Hello everyone! I hit a bit of a road block with my other story so here's a fluffy SouMako (because they're so adorable together) one-shot for you. I'm still getting to know these two so if they're a bit ooc I apologize. Let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, just borrowing them for a little bit.
Makoto groaned as he heard his alarm go off, rolling over so he could shut it off he slowly opened his eyes and squinted at the time groaning again when he realized it was only 8am. Sitting up he rested his head in his hands, he felt like he had been hit by a bus but he couldn't afford to miss class now; midterms were in a couple weeks and Sousuke was coming over this afternoon to study with him and then they were supposed to Skype with Rin and Haru while they were away at a swim competition. He had to clean his apartment before he left for his first class at 10, hence the early alarm. Smiling a little at the thought of the former Samezuka swimmer Mako sighed and hauled himself out of bed to go shower.
Once in the shower he let the warm water run over him, relaxing his aching body. Reaching for his shampoo he thought back to how running into Sousuke literally meant into running into him.
Flashback:
"Oof"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!" Makoto apologized. Looking up he was pretty sure his jaw hit the ground after seeing who he ran into.
"Yamazki-kun?!"
"Yo Tachibana" Sousuke responded with a lazy smile "fancy meeting you her, Rin mentioned you were coming to Tokyo but he never told me you were coming here."
Flustered and seeing the small smile on his face Makoto felt his face quickly heat up, before he processed what Sousuke had just said.
"Ah! I don't think I had mentioned what school I was going to at the time of our conversation...but he never told me that you were going to be in Tokyo...mou" he pouted.
Chuckling at the look on his face Sousuke started walking into the classroom, Makoto falling into step beside him and chatting before sitting together near the middle of the room.
"I have a free period after this class, would you like to get coffee? Or do you need to head to another class?" Sousuke asked curiously.
"Ah, I'm free until this afternoon, coffee sounds lovely thank you" he responded with a soft smile
End flashback
That was over two months ago now, and since then coffee and studying together had become a regular thing for them as well as first names, Yamazaki and Tachibana got to be a bit of a mouthful after awhile. Oh! Sousuke and Haru got along now too! Which made both Makoto and Rin happy, while they likely wouldn't ever be the best of friends they at least respected each other enough not to bring up any past issues they had with the other.
After quickly finishing up his shower Makoto stepped out, only to stumble when his vision darkened, catching himself on his vanity he leaned against it until his vision cleared again.
'I'm fine' he thought to himself 'I just need to get something to eat'
Looking up at his reflection he was shocked at how he looked. His face had no colour except for a brush of red across the tops of his cheeks, and he looked like he had two black eyes.
"I'll be fine, I just have a few classes today before Sousuke and I come back to study. I can just take it easy then" he mumbled to himself before getting dressed and starting to clean.
The cleaning luckily didn't take long, just gathering up any laundry he had to do over the weekend and making his bed in his bedroom, straightening up the small living room, and doing the few dishes he had in the sink. Finishing up he checked the time, seeing the clock reading 9:30 he figured he might as well head for campus and see if he could catch Sousuke before their first class; eating a piece of toast so that he had something in his stomach he grabbed the tea he had made to take with him and grabbed his jacket, scarf, and bag and headed out.
On the way to campus Makoto once again found his thoughts wandering to a certain teal-eyed butterfly swimmer, which really wasn't surprising at this point. Besides the regular coffee and study dates they'd also been going to the gym and swimming. While neither swam competitively anymore; Sousuke due to his injured shoulder (though it had healed for the most part, he just had to be careful not to over do it) and Makoto because he wanted to become a coach rather then an athlete himself, they both wanted to keep in shape. Seeing the way Sousuke's muscles moved when they were together, not to mention seeing him in his jammers again when they were swimming and it's really no wonder why he was always on his mind. Pair that with his surprisingly gentle if not a bit gruff personality and Makoto had to admit, if only to himself that he was falling for the guy. Blushing slightly he shook his head.
'I doubt he'd be interested in me, besides I don't even think he's gay. I'll be content with our relationship as is' he smiled to himself.
"Oy! Makoto!"
