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The atmosphere at the abandoned park was as good as ever tonight.
Most of the crowd could be found gathered around a fighting table. Megumi was currently engaged in a heated fight with Yamamoto, and people were following the exchange of attacks and damage checks with avid eyes.
Yuyu himself would’ve loved to join the spectator group, were he not feeling so down at the moment.
“...I guess Danji-san isn’t here today,” the boy stared down at his deck, with a light frown forming on his face.
He’d been hoping to get some further advice with deckbuilding, and Danji seemed like the obvious person to ask for help, since he’d been the one to give him the starter cards in the first place.
After wandering around Wonder Hill for ten whole minutes, however, it became obvious that the team leader wasn’t present that day.
It struck Yuyu as odd, but there was always the chance he was busy with something, perhaps working one of his many jobs late into the night.
The electricity bill was coming up soon, so that’d make a lot of sense, in fact. Yuyu had heard from other Blackout members that Danji sometimes scrambled to take on job offers one after the other if payments were due, which usually left him with too many things to do and no free time towards the end of the month.
If that was the case at hand, his absence couldn’t be helped, as much as Yuyu had been looking forward to talking to him tonight.
The disappointment that washed over him must have been showing on his face, because it didn’t take long for someone to approach him. The bench he’d sat on, away from the main attraction of the park, was big enough for two people— even without looking up from his cards, he was sure someone had taken the spot next to him.
“Hey, not feeling up to fighting? Did something happen?”
Hearing Tomari's sympathetic voice, Yuyu finally shifted his gaze, giving her a weak smile.
“I’m alright, thank you,” he politely replied, trying not to concern her any further. “I was just hoping I could get Danji-san to help me out with my deck before doing any fighting… But he’s not around, is he?”
“Sorry, dear, he’s knocked out for today,” Tomari shook her head with a chuckle.
“I guessed as much. He must be very busy as Blackout’s leader…”
“I wish I could say that, but he’s not doing anything right now,” the girl shrugged. “Poor guy just caught a really bad cold, apparently. I bet it’s because he hasn’t rested enough.”
Yuyu’s head shot up at the new information.
“Eh? Danji-san is sick?”
“Mhm, he called me a few hours ago to let me know he’s out of commission,” Tomari played with one of her hair twirls as she spoke, arms crossed in disdain. “I told everyone he’s busy, though, like you’d first assumed.”
“...But you just told me the truth,” Yuyu pointed out, a faint confusion lacing his words.
Tomari merely grinned and winked at him, pushing a finger into his cheek as if to make a point.
“You’re not like everyone else when it comes to our leader! Since you’re his girlfriend, I couldn’t leave you in the dark, Yuyu-kun. Especially not after I saw you missing him,” she sighed, feigning heartache by placing a hand above her chest. “Ahh, the things love does to the youths…”
Yuyu immediately felt a blush creep up on his skin.
“ Please stop that, Tomari-san,” the boy begged. “It’s not like that…”
“Really?” Tomari arched an eyebrow, her smirk widening. “But I even heard how you scolded him the other day, sick with worry! ‘Danji-san, you have to stop taking on so many jobs, or else you’ll get worn out and I’ll be suuper-duper lonely without youuu…’”
He… couldn’t argue back to that, which only left him growing more flustered.
Obviously, he hadn’t said it that specific way, much less with the needy tone Tomari had employed, but it’d sort of been one of the points he was trying to make.
At least it wasn’t only on his behalf— he was sure the entire park had to feel just a bit lonely for all the members, without Danji’s warm and sturdy presence lighting up the air around him.
“That scolding didn’t amount to anything,” Yuyu ended up pouting.
Tomari placed a hand on his shoulder, with her grin having turned into a softer, comforting smile to match the gesture.
“Well, since he won’t take care of himself, you'll have to help him. You know where his house is, right? …I think it’d improve his mood a lot if you visited him. Maybe you could even nurse him back to health, if you’re that worried~”
“I— I guess I could do that, but—”
“Aha, so you’ll do it?! You’re so good to him, Yuyu-kun!” Tomari gave him a few vigorous pats, all fired up for the new development. “Come on, come on, I’ll drive you to his place!! The night is still young!”
