Work Text:
The bright sun shone through the cold day, filtering through the half-closed blinds of the café window. It cast stripes of dull silver onto the table. Mika looked up from what he was sewing and out the window, waiting. The Pretty Five had finally gotten a chance to go out amidst a busy month, but most of the members still found themselves running late due to last-minute changes regarding their schedules. Glumly, he turned back to his work. His mood fell further when he noticed mistakes all throughout it. The stitching was off in some areas, other parts were uneven. The very same mistakes Shu had commented on yesterday on yet a different piece during a video call.
"Ngahh… Oshi-san's gonna be mad again…" He hastily tried to fix some of the errors in his work, but it amounted to nothing but making it worse. At last, he surrendered and put his supplies away, leaning back into his chair. I'm gonna to hafta ask Oshi-san 'bout this… lately, all I make turns out poorly…
He began to zone out when the door finally opened. Snapping back to attention, he jolted his gaze to the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the Pretty Five, but just some other customer. He frowned, checking his phone. The others had said they were running late, but not this late…
A while passed with more people coming through, until a familiar face finally walked in.
"Naru-chan!" He exclaimed, getting up to greet her.
"Mika-chan!" She went over. "No-one else is here yet?"
"No, 's just been me."
"Really? Did you wait long?" they sat down.
"Nah… 'sides, I was workin on some stuff…"
"Ara, what are you working on?" Arashi asked.
Immediately, Mika regretted mentioning it. It was turning out badly, and he didn't feel like he could even show Arashi. But looking at her excited gaze…
Reluctantly, he took his project out: an outfit for a doll. He had wanted to practice designing outfits, and figured this was the quickest way to try out multiple designs he had in mind. He immediately wanted to put it away, however, as it was not of a quality fit to-
"Ah! It's so cute!" Arashi exclaimed.
Mika blinked, surprised.
"Can I have a closer look?" she asked.
"???" Mika handed her the outfit. His second mistake.
"…Mika-chan? are your hands okay?" Arashi asked, her eyes on the many band-aids wrapping his fingers.
"…? Oh, yeah. Don't worry, Naru-chan. 's just from sewin…"
Arashi opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again, leaving Mika uneasy. "This outfit is gorgeous!" she said instead, taking the outfit.
"Really? There's mistakes all over it though…"
"Hmm…" she looked it over "Now that I look closely, there are a few things that are off, but I don't think they matter that much! Besides, I didn't notice until you pointed them out!"
"Ngahh.. If ya say so…" he took the outfit back, putting it away.
"…did Shu say something negative about your work again…?"
"Nn?! N-no! 'S just that ma work's not been as good as I'd like lately… an' I keep making the same mistakes Oshi-san's been correctin me on…"
"I see…"
He and Arashi continued to talk for a while until the door swung open again. Hiyori walked through. He smiled when he spotted them, coming over.
"Where are Tori and Aira? They're having us wait!"
"They're not here yet… Wait, I think Tori sent a message in the group chat." Arashi reached for her phone but Mika beat her to it.
"Tori-kun said he's gonna run extra late. He'll join us later." He looked up. "Still nothin from Aira." As he spoke, Aira sent a message. "n? Ah, Aira just said he can't join us t'day…"
"…Bad Hiyori! And when I had made free time too…" Hiyori sighed as he took a seat. "I guess it can't be helped… how much longer until Tori arrives?"
"Ngh… lemme check." Mika looked back at Tori's message. "…another hour?"
They stared.
"Are you serious?!" The two asked in unison.
Mika showed them his phone. "Seems so"
As they waited, they discussed about what had been keeping them busy as of late. Both Arashi and Hiyori were taken up by multiple photoshoots and group practices. Arashi made her annoyance clear towards some of the themes for the photoshoots. Hiyori was also preparing for a tour, the other two surprised he found any time off at all. Mika had been doing solo practices, Shu being abroad in France still. What he didn't say was how he had spent every day, all day this past week practicing, on top of sewing.
The conversation eventually moved on to the day's plan, which started with their café meetup, before shopping for clothing and other things in the area. Aira had been the one to suggest this particular café. This, coupled with his absence, seemed to bother Hiyori to no end.
"Shall we go, then?" Hiyori asked, getting up. "Tell Tori to meet us while shopping."
They left the café, the blinding sun forced Mika to squint. He hadn't been outside in a long while, though there was no way he would admit this. Especially not to his friends--the last thing he wanted was to make them concerned. They all had barely managed to get time to come here, after all, and they certainly didn't need to worry themselves with something else. And Mika thought himself to be fine anyways, ignoring how shaky his legs felt after having just gotten up.
xxx
"This jacket looks good on me, no?" Hiyori asked, dramatically spinning to face the others.
