[Fic] A Christmas Tale
Title: A Christmas Tale
Author: bunny_d_kate
Fandom: V6
Pairing: Sakamoto x Okada
Summary: Okada is sick on Christmas. Leader is being his usual grumpy self.
Notes: My Christmas present for ohnaganoes ♥ Special thanks to clipsie for being my first ever beta reader ;3
The cold chill running down his spine, making his body shudder violently, woke him from his light slumber. Wrapped in three blankets and with the electric heater running at full blast, he was sweating buckets but it was a cold sweat and his teeth were chattering inside his mouth.
Whenever someone jokingly called him the baby of the group, he'd protest. Saying that he was 15 and basically a grown-up already, but now he wanted nothing more than to be home and have his mother take care of him.
For the last two days, not even Tsuyoshi had been around to look after him because he was busy with his stage play in Kyoto. His roommate could be kind of an ass sometimes but he was surprisingly caring when he felt like it. He even tried to make chicken soup for him, though it did turn out to be pretty much nothing more than hot water with shreds of chicken thrown in.
Ken and Go had been over, too, and while they had probably meant well, they weren't particularly helpful. They only went through his stuff, ate the last bag of chips and laughed hysterically at Tsuyoshi's collection of hand-knitted mittens.
He tried turning around in his blanket cocoon and gave a pathetic groan as he heard someone running down the hall, past his room, shouting "HO! HO! HO!" in an attempt of a booming Santa voice.
As a child, Christmas had been about writing a wish list for Santa with his sister or roaming the shopping streets in Osaka, with their festive illuminations, with his friends. Now, it was just a time when it was always cold and he was constantly reminded that his friends and family were too far away to be with them.
He also really needed to pee, but didn't dare to get out of bed. He'd probably either break down and hit his head on the coffee table or freeze to death on his way to the toilet at the end of the corridor.
Maybe he could just use one of the empty plastic bottles they were keeping under the sink...
Just when he had decided that this was probably the best idea his feverish brain could come up with and got his shaky legs out of bed, a harsh knock on the door made him jump. There was no time to answer, as the door opened before he could even react.
"Why are you not in bed?!" said Sakamoto, eyebrows knit together in a disapproving frown.
"I-..."
Okada's mind went blank. He had to look ridiculous in his boxers, a sweaty t-shirt and the bright red woolen socks that his mom sent him for his birthday. He also couldn't really tell him that he had been about to pee in a plastic bottle. To top it all off, the fact that Sakamoto was carrying a pack of rice kind of confused him. Was he about to attend a wedding?
"You look horrible. Go back to bed!"
"B-but-"
"You'll never get better like this. Back to bed!"
"I was just-"
"BED!"
Okada hung his head with a defeated sigh and shuffled back over to his bed, the pressure on his bladder getting more and more uncomfortable with every step.
From under his blanket, he watched as Sakamoto walked across the room and started rummaging around their little kitchenette.
"Is that the only pot you have?" Sakamoto called over a moment later, head still stuck inside the small cupboard.
"Um...yeah?"
He only got a disapproving grumbling in return, which vaguely sounded like "rusty piece of shit" and "should have brought my own".
For a while, there was silence apart from the sounds that Sakamoto was making in the kitchenette and Okada didn't dare to ask what he was actually doing here. He also didn’t dare to imagine what would happen if he wasn’t allowed to empty his bladder anytime soon.
Almost dozing off again, a sound somewhere between a squeak and a congested grunt escaped his lips when something suddenly poked against his forehead.
“Eat this.”
His eyes slowly wandered from Sakamoto’s still disgruntled face, following his finger to the plate that had been placed on his bedside table.
“Wha-?”
“It’s rice porridge. You need to eat properly. I bet you’ve been eating nothing but Cup Noodles again.”
“I’m not really-“
“You know I’ll drag your skinny ass to the doctor if you don’t eat this.”
Okada cursed the day that Sakamoto had found out about his fear of doctors and hospitals. This knowledge had turned into way too effective leverage.
After sitting up and carefully balancing the plate on his lap, he picked up the spoon and was about to take the first bite when another shudder caused him to spill most of the porridge on his blanket before it could even reach his mouth.
“Ah! You've gotta be kidding me! Move over.”
Still baffled at the whole situation, Okada didn’t even ask and just moved closer to the wall to give the other enough room to sit next to him.
“Okay, let’s try this again.” Sakamoto said as he pulled the plate out of Okada's hands. “Open up.”
Okada stared at the spoon in front of his mouth, his eyes big as saucers. This had to be a joke
“Come on. I don’t have all day.”
He stared up at Sakamoto who wasn’t looking at him but had his eyes fixed on the plate instead. The spoon was moving closer to his mouth, almost touching his lips now.
