Chapter Text
"Niragi watch out!"
The obnoxious kids that had gathered under the graffiti painted bridge, snickered loudly.
Niragi felt desperation tearing him apart. He was rooted in his place across them, a boy was over him, keeping him still by the shoulders.
He didn't dare make a move, he was too scared to make a move, afraid that it might upset the bullies even more.
Niragi's eyesight was starting to get blurry; he prayed he didn't start crying in front of the others, he didn't want for them to have another reason to laugh at him.
"It's coming!"
Niragi felt a small plastic ball hitting his face with a brutal force, his glasses breaking instantly. He hurriedly tried to touch his face, feeling pain spread all over him.
His hand came bloody, feeling the liquid trail down his broken nose. His shoulders shook, his blurry eyesight becoming even more blurry and unfocused.
"I told you not to move, you idiot!"
All Niragi heard was laughter, he couldn't say a word, his broken heart was even more broken than his bloody nose.
Tears were coming down his eyes and he wished he had someone to protect him, stop the bullies and give him a hug.
"Oh no we made the nerd cry. We shouldn't have, boys."
Niragi felt one of the boys approaching him, while he was bended over the filthy ground.
The bully took Niragi's broken glasses away from his bloody face, threw them on the ground and stepped on them with extreme force and anger.
Niragi's cries intensified, making the bullies laugh even more.
"My bad, I didn't know your glasses were so precious", the boy above him smirked, while returning to his place across him, getting ready to shoot another ball.
"Another one coming!"
Niragi hurriedly tried to get up, the force on his shoulders not letting him do much.
"Let me go!"
The bullies laughed harder at his desperate words.
The pain on his face became stronger, Niragi felt even more blood oozing from his nose.
"Yes! 10 points! What do you think boys?"
"Please stop! Stop!"
Desperate cries could be heard in the dark room, mixed with uneven and fast breathing.
"Stop!"
Chishiya resurfaced from his precious dreamland, blinking one of his eyes open.
He had been so deep in sleep, he couldn't pinpoint what the noise was.
Blinking the sleep away, he noticed the room's darkness, mixed with some of the annoying lights coming from the pool outside. The party never stopped at the Beach.
"Let me go!"
Now Chishiya was wide awake, finally looking down beside him and noticing Niragi's distress.
He also noticed that the ravenette boy was drenched in sweat, his black long hair sticking in his face.
"Niragi, wake up."
He tried to shake the militant awake, but it was in vain.
The cries continued and Chishiya felt his heart clench in his chest. It was the first time he witnessed Niragi's walls breaking down, the first time he saw his vulnerable side.
If Niragi knew all of this, he would immediately get up from the bed and disappear for good.
"Niragi, wake up, it's only a nightmare", Chishiya tried again, shaking his shoulders with more force.
Niragi's eyes instantly opened, gaze fixed on the room's ceiling. He turned his head towards the voice beside him, tears wet on his cheeks.
"It's okay, it was just a bad dream, you are okay", the blond boy assured him, taking him in his arms, bony hands coming up to wipe his tears.
Niragi felt his cheeks burning, feeling embarrassment take all over him. Chishiya's hug however, was warm and comforting, so he chose not to say anything but stay in his arms.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
Chishiya, whose hands now had traveled to Niragi's black hair, asked him.
"I'd rather not", was Niragi's only answer.
The ravennete felt peaceful for once; it was such a relieve to wake up and realize it was just a dream. Besides, the bullies had been long gone from his life. They were dead the minute Niragi had gotten to the Borderlands and realized no law was applied anymore. He had made sure they were dead.
He killed them.
However, Niragi didn't want to admit that Chishiya's warmth also made him feel at peace and safe. His soothing voice and reassuring words were all he had to hear.
He felt his hair slowly and steadily being ruffled, the calm rhythm lulling him back to sleep, his eyes dropping closed.
Chishiya had not taken his eyes away from Niragi all these moments. He clearly saw the distress on the man's face and Chishiya wished he could somehow get rid of this fear that had been giving Niragi nightmares.
