Chapter Text
Helplessly lying in her bed, covered with a thick blanket despite the hot weather, Nijika stared at the ceiling, waiting for the fever medications to work. Peeking at her through the curtain, the gentle sunlight was mocking her with its warmness, reminding Nijika what an amazing day she was currently wasting in her bed.
`God, I hate being sick,` the thought passed through her hazy mind. She was in this state for the last few days, hating every single moment of it. Not just because of how awful the feeling was on its own, but because there was nothing more pathetic than catching a cold during summer.
`Well, at least it’s just a cold…`
When she went to see a doctor a couple of days ago, complaining about a fever and a strong cough, she was told that she had got a really nasty cold, but that there was nothing to worry about. After that, he prescribed her a bunch of medications (and really expensive ones!) for her cough and fever and let her go. She didn’t have any complications since, so it seemed that it was working… but she would’ve loved to finally be free from the shackles of her sickness.
But, if fever and general weakness were a nuisance, the cough was literally unbearable. Most of the time it was just a couple of little “ahem” that were just a bit bothersome. But a few times, she had some really strong coughing attacks that were threatening to make her spit her lungs out. And they were just the worst.
While she was busy cursing whoever invented the cold, the silence that filled the room was broken by two knocks on the door that opened right after.
“Hey, Nijika.” Hearing a voice calling out to her, Nijika stopped her mental rant and turned her head towards the sound, seeing her sister enter the room with a big cup of hot tea. “I made you some tea here.”
“Ah… thanks, Sis,” Nijika babbled with a hoarse voice, trying to sit up slightly.
Putting the cup on the nightstand beside her, Seika gently touched Nijika’s forehead with the back of her hand, taking her temperature.
“Do you feel better? Your fever should've gone down by now.”
“Yes, I’m feeling good, just a little hazy. That, and—”
Getting cut out rudely, Nijika started coughing, quickly covering her mouth to not get any of this grossness on her sister.
“As I tried to say,” she continued after the coughing attack calmed down, “it’s just this stupid cough.”
“Should I call a doctor?” Seika asked worriedly. Looking at her slightly terrified face, Nijika realized that maybe her cough was more than just annoying. But still, she was sure that her sister was just overprotective as always.
“I’m fine, it’s just a cough,” Nijika shook it off, “Besides, I already have a cough syrup for that, and it helps a lot, so no need for that.”
“…Okay. If you say so.” Seika watched as Nijika started slowly sipping on her tea, with a joyful expression spreading across her face. “But do tell me if it gets worse, alright?” Seika told her sternly, “Immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Nijika saluted her jokingly.
“Well, at least it looks like you are as lively as always,” Seika said with a smile, “Anyway, I need to go and prepare for the night at STARRY now… but I don’t want to leave you alone here.”
“Oh, don’t worry!” Nijika reassured her, “Ryo and others said that they will come over today, and I think that they should be here soon.” Just as the words left her mouth, they heard the doorbell ringing out.
“Speak of the devil. Well then, since they are here, I’ll leave you in their care,” Seika said and stood up, going towards the door. Stopping right before it, she turned around and looked at Nijika caringly, “I hope you’ll feel better soon.”
With that, she left Nijika alone, giving her a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet. Which didn’t last long, because, in a few moments, the door was swung open again as her bandmates entered the room.
“Nijika-senpai! We are here!” Kita chirped, being the first to fly into the room, being as painfully bright as always, “How are you?”
Nijika grimaced from an uncomfortably loud sound, feeling the headache that she almost forgot about pulsating in her temples again.
“Ah, Ki-Kita-chan, not so loud, Nijika-chan is sick,” Hitori worriedly said, noticing how uncomfortable Nijika’s expression became.
“Eh? Oh, sorry, Nijika-senpai,” Kita apologized, somewhat quiet this time, “By the way, I brought you some fruit to help you recover,” saying that, she placed a bag on a nightstand near her and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Thank you, Kita-chan! Oh, by the way, where is Ryo?” Nijika asked curiously, looking past the guitarists and seeing no one, “Don’t tell me her non-existing dog needed surgery again.”
“Ah, Ryo-san is here. She said that she will go to the kitchen and make herself a snack,” Hitori explained while sitting down next to Nijika. Hearing that, Nijika almost choked on tea that she decided to drink at an unfortunate time, and started coughing again.
“She did what?” she furiously asked when it calmed down. Answering her question, the subject of their conversation entered the room with a sandwich in her hand, chewing slowly.
“Hey, Ryo,” Nijika said sternly, piercing her with a cold stare, “what were you doing in my kitchen?”
“Making myself a sandwich,” Ryo stated as a matter of fact, leaving Nijika speechless with such bluntness. Then, she passed by her bed, sat at the table, grabbed some manga off the shelf, and made herself comfortable. Which, together with her smug smile, made Nijika even angrier.
“Bocchi-chan, Kita-chan, please smack her for me.”
“Eh? I-I don't think such a low-life as me has a right to even touch Ryo-san,” Bocchi meekly replied, taking her request way too seriously.
“I can’t just do this, Nijika-senpai!” Kita, obviously, refused, looking at Ryo with admiring eyes, “If anything, I would like her to sma–"
“Don’t.” Cutting her out before she was too far gone, Nijika sighed and turned her attention back to Ryo.
`You may get away with this for now, but as soon as I feel better, you’d better be ready,` she thought, sending the mental signal to Ryo. It seemed to get through, as she suddenly shuddered, her confident smile twitching ever so slightly.
“Anyway,” Nijika looked away from her, satisfied with the result, “what have you guys been up to lately?”
