One Shot - Sick Day
Title: Sick Day
Author: Kirakiraayumi
Genre: Romance (ish)
Rating: PG-13 (for hints)
Pairing: Akame (with Ryopi jumping in)
Summary: Kame gets sick, and the guys have to do a concert without him. The rarity presents even rarer moments.
“Kame.”
“Mmm.”
“Wake up, we’re here.”
I lift my head slowly off of Jin’s shoulder, somehow managing to catch from the corner of my eye the extra tip that he gave the taxi driver to keep quiet about how close we were. There seemed to have been a long ride from the concert hall, or the restaurant, or the bar - where I had vowed not to drink anything, especially with another concert tomorrow, and managed to keep to my word - but Jin seems fully awake, eyeing me with concern and curiosity as he helps me out of the taxi and into the apartment building.
At such an early time, 3:00 on the dot in the morning, the halls are empty, and Jin is leading me gingerly into his apartment. He drops our bags by the door and lifts me up to carry me into the bedroom. I shake my head as I try to keep my eyes open.
“I’m not tired, we don’t have to go to sleep…”
“Shh, Kazu. Go ahead and go back to sleep. I’ll take care of you.”
Before I can say anything, I am between warm blankets and cold sheets, shivering from the cold of the room that still exists beneath me. I know that I’m getting sick, exactly what I had planned to avoid this year as I had for so many, and Jin brushes my bangs out of my eyes and rests his hand on my forehead before reaching for something.
“I’m taking your temperature, open up.” I obediently open my mouth as the thermometer finds its way under my tongue. Jin continues to rub his thumb across my forehead, lulling me into a state of being half-asleep, only to be awoken by the beeping a minute or two later. He removes the thermometer and tsks at it. “38.9 degrees. You need to stay in here and rest. Rehearsal isn’t until 1:00 tomorrow, so you can get about 8 hours of sleep. I won’t let anyone bother you. Thank goodness we’re in Tokyo this weekend.”
He sets the thermometer on the bedside table and turns to leave the room to let me sleep. I manage to make some odd noise of protest, and he looks back at me. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not leaving, don’t worry. I’m just going to get you some medicine.” I don’t fully register what else he says, but there’s comfort to be found in his tone, so I relax and focus on the smell of his pillow. He set me down on the wrong side of the bed, maybe to help me calm down or something, but I don’t feel well enough to care. It takes a minute or an hour before he comes back, soothing caress of my burning cheek enough to coax me to open my eyes.
“Here, I brought you some liquid medicine. Can you sit up?” I can, but it’s a slow process that my spinning head and suddenly uneasy stomach fight with everything they have, and it takes a gentle hand on my back and a strong arm to guide me and hold me up. The spoon prods at my lips and I force the horrible taste down my throat in a giant, painful swallow. “Oh, baby, you don’t look any better.”
“I feel worse.” It comes out in a hoarse whisper, and I wonder if maybe I fell asleep while he was out of the room. Jin gently lays me back down and crawls in on my side of the bed, wrapping his arms protectively around me as the air suddenly goes cold. “Jin, it’s freezing and my stomach is flipping and I’m dizzy.”
“I turned the heat on an hour ago.” So it had been around an hour. I take a moment to praise myself for keeping track of the time. “I wonder what got you sick so suddenly?”
“You should…” I trail off, suddenly extremely tired and unable to finish the sentence and he pulls me closer. I fight to continue the idea. “…don’t want you… sick.”
“I’ll be fine. Right now we need to keep you warm and under a lot of blankets. Mom always told me to sweat out a fever, and that’s what we’re going to do. Now hush and rest. It’s late, so try to sleep.” He begins to hum something, something familiar that I can’t put my finger on, and the air becomes hot. I fidget to get away but he holds me in place as though I am a child trying to escape a vaccine. “Relax, it’ll pass. I know you’re warm, but try to calm down.”
I can’t calm down, not when there are hot blankets and hot hands and hot arms and the heater is blasting - and then it all becomes icy once more, and I shiver. “Baby, do you need me to call someone? Maybe your mom knows what this is or something.”
“N-no. Too l-late to c-c-call her.”
“I’m sure that she won’t mind if you’re really sick.” One arm leaves me and I shiver more in its absence despite the blanket that is still covering the area. I feel him roll back over and dial my mother’s number on the cell phone he just grabbed - mine or his, I’m not sure - and begin talking to her. From what I can hear, she sounds groggy, but readily supplies information. After a while, Jin holds the phone to my ear and I hear her whispering through the phone.
“Kazuya?”
“Hey mom.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not feeling well? I need you to drink a lot of fluids and rest. Akanishi-kun is going to take care of you, he promised me. You need to let him help you.”
“Okay.” I croak, trying to sound tough and confident but only really managing to gain the composure of the bullfrog that we’ve been trying to scare away from the window for a week.
“Can you please tell Akanishi-kun to take the phone back? Remember to let him take care of you. I love you Kazuya, be careful.”