His hands were still on the boy's black hair, moving back and forth, massaging his scalp.
Looking down, he noticed Niragi had gotten back to sleep, hopefully a restful sleep.
Chishiya's hands moved to Niragi's forehead, checking his temperature.
It was still high. It had been a few hours since they had gotten back from the game and Niragi's fever still hadn't gotten down.
Perhaps his high temperature was giving him nightmares.
Chishiya sighed, removing his arms that had been around Niragi and trying to set the boy slowly on the bed's pillow.
He quietly got up from the bed, taking the rag that had already dried, away from Niragi's forehead.
The blond went to the room's bathroom, turned the tap on and brought the rag under the flowing cold water. The rag was soon wet.
He squeezed it, so excess water would drop off the rag and made his way back to the bed.
Chishiya turned on the light that was on the nightstand next to Niragi, a yellow dim light flowing in the room.
Niragi's face was still pale under the light, black rings under his tired eyes. His face however, was seemingly peaceful.
Chishiya brought the wet rag to the ravenette's face, slowly wiping the sweat away.
He saw Niragi sigh contentedly, a small smile appearing on his face for a second.
Chishiya continued wiping his pale face, going from his forehead, his cheeks and down to his neck.
After some minutes, the rag had gotten dry, so he went back to the bathroom so as to wet it again.
Once he returned to Niragi's bedside, he placed the cold wet rag on his forehead and let it rest there, in hopes the boy's temperature would go down.
Chishiya picked up the thermometer that had been on the nightstand, next to the antipyretics he had brought from the abandoned pharmacy.
After taking Niragi's temperature, he brought the thermometer up to his face, so as to check it.
38,5° (~100.4°F).
Not bad but not good either. He would have to keep checking his temperature for the rest of the night, in hopes the fever would not go up.
Chishiya set the thermometer down on the nightstand. He noticed the white covers that had been hugging Niragi's body had fallen off the bed, touching the floor.
He leaned forward, bringing the covers back to place and tucking them around Niragi, making sure his body was covered nicely.
He then made his way to the room's window, so as to draw the curtains back and prevent the Beach's headlights from entering the room, thus disturbing Niragi's needed sleep.
After checking that all was good, Chishiya sat down on the bed, next to Niragi. He curled his body on his side, bringing his legs up to his chest, feeling Niragi's warmth radiating.
Despite the heat, he noticed that Niragi was shaking, as if he was cold. Chishiya tried to fix and tuck the covers once again and he unconsciously brought his left arm to rest on Niragi's waist, scooting closer to his shaking body.
A few minutes later and Niragi's body having stopped shaking, Chishiya felt himself drifting to sleep.
This time around, it was a different sound he woke up to;
Chishiya propped his body up, resting on his arms, while squinting his eyes at the disturbing light that was coming from the room's bathroom.
Distressed noises could be heard and a sound of retching. The place beside him was empty, half of the covers fallen over the floor.
Chishiya immediately pushed the covers aside, getting up from the bed and making his way to the source the pitiful sounds were coming from.
He pushed the bathroom's door aside, noticing Niragi hunched over the toilet, while gripping his tummy as if he would make the pain go away.
The ravenette didn't seem to notice Chishiya's presence and continued heaving over the toilet, in hopes he would soon be relieved.
Chishiya crouched down beside the militant, trying to take his sweaty hair in his hands and drawing circles on his back, so as to help him.
Niragi flinched at the touch, that was cold to his hot and sweaty skin. He continued retching, a long cough interrupting him, saliva falling down his mouth.
"It's okay, I'm here, let it all out", Chishiya tried to relax the sick boy, coaxing him into vomiting.
Chishiya's comforting words actually helped Niragi, who felt help was present indeed.
His uneven breathing caused him to choke on his saliva for a few seconds, instantly feeling firm hands on his back, hitting him.
"You are alright, breathe with me, look at me", Niragi tried desperately to follow Chishiya's words, listening to him breathe slowly and deeply through his nose.
