Only Losers Get Sick

Masaru's face was red... and... and she had to do this right! Mia's face matched his in color, her hand moving to his cheek as she gently touched it. Brushing back some hair, she leaned forward and stared right into his pretty blue eyes...

"I love you." Mia spoke quietly, shaking as she held that position... They had....he had for her...and she had just... into his chest...she had to do this! She hadn't gotten to tell him properly....

Hearing it said without...being muffled or stuttered... Masaru had to force himself to ignore his burning face as Mia shook some in his hold.

Swallowing a breath, his hold tightened on her for a short moment again as he spoke; "I love you too."

No stuttering, even though he almost had. He wanted to say it...say it clearly, and without messing up... H-He'd barely been audible before...

Mia's bright smile felt almost as warm as her face, even though Masaru was blushing...even though he had said it before... It felt so nice to hear like this, her hand on his chest clenching lightly as his hold tightened.

Without thinking, Mia moved forward and kissed Masaru. Unlike what he had been doing earlier with his hand, she didn't stop to do so. Instead she just...had to kiss him...

For a moment or two, Masaru wasn't really thinking himself, and responded to the kiss; they hadn't been able to in awhile and now that they were doing so now...

His mind straightened some though after a bit, "A-Ah...Mia...you..."

She could get sick from him from doing that! That...That's why he'd used his hand earlier as a barrier!

Mia let out a small whimper, her eyes opening as Masaru spoke haltingly. It took her a minute to realize what Masaru was doing earlier and now... he was sick... He was worried as usual. She smiled softly and looked up at him before stealing a small kiss. "Mmm...I have a really strong immune system... I just...want to kiss you... I-Its...overpowering, these feelings and...kissing helps..."

It did, it helped so much... she knew they couldn't do anything more but kissing...kissing seemed like something you should do after that...

I-It was overpowering, she was right, though he was still...

They hadn't really kissed though, having been mostly out of it and sicker than he was now... They'd already kissed once now too and it'd lasted a short while...so...

"I-It does...help."

Mia nodded very slowly. It helped them both...so why...why not...

Her head shifted again, her hand sliding into Masaru's hair as she pressed her lips against his again. Love...they loved each other... So what if she got sick...she'd be fine and she wanted to kiss him... It wouldn't hurt... to be sick and cared for by this man...

Responding to the kiss, Masaru kept his hold around Mia secure as he felt her hand slide into his hair. It was probably a bit tangled considering he hadn't even left bed yet, he'd need to after awhile...

For now though the kissing was perfectly fine, it felt nice and it definitely helped.

Mia didn't mind the bedhead Masaru had, instead she gently held it as she continued to kiss him. It felt nice, being held like this and kissing him.

How had they ended up like this though... they were in love with each other...did that... Feeling a now familiar warmth in her body to the kissing though, Mia pulled away with a soft breath as she looked away. "How...how did you know? A-And...does this mean...I can always be by you now?"

H...How long had he known? When had he realized...It...That was one of those things that he'd been rather...worried about facing so he'd just kept it to himself...perhaps there had been a bit of fear upon realizing as well...

"F-For a b-bit now...as for when I-I can't exactly pinpoint, but..." He felt it hadn't taken very long to happen...though like hadn't turned into love immediately...it still hadn't taken...forever for him to realize either...

He gave a nod though, at her following question; "O-Of course you can...y-you can..."

"Oh..." Mia...blinked and looked down. She...she hadn't known... at all... Masaru had known though...

She played with his hair softly before shifting and burying her face under Masaru's chin, against his neck. She was allowed to be by him... Snuggling closer, Mia refused to move from the bed as she forgot about the towel that was by now almost off with all the movements.

"I didn't think...it was possible for me... I'm sorry Masa..."

"O-Of course it's possible..." Masaru replied, one of his hands moving to Mia's hair as she snuggled up under his chin. "You don't need to apologize...e-even I was...afraid when I realized...s-so I never said anything...about it until now..."

"S-Sorry I'm...still wet..." Mia nuzzled against Masaru more as his hand went to her hair, trying to cover her blush up by burying it against his neck. She kissed him softly there, letting out a soft laugh. "Mm...but you are the bravest person I know... why were you so scared..."

"It's alright..." Masaru replied, his voice a bit softer than before; "I was just worried, y-you know..." He had a tendency to put off certain feelings, and turn his head to others he felt if they were big like this, and this had... "I-It happened...s-sooner than I expected, so I was afraid..."

