In a Daze

Too much time in the hot spring has left Atsushi feeling weak, dizzy, and contemplative. En's muscles are not helping.

This was all En's fault.

Or, at least, that was what Atsushi kept telling himself, and he reeled into the changing room of Kurotama, trying his best not to stumble and fall on his face. His mind felt like hot soup, his vision swam, and his body was uncomfortably warm and damp, as if it were still in the steam. He stopped to mop up the sweat pooling on his brow with the hand towel. The way the world kept spinning when he closed his eyes made him groan.

"Easy, I got you," En's voice was slightly slurred, but his steadying hold on Atsushi's shoulder was firm as he guided his friend. In contrast to Atsushi, En was still standing straight. That wasn't fair.

"This is your fault," Atsushi didn't care if he sounded like he was pouting. He was. "En-chan, you're an old man, so you were in the bath too long. Now I'm dizzy."

"M'sorry," he replied quietly. His lack of reaction to the old man comment nagged Atsushi to let it go already, but the fact that one of them was still perfectly fine after a full half hour in the hot spring made Atsushi feel less forgiving.

En guided Atsushi to one of the benches. Atsushi leaned back, resting his head against the cool wall with his eyes closed, waiting for the vertigo to pass.

The hot spring had been exceptionally nice and refreshing that day, which unfortunately for Atsushi, only brought out the worst in En, who wanted nothing more than to relax in it forever with his best friend. Atsushi knew his limits. He'd been going to hot springs long enough to know how long he could stay in one before starting to feel lightheaded. But En had been insistent; begging and pleading for a few more minutes, and he was just so meek about it that Atsushi couldn't help but indulge him a little. And of course, he refused to let Atsushi out to sit beside the tub, because it was too lonely and empty without him.

Fifteen minutes of indulgence later, Atsushi thought he would faint. At least En had the decency to take responsibility for that.

"Atsushi," En's voice brought him back to the present, and he cracked open one glassy eye. With En standing over him, Atsushi's eyes were at level with his torso, so that was the first thing he noticed.

Muscles…

"Hey!" En waved his hand in front of Atsushi's face, reminding him to look up. His bright blue eyes bore into him, full of concern. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just… give me a few minutes," Atsushi assured him.

"I'm going to get you something cold to drink. Sit tight."

"Wait, En-chan, you should…change," the sentence fell on deaf ears, as En, with only a towel around his waist, had already run off, with far more energy that Atsushi ever thought possible from him.

Guess he really does feel bad, Atsushi sighed, But he really should have gotten dressed first. Though thinking about it some more, he didn't particularly mind. They were the only ones at the bathhouse, and, anyway, he was used to seeing En like that. Although… he'd never realized just how… muscular his friend really was.

Logic told him it made no sense. En was just about the laziest person on the planet, and would spend his whole life lying in a bed and eating bread if he could. In fact, he did, whenever Atsushi wasn't around to drag him outside.

No, logic dictated that En should have a soft flabby belly. Not muscles.

Maybe from all the fighting? Atsushi wondered. There were only two types of exercising that En did: the near-daily commute up and down the stairs to school, and the far less regular Battle Lover fighting. In phys ed, En made a huge effort to make the least amount of effort possible, and got away with doing the bare minimum, (albeit mainly because the teacher was just sick of dealing with him and refused to be stuck with him another year (without Atsushi as the hapless middleman) just because he couldn't pass the class. Oddly enough, most of their teachers shared the sentiment.)

But if it only took those things, then Atsushi should have had nice muscles too, he lamented. Instead he was a scrawny stick figure… and he at least made an effort to take care of himself.

I bet those muscles just absorbed all the heat. And that's why he's still in top form.

Absorbed in his heat-hazed thoughts, Atsushi was hardly even aware of the commotion a short distance away, and the fact that Gora was frog marching En back to the benches until they were right in front of him.

"Gora-san, I told you I'm—

"Sit down before you fall over," Gora's voice left absolutely no room for argument, and reluctantly, En plopped down beside Atsushi, to the latter's befuddlement.

He then knelt down beside them, and in a much softer tone, addressed Atsushi. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, I'm fine," Atsushi assured him, "Just a bit lightheaded."

Gora nodded. "I'll get you some water," he said and walked away.

As soon as he turned the corner, Atsushi turned to En. He didn't even get a chance to before En snapped, "Don't worry about it."

"En-chan, what's wrong? Your face is all red. Wait," Atsushi frowned and leaned closer. En's face wasn't red in the sense of embarrassment or anger. It was flushed, and there was a familiar dazed look in his eyes as well. Atsushi sighed.

"Don't tell me; the heat really did get to you too." It wasn't a question, and En's frown only served to confirm the statement.

