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The sound of his repeating alarm woke Itoshi Sae from his slumber, his hand reaching in a desperate attempt to shut the sound up because, holy shit, was it loud.
A headache shot through his head, resulting in him sucking in a breath. His whole body burned with pain, not the pain and numbness he felt the morning after a really intense practice session; no, he felt fatigued, as if he was bound in the same position.
It took Sae a good minute or two to gather that he was in his bed next to you, who had somehow always slept through his alarm.
His burning eyes soften at the site of your peaceful, sleeping figure. Your hair was dishevelled, strands falling in front of your face that Sae refused to move away because he loved your ditziness.
A soft sigh escaped past his lips, his eyes closing as he swore it would only be a minute, and then he would get up to start his day.
Itoshi Sae wasn’t someone who delayed his tasks.
No matter how tedious, overworked, or pained he was, Sae strived to better himself, pushing forward in any way he could. So why was today so different? Why did dread fill him at the mere thought of doing anything?
Disregarding his feelings, Sae gets up from the comfort of his bed, only to quickly grab at the bedpost when his eyesight starts darkening, the sense of falling face down on the floor overcoming him.
A hushed groan vibrated within him, moving his spare hand to rub his temples. He hated this weird, foreign feeling. It felt like his whole body was weighing him down, as if there were hundreds of weights chained to him.
Despite the terrible feeling that spread through his body, Sae continued on to get his day started, stumbling to the bathroom in his tired and sick state.
After Sae finished getting ready, which took him much longer than usual, he grabbed his bag that contained all that he’d need for soccer practice and started to make his way out the door. He didn’t eat breakfast, as he felt nauseous and usually grabbed food from outside most days.
The midfielder was just about to open the door, his hand twisting at the knob. However, he was quick to stop his actions at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Sae?”
His head spun back quickly, an action he almost immediately regretted when his head pounded at the quick movement. Sae hissed as a result of the pain. Standing next to the staircase was you, eyes still tired from having just woken up.
“What are you doing up?” He asked. You, however, disregarded his question, getting closer to inspect him.
“You look like shit.” Your voice was laced with worry, matching your facial expression. Sae rolled his eyes, looking away from you as you reached a hand towards his face.
“Gee, thanks.” In any other case, you probably would have replied to his sarcastic comment with a snarky one. Though with his more than usual tired look and his deepened voice that sounded like he was on the verge of tears, you decided there were more important matters at the moment.
“I think you’re sick, Sae.” He scoffed lightly, clutching the strap of his bag. In the years he has been alive, the likelihood of getting sick was nearly nonexistent. So, it was damn near difficult to believe that he was now.
“I’m fine, just tired.” He mumbled, his speech slowed more than it was usually.
“Sae, you can’t go to practice like this. You’ll catch an even higher fever!” Itoshi found warmth in your concern. (But he’d refuse to ever admit that to you.) Despite this, he kept persisting in leaving.
“It’ll be ok-” He paused abruptly, turning his head away from you and sneezing into his arm. He was definitely not making a case for himself in your eyes.
“Yeah, I bet you will.” A distasteful look made its way onto his face at your sarcastic remark, to which you snickered. Sae shoved his hands into his pockets, eyes closing for what felt like just a second to try and stay in the moment forever.
“…Sae!”
He reopened his eyes, narrowing his eyes at you as if to question why you yelled out his name when he was right in front of you.
“Hm?”
“I’ve been saying your name for a good minute-” you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, “did you fall asleep… standing?”
The midfielder wished he could respond back to you, say something to assure you he was fine. Though he couldn’t. His throat burned, a scratchy feeling overcoming it every time he talked. Instead, he decided on a sound that was somewhere between a whine and a whimper, closing his eyes once more to restore the tranquillity he had felt just a minute ago.
And maybe staying home wasn’t the worst thing for him. He was tired out of his mind, his mind yearning to be put to rest, for his brain felt heavier with every sentence he spoke. So what was just a single break? It wasn’t like you were about to let him leave; why not take advantage of his situation?
