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Shiori had an uneasy feeling, which arose as soon as Bijou told her Nerissa wasn't feeling good.
The demon was supposed to go shopping with Bijou and Fuwamoco, but she retracted at the last second, saying she had a headache and, as such, she would prefer to stay in and take a nap.
Since Shiori was the only one besides her who wouldn't leave the house, Bijou told her of what had happened, and while a headache wouldn't necessarily be something extremely worrisome, it was good that Shiori knew of the situation in case Nerissa needed anything later on.
With a promise to check on her, Bijou, Fuwawa, and Mococo left the house while Shiori tried to focus on any task to pass the time, allowing Nerissa to sleep.
But as much as Shiori wanted to give the demon time, the truth was she was too distracted to be able to do anything. She was more twitchy than usual, and the only recurrent thought she had was to go see Nerissa. She was able to hold herself back for almost two hours before she couldn't stay in her place anymore.
Going to the demon's room, she opened the door slowly, trying not to make too much noise in case Nerissa wasn’t awake.
Taking a peek inside, Shiori wasn't surprised to find the room in complete darkness; the blinds were closed, and the only reason she could see was because of the light sneaking through the door.
Her eyes soon fell on the bundle on the bed, which she had no doubt was Nerissa, and assuming she was still asleep, she decided to let her continue sleeping, but before she could close the door again, she was taken aback by what sounded like a whine.
Not knowing if she had imagined that, Shiori stalled in her place to see if she heard any sound again, and when she did, she fully entered the room.
She approached Nerissa, and once she was standing by her side, she turned on the bedside lamp before gently shaking her.
She shook her a few times, but nothing happened. She even said something to further wake her up, but that didn't work either, and since she didn't want to wake up, she had no other choice but to be more forceful, pulling the blankets back, but what she saw made her freeze.
Nerissa was completely soaked, sweat dripped from all over her body, clinging to her sheets and the few clothes she was wearing, her breathing came out labored, and she had a fixed scowl on her face.
That image alone was bad, and it got worse once Shiori tried to pull her sticky bangs back, only to realize she was burning.
It was hard not to panic when she became aware of the gravity of the situation, but what Nerissa needed at the moment was for her to think clearly, so once the initial shock faded away, Shiori sprang into action.
First things first, she needed to cool Nerissa down. Going to the bathroom, she quickly filled a bucket with cold water and grabbed a few towels. When she had everything, she returned to Nerissa's side.
She wet the towels to place them on her forehead and wrists. Nerissa hizzed as soon as she placed the towels on her, but besides that reaction, she continued sleeping.
After doing that, Shiori grabbed another towel, and as best as she could, she started to wipe the sweat from Nerissa's body. If she were awake, Shiori would have urged her to take a shower, but in her current state, that was the best thing she could do.
Every few minutes, Shiori would change the towels, and fortunately, after a while, Nerissa's breath evened. She still felt slightly hot to the touch, but she had at least shown some improvement.
More hours passed, and Nerissa didn't show any signs of wanting to wake up. Eventually, Bijou, Fuwawa, and Mococo returned to the house, and as soon as they were back, Shiori informed them of what was happening with Nerissa.
Everyone offered to look after her, but as much as Shiori appreciated their disposition, she told them she would be the one taking care of Nerissa. If she were simply sick, she wouldn't have minded them helping, but Shiori had a hunch that something else was going on with the demon, and her suspicions were proven right once she woke up.
Shiori had barely left her side, so she didn't miss the moment she started to stir. She had been reading a book she brought to pass the time when she heard Nerissa groaning. She hadn't made any more sounds since she had found her, so hearing her again put her on alert.
Her groans were soon accompanied by slight movements which led to her opening her eyes, or better said, eye.
Her right one was shut while her left one opened enough for her to look to her side and see Shiori.
"Shiori wh–" Whatever else she intended to say was cut off as she winced, having been overwhelmed by pain.
There were no words to describe the pain she was feeling, only that it was particularly nasty in her head, or rather…
"It's your horn, isn't it?"
