Beyond The Table Thus The Boundary

Chapter 10: The Sick

She had difficulty to even nod off. She did not know why. As if there was something disturbing her mind which caused her to not be able to sleep like a log. She was physically tired and mentally worn out thanks to Takato's determination on finishing the whole drama script instead of only briefing it. He was very enthusiastic to the point he might not even eat while he was on it. People like him were plentiful on the Earth, and knowing how their nature were, she warned him almost every time not to skip any meal.

"We'll meet again tomorrow," she rolled over her blanket. Her hair was all wet because she washed it thoroughly, "The script was almost to the conclusion. What we need is a perfect satisfying ending, and voila! Our group assignment is done!"

She cheered while her face was about to slam the wall. Another step, and the assignment would be accomplished. It was what every student dreams for no matter how fascinating a task was. She wanted to get indulged into her fiction reading again as she has skipped it for around five days. Deep inside, she was indebted to her own group mates since she was fully aware how hardworking everyone was, including that Takato man.

Her eyes locked in ceiling staring. She thought of nothing but Takato. Through these days, she has witnessed various kinds of personality that Takato man had, which slowly but surely revealed his true nature. It was not that infuriating though, unless Tsubasa had slight patience left when he did piss her off. She could understand why Takato remained silent all these while, but judging from his character, she has faith in him transforming to a much better person in the future.

Abundant recollection re-gathered in her sole mind, thus she wished to pursue on that Takato man's character and upbringing. She might sound nosy but she did want to befriend Takato whole hearted. While her brain running on daily routine and things needed to be done, she finally nodded off, unwary of her still-wet hair.

It absolutely caused her mishap on the next day.

"Tsubasa, you look awful," Setoka grasped her on the shoulder. She was really good in expressing her feeling even though it did not suit her cutie image.

Tsubasa grunted in displease. She disliked being attention since she has been sensing that she was all these while. However, her dreadful state could not mask her solemn. The headache really throbbed her eyes out as she could barely swallow her own saliva. Eating was like a taboo and drinking did not help much. Her nape was stinging too.

Deception surfaced if none of the classmates noticed her fallen sick.

"Were you pressured yourself for the script?" Mitsuko asked in concern. She could not bear seeing Tsubasa all sneezy, slumped and ill. "I'll ask Asahi to buy meds for you."

"It's okay, it was my own damned fault," Tsubasa huffed. She could feel warmness in her exhalation, "I just need to rest some more."

"You have to witness your own shape to confirm it, Tsubasa," Setoka placed her hand on Tsubasa's forehead, "Yep, it is indeed warm. You're literally burning."

"Am I?" Tsubasa snorted in. "I can't help it. We must finish the script by today. It's the sixth day and tomorrow will be the dateline."

Setoka hushed her, disagreeing with her firmness. The script was crucial, but that was not what mattered. Health was irreplaceable and appreciating it was a just thing to do. Global statistic has endorsed that youngsters at their age tend to fall sick due to physical and mental obstruction. People nowadays had to work multiple jobs per day and be thrifty so that they would not suffer shortage of savings in the future. They had to strive for excellence academically and in performance. The global economy depended on world marketing and sales, and the burden would be unbearable to some people which later triggered mental disorder.

"All right, all right," Tsubasa gave up. Setoka's speech pierced right into her eardrum. "I'll go to the infirmary, okay? But!" she persisted, "I'll meet you guys again this afternoon, to wrap up the script. Meanwhile, please read this."

The script Tsubasa fished out of her backpack was taken by Mitsuko. The three of them ogled as they never ever guessed Tsubasa and Takato could produce such thick script. They could already compile it as a book instead of a mere script and later to be passed to the drama club. It was definitely their masterpiece. Mitsuko skimmed across the pages and it was undeniably neat. Two heads of a girl and a boy seldom achieved mutual agreement but the script proved the contrary.

"Ask Takato to read along as well," Tsubasa prompted them. "He wrote half, I wrote another half. We only ought to conclude, but we have to get your two cent beforehand."

"Well, Tsubasa, you guys have done great!" Asahi could not enclose his astonishment. It was visibly seen two populations of handwritings in the script. They must be Tsubasa's for the elongated letters and Takato's for the smaller but rounder ones. "Takato has not arrived yet, but we will inform him once he did."

Setoka chirped, "Enough with the script. We are mostly done so you can get some rest now. Please remember what I've talked just now."

Her hand grazed over the wall while she made her way to the infirmary. It was near to their class and she could not be more than thankful. She notified the nurse in charge and assured herself comfortably lying on the white bed. It was not as cosy as hers at home, yet it was enough for her slumber. She has already entered dream once she laid her head on the pillows.

"So this girl do fall sick, eh?"

The voice was distinct despite the distance. No, it could be that her ringing ear has not cleared yet when the voice butted in. She furrowed as white light emerged into her eyes, and she was unprepared to get up either. Her pounding headache has not diminished yet. The closer the owner of the voice, the clearer her vision was becoming.

It was shocking to the point she might slap him. He was smiling at her, very naturally curved. She gasped as if it was a death angel coming to take her soul away. She tugged her blanket up to her chin.