“I love you too, Mom. Jin, take the phone back.” I fall into a coughing fit - yet another new symptom of whatever I managed to pick up so suddenly - after managing to complete a sentence, and I could swear I hear Jin vow to call her back later on in the morning. He thanks her and hangs up, returning the phone to the nightstand before wrapping his arms around me once more. “You didn’t have to call her.”
“Shh, she told you to rest. I knew you’d listen to her more than me.” I cough once more, and Jin’s hold tightens around me as I begin to shiver again. “Let’s go to sleep, Kazu. We have rehearsal in a few hours.”
“Nnn.” I move as much as I can to bury my head in his chest, and he helps me move to where I am comfortable. A warm hand travels up and down my back in a steady, soothing rhythm, a nose buried in my hair, a mouth whispering soothing words next to my ear as I fight to relax enough to fall asleep. Eventually the darkness does come, and I fall into a dreamless sleep.
I wake to a cell phone ringing, and I hear a murmur when it stops. Jin’s arms are gone and I open my eyes slowly to see him pulling a shirt over his head. I start to sit up on my own and succeed only to throw up whatever I had in my system. Jin turns around, grabbing a bucket that he had obviously gotten for this reason and rubs my back until I finish. He takes it away to clean it and returns with a clean bucket and as well as a clean comforter, warm as though he had just heated it in the dryer. He lays me back down and forces the thermometer into my mouth.
“It’s still pretty high. Are you feeling any better?” I give him a look, and he laughs slightly. “I guess not, hm?”
“Who was… on the phone?”
“Ueda. He was wondering where we were, so I told him you’re really sick.”
I groan and put my arm over my eyes. Rehearsal. How had I forgotten? I move to get up but he holds me down. “I need to go.”
“No, you don’t. Ueda was calling Johnny-san for me, and he’ll probably call my phone in a minute. He might even forget who he’s talking to, if you’re lucky.”
“But I never miss anything!”
“That’s probably what put you in this position, overachiever.” Jin’s tone is joking, but I can see the concern in his eyes even as a smile graces his lips. He sits on the bed and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
It scares me too, I want to say, but I don’t. Instead, I smile as best I can and try to shake my head. “I’ll be-“
He reaches for the bucket just in time as I continue where I left off, and even as he adds a blanket on to the pile that is already on top of me once I lay back down, I try to keep up my façade. “I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t I call Pi? He can take care of you for me.”
“I don’t want to get him sick…”
Jin shakes his head and laughs. “Pi’s already had the flu. Ryo-chan, too. They won’t mind coming over to take care of you; it’s not like News is doing much of anything right now.”
“But Kanjani-“
“Stop making excuses, Kazuya, I’m calling them. They owe me anyway for helping them get home after the last countdown.”
I blink at him, trying to remember the incident. Everything seems a little hazy now, but I should remember something significant enough for Ryo and Yamapi to owe Jin something this big. Nothing comes to mind, and he runs his thumb over my cheek to regain my attention. “Don’t think too hard, baby. Just relax and try to go back to sleep.”
Somehow I can’t find it in me to fight the idea, and I shut my eyes and snuggle closer into the pillows and blankets as he leans down to kiss my forehead. He hasn’t shaved so it tickles just a bit. I haven’t either, but I know he won’t let me get up, and beyond that I really don’t want to get up. The thermometer pokes at my lips once more and I think about poking fun at his consistency but my gaze meets his and I can’t find the heart to do it. It’s the first time he’s had to take care of me, and I know that he wants to do his best to protect me.
The beeping comes again and he sighs as he reads the number. “38. 5 degrees. It’s gone down a bit, thankfully. It still isn’t good, though. Nowhere near close enough to go anywhere near the guys or the staff.”
His phone goes off and he answers it politely enough to make me believe that it’s the promised call from Johnny-san. I can imagine Koki and Maru trying hard to stay far away from me, Ueda trying to act cool and calm but really being worried about me, and Taguchi making jokes to try to lighten my spirit and failing badly enough to make me laugh. Yamapi’s voice drifts through the apartment after a short time, followed by Ryo’s laugh and the door opening. When had Jin left? I can only guess that I fell asleep once more.
Jin’s hands are warm on my arm as he rubs soothingly to wake me, and I try to bury my face in the pillow before the bed dips down once, twice, three times. “Kazu, wake up.”
I move to pull the blanket over my head, but Jin read my move and held it fast. I sigh and try to speak, but only end up with a bit of squeaking. Whatever’s got me, I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My eyes fall first on Yamapi and then on Ryo, who smirks in a way that is both sarcastic and oddly comforting. “You should try recording a song like that.”
“Jin could finally harmonize well with something.” Yamapi adds, and I laugh as best I can before coughing (again, not so well) and turning my head to see Jin, who is pouting behind me.
“I’d like to see you sing Real Face and not screw it up, Loveless.”
Yamapi rolls his eyes before shooting a look at Ryo as the elder laughs. “Well, it was funny.”
“I’m assuming Half Down refers to your size compared to Yamapi?” I shoot for the easiest name to grab, at this point the nickname sounds a little simpler in my head for my vocal cords but I still have to pronounce it slowly to get it all out. I’m glad enough knowing that I can say a little of something; the voice loss was mostly from waking up. Ryo looks like he wants to jump me and this time it’s Yamapi laughing as Jin runs his fingers through my hair.
