Chapter 24: Sick Day!

She knew the thermometer didn't lie, and neither did the mirror, but Jin couldn't deny the fact she felt like dirt. Old, gritty, spat-upon dirt. Her whole body ached from the moment her eyes opened this morning, and she felt exhausted despite having a full 9 hours of sleep. Even her cracked wrist felt worse than usual. Haru, of course, could tell immediately that her onēchan didn't feel so hot. She watched in concern as Jin slowly packed her bento box away into her bag, eyelids fluttering sleepily.

"Nēchan, maybe you should stay home if you're not feeling good."

"No. I'm not going to make everyone worry about me when I'm not actually sick. I'll be fine."

"But maybe the reason you feel so bad is because you're getting sick-"

"I'm going."

"Nēchan, I really, really- "

"How much longer are we going to argue this?"

"Until you agree to stay home."

"So... never?"

"Not if you stay home."

"I'm heading out to the train station now. You're welcome to join me."

"You're being really stupid and stubborn this morning, Nēchan. More so than usual."

"Right back at you, Haru. Let's go."

The rest of the day was sure to be a struggle, and it was. Even the train ride to the school felt like torture. The screeching wheels making Jin's head throb and the compartment felt so overheated she felt like her lungs were being constricted. Arriving at Ouran was no better. The school hallways were too loud, and she could barely keep her eyes open during the lessons.

By the last hour of the day, she felt so run down and exhausted she didn't even fight when her eyelids gravitated towards each other. Propping her right arm on her desk, she set her chin down in the palm of her hand and shut her eyes. She'd rest them for five or so minutes, then zone back in on the lesson. She wouldn't miss much, right? Besides... Tamaki or Kyoya... would wake her up... when they realized...

"Jin?"

The brunette jerked herself out of her nap, elbow slipping off her desk in the process and sending her chin into the wood. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes at the sharp pain and how completely unfair the situation was. She'd just recently broke her wrist, felt like her entire body had been crushed by a steamroller, and now this? Maybe she should've stayed home today.

"Ow…"

"Ah! Jin, are you alright?"

A too-warm hand cupped Jin's cheek and she quickly shied away. Mumbling unintelligibly, she shoved at Tamaki's chest, "Wha? What do you want?"

"...Class is over, Jin. Um… were you asleep?"

"Just resting my eyes."

There was a moment of silence before a cooler hand reached out to touch her chin. She stayed still this time, partly because if she pushed Kyoya away he'd know something was up and also because the cold felt nice. Long, thin fingers traced what was sure to become a bruise later on before slowly inching their way up to her cheek.

"Jin… you're very warm."

"What did you expect? Hit my chin. Rush of blood. Warm."

"No." Kyoya quickly pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, "You're warm . Sick warm." Deciding that Kyoya had touched her enough, she feebly tried to push him away. He caught her wrist in his free hand instead. "You came to school when you're sick? Are you completely idiotic? "

"Mm… I wasn' sick this morn'n." Her on-again, off-again headache was making an unawaited reappearance, so Jin abandoned all her pretenses and grabbed his cold hands to press against her forehead. She let out a sigh at the feeling of the heat in her head being sucked out, headache numbing down.

"Tamaki." Kyoya withdrew his hands to lift her up into his arms, "Let's take her to the club room. She can rest there until Haruhi arrives and we can figure out how to get her home."

The blond nodded, his face a mixture of concern, seriousness, and… something else. But Jin didn't pay him any attention, too preoccupied with lightly shoving at Kyoya's chest, wriggling her legs around in an attempt to get back to the ground. "Ngh, Glasses, you don' have ta carry me. I can walk on m' own."

"And have you faint on the way? Strange, but I'd rather avoid that."

"I won't faint!"

She did.

By the time she woke back up, she was all but swaddled in at least three layers of blankets and lying down on a familiar looking couch in a dark room. She even recognized one of them as Honey's pink bunny blanket he used during his naps. That, mixed it with the fact she recognized the couch, meant she was somewhere in Music Room #3. Her head and feet were propped up on a couple soft pillows piled at both ends of the couch, a cool washcloth lying on her noticeably chilly forehead and headache mercifully gone.

Groggily, she pulled the washcloth off to instead press it against her warm cheeks, "Haru?"

"Nēchan? You awake?" Haruhi walked into the small darkened room, quickly kneeling by the couch.

"Yeah. What happened?"

The washcloth was removed from her hands only to smack semi-harshly against her nose, "You got sick, is what happened! Kyoya-senpai walked into the club room with you passed out in his arms! I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Sick? No… I was probably just tir-aCHOO!" The force behind the sneeze forced her to double over, almost sent Jin's head into her knees. She fell backwards onto the pillow and sniffed miserably. "Okay… I'm sick."

