a/n: this sketch is based on chapter 4 ^^ i just badly wanted to draw them and guess what, i fawking did idc if its half assed and uncoloured, it was fun sketching my babies <3 maybe when im not dying from work ill do up some more sketches idk ENJOY the story AND the lil petalz fanart hehe plz dont repost w/o credit i love u all

"careful,"

kazuha catches the mug in time, hands tightly wrapped around sakura's before it could slip off the older girl's hands. fortunately, nothing spilled — only a third of water was left inside the mug.

kazuha's face contorted with worry. even if nothing was disclosed, she knew something was bothering sakura from the get-go. she's not one to be clumsy, at least not consecutively.

earlier, the older girl had hit her head against her door (kazuha was so close to dismantling her door), struggled to explain a concept to kazuha (which never happened before) as if she had forgotten her vocabulary and now, she almost ruined their homework.

"that was close..." sakura drags out a sigh, sounding a little more tired than she should, pinching her brows which, kazuha notices, have been frowning a lot today.

maybe she should have canceled the study date the moment sakura showed signs of being unwell and sent her straight home.

while they do plan study dates, it wasn't often. for one, kazuha is not as studious as her girlfriend. two, kazuha gets easily distracted. three, putting her in a room with sakura will definitely, a hundred percent distract her.

she does try though, when exams approach, sakura makes for a good tutor. and it's rewarding when sakura would shower her with praises whenever she was able to score well. she deems sakura's praises and affections as incentives when she has to milk her braincells to study and surprisingly it works, most of the time.

anything is possible when you have the perfect motivation, kazuha thinks.

so seeing her source of motivation flickering like a worn lightbulb, her determination begins to fumble too.

"you okay?" kazuha gently prods, placing a hand on sakura's shoulder as she looks at her girlfriend with furrowed brows.

sakura's forehead creases again, seemingly in pain, but wanting to assuage kazuha's increasing worry, she quickly relaxes her face and puts on smile that comes out strained.

"i am, why?" sakura attempts to convince her but to no avail.

once kazuha pulls off that look of disapproval — lips pressed in a thin line, brows drawing together in a frown while giving her that hard stare, sakura knew it was useless to protest, the cat's out of the bag.

kazuha huffs when sakura reaches out to pick up her pen, her gesture making the cherry blossom pause in her actions and smiling wryly back at her.

just as sakura was about to address the prolonging glare the younger is currently giving her, kazuha leans forward so suddenly that sakura instinctively braced for impact. only for it to be a soft collision of something against her forehead.

when sakura slowly opens her eyes, it's kazuha's forehead that's leaning against her own, the younger's face merely inches away. the slightest movement would have their noses brushing against each other's.

sakura immediately turns red from the proximity, feeling her insides blazing at kazuha's sudden bravery.

"kazuha what...?" sakura's words drift off, realising that her girlfriend still wore a frown on her face.

when kazuha closed her eyes and pursed her lips, wearing a pensive look on her face, sakura finally comprehends what the younger was trying to do.

"...am i warm?" sakura smiles, a dry chuckle escaping her lips as she watches kazuha trying to discern her temperature with their foreheads glued.

"a little bit," kazuha hums.

then she lightly pushes, the sudden pressure drawing a squeak from sakura, who was caught off-guard and stumbled backwards. kazuha catches her by the waist, still pressing their foreheads together.

"i'm upset, you lied." she says in a firm yet gentle tone, eyes scrutinising the cherry blossom's flustered features.

"i promise you i was fine this morning, then a headache just hit me like a truck..." sakura sighs in defeat, shifting her gaze away from kazuha's peering eyes.

"would you have told me even if you were unwell the whole time?" kazuha quizzes, her firm gaze leaving no room for anything other than honesty.

so sakura yields, putting all her weight on her hands that rest behind her.

"...no. i wouldn't want you to worry." she meekly admits, and kazuha finally breaks into a soft smile, appreciating her honesty.

sakura shies away under kazuha's loving gaze, turning her head slightly and bites her lower lip. they've been dating longer than anyone would have expected highschool relationships to last, and frankly, she doesn't think she'll ever get used to the way kazuha treats her — never short of affection, so tender with everything that simply involves sakura.

sometimes, she feels like the sole flower in kazuha's garden. the younger waters her with an abundance of love, puts her right under the sun where she's showered with all the warmth it has to offer and under her tender care, sakura flourishes.

"let me worry anyway. don't carry all that burden by yourself when i'm here willing to carry all of it for you." kazuha mumbles, lips curling up in a gentle smile as sakura grows demure, so pretty when her porcelain skin gets painted scarlet.

kazuha feels like the painter, proud of her masterpiece.

