Work Text:
Japan was a relatively cheap place to study. At least that’s what Google said. Okay, maybe Tokyo is an exception. Who could contemplate on such things at 11 pm, of course, Itadori Yuuji, who else!
Yuuji felt his head tilting forward from time to time almost falling asleep on the middle of the train. Yuuji rubbed his tired hazel brown eyes and searched for his phone in his pocket, searching up a heavy metal playlist to prevent him from falling asleep and spreading on the train’s floor.
Every joint in him ached, longing for his bed and mate. Ah, Satoru must be still up, doing something stupid like planting or baking a cake. At 11 pm. Talking from experience.
But right now he probably watches that silly Netflix sho-
Oh. Right. Satoru is out of town.
The next station is Minato
Ah, he’s almost there. Yuuji dragged himself up from his seat, pulling his hood on his slightly greasy hair, wanting to hide from the world. He walked through the crowd in the train station on auto pilot, he was so tired, he doesn’t even remember how he got home.
It was a shared apartment, but really, Satoru bought it in the high-end residential area of Tokyo, Minato Ward. Yuuji loved it, it was a spacious penthouse in a skyscraper that touched the sky and hugged the clouds, providing a perfect view of Tokyo. It was even prettier at night when it rained, the kaleidoscope of colors blurring together in the raindrops, the thin fog harboring the lower parts of the city and the illusion of neon signs in the distance mixing together because of the rain.
Yuuji dropped his shoes at the entrance, not even bothering to put them on the rack. He threw his backpack onto the long couch – well, tried, because he had such little strength left, it was only a pitiful attempt. Yuuji lifted his tired gaze to the sink, full of dirty dishes, the small dining table overflowing with books, papers, notes, coffee cans and mugs and junk food containers.
Yuuji combed frustratedly through his mop of hair. He had so much to do – Satoru comes home five days from now or so, he has to clean the house and he has work and he has to study... He always does so much, and he feels like he gets nothing done.
Work today was horrible too, he had to close the shop and because of a stupid con or festival or something 9 pm was quite literally like a morning rush hour. In a coffee shop. Why are they even open at that time?!
And if the work was the cream, Yuuji volunteering to help portion food for the homeless on the weekends was the cherry on top.
And don’t even get started with uni. He has two research papers to turn in, has to watch at least 4 lectures and catch up with his studies because work took so much out of him the past few weeks.
Speaking of, university was...draining lately. He was so excited to be accepted into the University of Tokyo, one of, if not the best universities in Japan. He was so excited that he’ll finally be able to study what he actually likes on a higher level, he will have much more freedom...
Maybe he was excited for adult life, university...not so much. It was too much. And it was the second semester still...But he has to keep good grades, otherwise he’ll lose his scholarship. Of course, Satoru could pay his entire college tuition from his pockets, he was filthy rich, but Yuuji wouldn’t allow that.
Satoru did and does so much for him already, Yuuji is not that selfish. Besides, he doesn’t want to rely on Satoru’s money and influence so much. He wants to feel like he earned it, that the life he’ll have is mostly thanks to him.
So...
Yuuji drank half a liter of coffee and sit down in front of his laptop. It seems like he has to pull an all-nighter again. What a time to be alive...
...
“Wow, you look shitty. I mean, more shitty than usual.”
“Thanks Kugisaki.” Yuuji slowly turned the pages in his notebook, revising a little before class. Well, his brain didn’t really seem to pick up any words, he was on auto pilot again. His usual fresh scent was sour and dull. It was concerning to say the least.
“Seriously man, have you slept at all?”
What?
Slept..?
Huh?
“Huh?” Yuuji looked dumbly at the brunette, his brain seemed to malfunction because of a small question. “Uh...sleep, right. Dunno.” God, he was too tired for this. Yuuji didn’t even say anything, he just lifted Nobara’s cup and took a long sip of her disgustingly sweet, icy, caramel macchiato. Well, at least it’s not as big of a war crime as Satoru’s. Seriously though, Yuuji is convinced that Satoru’s coffee would pass as a biological hazard in certain countries.
Back to topic, Nobara looked at him with unusually unsealed concern. Usually, she’d be throwing a tantrum right about now because of her stolen coffee, but looking at Yuuji’s so, so tired and ashy face she didn’t have the heart.
After class started, Yuuji dozed off a few times, but he always caught himself before he could really get into deep sleep. After lecture they had a break in which they planned to study in the library.
“Are you sure you shouldn’t go home and sleep instead? At this point you’re not getting any work done.” Nobara voiced her thoughts after Yuuji still read the same little sticky note for 15 minutes.