"It hurts."
It troubled Shiori to see Nerissa in such a state, and what was worse was that the progress she had made had started to revert since she was once again having trouble breathing; she could see the sweat forming on her forehead, and despite not touching her, Shiori was sure she was burning once more.
"I will bring you something for the pain." The only thing Shiori could do was to get her some painkillers as well as bring cold water and towels again to once more lower her fever.
"Please don't go."
"It will only be a minute, be right back."
After that, Nerissa's sleep was intermittent. She would get a few hours of sleep before she would wake up again.
The pain disappeared in her slumber, but as soon as she was awake, it would hit her in full force. Sometimes she could manage to get a few words out, and others she seemed to be lost in some sort of delirium, mumbling incoherent stuff.
Each time she rose, Shiroi was by her side, giving her words of comfort, massaging the base of her horn to ease some of the pain, cooling down her fever, or just staying as a silent companion when she wasn't so aware of the world around her.
After two days of what seemed like an endless routine, the cycle was finally broken.
Shiori woke up with a startle. For some reason, her body had jolted her awake, and since she had been taking care of Nerissa, the first thing she did was to check on her, only to see she was awake and…smiling.
"You look like you saw a ghost. Did you have a nightmare?" Nerissa asked.
Shiroi ran her hands through her face, trying to wipe out the last remains of sleep, "I don't think so. How are you feeling?"
"Like a truck ran over me."
"What about your head? Your horn?"
"I have a fading headache, but my horn feels fine. It has been a while since I had my last episode. How long was I out?"
"Two days, you woke up a few times. Do you remember?"
Nerissa frowned, "My mind is a bit foggy, but I think I can recall a few instances of waking up. If nothing changed from last time, I assume I also had my moments of rambling, but you know I never remember those."
Shiori, more than anyone, was aware of everything that happened when Nerissa was in that state, since she had been present for all the times she had been affected by her “illness”.
The root of her discomfort was her severed horn. Nerissa never complained about it nor ever expressed any pain, but it was during those mysterious episodes when everything changed, making her bedridden for hours or even days.
An explanation was never found as to what triggered those episodes, nor did anyone find a way to stop them, so every time they would occur, the only thing that could be done was to look after her till it passed.
"You did have a few moments of unawareness, but we know it's nothing new. Overall, you showed the same signs as always, but at least, this time you were out for two days instead of three."
"That is good. Did you sleep?"
The question took her aback. "Did you not see me asleep a few moments ago?"
"I saw you passed out in a chair, which I'm sure was far too uncomfortable to sleep on. Don't try to deflect, you know what I asked you."
"And I said that…"
"Shiori," Nerissa glared at her.
Shiori sighed, "I might have slept two hours at best."
"Just today?"
"In the past two days," Shiori could see the incoming protests from Nerissa, so she was quick to add, "Please let's not do this; we always have the same argument."
"Because you keep on neglecting your own health to look after me, I was convinced you would have listened to me by now. Let me guess, you didn't let the other help either."
Shiori didn't say anything, but her silence spoke for her.
"You and your stubbornness, I swear," Nerissa protested before she got up from the bed, which she wouldn't admit was harder than she expected since her body was aching everywhere.
"What are you doing?" Shiori also stood, ready to assist Nerissa if she needed her to.
"I'm going to take a bath, I feel disgusting."
"Okay, let me go prepare it." Shiori was ready to leave the room, but Nerissa grabbed her arm.
"You aren't going anywhere," She let go of her arm and grabbed her cell phone.
Shiori could tell she was typing something, and after a few minutes, the door opened as Bijou poked her head inside.
"It's done," Bijou announced, leaving as quickly as she appeared.
"Let's go then," Nerissa said.
"Where?"
"To the bathroom, of course."
Not giving Shiori the chance to say anything, Nerissa tugged her along.
As soon as they were in the bathroom, the archiver could see the bathtub had been filled, towels were placed beside it, as well as showering products. Further in the room, she could see a few clothes piled over a stool, and while it was understandable they would be there so Nerissa could change as soon as the bath was over, she noticed there were more clothes items than what she would need.
