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If anyone knows what it's like to have to fend for themselves, especially sick, it's Sakura. It's a miserable experience, even if stubborn pride says, "I don't need any help, I can handle myself," and yet... He gets a text from Momijikawa early in the morning: "Won't be at school today, so no lunch."
Sakura frowns, reading the text as he struggles with his free hand to pull on a shoe.
"that sucks. why? you sick?," he shoots back then tugs his other shoe on and grabs his bag.
"Yeah."
He puffs out a sigh. It's not shameful to admit to himself that he'll miss seeing his-- miss seeing Momijikawa at lunch, but it's fine. He'll be back in a day or two (well, after the weekend now) and their routine will resume as normal.
Despite what he says to himself, Sakura still manages to stay distracted from classes throughout the day, which is maybe a little ridiculous since they aren't even in the same class, so there's not really a lot to miss. Sakura scratches his head with his pencil and tries, honestly, to focus. He fails, still, spectacularly, and pulls his phone from his pocket to glance at it. No notifications. Of course, why would there be?
He must be making more of a show than he realizes because Nirei taps him on the back from the desk behind him and whispers, "What's wrong??"
Sakura grunts in response, but turns around to face Nirei.
"You keep looking at your phone and tapping your desk," Nirei continues, quietly.
Sakura chews the inside of his mouth in thought. They know now, there's nothing to hide, but this still feels embarrassing somehow.
"Did something happen?" Nirei presses, and Sakura caves.
"Sakae's out sick," he mumbles, glancing at the floor, "'m just distracted."
Nirei cracks a small smile.
"Oh. Are you going to visit him?"
Sakura's face twists a little in consideration. The thought had crossed his mind, but he also assumed that Momijikawa might not want any company while under the weather. Then again...
"I don't know," Sakura says, "What if he wants to be left alone?"
"Did you like dealing with it alone when you were sick?" Nirei asks, no judgement in his voice, just sincerity.
"I mean... I didn't like it, but I could handle it," Sakura says. Nirei's brow furrows pointedly, and Sakura sighs, adding, "But it was nice having help. I guess," he inhales sharply and exhales a forceful, "Fine. You're right."
---
The rest of his day passes in a blur as his attention never recenters, and Sakura's feet find their way to Momijikawa's apartment door. He stares down at his hand, turning the key over and over and over. He should go home and leave his-- leave Momijikawa be. It's probably frustrating having someone hover around when you don't feel well, after all. When you're used to taking care of things on your own. He frowns, stilling the key. But it really wasn't bad at all when his friends came by to help when Sakura was ill... it made it easier to manage. Okay, fine.
He unlocks the door and lets himself in, taking his shoes off before venturing further into the apartment. The main living area is empty, but he hadn't expected otherwise; it's mostly a matter of remembering that he's allowed to go into Momijikawa's room. It's not rude. He's not overstepping a boundary. He does, however, still feel the need to knock. Shuffling and the muffled sound of footsteps come from the other side of the door, followed by a hacking cough, and the door opens, revealing a particularly haggard Momijikawa. Despite the dark circles under his eyes and his pallid complexion, Momikikawa's face brightens slightly.
"Haruka, hey," he says, voice strained, "Wasn't expecting you."
And for a moment, Sakura deeply regrets being here, feels like he shouldn't be here, but a warm hand (a very warm hand, actually) takes Sakura's and squeezes lightly, pulling him out of his spiraling internal stress.
"Yeah, I-- Is that okay? That I'm here? I just wanted to help..." he says quietly.
"You'll get sick, too," Momijikawa replies, but even as he speaks, he releases Sakura's hand and turns to retreat back to his bed, sitting at the edge. Pursing his lips, Sakura follows him and sits on the bedside as well, tucking a leg under himself to better angle toward Momijikawa. Tentatively, he rests the back of his hand against Momijikawa's forehead, frowning at the warmth radiating off his skin.
"I don't care if I get sick," Sakura murmurs, hand lingering a moment longer than probably necessary, but whatever. He's allowed to touch Momijikawa.
"I care," Momijikawa says, his words merging into a strangled cough that he clearly tries to hold back.
"Did you eat anything yet?"
Momijikawa offers a halfhearted glare in response to Sakura's ignoring his remark, but he does shake his head, "No. Not yet."
In this particular moment, Sakura is immensely glad Momijikawa has been teaching him to cook-- he can actually do something helpful, other than sit around and stress. Even then, he does find a sense of relief just being here in general, like he'd been holding in a breath all day without fully realizing it.
Momijikawa stiffly lies back down, pulling the blanket half-assedly over himself, and Sakura squeezes his shoulder before standing up to wander out to the kitchen.
Time creeps by as Sakura pokes through the cabinets and refrigerator to see what he can cobble together with what ingredients are available and with his still-limited knowledge of food preparation. He settles on miso soup, though the tofu gives him some trouble, despite having been walked through the process with Momijikawa not all that long ago. The end product is a little too salty, and the tofu loose and crumbly, but it's not terrible, so that counts for something, Sakura figures.
When he goes back into the bedroom, Momijikawa is asleep. His breathing is steady, if not a little shallower than usual and rattling. Sakura sets the bowl of soup on the nightstand beside the bed, not waking Momijikawa, and he exits the room once more. He should go back home now, Sakura thinks as he stands in the hallway by the front door. He's checked up on Momijikawa, made something for him to eat when he wakes up; he's been reassured that everything is fine and now he should be able to focus on other things. Another hacking cough travels from the bedroom.
It's Friday, he has nowhere to be in the morning. So he hangs his school jacket up by the door, and heads back toward the living area to start tidying up what he can.