“Oh, we were hanging out a lot! After all, I promised Hitori-chan that this summer we would spend a lot of time together!” Kita said cheerfully, trying to play off what happened the last summer, only a slight movement of her eyes giving away that she still felt guilty for that incident. Not that Nijika didn’t, it was really embarrassing.
“So, as soon as school ended last week, I’ve been taking Hitori-chan out to all kinds of places. And it was so fun! Right, Hitori-chan?”
“Ah, yes. It was very… fun,” Bocchi replied, making a small pause before the last word, and Nijika could swear that despite the fact that she said ‘fun’, her lips definitely mouthed ‘help me’. But it was probably her imagination.
“Aghh, I’m so jealous! I’ve been stuck in bed for days, and I’m so bored. All I can do is either take medications, stare at the ceiling, or sleep. It’s so annoying!”
“Don’t worry, Nijika-senpai!” Kita shined, “As soon as you feel better, we will catch up to the time you spent in bed! We are going to hang out twice… no, three times as much!”
And here Nijika thought that she already saw the extent of Kit-aura. She was wrong. Hiding behind her safety blanket to not go blind, she waited out until the raging light calmed down, feeling bad for Bocchi who was supposed to handle Kita by herself for now.
“Okay, thank you, Kita-chan, but you remember that we have to practice as well, right? Knowing my sister, she is probably going to save us a spot for performance after I get better as a ‘present’… not that she will ever admit that… so we better get ready for that.
“Plus, I will need to work on my summer homework, our school is very strict on that matter. SPEAKING OF WHICH,” she raised her voice and turned towards Ryo, who was still sitting at the desk, not paying attention to them at all, as if nothing worried her, “Ryo, you were supposed to get my homework for me. Where is it?”
Hearing this question, Ryo seemed to lose her cool for once. Her inexpressive mask disappeared, replaced by a very Bocchi-like face of panic. Which was a very rare sight.
“Uh,” Ryo’s eyes drifted away from the manga she was reading all this time, moving towards the door, “I actually just remembered, my grandma just got in hospital with a broken leg, and I need to pay her a visit right now. So, I’d better go, see ya.”
Having said that, Ryo stood up and tried to run away from her responsibilities, but as soon as she was met with the stare that Nijika directed at her, she halted. Shrinking under her angry gaze, she fell on her knees, apologizing.
“I’m sorry… I forgot.” Seeing Ryo act like that made Bocchi shudder. Nijika really was Seika’s sister.
“I swear to God, Ryo,” Nijika sighed, returning back to normal, “you need to take this seriously! After all—"
Unable to finish the sentence, only having time to just put the cup she was holding aside, Nijika started coughing again. But it was worse this time, making her lean forward after each scarily deep cough. Dropping her act, Ryo jumped from the floor and sat next to her with Bocchi and Kita, sharing the same worried look, watching Nijika heaving with each cough attack.
“So-Sorry,” when she was finally allowed to breathe again normally Nijika, for some reason, apologized, “it gets bad sometimes haha. But I’m fine.”
“You don’t look very fine to me,” Ryo said, clearly worried.
“Nijika-senpai, are you sure that it’s fine? Your cough sounded… scary,” Kita joined in, sounding as worried as Ryo, as Bocchi nodded along with a concerned frown.
“The doctor said that there is nothing to worry about, it’s just a bunch of… phlegm or whatever. Plus, it rarely gets this bad, so there is really no need to worry,” Nijika tried to calm them down, and looked at the nightstand beside her bed, “Kita-chan, can you give me that bottle?”
Still not convinced, Kita nodded, passing the cough syrup to Nijika. Opening it, she measured the needed amount and swallowed it, under the still-concerned looks of her bandmates.
“Okay, this should help. So, do you guys have any plans for summer?” Nijika tried to switch the topic, feeling just a little bad for making everyone worried, “I had a few ideas about what we can do after I get out of this. I think…”
…
Slowly getting lost in conversation, they ended up talking about everything and nothing, ranging from their ideas to where they could go this summer to gas prices (and neither of them knew how they ended up there). Nijika was smiling the entire time, finally able to talk with her friends while sitting next to them, and not just through lifeless chats. Everyone else was joyful as well, laughing together, being happy to color Nijika’s boringly grey day, especially since her scary cough seemed to disappear completely.
They could’ve continued sitting there forever, but at some point, tired, Nijika spread her mouth widely, infecting all of them with an urge to yawn as well.
“I think I’m starting to doze off,” Nijika said, even if it was obvious.
“Oh dear! It’s so late already,” Kita said, checking the time on her phone, “I think we should leave already. Sorry for keeping you up for so long, Nijika-senpai!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve had a lot of fun!” Nijika reassured her, but then she remembered something, “Wait, Bocchi-chan, how are you going to get home?”
“Ah, I’m staying at Kita-chan’s place tonight,” Bocchi explained, and it was clear from her expression that it was not her choice.
“Oh, I see. Maybe you all stay at my place instead? It’s dangerous to go outside this late at night.”
“No-no, we can’t do this, you need to get some good rest!” Kita declined Nijika’s offer, standing up together with everyone, “And don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine, it’s not that far from here!”
“I can stay.”
“Not you, Ryo.”
“You are so cruel, Nijika,” Ryo wiped away the fake tear.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Aaaaaanyway,” Nijika yawned again, clearly being one step away from falling asleep, “Good night everyone,” she said, tucking herself into bed, slowly drifting into sleep with a joyous smile.
The girls looked at her with a smile, wished her a good night, and left her alone, turning the light off on their way, hoping for her to get well soon so they could spend time together like this more often.