Chapter Text
Minori stirs in bed, tugging at the blankets surrounding her to cover herself up more.
God, she’s freezing. Why is it so cold in here? She’s shivering.
The chill brings her away from her sleepy haze, and into a more coherent state, and the next thing she notices is something dripping from her nose. Snot. Disgusting, but not surprising giving the cool air.
She barely has the energy to wipe it away, but eventually it annoys her enough and she sniffs as she does so, causing a flare of pain to shoot through her throat.
It’s at this point she finally opens her eyes, confused, and instinctually letting out a pained groan.
”Shh, shh, you’re alright.” A calm, reassuring voice cuts through the air, and a warm hand finds its way to Minori’s shoulder, along with another pulling the blankets up further.
Minori is immediately inclined to settle down, the voice and hands soothing her pain, and she does for a moment, letting out a little huff, but something inside her tells her to think better of it. It takes several blinks, trying to make sense of her surroundings, and finally, although cloudy, she can make out blue hair, and a sweet, calm smile.
Haruka. Haruka? Haruka?! What is Haruka doing in her room?
Oh, my god. Haruka isn’t just in her bedroom, she’s seeing Minori at her worst! A cold, shivering (yet, somehow also sweaty?), nose-running, disoriented Minori!
Horrified, Minori immediately tries to stand up.
It’s not Haruka’s protests that keep her down, though, it’s the throbbing headache that hits her like a truck. She blinks away tears, eyes watering at the sudden pain.
”Wh-What are you doing?” Haruka sounds panicked.
“I-urghh,” Minori’s voice is incredibly hoarse, and the just-barely-word sends her into a coughing fit.
“Minori, lay down, you’re not well.”
Haruka pushes her down from her half sitting pose she’d gotten herself into a moment ago, and settles her back onto the bed.
It’s then Minori’s brain finally clicks into place. She’s ill, and for whatever reason, Haruka is here.
“Haruka?” She says, like she just realized the idol’s presence.
”Yes…?” Kiritani tilts her head, a little amused.
”Why-“ she coughs, and she has the mind to do it into her elbow this time. “-why’re you in my room?”
Haruka stares, “No… this is my room.”
Minori blinks, and then again. Haruka watches her as grey eyes dart around the room. Blue wall, blue curtains, penguin plushies… Huh. Yes, after further examination, this is Haruka’s room.
“Oh.” Hanasato says simply, rubbing her eyes.
Haruka’s hand finds its way back to Minori’s shoulder, and Minori melts into it.
“Wait…” Minori squints, “why are we in your room?”
Haruka looks like she wants to face palm, but instead she stares at the girl with a concerned yet amused smile.
“Y-You… seriously don’t remember?”
Minori’s chest rises with the same horrified panic from before, the one that makes her want to jump out of her skin, because what could have possibly taken place that Minori should find herself in her girlfriend’s bed, being nursed to health by her?
Shame flushes her cheeks as she shakes her head, the movement flaring up her headache again. She tries not to let it show, but Haruka notices anyway, grabbing a wet washcloth—which she seemingly had prepared when Minori wasn’t awake—and pressing it to her forehead, relieving the pain a bit.
Minori leans further into it.
”Wasn’t sure if I should do hot, or cold. You had a fever, but you’ve been shivering this whole time. Figured if I got you to take Tylenol, that’d bring the fever down, and I could give you warm.”
“I took Tylenol?”
Haruka nods.
”Sheesh, I can’t remember any of that.”
Haruka giggles, “yeaah, you were pretty out of it.”
Haruka’s laugh remedies Minori’s embarrassment a little bit, making her smile softly.
”So… what happened?”
“Ah, well… where do I begin?”
~
The rooftop’s door swung open, revealing a hunched over, pale Minori. She was still leaning against it, like she’d topple over if she didn’t do so.
Airi looks up from her phone at the sudden intrusion, relaxing at the sight of Minori, before immediately stiffening back up at the poor condition of the girl.
”…You’re…late.” Airi says with no real venom, squinting at the idol warily, trying to get a read on the situation.
“But, I made it!” Minori pumps her fist in the air, but her voice betrays her right away, coming out horribly hoarse.
