Archive of Our Own

“N.L.F.S?”
…
“It stands for Nocturnal Lymphoid Fever Syndrome, but most people just call them night fevers.”

“Night… fevers?”

“A lymphoid on the afflicted's throat is permanently swollen from bacteria resting in it called the Mother Bacteria. The Mother Bacteria multiplies at night, and the body heats up to kill it, and while it kills all the Children Bacteria, the Mother Bacteria is immune. All the Children Bacteria should be killed by morning, with some exceptions- like if the Mother Bacteria produced too many children to fight in one night, but that's pretty rare.”

“Is the bacteria dangerous? Does it make you sick?”

“The children can agitate the throat, cuz that's where their located, and it'll make it all itchy, but besides that nope! It's harmless.”

“How is the bacteria only produced at night?”

“They think it's the Mother's resting period during the day or something, but that's just a guess they really don’t know.”

“And this heat to kill the bacteria… it causes fevers every night?”

“Nee-hee-hee, you catch on fast! Yep! Every night, you'll have a fever. They can range from mild to ER worthy, depending on how fast the Mother multiples.”

“Is it curable?”

“No… they can't figure out how to kill the Mother Bacteria, and it can move out of the lymphoid if threatened by an outside force, but that results in lung infections and such that would kill you before you know it! Or something like that…”

“So how come I don't see you getting fevers every night?”

“Well beloved, I didn't say it wasn’t manageable! This pill I take, called ‘Noxilium’ kills the Children Bacteria as fast as the Mother produces them. Just like with the heat the Mother is immune, but as long as I take it once a day before 7 p.m., I'll be A-Okay!”

“Why before 7?”

“Night Fevers kick in around midnight, and start to slow by 6 a.m. Noxilium takes 4-5 hours to completely surround the Mother Bacteria and start working, and lasts roughly 24 hours starting at the time you took it, so if I take it before 7 every day, I won't ever get a fever!”

“Does it have any side effects?”

“It weakens the body’s hormones, so it can have some growing side effects, but nothing too bad!”

“Ah… so that's why you're so short,”

“Wha- HEY!”

“Hehe, just teasing Kichi~Ko.”

“Hmph… meanie-“

~♡~

Kokichi hummed cheerfully, opening the cabinet above the bathroom sink and pulling out a bottle of pills labeled “Noxilium.” He frowned as he opened it, looking inside to only see one pill left,

Shit! How did I not notice that the last few times? It's fine… if I call in now I should be able to get more by tomorrow!

Kokichi scrambled to pull out his phone, popping the pill in his mouth and scrolling to find a specific contact,

“KOKICHI!”

He turned away from his phone as he heard his name from down the stairs, “COMING!” he called back, taking one last glance at the open bottle on the sink before screwing the lid back on and placing it back in the cupboard, shoving his phone back in his pocket,

I'll just do it later-

Kokichi made his way downstairs, making sure to prance cheerfully down each step. He caught sight of Shuichi sitting in the living room, looking at him with a soft smile and holding his hand over his phone's reciever,

“Kaede invited our class over for a sleepover tomorrow, would you like to go?”

Kokichi tilted his head curiously as he walked to join his partner on the couch, “Sleepover? Why?”

“Her parents are out of town for the weekend, and she thought it would be good class bonding.”

“So like a virgin party!”

“No… a sleepover.”

Kokichi moved his arms behind his head, grinning cheekily, “Nee-hee-hee! Whatever you say my beloved!” He moved a pointer finger across his mouth with a sly smirk, “but when we're wasted in her parents bedrooms you better-"

Shuichi slapped a hand over Kokichi's mouth, lifting the phone back to his ear, “He said yes, Kaede.”

Kokichi heard enthusiastic chatter from across the line, pouting and mumbling behind his beloved’s hand.

A few more words were exchanged before the phone was hung up and placed beside Shuichi. Only then did Shuichi relinquish Kokichi's mouth, who took a dramatic gasp and fell backwards on the couch, throwing his arm over his eyes,

“HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME SHU~SHU! I NEARLY DIED OF ASPHYXIATION!”

Shuichi rolled his eyes with a playful smile, “Oh yes, how dare I,” his gaze turned for more serious as he looked at Kokichi's covered eyes, “Are you sure you're okay with going?”

Kokichi used his arms to push himself back up and clung to Shuichi's, “Of course! I know how much you looove spending time with your entourage!”

Kokichi could practically see Shuichi's eyes sparkle with excitement, “It has been awhile… I can’t remember the last time we all got to have fun together,” once again, his expression morphed straighter, “but I- don't like you staying the night away from home and… Kaede's house is pretty far away-"

Kokichi interrupted him with a kiss to his cheek, “I have my pills, don't worry. They won't fail, they never have,” his words were soft and sweet, a small smile donning his lips.

I really need to the call the pharmacy…

Shuichi eased up, “You're right… sorry. Now,” he pulled his phone out once again, and reached for the remote on the coffee table, “Sushi or Pizza for lunch? And Mystery or Romance for the movie?”

…It can wait a little longer…

~♡~

The morning drew light through the curtains, bringing Kokichi closer in Shuichi's hold. He smiled at his still sleeping boyfriend, reaching up to run his fingers down the sapphire locks of his hair,

“Shui~” Kokichi cooed with a saccharine song, watching as the aforementioned stirred awake, grumbling and blinking his gilded grey eyes open, and focusing them down to Kokichi,

“Morning Kichi~Ko,” Shuichi mumbled, proceeding to tighten his grip and slowly lift him and Kokichi up, “Did you sleep okay?”

Kokichi’s mouth curved into a frown, feeling guilty for his routinely worry of his wellbeing in the morning. Ever since he revealed his rare illness to Shuichi, the boy has worried nonstop about his condition. He tried his best to assure Shuichi the pills would never fail and he always made sure to take them before seven, but his boyfriend worried nonetheless,

“I slept perfect Shushi roll, and I'll never not!”

Kokichi watched Shuichi's nerves melt away with his confident smile, “That's good…” he let his eyes flutter shut, and fell back down on his pillow, bringing Kokichi with him,

“Shuuu!” Kokichi whined, kicking his feet childishly with a pout, “We have to get uuup!” he started to bang his fists gently on his lover's chest.

Shuichi allowed one of his eyes to peek open, “Oh so now you want to wake up in the morning?”

Kokichi stared with a blank face, deep into Shuichi's very soul. Slowly, his bottom lip started to quiver and tears gathered in his eyes,

“WAAAAAAAH! SHUICHI’S BEING A MEANIEEEE!”

Kokichi burst into tears as Shuichi slapped his hand over his ears, cringing intensely. Even after years, he couldn't get use to screaming in the morning,

“Okay! Okay! We'll get up!” he yelled, scowling as he lifted himself out of bed. Kokichi’s tears disappeared in a snap, a smug grin growing on his face as he hopped out of bed as well, “Yay!” he ran to the other side of the bed, grabbing Shuichi's hand to pull him out of the room, “We only have five hours till we gotta be at Kayayday's!” he cheered, running down the stairs.

Panic shot through Shuichi's eyes as he snapped his head to the living room clock, “It's noon? Why did we sleep in so late?!”

Kokichi tapped his cheek, portraying an innocent persona, “I dunno, but we were up preeetty late finishing the first season of ‘Kimari Monku!’”

Shuichi huffed as he started preparations for breakfast- well- lunch now, “We were the only ones in the class who hadn’t finished it, and it would've been rude to make them rewatch it during the sleepover, especially when we have a whole ‘nother season to finish there.”

“We better!” Kokichi exclaimed, “I wanna know what happened to Himari's sister! But you wouldn't let us watch the next season!”

“That also would’ve been rude,” Shuichi explained gently, “Now what do you want to eat?”

~♡~

The next few hours went smoothly: prepping, packing, and planning. Before they knew it, the time had struck 4,

“There!” Kokichi announced, frantically brushing off his hands as his now fully packed bag rested among the mess he made,

“Good job ‘Kichi,” Shuichi praised teasingly, walking over to wrap his arm around his waist and kiss the top of his head, “Now go take your pill. It takes us an hour to get there, so we should really start leaving-"

Kokichi stopped listening,

Pill…?

Realization dawned on him, churning horror in his stomach,

I forgot to call the pharmacy-

Panic shot through him like the venom of a snake bite. It couldn’t happen, this couldn't happen. He had gotten too careless, hadn’t had a night fever in years. He grew too nonchalant, forgot what it was really like to forget to take one, and now he'll face the consequences. Shuichi will face the consequences,

He's gonna freak out- it's gonna hurt so much- How? Why? Please- someone help- I don’t want to ruin his fun or my fun or anyone's! Ican’tIdon'twantthisIdon't-

“Kichi? Kokichi? Hey, listen to me,” Kokichi slowly came too, seeing Shuichi crouched to his eyes level, removing the hands he had apparently clamped around his mouth, “You're so pale, why are you shaking? Is something wrong? Tell me what's wrong-"

“Nothing's wrong Shushi roll!” Kokichi chirped, throwing his mask on as quick as he could, “I just… felt really nauseous for a second there!”

The answer didn't still his worry, “Are you going to throw up? Did you eat something- are you sick?”

Kokichi used the hands Shuichi was still holding to push himself into a chaste kiss, “Stop being such a worry wart, I'm totally fine!” Physically yes, but mentally, he couldn't stop panicking. Despite this, he released himself from Shuichi's hold and pranced to the door, “Meet me at the door Sai~ha~ra~chan!”

Shuichi relaxed slightly, but he stayed just as alert, “Okay…”

The moment he was out of sight, he sprinted to the bathroom, closing the door gently behind him as to not direct attention, and rustled through the cabinet for the bottle. Maybe, just maybe, there's a pill he missed.

There wasn’t.

Kokichi covered his face with his hands, leaning on the counter to support himself, “Shit… why- why now.”

He moved his hands to bite nervously down on his thumbnail, I need to tell Shu or- I'll ruin the whole sleepover- but there's no way he'd let me stay home alone! If I say anything at all- no matter what- it'll at least ruin it for him. I have to lie, I just have to! It's gonna be painful but way better than ruining Shuichi's night and- and maybe it'll be a mild fever! Yeah! It's been so mild before I didn't even notice!

He ignored the voice in the back of his head, reminding him it had also been so bad once that D.I.C.E had to rush him to the ER. He hadn't told Shuichi about that, and he definitely wasn’t planning too…

Kokichi left the bathroom with a faux positive attitude, plastering on a confident smile over the lie to himself. He met up with Shuichi by the door, taking in his simple black, fuzzy sweater and dark blue jeans. He himself had dressed rather normal as well, a large white hoodie and soft, white jeans.

Shuichi extended Kokichi's small, checkered duffel bag to him, “You ready?”

Kokichi gave a cheerful nod, grabbing the bag and swinging the front door open, “Let's go give them hell!”

Shuichi shook off his worry, and followed him out the door.

