[LOG] Oishi & Eiji
Rating: G
When: Way back during Eiji's second week of house arrest when he got terribly sick
Where: Oishi's apartment/Eiji's apartment
Summary: Eiji wakes up feeling like death and decides to call on his partner for backup.
It felt hot...the blanket made everything too hot but when the blanket was thrown off his body, suddenly everything became too cold. Eiji lay there in his bed, eyes staring at the blurry white ceiling above him. ...The ceiling didn’t used to move like that, did it? He groaned a little to himself as he tried to roll himself out of bed for school. He had to get to school...he had already been in trouble all of the previous week for not getting his homework done, if he missed out on more school and fell behind even more he’d probably be in such big trouble. The redhead managed to push himself up onto his feet after ten minutes and as he stood, he felt the floor move beneath him. The building felt like a giant waterbed, that wasn’t...good. A moment later he found himself laying back in the bed, sprawled out and staring at the ceiling again. This...he reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was too hot and too cold at the same time. How does that even logically work?
Eiji shuffled himself on the bed and finally managed to pull himself back up so his head lay on the pillow. He pawed around on the bed until he managed to find his phone and flicked it open. Hm. How long had his phone been off for? His mind swam for a moment before it kicked into action and he realized he had to plug his phone in to charge before it would turn on. It had taken a little while longer for him to even remember how to plug in his phone. A little yelp escaped the boy as his phone finally switched on and it flooded with text messages and voicemail alerts. For now he ignored them all and moved to create a new mail.
To: Oishi~
Oishi~ I don’t feel so good...please don’t let Tezuka give me more laps.
A toothbrush half-hanging out of his mouth and a blow dryer in one hand, Oishi had already been up for quite some time, as was typical on weekdays. Lately he'd realized he'd become so accustomed to getting up early that his internal clock found it nearly impossible for him to sleep in past seven or so… and even that seemed late. Running his fingers through still-damp hair, he hummed softly to himself as the blow dryer made quick work of the rest and finished up brushing his teeth. He gave a quick glance to his phone, Yosh, right on time. Usually at this hour he'd already be thinking over morning practice and working out which techniques and exercises would be beneficial for each of the regulars to work on, he usually spent a few minutes with Inui each morning on that… Well, he still was, but… it just didn't seem right that Eiji wouldn't be there with them today again. It had already been a week without him, and a part of Oishi wondered if their doubles might fall behind. His teachers were right to be concerned over his grades but… Oishi sighed softly, reaching for the hair wax and then nearly jumping out of his own skin when his cell phone lit up and vibrated with an obnoxious rattle across the bathroom sink.
"Eiji?" Oishi wondered to himself at recognizing the number, taking a short break in his usual morning routine to check the message. His stomach tensed and he groaned when he read it over, "I-I knew if you kept on like that it wouldn't be good for you…" The possibility that his partner just wanted to skip a day of school to make up for all the time he'd spent pent up in detention lately briefly entered his mind, but… usually when Eiji was faking an illness he'd text with a laundry list of symptoms he found on the internet to sound more believable. This message was remarkably short.
To: Eiji
Do you think you might have caught something? If you're sick you definitely shouldn't be running.
The redhead fought to focus his eyes as the new message came through. Blue eyes blurred in and out as he shut them tightly and took a deep breath. Reading wasn’t an option. He hit the button and called back the sender instead, now holding the phone to his ear as the other hand moved to cover his eyes and block out all the sunlight that wanted to stream into his room. As the phone rung insistently, the hand moved away and flicked at the string connected to the blinds so that his room would be thrown into complete darkness. Not that it helped. He still felt sick, the room still spun and when the phone connected to the one he was ringing all he could say was “The room...won’t stop moving...”
Truthfully, even as Oishi tried to go about his usual morning routine, he carried his cell phone around in his hand and awaited a response. It was still early… truthfully he did have some time to waste if it came to that-arriving to unlock the club room in the morning didn't take more than a few minutes from the rest of his day. Eiji has been… hm, he grumbled and reworded his thoughts, I gave him too much to do that week. It really wouldn't come as a surprise, as weak as his partner had become, if he ended up catching something he couldn't fight off. Picking up as his phone rang, Oishi listened to the barely audible voice on the other line, a deep frown forming. "Eiji… you really sound terrible…" He sighed, retreating back to the bathroom and gathering up some cold medicine. Without thinking twice about it, he answered, "I'm coming up." That’s what a partner was for, after all. The guilt also helped.
The phone slipped from his hand after the phone call, dropping onto the ground as Eiji moved to burrow right underneath his blankets, a little safer now that he knew someone was coming. It was warm underneath the blanket...really really warm but at the same time he was feeling his body shiver from the cold. That made absolutely no sense. The boy whimpered slightly as he tried to burrow further to the centre and curled up into a little ball under the covers. Maybe if he stayed here long enough everything will be okay. Blue eyes closed softly and Eiji tried to force himself to go back to sleep. In these situations, sleep solved everything and this wasn’t to be an exception. And anyway...Oishi would be here soon. Someone that would always make everything better.