A few minutes go by as we exchange jokes and laugh with my occasional coughing. Someone makes the mistake of checking the clock, and Jin checks his hair in the mirror that hangs on the wall by my side of the bed. As per usual, he grabs the thermometer, but hands it to Yamapi, whispering something in his ear. This lasts for about a minute, and Ryo begins looking visibly annoyed and clears his throat. Jin throws the thermometer’s plastic cover at him before leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“Pi and Ryo are going to watch over you for me. If you need anything, you call. I don’t care if they put pounds of feathers on me, I will have my phone on. The others will too, but you call me first, all right? Then you call Ueda, Maru, Koki, and Taguchi - “
“Yes mother.” Ryo snaps, and Yamapi punches him lightly in the arm. I smile and pull Jin down for a hug. The air is suddenly chilly again and I shiver violently without meaning to, and I can see the pain in Jin’s eyes to leave me behind. He opens his mouth, but I beat him to it.
“Go have a good concert. Tell whoever’s covering they’d better own my lines -cough- or I’ll sabotage their next -cough- drama shooting. Or their gym bag.”
He laughs, as do the others, and kisses my cheek this time. “I want to kiss you so badly right now.”
“Well, if you want the fans to be missing you next time, we can do that. I just don’t think I can pull off Lovejuice.”
“Oh, you can, baby, you can.”
“Hello!” Ryo shouts, waving his arms frantically, and Jin stands back up. “One, that was disturbing, and two, I think your manager is going to kill you if you’re any later.”
“You would know, right?” Jin shoots back, and Yamapi rolls his eyes. “Go, Jin, we have Kame under control.”
“I’m not an animal!” I growl, casting a glare at Yamapi and Ryo, dutifully holding a cough in until I hear the front door shut. Yamapi moves to where Jin was sitting as Ryo pulls something out of a gym bag. Once I regain my composure, I blink confusedly as Ryo pours something into a small cup. Yamapi helps me sit up, and I raise a question as to what the liquid is.
“Remember how we were bedridden for a bit?” I nod as Ryo recaps the bottle. “This was our miracle drug, so to speak.”
“It’s Tylenol.” Yamapi translates, and I open my mouth to drink the medicine, quickly coughing after I swallow. Something tells me that they planned the reaction, if Ryo’s expression is anything to go by. He shrugs. “It’s grape. We had to force it down our throats, and, well, if we give it all to you we won’t have to have it later.”
I glare at him before the chills get me again, and I scramble to get under blankets. Yamapi presses a hand to my forehead as Ryo hops off the bed and leaves the room. NEWS’ leader looks a bit apologetic as he takes his hand away. “Sorry about Ryo. He isn’t particularly excited about helping, but we owed Jin and he doesn’t skip out on things like that. Plus, I was worried about you and he didn’t want me over here alone.”
“Jealousy.” I mumble, burying my nose into one of the comforters.
“Exactly. Tomorrow’s our anniversary, too, so I think he’s a little edgy about that.”
Something about the way he says it worries me, and I blink my eyes back open to examine his expression. He seems a bit thoughtful, far away, and I pull his hand under the blanket with mine. Confused, he turns to look at me, and I smile lightly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just been a bit stressful. We haven’t had a lot of time, you know? He was promoting Kanjani’s new single and recording the next batch, and I’ve been working on my solo concerts, you know how it is with Jin promoting that whole LANDS thing, right? We’ve barely seen each other. I looked at the calendar this morning and noticed that tomorrow was, well, tomorrow.
“Isn’t that horrible? We totally forgot about it. What does that mean? Are we growing apart? Is there nothing there anymore? Maybe it’s like a fling when NEWS is busy, and then as soon as we’re not it’s suddenly like there’s nothing there.”
I can’t help but laugh a little, and he dons a confused expression. “Jin and I have that problem all the time. Trust me, you’ll be fine. At least you aren’t trying to kill each other in practice. I’m sure tomorrow will be amazing, now that you’ve realized what day it is. After all, Jin is mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Of the three of you, only Ryo is left. Looks like you’re stuck.” I smirk and shiver. Yamapi sticks a thermometer in my mouth and mumbles for me to shut up as Ryo pokes his head in.
“Hey, Pi, can you-“
Before Ryo can even finish his sentence, Yamapi crosses the room and kisses him, hard, and I have to look away. It feels too intimate for me to be there, but it is my apartment, and I cough loudly - both because I have to and maybe somewhat on purpose - and Ryo looks confused and dazed as Yamapi walks over to remove the thermometer from my mouth. “38.2. Looks like your fever’s still trying to break. Why don’t you rest, and we’ll come back to check on you later?”
I give him a knowing look and roll my eyes. “Not on my couch. Jin will kill you if there’s anything on that leather.”