"Really, En-chan, what am I going to do with you? And you were acting so energetic before too. You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just… sorry."

Atsushi bit his lip, feeling slightly guilty for his earlier snappishness. He should have noticed that En wasn't at his best either—especially when he didn't react to being called an old man. Atsushi opened his mouth to apologize, but seeing En looking pointedly in the other direction, clearly peeved, made him hold off. In a way, he kind of liked this humble En-chan.

They sat in silence, the seconds dragging out. It shouldn't have taken Gora that long to fetch them some water, but somehow the bathhouse felt unusually quiet and empty. En still had his head tilted in the other direction, though his eyes seemed fixated on something in Atsushi's. Atsushi, for his part, tried not to notice, though he couldn't help but occasionally shoot concerned glances at En (and his muscles) as well.

"…in."

"Hm?" Atsushi raised his head.

"I said you're too thin," En repeated, "I worry."

"Don't." He wasn't even embarrassed by that remark, just annoyed. En was the last person he wanted to hear that from. "We can't all have bodies like Adonis," he muttered under breath sulkily.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, tell me."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Liar. Something about udon? Are you hungry?"

"No! I said—forget it," Atsushi caught himself in time. Where was Gora with that water? He really needed something cold. Clearly, his mind did not work properly in this heat.

Thankfully, Gora chose that moment to make his reappearance, which stopped En from pressing further. He held two glasses of ice-cold water, which were accepted gratefully.

The cold water felt good. Not just for drinking, but for holding as well. The cold glass against Atsushi's warm skin was refreshing. He vaguely recalled En once telling him that people in northern countries like Finland and Russia would roll outside in the snow after spending time in a bathhouse. He wasn't sure how true that story was, but in that moment, he could understand their sentiments (though he would never try it himself, and neither would En, if he had anything to say about it.)

"Thank you Gora-san," Atsushi said, already feeling a little better, "Sorry about this."

"It's fine," Gora nodded. He didn't move though, just watched them closely, "Half an hour, huh?" He looked at En.

"It just felt so nice," En admitted, "Besides, I could handle it."

"Show off," Atsushi muttered darkly.

"In a way, I'm impressed," Gora admitted, "Especially with you," he nodded at a stunned Atsushi, "Even Yumoto would have likely collapsed after that. You're tougher than you look." Atsushi averted his gaze. In a way hearing that did make him feel a little better, since Yumoto was, despite his boyish looks, actually plenty fit himself.

"But don't do it again."

"Yes," En and Atsushi said together sheepishly. "Sorry for troubling you like this," Atsushi added.

"It's no trouble," Gora said, "This is part of my job too." Then his face softened and he placed his hands atop their heads, ruffling their hair, "But more importantly, you are Yumoto's precious friends. You could never be a bother."

Gora stood over them until the flush faded from their faces and only went back to the counter with the glasses after being assured that, no, they really didn't need him to call anyone or personally walk them home.

The cold water and sitting on the bench really did help a lot. Atsushi's head still felt a bit foggy, but he didn't need En holding him up anymore. And En's own mood had improved as well.

"Getting my hair ruffled like a little kid. How embarrassing," he bemoaned as they got dressed, "But still, Gora-san has a really firm grip, doesn't he?"

"He does," Atsushi agreed.

"Chopping wood must be a really good workout," En continued, "Though I bet he presses weights too."

"Mhm?" Where was En going with this?

"I wonder if I could get some muscle if I started working out," then he snorted, "Nah, that's way too much effort."

Atsushi stopped in the middle of buttoning his shirt and turned to his best friend in disbelief. Was he serious?

En paused when he caught Atsushi's stare. "Something wrong?"

"Of course not."

"Er, you sound angry. You're not still upset with me are you? Wait, don't tell me you want to start working out. Atsushi, no. It won't do you any good anyway."

En meant well—really he did. Atsushi knew that. Really.

But he swore he could hear his last nerve snap.

"Oh shut up, Adonis!"

"Adonis? Wha—wait. Is that what you said before?" En grinned.

"I'm not talking to you. Friendship over."

"Hmm, it definitely works both ways though. Atsushi's body is definitely like udon. Long and thi—no, I think soba would be more appropriate here."

"En-chan, I will punch you."

"Hey Atsushi, let's get lunch. I'm in the mood for udon now."

"Get it yourself," Atsushi snapped, grabbed his bag from the locker and started walking away, saying "bye" to Gora as he walked past. En followed, still grinning.

"You know, I'm sure there's at least one Greek place in this city. We could go there instead. Hey, Atsushi, are you listening? Atsushi!"

Gora watched them leave, En still playfully teasing Atsushi, who, despite his best efforts, was going to cave in at any moment, and shook his head with a small knowing smile. They'd be just fine.

A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope this is okay...

...*hides*