Chapter Text
I woke to the sound of my phone ringing before my alarm had even sounded. I had been out until late last night and needed my sleep. Who in the world would call me now?
I picked up my phone and looked at the display, reading the caller ID. Isogai Maemi was calling me. What did Yuuma’s mom want with me? I’ve had her number for so long I almost forgot I had it and I had never used it. Neither had she.
I accepted the call.
“Hiroto-kun?” she asked, seeming calm enough.
“Maemi-san, this is rare,” I said, feeling a bit worried. Normally she would call Yuuma if she needed anything. Yuuma would call me if he needed help with something or when he needed a chat.
“Have you spoken to Yuuma lately?” she asked.
That explained a lot.
“No,” I said, a small knot of worry appearing in my stomach.
“I haven’t been able to get a hold of him for the past two days,” Maemi said. “I would have gone to see him myself, but as it’s flu season.”
“I see,” I said. “You want me to check on him?” I asked.
“I was thinking I’d just ask you to call him. I really wouldn’t want you to go too far out of your way. I mean, I’m sure you have other plans today,” she rattled off hurriedly.
Of course I had something planned. I always had plans on Saturday, and since today was the day before Valentine’s Day, I most definitely had plans. Even so, this was Yuuma we were talking about. There was no way he would not get back to his mom unless there was something seriously wrong. I was beginning to feel really worried.
“Don’t worry about my other plans. They can be changed,” I said, feeling determined.
“You really don’t have to go that-,” she began.
“Maemi-san, best case it’ll only take a minute. It’s not a problem,” I assured her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll go see how he’s doing and get back to you.”
She was quiet for a bit.
“If you’re sure it’s not a problem,” she said, allowing her own concern to show in her voice.
“It’s not,” I said, getting out of my bed. I went to the drawers nearby and began searching for clothes to wear for the day. “I mean, I can almost see his building from here. It won’t take long.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “Thank you so much, Hiroto-kun.”
“No problem,” I said. “I’ll get back to you. Talk to you later.”
“Yes,” she said and we hung up.
I finished getting dressed and got ready to head out. I grabbed some bread on the way and stuffed it into my face. I was chewing on it as I locked the door and then I rushed down to street level. I only took a second to stop by the vending machine on the way and buy a canned coffee to help me recover the last bit. I poured that down my throat, threw the can in the bin and ran the rest of the way to Yuuma’s building. I took the stairs two at a time and quickly reached his front door. I knocked.
I waited for a bit, but it didn’t open. Had something bad happened? I had heard of no robberies in the area. I had heard of no accidents either. If there had been an accident, surely his family would have been informed. As for the robbery theory, Yuuma was careful. He didn’t keep practicing like I did, but he knew enough about handling dangerous situation to know how to get out alive, and he could still fight if he had to. He just normally didn’t want to.
I knocked again but he still didn’t answer the door, so I got out my spare key and unlocked the door.
The place was as neat as ever. The shoes were perfectly lined up and the floor looked clean. However, it was very dark. No lights had been turned on and the curtains were drawn. It also smelled like sick people in there.
I quickly got in, closed the door, got out of my shoes and rushed into the main living space. Immediately I knew what was wrong.
Yuuma was lying in his futon, asleep it seemed. His face and hair, the only part that was visible, was soaking wet with sweat and his breathing was shallow. At least he was still alive, but how in the world could he allow himself to get this sick?
First things first, I had to make contact.
“Yuuma?” I called. When he didn’t respond, I grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him gently. His head lulled from side to side on the pillow, but he let out a small sound, like he was being bothered. He felt hot, not like I had expected him not to feel hot, but the worried knot in my stomach was growing a little.
I released his shoulder with one hand and placed it on his forehead. He almost felt like he was burning. Then again, my hands were still cold after me being out on my way here.
Yuuma’s eyelids began to move and he slowly opened them. They were bright with fever.
“Hiroto…,” his voice was barely even a whisper. He was so weak, I had never seen him like this before.