"No kidding." Haruhi dipped the washcloth into a bowl of water set down by the couch, swished it around the small handful of ice cubes for a moment before wringing it out and patting at her sister's face, "Look, we're going to stay here until hosting activities are over, then one of the boys are going to take us home. This way you don't have to suffer through another train ride and I can look after you for the next two hours. As for right now, I've got soup on the way from Kokuwagata, because I know that you won't be able to stomach anything else in the club room right now."

Jin went quiet for a moment before murmuring, "Udon?"

"What else?"

"Love you, Haru."

"Love you, too, Nēchan."

"Tamaki? Where's Jin today? I haven't seen her since class got out."

The blond let out a deep sigh, pressing a hand to his chest, "My dears, it is a painful subject to speak about, but... I regret to inform you that our beloved Jin… is sick with the flu. She will not be joining us for the next few days."

His three guests stared at him for another couple seconds before letting out sighs of relief, "Oh, thank goodness! "

"I thought you were about to say that she left the host club!"

"Me too! Oh, but we're sorry she's sick! Is she going to be alright?"

Tamaki nodded, "She should be alright in a few days according to Kyoya, it is just the flu. Actually, she's in the back room right now."

"Really? Is that why we haven't seen much of Honey-senpai or Mori-senpai? I thought Haruhi would be the one to take care of his older sister…"

"Yes, but it would seem that where Haruhi decides that Jin will be fine being left on her own, her old friends aren't quite willing to take the chance. It is a little strange." Especially when I thought someone else would be the one not to leave her side for any reason… am I wrong?

"Can we see her? Just for a second?"

Each of the girls deflated as their host shook his head, "I'm afraid Jin has requested that none of our guests see her today. She doesn't want to risk getting you all sick. In fact, she didn't really want any of the hosts around her either, but we wouldn't let her suffer on her own." Tamaki glanced over his shoulder at the doorway to the dressing room. Maybe once this group left in a minute he'd go check on Jin himself. Haruhi was scheduled to be completely book for the next half an hour, so perhaps he could step in for her?

"Tamaki?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, Princess. What did you say?"

"We just wanted you to know that… well…"

"We're really happy seeing you boys so close to Jin. She's a really nice girl and you're such great friends for her. I don't think any of my friends would dote over me if I caught the flu!"

"Yeah, it's super sweet how much you all care about each other!"

Tamaki smiled, "That's very kind of you ladies. It warms my heart to hear how-"

"But it would be even greater if one of you started dating her!"

"And everyone else suddenly turned into her protective big brothers!"

"Which of you do you think is the most likely to-"

" Okay! It looks like our time is up, ladies! Please visit again tomorrow!" Tamaki was positive that his face was a little pink as his three guests walked away, still giggling amongst themselves. Letting out a sigh, he rubbed at his forehead. Having the guests thinking things like that was potentially dangerous, especially if 'shipping wars' started to break out. This wasn't exactly the kind of publicity the Host Club needed. Contrary to popular belief, Tamaki did not in fact want his club to turn into Ourans' Soap Opera.

The guests all left the room, and no one else walked in, but the boys weren't concerned considering they had asked their guests to give them two minutes between each shift to care for Jin. As it was, Honey-senpai reappeared at the doorway to the changing rooms and started barking out orders.

"Kyo-chan, I need to know if we have any more blankets! Haru-chan, we need a new washrag! And, uh, Hika-chan! Can you put more ice in this bowl? The water's too warm now!"

The hosts that were called out by name stood up and quickly began to do their indicated chores. Tamaki just sat back in his couch and watched them. Who would've thought that Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai were such Mother Hens? The two third years had almost forced Kyoya to cancel all of their requests for the day so they could take care of Jin, but Haruhi had stepped in and offered to take a few shifts now and again so Kyoya wouldn't have a stroke at the age of 17. But even so, when the two third years were back there, it was like Jin was under quarantine.

"Hika-chan?"

Tamaki zoned back into reality to see the redhead standing a good 10 feet away from his senpai, "Uh… couldn't someone else do that, Honey-senpai?"

Honey's face twisted into a scowl as he marched over to the 1st year, shoving the bowl into his hands and almost dousing the both of them with the now lukewarm water, "You're not gonna get sick from touching the stupid bowl, Hika-chan! Jin-chan needs your help because she's sick, and this is the least you can do since you and Kao-chan refuse to be in the same room as her! Now get more ice!"

The blond stalked back to Haruhi, who was holding a brand new washcloth, and gently accepted it before disappearing back into the changing room. Hikaru remained frozen in place for a heartbeat, holding the bowl a little ways away from his body. Kaoru was standing away from his twin as well, watching him with concern.

Tamaki couldn't help but feel the need to tease them.

"What's wrong, Hikaru? Afraid of germs?"

