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Practice felt… off, and it took Sae no more than five seconds to figure out why.
Usually, when he entered the locker room, there was an immediate “Sae Itoshi!!!” ringing across the room, yet today there was no loud greeting directed at him. On the field, things felt less intense and exciting, almost dull, which led him to think of why that was.
Where’s Shidou?
Sae looked around, realizing the other man was nowhere to be seen. It was unheard of for Shidou to be skipping practice - he once proclaimed that he would rather watch the world end than be unable to play soccer. He laughed at the face Sae made in response, then added that I mean what I say, Sae-chan! before the two were called back to practice. Even at times when Shidou had gotten a cold, he would still show up to practice, boasting that a measly cold could never stop him from playing.
So, that could only mean Shidou must be very, genuinely sick at the moment, or dead. Sae found himself shivering at the prospect of the latter.
It seemed far-fetched, but Shidou is known to be impulsive and overall lacking control of his urges, especially when his emotions are high - when provoked, he won’t think twice about starting (and ending) a physical altercation. There was a chance he had taken things too far with the wrong person and ended up dead in a ditch.
No, Sae shook his head. He would never let himself die like that. The man was all about finding what makes him feel alive and what gives him “explosions,” and meeting his demise in such a boring way would surely fill him with enough displeasure and spite that he would somehow come back from the dead, if only to enact a proper revenge on his killer before playing football again like nothing ever happened.
Despite being prone to violence, Shidou really wasn’t a cruel or mean-spirited guy - he was just highly impulsive, lacked restraint, and showed no remorse for living in a way that was truly him. While most people disliked him for those reasons, Sae found himself feeling a sense of respect for Shidou for those same reasons. Living unashamedly was not something most people could even fathom doing - Sae included.
Therefore, when practice ended, Sae found himself in front of Shidou’s front door, soup and medicine in hand. His body had moved on autopilot, not stopping to think what kind of teasing he would endure for showing up like this. Too late now, Sae thought to himself. I’m already here. He pressed the doorbell once, listening to the melodic tune and hearing shuffling from the other side of the door, along with a Shit! followed by garbled coughing. Sae’s lips upturned slightly at the sounds.
The door swung open to reveal a very disheveled Shidou, messy hair down from its usual style and sweat clinging to his skin, despite the blanket wrapped around him and the obvious shivering.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, Sae-chan?” Shidou teased, but it came out croaky and half-assed. He glanced at the bag in Sae’s hand with a smirk, though it looked more like a grimace in his current state. “Were you worried about me or somethin’?”
Sae frowned, not at Shidou’s attempt at teasing, but at just how miserable the latter looked, even with his best efforts to appear fine. His initial plan was to just drop off the soup and medication, but-
“Maybe,” Sae replied coolly, ignoring the way Shidou’s eyes widened at the honesty. “Can I come in?”
Shidou stilled for a moment, then moved to the side of the door frame to allow Sae to enter his place. He shut the door quietly, following a couple paces behind the other man who placed his bag of items on Shidou’s kitchen counter.
“Go rest,” Sae said before Shidou could follow him any further, not even turning around as he spoke and busying himself with taking various items out of the plastic bag. “I’ll bring it to you.”
Usually Shidou would’ve made some type of remark on how domestic this situation was and how doting Sae was acting towards him, but he was starting to feel dizzier and weaker each moment he was out of bed. When Sae glanced behind him, awaiting Shidou’s response, the blonde just nodded and dragged his feet back to his bedroom. As soon as he lay back down, exhaustion hit his body full-force, immediately pulled back into a deep slumber.
The next time Shidou was awoken was to a rhythmic push on the back of his shoulder and a familiar voice quietly saying his name. He rolled over, finding Sae standing at the edge of his bed and holding a tray in his hands. Sunlight peeked in behind Sae through a crack in the curtains, illuminating the midfielder’s silhouette from behind. He looks like an angel.
“You’re delirious,” Sae scoffed, but it had no sharpness to it. Shidou must have said that last part out loud on accident.
Sae set the tray on top of the bedside table, along with a water bottle and a couple pills. “Medication,” Sae stated, catching Shidou’s stare at the unknown pills. “For after you eat.”
“Y’know, I appreciate this greatly, Sae-chan,” Shidou hummed, attempting a smile that looked more painful than genuine. “But I don’t think I can eat right now.”
“What have you eaten today, then?”
Shidou stayed silent.
“That’s what I thought,” Sae nodded, unscrewing the lid of the water bottle and grabbing the pills. “Your stomach will feel better after you eat something. It’s light.”