Oishi was already slipping his shoes on when he heard the loud echo of the phone hitting the floor, pulling his own cell away from his ear and just barely making out a tired groan that followed. His stomach twisted uncomfortably, leaving his tennis bag for now and deciding he'd have to return downstairs before school anyway. Maybe this would be the rare day he took the cars to campus with everyone else rather than just taking an early walk. In a matter of minutes he was up at the fifth floor, knocking the back of his hand against the door lightly in the hopes he didn't wake everyone else up too. "Eiji, can you open the door?" He called softly, juggling a small pharmacy in his arms.
Eiji burrowed further under the blanket, not hearing the knocking on the door and grumbled at the strange feelings that rampaged around his body. Hot...cold...tired...dizzy...thirsty...don’t want to get up. He reached out of the blanket and felt around until the soft fur of his familiar companion could be felt and his fingers tightened around Daigoro’s arm, pulling him into the black hole under the blanket with him. He hugged that soft body to his chest tightly, head smooshing into the soft fur and letting out a loud “Ow~” when the bear’s nose promptly smacked him in the forehead. A moment later he nuzzled back down into that fur once more, relishing the comfort. Well...at least Daigoro was here.
Trying unsuccessfully to get the redhead's attention at the door a few more times, Oishi finally gave up and headed downstairs to the lobby to ask for a spare keycard. Returning in a matter of minutes, given how hoarse and tired his partner sounded, he unlocked the door and stepped inside quietly, "Eiji…?" It was odd to hear his apartment this quiet, like the opening of a horror movie or something… Winding through his living area and back towards his bedroom, he sighed softly at seeing the familiar lump in the bedding, Daigoro hanging halfway out of it. Setting the medicine he'd brought on the dresser, he ran a hand through his hair- he hadn't hand time to fix it before coming over and now it was drying messily-and sat down on the side of the bed. Oishi reached over and tugged the blankets down just enough to see Eiji's face, "You're really sick…" Eiji… never really got sick.
Half blurry eyes stared up towards Oishi and the sick boy just barely managed a half smile as he rolled over and watched up at him a moment. He didn't speak for a good minute, his brain slowly catching up with what was going on in his room. A moment later he had managed to shuffle completely out from under the blanket and rested his sweaty on his friend's lap. "The room keeps moving by itself..." He laughed at what he just said and shuffled forward slightly to nuzzle his way up against the other's stomach. "Did you come to carry me to school...?" Oishi would go to school if he were sick... A moment later he peeked up and laughed again. "Your hair..." His voice then calmed and almost purred out the next half. "...'s very cute like that..."
Oishi could already feel the heat radiating off Eiji's forehead as he set his head down squarely in his lap, tugging matted red hair off his forehead and pressing his palm against it to confirm his suspicions. "Eiji, you're really, really hot." He muttered, a sad frown forming even as Eiji wiggled closer. Taking the towel he'd been drying his hair with from around his shoulders and wiping the sweat off of his friend's forehead with it, Oishi shook his head. "There's no way you can go to school like this," he insisted, wondering if Eiji had any idea of how half-alive he looked right now. He turned a little red at the compliment, frowning and reaching up to try and pull it down so it didn't dry… so vertically and messy like that. Sliding out from under him, he returned with a tall glass of water, "It's messy."
“Then Oishi has to stay here with me...” He whimpered quietly and grabbed onto the fabric of his clothes, clutching at it as strongly as his weak fist would let him. Blue eyes blinked up at him a moment and Eiji whined even louder when the other boy managed to slip out easily from under him as if he weren’t holding on at all. Eiji struggled a little and pushed himself up into a sitting position as Oishi finally came back with the water. A sad pout on his face as he reached out to Oishi now, fingers grabbing towards him for a moment. Acting so childish now that he was feeling sick and gross and all the other bad horrible words that he could think about. A second later, the redhead had just flopped back down onto the bed and refused to move anymore. Just watching Oishi very quietly and not making any more sounds.
"E-Eiji, I have to go to school…" Though leaving him in this condition didn't seem right either. Eiji had a big family, he probably wasn't used to being left alone when he wasn't feeling well… and… well, it was sort of Oishi's fault his immune system was so taxed that he'd ended up getting sick in the first place. Oishi grumbled a little to himself, realizing more and more lately that he was really terrible at making firm decisions when Eiji was involved. "Come on, you should drink something." He set the water down temporarily and rifled through his collection of medicine for something that would bring down his fever… and hopefully get him to sleep since he was just rolling over uncomfortably now. Shuffling closer, he wrapped an arm around his back and tried-with a lot of passive resistance-to get his partner into a sitting position again. "You'll feel better if you take these, I promise."
Feeling the arm wrapped around him again, Eiji finally felt himself sat back up and he snuggled up against the other body for warmth even though his own body was all sweaty. He nudged at Oishi until he was given way and was able to nuzzle up against his shoulder and slip his arm around his waist, holding on now so that Oishi wouldn’t be able to move away even if he wanted to. He yawned a little and closed his eyes now, happy that he’s just where he wanted to be despite feeling absolutely wretched. At least one thing has gone right, Oishi came. And Oishi’s going to stay. Eiji had already decided that. A moment later, he realized something was actually being held out to him...he stared towards what was being held by his best friend until he was able to discern exactly what it was. A frown crossed his expression and Eiji whined loudly. “No... don’t want to...” The words barely mumbled out and he turned to bury his entire face against Oishi’s shoulder now, mouth clamping firmly shut.
