Work Text:
Rui was never one to get sick.
Of course, there were the countless nights he spent working on his inventions, not eating or sleeping or caring for himself in general. He was usually extremely tired but he never got a fever.
If he did, he hid it well.
He hid everything well.
He only realized that maybe today was not the best day to act like he was fine when he collapsed.
He had noticed the trembling. How his voice was choked up, how his head felt like cotton, how he was breathing too fast.
But he thought nothing of it.
It’s fine, he thought to himself as he carried a box to the stage where the light of his life Tsukasa was talking with Emu about something. We’re only going to be here for...what, another hour? Then I can go home and rest.
Then his legs lost feeling.
It’s a funny feeling, really. One minute you’re walking fine, and the next, you can’t control the coldness that seeps up your legs as they spasm and you fall to the floor. You’re left seconds behind the action, wondering what happened. And then the pain starts.
The box of props fell from his hands.
Rui landed on his side, forcing a heaving gasp.
When did his breaths become so hard to take?
The sounds blurred, a mixture of alarmed voices and the sound of Rui’s labored breathing. It was...loud. It was so loud and Rui hurt and there was and was tired-
Rui closed his eyes.
---
It was cold.
A chilling kind of cold that permeated the skin and settled in the bones. The onset was quick, and Rui’s mind, slow from fatigue, didn’t have time to comprehend the switch from warm to chill.
And yet, his insides felt as if they were being boiled alive.
Rui gasped as he regained some consciousness.
His mouth was dry and hot, making him choke and drawing heavy coughs, coughs that tore through his chest and throat like knives as they made their way up.
He turned to the side, desperate for it to stop, but he could do no more than tilt his head before his energy was spent.
There was a sudden warmth guiding his chin back up, and the press of a cool, hard thing (from the smooth texture, Rui inferred it was a cup) to his warm, chapped lips. A small trickle of water poured into his mouth, soothing his throat. He willed himself to not cough until he had drunk all of the water.
He heard a sigh as the glass was pulled away. “Really, Rui, you gotta stop pushing yourself so hard.”
Tsukasa?
This was…decidedly not good.
Rui never meant for Tsukasa to see him like this. Rui wasn’t supposed to break down, he was supposed to support Tsukasa. He couldn’t exactly support him in this state.
He opened his eyes after a painful second to be met with the ceiling. He heard shuffling from beside him and let his head loll to the side.
Tsukasa was staring at him with wide eyes. “O-oi, Rui, you’re awake?”
Rui opened his mouth to respond, but couldn’t get his voice to function. All that came out was a pitiful wheeze.
“Oioioi, stop that, you don’t need to talk. Just relax.” Tsukasa got up and got closer, kneeling next to the bed. “You need to rest.”
Rui tried shaking his head and attempted coherent speech again, trying to ignore how gravelly his voice was. “Show…invention…”
“Nope, none of that!” Tsukasa proclaimed. “Listen up! Characters are not good characters if they are not flawed! And Rui is the greatest character of all!” The boy coughed, a small blush blooming on his cheeks. “So! Uhm, where was I going with this…so you need to rest!”
The silly explanation made Rui’s lips turn up against his will.
Trust Tsukasa to incorporate his love for shows into an explanation like this.
“...Hey, are you good?”
Rui groaned in response.
“Can’t sleep?”
Rui nodded once before nausea took over and he shut his eyes.
“Ru-rui! Don’t nod like that, I thought that was obvious!” Tsukasa sounded exasperated. “Haaah, we really need you to fall asleep. What can I do, what can I do…”
“Hm, what if…”
He placed a hand in Rui’s hair.
And oh, if it weren’t the most wonderful sensation Rui had ever felt.
Tsukasa threaded his hands through the purple strands, a light dusting of pink covering his face. “This- this alright with you?”
Rui smiled and closed his eyes, letting his head push further into Tsukasa’s hand and humming contentedly.
Tsukasa laughed. “Alright then.”
—
Rui would never have expected Tsukasa to be such a…soft person.
He wa usually all boisterous energy and loud remarks, but at that moment, he was simply rambling about his day in a soft voice, fingers still in Rui’s hair. He talked about the new ways Akito managed to bully him, how the show preparation was going, and even a little about Saki. About how he was used to doing stuff like this for Saki in the hospital.
Even if he thought that Rui was asleep, he still kept going.
Rui faded in and out of consciousness, catching little snippets.
“Saki did the same thing, ya know,” Tsukasa laughed. “Wanted to be like her friends so she pushed herself beyond what she could handle. Landed herself in the hospital again. Gave me a heart attack.” A pause. “...You really scared me, when you fell like that. I…I don’t want to see that again.”
A warmth that could only be Tsukasa’s hand enveloped Rui’s.
“...Please, Rui? Let me know if anything happens? Or Emu, or Nene, or anyone really…I know it might be hard, heck, I even have trouble telling people my problems sometimes, but…please?”
Rui wanted so badly to respond, but sleep took over his senses at that very moment.
—
It was dusk when Rui finally regained full consciousness.
His headache had finally subsided. A cool, damp cloth rested on his forehead. A hand clasped his own still.
Tsukasa had fallen asleep.
Cheek smushed into the blanket, peach hair strewn around him in an angelic halo, a peaceful face emitting soft snores.
Rui’s heart jumped.
He smiled at the other boy and whispered.
“Thank you.”