Work Text:
“It’s fine, really, you can just go to dinner,” Mizuki muttered from under the blankets. She looked so small on the top bunk, barely taking up even half of the thing. Sano’s heart broke for her; she did this almost every month and every month he had to pretend that he didn’t know it was because of her period.
Yeah, Mizuki, men get sick every month for a week. Totally normal.
But it was easier for Sano to pretend that she had a weak immune system for the both of them. Or that she regularly got food poisoning every month, like clockwork. She tried so hard to act as if she wasn’t uncomfortable or as if these symptoms just came out of nowhere like a sudden sickness. But it was obvious.
All of this was obvious–Mizuki was a biologically a girl–and anyone who stopped and actually looked her in the eye would totally know. How did Nakatsu not notice, even after professing his love repeatedly to her?
Sano shook his head, whatever. What truly mattered is that Mizuki was taken care of and their secret was safe–even if she didn’t know that Sano was keeping it, too.
“Okay,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’ll bring you back something.”
Her face peeked out from under the covers, brightened. “Ice cream?”
“Dinner,” Sano said flatly. “You’re sick, you need to eat something that will make you better.”
Mizuki pouted and Sano’s heart broke again. Maybe, he’d bring her back some ice cream, if he remembered it in a moment of weakness. But it was better not to get her hopes up. If Mizuki was truly “sick with a cold” like she said, ice cream would make it worse. And because he had to pretend that he didn’t know about her period, he had to be strict about it, like he’d be to a friend who was actually sick.
Sano slipped out of the door and down to the cafeteria. This was all so confusing and unnecessarily so–but he’d rather it be confusing than have her leave the school and be separated from him. How would he know that she was taken care of if Mizuki went back to the US? He knew some English but he didn’t know enough to live over there comfortably yet. Definitely not enough to go to school. However, he did know enough English to hear her parents repeatedly refer to her as their daughter, though he pretended that he didn’t for their sake. Nakatsu barely grasps his native tongue, so he was truly out of the loop when they spoke to him in English, which was a blessing in more ways than one during that trip. It was nice to meet her parents, even if he wanted to be introduced as her partner and not as a friend.
Standing in line to pay for their meals, Sano ordered a salad for himself and a hamburger and a brownie for Mizuki. He couldn’t bear getting her ice cream so he compromised with a brownie the size of his palm. Sano had a big lunch, anticipating that he’d be spending a lot of time in his dorm with Mizuki this evening–maybe not even going to dinner if he needed to stay with her–so the salad was plenty of food for him.
“Hey,” Nakatsu said, sliding up next to Sano in line and cutting about three people off behind him. They sighed in protest and Nakatsu ignored them. “Where’s Mizuki? I thought they were coming to dinner tonight.”
Sano shook his head. “Mizuki’s not feeling well and asked me to pick up dinner and bring it back to the dorm.”
“So, the brownie is for you, then?”
“What?” He was so surprised at someone even assuming that he’d eat something like a brownie that he lost his composure and cracked.
Nakatsu didn’t notice, or didn’t care. “I mean, why would Mizuki want a brownie if they don’t feel well,” he shrugged at his own question as Sano pointedly turned forward to give the meal ticket guy his meal tickets.
“This is for my roommate,” he gestured to the box as he gave the second ticket.
“Contents?” The man asked.
It was obvious to Sano that this guy was just doing his job; asking incredibly disinterested questions that he needed to know so they could both move on. But it still made his heart race. How could he tell this guy that he got Mitsuki a burger and a brownie and have Nakatsu believe he was truly sick?
“Salad,” he said finally. “The brownie and the burger are for me.”
The meal ticket man nodded and dismissed him, with Nakatsu paying for his food and catching up with Sano. “So, you eat burgers and sweets now? Is your coach trying to bulk you or something?”
Sano nodded rapidly, walking back to the dorms as his stomach lurched at the idea of eating both of those things. “Yes,” he agreed. He committed to the acid reflux inducing lie, for Mizuki. “So I asked what Mizuki usually eats and am going to try that. His American eating habits are so unhealthy.” He shook his head.
“I think it’s sweet,” Nakatsu said, holding the door open for them to enter their dorm. Sano glanced over at him, wary of what he was going to say next. “I really think it’s endearing that Mizuki always eats like that. Not a lot of people eat dessert with every meal or red meat so regularly.”
Sano shrugged. “It’s artery clogging.”
The two stopped in the stairway of the second floor, Nakatsu’s floor, to say goodbye.
“Maybe I could go up and say hello, check in with him. I can bring him things he needs, too.” He began to blush. “If he needs help getting into the bath or something I can—”
Sano sighed and held up his hand, jealousy and hypocritical disgust churning into guilt inside of him. How could he feel so strongly about Nakatsu wanting to bathe with him when he thought about the same thing for hours now? They may have been both perverts, yes, but Sano was definitely the worst out of the two: Sano was the only one here who wanted to punch the other one for saying it aloud. “When I left he said he was going to try to sleep, if you wake him up it’d just be worse.”
Nakatsu sighed, defeated. “Okay, but tell him I’ll stop by later, alright? And if he needs anything he can ask me.”
Sano nodded, he’d pass along the message. The two were competing for the same person’s love, but he wasn’t going to sabotage his best friend. And besides, he thought resolutely, I will be there to take care of Mizuki. She won’t need anything from anyone else.