"zuha..." sakura's pupils flared upon her touching words.

"because i lov-" kazuha clears ,"because i like you."

her slip evokes a series of giggles from the cherry blossom, then it was her turn to grow flustered. sakura doesn't say anything about it, knows that they're at an age where they probably shouldn't throw around those words simply as is, especially when they're at the stage where they were still exploring.

but one thing they know for sure, is that they're serious about this relationship and content with whatever they have. and in the long run, they hope that they would be each other's first and last.

"okay, you know i'd do the same for you." sakura replies and nods.

"i know." kazuha beams, showing off her pearly whites.

"you look funny from this angle," sakura laughs, jabbing a finger on kazuha's shoulder to push her back but the younger simply giggles, firm in maintaining their close proximity.

"you look funny, your eyes doubled in size!"

"your forehead has a red spot!" sakura pulls away and instantly points at kazuha's forehead, biting her cheeks to keep herself from laughing out loud.

"oh you do too!"

"ah, it's because of you!"

luckily for them, no one else was around to tolerate their boisterous laughter. kazuha was certain her mother would have come knocking on her door telling them to quiet down if she had been home.

in the midst of their mirth, kazuha's ground table became a mess of scattered stationery and open books. their attention was elsewhere — on each other, oblivious to the clutter on the table. when their laughter subsides, they're captivated by each other's eyes, once again drawing closer to the other as they yearn for each other's touch.

sakura, with a small smile on her lips, watches as kazuha tilts her head and draws closer, the younger's mesmerised look putting her in a trance.

out of the blue, she feels a pang in the back of her head, then all of a sudden she remembers the dull throbbing that's been plaguing her.

sakura hastily places her palm over kazuha's mouth, drawing back as realisation hits.

"in case i'm contracting a fever, let's not." sakura smiles apologetically, sees the startled look dissolving into understanding in kazuha's eyes.

"ah, that's fair." kazuha chuckles when sakura pulls away her hand, rubbing her nape and nodding awkwardly as she turns away sheepishly.

sakura feels her chest squeezing unpleasantly when she catches a glimpse of disappointment in kazuha's eyes, she was sure that if kazuha had ears, they would have been drooping.

"ugh screw it," sakura groans, yielding to the voices in her head, it's not like she's having a fever right now.

so she grabs kazuha by the collar of her shirt and yanks her, letting their lips meet in a gentle crash. bewildered, kazuha releases a guttural sound from the back of , eyes ballooning as sakura presses her lips further into hers.

kazuha, in her moment of utter surprise, forgets her bodily functions and as a result, she took all of sakura's weight on her and leaned back until the back of her head knocked on the wood on side of her bed.

"ow... my head, my cranium, my occipital bone..." kazuha immediately clutches her head and grits her teeth, curling into a ball and laughing dryly in pain after the impact.

"sorry! are you okay?!" sakura panics, frantically helping her girlfriend up.

"that was mindblowing but could you give me a heads up next time?" kazuha laughs, sighing as she sits up and lowers her hands when sakura continuously rubbed the sore spot on the back of her head.

"it's the headache, i swear." sakura grumbles, embarrassment colouring her cheeks pink.

"yeah, your clumsy streak is no joke today."

"clumsy streak? you counted??" sakura shoots kazuha a look of disbelief, pinching the latter's side who recoiled instantly and laughed her heart out.

"you can lie down on my bed, i'll go get the pills for your headache from the medicine cabinet." kazuha tells her moments later, still rubbing her head and gives sakura a reassuring kiss on the cheek when she looked at her with great worry.

just as she was about to rise to her feet, a hand firmly wraps around her wrist, halting her from moving further. kazuha glances over her shoulder with raised brows, sees sakura staring back at her with a furrowed look.

"don't," sakura says, reeling kazuha back into her sitting position.

"kkura?"

"just hold me." sakura curtly says, scooting closer to her girlfriend before leaning on her shoulder.

kazuha smiles, circling her arms around sakura without reluctance and presses herself further into her. what was it called? cuteness aggression? yeah, she's squeezing sakura within her arms like she was some kind of plushie, nuzzling her cheeks against the crown of her head despite the displeased grunts escaping the older girl.

"get. well. soon." kazuha places a kiss on sakura's head upon every word, grinning when sakura lets out a lazy chuckle.

