Who: Fuji Syuusuke, Akutagawa Jirou & Saeki Koujirou
Where: The Infirmary
When: After the Eiji - Fuji log
What: Misery loves company
Warning: PG
Comments: Are welcome.
After Eiji and Horio had brought him to the infirmary, and after he had woken up, of course, Fuji had been in bed, pondering his own situation and how he would be able to help Eiji and Oishi with their problems. Maybe he shouldn't bother with it at all... But he wanted to. Wanted to be able to help. They were both his friends, after all, and he felt he owed Eiji after the redhead had been forced to deal with Fuji collapsing on him the day before; the very same day that he had broken up with Oishi. That couldn't have been fun. Oh well... Akutagawa had said he'd stop by... A little company probably wouldn't hurt. It could help to lift his spirits, if anything.
Jirou ran through the halls. He wasn't racing with anyone, and the people who saw him stared after him wondering what made the usually docile boy run like he had fire on his heels. The answer was simple though. Very simple. Here's a sample of Jirou's thoughts: Fuji Fuji Fuji FUJI!
Stairs down stairs up door STOP! Jirou glided into a stop. His cheeks were flaming from the exercise and from the light fever and he panted like a puppy for a long moment. For Jirou evening out his breathing usually happened quite fast, yet now he was totally out of breathe for good five minutes. So long he couldn't wait to be all proper, and so he burst through the doors. "Good afternoon!" he chirped a happy greeting.
And look, there he was. Fuji put down his small Notepad and smiled, giving a slight wave. He was dressed in his pajama and had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, along with looking quite pale, except his flushed, fevered cheeks. "Hi there~ Good afternoon to you too." He tilted his head to the side. "You okay?"
"My belly hurts..." Jirou looked quite a bit smaller than he actually was - like a sick child - but the fever wasn't the only thing making his eyes glassy. "I shouldn't have run so fast, probably." He took off his shoes and padded to Fuji's bed in his socks - the other was yellow with lion pattern and the other was just pink. "How are you?" He looked sadly at the bandage around Fuji's head. "Does it hurt very much?"
"It does? That's too bad." Fuji patted on the bed. "Have a seat." He shrugged Jirou's question away and simply smiled. "Where does it hurt? How much? Do you feel sick to your stomach?" He sounded like Eiji... Oh well. "Have you taken your temperature?"
"I thought I'd feel better if I threw up", Jirou told the other boy. "So I threw up this morning, but I only got really tired instead, and then I slept a long time. Sleeping is good when you're sick." He tried sitting up but it wasn't very comfortable, so he laid his head on the bed. This way he could peer up to Fuji and it made him feel very small and comfortable. Only his belly wasn't comfortable. "I probably have fever?" he said with a small voice. "It doesn't have to be taken. I only sleep it away. Hey, Fuji, are you very very sick? So sick you can't play with me when I get better?"
"Sounds like you've got the flu," Fuji said slowly. Should Jirou even be close to him if he did? His immune system wasn't the best right now. Oh well, Jirou needed comfort, that much was obvious, and Fuji didn't have the heart to drive him away. Darn it. He reached out a skinny hand to pat the older boy over his curls. "No... I'll play you again, I promise."
Jirou lifted his hand and wiggled his little finger. "Yubikiri?" he demanded with a little begging look. Fuji looked very very ill and Jirou was a little scared. His Grandmother never let him go near sick or very poor people and Jirou really wasn't used to seeing not healthy people. This Grandparents took good care of their employees, at least those who came around the house.
"Yubikiri," Fuji smiled and hooked his little finger into Jirou's. He had to wonder if Akutagawa maybe wasn't slightly odd in the head - not retarded per se, but at lesat extremely innocent. Not even Eiji acted like this anymore, and he had never stricken Fuji as the most mature one of the bunch. It was cute though, if not a little bit odd. "And... Oh, don't worry. I'm not contagious."
Contagious? "Jirou, come away now, your sister may be contagious and we don't want you to get ill as well." What if it had been a bad idea to run through the school and even being here? Should he have just stayed in his room until he got better, like his Grandmother always made his little sister do when she caught a cold? He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip. He hadn't stopped to think even for a second. He never did. "I'm sorry", he apologized properly. "I didn't think if... I should maybe go?"
"While you're here, why don't you ask the nurse for some medicine?" Fuji smiled kindly. "It might help with the worst. And really... For your own sake... You should go lie down. You don't look so hot."
Jirou looked away. "I don't like medicine." He sat up and yawned. Sleepy call. "I'll be going now! You get better soon Fuji so we can play!" He tried getting up but his feet were noodles and his butt smacked right back to the chair. "Eh-huh?" he blinked.
