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My Life: Chapter 21 - Spring Fever

by Fitz

Sunday afternoon, while Kamatari was trying to yank all my hair out, I felt funny. An odd pressure had settled in my chest. I wrote it off as nerves getting the better of me. But that pressure did not fade. It got worse, a little tickle settling in my throat. I was going to be one unhappy college student if I caught a cold this week. By Sunday night I was tired, achy, and downright whiny with how I felt. My psychology homework seemed impossible as I sat in the lounge with several other students.

“You all right, Kenshin?” Kamatari noticed almost immediately. He was always first to see when others acted strangely. “You look pale.”

“I don’t feel that great,” I muttered, turning back a page in my book. I had read two pages of that material, and I still had no idea what the chapter was discussing. “I think I’m getting a cold.”

“That sucks,” Chou offered. He was working on some math homework, occasionally cursing at the answers his calculator provided. “Don’t you got that date come this week?”

After I got past the urge to correct his bold misuse of the English language, I paused to think about what he had said. My date? Did everyone on the floor know about that? It made sense, I supposed. Kamatari knew about it, and Chou was Kamatari’s roommate and best friend.

“It’ll be fine,” I sighed and closed my book. It just was not going to happen. “I’m going to bed.”

“It’s not even nine,” Kamatari blinked at me.

“I’ll turn my clock ahead so I can feel better about myself,” I replied, rubbing my forehead between my eyes lightly. There was a tension there that would not fade, and it was making my head ache. “Good night.”

“You coming to breakfast tomorrow morning?” Chou asked casually.

“Yeah,” I had to grin at that. Not too long ago, no one would have been asking me that question. Made a guy feel all tingly. No wait... that was the urge to cough again. “‘Night.”

I closed my door behind me, dropped my book on the futon, and stood in the middle of my room for a few seconds, trying to remember what I was doing in my room so early that night. It came to me soon enough, and I pulled off my shirt and pants, letting them stay where they landed. It was kind of muggy in the dorms that night, and I used an old tee shirt and boxers for pajamas. The clothes on the floor got on my nerves, so I threw them into the closet before climbing into bed. Wrapping my arms around my stuffed animal, I settled down for a good night’s sleep. I would feel better in the morning.

^_^

I slept through my alarm. When I did wake, it was the sound of someone pounding on my door that convinced me to finally pry open my eyes. Monday mornings needed to be outlawed.

That incessant pounding was grating on my nerves. I groaned and kicked back the covers, shuddering at the cold room. I muttered some sort of curse, thinking the University to be cheap, cutting corners and not providing its students with much-needed heating.

“I’m coming!” I called, then winced. My voice was painfully loud. The sound of it made my head throb, and I held a hand to my temple as I stumbled to the door. It took a few tries, but I got it unlocked. Yanking it open, I glared up at Chou. “What?”

“He-ey! Easy there, kid,” he laughed at my disgruntled greeting. “You look like you just rolled out of bed.”

“I did!” I growled. God, but my head hurt. And the hallway was colder than my room! I shivered and hugged myself against the icy air. “Geez. Did I oversleep?”

“Chou.” That was Aoshi’s voice. He had taken to eating breakfast with us on occasion, too. “What’s taking so long? Isn’t he... oh.”

I stared at the both of them for a minute, wondering why I felt like I was falling when I was just standing there. Chou’s laugh was irritatingly loud, Aoshi’s face too bright in the usually dim light of the hallway.

“I’ll just...” I pulled back, looking into my closet as if that held the answers. “I’ll get dressed. Hold on.” I didn’t want to get dressed. I had this sudden urge to run across the hall and throw up in the bathroom sink. But I had not eaten since dinner the previous night.

“Wait.” Aoshi was loud too! He was never loud. “Kenshin, you’re falling.”

I grabbed the wall, staggering to a stop. Thanking him with a nod, I continued to the closet. Aoshi had other ideas, though, because he grabbed my arm.

“Shit!” I jerked away, gasping from the shock. “Your hands are cold!”

“No, you’re running a fever,” he retorted, frowning at me in disapproval. I wished he wouldn’t do that. It made him look like Uncle Hiko--not literally, but that expression was the same.

“I’m not running a fever,” I protested. I couldn’t be. I had to go to class--it was the first day back after break--and I had to talk to Kaoru and find out the best time for me to pick her up Friday night...

