On Names, the Flu, and Other Things
A small FB fic from Oddzilla Productions that was only going to be a
ficlet, but life is like that sometimes.
Chapter 2
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Kyou ate lunch on the rooftop of the school, and did not join Tohru and
Hana during the break to visit Arisa; he didn't feel like exposing himself
to her germ-ridden presence more than he'd already done--getting sick was
the last thing he wanted to do right now.
It had nothing to do with the hand thing, definitely not. Or when they'd
ended up face to face really close.
Actually, he'd spent the lunch hour on the rooftop staring at the bentou
that Tohru had so thoughtfully prepared for him without much appetite at
all. Maybe he had gotten sick after all or something.
After fighting off the impulse to hurl the bentou into a nearby trash can
out of unnamed frustration, he packed it up carefully to eat at some later
time, and marched back down to class. There was still a little time left,
but he'd gotten his fill of fresh air and sunshine already. He only
peripherally noticed the other people moving nervously out of his way as
he walked along.
"Kyou-kun!"
As he opened the door to re-enter the classroom, he stopped and looked
down the hall toward Tohru, Hana, and as luck would have it, Prince Rat
Bastard as well.
He was faced with a dilemma: to ask or not to ask? That was the ques--
"How's she doing?" he heard himself say.
Stupid mouth overruling the brain. He really needed to stop doing that.
Now he'd look all worried about that Yankee.
Tohru, bless her, just smiled. "Uo-chan's better now. She slept a little
and had some hot soup. Kuroda-sensei said that it's the flu."
"That's good. She going home?" That's good? Ahhh, damn.
"No," Hanajima answered softly. "The nurse felt it best that Uo-chan
stayed a little longer and rest up before trying to get home, preferably
with friends to help her just in case. She was rather weak earlier--but
you knew that already."
They'd caught up to him and were now inside the classroom, dispersing to
their seats. Most of the other students were still out, though a few were
also filtering in presently.
"Uo-chan wondered why you weren't there, though."
That got him. "She...she did? Uh...why?"
"Oh! Well--she didn't say, did she? She just asked where you were,
and...."
While Tohru was cheerily prattling along, Kyou felt himself turn red yet
again. And he noticed the oppressive silence from Hanajima, the kind that
only she could generate, even when there was noise from other sources
present.
And Yuki was smirking at him. Damn, how he wanted to wipe that smile off
that face....
"Maybe...I guess I'll go see her after school ends," Kyou finally said,
being careful to add a clear level of grudging reluctance to his voice.
Tohru beamed happily. Yuki smirked more. And Hana....
Smiled.
Ohgod.
"I am sure she will appreciate that, Kyou-kun," Hana said softly. "She
denied any gratitude for your assistance in getting her to the
infirmary...."
Against all expectation, Kyou felt disappointed as well as annoyed. And
still fearful, of course; one doesn't receive a smile like that from Hana
without some cause for concern. But he merely raised an eyebrow and
snorted.
"But I think she was lying."
"Huh." Well, if it was the psychic saying this, then perhaps so.
"I...uh...right." He crossed his arms and turned to look out the window,
willing the heat in his face to go away. Which it did, after a little
while.
He swore if he heard Yuki laugh or snicker or even breathe funny, he'd
punch him.
The rest of the school day passed in a bit of a haze for Kyou; he paid
less than his usual amount of attention to the remaining lessons, which
was to say not very much at all. Instead, he thought about Tohru's bentou,
and how to avoid Kagura, and how to beat up Yuki the next time they
fought, and how to beat up Haru the next time they fought, and Arisa, and
the need to get some more milk soon, and how that piece of chalk smacking
into his forehead stung a little. The chalk happened at least three times
in the course of that afternoon. It was a miracle he wasn't thrown out
again.
Eventually, it all drew to a close.
"Kyou-kun, Hana-chan and I have classroom cleaning duties today. Could you
go to Uo-chan first, please? We shouldn't be too long."
He couldn't say no to her. "All right." And then he paused. "You're not
coming, are you?"
There was that smirk again. "I need to speak with some of the teachers
about some of the class activities. You're on your own, Idiot Cat."
"Damn Mouse."
A short yet indeterminable time later, he knocked on the nurse's door, and
was admitted.
"Ah, Souma-san, please come in. She's resting right now, but I'll go wake
her--"
"No, don't, Kuroda-sensei. I'm here a little early. Gonna wait for Tohru
and Hana to come."
"Oh. Of course. Well...." The nurse glanced around. "Go ahead and wait in
here, then. She's our only patient right now, so it's not a problem.
There's a chair right there," she continued, indicating the one he stood
next to in the office area of the infirmary, "or you can sit with her if
you'd like. Just be careful not to do anything that might make you catch
it."
Kyou looked at the nearby chair. He'd take that one, yes.
"I'll go sit with her."
Stupid mouth!
Kuroda-sensei nodded and gestured to the curtained area where the beds
were. He squared his shoulders and walked there, peeking around the
curtains to find the right bed.
She looked so peaceful it made his breath catch, if only for a moment.
With great care, he set his bag down and sat in the chair next to her, and
observed: Her cheeks were still flushed, though not as much as before. Her
hair was spilled across the pillow like a swath of gold paint. Her brow
was unmarred by a scowl, her lips relaxed and not sneering. Her hands were
folded over her stomach on top of the blanket, which left her shoulders
and upper torso partially uncovered. That made him frown; it would be
better if she were covered more completely. But moving her arms to pull
the blanket up higher would probably wake her.
