"Yes, it's just going to be Yuuki and me—and Chibi, of course—in the house this weekend," Kotoko informed Naoki as he walked her to the train station.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"One of our fathers' old school friends is getting married in Kyushu, and all the parental units are traveling there for the ceremony."

"Must be a really late bloomer, or maybe a second marriage," Naoki mused. "Hey, wait!" He snapped his fingers. "Does that mean that you're cooking?"

"Yes, it does!" she huffed, knowing what was coming.

"Please, don't poison my brother," he teased.

"I have improved, you know," she told him.

"Really, Kotoko, ramen will be just fine!"

"Nonsense, Yuuki-kun! I don't mind cooking for you at all," she replied cheerfully.

"Maybe I should have said that ramen was the safer option," the boy muttered to Chibi.

The dog woofed in response.

"How is it?" Kotoko asked as they sat at the table.

Yuuki cut off a piece of meat and chewed it thoughtfully. "Not bad. I suppose you have been getting better."

"I told your brother so!" She pumped a fist in triumph.

"Of course, how many years did it take you?" Yuuki smirked at her.

After the kitchen was clean, Kotoko went upstairs and prepared for the evening. She knocked on Yuuki's door. "The bath is ready. You can go first!" Receiving no response except for some unidentifiable sounds, she spoke again, raising her voice slightly. "Hey, I'm coming in, okay?"

Yuuki was lying on the floor, knees pulled to his chest and arms wrapped around his body. "Ow…it hurts," he groaned.

Horrified, Kotoko called, "What's wrong, Yuuki-kun?!" as she ran to him. "Where does it hurt?" she asked, placing a hand on his head.

"M-my stomach. Ugh!"

"A lot? Does it hurt a lot?"

"Y-yeah."

"We've got to get you to a doct—"

"Urk!" Yuuki spewed all over the floor.

After settling Yuuki in his bed with a cool damp cloth on his head and a bowl beside him, Kotoko held her phone between ear and shoulder as she wiped up the mess. "Naoki, why aren't you answering? This is crazy! How am I supposed to know what to do?"

The phone dropped to the floor when Yuuki began retching again and she rushed to his side.

Matsumoto was tying her hair back in the staff lounge when she heard the ring of a cell phone. Thanks to Pandai's saturation of the market, she easily recognized the theme song of Racquet Warrior Kotorin. She approached the wall of lockers and opened Naoki's.

"What?" she said upon seeing the caller identification flash. "'Beloved'? That can't be. Irie-kun doesn't have anyone… Wait a second—that ringtone!" She quickly retrieved her own phone and scrolled down to the Tennis Club listings. "Aihara!" she snarled. "I see you've been messing with Irie-kun's phone settings. Well, two can play at that game!"

After a few minutes she walked out, quite pleased with her own cleverness, past the assistant manager shouting into the wall telephone. "What do you mean, you can't get the pasta to us until tomorrow? Spaghetti is one of our top sellers here!" After a pause, "Make our own? Do I sound Italian?!"

Kotoko ended her latest call. "I can't even get through on the restaurant's land line. What do I do?" She began to pull her hair. "I'm so hopeless." She stopped in mid-tug. "Wait! I told Kahai-san that no one was hopeless. Kotoko, listen to your own advice!" she scolded herself.

She moved back to check on Yuuki, who was now moaning softly. "What is most important? Yuuki, of course. I'll get him to the hospital and worry later." Quickly dialing 119, she directed the emergency crew to the house and packed a small duffel with toiletries and a change of clothes for Yuuki. As she waited at his bedroom door, monitoring his condition while listening for the ambulance's arrival, she made one last attempt to notify Naoki.

"No, it's not food poisoning," the doctor informed Kotoko. "The ultrasound shows that young Yuuki has an ileocecal intussusception."

"An eely-what?" she asked, before shaking her hand violently. "Never mind! Will he be all right?"

"Of course. This situation is not too uncommon in children, although he is on the high end of the age range. Prompt surgery is required, however. Are his parents available to come in and sign the appropriate paperwork?"

"No!" Kotoko wrung her hands. "They're all the way in Kyushu! They won't be able to make it back for hours!"

"How about another family member? An older sibling, perhaps?"

Kotoko looked up with resolution. "How about me?"

"But Miss Aihara…" the doctor began.

"I am his sister!" she declared, pressing a fist to her chest. "I will sign for him!"

"Sister? Excellent, then! Nurse!" he called into the hallway. "We need to prep this young man for surgery. Could you ask someone to bring authorization forms to his sister here?"

