used it to wipe up the excess moisture from my skin.
"Thank you," I said as he ran the rag over my skin, dutifully keeping his eyes above my collarbone.
"You're welcome," he replied.
"I'm sorry to be such trouble," I told him, blushing.
"You're not," he assured me. "It would be more trouble if I had left you alone, I would worry then."
"I could have gone home," I pointed out.
"When I asked, you said there was no one at home," he replied.
"I don't remember you asking me that," I said.
"You were half-asleep," he replied. "I wanted to know if there was someone I should call for you."
"Oh," I said.
"I couldn't let you go home," he said. "I would worry too much." I smiled, curling up in his lap, uncaring of my partial nakedness.
"I guess it can't be helped," I said. He smiled and set me on the floor, changing the sweat soaked bedding.
"Would you like a bath?" he asked.
"Yes, please," I said.
"I will probably have to help you," he pointed out. I blushed at this.
"I don't want to be any trouble," I protested.
"No trouble," he argued. "Merely letting you know. You're very weak."
"Well, thank you," I said.
DHMB: w00t! Thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows! You guys rock. Additionally, if anyone would like to beta this story, let me know. My beta's keep abandoning me and I have a hard time finding more. review or pm me!