Work Text:
The biding chill of morning wind was always a faraway memory by mid-afternoon. A tightly packed stack of papers- courtesy of the student council president- was tucked neatly under Tomohiro Ohkawa’s arm as he departed school for the day. Usually, his walk to-and-from school was accompanied by his dear friend, but… with that aforementioned morning chill came a text ping notification. He reviewed the text message now.
06:27 AM–@katayosuke: it's dangerous to go alone … but u gotta man lol gg
06:27 AM–@tomomo: ??
06:28 AM–@katayosuke: liek
06:28 AM–@katayosuke: im on my deathbed
06:28 AM–@tomomo: ohh
06:28 AM–@tomomo: feel better!
06:29 AM–@katayosuke: u rly aren't even gonna accuse me of playing hooky? :/
06:29 AM–@tomomo: lol no
06:29 AM–@tomomo: i can pretty well tell the difference between your truths and lies by now
06:29 AM–@katayosuke: over text? ok purr empath
06:30 AM–@tomomo: just rest up! ^^;
06:30 AM–@katayosuke: tell shimada i said hiiii :))
06:30 AM–@tomomo: LMAOOOO right
He smiled back on their banter. It was nice having someone he got along with so easily- it was the type of connection he wished would stay between them for the rest of their lives. They shared a very special closeness that the two of them both absolutely refused to examine any further. They were simply close friends… close friends who wanted to be with each other all of the time and spend the rest of their lives together.
They were… incredibly close friends.
As incredibly close friends do, Tomohiro was bringing Ryosuke the class notes he’d missed that day, along with the new homework assignments- hence the hearty stack of paper he was carrying. Nobody asked him to do this, it was something he was just doing. In a twist that he probably could have predicted, mentioning his plans to Fukuroi lead to his ever-dutiful peer insisting on assisting in the accrual of extra worksheets. It was an act Tomohiro appreciated thoroughly– he could provide the notes on his lonesome with no trouble, but getting an extra copy of the night's homework would have likely been a bit of a hassle for him. It was no problem at all for Fukuroi (which the bespectacled blonde affirmed to Tomohiro about twelve times) due to his status as student council president. There were certain perks that came with such a lofty responsibility, that was for sure.
Tomohiro opened the door to Ryosuke's bedroom without even considering knocking. He didn't forego the formality in the sense that he was an impolite person– quite the contrary, really… Tomohiro had a tendency to bite his tongue to a near fault. No, they were just, quite literally, years past that. They had nothing to hide from each other. Apart from the not-so-subtle romantic tension. But tangibly, yeah, there was very little that would remain secret between the two of them. Stepping into Ryosuke’s room truly just came as naturally as entering his own. If he walked straight to the wall opposite of the doorway, he’d encounter the blonde's gaming PC and chair. Currently, it was powered off, which was proof positive that Ryosuke wasn't just cutting class. Not that Tomohiro was considering that as a potential twist, it was just further solidification that he had an accurate soul read on his friend. Swiveling his body to the left revealed Ryosuke's bed, featuring: Ryosuke. He was sprawled pretty haphazardly across the mattress, lying on top of his blankets instead of beneath them like he properly should, especially when ill. His less-than-ideal blanketing aside, he was in a mismatched set of sweats as pyjamas, so surely that was warm…ish. Warm enough, at least.
More notably than any of that, however, was that Ryosuke was awake- decidedly not resting like Tomohiro had urged him to. Awake might be a strong word, though. He had a goalless gaze cast in the general direction of his ceiling, not even turning to acknowledge Tomohiro’s entrance. His jaw was slack in a way that implied he was breathing though his mouth. …Yeah, he was totally zonked. Tomohiro cleared his throat.
“Um, Ryosuke? I brought your homework! Some notes from class, too.”
Ryosuke's head, slow and sluggish, lolled towards where Tomohiro was standing. The brunette could practically see the buffer wheel behind Ryosuke’s eyes as he processed his presence.
“Muh…”
Even with Ryosuke's insightful dialogue, Tomohiro was unsure of how to proceed. Was he contagious? Should he just drop the papers on his computer desk and leave? Should he throw caution to the wind and properly check up on his friend anyways? Certainly the latter. Putting his own wellbeing over other people's was the exact opposite of Tomohiro's nature. He began taking a step closer when some light entered Ryosuke's eyes, recognition finally reaching him.
“Hiro!”
He was so audibly congested that he sounded like a caricature of a sick person. Oh boy, now he was standing up? He wobbily hobbled to his feet, and Tomohiro shook his head and stuck his arms in front of himself in protest.
“Woah, woah, I think you should stay laying down–”
Ryosuke was already bounding towards him by the time he got a word out. He made remarkable speed, given his condition, and greeted Tomohiro with a hug. That… wasn't exactly their standard form of hello. In general, Ryosuke always seemed pretty avoidant of physical touch. That was maybe the only wall that still existed between them, so Tomohiro was very surprised at the sudden embrace.
“Hiiiii Tomohiro… is it time for school?”
Oh he was out of it, out of it. …Cool.
Tomohiro reluctantly hugged him back, hoping it would get his friend to stop hanging off of him. The shock alone almost knocked him off of his feet, but supporting his friend's weight, even slightly, was a bit out of Tomohiro's scope of strength. But, of course, the reciprocation of the hug inspired Ryosuke to lean entirely into Tomohiro. That inspired Tomohiro to lose his footing and send both of them to the ground. What a stellar turn of events.