He tried to do the same, focusing on Chishiya's face, rather than the pain in his stomach. The bathroom's lights weren't doing him wonders either, they made his head feel even worse.
Chishiya noticed Niragi's painful stare and his eyes squinting at the harsh lights.
"Do you want me to turn the hall's lights on instead?"
Niragi nodded, not daring to speak, afraid it would upset his stomach more.
He felt Chishiya leaving his side and he returned back to gripping the toilet.
Soon, the bathroom's lights were turned off and the hall's lights peeked through the bathroom instead, making his headache a bit bearable.
Chishiya's hands were back on his shoulders, before feeling them splash some water on his heated face.
The stomach ache continued to insist, making Niragi heave again. He pitifully spat some saliva down the toilet.
His hands that had been on the toilet, now searched Chishiya's hands for comfort.
Chishiya grabbed Niragi's hand comfortingly, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
Niragi's stomach was finally relieved, feeling the pain subside a bit after vomiting. He was breathing hard, feeling his hands being rubbed.
"Shh, it's gone now, calm down."
The cold water splashed yet again on his face, this time relaxing his tension that was on his shoulders.
"How about we have a shower and then go to sleep?", Chishiya offered quietly, so as not to trigger his migraine.
Niragi felt himself nodding, looking up slowly at Chishiya.
The blond carefully tried to get the tall boy up, without moving him too much.
"Are you okay with me undressing you?", Niragi heard Chishiya ask him and he couldn't care less right now.
"Please", he answered weakly, trying to stay up on his feet.
Chishiya smiled warmly at Niragi, while stripping him out of his sweaty black shirt and sweatpants he wore to sleep.
Niragi was resting his head on the blonde's shoulders, not having much strength to stand on his own.
After Chishiya removed his own clothes, he carefully got to the shower with Niragi, turning on the shower head and checking the water's temperature.
Once the temperature was good, he brought the sick boy under the water, hugging him from behind, while lukewarm water was washing them.
Chishiya heard Niragi sigh with satisfaction, while he relaxed onto Chishiya's arms.
The blonde's hands moved to wash Niragi's black hair, helping him in the process, the militant being too weak to do so himself.
Niragi gladly accepted Chishiya's help, without protesting, which was new.
Chishiya didn't think much more about it, he was just glad he could help without Niragi's annoying remarks. Maybe the fever was to blame, but guess he won't know.
Once they were done, Chishiya carefully guided Niragi out of the shower, wrapping him with a white towel, patting him slowly.
Niragi's eyes were closed, leaning on Chishiya, while being dried.
Soon enough, they were back at the room, with Chishiya dressing Niragi up and then himself.
He guided the sleepy ravenette back to bed, laying him on the warm bed sheets.
"Niragi", Chishiya tried to shook the boy awake.
Niragi's eyes opened in annoyance, but his face soon got softer upon seeing Chishiya.
"Please take these before you sleep. You will feel better", he saw some antipyretics on Chishiya's hand.
He reluctantly took them out of the blonde's hand, sipping them down with some water Chishiya gave him.
Niragi let his back fall on the bed once again, before sensing Chishiya hover over him, touching his forehead and using the thermometer beside them.
After a few seconds, he felt Chishiya's hands going away from his body.
"It seems the shower helped your fever. It has gone down", Chishiya told him in a hushed voice, while letting the thermometer back to the nightstand.
"Do you want some more water?"
"No, thanks", Niragi answered tiredly but satisfied now that his body wasn't radiating that much heat.
The bed dip beside him, before Chishiya's arms found their place on Niragi's waist, bringing him close.
Niragi turned his head so as to rest on Chishiya's chest, his steady heartbeat making him sleepy.
"Shiya", came Niragi's muffled voice.
"Hmm?", Chishiya answered, while playing with Niragi's somewhat wet hair.
"Thank you."
Chishiya chuckled in return, continuing to ruffle his black hair, while drifting to sleep soon enough, following Niragi.