"It does!" Tori exclaimed.
Mika looked up from the dress shirts he was looking through and was about to compliment Hiyori when the world kept moving even when his head was still.
"That looks wonderful, Hiyori!" Arashi said.
He tried to look at Hiyori again, but the world was still spinning. Panic flared. He didn't want to fall. Not here, not today. He finally had made some time off, and there was no way he could ruin it like this-
His hand shot out to the wall. He tried taking a long, deep breath now that he had his balance, but it changed nothing. Tuning out everything, he decided to focus on his breathing regardless. In, out, in.. Out… In…. Out…..
He thought he heard his name.
He focused on the floor. The shiny tiles reflected his shadow, and focusing he could faintly see-
"Mika?!"
He looked up to find Arashi, panicked, in front of him. "Are you alright?!"
He tried to stand up straight, take a step back, but found the world blurring by and then a sharp pain in his head and side.
He opened his eyes to blurry lights, and just as he pieced together what had happened, he found himself laying on a bench, a jacket covering him. Wasn't he on the floor?
"Nnn..?" he tried to sit up but a hand pushed him back down.
"Keep laying down. We're calling a cab. We're taking you to the ES Medical center." Arashi's voice said from outside of his vision.
"I- I'm fine…"
"Fine? You fell! And were unconscious!!" Tori exclaimed, a little too loudly. Mika winced.
In truth, Mika felt terrible. Not just from the fall, or his severe lack of meals which had probably caused the fall, but also guilt. He knew how busy the others were. How happy they were to finally get time off together. And he ruined it. He ruined everything.
He stared at the ceiling. Tears started to well in his eyes but he blinked them away quickly. His senses were still hazy but he could easily make out his friends' voices.
"Is everything alright?" Arashi asked.
"Yeah… I guess I've just been kinda tired lately, 's all." Mika ignored Arashi's exasperated sigh.
"The cab's here." Hiyori said. Mika turned his head to look at him. Hunh? Wasn't Tomoe wearing a jacket earlier…?
"Ngh?!" Mika looked at the jacket covering him. "Ah..! Tomoe, you can have your jacket back, I'm fine now-"
"Nonsense!" Hiyori scolded. "Just make sure you wash and return it later. If you ruin it, you have to pay, of course~!"
Arashi half helped, and half lifted Mika to his feet, and they slowly made their way to the door.
"'M sorry, Naru-chan…" he mumbled as he stumbled into the car.
Arashi sat down next to him. "Why are you sorry, Mika-chan?"
"'Cause we finally got ta hang out, n' I-"
"Mika-chan," Arashi cut him off. She knew him too well to not know what the next words out of his mouth were going to be. "You don't have to apologize for something like that. No-one is thinking that our meeting was wasted. If anything, we're happy to help!"
Mika slumped further into his seat, staying silent. He was about to speak when Hiyori entered the front seat. "Might as well get a free ride back!"
"What about Tori?" Arashi was appalled at the idea of leaving Tori alone.
"Well, this small car has a capacity of only three people past the driver, no?" Hiyori said.
"Tomoe!!!" Arashi yelled in unison with Tori's angry "Hiyori-sama!"
Glaring at Hiyori, Tori yanked open the door just as the car was about to drive off.
In the end, they found out that if you tried, the small car could in fact hold four people.
xxx
Mika was silent the whole ride, ignoring the reflection of his mismatched eyes as he stared outside. Traffic signs, buildings and bushes blurred by into an off-gray, blue-streaked gray sky staring down above. Arashi had been constantly glancing over to make sure he was okay, but she remained silent apart from occasionally joining in with whatever Hiyori and Tori were arguing about.
When they arrived, Mika was shaken awake by Arashi from the sleep he never recalled falling into.
Mika still felt empty with hunger, and slightly lightheaded, but he thought he felt stable enough on his feet after a few steps. So, he tried once again to argue that he was okay, but Arashi wouldn't hear it. She kept her attention on him as she helped him to the building, Hiyori and Tori following behind. They kept chatting, but would often glance at the pair in front of them out of concern. Mika kept his eyes downcast the whole time. Despite his best efforts, he eventually found himself practically clinging to Arashi just so he could walk straight.
Sagami looked up as the four walked into infirmary: Mika in a concerningly poor condition hanging onto a very worried Arashi, and Hiyori and Tori talking about god knows what, also worried to no end.
"Sagami-sensei! Mika fainted while we were out…"
After laying Mika on a bed and some inspection, the cause was beyond clear. "You haven't been eating or sleeping enough, have you?" he asked.