And it was at times like these that Yuyu desperately wished he could be more assertive, because now he stood in front of Momoyama Danji’s apartment door, with the silhouette of Tomari’s vehicle already no more than a blur fading into the distance.
He held onto the strap of his bag tightly, letting out a shaky breath. Leaving a teenager stranded in the middle of an unfamiliar street at late hours was not something that a policewoman should ever be doing, yet there he was.
Well, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar, at the very least. With a bit of courage, he could easily trace the way back home from here, but… Tomari had already gone through the trouble of bringing him to Danji’s place.
It’d be a waste to leave right away, especially since the worry swirling within his stomach would remain, unless he got to see Danji’s face.
It was that thought that led Yuyu to press the doorbell without any further hesitation. Even though the chances of the man being still awake were very slim, he had to give it a try.
He prepared himself to wait, for as long as his patience was willing to last—
And then nearly tripped over his own two feet when the knob began twisting, mere seconds after he rang.
Danji's face was as red as a stop light, and he had terrible bags building up under his lashes. Those same tired eyes squinted at him several times, as though his mind couldn't make itself up on what he was seeing.
Oh, Tomari wasn't exaggerating. The cold had to be really bad.
“...Yuyu?”
Said boy couldn't help but wince at the raspy, low voice the other had used.
“Y-yes, it's me,” he mumbled. “I… I heard you were… I mean, I didn't see you at the park, so I, um…”
“Ah, were you worried about me? No need,” Danji flashed a smile that couldn't have looked more pained if he'd tried. “I'm feeling a bit under the weather, that's all.”
“A lot under the weather,” Yuyu didn’t waste a minute in protesting. “You've been overworking yourself again, haven't you?!”
“No, I swear it's just a cold! I just caught a—”
“It's August, Danji-san.”
Danji tried to come up with a solid comeback for approximately four seconds before giving up, hanging his head forward in defeat.
“Forgive me, Yuyu. I know you warned me about it too…! But I didn't have it in my heart to refuse any of the requests!”
“That's Danji-san for you,” Yuyu felt a faint grin tugging at his lips, despite everything. “Always trying to help others before thinking of himself. Well… it's a good thing I'm here to take care of you today.”
“You're what?” The man's eyes widened. “No, no, you don't need to…”
“Sorry for the intrusion.”
Yuyu boldly walked past him, not leaving any chance for him to argue. Tomari had a point: since Danji was seemingly bad at looking after himself, he’d simply need someone to do it in his stead.
Before moving further into the house, though, he made sure to take Danji's hand in his, giving it a light squeeze. That way, he wouldn't be able to protest any further, and would have to follow him upstairs whether he wanted to or not.
Maybe it was his imagination, but he could swear Danji's face got redder at the contact.
Was his fever getting worse? He had to act fast, then.
Securing his grip, Yuyu gently urged him back to his room. It was as much of a mess as the last time Yuyu had visited; he could see cards scattered throughout the floor and bedsheets, a half-eaten bowl of rice resting atop the low table, and piles of laundry to be done.
Shaking his head disapprovingly, he kneeled near the bed first, still tugging Danji along.
“Please don’t practice Vanguard while you’re sick,” Yuyu mumbled, gathering the cards into a tidy stack he then set aside. “Here, you should lay down.”
He was definitely not strong enough to physically force Danji to comply, so he couldn’t help the relief that overcame him after Danji quietly abided by his command.
Not wanting to waste any time, Yuyu headed to the bathroom first, with a clear goal in mind.
He took one of Danji's hand towels and then placed it on the sink, letting a current of cold water soak it in.
(And he was pointedly not going to think about all the overdue laundry for the time being, thank you.)
As soon as the towel was thoroughly humidified on both sides, he dashed back to the man's side, once again crouching near the bed to reach him.
Yuyu had only planned to rest the towel on his forehead, to make his temperature go down. But something —maybe the rare sight of Danji looking so vulnerable— compelled him to brush the little hair strands out of his face and start wiping all the skin with the wet fabric, instead.
