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Towards the middle of the night, Shuichi was awoken by a chill prickling across his body and muffled sounds of coughing. It took him a few seconds to really register what he was hearing. When he realized the sound was coming from beside him, he became much more aware. He sat up from bed and ran a hand through his hair as he looked over at the body next to him.
Kokichi was sitting up in bed with all the of the covers pulled around him. When he noticed Shuichi, he gave him a small smile.
“Good morning?” He tried before he started coughing again, speaking seeming to agitate his throat.
Shuichi peered over at the clock that blinked back at him with the numbers 3:00. “Technically that’s correct.” He stifled a yawn before he turned his full attention to the other.
“What’s wrong?”
Kokichi pulled the covers over his face, muffled through the thick cloth, he replied quietly, “Nothing.”
Shuichi paused, not convinced in the slightest. “Really?”
“Someone must have left the AC on.”
He reached under the blankets to feel Kokichi’s forehead, who startled under his touch.
“Geez Shuichi, your hands are cold as shit!” He swatted weakly at the aforementioned appendage.
“You’ve got a fever.” Shuichi deadpanned, pulling the cover back so he could see him. A bit of worry sparked in him, as he looked at Kokichi’s flushed face.
“I’m fine. You’re, like, overthinking it or something.” He muttered, with no real intent behind any of his words. He rubbed at his nose and wiped it on the covers.
Shuichi reached over for the tissue box they kept by the bed and plopped it into the other’s lap. Kokichi glared up at him but accepted the tissues anyway.
“I’m going to get you some medicine.” Shuichi said firmly, moving towards the door. Kokichi’s hands shot from under the covers with the speed no sick person should possess. He latched onto the corner of Shuichi’s shirt as hard as he could.
“M’fine. I feel like a crisp dollar bill, not even bent once,” He said, not relenting his grip even as Shuichi put his free hand on top of the one that grabbed him. Kokichi’s skin was clammy against his own.
There was a beat of silence.
“I’m okay. Just don’t…go,” The words came out of Kokichi’s mouth uncertain and stunted.
Shuichi looked at him in surprise, a bit off put by the quiet request.
He placed his free hand on top of Kokichi’s and gave him a smile. “I’ll just be gone for a second, okay? I promise.”
Kokichi scrutinized his face for a few seconds, searching for any hint of a lie before he dropped his hands with a pout.
“Hurry up or whatever,” he said as he covered himself back up in blankets.
Shuichi nodded. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
As promised, Shuichi returned shortly carrying medicine, a glass of water, and an extra blanket. He sat down on the bed and wordlessly offered the medicine and water to Kokichi, who took it slowly.
“This should help with the fever and coughs,” He assured.
Kokichi knocked back the pills and the whole glass of water quickly.
“Ewww,” he stuck his tongue out at Shuichi before he reached up and rubbed at his eyes. “Lets just go back to bed, yeah?” Kokichi said tiredly.
Shuichi agreed and tossed the extra blanket over Kokichi as they both settled back in. Kokichi cuddled close and Shuichi just hopped that’d he’d feel better by tomorrow.
Morning came early to Shuichi as his daily alarm went off. Kokichi whined beside him and put the pillow over his head. Shuichi obliged and sat up as he turned the alarm off. Kokichi was almost immediately back to sleep so Shuichi figured he’d go ahead and let him rest for the morning.
Time passed but Kokichi was still sleeping. Shuichi tried to wake him up a few times but he was just told to go away. It seemed that he still felt bad.
As the sun started setting, Shuichi got a phone call. It was Kaito, wondering about the plans we made prior.
“Sorry, Kokichi has come down with something. I don’t think we’ll be able to come to the New Year’s party.”
“Well, tell the gremlin that I hope he feels better, I guess. We‘ll make sure that we eat enough for the both of you at the party!”
Shuichi laughed. “Thanks for the thought, Kaito. I need to go check up on him, so I’ll talk to you later.”
“See you later man!”
Shuichi hung up the phone with a sigh; he figured he might as well put on something for dinner. He wasn’t really the cook in this relationship but he was gonna try his best.
When he turned around, he was met with a scowling Kokichi, a blanket wrapped around him. He could tell that Kokichi was mad but it was a sort of hard to take him seriously when it seemed as if a strong breeze could knock him over.
“Why did you cancel our plans?”
“Because you’re sick,” Shuichi said as he reached a hand over to his forehead. “you really shouldn’t be out of bed-“
Kokichi smacked it away.
