12The 7 chapters of this fic will be released consecutively for a full week straight, so get ready for plenty of feel-good fluff!
Thus begins Revue Starlight Week! (Though I have a feeling I'll be adding other random little oneshots onto this when the event week is over tbh)
Day 1: Karen/Hikari/Mahiru
Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.
Starlight Stories
Chapter 1. Sick Day
The sound of Karen's blue t-rex alarm clock isn't at all uncommon within the three-person dorm room.
What is a little unusual is that it's allowed to go off for so long.
Typically, Karen will sleep through it, or if she does become conscious, she'll simply ignore it and continuously roll over and moan until Mahiru quite literally drags her out of bed.
Hikari has also become immune to the clock's noises over time, and whenever she hears it - whether she's conscious or not - she will burrow herself deeper into her blankets and pillow on the floor until Mahiru wakes her up too.
But this morning, the alarm is allowed to make a ruckus for a lot longer than usual. It's long enough for both Karen and Hikari to wake, and for them to realize something is off in their usual morning routine.
Both girls hum and sigh and wiggle beneath their blankets - though Karen's are much more unkempt - as they slowly shift and turn to the far side of the room. As the alarm continues, they peer curiously into Mahiru's bed.
To their surprise, they find her still lying there with her back to them.
Hikari turns over to give Karen a puzzled glance. Karen yawns and rubs her eyes.
"Mm… Morning, Hikari-chan."
"Morning." Hikari turns back to Mahiru who still hasn't budged. "Karen, turn off your alarm."
"Oh! Right!" Karen reaches out to tap on the t-rex, and the blaring stops. "That's weird," she whispers. "Did Mahiru-chan stay up late last night or something?"
"I don't think so," Hikari replies. "As far as I know, she went to bed the same time as us."
"Weird… Well, I guess it's all right since we don't have class today."
"We don't?" Hikari glances at the calendar on the wall and sighs. "Karen, you should turn off your alarm on our days off."
"Sorry, I always forget!"
Both girls sit up now and stretch out their arms a little, rolling their shoulders and loosening their stiff joints. Naturally, both their gazes wander back to Mahiru.
"Should we let her sleep?" Hikari wonders. Karen makes a pensive face.
"Mmm, I don't know. Usually she doesn't really like to sleep in, even on our days off…" She straightens up a bit and raises her voice a little to call out for her roommate. "Mahiru-chaaaan~!"
The response is a muffled little sigh and a sniffle. Karen and Hikari both watch as Mahiru stirs a bit before groggily pushing herself up halfway. Her hair falls forward over her shoulders and masks her face for a moment as she opens her eyes.
"Good morning… Ah-! I'm sorry! Did I sleep in?" Her voice is worried and raspy from sleep. Hikari catches her eye calmly.
"It's all right. We don't have school today."
Mahiru seems relieved for a second, but sighs.
"That's good, but… there are still chores to do, even on a day off." She pushes herself up all the way now and shakes herself off. Karen hasn't moved from her bed yet and tilts her head to one side curiously.
"Are you still tired, Mahiru-chan? You can sleep in a bit for once, you know."
But Mahiru shakes her head wearily.
"No… There are still things to do. There's laundry and cleaning, and I've gotta start breakfast-" She slips her legs off the side of her bed and slowly stands up. But before she can so much as take a step, a hazy kind of look clouds her eyes. She sways and begins to fall.
"Mahiru-chan!" Karen cries out, but is too far away to do much else. Luckily, Hikari is close and quick enough to react. She gets up immediately and reaches out to catch Mahiru, supporting her from beneath her arms and around her waist. Mahiru whimpers.
"Ah..."
"Take it easy." Hikari staggers back to the bed with her and sits down beside her, keeping a hand on her back for good measure. Karen tears the sheets off herself and rushes over to sit on Mahiru's other side.
"Mahiru-chan, are you okay?" She fretfully presses her hand to her roommate's forehead. "Wah! You're burning up!"
"E-Eh…?" Mahiru can't even be happy about the fact that Karen is fussing over her right now. Everything inside her head and chest feels fuzzy. She sniffles again. "No, that… can't be right… I haven't gotten sick in years…"
"Well, you're sick now!" Karen declares. "And sick people don't do chores and make breakfast!"
"Karen's right," Hikari says firmly. "Mahiru, you need to rest today."