"Mnn…" Oishi's lips curled into an expression that showed he could feel the sweat through the fabric of his uniform, squirming uncomfortably under the warmth. Sighing when he realized Eiji wasn't going to make any of this easy for him, he shuffled closer, running that towel across his forehead and across the back of his neck. "Eiji, I don't want this fever getting worse…" The redhead already looked pretty… pitiful as it was, and Oishi's worried expression probably reflected that. Though it was difficult to plead for sympathy when Eiji was burying his face against him. He knew his partner well enough to know that arguing wouldn't get him anywhere and the pair of them would just get louder and louder… and Eiji always won at that. Shfiting his shoulder so it no longer provided a refuge, he pet the top of his sweaty red hair, "It would really, really worry me if I had to leave for school and you hadn't taken anything."
As Eiji heard the last words being spoken, dark blue eyes opened wide and a sad expression crossed over his face as he shook his head resolutely again. No pills, no gross medicine, just Oishi...He shifted a little and moved to hug tightly onto the other boy again. A little pout continued to express itself as he dropped his gaze a moment then flicked it back up to meet those worried green eyes. “Then I won’t take anything...” Oishi would never leave then. With that, he burrowed back under the blanket, sweating more as his body was suddenly enveloped in more warmth with his hands still buried in the fabric of Oishi’s clothing so that he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. Really, all Eiji needed was Oishi and more sleep...who needed medication when you had that.
Making a stern face in response, Oishi reversed that logic and knew immediately now that he'd said exactly the wrong thing. He'd really intended to guilt Eiji into taking his medicine… but he was no good at reverse psychology, clearly. The frown dissolved back into worry fairly quickly, running fingers through the ends of his partner's hair and seeing blotchy red spread over the forehead that peeked out from the blankets. "Eiji…" He sighed heavily, "You're really being unreasonable today…" Still, it was his fault he'd ended up that way, something his mind liked to remind him of at times like these. Which is probably why Eiji was having an easier time of convincing him of things. Tugging the blanket down with a finger, he took one look at those blue eyes and realized he had to look everywhere else. "If… I take the day off. You'll take it?" Either way, Eiji sort of had him stuck-he wouldn't be able to leave if he refused to take the medicine either. "I don't want it to get worse…" He was serious this time, he'd never seen Eiji this sick, and they were out on their own now and… it was a little scary.
Eiji remained quiet as he lay there, the pout puffing out his lips as he nodded slowly, agreeing the terms of Oishi staying the day. A hand reached out slowly, seeking out and grabbing onto Oishi’s now, holding onto it weakly yet not moving out from under the blanket yet. He had to be sure that the other really wasn’t going anywhere. This was the first time he had gotten this sick in a very long time...and the first time he had gotten this sick and woken up in a big empty apartment, nobody checking up on him in the morning and nobody making sure he was okay and didn’t feel lonely. If the redhead was being honest...this was the first time he had felt so sick and scared and he didn’t want to be by himself. “Don’t leave me here, Oishi...” The words came out really softly, a tremor present as he spoke the vice captain’s name out loud. More than anything, the qualities showed very clearly right now that Eiji was the baby of his family, so used to being taken care of and so used to being surrounded by a large family. His desperate hold on his best friend’s hand and the expression in his eyes pleaded for Oishi to stay more than anything.
For the first time he could remember, Oishi felt a heavy pressure in his chest, like all the wind had been knocked out of him suddenly-his eyes going wide and breathing softly as if he'd just remembered to. "Y-yeah…" He stammered out weakly, shuffling closer and relaxing into a sitting position as if to prove he wasn't going to run off. Until now he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed and generally looking antsy as time passed. Okay, it was more than a little scary, Eiji being sick without countless siblings, parents, and grandparents to watch over him. "I'll stay with you." He reiterated, mustering up some confidence in his voice this time. Eiji looked vulnerable and helpless, but part of him knew that wasn't entirely the reason he'd agreed to stay. Remembering the opposite end of their agreement, he held out his hand again, a pair of familiar pills in his palm. "Take these. You'll sleep better without a fever." He retrieved the glass of water from the nightstand and offered that too, "… and I was serious about worrying about you."
“Un...” The voice spoke quietly before the redhead crawled his way up into a sitting position and leaned against Oishi, an altogether depressed expression constantly on his face. He sighed a little and accepted the pills along with the glass of water, staring at both for a long period of time before he put the pills one at a time in his mouth, quickly drinking a lot of water between each. He had finished about three quarters of the water before handing it back to Oishi, now turning a little and slipping his arms around his neck to hold on tight and snuggling right up next to his body. It was comfortable here with Oishi...he was really glad that he had come. Eiji’s cheek rested lightly on the other boy’s shoulder, eyes drooping closed slightly as he breathed quietly but continued to hang on as tightly as he could “Sankyu nya...Oishi...” He mumbled out quietly, even as his body had begun to relax a little. Oishi was here to protect him, he would make sure everything would turn out okay.
