Kyojuro Rengoku Ice Heart And Flame Soul

| Chapter Twenty-Three | Illness

My eyes opened, and Kyojuro was still asleep. The house was still dark when I got out of bed. I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I was dizzy, and it felt like the room was spinning.

I got up and stumbled to the dining room, where I sat down and laid my head down on the table. I tried to breathe and ease the dizziness.

Kyojuro walked into the room and sat down beside me. He propped his arm onto the table and leaned his head on his hand. He stroked my head and ran his fingers through my hair.

"Rika?" He asked.

I turned my head, and the room spun again. I tried to focus on Kyojuro's face, but I couldn't. It looked like he was also moving back and forth.

I saw him rub his eyes. He must have been tired. He had little sleep. His arm went around me and he sat closer.

"Are you ill?" He asked in a low voice.

"I'm alright, this will go away soon. It's not the first time it's happened." I said, trying to smile at him.

He quickly got up and went to the shelving and came back with paper and a pen. He grabbed a lamp and set it on the table and wrote. If I wasn't so dizzy, I would have tried to look at what he was writing, but the words were a blur.

"Has this been ongoing?" He asked.

"Off and on for the last month or so, but don't worry. It's probably because I've really been pushing myself on missions lately. I've been overdoing it and I've made myself sick."

"Hmm. I still worry. Perhaps you should call off missions for a little while until you're recovered." He said.

"I'm fine, Kyo. I can't just call off my missions. I'm not injured, I'll be alright."

He folded the page up and went outside. He called for Kaname and after a moment, his crow landed on his shoulder. The crow took the page and flew away. Kyojuro came back and sat beside me.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Asking for Kocho's advice." He said.

"Oh, I see." I said. That made sense. Kocho would be a good person to ask.

"Would you prefer to stay here? Or would you come back to bed?" He asked.

I sat up and the room spun. "I'll go back to bed, but... could you..." I stopped, not really wanting to ask.

Kyojuro nodded and scooped me up in his arms and cradled me against his chest. He stood and carried me to the bedroom and gently laid me on the bed.

"Thanks Kyo." I said.

"Anything for you, my love." He said.

He went around the bed to his side and laid down beside me. He lifted the blanket over me and pulled me in close.

"I still would feel better if you took some time away from missions to recover, my love."

"I told you, I can't, Kyojuro."

He didn't respond. Instead, he just snuggled against my back and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Get some sleep, Kyo. I know you're very tired."

"You as well, my love. Sleep well."

Neither of us had to worry, anyway. I wasn't assigned any missions the next day. So I spent the day with Senjuro at the Rengoku house while Kyo was away.

Evening came, and Kyojuro was home for dinner, and we enjoyed a meal together. Senjuro came back in silence after bringing food to his father. We finished dinner, then Kyojuro and I sat outside for a while, and enjoyed the fresh breeze.