Yuuji flinched a little at her voice, even though they were in the library and Nobara’s voice was on a perfectly normal volume.
“Wha- no, no. I’m okay. Just a long week, don’t worry.” Yuuji grinned at her.
“Who’s worried...” Nobara mumbled, her eyes not leaving Yuuji’s shaking hands. Yuuji seemed to pull himself together after that, but not even 30 minutes passed when Nobara saw something...red dripping onto Yuuji’s textbook. The idiot’s nose started fucking bleeding.
“Okay, that’s it, I’m calling your sugar daddy.” She reached for her phone with the full intention to call that infuriatingly vibrant blue-eyed bastard. Yuuji pressed a few tissues to his nose while motioning aggressively towards Nobara with his hands.
“Wait!” This was a bit louder than he anticipated and several hushes came from different directions. Yuuji bowed a little and mumbled a few apologies and he quickly turned to the not so amused Nobara. “Satoru is already really busy, please don’t! He's in Osaka.” Nobara pinched her temples.
“Itadori, I do not want to call an ambulance if you pass out in the middle of a fucking road, are you stupid? Go home and get some damn rest, it’s not sustainable in the long run.” Yuuji sighed.
“I know. There are periods like this, it’ll get better. I just have so much to do right now, I can’t afford to rest.” Nobara seemed a lot like she wanted to interrupt so Yuuji quickly continued. “I will sleep when this is over, promise. Just bear with me a little longer please.” He tiredly grinned, not so wide and happy but genuine.
Nobara rolled her eyes and threw a candy at Yuuji. He really needs a sugar rush right now...
“If you die, don’t expect me to turn up at your funeral.”
...
“Hey hey Yuu-ji!” Satoru grinned into the camera, his face way to close, so close that Yuuji could only see his uncovered eyes.
“Hey Satoru!” He tried to be as cheery as possible. He was genuinely happy to see Satoru, but the tiredness got the better of him. Gojo pouted into the camera, now at a reasonable distance.
“What’s wrong darling?” Yuuji blushed a little at the pet-name despite they were together for two years now.
“Ah, just a bit tired.” A bit. Yuuji put a generous amount of concealer below his eyes and a bit of blush to have a more healthy complexion. Of course, he knew Satoru isn’t someone to be easily deceived, but it’ll do it for now. He felt a little guilty too, but he didn’t want Satoru to worry over nothing. It’s Yuuji’s problem, he’s an adult now, he can and will deal with it. Later.
“Hmm. Make sure to sleep, okay?” Yuuji nodded playfully. He asked Gojo about his day. Luckily, the other loved talking about all sorts of things and Yuuji loved to listen. After a particular big yawn Gojo stopped his babbling about his favorite donut shop down the street, ‘y’know the american one with the square donuts’.
“Is Yuuji-kun tired?” He asked smugly.
“No no, keep talking.” Yuuji loved Satoru’s voice. In the morning it was raspy and an octave deeper, in the daytime it was cheery and had a special undertone to it, Yuuji thought Satoru could pick up voice acting and in the night when he whispered stories to Yuuji about ancient curses and mythological creatures it was warm and loving, like that of a parent. He wanted to hear it some more.
“As much as I would love talking with Yuuji-kun more, I don’t want to take his precious sleep time. Go to sleep baby, it’s so late now.” If Gojo says it’s late it really says something. He usually goes to sleep between 1 to 3 am.
Yuuji let out a disappointed sigh. “Okay...Have a good night Satoru.” He smiled at the camera with full of love, the same face staring back at him with infinite amount of warmth.
“You too. Sweet dreams sweetheart.”
Yuuji stared at his phone for a few moments after the call ended and then back at the papers scattered on their bed. He let his hand fall onto the mattress and went back to reading with a defeated sigh.
Yuuji felt a little light-headed all day. Sometimes he had to stop walking, because everything suddenly started spinning, he felt like he was sitting on one of those playground things where you sit into a metal ring and someone spins it.
Spice it up with some hallucinating and you get the best combo for a boring Wednesday. Wednesdays are always boring anyway.
Yuuji asked Kyoko-san, his senpai at work if he could just work in the back today, organizing and refilling coffee containers, washing the dishes and slicing up cakes. Kyoko-san said Yuuji should go home, but after some convincing she just nodded, not too sure if this is a good idea.
Yuuji was in the middle of washing a cute reindeer mug when he felt the strong wave of nausea hitting his stomach, creeping up his throat. He supported himself against the sink, trying to pull himself together. It was an awful feeling, he felt like h could throw up in the sink any second. That wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
It’s fine, he just needs a moment. He survived all day, he can do it a bit more. Why is he nauseous anyway? He didn’t eat anythi- oh. That’s a responsible biochemistry student for you.