“You should’ve gone to the hospital,” I told him.
Yuuma shook his head weakly, then frowned. “Too expensive,” he muttered.
Of course he would say that. When it came to spending everything he had on others he was more than willing, but spending it on himself was often neglected. By the end of each month he still gave all that was left in his bank account to his mother, without her knowing that he left nothing for himself. He admitted it to me once, after I continuously asked him why he had nothing saved up.
“Idiot,” I told him.
“Please,” he begged me, his eyes filling with tears.
With him being as sick as he was, every part of me told me to get him to the hospital as soon as possible, but there was one thing stopping me. Yuuma crying and begging like this never happened. I knew it had a lot to do with him being sick, but... I just couldn’t say no.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s compromise. I’ll treat you here until tomorrow morning at sunrise. If you haven’t gotten better by then, we’re going to the hospital.”
Yuuma frowned again.
“Listen,” I leaned in closer. “You’re really sick. What would you have done if our roles had been reversed?”
His frown grew deeper and he opened his mouth slightly to protest, then closed it again.
“Okay,” he relented, his voice still weak.
I nodded, satisfied with his answer. Then I went and got him some water to drink. I poured it into a cup and brought it to him. I had him sit up and drink some before I went out to get some medicine, not that I knew which to get.
At the pharmacy, I met one of the guys from the university soccer club. He was speaking to a woman who had a child next to her. The child looked pale and like they were running a high fever, not too different from Yuuma, but they didn’t seem quite as weak.
“There are bad cases of the flu around,” my teammate said. “I recommend you go to the hospital, just to be safe.”
“Thank you,” the mother said, truly being grateful. “And the fee?” she asked, looking through her purse.
“I’m just a trainee working part-time here,” my teammate said. “I’m almost done with my medical degree, so I’m offering this for free to get some experience.” He smiled politely and the mother bowed deeply, thanking him. Then she took her child by the hand and led them out.
Well, getting medicine would be a lot easier with a proper diagnosis, and a free consultation would be easy to convince Yuuma to go along with.
“Akabayashi!” I walked up to him as there were no one else for him to consult at the moment.
“Maehara!” he looked up and offered me a smile. “You here for painkillers? I heard it got pretty wild last night.”
“No,” I said. I had almost forgotten everything about last night. “My friend is sick, so I came here to look for some medicine for him, but I really don’t know what to get.”
“Is he with you?” Akabayashi asked.
I shook my head. “He’s too sick to go anywhere.”
“He’s not in the hospital?” Akabayashi looked shocked.
“He refuses. He’d rather use his money to help his family than to help himself whenever possible,” I explained. “I heard you offered consultations for free.”
“Only here,” he said, looking troubled.
“I see.” I felt defeated. I had placed my hopes on this, but if there was nothing Akabayashi could do, I just had to grab whatever might help and go back, like I had planned to begin with.
“Maehara!” Akabayashi called as I was about to turn away. “I’m off in 10 minutes. There is not much I can do to help you and your friend, but I’ll give you an estimate of what I think is wrong.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Buy some common cold medicine and some of the medicine for the flu. You get to keep whichever one your friend needs. The other is the fee for making me work past hours. I’ll donate it to someone who really needs it,” he said.
Relief washed over me. He was willing to use his spare time to go take a look at Yuuma. I couldn’t ask for anything else.
“Thank you!” I exclaimed before I hurried to look for the medicine I had been asked to buy. Then I waited for Akabayashi to finish his shift and we went to Yuuma’s place together.
Once we arrived at Yuuma’s place, Akabayashi went to sit beside him and take a look. I followed him into the room, carrying the small plastic bag with the medication.
“It looks bad,” Akabayashi said as I went to sit by Yuuma’s other side. “How long has he been like this?”
“According to his mother, she couldn’t get a hold of him for the past couple of days,” I explained.
Akabayashi nodded and put a thermometer on Yuuma’s forehead. When it had measured his temperature, he took a look.
