Soraru x Mafumafu

Drawn Together - Chapter 2

Warning: This is an AU fanfiction, and very rusty writing.

If you're fine with it then I hope you enjoy!

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Mafu opened his eyes. Ah, he accidentally fell asleep right away after bathing. He pushed himself up, removing the damp towel off of his head. His head throbbed a little with pain, and he considered if he should take a day off from the university to rest but he had an important lecture to attend to later in the afternoon. He sighed heavily as he dragged himself to the washroom.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Mafu-kun?" said Amatsuki who had a toothbrush in his mouth the moment Mafu stepped out of his room. His words came out muffled but Mafu managed to understand him. Both Amatsuki and Mafu shared an apartment unit together. It was small and old but they didn't really mind, it was a comfy place to live in, and plus they had cheap rent so there was nothing to complain about.

"You don't look too good,"

"... I fell asleep without drying my hair and had the towel on the whole night," Mafu groaned as he massaged his temples, in hope that the pain would go away.

"That doesn't sound good," Amatsuki walked towards him and placed the back of his hand on Mafu's forehead. "You're warmer than usual... I'll jot down the notes for you, so stay in bed,"

Mafu shook his head weakly at him. He appreciated his kindness but he thought it'd be best if he attended the classes himself. He smiled and muttered his thanks to Amatsuki before he went to wash up.

-

"Mafu-kun... Are you sure you're going to be okay...?"

Mafu let his eyelids cover his eyes while nodding absently at Amatsuki's question. Maybe he was pushing himself a little too much. But as someone who is weak at geography, there was no helping to it. He was told by the teacher that if he failed geography again, he would have to retake the entire subject again for the next semester. You heard him right, "again". This wasn't the first time Mafu took the subject, neither was it his second or third. It was already his fourth time, and here he thought that the third time would be a charm.

"Head straight to the infirmary if things got worse, do you hear me, Mafu-kun?"

"I will," Mafu replied and entered his classroom, feeling Amatsuki's eyes on him as he fumbled his way to find a seat. He felt really guilty for making Amatsuki worry and bring him to class when he actually knew that Amatsuki was reluctant to but would anyway if Mafu insists. He turned to look at his best friend, and waved, smiling at him so that he could be rest assured that he was going to be okay.

The lecturer walked in, set up the microphone, and started today's lesson. Mafu supported his forehead in his palms as he took in raspy breaths. The more the people who entered the hall, the more suffocating things became for him. Luz, a junior of his, came and sat beside him, asking if he was okay like how Amatsuki did this whole morning.

"You look really pale today, Mafu" Luz leaned onto the table to get a proper look at Mafu. As always, taking off honorifics even from his senior, not that Mafu actually cared about the senior-junior status thing. "Are you sure you don't need the infirmary?"

"At the northernmost prefecture on Honshu, and faces Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, we have the Aomori Prefecture. It borders Akita-..."

His headache did not seem to get any better, not with the help of the lecturer's 'chanting' anyway. He was starting to shiver even though it was so hot in the room, not to mention the fact that he already had a thermal insulated hoodie on too. He could feel his body temperature rise, his breath uneven.

"Luz-kun... Can you help me listen to what the lecturer has to say for today?" Without listening to Luz's response, Mafu slowly stood up from his seat, feeling a little wobbly, just a little. He carried his bag, and moved out carefully so that he does not interrupt the class. He bowed at his lecturer apologetically for having to miss his class, and went out.

By placing his hand against the wall, he supported himself as he made his way down to the infirmary. His body felt heavy, as if there were weights pulling him down, wanting him to fall. His visions started to grey out. And before he knew what was happening, he fell forward. Mafu already knew he shouldn't have forced himself and took the day off. His health status wasn't good to begin with, he was weak, and yet he sort of overestimated himself that he could do this.

Ah, it would be bad if I passed out on cold, hard ground.

As if anticipating the impact of his face hitting the ground, he closed his eyes and prepared for the pain to be inflicted onto him. But he didn't feel anything at all. He gave his all to open his eyes and noticed that he wasn't even halfway down to the ground yet. He was pulled onto by someone, by the hood of his hoodie.

He heard that person behind him click his tongue at him, not after too long he was immediately lifted up into the man's arms. Mafu only stared at him in a daze, as he couldn't even argue to ask the man to put him down. Energy was long drained out of him, vision blurred with tears that were formed due to the fever that was getting to his head. All he managed to see was that the man who was carrying him had a nest of dark hair, and everything else was but a blur.

What was bothering Mafu was the wave of emotions that rushed into him, coming in and out, causing the pace of his heartbeat to speed up a little. He could somehow see the colour of that emotion and the one he was seeing at this moment was a sapphire blue. It was a cold colour but yet it felt so warm. He could feel himself being wrapped by the warmth emitted by it. He felt better than before, his breathing wasn't as ragged as it was, and his guard was entirely down as he let the emotion overwhelm him.

The man pushed the door open with one of his leg as his hands were full of Mafu. He walked in, and looked around to see if the person in charge was in. Hearing the man click his tongue again, Mafu assumed that there was not. The man started moving again, this time headed to the bed at the far corner of the room, and placed Mafu down gently. He thought he was going to be thrown onto the bed since the man didn't seem friendly enough to care if he hurt a patient or not. The instant the stranger let go of him, that sense of security was gone. He suddenly felt fear engulfing him, he felt terribly scared. Of what, you might ask but he didn't know either.

"... Don't go," Mafu heard himself say. Shocking even himself as he already had one of his hands pulling onto the sleeves of the kind stranger. "Please,"

Mafu felt the stranger stiffen for a moment and then watched the stranger reached out to push his bangs away from his forehead, and then petting him on the head gently.

"I'm just going to go check if there's anything to help you with your fever," the stranger said gently. Not at all the unfriendly stranger he thought he was, who clicked his tongue at everything as he found all things around troublesome. He lifted Mafu's arm up carefully, slipping in a thermometer under Mafu's armpit before he placed Mafu's arm back down. "There, keep it there until it starts beeping, alright?"

"Don't be scared, I'll be right back," things adults would say to their children to comfort them, and usually it wouldn't work on young adults like Mafu but surprisingly, Mafu felt better after hearing him say that.

What in the world was happening to him? This was actually his first time feeling comfortable with a stranger. He stared at the stranger who had his back turned to him as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet. Mafu opened his mouth as if he had something to say but close it back up. He mustered his courage again, and managed to ask him a question. A question that he would never have thought would make his life turn into a mess.

"What's your name?"

Mafu asked.

"Soraru,"

The stranger answered.

TBC