~♡~

He wouldn't call Kaede's house a Mansion, but it certainly wasn't small. He could tell that from just the size of the door as he knocked his fist against it, waiting patiently with arm wrapped around Kokichi.

He jumped as the door swung open, Kaede staring back at then with a boisterous smile. She adorned some simple black leggings and a pastel pink sweater with piano keys wrapping around the top,

“Hey guys!” Kaede cheered, eyes sparkling like a child's on Christmas, though she eased her gaze with her next question, “Was the drive okay?”

“It was sooo looong!” Kokichi wailed, pushing himself into his house and dashing over to the couch, falling forcefully on, “My legs feel like jelly! I may never walk again!”

Kaede shook her head, turning back to Shuichi and opening the door further to invite him in, “So good”?

“Yeah,” he chuckled, placing his and Kokichi's bags beside the shoe rack, “Where are the others?”

“Tenko, Himiko, Angie, Maki, And Kaito are in the basement. We have the show and some snacks set up but Kirumi is bringing the rest.”

Kokichi perked up at a familiar name, “So the space idiot is in the basement you say?”

Kaede crossed her arms with a condescending smirk, “So is ‘killer girl.’”

Kokichi pouted, sinking back with a, “Hmph!” Shuichi joined him, and raked his fingers through his hair,

“Just be a little nice?”

Kokichi stuck his tongue out at the bluenette, standing abruptly, “If she kills me it's Ayday~chan's fault for inviting her!”

“NOT TRUE!” Kaede tries to rebuttal, but Kokichi was long down the hallway. She gave a resigning huff, grabbing their bags and grumbling, “I don’t get you sometimes Shuichi, definitely not your taste in men.”

Shuichi gave her an understanding smile, “He's just eccentric, that's all.”

Kaede nervously twirled a strand in her hair, “I try to be friends with everyone, but Kokichi’s a lost cause…”

“A cause is only lost if you lose it,” Shuichi reminded, standing to meet her eyes.

Kaede gave a soft giggle, “You can’t exactly quote Kaito's words when he agrees with me.”

“Kaito's a bit of a hypocrite,” Shuichi admitted, “You can't be friends with Kokichi unless he wants you to be.”

Kaede's gaze met the floor, “I want to be friends with him… he's my best friend’s boyfriend we should get along!”

“He cares about you,” Shuichi voiced, “And you care about him, so you two could if you tried.”

“There's only so hard someone can try,” Kaede huffed, once again taking to crossing her arms.

“You never let me give up,” Shuichi responded, “So I'm not going to let you. You'll see the real him, the kind him someday. Once I get him to open up more…”

“You're right! Kaede mood snapped up, lifting her fists with it, “It'll just take some time right? But I shouldn't wait around, I should try my best to see him like you can! Sorry for dampening the mood Shuichi…”

“We're suppose to have fun together tonight, so let's try our best.”

Kaede jumped forward, hugging Shuichi tightly, “You've grown so much! Who would've thought you'd lecture me about positivity someday! Your right! I want this night to be absolutely perfect!”

Shuichi lifted his hands in modesty, “Oh no, no I wouldn't say I'm lecturing! Just reminding right? You're the expert in positivity!” His hands fell as his smile softened, “And hopefully it will...”

Kaede released one of her arms to boop him on the nose, “But we still need to work on your positivity!”

Shuichi gasped as he felt two warm arms wrapped around his waist, pulling his backwards and out of Kaede's grasp. He watched Kaede's shocked expression turn into a teasing smile. He looked down, and saw an irritated Kokichi with his cheeks puffed out, staring daggers into Kaede as he held Shuichi tight,

“Keep your hands to yourself piano freak!”

Shuichi couldn’t help but chuckle, patting his head condescendingly, “Someone jealous?

Kokichi snapped his head back over to Shuichi, glower only growing, “No!” he moved his hand swiftly to latch onto Shuichi's arm, pulling him towards the basement, “We're going!”

Shuichi looked back to Kaede with a sheepish grin, mouthing, “Sorry.”

“It's fine,” She mouthed back, smile stuck to her face with giddy energy. Her gaze fell to their bags she was holding, matching, just with different initials,

“Their so cute…” Kaede decided, despite her distaste in Kokichi, she couldn’t help but admit they made a good couple. She heard the doorbell ring, and made her way to greet the next guests.

Meanwhile, Kokichi dragged Shuichi down the steps into the basement’s main room. It looked wonderfully set up in Kokichi's opinion. Two long, white couches, one behind the other, with plenty of throw pillows and blankets. Both were pointed at the large projector on the back wall, currently set up to start the show when they were all gathered. Snacks lay on small wood tables connected to the sofas: chips, sodas, popcorn, and a variety of treats. The five aforementioned guests were strewn about the room: Tenko tucking in Himiko on the far end of the back couch, Angie poking her cheek, much to Tenko's annoyance, and Kaito and Maki sat in the middle of the front couch, Maki lecturing Kaito through what looked to be a video game on a handheld console. The former two turned at the door slamming open, but the female trio paid it no mind.

Both Kaito and Maki's faces filled with displeasure, Maki more so rage, but eased their expression when they caught sight of Shuichi,

“Yo! Shuichi!” Kaito ran over, stealing the arm Kokichi was holding to drag him over to his previous location, “Makiroll and I just got this new game but it super hard you-“

“Kaito-"

“I bet a sidekick like you can turn the tables and give me-"

“Kaito…”

“Someone needs to pass this level so I can-"

“KAITO!”

Finally, Kaito snapped his head around, loosening his grip on Shuichi's hand, “Need something?”

Shuichi sighed, motioning his head back to Kokichi. He had sat down on the back couch's corner, staring at the floor with a remaining puff in his cheeks,

“What about him? He was being an annoying shit as always the second he got down here!”

“What did he do?” Shuichi inquired in a gentle, yet firm tone.

“He stole my game from me and completed the level I was on!”

“Isn't… isn't that what you wanted?”

Kaito scoffed, “Yeah… but it's Kokichi! He was obviously doing it to ruin the game for me! He was mocking me the whole time! Luckily I could restart the level… what an asshole,”

Shuichi shook his head. He loved his friend but the others weren't wrong when they called him an idiot, blinded especially by his morals, “Sorry, I'm not very good at video games. Maybe ask Kirumi when she gets here? She tends to be good at everything.”

As if on cue, a voice emerged from the doorway, “Is my service required?”

Shuichi moved his attention to the grey-haired female, now standing in the room with a polite smile, hands folded neatly in front of her.

He smiled in response, “Kirumi! Yes, Kaito was struggling with his game.”

“I could aid you if you so desire,” Kirumi offered, turning her attention to Kaito.

Kaito looked warily between Shuichi and Kirumi, before perking up once again, “Sure! Do good enough and I'll recruit you as one of my sidekicks!”

Kirumi's smile seemed to turn wry, as if the offer was not very appealing to her. Nonetheless, she bowed slightly, moving to sit next to Maki, “It would be my honor.”

Shuichi watched Kaito follow her, cheering her on with bright enthusiasm, and made his way next to Kokichi, who turned to look at him with his ever-staying pout,

“Well how do you do Mr. Problem Solver.”

Shuichi couldn't help but giggle at the nickname, “Sorry about that, and that Kaito didn't take your help before…”

Kokichi painted over his sour mood with a mask of glee, “Nee-hee-hee! Oh you mean his game? Nah I just took it to rub it in his face that I'm better than him!”

Shuichi’s eyes held a knowing shine, “Of course…” He pulled Kokichi closer to him, grasping his hand to run his thumb along it's knuckles, “Could you maybe apologize to Kaede? For yelling at her… I know you didn't meant to,”

“Of course I did!” Kokichi snapped, haughtily lifting his nose to the air, “She was all touchy with my Shu, she deserved it!”

Shuichi kissed his cheek to bring his gaze back to him, “You don't mean that either.”

“I do!” Kokichi buried his face into Shuichi's arm, trying to hide his embarrassment, “…maybe.”

Shuichi watched and greeted the rest of his class as they each entered the room, first Gonta, Tsumugi, Miu and Keebo, followed by Ryoma then Korekiyo. Tsumugi and Gonta went to sit by Angie, Tenko, and Himiko, while Miu and Keebo sat in the middle of the back couch. Ryoma and Korekiyo sat up front, closest to the door. Finally, Kaede entered with Rantaro, holding the cookies Kirumi made as Rantaro held her other hand, Kokichi and Shuichi's bags resting in the crevice of her elbow,

“Looks like everyone's situated!” Kaede noticed with cheer.

“Start the show before my Himiko falls asleep!” Tenko huffed, crossing her arms.

“She already is Titshit,” Miu exclaimed, kicking her legs up onto the coffee table in front of her.

Kaede just rolled her eyes, setting the cookies on the most organized snack table, and motioning for Rantaro to go sit down . He complied, taking a seat at the far end of the front couch as Kaede moved to Kokichi and Shuichi’s location. She handed Shuichi his bag with a smile, then extended Kokichi's towards him with a frown,

“I'm sorry, I know that must have been a suspicious sight to come upstairs and see.”

Kokichi snatched his bag back, digging around inside it for a few items. He seemed to write something, then pulled a Panta and sticky note out of his back, pressing the note on the bottle and handing it to Kaede, quick to turn around and intently ignore her.

Shuichi watched Kaede's face light up as she read the note, quickly moving to go sit with Rantaro. She sat herself next to him and opened the bottle she was handed and lifted it to her lips, allowing Shuichi to catch sight of the notes contents,

“Sorry Piano Freak ;P”

Shuichi beamed proudly down at his lover, watching his trained eyes fixed on the TV that Kaede was now controlling, moving to start their hours of marathon, and clicking the “play" button.

~♡~

The hours passed without problem, joyously joking among fellow classmates. Shuichi sat in silence almost the whole time, admiring and silently giggling at Kokichi's inquisitive quips at the show and their classmates. As the hour of 10 rolled around, the season finale came to a close, only about half the class perceptible enough to register it: Himiko had long fallen asleep, Angie lying beside her, Kaito loudly snoring on a grumbling Maki, Tsumugi trying and failing to keep her eyes open, Keebo petting Miu's hair with annoyance as she dozed off in his lap, Gonta and Ryoma sleeping to themselves, and finally Shuichi, who let out soft snores against Kokichi's head, arms wrapped around his waist as if he were a stuffed animal,

“That was amazing!” Kaede exclaimed, clasping her hands together with a cheerful grin.

“Way too many clichés if you ask me,” Kokichi replied with a touch of boredom, examining his fingernails as he tried to still his blush.

“That was kind of the whole point,” Keebo pointed out in exasperation, rolling his eyes.

“It was enjoyable to identify each and every cliché they used from older television production,” Korekiyo voiced, “I counted 753.”

“You're- terrifyingly good at your talent,” Rantaro acknowledged with an admirable smirk.

“We’re going to have to rewatch the last few episodes,” Tenko announced with vigor, “My poor Himiko fell asleep and missed them!”

“If that's the issue we need to rewatch the whole season,” Maki added coldly, trying to push Kaito’s sleeping form off of her.

