Work Text:
If there was one thing Hitoshi hated most, it was people who didn't like cats. But besides that, getting sick wasn't all that great either. It was only yesterday that Hitoshi fell face first into a lake of freshwater during one of All Might's training lessons. He was drenched from head to toe, and by the end of the day he was already sneezing and holding a box of tissues in his hands.
His parents insisted he stay home and get better, and Hitoshi didn't bother arguing with them because, for once, he didn't mind staying home and sleeping all day. He honestly felt like shit, and he'd rather do nothing than show up to class looking like a walking corpse.
It was barely 12 o'clock when Hitoshi decided to eat the food his mother left him. His parents still had jobs to do, so they had to leave their son for a few hours. Hitoshi didn't mind this since he was already used to taking care of himself, so he got out of bed and headed for the kitchen. He opened the fridge to see what his mother made him when the doorbell rang. Hitoshi's head shot up quickly at the sound.
"The hell? Who would be visiting on a work day?"
When he reached the door and looked through the peephole, he felt his body freeze in place.
He was met with a familiar eye looking right back at him. Then, this person stepped back with a giddy excitement.
"HITOSHI! I HEARD YOU WERE SICK SO I CAME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!!!"
Hitoshi took steps back from the door with his hands covering his ears.
"Goddammit Mei I have a cold, it's not like I'm deaf!"
"Sorry, sorry! I'm just super excited to be at your house again! Now open up already!"
Hitoshi took a good few seconds contemplating whether or not he should open the door. It was a fact that Mei was his girlfriend, they'd actually been going out for a solid six months. However, no amount of time could make Hitoshi accustomed to Mei's enthusiastic surprises, especially after the last time she came over. He'd even made it a rule to only visit when absolutely necessary.
In the end, he opened the door only slightly and peered his head out. Mei stood only a few inches away with a big smile on her face. Hitoshi couldn't believe what he saw.
"Is that a freaking gas mask and protective suit in your hands?"
"You betcha! I may be here to take care of you, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to test out this new equipment I made! Besides, it would be a real pain if I got sick today too."
Hitoshi couldn't help but let out a laugh at this. Only Mei was this weird enough to do something like this. But his laugh was short-lived as it was quickly followed by coughs. Mei quickly responded by putting on her gear.
"Hito-chan, go back to bed. You shouldn't even be up right now, so let me look after you!" Her voice was muffled by the mask.
Mei then made her way inside since Hitoshi was still in a coughing fit and was unable to stop her. She brought her hands to her boyfriend's shoulders and began pushing him in the direction of his room.
"I'll prepare some food and bring it to you in bed, so relax a little."
Hitoshi closed his eyes in defeat and brushed Mei's hands off quickly but gently.
"Fine, fine. But as soon as you start making a mess, I'm sending you home."
"You're never forgiving me for last time are you? Well no matter! You have yet to see my truly caring side and I guarantee it will surprise you."
"I hope you mean a good surprise since lately I've been getting bad ones," Hitoshi mumbled.
When he laid back onto his bed, he heard Mei opening the cabinets and looking through the pots and pans. Was she seriously going to cook something for him? Hitoshi could only pray that her food was as good as her inventions. However, he doubted that prayer was heard when the loud sound of pots hitting the floor reached his ears. He retreated under his blanket and groaned.
"What have I agreed to..."
.
.
.
.
It was an hour and a half later when Mei finally came into Hitoshi's room. He had gotten so hungry that he took a nap to ease the grumbling, but he woke up immediately at the sound of his door opening. Hitoshi sat up and saw the big tray Mei was holding. She put the meal down on his lap and took a step back.
"Well, it was much harder than I thought cooking with a suit like this. I promise to go out and buy more ingredients since I wasted so many," she laughed nervously.
Hitoshi looked at the meal before him and recognized half of it was what his mother left him. The other half was what Mei had cooked for him. He smirked.
"Must've been nice to have half the work already done for you," he teased.
"My god Hitoshi, zip it! I'm not the best at cooking, but I tried my hardest!"
"Alright, sorry. It's just funny seeing you pout."
"You're lucky I'm wearing a suit right now you know because I don't like people making fun of my abilities." Mei huffed.
"You're right, I don't want you to go and bite me again."
One of the many things that Hitoshi learned in his six months of dating, was that Mei had a habit of biting him whenever he got her mad. The first time it happened was no doubt very shocking, and even now it still caught him off guard. In the first few weeks of dating, Hitoshi had made fun of some of her more ridiculous inventions and earned a sharp bite on the finger when he poked at her forehead. After that, he learned to keep his mouth shut whenever he was at the studio.
"Okay, now let's try this shall we?"
Hitoshi picked up a spoon and got a good amount of the broth his mother made. He grinned slightly when he saw Mei look a little annoyed he didn't try her food first. He took another spoonful before letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Yup, the soup's just as flavorful as I remember."
"You're sick aren't you? Flavor shouldn't even be registering to you." Mei's hands were now at her hips.
"True," Hitoshi admitted. "but I still know it's good."
"Well then try my stew and tell me what you think!"
Mei waited impatiently as Hitoshi eyed the beef stew. Beef stew wasn't even something to eat when a person was sick. When he saw it, Hitoshi was officially convinced Mei had never gotten sick in her life, or she had forgotten everything involving curing the common cold. But nonetheless, he took a bite.
