Unscheduled Visit

The next morning didn’t arrive with the chime of my alarm that I didn't set last night; it was the string of notifications flooding my phone.

I tried to sit up, but the room performed a violent, nauseating tilt to the left. My skin felt like it was made of dry parchment, and every joint in my body was screaming in a language of pure, radiating heat.

I reached for my phone, but my arm felt like it was encased in concrete. When I finally managed to squint at the screen, the light felt like a physical blow to my retinas.

Kujo, R. [8:05 AM]: Coffee. Black. On my desk ASAP.

Kujo, R. [8:35 AM]: You’re late. If you don't arrive within 30 minutes, you will face serious consequences.

Kujo, R. [9:10 AM]: Akizuki. This isn't a joke. Where are you?

I tried to force a response, my thumb hovering over the screen, but the light of the phone was blinding, a searing white glare that made my head throb. The phone slipped from my weak grip, thudding onto the futon beside me.

I let out a breath that felt like steam against my cracked lips.

Thirty minutes, my mind drifted into a hazy, fever-induced fog. I was already hours past her deadline.

I pulled the thin, scratchy blanket tighter around my shoulders, my teeth chattering despite the radiator-like heat radiating from my skin. I closed my eyes; the image of Reina’s furious eyes burned into my eyelids.

She was going to kill me. And the worst part was, I didn't even have the energy to enjoy the drama of it.

~Reina’s Perspective~

This morning I sat at my desk in the classroom, my fingers occasionally brushing against the smooth, white silk ribbon holding my hair in place.

I sat with the same perfect posture, the same calculated look, but inside, I was in turmoil. My mind kept betraying me, replaying the look on Kaito's face from yesterday when he was teasing me with the gifts he gave me.

And the absolute absurdity of that navy blue velvet bear currently in between the pillows on my bed at home. It was infuriating how much space a single, cheap convenience-store clerk was occupying in my head.

Even with the professor droning on at the front of the room, my skin still felt incredibly warm. But the same person I was daydreaming about was yet to arrive...

I checked my watch. 8:10

He’s still not here; class is about to start... The scholar king is late?

8:30

Still not here. The professor was halfway through his lecture, but my focus was entirely on the empty chair to my left. Did he oversleep?

I checked my phone; he still hasn’t read my text yet.

9:00

The irritation in my chest began to sour into a cold, heavy knot. Something’s wrong. Kaito doesn’t miss lectures. He’s too competitive, too obsessed with maintaining his "scholar" standing to let a single credit slip, especially when he knew I’d be there to witness it.

3:00 PM.

The final bell rang, echoing through the hollow hallway, and still, there was no sign of Kaito Akizuki. If he was doing this on purpose just to mess with me, if this was some elaborate ploy to make me worry or to dodge the consequences of his actions, I would actually hit him.

I checked my phone again. Nothing.

"Coward," I whispered to the empty air, but my heart wasn't in it.

"You better be dead, Akizuki," I whispered to the empty room, my voice trembling with a mix of fury and a terrifying, uncalculated fear. "Because if you aren't, I’m going to kill you myself."

I headed to the black sedan parked outside the academy. “To the scholar’s house.”

...

The car slowed as we entered the narrow street of his apartment complex. I didn't wait for the driver to open the door. I was out and on the pavement before he could. "Leave; I’ll handle this myself."

I marched up the three flights of stairs, my heels clicking like gunfire against the stone. Once I was in front of the door to his apartment, I hammered on the door, the sound echoing through the narrow, dim corridor.

“Akizuki! Open this door!”

Silence...

I rattled the handle. Locked. I hammered again, my breathing turning shallow. “Kaito! This isn't funny!”

Still no reply...

My heart skipped a beat as I reached into my bag and pulled out my spare key.

The apartment was freezing. The curtains were drawn tight, casting the room in a heavy, suffocating grey. I saw a shape on the futon, a tangled mess of blankets and a shock of dark hair that didn't move at the sound of the door.

"Kaito?" My voice lost its sharp edge, dropping to a guarded, terrified whisper.

I dropped my bag on the floor and knelt beside him. When I touched his shoulder, I gasped. The heat coming off him hit me before I even made contact.

Pressing my palm to his forehead. He wasn't just warm; he was burning.

He let out a weak, pained groan, his eyes fluttering but unable to focus. He looked at me, but I could tell he was seeing a ghost.

“Reina...?” he rasped, the sound like sandpaper against stone. He tried to shift, his hand twitching as if reaching for a phone that wasn't there. “The... the photo... I’ll delete it... I promise... Don't be... mad... Please..."

Even in a delirium, he was trying to make peace. He was trying to apologize for a joke I had taken so personally.

“Forget the photo, you idiot,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

"You really are a disaster, Akizuki," I muttered, my heels clicking sharply as I marched into his kitchenette.