The eldest twin shot the taller blond a glare of pure steel, "You would be too if you had been born prematurely and had a million and one doctor visits when you were small and have a very poor immune system!

His brother nodded, "Being twins isn't all shits and giggles, Boss. There are a lot of health problems that are attached to it."

"Oh." Well, now he felt like a jerk...

Thankfully, the twins didn't seem to want to continue the conversation either. Hikaru slowly started making his way across the room, bowl held out at arms length. "What I don't get is why Honey-senpai is acting so uptight about all this. He acted like I'd disrespected his grandmother's memory or something."

"Yeah, it's a little weird. He seems really upset about Jin getting sick. Almost like he blames someone for it happening."

"You don't think that's it, do you?"

"Is my water ready yet?"

Hikaru quickly shut up and started jogging across the room, "Just a second, Honey-senpai!"

* Timeskip *

"Haruhi? It's your turn to look after Ji-"

The brunette was quick to stand up and walk towards the back of the room before I even finished. I followed after her, not only because I had to ensure that Honey-senpai came out of the back room in exchange, but also to check on Jin myself. There was no doubt in my mind that her old friends had taken exceptional care of her, but I still wished to see if she had made any progress.

The two of us walked into the room and stopped. Mori-senpai was crouched by Jin's head, lightly dabbing at her forehead as she slept on, peacefully. Honey-senpai was perched on the back of the couch like a watchful hawk, eyes fixating on us the moment we stepped into view. But neither of these were surprising. Seeing the absolute mountain of fluffy blankets piled on top of Jin's sleeping form gave us pause however. Where did Honey-senpai even find that many blankets? The supernatural abilities of my fellow club members never ceased to amaze me sometimes.

Haruhi was the first of us to step forwards, "Honey-senpai? I don't think Nēchan needs all those blankets…How many are there, ten? Fifteen?"

"She said she was cold."

"Yeah, uh, I don't think she meant that cold." She slowly started peeling off the top couple layers until she claimed to finally be able to feel the warmth of Jin's body heat. As she began straightening out the remaining blankets, tucking them around Jin's feet and sides, I turned to the other males in the room.

"Well, it looks like Haruhi has this covered. You two should head back out to tend to your guests."

"But... but Kyo-chan..."

"Honey-senpai? Did you put him here?"

The three of us turned back to the sisters. Jin was still fast asleep, her breath puffing out from between her lips in small bursts, and Haruhi had the top left corner of her blanket pile lifted up to reveal-

"Yeah! I figured Usa-chan would want to help Jin-chan in any way he could, so he's making sure she doesn't get lonely."

Haruhi smiled sweetly at the small boy before gently laying the blankets down again, tucking them in such a way so only Jin's and Usa-chan's heads stuck out. It was an endearing sight to behold, yes, but I knew that the guests would soon be arriving and Honey-senpai didn't seem to be moving any time soon. Mori-senpai, at least, was already out in the central room, but his blond cousin seemed oddly frozen in place.

"Honey-senpai, your guests will be waiting for you. Haruhi can handle Jin for 20 minutes."

"But what if she needs extra help? Takashi and I could barely keep up with everything!" I shot a quick glance at the brunette girl lying down on the couch, fast asleep. There really wasn't much to do other than make sure the washcloth on her forehead was chilled, but clearly the cousin's weren't taking any chances.

"Oddly enough I don't feel as concerned as you do, Honey-senpai. But if you're so concerned, then perhaps I -"

"Kyo-chan! The last time you tried to help, you were making her do her homework! While she's sick! "

At the accusation, I wanted to argue that Jin had asked to work on our homework, and we had worked through the questions together. We'd gotten through maybe half of our history work before Honey-senpai had come in and shooed me out. Besides, that had been while she was awake. I wouldn't interrupt the sleep that she so desperately needed for something as ridiculous as homework. What did my Senpai take me for anyways?

"Well, you need to attend to your guests, so who would you recommend?"

Honey stuck his lower lip out before shrugging, "Tama-chan?"

Wow.

"Tamaki has guests."

He pouted once more, "Fine… Haru-chan, if you need any help at all, you call out for me or Takashi!"

"Alright, Honey-senpai. I will. Now please go before Kyoya physically drags you out."

The blond giggled, finally showing his usual childishness before prancing out the door. I followed on his heels, still a little irritated that he thought Tamaki would do better than me with taking care of someone sick. My family does run medical facilities around the world.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Why am I so upset about his comment? It doesn't matter. Honey-senpai is simply worried about his friend. He didn't mean to offend me... not that he did. Once we were out of the changing rooms, Honey-senpai quickly ran over to his guests. I watched as he belly flopped onto the couch beside his cousin, running his mouth at a mile a minute. Raking my gaze around the rest of the room, I noted how Tamaki was flirting with about five girls at once, somehow making sure that none of them felt ignored or short-handed. And the twins... were watching me with something akin to interest.

