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“You’re getting quite used to calling me frequently.” You said with your phone to your ear, you descended the steps in your building while on the phone with Nagumo.
He chuckled, watching the entrance outside, “Just wanted to hear your voice.”
As you reached the main hall and took a peek outside, you replied, “I’m on my way down.” teasing him by making him wait a bit.
“Alright. See you.” He chuckled again before he hung up the call.
He waited and waited while scrolling mindlessly on his phone. And moments after, you emerged and entered his line of sight looking absolutely stunning wearing a sundress in your beloved color. He was completely smitten at the sight of you walking towards him as you brightened the blue hours with your presence.
You approached him, stopping a foot away, “You’re unusually quiet for once.”
He leaned against the side of the car, his hands slowly making their way into his pockets with his gaze sweeping admiringly from your feet and up. He noticed the flower he had drawn on the skin of your forearm, a smile gracing his lips in the process. He let out a lighthearted sigh, “Now I wanna change plans.”
You raised a brow at him and scoffed, “So are we going or not?”
He snickered, “Just kidding.” pushing himself away from the car and opening the passenger door for you. He bowed in a theatrical manner then beamed, “My apologies for keeping you waiting, princess.”
The first stretch of the drive to the movies was quiet. Between the two of you, he had always been the one to initiate conversations but he was thoroughly distracted by your whole get up. And every time his hand reached for the gear shift, he couldn’t help but be reminded of how close his touch was to you, making him ponder the idea of taking you out more often.
“How does steak sound for dinner?” He finally broke the silence as the car came to a halt at an intersection, the traffic light on red.
“Sounds good, but I’m full.”
He looked at you with curiosity, “You already ate?”
You nodded, “Yes. There’s hardly any real food at the cinema.”
He nodded slowly. “Ah, right.” tapping his fingertips rhythmically on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to turn green.
When you arrived at the venue’s parking lot, you swiftly unbuckled your seatbelt and stepped out of the car, not waiting for Nagumo to open the door for you. He followed you silently, his eyes fixated with the way your hair and the ends of your dress danced with each step you took in front of him. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he observed you from behind.
The line wasn’t long but as you waited to buy tickets, someone came up to him, asking why he hadn’t been hanging out with her lately. In response, he simply said that he was busy.
As soon as it was over, he leaned closer to your ear and whispered, “Have you decided on a movie yet?”
You responded with a nod and asked, “Who was that?”
He shrugged, his hand reached out and started twirling your ponytail around his fingers, “Someone from my department, I think. Nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried.”
He snorted, “Of course, you’re not.” as he continued to play with your hair while you allowed him to do so.
When the two of you approached the booth to purchase the tickets, he moved you gently to the side as he paid for it. One of his hands remained on your shoulder, his touch warmer than usual, until you both entered the cinema and settled into your seats.
You leaned closer to him and whispered, “Send me the receipt later, I’ll pay you back.”
“You can pay me back in other ways.” He popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth after a playful wink, causing you to roll your eyes at him.
Throughout the whole movie, Nagumo found himself unable to focus with the way you were playing with his hand while keeping your full attention on the big screen, slightly leaning forward from your seat. He initially reached for yours because he longed to hold hands with you. Yet this was somehow more enjoyable, as he felt the soft pads of your fingertips and how small your hands were compared to his. He wore a silly smile the entire time as his eyes fixated on the way your breathing would pick up at some scenes, the way the ends of your hair would brush against your back, and the exposed skin of your neck.
And before he knew it, the credits were already rolling.
“So what did you think about the movie?" he inquired as the two of you headed out of the cinema and walked side by side towards the parking lot.
You proceeded to ramble on about your thoughts with the film, the direction, casting, the OST, some plot holes—name it, you touched upon them. It was an effective way for him to better grasp the film he had been too distracted to fully appreciate, while listening to the sound of your voice.
Upon reaching his car, he opened the door for you, buckled the seatbelt with his face so close to yours while you continued on with your chatter. He sported a sly grin as you didn’t seem to notice. However, you paused and spoke under your breath, “You’re so…hot.”
A shit-eating grin appeared on his face, “Why, thank you.”
“No, literally. Do you have a fever?”
He let out a soft laugh at the thought of being caught. He lowered his head onto your shoulder, a somber smile lingered on his lips when the realization of this day, his first date with you—if he can even call it that—had come to an end.
“I’ll drive.” you offered. “You live off campus, right?”
How did you know? He wanted to ask, his head still awkwardly resting on the crook of your neck, but didn’t want to delve further.
