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You know how you watch up in the morning and just know that the day ahead is going to be the vile, awful day you haven't experienced in a while? That was the feeling Ritsu was facing now.
His throat felt like sandpaper rubbing against his vocal cords as the squealing in his ears pitched in and out. His eyes, heavy like the weighted blankets Ritsu wishes he could sink into, slowly adjust to the blinding light before him. A human shaped figure walked towards him muttering something Ritsu just can't make out, not with the screeching noise his ears are making, worsening the piercing headache echoing inside his head.
"...what...?" Ritsu is barely able to force out, the state of his own voice surprised him. It was dry and ragged, as if he'd been screaming for a night or two. Forcing himself to focus, Ritsu soon realizes the figure before him was Mikarin, his roommate.
Whilst what he says is mostly an obscure blur of words, meshed together to create incomprehensible strings of gibberish, Ritsu is able to follow a few words and deduce his own meaning. "Pale, warm, call, Mao".
Then again, he didn't need Mikarin to tell Ritsu he was sick, even with his mind as blank as it felt right now, Ritsu himself was able to come to that conclusion.
If Ritsu had to guess, Mika, like the absolute worry wart he could be sometimes, was freaking out over Ritsu, didn't know what to do, so he was going to contact Maa-Kun, who also would freak out and not know what to do, then suddenly Knights would find out and Naachan too would freak out whilst Secchan yells at Ritsu to take better care of himself, yet when Ritsu gets better Secchan will be forcing breaks onto Ritsu every minute.
Or worse, Mao would call him. Ritsu doesn't have it in himself to push Rei away and yet somehow, that creep would take advantage of Ritsu's sickly state make him say something embarrassing, then tease him for the rest of his livelihood.
He rather just be left with an angry Secchan who gives Ritsu even more breaks, at least he'd go back once he realizes Ritsu's just using his previous sickness as an excuse to have a nap in between rehearsal.
Or, the worst of the worse cases, somehow both get wrangled into the situation. His body was too sluggish to do anything about it, and so, Ritsu had to just sit by and watch Mao decide his own fate for Ritsu, while he trusts Mao with his own life, he does not exactly trust Mao to make the best decision, which is really just leaving Ritsu alone to battle it out. Whilst being alone and sick sucked, somehow having someone so ridden with anxiety, they're about to explode is worse.
Letting him rest his eyes a little (which may or may not have ended up with Ritsu actually falling asleep, even if he doesn’t wake up feeling refreshed nor satisfied), Ritsu is next greeted with the loud creaking of the door and a very out of breath Mao.
Subconsciously, Ritsu smiles a little. Seeing Mao like this eases the insecurity that sometimes bubbles within Ritsu, whispering to him that Mao doesn't actually care for him, he's just stuck as Ritsu's caretaker.
"Maa-Kun" Ritsu croaked out, wincing at how much even talking hurt. Whilst his eyes haven't fully adjusted yet, he knows it's Mao. His presence alone radiating the warmth that Ritsu was never really allowed to feel from the sun. As always, having Mao was enough.
Immediately he is shushed by Mao, and a cold hand finds its way to Ritsu forehead. They almost feel good against his warm skin. However, the panic that freezes onto Mao's face makes Ritsu feel even worse.
"Ritsu... Ricchan... You're really not well." He pauses, eyes nervously shifting around Ritsu can already tell he's about to call in someone else to take care of him with Mao.
Well, to be completely truthful, Ritsu was almost certain this was a flare up of his illness, whether Mao knew that or not, he didn't know. So, if this were a flare up, the best person to call would be his elder brother; as much as he'd hate to admit it. If anyone else was called, they probably wouldn't know how to take care of him, and somehow, either way, Rei would be called. It'd probably be best to just get it out of the way, rather than having everyone fuss over him and freak out.
'Does Maa-Kun even have Rei's number?' Head too fuzzy to recall anything, Ritsu grabs his phone on the bedside table and holds it up to Mao.
"Here. Call Anija." He barely forces out, voice breaking and scattering away from Ritsu.
With that, Mao takes a breath in, unlocking Ritsu's phone and dials Rei.
The ringing of the phone floods the room for a few seconds, and Ritsu thinks that if Rei sends them to voicemail he'll actually kill him, then, a voice so high pitched even Ritsu can hear it echoes out the phone, blearing into his ears and definitely not doing anything good for his head.
"Ahh~ Ritsu my sweet angel! What do you need from Onii-chan? For you, my sweet, Onii-chan will do anything~!" Already, Ritsu is beginning to regret allowing Mao to call him.
"Sakuma-senpai" Mao stutters out, and the other line goes quiet, clearly gauging the seriousness of Mao's tone. "Um, you see, Ritsu is sick. I'm not sure what exactly to do, so we thought it'd be best to call you for some help."
Whilst he can't hear what Rei's muttering out next, Ritsu can hear the shift in his tone, from crooning and annoying to serious and a little melancholic, If Ritsu didn't know better, he'd think it were two other people on the line.
"Okay, thank you, Sakuma-Senpai. I'll take care of Ritsu until you arrive. Again, thank you."
And with that, the line goes quiet and Mao plops Ritsu phone back on the bedside table, making sure the device is facing down so that the darn thing doesn't blast an impenetrable light, blinding the poor boy who was already sick.
