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“I hate moving,” Arakita grumbles under his breath. He rests his head in his arms. He had slept in a weird position last night and woke up with his entire body aching.
“Are you okay?” Toudou places his hand on Arakita’s back, rubbing soothingly.
“I’m fine. My whole body’s just aching right now.” Arakita sits upright and continues to eat. Shinkai and Fukutomi are looking at him from across the table, eyes filled with concern for their friend. He notices that. “It’s nothing.” He says to reassure them.
“We have practice today, Yasutomo. Maybe you should go straight back to the dorms after classes today.” Shinkai advises. Toudou nods in agreement.
“I’m going to practice! It’s not like it’s that bad!” Arakita rolls his eyes “I’ll fall behind if I don’t!”
“It’s just for today!” Toudou says, his hand stopping. “What if you get hurt?”
“Shut up!” Arakita snarls. “ I can handle it!”
“Taking care of yourself is an important part of training, too, you should know that!”
“He’s right, Arakita,” Fukutomi butts in.
“Fuku-chan!” Arakita protests. “ I can still practice, you know that!”
“You can’t even walk properly!” Toudou points out.
“I can still move! It’s not that bad, Pachi…” Toudou huffs, crossing his arms.
“Shinkai, convince him!” Toudou demands. Shinkai sighs with a smile.
“You should listen to Jinpachi. You know he’s right.” Toudou and Fukutomi nod. “You’re not gonna risk getting bedridden because of the pain, right? That’d be … Super uncool, Yasutomo.”
“Tch. I can risk it.” Shinkai kicks Arakita’s leg under the table. “Ow! You bastard!” Arakita does the same to him. Toudou sees that Shinkai wouldn’t be able to convince his stubborn boyfriend, so he turns to the last best option he’s got.
“Fuku! Tell him not to go to practice today!” Fukutomi nods and does as he’s told.
“Rest, Arakita, so you can become stronger!” Fukutomi says. “You’re not in top condition today. You should listen to what Toudou says.” Arakita frowns.
“He’s right, Jinpachi is, too… You can’t practice when you’re obviously not in top condition today, Yasutomo.” Shinkai frowns, too, concern is seen on his face.
“Toudou can’t tell me what to do…” Arakita crosses his arms, leaning back on his chair. “I ain’t skipping practice! I can take care of myself, so shut the fuck up already!” Shinkai kicks him again, Fukutomi gives him a stern look, and Toudou pouts at him.
“C’mon, Arakita…” Toudou nudges him with his own shoulder, Arakita does the same, but harsher. Not enough to hurt the climber, but enough to make him fuck off.
“Stop worrying about me! It’s fucking annoying!” Toudou glares daggers at him.
“Fine! Don’t come crying to me after practice saying that everything hurts, alright?!”
“Whatever! Just leave me the fuck alone, will you?!”
----
Later that afternoon, Arakita stumbles out of the clubroom. His entire body hurts like hell. His legs hurt even more than they did earlier that morning. At this point, he’s clinging to Toudou for dear life.
“See? What did I tell you? You can barely walk, Yasu-chan!” Arakita can practically hear the ‘I told you so!’ in Toudou’s tone.
“Shut the hell up and help me walk, you dumbass.” Toudou sighs, wrapping an arm around Arakita’s waist. Arakita wraps his arm around Toudou’s shoulders. They wave goodbye to the team and start heading toward the dorms.
“Sometimes you’re just so impossible , Arakita!” Toudou complains. “You really don’t know when to take a break sometimes, you know?” Arakita clicks his tongue.
“Shut up! You’re like that, too, you hypocrite!” Toudou scoffs, an obvious frown of concern on his face. Arakita notices the change of atmosphere between the two of them. When Toudou speaks up again, it’s gentle, concerned.
“Promise me you won’t go to practice tomorrow if your body still hurts?” His voice is dripping with worry. Guilt pools in Arakita’s stomach, his heart twists painfully. Toudou worries too much.
“I promise. I’m sorry… For making you worry, Pachi.” Toudou smiles at that, shaking his head.
“It’s okay. You really need to take care of yourself, Yasutomo.”
“I know.” Arakita sighs. Toudou tells him to stop feeling bad.
“Wanna stay over in my room tonight?” Toudou asks as they’re nearing the dorms.
“Mm, sure,” Arakita swears he sees excitement in Toudou’s blue eyes. It makes him feel lighter and warmer inside.
“You’re smiling!” Toudou beams at him. “You should smile more! You look handsome when you do!”
“Shut up, you dork! I hate you.” But he’s still smiling fondly at his boyfriend.
“Liar! You love me and you know it!” Arakita jabs his elbow at Toudou’s ribs. Toudou only laughs.
“Whatever.” Arakita mumbles.
They arrive at Jinpachi’s room. Arakita lets himself in, dropping his bag and stripping his uniform off until he’s left with his boxers. He crashes face-first onto Toudou’s bed. He relaxes at the comforting smell of his boyfriend.
“See? You’re so tired! Do you need a massage?” Toudou changes into a shirt he stole from Arakita’s closet and some shorts. Arakita hums in response to Toudou’s question. “Is that a yes or a no?”
“I don’t need a massage…” Arakita mumbles. He feels something cold press against his arm. He sits up to find out what it is. He sees a can of Bepsi in Toudou’s hand. He gladly accepts it. Toudou sits next to him on the bed, resting his head on Arakita’s shoulder.
“I don’t get why you sleep in weird positions. If it makes your body hurt, then don’t sleep in that position.” Arakita sips at his Bepsi.
“It’s not like I can control what position I sleep in, Toudou.” Jinpachi frowns.
“But it doesn’t make any sense! How come you never sleep in weird positions when I sleep next to you?” Toudou pouts, thinking hard.
“Maybe it’s because you’re also in the bed? Or maybe it’s more relaxing to sleep next to you?” He wonders, then shrugs. “How the hell am I supposed to know?” Toudou hums.
“I just hope you stop doing it. It’s probably, like, super bad for your body.”
“I guess you’re right.” He offers the can of Bepsi. “Want some?” Toudou shakes his head, he doesn’t really like Bepsi.
“Sleep here tonight,” Toudou whispers into the room, not looking at Arakita. He’s still worried; Arakita can tell. Toudou’s words sound more of a demand than a question.
“Duh. You already told me that earlier.” Arakita chuckles in hopes to lighten the mood. It works. Toudou smiles at him. Gentle and fond, that’s who Toudou is. Arakita loves how he is the only person who sees Toudou like this.
“Yasutomo, I love you.” Arakita blushes. He places his hand on his face to hide it.
“I love you, too, so shut up already.” Toudou takes the hand that’s covering Arakita’s face in his. He kisses Arakita’s knuckles like he’s some prince in a fairytale, then he kisses Arakita’s cheek. Arakita’s heart aches beautifully at the affection.
“Stop that, my heart’s going to fucking explode, Jinpachi…” Arakita grumbles under his breath, his face turning redder as more seconds pass.
“Good.” Toudou grins.
Arakita thinks he’s falling in love all over again.