"Maybe you should just stay here in the infirmary," Fuji said, alarmed. "And medicine is good for you, I promise. The nurse is really nice too. I'll call her and she'll give you something, and then you can sleep, okay?"
"I guess." Jirou rubbed his eyes. His head felt heavy. maybe the running had just been a very very bad idea. He told his feet that he really shouldn't stay here and that he didn't want to make Fuji even more sick, and they listened to him enough to let him stand up. "I think I can go to my room after all", he said, smiling as wide as he could to make Fuji feel better.
"Maybe we should call someone to accompany you? Mukahi, Atobe, Shishido...?" Fuji leaned back against the pillows, watching Jirou, still with a worried look on his face.
"Um um, I don't really want to bother them. They're in class and all. I'll be okay!" Jirou tried grinning again and skipping to the door. it was a bad move. Walking was... okay, but skipping really... It was like water welling inside his head. About half way his legs decided to turn into noodles again and he shot his hands forward so he wouldn't dive nose first to the floor. He felt heavy all over. Maybe he had eaten too much candy?
Fuji watched him worriedly and then promptly got to his feet, ignoring his own head's spinning. He made his way over to Jirou and draped his arm around him. "How about you rest up a bit more first, nee? No use killing yourself going back. No one's gonna like that."
Jirou blushed and nodded. "...okay. Sorry." In manga boys always managed to be cool and only collapse after they were out of sight. It was sad to come again to the conclusion that Jirou just wasn't meant to be one of those cool people.
The door was pulled open all of a sudden. Saeki blinked as he saw the two boys on the floor and swiped his hair behind his ears. "So, is this a new game or should I be running around in panic?"
"Hi there, Kou-chan," Fuji beamed, struggling as he tried his best to support Jirou. "Ah... A little help here?" So I don't faint again.
"Oh, right", Saeki chuckled and took two long steps to reach the two. He recognized the blonde as the Hyotei kid who'd beaten Yuuta years back when he grabbed his arm unceremoniously and flung it over his neck. "Okay, I've got him. You go back to bed, Syuu. Whoa! He's burning up! What were you guys doing?" There were lots of beds in the infirmary and Saeki took the guy - uh, Akutagana? Akutagawa? Something which sounded like a river - the closest one which wasn't Fuji's. "There you go. You're Heavy."
"I eat too much candy..." Jirou murmured helpfully and moaned happily as he got his head on a pillow. It felt good... He was asleep fasten than one could say Jirou.
"Oh, he eats too much candy. Hear that, Syuu-chan?" Saeki laughed amusedly. Tall or not, blonde or not, the kid reminded him of Kintarou, and while he was at it, Kentarou. Damn he missed his ex-captain! "How are you doing?"
Fuji carefully made his way back to the bed, slumping down in it, pleased that Jirou seemed safe for now. He burrowed himself underneath the covers, shivering slightly. "Uh... Well, been worse." He smiled, but really, only his nose and eyes were visible from underneath the covers. "My head hurts, I guess. And... I'm really, really tired." Not to mention nauseous again. He hoped that would pass, because he really, really hated to throw up; who didn't?
"Want a cold water bottle?" Saeki asked changing the bedside he was standing next to. He didn't have anything against the blonde kid, but he hadanything, even water, made his stomach turn uncomfortably. Instead he closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "Mm... You know... The nurse think I might have an STD. Brilliant, isn't it?" Why, no, he wasn't sounding bitter at all.
STD. Saeki thought his heart stopped beating for a moment there. He sat down on Fuji's bedside and concentrated on breathing for a moment. "That startled me. Is she sure about it?"
"... Mm, pretty sure." Fuji laughed hoarsely. "Didn't seem like she thought it was HIV or anything at least." For which he was entirely, eternally grateful.
"That's good at least." Saeki tried summoning a smile but it was pathetically small when it came. He was dead worried and even if he knew he needed to get it together so he could be of help or something, he was still scared. Those phantom feelings that popped up whenever he was unsettled. "So... I dunno much about those things... STD, can it be cured? Like, for good?"
"Yeah... I... Yeah, they can. Not the end of the world... Just embarrassing..." And now he almost didn't feel coherent at all. Sleep... Might be very, very good, yes. "You'll sit here...? Until I fall asleep?"
"Yeah. I'm not in a hurry, since I skipped class and everything. It would be stupid to go back now." Saeki reached over and gently pet Fuji's hair. "Sleep Honey bear."
"I will..." Fuji smiled, closing his eyes again, making himself as comfortable as possible. After a few twists and turns, he relaxed. A couple of minutes later, he was sound asleep.