----
He crashes on the couch a bit before midnight, but the sleep is light and restless, as Momijikawa's coughs pull Sakura out of sleep, or near-sleep, several times every hour. He picks up his phone to stare at the time on the lock screen, frowning at the sound of another deep cough. There should be more he can do than just make soup.
So instead of trying to sleep again, he spends the next hour searching for cough and cold remedies that are within his abilities.
Cough syrup, obviously, but he'll have to leave to go get some.
Honey and hot water... That might be feasible. Surely there's honey in the kitchen somewhere.
Steam and humidity. Also doable, but also means getting Momijikawa out of bed and sitting in the bathroom for a period of time.
Conveniently, the door to Momijikawa's room clicks open and Sakura hears his footsteps head toward the living area. The light flicks on, Sakura flinches at the sudden brightness, and Momijikawa blinks in surprise.
"Oh, I thought you left."
"Did you want me to?" Sakura asks, sitting up.
Momijikawa sways slightly, shaking his head, "Just didn't expect you to stay."
He heads toward the kitchen sink, quite unsteadily, making Sakura jump to his feet abruptly and rush over to grab Momijikawa's arm.
"I've got this, I'm good," Momijikawa grumbles, "Just getting some water."
Sakura huffs.
"I'm here to help, so let me help, dammit," and he guides Momijikawa to the table to sit. Now is as good a time as any to try hot water and honey, but he does acquiesce to Momijikawa's desire for cold water, first.
Before Sakura has a chance to put the kettle on the burner, though, Momijikawa stands and wobbles toward the bathroom.
"Gonna shower," he says between coughs, "I feel gross."
"Come on, really?" Sakura protests, speed walking after him, "You can barely stand!"
Momijikawa stops, looking for a moment like he's considering, and he glances over his shoulder to offer Sakura a small, troublesome grin, saying, "Then come help me."
During the course of Sakura's life up until now, and particularly since coming to Makochi, he's experienced plenty of moments that have left him pathetically red in the face. Sure, he's learning to process his emotions better these days, but there are moments. With that being said, he's pretty sure this is the worst; he can feel his face heating up. Momijikawa laughs, a pitiful hacking laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.
"I'm messing with you, you don't have to," he rasps, laughter still lingering in his voice.
Sakura takes a moment to reboot, process Momijikawa's words and his own train of thought, and tries to speak, but it comes out as a strangled grunt.
"All right. Come on."
To his credit, Momijikawa actually looks surprised. He sways a little, and Sakura grabs his elbow to steady him, leading him toward the bathroom. His face still burns; he's sure he might combust on the spot. Why is he doing this?
Sakura maneuvers Momijikawa to sit on the toilet lid while he turns the water in the shower on.
"Don't get up. I'll be right back."
And Sakura hurries out of the bathroom to fetch towels and dig out a fresh shirt and pair of sweats for each of them.
When Sakura returns, he's greeted by a foggy, humid bathroom, and Momijikawa resting his head on his arms by the sink. It's a bit of a pitiful sight, vulnerable, and Sakura appreciates that Momijikawa lets Sakura see him like this without worry or anger. Wordlessly, Sakura steps in front of Momijikawa and rakes his fingers through his short hair. Momijikawa blinks slowly and sits upright, pulling his shirt over his head.
Once again, Sakura feels his face heat up, and he turns away to face the bathroom door, removing his own clothes in the process and feeling far, far too seen. If Momijikawa cares, he doesn't show it; he just steps into the shower and sits on the floor under the pouring water. The sight draws an uncomfortable chuckle from Sakura, and he follows suit awkwardly.
He's been in this shower enough to know where everything is (and if he's integrated his own stuff in, that's not something we're going to address) so he grabs Momijikawa's shampoo bottle and lathers his short hair up.
"I can do it, you know," Momijikawa protests, but Sakura just retorts, "Then why am I here?"
Momijikawa looks thoughtful for a moment, and Sakura thinks he might be formulating a smartass response, but in the end, exhaustion wins, and he relents, taking a washcloth and bottle of body wash Sakura offers him. The shower passes in relative quiet, Sakura rinsing Momijikawa's hair and washing his back, and Momijikawa washing up otherwise. Sakura helps him to his feet and shuts off the water, stepping out of the shower and sitting Momijikawa back down.
"I can dry off, myself; I'm good," he says, chuckling, as Sakura moves to toss a towel over Momijikawa's head.
"Fair enough. I'm going to actually wash up, too," Sakura decides, "Just... stay there."
But when he exits the shower for the second time, Sakura finds the bathroom empty, and he lets out a stressed grunt before drying off in a hurry and throwing on his fresh clothes. His clothes, not spares from Momijikawa. If Sakura has mixed in his belongings at this apartment with Momijikawa's, they don't mention it, and Sakura honestly doesn't really realize it. If there are two toothbrushes on a shelf behind the bathroom sink, it's left implied.
He finds Momijikawa back in his room in bed. The mattress dips as Sakura seats himself on the edge, facing Momijikawa and resting his hand on his forehead again. Still too warm.
He makes a decision.
"Scoot over," Sakura says. Momijikawa frowns.
"You'll definitely get sick."
"I told you, I don't care," Sakura says, nudging Momijikawa slightly, "And I've been here all day, so if I get sick, I get sick."
Momijikawa shrugs and shimmies toward the wall to make room on the twin mattress for Sakura. Strong arms snake around Sakura's waist and pull him close, nose nuzzling the back of Sakura's neck.
And Sakura slowly unwinds.