Yuuji suddenly felt really numb, like someone put a filter over his eyes, everything blurry and numb. He didn’t feel his limbs, he just wanted to sleep. Yuuji felt an impact on his face and then side. Ah, he hit the sink face first.
There were noises too. Just let him sleep.
Gojo had a fairly good day. He wasn’t disturbed too much that day and he managed to snatch the last egg-cream sandwich from the buffet before Utahime – of course, it was trash compared to Yuuji’s egg-cream sandwich, but it was not bad. And it tasted 10 times better because Utahime didn’t get to eat it~
And of course, a few days later he finally gets to see his Yuuji-kun! God, does he miss him. He didn’t want to go to this stupid conference, but alas he couldn’t postpone it any longer. And bringing Yuuji along was also out of the picture, the latter always had so many things on his plate...
But Gojo will make up for it!
He already bought several tons of sweets and souvenirs and a few volumes of Yuuji’s current favorite manga, and a vinyl of his-
“Hello. Gojo Satoru.” He rolled his eyes at whoever just interrupted his thought chain about his Yuuji-kun.
“Hello, is this Itadori Yuuji’s emergency contact?” A young female voice. Gojo immediately perked up, his posture going stiff.
“Yes, who is this?”
“I’m Fushumi Madoka from Takanawa Hospital. Itadori-san was brought here in the evening.”
“What happened?” Gojo’s voice probably came off as cold but he felt like anxiety was choking him.
“His sugar dropped, his blood-pressure was low. He fainted.”
“How is he?”
“I apologize I wasn’t informed, but he’s not in the ER.”
“I’m coming.” Gojo didn’t say anything else and he hung up. He got dressed and in the taxi he booked a seat on the first bullet train line. He was restless, his hands were tapping against the door as well as feet against the floor.
Yuuji wasn’t in the ER, which is good. If someone faints it’s not the faint itself that’s dangerous, but the fall. You can literally smash your head if you faint so unfortunately.
But why did he faint? Yuuji wasn’t the type to just pass out, out of nowhere, not even in the heat.
But he’s not in the ER.
‘Just hold on a little longer baby.’
“Hello, I’m looking for Itadori Yuuji.” Gojo hurried to the receptionist. The train ride from Osaka to Tokyo is still at least 2.5 hours in the fastest train in the world. It was already past midnight when he got there.
The lady behind the counter started typing tiredly on her keyboard.
“Name please.”
“Gojo Satoru.” The woman seemed to recognize this name, hospital employees usually do, and typed much quicker now.
“He’s on the 4th floor, in room 77.”
“Thanks.” Gojo hurried to the emergency stairs with his long legs, skipping three steps at the time. He tuned out the woman shouting after him about a doctor, he’s a doctor too! Who else could treat Yuuji better than him if it came to an emergency?
His sunglasses covered eyes searched for room 77.
74...75...76...77!
Gojo opened the sliding door with a swift but not aggressive movement, having some empathy towards other sleeping patients.
Inside the room, Yuuji was laying in one of the beds, he was the only one in the room. He was connected to an IV and was in traditional japanese hospital gown. His face was peaceful but god, did he look worn out.
“Oh baby...” Gojo sat next to Yuuji’s bed and kissed his forehead, checking the temperature. It was normal, the fluids in the IV bag didn’t drip out fully yet, a large portion was missing and Yuuji was only in for a few hours. It must be his second dose then...
Gojo huffed out a small breath he didn’t realize he held for the past few hours. Yuuji’s face was really torn and worn out. Dark circles around his eyes, ashy and dehydrated skin which started to peel a little around his nose, dry lips and overall pale complexion. He looked like a 500 years old vampire.
He still looked cute though.
Gojo combed through softly between Yuuji’s pink locks, untangling the tangles while softly massaging his skin. The older leaned against his hand that rested against the hospital bed, not tearing his gaze away from his Yuuji.
He was relieved of course, but something bitter still spread in his guts. Yuuji fainted and he wasn’t here and now he’s laying in a public hospital, when Gojo private clinic could offer so much better-
A knock interrupted his inner monologue. Gojo turned around and a young looking man was in the doorway.
“Good evening Gojo-san, can we please talk?”
Gojo huffed, clearly annoyed because of the formalities. He skipped through the entire room with his long legs, looking down at the quite intimidated man. He followed him outside and waited as the guy was reading something on torn papers.
“I’m Kajimo Aoi, I’m Itadori-san's doctor. I assume you were informed he fainted in the afternoon at...work. The lady he was with says at least. He’s not in critical condition, he most likely overworked himself and didn’t sleep and drink enough. After he wakes up he’s free to go.” Gojo looked back at the door.
