I feel like I've been run over.
Every muscle in my body is either aching or stiff, my nose is stuffed, my throat hurts, and my body is cold and hot at the same time despite wearing flannel pajamas. At random times last night, I woke up between whatever snipets of random dreams I can remember.
In short, I feel miserable and I've only been awake for 10 seconds.
I was hoping it wouldn't get to this point. Two days ago, I started taking vitamin C supplements because I felt the tickling scratchiness starting up in my throat, and yesterday I was out with the Deku squad in the cold because Uraraka wanted to go to some wings place in the city in the freezing cold. Never did I think it would escalate to this.
I blame Denki. The idiot was coughing like a dog all over the place.
At first, I'm happy it's a Saturday and I can probably just lay in bed and sleep all day. When I finally gather enough energy to roll over and look at my phone, I feel infinitely worse.
Fuck. It's January 11.
Today's Todoroki's birthday. And I'm sick. What kind of twist of fate is this? I wanted to take him out to eat or go to an arcade or something just to spend the day with him, but it takes too much energy to get up.
I huff, guilt eating at me. I have to do this, for my baby. Kicking the covers off, I slowly roll up to sit at the edge of my bed, wrapping myself in my blanket and trudging to the bathroom. The soreness in my limbs beg me to go back to bed, but I repeat the mantra, "For Shouto, it's for Shouto " to keep me going.
As soon as I see myself in the bathroom mirror I whine. My face is so pale that my dark circles are more prominent, emphasizing my obvious lack of good sleep. After I complete the strenuous task of brushing my teeth, I shuffle back to my bed and faceplant down at the foot side since I'm too tuckered out to get in properly. I'll wait for Shouto to come after breakfast. I'll just go back to sleep, I persuade myself as I drift off. Maybe I can ask him to only spend half a day so I can come back and sleep, I'm sure he'll understand...
After some time, I'm startled out of my half slumber by a soft knock at the door. "Love? Are you awake? It's me."
I smile at my precious angel's manners. "Coming, just give me a sec." I gather all my strength and try not to make it look like I'm dying on the inside as I open the door.
There Todoroki stands in his casual clothes, his endearing, ever-neutral face present as usual. "Good morning. You weren't down for breakfast, did you eat already?"
"No, not yet, I just woke up," I answer, my voice slightly hoarse.
His brows furrow. "Did you drink any water yet at least? They say it's good for starting your metabolism in the morning."
I shake my head.
He studies me, his heterochromatic eyes scanning me up and down in my blanket-clad state before scrutinizing my face. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Not really..."
He crosses his arms over his chest and steps towards me, making me take another one back. "You know I don't like it when you don't take care of yourself. You know what that means." A dark aura washes over his face.
I cling to my blanket and screw my eyes shut, somewhat afraid of him when he gets like this.
A warm hand comes down on my head. "You feel warmer than you're supposed to, the heat's radiating off of you. Not to mention you're pale," he comments. He removes his hand. "Get back to bed, you're not going anywhere today."
"But it's your birthday, I wanted to spend the day with you," I cough at the end. The muffled noise and the pain in my ears that follows males me realize my hearing is shot along with everything else wrong with me.
"We can spend the day in bed together," he argues, pushing me gently down to recline.
I groan at how stubborn he is. "Can't we go out for half a day? I promise I'll rest later."
"No," Todoroki dismisses tersely, refitting the blanket across my sheets. "We can save that for tomorrow, you need rest." He places a gentle kiss on my forehead and pauses. "That's definitely a low to mid grade fever. Can I trust you to stay here while I gather some supplies?"
I blink. What. "Yes, I'll stay put," I surrender.
After almost half an hour, Todoroki returns, awakening me from my slumber with arms full.
"What the-" I eye the huge pot in his hands and a tote bag hanging off his arm.
He set the pot down on the floor. "I took the liberty of making you chicken soup with some ginger for your throat. I also brought some medicine for your fever, a box of tissues, a humidifier, some nose spray for the congestion, a bag of cough drops, a thermos of water, a carton of orange juice-"
I whine out loud like a child, feeling a huge rock of guilt on my chest.
