Sick Day

Summary: When Karin gets sick, Setsuna and Kasumi head on over to take care of her. But Emma's already beaten them to the punch. So they get Shizuku involved.

Ship: SetsuKasuKarin & EmmaShizu

There are only two things that Saturday mornings are good for. The first is sleeping in. The second is making plans to spend the rest of the day with your favorite people. Among the girls of Nijigasaki, Setsuna, Kasumi, and Karin opted for the latter.

KawaiiKasumi - Rinako told me about this new cat cafe that opened up last weekend. Interested?

FIRESINGER7 - Very much so! That sounds like a wonderful place for a date!

KawaiiKasumi - What do you think Karin-senpai?

*15 Minutes Later*

KawaiiKasumi - ...Karin-senpai? Any opinion?

FIRESINGER7 - Karin-san, do you not want to cuddle cats today?

BigSexy - Hey. I woke up with a bad cough and a fever, so I can't go on our date today.

BigSexy - The two of you have fun without me though.

But of course Setsuna and Kasumi couldn't just leave their dearest to be bedridden without company. A quick phone call between them confirmed their agreement.

"Karin-senpai is sick?!" cried Kasumi, "We should go take care of her!"

"That's a wonderful idea!" agreed Setsuna. "I'll grab a few things from the grocery store to make a nice soup for her."

"Ah, let's not be too hasty. I'll bring ingredients for soup. You... can focus on other things."

And so, the two of them gathered everything they might need to care for a sick idol and set off for Karin's place. But when they arrived, they found there was little to worry about.

"Setsuna-chan, Kasumi-chan!" greeted Emma as she opened the door. She stepped aside and waved them in. "Are you here to visit Karin-chan? I'm sure she appreciates it, but try not to stay too long, Karin-chan needs her rest after all."

"Um, actually, we're here to take care of her," corrected Kasumi as she lifted the bag of soup ingredients and wet wipes in her hand.

"Oh that's so thoughtful of you!" praised Emma, "But that's not necessary. I'm already taking good care of Karin-chan." She giggled. "We are roommates after all."

"Ah, perhaps we should have considered that before we came over," remarked Setsuna as she clutched her own bag full of blankets and manga to her chest.

"Well!" sputtered Kasumi, "We should at least make sure everything's alright! Karin-senpai is important to us too, y'know?"

"Of course!" agreed Emma happily. She guided them to the stove. "Here I'm making a nice panada soup, something my family always gave me whenever I was sick back in Switzerland."

"It smells amazing," breathed Setsuna. She hummed in thought. "I wonder if it would mix well with a pint of mint-chocolate chip ice cream?"

"It won't," shut down Kasumi immediately, "I guarantee it." She dipped a spoon into the pot and took a small sip. "It's good," she noted.

"Thank you," said Emma.

Next she took them to her room, opening the door to reveal a small pile of blankets, towels, and other linens neatly folded on her bed.

"I've also done some laundry so Karin-chan has clean bedding ready and available whenever she needs it."

"That's pretty smart," admitted Kasumi.

"There's even a nice, calming scent coming from them," Setsuna noticed with a sniff.

Emma nodded. "Only the best for Karin-chan."

She then led them to Karin's bedroom, where the trio peeked inside the door to see Karin sleeping, a small washcloth on her forehead.

"And as you can see here, she's currently asleep, so there's really not much point in staying around waiting for her to wake up. I'm sure she'd want the both of you to spend your Saturdays having fun together instead of worrying about her. I know I would want that for you two," said Emma with a pure, beaming smile.

Setsuna and Kasumi exchanged a glance.

"I suppose we could leave the things we brought here for Karin-san to look through later," said Setsuna begrudgingly.

"Buono! I'll go check on the panada." Emma left the two to themselves.

Kasumi growled in annoyance. "This isn't good. We can't let Emma-senpai have her way! We're supposed to be the ones taking care of Karin-senpai! She's OUR girlfriend!"

"I would also like to attend to Karin-san, but what can we do? Emma-san has everything well in hand, and well before we could even get started."