"give me a couple more, i'm starting to feel better." sakura pats her thigh, eyes closed as she permitted kazuha to shower her with kisses.

right now, it's the only thing that makes her forget the throbbing in the back of her head.

"i'll kiss you as much as you'd like." kazuha happily retorts, doesn't waste time to litter sweet, chaste kisses all over sakura's face.

the cherry blossom shrieked at the bombardment of warm lips all over her features, body curling on instinct as goosebumps broke out all over her body. kazuha loves teasing her, she kisses and kisses her until she's all giggles and nothing but jelly, her lithe figure sprawled on the carpeted floor of kazuha's bedroom.

"if we get caught, i'm never coming over your house ever again." sakura exhales, long and tired after laughing so much that her stomach ached. she narrowed her eyes at kazuha who's hovering over her, eyes flickering to the door every now and then.

kazuha rolls her eyes, an amused smile plastered on her face as she gazes fondly at the flustered figure under her. she tucks away the black strands that covered sakura's face, tips of her fingers tracing the shell of the older girl's ear, mindlessly playing with the piercings that lined her helix.

"then we just have to not get caught," kazuha arches a brow, she isn't sure why sakura always seemed daunted by her parents when they clearly liked her.

"don't talk like we're doing something dirty!"

"i'm not- you started it..."

contrary to the popular belief, merely staring at the love of your life does not cure your health problems.

kazuha finds this absolutely ridiculous. what does the universe take her love for sakura for? she was a thousand percent sure that the moment she woke up with a splitting headache, rode her bike to school (surprisingly without problems), unintentionally slammed open their classroom door (it was the fever) to find her lovely girlfriend already in her seat looking ever so beautiful, her fever would be eradicated instantly.

yet, half the day has gone by and the blistering heat engulfing her entire body still hasn't diminished.

sakura had insisted on bringing her to nursing room to at least rest but kazuha was stubborn, claiming that the fever would go away sooner or later. and now that it's lunch time, sakura is just staring at her girlfriend incredulously, the younger girl mindlessly sipping on her strawberry milk.

at least there wasn't anyone else in the classroom to cause noise pollution, kazuha firmly believes that her head would have combusted.

"i'm trying to understand you, zuha. you're saying that you woke up with a headache that felt like pikachu used iron tail on your skull, with a body temperature that felt like you went to a sauna in hell, with a dizziness that felt like vecna's got you on a chokehold... and you still came to school?"

sakura assertively lists out with her fingers and stares at kazuha with a slack jaw, not able to comprehend why the athlete refused to stay in bed, when she herself wouldn't have wanted to open her eyes if she felt like absolute .

while kazuha's perseverance was commendable, it still doesn't erase the fact that she was practically risking her well-being further by simply going outside, moreover, potentially spreading it to someone else. this, sakura had chastised her on.

"i promised we'd go to the street food market together today..."

but then kazuha says something like that with a sad puppy look that sakura feels the weight on her shoulders weighing down on her all at once. she wants to turn around and bite her fist because that particular look is a dire weakness of hers. she has little to zero kazuha-resistance built within her system the moment she was born.

"not at the expense of your health!" sakura frowns, upset that kazuha prioritised something else other than her health.

well, kazuha had been looking forward to the food bazaar opening near their streets since the previous week, sakura remembers the look of pure excitement on kazuha's face when they saw the stalls being constructed, kazuha had salivated even though there was not a single food in sight, yet the thought of it had watering.

alas, today was the start of the street food hype and kazuha was bumped that everyone would but them would be going to the night market.

"but i promised..." kazuha whines, setting her empty milk carton aside before growing limp against her desk.

apart from the food, she had been looking forward to bring sakura out for a night market date too.

curses, sure the food bazaar lasts for a month, but the first day is always the best day.

sakura shakes her head and sighs, reaching out to brush kazuha's hair out of her face before her fingers gently massaged her temple. she smiles softly when kazuha visibly relaxes under her touch.

"are your parents home?" sakura inquires, worried that no one was going to take care of kazuha when school's over.

"no, they're having a date today because it's my mom's birthday and they won't be back until after dinner." kazuha replies lazily.

of course, not wanting to worry her parents, especially on her mom's special day, kazuha didn't bother telling her parents that she was having a fever today.

"oh~ what lovebirds."

"don't say that about my parents... it's weird." kazuha gives her a look akin to disgust, it almost makes sakura double over in laughter.

"you do realise we're kinda similar?" sakura chuckles, fingers poking soft cheeks, then retracting instantly when kazuha playfully tries to bite her.

"well... we're cuter," kazuha scoffs, "it's just weird talking about my parents' love life so let's not."

