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Tendou wiped his face on his sleeve, the knit soaking up the dappling of sweat rather well. He checked the contents of the plastic bag for the hundredth time and let the bag to drop to his side with a sigh. The walk toward Matsukawa’s dorm room was taking an eternity but perhaps that had more to do with the last text sent to Tendou telling him he could walk straight in.
Their relationship started two months before at the tail end of their third year. Now they were both living in Tokyo at two different campuses that weren’t too far from each other. They were still easing into their relationship but visiting Matsukawa when he was sick seemed like a giant leap forward. The situation was extremely intimate and Tendou never believed he was the nurturing type. But he would try, for Matsukawa’s sake.
At last, he reached Matsukawa’s dorm that he shared with his best friend. Hanamaki would be back from class soon, so until then it would just be the two of them. No pressure. Tendou knocked quickly on the door and waited, pressing his ear up against the door. He heard a cough and a groaned “Whoisit?”
“It’s me, Issei!” He sang out, hoping his tone emitted more confidence than he was feeling.
“Come in,” Matsukawa’s scratchy voice called, followed by more coughs. Tendou winced and slipped inside the room. The curtains were drawn on their little window, but he was familiar enough with the set-up of the room that he didn’t need to see to navigate through it.
He shuffled out of his shoes and crept up to Matsukawa’s bed where a heap of blankets was fashioned like a cocoon around a long body. Tendou craned his head around to view one small hole in the blanket shelter that Matsukawa was using to breathe, Matsukawa’s face just barely visible inside. His hazy eyes met Tendou’s, and the corner of his lips lifted in a weak smile.
“Hey.”
“Hi… I, uh, brought you some medicine and some food that should make you feel better.”
Matsukawa groaned and mumbled some unintelligible words. Tendou’s eyes were starting to adjust to the dark room and he could see the tension across Matsukawa’s forehead and a flush darkening his cheeks.
“Are you sure you should have all those blankets on? It’s probably a million degrees in there.”
“Mmmmm, so cold.”
Tendou snorted and knelt by the bed, slipping his hands in the hole to make it a bit bigger. His fingers stroked across Matsukawa’s cheeks and he winced at the heat pouring off him. He glanced at his bedside table and spotted a water bottle. Giving it a shake, he could tell it was still full and virtually untouched.
“Here, you need to drink more. Can you sit up?” He was answered by a growl or a groan, he wasn’t sure which. Tendou snickered softly and slipped his hand at the base of Matsukawa’s head, helping him raise it enough to drink. His gaze fell to Matsukawa’s lips as he drank, a tendril slipping past and trickling down his jaw. Tendou thought for a moment that he’d instantly caught the fever from his boyfriend, his sweater stifling his burning skin. Regardless, whatever nurturing instincts were residing latent inside Tendou had been yanked to the surface and he couldn’t resist the urge to smother his boyfriend with love.
“Did you want anything to eat?” He asked eagerly, setting the bottle back on the table. Matsukawa winced and shook his head.
“No, I don’t think I could stomach anything. I think I just want to sleep.”
“Oh,” Tendou said, his whole body deflating. “I guess you have everything you need here, I can go and let you rest.”
“You… You’re leaving?”
Tendou blinked at Matsukawa’s vulnerable tone and he leaned back on the bed to see Matsukawa’s distraught face. His eyes were the worst, dark under his eyelids and reaching into Tendou’s soul in a way that made it impossible to refuse.
“No, I can stay if you want me to! I’ll just hang out at your desk and—”
“Can you lay here with me?”
If Tendou had a fever before, now he wondered if spontaneous combustion was actually a thing. How strong was a chest cavity anyway? At the rate his heart was throbbing, it would soon burst out and smack Matsukawa in the face.
“Sure!” He said, coughing when his voice reached a pitch too high for his own eardrums. “Yeah, I can do that! No big deal!”
Matsukawa’s facial expressions were always very subtle, but Tendou was getting the hang of them. He saw the way his face softened, the little quirk of his lips as he shuffled back and lifted the heap of blankets in an invitation. Tendou licked his lips, wondering if, in fact, he was going to die as he started to edge himself onto the mattress.
The door opened and a gasp caused Tendou to freeze in place. Hanamaki stared at them from the doorway, horror written across his face.
