Work Text:
“Rin-rin, wake up!”
The first thing Rinko sees when she wakes up is Ako’s face, mere inches from her own, eyes wide below furrowed brows. She groans softly as her vision clears, the fluorescent lights making her head pound like a nail being hammered into her skull. “Ako... chan...?”
“Ah, you’re awake! I came here to pick you up so we could go to the internet cafe but– it started snowing really bad– and you were here w-with your head down on the desk– it really scared me...” Most of the words get lost somewhere between Ako’s panicked stammering and the ringing of Rinko’s ears.
“I-it’s... snowing?” Rinko grimaces, still filling herself in on the situation. Her body aches in a multitude of places; a good amount in her stomach and head, which she recalls having been unsettled & sore all day, but mainly in her legs, which are locked and stiff. She realizes with horror that she had fallen asleep standing up, with her head on the library receptionist’s desk.
As she straightens her back gingerly, the cool light from the window opposite her reveals that it is, in fact, snowing, and pretty heavily too. Rinko shivers, the library thermostat not enough to combat the goosebumps forming on her arms. If only she knew fire magic, one of the many powers her Neo Fantasy character holds above herself, now.
“Yeah, it started snowing when I was walking here. Sis says to be careful, ‘cause it looks like a blizzard is moving in, but– Rin-rin, are you alright?”
“Ohhhh...” Rinko whimpers suddenly, clutching a hand to her stomach, which had slowly begun aching more and more each time she shifted her position, eventually spiraling to an unbearable agony. “Ako-chan... I think I need to... g-go home...”
Ako takes Rinko’s wrist gently, pulling her slightly closer. “Does your tummy hurt?”
Tears prick at the corners of Rinko’s eyes as she nods, squeezing them shut to avoid the embarrassment of breaking down in front of Ako, whose expression is already far from relaxed.
“H-here,” Ako stutters, leading her friend over to one of the study tables so she can sit down. As an extra precaution, she drags the wastebasket with them too, placing it squarely on Rinko’s lap for her to hold. Next, she presses a gentle hand to the miserable girl’s forehead. “You’re really warm, Rin-rin... I’ll call sis, okay?”
Rinko watches Ako with half-lidded eyes, frightened by the abrupt disappearance of her playful, careless demeanor. She now paces a small section of the room back and forth, desperately hoping her sister isn’t too busy to answer her call.
With all the strength she can muster, Rinko closes her eyes and locks her jaw, willing herself to keep quiet and unobtrusive for just a moment. She doesn’t quite remember when she started feeling so sick– it didn’t really happen at a set pace. She remembers waking up feeling a little unsteady, at the very least. And though her memory from before she fell asleep is blurry, she assumes that feeling must’ve gotten worse throughout the day, until eventually the dizziness and migraine became unmanageable, which is likely what prompted her to pass out on the desk.
Across from her, she hears the constant dial tone cease, followed by a relieved sigh. “Sis!”
A loud vocalization of what Rinko hopes to be reassurance is audible from the receiver, followed by a muffled question.
“No, no, I’m fine! I went to get Rin-rin from her school, and it started snowing on the way there...”
At this point, Rinko can only guess as to what Tomoe is saying on the other line without straining herself to hear, which is an activity her pulsing headache doesn’t care for, to say the least.
“We were going to head to the internet cafe, but Rin-rin started feeling sick, so–“
She can barely make out a hushed expression of understanding and worry.
“Yeah, she has a fever. Didn’t you say Moca-chin came down with something like that earlier?”
More muffled speaking.
“Right. I think the subways are all closed down by now, though...”
An exclamation of some kind.
“Alright! Thanks, sis.”
Ako locks her phone quietly before putting it in her pocket and heading back towards the table where Rinko sits. “Hey, Rin-rin... Sis says she’ll be here to pick us up soon, okay? You can stay the night at my house.”
Rinko’s eyes flutter open a bit, uncloaking the same obnoxiously bright room as before. To say that her head is spinning would be an understatement. “Ako-chan...”
Suddenly, her stomach flips, and she hiccups, instinctively leaning forwards towards the wastebasket. Ako rushes to her side seconds before she starts heaving, immediately entangling her hands in her hair in a mostly futile attempt to pull it away from her face. Rendering this useless, she instead tucks the bundle of fluff to one side, using one now-free hand to rub Rinko’s back gently.
“It’s okay...” Ako hums uncertainly, leaving her friend enough room to lift her head again when she’s ready. “Do you feel any better?”
Rinko spits a small mouthful of bile (she hadn’t really had an appetite for lunch earlier, so there’s luckily not much to empty from her stomach) into the wastebasket, the room whirling in dizzying circles around her. “A little...”
“Here.” Ako digs around in her backpack a little to find her handkerchief. With a caring smile, she extends it to Rinko, letting her wipe the remaining spit and vomit from the corners of her mouth. “You can have some of my water, too.”
“No...” Rinko shakes her head. “I don’t want to... make you sick too...”
“It’s fine. I don’t really care about that, as long as it makes you feel better.” She holds her open water bottle to Rinko’s lips, under the assumption that she would fight back if anything other than the brute force of a best friend was used. Luckily, Rinko doesn’t seem much in the mood to protest, and accepts the bottle to take a few cautious sips from.
Once she’s downed all the water she can manage, Rinko returns the bottle to Ako and curls her knees up to her chest, eyes shut in a desperate attempt to get some rest. The ever-diligent Ako smiles, pulling up a chair to sit beside her.