Kaede nodded along to their conversation, “We should get the sleeping ones to bed. I already got all the futons rolled out in both guest bedrooms. There's eight of them and two full-sized beds so now we just need to figure out sleeping arrangements!”

“Himiko needs a bed!” Tenko demanded, pointing a finger accusingly at her host, “Degenerate males should sleep on the floor!”

“While I don’t agree with the reasoning, that should be fine,” Kaede decided with a nervous smile, “Kokichi? Would you and Shuichi like to share the other?”

Kokichi stuck his tongue out at Kaede, “Ewww no! I bet your beds have filthy piano germs on them!”

“We'll take the bed,” Maki announced coldly, shooting daggers at Kokichi for his comment, “Kaito takes up a lot of room and I'm sure the mats are close together.”

“Makes sense!” Kaede said with a bob of her head, “Lets get everyone over!”

“I don't think any of us will be able to carry Gonta,” Keebo pointed out, already hoisting Miu onto his back.

“And picking up Ryoma would be a death wish,” Rantaro chuckled.

“They can stay in here then I'm sure they won't mind!” Kaede decided

Korekiyo lifted Tsumugi in his arms, walking over to the aforementioned boys with a blanket and draping it over them, “Perhaps this will make them more comfortable?”

“Thanks Kiyo!” Kaede gratified, walking over to Tenko and helping her place Himiko on her back, the turning so Tenko could help her with Angie.

“If everything is decided, night,” Maki leaned Kaito on her shoulder, and was already dragging him into the room she chose.

While the others conversed, Kokichi was struggling to lift Shuichi, trying and failing to pull him off the couch. When it caught Rantaro’s eyes, he walked over with a warm smile,

“Need help with that?”

Kokichi puffed out his cheeks and turned away, “No! I can do it just fine by myself!”

“You sure? It's alright if he’s too big for you to carry,” Kokichi snapped his head around with a furious look, but Rantaro cut in before he could speak, “I'll just help you, alright? I'll grab his legs and you grab his arms.”

Kokichi's expression stilled in deep consideration, before he wrapped his arms around Shuichi's with a huff, “Fine. But only so you don't look so useless while everyone else is carrying someone!”

Rantaro shook his head with a sigh, opting to pull Shuichi up by his legs, “Of course, of course.”

They carried Shuichi to the left room, Kokichi still slightly struggling with the weight. Though he came close to stirring from the uncomfortable position, the warmth of Kokichi's hands lulled him back to sleep everytime. The room itself was shrouded in darkness, but from the light of the corridor they could make out the bed Maki rested on with Kaito, and the six futons on the floor. Together, they tucked Shuichi in on the farthest one, who immediately whimpered at the lost of his boyfriend’s hands. With a pleased smile he wriggled under the covers as well, latching himself onto Shuichi’s side,

“Well you sure look comfy,” Rantaro teased, keeping his voice low to avoid disturbing their sleeping friends.

“Neehee-hee! Are you jealous perhaps?” Kokichi whispered with a lilt.

“Does he have a reason to be?” Kaede's voice appeared in the room, both set of eyes traveling to her walking form that sat on the futon next to them, “I think I make an even better pillow than Shuichi.”

Kokichi feigned offensive with a dramatic gasp, “Impossible! My Shushi roll is the best pillow!”

“I’ll be using your corpses as pillows if you don't shut up,” Maki grumbled from her place on the bed.

Kaede couldn’t help but giggle, moving into the Futon and holding the covers up for Rantaro, who slid in after, “We'll see about that,” Kaede challenged Kokichi.

With those final words, both couples drifted to sleep, Kokichi trying to ignore the dull throb starting to pulse through his muscles.

~♡~

Shuichi wasn't aware what stirred him, mind too muddled to even process his location. He frantically blinked his eyes, attempting to fully regain consciousness. Slowly, the bedroom, dimly lit by the moon, was made clear to him, and he began to register Kaito's obnoxiously loud snores. He instinctively brought a fist to his eyes and rubbed away the lingering sleep. The cogs slowly started turning in his head, allowing him to process his situation. He was at Kaede's house, he must have fallen asleep during the movie, and someone carried him to bed. He let out an involuntary yawn, stretching his arms up to prepare himself for more sleep, but it could not prepare him for what he felt when he flipped himself over to lean on his other side,

Heat

As his body pressed against another he was engulfed in a cloud of warmth. His hand came in contact with their arm, feeling it tremble viciously and drenched in something. The chest pressed against his was practically heaving, heavy panting only adding to his worry.

He pushed himself away, blinking rapidly in a confused haze. It didn't surprise him to find the figure sharing his bed to be Kokichi, but his state was appalling. His skin was pale as snow, only accentuating the feverish blush tracking from his cheeks across the bridge of his nose, tinting his forehead from which beads of sweat dripped down. His expression was scrunched in crippling discomfort, soft, scratchy moans escaping his lips between heaving pants. He had curled in on himself, shuddering so violently the blanket had fallen from his shoulders.

Panic clenched Shuichi's muscles rigid, throat tightening at the ghastly sight. Worry bubbled in his stomach as his nerves allowed him to bring a hand to his mouth. Kokichi looked horrible.

He couldn't comprehend what had happened, eyes pulled open in fear. His mind demanded he do something, but his body felt frozen by the questions and concerns swirling through his jumbled mind. Hacking coughs exploded from Kokichi's chest, snapping Shuichi into action. He raised himself up, gently pulling Kokichi’s head into his lap. He placed the back of his hand on his forehead, flinching back at the scorching heat. To confirm his suspicious, he slid his hand down to the permanently swollen lymph node just below his jaw, resting the back of two fingers on the skin. He recoiled the hand instinctively,

It was boiling.

Shuichi bit his bottom lip fiercely, trying to hold back tears of horror as his suspicions were confirmed, it was a night fever, and a terrible one at that. He couldn't help but whimper, stroking his fingers through Kokichi's hair,

“Why..? I thought you said you'd be fine…”

“Mmm… Shuichi?”

Shuichi snapped his head around as a female voice mumbled his name. He watched Kaede slowly blink her eyes open, groggily lifting herself into a seated position. As she registered Shuichi's expression, hers fell into concern, “What's wrong?”

Shuichi let out the breath he had held in, looking back to Kokichi with ever-as-much worry, “K-kokichi… he…”

Shuichi's voice fell out, Kaede responding by pulling herself out from the covers, delicately as to not disturb Rantaro. She crawled over to sit next to Shuichi, gasping when she saw Kokichi in his arms, “Oh my god… what happened?”

Somehow keeping their hushed tones, Kaede scampered to the other side of Shuichi to face him and Kokichi, placing her hand on the former’s forehead, “He's burning up!”

Shuichi could do nothing but nod, choking back a sob. Kaede noticed this and removed her hand from Kokichi's forehead, who whimpered at the loss of relieving coolness, to place it on Shuichi's cheek, “It's okay Shuichi, it isn't too bad!”

He could still feel the heat of his head on her hand.

“Okay it's bad…” Kaede admitted, seeing Shuichi's expression, “But we have to stay calm so we can help him, right?”

Her words brought ease to Shuichi's throat, allowing his mind to gain more logicality, “Y-yeah- we need to get him on a more comfortable s-surface- not on the f-floor… do you think we can use one of the b-beds?”

Kaede bit the inside of her cheek, “Maki isn't going to move from the bed for Kokichi… and Tenko wouldn’t move Himiko from the bed for a ‘degenerate male,'” She explained reluctantly.

“He's sick and suffering,” Shuichi pointed out breathlessly.

“It's Kokichi,” Kaede rebuttled, “You know how they both are about any person, even some they like, so when it comes to someone they hate-"

Kaede was interrupted by a high pitched whine from Kokichi as he shifted himself over to bury his face into Shuichi's stomach. Shuichi squirmed at the uncomfortable heat, but ran his fingers through Kokichi's hair nonetheless, “What about the couches upstairs?” he suggested, “We won't have to worry about disturbing everyone as much either.”

Kaede bobbed her head in affirmation, “Good plan. I’ll go grab a thermometer to see if we need to call an ambulance.”

Shuichi's eyes widened extraordinarily, “Oh God- d-do you think we'll need to-"

Kaede gripped Shuichi's arm and squeezed, “Calm down Shuichi, it's just to check. We probably won’t need to,” She mustered up a reassuring smile, “Now you get your boy upstairs. I'll grab what we need.”

Shuichi nodded, wrapping his arms around Kokichi’s shoulder blades and the back of his knees, lifting him as carefully as he could manage. He still received a low moan, agitating his lover's throat and sending him into another coughing fit. It was impossible not to feel the sporadic shivering between jolts of coughing, only worsening as he was removed from the blanket. Concerned for his comfort and his friend's sleep, he carried Kokichi back upstairs to the living room they had met with Kaede in, looking around frantically for a couch pillow. When he recalled them all being tooken for the guests downstairs, he opted for sitting down himself with Kokichi's resting on his lap, the shorter immediately curling back into his stomach for comfort and warmth.

He resumed stroking Kokichi's hair as he spotted Kaede walk up the stairs with a tray of supplies, “I think I got everything we should need.” She stood in front of the couch, looking down at Kokichi with a sad smile,

“Thanks Kaede,” Shuichi voiced, picking up the thermometer from the tray. He slowly and cautiously slipped it into Kokichi's mouth, careful not to rouse the boy. He noticed his boyfriend's eyes scrunch up somehow more for a second, but gently relaxed as the thermometer stilled in his mouth. The friends waited in tense silence, until they heard a soft, “Beep.” Upon hearing it, Shuichi hastily removed the thermometer, face falling at the number,

“103 (39.4 C)…” Shuichi repeated breathlessly.

“He needs a hospital!” Kaede exclaimed, as quietly as she could in her worry.

Shuichi just shook his head, “No, not for this kind of fever. We're only suppose to take him to the hospital if it gets to 104 or higher. They can’t do anything for any lower.”

“What? Well, at least give him some fever reducers!” Kaede prodded, setting the tray down on the coffee table and grabbing the pills from it, motioning them towards Shuichi.

Shuichi felt his bottom lip tremble, “Those won't do anything either-"

At this point, Kaede was completely lost, “Why not? What's wrong?”

“It's… complicated,” Shuichi drew out, nervously picking at Kokichi's hair and shifting his eyes away.

“Shuichi…” Kaede started, lowering herself to his seated eye level, “Tell me what's wrong.”

Shuichi looked down at his boyfriend, pain written evidently on his face. He knew he was suppose to keep Kokichi's illness a secret, but he also didn’t know how he could advert Kaede's attention, much less get him safe without her help. It might be betraying Kokichi's trust, but his health was more important to Shuichi. He trusted Kaede, and knew she wouldn’t tell a soul, so his internal warfare came to a close,

“Kokichi… has an illness-" Shuichi explained, meeting Kaede's eyes, “A chronic condition- called Nocturnal Lymphoid Fever Syndrome, or Night Fevers to simplify it.”