“Tendou, noooooooo!” He yelled, slamming the door behind him as raced across the room and latched onto Tendou’s waist. “You have to resist! Don’t let him take you!”
Tendou wheezed as he was yanked back and tried to protest, but a hand grabbed his arm and kept him from moving any further. He was momentarily stunned at the strength of Matsukawa’s grip for being so sick as well as the furious expression on his face that was terrifying… and sexy.
“Let him go, Makki! He’s mine.”
“No! You told us to accept him as one of our own and I have! I won’t let you do this to him!”
“What the hell is going on?!” Tendou screeched, flailing until they both relinquished their hold on him. Hanamaki bent over at his waist, bracing himself on his knees while he caught his breath. Matsukawa growled as he retreated into his blankets until only his eyes were visible from his breathing hole.
“You… need to… resist, Tendou. That,” Hanamaki panted, pointing a finger at the heap, “Is no longer your boyfriend, Matsukawa Issei. That is a parasitic creature that will lure you into his blankets, grab hold of you and soak up every ounce of body heat you have. You will not be able to escape; do you hear me?!”
Tendou glanced from Hanamaki to the blanket cocoon, catching a stream of mutters and possibly the word traitor mixed in with some swears.
“But, he’s sick. Look at him.”
Matsukawa peered out of the blankets and fluttered his eyes. Tendou didn’t even realize he was already moving toward him until Hanamaki held him back. He turned Tendou away from the bed, giving him a hard stare.
“Listen, I’m giving you a fair warning. You should leave while you can and don’t get swayed by those bedroom eyes over there. But I can’t really stop you, so I wash my hands of it if you enter his lair and get sick.”
“Why can’t you stop me?”
“Because I’ve got a date!” Hanamaki chirped, giving Tendou a pat on the arm and began flitting about the room to get ready.
“Satooori,” Matsukawa crooned behind him. Tendou bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder. Matsukawa smiled dreamily at him, lifting the blankets once again and patted the mattress. Tendou smiled back and giggled.
“Oh well, there are worse ways to die.”
“Sap,” Hanamaki said as he continued to change, refusing to watch as Tendou was lured away by the beautiful creature. It was suffocating under the heap of blankets, but it was worth it as Matsukawa sighed against his neck and wrapped his limbs around him.
“Mmmm, so warm.”
“Yeah, that’s one word for it,” Tendou replied dryly. Matsukawa’s chuckles rumbled deep in his chest and he pulled back enough to stare up at Tendou. He reached a hand up and began fluffing it through Tendou’s hair, giggling like a little girl.
“So soft… how is your hair so soft when it sticks up like that? I love it, it’s so bright and fluffy I always want to touch it.”
“Oh, is that so?” Tendou chuckled nervously. A shadow fell over them as Hanamaki smirked down at him.
“By the way, he gets hilariously honest when he’s hopped up on cough medicine. So, you may want to record as much of it as possible. Have fun in your little den of love and germs!”
Without another word, Hanamaki cackled on his way out the door, leaving them completely alone for the rest of the evening. Tendou felt the gravity of the situation in the heavy silence of the room, his nerves rushing back ten-fold. Nimble fingers touched his chin and turned his face back toward Matsukawa who was studying him closely.
“Why are you so nervous? I mean, it’s cute when you’re this. It makes me want to tease you,” He purred, easing his face closer until his lips stroked against Tendou’s ear.
“Ooohhhh please don’t do that, Issei. Not now.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s getting me excited, and you’re sick. You really should rest, I won’t go anywhere.”
“No fun,” Matsukawa huffed, but he obediently pulled back and resumed pasting himself onto Tendou completely. Tendou turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut. It was almost too much for him to handle. Matsukawa was sexy normally, but he wasn’t often so cute. Soon Matsukawa’s breaths evened out, falling into a deep sleep. Tendou peeked down at him and cautiously slipped his fingers through Matsukawa’s curly hair.
“He thinks my hair is soft,” Tendou mumbled, his eyes growing heavy. His heart finally relaxed, soothed by Matsukawa’s deep breaths and the encapsulating heat of the blankets. His final thoughts before falling asleep were thinking that if he did end up sick, there was no better way to do it.