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Kagami wakes up to a sticky and too hot for comfort Aomine hugging him from behind during the first weekend of the summer. He could feel his boyfriend’s hot breath on his neck and the back of his shirt stuck to him like how Kise stuck to Kuroko whenever they had a friendly game together with Kaijo.
He groggily pries himself from the sweaty boy, irritably eyeing the air conditioning unit to see if it broke in the middle of the night and saw that it was still working and on full blast. Rubbing the sleep off his eyes, Kagami pulls the blanket off his legs, only to realize that his and Aomine’s were tangled together in a mess of limbs and damp sheets.
Why is everything… wet?
Kagami tugs his shirt off and makes a face at the enormous wet spot before noticing Aomine blindly reaching for him.
“Kagami,” comes his murmuring, voice oddly deeper and raspier than usual. “Come back, it’s cold.”
“It's six in the morning and we still have practice later, so get up already.” Kagami sighs, hand reaching for Aomine's short, dark locks. The moment he touches his forehead, Kagami pauses.
“You're all hot,” he says as he wipes the sweat off Aomine's forehead and temples with the shirt he held.
“If you want morning sex, all you need to do is ask.” Aomine laughs, or rather, attempts to; his voice sounds scratchy and forced for some reason and that set warning bells off in Kagami's head.
“Aomine, you're sick.”
The other boy frowns. “Well, gee, Kagami. All I wanted was sex.”
Snorting, Kagami stands up and starts rummaging around his closet. “You know what I mean, idiot. I'll tell Momoi you can't attend practice today.”
He pulls out his favorite, long sleeved shirt and a pair of soft cotton pajamas before setting them down on the foot of the bed. “Get up, I'll give you a towel bath.”
Aomine's face sours. “I feel too tired to get up. Can't you bathe me like this?”
“No. Just sit up.”
“But I'm too tired. ”
The redhead huffs in annoyance but walks over to the side of the bed. He tugs Aomine's sweat-stained shirt and puts it aside before drying his back with a small towel. He then takes some pillows and puts it behind him, propping him up. Kagami patiently and gently pats Aomine's body with a towel wet with cool water, murmuring soothing words at the other's whines and complaints.
“Throat hurts.” Aomine mumbles, voice rough and scratchy. Carefully, Kagami dresses him up as he replies, “Keep quiet then. Don't strain your voice. I’ll get you some water.”
Kagami kisses his forehead before tucking him back into bed and rushing over to the kitchen for some water and medicine.
He watches Kagami hustle and bustle around him, brows knitted together in worry even though his eyes look dazed and sleepy. Aomine barely feels the discomfort one usually does as he lay there in a puddle of his own sweat, eyes following Kagami's every move. Well, not really, he's really really uncomfortable and he makes sure the other knows it.
He’s given a towel bath, comforted, taken cared of by the redhead very, very gentle hands, partnered with soft murmurs that made him feel safe and loved.
The other boy leaves the room to get him some water and he sighs.
I've really hit the jackpot, haven't I?
“Kagami.” Aomine calls out, his voice sounding unlike his own, as the other boy comes back with a drink of water for him.
“Don't talk. I thought you said your throat hurts?” Kagami sits down beside him and props him up before handing him two bottles of water. One bottle was slightly cold whole the other was room temperature.
“I heard from somewhere that it wasn't true that you shouldn't drink cold water if you had a sore throat. Plus you’re feverish and it always feels nice to drink cold water when you're sick,” he says, frowning slightly at the bottle. “But I'm not sure what you usually drink when you have a sore throat so I got you normal water too. Which do you want?”
Aomine takes both bottles of water from Kagami. He cracks open a bottle, the one at room temperature, and proceeds to chug it down. Kagami's very thoughtful, he thinks. Placing the bottle on his forehead, Aomine lies back onto the bed and pulls the covers up. He notices Kagami watching him.
“Do you want a towel for your forehead?” the redhead asks him.
“Nah. I'm good.”
“You gonna nap? You haven't eaten yet and haven't taken any meds yet.”
He frowns. “But I'm sleepy. I don't think I can eat anything, even if it's your cooking.”
Kagami's cheeks turn a little pink at the nonchalant compliment. “Just a small bowl of porridge? You need to eat before you can drink some medicine.”
The other's worrying tone convinces him. “Fine. Just a little bowl, okay?”
Kagami's brows unfurrow and he smiles. “Yeah. Don't doze off on me,” he says as he stands up, taking the empty water bottle with him.
Wait, I was supposed to tell him something.
“Kagami.” His voice cracks, the water's soothing effect on both the feel of his throat and sound of his voice disappearing.
Kagami turns to him. “Yeah?”
He holds Kagami's stare for a moment before he feels his face getting warmer. Aomine knows this wasn't because he was feverish and that this was because… he feels so loved whenever he's with Kagami and he wants the other to feel the way he does too.
Embarrassedly, Aomine pulls the sheets above his head and he hears Kagami utter a surprised sound. Before Kagami could say or ask anything, Aomine says, with a hoarse voice under the blankets, “I love you.”
Aomine could practically feel Kagami staring at him in shock. He knows Kagami knows that he loves him, or that he liked him, but Aomine rarely voiced these affections out. He'd rather show his love over saying it out loud but… for some reason, there was something about telling Kagami he loved him that made him feel good.
He hears the other walk up to him and Aomine clings to the blanket over him. He expects Kagami to tug it off and ask him what it was he just said but all the other did was press a kiss on the top of his head through the covers.
“I love you too. So you better get well soon.” he hears Kagami murmur in his soft voice than never fails to give Aomine butterflies in his stomach.
As Kagami's footsteps disappear from the room, he lowers down the blanket and sighs. Kagami's the only person who could ever feel this way. And Aomine finds himself not minding that fact.