“Okay, thank you. It’s all I assume..?”
“Well, you’ll have to fill some papers, but you can do that after he wakes up.”
“Thanks, have a good evening doc.” Gojo walked past the guy, clearly not in the mood to spill some tea while his mate was lying unconscious in the next room.
“Wait!” Gojo turned around, now clearly annoyed. “S-sorry, this might be a little personal, but I have to ask.” He pushed his glasses further on his nose, clearly cautious to not step into dangerous territories. “I saw the..the wounds on Itadori-san's neck. I know it’s not my business, but I’m also a psychologist, so...so if he ha-”
“Thanks for the offer but that’s none of your business, Kajimo-san. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have my mate to tend to.” Gojo’s voice was cold as well as his scent, a clear sign that this is where the doctor can come and no further.
“Of course. If Itadori-san wakes up, please call a nurse.” Gojo nodded and finally was able to go back to Yuuji.
Gojo slowly caressed his mate’s neck where the bite marks were. The skin was a bit rougher there. Gojo kissed his omega’s forehead tenderly again, taking in his faint scent. It was weak and tiny, but it was there.
“Uhh...” Yuuji felt like he was hit by a bus. Several buses. His eyes were still blurry from the sleep, at first he didn’t know if it was still a dream or reality. Everything was white and gray, a hint of green on the walls...maybe?
He sat up slowly with his elbows.
This is a hospital huh. But what happened? How long has he been here? Maybe he fell into a coma and 10 years passed since? Yuuji placed his free had in the white mop of hair that unmistakenly belonged to a certain Gojo Satoru. He was resting against the bed with his head on is hands.
Yuuji softly petted the hair, still very sleepy himself. He felt a lot better though. Yuuji didn’t remember much from the time before he lost consciousness, it was all a blur.
“Mmmm...” Gojo groaned as he slowly lifted his head, blinking the tiredness away. He looked at Yuuji with his sleep-drunk eyes and when his brain processed that his mate was, in fact awake, Gojo immediately threw himself onto Yuuji.
“Yuuuuujiii!” He whined into his neck. Yuuji adored Gojo’s big hugs, they were like a soft blanket, the warm cocoon of safety. The smaller one slowly hugged him back, giving soothing circles on the others back. “I missed you sooo much, don’t ever pass out again, okay? Especially when I’m not around...”
“Heh, sorry Satoru.”
After a few minutes Yuuji had to forcefully pull away, Gojo sticked onto him like a flea, arms slithering around him tightly like leeches.
“What happened?”
“You tell me. I was called here yesterday evening, they said you were brought here. Supposedly, you passed out at work. So care to explain?” Gojo leaned back in his chair, arms in front of his chest. He wasn’t unkind, but his words had a certain edge to it from which the omega knew his alpha was rather pissed.
Yuuji sighed, trying to recollect his memories. Right, this period was god awful.
“I...I don’t really remember. I think I pushed...myself...to hard.” His voice became smaller and smaller, and he looked down at his lap, eyes tightly closed. They talked about this so many times already, god, how did he end up like this? Gojo must be so mad at him right now.
Not that he doesn’t deserve it.
Yuuji’s anxiety and lack of self-care has been one of his biggest problems. They’ve been working on it together, and he improved a lot, really. He ate regularly now, even went as far as cooking meals. He paid attention to sleep more most of the time and for once in his life, he practiced saying ‘no’.
And boom, Satoru leaves for a few days and here he is, in the hospital. God, he is so stupid. How could Satoru possibly trust in him after this?
“...uji! Baby hey, look at me.” Satoru took Yuuji’s warm, smaller hands in his cold, bigger ones. “I’m not mad at you, okay? I’m rather mad at myself that I couldn’t be there for you.”
Usually Gojo takes Yuuji home from work, but since he was out of town, Yuuji had to go by train and foot. What if he passed out in a dark alley? Or on the stairs?
“What? Why? Satoru, you did nothing wrong. I’m...sorry. I know you worked so hard for...this, for me, to get better, I know, I screwed up, I’m sorry, I promise this won’t happen again. You can still be mad, it’s understandable-
Yuuji felt a pinch on his forehead.
“Auw! Hey!”
Gojo let out a tired but amused smile, gazing down at Yuuji behind his ashen eyelashes.
“Just...just promise to take things easier for now, okay Babe?” Yuuji nodded shyly, leaning for a kiss Gojo happily reciprocated.
.
.
.
“Oh you little fucker, just wait till you get into my hands!” Came an angry female voice from the hallway.
“Kugisaki, please don’t kill him.” ...came the tired male voice from the distance.