Ryo raises an eyebrow and starts to mention something about that cushion I’ve been telling Jin to replace but I give him a look that tells him to keep his mouth shut. I continue even as Yamapi tries to avoid catching my gaze. “And if you keep me awake I’ll kill you both once I feel better.”
“You have too many rules.” Ryo whines, turning to walk out of the room. “I’m borrowing your shower.”
“Don’t use-“
“-Your shampoo, I know. Pi, I told you he was the girl.”
Yamapi rolls his eyes and signals for me to go to sleep, apologizing silently for his actions and Ryo’s before slinking off and shutting the door. I can only guess that he followed Ryo, and I wonder if I should tell Jin to clean the shower tonight. He looked pretty willing to do anything I asked.
Laughing, I bury my head into the pillow. The next time the clock blinks at me, it reads 6 hours later, and my phone is ringing. Annoyed, I reach over and grab it, mumbling a murky ‘hello?’ into the receiver.
“Kame!” The guys and a ridiculous amount of girls are yelling my name, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear. There is subsequent cheering that lasts far too long but it’s music to my ears, and I can see Ryo and Yamapi smiling by the door, Ryo leaning back into Yamapi’s chest as the other’s arms wrap around his waist. They keep silent but shake with silent laughter as the guys make fun of me through speakerphone.
“I told you not to go out in the snow without a jacket!” Maru chides, and I try desperately to defend myself before coughing. Jin almost jumps the gun in asking if I’m all right, but he times it perfectly and I reassure him (and the 50,000+ audience members) that I’m fine, just sick with a fever and a cough. They don’t need to know I’ve been in and out all day with a third of News helping me get better.
They make me join in on a rendition of Peaceful Days, and my voice is cracking and horrible but the fans cheer because they always cheer and Koki makes fun of my voice, making me sing the opening of Signal and I practically threaten to throw him off the stage. Taguchi makes some horrible pun and Ueda mocks him for it as I start to doze off on the line. Yamapi knocks loudly on the door, walking over to me as the guys question the noise.
Always one to save the day, Yamapi begins talking (cue the screaming from the audience) and says that he was coming to visit and heard yelling coming from the room where I’m huddled under blankets. More screaming, and he announces that I’m getting tired and I should go. The guys agree and there are many exchanges between all of us before Yamapi hangs the phone up. I cough hard, my body seemingly trying to make up for lost time as he rubs my back to try to keep me alive or something.
“Are you all right?” I answer that I don’t know, but try to smile as I catch my breath. “Massu and Shige are in the audience, so I’m pretty sure that they’ll be distracted from here on out. If it wasn’t expected of them to call you, you know that they wouldn’t have done it.”
“I’m okay…” I reassure him, trailing off and closing my eyes. “I’m just really tired.”
He frowns and brushes my bangs off of my forehead as Ryo comes up next to him. “You look worse than I felt during 24 Hour Terebi. I mean, not that you look that bad or anything.” Ryo adds as Yamapi clears his throat, and speaks for himself.
“Can you sleep anymore?”
“I don’t know.” I answer honestly, and he nods. “I’m kind of half awake and half asleep, but I don’t know if I can actually fall back asleep.”
“Why don’t we leave you be, and one of us will be back with something for you in a bit. Is that alright?” I nod, burrowing back into the blankets and feeling just as bad as before the guys called. Yamapi grabs Ryo’s hand and leads him out of the room, cracking the door just in case something happens. I try my best to fall back asleep, and can only guess that I succeed because the next thing that I feel is the bed dipping down and arms around my waist. I turn a bit and am met with curious, worried eyes.
“Hey,” I croak, and Jin smiles a bit and forces a laugh. “How was the concert?”
“Fun, but I couldn’t get my head in it. The VTR was off without you, and it just felt weird. There are six members in KAT-TUN, and having 5 was just… awkward.”
“Now you know how it feels.” I mumble, and regret it immediately when I see the pain in his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. It was supposed to… be funny…”
I cough followed by a huge yawn, and he dismisses my comment, burying his face in my hair. “Why don’t we just go to sleep? You need it, and I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, yeah, you expended your sex appeal meter tonight, right? Making up for me too.” He laughs and comments that no one can make up for me, and I move more into his chest as his grip tightens. “Where are Yamapi and Ryo?”
“Asleep on the couch.” I sigh and mentally slap my forehead.
“Not the leather-“
“What?”
“Nothing.” I yawn and cough and his hand moves soothingly up and down my back as I shake with the force of the cough. I half expect him to reach for the thermometer, but he doesn’t move. “You aren’t going to make sure I’m not feverish?”
“You’re speaking to me in complete sentences, I think it’ll be okay.”
I laugh and move back into his chest. “My mom called you, didn’t she?”
“…how did you know?”
“She knew you were freaking out about me. She always knows that sort of thing.”
He sighs in a breath of air that moves my hair. I yawn again and snuggle more into the blankets and closer to him. “All right, bed time. Go to sleep.”
“I love you too.”
“I know.” He jokes. “Love you, Kazu. Good night.”
“Good night.”
---
Thoughts? It just ended up reaaaaaaally long, so I hope it was actually interesting. XD Thanks for reading!
