The noise from his doorbell rang repeatedly in his apartment. With a groan, Samatoki stood up – ignoring how his head is going to break itself apart with that awful pain that has been in there since he woke up, and how every footstep he took was dragging his whole body down. Ruffling his hair in annoyance, Samatoki made his way towards the entrance of his home. Not even bothering to look at the peephole that was placed on his door before unlocking the locks of his door proves that he just wanted to yell to whoever the hell was on the other side and tell them to go away. He opened his door widely (to his annoyance), but was surprised when he saw that it was you who was there.
Samatoki only looked at you with a questioning gaze, feeling the sweat from his forehead fall down on the side of his face. His eyes twitched, watching you blink and open your mouth, "...I was told to come here by Jyuto, so, what h–"
He replied, "–and? Doesn't look like you need anything, so fuck off already."
"I'll be coming in," you only replied after hearing his voice, forcing your way in before feeling the door in front of you was being pushed by Samatoki from the other side.
Irritated by his stubbornness, you said while putting an arm on the door and pushing it with your strength, "Look, just let me in! It's clear that you're sick and should be on bed, resting." you heard him click his tongue, "–your fever might get worse if you keep being stubborn like this!"
"Shut up!" he lowly growled, refusing your offer as you let him push the door towards your direction.
Hearing the click from the door, you refused to go away from your spot. An idea came to mind, so with confidence, you said, "If you don't want me in, I guess I can just go and ask for Jyuto and Rio to go here and cook something for you."
Samatoki flinched from your words – he'd rather have you here than those two and force him to eat something that could worsen his condition. He's annoyed with that angry look on your face when he quickly opens his door, crimson eyes wide and beads of sweat continuously fall down on his face. With no choice left, he gave up.
You could tell from his tone that he still wanted to refuse your help, but sucked it up, "Alright, fine." Samatoki said with his voice starting to sound a bit weaker. He gestured to you to come in and watched you go in with that small bag of various ingredients and medicine. He should've expected that you don't have any plans going home after hearing him sick.
Hearing his door close once again, you turned your body towards his direction and asked him, "How are you feeling?"
Now he has the urge to roll his eyes, as if you couldn't tell by looking at him, "Shit, obviously."
You ignored his sarcastic remark, choosing to take a step forward towards him instead and lifted your hand towards his forehead to check his temperature.
Samatoki watched your hand getting closer and closer to his face. He had no strength to deny your touch, and only watched helplessly as he felt your right hand sway the strays of his hair, gently holding them with your hand so that it won't get wet with his sweat and your other hand brought itself towards his forehead so that you could feel his temperature.
With you being close like this, he watched your eyebrows knit and noticed that you were on your toes as you tried your best to reach him. Honestly, for the first time in his life, thought that it was quite adorable of you to do so. His face felt so hot when he felt your fingers tracing along his skin and with you being physically close to you. He took note of how you watched him with those eyes of yours as his breath hitched, before letting out a light exhale.
After checking his temperature, your hands left his face – there was a slight disappointment inside of him when the lack of foreign warmth left – and looked at him with worry glinting in your eyes. "We should get you to bed for now, Samatoki." you said and touched his arm, dragging him lightly closer to you as a way to guide him towards his room, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you, okay?"
The tone in your voice made him look at you in daze, hearing you with such a caring tone was new to him – usually, the two of you would bicker like no end, but seeing you genuinely worried for him was... Samatoki couldn't think of a word to describe it.
It was surprising that the man beside you didn't put up any fight after you came in – he might be either too tired to fight back or shut his mouth up from the mention of Rio's cooking. That doesn't really matter anyway since the most important thing is for him to get some rest, get taken care of, and feel better.
With your arm linked on his, you guide him on the hallway, open his room's door for him and helped him to lay down on his bed. You swayed his bangs away from his forehead since it's getting covered with sweat, you know how uncomfortable it would be, so you let his forehead be exposed for the world to see and tucked him with his blanket.
