He felt bad. No, actually he felt terrible. He has never felt this terrible in all his life... well, there was that scuffle he got into with a rival gang a few years back that got him hospitalised for more than a week.... but THIS... he didn't want THIS! He was still young and has a lot waiting for him in his young life! Basketball, ramen, burgers, fries, fighting, basketball...wait a minute... did he already tick off basketball? He couldn't remember. His head was spinning. Oh God, he didn't want to die yet! Please!

Hanamichi groaned, his head turning left to right as his warm body twisted under the sheets. Please make this pain go away! His throat felt parched and he was suddenly attacked by a bout of dry coughs, scratching at his sore throat further. Looking at the table beside his bed, he saw a glass of water and reached out to take it. His trembling hands touched the glass but then the coughs came again, disrupting his motions and glass of water tipped off of the table by his twitching fingers.

"Sakuragi!"

Someone was beside him in an instant and it took a while to recognise the person as Ayako as she forcefully laid him back down on the mattress before picking up the now empty glass and disappeared out the door. Hanamichi's vision was blurry, made distorted by the dizzyness assaulting his brain. He thought he could see other people in the room. Tall people. Mostly dark-haired, all peering at him as if he's some squashed bug left squirming to die.

"Go away..." moaned Sakuragi, waving his hands at them weakly as if with that motion they'd do his bidding. Instead one of the people made a rude sound.

"That's gratitude for ya," said the person, "We came here to visit and you tell us to go away."

Ryonchi? What's that twerp doing here?

"Man, he looks pathetic," said another.

Micchy?

"Mitsui," came a chastising remark, "don't say that. Can't you see he's not well?"

Megane-kun... I owe ya one.

"I thought I'd never see the day," said a solemn voice.

Gori? Oh damn!
Hanamichi didn't want them to see him in this state. When he leaves them, he wanted them to remember him as an amazing basketball player and friend, not as a weak, pathetic looking kid they see now lying in his deathbed.

"No, go away," pleaded Hanamichi, shutting his eyes against them.

"Do'aho."

The redhead's eyes suddenly snapped open as he searched for the owner of that listless voice. Turning his head around frantically, he saw that the fox was sitting on the chair on his left side, trying to get as comfortable as he possibly can - probably to snatch some sleep. Stupid fox! I'm dying here and all he can think about is sleep?!

Rukawa was damn worried, seeing the redhead like this. Hanamichi has always been the cheerful, arrogant fool who without fail always managed to make him feel something more than irritation. It started off as annoyance and then it was hate. When had the redhead become more than an object of detest? Rukawa wasn't sure. He thought he has a direction in life - to be the no.1 in all of Japan. But when the redhead wormed his way into his being and made himself a permanent resident in his everyday life, Rukawa realised that his life has been empty before Hanamichi. If the fool was to go away, the fox-eyed boy knew that life would return to becoming empty again. He wasn't sure he wanted that to happen.
He was suddenly jerked out of his worries when a hard, solid body dropped onto his lap hard. His first automatic reaction was to take a swing at the offender but he quickly found out that his arms were locked in a vice-like embrace, rendering him immobile. Looking down, his eyes encountered red hair smelling sweet from sweat and masculine odour that was Hanamichi. The redhead has thrown himself onto Rukawa and was now half lying on the bed and half on Rukawa's lap, hugging the raven-haired boy like a life-line in a stormy sea.

"Ahou?" Rukawa said, trying to wriggle out of the tight embrace. For someone so weak, the redhead sure has enough strength left.

The rookie looked up and saw various expressions on his team-mates faces. Mitsui and Miyagi looked amused, Kogure looked shocked while Akagi looked... green in the gills. He gave each of them a cold look.

"Kitsune... I'm dying!" whimpered the redhead, his faint voice muffled by Rukawa's stomach.

"S-so?" Rukawa stammered. He has never been so rattled in his life! Here was the redhead, hugging him in plain view of their team-mates and the only thing Hanamichi could say was the obvious. What kind of medication did this fool take?

"So I'm taking you with me!" growled Hanamichi, lifting his flushed and sweaty head to glare unfocusedly onto the kitsune's pale face.

"What?" said Rukawa, feeling dumb.

"I'm gonna give you this disease I have and you're gonna suffer like I suffer!" breathed the redhead before he began coughing gleefully into Rukawa's face, "If I die, you're gonna die as well!"

The no.11 player grimaced, trying to pull himself away from the crazy boy, "Let me go, ahou!"

"No!" cackled the redhead, tightening his hold onto Rukawa. The more Rukawa struggled the tighter Hanamichi held onto him and soon the raven-haired boy found himself lying nearly on top of the sick redhead. Miyagi and Mitsui were laughing like crazy and Akagi was doing his best to remain impassive. Kogure was the only person there trying to help him slip out of the redhead's hold by pulling at the redhead's arm and cajoling the sick boy with gentle words.