Mika looked away.
"Mika-chan!!" Arashi exclaimed. "I thought you said you were finally eating more!!"
"Ngahh… 'm sorry, Naru-chan…"
Sagami sighed. "Well, as long as he gets sleep and eats a bit more, he should be fine." he leaned back. "You're free to go. Just take care of yourself, okay?"
"Okay…" Mika mumbled as he got up.
"We're going to eat lunch together, Mika-chan." Arashi grabbed his arm. "After which, you will go straight to your dorm to sleep, got it?"
"Ngaahhhh Naru-chaaann--" he complained as Arashi practically began to drag him out of the room.
"I'm with Narukami on this one!" Hiyoru announced, following. "How can we hold full meetings in the future if you're too unwell to come? Bad Hiyori!!"
The three dragged Mika to the cafeteria. It was a bit past a conventional lunchtime hour, and as such there were only a handful of people milling about the large space. Arashi was happy for they had no trouble at all getting a table for the four of them.
When they got to their table, Mika let himself fall onto the chair and stared at the menu. While he was hungry and not wholly against the idea of eating, nothing looked particularly appealing.
"What are you planning to get?" Arashi asked him.
"Nngah… 'm not sure…. nothin looks good ta me, so…"
Arashi reached over and flipped the menu over to show the desserts. "What about now?" she grinned.
Mika felt a smile tug at his mouth. As he read through the options, his eyes lingered on a slice of chocolate cake. He felt his mouth water a bit as he looked at the photo provided. It was far more sugar than Shu would have ever allowed him to eat. But he wasn't here, was he?
"Naru-chan. 'M thinkin of gettin this one," he pointed.
She looked over. "Mm! Looks good!" she turned to the other two. "Are you two ready to order?"
"Yes." Tori responded.
"No~!" Hiyori responded.
They looked at him.
"The selection that this menu has…" He began. Mika could guess what he wanted to say. Whenever they had gone out in a group, Hiyori would sometimes drag them over to a restaurant or café, all of which had been terrifyingly expensive. Mika was often afraid they would throw him out as nothing about him felt nice enough to be in such a place. But as that was what Hiyori was accustomed to, the cafeteria must seem like a half-baked fast food chain in comparison.
Arashi quickly cut in. "The dessert menu has a nice selection if I do say so~"
"…It does!" Exclaimed Tori after he curiously flipped the menu.
Hiyori looked through the dessert selection, thinking. "Hmmm…… Ah! I'll get this!!" he pointed to some vanilla ice cream covered in an assortment of fresh fruits and berries.
They called the server over, placed their orders, and went back to chatting amongst themselves. As they waited, Mika reluctantly took out the outfit he had been working on. As he worked, he was extra careful not to prick himself, to not worry his friends more than they already were. He felt their curious gazes on him as he worked, Arashi in particular seemed to be watching the needle closely lest he hurt himself again. Especially since his hands were shaking a little. Eventually, Mika found that he still was not making much progress. With a sigh, he put his things away again.
It took a while before Mika finally spotted a server heading towards them, a tray with an assortment of foods and desserts.
Excitement coursed through Mika as he lay his eyes on the thick slice of chocolate cake that was put before him. It looked so sweet. He could smell the sweetness. Despite Shu being across the world at this point in time, he couldn't help but glance around before taking a first bite. The deep, thick taste of dark chocolate hit his mouth, the sweetness of it all gentle on his tongue. It was perfect. He didn't notice as his mouth formed a large smile, and he took another bite. He savored every second. Another bite, oblivious to the rest of the world. He kept going one bite at a time, slowly, until he noted how dry his mouth now felt. Only then did he reluctantly put down his fork in exchange for his glass of water.
"Oh shoot!!"
Mika turned to find a mildly horrified Tori staring at his phone. "Eichi-sama had planned a meeting today, and it's in- in three minutes- I- I gotta go!!" He shoveled the rest of his food into his mouth, then promptly stood and ran off. "I'm sorry!" he called as he left.
"Bye…!" they tried calling, but he was already long gone. "…"
They finished the rest of their food, Arashi smiling when she saw Mika thoroughly enjoying his cake.
"Well, now off to the dorms with you!" Arashi said to Mika as she got up. "Hiyori, we'll be off now!" she waved. "Thank you for organizing a meeting as always!"
"Of course~! Aira better show up next time!" Hiyori said as he also rose.
xxx
Arashi and Mika found themselves alone in the hall as they began in the direction of Mika and Ritsu's shared dorm. Mika still felt a bit unsteady on his feet, leaning a bit into Arashi for support again. She put an arm around him in turn, keeping him steady as they walked. The afternoon sky cast gray light in long bands down the hallway through the windows. It caused their faces to periodically glow in the light before plunging back into darkness as their eyes failed to adjust to either.
