A request (once again) for Kohakuhime of Konoha! Again, I wish to apologize that it took so long to get this oneshot up (and the others, KoK)!

Holy cow! School (for me) is starting in two days! And I'm really, really, REALLY not looking forward to it. At times like these I wish I could go to Hogwarts or to Domino High or, at least, somewhere cool and fun. My school absolutely stinks. Seriously. But hopefully this year will be much better then last. Like, the teachers. I'm praying I got excellent ones.

My mom also disliked that I was spending my time writing so many stories, so sometime in the past two weeks she decided I shouldn't write. Now though since school is nearing, she's letting me start typing away once again. Man, there are so many stories/chapters/oneshots I need to post! Why can't there be more time in the world!

Sorry about my rant (if you read it, that is).

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor Yu-Gi-Oh!

Please, enjoy!

"Valon, are you sure you're up to going?" Raphael questioned as he looked at the spiky haired teen from the couch. It had been a few days since the Australian had caught his sweetheart's cold, although he did seem to get over it better compared to her, they still wanted to be careful. "You do know this play is outside and in the freezing cold?"

The teenager gavea nod of his head, standing in front of the mirror that hung on the wall, above the shelf they placed their keys and other items when needed before leaving the house, fidgeting with his tie. "Course I'll be fine, Raph."

Somehow that didn't comfort the older man.

"Besides this show Serenity wants ta see does sound interesting."

Alister glanced at the brunette with a raised eyebrow. "Valon, you do know it's a historical play. Meaning it's based off what happened in the past."

Hands froze on the material of the tie, sapphire eyes widened as the words entered through his ears and into his brain – processing and fully understanding. "Wait… what?" He looked at Alister's reflection.

"You heard me."

"… how do you know 'at's what's it about?"

Disbelief crossed not only the redhead's face, but Raphael's as well.

"It was part of the message she had left on the answering machine."

"Oh." Valon gave lamely, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. Everything stayed silent as Raphael watched Valon carefully, who was staring at Alister with narrowed eyes, whom wasn't paying attention and instead reading his book. "Hey Raph?"

He gave a 'hmm' in response.

"I'm not feelin'—"

"Don't even try that Valon." Was the next response from him.

Something sounded from the youngest, but neither of the two could figure out what it was. "Why didn't you fellas tell me 'at sooner?"

"We tried only you were too busy lost in your head, thinking who knows what."

"I know what." Valon stated yet received a frown from Alister.

"Obviously you should know what it was. If you didn't that would be really sad. Not to add pathetic."

"Oi, shut it Alistar!"

Raphael shook his head and brought a hand up to his temples, rubbing them in hopes of keeping the headache that was soon to come away. He glanced at the digital clock that sat snuggly atop the television set and turned back to look at his friend. "Valon," he said which was ignored as Valon continued to throw insults at Alister – who simply retorted with his own – and tried again, "Valon,"

"At least I 'ave a girlfriend!"

"Who's the sister of the guy whom you hated because he had, or has, an interest in Mai Valentine."

"Yeah, well…! Shut up!"

"Both of you knock it off." Raphael snapped, causing the two to bring their attention back to him. "Valon, you need to get going if you don't want to be late." He pointed at the clock to further prove his point.

He blinked staring at the clock before a look of panic crossed his features. "I'm goin' ta be late!" He quickly grabbed his keys and with that ran out the door and down the sidewalk.

A sigh sounded from the blond as he rested the back of his head on the couch.

"He forgot his coat."

Opening one eye, Raphael turned his head slightly to see that Alister was right. "Think we should see if we can get it to him?" He glanced at the skinnier man, who gave him a look. "Well, maybe he'll swallow his pride and ask to borrow one from Wheeler."

Again, Alister gave him a look.

"You're right, that'll never happen." Raphael sighed. He just hoped Valon's cold wouldn't come back full force in the morning.

"Val, you're shivering!" Serenity whispered, slipping an arm through his and snuggling closer to him. Even in the dim light she could still see the goose bumps that were rising on her boyfriend's skin. "I told you to bring a jacket." She murmured quietly and tried her best to share her body heat with him.

He gave a light shrug, grinning down at her. "Yeah, but then you wouldn't snuggle so close ta me."

"Shh!" Someone behind them hissed.

Serenity had to press her face against his shoulder to suppress her fit of giggles and to hide the blush that was creeping up to her face. "Val, you're too sweet." She sighed softly, pulling her face away to look back at the stage and watch the actors play their parts.

"Sweeter than Tristan?" He asked, gaining another hiss from the same person. It was easy to tell that Joey's best friend held strong feelings for her although Serenity seemed completely oblivious to this fact for some odd reason. And the same with that dice guy… what was his name? Valon mused over it for a few seconds, but failed to remember a name.

"You have your own sweetness to you." Serenity answered back and Valon couldn't help except let the smile display on his face.

"Am I sweeter then Tristan and the weirdo put together?"

"Be quiet!" A different person from behind them spat, anger evident in his voice.

Valon simply ignored him.

So he hoped it was a him. It certainly didn't sound like a woman.

"Val, Duke isn't a weirdo." She scolded him gently, rubbing her hand up and down his arm to help it warm up.