“He really should be in a hospital,” he said, showing me the display. 41 degrees it read.
“Hiroto?” Yuuma asked.
I looked to him to see that he was awake again. He looked really weak.
“Yuuma,” I turned to face him fully, feeling worried about him.
“What’s the last thing you remember clearly?” Akabayashi asked Yuuma.
“I… came home late from a shift. I was more tired than usual. That was… Thursday I think,” Yuuma still sounded weak. “I… I never finished the report due today…,” he said.
“Today?” I asked. “Yuuma, there’s usually nothing due on Saturday. What are you talking about?”
A hint of panic appeared in Yuuma’s eyes and they got wet with tears again.
“Did you feel sick then?” Akabayashi asked.
“I’d been feeling a little sick all day,” Yuuma said. “The day before too. I took some pills.”
“What kind?” Akabayashi asked.
Yuuma named a common brand that is used to stop colds before they get going.
“I see,” Akabayashi said. “How are you feeling now?”
“My head’s heavy,” Yuuma said. “I’m tired.”
“Move your right arm towards me please,” Akabayashi said.
Yuuma tried. I could tell by the look on his face that it took a lot of effort and he didn’t move it very far. Akabayashi nodded and reached under the futon to grab Yuuma by the wrist. He studied his hand and wrist carefully. He then carefully put Yuuma’s hand back down under the blanket and covered it.
“What’s the verdict?” I asked.
“He really should be in a hospital,” Akabayashi said. “It’s the flu, and a bad case of it at that. Do you know his work schedule?”
“Twice a week usually,” I said. “Monday and Thursday are his work days, and he picks up shifts here and there too, so more often than not, he also ends up working weekends.” I picked up Yuuma’s phone and quickly typed the passcode. This month it was my birthday. I went in and looked at his calendar. He’d usually keep his shifts in there, and I did find them. He had had one every day for the past two weeks. I showed it to Akabayashi, who nodded.
“Overwork seems to be the most likely explanation why,” he said, standing up. He then went to where I had put the medicine. “I’ll take the cold medicine. You keep the flu one. If he hasn’t gotten better by tomorrow, he’s going to the hospital. Also, if his fever increases, no matter how little, you take him there too.”
“Got it,” I said as I stood up. Akabayashi grabbed the cold medicine and went to leave the apartment.
“Make sure he gets plenty of nourishment and water. He hasn’t had anything for days,” he said.
“Thank you for this. I owe you one,” I said.
“No qualified doctor would let him stay here,” Akabayashi warned me. Then he left.
I read the label on the package for the flu medicine. One pill every six hours was the correct dosage. It could be washed down with tea or water. I checked the time, around 3 in the afternoon, and then went to pour Yuuma a cup of water. Then I brought this and one of the pills to him. He seemed to come out of a daze as I sat down beside him.
“Was that a doctor?” he asked, sounding tired.
“A friend who is studying medicine,” I said as I helped Yuuma sit up. I offered him the pill. “Take this,” I ordered.
Yuuma slowly took it and evenly slowly moved the pill to his mouth and put it in. He didn’t argue. He had never been the type to argue about any kind of medicine. He had once caught a bad cough when we were little. He got it from me. I remembered visiting him once with mom and got to see Maemi feeding the medicine to Yuuma, the same I had gotten and always refused to take. Maemi had held the spoon out and Yuuma had taken it and put it in his mouth himself. Mom had compared us, like she often did, but added that I was no different from my sisters when they were my age. Even now, there were certain kinds of medicine I would rather avoid taking if I could at all help it.
I now offered Yuuma the water and helped him drink.
“I’ll make you some food,” I said.
Yuuma smiled weakly but gratefully. “You really shouldn’t do all this,” he protested.
I snorted. Who did this guy think he was, Superman?
“How will you make food for yourself when you can’t even sit on your own?” I asked.
Yuuma frowned slightly, but didn’t argue. We both knew I was right. He needed help, especially if he insisted on not going to the hospital.