And he wouldn't be able to see her chest rise and fall so nicely as she
breathed.
Kyou paused, carefully edited that thought out of existence, then settled
back and looked at the clock, wondering how long it would take for Tohru
and Hana to come. He knew it was going to be difficult waiting by himself
here for Arisa, but this was harder than he had expected. He wanted to
look at her, yet was starting to be afraid to do so.
When she groaned, however, he had no choice. "Hey. You awake?"
Her eyes fluttered open, and she squinted over at him. "Kyon-Kyon?
Wha...." She yawned widely. "What are you doing here?"
"Just...waiting for you. Tohru and Hana are cleaning up the classroom
right now. They'll be here soon."
"Mmmm. And the Prince?"
He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in distaste. "Going over some stuff
with the teachers. He'll probably be coming too."
She pulled the covers up around her shoulders, wrapping them tightly
around herself, and rolled onto her side, facing him directly. All traces
of sleep seemed to have disappeared from her face already. "How thoughtful
of you to come here early."
He stared at her. Her voice...not soft and gentle, as it was when he left
her here earlier, but not lacking in sincerity, either. It was strange.
"Tohru...Tohru asked me to," he muttered.
"Well, you could have said no."
He looked away at the clock again. "Not really. Not when she asks."
"And if I asked?"
He kept staring at the clock, trying to keep himself calm. Her voice was
teasing, but teasing the way she would tease Tohru, or Hana. Not in a
mocking way, but.... His mind struggled for the word.
"Yeah...I suppose I'd come. If. Um. You asked."
Affectionate. Yes. In her rough, Yankee manner, it was affectionate.
"So why didn't you come at lunchtime with the others?"
He sighed, and turned to look at her, feeling a little tired for some
reason. "I don't know. Just had things to think about." He shrugged,
trying not to let his unease show.
"Carrothead? Thinking?" Arisa laughed. Ah, that was more like her usual
self. He bristled a little, but not that much. And then she wiggled an arm
at him, in lieu of a wave as she still had the blanket clasped tightly
around herself. "Well, you're here now. Thanks."
Kyou looked at her suspiciously. Was it just his imagination, or had she
dipped her head down a little when she said that? And let her hair fall in
front of her face? She had thanked him, there was no doubt about that. He
felt triumphant--and a little warm inside.
Don't worry. Accept it. It's safe. It's all right.
He relaxed. "Eh. No big deal. I didn't mind." A lie in part, as he did
mind earlier. But not really anymore.
She yawned again, then sat up in bed, keeping the blanket around her
shoulders but sliding her legs out over the edge of the mattress. Her
skirt had ridden up some, exposing her calves and a bit of her thigh,
though not too much. "Better get up, or I'll fall asleep again."
He looked up from her legs, hoping she hadn't noticed that. "How are you
feeling now?"
"A lot better. Guess you were right, maybe I should have stayed home
today."
He shrugged again. "Well, as long as you don't keel over...."
"Yeah."
"You hungry?" He remembered Tohru's bentou suddenly, now sitting in his
bag.
"No. Had some soup earlier. Besides, not much appetite with this flu. Did
you wash your hands?"
"...of course I did."
She chuckled, then sighed. "I'll be glad to get home and sleep in my own
bed, in my pajamas. This uniform's kinda uncomfortable." She threw off the
blanket finally and smoothed her clothing out some, and this time, she
didn't miss it. "And what are you looking at now?" she said, echoing her
question from earlier that day.
Oops. "Nothing."
"Oh, am I still nothing?"
Challenging, yet amused. Kyou's brain locked up for a few moments, unable
to figure out how to respond. "Aaagh, forget it," he said, peevishly.
Damn.
And another laugh. "You're cute sometimes, you know that, Kyou?"
It took every single ounce of training that he'd done over the years to
maintain his balance and not fall off his seat. What she just said hadn't
been much, wasn't really important, but for some reason, the feeling of
peace from earlier had fled now, and he was trying to get a grip on
himself.
It must have been taking him quite a long while to do that, because he
then heard her say, "Um...I'm sorry, if I...I didn't mean to...."
He slowly looked up at her. She had turned away, but it seemed like she
was looking at him out of the corner of her eye, apparently puzzled and
maybe a tiny bit upset. He couldn't blame her--he should have just taken
it in stride. Don't worry. Accept it. It's safe.
"It's all right." She nodded, and visibly relaxed. "Just...caught me off
guard there. Anyway. You're pretty sometimes too, so we're even."
And she smiled.
There was a knock on the door outside. "Sensei?"
"That's Tohru," she said, jumping out of bed. And Kyou was at her side
immediately, having predicted what was going to happen.
"Dammit, Arisa, be more careful," he muttered, catching her by the arm.
"Don't you ever learn?"
"Urgh. Occasionally I do. Hand me my bag."
"I'll carry it."
"Uo-chan! How are you feeling now?"
As Tohru and Hana piled in, Kyou stood back a little to give them some
space, and hefted the backpack. Yuki was lurking just outside, no doubt.
This was going to be a long walk to Arisa's apartment.
But he would't mind it so much, he imagined. He'd let himself enjoy the
view this time.
End chapter 2.
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I...suppose I'll have one more chapter. I think.
I don't mind Kyou and Kagura, but I just feel that there's so much more
potential chemistry between Kyou and Uotani. If you've read this far, I
imagine you agree at least somewhat.