Kaede's confusion did not let up, “What's that?”

Shuichi slipped his hand down to the burning lymphoid on Kokichi's neck, “Kokichi has a permanently swollen lymphoid because of a rare bacteria in it. Once a night, that bacteria starts to reproduce and the body heats up to fight it.”

“So a fever,” Kaede checked.

Shuichi nodded, “That rare bacteria, called the Mother Bacteria, cannot be killed by the heat, so only the offspring end up dying in the night. The fever should be completely gone by 7 a.m.”

“So it's not dangerous?”

“It can be,” Shuichi answered, “If the fever gets too high, but they can’t do anything to cure it, so there’s no point in going unless it reaches 104… but this- this will still affect him.”

“But this happens every night?” Kaede questioned him skeptically.

“He takes this pill every day that kills the offspring bacteria for 24 hours, preventing him from getting a fever.”

“Then- why did he get one?”

Shuichi looked at his boyfriend solemnly, “I don't know… he told me he took his pill.”

“Well, it is Kokichi,” Kaede reminded, “Did he lie?”

“He might have…” Shuichi conceded, “But why would he? And why would he not take his pill?”

“We can’t worry about that now Shuichi,” Kaede informed him, “Lets focus on helping him, is there anything we can do?”

“If the fever gets too bad… we'll have to take him to the hospital,” Shuichi brought up again, “And if there's still hours left for it to worsen- he needs to take one of his pills, or he'll end up- up in…”

Kaede cupped Shuichi's cheek as his breath started to quicken, “Breathe Shuichi…” Kaede mollified, “Where are his pills?”

Shuichi took a deep breath, “At our home…” he replied meekly.

Kaede gave him a reassuring smile, “Then let’s get him home.” She took the cold compress on the tray and dipped it in a small bowl of water, placing it gently on his head, “At least this will feel nice.”

Kaede seemed to be right, as Kokichi's expression eased up ever so slightly. She quickly grabbed another set of the pills from the tray, extending them to Shuichi, “Pain killers will help right? He just- looks like he's in agony.”

Shuichi took the two pills from her hand, slipping them into Kokichi’s mouth to dissolve, “They should,” He watched Kokichi for a few moments before voicing his thoughts, “I'll take him home. Thank you Kaede.”

Kaede scrunched her eyebrows in worry, “Are you sure you can handle it? Getting him home by yourself that is.”

“Of course,” I've already bothered you enough.

“Alright then,” Kaede said, “I'm going to head back to bed. I want to make sure no one else ends up waking up and seeing this, we want everyone to have a great night to remember!”

Shuichi smiled as Kaede pumped her fists into the air, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Kaede's face morphed far more serious, lowering herself once again to squeeze Shuichi's arm, “Please… keep him safe,”

Shuichi swallowed dryly, “I will.”

With one final nod, Kaede lifted herself and exited the room.

Shuichi's eyes immediately tracked back down to Kokichi, throat constricting once again. It was so hard to think rationally without someone there to keep him sane. Seeing Kokichi hurting threw his detective mind right out the window.

He blinked back when he noticed a clammy hand grip loosely around his own, “Shhhuuu-" the violette mumbled in his sleep, pushing himself further into Shuichi,

“Shhh,” Shuichi shushed him, “I'm g-going to get you home s-safe o-okay? Y-you're going t-to be o-okay…”

Shuichi placed his hand on his chest, taking a deep breath in and out. He will himself to stand, wrapping his arms around Kokichi just like before. He quickly threw on a coat and pair of shoes, grabbing the car keys from the stand. He slowly creeped outside, pulling Kokichi in tighter as the cool wind blew past him. Kokichi's immense shivering only increased. He opened the back door of his car, leaning in to lay Kokichi gently down on the seats,

How am I going to buckle him? Shuichi's mind was sent into more panic, hand shaking as he looked frantically for somewhere to lock it in that would protect and be comfortable for Kokichi. With no avail, he noticed Kokichi's breathing start to rasp. He hurriedly lifted Kokichi and sat under him, resting his head on his lap and listened to his breathing smooth back out into heavy pants,

He needs to stay elevated- how am I going to keep him elevated? How am I going to buckle him? How am I going to drive and keep him attended to?

He put his head in his hands, tears dripping through the cracks as the thoughts overwhelmed him. He felt so guilty to be crying when Kokichi was in horrible condition and needed help, but he was just so scared and alone and he couldn’t seem to breathe-

His mind halted when he felt a hand on his own, pulling his hands down as the other helped and gripped it loosely once again, he blinked away the tears to see Kokichi's hazed and pain-filled eyes fluttering back on him, gripping so loose Shuichi held it for him,

“Don't… cry-"

His voice was so quiet and raspy, only getting through two words before breaking out into another hacking fit, letting out whines between each painful heave. Shuichi only tightened the grip on his hand, “I'm sorry. I’m going to help you I promise I just- I don’t think I can do it alone but I really don’t want to bother Kaede again and ruin her perfect night-"

Shuichi cut himself off when Kokichi once again went limp in his arm, hand falling off his own as he released it,

“No… no I have to,” Shuichi decided, pulling Kokichi into his arms and carrying him back inside, “It might be Kaede's perfect night but- but I can’t do this by myself…”

Kokichi has tooken care of you before. All by himself, his own mind scolded him.

Shuichi laid Kokichi on Kaede’s couch, looking down at his hands, “I know… but-"

~☆~

“If you needed help why didn’t you just ask Shumai!” Kokichi interrogated, face huffed with feigned fury.

Shuichi twiddled his fingers nervously, “Well you managed to make one all by yourself so that means I can-"

“Shuichi,” Kokichi displayed unusual seriousness, taking Shuichi's hands in his own, “Just because someone else can do something, doesn’t make you worthless or useless if you can’t.”

“I didn’t say that…” Shuichi whispered,

Kokichi stood on the tips of his toes, using Shuichi's hands to pull him down a bit and kiss his cheek, “But you thought it didn’t you?”

Shuichi avoided eye contact, but nodded reluctantly.

Kokichi shot back to his usual cheer, “Come on, I'll help you with the next batch!”

~☆~

He found himself in front of Kaede, confidence swiftly leaning as he watched her sleep so peacefully…

He shook away the thought, Kokichi needs me and I'm not backing down-

He shook Kaede gently, startling her awake,

“Shu’chi?” She whispered in a panic tone, words slurred as she rubbed her eyes “Wha' happened? Why're you still ‘ere?”

“I- need your help… with Kokichi,” Shuichi admitted.

Kaede dawned her recently made common confusion, “Why didn’t you just say so before?”

“I… I thought I could handle it…”

Kaede shot him a sleepy smile, groggily lifting herself up, “Come on, just tell me what you need help with,” she started up the stairs without looking back.

Shuichi scampered after her sheepishly, “I-I don’t know how to keep him safe and comfortable in the car. I need to drive but he needs to be watched in case he gets worse-“

Kaede kneeled in front of Kokichi, grabbing the compress to dampen it in the bowl of water still resting on the table and replace it, “I'll ride with you!”

“But you have to stay, a bunch of people are staying over at your house…”

“They're independent, they can call me or just leave in the morning if they need to,” Kaede rebuttled with a cheery expression, placing the thermometer in Kokichi's mouth.

“But you wanted the night to go perfectly, if you have to leave and can’t spend the morning with everyone- it- it'll be ruined…”

“Oh Shuichi,” Kaede shook her head, frowning at the increased number on the thermometer, shoving it in her pajama pant's pocket as she stood to meet his gaze, “Without you and Kokichi it already won’t be perfect,” She folded her hands behind her with a gleeful grin, “But that's okay! Of course I want it to be perfect, but Kokichi's health is far more important, wouldn’t you agree?”

Shuichi bit his bottom lip, nodding reluctantly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kaede placed a finger to his mouth with a giggle, “No more buts from you! Let’s get Kokichi in the car!”

Kaede looked back at the shivering, coughing form, putting on her pink coat and shoes before lifting him as Shuichi did before. She pulled a thin blanket from the back of the couch, and started towards the door. Shuichi grabbed the cool bowl of water and followed after. He rushed in front of her to open the back door, holding Kokichi so she could get settled and place the water beside her.

He felt Kokichi limply wrap his arms around Shuichi, burying his face into his stomach,

“Don't worry Kimchi,” Shuichi whispered in response, “Kaede's gonna take good care of you okay? We’ll be home soon.”

Kokichi eased slightly at his words, Shuichi moving to place him on Kaede lap. Kaede shifted him into a laying position, head resting on her thighs. She lifted her toes to prop him up more, draping the blanket around him to help with his shivering. He immediately curled into the warmth it provided,

“Do you think the pain killers will wear off?” Shuichi inquired, giving Kokichi a quick peck to his burning forehead before moving to the front of the car and entering the drivers seat.

“They shouldn’t, Kaede voiced, buckling the seat belt over her, and Kokichi's waist, “Even if they do, I wouldn’t want to give him any more.”

“I guess so, keep him comfortable please,” Shuichi buckled himself in as well.

“I'll try my best!”

They started down the road, Kokichi moaning at the strong movement of the vehicle, “Thank you Kaede.”

Kaede giggled involuntarily, stroking Kokichi's hair as she had seen Shuichi do to soothe him, “You don’t have to keep thanking me Shu, I'm happy to help him.”

Shuichi grip on the steering wheel tightened, “Sorry it's just- I know you don’t exactly like him…”

“But I told you I would try to see him like you do! I don’t break a promise,” Kaede exclaimed confidently.

“He really is a good person Kaede.”

Kaede's face fell into a frown, “Then why doesn’t he show it?”

Shuichi matched Kaede's expression, “Don’t take it personally, he just- has some twisted views on the world…”

“But the world is so beautiful! What would convince him otherwise?”

Shuichi and Kaede fell into tense silence before Shuichi reluctantly spoke up, “…He didn’t have the best childhood.”

Kaede could tell it was time to stop prying further as a heavy cloud of sadness and realization hung over her. She tightened her grip on Kokichi protectively, “O-oh I see I'm… sorry,”

“It's not a bother,” Shuichi reassured his friend with, “I'm working on showing him the world isn’t what his past taught him.”

“I want to meet the real him,” Kaede blurted out after another moment of silence.

“I want you to meet him to,” Shuichi admitted, “His genuine smile, his genuine laugh. It's beautiful.”

Kaede smirked teasingly, “Your completely lovesick.”

Shuichi couldn’t help but laugh, “That's true, I won’t lie, but if you saw his real smile,

You'd be too.”

~♡~

His ears were ringing; loud, obnoxious ringing that almost blocked the deep hum of the car's engine. His mind felt light, distant, an incomprehensible mess, yet his body was weighed down with dull aches resounding through his body. His head was throbbing, throat dry and scratchy, leaving him gagging to hold back what felt to be thousands of hacking coughs. The rest of his body was enveloped with burning, as if the sun itself dug it's way into his entire body, leaving him dripping with grime-filled sweat that pooled in his pores. Despite this, he was wracked with stabs of icy cold, practically freezing the air around him. He clung desperately to the blanket around him, yet it felt scratchy and heavy on his sensitive skin. It was a futile tempt to drive away the cold, and only trapped the boiling heat in him. He felt miserable.