"Certainly, doctor!" The nurse recruited another to assist her, and they wheeled Yuuki's bed out of the examination room.

"The surgical waiting area is on the third floor. You can go there once you've taken care of the paperwork." The doctor held Kotoko's hands reassuringly. "Don't worry. He will be back on his feet in no time!"

"Yes, yes, I must think positive," Kotoko said to herself after he left. She winced and bent over slightly. "Ow! Yuuki's not the only one in pain." As she fumbled around in her purse, she noticed that the world was slowing tilting sideways…

"About time to go home, Irie-san?" Seira asked as Naoki cleared his last table.

"Yes," he laughed. "Before I go, I think I'll call my brother and see if he has indigestion."

What? Seira wondered to herself.

Naoki stared at his phone. Seven missed calls from some number identified as "Pain in the Ass". What in the— "Wait a minute! That's Kotoko's number!"

He quickly opened the settings menu and noticed that the name truly had been changed and also that the phone's volume had been set to mute. "This is bizarre," he muttered to himself. Recognizing the blink of light signaling an unread text, he opened the app and stared at the contents, thunderstruck.

Matsumoto strolled in, her shift also over. Seeing Naoki with his phone, she smirked. "Your cell appeared to have been hijacked, Irie-kun, but I fixed it for you," she informed him.

His eyes shot to hers. "Are you responsible for the changes?" he snapped.

Taken aback by his mood, she answered with an uneasy laugh. "Well, it was obvious that Aihara was taking advantage of your inability to cut her off entirely. I tried to remedy the situation."

"You mean, this situation?!" He held it out, the screen scarcely ten centimeters from her nose.

Her face paled as she read the message. "'Yuuki ill and vomiting. On our way to Sugimoto Hospital. Come as soon as possible.' I-I didn't know," she stammered.

"People—and I!—have been in and out of this room ever since her calls began," he glanced at the phone, "four hours ago! If my brother—" he broke off, breathing heavily.

Matsumoto had always desired to possess the full attention of Naoki and have the opportunity to melt his detached coolness. She never imagined how painful it would be on the receiving end of his heated stare.

"This," he shook the phone at her, "is the result of your ambition and jealousy. You are the one who I refused to cut off entirely, but no more! And, just for the record, you were never in the running to possess the designation that I assigned Kotoko!" Grabbing his jacket, he exited the room in haste.

Matsumoto stood as if turned to stone after he departed. Registering an unfamiliar sensation, she raised her hand to her cheek and stared at the drops on her fingers. The assistant manager walked in on her.

"Say! What was all that commotion about? Irie left here like a bat out of hell. Hey, why are you crying?" he asked.

"I've had a shock," she answered in a monotone. "I just now realized that I was never the heroine in Irie-kun's romantic life."

"You?" The manager scratched his head in puzzlement. "I always figured he liked that girl who comes here several times a week with different guys. You'd think someone as good-looking as Irie would be able to find a person not so fickle…"

"Oh, shut up!" Matsumoto snapped. "I don't want to hear about her from you!"

Naoki slid to a stop in front of the hospital reception desk. "Irie Yuuki, my brother, was brought here earlier!" he managed.

The receptionist tapped the keyboard then smiled at him. "Yes, he is out of surgery and is currently in a regular room." She frowned and hit another key. "His sister was also admitted and was placed in the same room. There's an alert that the doctor needs to speak with the first arriving family member. That would be you! Let me page him," she offered as she picked up the desk receiver.

Surgery? Naoki wondered. Then, SISTER?

Several minutes later he was seated in the surgeon's office. The doctor winced as he sipped from a cup of cloudy coffee. "You're lucky to catch me still here. I had another emergency after this one. Irie...Irie..." he muttered as he clicked the mouse. "Yes, it was an obvious case of ileocecal intussusception. He had all the classic symptoms and the ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis."

"Ileocecal intussusception?" Naoki interrupted. "I assume from the terminology that it has something to do with the intestines…?"

"Ah! You know your Latin!" The doctor beamed at him. "Yes, a portion of the intestine folds in upon itself, just so!" He demonstrated with two rolled sheets of paper, moving one in and out of the other like a sliding telescope. "Of course, paper doesn't show the dangers. With the thickness of the organ's walls this causes a stoppage in the digestive process and can be fatal if not treated quickly."

"So, it has been corrected?"

