Chapter Text
“S-Seiya-san, I really think you sh-should… sit down…”
Complying, Hotaru slumps onto the chair near the door, legs shaking underneath it. It heaves to catch its breath, even though it’s ceased running for at least twenty minutes now. With one hand placed against its forehead, it flutters open an eye to watch Tsumiki anxiously running about the shelves of medicine.
“Painkillers, painkillers,” Tsumiki’s voice comes out in its classic shakiness, pulling open the glass doors to find the acetenominophen that Hotaru had sought out. “Where… are they? Ohh, I-I’ve been so forgetful lately…”
Ah. That’s not reassuring. “Surely, it’s just the bottle that says ‘Tylenol’ on it, yeah?” She leans her head back on the wall, suppressing the groan that threatens to worm past her throat.
“Well, yes, but… I-It’s not anywhere in it’s u-usual spot… which is odd.” Tsumiki starts opening a few drawers, despite the fact that Hotaru has never seen the nurse or any of the med students pull out remedies from them, in all his visits here. And he’s been here a lot. “No Ibuprofen e-either… I-I should check in the back cabinets. I’m really sorry, Seiya-san! Please f-forgive me!”
It’s not like it’s in Tsumiki’s control. If anything, it’s Hotaru’s own stupidity for not minding its own supply of painkillers; it lent a few to Naegi last week for his cramps—or maybe more than a few, if the bottle was now empty—and running to the store to replace them kept slipping its mind. Serves it right.
“It’s—” Hotaru’s vision continues to spin. Even though she’s sitting down, she holds on a little tighter to the chair’s arm rests. She feels sick. “It’s fine. T-Take your time, Tsumiki-san.” She forces a smile, shame weighing heavy on her for her senselessness.
If there was anything he shouldn’t have done, it’s allow Ouma and Kaito rile her up. He can’t remember the exact circumstances, but it’d started with the former of the two boys poking fun at the group of five that started gathering for “training”—the once-weekly meet-up in the early hours, just after sunrise. Ouma had managed to catch them after their routine, so naturally, he thought they were just wasting time out here before school. They were “up to no good,” as he put it, which was ironic because he was also around and about for no reason at that time.
Not that it was important. In the end, he’d challenged the rest of them to a race, and against its better judgment, it bit the bait. It hadn’t even won, what with all those stairs in the Main Course building—nor had it even completed the agreed upon track. Funny enough, Harukawa and Saihara provided a decent voice of reason advising against this, but Hotaru’s always been a stubborn person. Of course.
Harukawa and Kaede wound up finding her, slumped against the wall in between the flights of stairs, catching her breath. A flurry of questioning had been shot at her, but she can’t recall providing any sufficient answer. Then, they took her to the infirmary, and waited with her until Tsumiki rolled around. At that point, the school day had been about to start, so Hotaru insisted they went to class. Hesitantly, they did.
He hates that he worried them like that. Stupid.
“E-Ever since Kimura-san was… um, expelled,” Tsumiki explains from the storage room, trying to maintain conversation, “Nothing ever seems to be in the r-right place. I-I need to speak to Ms. Yoshida about it… I-I’m not really sure who else operates the infirmary while I’m not here.”
It’s not really anything that clicks in Hotaru’s brain, the mushy mess it is. Not even closing its eyes is helping the dizziness—dare it say, it only feels worse in the darkness. So, it settles for keeping its eyes half-lidded; not wide enough to allow the fluorescent lighting to sear its vision, but enough so it could focus on something, anything in the room. Whatever keeps it from vomiting onto the floor. It hates feeling so nauseous.
Tsumiki disappears further into the storage closet; Hotaru finds that the dark blob of purple hair isn’t anywhere to be seen. If she’s still mumbling out an explanation for the infirmary’s current state of disorder, it’s not falling on listening ears. A shame.
…Minutes pass. Hotaru swears she’s slipped into unconsciousness for a few seconds here and there, but the surging headache keeps her awake, insisting she suffer through what she likes to personally dub as her own body’s “insane overreaction”—because really, there’s no reason a normal, healthy person can be reduced to symptoms of severe illness after what had just been a little bit of running.
Tsumiki has been gone a while. It still hears the vague shifting in the storage room, and throughout the fog plaguing its brain, it wonders how much it stores. A school of this caliber would probably have a lot of medicines on hand at all times. Is it likely that someone came in and messed up the organization of everything? If so, why hadn’t that been noticed sooner? One of the nurses should have picked up on it already, if not the student Ultimates themselves.