Author: Kirakiraayumi
Genre: Romance (ish)
Rating: PG-13 (for hints)
Pairing: Akame (with Ryopi jumping in)
Summary: Kame gets sick, and the guys have to do a concert without him. The rarity presents even rarer moments.
“Kame.”
“Mmm.”
“Wake up, we’re here.”
I lift my head slowly off of Jin’s shoulder, somehow managing to catch from the corner of my eye the extra tip that he gave the taxi driver to keep quiet about how close we were. There seemed to have been a long ride from the concert hall, or the restaurant, or the bar - where I had vowed not to drink anything, especially with another concert tomorrow, and managed to keep to my word - but Jin seems fully awake, eyeing me with concern and curiosity as he helps me out of the taxi and into the apartment building.
At such an early time, 3:00 on the dot in the morning, the halls are empty, and Jin is leading me gingerly into his apartment. He drops our bags by the door and lifts me up to carry me into the bedroom. I shake my head as I try to keep my eyes open.
“I’m not tired, we don’t have to go to sleep…”
“Shh, Kazu. Go ahead and go back to sleep. I’ll take care of you.”
Before I can say anything, I am between warm blankets and cold sheets, shivering from the cold of the room that still exists beneath me. I know that I’m getting sick, exactly what I had planned to avoid this year as I had for so many, and Jin brushes my bangs out of my eyes and rests his hand on my forehead before reaching for something.
“I’m taking your temperature, open up.” I obediently open my mouth as the thermometer finds its way under my tongue. Jin continues to rub his thumb across my forehead, lulling me into a state of being half-asleep, only to be awoken by the beeping a minute or two later. He removes the thermometer and tsks at it. “38.9 degrees. You need to stay in here and rest. Rehearsal isn’t until 1:00 tomorrow, so you can get about 8 hours of sleep. I won’t let anyone bother you. Thank goodness we’re in Tokyo this weekend.”
He sets the thermometer on the bedside table and turns to leave the room to let me sleep. I manage to make some odd noise of protest, and he looks back at me. “Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not leaving, don’t worry. I’m just going to get you some medicine.” I don’t fully register what else he says, but there’s comfort to be found in his tone, so I relax and focus on the smell of his pillow. He set me down on the wrong side of the bed, maybe to help me calm down or something, but I don’t feel well enough to care. It takes a minute or an hour before he comes back, soothing caress of my burning cheek enough to coax me to open my eyes.
“Here, I brought you some liquid medicine. Can you sit up?” I can, but it’s a slow process that my spinning head and suddenly uneasy stomach fight with everything they have, and it takes a gentle hand on my back and a strong arm to guide me and hold me up. The spoon prods at my lips and I force the horrible taste down my throat in a giant, painful swallow. “Oh, baby, you don’t look any better.”
“I feel worse.” It comes out in a hoarse whisper, and I wonder if maybe I fell asleep while he was out of the room. Jin gently lays me back down and crawls in on my side of the bed, wrapping his arms protectively around me as the air suddenly goes cold. “Jin, it’s freezing and my stomach is flipping and I’m dizzy.”
“I turned the heat on an hour ago.” So it had been around an hour. I take a moment to praise myself for keeping track of the time. “I wonder what got you sick so suddenly?”
“You should…” I trail off, suddenly extremely tired and unable to finish the sentence and he pulls me closer. I fight to continue the idea. “…don’t want you… sick.”
“I’ll be fine. Right now we need to keep you warm and under a lot of blankets. Mom always told me to sweat out a fever, and that’s what we’re going to do. Now hush and rest. It’s late, so try to sleep.” He begins to hum something, something familiar that I can’t put my finger on, and the air becomes hot. I fidget to get away but he holds me in place as though I am a child trying to escape a vaccine. “Relax, it’ll pass. I know you’re warm, but try to calm down.”
I can’t calm down, not when there are hot blankets and hot hands and hot arms and the heater is blasting - and then it all becomes icy once more, and I shiver. “Baby, do you need me to call someone? Maybe your mom knows what this is or something.”
“N-no. Too l-late to c-c-call her.”
“I’m sure that she won’t mind if you’re really sick.” One arm leaves me and I shiver more in its absence despite the blanket that is still covering the area. I feel him roll back over and dial my mother’s number on the cell phone he just grabbed - mine or his, I’m not sure - and begin talking to her. From what I can hear, she sounds groggy, but readily supplies information. After a while, Jin holds the phone to my ear and I hear her whispering through the phone.
“Kazuya?”
“Hey mom.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not feeling well? I need you to drink a lot of fluids and rest. Akanishi-kun is going to take care of you, he promised me. You need to let him help you.”
“Okay.” I croak, trying to sound tough and confident but only really managing to gain the composure of the bullfrog that we’ve been trying to scare away from the window for a week.
“Can you please tell Akanishi-kun to take the phone back? Remember to let him take care of you. I love you Kazuya, be careful.”