"Thank you…" Oishi returned quietly, taking the glass from his hand and setting it down on the nightstand beside him and taking a quick glance over his best friend again. Besides all the red in his face, he looked more pale than usual… and small, and tired, and not at all like Eiji. His shoulders tensed on reflex when Eiji brought himself closer, smiling softly and realizing he'd rather be here than anywhere else when Eiji was sick. How much would he really be able to concentrate on classes anyway? Hm, probably good not to start justifying skipping school though. Shifting away from his partner for a moment, he unbuttoned his uniform jacket and took that off, deciding he wouldn't need it as long as he would be inside all day. A moment later he squirmed his hips a bit and untucked his shirt as well, settling back down with a long sigh. "If you feel better in a little while I'll make you something…" Assuming Eiji had soups and things like that stocked up… he could always make a run to the market if he didn't. After another feverish shiver from his friend, Oishi reached over for his jacket and wrapped it around Eiji's shoulders, turning a little red himself and trying to close his eyes and rest.
Eiji nestled in comfortably and whimpered a little. “Gomen nya...Oishi...I know you really want to go to school don’t you?” The words mumbled out softly but instead of letting the boy go, he reached out and tugged Oishi’s jacket even more tightly around his own shoulders, wanting to keep him here no matter what. He drifted in and out of sleep for the next few moments, fighting to stay awake despite what was going on in his body. He wanted to appreciate every moment he could spend with the other boy and to do that you had to be awake. He stifled a yawn and nuzzled into the shoulder that he leaned upon, fingers digging into the white shirt that Oishi was wearing. “But I don’t want you to go...” As if the other hadn’t already made up his mind to stay and it was obvious from everything he had done so far. Then at the mention of food, despite his run down body and his desire to not eat anything, Eiji couldn’t help but perk up just the tiniest bit. “Parfait...” He said resolutely. Parfait with Oishi was different to parfait with everyone else. It felt different. And he could never not desire it when it came down to it really. Even if he sometimes ate so much he felt a little sick afterwards. And that exasperated face Oishi made at him when he realized what happened was funny.
Even half asleep Oishi's lips tugged into a hesitant grin at the mention of parfait, shaking his head and sighing, "I was thinking more along the lines of soup…" he started, eyes drifting off to the ceiling as his thoughts continued one after another. "Though… something like ice cream might help your throat…" He thought aloud with a regretful grumble, already hearing the inevitable But you said! I'm sick so I have to eat nothing but ice cream! that might come from a more awake Eiji. Shuffling a little under him to find another comfortable spot, Oishi shivered-already feeling a damp spot forming on his shirt from the sweat on his partner's forehead. After a long time of thinking about it, and pulling the annoying loose hair away from his face as he tried to get comfortable, Oishi spoke up again. "… I don't want to go to school if it means leaving you alone." He admitted quietly, wondering if his teachers would act by habit and mark him as 'present' like they had the very rare times he'd get sick himself. "Don't," He wiggled under the sheets, his inability to get comfortable having nothing to do with the bed, "don't worry about it. Just get some sleep." It was different. This felt different. Oishi didn’t particularly like it. It was confusing and entirely too complicated. When he started to wonder why he’d rather be with Eiji than anywhere else right now, it was... too complicated.
Thoughts of ice cream continued to dance in Eiji’s mind as he started to snooze a little, once in a while coughing or sniffling. His fingers remained tightly buried in the fabric of Oishi’s shirt, even while resting they refused to relax almost as if he was really dependant on the other staying and was too scared to let go even for a second. Every few moments the slender body shivered slightly, still not really able to figure out if the room was too hot or too cold but happy either way that there was someone to be close to and stay with. “Oishi...” he mumbled out quietly...the thanks and apologies that followed mumbled out incoherent as he started to drift off completely into sleep then and very slowly the grasp started to relax. Eventually, Eiji trusted Oishi enough to stay that he allowed himself to quietly sleep against him, the most comfortable he’d been able to get himself since this horrid fever had decided to attack his body and leave him like this. As comfortable as the times when he was younger in which his sister or brother would let him sleep cuddled up to them.
Oishi had to figure the string of incoherent half-words and mumbling that sounded more as if his partner was just humming against his chest was positive, stretching his arm as far as he could and tugging a tissue box between the two of them in case he needed it. When Eiji shivered, he found himself rubbing at his back and shuffling him a little closer until he stopped or coughed loud enough to make Oishi jump a little. 'Feed a fever'… right? He leaned back in bed, realizing how much bigger it was than Eiji's teddybear-printed twin at home, and trying for a short few moments to close his eyes and rest for a while. Which, really, was easier said than done. Sighing, he stared down at his best friend-sweat-matted red hair still curled over his forehead, his head rising and falling on Oishi's chest as he breathed. "Mn." He'd never seen him this bad, even when he exhausted himself on the courts and could barely move his face was never this red, but still pale at the same time. Oishi reached to slide a few of the red strands away from his face and tucked them behind his ear with a soft sigh. This wasn't different. He was just… worried about his partner. His partner that he cared a lot about. Idly he set a hand over one of the pair that clung to his shirt and stared at the two of them for a while with a slowly-developing smile on his face-before getting frustrated with himself and huffing, turning his head and trying to drift off again.