Aoshi had a grip on my arms again. It almost hurt, his fingers like icicles against my skin.

Then, things got confusing. On some level, I knew I was sick. I had known since I had opened my eyes because a pounding head and achy body were not part of a normal day. At the same time, that dizziness, the detached feeling, like I was floating, not really part of what was happening, was familiar, and I did not immediately connect it to illness.

For some reason, the more I looked at Aoshi, the less familiar he seemed. He pulled me into the room, all the while frowning. My body hurt too much, and I was too tired to really resist the movements. I just stared at him, thinking, Do I know him? What’s he doing? It did not take long before I was convinced I had no idea who he was. It was alarming.

“What are...?” I lost track of the question as I stumbled, thrown off balance by the way he pushed me around. He was so cold. “Who...?”

Who was he? I glanced at him, then toward what seemed to be his destination. I frowned, taking in the tangled sheets, the pillow crunched against the wall at the head of the bed. He was taking me there?

My chest went from slightly achy to painfully tight in less than a second. I dragged my feet, panic surging through me as the man dragged me toward the bed. Groaning in protest, I pushed against him, swiping at his hands, not really awake enough to push him away. It did little good, and we were almost there.

I dropped, letting my complete weight fall into his hands. It surprised him, and he nearly dropped me. I hit my knees and shoved him away, snarling out angry protests. His hands slid down my arms without purchase when I scrambled away, my back hitting the wall next to the bed.

“Kenshin...” He knew my name? I cringed back as he approached, hands reaching toward me again.

“Stay back,” I moaned, “Please... just leave me alone.”

“I’m just trying--”

“What’s going on in here?” an anxious, feminine voice joined mine and the man’s. “Goodness! Kenshin... what are you doing on the floor?”

I didn’t know her either. The lady crouched next to me, tugging at her skirt when the motion made it ride up. Her hand was cold on my arm, and I flinched.

“Oh, oh... he’s burning up,” she commented, clucking her tongue softly. “Someone get some Tylenol or something. I’ll sit with him for awhile.”

A woman had taken me away before. I remembered her arm about my waist, just before I had passed out. This one was nice, too, keeping her voice low in consideration of my headache. She slid her hands under my arms, moving as if to stand.

“Up-see-daisies,” she said, suddenly hauling me up. “Into bed you go. No?”

My hands took on a life of their own, clinging to her sleeve with a death grip. Something was wrong with me. Everything hurt, I could barely keep my eyes open, and my body was wracked with chills. There were strangers in my room, but this woman was being nice, so I decided she was okay. I didn’t want her to leave.

“Maybe he’d rather be on the futon,” another guy said. I looked at him, but all that spiky blond hair made my eyes hurt, so I looked away again, closing my eyes and pressing my forehead against the woman’s shoulder. “He got all jumpy when Aoshi tried to put him in bed.”

“Maybe,” the woman echoed. “Chou, go get chickie. Darling, did you get--oh, you’re a dear. Get some water. Kenshin?”

I wondered how she knew my name. That other, really tall man knew my name, so maybe he told her. I looked at her, and she held something up. I stared at it for a minute, unable to figure out what it was.

Things got more confusing after that. People talked, and I could tell they were talking, but their words just didn’t make sense. I would hear them, and for an instant I knew what was being asked of me, but then it flew away again. All that was left was me, my room, and all these unfamiliar people.

Sano came. I heard his voice, ordering things. Then, the man with Sano’s voice picked me up. I lost track of things after that. Someone pushed a sweater over my head, and I squirmed in annoyance when they tried to force a pair of sweatpants on me. There was a moment of clarity. I sat on the futon, wrapped in a blanket, Sano sitting next to me with his arm over my shoulders to keep me from falling. I opened my eyes and saw Kamatari looking at me worriedly.

“I don’t think he even knows we’re here,” he was saying.

“I know...” I muttered. Even talking seemed to take an immense amount of effort. “I hurt...”

“Yeah,” Sano squeezed my shoulders lightly. “Your uncle’s coming to take you to the doctor.”

“I’ll miss class,” I sighed.

“Don’t worry about that, Kenshin,” Kamatari bent down and brushed some hair out of my face, pressing his hand to my cheek. It was painfully cold, and I turned my face away. The phone rang, hurting my ears.

“Turn that off,” I protested.

Kamatari picked up the phone, talked awhile, and it faded away.

