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"Hi …"
Tasuku's body jolted from the cold touch on his forehead. He strained to open his eyes, the brightness blurry at first but slowly coming into focus around Azuma's face.
"… Azuma-san …"
"Tsumugi said you had a fever," Azuma whispered softly, climbing another rung up the ladder to Tasuku's bed. "You're really burning up, huh? I brought you some tea … want me to leave the thermos here?"
"Mhm …" Tasuku nodded, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against the warm bottle of tea.
"Fufu, you poor thing," Azuma sighed, taking out a tissue and wiping sweat off Tasuku's forehead. "Get well soon … and let me know if you need anything, okay?"
Tasuku opened his eyes again, their gazes meeting for just a moment before the headache made him look away again.
"… happy birthday."
"Thank you," Azuma smiled, crumpling the tissue in his hand as he nonchalantly moved it to the side of Tasuku's face, gently stroking his cheek.
"Sorry … about the- augh …" Tasuku grimaced, his head thudding with pain as he coughed. "… about the drive."
"Don't worry about it," Azuma blushed, his heart skipping a beat. Even like this, Tasuku was still thinking about him, huh …
They've been going on their little birthday drives to the sea for years.
It was the only gift Azuma always asked for, and Tasuku had never missed a single one of them.
"Just get better, okay? We'll go some other time," he mumbled quietly, tucking Tasuku's blanket up to his chin. "… it was never about the drive anyway."
Tasuku nodded, his body shivering as he continued to use the thermos as a warm pillow, and his chest heaving with deep, irregular breaths that slowly calmed down as he fell back to sleep.
"… it's always been you," Azuma confessed to himself, wiping Tasuku's forehead one last time before quietly retreating to his own room.
Guy said it was a shame that Tasuku had gotten sick, and offered to drive Azuma instead.
But Azuma just curled up in his bed and politely declined … because that wouldn't have replaced anything.