Yuuhime sat by the toilet bowl, her arms wrapped around her stomach like a tight web. She threw up once in the middle of the night, and now was scared to leave the bathroom in fear of making another mess.

Yamato had cleaned up her first mess, but she had a hunch he wouldn't be too happy if he had to clean up another one.

Her stomach whined and growled beneath her green pajama shirt and pants. She just knew that she got sick from the nasty bathroom from the fight club yesterday, but she could have also gotten sick from Yun, who had definitely grabbed her bare hand yesterday.

'What did he want to tell me...?' She leaned on the wall, only her thoughts were there to keep her company. She sorta regretted now not listening to him, because after she and Xuan's friends parted ways, she couldn't find Yun anywhere.

She had his number, but he wouldn't answer her messages, so she gave up that idea.

"Oh, my poor baby sister," Yamato opened the door to the bathroom and sighed, "I knew I shouldn't have let you go to that dirty fight club yesterday."

"It wasn't that bad," Yuuhime mumbled, "It was just the bathroom that was dirty."

"Did one of those pests get you sick?"

"No! They were perfectly fine. Well, besides Mona, she was still kinda beat up..."

Yamato sighed deeply and turned his back to Yuuhime, "Unfortunately, I have a very important place to be today, and I won't be here to take care of you."

"Ok."

"So call up one of your friends to come here. In fact, I'm calling Mr. Tang, get him sick so he can get the other pesky union members sick too."

Yuuhime puffed her cheeks out as Yamato left. Oh, if he could hear the things she was calling him in her mind! He'd wish he never made her feel less than a doll!

Her anger quickly bubbled away when she thought of Xuan coming to her room to take care of her. She wondered if he'd like her dolls, that she very carefully rearranged every day to make sure they all had a chance to see the sun from her small window.

"He'll be here in a hour!" Yamato said as he walked back into the bathroom. He had a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face, causing her to feel even more wheezy.

"I'll make sure to stay until he arrives~" Yamato sang as he left the room. She got up herself, and looked at her reflection. Her face was makeup-less and slightly green. She cringed and plopped on the ground once more, hoping she didn't make Xuan sick like Yamato hoped.

***

Clutching the letter in one hand and his phone in the other, Xuan faced a desperate decision.

On one hand, he could skip work to go help Yuuhime, and avoid whatever Yamato meant by "my music box is dying to be used more" in his letter addressed to him. He would probably be on Yamato's good side then. After all, the letter as a whole was pretty threatening. He looked down at the letter.

He couldn't help but shudder. But he also couldn't help but think about how mad Raven would be if he skipped a whole day of work. His friends would worry too much, too.

But on the other hand, if he ignored Yamato's requests...

He hugged his arms after he grabbed his bag, stuffing the letter into it. He could handle Raven's disappointment and his friend's concern, he'd done it many times before.

He looked at the message Yamato sent once again.

'Hello, Mr. Tang. Yuuhime is very sick today, and I can't watch over her! Will you please come? Before you give me your response, remember the letter I sent you! ☆～（ゝ。∂) The address is **********. I do expect you to be here.'

It looked to him that one option was better. Besides, if Yamato tried anything, he could easily defend himself.

He gave the reply, 'I'll be there in about an hour.'

***

The doorbell boomed through the hallways. Peeking out, Yamato saw that Xuan had kept his word and came to the house. He giggled happily at the sight of the young man. Yamato had once thought that all Union members were insufferable, egotistic espers who flaunted their powers for popularity.

That's how many of them were, he was sure of that, but Xuan was different! He gave his sweet little sister a chance despite the dangers and risks it would take, and look where they were at now. They were practically brother-in-laws already!

He swung the door open, causing Xuan to jump a little.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could make it~!" Yamato said, grabbing Xuan by the shoulder and dragging him in, "Thank you so much for being my babysi-I mean, taking care of Yuuhime."

"Yeah..." Xuan tried to shrug Yamato's hand off.

"Now, this is the kitchen, and there's ingredients for soup for Yuuhime and anything for you to make. This is the medicine she should take, don't forget to give it to her every six hours!

"This is the living room, and this is my chair, you cannot sit in it! Any of the other ones you can.

"And there's Yuuhime's room. She's in her bathroom, so just pop in and check on her now."

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to her?" Xuan asked slowly.

"She should know I'm leaving." Yamato waved, "All the doors will be locked except for the ones I took you through and this clean bathroom. Toodles!"

"Wait-" He couldn't finish his sentence before Yamato had left, locking him in. Like a few locked doors would stop him from leaving, but whatever.

He went into Yuuhime's room. He saw where her bathroom was, but he couldn't help but look around at her strange room.

