Work Text:
The title of the fic is inspired by this quote:
Honami felt like she was suffocating underneath the covers of the bed, but she knew that if she removed them, her blood would run cold enough to cause her teeth to chatter. She coughed under the covers and felt the damp cloth slide down from her forehead and land beside the pillow. She was tempted to put it back on, but it had already grown warm by then and she couldn’t muster the energy to even lift a finger. How many days has she been bed-ridden? Two? Three? She knew there would be a good chunk of school work to catch up on when she got back and she felt bad that she would have to rely on Ichika and the others more.
No, no, Honami-don’t think about that right now! Just focus on getting better quickly. You have to…
The coughs that racked through Honami’s body interrupted her thoughts and she let out a groan before turning onto her side. She wished Shibao was there to comfort her at least, but she had been the one to suggest leaving Shibao outside to prevent spreading her cold. Honami thought she could hear Shibao whining outside.
Honami strained her head to look at the clock on her bedside. Time seemed to move at a snails pace when she was stuck in bed. When did her mom say that she would be back?
Honami relaxed when she heard the front door unlocking but tensed right back up when a boisterous voice rang from down the hall, “EXCUSE ME!”
The girl struggled to sit up on the bed as she heard a muffled exchange of conversation from the other side of the door. Her mother opened the bedroom door while carrying a bag of groceries, “Honami, your friend decided to come visit you, I hope you don’t mind that I allowed her in-we actually met on the way back and she even helped to carry the groceries!”
Another head popped into the room and Honami’s eyes widened, “Emu?” She coughed after making the mistake of raising her voice. “Hi Honami! I was just coming to visit you to deliver some things and help out however I can.” Honami’s mother talked to Emu about unloading all their groceries first and the two disappeared to head to the kitchen, leaving Honami sitting on her bed with a stunned expression. As she listened to them fiddle around in the kitchen, Honami couldn’t help but start feeling guilty that she caused Emu enough worry to trouble herself in coming all the way to her place.
When the fatigue began settling in again, Honami was shifting to lay back down when the door to her bedroom opened again. “Honami, I’ll be going out again for a bit to pick up some medicine, I didn’t realize we had run out already. In the meantime, Ootori said that she would be more than happy to watch over you,” she was already leaving before Honami could protest and the lock clicked on as the front door closed behind her. Being left alone with Emu only made Honami feel more nervous. She had always had fond feelings towards Emu, to the point that they bordered on a crush that Honami thought would fade overtime but only seemed to intensify. And now that person she adored so much was in her house, and taking care of her?! Perhaps this was all a fever dream…
Honami laid back down and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she would awaken from this dream. However, when Honami opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with Emu who was peering down at her from a close proximity. Honami was glad that she could blame her flush on the fever. “Oh, you’re awake! Thank goodness,” Emu giggled and rested the tray of food she prepared on the counter. A bowl of porridge garnished with seaweed flakes sat on the tray. “Did you make this?” Honami asked. Her voice was raspy from the days of nonstop coughing.
Emu nodded and picked up a spoon to blow on the porridge. “…I’m sorry,” Honami couldn’t hold herself back from apologizing. Emu looked surprised and then her expression softened and she lowered the spoon back in the bowl to take Honami’s hands in hers. “Honami…In cases like these, you just have to say ‘thank you’, right?”
Honami wasn’t sure why tears pricked her eyes but she nodded and sucked in a shaky breath, “Thank you, Emu.”
“That’s better! You should allow yourself to be taken care of for once,” Emu smiled and picked the spoon back up to feed Honami. The girl was flustered at the rather intimate gesture but decided not to think too much (for her own sanity) and accept the food offered from Emu’s hand.
Once the bowl was empty, Emu fluffed a pillow to put against the headboard so Honami could lean back comfortably. “I come bearing gifts!” Emu said as she pulled out two large bags, “From our friends!”
Honami’s eyes were wide as she watched Emu pull out the gifts. The first was several packets of cough candy from Tsukasa, next was Rui’s gift enclosed in a balloon. Both of the girls yelped when Emu popped it and inside revealed what looked like a sort of makeshift humidifier. “How do you turn it on…” Emu pressed a button which caused the machine to beep loudly and Emu exclaimed before quickly turning it off and carefully putting it aside, “I-I’ll let you figure that one out ,” Emu laughed nervously. Nene’s gifts were the most practical: a jar of raw honey and an eye mask. Honami was both shocked and humbled at the fact that Emu’s troupe members took time out of their busy schedule to express their care, and she knew there was no way these deeds of kindness would go unrepaid.
“Time for the second round!” Emu announced as she reached into the other large bag. Honami could hardly believe there was more but she nearly burst into tears when she saw the group picture her friends are Leoneed had taken together. Attached to it was a letter from her friends telling her about how much they missed her during practice and at school, and how much they cared about her so she needed to hurry and recover so they could all hang out again. Ichika and Shiho helped to write down all the notes she missed during class, and Saki included a dog plushie she won from the arcade along with many, many bath supplies.
Honami wondered if the amount of gratitude she was feeling was allowed.
“Now I feel kind of bad in not bringing any gifts of my own,” Emu gave a light laugh. Honami looked at her and reached to take Emu’s hand and squeeze it with as much strength she could muster, “You being here is the best gift I could ask for.”
The smile that spread across Emu’s face felt like warm sunlight and finally, Honami felt herself breathing easier.