Yasahiro never told Isas about the odd blistering rash and vines growing from his arm. It had gone away as soon as Isas had given him the flu medicine, and so had the rest of his symptoms. At least, for the time being. He still decided to wear a mask in public and around the house just in case another flare up happened.

But even with the extra precautions, Yasahiro was still scared. Maybe he should have told Isas about the vines on his arm. What if it was serious? But what if it was just a normal thing for sick people to grow flora on their bodies and he was just freaking out over nothing? Do humans grow things when they're sick?

Maybe tell him later. After last night's scare, he didn't want to be responsible for giving his caretaker a heart attack at seventeen. That wouldn't be good. He mainly kept it to himself, taking his allergy and sick pills and medicines, hoping that it would remedy the problem.

For now, he stayed inside, discovering the hellhole that was social media. A lot of what he found was confusing-most of it he didn't get and wasn't sure if he could ask Chiyoko about. And then he stumbled upon one user's page.

Their page was filled with a hundred beautiful pictures of a handsome model with stunning eyes that seemed to be pink in every picture and shiny black hair. Something about him made Yasahiro feel...odd. His heart began to race and his face warm. It was...uncomfortably nice.

"I-Isas!" He called, throwing the phone down on the bed nervously. He could hear Isas' manic footsteps come up the steps as he gripped his shirt.

Isas stumbled into the room, hitting his hip against the desk as he tripped onto the bed. "Y-Yasahiro! Are you okay?!"

"I-I think I'm getting sick again. M-my chest feels weird, and I feel hot."

Isas straightened himself out, leaning over and pressing a hand to Yasahiro's face. "You don't feel warm..."

Yasahiro whimpered. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Maybe you were nervous. You did get sick in a very short time."

Yasahiro nodded, twiddling his fingers. "Mmm hmm..."

Isas sat himself beside Yasahiro, "Is everything okay...?"

"....I'm scared, Isas. I don't want to be useless, I don't want to let you down."

"What are you talking about?"

"Whenever I'm around people who are 'infected,' I feel sick. But that's how we save people. That's how we know who need our help. If I can't help people, that what can I do?"

Isas shook his head, taking Yasahiro's hands. "Yasahiro, I don't care about any of that. I care that you are healthy. I care that you feel better. You are not just some bloodhound or metal detector. You're a person. You have feelimgs and you can get sick, meaning you have to be taken care of."

"Like killed?"

"What? N-no, not killed. You just need rest. We can always find another way to help people. A way where you don't have to put your health at risk."

Yasahiro smiled, but he wasn't feeling any better than before. He wanted to help, he wanted to be useful. Sitting in bed while his friends fight shadows was not being helpful. Isas took care of him from day one, so it was only fair that he dis the same.

"I'm going out to buy more medicine, and maybe The Toxic Isles to see if I can find any clues there. If there's anything you need or if your symptoms flare up again, do not hesitate to call me. I'll be home as soon as I can."

Yasahiro nodded, waving as he left the room. The blonde boy sighed, falling back into bed, hands covering his face. "What am I going to do...?" He groaned.

He heard the door to the bedroom shut. He sat up, surprised to see Chiyoko there, a little notebook and a glittery pen in her hand.

"Oh, hi Chiyoko! Isas left for a second but I can help you with whatever you need-"

"Good. Because I need answers." The eight-year-old said, locking the door, "what's going on with my brother? What's with his weird friends and what are the Toxic Isles?"

Yasahiro's smile fell, his hands going to his chest. "Oh...that...right..."

-------------------

Jumin sat, waiting in front of the convenience store at the corner of Saburo's neighborhood.

It had been awhile since Jumin had been to this part of town. It was somewhat nostalgic, sitting here, in front of the store where he would buy popsicles with his formerly close circle of childhood friends during summer vacation.

He missed that. He wanted to go back to that. Maybe he could once he met with Saburo. Maybe.

"Oi, Narukami-Eko."

The husky, familiar voice caught Jumin's attention. He lifted his head and only a few feet in front of him was him. One of his very old friends who was sudden everyone's problem. Saburo Etsuko, the delinquent. The thought almost made Jumin laugh, but he could understand why people would think that.

The boy sauntering over to him had wild blonde hair and piercing ember eyes. He was dressed in all black and hand an unsightly scar on his bottom lip, not to mention the lip ring chain that ran down to his belt.

Jumin stood, noticing how much taller he had gotten. He probably had a good two inches on Isas.

