Guilty Pleasure Friends

Sick Episode

Mahiru still gaped at Hyde, trying to make sense of the whole situation. "The nurse's...?" he stammered. "Are you okay?" His eyes strayed to the door Hyde had just come darting from. "...Is Licht okay?"

Hyde blinked in surprise. For a second he looked like a child caught in the middle of sneaking cookies, then he caught his composure again and grinned. "Yeah, Angel-chan overworked himself and now he has a cold! So now I, the super-cute nurse, have to help him so he'll be back to his cool angelic self again soon!"

Mahiru was still frowning. "Hyde, are you worried about Licht?"

Hyde gulped.

This time it took him a little longer to regain his composure, but it was still only two seconds until he was back to his usual self. "Not really!" he said, laughing. "But if I nurse him back to health now, he'll owe me something! I wonder if I can get Angel-chan to be nice and not kick me for a day!"

Mahiru didn't believe him for a second. The look on his face before he had switched back to his usual cheerful attitude had said more than a thousand words, and the rush he'd been in when he had run into Mahiru spoke volumes. Hyde was clearly worried, but of course he wouldn't admit it that easily. Maybe not even to himself.

All the more reason to help. "Should I make a dash for the nurse's office?" he offered. "That way you can stay by Licht's side and make sure his cold doesn't get any worse... Or do you want me to watch him while you run to get some medicine?"

Hyde looked both taken aback and slightly grateful, but once again he brushed it off. "Ah, don't bother," he said with a grin. "I don't think Lichtan's condition is that ba– huh?"

Before he could finish his sentence, Mahiru had grabbed his sleeve and started dragging him towards Licht's room. "If he has a fever, somebody needs to watch him!" he declared, ignoring Hyde's protests. "And thinking simply, that somebody has to be one of us!"

"Hey!" Hyde struggled and tried to free his arm, but it was in vain. "Owowowowow you're hurting my arm let me go...! Geez, you're almost as bad as Angel-chan!"

"Make sure that he has something to cool his forehead if he has a fever," Mahiru simply told him, opening the door to Licht's room and dragging him inside. "But keep him warm otherwise. I'll see if I can get him some tea and food too, I know what kind of tea helps against colds. You stay here and watch him, alright? If anything's wrong just call me or Kuro. Be right back." And off he was.

Hyde suddenly found himself all alone in a quiet, dark room. All alone with Licht, who was still asleep and tossing and turning and mumbling in his dreams. Alone with the duty to somehow nurse this guy back to health.

What was he doing here? This wasn't right. He hadn't planned to take care of this guy when he'd approached him. That was something lovers did, close friends, but not frenemies. Not people who only spent time with others to relieve their boredom.

And yet... and yet he somehow wanted to do something. He wanted to help. Was it because he'd grown accustomed to Licht's grumpy presence, because he'd be bored without it, because he'd feel like he was missing something? Or had he started to care?

He shook his head. Care about this idiot? No, thank you. He didn't care about anyone anymore, let alone this guy. He had decided not to care about a single person in this world anymore, not after losing her. After all, what good had caring done him? He'd just end up losing everyone anyway, some sooner, some later. All people were to him was entertainment, a distraction, something to make time go by a little faster.

He had attached himself to so many people. He had gone out with so many people, girls and boys alike, ditching them all after a few weeks when they got boring, tossing them aside like used tissues. Maybe it was to keep himself from getting lonely. Maybe it was to prove to himself that he was still lovable. Maybe it was to fill the giant hole left behind by the one person he could never have.

Licht had never been supposed to be any different.

He had been different, of course. They had never gone out. Licht had hated him at first sight, and Hyde had realized that latching onto someone to annoy them was much more entertaining than going out with the newest unassuming victim. But Licht had never been supposed to matter any more than those meaningless flings had.

Licht stirred again, grumbling something about a stupid rat and telling him to do something anatomically impossible. Hyde grinned, snapping out of his mind-boggling thoughts. "Just you wait, Angel-chan," he said to himself. "The stupid rat's gonna nurse you back to health, how's that? I bet you'll look like a real idiot when you find out!"