“I’m fine, no big deal—”
“No. It’s dangerous.” You spoke firmly as you interrupted him, causing him to close his eyes in surrender.
After switching places, he reclined his seat while explaining how to get to his place. He was feeling uneasy, unsure if you were irritated so he attempted to lighten the mood by cracking jokes and starting up casual conversation. However, the fatigue was slowly taking over him, struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open as the steady motion of the car lulled him to sleep.
Nagumo woke up the following morning feeling disoriented and overheated. His memories were fuzzy after being found out by you. He was feeling a lot better than yesterday but it wasn’t until he noticed the heaviness on certain parts of his body that he realized it was because of you, all snuggled up and practically sleeping on top of him with your arm around him, your legs tangled with his own, and strands of your hair clinging to your sweaty forehead.
He endured the conflicting emotions and the discomfort of overheating as the swelling in his chest grew and reached his lips, stretching into a wide foolish grin. He wanted nothing more than to remain still. He didn’t want to disturb you but even more than that, he craved the feeling of having you this close to him for as long as possible—not wanting for this moment to end.
He began looking around areas his eyes could reach. On the coffee table, he noticed what seemed to be a box of paracetamol and children’s fever patches. With his free hand, he quickly realized he had one stuck on his forehead. An involuntary snort escaped him a little louder than he meant it to be, causing you to stir awake.
He watched intently as your eyes fluttered open, his shy grin growing wider as your gazes met. You sleepily muttered, “Feeling better?”
A soft hum and a nod was all he could do as he was momentarily taken aback by your action when you reached for his forehead to check his temperature. And as you pulled your hand away, he was torn between the urge to follow your touch and letting you get up.
“I have to go. I have a group project and we’re falling behind schedule.” you announced, heading towards the bathroom with your dress from the night before folded neatly in your hand.
“Yeah. Of course.” Nagumo’s composure intact. However when you shut the door, he couldn’t help cradle his face with his palms from being flustered after learning you were wearing his shirt the entire time.
After a few moments, you emerged from the bathroom looking refreshed, clutching his now folded shirt in your arms. “You should eat something heavy for breakfast.”
Nagumo sat upright on the couch with a slight smile, all calm and collected. But when he noticed you were heading to the door and putting on your shoes, he finally spoke up, “Should I give you a ride back?”
“I’m fine, you should just rest.” you replied before leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Nagumo plopped his entire body back to the couch, trying to figure out what had happened and how you ended up staying the night. But as the day went on, he recalled everything gradually in chunks, feeling inexplicably giddy or nervous. Or all of the above.
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He’s still sleeping, you mused after purchasing some items on the way to his place. This time he was truly quiet, looking serene as you gaze at him in awe. However when you checked, he was still hot to the touch and to make it worse, his stomach made a faint rumbling noise and made you think: Did he not eat earlier?
Upon reaching his driveway, it took a few minutes of grumbling before he finally woke up all groggy and flushed. From stepping out of the car to his front door, he remained quiet that it was almost as if he didn't realize you were accompanying him. You observed him from behind as he input the PIN code to his door and struggled to take off his shoes at the entryway. And as soon as he collapsed onto the couch, he immediately fell asleep once more.
He needed to eat something, so you went ahead and checked the fridge, only to find that it only had leftover rice in a tupperware, a couple of bottled water, sugary snacks and energy drinks inside. This was why you grabbed an instant miso soup on your way here, just in case. But you hadn’t anticipated it would be this bad. Chiding him in your head: This is why you got sick, Nagumo.
As you waited for the water to boil, you opened the packet and poured its pasty contents into one of the three ceramic bowls you found stacked in his cupboard. Nagumo’s apartment seemed like he didn’t spend much time in it. He didn’t have a lot of stuff based on your observation, perhaps because he lived alone. The beeping sound from the electric kettle brought your thoughts back to the present. You blew on the steam to prevent it from reaching your face as you carefully poured the hot water into the bowl of leftover rice, stirring it with a spoon until it was thoroughly combined.
He remained asleep when you made your way back to where he was resting, gently placing the soup on the coffee table. You felt bad having to wake him up but he needed to eat—at least that’s what his growling stomach was telling you—even if it meant doing so while half awake. And after feeding him, you gave him meds to reduce his temperature and decided to apply a fever strip. It was only after opening the packet that you realized it was meant for children upon seeing the cute cartoon character printed on it.
