"No way."

"Take it again."

Daichi hummed softly as Mori held the theremometer to his forehead. The screen on the instrument turned a bright red, flashing the number "38.6 *C" (roughly 101.5 *F). Mori frowned, showing the temperature to the three hosts crowded around him. Honey and the twins all gasped when they saw the number.

"Wow, I guess he really does have a fever," Kaoru commented.

Mori grunted in affirmation. But in a sophisticated, non-primitive manner. It was a grunt befitting a valued member of the Ouran Host Club.

"What should we do?" asked Hikaru.

While he was lying down on a plush couch, Daichi was within arm's length of all the hosts. He blinked a few times and smiled slightly. "C-can hear yo-you," he called.

Hikaru and Kaoru turned to each other with shock on their faces, as if they had forgotten even the sick have ears.

Meanwhile, Honey moved to crouch by the arm rest of the couch, near Daichi's head. The small host leaned over, his bunny rabbit clutched in his arms. Daichi tilted his neck up just slightly to look back at him. After a small noise of affirmation, Honey's face split into a wide smile. "We'll do whatever you need, okay, Daichi? You just tell us what you want."

A small giggle escaped Daichi, and he settled back into the couch. "M'okay, s-senp-pai," he muttered. "S—I'm s-s—" He paused and took a long, deep breath. "Sleepy."

"Does his stammer seem worse?" asked Hikaru with growing alarm.

"I think so," replied Kaoru. "We might not be able to understand him soon!"

For perhaps the first time in their lives, the hosts saw Daichi roll his eyes.

"M'okay!" he stressed with a short laugh. Then, after a short pause, he noticed his friends still looking a little disconcerted. With a shake of his head, Daichi sat up on the couch. Hikaru and Kaoru immediately went into panic-mode, trying to soothe him back into the couch. Gently, Daichi waved their hands away. "S-stop it-t," he whined. Although, his persistent grin showed he wasn't too upset about the attention and care they were showing.

Honey's face fell as he walked around to the front of the couch, coming face to face with Daichi. The younger boy lost his smile as well, seeing his senpai so upset.

"I know you're strong, Chi-chan, but we want to make sure you're okay," Honey told him with a prominent pout. "You have a really high fever, and so it's not a good idea to do too much, right now."

Daichi paused, his head tilted as he worked through what his senpai had told him. The gears clicked together after a moment, and he smiled again. Only, this time, his eyes were full of compassion, not amusement. He reached for Honey and lightly grasped his wrists. Honey's eyes widened, and he dropped his bunny rabbit to the floor.

"Th-thanks you," Daichi said.

Like he'd been made brand new, Honey grinned widely back. "You're welcome. Now, one of you, get him a cloth for his head. The other can get a blanket from that closet over there. Takashi, you find Kyo-Chan."

"Why do I need to be found?"

Every body froze, and every head whipped around to see Kyoya walking towards them. Without a moment's hesitation, Hikaru and Kaoru leapt behind the couch, peeking only their eyes out to see how this situation would play out. In stark contrast, Honey ran up to Kyoya and tugged him by the sleeve to Daichi.

"Daichi..." Kyoya's breath caught in his throat for a moment. Daichi's cheeks were flushed, but the rest of his exposed skin looked rather pale. "My puppy, what happened?"

"Chi-chan has a fever. He says he's okay, but he doesn't look too good." After delivering the information, Honey hopped up onto Mori's shoulders, his bunny clutched in one fist. "I'm not sure why."

"It might have been something he ate," added Mori.

From behind the couch, the twins glanced at each other. "Oh, we didn't consider that."

Kyoya stored the information for later but opted, for now, to kneel in front of the couch where Daichi sat patiently. With each second that passed, Daichi's expression fell further and further into a realm of sadness. Finally, he broke.

With a singular loud sob, he lunged forward. "Yoya!" he cried. Kyoya took him into his arms, holding him tightly. "I-it hur's, y-yoya."

"I know, my poor Daichi. Breathe, darling." Kyoya sat with Daichi on the couch. He fixed Mori with an intense look that would have made anyone else quake one their boots. "Mori-senpai, I hate to ask it if you but—"

"Hm." Without any further prompting, Mori left the room with Honey. The twins scuttled after them, realizing Kyoya and Daichi didn't need them right now.

Once the room was cleared, Daichi slowly began to calm down in Kyoya's arms. After a few pitiful sniffs, Daichi rested his head on his senpai's chest. The taller boy wiped a few tears off his partner's cheeks with a gentle touch.

"Daichi," he whispered, "I need to get you home."

Daichi nodded numbly, letting his eyes flutter shut. "M's-sl—p—sle—"

Mori walked in with Honey. The shorter of the two handed Kyoya a damp cloth. "Earlier he said he was sleepy," Mori told him.

"Right. Thank you, senpai." Kyoya shifted Daichi slightly in order to lay the cloth on his forehead. The boy groaned, settling his head on Kyoya's lap. "I'm afraid Daichi won't be able to stay for today. I'm going to call my driver. He must go home immediately."

"Hey, Kyoya-senpai, you're gonna go with him, right?" came the inquisitive voice of Kaoru. He and Hikaru had returned, although they stood a safe distance away.

"Yeah," continued Hikaru, "I mean, I'm sure the guests will be a little upset but—"

"You can't just leave Daichi alone."

Kyoya hadn't taken his eyes off Daichi once since he'd broken down crying. With a slight smile, he shook his head, slightly jostling his glasses. "No. No, I really can't." And that wasn't even considering the fact that Daichi was almost entirely asleep on his lap.

F*chin hell. You lot wanted a sickfic. You broke my f*ckin heart