It was excruciatingly difficult to pull open his eyes, they were heavier than the blanket for Atua's sake, but after a few minutes of acute effort, the blurred world was made visible to him. The first thing he was made aware of was a feminine figure he was laying on, staring forward while running her fingers through his hair. It was soothing, but not nearly as soothing as it could be if it were…

“Shu…ich…i?” Kokichi called in barely a whisper.

Kaede's attention was drawn down to the boy, who she sadly smiled at, also whispering as she said, “He's driving.”

“It…hurts,” His voice started to shake, tears collecting in the corners of his eyes.

Kaede nodded in acknowledgement, “Don’t worry Kokichi, were a half an hour away from home. I'm going to take care of you.”

“…Why?”

Kaede's face morphed into confusion, “Why what?”

“Why…. would you… help me..?”

Kaede couldn’t help the pang of sadness the wrung her heart. Had she really been that cold to him, that he didn’t believe she would lend him her aid?

“Oh Kokichi…” She breathed, “I may not like you all that much, but I certainly don’t hate you,” It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep her voice at a whisper, as to not disturb Shuichi for which she seemed to be succeeding, but she managed nonetheless.

“You…don't..?” He inquired with heavy doubt in his already pained tone.

Kaede shook her head vigorously, “Of course not! You've never actually hurt me, and you've done so much for Shuichi,” She mustered up a sweet smile, “How could I hate you?”

“But…I-" Kokichi was interrupted by a good minute of cruel coughs, “I-" The coughing was relentless, he couldn’t get a single word out,

“Be easy on your throat,” Kaede lectured gently, “It's sensitive right now, try not to talk too much.” She waited patiently, watching with heavy sympathy as the fit lasted well into the five-minute mark, Kokichi only getting a few breaths through each handful.

Once his throat was satisfied, he sighed in relief, burying his face into Kaede's stomach, cringing as he felt another itch forming in the same location,

“Do you have cough medicine at your house?” Kaede asked, “His coughing is getting worse.”

Shuichi nodded sadly, “It sounds awful… and yes, I'm always prepared for one of his night fevers.”

“Does he get them often?”

This time, Shuichi shook his head, “Not at all, it's so rare for him to miss his pill. He's only ever had one in my presence. That's really the only reason he told me about them.”

“Was he not planning too?” Kaede seemed shocked with her question.

“I highly doubt it,” Shuichi once again tightened his grip on the steering wheel, “That night was terrifying. None of the medicines or treatments I was giving him were reducing the fever at all. Then all the sudden it just got better, it completely disappeared. I refused to stop questioning him so he cracked and told me about it. I haven’t let him miss a pill since.”

“Why was he so reluctant though?” Kaede couldn’t wrap her head around it, “Surely that would be a very important thing to tell your significant other, no?”

“It's Kokichi,” Shuichi sighed out, “He probably thinks it makes him seem weak or vulnerable…”

“That doesn’t make any sense! Having an illness doesn’t make you seem weaker, you can’t control it!”

Shuichi laughed wryly, “Trust me, I've tried to explain that to him, but I guess someone must have taught him otherwise…”

Kaede felt Kokichi's grip on her pajama shirt tighten, signifying she should drop the conversation. She resumed stroking the violette's hair, pulling him back from her stomach to re-dampen his compress. He stared back at her with bleary eyes, dried tears stuck to the rims of them,

“Sorry…”

“Sorry for what?” Kaede whispered, placing the compress back down on his forehead.

“I ruined y-your- ‘choo!” Kokichi was interrupted by a soft sneeze, setting off his sensitive throat once again. It seemed no matter how much he coughed, the itch just wouldn’t subside,

“Bless you,” Kaede said, grabbing a napkin from the backseat compartment to wipe away the snot and tears, “Now what did you ruin?”

“Your sleepover…” The boy admitted, fluttering his eyes shut.

Kaede discarded the napkin in her pocket, “We had fun didn’t we? I don’t think you ruined anything. Besides, your not bothering anyone except yourself. I'm more than willing to help you, and I'm positive Shuichi is too.”

Kokichi hummed, burying his face back into Kaede's shirt, “I guess… you're too kind for your own good Kae-" Kokichi was hit with another horrifying coughing fit.

Kaede frowned, looking back up to Shuichi, “You wouldn’t happen to have coughing medicine in the car too, would you?” She knew the question was foolish, but she was desperate at this point.

Shuichi gave her a sad smile, “I would have given it to you by now, but we're almost home,”

“Good,” Kaede's expression eased with relief, “Hopefully we’ll be back soon, his coughing is getting worse.”

“His fever probably went up,” Shuichi reluctantly concluded, “Could you check his temperature again?”

Kaede nodded, pulling the thermometer from her pocket and placing it back in his mouth. Kokichi cringed, clearly trying to hold back his coughing,

“Just hold it for a bit,” Kaede pleaded faintly, “It'll be quick I promise.”

It felt like hours for Kokichi, desperately trying to restrain his agitated throat. As soon as Kaede removed the thermometer, he fell into a series of horrible coughs. Each one stabbed into his ribs like a blade, leaving him whimpering and feebly crying out,

“103.5 (39.7 C)…” Kaede repeated, “It's getting worse.”

“But it is two now,” Shuichi scanned his eyes over to the car clock to check, “I don’t think it's going to reach 104.”

“So we won’t have to take him to the hospital? That's good!” Kaede chirped gleefully.

“Maybe… but temperature isn’t a perfect indicator of when to take someone to a hospital,” Shuichi reminded lugubriously.

“True, but we should still stay hopeful!” Kaede decided, momentarily lifting her hand from Kokichi's hair to pump her fists in the air. The second she moved her hand, Kokichi's whines grew in volume as his head thrashed around, searching for her hand,

“Sorry, Sorry,” Kaede apologized through giggles, moving her hand back down to continue stroking it through his ombre locks, “He really does like touch, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he does,” Shuichi confirmed, trying to hide the jealousy pooling in his stomach as he glanced back to see the intimate position Kaede and Kokichi were in.

Kaede caught Shuichi's glare, and instinctively flinched her hand back, “You're okay with me touching his hair right?”

Shuichi wiped off the expression as his eyes tracked back to the road, “Oh of course, whatever Kokichi needs to feel better, and I know that is very comforting to him. Sorry, it was just a bit upsetting.”

“No! No! Sorry! I should have asked first,” Kaede sighed with self-disappointment, “I'm always way too touchy with people… I make everyone’s significant others super uncomfortable…”

“I disagree,” Shuichi replied, “I think it just shows your kind and caring nature.”

Kaede was stunned for a moment, but melted into glee, “Awe, thanks Shuichi. But still, do you want to switch spots? I can drive and you can comfort him.”

“No need,” Shuichi acknowledged, “We're here.”

The conscious duo were washed with relief as Shuichi pulled into the driveway, Kaede taking a moment to stretch as Shuichi turned off and left the car, walking over to Kaede's door and pulling it open. Kaede unbuckled herself and Kokichi, before moving the bowl of water to the other side of her so that Shuichi could pick up Kokichi. She followed suit, shutting the door behind her. They both dashed inside, Shuichi keeping Kokichi as close as possible, taking no time for leisure as he ran upstairs to their shared bedroom. He laid Kokichi on the bed, who cuddled into the familiar sent and feeling. Once Kokichi looked more comfortable, tucked neatly under the blankets to help with the shivering, Shuichi let himself calm a bit, Kaede entering the room without her shoes or coat,

“You grab the pills, I'll take your coat and boots to the entryway.”

Shuichi nodded, already halfway through removing the aforementioned garments. He handed them to Kaede, along with the car keys, and quickly made his way into their bathroom. He shuffled through the bottles until he identified the one labeled “Noxilium” and twisted open the lid. His heart stopped when he looked inside,

It's… empty?

His mind started speeding once again, an all too familiar panic clenching his throat. Had he tooken the last one that morning? No… he couldn’t have. Shuichi remembered the supposed “sick feeling” that had hit Kokichi as they were getting ready. That was directly after he mentioned his pills. His detective intuition was almost never wrong, and he was certain Kokichi had lied to him,

Why? Why would he lie to me? We could have gone to the pharmacy rather than the party. We could have even stayed home if they couldn’t get the pill in time so he could be properly cared for. He didn’t care so much about going he was willing to risk his health; I refuse to believe that. Then why-

“Did you find the pills?” Kaede interrupted, walking into the bathroom.

Shuichi attempted to speak, but could only manage to mewl and shake his head. He watched Kaede fall into concern, only deepening when she looked in the bottle herself,

“Are you… out?” Kaede questioned, praying she was incorrect.

Yet Shuichi nodded, covering his mouth with his hand as he quickly put the bottle back, “Why did he lie..? Why did he lie..?” he was more so repeating it for himself, but Kaede caught on, clasping both her hands around his in comfort,

“Focus Shuichi, you can't panic just yet. You can let all your feelings out once we've got Kokichi in a stable situation okay?” She gave him a reassuring smile, “I believe in you Shuichi, you love him, and I know you'll do it for him.”

“Thanks Kaede,” Shuichi's anxiety started to dissipate, “Your so much better at this than I am,” He lowered his head to the floor, “I'm a terrible boyfriend…”

“None of that negativity right now,” Kaede cupped his cheek, pulling his gaze back up, “Your doing your best. It can be hard to see the ones we love suffer. We may panic and become stressed. If it was Rantaro in Kokichi's place, I'm sure you would be comforting me just the same,” She removed her hands to signify she was done with her speech, “Now, we have no way of treating Kokichi's fever, how can we help him?”

Shuichi took a deep breath, his logic clicking back into place, “The compress and the cooling system should definitely help, and a lighter blanket so he doesn’t feel as uncomfortable. The bacteria causes throat irritation so he needs some cough syrup. The fever and coughing are the only symptoms of the night fever, but putting him in such a cool environment while he's weak like this might cause some cold symptoms, it already looked like he was developing some in the car, so we should grab tissues as well. He needs hydration too; he's lost a lot of water through sweating. Some food wouldn’t hurt too, seeing as it's late and it might help with the fatigue…”
“There's that detective mind,” Kaede teased, “I wondered when it would show up again.”

Shuichi clenched his fists, “I don’t want to see Kokichi suffering, so I will do everything I can to help “

Kaede clapped boisterously, “Then let’s get started, I'll get a glass of water and a lighter blanket from the closest yeah? You turn on the ac and get some cough medicine and tissues! We can both prepare him some soup a bit later.”

