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Weekend Garage was filled with chatter from the four members of Vivid Bad Squad; well, only four of them. Akito sat in the corner of the restaurant, a plate of pancakes sitting in front of him. However, he wasn't devouring them as fast as he normally would, he seemed ... out of it, staring into the syrup-drenched food, almost like he was stuck.
"Akito?" Toya had noticed the ginger's unusual behavior, and, being his partner, he wanted to make he was okay.
The ginger looked up at Toya, squinting slightly. The lights in the building were incredibly bright; too bright for Akito right now. "Mm?"
"Is everything alright? Are you feeling off? Do you need to go home? Do you need to see a doctor?" Toya instantly began asking many questions, too many questions. It made Akito's head hurt.
He weakly put a finger to Toya's mouth in a way to say 'shush' without actually saying it. He nodded. "I'm- I'm fine. I promise."
Toya watched as sweat dripped down Akito's nose, and he placed the back of his hand against the other's forehead, finding that it was burning hot. "Akito-! You aren't fine, you're burning up. You need to go home."
Akito swallowed hard, shaking his head. Toya was right, he was sweating. The building was incredibly hot inside; the multiple layers Akito wore didn't help either. But still, he didn't want to fail Vivid Bad Squad like this; he had to.. he had to keep going, even if he's sick. "No, no.. I'm fine. I don't need to go home."
But Toya wasn't going to listen to this; he cared about Akito too much, he knew when he wasn't okay. The taller boy had already told An, Kohane, and Ken that the two of them were leaving.
Toya wrapped an arm around Akito for support and helped him up. Akito insisted he could walk on his own, and even though Toya was struggling to hold him up, he still insisted on helping him... though Akito would never say it, he appreciated the gesture and couldn't help smiling sweetly at his partner as his face flushed more than it already was.
After a long walk filled with breaks to sit in the grass and bickering about 'I can walk on my own', they made it to the Shinonome household. Toya knocked on the door; he didn't want to dig through Akito's pockets for keys, and he didn't want to let go of him.
It took a moment, but Ena finally appeared and opened the door for the two of them. Her face went pale at the sight of her younger brother's appearance; face drenched in sweat, cheeks flushed pink against his milky skin, his eyes slightly closed from exhaustion.
"Toya..? Akito?!" She finally sputtered out before pulling them inside, pulling the ginger away from the blue-haired boy. She felt his forehead, eyes widening in surprise at just how warm he was.
Toya stood to the side, watching in worry... he thought a bit to himself though; he thought about what Akito had said about his own sister, how she was oh so mean... but the brunette in front of Toya didn't seem like a rude sister. She seemed to care about Akito a lot... maybe it was just miscommunication, he wondered.
Ena then turned towards Toya and sighed, "Thank you for bringing him home.. he wouldn't have come on his own."
Toya nodded quickly, fumbling with his hands slightly. "You're welcome, Shinonome-sama!"
Ena chuckled lightly to herself, covering her mouth for a mere moment before looking up at Toya - wow, he was tall, "Please, just Ena is fine. No need to be so formal."
Toya nodded once more. "Alright.."
A minute of silence, and it increasingly deafening. "Uhm, actually, E- Ena,"
"What is it?"
"Can I.. stay? I want to be here for Akito. He's.. he's very important to me."
Ena was taken aback by this question, but even then, she couldn't help but smile sweetly. She was glad her younger brother had such a caring friend. "Of course, Aoyagi-kun."
She watched as Toya's eyes lit up at her response, as if telling her that he'll do his best in taking care of Akito.
"By the way, you can just call me Toya."
Walking the two boys up to the ginger's room, Ena sat Akito on his bed and helped him remove the heavy layers that would only make him feel worse; Toya tried to help with that, but Ena insisted she could do it. After she removed the extra jackets, she folded and set them to the side before looking through Akito's dresser, finding a t-shirt and some shorts. She started lifting his shirt before noticing something; his binder. "ugh, you idiot!" she mumbled not-so quietly to herself before turning to Toya. She had no idea if Akito was out to his music group, and she sure as hell didn't want to out him to one of his friends right now.
"Ah, Aoyagi- Toya, I, uhm. Could you step into the hallway for just a moment?"
Toya nodded, "Mm."
He stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him gently.
"Man, Akito, what am I gonna do with you? I told you to be more careful.. you're seriously gonna get hurt wearing this when you're sick and wearing all these damned layers.." Ena spoke a bit too loudly, not on purpose, she just.. is a bit bad at controlling her volume at times.
" 'm sorry.. "
"It... I'd say it's fine but its not," She put a hand to his cheek caringly, "You need to be more careful, alright?"
Akito nodded.
She nodded back and then slid off his shirt and then the binder before slipping the t-shirt on him. She couldn't help but notice bruises around his chest area, and she frowned. "You need to wear it a bit less too. You've got bruises. How long are you wearing it per day?"
"Ah.. uhm..."
"You don't know?"
Akito went silent. It was dead silent in the room, it even made Toya, who was outside, uncomfortable.
Ena sighed. "Please start binding safer. I don't.." Her hands sat on her lap, clutching her skirt tightly. "I don't want anything bad to.. to happen to you."
These words came as a surprise to Akito; he already surprised by how.. how kind his sister was being, helping him change and all of that, but he just.. kind of assumed it was because Toya was there. But even then, when they were... basically alone, she was being kind to him. Was it because he was sick? Man, maybe he should get sick more often.
And, maybe if he wasn't sick he would've been able to hold back the tears that stung his eyes, but unfortunately, he couldn't. Warm tears fell down his flushed face and he just couldn't stop them, He hid his face away in his hands, wiping his tears and trying to get himself to stop crying.
After a minute or two, he did eventually stop the tears, though they did still threaten to pour out like a neverending waterfall. "Okay... okay, I can change my pants myself.." Akito stood up and motioned for Ena to turn around, which she did. He dropped his pants and put on the shorts which, were maybe a bit too short, but they were comfy and had breathing room so he wouldn't get too hot.
After a moment, Akito sat back down on the bed, shivering slightly before wrapping the comforter over himself. Ena opened the door and told Toya he could come back in, and so he did. He thanked her and then walked towards Akito, hugging him and then pulling away. He then turned towards Ena, "I can take care of him for now, if you have anything you need to do."
Ena nodded slightly, whispering a 'thank you' before walking off, closing the door behind herself.
Finally, the two of them were just alone. The blue haired boy walked towards the bathroom, mumbling a quick ' I'll be back in just a second. '
He grabbed a small washcloth, drenching it in cold water before wringing it out as best as he could. He then walked back to Akito and ushered him to lay down, which the ginger did do, and he then placed the cool washcloth on Akito's forehead. He brushed the hair out of Akito's face with his hand, sitting down next to him carefully, looking at him with a loving and thoughtful expression.
Exhaustion pulled Akito deeper and deeper into sleep, as his eyes slowly closed. Gently, he grabbed Toya's arm and pulled him closer to him, causing Toya to yelp quietly.... but, he found it cute. "Mm.. c.. dle..."
"Huh?"
"mm...Cud..dle.." Akito pulled Toya closer in his sleepy daze, his arms wrapping around his torso and pulling Toya closer to him. This was a first for both Akito and Toya. For Akito, he has never been this... clingy. And for Toya, this is the first time he's been cuddled like this. Well, for both of them, this is the first time either of them have been cuddled like this.
But neither of them complained, nor did they want to complain. This was heaven for them both.