“I’m fine. I want to go to the party,” He asserted. Kokichi could be pretty stubborn when he wanted to be.
Shuichi shook his head. “You aren’t fine. You had a pretty high fever last night,” He moved to go towards the kitchen, knowing that Kokichi would follow him.
“Jeez, Shuichi when did you become the liar in this relationship. I was totally okay last night!” Kokichi trailed after him as expected, a bit unsteady on his feet.
“We both know that’s a lie. Besides we can celebrate at home,” Shuichi said, opening the cabinets and trying to parse together which pan one would make soup in.
“That’ll be boring. There’s no fireworks at home.” He said as he warily eyed what Shuichi was doing. He took a seat at the kitchen table.
“Well, we’ve got other things.” Shuichi held two pots in his hands and went with the bigger one. Now for the ingredients, the trickiest part.
“Like what?” He queried, still being obstinate.
Shuichi paused and turned around to smile at Kokichi. “First of all, I could bring out the kotatsu,”
They should have gotten it out way sooner than now but they had both been busy with work and whatever Kokichi filled his days with.
At the mention of the kotatsu, Kokichi’s eyes sparkled but he quickly hid the expression away. He held up a finger, “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll take you up on your offer but only if we order take-out tonight.”
Shuichi stopped again and offered him a sheepish smile. “I found this good recipe online? It should turn out fine-“
Kokichi shook his finger “Onllllly. If we order take-out,”
He put the pots and pans down with a sigh. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Ouma,” Shuichi offered his hand out to Kokichi who grinned as he shook it.
“Naturally.” Kokichi cleared his throat as he stood up. “Now, I’m gonna go lie down on the couch because I feel like shit.”
Shuichi laughed, reaching for the phone.
It was a bit of a struggle dragging out everything for the kotatsu but it didn’t take too long to assemble.
Kokichi stretched across the wooden top like a cat. “Yep, this is the stuff.”
Shuichi sat down across from him and nodded his approval. “We should have put this up way sooner, huh?”
“Definitely.” He said as he tilted his head into the table. Shuichi was glad he was feeling better enough to joke around.
“Now what? We already ate dinner,” Kokichi asked.
Shuichi hummed. “We could play some chess?”
“Ugh. That’s too boring,” Kokichi raised his head from the table with a sly smile. “I’ve got an idea.”
Kokichi got to his feet and headed over into the bedroom, his blanket trailing behind him. Shuichi raised a hand to stop him but he was already gone. He shook his head, even a sick Kokichi is a handful.
The boy returned moments later carrying an old gaming system and two controllers.
“Game night!” He announced proudly as he set to work on plugging the system in and changing the channel.
“But…we both know I’m no good at video games.” He tried helplessly but to no avail.
Kokichi laughed but started coughing as he did, he quickly recovered. “Just because you suck doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, dummy.” He shrugged a bit with a grin. “Besides I suck at video games too, so we’re even.”
“That’s-“
“A lie? Yep, I only play on hard mode so expect to get your ass beat.”
Kokichi sat down next to Shuichi under the kotatsu and handed a controller to him before he cuddled up as close as he could get. His nose was running a bit and he used the back of his sleeve to wipe it.
“Don’t get any funny ideas. I’m just trying to leech off all your warmth and take it as my own,” he said as his nose still ran.
Shuichi made a face at him as he passed over a tissue to the boy who took it begrudgingly.
“Well, I’m happy to give it the less fortunate,” Shuichi smiled as he noticed a slight blush appear on Kokichi’s face.
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s start the game, I’m gonna be Kirby.”
They played like that well into the night. Shuichi struggling and Kokichi making it harder for him every step of the way but it was fun. Shuichi liked watching the other laugh at his two left thumbs.
As midnight rolled around, Kokichi was just about asleep, slumping into his side and halfheartedly pressing the buttons.
“Hey Kokichi?” He asked, putting down his controller.
“Yeah?”
“I know it wasn’t a perfect New Year’s, but I hope that you weren’t too upset about it.” Shuichi said, reaching for Kokichi’s controller who relinquished it fairly easily in favor of clinging onto Shuichi’s arm.
“I had a terrible time. Absolutely awful.” He mumbled into Shuichi’s sleeve as he closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry to disappoint then,” Shuichi smoothed out the others bangs with a gentle hand.
“S’okay. It’s a lie,” Kokichi said before he settled fully into sleep.
Parting his bangs Shuichi, placed a kiss on his forehead as the clock struck twelve.
“Happy new year’s, Kokichi.”