I helped Yuuma lay back down, instructing him to get some sleep while I got some food going. Then I went to the fridge to see what was there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a lot. I closed it again and began looking up what would be best to give sick people. Porridge seemed to be a good idea as it was easy on the stomach. I had never made porridge before. Admittedly, I wasn’t a good cook. I could boil rice, but that wasn’t worth bragging about.
An alarm went off on my phone, reminding me that I had a date in an hour. Well, no use even trying to make it there. I went in and texted her, telling her that I was sorry for canceling on her so suddenly, but I had a sick friend I needed to take care of. I then went and got ready to text Maemi. I told her that Yuuma had caught the flu, but I was going to stay and take care of him.
I was looking for the best porridge recipe when my phone started ringing and I answered.
“Hiroto-kun?” Maemi asked.
“It’s me,” I confirmed.
“Thank you so much for this,” she said and I could hear the relief in her voice clearer than ever.
“He needs someone,” I said. “I’m happy to be able to help. Besides, he’d do the same for me.”
“How bad is it?” she asked.
“He’ll be fine,” I tried to assure her.
“It’s not like I don’t trust you, but I know him about as well as you do. He wouldn’t even let you take care of him unless there was no way he couldn’t do it himself. I know he sends more money home than he should. I know he tries to avoid going to the hospital because of the expense. He takes care of everyone but neglects himself in the process. Tell me how bad he let it get.”
There was something in her tone of voice that made me unable to keep it from her. I told her everything about Yuuma’s condition and where my research on food had led me. I even told her about my little problem.
“Got it,” she said. “Put me on speaker. I’ll guide you through it as you go.”
I did as told. I followed her instructions as she gave them and soon I had porridge boiling on the stove. We began to talk about different things as I watched the porridge and stirred.
“You’re dating someone but you’re not sure you like her?” Maemi asked.
“She’s cute and sweet and I like being around her. There’s just something about it all that feels… wrong? I know it doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” Maemi said. “Before Souma, I used to date another guy. He was really sweet and good to me, but I felt the same way you do about that girlfriend of yours.”
“Was that what made you stop dating him?” I asked, stirring the porridge.
“No,” she said. “I got really sick at one point. I had to drop out of university when it got really bad. He never came to see me in the hospital. After a short time, I heard he was dating someone else. He never broke up with me.”
I suddenly remembered Tsuchiya. She had been cute and sweet like this girl now, and look how things turned out with her. Maybe there was something bad hidden in my current relationship somewhere.
“What should I do?”
“Evaluate what you have,” Maemi said. “If you want to find the right one, look for what you like in the people around you. Take your friends. What do you like about them? Think about whether you could live without this person or not. Think about what is the most important to you in a relationship.”
I had to think of that. I had absolutely no idea about that.
“What’s the most important thing for you?” I asked, knowing I was probably being a bit intrusive.
“For me?” Maemi asked. “It was important to me to have someone who would always stay by my side, no matter what happens. I want the same for my children.”
All things considered, that made sense.
“I think I still need to figure that out,” I said after another moment of thinking on it.
“Take all the time you need,” she said. “You need to take the porridge off the stove now.”
I took the porridge off and poured some into a bowl.
“I’ll scold Yuuma for this when he gets better,” she said. “Keep me updated please.”
“Of course,” I said. “Thanks for the help.”
“You too,” she said before hanging up.
I took the bowl and a glass of water to Yuuma and woke him up. I held him up in a sitting position and held the bowl in his lab while he slowly ate.
“Sorry,” he said.
“Of course I do this. There’s no need for apologies,” I said.
“You have plans, don’t you?” he asked.
“I had,” I told him. “They got canceled.”
“I doubt she’s happy,” he said.
“Forget it,” I said. “Focus on eating.”
Yuuma complied. He ate a good bit of the porridge. He slowed down as he was halfway through. He struggled for a bit, and gave up when about one fourth of the porridge in the bowl was left.
