Work Text:
Leave the stupid ideas to Shinra.
It had been a pretty generic day, filing paperwork, bickering with Arthur, putting up with Tamaki’s excruciatingly annoying yet confusing accidental lewd displays, all that stuff. Until the white clad had shown up in the middle of the city, leaving Company 8 exhausted, but victorious and mostly unscathed; ignoring the completely destroyed park they left behind when driving away in the matchbox.
They were in a hurry at the time, completely forgetting to do their routine of checking each other for any unnoticed or hidden wounds. Thanks to Hibana insisting they head over to her place, somehow knowing they had collected some strange thing the white clad had dropped. Shinra was overwhelmed, so he stayed silent about the deep gash in his arm, doing a poor and hurried job of tying it with a clean kitchen cloth before leaving the cathedral once again.
He swore that if he just poured some disinfecting alcohol on it- which burned, mind you, he had to bite down on a roll of bandages to muffle his scream -rub some antibiotic cream thing he found and wrap it up nicely would get the job done. He knew it most probably wouldn’t work but he was desperate to convince himself. Though it didn’t work much, his arm ached and was almost insufferable, the gauze felt sticky anytime he peeled- yes, peeled -it off his wound and using a fresh new roll of it.
Shinra was just about ready to ask for help, pushing down his embarrassment and the thoughts of how angry everyone would most probably be. Until Arthur happened. They had been sitting beside each other in the couch, and Arthur’s stupid stupid Excalibur nudged upwards when the other moved (why won’t he just let go of that thing for once?) digging and pressing way too close to Shinra’s wound. Shinra’s brain was pure static as he had outright screamed, kicking Arthur off the couch in a frenzy before blacking out.
“..und’s infected.” He heard someone murmur the last bit of whatever they were saying.
His head feels murky. Stuffed with cotton, yet oddly heavy. Shinra doesn’t think he’d be able to hold it up and look straight ahead, the thought of his neck being a noodle or something else was slowly becoming plausible in Shinra’s brain. Seriously, is his neck still there? His fingers twitched as he tried to lift his hand up and touch his neck, just to confirm it’s still somewhat attached to his body and head. His throat itched, and suddenly he was coughing, wet and obnoxiously loud as he dug his face further into what his head is lying on. A pillow, he realized once his coughing fit had left. He also realized he wasn’t the only one in the room, barely seeing two blobs of color wait patiently.
“You’re awake, I’m glad,” A woman (?) said, the yellow blob of color at the top of her frame moving up and down in a nodding motion. Maybe that’s her hair?
“So am I, but,” A male was speaking now, sounding stern but concerned, “Shinra, why didn’t you tell anyone of a wound like that?”
The bigger blob of the two split in two (what the fuck how did he do that), the smaller and thinner half pointing at Shinra. Shinra’s eyes were too unfocused to see what the thing was pointing at- or what it was -so he overlooked it, instead becoming aware of the dull throb in his left arm.
“Hur’s,” He slurred, shutting his eyes.
“Really? I didn’t think it would hurt,” The man said sarcastically, followed by a quiet giggle from the other standing beside him.
Shinra blinked blearily, shutting his eyes closed when a wave of heat hit him. He tried his best to ignore it, blinking his eyes with force to make them focus just a bit, succeeding. He realized the ‘blobs’ weren’t blobs, nor were they ‘things’. They were humans, like him. He couldn’t see all that clearly, the messy colors had taken a shape now, that was all. Shinra narrowed his eyes, trying to make out any features of their bodies or faces, but finding himself unable to.
“Who are you?”
The man sputtered, the angry tone in his voice completely gone, replaced with exasperation and worry, “Captain Obi! And Iris! Did you lose your memory?!”
Shinra scrunched his nose, closing his eyes and leaving it at that. He’s tired. He might as well sleep right here, but someone’s breathing was bothering him. His bottom lip raised upwards in an annoyed pout, until he realized it’s his own breathing. Why were his breaths so shallow? The light puffs of air were quickly pushed to the back of his mind when a shiver crawled up his spine. With clumsy fingers, Shinra tried his best to pull the covers up with weak arms, blissfully ignoring the fact that they were damp with sweat.
“‘S cold,”
“But—”
“Cold,” Shinra repeated, cutting Obi off.
“I’ll get him some new dry blankets, those are wet now anyways.” Iris left the room, someone else slipping in as she did so.
“Oh so you’re really out of it, huh.”
Shinra simply stared with heavy eyes.
“Yeah,” Obi supplied, turning around and whispering in the other’s ear with a covered hand; as if Shinra’s eyes worked enough to read his lips, “he even asked who I was, Vulcan!”
Vulcan laughed, whistling in amusement before exiting the room, “He’ll be fine, I’ll see you later, Shinra.”
“Oh—! Have some water. Gotta keep you hydrated with this fever.” Obi offered a plastic cup to Shinra, mumbling under his breath as Shinra took it with trembling hands, “Where is Hinawa, dammit.”
