At last, the girl cracked a small s

At last, the girl cracked a small smile and nodded once. Izayoi ignored the teasing glances that Asuka and You shot him as he whipped around and entered the building.

Shiroyasha had been waiting for him outside the room they had temporarily put Kurousagi in.

"You lucky bastard." She hissed up at him. "Believe me, I'd take care of her myself, but I've got too many things to do. Just make sure you don't do anything I've never done."

"Sure, sure." He smirked. "I'll try to restrain myself."

"You know as well as I do that won't be an easy feat." She wiped a drop of drool from the side of her mouth and tried to push the fantasies away in her mind. "Just take her home and let her sleep." She reminded him as she opened the door.

Izayoi walked into the one-bed room and was instantly taken aback when he saw her.

Kurousagi was lying under the white covers, her face flushed pink with fever as she huffed for breath. Her hair was neither its usual vibrant blue nor the rosy pink, but rather a pale, sickly purple somewhere in between the two, and her long ears drooped unnaturally to the sides.

"Geez." He whistled. "This is what you get for being such a nosy busybody." He grumbled, but could not deny the spark of worry that flickered inside him.

Pulling the covers off of her, he slid his arms beneath her shoulders and knees, lifting her almost too easily into his arms. During the fight against Black Percher three days prior, he had carried her to safety from one of Pest's attacks, which had been easy enough. However, right now she felt even lighter, and it made him frown.

As he headed out into the hallway with her in his arms, Shiroyasha addressed him once more.

"I've already given her some medicine, but if she gets any worse then bring her back." She informed him. "Also! You are absolutely forbidden to h-help her bathe, do I make myself clear?!" She shouted.

"She's in my care now. I can do whatever I want." He smirked before tearing off.

"W-What was that! You bastard! I'll kill you!" Shiroyasha screamed after him.

Izayoi quickly ran through the streets, occasionally jumping on rooftops in order to get back home using the quickest route possible. Once he arrived, he quite literally kicked down the door, telling himself he would repair it later as he went inside.

No one else was there due to all the work that needed to get done around the community, so Izayoi went straight to Kurousagi's room; he took care not to break that door as he kicked it open.

He had never been inside her room before, even though it was very close to his own. Her room was fairly simple, with a small desk, a large window, and a single bed.

He gently laid Kurousagi down on her bed, her pale purple hair slightly disheveled and her ears still limp. He made the bold decision to removed her shoes, revealing her black thigh-high socks fully, but it took a great deal of his self-restraint in order to not attempt a glance up that famously unflippable skirt.

He walked back to her side and stared down at her. Her breathing was still harsh and shallow, and her chest was heaving, her small gasps growing increasingly painful to listen to and Izayoi gritted his teeth.

"You dumb rabbit, going off on your own to help everyone and then getting sick and making us take care of you. How selfish can you be? You're always making us worry, you know." He reached forward and tentatively brushed his fingers through her discolored hair which had lost its healthy shine.

Taking the chair from her desk and pulling it up beside her bed, he felt a sense of deja vu, as he had done the same for You not too long ago. Sitting beside You's bed had felt almost like an obligation to a friend, but as he sat beside Kurousagi, the feeling was significantly different. It was unsettling and painful to listen to her labored breathing and not be able to do anything about it. Her ears would twitch periodically and her eyebrows furrowed in discomfort, as if she were having nightmares.

Izayoi could not sit still for very long and stood up a few moments later, pacing the room and biting his lip in frustration. He thought her condition seemed pretty bad but did not want to take her back to the hospital. Instead, he left her room to find a wash rag, wetted it with cool water in the bathroom sink, and returned to her. Brushing her bangs aside, he placed the cloth on her hot forehead, and he was almost certain she appeared to relax a bit more when the cool sensation seeped into her skin.

A bit of Izayoi's tension melted away when she seemed to calm down a little and he took his seat again, crossing his arms.

He waited at her bedside for a while, occasionally closing his eyes to nap as he tried to keep himself from reaching out to stroke her soft hair. He felt both angry and proud of himself for not making a move on her.

"But what would be the fun in doing it when she's unconscious?" He mumbled. "I'll steal your heart when you're 100% aware of it." He vowed.

He then reached forward