“I love you too, Mom. Jin, take the phone back.” I fall into a coughing fit - yet another new symptom of whatever I managed to pick up so suddenly - after managing to complete a sentence, and I could swear I hear Jin vow to call her back later on in the morning. He thanks her and hangs up, returning the phone to the nightstand before wrapping his arms around me once more. “You didn’t have to call her.”
“Shh, she told you to rest. I knew you’d listen to her more than me.” I cough once more, and Jin’s hold tightens around me as I begin to shiver again. “Let’s go to sleep, Kazu. We have rehearsal in a few hours.”
“Nnn.” I move as much as I can to bury my head in his chest, and he helps me move to where I am comfortable. A warm hand travels up and down my back in a steady, soothing rhythm, a nose buried in my hair, a mouth whispering soothing words next to my ear as I fight to relax enough to fall asleep. Eventually the darkness does come, and I fall into a dreamless sleep.
I wake to a cell phone ringing, and I hear a murmur when it stops. Jin’s arms are gone and I open my eyes slowly to see him pulling a shirt over his head. I start to sit up on my own and succeed only to throw up whatever I had in my system. Jin turns around, grabbing a bucket that he had obviously gotten for this reason and rubs my back until I finish. He takes it away to clean it and returns with a clean bucket and as well as a clean comforter, warm as though he had just heated it in the dryer. He lays me back down and forces the thermometer into my mouth.
“It’s still pretty high. Are you feeling any better?” I give him a look, and he laughs slightly. “I guess not, hm?”
“Who was… on the phone?”
“Ueda. He was wondering where we were, so I told him you’re really sick.”
I groan and put my arm over my eyes. Rehearsal. How had I forgotten? I move to get up but he holds me down. “I need to go.”
“No, you don’t. Ueda was calling Johnny-san for me, and he’ll probably call my phone in a minute. He might even forget who he’s talking to, if you’re lucky.”
“But I never miss anything!”
“That’s probably what put you in this position, overachiever.” Jin’s tone is joking, but I can see the concern in his eyes even as a smile graces his lips. He sits on the bed and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
It scares me too, I want to say, but I don’t. Instead, I smile as best I can and try to shake my head. “I’ll be-“
He reaches for the bucket just in time as I continue where I left off, and even as he adds a blanket on to the pile that is already on top of me once I lay back down, I try to keep up my façade. “I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t I call Pi? He can take care of you for me.”
“I don’t want to get him sick…”
Jin shakes his head and laughs. “Pi’s already had the flu. Ryo-chan, too. They won’t mind coming over to take care of you; it’s not like News is doing much of anything right now.”
“But Kanjani-“
“Stop making excuses, Kazuya, I’m calling them. They owe me anyway for helping them get home after the last countdown.”
I blink at him, trying to remember the incident. Everything seems a little hazy now, but I should remember something significant enough for Ryo and Yamapi to owe Jin something this big. Nothing comes to mind, and he runs his thumb over my cheek to regain my attention. “Don’t think too hard, baby. Just relax and try to go back to sleep.”
Somehow I can’t find it in me to fight the idea, and I shut my eyes and snuggle closer into the pillows and blankets as he leans down to kiss my forehead. He hasn’t shaved so it tickles just a bit. I haven’t either, but I know he won’t let me get up, and beyond that I really don’t want to get up. The thermometer pokes at my lips once more and I think about poking fun at his consistency but my gaze meets his and I can’t find the heart to do it. It’s the first time he’s had to take care of me, and I know that he wants to do his best to protect me.
The beeping comes again and he sighs as he reads the number. “38. 5 degrees. It’s gone down a bit, thankfully. It still isn’t good, though. Nowhere near close enough to go anywhere near the guys or the staff.”
His phone goes off and he answers it politely enough to make me believe that it’s the promised call from Johnny-san. I can imagine Koki and Maru trying hard to stay far away from me, Ueda trying to act cool and calm but really being worried about me, and Taguchi making jokes to try to lighten my spirit and failing badly enough to make me laugh. Yamapi’s voice drifts through the apartment after a short time, followed by Ryo’s laugh and the door opening. When had Jin left? I can only guess that I fell asleep once more.
Jin’s hands are warm on my arm as he rubs soothingly to wake me, and I try to bury my face in the pillow before the bed dips down once, twice, three times. “Kazu, wake up.”
I move to pull the blanket over my head, but Jin read my move and held it fast. I sigh and try to speak, but only end up with a bit of squeaking. Whatever’s got me, I wouldn’t wish on anyone. My eyes fall first on Yamapi and then on Ryo, who smirks in a way that is both sarcastic and oddly comforting. “You should try recording a song like that.”
“Jin could finally harmonize well with something.” Yamapi adds, and I laugh as best I can before coughing (again, not so well) and turning my head to see Jin, who is pouting behind me.
“I’d like to see you sing Real Face and not screw it up, Loveless.”
Yamapi rolls his eyes before shooting a look at Ryo as the elder laughs. “Well, it was funny.”
“I’m assuming Half Down refers to your size compared to Yamapi?” I shoot for the easiest name to grab, at this point the nickname sounds a little simpler in my head for my vocal cords but I still have to pronounce it slowly to get it all out. I’m glad enough knowing that I can say a little of something; the voice loss was mostly from waking up. Ryo looks like he wants to jump me and this time it’s Yamapi laughing as Jin runs his fingers through my hair.