Silence stretched along the hallway except for the pattern of footsteps.
Eventually their steps slowed as Arashi hesitated. Mika glanced up before turning back to the hallway.
"Mika-chan… why have you been skipping meals again?" she asked gently, not bothering to hide the concern in her voice.
Mika kept his gaze fixed straight ahead of him. "…I've been busy tryin ta get Oshi-san's choreography down. 'N I've been sewin a lot too…" Mika wanted to shrink away. He knew Arashi was going to be mad. "So I've not been eatin or sleepin much 'cause I was practicin?" It was a stupid reason not to eat. It was a common reason not to sleep.
"…Mika-chan!! I know you want to do well with your Oshi-san's choreography, but you need to take better care of yourself! Gosh, we've been over this!" She scolded. "You even hurt your hands more than usual!!"
Mika hung his head. "'M sorry, Naru-chan. I mostly lose track of time, 's all…" it wasn't a total lie.
Arashi sighed. "In that case, I'll come by if I'm free and we can eat together, okay?"
The idea of eating out with Arashi again made Mika smile a little. "Okay."
They continued down the hall in a comfortable silence, eventually reaching the dorms. He took off Hiyori's jacket and handed it to Arashi to return it for him, heat leaving his body as he did.
"Well, here you are! Take this day to rest, okay? And don't be going to bed late in the future either!"
"Ngh okay.." Mika opened the door as they stood in the doorway.
"See you tomorrow, then!" Arashi waved as she left. "I might be able to eat dinner with you today too!"
"Right. See ya, Naru-chan!!" He waved back before shutting the door.
His room was dark, Ritsu having probably forgotten to open the curtains from the night before. Arashi wanted Mika to sleep anyways, so it wasn't much of a problem. Except he couldn't see. At all. His vision was painted black with not even the faintest stars of light to hint at what he was looking at.
He stumbled forwards, hands out, hoping to find his bed. He tripped on something on the floor instead.
"Nghh…" Getting up, he began searching for his bed again.
He ended up at Ritsu's bed instead, realizing this only when he couldn't find his stuffed animals by the pillow. He quickly got up and went in search again, eventually finding the door to the bathroom. He paused. This was his dorm of all places. A place he was familiar with. Yet as soon as the lights were off, it seemed any concept of layouts went out the window. Sighing, he went off again.
After a few more minutes, finally, he reached his own bed.
He didn't bother changing before letting himself collapse onto the soft blankets. He shifted until he was comfortably under the covers, snuggling with one of his stuffed animals. He briefly considered checking his phone, texting Shu, but lying in bed made him realize just how tired he really was. His arms were heavy as he finished adjusting his position and his eyes kept trying to close. So he let himself fall asleep. Just for a bit. He'd be up by dinner, practice a little, then sleep the night to avoid another scolding from Arashi. He fell asleep before he remembered he ought to have set an alarm.
He did not, in fact, wake up for dinner.
xxx
Mika opened his eyes to a dim, blurry light. As he blinked, the world slowly came to focus and saw that the light was a cold, gray crack of sunlight from a partially-opened curtain. Ngh..?
He pulled himself into a sitting position, the plushie he'd been sleeping with staring up at him from his lap. Ritsu was in bed, asleep with his phone in his hand. Mika figured he had already gotten up earlier, only to fall back asleep.
Which only meant…
After sitting for another minute, he willed himself to get up. He walked to the curtain, opening it fully, receiving a small groan from Ritsu as cold light spilled into the room. The sky was a dull gray, the clouds shifting like waves above. It was grayer than when he had gone out, but there was no mistaking the time of day. He cursed himself for oversleeping.
It was the morning of the next day.
Still mostly asleep, he went and got his phone to find multiple missed messages from Arashi and Shu. He stared, puzzled. Usually it was him to text Shu, the reverse was rather unusual.
Arashi's messages were regarding dinner, her realizing he was most likely still asleep, and one from ten minutes ago asking if he wanted to grab breakfast with her.
Shu's messages were lengthy paragraphs full of words Mika didn't quite understand, scolding him for not taking care of himself, how sleep and eating were important for performing, and so forth.
Mika wasn't yet awake enough to bother wondering how Shu knew of this.
Instead, he simply texted Arashi back, promising himself to respond to Shu as soon as he'd eaten.
Groggily, he threw on the first sweater he found- his practice uniform- and headed down the now-cold hallway.