Sano pushed me to my feet, saying something again. The lady came back, pushing my arms into a jacket. I just wanted to sleep. I told them this, but they wouldn’t let me lay down. The woman was pretty strong, I decided, because she picked me up at one point, to take me out of the room. I grumbled in irritation and rested my head on her shoulder. Everything disappeared, and I fell asleep.

^_^

I drifted for awhile, slipping in and out of dreams and darkness. My fever broke later that night, and I woke feeling sweaty and uncomfortable. I had kicked off the blankets sometime before, but I still had on those sweatpants and the sweater. Grumbling to myself, I took those off as well.

“Ick,” I complained to no one in particular, considering I was alone in my room. I needed a shower. That in mind, I crawled out of bed and located a clean pair of pajamas. My body still ached, my stomach declaring itself unable to contain anything solid, but at least I could figure out where I was. The confusion of before had been disturbing. I hoped I had not said anything...

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I had not even made it across the hallway. In fact, when Sano stopped me, I was leaning against the wall, trying to make the room stop spinning. For the most part, I was unsuccessful.

“Going to the bathroom,” I grumbled, even as I sank to sit on the floor. “I want to take a shower.”

“You can’t even walk there,” Sano snorted. “You think you can stand in the shower that long?”

“It’s not that bad,” I sighed. “I’m not that sick.”

“Your uncle said you have the flu,” Sano shot back. “And not three hours ago, you were adamant that Kamatari was your sister. The poor guy had to sit with you for half an hour before you finally let him go!”

“That--” I frowned suspiciously. “I did not.”

Sano lifted his eyebrows at me in challenge. I scowled at him and pushed myself back to my feet. The hallway immediately started rocking like crazy, and I closed my eyes to block it out, taking a deep breath to stave off the sickness.

“You’re being stupid,” Sano informed me. “Get back in bed.”

I frowned at him. He was treating me like a child, and I did not like it one bit.

“I have to use the bathroom,” I stated evenly, knowing he could not stop me with that claim.

“Fine,” he gestured to the door across the hall. “You want some help?”

“No!” For god’s sake. I could use the toilet without someone standing over me.

But my legs would not cooperate. Sano kept watching me, this knowing expression on his face that was just infuriating. I glared at him, daring him to say anything. He took the challenge.

“Keep going. You’re making real progress.”

“You’re an ass,” I groaned.

“Want some help?”

“Just to get there,” I grudgingly allowed. “I can do the rest myself.” Either that, or I would hold it until it killed me.

So he grabbed my arms and all but dragged me across the hall. He left me standing in front of the toilet, taking my change of clothes as he went. So much for my shower.

I stayed in that bathroom longer than originally intended. Much of that time was spent just sitting against the wall, hoping I wouldn’t get sick. Sano must have been watching the hallway for any movement, though, because as soon as I opened the door, he was walking toward me.

“You look like shit,” he announced casually.

“Thank you,” I leaned against him when he wrapped his arm around my back and started pulling me into the hallway. “What time is it?”

“Eight-twenty,” he replied.

“Still Monday?”

“Yup.”

“Good,” I sighed. If it was Monday, that meant I had until Friday to recover from this. Three full days. That was enough time. “Um... Sano?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are we going?”

“My room,” he replied.

I had been wondering why we were leaving the wing. He was taking me out through the social lounge at eight-twenty on a Monday evening?!

“Sano!” I pushed back against his grip, squirming ineffectively to free myself. “You’re not taking me out there.”

“And you are not staying alone in that room tonight,” Sano shot back, wrestling with me and winning. I groaned, wincing at the pounding in my head. He picked me up. What was with everyone carrying me around? I wasn’t an invalid!

“Put me down, Sano,” I ordered.

“Sure,” he smirked at me. “When we get to my room. I’ll put you in Tom’s old bed.”

“Nnnngh...” I had my arm over his shoulder, his head within easy reach. It would have been an incredibly simple thing to knock him flat on his back, even with how sick I felt and how I was caught up in his arms. All I had to do was reach up, grab some of his hair, and... That would have sent both of us crashing down, which would have been just as embarrassing as what he was already doing. “God, you’re an ass.”

He laughed at me. I wished the floor would just jump up and swallow me. But it didn’t, and he carried me right out into the social lounge. I crunched up in his arms, pressing my face against his shoulder and prayed no one would see me.

