[Sano heard the sounds from the bedroom as soon as he walked in the door: faint moans, a mumble he couldn't quite make out. His first thought, well, wouldn't it have been anybody's first thought? His second thought, though, was that those didn't sound like happy noises. He hesitated. Waking Kenshin up in the middle of a bad dream, which, if that's what this was it was a hell of a nightmare - that sounded like a great way to get a sword-edge-shaped bruise on bits you needed. On the other hand, Sano was probably better suited to defend himself from that than Kenshin's brand-new fiancee. He huffed out a breath and opened the bedroom door.]
[Well, didn't look like a nightmare. Looked more like deathly sick. He muttered a couple of choice back-alley phrases and went over to check his friend's temperature with a hand to his forehead.]
[The voices in his mind and the voices in the room mingled together--though it seemed terribly odd to hear the name Hiko had given him in those dark streets. Rare to hear anything other than 'Himura' or 'Battousai.' Honestly, rare to hear either considering most fell to his blade before they could utter a response--]
[Then someone's hands were on him--how he'd let someone that close was beyond him. He startled awake, eyes wide and feverish, one hand shooting to the arm before his eyes, the other reaching for his katana at his side--which wasn't there.]
[It took a few seconds for his surroundings to sink in, as well as the identity of the person in front of him, and all but flopped back down onto his futon (not that he'd really had the strength to sit all the way up), looking fairly well irritated with himself.]
Sumanu, Sano... This unworthy one has been very confused on waking today...
[Lucky the reversed blade hadn't been anywhere near the bed, Sano thought, and let his hand fall back to his side. He fixed the redheaded ruroni with a glare somewhere between fierce and maybe-sort-of-slightly concerned.]
Yeah, I bet you have. You're burning up. There a doctor around here? 'Cause I think you ought to be seein' one.
I'm not so sure 's a good idea to leave you lying around like this.
[Sano crossed his arms, frustrated. What the hell were you supposed to do for sick people? Tea? Cold compresses? He sort of remembered wet cloths on the forehead from his childhood.]
...specially if you're sick enough to be getting confused.
[And that wasn't a good sign. He'd seen Kenshin beat all to hell and bleeding on the ground and the man hadn't been this out of it. He hurried. It didn't take too long to tie a couple pieces of ice securely in a handkerchief, once he'd found the handkerchief. Heading back into the bedroom, he plopped the ice pack on Kenshin's forehead.]
[He had started to drift off again when Sano had left the room, only to have his eyes pop back open in surprise when the ice found his head--though this time it was more like a student that had started to fall asleep during a lesson.]
[If Kenshin was like this tomorrow, he was hauling the other guy to the doctor whether he wanted to go or not, Sano decided. It didn't look like the ruroni was in any shape to fight back. And that was freaky enough all on its own.]
[He was gonna have to ask Kaoru to make miso soup. It'd probably bring the dead back to bitch about the flavor, much less Kenshin. And in the meantime... that ice was melting awfully fast. Sano made a face.]
It'd probably be better if I hung out here for a bit, huh.
[Well, didn't look like a nightmare. Looked more like deathly sick. He muttered a couple of choice back-alley phrases and went over to check his friend's temperature with a hand to his forehead.]
Hey, Kenshin, you awake? Kenshin!
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[Then someone's hands were on him--how he'd let someone that close was beyond him. He startled awake, eyes wide and feverish, one hand shooting to the arm before his eyes, the other reaching for his katana at his side--which wasn't there.]
[It took a few seconds for his surroundings to sink in, as well as the identity of the person in front of him, and all but flopped back down onto his futon (not that he'd really had the strength to sit all the way up), looking fairly well irritated with himself.]
Sumanu, Sano... This unworthy one has been very confused on waking today...
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Yeah, I bet you have. You're burning up. There a doctor around here? 'Cause I think you ought to be seein' one.
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There's the hospital. Megumi-dono would make personal rounds while she was here. He's not sure if anyone else does that here...
Though he's not sure there's anything to really be done about this...
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[Sano crossed his arms, frustrated. What the hell were you supposed to do for sick people? Tea? Cold compresses? He sort of remembered wet cloths on the forehead from his childhood.]
...specially if you're sick enough to be getting confused.
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[He really didn't want to go to the hospital.]
He'll be alright... just until the fever breaks...
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...I'll go get some ice and a handkerchief.
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Thank you, Sano.
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There. That oughta help a little.
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Aa...
[He frowned slightly then.]
Where is Kaoru-dono?
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[He leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms and keeping an eye on his friend.]
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[He let his eyes slide shut again.]
[The new ice really did feel heavenly at the moment...]
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[Honestly, a doctor probably would have been a good idea. What a time for Megumi to have been gone from the place...]
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It'd probably be better if I hung out here for a bit, huh.
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[He cracked his eyes open again, turning his head to look at Sano again and taking a few seconds to process what he'd said.]
If you want.
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