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Part 1
By Ladyglen
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Weak, winter sunlight filtered through the barren branches of the trees that ringed the tiny courtyard off the side of the university library. Sai had curled himself onto one of the stone benches that dotted the courtyard to wait for Kento to finish his last final before winter break. The cold that radiated off the bench conspired with the wind that whispered through the tree branches to penetrate his body, chilling him clear through to his bones. He might be colder sitting, but that was still preferable to standing.
"At last! We are done and outta here, dude!"
The lack of any insulating leaves caused Kento's exuberant voice to bounce and echo off the gray stone of the library, bringing a ghost of a smile to Sai's lips.
"Thought I'd *never* finish that test, Sai!"
Sai forced himself to his feet, then fervently wished he'd remained seated as the widely smiling Kento grabbed his hands and whirled him into a spin. Paling and biting back a cry of pain, Sai buried his face in the soft puffiness of Kento's ski jacket as his love's arms came around him. He leaned against Kento, pathetically grateful for the strong arms that were supporting a good portion of his weight, for without them, Sai was unsure he'd have remained on his feet.
"So, how'd ya do, dude?"
"All right, I guess," Sai mumbled into Kento's chest as he tried to keep his breathing shallow. At least he prayed that he'd done well. He'd tried. He really had, but the nagging, sharp pain in his stomach had been so bad towards the end of the exam that the words of his history essay had started to blur together. Sai had no idea whether or not his writing had been coherent, but at this point, he really didn't care. All that mattered to him anymore was getting the pain in his middle to go away. It should have been gone by now. Surely, it should have ended, but it hadn't, and Sai couldn't explain why. A stomach bug shouldn't last over a week, should it?
The sickness had started with a low-grade fever, but had quickly progressed to include both nausea and stomach cramps. For several days, the only reason Sai had forced himself out of bed was to run for the bathroom, though once he got there, it was a toss-up which end of himself he should aim at the toilet first. His doctor had been of no help. Somehow, Sai had managed to drag his sorry ass down to Dr. Mori's office, only to be told that he had a non-specific intestinal virus, and that there was nothing to do but let it run its course. Let it run its course? What a joke. It was the last thing that Sai needed to deal with the week before finals, but he hadn't had any choice in the matter.
Feeling somewhat human again, Sai crammed for all he was worth the weekend before finals began. His sense of wellness was fleeting, however, for it lasted only long enough for him to take his first two exams. By Monday evening, Sai's stomach began to hurt again.
The following day, Sai was able to ignore the pain. At least initially. It was fortunate that his next two exams were both in the morning, for as the day progressed, the pain had intensified and the nausea and fever had returned. It was fortunate that in the bustling madhouse his home turned into that evening, no one noticed his lack of appetite or increasing discomfort.
"But Sage, we did 5 finals in 2 days! I'm tired, I don't wanna pack! Why can't we do it in the morning?"
"We're leaving for Tokyo in the morning, Rowen. We won't have the time. If you don't get your ass off the sofa and get upstairs, I'm going to have to paddle it!"
"Hmmmm, promise?"
"Get!"
"Ack! I'm goin', I'm goin', though you're incredibly tempting when you go all authoritative and commanding on me!"
"Geez, Rowen, you got a one track mind, or what? We'll never get out of here at this rate!"
"You wish, Sage. Race 'ya!"
"Don't run in the house! Yeesh, at 21, they're worse than 6 year olds. It's like talking to a couple of brick walls!"
"My, my, Mia. Those term papers making you cranky?"
"Why, no, Ryo. Why *ever* would a veritable mountain of misspelled, grammatically incorrect drivel written by a bunch of students who evidently slept through my classes since they wouldn't know an ancient myth if it leapt up and bit them on their collective asses make me cranky?"
"Yikes! She's gettin' dangerous! C'mon Kento, Yuli, I sense impending death, destruction, and general mayhem out here. The kitchen'll be safer!"
"I'll mayhem you, Ryo! What'll this be? You're third snack since dinner? You all need to be studying, not eating!"