When: Way back during Eiji's second week of house arrest when he got terribly sick
Where: Oishi's apartment/Eiji's apartment
Summary: Eiji wakes up feeling like death and decides to call on his partner for backup.
It felt hot...the blanket made everything too hot but when the blanket was thrown off his body, suddenly everything became too cold. Eiji lay there in his bed, eyes staring at the blurry white ceiling above him. ...The ceiling didn’t used to move like that, did it? He groaned a little to himself as he tried to roll himself out of bed for school. He had to get to school...he had already been in trouble all of the previous week for not getting his homework done, if he missed out on more school and fell behind even more he’d probably be in such big trouble. The redhead managed to push himself up onto his feet after ten minutes and as he stood, he felt the floor move beneath him. The building felt like a giant waterbed, that wasn’t...good. A moment later he found himself laying back in the bed, sprawled out and staring at the ceiling again. This...he reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was too hot and too cold at the same time. How does that even logically work?
Eiji shuffled himself on the bed and finally managed to pull himself back up so his head lay on the pillow. He pawed around on the bed until he managed to find his phone and flicked it open. Hm. How long had his phone been off for? His mind swam for a moment before it kicked into action and he realized he had to plug his phone in to charge before it would turn on. It had taken a little while longer for him to even remember how to plug in his phone. A little yelp escaped the boy as his phone finally switched on and it flooded with text messages and voicemail alerts. For now he ignored them all and moved to create a new mail.
To: Oishi~
Oishi~ I don’t feel so good...please don’t let Tezuka give me more laps.
A toothbrush half-hanging out of his mouth and a blow dryer in one hand, Oishi had already been up for quite some time, as was typical on weekdays. Lately he'd realized he'd become so accustomed to getting up early that his internal clock found it nearly impossible for him to sleep in past seven or so… and even that seemed late. Running his fingers through still-damp hair, he hummed softly to himself as the blow dryer made quick work of the rest and finished up brushing his teeth. He gave a quick glance to his phone, Yosh, right on time. Usually at this hour he'd already be thinking over morning practice and working out which techniques and exercises would be beneficial for each of the regulars to work on, he usually spent a few minutes with Inui each morning on that… Well, he still was, but… it just didn't seem right that Eiji wouldn't be there with them today again. It had already been a week without him, and a part of Oishi wondered if their doubles might fall behind. His teachers were right to be concerned over his grades but… Oishi sighed softly, reaching for the hair wax and then nearly jumping out of his own skin when his cell phone lit up and vibrated with an obnoxious rattle across the bathroom sink.
"Eiji?" Oishi wondered to himself at recognizing the number, taking a short break in his usual morning routine to check the message. His stomach tensed and he groaned when he read it over, "I-I knew if you kept on like that it wouldn't be good for you…" The possibility that his partner just wanted to skip a day of school to make up for all the time he'd spent pent up in detention lately briefly entered his mind, but… usually when Eiji was faking an illness he'd text with a laundry list of symptoms he found on the internet to sound more believable. This message was remarkably short.
To: Eiji
Do you think you might have caught something? If you're sick you definitely shouldn't be running.
The redhead fought to focus his eyes as the new message came through. Blue eyes blurred in and out as he shut them tightly and took a deep breath. Reading wasn’t an option. He hit the button and called back the sender instead, now holding the phone to his ear as the other hand moved to cover his eyes and block out all the sunlight that wanted to stream into his room. As the phone rung insistently, the hand moved away and flicked at the string connected to the blinds so that his room would be thrown into complete darkness. Not that it helped. He still felt sick, the room still spun and when the phone connected to the one he was ringing all he could say was “The room...won’t stop moving...”
Truthfully, even as Oishi tried to go about his usual morning routine, he carried his cell phone around in his hand and awaited a response. It was still early… truthfully he did have some time to waste if it came to that-arriving to unlock the club room in the morning didn't take more than a few minutes from the rest of his day. Eiji has been… hm, he grumbled and reworded his thoughts, I gave him too much to do that week. It really wouldn't come as a surprise, as weak as his partner had become, if he ended up catching something he couldn't fight off. Picking up as his phone rang, Oishi listened to the barely audible voice on the other line, a deep frown forming. "Eiji… you really sound terrible…" He sighed, retreating back to the bathroom and gathering up some cold medicine. Without thinking twice about it, he answered, "I'm coming up." That’s what a partner was for, after all. The guilt also helped.
The phone slipped from his hand after the phone call, dropping onto the ground as Eiji moved to burrow right underneath his blankets, a little safer now that he knew someone was coming. It was warm underneath the blanket...really really warm but at the same time he was feeling his body shiver from the cold. That made absolutely no sense. The boy whimpered slightly as he tried to burrow further to the centre and curled up into a little ball under the covers. Maybe if he stayed here long enough everything will be okay. Blue eyes closed softly and Eiji tried to force himself to go back to sleep. In these situations, sleep solved everything and this wasn’t to be an exception. And anyway...Oishi would be here soon. Someone that would always make everything better.
