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There were times when they acted different from usual. It had strayed from the usual, "Asahi-san (insert simple, but Noya-like praise)!!" and the response, "Ah, well, thank you, Noya. You saying that makes me feel better." The times that were different were when they spoke in lower tones to each other and exchanged affectionate, warm glances.
Somehow, they would also find ways to make body contact with each other that wouldn't seem suspicious. Whenever stretching or warming up, Noya would always run to Asahi and help him. When Noya would get hurt, Asahi would be the first one to treat him. And when they were tired, one of them would go to the locker room and after a while the other would follow, and what would be seen was the image of Noya's head resting on Asahi's shoulder (although this seemed suspicious). The real kicker was when, once in a blue moon, Noya's ears would turn pink when a shirtless Asahi was in his line of sight.
All of this is to say that the team had their suspicions even before the big reveal. They all discovered the truth when Asahi was absent from school one day, and Noya had been trying to get a hold of him during practice.
"Asahi-san?! Are you alive?!" he exclaimed.
Through the phone, Asahi spoke in a grim, shaky, nasally voice, "I'm not doing too well . . . remember yesterday how we got stuck in the rain, and went back to my house, and you know . . .?"
Noya remembered how they ran together after the rain started pouring, and they ran to Asahi's house, and they would no longer feel the cold of the rain on their burning bodies. So yes, he remembered, and he tried to calm his heart down. He replied, "Of course."
"Then, that's why . . . the rain . . ."
"Don't speak anymore, Asahi-san! I'll be there soon!"
After hanging up the phone to gather his things, he noticed that Daichi and Suga were staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Where are you going?" they asked. Their posture and tone of voice sounded way too similar to his own parents, whenever he went over to Asahi's late at night.
"Asahi-san is sick," he said. He then pumped a fist to his chest, "And I'm going to nurse him back to health!" Somehow this didn't reassure the crow parents, or the rest of the team who was listening in. It gave them slight fear instead, because although Noya was bubbly and optimistic, he couldn't do everything.
Tanaka pitched in, so as to test him, "And how would you do that?"
He answered obliviously, "Um, an ice pack! And asprin?"
Tanaka grabbed his shoulder and made a painful expression. "No, Noya, no."
"Then what should I do? He sounded like he's dying!"
Hinata, from the net, stopped and walked over to Noya. "If it's a cold," he said, "then I can help. My sister was sick before."
Noya held his hands in reverence, "Shouyou!" He made a list of things: what not to do, what medicine to buy, and what kind of foods to make. For Noya, that one piece of paper was his lifeline.
As the team saw him off with unusual smirks, he went to the drug store for the medicine, and headed in a flash to Asahi's home. Since the front door was locked, and he didn't want Asahi to have to get up to answer the door, he entered through the window in his room. He saw it was opened, although it shouldn't have been. Asahi probably already knew he was going to use the window. As he saw the seemingly lifeless body of his boyfriend, Noya's chest tightened. He didn't like seeing Asahi in pain, or uncomfortable, or anything but happy and proud (that one needed work). This is why, every day, he said something nice to him with a smile, though he never expected himself to be affected by Asahi's smile.
Asahi opened his eyes and saw him sitting next to his bed. "Noya? You came, huh? I was going to try and stop you . . ."
"I would have come anyway," he said.
"Well, that's true."
He got up and continued, "Do you want something to eat?"
"Sure."
That was all he needed to want to cook the best meal he ever has. However, just willpower wasn't enough to be able to make something edible. He burned the okayu he tried to make, and ended up putting a whole chicken in hot boiling water for soup. He had an itching feeling that it wasn't right, so he called Hinata. Of course, his suspicions were right, and he was doing everything wrong. As a result, Daichi, Suga and Tanaka arrived at Asahi's house. The others didn't go because they figured that less people would allow Asahi to rest better.
"Noya, that's too much salt. Daichi, can you chop the chicken? Tanaka, stop messing with the leeks." And just like that, Suga took command of the kitchen, as if he had tons of practice before.
After a couple of hours of trial and error, everything was done, and Noya took the food up to Asahi's room. "Hey," he said gently. "It took a while, but I have food."
"Yeah," Asahi sat up, "I heard you guys from down the hall."
"Ah! Were we too loud? Ryuu kept slipping on the okayu I spilled . . ."
Asahi smiled and caressed Noya's hair. His large hands moved down and traced his jawline and chin, and they tightly held his face. Noya was always weak to Asahi's hands. And his eyes. And, strangely, his goatee. Asahi pulled him in closer and kissed him, but quickly he stopped because he remembered he was sick. Noya, however, did not seem to care. He pushed Asahi down and collided their lips, as if they hadn't done so in ages.
After a few minutes, Noya realized that the food was getting cold. "Wait, you have to eat. Open your mouth."
Asahi, embarrassed, still did so as he fed him. "I wouldn't mind being sick for a while . . ." he mumbled.
He heard this, "No! I want you to get better fast! The team needs you, after all." He suddenly turned slightly pink, "I need you."
Asahi laughed; he quite liked seeing Noya's embarrassed face. It was something no one but him really saw, and he wanted it to stay that way. "That should be my line," he said.
Now, since the door was halfway open, Daichi, Suga and Tanaka saw pretty much the entire thing. They exchanged a few glances, and snickered. It was pretty obvious that they were together, because it felt like they were trying to hide something. But, at least for now, they didn't have to tell them that they knew.