Nico felt like shit.

Absolute shit.

It had already been a week yet the hoarseness of her voice, the heaviness of her chest and the honestly very gross phlegm lining her throat had refused to subside.

The girl coughed violently, tears threatening to leave her eyes at the sheer intensity. It was annoying. Irritating. Tiring. Nico had been losing sleep lately. The harsh coughing kept her up.

She felt her chest heave, but settle as a hand rubbed her back with a gentle firmness. The raven-haired girl's shoulders relaxed. Turning her head behind her, she croaked. "T-thanks, Maki-chan."

Nico winced upon hearing her own voice. It was weak; unfitting of an idol-in-progress like her. Maki's presence however, did provide comfort. She smiled at the contact.

Her roommate frowned, amethyst eyes laced with concern. "Nico-chan," she began, hands now moving to squeeze at her shoulders, "you should be resting."

She was right. Nico really should be resting. Fatigue had hit her hard, but the girl just couldn't sit still. Nico needed to keep herself occupied, so she did with housework and the like. Admittedly, she had been vacuuming the main room for the third time.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Nico waved her hand dismissively. "I'll go to sleep after I clean up some more, okay?"

Maki's eyes narrowed at the response. Yeesh. Not okay. "You'll sleep now."

Before Nico could even open her mouth to retort, she was swept off her feet. A yelp left her lips as the redhead hoisted her up bridal-style as if she were weightless. Nico scrambled to balance herself, arms wrapping around Maki's neck to keep them from flailing.

"G-geez, Maki-chan, I can walk on my own, damn it!" Nico rasped, her cheeks heating up at the close proximity.

Maki grunted, shaking her head not only in response to Nico's remark, but because a lock of her own hair fell into her face and it was bugging her. "You can also work yourself to death on your own," she allowed a snide smirk to grace her lips, "so nope."

Nico groaned at the hypocrisy radiating from her annoyingly strong and smug girlfriend. Maki was the kind who could run on caffeine and caffeine only. To her, pulling all-nighters to study was completely justified and to Nico's own dismay, happened more often than she'd like.

"Put me dow- "The older girl tried to object, to resist, only to be interrupted by a flurry of coughs. She quickly turned away, coughing into her arm. Geez, why did Maki's face have to be so close?

Before she knew it, she was whisked away to their bedroom.

Maki pressed her elbow onto the door handle, swinging it open with a bump of her hips. With Nico in tow, she made her way towards their bed, an air of confidence in her stride. Well, to be honest, Maki usually did carry confidence with each step. This felt different though.

Nico refused to let that confidence last.

She wouldn't go down without a fight.

Hovering over the bed, Nico felt Maki's grip loosen. Instead of letting her body drop onto the sheets, Nico tightened her hug around the redhead's neck. She wasn't the strongest of people, especially in her current state, but luckily, gravity did all the work for her.

"Ueghh!?" Was all Maki could blurt out as Nico dragged her downwards. The two of them landing with a muffled thump.

Nico grinned, pulling Maki into her (albeit 'modest') chest. She craned her neck, whispering into taller girl's ear, "I'll sleep," her voice was low, husky, "if you sleep with me, Maki-chan."

Maki stared at her, wide-eyed, then tore her gaze away. She buried her face into Nico's embrace in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Nico chuckled at the sight. Maki's ears were bright red. It was cute. The way Maki could go from smooth to a bumbling mess was just too adorable for Nico to handle.

Then, she felt her throat hitch and mentally cursed.

In a forceful and rather inelegant movement, Nico threw her girlfriend off of her.

"What the he-" Maki cried out in surprise, rolling into a pillow. She all but angrily pouted, looking up at her assailant with an expression of both astonishment and insult.

Nico sheepishly tried to apologise before turning away to violently cough. She was on her hands and knees at this point. Her petite frame heaved with each expulsion.

Nico sighed. Why did illness have to be such a mood killer?

Or so she thought until she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist, wrapping her into a warm embrace. Maki perched her chin atop Nico's shoulder, her disgruntled mood dissipated into that of worry.

"Hey…" Maki raised one of her hands to Nico's face, gently rubbing at her cheek. "You really should be resting." The younger girl allowed herself to fall backwards onto the bed, Nico being dragged along with her.

"I'll stay with you." Maki softly smiled, pulling the sheets over the two of them. "So, rest up, Nico-chan."

Honestly, Nico wanted to go change into more suitable clothing. Like pyjamas. She didn't really want to get her shirt crinkled, but ah shucks. She didn't want to resist. It was nice just staying like this.