"Eh?" She blinks, looking back and forth between them both. "N-No, I couldn't do that. And push all the chores onto you two?"
"What are you saying, Mahiru-chan?" Karen whines, tugging gently on her arm. "Usually it's you doing most of the chores by yourself!"
"Well… that's because I like doing them. But are you two-?"
"We'll be fine!" Karen declares, puffing out her chest proudly. She reaches out both hands to cover one of Mahiru's. Mahiru yelps softly, and her face turns a deeper shade of red than the fever dictates. On her other side, Hikari clasps her other hand.
"Karen's right," she says. "She and I will take care of things. You don't want to still be sick for when we go back to classes, right?"
"A-Ah…" Mahiru looks back and forth between them in a fluster, her hands shaking slightly in theirs. "I-I guess not…"
"Good!" Karen proclaims. "Then it's settled! Mahiru-chan, you just lay down and relax! Hikari-chan and I will take care of everything today! Don't worry about a thing!"
But naturally, Mahiru does have her reservations about this. She knows quite literally better than anyone that these two wouldn't be able to survive alone, or even together, for a single day without help from an outside party. She still has no idea how they'd managed to make it that one night they'd spent off-campus together.
But before she can think of how to gently voice her misgivings, all thoughts are suddenly banished from her head as Karen schooches particularly close in an effort to lie her down. Mahiru's heart leaps halfway up her throat as Karen wraps an arm around her back and eases her down onto her mattress. Hikari moves the blankets accordingly and pulls them up to her chest. Karen fluffs her pillow a little before standing back with her hands on her hips.
"There! Comfy?"
"Ah- y-yes…"
"Great! I'll get started on breakfast first! Hikari-chan? Do you think you could visit the dorm's nurse to get some medicine?"
"On it."
"All right! Oh! And, Mahiru-chan?" Karen turns back to her sick, baffled roommate with a kind smile. "If you need anything - anything at all - just text one of us okay? Here." She picks Mahiru's phone up from her nightstand and places it onto the bed next to her. Mahiru blinks up at her, and her heart flutters.
"Karen-chan…" She looks at Hikari too, who seems equally determined to make today a success on their part. "Hikari-chan, too…"
"Don't worry!" Karen chirps. "We've got everything under control!"
"Just rest," Hikari advises. "We'll handle things today."
There's no way Mahiru can argue with them when they've got their hearts set on this. And to be honest, she doesn't think she feels up to do any of these chores today anyway. So with deep a sigh, she smiles back at them.
"Okay. Good luck, you two."
"Text us if you need anything," Hikari reminds her.
"Or even just if you get lonely~" Karen adds.
With this, both able girls pick up their respective phones and step into their slippers before heading out the door. Mahiru watches them go, and only when the door closes behind them does the reality really start to sink in.
"I wonder if they'll be okay…"
To be honest, she'd wanted to gently sneak in the suggestion that perhaps Hikari might be better off in the kitchen, because while she really didn't like the idea of either of them using knives and other dangerous silverware, Hikari knew her way around knives much better than Karen did, thanks to their revues. But that was on-stage, not in a kitchen, and somehow the thought kind of worried her, so she'd kept quiet.
Mahiru knows she's supposed to be relaxing and trying to rest now, but she just can't help but worry about the two of them…
"I've just gotta trust them."
So she closes her eyes and does her best...
In the hallway, Karen and Hikari part ways at the students' kitchen as Hikari heads to the infirmary to pick up some medicine. Karen wanders into the kitchen to find it empty.
"Perfect! I can do whatever I want then! Let's see… Oh! I'll make her favorite! Potatoes!" She zips over to the pantry where the bagged vegetables are kept and pulls out two potatoes. "Two should be enough, right? Or is that too much…? Hmm…"
For now, she sets the vegetables aside on the counter and ponders hers and Hikari's breakfast, ultimately deciding on pancakes. So Karen gets out a bowl and all the necessary ingredients, grabs a cook book from one of the shelves, and flips through until she finds the breakfast section.
"Got it! Okay so two eggs, baking soda, flour… wait, am I supposed to put the wet stuff and dry stuff in separate bowls first? But then that's just more to clean afterward, right? Uhh let's see…" She adds things in the order the recipe calls for, though she struggles a bit with the measuring. "Wah, wait! I-Is this the baking powder or the baking soda? A-And the salt! Why do they all look the same?! How does Mahiru-chan do this?"