"What on earth is going on in here?"
Ayako came rushing into the room followed by Hanamichi's mother. After quickly wearing off her shock at the scene in front of her, Ayako with the help of Mrs Sakuragi, proceeded to help tug Rukawa's out of Hanamichi's arms. The fox-eyed boy slipped away with relief and chose to stand far away at the other side of the room away from the bed.

"Is he going to be alright, Sakuragi-san?" asked Ayako to the kind middle-aged woman who was Hanamichi's mother.

"He's going to be fine," said the woman, wiping her son's brow with a damp towel, "I thank you for visiting him. I never knew he has such good friends other than Yohei and the three other boys."

The sweet girl who was called Ayako smiled, "That is ok, Sakuragi-san. He is an invaluable member of our team. We'll let him rest now and we'll come again soon."

Actually, the motherly woman would much rather they not come until Hanamichi's condition has stabled. Everytime his friends came, Hanamichi would become agitated, like what happened a few seconds ago. Then again, her son has always been over-dramatic... So the woman just nodded and smiled saying that her Hana-chan would love that.

When the kids trooped out one by one with a last look on the weak and sickly redhead, Mrs Sakuragi pulled the covers securely over her son and kissed him on the cheek.

"Okaasa~n....," whimpered Hanamichi, "Am I going to die?"

Mrs Sakuragi brushed back the damp hair from her son's sweaty forehead and smiled gently, "No, my son. You're not. You are the tensai, remember?"

Hanamichi smiled, his eyes slowly falling shut, "Yeah.... 'm the ... tensai..."

Not more than a minute later the doorbell rang and Mrs Sakuragi left her rice porridge to see who it was. Standing outside was one of the boys from the group who came to visit her son just a while ago. She looked at him with question in her eyes, "Ah, you're Hanamichi's friend aren't you? Is there a problem?"

"Gomen nasai, Sakuragi-san, but I seem to have lost my watch. I was wondering if I may search for it in Sakuragi's room?" asked the fox-eyed boy politely.

Mrs Sakuragi nodded, "Of course, do go up. I'm afriad I have to leave you though because I have food cooking up at the stove."

Rukawa bowed and after the woman left him alone to tend to her cooking, Rukawa headed upstairs into the redhead's room. He entered quietly, not making a sound and began searching high and low for his watch. Knowing that it might have fallen during his struggles with Hanamichi, the fox-eyed boy sighed in frustration and crept his way towards the redhead's bed and pulled at the cover to see if his watch was hidden underneath the folds. Suddenly, he was again held in iron grips and a feeling of dejá vu overcame him as he found himself again nearly lying on top of a now awake redhead.

"Now, no one's gonna stop me from killing you," croaked the redhead with a smile. Rukawa thought that the smile looked... unstable.

"Idiot," growled Rukawa, "I am not going to die. And as much as I regret for the fact you aren't going to die either."

"W-what?"

"You just have a flu. You'll get well soon," explained Rukawa boredly.

The redhead gave an annoyed huff, "Well, I'm gonna give you the flu as well then."

"By what? I never get sick," proclaimed the fox-eyed boy imperiously, "You're just wasting your time."

Hanamichi frowned, "When I was a kid, okaasan had a cold and she didn't kiss me until she got better because she said it might infect me. Maybe I can infect you like that."

Rukawa's eyes widened in horror, "What are you saying?"

The redhead snickered, "I'm gonna kiss you fox, so get ready!"

Suddenly Rukawa was pulled fully into the bed and was quickly pinned onto the matress by a hot body.
"Get off of me!" growled Rukawa, pushing at the immobile body on top of him.

"Nu-uh!" grinned Hanamichi, "I'm not gonna let you go until you get all sick like I am."

"I tell you I never get sick!" barked Rukawa.

"We'll just have to see that now, won't we?" said Hanamichi and began kissing Rukawa's face noisily.

"Argh!! Stop it!" yelled Rukawa, trying to twist his face away from the assault but those kisses from the heated lips kept on coming.

Laughing at the fox's uncool-like behaviour, Hanamichi planted one big sloppy kiss onto Rukawa's lips. The raven-haired boy clamped his mouth instantly, while struggling to free himself from under the redhead's body. The second one lasted longer and soon Rukawa had to open his mouth to breathe. The touch of Rukawa's wet breath against his mouth jarred Hanamichi back for a moment and the two stared at each other, confused by the feelings invoked by that unexpected sensation.Curious, the redhead let his lips touch Rukawa's partly open mouth again and found it a pleasant feeling indeed. Rukawa has stopped moving. He wasn't fighting nor was he participating in the advances. He was just a willing participant, letting Hanamichi begin on a tour of licking and suckling every part of Rukawa's lips as if it was a delicious fruit to be eaten. It was frighteningly intimate and made Rukawa's body shudder. The fox-eyed boy reasoned that the redhead must already have infected him by the bug and that would help explain the delirium he felt in the the redhead's embrace. He was feeling hot, too hot and he was slowly gasping for air as if he has just run a mile without stopping. And his heart beat was going way too fast...


~~~~

"Where's Rukawa?" asked Akagi, tapping his pen on the clipboard in his hand.

"His parents called in saying that he got the flu," Ayako told him, taking the clipboard from the captain's hand to check the attendance form.

"Really?" chuckled Miyagi as he dribbled the ball towards them, "I thought the perfect player never gets sick."

"Hmph," Mitsui snorted, "Now we know that even the so-called perfect player isn't immune to the flu."

"Maybe we should visit him tomorrow," suggested Kogure, "Would you like that, Sakuragi?"

"Why should I want to visit him?" grumbled the redhead, trying to steal the ball away from Miyagi.

"Because you were probably the one who made him sick, baka," scolded Ayako, slapping him lightly with her fan. To her surprise, the junior didn't continue insulting his enemy like she would expect and his face seemed to turn .... red ... from .... embarassment? Surely, the redhead who would hurt Rukawa every chance he could get wasn't starting to feel guilty now, was he?