He probably should have asked Mahiru to bring a cooling pad too. Oh well, for the time being, a cold wet towel would have to do. It would cool him off at least a little, and by the time it started warming up Mahiru would probably be back with something better.

And besides, Licht wasn't very cool-headed even when he was healthy.

---

Cold... so cold...

Everything felt cold. The air. Licht's clothes. Even his own skin and hair, soaked and drenched with sweat, felt cold. The blanket clung to him like a wet towel, soft and sticky and cold like everything else. His head was pounding. His throat was dry. His skin was glowing, radiating heat, and yet he was shivering with the cold. Why was everything so cold?

He could hear steps from a distance, slowly moving closer. A voice spoke some words he didn't understand. Was it speaking to him? It sounded familiar. Whose voice was it?

The voice spoke again, louder this time, but Licht still couldn't catch the words. They were distorted and jumbled as if they were coming to him through a bad phone connection, flickering on and off again like strobe lights, a mess of sounds and syllables that didn't make sense. What was the voice trying to say? Why couldn't Licht catch the words?

Something grabbed his arm, shaking him gently. Licht tried to turn around, tried to see who it was that had grabbed him, who was talking to him, but he couldn't move. He was frozen in place, surrounded by absolute darkness, shaken by an invisible hand and listening to a disembodied voice saying fragments of words to him.

No... this wasn't right. He wanted to move. He had to move, had to see who was talking to him. He knew that voice was familiar. Who was it? What were they saying?

No good. He still couldn't move. Even with all his willpower he still couldn't move.

His head was pounding. His throat was dry. And he was shaking. Not just with the cold, but with the creeping fear that had wrapped its icy fingers around his heart.

Why couldn't he move? He had to move. Why couldn't he?

He was so alone here, alone with the invisible stranger... why was he alone? Why wasn't there anyone else? Why wouldn't anyone help him?

Cold... so cold...

The hand let go of his arm. The voice flickered on and off and on and off until Licht couldn't tell if it was still speaking or if this was just an echo.

It was still dark. He still couldn't move.

Why was he so alone here? Where had the voice gone to?

Someone... anyone...

So cold...

The hand reappeared, gently brushing his hair aside and wiping the sweat off his forehead. It came to rest on it for a few seconds before vanishing again, and then something soft and wet and soothingly cool wrapped itself over Licht's heated face.

The voice spoke again, and this time the words were clear, without flickering or distorting. "Better now, Angel-chan?"

The curse was finally broken. Licht could move again.

He shifted, opened his eyes and looked into a familiar face.

---

Mahiru was in such a hurry that he didn't even hear the rushed steps coming from his side. A figure emerged from the shadows of the dark courtyard, crashing right into his side, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

The figure in front of him groaned. "Ow..." he mumbled to himself. "Man, that hurt."

"Hey," Mahiru snapped, rubbing the elbow he'd caught himself on. Great, that would definitely form a bruise. "Can't you watch where you're going? I was trying to get somewhere fast! What are you even doing here at this time of the night, anyway?"

"...Mahiru?"

"Sakuya!" Mahiru blurted out, finally recognizing his best friend as his brain caught up with the situation. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was you... you okay?"

Sakuya grimaced. "You know," he hissed, wincing in pain, "actually, I think I broke an arm."

"Wha– Don't move! Don't move, I'll check it in a sec, I'm so sorry–"

"How much of that was a lie?"

Sakuya grinned and dodged the punch Mahiru threw at him. His best friend gave him a glare that was both angry and relieved at the same time, flinging another punch at his face and hitting it this time. "Don't joke about that, dammit!" he yelled. "Scare me like that again and I'll break your arm for real! I wasn't trying to go to the nurse's office because of you, you know?"

"The nurse's office?" Sakuya stopped laughing, snapping back to attention in a split second. His expression shifted from mirth to worry. "Mahiru, are you okay?"

"Me?" Mahiru blinked at him, puzzled. "I'm fine... it's just that Licht has caught a cold and I'm trying to get some medicine to make his fever go down and stuff, you know."

"Licht? You mean the pianist dude from class A?"

Mahiru nodded.