Oishi was already slipping his shoes on when he heard the loud echo of the phone hitting the floor, pulling his own cell away from his ear and just barely making out a tired groan that followed. His stomach twisted uncomfortably, leaving his tennis bag for now and deciding he'd have to return downstairs before school anyway. Maybe this would be the rare day he took the cars to campus with everyone else rather than just taking an early walk. In a matter of minutes he was up at the fifth floor, knocking the back of his hand against the door lightly in the hopes he didn't wake everyone else up too. "Eiji, can you open the door?" He called softly, juggling a small pharmacy in his arms.
Eiji burrowed further under the blanket, not hearing the knocking on the door and grumbled at the strange feelings that rampaged around his body. Hot...cold...tired...dizzy...thirsty...don’t want to get up. He reached out of the blanket and felt around until the soft fur of his familiar companion could be felt and his fingers tightened around Daigoro’s arm, pulling him into the black hole under the blanket with him. He hugged that soft body to his chest tightly, head smooshing into the soft fur and letting out a loud “Ow~” when the bear’s nose promptly smacked him in the forehead. A moment later he nuzzled back down into that fur once more, relishing the comfort. Well...at least Daigoro was here.
Trying unsuccessfully to get the redhead's attention at the door a few more times, Oishi finally gave up and headed downstairs to the lobby to ask for a spare keycard. Returning in a matter of minutes, given how hoarse and tired his partner sounded, he unlocked the door and stepped inside quietly, "Eiji…?" It was odd to hear his apartment this quiet, like the opening of a horror movie or something… Winding through his living area and back towards his bedroom, he sighed softly at seeing the familiar lump in the bedding, Daigoro hanging halfway out of it. Setting the medicine he'd brought on the dresser, he ran a hand through his hair- he hadn't hand time to fix it before coming over and now it was drying messily-and sat down on the side of the bed. Oishi reached over and tugged the blankets down just enough to see Eiji's face, "You're really sick…" Eiji… never really got sick.
Half blurry eyes stared up towards Oishi and the sick boy just barely managed a half smile as he rolled over and watched up at him a moment. He didn't speak for a good minute, his brain slowly catching up with what was going on in his room. A moment later he had managed to shuffle completely out from under the blanket and rested his sweaty on his friend's lap. "The room keeps moving by itself..." He laughed at what he just said and shuffled forward slightly to nuzzle his way up against the other's stomach. "Did you come to carry me to school...?" Oishi would go to school if he were sick... A moment later he peeked up and laughed again. "Your hair..." His voice then calmed and almost purred out the next half. "...'s very cute like that..."
Oishi could already feel the heat radiating off Eiji's forehead as he set his head down squarely in his lap, tugging matted red hair off his forehead and pressing his palm against it to confirm his suspicions. "Eiji, you're really, really hot." He muttered, a sad frown forming even as Eiji wiggled closer. Taking the towel he'd been drying his hair with from around his shoulders and wiping the sweat off of his friend's forehead with it, Oishi shook his head. "There's no way you can go to school like this," he insisted, wondering if Eiji had any idea of how half-alive he looked right now. He turned a little red at the compliment, frowning and reaching up to try and pull it down so it didn't dry… so vertically and messy like that. Sliding out from under him, he returned with a tall glass of water, "It's messy."
“Then Oishi has to stay here with me...” He whimpered quietly and grabbed onto the fabric of his clothes, clutching at it as strongly as his weak fist would let him. Blue eyes blinked up at him a moment and Eiji whined even louder when the other boy managed to slip out easily from under him as if he weren’t holding on at all. Eiji struggled a little and pushed himself up into a sitting position as Oishi finally came back with the water. A sad pout on his face as he reached out to Oishi now, fingers grabbing towards him for a moment. Acting so childish now that he was feeling sick and gross and all the other bad horrible words that he could think about. A second later, the redhead had just flopped back down onto the bed and refused to move anymore. Just watching Oishi very quietly and not making any more sounds.
"E-Eiji, I have to go to school…" Though leaving him in this condition didn't seem right either. Eiji had a big family, he probably wasn't used to being left alone when he wasn't feeling well… and… well, it was sort of Oishi's fault his immune system was so taxed that he'd ended up getting sick in the first place. Oishi grumbled a little to himself, realizing more and more lately that he was really terrible at making firm decisions when Eiji was involved. "Come on, you should drink something." He set the water down temporarily and rifled through his collection of medicine for something that would bring down his fever… and hopefully get him to sleep since he was just rolling over uncomfortably now. Shuffling closer, he wrapped an arm around his back and tried-with a lot of passive resistance-to get his partner into a sitting position again. "You'll feel better if you take these, I promise."
Feeling the arm wrapped around him again, Eiji finally felt himself sat back up and he snuggled up against the other body for warmth even though his own body was all sweaty. He nudged at Oishi until he was given way and was able to nuzzle up against his shoulder and slip his arm around his waist, holding on now so that Oishi wouldn’t be able to move away even if he wanted to. He yawned a little and closed his eyes now, happy that he’s just where he wanted to be despite feeling absolutely wretched. At least one thing has gone right, Oishi came. And Oishi’s going to stay. Eiji had already decided that. A moment later, he realized something was actually being held out to him...he stared towards what was being held by his best friend until he was able to discern exactly what it was. A frown crossed his expression and Eiji whined loudly. “No... don’t want to...” The words barely mumbled out and he turned to bury his entire face against Oishi’s shoulder now, mouth clamping firmly shut.