He saw Danji closing his eyes in a content manner, likely relishing in the cool touch.
“Ah, that feels good,” Danji mumbled, clearly relieved by his simple gesture.
Without thinking, he leaned into Yuyu's hand when it was tracing the contour of his jaw.
And oh, curse it all, Yuyu was blushing again.
“W-well, you need to cool your body down when you have a fever. Of course it'd feel good…” he trailed off. “But you have a cold, so I should make something warm for your throat.”
“Being sick is such a pain, isn't it,” the man mused, tone strangely distant. “It sure is confusing to deal with.”
“I wouldn't call it 'confusing'. You just need to know what to do to make it better,” Yuyu's lips lightly tugged upwards. “Is soup fine for dinner?”
“I already had dinner.”
“Actual dinner,” he couldn't help himself from adding, slightly rolling his eyes at the inedible rice.
Danji looked like he wanted to protest. He must've realised he had no arguments in his favour, though, for he only ended up nodding.
“Sure, soup works. I think I had some chicken broth on the cupboard.”
“I'll go check,” Yuyu quickly stood up. “Be right back!”
He did get back, a couple of minutes later— with a steaming bowl and cutlery already in hand.
“Sorry it's nothing fancy, but it should do the job,” Yuyu smiled sheepishly, placing the trail he'd been carrying on Danji's lap.
“It'll be much better than anything I can do, that's a given!” Danji let out a hearty laugh in return, sitting up so he could eat comfortably. “Thanks for the food~”
“Ahhh, be careful, it's still hot!”
Yuyu's chiding was to no avail, unfortunately.
Danji merely laughed some more and blew on the soup a lot before downing it bit by bit, seemingly not willing to wait for it to stop burning.
“Seriously, Danji-san,” Yuyu frowned. “It'd be nice if you listened to me sometimes.”
“Sorry, sorry,” he excused himself with a lazy grin, giving Yuyu a pat on the head, for good measure. “Your cooking was really good last time, so I wanted to try this out right away!”
“I did make breakfast for us the last time I stayed over,” Yuyu mused. “Since you live alone, I can see why you'd get excited when others make meals for you.”
“Yup. It's weird, you know, being the one taken care of,” Danji said, sporting a melancholic gaze that made something in Yuyu's chest hurt. “But not in a bad way. So… thanks, Yuyu.”
“I'm glad I could be of help, Danji-san,” the boy replied in a quiet voice, a bashful blush working its way up his cheeks. “Are you feeling any better…?”
“For sure!” The smile Danji gave him was real this time, which made him all the happier. “The soup was amazing. I'm pretty sure I could get healed by taking it alone!”
“You're in luck,” Yuyu let out a timid chuckle. “I'm used to cooking for my whole family, so I actually made more soup than this. I'll put the leftovers in the fridge before I leave, okay?”
With that intent, he stood up and began heading towards the kitchen, but he was soon stopped in his tracks by a warm hand tugging at his wrist.
Even though the grip was surprisingly weak, the gesture was more than enough to hold Yuyu in place.
When he turned around to direct his attention towards Danji, he was met with the sight of the man averting his eyes from him, gaze pinned to the wall to his left.
“...Danji-san?” he called out softly.
And then he felt fingers tightening around his skin.
“Don’t— Don't go,” Danji pleaded, voice not above a whisper. “It'll be safer if you spend the night here,” he added, almost as an afterthought, as if trying to find a logical explanation that would make Yuyu stay.
But Yuyu didn't need a reason. He'd heard Danji's real wish loud and clear — if he didn't want to be alone, Yuyu wouldn't leave him.
Not now, and not ever. Yuyu was the one always seeking out his presence in the first place, after all.
Wordlessly, he placed his free hand above Danji's, giving it a light squeeze.
He could see the immediate relief in the man's face, and it made him happy, thinking that he could be the one to bring such a relaxed expression out of him.
If this could help Danji, Yuyu's answer was clear.
“Mhm. I'll stay, then.”