Scrunching up his eyes, he did what he was told and opened his mouth. He could feel his face heat up as the spoon touched his lips. God, this was so embarrassing! He couldn’t even remember the last time his mother had fed him like that and as much as he had accepted the band as his second family since he had moved to Tokyo by himself, this was just plain weird
There was no more talking and Okada kept his eyes firmly fixed on the blanket while one spoonful of porridge after the other was shoved into his mouth. If anyone came in right now, he’d probably die.
Though the porridge was rather good. Really good actually. Warm and soft and with a faint taste of cinnamon. Did they even have cinnamon in the apartment? Why didn’t his mom ever put cinnamon in his rice porridge? Oh God, Sakamoto’s rice porridge was actually better than his mom’s porridge.
But why was he here?
At some point the feeding stopped.
“I made tea, too. You should drink it while it’s warm. You need to drink a lot when you’re sick because of all the sweating.
“I left the rest of the porridge in the fridge. Heat it up when you’re hungry. But heat it slowly!
“And why don’t you have a humidifier in here? All this dry air will totally dry out your nose and throat.”
Maybe his fever was getting worse or maybe he had already gone past the point where it could get any more embarrassing, but Okada couldn’t suppress a small snort.
Sakamoto’s head flipped around and finally faced him after he had more or less been talking to the middle of the room the entire time.
“What?!”
“You sound like my mom.”
The already intimidating frown turned into a death stare, but paired with the faint blush creeping up his cheeks, it wasn’t all that effective.
“No, you’re worse actually.”
The expression on Sakamoto’s face looked like he was contemplating whether punching a sick person was out of the question or not and Okada’s first reflex was to duck when he reached out but instead of a slap he just felt the other’s hand in his hair, giving it a short, slightly rough ruffle.
“Call me ‘mom’ in front of the others and I’ll kick your ass, punk.”
“’Dad’ then?” Okada asked with a grin maybe a little too mischievous considering his current position.
“Don’t get cocky with me. I already have my hands full with those other two clowns. Actually, make that three. Inohara is just as bad.
“Now drink your tea.”
Oh... Just the thought of any more fluids entering his body made him remember just how full his bladder actually was.
“I-I can’t…”
The frown reappeared on Sakamoto’s face and slightly dampened the peaceful mood.
“What do you mean you can’t? I took the time to make it for you, you ungrateful little sh-“
“Sorry, Leader! Toilet!”
And with that Okada jumped out of bed, almost knocking over the steaming mug in Sakamoto’s hand, and dashed out of the room on surprisingly quick legs, leaving the other staring at the now closed door with a completely flabbergasted look on his face.
Slowly he put the mug back on the table and gazed out of the window for a moment, watching the falling snowflakes outside.
"He could have just said something..."
Author: bunny_d_kate
Fandom: V6
Pairing: Sakamoto x Okada
Summary: Okada is sick on Christmas. Leader is being his usual grumpy self.
Notes: My Christmas present for ohnaganoes ♥ Special thanks to clipsie for being my first ever beta reader ;3
The cold chill running down his spine, making his body shudder violently, woke him from his light slumber. Wrapped in three blankets and with the electric heater running at full blast, he was sweating buckets but it was a cold sweat and his teeth were chattering inside his mouth.
Whenever someone jokingly called him the baby of the group, he'd protest. Saying that he was 15 and basically a grown-up already, but now he wanted nothing more than to be home and have his mother take care of him.
For the last two days, not even Tsuyoshi had been around to look after him because he was busy with his stage play in Kyoto. His roommate could be kind of an ass sometimes but he was surprisingly caring when he felt like it. He even tried to make chicken soup for him, though it did turn out to be pretty much nothing more than hot water with shreds of chicken thrown in.
Ken and Go had been over, too, and while they had probably meant well, they weren't particularly helpful. They only went through his stuff, ate the last bag of chips and laughed hysterically at Tsuyoshi's collection of hand-knitted mittens.
He tried turning around in his blanket cocoon and gave a pathetic groan as he heard someone running down the hall, past his room, shouting "HO! HO! HO!" in an attempt of a booming Santa voice.
As a child, Christmas had been about writing a wish list for Santa with his sister or roaming the shopping streets in Osaka, with their festive illuminations, with his friends. Now, it was just a time when it was always cold and he was constantly reminded that his friends and family were too far away to be with them.
He also really needed to pee, but didn't dare to get out of bed. He'd probably either break down and hit his head on the coffee table or freeze to death on his way to the toilet at the end of the corridor.
Maybe he could just use one of the empty plastic bottles they were keeping under the sink...
Just when he had decided that this was probably the best idea his feverish brain could come up with and got his shaky legs out of bed, a harsh knock on the door made him jump. There was no time to answer, as the door opened before he could even react.
"Why are you not in bed?!" said Sakamoto, eyebrows knit together in a disapproving frown.
"I-..."
Okada's mind went blank. He had to look ridiculous in his boxers, a sweaty t-shirt and the bright red woolen socks that his mom sent him for his birthday. He also couldn't really tell him that he had been about to pee in a plastic bottle. To top it all off, the fact that Sakamoto was carrying a pack of rice kind of confused him. Was he about to attend a wedding?