“Rin-rin,” she mutters, tugging on Rinko’s sleeve. ”Come here.”
Gingerly, she takes Rinko by the shoulders and tilts her to one side, letting her rest her head comfortably on her lap. Rinko’s eyes drift open lazily, the stiff fabric of Ako’s skirt cool against her flushed cheeks. Ako brushes a gentle hand along her face.
“Big sis is gonna be here soon. You can hold on until then, right?”
“Uuuu...” Rinko groans, turning to bury the side of her face in Ako’s thigh. Giving an understanding head tilt, Ako smooths her hair, working out a few sweat-drenched tangles near the top of her head.
“I’ll brew you some health potions when we get home, if you want.”
After many years of knowing Ako and taking care of each other throughout various illnesses, Rinko already knows that the “health potions” she refers to are just a bowl of chicken ramen and a glass of warm milk. That’s not to say that she doesn’t appreciate it, though; the amount of effort her best friend puts into it is enough of a cure. Plus, Ako is nearly an expert at making these particular potions at this point– countless hours of gaming and the exhaustion that follows causing her to grow accustomed to warm, simple food.
“T-that sounds nice...”
“Hmm... What else?” Ako absentmindedly strokes Rinko’s hair as she glances around the dark, mostly empty library. “We could play NFO together! I’ve been working on my awesome combos, to make every enemy shake in fear of the great Demon Princess Ako-chan!”
Noticing Rinko’s shivering hands, however, her eyes twisted shut in a feverish grimace, Ako quickly retracts her earlier suggestion. “O-or, if you aren’t feeling good enough to play games, we could watch some streams together until you fall asleep...”
“M-mhm...” Rinko hums sleepily. She looks younger all of a sudden, curled up on the wooden chair with her arms wrapped around her waist, her face somehow both pale and flushed bright red. Chest constricting in worry, Ako traces a hand along her cheek, gently wiping away a few drops of sweat. By muscle memory alone, the half-asleep Rinko leans into her touch with a quiet sigh. They stay there like that for a second, tranquil and (mostly) warm.
Until suddenly, it clicks in Ako’s head that something else should be happening at the moment.
Having nearly forgotten her surroundings, she glances around; an expanse of uniform glass tables, bookshelves, and club flyers before her. The window to her right indicates that the snow hadn’t stopped in the time they’ve been there, the flurries perhaps growing even worse over time. She lets her head snap back to the front of the room again, the clock on the opposite wall reading a time far too late for them to still be there– 7:42.
Shouldn’t Tomoe be here by now?
When Ako checks her phone, the sinking feeling in her stomach indicates something between relief and utter embarrassment.
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:25 PM]: Ako-chan, I’m outside!
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:32 PM]: Hello???
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:36 PM]: I’m seriously starting to get worried! Where are you guys?!
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:40 PM]: Ako-chan???!!!!
Frantically, Ako formulates a reply, her hands a barely-visible blur on the keyboard.
DemonPrincessAko [7:42 PM]: aaaaahhh i’m so sorry!!!!!! i got so distracted helping rinrin out that i totally forgot to check my phone!!!!
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:43 PM]: Thank god! I was really getting scared for you guys.
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:43 PM]: How is Rinko doing?
DemonPrincessAko [7:43 PM]: she’s a little better now!! she fell asleep in my lap, i think whatever curse she got took away a lot of her hp........ i’m trying not to wake her right now
TaikoMasterTomoe [7:44 PM]: Ahaha, you really are a good friend, huh? We can make her some soup when we get home, that’ll definitely make her feel better.
DemonPrincessAko [7:44 PM]: sounds good!!!! we’ll meet you outside in a few minutes Ψ(☆ｗ☆)Ψ
Ako locks the phone, sliding it back into her uniform pocket before shaking Rinko’s shoulder delicately. The sleeping girl rolls over with a quiet protest, her eyes struggling to stay open under heavy lids.
“Rin-rin, big sis is outside,” Ako whispers, slinging her schoolbag over one shoulder.
Eyes glazed, Rinko lifts her head and begins collecting her things. This proves mostly quick and easy, though she does struggle with making her way over to the receptionist’s desk, her legs far too weakened by illness to walk that far on her own.
“What are you doing, Rin-rin?”
“A-as the library assistant... I’m supposed to lock up... if I’m the last one out...” She extends a hand to demonstrate, pointing at a keyring hanging from a small hook on the wall behind the desk.
Ako scans Rinko up and down, taking note of the way her knees buckle slightly, the way she rests too much of her weight on a hand pressed to the table next to her. “I’ll get it.”
More energized now than before, she bounces over to the aforementioned hook and retrieves the key before returning to her friend. She offers her right arm with a grin, letting Rinko cling to her arm as she staggers through the door, which locks with a quiet click when Ako turns the key.
“Oh... I can take that...” Rinko suggests in a small voice, letting Ako place the key in her hand before pocketing it.
Together, the two slowly descend the stairs, Rinko hanging onto Ako’s shoulder for dear life. The main doors appear ahead of them moments later, revealing through the glass a landscape of white in every direction, only marked by a small red car, from which a faint outline of her sister can be made out.
Ako turns her head briefly, flashing a large smile at Rinko. “C’mon, Rin-rin!”
Rinko smiles back.