"So that's why you were running, huh..." Sakuya was about to brush it off when a flicker of realization crossed his face, making him frown. "Wait a sec, isn't his room on the other side of the building? Did you just happen to hang around the place, or does everyone in our grade always call Mahiru-sama when there's an emergency?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Mahiru tried to sound strict but failed when his expression slipped, cracking a grin. "Nah, I was just tutoring Kuro in his room and when I walked out I ran into Hyde." He rubbed his forehead, feeling the bruise that was forming where he had crashed into the former Servamp. "Literally. You're already the second person I ran into in the space of five minutes."

Sakuya laughed again. "That's the power of Mahiru-sama for you! Everyone you come close to has to run and crash into you. It's like a magnet!"

"I'll show you the power of Mahiru-sama!" Mahiru shot him a playful glare–

–and paused.

Wait a second...

There was something he had forgotten about, something Sakuya's words had just brought back to his mind.

"Everyone I come close to..." he repeated. "Why were you even around here, anyway?"

Just for a split second Sakuya looked taken aback. Or was it just Mahiru's imagination? Maybe he was just seeing things, but he could have sworn that for a tiny moment his best friend looked like a deer in the headlights.

Sakuya grinned, and the illusion disappeared as quickly as it had come. His face became distorted to one of those creepy masks it would always turn into when he was telling a horror story, grin too wide for his face and eyes glowing like flashlights in the dark. "I had some business with the third-years."

"Sakuya!"

"Just kidding, just kidding." Sakuya dodged another one of Mahiru's punches. "Just went to hang out with some third-year girls and lost track of time."

Mahiru huffed. "You better be in your room by curfew next time, got that? That was half an hour ago!"

"Says the class rep who's running through the courtyard after curfew?"

"Shut up! It's an emergency!"

"Okay, okay." Sakuya laughed again and turned to leave. "Well, I'm gonna call it a night now. If you need any help, just knock."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and headed towards his room. His grin faded as soon as he was certain Mahiru couldn't see his face.

Lately his best friend had definitely been acting suspicious. What was with all that time he was spending with that Kuro guy? Alright, he knew Mahiru had taken the delinquent under his wing to get him to go to class and get decent grades and all that, but that was still no reason to spend that much time with him, tutoring him until past curfew. What had they been doing?

And now Hyde. Mahiru said he had crashed into Hyde, who had probably told him about Licht falling ill, but there was still something fishy about the whole story. First Kuro and now Hyde? Was it just him, or had Mahiru been getting close to a whole lot of former Servamps lately?

He shook his head. It didn't have to mean anything. Maybe Mahiru didn't even know that he was hanging out with a bunch of former gang members. He had been blissfully unaware of the rumors surrounding Kuro, after all, and as far as he could remember nobody had told him the names of all the Servamps. In that case, maybe Sakuya should warn him. Knowing Mahiru, he probably wouldn't listen and just say that it was all in the past or something, but knowing about the dangers of his new friends was still leagues better than walking blindly into the lion's den.

But what if Mahiru did know? What if he was up to something?

He had been acting pretty suspicious lately. And Tsubaki had said something about the Servamps possibly teaming up again to stop him and the gang and everyone, even though they had all so firmly gone separate ways back then. Had somebody tried to put the gang back together? Somebody from the inside? Or... maybe an outsider? What if Mahiru had tried to reassemble the Servamps?

Stop thinking that, moron, he reprimanded himself. Mahiru wouldn't do that. He was a class representative and member of the disciplinary committee, he would never work together with a gang!

...Not even to defeat a worse gang?

He shut that train of thought down before it even left the station. Mahiru wouldn't do that, he was sure. It was just a coincidence and he was seeing things. Being part of Melancholy was starting to make him pretty paranoid.

Besides, Mahiru had just given him a useful bit of information. If Licht was sick and Hyde was apparently taking care of him, or at least worried about him... then maybe this could be a good chance to take revenge on at least one of the Servamps. He'd found a precious weakness right there.

He took out his phone, opened the Melancholy group chat and started typing a message. just found out smth useful.

---

Just for a moment time seemed to stand still.

