Slight Fever

Sickness x2

       Yuki Sohma was fine.

        Absolutely fine.

       Well, except that he wasn't.

       He had awoken that morning feeling sick. The second he awoke he knew he wasn't well. Just lying in bed riddled him with an exhaustion so powerful he felt dizzy. Yuki squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to ward off the headache that was driving into his skull. His stomach clenched on itself, joining the party of the ill symptoms. Yuki stifled a groan as he rolled over. His entire body hurt, as though he had done a triathlon. Shit, I can't be sick, right? Thought Yuki sleepily. I have to go to school...

      Yuki was a fairly good student, and had not been absent once that year. Well, if you counted the time he had an asthma attack during the marathon, he technically had. But still, only once. I can't miss any more, Yuki decided. So he steeled himself and slowly sat upright. His throbbing head and joints protested at the movement, and the usually comfortable air of his bedroom felt frigid on his skin. Yuki stood, shivering, and immediately swayed. The ground felt unsteady beneath his feet, making his stomach turn more. He felt ill. That was all he could say.

      Maybe I'm overworked, thought Yuki in an attempt to chalk up his illness to something else. So I'll take it easier today. I will not worry Honda-san. Yuki dressed slowly as his head throbbed incessantly. He pushed his bangs out of his face, trying not to notice how damp with sweat they were. In doing so he touched his forehead, causing him to freeze. It seemed unusually warm for his normally icy skin. Yuki attempted to shake this off and headed to the kitchen, coughing slightly. 

     His head ached at the light streaming through the curtains, and the usually comforting smell of miso soup made him further nauseous. Tohru Honda turned at the sound of his footsteps and beamed. "Good morning, Yuki-kun! Breakfast will be ready in a minute, sorry for the wait," she laughed sheepishly. "Good morning, Honda-san," Yuki just about croaked. His voice was dry and pain shot up his throat. Great. Another thing to add to the growing laundry list of symptoms. He cleared his throat awkwardly, blushing a little. Tohru's brow furrowed. "You don't sound very well, Yuki-kun, are you feeling okay?" She asked in concern. "Yes, I'm feeling alright. Just a morning thing," Yuki managed, internally cringing. His voice sounded raspy and it was clear that he was losing it.

    Kyo exited his room just as Tohru was putting the steaming bowls of soup on the table. Yuki's insides were churning, and the sight of the food made the nausea increase drastically. He felt his stomach rebelling against something, though he had barely eaten dinner last night due to his exhaustion. Still he sat down and clasped his hands. "Itedakimasu!" They chanted before beginning to eat. Yuki forced a bite of the soup into his unwilling mouth, only to feel it burn his sore throat as it went down. His stomach groaned as it digested the minuscule bite of food. Clearly he wasn't the only one feeling that way. Kyo was pale and silent, staring blankly at his bowl. 

      "Kyo-kun? Is something wrong?" Asked the brunette, voice tainted with worry. Kyo didn't respond, but his paper-white face suddenly tinged with green. Kyo shot up and dashed in the direction of the bathroom. Tohru scrambled to her feet after him and Yuki heard the unmistakeable sound of reaching. Yuki's stomach awakened at this and his gut twisted with more intense nausea. He winced, trying to keep his stomach's contents inside him. He shivered and coughed once before making it to his feet and walking unsteadily to the restroom. Kyo was hunched over the toilet, back curling with every heave. He groaned and slumped onto the wall, panting heavily. His face was ashen as he shakily wiped his mouth. Tohru pushed the orange bangs out of Kyo's eyes and felt his perspiring forehead.

       "He's burning up," gasped Tohru. Kyo groaned again at this and allowed his head to fall into Tohru's warm hand. Tohru went tomato red, flustered, as Yuki swayed a little. Being on his feet for even that short amount of time had drained him, and he felt dizzy and feverish. His head throbbed in time with the waves of unsteadiness. He had to sit down or he would pass out. 

      Yuki forced his aching joints forward and collapsed at the table. He had to shut his eyes to recover from the wave of vitiligo. As he opened his eyes, Shigure Sohma exited his bedroom. "What's the commotion?"grumbled Shigure. "I wanted to sleeeeeep..." 

      Even in his weakened state, Yuki found the energy to roll his eyes. "The cat's throwing up," explained Yuki shortly in his pitifully hoarse voice. Shigure made an exaggerated 'ew' face. "Whaaaat? That's gross!" Shigure's voice, suddenly high-pitched, made the pounding in Yuki's skull increase a considerable amount. It must've showed on Yuki's face, because Shigure suddenly turned serious. "You look a little peaked, Yuki-kun. Are you sick too?" asked the dog of the zodiac, coming over to the obviously ill boy. 

       Yuki's ivory face was flushed and his eyes were glazed with fever. His stomach was churning nonstop and he felt miserable. "I'm fine," Yuki lied, every word scraping his sore throat. Shigure raised an eyebrow suspiciously and Yuki became flustered. "It's nothing more than a small cold. I'll be fi-" Yuki was cut off when Shigure reached towards his forehead. Too sluggish to flinch away, Yuki was forced to stay still as his cousin checked his temperature.

     "Hmm...you've got a fever, Yuki-kun. Not exactly fine to me," said Shigure, removing his hand. "I'm fine, okay? I have to get to school," snapped Yuki, Shigure's meddling and his ill symptoms shortening his temper. The jab didn't do much, as it was spoken with a clear rasp and followed by a cough he had been holding in. Yuki got up, abandoning his still-full bowl of miso soup behind. His stomach was gurgling, unsettled, and his joints protested at every movement. But he had to go to school.

    Tohru exited Kyo's room at that moment. "I want to stay with him while he's sick, but he forced me to go to school...," sighed Tohru wistfully. "How's he doing?" asked Yuki, not at all concerned but curious. "He's sleeping right now, and says he has a bad headache. His fever felt pretty high when I felt his forehead." So we've got the same thing, then, thought Yuki bitterly.

    "He'll be alright, Honda-san. We really should be getting to school," pointed out Yuki in his rough voice. "Okay...," the brunette trailed off, seeming not at all convinced. "I'll call Haa-san to check up on him later.  Now be a good girl and get to school✨," Shigure said with a wink. Tohru nodded, looking a little relieved. The duo put on their coats and headed to school.

Author's note: Hello and welcome to my first Fruits Basket fanfic! I hope you can enjoy this like I enjoyed writing it. I am open to any constructive criticism (I am very new to the fandom and am not sure if I am capturing the character's personalities correctly) and any other comments you may have. Thank you very much for reading, it makes me very pleased. Have a nice day!!