I raised an eyebrow at them and they turned around quickly, returning their full attention to their guests. A hum vibrated in the back of my throat before I walked over to my own two guests. If the twins were planning something, we were sure to learn of it in the near future.

Hopefully it didn't have anything to do with Jin. She was dealing with enough at the moment as it was.

"Honey? We've been told that you've been taking care of Jin while she's sick. That's so kind of you!"

"Aren't you worried you'll catch her flu?"

The small blond shook his head, swallowing his bite of lime cake, "I have a really strong immune system, and I've been washing my hands all day. I'll be just fine."

"That's a relief, Honey. I'm sure Jin will get better in no time with you helping her!"

He grinned broadly, "Really? I hope so! I can't wait for Jin-chan to go back to being our waitress! She's so much fun to have around!"

"Ah… Honey-senpai..?" The blonde girl right across from him giggled, "Do you think Jin needs some cake? I'd bet she'd feel much better if you shared some with her."

His response nearly flattened them.

"No… that's probably not a good idea. What Jin-chan needs is lots of sleep, water, and fruits and veggies. She doesn't need sugar right now, but I bet she'd like some tea when she wakes up!" The three girls gape at him. Even Takashi looked surprised. Honey stuck another forkful of cake into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, "I'm sure she'd like some once she gets better, but until then she has to stay as healthy as possible."

The girls blinked before smiling, "Yeah, you're probably right, Honey."

"You're so smart! We didn't think about it like that!"

"It's so sweet how much you care about Jin!"

Something tightened in his chest at their praise, but he ate some more cake to cover it up. No need to dump his guilt on his guests. They didn't deserve it. For the following fifteen minutes, the five of them continued with polite conversation. (Or, rather four of them. Takashi just watched, as per usual.) However, Honey's mind was constantly falling back to the brunette girl who was sleeping in the back room... because of him. Another wave of guilt rushed through his gut, making his lime cake churn unpleasantly as Kyoya called time for the group.

Suddenly anxious to get back to his sick friend, Honey very nearly tossed his dirty glass plate onto the table as he jumped to his feet, "Come on, Takashi! Jin-chan might be awake-"

"Mitsukuni. Wait."

At his cousin's deep voice, Honey paused and looked around, "Takashi? Is something wrong?"

"Why are you so upset that Jin is sick?"

The two looked at each other for a few heartbeats before the shorter one looked away, "I don't like seeing Jin-chan unhappy. I wanna make her smile again."

"...No. That's not the reason."

"Just drop it, Takashi. It's stupid."

"Then let's be stupid together. Tell me."

The blond sat back down, crossing his legs on top of the cushion, wondering how to breach the subject. Deciding to just come out and say it, considering they were on a schedule, Honey whimpered, "It's all my fault she's sick. I broke her wrist, and she had to go to the hospital. She probably caught the flu from someone else while she was there. It's my fault."

His cousin raised his eyebrows at the explanation, "Mitsukuni... she was in the hospital days ago. If that's where she caught it, it would've shown up sooner. But-" he held up a hand to stem Honey's rebuke, "-I understand. So I'll tell you what Jin told me when I thought I was to blame for your cavity." Honey tilted his head, curious as to why Takashi thought his cavity had been his fault, but didn't attempt to interrupt again.

"It's not your responsibility to keep Jin safe. I know she means a lot to you, and me, and everyone else, but it wasn't your fault she got sick. And it's not fair to anyone if you try to punish yourself for something as common as this. Jin doesn't blame you, nor does anyone else, and if you do then you're only going to hurt others in the process. This whole mess will blow over soon, and everything will be back to normal, and soon you'll be wondering why you were ever upset about it."

Honey was quiet, tossing the words around in his head while the other hosts gathered around, making small remarks on how Takashi had never spoken that much before, probably in his life, but he ignored them. What his cousin had said was true. And that did make a lot of sense considering he was borrowing words from Jin.

"I guess you're right, Takashi. Thanks."

The cousins hugged tightly just as Haruhi poked her head out of the back room, "Hey, guys? My Dad just called to tell us he got out of work early, and once I told him Nēchan was sick he said he'd come right over. He should be here in another three minutes or so, and I need some help getting Nēchan ready to go home."

The boys leaped into action, scurrying around the room collecting her school bag, fancy tea for the next few days she'd be spending at home, and (in Kyoya's case), updating the club's website to announce their waitress would be indisposed for the next few days. Haruhi watched them for a few seconds before allowing herself a smile. Sometimes, meaning very few times, the hosts proved that while they may be idiots, at least they were idiots who cared . And if Nēchan liked 'em? Then Haruhi could deal with them by herself for the next few days.