Chapter Text
Flu season was scattered around throughout the whole year, but after a few months, the season slowly went away. That still doesn't stop most students in Shujin Academy to wear masks for precautions, getting sick would be their last thing they want happening to them before exams.
Makoto didn't care much for it, she barely got sick. Even as a child, most of the time she would only get sore throats and that would the limit, she would never get anything worse than that. But she really didn't expect for the flu to actually get her this time.
The brunette felt more drowsy than ever, her head was spinning and the back of her eyes hurt, she felt like she was on air the entire time. Her chest felt much heavier while her sore throat made her struggle to talk properly. She woke up this morning sniffly and every part of her being just wanted to sleep in but she knew better than to skip school. She forced herself to get out of her comfortable bed, so tempted to fall back right in.
I'm exhausted.
Standing up was so much worse, she walked on wobbly legs as if her head was weighing down her entire body. Her nose felt clogged up so she had to take short, shaky breaths from her mouth. She carefully walked on her carpeted floor and to the bathroom, hoping a warm shower would ease her.
And it did, for the time being. She felt so much more refreshed but the pain in her chest still lingered. Wrapped up in a towel, she took two steps at a time from slipping on the bathroom floor before safely reaching the sink. Immediately, she noticed her bloodshot eyes, the white in her eyes were almost going to be the same colour of her ruby orbs. She tried to clear her stubborn throat only to be greeted with an intense wave of coughing a little bit after, she coughed into the sink, spitting the excess saliva.
She held her utmost to not throw up, she felt so drained even from her shower. She sighed.
I can't afford to skip..
She knew it was a reckless decision but it was the harsh reality when you are student council president, if she even bothered to actually skip a day, she would be bombarded with questions from the disciplinary teachers. Harsh words would come out of their mouths if she tried to take a day off, she'd rather avoid that.
Nevertheless, she dried her damp hair with another towel and wore her uniform, shivering tiredly to wear her tights and skirt. Not only she was sick and cold but her entire body felt sore, any movement involving bending down or stretching only worsen her condition. But she managed to get everything on.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to remember where she put her braided hairband but she couldn't, her head felt so hazy. She tapped her chest hard, resulting in more coughing. She tried to swallow, it hurt. She wanted to drink something so badly.
Which reminded her that breakfast awaits her, she could hear her stomach growling in hunger but she didn't dare to thought to swallow anything through her painful throat. She lets out an half annoyed wheeze due to her stuffy nose.
She grabbed her book bag quickly and her hairband that was placed right next to it, immediately wearing it. Usually, Makoto would be moving much faster and would be eating breakfast right about now like any other school day, but she was sick - she didn't give a single care of how slow she was, she just feels fatigued.
Whilst preparing her leftovers from yesterday for breakfast, she begun to wonder if her sister even came back home last night. She glanced at her sister's closed door across the hallway, wondering if her sister was inside or even, if she was still at work. She hoped that she was living a much better day than she was. She's starting to have second thoughts on school, wishing she could skip for the day and secretly thought about Sae taking care of her.
Makoto awaited her breakfast being warmed up in the microwave, hearing the first three beeps, indicating that her meal was ready. She reluctantly got out her plate, wincing as her fingers burned under the hotness of the plate and quickly setting it on the table, hearing a loud thump to it.
She wasn't sure if yesterday's dinner would be appropriate for breakfast but she doesn't have time to make a new one, she doesn't have the energy to do so anyway. Eating was inevitable, she can't leave with an empty stomach and she knew that but the way her throat stung when it made contact with rice she was eating made her lose her appetite.
She forced herself to munch through her entire plate, at least letting her stomach settle despite her displeasure of her sore throat. After leaving the dish in the sink, she made a mental note to clean it up after school but now she had to leave.
Makoto wondered where it all went wrong, maybe she was too careless about her health. She luckily found a seat in the train before anyone took it, she would've fainted if she was standing too long in a moving transport, not to mention the tight squeeze she had to get through from the crowd.
She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes, hoping to at least rest her tired eyes on the way to school. Shibuya was truly awful during it's early work hours, too many people, she felt like she was suffocating with so many bodies pressed against her.
It was in the late November, she can't get sick. She just can't. Makoto thought it would be a burden to her team members and Ren, they were this close to steal their final target's heart; Shido, the one that will save Japan itself. She has to stay alert to her health from now on. She was at least relieved that her sister now had a different change of heart and knew of her thievery operations, she always had the support from her.
Her throat suddenly felt itchy and another wave of violent coughs erupted from her, she faced the other way to cover them. Feeling embarrassed of the number of eyes on her while she was coughing, she could feel the evident of disgust from them. She felt like she was being a disturbance in the crowded subway. Nonetheless, she forced to stop her coughing and waited desperately to get out of there.
Relief ran over her as she finally arrived to her destination in Aoyama Station, she stood up and so did a numerous amount of students did as well. Finally arriving at school, she went straight to the council room. She tried her best to not stand out or wobble climbing up the stairs, her headache was killing her but she had to bare with it.
She covered her coughs into her mouth, gasping as her chest swelled up in pain. She gripped the table, head down to it. She stood like that for a few good seconds before returning to her usual posture, her palm to her head.
She wished Ren was here but that would be asking too much, the boy had done so much for the team already. He almost sacrificed himself for them, for her. Even if he wasn't at school at least Makoto knew that he was safe and sound at Leblanc.
Still, she wouldn't mind just to see him, only if it was for a little while..
Makoto flushed at the thought, her face was already warm to begin with but now she's burning up.
A knock on the door snapped her back to reality, she turned her head to her fellow council members. They bowed respectfully to her. "I apologize to disturb you, senpai--"
"N-No, no. It's quite alright." Makoto brushed off the feeling of coughing in her throat and smiled wryly. "What is it?"
"The disciplinary teachers would like a moment with you in the faculty office." One of them said, opening the door further for her to exit the room. She hastily nodded, leaving her belongings here and walked carefully out of the council room, her headache now felt like someone was hammering her head.
Eventhough she felt like crawling, Makoto forced her legs to move. The walk to the faculty office like like an eternity, even when she was accompanied by her student council members, she walked much slower compared to them and now she was getting even slower.
She froze in her spot, her eyes were getting cloudy and blurry on sight. She could hear the loud white noise in her ears as her entire body felt heavy all of a sudden.
"Miss president, are you alright?" She heard someone said, she tried to grab onto something for stability. She's not feeling so good.
Next thing she knew, her eyesight turn to black. She heard someone yell her name, or something, she can't really remember. She did remember falling down, down, down.