"Karen?"
To her relief, Karen looks up to find Hikari in the doorway with a small bottle of medicine in her hand. Karen whines and hurries over to her.
"Hikari-chaaan! Help meeee!"
"Bakaren. You said you could do this."
"I know! I just don't wanna mess it up!"
She isn't sure why she'd thought Hikari would be some saving grace in the kitchen, considering Hikari spends about as much time in here as Karen herself does. Contrary to popular belief, when she lived alone in England, Hikari hadn't cooked her own meals, and had barely ever done her own chores or laundry. She'd just ordered meals from the school or used instant noodles, and did the bare minimum of cleaning. Typically, her startled classmates would help her with it whenever they caught sight of her whirlwind of a room. So she really isn't much help with making breakfast.
"Hikari-chan! Is this the right measurement?"
"It… looks like it. Probably."
"Eehhh?"
They simply do their best with preparing the batter, then start pouring it out onto a pan in circles. It takes them both a few minutes to realize nothing is happening because the stove isn't on.
Karen then starts cutting up the potatoes for Mahiru.
"I-I think this is how you do it… D-Don't I need to put salt on them?"
"I think so. And we need to oil the pan."
"Eh? W-With what?"
"I'm not sure..."
But they're determined not to text Mahiru and ask for help. They want to do this on their own. They even politely reject Nana and Junna's assistance when they walk in a little later offering to help. Karen explains the situation with Mahiru and how they want to do this alone if possible.
So Karen and Hikari struggle through the rest of the cooking, until they have the final results - two plates of runny pancakes and one of awkwardly-chopped, fried potato slices with a single pancake in case Mahiru felt up to eating that much. They grab a few water bottles and fresh fruits to bring along, just in case what they cooked ends up being inedible - which is entirely possible.
Nana and Junna pass on well wish for Mahiru as Karen and Hikari take their plates and the medicine back to their room. It's a challenge to open the door, but when they finally do they breathe a mutual sigh of relief.
"Mahiru-chan! We're back!"
"Karen, she's sleeping."
"Uwah, that's right! S-Sorry!"
They shuffle in together with their trays and plates as Mahiru stirs in bed. She also breathes a sigh of relief upon their safe return.
"It's all right. I napped a little, but I didn't really fall back asleep."
"That's fine," Hikari says. "Any rest helps. I brought you some medicine."
"Thanks, Hikari-chan."
"And we made your favorite!" Karen says. "Potatoes! And one pancake!"
"R-Really?" Mahiru sits herself up, blinking in surprise at the plate Karen places in her lap. "These look great! Thank you both!"
"No problem!"
"Um, Karen?"
"Yes, Hikari-chan?"
"Did you bring utensils?"
"Ah… I-I'll be right back!" Karen puts her plate down on the floor and races out of the room. Hikari kneels on her spot on the floor and puts her food down as well.
"We did our best," she mumbles. "But it probably won't taste as good as yours."
Mahiru's heart swells, and a warm feeling spreads across her chest.
"I don't care about any of that, Hikari-chan! I'm just so happy you two made this for me!"
"How are you feeling?"
"A bit better," Mahiru admits.
Hikari picks up the medicine and a water bottle and moves up to sit beside her again. Mahiru blushes just a little.
"You should drink something," Hikari advises, handing her the water.
"Th-Thanks…" Mahiru accepts the water and drinks a bit as Hikari mulls over the medicine bottle. She unwraps and removes the cap which doubles as a tiny measuring cup for the dose, filling it to the appropriate line.
"This is much easier to read than the cook book."
Mahiru giggles.
"Why? Teaspoons and tablespoons?"
"Yeah. I think Karen mixed them up a bit, so the pancakes might be salty…"
"That's fine with me!" Mahiru giggles a bit before taking the cup of medicine and drinking it slowly. She makes a bit of a wrinkled face as she drinks.
"Are you okay?" Hikari asks.
Mahiru swallows and nods.
"Yeah. It's just really bitter, is all."
"Oh. You don't like medicine?"
"Mm, I wouldn't say I don't like it. I'm just not used to it. I'm a big sister, after all. I didn't get sick that much. Instead, I had to take care of my siblings whenever they got sick."