"I'll go get something," you said, sitting beside him and touched his hand with yours, giving him a small smile, "I'll be back soon, okay?"
No words left his lips, but you felt his hand wrapping itself on yours tightly. The smile in your face widened before bringing yourself up to stand and go towards his bathroom where you looked for a small towel. After finding one from his vanity, you went towards the sink and let it become wet. Twisting it around with both of your hands so that some of the water is gone, you folded it in half and rushed over Samatoki.
When you went back to him, he had his eyes closed. Looking at his exposed chest, you watched it rise and fall in a fast pace as he tried to catch his breath. The sweating on his forehead increased, and some of his hair was stuck on his face with his sweat. Samatoki might've felt you staring when he opened his eyes, his long eyelashes fluttering as his crimson eyes peered over you with a somewhat tired and troubled look in his face.
Realizing that you did stare at him for too long and felt the wet towel on your hands were starting to make a small puddle on the floor, you quickly went towards him and sat on his bed to put the folded towel on his forehead
You glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table, seeing that it was already eleven o' clock in the morning and it seemed like he woke up just a few hours ago. You looked back at him, eyebrows knitted in worry, "You haven't eaten anything yet, right? I'll go cook – you need to eat first before drinking some medicine."
"Ah, I forgot, but I'll go get you some water too." you said, standing up but felt his hand grab your wrist which made you turn your gaze back towards him, "...Samatoki?"
His eyes widened, surprised why he did it. Samatoki quickly let go of your hand, averting his eyes away from you – he's thankful that his fever was making his cheeks painted red, not because of him being flustered.
However, you stood there, processing what happened just now, "Do you... want me to stay for now?" you offered and watched his gaze land towards you once again. He only nodded as a response, in which you took as a confirmation and sat down on the side of his bed.
Your eyes were fixed at him, observing his every move. His breathing is still shaky, hearing him panting lightly and although the sweat on his forehead was covered, the sweat on other areas of his face were still there. Worried about his condition, you leaned a little bit closer to bring his attention towards you.
Samatoki didn't say anything, but looked at you with his half-lidded eyes, "Why not take some rest for now, Samatoki? I'll stay here for a while and wait for you to sleep before going, is that okay for you?"
He blinked, breath shaking as he answered, "Sure... (Name), don't leave.."
With a smile, you nodded. "I won't."
Hearing those words out of your lips, Samatoki was relieved and let his heavy half-lidded eyes close and fell asleep soon after. With his light snores following afterwards, you watched him sleep for a while before deciding to finally stand up.
✿
It has been sometime since you prepared food for Samatoki. Glancing at the wall clock across the room, it was already fifteen twenty-one when you just finished cleaning his apartment. You would take a look at Samatoki to check his condition and occasionally replace the water from the towel before putting it back to his forehead. A glass of water was placed on his bedside table, ready just in case he ask for water when he woke up.
When Samatoki woke up, the first thing he did was take a look around. You weren't there. He let out a sigh, lifting his body – weakly – and tried to sit. He was still feeling groggy, the throbbing pain in his head seemed to lessen, but it was still there. There were footsteps approaching his room and his gaze was fixed at your figure when you appeared from the door.
From your perspective, his face seemed to brighten for a moment before letting out a yawn. You chuckled from the sight, and he sent you a weak glare. "How are you feeling now?" you asked, taking a seat on the side of his bed once again. You reminded yourself to take a chair from the dining room and bring it here so that you don't have to sit close to Samatoki.
He blinked, head hanging low from drowsiness as he looked at you, "..I'm hungry." Samatoki replied, fighting the urge to let out a yawn, "I still have this shitty headache, but other than that, hungry." he repeated.