A few minutes go by as we exchange jokes and laugh with my occasional coughing. Someone makes the mistake of checking the clock, and Jin checks his hair in the mirror that hangs on the wall by my side of the bed. As per usual, he grabs the thermometer, but hands it to Yamapi, whispering something in his ear. This lasts for about a minute, and Ryo begins looking visibly annoyed and clears his throat. Jin throws the thermometer’s plastic cover at him before leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“Pi and Ryo are going to watch over you for me. If you need anything, you call. I don’t care if they put pounds of feathers on me, I will have my phone on. The others will too, but you call me first, all right? Then you call Ueda, Maru, Koki, and Taguchi - “
“Yes mother.” Ryo snaps, and Yamapi punches him lightly in the arm. I smile and pull Jin down for a hug. The air is suddenly chilly again and I shiver violently without meaning to, and I can see the pain in Jin’s eyes to leave me behind. He opens his mouth, but I beat him to it.
“Go have a good concert. Tell whoever’s covering they’d better own my lines -cough- or I’ll sabotage their next -cough- drama shooting. Or their gym bag.”
He laughs, as do the others, and kisses my cheek this time. “I want to kiss you so badly right now.”
“Well, if you want the fans to be missing you next time, we can do that. I just don’t think I can pull off Lovejuice.”
“Oh, you can, baby, you can.”
“Hello!” Ryo shouts, waving his arms frantically, and Jin stands back up. “One, that was disturbing, and two, I think your manager is going to kill you if you’re any later.”
“You would know, right?” Jin shoots back, and Yamapi rolls his eyes. “Go, Jin, we have Kame under control.”
“I’m not an animal!” I growl, casting a glare at Yamapi and Ryo, dutifully holding a cough in until I hear the front door shut. Yamapi moves to where Jin was sitting as Ryo pulls something out of a gym bag. Once I regain my composure, I blink confusedly as Ryo pours something into a small cup. Yamapi helps me sit up, and I raise a question as to what the liquid is.
“Remember how we were bedridden for a bit?” I nod as Ryo recaps the bottle. “This was our miracle drug, so to speak.”
“It’s Tylenol.” Yamapi translates, and I open my mouth to drink the medicine, quickly coughing after I swallow. Something tells me that they planned the reaction, if Ryo’s expression is anything to go by. He shrugs. “It’s grape. We had to force it down our throats, and, well, if we give it all to you we won’t have to have it later.”
I glare at him before the chills get me again, and I scramble to get under blankets. Yamapi presses a hand to my forehead as Ryo hops off the bed and leaves the room. NEWS’ leader looks a bit apologetic as he takes his hand away. “Sorry about Ryo. He isn’t particularly excited about helping, but we owed Jin and he doesn’t skip out on things like that. Plus, I was worried about you and he didn’t want me over here alone.”
“Jealousy.” I mumble, burying my nose into one of the comforters.
“Exactly. Tomorrow’s our anniversary, too, so I think he’s a little edgy about that.”
Something about the way he says it worries me, and I blink my eyes back open to examine his expression. He seems a bit thoughtful, far away, and I pull his hand under the blanket with mine. Confused, he turns to look at me, and I smile lightly. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just been a bit stressful. We haven’t had a lot of time, you know? He was promoting Kanjani’s new single and recording the next batch, and I’ve been working on my solo concerts, you know how it is with Jin promoting that whole LANDS thing, right? We’ve barely seen each other. I looked at the calendar this morning and noticed that tomorrow was, well, tomorrow.
“Isn’t that horrible? We totally forgot about it. What does that mean? Are we growing apart? Is there nothing there anymore? Maybe it’s like a fling when NEWS is busy, and then as soon as we’re not it’s suddenly like there’s nothing there.”
I can’t help but laugh a little, and he dons a confused expression. “Jin and I have that problem all the time. Trust me, you’ll be fine. At least you aren’t trying to kill each other in practice. I’m sure tomorrow will be amazing, now that you’ve realized what day it is. After all, Jin is mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Of the three of you, only Ryo is left. Looks like you’re stuck.” I smirk and shiver. Yamapi sticks a thermometer in my mouth and mumbles for me to shut up as Ryo pokes his head in.
“Hey, Pi, can you-“
Before Ryo can even finish his sentence, Yamapi crosses the room and kisses him, hard, and I have to look away. It feels too intimate for me to be there, but it is my apartment, and I cough loudly - both because I have to and maybe somewhat on purpose - and Ryo looks confused and dazed as Yamapi walks over to remove the thermometer from my mouth. “38.2. Looks like your fever’s still trying to break. Why don’t you rest, and we’ll come back to check on you later?”
I give him a knowing look and roll my eyes. “Not on my couch. Jin will kill you if there’s anything on that leather.”