"Is something wrong? Are you in pain?" His affectionate gaze flickers to me in worry.
"You're killing me, Shouto!"
He sits next to me on the bed, brushing my face with his fingertips. "Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry-"
"No, it's not you," I sigh. "I just feel so bad. Today's your birthday, and here you are taking care of me because I got sick instead of doing something fun. I'm terrible."
His fingers brush my hair off my forehead. "Love, it's not your fault that you're sick on my birthday-"
"Yeah, it's Kaminari's," I interject with a pout.
Todoroki chuckles. "I'll fix him later. I don't need anything special, I just want to spend time with you. Besides, you being ill gives me the perfect excuse to stay by your side all day."
Warmth blooms in my chest at his loving words. I sniff, "You're too good to me."
He kisses my forehead again. "I'm fully expecting the same treatment if I ever get sick as repayment."
"Huh?!"
A heart-melting smile cracks across his face. "Kidding, Love. Just finish your soup and let me take care of you. That's more than enough repayment."
The rest of the day passed in a comfortable blur. Todoroki fed me soup by the bowl every few hours for my meals, made sure I drank water throughout the day, and gave me orange juice to drink. "You need the Vitamin C to help your immune system work," he says. All day, he wrapped us in blankets as we binge-watched shows and movies on my laptop while regulating my temperature with his quirk. He catered to every need I had from my stuffy nose to my muffled hearing. He even started massaging my sore muscles to ease the dull pain. My heart couldn't feel fuller knowing he willingly nursed me back to health when he could've been doing something more fun or at least productive.
"Shouto, don't you want to at least go train today?" I ask. "You don't have to sit here with me the whole day."
His hand around my body squeezes tighter. "I'd rather be here with you than train."
I weakly hit his chest. "You sound slightly obsessive."
Todoroki's cool fingers absently play with my hair, brushing my cheeks. "If you fall asleep, I'll step out for a little so I don't bother you."
After a moment, I tilt my head up at him. "I want to give you your gift at least. It's in the top drawer."
Quirking an eyebrow, he gets out of bed and opens my chest of drawers. "You didn't need to get me anything." He pulls out a thin, black cardboard box on top.
"I'm warning you now, it's kind of stupid, but I didn't know what to get for a boy who already has everything," I admit, nervously watching him sit back next to me and open it.
Inside is a simple string bracelet with two silver balls flanking a golden Sun symbol. Todoroki takes it out and immediately puts it on his right wrist to admire it, though his expression is blank as ever.
"I know you don't wear jewelry, but I wanted to keep it simple. Besides, it's actually a couples set," I nod over to my bedside table. "Mine is over there."
He surveys the mess and locks eyes with a bracelet of similar design except a silver crescent moon is in the middle.
"You get the Sun one because you're my precious sunshine boy," I chuckle before coughing to clear my throat. "Sorry, that was really cheesy-"
Todoroki cups my face and seals my lips before I can finish. I almost kiss him back instinctively, but I pull his hands away. "Shouto, I'm sick-"
"Thank you." A soft smile appears across his features and his eyes glint in affection, washing me over in warmth. "I'll wear it every day, when I'm not training so it won't break."
Before I can respond, he tackles me in another kiss, sending my heart into a frenzy of irregular beats. His kisses are sweet yet searing, pouring all of his love as he moves against me, clinging to my body like a lifeline.
When Todoroki finally pulls away, my head spins, but I can't miss the grin on his face as he caresses my cheek. "I love you," he whispers.
And just like that, my heart feels squeezed again. "You're gonna get sick."
He pecks my nose. "At least it's from you."
I bury my face in his chest, heat rushing to my cheeks and ears. "I love you too, you big dork."
The rise and fall of his chest and his soft touch in my hair lulls me to sleep in his arms, a smile on both of our faces.
Brb it's almost 1am and I want to cry bc of how soft I am. Where's my Todoroki boyfriend?? I'm suing.
Happy birthday to softboi Todo!! He deserves all the love and cuddles and affection and kisses and soba he deserves uwu
~Tiny Senpai