"Hmph. If Emma-senpai is such a good and caring person, then all we need to do is create a scenario where someone else needs her help even more than Karin-senpai."

Setsuna looked at her with concern. "...Kasumi-san? What are you planning?"

Kasumi offered no response as she left Karin's bedroom to return to the main room. Acting casually, she stretched her arms and nonchalantly spoke to Emma.

"Man, there must be something going around. Shizuko just texted me. Apparently she's also sick and stuck in bed, and with absolutely no one to take care of her."

Emma whirled to the shorter brunette with alarm on her face. "EHHH?! Shizuku-chan is sick?! This won't do! I need to be there for her! Can I trust the two of you to keep an eye on Karin-chan?"

"Of course!" "Leave it to us!" chorused Setsuna and Kasumi.

"Thank you so much!" With that, Emma grabbed her purse and coat and ran for the door, all the while chattering away about the ingredients she needed to prepare more panada.

As the door slammed shut, the apartment was left in silence, save for the bubbling of the soup on the stove.

"That was incredibly devious of you, Kasumi-san."

"It was, wasn't it? But it worked and that's what matters."

"I suppose you're correct."

"Darn right I am! Now let's go show Karin-senpai that she's loved!"

When Shizuku heard the doorbell ring, she expected a friendly visit from one of her fellow school idols or perhaps a delivery driver with a package. When she heard the bell ring again several times in rapid succession in a manner she could only describe as uncomfortably frantic, she wasn't sure what to expect.

So it was with equal parts relief and confusion that she opened the door and found Emma.

"Don't worry Shizuku-chan, I'm here for you!" announced Emma as she crossed the threshold.

"E-Eh? Emma-san?!"

The older brunette deftly stepped out of her shoes as she headed to the kitchen with arms laden with shopping bags full of ingredients, pain reliever, scented laundry detergent, and even a plushie, placing her goods on any available surface as she fished around the cabinets for a pot. "Now that I'm here, I'll be sure to take care of everything," declared the Swiss girl. "I can't believe your family would leave you in this condition, and all alone no less! But not anymore!"

Shizuku still had questions. "Um...?" She just couldn't quite articulate them yet.

As she found a pot she deemed suitable and placed it on the stove top, Emma began urging Shizuku back to her bedroom. "You head back to your room so you can lie down and try to get some sleep. I'll whip up a lovely pot of panada to bolster your immune system!"

"But my bubble bath!" exclaimed Shizuku.

Emma gasped, almost as if scandalized. "Oh my! If you're going to bathe while sick you shouldn't do it alone! I'll wash your back for you!" she volunteered eagerly.

"Wait, wait! Sick? What do you mean sick? I'm not sick."

Emma paused her enthusiasm. "...eh? But Kasumi-chan said you sent her a text saying you were sick...?"

"No, I never sent such a text."

"But if you're not sick, why are you all sweaty and red and mildly out of breath?"

"I just finished my Saturday workout routine," answered Shizuku. Ah. That explained the sports bra. "And it's been a while since I treated myself, so I thought a nice bubble bath was in order."

"Oh." Emma frowned in realization that she'd been duped. "I guess Kasumi-chan really wanted to take care of Karin-chan..."

"Hmm?" Shizuku tilted her head inquisitively.

"Ah, you see..." And Emma regaled the first year with the events of that morning.

After the tale was complete, Shizuku nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose it makes sense that Setsuna-san and Kasumi-san wanted to spend some time alone with their beloved."

Emma nodded. "It's quite an intimate scenario," she agreed. A worried frown came over her face. "I just hope those two don't put too much stress on Karin-chan when she wakes up."

"I don't believe you have to worry about a thing, Emma-san," said Shizuku. "Setsuna-san is generally very responsible and Kasumi-san is a responsible cook. Together they'll take good care of Karin-san."

"I suppose you're right. Though I suppose this leaves me without anything to do today..."

"Well..." Shizuku fidgeted nervously but mustered up the courage to send a coy look Emma's way. "Kasumi-san was correct in that I'm alone today. And I do have a bubble bath drawn up. And it's a decently sizeable tub. Would you consider joining me?"