Licht stared up at Hyde. Hyde stared down at Licht. Blue eyes met red ones in a stunned stare, unblinking. Neither of them said a word. Neither of them breathed. Hyde's hand was frozen in place on Licht's forehead, still holding the wet towel.

This was awkward.

This silence was really, really awkward. Hyde had absolutely no idea why, but even he could see that something had to be done. He had to break the silence somehow, no matter how. Just say whatever and get the world to start moving again.

He opened his mouth, but just as he was about to say something, Licht finally spoke.

"Am I... dreaming?"

Hyde gaped at him for a second. "...What?"

"I don't remember getting here." Licht spoke quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself, his eyes staring right through Hyde's confused face. "How did I get here? Is this a dream?"

"Huh? Wait, it's not a dream!" Hyde finally regained his composure a little. "You caught a cold and fell asleep at your desk, so as your super-cute sidekick, I put you in the bed and started nursing you! Am I not nice, Angel-chan?"

Licht squinted at him, staring like he wanted to bore holes in Hyde's face with his eyes. Finally a flicker of realization crossed his face, and his expression relaxed. "My fever must be bad, I'm having hallucinations." He scowled in disgust. "Really ugly hallucinations."

"Lichtan, I'm not a hallucination!" Hyde protested, frantically waving his arms around and grabbing Licht by his shoulders and shaking him. "Look! Look! Look here, does this feel like a hallucination to you? I'm one hundred percent real, geez!"

Licht wound himself from his grip. "I didn't know you could feel hallucinations too," he remarked, irritation slowly but surely growing in his voice.

"Angel-chan, who do you think brought you here? Who do you think you got that wet towel from? I'm here and real, you prick!"

"Shut up, you illusion!" Licht snapped at him. "The real shit rat would never nurse me when I'm sick!"

"What? Lichtan, that's rude! And I even went out of my way to ask Mahiru to get you medicine, is that the thanks I get?"

Without bothering to reply, Licht sat up and grabbed his pillow. "With my angel powers... I'm going to exorcise you, hallucination."

Hyde would have started laughing if the whole situation wasn't so... surreal. "Wait," he protested, "wait! Angel-chan, listen to me! Don't sit up, you need to rest–"

He didn't come any further because a pillow was flung in his face, hitting him right in the mouth.

"Die, apparition!"

Hyde spluttered and coughed, spitting out a few stray feathers that had flown out of the pillow at the impact. "Hey!" he yelled, reaching for the pillow at his feet. "Just you wait, you jerk! Take that!"

He lifted the pillow and threw it straight at Licht, missing his face only by a narrow margin, and rushed to retrieve it before Licht could get a hold on it again. Licht reached out himself, and the two of them both ended up on opposite sides of the bed, pulling at two corners of the pillow.

"Let go of my pillow, you demon!" Licht growled, tugging harder at his end. "I'll purify you! I'll kill you until you are dead!"

Hyde tightened his grip on his side of the pillow. "You let go, stupid stubborn Angel-chan! You need to rest anyway so there!" He stuck out his tongue.

"An angel like me doesn't need rest! Now... let... go... before I kill you!"

There was a sound of fabric tearing apart, and a moment later both of them tumbled back in opposite directions, each of them holding half of what had been a pillow, a flurry of feathers snowing down on them. They had fallen off the bed, lying with their backs on the floor and their feet still on the mattress, and had absolutely no idea what had happened.

Of course it was at this very moment that the door opened.

"I've got the medicine!" Mahiru announced, rushing in. "Licht, Hyde, are you oka–"

He caught sight of the chaos around him and froze.

"What. The hell."

Hyde was the first to realize what was happening. He scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, hurriedly trying to explain everything as Mahiru's expression shifted from shock to barely-veiled fury. "Waitwaitwait it's not what it looks like, I can explain!" He pointed an accusing finger at Licht, who was still busy sitting up and wondering what was going on. "He started–"

Licht pointed at Hyde. "He started it."

"What?" Hyde did a double take. "That's not true! All I did was try to help you, you ungrateful prick!"

"You acted weird, moron!"

"Stupid ungrateful Angel-chan! I'm not helping you anymore!"

"Will you two just shut up for a minute?!"