After a moment, Nico opted to roll off of Maki, settling beside her. Their eyes lazily locked together as the room was filled with soley the sound of their soft, rhythmical breathing. The mood was so tender, so peaceful.

Nico did not want to ruin it by coughing into Maki's face.

She really didn't.

Yet the scratchiness in her throat intensified. She squeezed her eyes shut, lips trembling and tightly pursed in an attempt to quell the bubbling feeling.

"That expression looks dumb, Nico-chan." Maki whispered, slightly amused.

Nico creaked an eye open upon hearing her voice, and quietly gasped. She hadn't realised just how much closer Maki had moved towards her. The urge to cough had subsided and Nico found herself holding her breath. Their faces were now an inch apart and the raven-haired girl could feel the warm puffs of air leaving Maki's lips against her skin. Speaking of her lips, Nico's eyes seemed to be drawn to them. Drawn to how supple, how soft they appeared.

She wanted to kiss those lips, yet Nico didn't dare move.

She didn't need to.

With her chin gingerly cupped by Maki's hand, the distance was already being closed and her eyes fluttered shut.

Suddenly, a thought had flashed within Nico's mind: a surprisingly selfless one. Her hand darted from beneath the covers, palm planting square on Maki's cheek, pushing her away.

"Nico-chan?" The crimson-haired girl cocked an eyebrow, confused.

"You'll get sick too if you do that, dummy." Nico frowned, before turning over, her back facing Maki. Now that she thought about it, her presence was probably a health risk to Maki in itself. They really shouldn't be cuddling like this. Even if the both of them really wanted to. "I'll be fine sleeping by myself."

If Nico turned to face Maki, she'd probably be sulking.

Maki scooted up closer, spooning her. "But, Nico-chan," she whispered into her hair, "I'd rather stay and sleep with you."

"You are the med student, aren't you?" Nico sighed, opting to ignore the slender hands running along her body. "Shouldn't you know how stupid you're being?"

"I don't care." Came the reply. Maki's breath against the shorter girl's neck made her shudder. "I want to be with you now. Health be damned."

"So stubborn…" Nico muttered, but despite her disapproving tone, the edges of her lips were upturned ever so slightly. She turned around, ruby meeting an amethyst gaze. "Alright fine, you can stay."

Maki's hand found its way to Nico's cheeks, relishing in its soft and smooth texture. With her neck craned, she moved in for the kiss.

Lips did not meet lips however.

Her eyebrows furrowed as her advances were halted by Nico's palm once more.

"No kissing on the lips." The shorter girl said, her voice stern and authoritative. "You'll definitely get sick if we do."

What Nico expected from Maki was a pout or a grumble. Like that time when she refused to buy tomatoes at the grocery store since they weren't on sale.

What Nico didn't expect was the pensive expression on her face to shift into a mischievous smirk and total compliance.

"Alright, Nico-chan." Maki obeyed, wrapping her arms around Nico and pulling her into an embrace. "No kissing on the lips." Nico could feel the goosebumps raising upon her skin as she felt the taller girl lean in, mouth hovering over her ear, breath tickling.

"Then it's fine to kiss you everywhere else, right?"

For some reason, it took a while for Nico to process that question, because by the time she finally did, Maki had already brushed her hair aside and had begun peppering kisses against the nape of her neck.

"H-hey, Maakkkkiiiiiiii –" Nico whined, squirming as the redhead's hands glided across her soft milky skin, snaking beneath her clothes. "I can't sleep if you're keeping me up like thiiisss."

Maki paused her onslaught of kisses and nips, leaving her skin damp. It felt cold against the air. "Well," she began, shifting closer to press her chest against Nico's back, leg hooking around her, "don't you usually fall dead asleep after a round or two?"

Nico opened her mouth to retort. Nishikino Maki couldn't get away with insulting her stamina damn it! Only an appreciative moan had escaped her lips however as the younger girl had begun to suckle at her skin.

Shit. She really was in for it.

"Told you so." Nico grumbled, blowing softly onto the spoonful of rice porridge. "Now open wide. Here comes the airplane!"

"Oh, shut up." Maki watched, unamused at Nico's dumb plane engine sounds and sniffled. Not because she was saddened by the pitiful attempt at imitating a plane, but rather because of that god-awful virus. She reluctantly obeyed, letting Nico feed her. "It was worth every mome-" Maki coughed intensely, hands fumbling for the tissue box upon the coffee table.

"You keep telling yourself that, princess." The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes, smoothly swiping a tissue and passing it.

Maki really was hopeless at times.