"Mnn…" Oishi's lips curled into an expression that showed he could feel the sweat through the fabric of his uniform, squirming uncomfortably under the warmth. Sighing when he realized Eiji wasn't going to make any of this easy for him, he shuffled closer, running that towel across his forehead and across the back of his neck. "Eiji, I don't want this fever getting worse…" The redhead already looked pretty… pitiful as it was, and Oishi's worried expression probably reflected that. Though it was difficult to plead for sympathy when Eiji was burying his face against him. He knew his partner well enough to know that arguing wouldn't get him anywhere and the pair of them would just get louder and louder… and Eiji always won at that. Shfiting his shoulder so it no longer provided a refuge, he pet the top of his sweaty red hair, "It would really, really worry me if I had to leave for school and you hadn't taken anything."
As Eiji heard the last words being spoken, dark blue eyes opened wide and a sad expression crossed over his face as he shook his head resolutely again. No pills, no gross medicine, just Oishi...He shifted a little and moved to hug tightly onto the other boy again. A little pout continued to express itself as he dropped his gaze a moment then flicked it back up to meet those worried green eyes. “Then I won’t take anything...” Oishi would never leave then. With that, he burrowed back under the blanket, sweating more as his body was suddenly enveloped in more warmth with his hands still buried in the fabric of Oishi’s clothing so that he couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. Really, all Eiji needed was Oishi and more sleep...who needed medication when you had that.
Making a stern face in response, Oishi reversed that logic and knew immediately now that he'd said exactly the wrong thing. He'd really intended to guilt Eiji into taking his medicine… but he was no good at reverse psychology, clearly. The frown dissolved back into worry fairly quickly, running fingers through the ends of his partner's hair and seeing blotchy red spread over the forehead that peeked out from the blankets. "Eiji…" He sighed heavily, "You're really being unreasonable today…" Still, it was his fault he'd ended up that way, something his mind liked to remind him of at times like these. Which is probably why Eiji was having an easier time of convincing him of things. Tugging the blanket down with a finger, he took one look at those blue eyes and realized he had to look everywhere else. "If… I take the day off. You'll take it?" Either way, Eiji sort of had him stuck-he wouldn't be able to leave if he refused to take the medicine either. "I don't want it to get worse…" He was serious this time, he'd never seen Eiji this sick, and they were out on their own now and… it was a little scary.
Eiji remained quiet as he lay there, the pout puffing out his lips as he nodded slowly, agreeing the terms of Oishi staying the day. A hand reached out slowly, seeking out and grabbing onto Oishi’s now, holding onto it weakly yet not moving out from under the blanket yet. He had to be sure that the other really wasn’t going anywhere. This was the first time he had gotten this sick in a very long time...and the first time he had gotten this sick and woken up in a big empty apartment, nobody checking up on him in the morning and nobody making sure he was okay and didn’t feel lonely. If the redhead was being honest...this was the first time he had felt so sick and scared and he didn’t want to be by himself. “Don’t leave me here, Oishi...” The words came out really softly, a tremor present as he spoke the vice captain’s name out loud. More than anything, the qualities showed very clearly right now that Eiji was the baby of his family, so used to being taken care of and so used to being surrounded by a large family. His desperate hold on his best friend’s hand and the expression in his eyes pleaded for Oishi to stay more than anything.
For the first time he could remember, Oishi felt a heavy pressure in his chest, like all the wind had been knocked out of him suddenly-his eyes going wide and breathing softly as if he'd just remembered to. "Y-yeah…" He stammered out weakly, shuffling closer and relaxing into a sitting position as if to prove he wasn't going to run off. Until now he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed and generally looking antsy as time passed. Okay, it was more than a little scary, Eiji being sick without countless siblings, parents, and grandparents to watch over him. "I'll stay with you." He reiterated, mustering up some confidence in his voice this time. Eiji looked vulnerable and helpless, but part of him knew that wasn't entirely the reason he'd agreed to stay. Remembering the opposite end of their agreement, he held out his hand again, a pair of familiar pills in his palm. "Take these. You'll sleep better without a fever." He retrieved the glass of water from the nightstand and offered that too, "… and I was serious about worrying about you."
“Un...” The voice spoke quietly before the redhead crawled his way up into a sitting position and leaned against Oishi, an altogether depressed expression constantly on his face. He sighed a little and accepted the pills along with the glass of water, staring at both for a long period of time before he put the pills one at a time in his mouth, quickly drinking a lot of water between each. He had finished about three quarters of the water before handing it back to Oishi, now turning a little and slipping his arms around his neck to hold on tight and snuggling right up next to his body. It was comfortable here with Oishi...he was really glad that he had come. Eiji’s cheek rested lightly on the other boy’s shoulder, eyes drooping closed slightly as he breathed quietly but continued to hang on as tightly as he could “Sankyu nya...Oishi...” He mumbled out quietly, even as his body had begun to relax a little. Oishi was here to protect him, he would make sure everything would turn out okay.