Their new predicament had Tomohiro taking the brunt of the fall, Ryosuke having somewhat landed on top of him. At least he didn't get hurt while sick, then. The same couldn't be said for the poor stack of homework and notes, which Tomohiro lost his hold on in the fall. They fluttered to the ground and scattered around them, dramatically framing this micro-catastrophe. The brunette felt lucky to have landed on his behind, rather than flat on his back, because doing some sort of sit-up with Ryosuke as a weight sounded nothing short of tumultuous. Speaking of, the blonde’s head was still rested on Tomohiro's shoulder.
“Uh, sorry, Ryo… you didn't get hurt in the fall, right?”
Not hearing any indication of a response initially, Tomohiro strained his ears.
“snrrrrk…”
Are you for real.
Ryosuke was seemingly out like a light and definitively snoring like he was trying to crank a lawnmower.
Tomohiro knitted his brows and awkwardly reached around his friend- who was, mind you, basically in his lap at this point- to retrieve the fallen worksheets and notepages. He accumulated them back into a stack– it wasn't as neat as the one he had before, but… he wasn't exactly spoiled with room to primp his paperwork. Tomohiro shifted so the stack was entirely held in his right hand, so he could gently jostle his sleeping friend's shoulder with his left.
“Hey.. uh.. Ryosuke?”
Ryosuke woke up again with a half-hummed groan, visibly making laborious efforts to lift his head off of the brunette’s shoulder, as if his own were full of lead. Once he finally did, Tomohiro met him with a small smile and eyes soft with pity.
“...morning, Hiro… when’d you get here?”
Tomohiro frowned and brushed his friends' bangs aside to feel for his fever. Was his sickness really making him this delerious…? No, he’d surely have been given medical attention if it were that serious. Besides, he certainly has a burning fever, but it wasn't exceedingly alarming. …Maybe he just took too much cold medicine.
His relief at the lack of severity was swiftly superseded by the realization that Ryosuke was pressing his forehead quite fervently into the back of Tomohiro's hand. His throat went dry at the sight. It was very cute and horribly intimate. Tomohiro swallowed whatever lump had formed in his throat to say something to shut this down.
“You should probably be getting back to bed, huh?”
Ryosuke groaned indignantly at the suggestion, seemingly not too keen on moving as he flopped his forehead against Tomohiro's shoulder again.
“snrrrrrrrk…”
Literally what.
Tomohiro was honestly impressed at this uncanny ability to knock out instantaneously. Truly, it was an admirable skill. Unfortunately, Tomohiro wasn't exactly in an admiring disposition at the moment. He was provably incapable of supporting the other’s weight, but he couldn't just… leave him on the floor. So he sighed and exercised the entirety of his flexibility to lean himself over and plant that slanted stack of schoolwork on Ryosuke’s computer chair. Better than the floor. With both hands free, he could decide a gameplan.
Said gameplan was shaking this guy awake again.
“Ryosuke, buddy, help me out here…”
Once more, Ryosuke lifted his head off of his shoulder– it went a lot smoother this time, though, since Tomohiro knew to help him get his head up. Instead of saying anything about moving him back to his bed, he just started to do it- rising to his feet and pulling Ryosuke by the forearms so that he’d come up with him. The blonde was surprisingly pliant, unfurling his limbs and stumbling up to a standing position. Tomohiro tried to smile at him as a thanks, but Ryosuke wouldn't look at him now. He sighed and put Ryosuke’s arm over his shoulders.
As he guided Ryosuke back into his bed, he spotted a near-empty bottle of liquid cold medicine on his nightstand that supported his previous theory. It was one of those eight ounce bottles you could pick up at the corner store, and the wrapping that kept the bottle sealed was right there next to it, implying it had just been opened today.
There was like, a sip at most left in that thing.
Jesus Christ, Ryosuke.
Tomohiro briefly began panicking that he’d have to call poison control or something when he felt Ryosuke’s hand cupping his. He looked down at the point of contact, then over to his friend who bore an uncharacteristically unreadable expression from where he lay. Tomohiro gulped and slid his hand away from his grasp in a way that was overly sheepish, especially considering that he didn't hate the gesture. He was really just being coy. It wasn't the idea of romance that scared him, but the unknown territory it would bring. Even that singular expression was too unfamiliar. He’d known Ryosuke for practically their entire lives, and not once had he seen him make that face. The nerves bloomed butterflies into his stomach, but his eyes still crinkled with a smile.
“I oughta let you sleep off this megadose of nyquil, huh?”
Ryosuke frowned. At least Tomohiro could read that expression with perfect clarity.
“I couldn't sleep at all, all day… I thought the medicine would help, but…” Ryosuke broke eye contact, “I couldn't sleep at all until you came here.”
Welp. Game, set, and match.
In no universe could Tomohiro walk away after he said that. It would be plainly cruel. Sure, Ryosuke would probably pass out eventually, but… he couldn't subject his friend to more suffering, he was already ill and, judging by the state of the almost entirely emptied medicine bottle, desperate. Besides, that was the most coherent sentence that Ryosuke had said this entire time, such a clear communication despite his condition must convey some kind of sincerity. Besides, he'd do the same, if Tomohiro were the sick one. So no matter how many butterflies swirled in his stomach, he kept his resolve.
“I’ll stay.”
Ryosuke looked back at him with wide, grateful eyes. His expression wasn't necessarily disbelief, but he was certainly surprised.
“I wasn't meaning to… I don't want to put you out.”
Another full and complete sentence! Chalk one up for Ryosuke! Tomohiro smiled and brushed his bangs aside again.
“You’re not. I… want to stay.”
Ryosuke didn't lean into the touch this time– definitely because he was a bit more lucid now– but he did shut his eyes and drift off.
In the back of his mind, Tomohiro was very much hoping that Ryosuke wasn't contagious.