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Max Lobo is tough, incredibly tough. He was a solider as a young man and had to deal with the hell of war along with his best friend being drugged with Banana Fish and massacring his friends. He became a journalist and got himself thrown in jail and subjected to mob violence whilst inside. He had to keep an eye on Ash Lynx, but was unable to stop the boy being beaten and raped only a few hundred metres away from him. And now he has been dragged into a cross country drive to Los Angeles with two injured teenagers in the back of the van, violence behind him and violence sure to be in front of him.
Shunichi knows all of this, and sometimes it makes him want to cry. He feels so sorry for poor Ash, and of course it hurts to see his Ei-chan getting dragged into this awful situation, and Shorter’s injury could have killed him, but what Max has been through often gets pushed aside. Long before this all started, horrible things happened to the man he loves, and he wants to save Max from this as much as he wants to save the teens. He just wants them all to have a happy life.
So when Shunichi gets out of the drivers’ seat to change shifts with Max and walks around the back of the van, the moment he notices something is wrong makes his chest clench. Eiji and Ash are asleep, cuddled up together and looking very sweet (and Shorter is still nodding off in the passenger seat), whilst Max lies beside them. But when Shunichi calls Max’s name, the boys stir, but Max simply groans.
“Max?” he says again, getting into the van and kneeling beside his partner.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Ash says, rubbing his eyes.
“Max won’t wake up,” Shunichi says.
“Lobo-san?” Eiji mumbles.
Shunichi frowns and gives Max’s shoulder a shake. Max groans again, screwing his eyes up. This close, Shunichi sees the flush on Max’s cheeks, and it hits him. Is Max… sick?
“Max, wake the fuck up,” Ash says, shoving his friend roughly.
“Ash, don’t do that,” Shunichi says, before realising he sounded just like a father. “Max?”
Finally, Max stirs. His eyelids flicker open and he groans, staring up at Shunichi, Eiji and Ash. His eyes are bleary, and Shunichi’s theory is confirmed.
“Are you okay?” Eiji says.
“He looks pretty shit,” Ash says, a slight smirk twitching on his lips.
“Ash!” Eiji says, eyebrows raised as he tells off his boyfriend for swearing.
Shunichi would smile, but he’s too worried about Max.
“Uh…” Max mumbles, a trembling arm reaching up to rub his eyes. “Uh… fuck… my head hurts.”
Shunichi reaches out and rests a hand on Max’s forehead, and his skin burns beneath his fingers. “You have a fever.”
“Yeah, looks like you’re trying to fight off some bug. As long as you’re better by the time we get to LA, stay in bed and try to rest, okay?” Ash says, actually letting his care for Max show through for a second.
Max smiles weakly. “Thanks.”
“And I assume you wanna look after him,” Ash says to Shunichi, smirking. Ash has been like this ever since he discovered Max and Shunichi are dating, a slightly teasing supporter of their relationship.
“Well… if he will let me.”
Max looks up at Shunichi with bleary eyes, and even though he’s tough and can do things on his own, and even though Ash and Eiji are here, Max groans and mumbles, “Please, Shunichi… stay with me a while.”
And as Ash and Eiji get out of the van to go and sit in the front with Shorter (“I’ll make Shorter drive,” Ash says, and Eiji smiles), Shunichi lies down beside Max and shuffles closer to his feverish partner.
“Are you feeling okay?” he says.
“Not really,” Max says. “But… helps with you here.”
When they both asleep, Shunichi’s arms are around Max, holding him close. And when Max awakes he feels a whole lot better, but doesn’t want to move from Shunichi’s comforting embrace.