"I see. That must have been difficult."
"Not really!" she smiles. "I always loved taking care of them and spoiling them a little bit!"
Before Hikari can say anything back, a flurry of footsteps hurries toward them from down the hall. A few seconds later, Karen bursts back in with both hands full of napkins and utensils.
"Sorry for the wait!" she cries. "Banana reminded me I had to clean the bowls we used, so I had to do that really quick! I totally forgot! I hope the food isn't cold!"
"It's fine, Karen-chan," Mahiru reassures her, gratefully accepting her utensils. Karen sighs exaggeratedly and plops down on the floor beside her plate. Hikari eventually slides down to sit next to her.
"Okay!" Karen claps. "Let's eat!" She cuts into her pancakes and dips them in syrup before gobbling a mouthful. She nearly sputters. "Waaah-! So salty!"
"I knew it," Hikari mutters. Mahiru giggles.
As Karen rinses the taste down with some water and Hikari puts extra syrup on her pancakes to cancel the saltiness, both of them turn to look up at Mahiru.
"What about your potatoes, Mahiru-chan?"
Mahiru pokes one with her fork and pops it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. She hums.
"Mm! They're really good!"
"Really?! What a relief!" Karen wails.
They eat their breakfast happily together, with Mahiru being infinitely entertained by the faces the other two keep making. She eats her salty pancake too and loves every bite of it.
They wash the odd taste down with some fruits and more water. When they're all finished, Hikari gathers the plates and puts them on the desk to bring back later.
"Okay!" Karen says. "Time to make the beds and stuff, right? Easy!"
Mahiru watches them amusedly from her spot as they retreat to their respective sleeping areas. Hikari smoothes out and folds her blankets rather awkwardly and piles them up beside her pillow and her plushies. Karen struggles a bit more with tucking the ruffled sheets back into place and straightening out the blankets she always tosses halfway off during the night. In the end, after a lot of huffing and whimpering, the final product is… acceptable.
"Uuu, geez, it doesn't look half as good as when you help us do it, Mahiru-chan."
"I think it looks great, Karen-chan! Yours too, Hikari-chan!"
"Thanks." Hikari looks Mahiru over again. "Do you want to shower?"
"Oh, yeah! I feel kinda sweaty and I wanna wash off a bit."
"M-Maybe a bath would be better?" Karen suggests. "You got dizzy from standing up before, Mahiru-chan. I don't want you to slip and fall."
"Karen has a point," Hikari agrees.
"Okay. You guys are probably right." Mahiru slowly moves the blankets off herself and slides her legs off to the side.
"I'll get you some clean clothes!" Karen declares. "Hikari-chan, help her?"
"Right." As Karen begins rummaging through the drawers, Hikari slips an arm around Mahiru's back again and slowly helps her to her feet. Mahiru winces a little and stumbles into her, but Hikari keeps her steady. "Take it slow. There's no rush."
"Y-Yeah…"
Karen fetches all of them some clean clothes to bring to the communal baths with them. They give Mahiru her slippers before Karen moves in on her other side to support her. Mahiru flushes a deeper shade of pink.
"K-Karen-chan, y-you don't have to-"
"Non-non, Mahiru-chan! We gotta make sure you're okay!"
So they each keep an arm around her, while Karen holds their clean laundry on her other elbow, and Hikari grabs their dirty plates with her free hand. They each coax Mahiru to drape her arms around their shoulders and guide her to the door.
The trio take their time walking down the hallways, looking very odd indeed. Luckily, they bump into Maya and Claudine, who offer to assist right away once Karen explains the situation. Their two classmates take the plates from Hikari and gladly bring them off to wash them, wishing that Mahiru feels better soon as the trio calls out thanks after them.
The make their way to the bathrooms where Futaba and Kaoruko are just finishing up, dressed in robes with the former drying the latter's hair. Futaba helps Karen sort their clothes into their respective cubbies while Kaoruko fetches clean towels for them. Again, the trio thanks their friends before heading into the locker room.
Hikari advises Mahiru to keep a towel around herself as she bathes to ensure she doesn't get too cold, and she and Karen opt to do the same.
As Hikari ties up her own hair into a bun, Karen carefully ties Mahiru's for her before they help her into the baths. They sit on either side of her and soak for a while, enjoying the warm steamy water. And they're sure to keep an eye on Mahiru to ensure she doesn't get feverish.