They both jumped at Mahiru's tone. The class representative was seriously angry, glaring at them with his hands on his hips, his eyes and voice no-nonsense. Hyde resisted the urge to duck behind the bed, and even Licht shrank back as Mahiru's form seemed to get bigger, filling the room with his presence.

"Licht!" he ordered, drowning out all protests before either of them could even open his mouth. "You better get back into your bed or else! Hyde, give Licht your pillow! And if you two even think of fighting again, I'm calling a teacher! Got that?"

They gulped and nodded.

Licht scrambled back into bed, grumbling about how it was all the stupid rat's fault, and lay down only to realize that lying on a mattress without a pillow was awfully uncomfortable and sat back up, sulking. Hyde trotted off to his room, not-so-quietly mumbling about a certain ungrateful angel and how he was never helping him out again.

Mahiru sighed with relief. At least they were quiet.

"By the way, Licht," he ventured, smiling at the pianist who was still glaring holes into the wall and pouting, "I brought you some medicine from the nurse's office. It should help with your fever and–"

"Don't need it."

Mahiru should have seen this coming. "Come on, don't be like that," he tried again, "you need to recover quickly, there's the exams and stuff coming up! You don't wanna miss any more classes, do you? If you take that medicine, you'll be back to normal in no time at all."

Licht turned away. "Don't need it."

"Come on!" Mahiru groaned, slowly losing his patience. "Would you rather spend the next couple days in bed when you could be studying and practicing the piano?"

"I'll be fine by myself," Licht insisted. "Why? Because I'm..." He turned around and tried to strike a flashy pose. "...an angel!"

His pose was shaken by a coughing fit, and he curled up on himself again, groaning quietly.

"Liar!" Mahiru scolded him. "You obviously won't be fine! Now take the medicine already and be done with it! What are you, a kid?"

"...Don't wanna."

Mahiru was just about to ask him why when the door flew open behind him and Hyde poked his head inside. "Does Angel-chan still need a pillow? Here it is! All soft and fluffy and almost as cuddly as my adorable self–"

"Shut up!" Mahiru and Licht interrupted him in unison. Licht started coughing again.

Hyde's eyes widened as he saw Licht struggle with the coughing fit, almost but not quite to the point of looking a little worried. "Whoa there, Lichtan, are you okay? Have you taken your medicine already?"

Mahiru groaned in frustration. "He hasn't!" he said, making an exasperated gesture. "He flat-out refuses to and I have no idea why!"

Licht grumbled something unintelligible.

Mahiru and Hyde perked up. "What?"

"...it's bitter."

There was a moment's silence.

Mahiru's face turned white and then red in a matter of seconds. "Are you kidding me?" he snapped, marching up to the sick pianist. "You're refusing to drink medicine just because it's bitter?"

Licht pouted at him. "Problem?"

Mahiru took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He was dealing with an idiot and a man-child here, getting mad wouldn't help him. "Look," he said, desperately holding on to his composure, "Licht. It's only for a moment, and it's gonna be worth it, and if you drink it we'll get you something sweet afterwards. Deal?"

Licht stared hard at him in consideration. At long last he nodded and added, "But I want melon."

Hyde and Mahiru gaped at him. "Melon?!"

"...Fine," Mahiru sighed. "You'll get all the melon you want tomorrow, so take the medicine, okay?"

"I want it now."

Honestly, at this point Mahiru didn't know what else he had been expecting. Probably nothing.

Without missing a beat, he turned around to address Licht's classmate. "Hyde, get him some melon."

"Eh– eh?!" Hyde stared at him in shock. "Are you both kidding me? Where am I supposed to get melon at this time of the day? We're not even allowed to go outside anymore! Don't be such a spoiled brat, Lichtan!" He turned to Mahiru. "And why are you not saying anything?"

Mahiru massaged his temples. "I'm trying to get this whole mess over with. It'll probably be faster to get him melon than to try and negotiate with him." He made a gesture towards Licht, who was still sitting on the bed, with the blanket pulled over his legs, and looked awfully pleased with himself. "Just hurry up already! I'm gonna keep an eye on him."

