Model Idol Combi: so you had a sick day

[jitensha]

[ so the thing was, Makoto didn't get sick. It took a series of unfortunate events, a moment of stress-induced weakness, and doing the idiotically chivalrous thing of trying to make her way home in the pouring rain and likely spending too much time in soaked clothing, despite Kise's best efforts.

But the point was, Makoto didn't usually get sick, and when she did get sick, it had to be sick enough to buckle her knees and keep her under her covers with a fever that could warm cold palms in an instant. She'd tried to go to work, but hadn't made it further than her own doorway before she'd gotten too dizzy to stand without the aid of the frame and had been promptly ushered back to bed.

And of course, she hadn't wanted to worry Kise, but that had backfired and for some inexplicable reason, she felt worse than ever. She'd have to change the compress again, she thinks distantly, as she tries to push herself up on her elbows to give him a properly chastising look. At the very least, her parents were now out for one of her dad's races, but... ]

You... really didn't have to come.

[ what if she's contagious? It's bad enough that she feels awful and she's sweaty and her hair's a mess and her face is all red and this isn't very romantic at all-- ]

Comments

[jitensha]

Mm-mm. [ well, at least she's making noises. Don't mind her, Kise, she's just kicking herself again. She'll apologize later for getting gloomy. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Gloomy or not he'll try to figure this out.]

Do you have a stomachache? Is the headache bad?

[Because he's still holding the aspirin oops.]

[jitensha]

[ she musters a nod this time, because that's not entirely wrong. Something else to focus on too. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Oh. Despite sensing something off, Kise's not too bad at pretending it's not a big deal. It's how he can be fairly cheerful in handing her the aspirin, offering her water right after.

And then there's an awkward silence where he tries to figure out what he did wrong.]

[jitensha]

[ nothing, Kise, nothing. Your girlfriend is just a failure, which includes being a failure at being sick, in which she should be in shoujo bliss that her boyfriend is by her side and nursing her back to health but she just feels bad about it in general.

She never really mastered Being Taken Care Of 101.

But she does take the aspirin without a fuss and stays just as awkwardly silent. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[There comes a point where the awkward silence is too much for him, and he tries to remedy the situation with... something.]

I was really kidding about the wrinkles...

[jitensha]

... I really won't ruin your career?

[ Makoto, stop. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Oh oh oh she responded!!!]

My manager tells me that the only way I could ruin my career is by not showing up to enough shoots! So if anything happens it won't be your fault!

[jitensha]

You'd... show up even if you had wrinkles, then?

[ really, of all the things to stick with her, it's the thing he admitted to joking about. Her thought process isn't the best at the moment. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[He's getting kind of upset here, that she's imagining him with wrinkles. Maybe even offended.]

Why wrinkles? I mean, I guess I'll try my best to cover it up...

[jitensha]

Ryouta-kun really is amazing...

[ MAKOTO.

BREAK THIS FEVER ALREADY. ]

[ex_doubly406]

--Because I'm going to get wrinkles?! Isn't that harsh??

[HE'S SO CONFUSED.]

[jitensha]

Only if you worry too much... so don't. Not about me.

[ so. there. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[What... What is she even saying here. Why is she focused on him getting wrinkles-- which he won't get!]

Isn't that like asking me to break up with you? Most girls would be happy to have me worry about them.

[KISE NO.]

[jitensha]

[ if the silence was awkward before, it's probably something like agonizingly tangible now, mainly because Makoto's too busy looking absolutely devastated to have a decent comeback.

Also because her throat's suddenly gotten too tight to talk, and when she tries, tries to tell him that she's not asking that at all, that she can't be happy when he frowns and looks sad because of her and that she's sorry for most girls-- there's just a really thin, cracked whimper.

Followed by her shutting her eyes tightly because no dammit she isn't going to cry again. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Oh god this wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

He hadn't meant it like that. Well, alright it was a one-off thing stemming from piled up fatigue, worry, and a dash of annoyance because wrinkles. But he can say with 100% sincerity that he didn't say it to make her so upset. He really didn't mean to make her look so sad.

Yeah, he's panicking a little.]

I-I'm sorry, I take it back, don't cry! I'm really sorry!

[What is he even sorry for though. Because this idiot didn't quite figure out that her fever is why she's not making sense.

He's surprisingly good at making her cry though, isn't he?]

[jitensha]

[ it's not entirely his fault, though. Even if Makoto would have been appalled at the comment at any other time. It just hits harder when she's not feeling well enough to combat it or laugh it off.

She doesn't cry, though, out of some incredibly impressive sense of obstinance or obedience. She just looks like she'd like to, and her face is growing hotter.

Blame the fever. She at least tries to apologize (yet again) for not being most girls, but all that gets out is "Sor--" and then it's that sound again when her throat closes up. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Ugh, and he thought it couldn't get any worse.]

I--

[He swallows down that 'if you didn't keep pressing me about wrinkles I won't get, then I wouldn't have said it'. He can be mature sometimes. And... this is his fault anyway. Why is she trying to apologize?

She's... really really nice.]

Sorry...

[jitensha]

[ why is he apologizing, she's the one who should really stop talking, but now when she needs to start, she can't. Makoto hesitates for a few seconds, before she forces herself to move an arm and lightly tug at his shirt. That's it. ]

I don't wanna break up.

[ and maybe that sounds childish, the way she has to whisper it, but TOUGH. Kise, hurry up and figure it out already. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[That... Oh.]

I didn't mean we should.

[He wraps his hand around hers, gently prying it loose from his cough syrup-stained shirt. It isn't hard, given she's not putting in much strength.]

... It's just really depressing how you keep thinking I'll have wrinkles. Sure I'd worry about you, but I take good care of my skin too.

[jitensha]

Because you said...

[ but she looks confounded for a moment, eyes trained on their hands-- or more like, his hand dwarfing hers. And the fight (or whatever was left of it) just drains out of her, because she doesn't remember what he said or didn't and what was a joke or not. It makes her head hurt when she dwells on it. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[How did it end up like this. From the beginning this was never a lovey dovey episode with the caring boyfriend watching over his sick girlfriend.

Aaaaaah, taking care of someone is so much work.]

It wasn't--

[And then he freezes, his hand on her forehead. She feels much hotter than before.]

Wait Makocchi, you're burning up!

[jitensha]

[ she knew that, but there's no point in saying that much. For now, she just breathes out slowly and nods, because she really does know. She has a fever, of course she would be hot.

Maybe she's underestimating it a little. ]

[ex_doubly406]

[Definitely underestimating it.]

You should've said something, it's worse than before!

[Oh wait.]

Then you were picking on me about wrinkles because you were hallucinating?!

[What kind of idiot asks this to someone with a fever.]

[jitensha]

Eh--

[ well, he can take that as a "yes", because if Makoto didn't have a fever, she'd be a lot more offended at the accusation and a lot more insistent that she didn't hallucinate, the mental image of Kise with wrinkles having to quit his job was just too much to bear!!

As it is, she just looks disoriented. ]