After about ten minutes, she starts to look a little fuzzy, and Hikari deems it's time to get out. They wash their hair in the separate section of the room at the little shower stations, though they take turns staying by Mahiru's side.
They dry off, get dressed, brush their teeth, then take seats on the cushioned stools by the hair dryers. Hikari tends to her own hair for a moment and Karen offers to do Mahiru's.
"How was the bath?" she asks.
Mahiru sighs blissfully and leans back into her touch.
"It was really nice, Karen-chan."
"Do you feel any better?"
"Yeah! I think so."
"Good!"
For a moment, the room is filled with the drone of the dryers. Mahiru fiddles her hands in her lap as Karen continues to smooth out her hair.
"Karen-chan…?"
"Hm? Did you say something, Mahiru-chan?"
"N-No! It's nothing."
"You sure?"
"Mm."
They finished drying their hair, then head back to their dorm together. Karen and Hikari get Mahiru back into her bed and urge her to drink some more water. That's when Karen suddenly remembers.
"Ah! Our laundry!"
"I'll help you," Hikari says.
Mahiru can't even finish swallowing her mouthful before they're already hurrying out the door.
"W-Wait! Do you two-" But they're already gone with the door closing behind them. Mahiru tapers off. "-even know how to use a washing machine…?" She considers texting or calling them to help, but both of them had left their phones. She sighs. "Hopefully someone will be there to help them…"
Karen and Hikari hurry back to the baths to collect theirs and Mahiru's laundry, then head to the laundry room. There, they look around at several machines, only a few of which are unoccupied. Karen leads the way over to one of them, muttering to herself.
"Okay… I can figure this out. This is easy!" She opens the door of one machine, but before she can toss her clothes in, Hikari stops her.
"Karen, I think that's a dryer."
"It is? What's the difference?"
"I'm not really sure… But I think the washer opens from the top."
"Hmm, okay! Let's try that one then." They look over the knobs together as Karen reads them aloud. "Rinse Cycle? Is that what we wanna do? What number do we set it to?"
Hikari ponders for a moment. "Three should be good. It's in the middle."
"Okay!"
"Wait. Can we mix the white clothes and the colors in here?"
"Huh? I thought that was for the dryer…"
Ultimately, they can't decide on any surefire answers. So Karen elects to run back to the room to ask Mahiru for help. Mahiru is relieved to see her and to hear they hadn't tried anything on their own. From what she gathers judging by what Karen tells her, it would've been an absolute disaster if the two of them had attempted anything.
Mahiru tells Karen all she needs to know, but being worried she might forget, she types it all into her phone and hands her that. Karen thanks her and hurries back out, leaving Mahiru at ease at the fact that they'd somehow managed to avoid a catastrophe.
Karen shows Hikari their marching orders, and they manage to follow everything properly and add in the right amount of laundry detergent. Satisfied, they head back to the room to find Mahiru sitting up and waiting for them.
"How did it go, you two?"
"Fine," Hikari says, clearly a little embarrassed.
Mahiru chuckles.
"Thanks for doing all of this, you guys."
"Don't thank us!" Karen says. "We should probably be helping you out a bit more with all this stuff on a regular basis…"
"I don't mind," Mahiru says. "Like I said, I really love doing chores."
"Even so," Hikari puts in. "It would be good for us to learn some of these things…"
"That's true."
"Mahiru-chan, how's your fever?" Karen asks.
"I think it's getting better."
"You sure? Lemme check."
"E-Eh?" Mahiru blinks, and the next thing she knows Karen is sitting awfully close beside her. She reaches out to brush Mahiru's bangs away. Mahiru yelps. "K-Karen-chan- y-you don't have to-"
"I just wanna make sure!" Karen says. "Just hold still for a second, okay?" She leans in close, and Mahiru feels her heart screech to a halt.
Karen presses her lips softly against Mahiru's forehead and holds them there in a light little kiss.
Mahiru nearly passes out on the spot. She downright forgets how to breathe and starts to sway again a bit. Hikari quickly sits on her other side to keep her up.
"Careful."
Mahiru's jaw hangs open, but no sound or air comes out. She squeezes her eyes shut as a raging heat fills her cheeks and her heart starts to backflip. After a minute, Karen eases back.