The two departed and Sano snuck quietly into the room, hopeful that maybe Mizuki was sleeping as he looked up to her bunk. It was empty. Before Sano even had time to wonder where she was, there was a retching noise from the bathroom followed by the sound of distress. Putting the food on the dresser, he opened the bathroom door and found Mizuki crouched over it, oblivious. Dropping onto his knees next to her, he patted her back as she looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
“Sorry,” she muttered awkwardly.
Sano shook his head as he rubbed her back for a moment with the flat of his palm in circles. She smiled at him faintly and his heart fluttered, grateful to be there and supporting her.
Abruptly, she turned her head, bracing against the bowl and retching again.
Standing up, he went to get her a washcloth for when she was done–they kept them in a drawer at the sink.
There was a bra in the sink.
For a moment he was frozen in place, taking a moment to realize what it was, why there was something light pink and strappy in the sink at all. Seeing the bra made him panic, not because he was a prude but because Mizuki would definitely feel bad if she knew that he saw it, and she was already feeling terrible. And what if she was so embarrassed that she left the school, thinking that she’d have to be expelled. No. He ripped open the drawer to their washcloths and dumped the drawer into the sink, pretending that he was searching for a specific one, which was ridiculous, but this whole damn thing was, too. The biggest part of him just wished that he could sit on the floor with her and comfort her, open and understanding about why she felt this way.
But, he couldn’t.
Scooping the washcloths and the bra in them, he threw them haphazardly into the drawer, shutting it and running cool water onto the cloth before giving it to Mizuki. Panic flashed in her eyes as she reached for it.
“It took me so long to find this one for you, because it’s the…softest,” he said weakly. “So I emptied the drawer into the sink and then shoved everything back in. When you’re feeling better we need to refold all the washcloths again.”
She smiled at him, relieved that he was keeping her secret, even if she didn’t understand that it was exactly what he was doing for her. “Thanks,” she said, wiping her face and sitting with her back against the cool tile of the tub. “I can’t believe I get food poisoning like every month. I need to start tracking what I’m eating,” she chuckled awkwardly.
Sano nodded, keeping up with the lie, noting silently that she said it was a cold earlier this morning. “Are you able to get into the shower? You should shower and then we can watch a movie or something together if you don’t want to eat.”
Mizuki brightened at the idea, nodding. “I think I can manage a bath.”
“Let me help you get the water started,” he kneeled next to her and turned on the water, looking at her closely. Her knees were drawn up to her chest defensively and her expression was pained. He wanted to hold her against his chest and bathe with her, but that couldn’t happen. At least, not now. The fact that she already thought that this was typical male friendship was surprising, but it’d probably toe the line with comforting her naked body in the single person bathtub. Then again, Americans sure were open with each other. “I’ll be in the room if you need me,” he said, patting her on the head on his way out.
“Sano,” Mizuki called from the bathroom. “I–I forgot my clothes in here because I didn’t really plan to shower.”
“Do you want me to bring you in some clothes?” He knew that she would never allow that because her underwear wasn’t boxers but most likely panties. It’d be weird if I didn’t offer.
“No!” She shouted. “No, I–” she trailed off and he could hear the panic choking her voice.
Sano sighed and went to his dresser. He grabbed a pair of his own boxers, a t-shirt and shorts, knocking on the door to their bathroom. “I’m going to bring some clothes in for you.”
She said nothing, clearly mortified. But, she didn’t object, either.
He opened the door and peeked in, hating himself that he was hoping that she wasn’t fully covered so desperately. The thought of seeing her standing there, wet from the shower in the towel was enough for his core to flush with heat and want. She was fully wrapped in a towel, around her entire body, her hair long and darker from the water. Mizuki was so beautiful and standing in the steamy room wrapped so tightly in a towel, he could see how small and feminine she really was. Her clothes were all so baggy, trying to make her shape boxy and masculine. But here he could see the way that the towel was together on her hips, that her breasts squished together a little at the top to give notice of her cleavage. She wasn’t flat after all, was she wearing a chest binder? Blood pounded in his ears as he tried not to think about picking her up and bringing him to his bed, turning his head to be laser focused on the small bathroom shelf on the opposite side of the room. “It’s rude to go through other people’s dressers so I brought you in my clothing. Just throw them in with your wash when you’re done,” he said plainly. His voice felt so tight as he tried so hard to be normal. Nonchalant. He turned and left without looking at her again, the door softly shutting behind him as he laid on his bed, putting his hands on his face.
How am I so fucking excited from that? He sighed, frustrated with himself. It was only seeing her in a towel, and I barely saw her. I’m a perv.
Mizuki came out a few moments later, tugging on the bottom of his shirt. It was massive on her and his shorts were almost pants on her. She looked ridiculous. She looked adorable. She looked like his girlfriend and he hated that his mind went to such possessive thoughts but he couldn’t help it when it came to her.
“Come here,” he said, opening the blankets to his bed. “I promised you a movie.”
Mizuki chewed on her lip nervously before sliding into bed with him, tucked underneath his arm as he pulled the blanket over them. “Thanks,” she said softly.
“For what?”
“Taking care of me. I feel a lot better.”
He nodded, running his fingers through her damp hair. “You just need bedrest and you’ll feel better. I bet you’ll feeling back to yourself by tomorrow”
She nodded and yawned, sleepily nestling under him and closing her eyes even before they were able to put the movie on.