I opened the cabinets, my irritation rising with every empty shelf I found. No thermometer. No proper electrolytes. Not even a single can of soup. The man could calculate complex equations in his head, but he couldn't be bothered to keep a basic first-aid kit.

"Typical," I hissed, filling a basin with cool water. "Obsessed with his future, but completely illiterate in staying alive."

I returned to the futon and sat on the floor, wringing out a cloth. I pressed it to his forehead, and he flinched, a small, pained sound escaping his lips.

"Cold..." he mumbled, his head lolling toward the touch.

“Deal with it, Scholar Boy.” I reached for a glass of water I’d brought, sliding my arm behind his neck to lift him slightly. He was heavy, his body heat seeping into my skin like an accusation. "Drink. That’s a direct order."

He took a few shallow, trembling sips, his eyes half-opening. For a second, the fog seemed to clear. “I’m sorry...” he muttered while his head fell back into the crook of my arm. That wasn't the scholar talking. It was just Kaito. Stripped of his defenses,

"I’m so sorry... Reina," he whispered again.

My heart did a slow, painful roll in my chest. "For what?" I asked, my voice coming out much softer than I intended. "For the photo? For the comments? Or for being a complete disaster of a human being who doesn't know how to take care of himself?"

He didn't answer. His eyes drifted shut again, but his hand, while still trembling, found the fabric of my sleeve and bunched it into his fist. He was clinging to me like I was the only thing keeping him grounded in the room.

"You really are a piece of work," I muttered, carefully setting the glass on the floor. I adjusted the damp cloth on his forehead, my fingers lingering for a second too long against his hairline.

I sat back on my heels, watching the rhythmic, pained rise and fall of his chest. The "Lethal Heiress" would have walked out an hour ago. She would have called a private nurse and sent the bill to his estate. But as I sat there in the dim, grey light of his studio, I realized I didn't want a professional to handle this.

I reached out and brushed a stray lock of dark hair away from his damp forehead. "I'm not mad, Kaito," I whispered to the empty room. "I'm just annoyed that I have to be the one to save you."

I stood up quietly, heading back to the kitchenette to find something, anything that could pass for a decent meal. If he was going to survive the night, he needed more than just water and apologies. And if I was going to stay, I was going to need a lot more coffee.

His pantry didn’t have anything other than some expired crackers and a few cups of instant ramen.

I shouldn’t have sent my driver home... Ugh, I could grab some supplies from the konbini he works at...

I grabbed my blazer and cast one last glance at the shivering lump on the futon. He was quiet for now, his breath hitching only occasionally. "Don't you dare die while I'm out,"

The bell chimed as I pushed through the glass doors, my heels clicking a sharp rhythm against the tiles.

The girl behind the counter looked up with a practiced, tired smile that froze the second she saw me. Her eyes went wide, darting from my silk blouse to my face, and I saw the exact moment the gears turned in her head. She didn't know my name, but she remembered the "incident."

She remembered the girl who had stormed in a week ago, demanding Kaito and slightly harassing him. To her, I was a villain who had turned her coworker’s shift into an interrogation.

When I dumped the mountain of supplies onto the counter, She was staring at me like I was a cryptid. “I’ll also take a box of cold medicine.”

"You," she breathed, her hand hovering over the scanner. "The... the girl from before. The one who was shouting at Akizuki-kun."

"It’s none of your business."

"Wait... Akizuki-kun didn't show up tonight," she said, her voice dropping to a gossipy whisper as she scanned the eggs. "The manager is furious. Is he... is he with you?"

I felt a heat crawl up my neck that had nothing to do with a fever. I slammed my credit card onto the reader.

"I’m not his personal assistant," I said, my voice clinical and sharp. "Tell your manager that if he tries to fire him, I’ll buy this entire franchise just to turn it into a parking lot. Do I make myself clear?"

Haruna nodded so fast her ponytail whipped her face. She remembered the fire in my eyes from the blackmail confrontation; she knew I wasn't joking. "C-clear! Crystal clear!"

"Good. Bag these."

I snatched the heavy plastic bags the second she finished, not waiting for the receipt. I marched back out into the night, my fingers already cramping from the weight of the rice and water.

As the cool wind breeze hit me as I made my way back to Katio’s apartment, walking under the dim streetlights, the sheer weight of the plastic bags cutting into my hands, my mind couldn’t grasp the sole purpose of why I was doing all of this.

Whatever... The relationship Kaito and I have goes against everything I stood for... We were supposed to be rivals, separate forces operating in entirely different worlds.

But yet, there was something about him. Something that completely dismantled my logic, leaving me standing in the cold with a bag of groceries, terrified of what would happen if his fever didn't break.

"I just hate the thought of a world where he wasn't there to challenge me."