"Aw, Mia, it's brain food!"
"Kento, potato chips, chocolate and tea is *not* brain food!"
"What? We've got carbohydrates. We've got caffeine. All that'll increase our stamina so we can survive the rigorous, marathon study sessions we've all got planned for tonight!"
"Yuli, Yuli, Yuli. You're too young to be able to justify a junk food pig-out session so easily. What happened to that innocent, little boy I once knew?
"Heh, he was corrupted by hanging around here too long. C'mon, guys, I hear a chip calling my name!"
"That stuff is going to *ROT* your brains instead of fortifying them!"
History, history. Think history, Sai. One more, you can do it. Already in bed, Sai curled his aching body into a tighter ball, trying to tune out the racket from downstairs. All he had left was his history exam the next morning. Then, he could collapse.
Sai squinted at his notebook in an effort to bring the words swimming before his eyes into focus, but finally gave it up as futile. No matter how important this exam was, when he hurt so badly he couldn't even decipher his own handwriting, it was time to pack it in. Sleep. Maybe he just needed to sleep. Maybe it would all be better in the morning. Sai pushed his history text and notebook over the edge of the bed and onto the floor. Straightening to reach for the covers, a particularly vicious, twanging pain spiked through the constant, throbbing ache in his middle that had began the previous day. Unable to muster more than a faint whimper, Sai curled in on himself again, a prayer that he survive the night winging through his mind.
*click*
"Hey, Sai. You goin' to bed already?"
Sai cracked an eyelid as he felt Kento's weight settle onto the edge of the bed. "Yeah, Kento. I'm tired, and I've had enough."
"Probably don't need to study much anyway. You're lucky you're smart."
"Yeah, right."
"You are. Hey, don'cha want the covers? You may be warm enough now, but it's pretty damn cold out tonight."
"Yeah, I guess so." Sai smiled as Kento tucked the covers around him as if he were a little kid, his love's concern pushing back the fog of his discomfort a bit and making him feel safe and protected.
"There ya go. You sure my studying won't bother you?"
"Nah, you go ahead."
"Okay, love ya. Sleep well."
"Love you, too." A brush of warm lips, then Kento was across the room and settling back in at his desk. Sai closed his eyes on the warm glow of the desk lamp, the soft murmur of Kento's voice as he began to read aloud from his text as soothing to him as a lullaby.
The dawn of a new day brought Sai no relief. If anything, the pain was even worse. Too many times to count, Sai nearly asked Kento to drive him to Dr. Mori's office instead of to the university, but each time, he swallowed back the words. He had to take his exam, and perhaps after being together for so long, both as friends and lovers, some of Kento's pig-headed stubbornness had finally rubbed off on him. It couldn't have been anything else that enabled him to complete his exam, turn in his test booklet and walk from the room.
Sai pushed weakly against Kento's arms and stared up into his love's beaming, blue eyes when they loosened. Mustering a tired smile, he asked, "And how did you do?"
"Don't know, and don't care! It's over. All that counts is that we survived another semester! Come on, Sai, let's go celebrate. I'll take you out to lunch!"
Kento's grin was as infectious as that damned stomach virus, and, in spite of himself, Sai felt the first real smile he'd had in what seemed like forever stretch his lips. At least until Kento released him, grabbed one hand, then, with no further ceremony, started off out of the chill, wind-blown courtyard for their car.
Unprepared, Sai staggered, his few jarring steps sending pain lancing through his middle. Somehow, he managed to jerk his hands free and stumble to a halt without dropping to the ground and curling into a protective ball, though he couldn't help hunching over and wrapping his arms tightly around himself.
"Sai! What's wrong? Are you all right?"
"Actually, no," Sai whispered faintly, unable to do more to erase the alarm in Kento's voice. He sagged into Kento's arms as they came around him again. This was bad. A simple stomach bug couldn't *possibly* hurt this much. "Kento, instead of lunch, I think I need to go see Dr. Mori again."
on to Part 2
back to the Gazebo