“Wh..” Shinra trailed off, distracted by the colors of the room swirling.
“Hm?” Obi turned around, seeing Shinra completely out of it, brushing off whatever he was going to say, “Go to sleep, maybe it’ll bring your temperature down.”
Shinra didn’t have to be told twice.
A mere 15 minutes later and Shinra was up again, an obscenely cold hand on his forehead making him stir. Iris stepped back, retrieving her hand in surprise.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up, I’m sorry, Shinra.” Iris brushed back his sweaty bangs apologetically before turning to face Obi, “He does feel pretty hot, Captain. Maybe the thermometer isn’t lying?” She said meekly, pink tinting her cheeks.
“Sister, with all respect, there’s no way his temperature is up to 104ᐤ.”
“Well, the thermometer is new,” Iris slipped her glove back on, brows furrowing in thought, “Maybe it’s defective?”
“That’s what I’m thinki—”
“Sho?” Shinra sat up, eyes wide and hopeful.
Obi and Iris are too tired for this.
Arthur stood at the door, a questioning look on his face as he fully stepped into the room, leaning over the edge of Shinra’s bed.
“I was informed the Devil had awakened. I’m here to witness it,”
“Sho!” Shinra whispered, and with newfound strength, he wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck and pulled him down into a hug with a yelp from the blond.
“Nevermind. I think the thermometer was right.” Obi said bitterly once the realization of Shinra being delirious settled upon him.
Obi stared in surprise at the two teens hugging and the lack of a fight from Arthur, “How does he even think Arthur is Sho?”
“Maybe his hair? He kind of looks like him with his hair down. I’m not sure. I’ll look for the Lieutenant, we were barely able to take care of Shinra without dehydrating him,” Iris laughed, adjusting her gloves one more time before leaving the room.
“I will allow this just for today, because you’re sick.” Arthur explained, arms hanging at his sides as Shinra wet his shoulder with tears. “Also because a Knight King doesn’t mind a hug once in a while.”
“What is going on.”
Maki entered the room, standing in front of the door frame in complete confusion. Her eyes drifted from a tired Obi to the two hugging boys. She could barely hear the muffled ‘You’re back’ and ‘I missed you’ ’s coming from Shinra. Snorting when he said something that sounded like ‘You’re so tall now’ . Shinra was all over Arthur, pulling his cheeks and touching his hair in awe. Arthur seemed indifferent about all the touching, not registering the fact that Shinra genuinely thought he was having a reunion with his little brother.
“Don’t even ask me,” Obi put his hands up, dragging a chair with his foot to the side of Shinra’s bed and sitting down, resting his head on the edge of the mattress.
“It doesn’t look like any good, but it’s not my problem. Not anymore, at least. It’s your turn to take care of Shinra. I’m drained, yet I’m still doing chores. Not fair, Captain. I’m just here to pick Arthur up, he slipped away from my sight.” Arthur quickly glanced back at the mention of his name, acting as if he hadn’t heard it and going back to the caring touches. “I know you heard me. Come on, we have lunch duty.”
“I’m comfortable here,” Arthur mumbled, closing his eyes when Shinra moved his head in different angles, tracing his fingers over Arthur’s jawline or chin and examining his facial features. Whispering a ‘You’ve really matured’ with teary eyes.
“Well, now you get to be comfortable in the kitchen chopping carrots. I’m tired enough already. Move it, I don’t want to deal with a hungry Tamaki, she gets so whiny.” Maki pulled Arthur’s arm, disturbing him.
Arthur huffed a breath, ripping away from Shinra and getting off the bed, “Fine. I hope the food is at least good.”
“Did you just call my cooking bad?” Maki questioned, her voice and Arthur’s fading away the farther they walked.
Shinra scrambled forward, elbows buckling under him and sending his face straight to the blankets. Obi jumped up from his near sleep state, grabbing Shinra by the waist and laying him down on his back. Pressing him back down by his chest with his hand whenever Shinra tried getting off the bed.
“Shinra you can’t get off the bed, you’ll fall. What do you need?” Obi rubbed his eyes with his unoccupied hand, trying to get rid of the overwhelming tiredness.
“Sho—” Shinra hiccuped, clawing at Obi’s arm, “Get the fuck off me. Who even are you? Sho left, he’s leaving, no no. Get off me, get off me— let me go —”
“Okay, okay. There, I let go of you. Now stop doing that, you’ll rip open your stitches,” Obi examined his arm with a wince, blinking slowly as a twinge of annoyance struck him.
“Sho left, he’s gone again. Why’d you let him go?” Shinra sniffled, something between a sob and a cough ripping out of his throat, “He’s gone. I’m never seeing him again. I miss him. It’s my fault, I should’ve held him tighter. I can’t..”