It was the one you were used to from your childhood so you grabbed it mindlessly. He’s childish anyway, you smiled to yourself as you carefully pushed his hair up and placed the strip onto his forehead. His brows twitched slightly at the contact but he seemed too exhausted to be woken up by your touch, so you continued to run your fingers through his hair and then to the side of his cheek, gently rubbing small circles with your thumb.
The hairs on his arms began slowly rising so you decided to venture into his room to find a thin blanket.
Upon entering, the chaos that was his bedroom nearly gave you a brain aneurysm. It wasn’t that messy. There was just a lot of stuff. Some odd items here and there, scattered on the floor. Some unfinished projects. A huge Lego set that was close to completion. He seemed to be fond of trinkets and silly toys as displayed on the shelves. There you saw puzzles, a 10x10 Rubik’s Cube (that you fought the urge to pick up), and photographs—a lot of them.
Nagumo’s bedroom walls were also adorned with drawings, posters, cut outs and even more photos. And in the process of looking around, you spotted some sculpting tools along with various references placed on his desk as you imagined him cooped up in his room. This corner of his apartment and its mismatched items were reminiscent of the intricate tattoos that decorated his body.
Focus. Must. Find. Thin blanket.
Unfortunately, his blanket was too thick and it didn’t seem to be a good idea to cover him with it. You grew impatient and didn’t want to search for an alternative so you hatched another idea.
Pulling the first drawer of his cabinet, you quickly realized his undergarments were predominantly dark in colors.
This is noted—a thought crossed your mind.
Shaking your head, hoping not to find anything weird, you pulled the second drawer. There you found his t-shirts and after carefully going through them, you found something with an incredibly soft texture. You wasted no time and quickly swapped into it, noticing the subtle scent that reminded you of him.
When you returned to Nagumo, you saw how he was still experiencing bouts of shivering and realized that he was still in his outside clothing. It’d be impossible to change him into something else considering how big he was. So instead, you carefully peeled him off his short sleeved polo amidst his grunts and gibberish protests, leaving him in just his tank top and pants.
With caution and care, you snuggled beside him. It was cramped and his skin felt hot to the touch, yet you found comfort in his arms. In an effort to provide him with as much warmth as possible, you lied almost on top of him hoping to keep him from trembling.
Nagumo suddenly murmured, his words sluggish, “I swear these fever dreams are getting out of hand.”
Your brows furrowed, lifting your head to look at him with curiosity. “What do you mean?”
One of his eyes cracked slightly open, peeping at you before closing it once more. “My baby’s lying on top of me.”
“Baby? Who could that be?”
A smile tugged at the corners of your lips as you observed his reddened face, noting his slight frown. He replied, “You… Duh.”
“What’s my name then?”
Your name slipped softly through his lips with his eyes closed. It took all your effort not to laugh at how endearingly cute he was being, so you responded, “I see. Do you dream of me often?”
“Mhm. Although most of them are bad.”
“How bad? Tell me.”
“Don’t wanna.” He whined as he wrapped his arms around your waist.
“Fine.”
He fell silent for a few more minutes as his arms loosened around you, his eyes rapidly flickering beneath his eyelids while his body twitched occasionally.
Nagumo suddenly spoke his mind again, “I think you should kiss me better.”
“Can’t. I might get sick too.”
“I don’t give a shit…” he whined again with a scowl spreading across his face. “I can take care of you.”
“Take care of yourself first and we’ll talk when you’re better.” you said as you poked the tip of his nose.
“Promise?” He asked, his voice sounding child-like, causing you to soften your already tender gaze at him and repeated, “Promise.”
Silence enveloped the room once more with him dozing in and out of sleep. You gently traced the tips of his lashes and the arch of his brows, causing him to flinch slightly.
Nagumo whispered, “She scares me.”
“Are we still talking about your baby?”
He nodded in response to your question, you whispered to him, “Why is that?”
“What if…she won’t like me back?”
Like you “back”?
Tracing the bridge of his nose with your fingertips, you paused, “Maybe she’s still trying to figure you out. But she did mention you’re cute…and a great kisser.”
He giggled breathily in response to your words which led you to smile in return. He fell silent once again, but you still wanted to say something while he was in this state. And with utmost gentleness, you pushed his bangs back and in the softest tone you spoke of his name. “Yoichi?”
He responded with a soft breathless hum, and you went on, “Just say it. I’m not a mind reader.”
Voice thick with drowsiness, he murmured, “You’re not? I was hoping you were.”
“I kinda wish I was.”
“That’s a shame.”
“I know.” You sighed and reached for his flushed cheek, tenderly rubbing tiny circles with your thumb. “Sweet dreams.”