Hyde grumbled something about a stupid spoiled angel and stomped off. Where the hell was he supposed to get any decent melon at this time of the night?

Oh wait.

On second thought, he knew someone who might help.

---

Kuro wasn't one to go to sleep early. Usually he didn't care about it either way, but today he was honestly glad to be a night owl. After all, if he'd actually wanted to sleep right now, all this noise in the neighboring room and hallway would've been a royal pain in the neck.

He had heard raised voices, hurried steps and a few thumps and crashes and other sounds that he couldn't quite identify, but he was pretty sure there had been fighting involved. And Mahiru. He had heard Mahiru's voice loud and clear, probably trying to keep the chaos next door in check.

What a pain... why did Mahiru have to get involved in literally everything?

Oh well, it was quiet again now so he supposed things had been solved. There was no need for him to get up and look what had been going on, he probably wouldn't see anything anyway. His curiosity could always be restrained until he saw Mahiru again tomorrow morning.

But if that was the case, then what was this uneasy feeling in his gut?

Something wasn't right. He didn't know what. He didn't know why. All he knew was that he needed to check up on Mahiru and the others.

Sighing at his own weird sense of duty, he paused his game, put down his phone and scrambled to his feet. Seriously, what a pain. All he wanted was to sleep and eat and play games and get through the next two years of school without any major drama, and here he was, getting involved in things that were none of his business and helping out just for the sake of helping. And it was all Mahiru's fault for being so damn diligent and nosy and getting caught up in everything that smelled even remotely like trouble.

And the worst part was that Kuro didn't even know if he was just worried about his idiot classmate or if Mahiru was starting to have an annoyingly good influence on him.

Stopping in front of the door to Licht's room, Kuro paused. He was here, but what now? What if Mahiru wasn't even in the room anymore and he'd make a giant idiot of himself by asking for him? He didn't think he could deal with an annoyed, tired angel pianist at this time of the day.

...But what if Mahiru was there?

He had heard Hyde leave some time ago, but Mahiru's voice had still come from this room at the time and he hadn't heard anyone else walk out of the room since then. So, thinking simply, as Mahiru would put it, his friend still had to be in there.

Whatever. Checking wouldn't hurt. Not much, anyway.

He gave a soft knock, waiting for an answer, but the room remained silent. Careful not to be too loud and wake anyone up, Kuro knocked again, softly calling, "Mahiru? You in there?"

There was still no answer. Kuro gritted his teeth, swallowing that nervous feeling that tried to convince him not to do this, that it would all just end up awkward as all hell, and opened the door and poked his head inside.

He was met with perfect quiet. Licht's room was dark, only dimly lit by the small lamp on his nightstand that was barely enough to illuminate the pianist's bed. The boy himself lay tucked under the covers, arms wrapped around a stuffed animal, a towel lying on his forehead, fast asleep and snoring quietly. Kuro let out a breath, relaxing. At least he wasn't disturbing anyone.

But where was Mahiru?

He stepped further into the room, his eyes searching as they adjusted to the darkness enclosing the room until they finally came to rest on a familiar figure.

Mahiru sat in the chair at Licht's desk, facing the pianist even as he had fallen asleep, slumped to one side, his chin resting on his chest. He looked tired and uncomfortable, frowning in his sleep, struggling with some bad dream that had befallen him to rob him of his well-earned rest. His teeth were gritted, his breathing heavy, as if he was fighting a heavy battle with his nightmare. He looked... afraid, somehow.

Kuro shook his head. "You're the worst."

Careful not to wake anyone, he snuck over to his friend, taking a closer look at his face. His whole expression was tense, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead. He was still mumbling something to himself, and this time Kuro caught the words.

"No... Don't go, Mom... don't leave me here alone..."

A pang of worry shot through Kuro's chest. Mahiru was dreaming about his mother. His mother, who he had lost when he was still little.

Before he knew what he was doing, he reached out to stroke Mahiru's hair, running his fingers through those unexpectedly soft dark strands. You're not alone, Mahiru. Even if your mom has left you, you're still not alone.

...Was it just him, or was Mahiru's forehead unnaturally warm?

