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It takes five minutes for Keigo to give up on his WebMD search, and make the call to Touya’s brother.
The ‘mild flu’ Touya got yesterday had somehow morphed into what was probably some wild variant of the bubonic plague because last Keigo checked, humans aren’t supposed to throw up black phlegm.
Or just phlegm in general.
Since Touya’s rebellion against the system includes a lack of basic self-preservation skills like going to a doctor when feeling like shit, Keigo will have to do the work for him. Touya’s anti-whatever movement be damned.
He patiently waits for his sick boyfriend to doze off to make his move. He searches through a sea of blankets and used tissues (gross) to find his phone, and scrolls down until he finds the contact he’s looking for.
He hesitates as he stares at the words Natsuo. Before he can change his mind, Keigo presses the call button.
Much to his surprise, Touya’s brother picks up on the third ring.
“Touya-Nii?” He hears from the other end of the call. He sounds tired, which isn’t much of a surprise, considering he's currently doing an internship at one of Tokyo's most prestigious hospitals.
"Touya-nii, are you there?" The voice speaks again and Keigo curses himself for getting so distracted.
He can't let Natsuo hang up. This is kind of a serious situation.
Keigo takes a deep breath and braces himself for what will probably be the most awkward call in the history of phone calls.
“Todoroki Natsuo, isn’t it?” Keigo says and lets out a nervous chuckle, anything to fill the awkward silence.
“Yes. Why are you calling me from my brother’s phone?” The other replies. Any pleasantries are gone. Now his voice is sharp and clipped.
He doesn’t know if it’s the nervousness, but Keigo decides to use his casual, (obnoxious) chirpy voice.
“This is Hawks speaking!,” he greets him. “Your brother’s longtime boyfriend? Blond guy who looks like-”
“An idiot. Yes, Hawks. I know what you look like,” Natsuo deadpans. "Why are you calling me from my brother's phone?
Shoot.
"Touya’s sleeping right now," Keigo ends up saying.
“Right. Listen, I’m on call right now, so I can’t talk for long. Make it quick."
“Oh, that’s perfectly fine!” Keigo replies, with perhaps way more cheer than necessary. “Um, I kind of need your medical advice for this tiny, insignificant thing.”
“Uh-huh,” Natsuo says.“What happened?”
“So, Touya has been feeling under the weather lately,” he starts, trying to soften the news. “But I think he might be dying…?”
There’s an uncomfortable silence on both ends of the call, to the point Keigo pulls the phone away and checks to make sure Natsuo didn’t hang up.
Much to his relief, the call is still active. He puts the phone back to his ear and waits for Natsuo to reply.
“What do you mean by dying…?” His voice is laced with doubt, but he quickly adds “Hawks, answer me. What do you mean?"
Oh, shit. Natsuo sounds nervous.
Keigo can feel the sweat on the back of his neck because he’s trying to be very careful with his words. Knowing how overdramatic the Todoroki family is when it comes to Touya, he wouldn't be surprised if this ends with Endeavor busting down their door and dragging Touya to the nearest hospital.
(It happened once. Keigo is pretty sure Touya will freaking murder him if this call causes a similar event.)
“Um, well not dying per se,” He says, trying to organize his thoughts. Focus, focus. “It's more like… there's black stuff coming out of his mouth?”
“Black… stuff?” Natsuo repeats. Keigo opens his mouth to clarify, trying not to dig himself deeper, but Natsuo is faster.
“Shit, are you telling me he’s vomiting blood?”
“Maybe…?” Keigo says, unsure, because it did look like phlegm but then again, Keigo isn’t the medical expert here. The commission didn’t give extensive medical training apart from ‘if something bleeds too much, just amputate it. Problem solved’.
As far as he knows, Touya is just coughing (if not vomiting) up some weird ass shit from his mouth.
“Is he conscious?”
Keigo takes a glance at Touya, currently snoring without a care in the world. His cheek is squished against a pillow.
“Um, no? He’s slee-”
Natsuo curses under his breath.
***
It's only a matter of time before Keigo meets his impending doom. He wishes he was kidding, but he’s not because he fucked up, bad.
Like really, really bad.
“What’s wrong with you?” Touya eventually asks, sick of his boyfriend's constant fidgeting messing up the bedding. “You’ve been jittery all afternoon.”
“Nothing!” Keigo replies, a bit too fast. Which perhaps to another person wouldn't seem like anything, but after being with this dumb bird for so long, Touya gets the feeling Keigo is hiding something.
He cocks a brow and sees Keigo twitch. That sparks even more suspicion.
"Really."
“I’m worried about you, that’s all," Keigo hurries to say, placating him. "You seemed really sick earlier."
Oh. So that's what it is. He's worried about him.
Touya scoffs and shakes his head.
“I don’t know why you freak out every time I get sick," sure, he might have a weak immune system, but he's not an invalid.
"It’s just a cold.”
"Are you sure? Because I saw you coughing up some black stuff earlier."
“Is that why you’re so worried?” Touya cocks a brow, and Keigo nods frantically.
“It’s because I’m trying to quit smoking.”
At Keigo’s confused expression, Touya rolls his eyes.
“When people quit smoking, they can cough up black or brown mucus months or years afterwards. It’s like my lungs are getting cleaned out.”
Oh. Oh.
“Why are you so concerned all of a sudden?” Touya continues, raising a brow. “I told you this, like, last week or something. Were you not paying attention?”
“I kind of forgot?” Keigo says sheepishly. “I need to tell you something but please don’t get mad. I called your brother Natsuo earlier…”
“Natsuo?” Touya replies with a yawn and rubs his eyes. “Why? Did something happen?”
“Nope!” Keigo chirps, accentuating the ‘p’. “So here’s the thing, I ma-”
A loud banging sound outside their door makes both of them freeze.
“TOUYA, IT’S YOUR FATHER. I’M OUTSIDE YOUR APARTMENT. OPEN THE DOOR IF YOU’RE STILL ALIVE."
The loud, booming voice resonates through their tiny, two bedroom apartment. Keigo watches Touya’s eyes narrow dangerously.
Shit.
“Keigo,” Touya starts, his voice eerily composed. Like the calm before the storm. “Why is my father knocking on our door?”
“Um, I may have called your brother… about the black phlegm. While, huh, you were sleeping.”
Touya’s expression darkens with every word. It makes Keigo want to crawl into a corner and die.
“Keigo. What did you do?” Touya demanded, his face slowly overcome with anger.
He swallows, forcing himself past the fear.
“Somehow he got the wrong idea and thinks you’re dying of…terminal and metastatic cancer…? It’s either that or, or… wait, gimme a sec. Natsuo told me.” he fishes out the scribbled-on napkin where he took notes. “Upper gastrointestinal bleeding.”
Touya’s eyes twitches.
“KEIGO!”