Shuichi nodded, immediately pivoting to shuffle through medicines in the search for cough syrup. Locating his targeted possession, he grabbed it an moved for the thermostat in the hallway, activating the air conditioner with the clicks of a few buttons. He felt discomforted by the cool air blowing through the already chilled house, but shook it off for the sake of his lover. He quickly ran downstairs to grab the box of tissues they kept on the side table. With all his tasks done he entered their collective bedroom. He observed Kokichi's sleeping state as he placed the syrup and tissues on the bedside table, sitting beside him on the bed and running his fingers through his hair in the normal procedure. He planted a kiss on Kokichi's cherry lips, watching some of the pain unwind from his features. He instinctively reached out and limply grasped into Shuichi's hand.

He smiled sadly down at his boyfriend, “It'll be over soon my Kichi~Ko, just keep holding on.”

Shuichi heard the door click shut, and looked up to see Kaede leaning on it, a thin, light blue blanket draped over her forearm, glass pitcher of water and cubes of ice in one hand and a glass of it in the other.

She set the holders next to the syrup and tissues, pulling the heavy blanket off of Kokichi to tuck him into the thinner one. He shivered a bit stronger, but more pain left his face, “I'm glad we were able to get him back here. He really needed a proper place to rest.”

Shuichi hummed affirmation towards Kaede's statement, “But it is a shame we had to take him on that car ride. It definitely wasn’t good for his declining state. I wish we could’ve used one of the beds at your place.”

“Me too,” Kaede agreed, “But you know they would have refused to move. Like I said, it's Kokichi. They would have just assumed it was a lie.”

“Kokichi wouldn’t trust them enough to let them know about his condition too, so he would have played along.”

“Would he not trust them with that information? His own health is at stake.”

Shuichi's face darkened as he stared at the floor, “He didn’t even trust me.”

“Shuichi-"

“No-“ Shuichi snapped, “It's true he- he didn’t trust me. He didn’t trust me enough to tell me, didn’t trust me enough to tell me anything,” His breathing grew ragged as he gripped the bedsheets tighter, “He doesn’t trust me at all. This just made that obvious. Why else wouldn’t he tell me-"

“Shuichi...”

“I thought he did but it was all a lie! Who am I kidding he doesn’t tell me anything! Doesn’t tell me when he’s sad doesn’t tell me when he's mad he just doesn’t want me to know! He doesn’t trust me HE DOESN'T LOVE ME!”

“SHUICHI!”

Shuichi was snapped out of his rambling by an iron grip on his shoulders, Kaede kneeling down to hold him firmly. He kept panting as Kaede shifted her hands to hold his face, lifting herself to sit beside him on the bed,

“Calm down, I need you to breathe for me. Breathe.”

Shuichi took a struggled gasp inward, burying his face in his hands as tears started to soak them, “He doesn’t love me, he doesn’t love me.”

“Why did Kokichi not tell you?”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Kaede said with heavy confidence, steel gaze not faltering for a second, “I want you to tell me another possibility other than him not trusting you for the reason he didn’t tell you.”

“But there-"

“Sh- that's all I want to hear.”

Shuichi bit harshly down on his bottom lip, trying to think through the rushing thoughts, “W-well- m-maybe he w-wanted to go t-to the sleepover r-really badly…”

“That’s a possibility,” Kaede agreed, “What else?”

“He might- might have wanted me to-to go. I’m sure he-he would know I wouldn’t have gone if-if he had told me.”

“Keep going Shuichi.”

Shuichi felt his nerves loosen with each rational thought, “He could have been ashamed he forgot, and thought I would think less of him for it.”

“Don’t those solutions make a lot more sense than him not trusting you?” Kaede reasoned, a pleased smile hanging softly on her lips.

Shuichi nodded, voice shaky as he spoke, “S-sorry…”

Kaede moved her hands to the small of Shuichi’s back, hugging him tightly, “It's okay.”

Shuichi collapsed onto her shoulder with a trembling sob, more wracking through him as he squeezed his eyes shut, tears dripping down into his fists that gripped tightly on Kaede’s pajamas. Kaede just rubbed him reassuringly, whispering comforting words into his ears,

“Its okay. I know this hard, I know this is so hard. Your scared, there’s nothing wrong with that. This is a stressful situation, but don’t panic okay? You don’t need to panic to let out your fear, you can cry all you need. I’ll be right here, and Kokichi will be too.”

“I-I don’t k-k-know what to-t-to d-do! I w-wanna h-help- help him b-but I-I-I Idon’tknowhow-"

“Breathe Shuichi, breathe,” Kaede whispered, “Your doing all you can. You've done it once before, remember? Just do whatever feels right, and I'm here to help you.”

Shuichi let out the remaining sobs into Kaede’s shoulder, slowly raising himself up and wiping off his eyes with the edge of his sleeve once he had finished, “S-sorry I kinda lost it there…”

“Don’t apologize,” Kaede reassured him, “I know this is really hard on you. Let’s just keep doing whatever we can to help!”

“Y-yeah…” Shuichi conceded.

“Now let’s-“ Kaede was interrupted as her phone started to ring from the table. Grumbling she picked it up, face paling when she looked at the caller,

“Shoot… I’ll be right back. Keep Kokichi company kay?”

Shuichi gave her a confused nod, watching as she accepted the call and starting to exit the room,

“’Choo!” His attention was brought back to his boyfriend by his sneeze, turning to see Kokichi curl up on himself more. His body was shivering even stronger under the thin blanket, face beginning to contort further into pain,

“Sorry, sorry. I know it’s cold,” he pulled Kokichi’s head into his lap, tucking the thick blanket back over him. He knew that they needed to cool him down or his fever could get even worse, but he certainly wanted to keep Kokichi comfortable at the very least.

“Your not going to catch something right?” The intrusive question sent Shuichi straight back into panic, “With- with your immune system so weak and the temperature right?”

Kokichi just responded with another, “’Choo!” which did nothing but heighten Shuichi’s fears. He already blamed himself for Kokichi’s state. If he caught a cold because of him as well- he just couldn’t bear the thought of hurting him further.

He looked to the thermostat in the hallway, visible from the door Kaede left open. How much would it really hurt to turn the temperature back up. Kokichi couldn’t be that hot. He was sneezing for Atua's sake! Even if he knew turning the temperature up was a horrible idea when they were trying to prevent Kokichi from getting hotter, it was nearly impossible level to think of that possibility when he was clearly coming down with a cold. Would his temperature really rise more? Would it be worth it to catch a cold and suffer rather than to just turn the heat up? The debate was clashing in his head he just couldn’t decide.

One final sneeze, buried into his shirt’s fabric with the coughing it provoked, sealed Shuichi’s decision. He quickly pulled out a tissue to wipe off Kokichi’s face, proceeding to lay him back down on the pillow as he threw it into the trash. He took one last look into the room before closing the door behind him, moving to the other side of the wall to warm the room. As soon as he click the button multiple times, he heard a voice from down the stairs,

“Shuichi!”

He complied with the implied request, padding down the stairs to see Kaede placing her phone on the kitchen counter, distress evident on her face,

“Maki just called,” she informed him.

Shuichi took a second to process the information, “Is everyone awake?”

“No, just her and Kaito, but they almost woke everyone because they were worried about us.”

“What did you tell them?” Shuichi inquired.

“I said Kokichi came down with something. I didn’t mention his illness,” Kaede notified Shuichi to quell his worries, “but it was hard to convince them to stay there.”

“Hm? Why?” He asked in ignorance.

“They wanted to come help with Kokichi. Well, at least Maki did.”

As uncommon as it was, Shuichi couldn’t help but snort, “Maki was concerned about Kokichi?”

Kaede sat down at one of the stools, resting her head on her palm, “She's concerned about everyone Shuichi. It's just her upbringing, caring for sick people.”

Shuichi joined her at the opposite end of the counter “Yeah, she took care of the other kids, but she especially hates Kokichi. I can’t imagine she would show him any compassion.”

“You’d be surprised how much she worries about Kokichi,” Kaede put her hand to her mouth to theatrically whisper, “Don’t tell anyone, but she accidentally let it slip that Kokichi reminds her of her childhood best friend.”

“The one who played house with her?” He checked with immense disbelief, “How?”

“From what we were talking about before she admitted it, her friend was weak and small but had a loud and ‘annoying’ presence to compensate.”

Shuichi chuckled, “Well that does sound like Kokichi.”

“Exactly,” Kaede said with certainty, “She worried ceaselessly over her, so I can see why she would worry about Kokichi as well.”

“That’s adorable,” Shuichi voiced breathlessly, “I could never imagine Maki worrying about Kokichi-" Shuichi cut himself off with his own sudden thought, “Wait- is Maki coming to help?”

Kaede shook her head, “Luckily, I managed to convince her we had it covered. I just asked her to make breakfast for everyone if she was okay with it, and inform everyone why we’re gone.”

“I'll have to thank her.”

“Already did it for you,” Kaede said with a wink, pushing herself up with her hands, “It's been awhile since any of us ate anything huh? What is it, three?”

Shuichi glanced over to the clock, “It's four now. We should get started on the soup.”

“What should we make?” Kaede chirped.

“I think Zosui should be good,” Shuichi deduced, “That’s our usual for sickness.” Thinking of his boyfriend, walking into his room with a bowl of home-made Zosui and the softest smile made his heart pang.

Kaede saw the sorrow etched on his expression, and gently grabbed his hands to help him stand, “Lets start then. I'll get the utensils you grab the ingredients,” she turned her back to Shuichi to start looking through the cabinets.

Shuichi started to rub the back of his neck nervously, “Um- about that…”

“Something wrong?” Kaede asked as she located the bowls.

“I don’t know how to cook…” Shuichi admitted with an embarrassed mutter, eyes jumping to the floor.

Kaede paused, quickly turning back to look at him with her eyebrow raised, “Wait, don’t you do the cooking here?”

Shuichi shook his head, “No… Kokichi’s the cook.”

Kaede set the bowl on the table to better focus on Shuichi’s unbelievable words, “Your telling me… Kokichi Ouma… cooks.”

“Well too,” Shuichi informed, fully understanding her disbelief, “Every day we come home from school together, I get dressed and head out to work and he starts dinner. Whether I come back at eight pm or two am there's always a warm meal on the table. I don’t know how he does it…”

“That's so sweet!” Kaede squealed, “I could never imagine Kokichi cooking!”

Shuichi giggled, “He does a lot more. He does almost all the cleaning: laundry, dishes, sweeping, I try to help but he always manages to get it done before I can. Not to mention he planted and cares for all of the flowers in our front yard.”

“Kokichi's a domestic little housewife,” Kaede realized with a cocky smile.

“I tease him senselessly about it,” Shuichi admitted, “He gets so flustered and furious… it's adorable.”

“And Shuichi Sahara teasing someone?” Kaede gasped jestfully, “today is just full of surprises!”

“It does mean I have no clue how to make this soup for Kokichi though…” Shuichi reminded her, awkwardly playing with his fingers.

Kaede walked over to grasp his wrist, pulling him over to the fridge, “I'll teach you! At least the way I make it…”

Shuichi looked a bit shocked by the sudden movement, but smiled nonetheless, “Thank you Kaede. I would love to learn from you.”