The speckled boy smiled. "Hey man, good to see you!"

Saburo lowered his head, speaking in a low voice, "yeah, same."

Jumin held out his arms. "You want a hug?"

"What?"

"Y-you know, we haven't seen each other in a while, I just-Never mind. We don't-"

"No, no. It-" he sighed, "it caught me off guard, you know?"

Jumin nodded, lowering his arms just as Saburo went and hugged him, squeezing him tightly.

"W-woah!"

"Is this...too much?"

Jumin shook his head, putting his weight into the hug. "No. It's good. You're good."

Saburo scoffed, "yeah, sure."

He pulled away, awkwardly adjusting his jacket. "So, you wanna go hang out? At our place?"

Jumin nodded, his face lighting up. "Y-yeah! I haven't been there in a while!"

Saburo gave a small smiled, turning away as he ruffled his hair. "Dumbass."

Their 'place' wasn't much. It was an open field where they would talk, just the two of them. They would about everything they couldn't talk about with anyone else. It was a small town, meaning people talked, so they couldn't exactly risk telling anyone else.

Jumin threw himself into the bed of grass, giggling like a child as he rolled around like a puppy. Saburo watched, the smile on his face growing a bit bigger.

"The hell are you doing?" He asked, stifling a laugh.

"Oh come on! We haven't been here in years! This is our place!"

Saburo shook his head, falling onto his side beside Jumin. "Dumbass...."

Jumin chuckled, grinning widely.

Saburo sat up, ruffling Jumin's hair. "I missed this..."

Jumin's face warmed. "I...me too."

The freckled boy sat up, crossing his legs. "So, what's up? Why'd you want to come here?"

Saburo's smile fell as he pulled off his jacket and lifted his shirt up, revealing a long and red scar. An old scar that for some reason seemed fresh.

"What the-what do you-?"

"I think I'm getting the flu. And that the normal flu-I'm talking that fucking flu that's been killing people left and right. I-" he took a deep and coarse breath, "I-I think I'm dying..."

A lump formed in Jumin's throat as his heart pounded out of his chest. Out of all the things to happen, this was probably the worse.

Jumin bit his lip, shaking his head. 'No, No. It couldn't be him. It can't be. I don't want to be him!'

"Does your mom-?"

Saburo instantly shook his head. "No. No, we don't have the money, not after the last time I was admitted. I can't tell her. I can't-"

"Saburo, if this really is that flu, than you need to see a doctor! You need to-"

"A DOCTOR AIN'T GONNA DO SHIT, JUMIN! THEY LET ALL THOSE OTHER PEOPLE DIE! HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW THEY AREN'T GONNA DO THE SAME TO ME?!"

His voice was piercing, almost shattering. He had never heard Saburo's voice reach such a high caliber of yelling. He shouted and yelled, sure, but it was nothing like this. Not to mention that his eyes were burning a bright yellow.

'Just like the shadows...'

The rough looking boy softened when he saw the look of fear on his younger friend's face.

"I know you love your mom, and you don't want to trouble her...but you're sick. Somebody needs to help you. And if I have to drag your ass to the hospital myself, I'll do it! And my parents will let me too! Because I care about you! And so do they!"

Saburo shook his head, biting his thumb. "You're too nice to me, Narukami-Eko...."

"I'm doing what I know is right," he held out his hand, "so let me help you."

Saburo took a deep breath before leaning over and pressed a deep kiss to Jumin's lips, feeling him shake. Jumin really didn't know what to do. He was at a lost for words. It was so unexpected, he couldn't even move.

The blonde boy quickly pulled away, buried his face into Jumin's shoulder, hacking hard into it.

"Saburo-San!"

"I-I...don't know what's wrong me, Jumin. I don't feel normal anymore...I-I feel...I feel like I'm losing myself...I d-don't wanna feel like this anymore..."

Jumin squeezed him tightly, rocking him gently. "I promise, once we get you help, you'll feel a lot better."

Saburo smiled, hacking continuously into Jumin's shoulder. The younger boy glanced over, his eyes going wide. His jacket had blood and mucous in the exact same spot Saburo was coughing on. "Sobu-San..."

"I-I wanna stay here...for a lil' while. Just us..."

Jumin nodded. "Yeah, okay. W-we can stay. We can stay and talk for as long as you want."

Saburo nodded, finally stopping and rested his head against Jumin's arm. Little did he know that they were being watched from the distance by a very old enemy.

"Saburo-San and Jumin-kun...back together again..."