"Why are there so many…" The words died in Shiori's mouth upon seeing Nerissa sinking into the bathtub.
"You were saying?"
Shiori cleared her throat. "The clothes, you won't need all of that, will you? And how did they end up here in the first place, and what about the bathtub?"
"Bijou prepared all this; she also brought the clothes, which are indeed more of what I will need, but that is because there is a change for you too."
"Why would I need them?"
"Because you are taking a bath too."
Shiori looked at her as if she had grown a second head, "Come on, you need this just as much as me, so get in."
Shiori could have argued that she would bathe later, but she knew Nerissa wouldn't appreciate it if she said that, and besides, now that she was here, she had to admit a bath sounded too tempting to wait.
Stripping down, Shiori joined Nerissa in the bathtub, sighing in relief when she sank her body into the water.
Nerissa chuckled, "Your muscles needed this, didn't they?"
"Mostly my neck and shoulders, that chair was in fact not comfortable."
Nerissa rolled her eyes.
They bathed in silence, feeling how life slowly returned to their bodies after the stressful days they had had.
"Would you mind washing my hair and back? My mobility is still kind of limited," Nerissa asked.
Shiori accepted, so Nerissa drifted closer to her before turning around.
Nerissa seemed to enjoy the pampering since she couldn't help letting out sounds of appreciation, which would get particularly louder each time Shiori scratched around the base of her horns.
"Alright, all done."
"Thank you, my beautiful archiver."
Shiori expected Nerissa to return to her place, but instead, she looked at her over her shoulder.
"What?" Shiori asked.
"It's my turn to wash you. I can't do your back since you already did so, but at least let me wash your hair.”
"That won't be necessary, I can do that myself."
"I know you can, but let me repay you for being so kind to me."
Once more, Shiori found herself complying with Nerissa's wishes, switching places so she could be behind her.
Now it was Shiori's turn to lose herself in Nerissa's ministrations, and without her wanting to, she started to drift off, as the lack of sleep of the past days finally caught up to her.
Nerissa didn't miss how Shiori's head would slightly bob from time to time, so once she was done washing her, she pulled her back so she could rest on her.
The archiver didn't pose any resistance, allowing her to move her till her head ended up resting on her shoulder.
Shiori was barely awake, trotting on the line between the dream world and the real world, and almost as if sensing she was going to fall asleep at any second, Nerissa chose to speak.
"Will you tell me why you keep on rejecting others' help?"
Shiori sighed, "You wanted to get me in a vulnerable state, didn't you?"
She felt Nerissa laughing more than she heard her, before she leaned down and kissed her temple.
"I just want to understand you better, that is all."
Although this was not the first time Nerissa had inquired about her motives, Shiori had never given her an answer, but perhaps, because she felt so relaxed at the moment, she didn't find it in herself not to be honest.
"I don't want them to see you like that."
"So you shudder that weight alone?"
"I guess I do."
Nerissa had her suspicions about Shiori's reasons, but hearing her outright say it was a lot to take in.
Based on her previous failed attempts at persuading her to accept others' help, Nerissa knew that if she pushed the subject once again at that very moment, the end result would be the same.
So, for the sake of not arguing, she would take Shiori's answer as it was. She would still approach this subject again with everyone to ensure the next time she was sick, Shiori didn't neglect herself in favor of looking after her, but there would be a time for that.
"We should get out. I know you are tired, but I can't have you sleeping in the bathtub. Let's go to your room."
By then, Shiori had lost all her strength, so it fell on Nerissa to help her get out and dressed. She also had to walk her to her room and tuck her into bed before lying down.
As soon as Shiori felt the other side of the bed dip, she scooted closer to Nerissa, hugging her and burying her face in her chest.
Returning the hug, Nerissa began running her hand through Shiori's hair, feeling how her breaths slowed till she fell asleep.
She continued that motion a while longer until she started getting sleepy, and not long after, she fell asleep too.