~~~~

He felt bad. No, he felt terrible. Never has he felt this terrible in all his life ... well, there was that time when Hanamichi first knocked their heads together that he bled and nearly passed out for lack of blood... but THIS! He can't handle THIS! He was missing precious basketball time and he knew his joints were starting to rust as he speak. He couldn't afford to stay in this bed any longer! It's all that do'aho's fault!

Captain Akagi and the rest have left five minutes ago after a quick visit and although his senses seemed to be slipping in and out due to the sickness and medication they stuffed him up with, he was relieved to remember that he had not done anything stupid as to pull any one of his team-mates into bed to infect them out of spite like what Hanamichi did to him a week ago. Rukawa's face burned at the memory of sharing his first kiss with a sick redhead. It was ... nice ... and he wouldn't mind doing it again if conditions allow. He wondered if kissing other people would feel the same but after a thought he knew that it would notbe. He could still remember the solid form on the redhead's heated body enveloping him and the musk of Hanamichi would never be gone from his senses. The kisses started out as tentative nibbling but soon they grew bold and Rukawa was quickly struggling to catch up learning on how to give open-mouthed kisses to the person he thought he ought be slamming through the wall for being such a pervert. When he heard the redhead's ragged breathing, he was pleased to know that he wasn't the only one shaken up by their act and he had quickly rolled them over to reverse their position and began to take control. When he came to his senses, Rukawa jumped out of Hanamichi's bed and abruptly left the room, abandoning his search for his watch...
He loved that watch. It was a gift from his father, a digital with an alarm that faithfully wakes him up with its steady beeping when it was time to play or eat. The straps were made from light brown leather, his own choice of straps after the original one fell apart and he was proud to have noted that it added sophistication to the sporty look.

Rukawa blinked bis bleary eyes. The watch dangling in front of his face looked exactly like the one he has lost...
Shifting his vision away from the timepiece he saw a grinning redhead standing at the side of his bed.

"I found your watch," began the redhead nervously, "It was under my pillow so I'm here to give it to you."

"Doumo. Put it on the table and leave," croaked the fox-eyed boy before turning his back towards the other boy.

Hanamichi scowled, "Hey, I'm trying to be nice here. I mean, it's only fair you visited me when I got sick right?"

"Ok, we're even. Now you can leave," said Rukawa before he pulled the blanket higher over his shoulders, trying to get warmer.

"We're not even yet," came a indignant voice.

Rukawa gave a weary sigh and turned back to glare at the unwanted visitor, "What now?"

Hanamichi began shuffling his feet uneasily against the carpeting. Then he suddenly blurted out, "I thought that I should give you a chance to get me sick like what I did to you."

Rukawa stared at him like he has gone crazy and immedietly Hanamichi regretted coming there. He didn't know what has made him take advantage of Rukawa when he was sick but he knew he could claim temporary insanity due to the flu. What he wasn't able to explain was the fact that he couldn't stop thinking of Rukawa's pliant mouth under his and the sweetness and unexpected softness of the boy's lips. He liked it and he wanted more. The memory of Rukawa not fighting but also participating in the kiss was enough to give him courage to hope that Rukawa liked it as well. But now, the kitsune was not saying a word and continued to look at him as if he was an alien who has just popped into the room to demand world submission.

"Your loss," grumbled the redhead and began to stomp out of the room when he suddenly heard the raven-haired boy on the bed call him.
"Ahou."

"What?" growled Hanamichi turning around to face the boy.

With fluid grace that belied his unwell state, Rukawa propped himself on one elbow and pulled back the covers in a clear act of invitation, "I thought you'd never ask."

Maybe he should tell Hanamichi that a person rarely gets sick for the second time after taking enough antibiotics so this 'act of revenge' was practically useless but as he held the redhead's body close to his own and felt the heavenly sensation of Hanamichi's mouth melding with his, Rukawa thought that explanations could wait until later. Hey, it was the thought that counts, right?

~the end~