Chapter Text
All that effort....all for nothing. This is so stupid. What the hell do you mean "Absolute Defence Form"? And it's indestructible!? How are we going to be able to assassinate you before March? You think this is fair tentacles!?
"Isogai!"
Maehara was standing in front of me, looking a little drowsy. Now that I think about it, many of the kids in the class looked the same. The hell is this? I looked up at Maehara, his cheeks flushed a bright red, and a cold sweat running down his face. He looked as if he could pass out any minute.
Standing up, I stabilised him with my hands on his shoulders. I could immediately feel the heat radiating off him. I could tell something was wrong. That's when I heard Nagisa.
"Nakamura!?"
Looking over I saw that Nakamura was on the ground, seemingly collapsed while trying to stand up out of her seat. I noticed the same red flush on her face that I had observed on Maehara. This is not normal. Surely if this was just a coincidence and there was a bug going around the symptoms would not show up suddenly, and at the same time and severity for everyone. And why wasn't I sick? Why wasn't Nagisa sick? In total there were ten students that were experiencing these symptoms. Okajima, Nakamura, Mimura, Sugino, Hara, Kanzaki, Kurahashi, Muramatsu, Hazama.... and Maehara. Both Nagisa and I helped all of them to lie down and Takebayashi began to wet some towels with cold water to place on their overheating foreheads.
That's when the phone call came.
Turns out this wasn't a stupid coincidence after all someone had poisoned them and now they wanted the two smallest people in the class to come to the hotel on the top of the hill to exchange Koro Sensei for the antidote. Talk about coward, yeesh. If I had anything to do with it he'd be begging for forgiveness because nobody hurts my classmates like that. We had a plan. We were going to leave two students with the sick ones and everyone else was to go with Mr Karasuma and Miss Jelavic. It seemed like a good plan, and I was in. That is, until I felt a hand grab my own. Looking down, my heart skipped a beat. Maehara was staring at me, a desperate, pleading look in his eyes.
"Could you stay as well?"
His voice was weak, extremely weak. It pained me to listen to it. I looked back at Mr Karasuma, who gave me a subtle nod. Smiling back at him, I nodded at Maehara.
"Of course I can"
*insert fangirl screeching noises cause I'm actually dying inside*
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I watched them leave. One by one getting into the cars. I silently wished them good luck. They'll need it for whatever they are dealing with.
I let out a long sigh, lying on the ground next to the mattress Maehara was on.
"Whoever expected this trip to go smoothly must be very disappointed right about now."
Takebayashi stood next to me, looking down as he spoke, occasionally fixing the position of his glasses.
"I don't think anyone expected this trip to go smoothly, Isogai. Considering out predicament, nothing has gone smoothly for us this year."
"That's true.... I just want to be able to catch a break for once"
It is true. Ever since Koro Sensei first walked into our classroom, we knew our schooling lives will never be the same again. Sure, he's an amazing teacher, I'll give him credit for that, but there's no point in improving our grades just for it to be the end of the world come March. What I want to know is why he decided to become a teacher in the first place, and at our school, in our class specifically? That's a little odd.
"I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit. Wake me if you need anything"
I wasn't talking to anyone specific, and secretly I was hoping they wouldn't do that. It's been one roller coaster of a day, that's for sure.
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I woke up a few hours later to a warm sensation on my neck. It felt nice and I just wanted to close my eyes and let it pull me into a deep sleep, but that was when I felt a weight on my stomach as well.
After regaining my vision, I realised that the warm feeling was Maehara's breath, and the weight was his arm draped over me.
I think my heart just skipped a beat.
And again.
I tried to be as still as I could so that I didn't wake him up. He looked peaceful. Well, as peaceful as he could be with a temperature of thirty-nine degrees pushing forty. He was very hot. Not....not like that.... (but maybe also like that).
WAIT WHAT!?
Okay stop Isogai. What are you thinking!? You've never thought about anyone like this, let alone a guy! Who is also your best friend!