The walls were a deep red color, like her favorite lipstick color. Her bed had a purple and pink comforter, and a blanket with pears on it, with matching pillows. A pink rug led to her wooden vanity, which had all her makeup on it. Above and around her vanity, were shelves of dolls. They would have creeped him out if they were so neatly organized and taken care of.

"Xuan, is that you?" He heard Yuuhime ask quietly, peeking out of the bathroom. He smiled at her softly.

"Yes, it's me." He replied softly.

"I'm so glad," She slowly waddled out of the bathroom, "But I'm really sorry that you have to worry about me today..."

"Don't be," He affectionately said, "It's not your fault you're sick."

She smiled a little. Her legs felt like jelly, but she fought the urge to fall over.

"Are these all your dolls?" He asked, looking at her wall.

"Yes," she nodded happily, "I found all of the either for super cheap or in the trash. I like to clean them up and give them a new home."

He couldn't help but blush at the thought of Yuuhime picking up a doll someone threw out and then taking it home to make her own. But why? If he saw anyone else doing it, he'd probably not even give it a second thought...

"Which ones your favorite?" He asked.

"Well, it used to be this one," She pointed at an old rag doll with pink hair and a ball gown, "But this one is my favorite one now." She pointed at a doll with orange hair, tied neatly into a small braid.

"Why's that?"

"Oh, it's really a silly reason." She covered her face with her hand as her face went slightly red.

"I highly doubt it is." He said encouragingly.

She glanced at him, his eyes glittering and his head slightly tilted. She felt much more relaxed seeing all his features, so she took a deep breath and said, "Well...I thought he looked like you."

His cheeks turned red, but his smile widened. "Awe..you're making me blush!"

She giggled and finally gave into her weary legs, leaning on his shoulder, and lightly grabbing his hand.

"I'm so tired...but I need to take medicine, it's been six hours." She sighed. "Can you please carry me?..."

He blushed a little more, but nodded, "Of course I can."

He hoisted her onto his back and carried her to the living room. He lightly placed her on the couch and went to the kitchen.

"How many pills do you need to take?"

"Only two. I need to eat something with it, too. I think there's crackers in the middle cupboard."

He gave her a thumbs up and scavenged for the specific crackers. Pulling them out, he noticed they were stale.

"Are you sure you want these?"

"Yes, I ate them this morning with my first dose."

"Alright." He piled the crackers onto a plate along with her medicine, and placed it beside her.

"I'll make you some soup, if it'll make you feel better," He said, looking over the recipe Yamato left for him, "It's ten o'clock now, so that means you'll take some more medicine at three."

"Thank you so much." She smiled at him, her fire-red haired god. Oh! That was an embarrassing thing to think...

As he made her soup, she turned on a tv show: a rerun of an old superhero show from around 2007. She tapped her socked feet and watched Xuan trying his best to make her food. Yesterday, during the fighting matches, Lewis talked about how bad a cook Xuan was. Since nobody wanted to eat his "disasters" as Lewis put it, he didn't cook that much.

Watching him cook for her just because he wanted to make her feel better made her heart flutter.

"Alright, I think I did it right." Xuan carefully placed the bowl of soup on the coffee table before Yuuhime. She gratefully smiled at him, carefully sipping the soup.

After a while, after she finished her soup, she felt a chill run through her body. He had been considerate enough to grab her a clean trashcan just in case she needed to throw up again, but she didn't think this chill was from needing to barf.

She carefully glanced at Xuan. He looked...tired, to say the least. Worried, anxious...

She had a feeling Yamato had said or done something to get him to come, because she knew for a fact that he had work today. She gazed at his messy hair, which had clearly been neglected to get to her house, his glazed over eyes, his clenched jaw. She slowly scooted closer to him and only stopped when their legs were touching, then slowly wrapped her arms around his arm.

He looked at her, the glaze from his eyes lifting to reveal the shining eyes she knew so well.

He noticed her shivering, so he slipped off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She looked at him with big eyes, a smile slowly emerging from her blue lips.

She didn't know what to say to make him feel better. She didn't think she had to say anything at all. His smile he gave her showed her that she could still make him happy without words.

***

Xuan washed the used dishes well, along with his hands. His divine powers usually negated any sickness he might get, but there was always a chance.

He glanced down at his arms; they were still scarred from the burns. They stopped being sore, so it was easier to examine them. The burns looked like lighting to him, but there had been no lighting the day he got hurt?

He suddenly heard a crash in the entryway to the kitchen. He swiftly turned and saw Yuuhime had fallen, her knees scraped, and rubbing her head.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?!" He knelt down beside her and propped her against a cabinet.

"Yeah...I fell down..." She rubbed her knees, "I always trip right there."

"Wouldn't some more steps help?"

"Yamato always laughs at me when I fall. He says it's our 'little inside joke,' but I don't think it's funny when only I trip..."

"Are your knees ok?" He carefully examined them.