Ryo raises an eyebrow and starts to mention something about that cushion I’ve been telling Jin to replace but I give him a look that tells him to keep his mouth shut. I continue even as Yamapi tries to avoid catching my gaze. “And if you keep me awake I’ll kill you both once I feel better.”
“You have too many rules.” Ryo whines, turning to walk out of the room. “I’m borrowing your shower.”
“Don’t use-“
“-Your shampoo, I know. Pi, I told you he was the girl.”
Yamapi rolls his eyes and signals for me to go to sleep, apologizing silently for his actions and Ryo’s before slinking off and shutting the door. I can only guess that he followed Ryo, and I wonder if I should tell Jin to clean the shower tonight. He looked pretty willing to do anything I asked.
Laughing, I bury my head into the pillow. The next time the clock blinks at me, it reads 6 hours later, and my phone is ringing. Annoyed, I reach over and grab it, mumbling a murky ‘hello?’ into the receiver.
“Kame!” The guys and a ridiculous amount of girls are yelling my name, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear. There is subsequent cheering that lasts far too long but it’s music to my ears, and I can see Ryo and Yamapi smiling by the door, Ryo leaning back into Yamapi’s chest as the other’s arms wrap around his waist. They keep silent but shake with silent laughter as the guys make fun of me through speakerphone.
“I told you not to go out in the snow without a jacket!” Maru chides, and I try desperately to defend myself before coughing. Jin almost jumps the gun in asking if I’m all right, but he times it perfectly and I reassure him (and the 50,000+ audience members) that I’m fine, just sick with a fever and a cough. They don’t need to know I’ve been in and out all day with a third of News helping me get better.
They make me join in on a rendition of Peaceful Days, and my voice is cracking and horrible but the fans cheer because they always cheer and Koki makes fun of my voice, making me sing the opening of Signal and I practically threaten to throw him off the stage. Taguchi makes some horrible pun and Ueda mocks him for it as I start to doze off on the line. Yamapi knocks loudly on the door, walking over to me as the guys question the noise.
Always one to save the day, Yamapi begins talking (cue the screaming from the audience) and says that he was coming to visit and heard yelling coming from the room where I’m huddled under blankets. More screaming, and he announces that I’m getting tired and I should go. The guys agree and there are many exchanges between all of us before Yamapi hangs the phone up. I cough hard, my body seemingly trying to make up for lost time as he rubs my back to try to keep me alive or something.
“Are you all right?” I answer that I don’t know, but try to smile as I catch my breath. “Massu and Shige are in the audience, so I’m pretty sure that they’ll be distracted from here on out. If it wasn’t expected of them to call you, you know that they wouldn’t have done it.”
“I’m okay…” I reassure him, trailing off and closing my eyes. “I’m just really tired.”
He frowns and brushes my bangs off of my forehead as Ryo comes up next to him. “You look worse than I felt during 24 Hour Terebi. I mean, not that you look that bad or anything.” Ryo adds as Yamapi clears his throat, and speaks for himself.
“Can you sleep anymore?”
“I don’t know.” I answer honestly, and he nods. “I’m kind of half awake and half asleep, but I don’t know if I can actually fall back asleep.”
“Why don’t we leave you be, and one of us will be back with something for you in a bit. Is that alright?” I nod, burrowing back into the blankets and feeling just as bad as before the guys called. Yamapi grabs Ryo’s hand and leads him out of the room, cracking the door just in case something happens. I try my best to fall back asleep, and can only guess that I succeed because the next thing that I feel is the bed dipping down and arms around my waist. I turn a bit and am met with curious, worried eyes.
“Hey,” I croak, and Jin smiles a bit and forces a laugh. “How was the concert?”
“Fun, but I couldn’t get my head in it. The VTR was off without you, and it just felt weird. There are six members in KAT-TUN, and having 5 was just… awkward.”
“Now you know how it feels.” I mumble, and regret it immediately when I see the pain in his eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. It was supposed to… be funny…”
I cough followed by a huge yawn, and he dismisses my comment, burying his face in my hair. “Why don’t we just go to sleep? You need it, and I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, yeah, you expended your sex appeal meter tonight, right? Making up for me too.” He laughs and comments that no one can make up for me, and I move more into his chest as his grip tightens. “Where are Yamapi and Ryo?”
“Asleep on the couch.” I sigh and mentally slap my forehead.
“Not the leather-“
“What?”
“Nothing.” I yawn and cough and his hand moves soothingly up and down my back as I shake with the force of the cough. I half expect him to reach for the thermometer, but he doesn’t move. “You aren’t going to make sure I’m not feverish?”
“You’re speaking to me in complete sentences, I think it’ll be okay.”
I laugh and move back into his chest. “My mom called you, didn’t she?”
“…how did you know?”
“She knew you were freaking out about me. She always knows that sort of thing.”
He sighs in a breath of air that moves my hair. I yawn again and snuggle more into the blankets and closer to him. “All right, bed time. Go to sleep.”
“I love you too.”
“I know.” He jokes. “Love you, Kazu. Good night.”
“Good night.”
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Thoughts? It just ended up reaaaaaaally long, so I hope it was actually interesting. XD Thanks for reading!