"I-It did... way sooner than...than expected..." Mia had felt similarly...though hers had also been wrapped up in insecurities as well. It had happened so...gently and so much faster. When had it stopped being liking and turned into love? She didn't think she could put a finger on hers either...

"A-Afraid I didn't...love you yet?" She kissed his neck again, giggling shyly. "But...looking at me...it was obvious...I-I...just...was so obvious..."

"..." He didn't really respond as Mia asked him that, though his silence and actions answered her question rather solidly as he secured his hold on her again for a short moment.

Both of them felt they'd been...obvious with their attachments, though it seemed neither of them had pushed themselves enough to believe it was beyond their original "like..."

Mia laughed again as Masaru held her, her hand in his hair clenching just slightly in response... He had been worried...worried she didn't love him yet...

She hadn't been worried over that as much as she... Her voice became quiet as her happy mood faded a bit. "I-I was...worried...a bit...that you didn't...love me at all..."

She'd been worried he didn't...at all...? Again he held her close, situating his head some to nuzzle her again; "N-Not possible..."

Deep down, sometime after they'd agreed to..."try this" relationship...he realized there was no avoiding love eventually, even though he knew that though he'd still been afraid when he finally realized it...

He never once took this relationship lightly...not at all...

"I-I know...that now..." Mia murmured a bit defensively, smiling against his neck for a moment before she continued. "I've always...been alone...so...I didn't think....someone as amazing... as you could...love someone like me... I-I was wrong..."

He was nuzzling her and holding her close... She hadn't thought she would fall for him so soon but it had been something she thought was possible. She had felt if she did love him, she should not let him know so she could stay with him without fear of him...rejecting her... and her love...

It'd never been a trial relationship...not even a few minutes after they had agreed to it... They'd both always just...felt so much for the other...

"I...A-A...relationship like...this one...I'd...always hoped for one, but...I never imagined it to really be...possible..." He'd been convinced it wouldn't happen, convinced that eventually he'd be forced into an arranged one he had no feelings for...

He always fought against it, but...

Now though, after having said that, he gave a small laugh before giving a small kiss to Mia's head.

"B-But...!" Mia seemed shocked by that, the kiss and laugh not helping her disbelief. She pulled back a bit and looked up into Masaru's eyes. She frowned very softly, her hands moving to his cheeks to hold him gently.

"But you are...so amazing... and wonderful... You could have had it with so many people I am sure! It was very possible for you!"

Mia seemed...surprised by his response, and Masaru glanced off for a short moment as she spoke, waiting for her to finish speaking before he did.

"I...But I don't...I'm not forward enough to just..." He lied to himself about his own feelings a lot, especially before... when it came to friendships he would have never pushed for more, he valued his friendships too much to do so; just retaining those bonds were...they'd been too much to risk screwing up.

Now that it was just...him, he'd had opportunities to bond with others easier, so there was no way he would have risked losing them...

"But you still have...still have an aura around you... It makes you easy to like..." Mia shook her head softly at the silly man... Without thinking again her head moved up again and leaned in for a very soft kiss. It was quickly over, but she felt...soft right now. Gentle towards him, her hands still on his cheeks gently slipping into his hair again.

"So...we do owe the evil ex-lieutenant..." Mia murmured, knowing she owed the woman now and she should repay her. If...If that hadn't happened... "I-I am not...either...and I was...a ghost... But you were so bright...and I couldn't ever...lie to you or let you be sad..."

She had known she had a crush... thought it was one of admiration...and maybe in denial about the feelings of romantic crush that were in there... But she never would have pushed for anything from someone like him. Someone...just wonderful.

"G-Guess we do owe A-Aoi..." Masaru replied with a small, light chuckle; the kiss a short moment ago had been short but still nice, the atmosphere had become...much lighter.

It felt nice just lying here not because he was sick but because it was just...relaxing right now, now that...they'd said it and calmed down...

"I-I'm glad you were able to talk to me, e-even if you were shy at first." They still sometimes had to get over shyness but...Mia was definitely a lot better now.

Mia didn't want to owe Aoi but... Uugh... Frowning, she sighed a bit and accepted that. For...Masaru... she would accept this debt to her.

Relaxing again, she smiled a bit shyly and looked away. "Y-You...um...to be honest...when you fell from that tree... It made me feel better. Before that...you were the Captain of Sixth and the head of a house...but...you fell from a tree trying to see your sister."

Giggling very softly, she turned red and looked back at Masaru. "It helped. Someone so silly couldn't be...couldn't be scary."