She lifts her head, groaning quietly with the pain of the pounding. She’s about to call out Tsumiki’s name again, see if there’s any progress—and then she reappears, as if she could hear her desperation ringing in her head like a mantra.
“I-I found it!” Tsumiki exclaims, trying to will a reassuring smile onto her face as she crosses the infirmary. “It was… way in the back for s-some reason, I’m very sorry!”
Hotaru tries to mimic her smile all the same, waving his hand reassuringly at the double heads floating in front of him. “It’s fine, Tsumiki-san… Thanks.”
Carefully, it accepts the medicine from the Ultimate Nurse, as if it were afraid of dropping it—a very real possibility, because it didn’t quite feel like it could grasp anything in reality at the moment. Tsumiki momentarily walks away again, shortly returning with a cup of water from the dispenser. “H-Here,” she stammers, shaky hands setting it onto the counter beside Hotaru. “Take some medicine now, and I-I can fill out the paperwork in Ms. Yoshida’s stead. U-Um, and you can keep the bottle. You mentioned you ran o-out of painkillers, yes…?”
Hotaru untwists the cap of the bottle with ease, popping out two of the little tablets onto her palm. She hums in confirmation. “I was supposed to go out to buy some, but um… I’ve been busy.” Translation, I forgot, but Tsumiki doesn’t need that part. “Are you sure I can take this?”
“Please do…! I’d hate to see you sick for much longer,” Tsumiki insists, clasping her hands together. “I found the rest of the extra bottles, a-and they shouldn’t be moved again… so you sh-shouldn’t worry!”
If she insists so. If there’s anyone at Hope’s Peak Academy to trust with the medical facilities, it’s definitely Tsumiki. And unlike most medical professionals that Hotaru has visited throughout its life, she listens to people. It can trust her judgment, that’s for sure.
She downs the medicine with a quick swig of the water, and she moves her head so quickly that she feels lightheaded again. A groan slips past her throat as the pills disappear, and she sets the cup back down on the counter.
“Ugh… Thank you, Tsumiki-san,” he mumbles, unable to meet her eyes. He’s still a little embarrassed about the fact he’s such a mess. “I’m glad it’s just you on shift. Ms. Yoshida totally chewed me out last time I wound up here…”
“B-Because you aren’t careful with your health, Seiya-san.” Tsumiki frowns, taking the empty cup. “Ah, as long as you take your medicine round the clock, y-you should be fine… I’ll reach out to your class representative l-later about your future absences this week. I-Ishimaru-kun, right?”
Hotaru purposely bumps its head against the wall behind it in some kind of dramatic fashion. “Do you have to tell him?”
“I-It’s protocol… I’m sorry.”
“Ugh,” she groans again, this time a little more frustrated. She doesn’t really want to deal with him scolding her for being stupid. “I could totally just go to class. Then I wouldn’t have to be absent.”
“A-Absolutely not,” Tsumiki insists, trying her hardest to be firm.
Worth a shot. “Then, at least tell him to take it easy on me, please. He can be… a lot.”
Tsumiki hums. “I can do that! Just… leave it to me.” She offers a small smile; nervous, stretched a bit thin. “Ms. Yoshida will contact your teachers, most likely… u-umm… I-I think that’s it, actually.”
Hotaru figures that’s the case; not much to draw out in the case of these nurse’s office visits. He’d rather not have to wait until Nurse Yoshida returns to file things properly in the system.
It stands, leaning on the counter for a bit of support. Its legs ache from the over-exertion, but it tries to stand a little upright. “I should get going now. I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time, Tsumiki-san,” it apologizes, waving its free hand in a small surrendering motion.
Tsumiki perks up a little, immediately reaching out to steady Hotaru—not that she felt like she was going to fall. “M-Maybe I sh-should escort you back to your dorm… or maybe Akamatsu-san’s?”
Definitely not. She doesn’t want to burden Kaede with all this. Hotaru can take care of herself, as she always does. “My dorm is fine… N-Not that you need to accompany me! I really am fine.”
He’s not quite fooling anyone—not even poor Tsumiki, who shakes her head solemnly. “It’s no trouble at a-all, I promise. I just… don’t want for you to f-faint again. Classes h-have started for everyone else, so…”
…It doesn’t seem like it’s getting out of this one. Hotaru caves. “Fine.” It relaxes into Tsumiki’s touch, who attempts to keep it firmly standing as best she can before guiding them both out of the room.
Gosh, this sucks. Hotaru hopes she recovers soon enough.