"You seem pale but I'm glad you don't have other illness along with your fever," Takato landed on the bed side. He grinned ear to ear as if he was fully aware that Tsubasa would love to watch him beaming. This was exaggerating, but seeing his smile would presumably heal her in no time.

Her sight has not recovered wholly for enabling her seeing without hindrance. She blinked to fade away the inexistent twinkling stars in her view. "Why… are you here?"

"To visit you, of course," Takato chuckled, revealing his dimples which Tsubasa just noticed they were there, "You slept so soundly. I'm sorry if I've woken you up."

No warning or reminder, yet Takato suddenly put his hand on Tsubasa's forehead. He compared her warmness with his own temperature. It indeed shocked her but she could not push him away. He was being nice to her, thus rejecting his kindness meant she would be the bad one. Perhaps he was used to treat sick person in such way that he did not falter a bit.

"You are burning, and your face is reddish," he commented as he stood up and left the dumbfounded Tsubasa.

Of course she was! A prince has just come to the rescue to heal her. It was a little disappointing that Takato has already walked away, but she has not had enough discouragement when he returned with a bowl of cold water and a clean towel. He sat at his earlier spot at the bed side, calmly folded the clean towel, and soaked it into the water. He wiped away her fringe thus revealed the forehead, and tapped the towel on it. It was a very simple way to lower warmness, but she could not mask her beating heart. It pounded unstably audible in her hearing.

"Do you feel hurt somewhere else?" from a grinning Takato, he immediately changed his expression to a very anxious one. "You look so troubled. I'm sorry if I've disturbed your sleep," he generously apologized, unlike their bitter first chat.

"It's okay. My headache has soothed a little," she thumbed up, reassuring that she was just fine with Takato's out-of-the-blue appearance. It did shock her, but that was it.

She did not feel weird at all.

"Let me wipe your face," Takato offered himself.

Tsubasa ogled at him. "Are you real?"

"Why did you ask that?" Takato frowned till his brows intertwined, "I just want to show you my gratitude. This is just a small matter."

Tsubasa parted her lips, about to ask again but Takato cut her off with a sweet smile. She stunned as it never wearied her down witnessing the cheery Takato, a little too peculiar than his normal self every day. She accepted it either way, because anyhow he was towards her, both personality suited his generosity.

"Takato, why are you here, by the way?"

Takato was immersing the towel into the water to re-soak it when Tsubasa had the urge to question him. He wrung the towel and gently tapped her temples, cheeks, chin, and repeated the cycle until the towel dried itself.

"I don't feel so good," he said half-heartedly.

"You lie."

"Why should I?" he squinted at her accusation. Receiving death glares from her threatened his longevity, hence he evaded, "All right. I got stomach ache. I need to rest."

"Yeah, right," she jeered at him, entertained by his straightforwardness.

Takato pulled a pout. "I'm afraid that you have fever because of me. You see," he soaked and wrung the towel. Then he put it on her forehead, "It could be caused by me. I pushed ourselves to finish the script, ignoring the fact that both of us had different level of energy left. Whereas I predicted that we would use up three days for it," he fidgeted while confessing, "I'm sorry that my greediness brought you misery."

"Hey, Takato."

Takato's grimace touched her heart. If only he was a girl like Setoka or Mitsuko, she could have dragged him into her embrace. It was not to pass her fever down. It was more like an alleviating effect towards someone called friend.

"Don't ever bear the blame yourself, okay? You are innocent since day one," Tsubasa softened her gaze, imitating a mother coaxing her kid. Takato was like a kid to begin with, "Actually, I slept without drying up my hair last night. This is the result," she sneezed once and proceeded, "Rather than dragging the time till the dateline, I prefer to enforce myself fulfilling the task assign. At least if anything happened, we've done what we supposed to do, am I right?"

From a fearful look, he loosened the tense and eventually curved a smile. "You are kind hearted as usual, Tsubasa."

It was transparently a compliment, but Tsubasa was not used to it. Perhaps she rarely had close friends – receiving one was not her norm though. She lowered her head, shyly and timidly ashamed of Takato.

"I'm not that nice. I'm a bad girl," she brushed it off.

"You may think so, but I won't," Takato propped his chin, eyes fixated on her, while sending off very heart-warming stare. "I've been watching you, Tsubasa. I don't mean to harm you. I just feel like it. You are so well behaved, not like those giddy girls out there. You don't mock people. You appreciate everyone around you. You always give all out and never surrender. You are genuinely confident, but it could be that you are less surrounded by positive people, so you feel like you aren't."

"Stop, stop," she ceased as she could bear anymore humiliation than these. Takato was too much, but she did not sense the slightest fabrication in his constant flattery.

Takato did stop, but he still stared at Tsubasa's flushing face. She could barely exchange glance with him. The time has literally halted right when both of them locked their gaze towards each other. It was fascinating to notice that Takato originally had a pair of hazel eyes in comparison of her dark chocolate coloured. It shone once the sunlight hit, proving his transparent iris thus divulging the light brownish.

While Tsubasa was engrossed comprehending the beauty of Takato, there was a line he uttered which later startle her to the core. She was almost misunderstanding it as a joke, but he did not lie, definitely. He repeated "I like you" thrice to portray his honesty in stepping up their bond more than as friends.