"I can't feel them..." Her voice quivered. He picked her up and carried her to her bed, running to get his first aid kit he brought.

"Please, make it stop...I can't feel my knees!" She started to bawl.

"Let me see them." He cleaned her knees, wrapping them in gauze then wiping her face with gentile fingers.

"You're safe, I can't feel anything broken, and there's nothing bleeding badly." He said as he wrapped her in a hug, rubbing her back in circles.

She felt so embarrassed. Or, she would have, if not for the support Xuan gave her, his voice whispering comforting and kind words into her ears. Her wails and sobs turned into stray tears on his shoulder and her cheeks.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yeah..." She hadn't realized it until now, but she had accidentally revealed all her 14 arms, which were all clinging to Xuan, like a baby to their mother.

She slowly peeled herself away from him, wiping the remaining tears that decorated her face.

"Can you move your legs?" He softly asked. She tried, and when they only moved an inch, shook her head.

"Looks like they're gonna be a little swollen for a while," he observed, "but as far as I can tell, nothing broke or was sprained."

She nodded, lightly feeling the swollen part of her legs then a normal part.

"Do they hurt still?"

"Only when I put pressure on them."

"Mm," he nodded, "Do you wanna say in your bed?"

"Yes please."

He nodded again and helped her get comfortable. She stared at him, wanting to say so much, but also not knowing what to say at the same time.

"You need to install some stairs, or a ramp for that sudden drop off." Xuan said.

"Yamato would never..." Yuuhime whimpered.

"Well, then, uh...make him fall down there."

"Do you think that would work?"

"Knowing him? Most likely. He's too prideful to admit that he got hurt from tripping on his way to the kitchen."

She giggled a little nodded.

***

The clock struck four. Yuuhime had taken another dose of medicine when Yamato walked in.

"Ah, I'm glad to see you still here!" He clapped his hands at Xuan, who simply smiled in annoyance. "Where's my sister? I'd like to-"

He suddenly tripped over, landing on his hands and knees. He looked confused; nothing was in his way...

"I see you also tripped?" Xuan said almost smugly, "Both me and Yuuhime tripped down that step."

Yamato smiled to hide his anger. "I see. Perhaps this step really is too steep..."

Xuan winked at Yuuhime as he slid his staff back into his hand. She smiled at him. She didn't know how he managed it, but he tripped Yamato without his knowledge! Finally, she'd be able to walk normally into the kitchen without the fear of tripping and hurting herself.

"I should get going now." Xuan quickly said as Yamato got up.

"Of course..." Yamato grabbed Xuan's shoulders, leading him to the exit.

"...you don't have to grab me like that." Xuan muttered

"Oh, but I have a few things to tell you before you're off!"

"What?"

"Heh heh...I've recently found out where your friends live!"

"...What?"

"Don't be so startled."

"I..."

"Add that to your list of things I know! Remember, Tang Xuan," Yamato's eyes glittered with excitement as he said this, "My music box is collecting dust. It's no fun to have a music box if you don't listen to its song."

Xuan blinked quickly, trying to take in everything that was said to him. He felt Yamato push him out the door, and with a wave shut it. He couldn't move for a moment, before booking it.

***

"Where the hell is Tang Xuan?" Thundered Raven. He wasn't answering anyone's texts, he wasn't at home, and he wasn't anywhere around in the city. He was never late to work, even if he was reluctant to come some days.

Li paced around, being forced to stay in place instead of going out to be useful. Lewis watched, folding his arms.

"I need to go out!" He shouted.

"You're going to stay put," Raven growled, "the last time you impulsively went out to find Tang Xuan, you costed us not only a pretty penny but also medical equipment."

"You need to calm down," Lewis grabbed Li's arm, "Xuan is fine, just like last time."

Raven's communicator buzzed.

"Hello?...I see...Yes, bring him...Mhm...Thank you." She looked at the two men and sighed. "Please leave for a moment."

"What? I'm not-" Li grunted when Lewis flicked his arm.

"We'll be off." Lewis said, giving Li a look of annoyance and dragging him off.

Soon, Sienna came in with Xuan, who was missing his jacket and whose bag was bulging with more things than normal. Sienna gave a brief nod to Raven before leaving.

"What happened." Raven said. Xuan didn't respond. He simply looked down, clearly tired and stressed and not trying to hide it.

"Sit down," She said, lightly pushing him into a chair, "and drink some water. Where were you?"

He sighed deeply before looking at her with a serious expression. "No."

"What?" She said taken aback.

"No, no." He shook his head. "I can't tell you."

She folded her arms, "I'm not going to be mad. You look terrible, something happened. What is it?"

He hopped up and shook his head. "No. It was something personal."

"Tang Xuan-"

"May I leave now?"

She closed her eyes before nodded. He practically ran out the door, leaving Raven with only questions.