"Hmm… I think you still feel a little warm. Hikari-chan, what do you think?"
"E-Eh?" Mahiru squeaks. "Hikari-chan, too-?" But she can do nothing to defend herself as Hikari turns her toward her now and copies Karen's movements. She kisses Mahiru's forehead for a moment, and again Mahiru forgets all of her necessary bodily functions. When Hikari finally moves back, she takes Mahiru's hand and holds a finger against her wrist.
"You're definitely still warm. And your pulse is really quick."
"Th-That's because-! Y-You two-!"
"It's okay, Mahiru-chan!" Karen says, rubbing her back softly. "We'll keep doing the chores and stuff, so don't worry about anything! Just take it easy!"
"Ah… mm…" There's no use in trying to explain herself. In fact, she's certain she'd only end up embarrassing herself even more and making her face even redder in the process.
"Hmm…" Karen glances around the room, contemplating. "Hikari-chan, let's tidy up a bit!"
"K-Karen-chan! Don't worry about it…"
"No, she's right," Hikari says, heading for the door. "I'll get some things from the supply closet."
"Okay!" Karen nods. "I'll tidy up the drawers a bit!"
Mahiru watches them tackle their respective tasks again. Karen pulls out the drawers from beneath her bed and begins sorting them and making them neater. Hikari returns with a small vacuum, a bottle of cleaning spray, and a few rags. As she unravels the chord and sets up the vacuum, Karen tidiest up Hikari's clothes in the dresser drawers, and then does Mahiru's.
Mahiru sits back all the while and watches them.
Hikari struggles a bit with the vacuum, clearly not used to its weight and sound and movements. She keeps bumping it into the walls or the beds, and at one point accidentally sucks up one of the tentacles of her jellyfish plushie. When that happens, Hikari makes a shrieking sound the likes of which Mahiru has never known before, and she has to stop herself from laughing and risk being cruel to the poor girl.
"It's okay, Hikari-chan!" she soothes. "Just turn off the vacuum. You can pull Mr. Jellyfish right out."
With shaking fingers and panic in her eyes, Hikari does as she's told. Karen helps her tilt the vacuum back and Hikari pulls her plushie free, hugging it in relief.
"Thank goodness…"
"I'm glad he's okay," Mahiru smiles.
Hikari continues vacuuming much more cautiously after that.
Karen is a bit clumsy with dusting off the shelves, too. She keeps forgetting which things went in which places as she takes them off to clean the wood. Mahiru helps her remember the order.
"Karen-chan, that's Hikari-chan's book, so it should go on the left side."
"Uwah, you're right! Thanks, Mahiru-chan!"
Mahiru continues giving them helpful pointers as they finish up their chores. She also reminds them to go back for the laundry to put it in the dryer, and gives them instructions on how to do that.
By suppertime she's feeling well enough to venture out to the common room with them to eat. Their friends are all there waiting for them, instantly checking on Mahiru and asking how she's doing.
"Are Karen and Hikari taking good care of you?" Futaba wonders.
"Yes!" Mahiru replies. "I think I'm almost all better now, thanks to them…"
"That sounds like a miracle," Kaoruko says. "I'm surprised they could handle doing chores all by themselves."
"Look who's talkin'," Futaba grunts.
"It was tough!" Karen wails. "Mahiru-chan's so amazing to always do all this stuff on her own! And she likes it!"
A chuckle goes around the room as the rest of her friends share their kind words with Mahiru. Luckily, this time Nana and Junna are cooking, so Karen and Hikari don't have to worry about making things too salty, though they do insist on washing the dishes afterward.
They all wish each other goodnight before stopping at the bathrooms one last time, and then heading back to their rooms.
Mahiru has to admit she's a bit sleepy, in spite of the rather tame hour. She tries to shake herself out of it, but her roommates notice.
"Mahiru-chan?" Karen and Hikari help her back onto her bed now. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she smiles. "I don't know why I'm so tired, though. I didn't do anything today!"
"You're recovering from a fever," Hikari reminds her. "You should sleep now."
"She's right!" Karen agrees. "Get plenty of rest and hopefully you'll be all better by tomorrow!"
"You two…" Mahiru smiles at each of them in turn, then dips her head. "Thank you both so much. You really spoiled me today."