Emma's eyes lit up. "Buono!"

Meanwhile...

"Karin-san, would you like some more soup?" asked Setsuna with spoon in hand.

"Or another bite of koppepan?" prompted Kasumi.

"I'm full for now," declined Karin, "But thank you both for feeding me."

"Of course!" replied Setsuna. She gathered the small tray of food. "I'll go return these to the kitchen, then we can play a game!"

As she scurried out of the room, Karin turned to ask Kasumi a very serious question.

"Setsuna didn't add any ingredients to Emma's soup, did she?"

The first year shook her head. "Not a chance. I wouldn't even let her add salt."

"Oh thank goodness," sighed Karin in relief.

Setsuna soon returned with console and controllers in hand. "Okay! Let's have a fun and friendly competition! And may the best player win."

"Thanks, I intend to," said Kasumi smugly.

"Oh? I find that hard to believe given your past performance in the minigames," taunted Karin.

"Hmph! Minigames aren't everything you know. I'll just wait until you build up a nice collection of stars, then steal them with a swap event."

Karin donned a condescending smile. "Ah, the classic play of someone who's all talk and no skill."

Kasumi growled cutely and met Karin's challenging gaze with a defiant stare of her own, the two working themselves up in anticipation for the conflict to come.

As she set up the game, Setsuna sighed. "Maybe it was a bad idea to play Mari Ohara Party Superstars..." she lamented.

After a very lengthy, very relaxing, and very intimate bubble bath, Shizuku and Emma had an impromptu movie marathon. Picking out a few of the aged classics that made up Shizuku's movie collection, the pair spent the day on the living room couch, leaning into each other affectionately until the sun sank below the horizon.

The current picture began wrapping up, and as the onscreen samurai went to kiss the daimyo's daughter, Shizuku sighed in contentment and turned to her Swiss sweetheart.

"Emma-san, thank you for coming over today. You've made my Saturday so much more enjoyable."

"I'm always happy to spend time with you, Shizuku-chan."

Staring adoringly into each other's eyes, the two leaned in and shared a kiss of gentle affection. They came apart with mutual sighs of bliss and held each other, Shizuku's head cradled in the crook of Emma's neck. They cuddled quietly, the silence only broken by the movie's ending credits as they scrawled across the screen.

"Would you like to stay the night?" asked Shizuku eventually.

"I'd love to."

"How did we tie for last place AGAIN?!" shrieked Kasumi in outrage.

"I'll admit to being a little pissed off myself," murmured Karin, face set in a displeased frown.

On the screen, Setsuna's character was dancing merrily while theirs were applauding in celebration. If only their controllers could be so happy about the situation.

"Um... maybe we should call it a night and go to sleep?" suggested Setsuna timidly, the girl knowing how unlikely that was to happen.

"No way!" denied Kasumi. "We've played five games, and neither Karin-senpai nor I have gotten first place. We're not stopping until we settle this!"

"I quite agree," declared the blunette. "I can forego an absolute victory, but I won't stop until Kasumi-chan learns where she belongs: beneath me."

"But Karin-san, you're still sick," pointed out Setsuna reasonably. "You shouldn't be staying up late to play games if you're not feeling well."

"Pride is more important than health," remarked Karin. "Now let's play another game."

"Yeah, listen to the sick girl," added Kasumi.

Setsuna sighed but complied, starting up a new round.

Kasumi immediately gravitated toward the girl in gold. "Come on Mari, let's beat them!"

Karin also took her usual azure clad character. "Kanan will dominate you," she promised.

Setsuna's selection was fiery red. "Please Dia... Please lose just this once," she all but begged.

"And don't you dare throw any of the games!" imposed Kasumi.

It was going to be a long night.

When Emma returned home the next morning, she found that not only was Karin still sick, but Setsuna and Kasumi had caught her cold and they were all sharing the bed.

The final score was Setsuna 12, Kasumi/Karin 0.

~END~