Shinra kept talking and droning about Sho, Obi nodded a couple of times before starting to fall asleep and tuning Shinra out, eyes slipping shut until a gag was heard. Obi’s head whipped up, brain whirring back to life when he saw Shinra nearly digging his fingers into his eyes with how hard he was pressing onto them. Another gag shook through Shinra’s body, followed by a sob and a poorly restrained wave of tears.
“Shinra— you have to calm down, that’s not Sho, it’s Arthur. He’s fine and safe. Just breathe before you throw up with how hard you’re crying,”
Instead of comforting the other, Obi somehow made it worse. He suppressed a groan, where is Iris? She went out looking for Hinawa at least 40 minutes ago. Obi is just about ready to walk out and beg Maki to take care of Shinra for him one more time. Until Hinawa closed the door with a soft click, thanking Iris who was on the other side of the door before cleaning his glasses lens and putting them back on.
“Explain.” Hinawa glanced at an almost dead looking Obi, back to a hysterically sobbing Shinra with a sigh.
“I left you with Shinra for less than 2 hours, Captain. And it seems like he’s worse instead of better.”
“I tried,” Obi informed, followed by an all too excited, “Can I leave now?”
“Please do.”
“Okay, I didn’t do that bad for you to beg me to leave the room,” Obi mumbled while opening the door and closing it, leaving Hinawa alone with Shinra.
“Shinra, what’s the matter?”
“I don’t— who are you—” Shinra narrowed his eyes, trying to wipe away the constant tears to get a better look at the blurry person, “Sho is gone. Someone took him because he had to— to cook ?! He’s like, I don’t know, 12? Why would he be cooking?! ”
“I’m Hinawa,” He answered truthfully. So it’s Arthur Shinra’s talking about. Hinawa cleared his throat, sitting on the edge of Shinra’s bed, “I’m..an acquaintance of Sho’s. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Shinra visibly relaxed a bit, sniffling before coughing into his elbow, “But I want him here , with me .”
“I understand, but that is not possible at the moment. Though I can keep you company.” Hinawa offered a bottle of water. Shinra declined it. Hinawa nudged it insistently, satisfied when Shinra drank half of it.
“But I don’t want you , I want Sho and you’re not him,” Shinra rubbed his eyes, they burned and stung anytime he blinked.
“We can talk about Sho.”
“We can?” Shinra breathed out, opening his eyes.
“Yes.” Hinawa took his glasses off, tired of seeing Shinra’s tear stained face and slipped them on the collar of his shirt.
“How old is he?” Shinra questioned, not wasting a second after the offer.
“He’s 14.” Hinawa heard Shinra choke on his tears, followed by a sigh.
“Is he nice?”
“..Yes..” He hesitated, looking away, “though the ones at his workplace aren’t all that enjoyable.”
“He works?”
“He does.” Standing up, Hinawa put his glasses back on and examined the room.
“With who?” Shinra was distracted enough to stop his excessive crying. His nose was still clogged and voice thick, sometimes tears would slip out, but it was enough to clear most of Hinawa’s hidden concern.
“People.” He answered, ripping the covers off the bed, ignoring Shinra’s full body shiver. “Forget about Sho. You’re ill. You come first. Sho is in good hands.”
“But you said—”
“Would you like a change of clothes?”
“No, I want—”
“ Shinra ,” Hinawa sighed exasperatedly, pausing his ministrations, looking at Shinra with a seriousness that made the other shut up, “I know what you want. I am well aware. But it is simply not possible. It must be hard to miss someone as close as Sho. But you’ll see him again eventually. I can promise you that.”
Hinawa finished folding the sheets, getting to the blankets quickly before speaking again, “You need to focus more on yourself. Sho is in perfect health, I assure you. He is safe. You’re not in perfect health. But you’re safe, at least. There are people around the cathedral who care about you. Right now they are worried about you. Sho would— is also worried about you, so get better quickly.”
Shinra stared back stupidly, processing the words slowly.
“Okay.” With an exhale, Shinra sat up, rubbing his burning eyes and wiping his now mostly dry cheeks. Hinawa placed a hand on Shinra’s hair, cracking the smallest of smiles Shinra has ever seen.
The hand on his head lowered to his arm, helping him slip out of bed and stabilize on wobbly legs, “I’m glad you understand.”
Tamaki walked into the room quietly, whispering something to Hinawa.
“So they can take him in?” Tamaki nodded, sparing a glance at Shinra before whispering something else.
Hinawa’s face dropped, closing his eyes in annoyance, “He’s sleeping in the kitchen ? Go wake the Captain up, we need someone to drive us there.”
Tamaki nodded, leaving the room.
“Who was that?” Shinra asked, grimacing when he felt sweat roll down the back of his neck and down his back.
“A friend of yours.”
“Oh,” Shinra said dumbly, letting Hinawa put sandals on his socked feet.
“Now, let’s get you to Company 6.”