So why all of a sudden am I thinking of him in this way? Could it be the fact that he's currently passed out using me as a pillow, with his face flushed red which, disregarding the circumstances, was actually very cute.
All the efforts I had made to calm myself down were instantly burned in a fire when he moved closer, lifting his head to rest it on my chest.
I'm honestly shocked at the fact that he didn't notice my heart beat at a mile an hour even through his fatigue. It's going as fast as it would if I had just completed a marathon.
Through all the panic, I still had to remember that he is sick and is probably just doing things without even thinking about it.
I put my hand over his forehead gently, finding that it was only getting worse. I can't imagine how bad he must be feeling right now. I found myself running my hand through his sweat-soaked hair, though I was sure it was more to comfort myself than him.
As if it couldn't get any worse, he woke up at that exact moment. The eye contact felt like it could have lasted centuries. But to my surprise, instead of getting up or moving away from me, he simply smiled. I was unsure that my heart could take any more. One more thing and it's certain that I would have a heart attack. I'm now seeing Maehara in a completely different way. A way that goes beyond friendship. A way that maybe, just maybe, I can wish to pursue in the future.
Those thoughts aside, I needed to get up and change the towel on his head, which had actually fallen off as I was asleep and not watching him. I got up and walked over to Takebayashi, who was also wetting another towel. I could tell he was looking directly at me, and I could practically feel the smirk on his face.
"What."
"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if there's a newly bloomed romance in 3-E."
I couldn't see myself, but I definitely knew my face went red.
"Oh shut up, it's nothing like that. He was just tired and not in his right mind from the virus."
I hope.
"Yeah yeah sure whatever you say. You do know that nobody will care, right? If that's what you're worried about. Are you?"
This made me think. No, I wasn't before, until he bought it up. I'm sure everyone in 3-E would be supportive and from memory I don't think anyone is homophobic in the class. But it wouldn't just be them I'd have to worry about.
"Listen, Isogai. I know a lot of people are against same sex relationships and you've never going to be able to avoid that. The only thing you can do about it is just be open and proud. Don't let what other people think get in the way of what
you want, okay? If you like Maehara, go for it."
Woah slow down. This is all happening too fast. Who even said I like Maehara? So he slept on me, what's the big deal?
(The big deal is that you definitely like him, why else would you be thinking this)
Wait, why are my own thoughts fighting each other!?
I spent the next twenty minutes going around to everyone and giving them what they need. After I finally had a moment to sit down, that's when my phone rang. It was Nagisa. I picked up and leaned against the wall, exhausted. Maehara was clearly curious about the phone call because he came and sat next to me, trying to listen in, so I turned it on speaker for everyone to hear.
"We're on our way back now, surprisingly most of us came out unharmed"
"Wait... most? What happened?"
"Karasuma was poisoned with some kind of paralysing gas, me and Kayano almost died, but it's okay we have the antidote now. Just hold on for a bit longer while we get there. Has everything been okay over there?"
As I was just about to speak, Maehara's head fell onto my
shoulder, fast asleep.
"Uhm yeah it could have been better, most of them are falling asleep now which I'm not sure is a good thing so don't take your time please."
"We won't. We should be about ten minutes."
With that, the call ended. I looked down at my shoulder where Maehara was out cold, his mouth slightly open with a light snore coming from it. Adorable.
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Around ten minutes later, they arrived. Takebayashi and Okuda ran up to them immediately.
They began to use the antidotes to make some herbal tea for the students who had the virus. Once they were finished, they all got given a cup of it. The antidote kicked in fairly quickly for most but for some it took a while longer.
With Maehara's cup of tea in my hand, I gently poked his cheek to wake him up. It took a few tries but he eventually opened his eyes, which were slightly glazed over. With a sense of urgency, I put the cup in his hands, guiding them to his mouth until I was sure he could do it himself. Despite having consumed the antidote and visibly looking better, he still stayed in the same position, with his head on my shoulder, though his breathing was now much more calm than it was before, thankfully.