"You look horrible. Go back to bed!"
"B-but-"
"You'll never get better like this. Back to bed!"
"I was just-"
"BED!"
Okada hung his head with a defeated sigh and shuffled back over to his bed, the pressure on his bladder getting more and more uncomfortable with every step.
From under his blanket, he watched as Sakamoto walked across the room and started rummaging around their little kitchenette.
"Is that the only pot you have?" Sakamoto called over a moment later, head still stuck inside the small cupboard.
"Um...yeah?"
He only got a disapproving grumbling in return, which vaguely sounded like "rusty piece of shit" and "should have brought my own".
For a while, there was silence apart from the sounds that Sakamoto was making in the kitchenette and Okada didn't dare to ask what he was actually doing here. He also didn’t dare to imagine what would happen if he wasn’t allowed to empty his bladder anytime soon.
Almost dozing off again, a sound somewhere between a squeak and a congested grunt escaped his lips when something suddenly poked against his forehead.
“Eat this.”
His eyes slowly wandered from Sakamoto’s still disgruntled face, following his finger to the plate that had been placed on his bedside table.
“Wha-?”
“It’s rice porridge. You need to eat properly. I bet you’ve been eating nothing but Cup Noodles again.”
“I’m not really-“
“You know I’ll drag your skinny ass to the doctor if you don’t eat this.”
Okada cursed the day that Sakamoto had found out about his fear of doctors and hospitals. This knowledge had turned into way too effective leverage.
After sitting up and carefully balancing the plate on his lap, he picked up the spoon and was about to take the first bite when another shudder caused him to spill most of the porridge on his blanket before it could even reach his mouth.
“Ah! You've gotta be kidding me! Move over.”
Still baffled at the whole situation, Okada didn’t even ask and just moved closer to the wall to give the other enough room to sit next to him.
“Okay, let’s try this again.” Sakamoto said as he pulled the plate out of Okada's hands. “Open up.”
Okada stared at the spoon in front of his mouth, his eyes big as saucers. This had to be a joke
“Come on. I don’t have all day.”
He stared up at Sakamoto who wasn’t looking at him but had his eyes fixed on the plate instead. The spoon was moving closer to his mouth, almost touching his lips now.
Scrunching up his eyes, he did what he was told and opened his mouth. He could feel his face heat up as the spoon touched his lips. God, this was so embarrassing! He couldn’t even remember the last time his mother had fed him like that and as much as he had accepted the band as his second family since he had moved to Tokyo by himself, this was just plain weird
There was no more talking and Okada kept his eyes firmly fixed on the blanket while one spoonful of porridge after the other was shoved into his mouth. If anyone came in right now, he’d probably die.
Though the porridge was rather good. Really good actually. Warm and soft and with a faint taste of cinnamon. Did they even have cinnamon in the apartment? Why didn’t his mom ever put cinnamon in his rice porridge? Oh God, Sakamoto’s rice porridge was actually better than his mom’s porridge.
But why was he here?
At some point the feeding stopped.
“I made tea, too. You should drink it while it’s warm. You need to drink a lot when you’re sick because of all the sweating.
“I left the rest of the porridge in the fridge. Heat it up when you’re hungry. But heat it slowly!
“And why don’t you have a humidifier in here? All this dry air will totally dry out your nose and throat.”
Maybe his fever was getting worse or maybe he had already gone past the point where it could get any more embarrassing, but Okada couldn’t suppress a small snort.
Sakamoto’s head flipped around and finally faced him after he had more or less been talking to the middle of the room the entire time.
“What?!”
“You sound like my mom.”
The already intimidating frown turned into a death stare, but paired with the faint blush creeping up his cheeks, it wasn’t all that effective.
“No, you’re worse actually.”
The expression on Sakamoto’s face looked like he was contemplating whether punching a sick person was out of the question or not and Okada’s first reflex was to duck when he reached out but instead of a slap he just felt the other’s hand in his hair, giving it a short, slightly rough ruffle.
“Call me ‘mom’ in front of the others and I’ll kick your ass, punk.”
“’Dad’ then?” Okada asked with a grin maybe a little too mischievous considering his current position.
“Don’t get cocky with me. I already have my hands full with those other two clowns. Actually, make that three. Inohara is just as bad.
“Now drink your tea.”
Oh... Just the thought of any more fluids entering his body made him remember just how full his bladder actually was.
“I-I can’t…”
The frown reappeared on Sakamoto’s face and slightly dampened the peaceful mood.
“What do you mean you can’t? I took the time to make it for you, you ungrateful little sh-“
“Sorry, Leader! Toilet!”
And with that Okada jumped out of bed, almost knocking over the steaming mug in Sakamoto’s hand, and dashed out of the room on surprisingly quick legs, leaving the other staring at the now closed door with a completely flabbergasted look on his face.
Slowly he put the mug back on the table and gazed out of the window for a moment, watching the falling snowflakes outside.
"He could have just said something..."