To his surprise, it was pretty spicy, even for his bland taste buds.
"Why all the spice?" he asked as he reached for his ginger tea.
"It's to make your nose runny so it isn't stuffy anymore!" Mei explained with pride.
"Ah, I see. I commend you for at least knowing that little piece of information."
"Hitoshi, I know sarcasm when hear it," Mei started pouting again.
'She looks so cute' he thought.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. But that's besides the point, your stew is delicious Mei. Thank you for making it for me."
Hitoshi saw the obvious blush on his girlfriend's face and smiled as he took another sip of his tea. If he was being completely honest, the stew was still far from being called 'delicious,' in fact, Hitoshi was sure he managed to eat it because he was sick and couldn't fully taste it. But he'd never tell Mei that, because he loved seeing her flustered.
"Hmph, I told you I'd surprise you! Now, you can totally count on me whenever you feel under the weather Hito-chan!"
"I suppose can," Hitoshi said as he yawned.
"Getting sleepy? Alright, just finish what you can and I'll leave the rest in the fridge so you can have it later."
"You leaving soon?"
"Yup! I told my parents I felt under the weather too so I could visit you. If they don't see me in my room in an hour, I'll get in trouble for sure!"
"You dummy. How did you find out I was sick anyway?"
"Oh, your mom told me."
The room was silent for a few moments.
"She.. what??"
"Yeah, your mom texted me that you had a cold and that I wouldn't see you at school today. Luckily for her, I came to nurse you while she was away at work!"
Hitoshi rubbed his temples from an upcoming headache. When the hell did his mother and girlfriend trade numbers? They've probably been texting about a lot of embarrassing things behind his back, and it was painful for Hitoshi to think about what those things were.
"Well then I'm glad you're already close with my family, but you should really tell me about stuff like that Mei."
"But if I did, you would've deleted her number for sure," Mei grinned."She told me a lot of interesting things you know."
"Mei, you know I can just make you delete it with my quirk."
"You could, but I know you won't. My boyfriend's too much of a softie for that."
"Mei, hand over your cell phone."
Caught off guard, Hitoshi made his girlfriend drop her phone in his hand. He released her after that, and she was more than surprised.
"Hitoshi what the hell?!"
"You had your guard down," he said simply. "It seems you had too much faith in me," he smirked.
But what Hitoshi wasn't expecting, was to be tackled on his own bed. Clearly, Mei still had the upper hand when it came to surprising others. Struggling to put the tray of food somewhere safe, he kept the phone out of Mei's reach for as long as possible.
""I'm not letting you delete the number Hitoshi!!"
But as both teens struggled, an idea popped into Hitoshi's head. He grinned slyly, and wrapped his arms around Mei to pull her beneath him. She was held down by her shoulders and she looked at him in confusion.
"Alright. I'll give you back your cellphone on one condition."
"And what would that be?" Mei eyed him suspiciously.
Hitoshi pulled back Mei's mask and gave her a kiss on the lips. It was only for a moment, and he pulled back the mask when he was done. He held in a chuckle when he saw his girlfriend's face. She was shocked alright, and began hitting Hitoshi softly on the chest.
"You sneaky bastard," she said. "NOW I'M GONNA GET SICK TOO!!"
She was mortified, and Hitoshi finally burst into full on laughter. Mei's punches got harder as she fully sat up and whined.
"I can't afford to be sick! My precious babies need me!"
"Well look on the bright side, now you didn't lie to your parents about feeling under the weather," he snorted as he tossed back the phone.
Mei held her cellphone tightly with her face scrunched in annoyance. But seeing Hitoshi look like he was having the time of his life in front of her, she sighed deeply instead.
"You're a real jerk you know."
She took off her gas mask completely and yanked Hitoshi in for another kiss. She mentally noted to ease on the spice next time as the beef stew flavor was still prominent in her boyfriend's mouth.
This, Hitoshi saw coming, and he was more than happy to kiss back. Both spent about a minute kissing each other until Mei pulled away.
"Alright, I really have to head home now, and you need some rest Hitoshi. I'll text you tomorrow when you feel better."
"Text?"
"Yup, since I believe I'll be staying home tomorrow for catching a cold. I hope you're proud of yourself by the way," she said as sarcastically as possible.
Hitoshi responded by patting her head and falling back onto his bed.
"Alright then. I hope you get well quickly."
"Sometimes I wonder if you're even capable of caring about things other than your heroics," Mei huffed.
"I could say the same thing about you and your inventions, but I know better. I appreciate you coming to visit me even if it was unnecessary. I love you Mei."
The phrase 'I love you' was a rare thing for Hitoshi to say. He usually used it after really bad arguments or especially romantic moments. Right now was neither of these, and they both noticed.
"Just sleep already idiot. You're getting delirious on me." Mei whispered.
"I wonder about that," he whispered back.
Hitoshi did sleep after that though. Mei left a few minutes after putting away the already cold food.
He woke up again when his parents came home that night. He noticed that he had a new message too. Seeing the contact name, he opened the message without hesitation.
From: Kitten
'DAMMIT HITOSHI I SNEEZED AND DROPPED ONE OF MY PRECIOUS BABIES!! NOW I CAN'T EVEN WALK TO THE STUDIO BECAUSE OF THIS COLD!! ! >:('
Hitoshi chuckled quietly to himself. Yup, he was definitely feeling better alright.