"Thank you…" Oishi returned quietly, taking the glass from his hand and setting it down on the nightstand beside him and taking a quick glance over his best friend again. Besides all the red in his face, he looked more pale than usual… and small, and tired, and not at all like Eiji. His shoulders tensed on reflex when Eiji brought himself closer, smiling softly and realizing he'd rather be here than anywhere else when Eiji was sick. How much would he really be able to concentrate on classes anyway? Hm, probably good not to start justifying skipping school though. Shifting away from his partner for a moment, he unbuttoned his uniform jacket and took that off, deciding he wouldn't need it as long as he would be inside all day. A moment later he squirmed his hips a bit and untucked his shirt as well, settling back down with a long sigh. "If you feel better in a little while I'll make you something…" Assuming Eiji had soups and things like that stocked up… he could always make a run to the market if he didn't. After another feverish shiver from his friend, Oishi reached over for his jacket and wrapped it around Eiji's shoulders, turning a little red himself and trying to close his eyes and rest.
Eiji nestled in comfortably and whimpered a little. “Gomen nya...Oishi...I know you really want to go to school don’t you?” The words mumbled out softly but instead of letting the boy go, he reached out and tugged Oishi’s jacket even more tightly around his own shoulders, wanting to keep him here no matter what. He drifted in and out of sleep for the next few moments, fighting to stay awake despite what was going on in his body. He wanted to appreciate every moment he could spend with the other boy and to do that you had to be awake. He stifled a yawn and nuzzled into the shoulder that he leaned upon, fingers digging into the white shirt that Oishi was wearing. “But I don’t want you to go...” As if the other hadn’t already made up his mind to stay and it was obvious from everything he had done so far. Then at the mention of food, despite his run down body and his desire to not eat anything, Eiji couldn’t help but perk up just the tiniest bit. “Parfait...” He said resolutely. Parfait with Oishi was different to parfait with everyone else. It felt different. And he could never not desire it when it came down to it really. Even if he sometimes ate so much he felt a little sick afterwards. And that exasperated face Oishi made at him when he realized what happened was funny.
Even half asleep Oishi's lips tugged into a hesitant grin at the mention of parfait, shaking his head and sighing, "I was thinking more along the lines of soup…" he started, eyes drifting off to the ceiling as his thoughts continued one after another. "Though… something like ice cream might help your throat…" He thought aloud with a regretful grumble, already hearing the inevitable But you said! I'm sick so I have to eat nothing but ice cream! that might come from a more awake Eiji. Shuffling a little under him to find another comfortable spot, Oishi shivered-already feeling a damp spot forming on his shirt from the sweat on his partner's forehead. After a long time of thinking about it, and pulling the annoying loose hair away from his face as he tried to get comfortable, Oishi spoke up again. "… I don't want to go to school if it means leaving you alone." He admitted quietly, wondering if his teachers would act by habit and mark him as 'present' like they had the very rare times he'd get sick himself. "Don't," He wiggled under the sheets, his inability to get comfortable having nothing to do with the bed, "don't worry about it. Just get some sleep." It was different. This felt different. Oishi didn’t particularly like it. It was confusing and entirely too complicated. When he started to wonder why he’d rather be with Eiji than anywhere else right now, it was... too complicated.
Thoughts of ice cream continued to dance in Eiji’s mind as he started to snooze a little, once in a while coughing or sniffling. His fingers remained tightly buried in the fabric of Oishi’s shirt, even while resting they refused to relax almost as if he was really dependant on the other staying and was too scared to let go even for a second. Every few moments the slender body shivered slightly, still not really able to figure out if the room was too hot or too cold but happy either way that there was someone to be close to and stay with. “Oishi...” he mumbled out quietly...the thanks and apologies that followed mumbled out incoherent as he started to drift off completely into sleep then and very slowly the grasp started to relax. Eventually, Eiji trusted Oishi enough to stay that he allowed himself to quietly sleep against him, the most comfortable he’d been able to get himself since this horrid fever had decided to attack his body and leave him like this. As comfortable as the times when he was younger in which his sister or brother would let him sleep cuddled up to them.
Oishi had to figure the string of incoherent half-words and mumbling that sounded more as if his partner was just humming against his chest was positive, stretching his arm as far as he could and tugging a tissue box between the two of them in case he needed it. When Eiji shivered, he found himself rubbing at his back and shuffling him a little closer until he stopped or coughed loud enough to make Oishi jump a little. 'Feed a fever'… right? He leaned back in bed, realizing how much bigger it was than Eiji's teddybear-printed twin at home, and trying for a short few moments to close his eyes and rest for a while. Which, really, was easier said than done. Sighing, he stared down at his best friend-sweat-matted red hair still curled over his forehead, his head rising and falling on Oishi's chest as he breathed. "Mn." He'd never seen him this bad, even when he exhausted himself on the courts and could barely move his face was never this red, but still pale at the same time. Oishi reached to slide a few of the red strands away from his face and tucked them behind his ear with a soft sigh. This wasn't different. He was just… worried about his partner. His partner that he cared a lot about. Idly he set a hand over one of the pair that clung to his shirt and stared at the two of them for a while with a slowly-developing smile on his face-before getting frustrated with himself and huffing, turning his head and trying to drift off again.