Bonds of the Soul

Medicine

Sora came for a visit after school at Yoko's request. He was joined by Shun and the Bracelet Girls, who had figured out how to defuse about a week after the boys did.

"So, I hear they're sick," Shun said when Yoko invited the visitors in. "Have you had to tie Yuto to the bed yet? That's the only way I've found to make him stay in bed when he's sick."

"I think he's actually willingly staying in bed right now to make sure Yugo doesn't have nightmares from his illness," Yoko said. Shun blinked in surprise, but before he could respond Rin said, "Poor Yugo... his fever dreams get so bad that he wakes everyone up in the middle of the night from his screaming."

"Well, I'm hoping that some medicine will help, but apparently none of the boys are willing to take it," Yoko sighed "And Yuri told me to ask Sora how to get them to take it."

Sora looked shocked. "Wait... does this mean he knows?! I thought I was being sneaky getting him to take his medicine!"

"How do you manage to get him to take medicine?" Ruri asked. "Seriously, Yuto will fight tooth and nail to avoid medicine, and we literally have to pin him down and force his mouth open to pour it in and then cover his mouth to stop him from spitting it out! It takes five people to get him to take it!"

Sora shook his head in disbelief. "I... I just mix it with orange juice and have Yuri drink it," he said. "He's never given any indication that he notices the medicine in it, so I thought I was tricking him..."

Suddenly the call pager beeped, signaling that one of the boys was calling Yoko. The mother hurried upstairs to check on them.

"Mooooooom!" Yuri whined when Yoko opened the bedroom door. "I'b dirs'yyyyyy!"

"I'll get you some orange juice," Yoko reassured him. She went back downstairs to make some fresh-squeezed orange juice.

"And it begins..." Sora muttered.

"What begins?" Yuzu asked. Sora shook his head. "Yuri's neediness. Whenever he's sick, he needs a caretaker to take care of him like a princess, and he calls them every five minutes or so with a new request. He's hot, cold, thirsty, his pillow is too lumpy, his pillow is too soft, his pillow fell on the floor, he needs more pillows, his pajamas are sweaty, his head hurts... But it's really hard to get annoyed with him, cuz you can see how miserable he is and you actually feel kinda bad for him."

Serena nodded in agreement. "I've had to take care of him once. I couldn't even get annoyed with his neediness cuz he was crying from his fever and headache half the time. But he still wouldn't take his medicine."

"Yeah, I was assigned to be his regular caretaker when he was sick after my first time because of how easily I was able to get him to take it," Sora said.

Yoko finished squeezing the orange juice and poured four cups of it. Then she added a dose of medicine to each cup and mixed it into the juice, before carrying the cups up to the boys' bedroom on a tray. Sora, Shun, and the girls followed her, stopping in the doorway and peering inside so they could watch without getting close enough to catch the boys' cold.

"Here's some juice," Yoko said, handing out the cups. Yuri, Yuto, and Yugo were very thirsty, and immediately drank their juice. Yuya, meanwhile, was fast asleep. As soon as Yuri finished his cup, he began trying to wake Yuya up, shaking him gently. "Yuya. Yuya, wake up and have sobe juice. Wake up, Yuya!"

Yuya was next to impossible to wake up when he was sick, as Yoko knew very well from fourteen years of taking care of him. But that didn't stop Yuri from trying. After shaking the tomato a bit more aggressively, the cabbage-head pulled Yuya's pillow out from under his head and began smacking him with it. "Wake UP!"

"Le' hib sleep," Yuto scolded Yuri. Yuri scowled. "No. He needs his juice."

He continued smacking Yuya with the pillow until the tomato-haired boy whined. "S'ooooop! Yuriiiiiii!"

"Drink your juice," Yuri insisted, still pillow-smacking him. Yuya whined some more. "Don' wan' juice!"

"Yes you do," Yuri said stubbornly. Yuya groaned. "If I drink da juice, will you S'OP SBACKING BE?"

"Yes," Yuri said immediately, ceasing his pillow-smacking at once. "Drink your juice. Now."

Yuya groaned and reluctantly sat up to drink his orange juice. Yuri watched him intently, making sure Yuya drank every drop of the juice. He gave Yuya the pillow back when the tomato was finished with his juice.

"Why you wan' us to drink da juice so buch?" Yugo asked, before sneezing. Yuri just responded with a simple, "Ask Sora."

"Oh shoot..." Sora whispered. "He does know..."

"Yeah, I know," Yuri replied smugly. "You're no' as sneaky as you dink."