"We were able to reduce the intussusception with forceps. Any recurrence of the condition would take place in the first 24 hours, and if that happens, we will perform a resection of the bowel to prevent necrosis. That's the only reason he is being held for observation, as most laparoscopic surgery allows the patient to go home the same day. Since the incisions are so small, he will have just a couple of tiny scars that will hardly be noticeable, not that that matters with most boys."

Naoki breathed a sigh of relief. "And the…sister?"

"Oh, yes!" The doctor pulled up another chart on the computer and adjusted his reading glasses. "Aihara Kotoko. She brought her—er, your—brother in for abdominal pain and then collapsed almost immediately after he was wheeled out for surgery. The assistant who was bringing the consent forms found her passed out on the floor of the emergency room. Caused quite an uproar, as you might imagine. Of course, the hospital workers' dark sense of humor had them talking about 'two for the price of one' for awhile," he chuckled.

"Her condition?"

"Hmm." He peered at the screen. "We ran quite a few tests on her: blood sugar, ABGs, pregnancy…"

"Pregnancy?!" Naoki stood up so quickly that he knocked the chair over.

"No, no!" The doctor waved his hand. "That was standard procedure, but the test was negative. She regained consciousness shortly after and informed us that she had been under a bit of stress the past few months. She had not been eating as well as she could have been and admitted to a previous episode of syncope."

"Yes, I was aware of that," Naoki said as he reseated himself.

"She had been treating herself—never an intelligent move—with herbal and over-the-counter remedies for her main symptom, an upset stomach which has progressed to pain. She has been referred to a dietician to correct her eating habits and will undergo an upper G-I scan tomorrow morning to rule out the formation of ulcers."

"I can promise you that our family will definitely make her eat properly," Naoki vowed to the physician.

"Of course, the underlying cause of her stress must be addressed for a complete cure," the doctor warned. "She would not tell me any details but said that she had concealed the source of anxiety and resultant pain from all of her friends. Perhaps, as a family member, you can shed some light on the matter?"

"I have a fairly strong suspicion," Naoki spoke quietly. "If I am correct, I assure you that it will be remedied, immediately."

"Wonderful! Here, let's look in on the patients on the way to complete the consent forms that Miss Aihara's collapse left unfinished." He led the way to a double room. "Your brother was extremely lucky that his sister is so level-headed. She managed to get him here within an hour of the manifestation of symptoms and even packed a travel bag for his comfort."

Naoki stood next to Yuuki's bed and squeezed his shoulder. "Stay strong, Ototo," he said briefly. Crossing the narrow space to Kotoko, he bent and kissed her forehead. "We're definitely going to be talking later, Kotoko, but right now, concentrate on getting better," he whispered before straightening and following the doctor from the room.

"Hmm?" Kotoko's eyes didn't quite focus when she first opened them. "Naoki?" she asked, touching her forehead, but caught no glimpse of him as she looked about the room. Spying Yuuki's still form a few feet from her provoked her to sit up suddenly.

"Wooh!" she said. "Head rush!" After a few deep breaths, she swung her feet off the bed. Dragging her IV pole, she shuffled to a chair and sat down by Yuuki's bed and held his hand. "I'm glad you're all right, Yuuki-kun," she sighed as she laid her head near his and closed her eyes once more.

After taking care of the forms and calling the parents (and calming down his mother—at no time an easy task!), Naoki made his way back to the Irie/Aihara hospital room. He halted at the door and let out a short laugh. "Kotoko, you never stay put, do you?"

Carefully, he lifted her, mindful of her IV, and seated himself in the chair, cradling her in his lap. Holding her steady with one arm, he laid his other on the bed and held Yuuki's and her entwined hands. "It's over, Kotoko. No more secrets, I swear," he whispered. "We treated this like a game, but you were never supposed to be keeping things from me. I've depended on your strength far too long, and you've suffered for it, so let me be your support now. I'm not sacrificing you, no matter the cost." He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to her hair. "And, thank you, Kotoko, for saving my brother."

Of course, words are insufficient to describe the extreme elation expressed by Mrs. Irie upon discovering the three of them asleep in that position when the parents staggered into the hospital room much later. But suffice it to say that the latest chapter in the Irie/Aihara romantic saga was posted on numerous bulletin boards, light poles, and walls of Tonan University within twenty-four hours.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who supported me by following or favoriting or writing reviews. I have at least one more story in this InK universe to tell, so stay tuned.

A/N2: Thanks to Aki no Ryu for correcting some medical terminology!