Someone let out an ear-splitting whistle. That was followed shortly by a shouted comment.

“Hey, Sano! Didn’t know you and Himura were that close!”

I groaned, more from the pain caused by that idiot’s voice than the embarrassment, although that was definitely a factor.

“Too... loud...” I muttered.

“Lay off, Johnson!” Sano was still laughing! Jerk. “He’s sick.”

“I don’t want to know,” Johnson replied.

“You’re worse than Chou,” Sano snorted.

“I’m going to kill all of you,” I mumbled into Sano’s shoulder. “Slowly. Painfully.”

“Not very scary, Kenshin,” Sano chuckled. “Wait until you can stand without help before you start spouting out death threats.”

I would have responded, but I was busy yawning.

^_^

I spent two nights in Sano’s room, actually. He’s a surprisingly good nursemaid. I told him that, and he laughed... just before smacking the back of my head. For that, I took back everything nice I ever said about him. Actually, I had not said a whole lot that was nice about him, so that didn’t mean much.

Tuesday, I was able to walk around for awhile. That was more because Sano had to go to his own classes, and I snuck out of his room for that shower I had wanted to take Monday. My fever had come back, and nothing I did would make that water warm enough. Sano probably figured out that I had left the room, considering I was wearing a tee shirt and boxers when he left, and when he came back, I was wearing flannel pants and a sweatshirt. He didn’t say anything. Of course, I was sleeping most of the rest of the time.

Wednesday, I went to a grand total of one class out of the three I had that day. At least Sano let me use his computer to email my professors. After I used it, he sprayed his keyboard with some Lysol he borrowed from a girl in the next wing. Gee... it seemed he was afraid of catching whatever I had.

By Wednesday, my fever was mostly down. But for the fact that I was extraordinarily dizzy and a bit achy, I was not so bad off. That, and those waves of sickness--those ones where I felt like I had to make a dive for the bathroom or throw up right there on the seat next to me--kept me mostly to my bed. As long as I didn’t walk around, I was fine. Just peachy.

I talked to Kaoru Thursday. She called me, worried since I had not shown up for two days of writing.

“Poor thing!” She just fawned over me, even on the phone. Made me grin like crazy to think someone like her would worry so much about me. “You should have called. I would have come over and made some lunch for you.”

Oooh. I had to wince at that thought. Although, maybe she would have just made a can of soup or something. There was really no way to screw that up. Easy Mac! No one could mess up that!

“That’s okay,” I replied. “I’m feeling a little better.”

“We can reschedule our date,” Kaoru reminded me.

“Ohhhhhh,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead tiredly. My headache still had not gone away. “Um, let’s see how I’m feeling tomorrow, okay?”

“Kenshin, you couldn’t even make it to all your classes today,” Kaoru pointed out. “Just give it up. Let’s just go out next Friday.”

I didn’t want to go out next Friday. I had finally gotten up the guts to ask her out, and it figured. It just figured. Why couldn’t Sano have caught the damned flu? Why me? Whyyyyyyyyy?!

“Kenshin?”

“I’m here!” Apparently I had been quiet for awhile. “I’ll go to class tomorrow, and we’ll talk about it then, okay?”

“We’ll see,” she said, as if the decision had been made already.

It wasn’t fair! I felt like throwing a tantrum. Or whining. Not fair, not fair, not fair!

“If you don’t make it to class tomorrow, I’ll come visit you,” Kaoru added. “I’ll make some chicken soup.”

“You will?” I asked. I was definitely going to have to make it to class, if just to prove I did not need that soup.

“Oh, shut up!” she groaned. “I’ll get Misao to make it!”

“I didn’t say anything!” I said quickly.

“You were thinking it!”

I didn’t say anything to that. We talked about other things after that. She told me what I had missed in class, and I complained about the homework I would have to make up. Then, it was on to things unrelated to school, like the latest movies and the latest news about the war. That was kind of a scary thought, but at the moment I really was too sick to care much.

“You sound tired,” Kaoru said finally. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay, Kenshin?”

“Sure,” I agreed. She was too good at figuring me out. “See you tomorrow. I’ll feel better.”

“I’m sure you will,” Kaoru agreed. “Good night.”

“‘Night.”

She was patronizing me, of course, agreeing with me like that. But what could I do? I let her get away with it. It was easier that way. Plus, she had already hung up.