"...you should ask them tomorrow if you're expecting a sibling soon." sakura wriggles her eyebrows, a lopsided smile on her face.

"noooo!!!" kazuha immediately wails out at the implication, a look of horror terrorising her face that made sakura laugh loudly.

kazuha buries her face in her arms, groaning at the thought which sakura has pushed into her head. the cherry blossom merely laughs at her reaction, pulling at her arm trying to get her to straighten up.

"gosh, what am i gonna do with you?" sakura says, feeling the abnormal warmth just on kazuha's forearm alone, concern is quick to cloud her head.

"do you really not wanna go..." kazuha languidly turns her head, looking at sakura with pleading eyes.

"it's not that i don't wanna go, zuha. you're sick! what if you just pass out on the streets? plus, sick people don't have the best appetites you know." sakura pouts, feeling a twinge of guilt.

but kazuha's health came first, they could simply go to the bazaar on another day when kazuha is in a much better condition.

"but... my fishcake soup..." kazuha drags out her words, eyebrows furrowed so much that sakura thinks she's one word away from crying.

all because of food...

sakura makes a mental note to treat kazuha to heaps of food as soon as she recovers.

"i could literally ask my mom to make it for you, in a cup just the way you like it. actually, i bet she'd go out to the bazaar and buy it in bulks for you!" sakura nods, eyes widening at the thought.

"it's okay, i'll just sleep at home i guess..." kazuha whimpers, while she appreciated the thought, she specifically wanted it to be the two of them hanging out at the night market.

she already had it all planned out in her head, fantasised holding sakura's dainty hand in hers while they feed each other delicious food... it's all so romantic and then suddenly this horrendous fever decided to barge in and ruin her delusions.

"you can stay at my house for the time being, my mom's porridge will heal you in no time." sakura suggests, and truthfully, it did instill some happiness in the younger girl.

but the fever's being a little too much right now for her to give a coherent answer so kazuha simply smiles drowsily, reveling in sakura's caresses as she lay upon her desk like an utterly drained samoyed.

it's a miracle that kazuha made it until the end of school hours without itching to go to the nursing room or better yet, home, the entire time.

and when sakura said she'd take care of her, she really wasn't joking.

they're at the bike racks and kazuha is simply standing like that idle girl emoji while watching her girlfriend do all the work. for someone so small, sakura works so hard.

(kazuha wants to weep, she so badly wants to kiss the life out of her girlfriend but spreading her virus and the image of a sick sakura is the last thing she has on her mind.)

"why are you just standing there?" sakura looks at her weirdly after pulling kazuha's bicycle out of the rack, their bags already in the basket.

"you really don't have to-"

"you, hold this." sakura cuts her off, holding her free hand out and kazuha simply stares, dumbfounded.

the fever has her mind processing things slower than usual so kazuha really ended up looking at sakura's empty palm as if she was waiting for tinkerbell to appear out of nowhere to cure her fever. that was until sakura took her hand instead and they finally start walking out of school.

"if the dizziness gets too much, you have to tell me. so that i can- uh, why are you looking at me like that?" sakura was in the middle of talking when she notices kazuha's blatant staring, tugging the younger's hand to snap her out of her stupor.

kazuha shrugs, laughing awkwardly while her eyes darted all over the place. she was already red because of her fever, she doubts sakura could tell she's blushing.

"i just think i'm falling for you all over again? i don't know..." kazuha murmurs.

when she glances at their joint hands, she wonders if her warm temperature was bothering sakura. she tries to pull away but sakura merely tightens her hold, and in return she gets a pointed look that tells her not to let go.

kazuha is already warm, is it possible for her to feel even warmer? more importantly, is her immune system okay? she thinks the longer she stares at sakura, the more feverish she gets.

nevermind, that's just kazuha being completely enamoured of sakura.

"o... kay, you're drunk off your fever and now you're extra cheesy. we need to go home asap."

stopping over at the miyawaki's has never once been a bad decision.

kazuha's sitting on their couch, neck craning to see what goes on in the kitchen between the two ladies of the house, the scrumptious smell of chicken broth filling up her nose.

"zuzu, the towel's gonna fall!"

kazuha turns her head to look at the youngest of the miyawaki household, smiling weakly when the damp towel which stuck to her head dropped in her lap on cue. while sakura and her mother were cooking up a magical healing chicken porridge in the kitchen, sou-chan — sakura's little 'gremlin' brother — was tasked with putting a cold, damp towel on kazuha's forehead.

it's gone lukewarm now, within seconds flat.

