Work Text:
Haru coughs, his breathing wheezing. He needs to get out of bed… but he can barely keep his eyes open. His eyelids flickering, Haru stares up at the ceiling of his bedroom, so exhausted he’s certain he’ll fall back asleep the moment he stops forcing himself to stay awake. He heaves in another wheezing breath, wincing at the pain that flares through his chest.
Ugh, he feels awful. But he can’t be sick; he’s got university today and cheerleading practise this evening. He can’t just skip class and let the Breakers down because his chest feels gross. But still… when Haruki tries to shift into a sitting position, he ends up having a coughing fit. Haru hacks with coughs, falling back onto his elbow as he clamps a hand over his mouth.
When he went to bed with a sore chest and a light cough, he didn’t expect to wake up feeling like this, his lungs heavy with phlegm and his breaths wheezing with every flex of his diaphragm. It takes nearly a minute for the coughing to end, and Haru is left wheezing and trying to catch his breath.
He flops back onto his back, letting his eyes close. Sweat prickles on his forehead, and Haru wipes his face with a shaky hand. Just what is he going to do?
“Hey, Haruki?”
Haru jumps when his sister calls his name, knocking on his bedroom door. His breathing hisses disturbingly, but he manages to call, “C-Come in.”
Haruko sticks her head into the room, her nose wrinkling at the sight of him. “Whoa, you look awful. Are you sick?”
“Think so,” Haru mumbles, propping himself on his elbow again. He coughs, his mouth filling with phlegm. “It’s… I feel really bad, sis.”
“You look it,” Haruko says, stepping further into his room. “Look, if you can’t get up, just stay put. No one’ll want to catch anything off of you anyway.”
“Thanks,” he says, but he knows what she means.
His chest burns, and Haru gasps.
“Are you okay?”
He nods, but ends up coughing again. He can’t remember the last time he had a cough like this.
“Just… stay there,” Haruko says, and to see his Judo pro of a sister so… worried is kind of disturbing. “I’ll get Mom. Just… take it easy, okay.”
Haru spits out a mouthful of weird-coloured phlegm, forcing a smile that’s more of a grimace. After all of their relationship problem with Haru quitting Judo and becoming a cheerleader, he and his sister made up and they’re close again. So he knows she’s being genuine and that she’s really worried about him.
“Okay.”
---
A wet cloth resting on his forehead, Haru drifts in and out of sleep. His skin burns, and he’d feel self conscious to be lying there with just his underpants on if he didn’t feel so dreadful. His parents and Haruko keep drifting in and out of the room, but he’s lost track of the time. All he knows is that he burns with a fever and his lungs are heavy with mucus and Haru keeps hovering on the edges of sleep.
When Mom came and checked him over this morning, she said she thought he had a nasty chest infection, and she’d take him to see a doctor if things don’t get better in a few days. Still, at least he’s been able to stay in bed all day.
Although… he still feels bad about bailing on cheerleading practise. Not that he could go even if he wanted to.
A knock on his bedroom startles Haru out of a bleary half-sleep, and he opens his eyes. “Y-Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Kazu calls. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Haru mumbles, coughing.
The door opens and his best friend walks into the room. Kazu smiles a sympathetic smile, waggling his fingers. “Hey, man. How’re you feeling?”
“Pretty bad.”
“Yeah, you look it. Here, I brought you a copy of my notes from this morning’s lecture,” Kazu says, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Haru smiles weakly. “Thanks.”
“Hey, is there anything I can get you?”
“Uh… some m-more water, maybe,” Haru says, coughing.
“Sure thing,” Kazu says, smiling at Haru.
And even though he feels utterly dreadful, his best friend’s cheerful smile never fails to make him feel a little bit better.