^_^

Uncle Hiko called every night to make sure I was still alive. He called again that night, not long after Kaoru hung up. This time, he had some news.

“Your aunt’s wedding is in a couple weeks,” he stated, after we got through the usual pleasantries. “April fifth. I want you to get a new suit.”

“Suit?” I echoed. Goody. I hated suits. At least I didn’t have to wear a tux. Megumi wanted me to wear one of those for her wedding. As Sano’s best man, I was supposed to be dressed up a bit nicer than the average guest.

“I’ll give you some money,” Uncle Hiko said, as if I was really asking a lot of him. I never asked for money. He must have thought that was why I sounded so apprehensive.

“Should it be black?” I asked. “Or does it matter?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Just make sure it’s not too big for you. And fix your hair. I won’t have you showing up to her wedding looking like a punk off the street.”

“Give me a little credit,” I grumbled. I sighed, then blinked as I thought of something. “Can I bring a date?”

“A date?” he asked. The way he said it, a person would have thought the world was ending.

“Yeah, Uncle Hiko,” I scowled, as if he could see it through the phone. “A date.”

He snorted, sounding very much like he was trying not to laugh.

“If you have someone you’d like to bring, by all means, bring her,” he said finally.

“Thanks,” I shook my head. “I’m tired, Uncle Hiko. I should go.”

“Don’t forget to go shopping for that suit,” he reminded me. “And not the weekend before the wedding. Please.”

“Sure, sure,” I sighed.

“Good,” he grunted. “Go take something. You sound like a nasal six-year-old.”

The phone clicked in my ear. He always had to get in the last word. I rolled my eyes and hung up the phone. I did take some cold medicine that night. In fact, I had been on some prescribed antibiotics all week. My opinion was that it was just some overpriced medication that would have done the same thing as any over-the-counter cold and flu drugs. What did I care? Uncle Hiko’s health insurance paid for most of it anyway.

^_^

I did make it to class that Friday. Thank god I only had one. Just walking to the bus that would take me to the other bank was a chore. By the time I reached the classroom, I was ready to pass out. Kaoru scolded me for showing up.

“You should be in bed!” she declared the instant she saw me.

“I’ve missed a whole week of classes!” I replied. “I’ll survive.”

“I’ll bet you still want to go out tonight, too!” she frowned at me.

“No,” I admitted, although I didn’t want to. “I was kind of hoping this would run like a cold and be mostly over after a couple days.”

“You were really sick, Kenshin,” Kaoru patted my head lightly. She always knew just how to make a person feel like he was ten years old again. “Sanosuke said you couldn’t stay awake for more than half an hour at a time earlier this week.”

“When did you talk to Sano?” I wondered.

“Wednesday,” she smiled. “He answered your phone when I called just after English.”

“Of course,” I cut off in a yawn at that point.

“Look! You’re already falling asleep!” Kaoru pointed dramatically.

“I’m fine!” I complained. “If I don’t move around, I feel just fine. Okay? I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, okay!” Kaoru backed off, smiling. “Don’t bite my head off. I’ll let you torture yourself.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, even though that sounded incredibly stupid. Hell, it was stupid. I should have been in bed, but I really could not convince myself that it was okay to miss that much class. I may have been paranoid, but I had failed enough classes in my lifetime. No way was I going to let the flu screw it up for me again.

Kaoru insisted on walking me back to the dorm. She sat next to me on the bus and walked me across the courtyard to the building. She went as far as the main lobby with me before apologizing and rushing away.

“I’ll be late for Sociology if I don’t run,” she said. “We’ve got a quiz at the beginning of every class.”

“Talk to you later,” I waved and stood a bit unsteadily, watching her disappear through the doors.

Kamatari’s door was open when I walked back toward my room. I was incredibly sick of staring at my room, so I stopped and tapped on his door lightly. He looked up from his computer and smiled when he saw me.

“Silly boy!” he scolded. “Come sit down! Before you pass out.”

I settled on the edge of his bed. His comforter was yellow with purple plaid on it. It was a cheery thing, if a little bright for my tastes. It beat looking at my forest green comforter, though.

“Enjoying your day off?” I asked, feeling a bit awkward. I still was not all that comfortable with him. It was not so much the thought that he had made a pass at me, but more that I thought he might still actually like me. Like... well, in the somewhat romantic sense of the word. Considering I did not like him at all like... that... it was a little weird. So help me, I actually felt bad about the fact I would never feel anything. As if that meant anything to him.