You sighed once more, grabbing his arm to drag him back up the stairs. You were glad he hadn’t fought the idea of staying home from practice too much, though it wasn’t like you didn’t have a backup plan in case he was more persistent. Sae was too sick to realize you stole his keys from his pocket when he wasn’t looking and couldn’t leave even if he wanted to.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
You both get to the top of the staircase, the practice taking a slightly longer time than usual because you were dragging Sae behind you. Once the both of you made it to your shared room, he stripped off his bag and jacket, throwing both onto the floor because, at that moment, he couldn’t give a shit about either of his belongings. All he yearned for at that given time was being asleep beside you.
Sae stumbled into bed, practically passing out the moment his head hit the pillow. You sighed, grabbing the duvet covers and placing them on his sleeping figure before getting into bed alongside him.
✁
The sun in your eyes wasn’t such a great feeling.
Having to be forcefully woken up because your eyes are being hit by something so bright it pains you.
You were in a similar predicament at the moment. However, you were stripped of the luxury of turning yourself away from the source of the sunlight so that your back was against the window to shield yourself from the sun. No, instead, Sae’s arms wrapped around your waist, head rested into your neck, his breathing tickling you ever so slightly. The way he positioned himself made it hard for you to move without waking him up.
You huffed softly through your nostrils, contemplating closing your eyes and returning to your slumber. The idea didn’t seem half bad to you; however, you had school, and if you didn’t get up to get ready soon, you would definitely be late.
You managed to wiggle yourself out of Sae’s grasp, freezing every time he made a sound or switched positions. Ultimately, you managed to escape the bedroom without waking him, leading you to quickly grab an outfit and dart into the bathroom to prepare yourself for the rest of the day.
It turned out that you had lots of time to spare, resulting in you sitting on the kitchen island wondering what to do with the leftover time. You didn’t want to wake Sae because, even if he couldn’t see it, he was terribly sick.
You weren’t blind to Sae’s poor eating habits. Because he couldn’t cook, he usually subjected himself to buying takeout if he couldn’t have a cooked meal with you. And, if he wasn’t going to order fast food, it was because he had forgotten about eating altogether.
This led you to take the role of making sure he ate properly. You were pretty good at the task. However, it was hard for you to make sure he ate breakfast, as he woke up at a far too early hour of the day that you were not prepared to wake up at.
You put your phone down on the counter, stretching once before coming to the decision that you’d make your boyfriend breakfast. You wouldn’t be able to see him for most of the day due to your classes, and this would be the most caring thing you’d be able to do for him now.
It didn’t take you too long to make your first perfect batch of pancakes. After plating them and putting the dishes you used into the dishwasher, you tip-toed your way up the stairs and into your bedroom. You nudged the slightly closed door open with your hip, hands currently occupied with the food you cooked for Sae. He was still peacefully sleeping, soft snores leaving his mouth because his nose was clogged.
The corner of your lips twitched upwards at the sight of him, your brain poking at you to run a hand through his ashy red hair. You ended up giving in to the urge, setting the plate and cup of water on the bedside table as quietly as possible. Your hand first went to his forehead, nearly wincing from how hot it was. There was no doubt in your mind he was sick.
Your mind wandered off as you kept playing with Sae’s soft hair, not noticing how his tired eyes started to open slowly.
If there was a heaven, Itoshi Sae was experiencing it right now.
Thanks to his career path, there weren’t many days that he woke up after you. However, today was different. Today, he had gotten to experience the feeling of hands raking through his hair, the scent of what he presumed to be breakfast filling his nose delicately. And, if that wasn’t enough, from the moment he opened his eyes, long lashes fluttering away from each other to reveal his beautiful blue eyes, he was able to capture the sight of you looking down at him.
This had to be heaven.
The euphoric feeling only lasted a minute, the symptoms of his cold hitting him like a truck soon after. He grumbled in annoyance at the pain that was shooting through his body, bringing the covers closer to his body to preserve some body heat.
You chuckled at his actions, sitting down on the side of the bed so you could talk to him.
“How are you feeling, princess?” Sae furrowed his eyebrows at your sarcasm, sneering at you, which only made your laughter more prominent. His mannerism reminded you of a child who refused to go to school in the morning.