He held out the open water bottle and medication. “Take these first, then eat.”
“And what if I don’t?”
“Then you can die for all I care.”
“Ouch, harsh,” Shidou rolled his eyes, but ended up taking the medication and water from Sae regardless. “No compassion for the sick, I see.”
“No patience for the stupid,” Sae corrected. “We can’t have you playing half-assed for the match against Blue Lock.”
While that part was true, it wasn’t the entire truth. Sae knows no matter what, Shidou will give that match his all, will bend the rules of nature to play at his best, regardless of his health status. The match wasn’t even for another couple weeks - Shidou would’ve been completely recovered by then with time to spare. Yet, for some reason, Sae had gone out of his way to bring Shidou medicine and food despite not even knowing with certainty he was sick.
Shidou knew this too, only cocking an eyebrow in response as if he was reading Sae’s thoughts as he swallowed the medication with a gulp of water. Sae thinks he looks small like this - blankets covering most of his body, hair down, slight pout on his face. He almost looks cute.
“What?” Shidou grins, catching Sae staring at him. “You gonna praise me or somethin’?”
“You’re ridiculous,” Sae ignored the fact he was caught red-handed thinking Shidou was cute , grabbing the tray off the table and setting it on Shidou’s lap gently. “Time to eat.”
“Sir, yes sir,” Shidou murmured, yet it was clear he was amused at Sae’s methodical approach to caring for a sick person. He sat up a bit taller, adjusting himself so he could lean against the headboard more comfortably while he ate.
Suddenly, the blonde pouted dramatically, and Sae fought back a sigh at whatever was about to come out of Shidou’s mouth.
“Can you feed me?” Shidou whined. “I feel too weak and I might drop the spoon.”
Although it was true Shidou was feeling quite weak at the moment, he was sure he could actually feed himself, just like he does every other time he was sick. Or he’d just go back to sleep. Either way, it was meant to get a reaction out of Sae, so one could imagine his surprise when Sae said, without missing a beat-
“Sure.” Sae grabbed the spoon and scooped up some of the liquid, lightly blowing on it before offering it to Shidou. He sipped from the spoon, feeling his face grow hotter than it had been from the fever alone.
“I used to have to take care of Rin when he was sick,” Sae explained as he lifted another spoonful of soup from the bowl. “So I know what to do when it comes to these things.”
“Lucky guy,” Shidou mused. “I never had someone to take care of me when I was sick. Looks like you’ll be my first, Sae-chan.” He winked, the innuendo of the last part not going unnoticed.
(The fact that Shidou had to always take care of himself didn’t go unnoticed by Sae, either.)
“Guess so.” Sae hummed, expressionless as always yet there was a lighthearted tone in his voice.
Those crude jokes and flirtatious innuendos Shidou was practically known for had become less of an annoyance and more of an endearing characteristic lately. Maybe Sae was the one getting sick.
As expected, once Shidou had finished his soup so generously hand-fed to him, he passed out once more. When his breaths evened out and he looked at peace for the first time today, Sae covered his body just a little more with the blankets, a tender gesture he consciously decided to not think too hard about. Every so often, he replaced the cool washcloth on Shidou’s forehead, catching it slipping once in a while as the latter moved in his sleep.
Before Sae knew it, night had fallen and it was time for him to leave, considering Shidou seemed to be in a good enough state to be left alone, recovering more quickly with food and medicine in his system. He thought about leaving a note for Shidou to wake up to, but ultimately didn’t - there was a fine line the two were walking on, and Sae wasn’t sure if he was ready to cross over into more intimidating territory.
-
The next day, Shidou came bounding into the locker room, announcing his arrival with loud greetings and pats on the back. Most of the U-20 members appeared to be relieved to see Shidou again, even if only just because he was a valued player on their team. It only took a couple minutes for him to spot Sae, practically skipping over to the man.
“Sae-chan!” Shidou exclaimed, obviously feeling much better than the previous day. “Hope you’ll take care of me again soon!”
Murmurs and snickers followed Shidou’s words, Sae not even bothering to react to the other members as he shut his locker and silently headed out of the locker room, not paying any mind to Shidou either. Before exiting, he stopped for a moment and glanced over his shoulder, expressionless as always.
“Don’t get sick again, demon.”
“No promises!”
Sae rolled his eyes as he turned back around and left the room. If he caught himself smiling slightly at Shidou’s antics as he walked away, he pretended not to notice.