That morning was like any other morning Saijou Claudine has had, except it was a weekend which made her available more than usual. Claudine didn't plan on getting up from her royal bed not when the moment she shifted, her own body felt heavy but for whatever reason there might be, she found herself getting up anyway. There was still a faint ache in her muscles from training too much the day before and Claudine wanted to rest some more but then again, here she was, in her usual black shirt with a red hoodie paired with blue shorts, inside the kitchen. She didn't really know what she was doing here either but she thought a glass of water would be enough to quench the sudden thirst she now feels inside her unusually dry throat. She got herself a glass and went towards the sink, turning the handle as the faint noise of dropping water filling the glass filled the silent room. A faint yawn escaped the French girl's mouth as she elegantly brought a hand to cover it.

"Good morning" a faint, just-woken-up voice covered the silence and the sound of dropping water as Claudine turned the faucet off, taking one large gulp of the water inside the glass and putting it down after. No, Claudine didn't need to turn around to know who it was, heck she can tell who this voice belongs to even if she was deaf! (Okay, slight hyperbole there) but the point is! Who else could be awake at this early hour on a weekend aside from...

"Good morning to you too, Tendou Maya" A smirked was immediately plastered on Claudine's face as she turned around to see her rival in her grey long sleeves and pajamas, leaning on the kitchen entrance wall, her hands comfortably sitting on her chest and her usual self-confident smile sitting on her face.

"Why are you awake at 4 am on a weekend?" Claudine found herself asking to which Maya just simply shrugged, her smile not leaving her face.

"I wonder the same thing about you" Smart move. Claudine contemplated whether to just ignore and bring their conversation to a close or to counter with a snide remark. It was too early for their usual unspoken fights to start but to heck with early, Claudine's pride won't allow her to just simply walk away, it's too cowardly.

"I believe I threw the question first" her own hands now resting on her hips, a confident smirk now on her face.

"And I believe I just answered it with a question" A smooth comeback, as expected of Tendou Maya.

"You're infuriating" there it is, her defense mechanism. Claudine is not using that phrase just because half of her is still sleepy enough to even think of a comeback, of course not. She just used it cause it was true, Maya does infuriate her.

"So I've been told" Maya's smirk just grew wider by the minute and Claudine couldn't really take a single minute of this right now, she just really wants to go back to bed. She already regretted getting up the moment she heard THAT voice.

"You know, Im not really in the mood for this right now. Im ready for any teasing you might make later but please stop blocking my only way out" And it was true, though it's only just a little, but Claudine was still in the state of enervation and she really didn't have any energy to do this with Maya. Even her pride is too tired to even think of making Claudine do it.

Maya, however, let her hands fall to the side and silently obeyed. The path was now free for Claudine to walked upon, Claudine just had to survive the trek back to her room and she'll be resting again in no time. Claudine started to move her way towards freedom but found it awkwardly odd that each of her step was heavy. It required her more effort than normal and she feels lightheaded.

This cannot be happening.

"Claudine?" Maya's voice echoed in her ears but what irritated Claudine was the genuine hint of worry in them.

Balderdash, absolute balderdash.

"Are you alright?" Maya made a move towards Claudine, holding the hand and shoulder of the latter who was now holding on the back of a chair for support, her breathing slowly getting uneven. When Maya's fingers felt like ice pricks on Claudine's bare skin and she shivered by the touch.

"You're burning up!" That same cold hand made its way towards Claudine's forehead and back to her hand again. Claudine could barely make out Maya's, albeit worried, face since her vision was getting blurrier by the second.

This was ridiculous. Absolutely pathetic.

"I-Im...fine..." She clearly wasn't but too stubborn to admit so.

"You are not, let me take you to your room" Maya gently held Claudine's hand and guided it over her shoulder while Maya's other hand made purchase on Claudine's waist albeit gentler than a feather, holding it as if it was the most fragile thing that ever existed.

"Maya...Im fine..I can walk on my own" At this point, Maya resulted in ignoring any comment from the French blonde and started walking towards the room of the latter.

The journey to her own room felt like forever for Claudine though it only took Maya a few minutes to arrive. Once they did, Maya carefully guided Claudine on her bed and made her lie down, the latter too weak to even open her mouth.

Claudine felt her eyelids growing heavier by the minute, her throat never felt so dry despite drinking an entire glass of water, and she could've sworn Maya said something about her sweating bullets, which was odd because Claudine felt cold, reaaally cold. She didn't want to admit it but she was sick. A minor cold maybe, nothing like a good rest can't fix. Before she knew it, Claudine found herself drifting to dreamland.

Claudine didn't know for how many hours she was asleep, but she did awoke to a cold sensation on her forehead. She finally managed to lift her hand, although still weak, towards the thing that was causing it and found herself holding a wet towel. She slowly put it down and her gaze came upon a sleeping brunette on the side of her bed, a basin filled with water sitting beside her. Claudine made a move to sit up which only disrupted the slumber of the said brunette.

"...Mm..." Maya rubbed the sleepiness of her eyes and settled her gaze on the blonde that looked a lot better than earlier.

"Sorry...did I wake you?" Claudine's faint and still weak voice filled Maya's ears and she just shook her head

"It's quite alright, are you feeling any better?" Maya stretched her hand towards Claudine's forehead and it lingered there.

"Yeah I am, all thanks to you" A weak smile came across Claudine's face as she reached out her own hand to hold the one Maya has on her forehead, Maya mirrored her smile and leaned in closer.

"It was not a problem at all, ma amour" A cocky grin on Tendou Maya's face, two can play that game.

"Méchante va! Can you accept my gratitude for once without adding any endearment that might make my heart beat so fast?" A small laugh escaped Maya's lips and she leaned away from Claudine, their hands still joined together albeit away from Claudine's forehead this time.

"So I make your heart race?" An eyebrow from the brunette's perfect face was lifted up and Claudine could've sworn she felt herself twitch in irritation and embarrassment, more of the latter.

"Remember I said might" a slight smile was sent in Claudine's way and she just simply let herself be lost in those gorgeous lilac eyes.

"If you can counter all my remarks already then I say you are already as good as healed" a faint chuckled got out of Maya's mouth as she leaned in closer than Claudine would've liked.

"Daiba-san made rice porridge for you to eat. I'll go to the kitchen and fetch it for you. Try not to miss me too much, Ma Claudine" Maya planted a lingering kiss on Claudine's forehead and went out. It probably too quick for Claudine to process because it took her 30 seconds to finally say

"TENDOU MAYA!"