Ah ha! Valon knew that was his name… he just knew it…

"And just to make you happy, yes. You're sweeter. You're the sweetest, most kindhearted person I've ever known." A white lie, it was. Serenity knew everyone had their own sweetness to them and there were others who were kindhearted as well, but… Valon was special. And an exception; after all he was her boyfriend.

"Ha! I knew it!"

"SHH!" This time it came from more than one person. Not that he could blame them; he had yelled that last part aloud and even startled the actors.

Serenity, however, gave a small laugh as Valon turned red from embarrassment and slid further into his seat, wishing at that precise moment he could turn invisible or disappear and be safe back at home. Or her house, so long as Joey wasn't around.

Minutes ticked on by and the night seemed to be getting even more chilling then before. Valon sniffed a few times, cursing himself for forgetting his jacket which he had stuffed Kleenex into the pockets and started to cough too.

Luckily for him the play was over and done with. He quickly rose, bringing Serenity with him and tried to hurry out. It was a slow process since many were trying to do the same and ending up going slow. Valon sniffed again and felt that familiar, unwanted pain in the back of his throat.

He could feel the back of his throat begin to scratch as a cough wanted to break loose.

"That was fun! What did you think of it, Val? Ooh! Which one was your favorite part?" Question after question kept attacking him as Serenity kept thinking of them, walking by his side as they finally came to the sidewalk to the main street. "Val, are you OK?"

Finally giving into the urge to cough, Valon covered his mouth with his arm – the one that wasn't linked with his girlfriend's – and cleared his throat a few times to try and rid of the scratchy feeling left over. He shivered from the cool breeze that picked up and would have kicked him, if he could, for not remembering to grab his jacket. Sapphire eyes suddenly saw chestnut as Serenity jumped in front of him, gazing up at him with concern written on her face.

"What's up, Serenity?"

"I asked if you were OK."

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

She placed a finger on her chin. "Well, you just seem a little pale and…"

"And," he repeated waiting to see what else she was going to say.

"That cough, it sounded really nasty." She blinked as if something finally hit her head. "Val, are you getting sick?"

"No…" he trailed off feeling something in his gut twist. The cold he was beginning to get over with could come back… or could it? He shook his head lightly and gave a reassuring smile. "Don't think so, mate."

Slowly he took her hand in his and started leading the way to her apartment, sniffing every time his nose was starting to run and reminded himself to get some tissues before leaving Serenity's place. Maybe even ask to borrow a jacket that belonged to her brother's…? Again he shook his head, scowling lightly at the thought of asking to borrow Joey Wheeler's jacket of all things. That seemed too weird. And… he shivered from the thought and the wind that started to become more powerful.

He hadn't even realized that his pace was slowing down and that he also had his head resting against Serenity's.

"Val, you really don't look so good."

"Mm f-fine." He sneezed, quickly bringing a hand to cover his mouth and trying to get air through his nose.

Wait… when did his nose decide to close up…?

A low groan sounded and Valon blinked, lifting his head to try and see who had made it.

"Val, you're getting sick!"

"What, no I'm not."

"You just groaned! Not to mention you've been coughing, sneezing, and sniffing since the middle of the play!" He quirked an eyebrow at her and gave an inaudible sigh as she tugged his arm and tried to hurry ahead of him.

It seemed like forever before the familiar building came into view. And longer getting up the stairs into the compartment where the Wheeler siblings lived. The lights in the living room were on low, much to Valon's distaste. He was starting to feel light headed.

"Here Valon, you can stay over for the night."

"The fellas—"

"Don't worry about them," She smiled as she gently forced him onto the couch, "I'll call them and tell them that you're starting to get sick. They can come by and pick you up in the morning."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering why she didn't say 'they can come by and pick you up in a few minutes' yet didn't say anything.

"I'll go see if Joey's still awake." With that she disappeared down the hall.

Closing his eyes he had to admit it was pretty comfortable. Surprisingly, that was. Not to mention the room was nice and toasty unlike the frostbite cold outside that swore to freeze any living creature that dared stray about.

"Hey Val, should I try the house phone or…" She stopped in her sentence as she saw the brunette asleep, head nuzzled against one of the couch's pillows and smiled. She tiptoed to the kitchen and started dialing the numbers. It was pretty easy since she memorized Valon's numbers (for both the house and cell) and waited to hear either of the two other bikers voices answer with a 'Hello?'.

However that didn't seem to be the case.

"Hi Raphael, Alister. It's Serenity. Um, I'm afraid Valon started to fall ill during the play… he's fine now! Though… so, you two might want to pick him up tomorrow. Right now he's asleep on the couch… Joey's fine with it." OK, that was a lie. Her brother didn't even have a clue – he was at Yugi's place. "I'll take good care of him so don't worry about that! I'll make sure he's feeling better as time passes!" Somehow this was starting to feel awkward… very awkward.

"Call back anytime, if you want. I'll stay up to make sure Val's comfortable. Um… OK, bye." She quickly hung up and took a deep breath. Out of all the times of leaving messages on their machine, that was the worst. Or so far, she thought, who know what kind of other messages she'd be leaving in the future.