You nodded and then told him to wait there while you went to the kitchen to warm up his food and bring it to him. His meal was then brought to him after you took a chair and placed it beside the bed, now putting the tray on your lap. You raised your head, eyes peered at him as you held the bowl towards him, "Be careful, it's hot." Samatoki responded with a hum, then took the food from your grasp and put it on his lap. You also gave him a spoon, which he took and then started eating.
You waited for him to finish eating and there was a wide smile in your face when you saw that he ate everything – and the look on his face while averting his gaze away from yours was also a great sight to see, considering that you weren't expecting him to be flustered on such simple thing. You took the tableware from him, "I'm glad that you liked it, Samatoki."
"S-Shut up already.."
A chuckle escaped from your lips; you glanced at him and noticed that the warmth in his cheeks increased. You weren't sure if it was already there before, but shrugged off the thought as you finally stood up from your seat and turned your back to him, making your way towards the kitchen. You made sure to remember to bring him a glass of water again, so that Samatoki can drink the medicine and take some rest.
Samatoki watched you exit his room. He blinked; thoughts started to flood his mind, for him, he wasn't expecting that you of all people would see him vulnerable like this and offer to take care of him. The two of you had a long friendship, starting from his middle-school years before he became a delinquent. It did surprise him that you still kept contact with him regardless of the things that happened around the two of you, but he was glad that you did. With the two of you spending more time as years pass by, it felt like it was normal to just have you on his side. Shrugging those thoughts away from his mind, Samatoki stood up. The annoying headache was still there, although he could only feel it lightly. Looking at the bedside table, he noticed that you forgot to take his empty glass. He took it, and then made his way towards his kitchen.
After washing the dishes and everything you used in his kitchen, you suddenly felt a cold object hit your cheek in which you felt your spine shiver and took a step away, looking beside you to see Samatoki's half-lidded eyes looking at you.
You stood there, no words left your lips. Samatoki raised a brow over this, but chose to not speak anything about it. "You forgot this."
"Oh, thank you.." was all you could say, taking the glass away from his grasp and said, "You surprised me there, but shouldn't you be in bed?"
Samatoki let out a hum as his crimson eyes gazed at your direction, "(Name)..?" hearing your name roll over his tongue made you look at him in an instant, abandoning whatever you were doing as you gave your attention to him. You blinked, eyes focused on him, "What is it?"
There was a brief silence surrounding the room as the two of you looked at each other's eyes. You watched his half-lidded crimson eyes blink, long eyelashes fluttering like earlier as his face slightly flushed from heat. Samatoki's condition seems to have become better now that he'd rested and taken some medicine, which made you relieved.
You smiled at him, in which his eyes widened a bit as he watched your lips move, "Good thing that you're getting better now, Samatoki." you said and then lifted a hand to his forehead and also did the same to your own, comparing each other's temperature.
Samatoki stiffened for a moment when he felt your fingers brush against his skin before your hand rested on his forehead. He could feel his cheeks flush a little and heard you let out a chuckle. "With a little bit more rest, you'll be able to go to work again tomorrow as usual."
He returned the gesture, now lifting his hand and let it land on the top of your head – making a mess with your (color) tresses as he pat you, feeling your hair between his fingers – you looked at him in confusion when he stopped and had his hand on his side, "Thank you, (Name)."
You blinked, processing what happened just now, "Wait, that's the only thing I get after taking care of you and your house?" you jokingly said, stifling a laugh when you saw Samatoki flinch, "Idiot! I mean, of course I'd express my gratitude first before inviting you out, y'know–," realizing what he said, he quickly covered his mouth in embarrassment – taking note of his wording around you.
Your eyes glanced at him and noticed the tip of his ears redden, making you realize that his words implied more than being friends. With a blush sitting in your face, you looked up at him and met his gaze, seeing him still flustered but removed his hand on his mouth.
A chuckle escaped from your lips, he took note of the lighthearted tone in your voice as he watched the smile in your face widen, "Well, when you get better – then expect a date?"
Samatoki couldn't wait for tomorrow to come sooner.
✿
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