“And I love to teach!” Kaede threw open the fridge, “Zosui you said? Then I’ll show you my special secret recipe!”

They managed to prepare the simple dish without any complications, omitting an occasional slip up from Shuichi amateurish tendencies, with playful banter along the way. It was so nice for Shuichi, letting his mind slip away from the sustained stress he had to endure in Kokichi’s condition. He almost forgot of the issue entirely, that is until the soup was prepared,

“This looks amazing!” Kaede cheered, jubilantly gazing at the three bowls on the plastic platter, silver spoons aside each one, “You did so good Shuichi! Especially for your first time!”

“it wasn’t too complicated,” Shuichi said in modesty, “I think its in the list of things I can cook now.”

“Are their many?”

“No…”

Kaede laughed giddily, “Lets get up to Kokichi with these! It would be nice to all eat together, and we haven’t check on him in- goodness! An hour!”

Shuichi gave an affirmative hum, “I'll get some crackers to go with it. Could you maybe go check on him please? Change his compress?”

“Roger that commander!” Kaede exclaimed with a playful salute, jogging up the stairs to complete her assigned task. Shuichi shook his head with a small laugh, rifling through the cupboard to find crackers, and placing them on the tray. He lifted it carefully, slowly making his way up the stairs.

As he entered the room, he noticed Kaede on her knees by the bed, seemingly leaning over Kokichi. It was hard to tell, as her figure covered the upper half of his body, blocking almost his entire view of him.

He tried to speak, but Kaede got to it first,

“Shuichi, call an ambulance.”

The words clenched his chest with lack of the cheer Kaede was exhibiting just moments before. Unable to process the information, he scrambled to practically throw the soup on the dresser, and run up behind Kaede. Upon seeing Kokichi, his heartbeat halted.

Kokichi was laying limply, one arm hanging off the bed. His body was lined in sweat, panting so heavily it could be considered hyperventilating, barely able to intake air through his fallen open lips, tinted blue around the inside. Each breath in was a wheezing, cracking cough out, jolting his already trembling form. His eyebrows were knitted together in agony, burrowing further into his sweating forehead every passing moment. The hot flush was more evident then seemingly possibly, trailing the length of his entire body as the heat radiated off him, feeling far hotter than any furnace. Yet what truly stuck out was the pigment of his skin. It was pure, snow white, as if it never had any color in the first place. If Shuichi had thought he had looked horrible before, he couldn’t even begin to think of a word to describe this.

Tears were in his eyes before he could take another breath, phone up to his ear without another moment to blink. He watched Kaede scrabbling desperately to cool him down in any sort of way: wiping his entire body with the compress, removing all blankets, stripping his clothes, anything she could think of.

There were no words between Kaede and Shuichi, but they could both feel the absolute panic in the room. Shuichi’s hands were trembling so harshly, he had to squeeze the phone to keep himself from dropping it. Kokichi wasn’t just sick anymore, Kokichi was dying.

The emergency services picked up with barely a ring, “What's your emergency?”

The woman's voice was sweet and soothing, it was almost enough to bring air to Shuichi’s lungs, but another look at Kokichi took it all away, “P-p-please h-help h-he's d-dying! H-he's dying-"

Shuichi’s legs collapsed from under him, heaving sobs trembling his chest as Kaede snapped her head around, crawling over to grasp Shuichi’s free hand reassuringly and unable to stop glancing back at Kokichi,

“Calm down sir,” the woman spoke swift and smooth, “How are they dying?”

“H-h-he h-has a f-fever, a-a r-really b-bad fever…”

Kaede rubbed his arm up and down, whispering words of reassurance between looks at Kokichi,

“Is he conscious?”

“N-no,”

“Is he breathing?”

“B-b-barely!”

The woman took a deep breath, Shuichi automatically doing the same in response, “Do that again sir.”

Shuichi took another breath through heaves and sobs,

“Can you state your address for me?”

He repeated his address with stutters and tears

“Can you state your phone number for me?”

He repeated his phone number with his arm around Kaede.

“What's your name sir?” The women asked, clickings of a keyboard audible through the phone.

“S-shui-ichi S-saih-h-hara-"

“Okay Shuichi, my name is Yasu. I'm going to help you. Take another deep breath for me “

Shuichi complied, breath seeming to come easier with each deep one he was instructed with.

“Who is inflicted with the fever, Shuichi?”

“My b-boyfriend,” Shuichi answered brokenly, “K-koki-ichi Ouma.”

“Another deep breath. Is anyone else there, and are they injured?”

Shuichi took his breath before answering, “M-my f-friend K-Kaede… she's o-okay.”

“That's good, can you give me your boyfriend's symptoms?”

“H-he's s-so hot and-and he-he's white and-and h-his-s lips are-are b-blue a-and hejustlooksinpain-"

“Shuichi, keep breathing for me. Keep breathing. The ambulance is on its way, it will be there shortly.”

“W-when?”

“It will not be longer than thirty minutes. Can you follow some instructions for me?”

Shuichi swallowed dryly before swiftly nodding, “Yeah… yeah I-I can.”

“I need you to take Kokichi's temperature for me. I need to know what to tell the paramedics okay?”

“I… I can do that-"

Shuichi shakily stood, Kaede giving him a confused yet assured look. Shuichi himself wasn’t exactly sure what had set Kaede off to want to call an ambulance, whether it be his outward appearance or temperature, and of course he would trust his best friend's judgement, but either way it couldn’t hurt to check. And with Yasu's request, he led himself to the plastic tray with the thermometer resting on it, and slipped it into Kokichi's gaped mouth. Kokichi cringed at the object in his mouth, shifting around subconsciously to try and pull away. Kaede quickly moved onto the other side of the bed to gently hold him down,

“It's gonna be okay, just hold on…” Kaede whispered reassurances into his ear until the thermometer beeped. Shuichi removed it as quick as he could, heart plunged into despair at the result,

“105.2 (40.7 C),” Shuichi voiced into the receiver.

“Thank you. Now, I need you to get him as cool as possible. Remove any blankets, and see if you can find an ice pack or compress for his forehead and chest. If you can, bring the temperature in the room to a stable temperature if it is hot or cold.”

Shuichi nodded, though he knew Yasu couldn’t see, and lowered the phone from his ear, “K-kaede could you grab- grab another compress and… and turn down the- the temperature…”

Kaede cocked her head to the side, “Didn’t we already lower the temperature?”

“I- I turned it back up,” Shuichi admitted, guilt clumping in his throat.

Kaede opened her mouth to question it, but remembering the situation decided to save it for later, and hopped up from the bed to exit the room. He watched her click up the thermostat before running down the hall, presumably to grab the compress he asked for. He shifted his gaze back to Kokichi with a shaky exhale, putting the phone back up to his ear and wrapping the other arm around himself in comfort,

“O-okay…”

He could practically hear Yasu's motherly smile, “Good job Shuichi. Just keep taking your breaths okay? When the paramedics arrive, follow their instructions. I promise it will be soon. Do you feel safe?”

“Y-yeah…” Shuichi answered, clutching his side tightly.

“Okay Shuichi. I am going to hang up now. Is that okay with you?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright then, call back if anything happens before the paramedics arrive. You did a very good job Shuichi. Remember your breaths. Thank you.”

Shuichi heard the something click before the line fell flat. He immediately dropped the phone to the floor, burying his face in his hands and breathing deeply. It was hard. Especially with the horrible whimpers and wheezing gasps he could hear from Kokichi. He shut his eyes as tight as could, and slid his hands up to cover his ears, pressing down until the awful noises were muted.

Time seemed to stop in the sightless, soundless world he had trapped himself in, but he eventually felt a body against his own, pulling him tightly into a hug. He pulled open his eyes and dropped his arms in favor of wrapping them around Kaede instead, burying his face into her shoulder,

“How are you feeling?”

Shuichi responded, “Better,” it seemed that time had passed after all, for the deep breaths managed to clear much of the overwhelming fright and confusion, allowing smoother words to cross his tongue, “much... bet… better,” He lifted his head to make eye contact, “Is there anything else we can do?”

“Wait,” Kaede regretfully informed, “All we can do is wait.”

~♡~

Kaede stayed true for her word, they waited. Kaede changed his compresses, and Shuichi tried his best to comfort Kokichi without making any contact that would heat him up. Over and over, until their soups were empty and Kokichi's had gone cold. Until conversations from Kokichi to the sleepover had ran dry.

Wait…

Wait…

They were waiting too long,

“Where are they!?” Kaede whined, changing the compresses for what felt like the thousandth time.

Shuichi picked up his phone from the floor to check the time, “It's 5:30…”

“What are those idiots doing!?” Kaede exclaimed with a scowl, “Our friend is dying and they take their sweet time?”

“Something must have happened…” Shuichi whispered, “It shouldn’t have tooken this long at all!”

As if the gods were waiting for the perfect moment, Shuichi's phone went off in his pocket. He jumped at the sudden noise, before scrambling to identify the caller. His breath caught when he did, and he immediately accepted the call,

“H-hello,”

“Shuichi it is Yasu again. The ambulance we sent to your location was crashed into by a citizen car on its way over.”

Shuichi watched Kaede's eyes fall on him with heavy confusion as he covered his mouth with his hand, “Oh my g-god, is everyone okay?”

“Do not worry about it, can you update me on Kokichi's situation?”

“He's looking better,” he said with bitter honesty. Kokichi started breathing steadily not too long ago, color seeping back into his lips. Shuichi knew it was because the night was coming to an end, and with it the fever was as well. It was miraculous that he started getting better before it could pass the breaking point, but it had gotten so close, too close for him to feel that they were out of the woods just yet.

“He is not getting worse?” Yasu inquired.

“No- his illness is special. The fever will wear off around six.”

Yasu paused in unusual confusion before continuing, “Do you still need emergency servic-"

“YES!” Shuichi yelled, cutting the other off. He understood now, the reason for their delay, but that delay could have cost the life of his lover, so even thought it was completely illogical, he held great anger towards the supposed services, “HE MIGHT GET WORSE AGAIN! AND HIS FEVER HASN'T GONE DOWN AT ALL!”

“Shuichi, stay calm. He is still in unstable condition?”

“Y-yes,” he answered after a deep breath.

“Another ambulance is on its way. I deeply apologize for the circumstances and the slow response. We are trying our best to get to you.”

“I- I know, but please help him,” he looked over to his boyfriend, pallid expression grimaced with indescribable pain, “I don’t- I don't know if he's going to make it to the morning… he needs help.”

“What illness does Kokichi suffer from?”

Shuichi swallowed, realization dawning on him that he never mentioned it, “Nocturnal Fever Lymphoid Syndrome.”

“I have not heard of it, so I apologize I cannot be of service. Would you like to go on the line with someone who could help you with it?”

“No… no its impossible. He usually just needs to wait till morning but- but its never been this bad before.”

“Okay, just inform the paramedics about it when they arrive. It will be very shortly. Do you feel safe?”

Shuichi nodded, “Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Thank you Shuichi, I am going to hang up.”