"That's how it should be!" Karen insists. "Especially if you're sick!"
"We should really do our part in the chores more," Hikari admits. "Just because you're used to it and you like it doesn't make it fair to let you do everything."
"Karen-chan… Hikari-chan…" Mahiru feels like there's a big warm flower blossoming in her chest. She puts an arm around each of them and pulls them in to her sides. She lets out a long, slow exhale.
"Mahiru...?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm wonderful," she says. "But I do have… one request."
"Of course."
"Anything! Just name it, Mahiru-chan!"
Mahiru fidgets a little nervously for a moment before she musters up the courage to say it.
"You two… would you... stay with me tonight…?" But the second the words come out of her mouth, she wishes she could take them back. "J-Just kidding. I'll be fine-"
"Of course we will!" Karen exclaims. "We can't let you sleep all alone again and get cold, right?"
"Though the bed might be a bit cramped," Hikari reasons. "So we can use my space."
"…Eh?" Mahiru hadn't honestly expected them to accept her request so readily. But the two of them are already moving to the floor, spreading out Hikari's comforters and pillow. Karen takes blankets and pillows off her own bed as well and brings them all to the floor, making a giant spread of softness.
"I'll put them back in the morning," she says sheepishly, then offers her hand. "Come on, Mahiru-chan!"
Mahiru blinks down at her outstretched hand. Hikari offers her as well.
"You guys…"
A smile spreads across her lips as Mahiru accepts both their hands.
They help her down onto the floor, then arrange themselves on either side of her. They have her lie down first, then move in beside her and pull the blankets up and all around them.
Mahiru's heart is hammering nervously, but happily. She's never slept like this before, with either of them, and certainly not with both of them.
She isn't sure what to do with her hands, so she just folds them on top of her chest and clutches her nightgown.
Hikari lies down with her first, laying an arm across Mahiru's stomach a bit hesitantly. But then Karen snuggles in full-force and throws her arms around Mahiru in a tight hug, catching her off guard.
"K-Karen-chan?!"
"Mahiru Sandwich!"
"Bakaren," Hikari chides her. "Take it easy or you'll hurt her."
"Waah! S-Sorry, Mahiru-chan!"
"I-It's all right!" With a happy chuckle, Mahiru finally unravels her arms and curls one around each of them, pulling them both close.
"See?" Karen grins. "Mahiru-chan is tough!" She gives her friend another squeeze and nestles up close to her side, resting her head on Mahiru's shoulder. Mahiru laughs.
"Karen-chan, that tickles!"
Hikari still seems a bit reserved, though. Mahiru turns to her with gentle eyes.
"It's okay, Hikari-chan."
With permission given, Hikari slowly inches closer until she's pressed herself fully against Mahiru's side. She rests her head tentatively on her chest, but when Mahiru makes no protests against the position, Hikari finally begins to relax.
Mahiru runs her hands up and down her roommates' backs in slow, calming strokes. She sighs again.
"This is so nice…"
"Are you warm enough, Mahiru-chan?"
"Mm-hm! What about you two?"
"I'm great!" Karen replies.
"Me, too," Hikari mumbles, sliding even closer.
Mahiru giggles, and her heart feels wonderfully light. She's so warm now, but not so much as a hint of the fever remains. It's all the warmth her friends give her - their love and support and care.
"You two must be tired from doing all that stuff today," she says, carding through their hair. "Let's get some sleep." She can tell they're both already fading, but are making efforts to stay awake.
"Mnn…" Karen's eyes are already closed. "Are you all better now, Mahiru-chan?"
"I'm all better," she assures her.
"Tomorrow…" Hikari yawns. "Let us help… with breakfast…"
"That sounds like fun." Mahiru hugs them both a little closer. "Thank you Karen-chan, Hikari-chan." She turns her face and kisses each of their heads. "Goodnight, you two."
And they're both already asleep even before they can respond.
Mahiru giggles, letting out a long breath as she settles in between them, blanketed by their warmth, heart singing.
At last she closes her eyes and welcomes sleep with them, and the smile never leaves her face all night long.
A/N: I wanted to write these two doofuses taking care of Mahiru for a change! She deserves some love and spoiling, and plus it was just fun to imagine Karen and Hikari attempting to do everyday tasks unsupervised.
Please review!