"Sis, are you home?" A voice called.

"Shh, Joey be quiet!" Serenity tried her best not to disturb Valon– thankfully he gave a small snore to show he was still fast asleep – and hurried towards the door to greet her brother. "Val's not feeling too good."

The blond nodded, hanging up his coat in the closed and kicking off his shoes. "So Alister or Raphael's coming to pick him up soon, huh?"

"Well," she rubbed the back of her head and watched as Joey stared at her. "Not… exactly, no."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means… he's staying over for the night?" She gave a hopeful smile, praying with all her might it wouldn't cause him to scream and wake Valonup, dragging him and throwing him out of the house. Thankfully he gave a scowl and forced the air out hard through his nose, almost like a raging bull.

"Alright, fine, he can stay for tonight. And he's not sleeping in your room!" Joey said, walking into the small living room and stared at the man sleeping on their sofa. "… he… fell asleep…"

Serenity nodded, but quickly whispered, "Yeah, he did." Since Joey didn't have eyes in the back of his head. "I haven't checked his temperature yet, but I'm hoping it's not too serious." She quickly disappeared into the bathroom soon returning with an ear thermometer and kneeling down beside the couch.

"Well… uh," Joey rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what he should do. "I'm gonna take a shower and head to bed. If you need help with something, just get me."

In return Serenity nodded once more and relief flooded into her face as she was Valon's temperature was around normal.

"Hmm…" Serenity frowned as something was nudging her arm and tried to shift away from it. More nudging followed suit and she squirmed slightly from the strange sensation, not used to it so early in the morning. "Mm,"

"Serenity,"

She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why she was hearing Valon's voice. Surely it was just her brain playing a trick on her, too tired to tell the difference between her brother and the one she loved.

"Hey, can you hear me?" It was a whisper, a ghost's cry flowing in the wind.

"Hn," She groaned and buried head into her arms more, the tingling sensation starting to flow up her legs to her spine. She shifted them, wondering why they felt as if they were paralyzed. This never happened when she was waking up in bed or being woken up for the matter.

"I'll give you a hickey if you don't wake up."

Instantly, she bolted up – face flushed and anger flashing in her eyes. "Jo—" Blink. She rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was. Blinked again. "… Val? Wha… how… you… I'm so confused."

"I wasn't feelin' so good earlier, remember? And you told me ta stay 'ere at your place for the night." He grinned sleepily, which informed her that he had woken up a little while ago too. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Oh! You see… I wanted to be close in case you needed anything and… well…" she cast her eyes downward into her lap. "I'm sorry."

A soft laugh came from the brunette. "Don't be,"

Her pink lips turned upward into a small, shy smile. "How are you feeling, Val?" Chestnut eyes lifted to stare into his sapphire ones.

"Better. I think the cold just got ta me is all." She nodded in reply. He shifted so he was pressed against the back of the couch. "Why don't you get up 'ere?"

"But—"

"You don't look too comfortable there on the floor. Besides, it'll make me feel even better." His white teeth flashed as his head lifted just slightly for the moonlight to hit them. "Plus it'll help me fall asleep sooner."

Serenity slowly crawled up beside him, nuzzling her face against the crook of his neck and her muscles were starting to lose the tension that had been gathering since she had fallen asleep. "Val...?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." She mumbled.

Before she had fully fallen asleep, she could hear the words, 'I love you too' sound in the air.

"Valon, do you try to make her brother mad on purpose?" Raphael asked, turning his head to look at the teen that was seated in the passenger seat. "Or are you trying to kill him?" He stared back at the road, waiting for an answer.

"I was just feelin' lonely. Besides, I couldn't let her sleep on the floor longer then she needed ta."

Raphael shook his head, the amused smile breaking free and plastering itself on his face. The scene he had come across flashed before his eyes: how he opened the door to find Joey screaming at the two – mostly Valon – saying how he dare take advantage of his little sister. Valon and Joey were more alike then the two wished to believe – both easily losing their temper.

"What's so funny, Raph?"

"Nothing," he shook his head clearing his mind, "nothing at all."

Valon remained silent for the rest of the way home.

It wasn't until Raphael told him he should sometime swallow his pride and ask favors from Joey – mainly a coat when going out into cold weather, especially once getting over a cold, that the spiky haired brunette started yelling about how he does sometimes swallow his pride to ask favors of people. But that he would never, ever ask something from Joey Wheeler.

"So, let's say, you were wanting to seek approval before you asked Serenity's hand in marriage."

"Excuse me, mate!"

"Does that mean you won't ask approval from him then?"

"… 'at's not funny, Raph."

I know it's not exactly what you wanted, KoK. But I felt bad for Valon since he did get the stomach flu in the recent oneshot. So I decided to let him get to Serenity's place where it's warm and cozy instead of the two out in the cold, waiting for Alister or Raphael (or both) come to the rescue. Hopefully the next oneshot I'm re-working on for you will be much more satisfying.

Well, thank you for taking the time to read this and I do hope you enjoyed it!

Please feel free to review.

Now, off I go to work on more oneshots and chapters of my current fics! -dashes off-