Once again, the line fell flat. Shuichi immediately dropped the phone on the bed and tugged at his hair with growing anxiety,

“What’s going on?” Kaede asked as she wrung out one of the compresses.

“The ambulance got into a wreck, that’s why they didn’t show.”

“Oh dear, was everyone safe?”

Shuichi shrugged, “She didn’t tell me, but another one is on its way.”

Kaede looked down at Kokichi, “He's breathing went back to normal. That was so close… but he really still needs to see a hospital. At this point, his fever is going to start shutting down his systems.”

“It’s really that high, huh.” Shuichi realized somberly.

“But it’ll go away soon right? Maybe we'll get lucky!” She chirped hopefully, “Maybe he'll be fine!”

“If we were lucky,” Shuichi scoffed, “We wouldn’t be calling an ambulance in the first place.”

Kaede scooted over, pushing herself along the mattress to lean on Shuichi and pull his hands in hers, “Lets keep up that positive mentality, yeah? I know your still learning, but you really got to use it right now.”

Shuichi mimicked Kaede’s actions, lowering himself onto her head, “I'm just tired…” he mumbled, “Its all been so tiring.”

“Why don’t you sleep, hm?” Kaede suggested, “We've both had a long night.”

“What about you?” Shuichi asked in empathy, “Your probably just as tired.”

Kaede responded, “I doubt it. This has been a lot harder for you, and besides, someone has to stay awake for when the paramedics arrive.”

Shuichi took a moment of thought before saying, “O-okay…”

Kaede looked pleased by his response, “I'm gonna go refill the water bowl,” she notified him before moving in for a hug, “Goodnight Shu'.”

Shuichi silently watched Kaede stand and find her way out the door, he himself only starting to move after so. He pulled himself further onto the bed, crawling to the side of his lover, and lying himself down on his side of the bed. He slowly lifted the blanket and snuggled under it, reaching over to wrap an arm around Kokichi, trying to stay far enough away as to not heat him up, and used his other hand to play with Kokichi's hair. His eyes grew heavy with wistful thoughts of peaceful sleep, but he knew his mind wouldn't rest until the pain fell from Kokichi’s face. Nonetheless, his body fell heavy against the worn pillows and thick blanket, and the overwhelming excertion he put himself through from hours of stress caught up from him, and he let his eyes fall, mind fading into a somber slumber.

~♡~

“Shumaiii~”

The voice of an angel stirred Shuichi awake, sun forming splotches of color of the fronts of his eyelids. His mind was too groggy to assess his memories, so he instinctively cuddled closer the form in his arms.

His mouth twitched up as he felt lips on his cheek, two fists leaning on his shoulder blades, “Nishishi~ your so cute when your sleeepy~”

As his groggy mind started to clear, he fluttered his eyes open, the image of his violette smiling up at him fading into his vision. The memories of last night hit him like a sledgehammer, and he started awake with a ripping gasp,

“KOKICHI!” He latched onto his boyfriend in pure ecstasy, squeezing him as if he would disappear if he had any room too. He could hear the breath catch in Kokichi’s throat as he reached up to pat his head, speaking in a breathless voice,

“Love you too but I'm still not feeling 100 percent,” he gasped.

Shuichi released him in favor of cupping his face, “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need anything? Do you still have a fever? Can you-“

Kokichi cut him off with a chaste kiss on the lips, “I'm doing just fine beloved, its morning now.”

Shuichi's eyes traveled to the window to confirm, and indeed, the sun was shining high in a clear blue sky, all remnants of night fading with Kokichi’s condition. Yet as Shuichi looked back, he could still see a slight pallor to Kokichi’s already pale skin, and a tiredness in his expression that was far from usual.

Shuichi sat up, arms wrapped around Kokichi to bring him up with him, “Where's Kaede?”

“She's talking to the paramedics,” Kokichi answered with a slight falter in his reassuring smile, “Since they took so long to get here, I was already back to health when they arrived and they assumed the call was fake. Apparently some girl name Yasu was arguing with them about my- illness… Kaede’s down there sorting it all out with them so you could get some sleep.”

Shuichi nodded along with his explanation, “I see,” his eyes shifted away from Kokichi. He didn’t want to damper the mood after finally getting to experience peace, but he had no patience for his lingering questions , “Kokichi… why-“

Kokichi was frowning before Shuichi could finish, already completing aware to what he was trying to say. His gaze followed Shuichi’s as a shadow cast over his regretful eyes, “I'm- I'm so sorry…”

“What? Why?” Shuichi inquired with a cocked head.

Kokichi’s grip on Shuichi’s forearms tightened as he admitted, “I took my last pill the day before yesterday and… and I forgot to call the pharmacy for extras…”

Shuichi resumed cupping his face, yet this time with only one hand, “But why didn’t you tell me?”

Kokichi’s form started to tremble as he let down his lies for the guilt-ridden truth, “I- I didn’t want to ruin your night… I thought- usually the night fevers aren’t that bad and- and I could bear it so you could have a good night but…” tears collected in Kokichi’s eyes, “I made it so much worse… I ruined you night and Kaede's night and- and made you panic and- and made you cry-“

Shuichi pulled Kokichi into a gentle embrace, “Shhh, you didn’t mean any harm. I’m not mad, nobody's mad.”

“That doesn’t make it okay!” Kokichi rebuttled harshly with a piercing glare, “ I- I still ruined everyone’s night…”

Shuichi moved his hand to pet Kokichi’s hair, “Your right, what you did is not okay, but not because you, supposedly, ‘ruined’ my night, because you hurt yourself. You- you almost,” Shuichi swallowed dryly, attempting feebly to keep down his panic, “You almost died, and for what?”

“Well if I had known I was going to almost die I would have-“

“Don’t lie to me,” Shuichi lectured softly, “You don’t have a sense of self worth, Kokichi. You would put yourself in as much pain as necessary if you think it will make be happy. But you know what,” he took Kokichi’s hands in his, and stares him dead in the eyes, “Nothing hurts me more than seeing you suffer, nothing breaks my heart more than seeing you in all that pain, and nothing will ever be worth having to call an ambulance for you because your dying!”

“I'm sorry-“ Kokichi tried to start through a sob.

“No stop!” Shuichi interrupted, “It's not your fault you don’t have any self worth, it's all those horrible people that hurt you!”

Kokichi’s flinched at Shuichi’s blunt wording. His past was quite the sensitive subject for him, and he was not a fan of the direction this conversation was taking, but before he could speak, Shuichi took the reins,

“So don’t apologize, I’m going to help you get back your self worth, but you have to learn that’s its not okay to sacrifice so much for something so little.”

“Your happiness is everything to me,” Kokichi stated as he cast his eyes downwards.

Shuichi lifted his chin, revealing the tears cascading down his face, “Do I look happy?”

Kokichi said nothing, just threw himself into Shuichi’s arms, trying and failing to stifle the sobs that came with it.

Shuichi hugged him back just as tight, “Promise me. Promise me the next time that your pills run out you will tell me immediately. Promise me the next time your not feeling well you will tell me. Promise me any time you think something troubling you is going to ‘ruin’ something for me, you will tell me what’s on your mind.”

Kokichi leaned back up, using his fists to wipe the remaining tears from his eyes, “I-I promise.”

Shuichi pecked his lips, smile reforming on his own, “And I promise I’ll do the same.”

Kokichi followed him back, capturing his lips once again but with a much deeper kiss full of the tender love he shared with his significant other. Shuichi leaned into it, filling it with everything he dreamed of getting back when he had to watch Kokichi crying in the back of the car. They stayed, entrapped in one another's presence until time seemed to stop. Yet their reality was shatter as the door creaked open,

“Kokichi?” Kaede’s eyes followed over to Shuichi, and widened a bit more, “Oh, your awake too!”

Kokichi snuggled the side of his face into Shuichi's shoulder with a huff, “What do you waaant piano freak? Can’t you see I'm having a moment with my prince charming?” Shuichi flushed at Kokichi’s words, yet Kaede just smiled and sat herself on the bed,

“We cleared up the misunderstanding with the paramedics, but they still want to get you to the ER.”

“What? Why?” Shuichi said with blatant shock.

“They told me he might have some residing issues. That temperature was no joke and could actually do some damage to your body Kokichi.” Kaede shifted her response to address the shorter.

Kokichi pointed his nose haughtily in the air, not leaving Shuichi’s shoulder, “Moi? I am the greatest supreme leader of all time! No fever would dare maw my ethereal form!”

Kaede rolled her eyes playfully, “Have you even tried standing?”

Kokichi’s face fell flat as his eyes shifted, silently answering Kaede’s question. Shuichi reach up to rub Kokichi’s cheek with his thumb, “If they want to take you, you should let them. I don’t want anything happening to you Kichi~Ko.”

Kokichi's face reddened slightly, but he hurriedly nodded, “Fine! But I want Kaeidiot to carry me there like the princess I am!”

“Oh so you are too tired to walk,” Kaede teased with an all-knowing smirk.

“Of course not!” Kokichi exclaimed, standing abruptly to prove his point, yet as soon as he was off the bed his face fell and paled significantly. Shuichi caught him as his legs buckled and he fell back on the bed, gasping breaths overtaking him.

Kaede was overcome with worry, “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have tested you!”

“Nooo,” Kokichi whined exasperatedly, burying himself into Shuichi’s chest as his breathing steadied, “That was stupid of meee…”

Shuichi shifted to cradle him in his arms, and stood himself, “Come on, let’s get you down to the ambulance.”

Kokichi nodded silently as Kaede followed him and Shuichi down the stairs, taking in the warm embrace of his lover.

~♡~

Shuichi and Kaede watched as the ambulance took off, the blaring sirens totally uncalled for in Shuichi’s opinion, yet it was most likely biased as he stood on the porch, quite huffy with his arms folded over his chest,

“They should have let me ride with him…”

“Give them their space, they need to assess him,” Kaede reminded him similar to how a sibling with lecture their younger.

“But I wanna see him…” Shuichi admitted, dropping his arms dejectedly.

Kaede started spinning Shuichi’s key ring around her pointer finger as she intertwined her hand with Shuichi’s, “Then we better hurry to the hospital. I wanna be there just as visiting hours start!”

Shuichi gave a small laugh as he was dragged back to his car, “Not going to go try and salvage your party first?”

Kaede opened the passenger door for him before making her way to the other side, “Are you kidding me? I’m on a roll with befriending Kokichi, like hell I'm going to break that now!”

Shuichi watched Kaede pull out of the driveway, turning the radio station to something befitting their mood, “See I told you it wasn’t hopeless.”

“I shouldn’t have doubted you,” Kaede admitted, “or Kokichi. Now onwards to save the princess from her tower!”

They both laughed, music blaring through the car as they drove down the sunny road, further away from their previous destination, into the bustling city of the brightest colors. Shuichi couldn’t help but smile. Despite the ashes of their expectations still burning on the floor of Kaede’s house, he couldn’t help but find hope in that seared perfection.