“I can’t eat any more,” he said.
I nodded. “At least you ate,” I said. “Sleep some more. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for your medicine.”
“Thanks,” Yuuma said as I helped him lay back down again.
I took the nearly empty bowl and the empty glass back to the kitchen. I threw the remaining porridge out and washed everything. I then got some curry that Yuuma had in the fridge and heated it up as I had some food for myself.
My phone began ringing while I was eating. I looked at the display to see that it was Yukina calling me.
“I told you that you had to come!” she shouted as soon as I answered the call.
“Look, I have a sick friend. I need to look after him!” I argued, immediately falling into the defense.
“You said I’m the most important in your life,” she argued. “Isn’t your friend an adult? They should be able to take care of themselves.”
“If I leave him alone it could get worse. He has the flu and-,” I began, but she cut me off.
“The flu?” she shrieked. “No way you have to cancel our date because of that!”
“It’s a really bad case. I have to stay here and care for him,” I argued.
“Just drop them in the hospital then. They should know better than to get sick and burden people.”
I was getting really angry now. I had been trying to talk her down, but when she said something like that about Yuuma, who’d drop everything to take care of anyone and hardly ever got sick himself, I couldn’t let it go.
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about,” I said. “He could have been dying.”
“So what?” she asked. “You said I’m the most important to you. You said it when I asked you. If that’s really true, you should leave that friend of yours, no matter what. You owe it to me.”
“I owe you nothing,” I argued. “If you want a relationship with me, stop acting like that. I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“And what if your friend’s still sick?” she asked. “You should learn to make your priorities straight. Come see me now and show me that I’m the most important to you, or forget everything about tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I said. I had run out of cares to give now. “Then I guess we’re over.”
She was quiet for a bit.
“I hate you! I don’t want to ever see you again!” she screamed at me before hanging up.
“Not like I feel like seeing you again either,” I muttered to myself as I stared at my phone.
I went back home and grabbed some of my books as I could study. I did that at Yuuma’s place and watched a movie on my phone until it was time to give Yuuma some more medicine. I took his temperature while I was at it.
“40.9,” I said. “It’s gone down a bit.”
“I guess,” Yuuma said. He still seemed tired.
“I’ll stay here,” I said. “If you need anything, just wake me up.”
“I… I think I need to use the bathroom,” Yuuma said.
“Got it,” I said. I helped him out of the futon and to the bathroom. He said he didn’t need me in there, so I aired out his futon while he was in there. It did take him a little bit. When he came back I had him sit on the couch for a moment while I laid the futon back out.
“You really don’t need to do all this,” he said.
I glanced at him, offering him a smile. “Let’s be real. You’d do the same for me. I know it.”
“I would,” he said. “Still, I wouldn’t need to cancel a date.”
“No, you’d need to let your workplace know you weren’t going to show up,” I said.
“I… would,” he said. He leaned back, looking like he wanted to sleep.
“Come here,” I said. I walked up to the couch and picked him up. “You lost weight again,” I noted.
“What’d you expect?” he muttered into my shoulder. He didn’t protest what I was doing. He was probably too sick and tired. He wasn’t too heavy to carry, especially not the short distance between the couch and the futon. I laid him down and covered him. He gave me a weak and tired smile.
“I’m grateful,” he said.
“It’s no big deal,” I said.
“It is to me,” Yuuma said.
“To those who need help it’s always a big deal,” I said, smiling at him. “Get some more sleep.”
Yuuma nodded and then frowned again.
“Need some painkillers?” I asked, realizing that he probably had a headache.
“If it’s not too much trouble. They’re in the drawer under the bathroom sink,” he explained.
“Got it,” I told him before I went to get them. I took out two and poured another glass of water. I took it all to Yuuma and he swallowed the pills and drank the water. Then he laid back on his pillow and promptly fell asleep. I got out his spare futon and laid it out on the floor next to him. Then I too fell asleep.