"You is sick."
That was all it took for Riko to appear by You's bedside, medicine and fruit filled bags dangling from both hands. Her uniform was drenched in sweat and her breaths had been reduced to long desperate wheezes that lasted more than a second. You'd think that after all those hours of dancing under the Sun, all those years of having a composed and reasonable mind, that Riko would be one to understand that waiting for the bus was more efficient than running a whole damn mile only to have the bus brush past mockingly 5 minutes after she had broken into a sprint; or that there was a certain individual affectionately referred to by You as 'Mother' who was there to ensure You's survival - but no, Riko had no such understanding.
It only started to bother her now, as she leaned over You's tilted figure, fingers gently pressing her left shoulder down such that she laid flat, facing the ceiling and Riko. Of course, she could have just caught the bus and saved her legs from a few days' aching. Or just not pay You a visit at all since she was already getting taken cared of; she couldn't.
Riko recognised You's raspy exhalation before she saw her eyes twitch open, before she saw her mouth taking the form of her name. "Riko-chan?" You's voice was soft. "What are you doing here?" Her voice cracked a little at the end, but Riko knew she only heard that because they were so close; because her face was still hanging dryly over You's flushed ones. Their lack of personal space was expected; she had to lean over to tuck You in after all, but that didn't stop a light tinge of pink from appearing on Riko's cheeks.
"I'm here to make sure you recover as soon as possible." She settled into a kneeling position, You's head turning to follow her. The towel bunched up in her hand had long gone dry from her palm's heat, so she turned to dampen it in the basin next to her, her eyes rigidly cast downward and away from You. "You're an important member of Aqours," she suddenly added as an afterthought, her gaze now studiously fixed on the last drops of water as they fell from the towel and back into the basin. Then almost regrettably: "You're an important friend of mine."
A rush of blood to Riko's cheeks; she moved to place the towel on You's forehead, her fingertips trailing thinly across her warm face as she retracted her hand and turned away once again, pretending to search for something in her bag of medical supplies.
But the heat on her fingers only grew stronger, spreading under her skin and across her body like a forest fire; and the stagnant warmth of the room only stuck to her skin, raising an army of goosebumps when a stray breeze grazed her exposed arms. She knew all too well what this feeling was, and she prayed all too hard for it to go away, for it to leave her alone.
A rustle of bedsheets, then a damp sound of parting lips. "You're an important friend of mine too."
You had sat up. Even with her back facing her, Riko could see it - her grey hair hovering over her shoulders, her twinkling sapphire eyes earnestly waiting for a response, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip, her small yet calloused hands nervously fiddling around. Riko could see it, and she knew that if she was to turn, to meet those curious eyes, her heart would be once again sent into a flaming frenzy that would only subside after a few screams into her pillow - and that, as of now, she could not afford.
The air went still. Riko shifted, suddenly, uncomfortably aware of 3 things - first, how she had never been in such close quarters with You before, second, the arms that have snaked around her torso, trapping her in an embrace, and third, the heavy hotness that was pressed tightly against her back, keeping the last bit of air she had drawn from escaping.
She could feel You's hot breath against her back, the tightening around her stomach; and the longer these feelings lasted, the more her cheeks burned, the more she felt like screaming, the more she felt like turning and pulling the girl into an embrace, the more she felt like spontaneously combusting. But she didn't move. She couldn't. Not until she had finally collected what little sanity her burning mind had left, caught her breath, and spat, rather than spoke, winded: "Y-You-chan?"
She stirred slightly at the mention of her name, then, as quickly as her arms had wrapped around Riko, they retracted, leaving a - hopefully - everlasting ring of warmth around Riko's body.
Riko had never regretted saying You's name as much.
Her heart had never beat as fast.
"Sorry. I did something weird." You's voice sounded, frail and soft; yet it lingered around Riko's ears teasingly, tempting her to respond, tempting her to just turn around and hold the girl in her arms.
So, she turned around.
She was quick to school her features before her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped embarrassingly open, but even inside that loose pair of pyjamas, with her face flushed a crimson red, teal eyes glazed with a layer of tears, and her always-smiling lips curled in a downward parabola, she was still Watanabe You, and she still had those eagle eyes.
"No," she uttered, lifting the towel to her face as if to say, 'don't look at me'.
Then the towel was swept away, and Riko found her hands cupped around You's face.
Her cheeks burned an impossible red and Riko could almost feel the rapid throbbing of You's heart; or was it her own? She lifted her head to meet You's gaze, suddenly realising that this was the first time they had looked each other in the eye since entering the room. "That wasn't weird," she said with a rueful smile. "That was cute."
Then, before Riko could migrate to another country, change her name, live in eternal shame, forever haunted by those careless words of hers, You pulled her into another hug, fingers tightly laced and held against Riko's back.
"You're cuter."
Her voice was croaky, all choked up with mucus, and her cheeks sparked a fire where they met Riko's.
It took everything Riko had to not scream or shout or punch herself in the face, but nothing could stop her arms from pulling the girl closer and burying her own blazing face deep into the nape of her neck.
She felt bad, suddenly realising that the little ball of warmth held so preciously in her arms was perhaps, only allowing her to do so under the influence of medicine and due to the drowsiness from her fever, and that her whispered words were everything but something she would remember once her fever had went down.
But it felt unfair. Like getting punished for doing something while someone else gets away for doing the same thing - or something more poetic than that.
So if being sick was a good enough excuse to make Riko's heart swell up and explode, then she couldn't see a single reason why she shouldn't do the same to You.
Her hand, without warning, grasped the lengths of You's hair, gathering them neatly to one side, and pinning them down with a finger.
Then, placing her lips next to You's exposed ear, her voice sounded, dulcet and crisp:
"I love you."
Riko was, after all, sick too; she was hopelessly lovesick.
A/N: So for some reason, I can't promote my Insta here woops. Try searching up Watanabe You (a period) soro (remove the spacings). Hope I bypassed whatever was censoring me. I've already posted this on the account but I just wanted to share it on other platforms as well. I post YouRiko fanart daily so do follow me if you are interested.