Hanasato tries to nonchalantly stifle a sneeze into her sweater. She fails.
Airi’s face contorts into an odd sort of look, something akin to pity and a hint of disgust. “Minori…” she drawls out, “are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She shakes her head, and tries to hide her grimace as it begins throb.
Haruka puts a hand on her shoulder, balancing a hobbling Minori, who immediately puts all her weight onto her girlfriend, a much better alternative than the door.
“You’re sick, Minori,” Shizuku, who had been in a silent concern up until now, points out, her voice rising at the end, highlighting her worry. “You shouldn’t be at school like this.”
Kiritani places a hand against the girl’s forehead, and, like she had anticipated, Minori is incredibly warm. Haruka wills her face to not show her worry.
“You’re burning up.” Haruka points out with a frown, brushing Minori’s bangs out of her face before pulling her hand away.
Airi shakes her head, watching the exchange between the idols closely, “yeah, you’re not doing practice today.”
Minori abruptly pulls herself away from Kiritani arms, turning to Momoi. ”What?! But, that’s not-“ Minori’s complaint immediately sends her into a coughing fit.
It breaks Haruka’s heart into a million pieces to hear Minori’s once so energetic voice come out so small, and weak.
“I am not letting you practice like this. Don’t be stubborn.” Airi counters, predicting the sentence that wasn’t finished, and crossing her arms.
Minori wobbles towards Airi, looking like she’s about to protest, and a look of panic flashes over Shizuku’s face, “hey, Minori, you should sit down. You don’t look so-“
But, just as Hinomori starts, Minori is already falling over.
Haruka is quick to catch her, falling to her knees with the girl so she doesn’t hit her head on the floor.
~
”Oh, my god.” Minori overs her face with her hands, embarrassment flushes her face, all the down to her neck, and up to her ears.
Haruka laughs, which just ignites Hanasato’s shame further.
”And, then I carried you back to my place, since yours is the longer walk.”
“I was carried?!” Minori rasps out, peeking at Haruka through her fingers.
She barely has the energy to be fully horrified right now, she knows a week from now she will barely be able to look at Haruka. Still, Haruka doesn’t look at her with judgement, she looks at her with kindness, and love.
“I don’t know how you made it through class, let alone all the way up the stairs to practice.”
This jogs Minori’s memory a small bit, “oh, I do remember going to class…” she trails off, remembering a concerned classmate asking if she was alright, “but I don’t remember practice at all.” She mumbles into her hands, before letting them drop.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
”It’s okay, Minori,” Haruka smiles genuinely. “I just don’t know why you possibly thought it was a good idea to come to school today.” Kiritani scolds lightly, and Minori shakes her head at herself.
”I dunno… I guess I just didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”
”Why would anybody be disappointed in you?” Haruka seems surprised.
”I mean, idols like us aren’t supposed to get sick like this,” She mumbles, “and they especially aren’t supposed to miss class. I had to make it through today, even if…” she trails off, voice tired.
Haruka shakes her head, “Minori, you’re human, you’re gonna get sick. And, it’s only gonna get worse if you push yourself.” Haruka pauses, before grabbing a water bottle off of her nightstand, pressing it to Minori’s lips, imploring her to take a sip.
“We need you at your healthiest,” she continues, smiling softly as Minori takes several sips of water, “and not because you’re an idol, but because you’re our friend.”
Minori’s throat burns with pain as she drinks, but she’s never been so thirsty in her life, so she keeps sipping.
“I want you to take care of yourself as your girlfriend, not just your idol partner.”
Hanasato nods, eyes feeling heavy, barely having the energy to hold Kiritani’s anymore.
Haruka sets the bottle of water back down, placing a hand against Minori’s cheek.
“How about this, you go to sleep, and when you wake up, I’ll have some soup ready for you?”
Minori nods earnestly, the promise of food more than enough to send her to sleep.
”Good.” Haruka presses a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, Mino.”
And, just as sleep takes over Minori’s mind and body, she hears Haruka say one last thing. It’s said so quietly, like it’s a secret, like it’s sacred, Minori’s brain doesn’t even have the time to process it fully:
”I love you.”