“It’s nice to have some free time,” he agreed. “I was thinking about going shopping tonight. I need some new clothing. Men’s clothing.”

“What for?” I frowned.

“Got to dress for the job,” he shrugged. “If I want people to take me seriously.”

“Oh…” I didn’t know what to say to that. He was right, though. It wasn’t fair, but he was right. Even if people mistook him for a woman, the fact of the matter was that the average man was still held in higher regard. No matter what people said, we lived in a male-dominated society. Technically, that should have been a good thing for me, but with my looks, I had already resigned myself to the same type of struggle Kamatari had. I didn’t even have to wear make-up for that.

“You reschedule your date with Kaoru?” he asked. The question startled me, coming from him. I looked at him guiltily.

“Yeah,” I swallowed, suddenly feeling very selfish for having been so put out by having to cancel my date.

“That’s too bad,” he said, sounding sincere.

“Yeah,” I said again. My socks suddenly looked really interesting.

“What’s eating at you, Kenshin?” he asked. It occurred to me that he never called me sweetheart anymore. Once, maybe, since he had gotten back.

“Does it bother you?” I hated that I had to ask. It wasn’t being fair to him. All that time, I never questioned him or how he did things. I never felt the need. But it was different. It changed.

“What?” he sounded surprised by the question. I picked at a loose thread on the hem of my jeans.

“That I’m dating Kaoru,” I murmured. “Does it bother you?”

He didn’t answer for awhile. The question was rather personal, and I assumed he wanted to answer it even less than I wanted to hear the answer. But at the same time...

“I understand, Kenshin,” he said finally. A person had to flinch at that kind of answer. How very diplomatic--meaningless, really. “Kenshin, look at me.” I blinked, startled at the order. “I’m answering this. You can look at me.”

I looked at him. He smiled, but I could tell it was forced. It faded quickly.

“I won’t say it doesn’t hurt,” he said, suddenly averting his own gaze. It was easier for me to watch him when he wasn’t staring right back at me, so I couldn’t complain. “It does. But I understand. And I’m happy for you. You’ve been hanging out with Kaoru for a long time now, and we all knew it was just a matter of time before you asked her out--or she asked you out.”

“Kamatari--”

“So it’s not like I didn’t expect it, you know?” he wouldn’t let me stop him. I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut. “And I’ll get over it. There are plenty of fish in the sea, right?”

“Yeah...” I whispered. The guilt was eating at me. “I’m sorry.”

Kamatari blinked and looked up at me. He grinned then, bright and sincere.

“I know,” he reached over and patted my knee. “And it’s okay. If you can get past the fact that I wear women’s clothing, I can get over the fact that you want to date females.” He huffed a loud sigh then, his breath flipping his bangs up into the air. “God knows why you’d want to do that when there are so many good-looking guys around here.”

I chuckled, shaking my head at the comment.

“That’s what I like to see,” Kamatari poked my nose. “Didn’t I tell you your face was made for smiling? Come on, Kenshin. You belong in bed.”

“I’m on a bed,” I retorted. I lifted my eyebrows at him. “You know... you owe me for all those times you dragged me shopping.”

“Oh dear,” he smiled. “I’m afraid to ask.”

“I need a suit,” I told him. “For my aunt’s wedding.”

“And you want some help finding one?” Kamatari wondered.

“As much as I hate to admit it,” I sighed. “You’re the best opinion around. You know what it’s like for a guy who looks like he belongs in the women’s departments.”

He laughed and stood.

“All right,” he agreed. “As long as you agree to rest. I’ll go get your pillow, and you sit in here for awhile. But you’re not spending the night. It’s a good thing I’ve got some clean sheets. I need that bed.”

“Hnnn,” I leaned back against the wall wearily. “You know you wouldn’t mind.”

“Don’t tempt me, sweetheart,” he snorted.

Ummm... I blinked at him, and he grinned. Shaking my head, I laid down and curled up on the blanket as he fished around my bag for my keys. I was asleep before he came back with that pillow.

^_^

‘With that, he reached forward, transferred the shirts from my hands to Sano’s, and pulled me out of the closet.’

‘With that, he reached forward, transferred the shirts from my hands to Sano’s, and pulled me into the room.’