What a pain. First it had been Licht who had apparently gotten sick, and now Mahiru was on the verge of catching a cold too. He couldn't stay here. He had to rest up, or he would get sick for real.

Sighing in exasperation, he lifted Mahiru up in his arms, holding him close as he walked back towards the door.

Mahiru took a shaky breath, shifting uncomfortably. Kuro couldn't see his face, but he felt the boy's shoulders trembling.

Was he... crying?

"Hey." Kuro steadied his grip on his friend and shook him gently. "Mahiru, you okay?"

Mahiru didn't answer, but the trembling intensified. A muffled sob escaped his lips as his hand gripped the fabric of Kuro's shirt, holding onto it like it was the only lifeline in his nightmare. "Mom..." he whispered, his voice cracking and crumbling with despair. "Mom, I'm so sorry... don't leave me alone... stay with me... I don't..." A fit of sobs shook him. "I don't have anyone else..."

Kuro listened to him and felt a lump rising in his throat. "What a pain," he mumbled to himself, trying to ignore how his own voice was on the verge of cracking, how close he was to crying himself. Again.

Without thinking about what he was doing, he brought up a hand and wiped the tears off Mahiru's cheeks. "Hey," he whispered, tracing the wet streaks along his friend's cheekbones and the corners of his mouth, holding him closer, wrapping his arms around him, hoping that he could feel it through his dream. "Hey, calm down. You're not alone, dummy. I'm here, see?"

Mahiru didn't seem to react, but Kuro could feel him melting into the touch, could feel his body relaxing little by little, could feel his breath leveling out until his shoulders weren't trembling anymore. With a peaceful, content sigh, he buried his nose in Kuro's chest and chuckled to himself. "Smells nice..."

A wave of relief rushed over Kuro, but at the same time he felt his own face heating up. Suddenly he was hyperaware of how close they were, hyperaware of the sleeping boy in his arms who was so happily snuggling up to him. He had to get him into his own room, and he had to do it quickly before he overheated.

...He hadn't caught Licht and Mahiru's cold by any chance, had he? Oh well, no big deal if he had. Then he'd just get to skip school for a couple days.

Slipping out the door, he hurried to Mahiru's room and placed his friend on the bed, neatly tucking him under the covers. He was just about to sneak back out again when he heard a voice behind him.

"Ku...ro...?"

Oh great.

"Kuro?" Mahiru asked again, less drowsily this time. "What am I doing here... what happened?"

Kuro could feel his face glowing again. Seriously, he needed to do something about this cold. "You dozed off in Angel-chan's room is all. What a pain, can't you take it down a bit? You're gonna get sick too if you keep going like that." He gave Mahiru a look that was supposed to be exasperated but probably only came across as worried. "You already have a bit of a fever, y'know. I thought idiots couldn't catch colds."

To his surprise, Mahiru didn't get annoyed at his remark. He just continued to look at him with those wide eyes. "Kuro..."

Kuro met his gaze for a moment and averted his eyes. For some reason that look was doing weird things to him. It was like Mahiru had gazed straight into his heart, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

"I'm gonna call it a night," he announced before Mahiru could say anything else, turning and hurrying towards the door. "Don't overwork yourself, workaholic."

He had already opened the door when Mahiru's voice called after him. "Kuro, wait!"

He turned around to be met with a smile that was all warmth and happiness and gratitude, a ray of sunshine in the middle of the night. "Thank you."

"For what?" Kuro was honestly glad for this darkness. He couldn't help feeling that his face was all red again.

"For worrying about me and bringing me here," Mahiru said like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Good night!"

Kuro fled the room and closed the door behind him.

"Can't deal."

---

Mahiru opened the door and nearly crashed into Licht on his own doorstep.

The pianist looked like a disaster. He was pale, his hair was a tangled mess, there were dark shadows under his eyes, his nose was red like a tomato, and to top it off he was sniffling. Honestly, it was a miracle that he could even stand up in this state, let alone walk to Mahiru's room.

"Licht!" Mahiru said, gaping at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Licht scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, like he really, really didn't want to be caught saying what he was about to say.

"Uh... Have you seen the shit rat?"