Work Text:
On a fairly typical afternoon, Isaku worked by himself in the infirmary. He was enjoying the peacefulness while absentmindedly grounding some medicinal herbs when he heard familiar loud footsteps.
“Isaku!” boomed Koheita’s voice as he roughly opened the infirmary’s doors. “I cut my arm while out in Urayama; could you treat it for me?”
Koheita was, as always, smiling, despite being covered in dirt and hurt. Isaku frowned, taking some bandages out of a cabinet.
“Show me.”
Koheita pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bloody piece of cloth. Taking it off, he exposed a decent sized cut. Isaku’s frown deepened; he should have guessed the wound must be really bad for Koheita to actually admit he had it and ask for treatment.
“You got hurt pretty badly this time” he scolded him with a serious voice, but Koheita laughed it off, saying, “It’s just a scratch!”
Isaku began to disinfect it while mumbling about how it’s not a scratch if it bleeds this much, but he was interrupted by Koheita’s ever cheerful voice.
“Oh! I almost forgot! I got you some flowers!” He proceeded to pull a slightly crushed bouquet out of his travel pouch. “I think these can be used to make medicine, right?”
Isaku finished bandaging his arm and accepted the bouquet. Delicate white flowers, elegant purple flowers, and even clumps of green herbs hard to tell apart from grass. His eyes widened at the amount of rare herbs the unlucky health committee never managed to find.
“How did you get all of these? Aside from being extremely rare, they all grow in dangerous places!” Isaku then made a pause, and his frown returned, “Koheita, did you get hurt picking these flowers for me?”
Koheita gave him a big smile in return, “Don’t sweat the small stuff!” Then, with a softer smile and a quieter voice, “Besides, seeing you happy makes it worth it.”
Seeing Koheita’s sheepish smile, Isaku sighed and returned a smile, “I guess I can’t stay mad at you, can I? But be more careful next time, ok?”
Koheita’s big, radiant smile returned; “Of course!”
With his treatment finished, Koheita quickly took his leave, “See you later! Ike Ike Don Don!”, and he rushed off into the distance.
Isaku waved goodbye and turned back to look at the flowers. He grabbed a bamboo tube he had already filled with water and put the flowers in. One more bouquet had joined his recent collection, making the infirmary a much more cheerful place.
Next week, he’d have to put all the flowers to dry, lest they start to rot. Next week, Koheita will probably bring him more flowers that no one knows how he can identify. Next week, the underclassmen that come into the infirmary will ask about the flowers again. Next week, Isaku will answer that he’s been lucky lately, and the underclassmen will stare at him with that I-don’t-believe-you face.
But he’s not lying; because he now has a star that shines bright even in the darkest of days.
Next week, Isaku should treat his star to some dango.