“What time is it?” He asked in a dazed voice.
“Uh… 10:30.” You said, looking at the large bolded numbers at the top of your screen. “Shoot, I have to get going for school.”
You scooted your body closer to his face, pressing a kiss on his forehead before standing up to leave.
“I’ll be back soon. Call me if you need anything-” Your words were interrupted by the redhead, who grabbed your forearm and forced you to sit back down on the mattress. You narrow your eyes at him from the sudden gesture, waiting for him to properly sit up before starting any banter.
“Sae, I really have to go. I’m going to be late.” He opened his mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted by a sneeze.
“Can’t you just skip?” The remark made you roll your eyes. Of course, Sae would suggest something like that.
“No, I can’t just-” You wanted to continue your sentence; tell him no because you couldn’t afford to skip another day. But when he was looking at you with slightly glossy eyes brows, an expression on his face that was practically begging you to stay with him, how could you possibly say no?
“Please?” He knew saying no to him wasn’t something that came easy to you, and he was using it to his advantage. You grumbled quietly, loud enough for him to hear but not articulate enough to understand what you were saying.
Sae picked up his phone from his bedside table, shuddering at the cool air that hit his arm. He raised his brow when scrolling through the mass amount of messages he received from his coach and teammates. His confused expression quickly changed; his lips pursed as he read the messages.
When he fell back asleep, Sae forgot to inform anyone that he wouldn’t be coming in for practice. And because everyone seemed to depend on him (or at least what he thought), they were having some sort of heart attack from him not showing up.
The football player quickly typed a short, dry response to his coach before turning his phone off and throwing it to the side. His attention was back on you, who had gotten off the bed again and was about to put on a pair of shoes.
“Wow, you made me cancel practice just for you to leave me alone? I’m hurt.” The snarkiness in his voice made you scoff.
“Well from your peachy attitude I can tell your fever isn’t too high. I’m sure you can take care of yourself for just a few hours.” Sae puffed out his reddened cheeks, crossing his arms across his chest. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at his mannerism.
“My love, do you want me to do everything for you? Would you like me to undress you and shower you myself?”
The two of you both knew that you were clearly joking. It was apparent in the tone of your voice. However, seeing as Sae’s lips curled upwards into a sinister smile, you widen your eyes in disbelief. You swiftly walked towards him and flick his forehead to rid him of his weird, perverted thoughts.
He grunted from the slight pain he felt from getting his forehead flicked, narrowing his eyes at you as you smiled delightfully at his discomfort.
“I hope you die.”
“Awe, I love you too!”
✁
It was stupid how quickly Sae got you to skip school.
You were so persistent in leaving, allowing him to rest on his own without you distracting him. However, now that you had his head on your lap, you couldn’t imagine ever leaving him in the first place.
The two of you sat in the living room, the TV blaring noise from a show none of you were actually watching, instead letting it act as background noise. You scrolled through your phone with one hand, the other raking through Sae’s ashy hair. He, at some point, was also on his phone, though he was now sleeping comfortably with your favorite blanket.
Despite what you said earlier, Sae’s fever had started to rise, which caused you to worry more. You were used to common fevers, though he was beginning to exceed what could be considered the common cold.
The thought of calling the doctor wandered into your mind. You knew Sae wouldn’t be too fond of the idea and would try to convince you that he was perfectly fine. He would then later continue on to rant about how a doctor wouldn’t know what was best for him nor how he truly was feeling. (Well, at least that’s what he tried to convince himself from when he was a small child.)
Despite this, you entertained your mind with the possibility of him having the flu. You definitely did not have the proper medication to treat the virus, and there was only so much that Ibuprofen could do.
Your thoughts were interrupted by the body in front of you shifting positions, moving from facing the television to facing upwards at the ceiling instead. You stared at Sae’s sleeping face for a good two minutes, contemplating once more the idea of making him an appointment. And, after letting out a soft sigh, you turned on his phone and went into his contacts to call his doctor’s office.
You only got so close to hitting the call button that you felt a hand grip your wrist firmly.
“Hey-”
A pair of bloodshot blue eyes stare up at you, a knowing look contained in them.
