Here If You Need

Arashi had been having a hard time falling asleep. Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say any trace of sleepiness in their body had been gone. Nothing but worry taking over its place.

They grabbed their phone to check the time. 3 AM.

They sighed. They could only hope at least Sakuya was getting a good rest. They needed that more than anything, in their current condition.

But right then, Arashi had the faint impression that they had heard Sakuya’s bedroom door opening and closing. They had at first thought it had simply been their imagination, an illusion their worried brain had concocted. But the sound of the couch creaking with Sakuya’s weight and the little ‘click’ sound of a light turning on a few seconds later were much clearer, enough for Arashi to be sure they weren’t simply a trick of their mind.

Arashi quietly left the guest bedroom, eyes quickly adapting to the faint light of the kitchen seeping into the hallway and living room. Sakuya was sitting on the couch, eyes closed, head leaning back as much as possible and breathing a bit heavily with a thermometer under their armpit.

“How are you feeling?” Arashi asked. It was clearly nothing good, but knowing the details would make it easier to help.

Sakuya opened their eyes and straightened their neck to look at them. Arashi could now clearly see many strands of their short dark blue hair had stuck to their sweaty forehead. Their voice was hoarse as they responded. “Can’t sleep… I somehow feel hot and cold at the same time… I keep coughing, and my throat is killing me…” As if on cue, they coughed a few times.

The thermometer started beeping, and as Sakuya pulled it out Arashi stepped closer. Sakuya just wordlessly showed them the digital display while leaning back with a sigh. 37.6°C. Not quite enough to officially be considered a fever, but for Sakuya just that ‘feverish’ state was bothersome enough.

“Yeah, that explains a lot.” Arashi took the thermometer off their hands, and then smiled kindly at them. “I’ll go get you the medicine. You should check your blood pressure too just in case.”

Still in silence, Sakuya reached for the blood pressure measurer that was sitting on the arm rest (carelessly forgotten there when they had suddenly almost fainted the previous day). Meanwhile, Arashi went into the kitchen for the medicine, having been there enough times to remember where Sakuya kept everything.

Arashi quickly had the fever medicine set aside. After waiting a few more seconds for the blood pressure measurer to finish its job, Sakuya drank it.

“It’s not too bad, but you should probably eat something just in case.” Arashi said, reading the numbers on the digital display. “What do you want me to get?”

“I usually just get some olives…”

Arashi just silently nodded before heading back into the kitchen, grabbing a small bowl from the cupboard and then grabbing some olives from the fridge.

Sakuya simply ate the olives by hand. Arashi sat on the armrest of the couch, looking at them lovingly as they ran a hand through Sakuya’s hair.

“You shouldn’t be this close to me. You’re gonna get sick too.” Sakuya said, scooting away just a little. “And it’s gonna be even worse if you lose your voice.”

Arashi smiled apologetically. “Even if that happens, I can’t just not try to console you at least a little. It’s too difficult to see you like this.”

Sakuya leaned back and sighed, going back to eating their olives in silence as they stared at the ceiling. It was a little too tiring to argue about such a topic in their current state.

The last olive was soon gone. Even if there hadn’t been that many in the bowl, Sakuya was already looking a little less pale.

Sakuya started coughing, the suddenness of it almost making them drop the small bowl in their hands. Without saying anything, Arashi grabbed the bowl and went to the kitchen, coming back with a glass of water in hand.

When the coughs had stopped for just long enough, Sakuya grabbed the glass and started drinking it slowly.

“Thanks…” Sakuya said once the glass was empty, their voice still hoarse. They started coughing again, but not as intensely as before.

Once that smaller coughing fit was over, Arashi gave them a soft peck on the cheek, once again with a hand on their hair. Sakuya lightly pawed at their chest, quietly trying to once again argue for them to not be too close. But Arashi simply chuckled in response.

“Do you think you can still sleep?” Arashi asked.

Sakuya sighed. “I’ll try…”

“Just wake me up if you need help again, okay?” Arashi hopped off the couch, heading to the kitchen one final time to put the empty glass away.

“You don’t need to do all this.” Sakuya paused to cough for a moment. “It’s tough, but I can handle it.”

“Hush. I’m not gonna be able to sleep well myself unless I do something to help you. We’ve argued about this enough already.”

Sakuya sighed again. They had indeed argued about it for a bit too long when Arashi simply decided to show up with a backpack with enough stuff to spend a few days there that afternoon. Or at least, argued as much as Sakuya could with their wrecked throat.

“Fine, I’ll wake you up if I need you.” Sakuya said as they stood up.

Arashi giggled. “Good night.” They gave Sakuya one last kiss on the cheek before heading back to the guest bedroom.

For a moment, they only sat on the bed, paying attention to the noises from the living room and hallway.

They saw the living room light turning off. They heard Sakuya cough a little before also hearing the noise of their bedroom door closing.

After a few minutes of not hearing anything too concerning, aside from a few muffled coughs, Arashi sighed as they finally laid back down on the bed. It was a bit hard, but all they could do for now was try to sleep and hope Sakuya wouldn’t be too stubborn if they needed help…