"Ritsu, go to sleep." And despite the difficulty he faced before with that, head too sore to actually focus on sleeping, Mao soothes him into actually being able to rest.
The next time he wakes up, Mao isn't there, rather he's been replaced by someone else.
"Onii-chan", Ritsu instinctively whispers out, too tired to fight it as tears welt in his eyes. Rather than the current usual of bombarding complements and incessant praise, Rei is quiet and radiating a certain aura of reliability that Ritsu hasn't seen come from the man in a long time.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, narrowly dodging Ritsu's body, Rei strokes Ritsu's hair, gently smiling at the other. "Don't worry... I'm here Ritsu." Calmly, he swipes away Ritsu's tears, and Ritsu, irrationally controlled by pure habit, holds onto the older's wrist, silently begging. Begging, 'don't leave. Not again.'
To that, Rei's smile grew. The scene was nostalgic to the both of them. Ritsu, sickly weeping, and Rei, providing comfort for the younger.
"Isara-kun is making some porridge for you," began Rei, his voice tender and his looking at Ritsu with nothing but the adoring gaze Rei has kept on Ritsu since childhood. "You got to eat some, okay? You need to if you want to get better."
Squeezing Rei's wrist harder (not that he had much strength, so Rei probably couldn't feel it too much anyways), Ritsu muttered "don't wanna. Too sleepy." Right now, he couldn't care less if he was being 'childish' or whatever; Ritsu just wanted to sleep all day and hope that maybe he'll be lucky and when it reaches tomorrow, he'll somehow make a full recovery (unlikely, though. Illnesses with Ritsu always seemed to last a few days at least.)
Rei let out a small chuckle, it was completely devoid of the normal vampiric energy he brung into it. It was just normal, strangely normal, for someone like Rei. "I know, I know, I promise after you can rest until lunch time. Isara-kun is worried, you know. So, you gotta get better if you don't want to worry him, okay Ri~tsu?" He playfully scolded, voice still low out of consideration, now more aware of Ritsu's condition.
Ritsu can only hum back a small 'mmm', he does however relinquish his grip on Rei's wrist, and he goes back to sifting his fingers through Ritsu's hair, gently massaging his scalp.
"Do you have practice, Ritsu? I'll call in sick on your behalf, so don't worry."
"Mmm.. maybe? I don' really know" Ritsu lazily sputters out, feeling strangely languid. Then again, whenever he was sick, Rei's presence seemed to have that effect.
Ritsu was in a daze, when Rei was petting his head like that, all he could was let out breathy sighs, his eyes felt heavy, and everything seemed as if it were trying to coax Ritsu to sleep. As soon as his eyelids fell, however, Mao burst through the door (a bit of an exaggeration, but in the moment it felt like that), the undeniable smell of porridge wafting through the air following him.
"Ahh, Isara-kun, thank you." Rei says, taking the small bowl and the spoon, carefully placing them onto the bedside table. "Do you mind doing me one more favour? After that I'll talk it from there."
"Of course, Sakuma-Senpai, if you need anything else don't hesitate to call me."
"I should be fine, Isara-kun." He begins, and Ritsu's now beginning to notice Rei hasn't stayed in character this whole time (well the both of them really haven't, have they?), "Please, can you contact Knights and let them know Ritsu won't be able to practice for a week; if possible be vague about his illness. But if you can't, do mention he won't be taking visitors."
Already, Mao grabs out his phone, "I will, Sakuma-Senpai. I think I'll just tell Anzu to pass it as a message though, is that okay?"
Rei smiles, "of course, you can leave now, Isara-kun. Don't worry, I can take care of Ritsu."
Mao takes a bow and nervously leaves, door loudly clicking shut. Despite his sickly state, Ritsu can’t help but notice the long, drawn-out sigh of relief that exists Rei’s mouth.
Scooping out some porridge, Rei offers it to Ritsu’s lips. Slowly, Ritsu opens his mouth wide enough to barely fit the small spoon. The porridge was nothing special. It tasted like every other bowl he’s had, flavourless and dull sludge.
“Ritsu…” Rei lightly scolds, already sensing Ritsu’s disdain for the meal. “Isara worked hard on this meal, y’know? At least eat half. Then you can go to bed.”
Satisfied with the compromise Rei has presented, Ritsu’s hesitance has died down as he eats the porridge, shoving the spoonfuls down his throat until the halfway checkpoint has been met.
Rei chuckles, fondly petting Ritsu’s hair, praising him out loud, “good boy… I’m so proud, Ritsu. I know it was difficult, but you did it.”
The fog which dangerously swirls across Ritsu’s brain, yet again forces him to follow the primal instincts that Ritsu can normally ignore, as Ritsu flops onto his pillow, next clutching on Rei’s shirt, he whispers “are you happy with me, Onii-Chan?”
Like clockwork, or habit that has been built up from childhood engraved into his brain, Rei yet again responds “I’m always happy with Ritsu”. His eyes meet Ritsu’s and Ritsu can’t help but see through them all the love and affection in the world.
“Now, sleep”. With a sense of nostalgia rushing through his veins, Ritsu finds himself able to immediately follow the command. Before he completely doses off, Ritsu hears one more thing:
“Goodnight, Ritsu”
“Goodnight, Onii-Chan”. His voice silently meets the other, too drained to actually respond.It was enough, though. It always has been enough for the two, and even time alongside the furthering distance won’t change that.