“What are you doing, mi amor?”
Fuck. Of course, Sae had to use Spanish pet names. He knew how quickly it made you fold, made you into a stuttering mess and forced you to tell the truth.
“I was just… calling your doctor.” The sheepishness in your voice warmed Sae’s heart, almost making him ignore what you said.
Almost.
He quickly swipes the phone out of your hand, getting off your lap and scooting away from you and towards the other side of the couch. Your mouth was hanging slightly agape at his actions.
“You can’t be serious.” He folded his arms around his torso, knees bent towards his stoic and severe face. He was being dead serious.
“Sae you have a high fever, it wouldn’t be bad to at least check-”
“I’ll be fine. All some dipshit doctor is going to tell me is to rest and take some more days off. Days that I can’t afford to miss.” You roll your eyes at him.
“Aren’t you the one who’s always going on about how annoying your coach is-” he took you off guard by throwing a pillow at your face, causing your posture to stumble a bit. You bit the inside of your cheek, a menacing look on your face. So that’s how he wanted to play?
“I’m going to beat you up right now if you don’t give me your phone.” You threatened as you fixed your posture, an arm reached out towards your boyfriend. He held it to his chest protectively, squinting at you as if he were daring you to try and grab the device out of his strong hands.
“You’re acting like a child!” You complained, eye twitching at your boyfriend’s incompetence. You soon came to the realization that Sae was not going to reason with you and that you had to go for a second approach.
Attack.
You quickly placed your phone on the coffee table to avoid damaging it. Sae noticed your new attitude and put his guard up.
“You’re really going to fight a sick person? Wow.” You paid little to no mind to his speech as you rolled your sleeves up.
“You forced me to, I never wanted to do this.”
“Try me, loser.”
You quickly jumped on top of him, a gasp escaping his lips the moment you’d done so.
“GIVE ME THE PHONE-”
He held the arm that held his phone as far away from you as possible, not having enough energy to do anything more than defend himself.
“Come reach it, shorty.” You knitted your eyebrows and smacked his arm hard.
“OW.” He hissed, instinctively putting his other arm down, using it to rub the one you hit.
“You should be the last person talking about other people being short.” You grumbled, taking his temporarily stunned body as an opportunity to snatch his phone right out of his hand. Unfortunately for you, he was quick to react, tightening his hand around the phone.
The back-and-forth fight lasted for five more minutes, ending quicker than usual due to Sae’s shortness of breath. In the end, his phone in your hand with him wheezing underneath you. You were also out of breath, head resting on top of his. On any other day, Sae would definitely have taken your vulnerable state to steal the phone back. However, he was on the verge of falling asleep again, exhaustion hitting him so hard that even the thought of lifting his hand filled him with dread.
“Aren’t you-” Sae went into a coughing fit, his lungs burning with each cough. “Aren’t you going to call my doctor?”
The sourness in his voice nearly humored you enough to laugh out loud; however, you, much like the boy you were straddling, were tired out of your mind. The idea of getting up, adequately dressing, and then driving all the way to the clinic made your body flood with dread.
“Shut up.” You mumbled, grabbing the blanket that was discarded just a couple inches away from the two of you. Sae’s lips curled upwards as you wrapped the blanket around both of your bodies. He decided, however, not to make a snarky or sarcastic remark on how you changed your mind, instead closing his eyes and letting sleep overcome him.
✁
When Itoshi Sae woke up the following day, he was pleased to find that the sick feeling he had felt yesterday had vanished, thanks to your care. He still had slight coughing fits from time to time, but all in all, he had returned to his original state.
The football star didn’t waste time getting ready for his busy day, as he had double the work to do because he missed yesterday.
He swiftly grabbed his bag off the floor of your shared bedroom, doing his best not to wake you up. He, however, was shown that his attempts were futile, the sound of you shifting in your bed alerting him.
When hearing your movements die down, he started to walk out the bedroom door and into the hallway, twisting the knob so the door wouldn’t close too loudly.
Only then did he pause abruptly at the sound of two soft coughs from the other side of the wall.
‘Shit.’