"are you feeling better, zuzu?" the little boy asks out of concern, his cheeks puffed as he takes the damp towel from kazuha's lap before wetting it in the cold water basin on the coffee table.

"a little, thanks to you." kazuha says, chuckles when the seven year old blushes at her praise, abruptly scurrying off somewhere after leaving the towel in the basin.

"didn't i tell you to lie down? zuha..." sakura returns to the living room with a steaming bowl of chicken porridge in hand, frowning when she sees kazuha sitting up.

"i wanted to watch you," kazuha replies, gulping at the sight of the porridge.

sakura scoffs in amusement and ruffles her hair, "you're always watching me."

"and where's that little gremlin, did he abandon his duties?" with her hands on her hips, hair up in a messy bun, adorning an apron as she looks around with a frown for her little brother, kazuha finds this side of sakura so mature and undoubtedly attractive.

"all i said was thank you and he ran away." kazuha laughs.

"great, that boy is smitten with you i swear. anyway, here's your porridge." sakura rolls her eyes when she spots her little brother peeking out from his room, she pushes the bowl towards kazuha who instantly clasped her hands together.

"you made it right? thank you for the food!" kazuha grins, picking up her spoon and digging into her dinner.

"with my mom's help. i still haven't perfected it and since it's you, it has to be." sakura tells her, propping her elbow on the table and watches kazuha enjoying spoonfuls with a satisfied smile on her lips.

"slow down, you're gonna burn-"

"agh!"

"-your tongue... nakamura kazuha, you're really..." sakura immediately takes the cup of cold water on the table and puts it against kazuha's lips.

"blegh... that's hot, oh that's really hot." kazuha grimaces, the corners of her eyes tearing up.

"it's either you or yunjin when it comes to these things, seriously." sakura releases a long sigh, taking the spoon from kazuha's hands, earning a questioning look from the latter when she scooped a spoonful of porridge before blowing on it.

"what? if i don't do this, you're gonna burn your tongue again." sakura asserts, ignoring the burn in her cheeks when kazuha doesn't tear her eyes away.

instead, she breaks into a drowsy smile right after sakura spoon feeds her once, the kind of smile that looks like she has her head in the clouds as she stares at sakura with hearts in her tired eyes.

"stop smiling like that, you're gonna embarrass me in front of my mom." sakura feels the corners of her lips twitch, cheeks coated pink as she occasionally spares glances towards the kitchen.

"heheh..." kazuha's out of her element, it was probably the fever pills she had taken before dinner.

"gosh, i have never seen someone so lovesick while being literally sick. are you even aware you're sick?" sakura blushes when kazuha smiles widely, until she breaks out into a series of coughs that has sakura patting her back lightly.

"oh yup- let that cough out. clear that throat- oh yikes, someone's getting the rest of the week off. you need lozenges, zuha." sakura holds kazuha by the shoulders, rubbing circles on her back.

"nooo... i have to go to school..." the younger insists, staring at her porridge half-finished.

"zuha, you're having a fever, you definitely need a doctor's note until the end of the week." sakura informs her, kazuha's temperature has barely subsided since the start of the school and it's very likely it would continue on for more than a day.

"but you're in school...." kazuha purses her lips.

sakura chuckles at her whines, finding the opportunity to .

"i can't even begin to imagine how you're gonna be like if we ever do long distance..."

at those very words, sakura witnesses firsthand as kazuha gives her a mortified look, the spoon stopped halfway just as she was feeding herself and some of it spilled back into the bowl.

"eh...? you're not gonna cry, are you?" sakura's eyes widen, not expecting the silence.

"l-long distance...? are you going out of the country? don't leave me..." kazuha wails, lips trembling as her eyes turned glassy, face ever so red.

today, sakura learns not to provoke a feverish kazuha, especially when the girl's taken the fever pill. she gets a lovesick, sentimental, teary-eyed kazuha out of it, probably a little more than she can handle.

"what- why would i- what are you even saying? zuha, i'm not going anywhere!" sakura panics, hands flailing in front of her face before pulling her girlfriend into an embrace.

"oh," kazuha frowns, then she melts into the hug and sighs in content.

"ah what, you scared me..." sakura pulls away slightly to look at kazuha's now blissful face, her sudden change in demeanor catching the cherry blossom off-guard.

yeah, it's definitely the fever.

"mom! sa-chan made zuzu cry!"

"sou-chan, you little—!"

amidst the chaotic, childish banter between the two siblings, kazuha smiles in content within sakura's arms.

never a dull day with the miyawaki's.