Hearing his name Makoto turned quickly, only to have his vision waver again and cause him to lose his balance. Screwing his eyes shut he braced for meeting the ground when he felt strong hands grab his shoulders and steady him.
"Remind me not to call out to you next time you're so deep in thought" a familiar voice said with a chuckle.
Opening his eyes, he was met with surprisingly warm teal coloured eyes, though he could see the concern behind them.
"Ah, Sousuke! Sorry about that, I just turned too quickly" Makoto said with a sheepish grin. "We should get going, walk with me the rest of the way to class?" he asked while backing away sightly. As he went to turn around again to continue walking, Sousuke caught his arm and turned him around again. Seeing the look of confusion on Makoto's face he responded.
"Yea, I'll walk with you, but are you alright? You don't look too well" he asked, while gently resting his hand on Makoto's face, lightly brushing his thumb along the discolouration under his eye.
'So cute' Sousuke thought with a blush, when Makoto closed his eyes and lightly nuzzled the hand on his face. He was glad that his cheeks were already red from the cold when he saw those beautiful emerald eyes open again.
"I didn't sleep well last night, that's all. Besides we only have a few classes today so I'll be fine. Thank you for worrying about me though." Makoto said with a small smile.
"Considering you worry about the rest of us on a daily basis I think you deserve to have someone worry about you for a change" Sousuke said with a smirk. "Come on, lets get going. We can relax for a bit before we hit the books when we get back to your place this afternoon."
With another smile and a nod Makoto once again turned around and started heading towards their first class, not noticing behind him that Sousuke was watching him with a worried look. As they went through the few classes they had, Sousuke only grew more worried. Makoto seemed almost sluggish, his face pale except for a persistent splash of colour across his cheeks and he couldn't seem to focus. By the time their last class was finished around 2:30pm Makoto looked like he was ready to drop and Sousuke had never been so thankful that he was going with him, he was afraid that if left alone Makoto would never make it home.
Packing his bag he stood up, grabbed his jacket and headed over to where Makoto was just finishing putting his books away.
"Ready to go?" Makoto asked looking up from where he had just finished loading his bag.
"Yup, ready when you are" he said while pulling on his jacket.
"Great, lets go" standing up Makoto pulled on his own jacket, grabbed his bag and proceeded to lead the way back to his apartment.
The walk home was pretty uneventful, though it did make Sousuke worry more. Makoto was in good shape; hell they both were, but he sounded like he was having trouble catching his breath. He had never seen Makoto like this, and was beyond thankful when the apartment building came into view.
They quickly walked the rest of the way and were soon heading up to Makoto's apartment.
Makoto had never felt so glad to be home, opening the door he ushered Sousuke in before following him and shutting the cold air out. Turning around he saw Sousuke with his jacket already hung up and was just removing his shoes when he looked back over his shoulder.
"What time are Rin and Nanase calling again? I know it's today" he asked setting his shoes to the side and turning around to face Makoto again.
Makoto, who had been admiring the way Sousuke's jeans fit him; snapped out of it once he heard the question.
"Umm around 4:30 I think, what time is it now?" he asked, setting down his bag and stripping off his scarf and jacket to hang them up before sitting down to remove his shoes.
"Almost 3" Sousuke responded after checking his phone. Putting it back in his pocket he went ahead and grabbed both his and Makoto's bags, turned and headed into the living room.
"I'll go get the computer set up so that it's ready when they call" he called over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner.
"Thanks Sousuke!" he called back, before taking a moment and just letting his body rest against the wall.
He had been feeling progressively worse all day, and now had quite the headache to go along with his aches and messed up vision. Sighing to himself he proceeded to take off his shoes and set them to the side. Hearing Sousuke start to come back from the living room Makoto jumped up from where he was sitting and turned around to face the hall, which ended up being a big mistake. The last thing he remembered seeing was Sousuke coming around the corner and hearing him call his name before darkness finally took him.
"Makoto!?" Sousuke shouted.
He had just come around the corner to see what was taking him when he started to crumple just like a puppet with their strings cut. Running forward he managed to catch the younger man around the shoulders before he hit the floor completely, sighing in relief he went to brush Makoto's hair away from his face only to realize that he was burning up and his breathing was laboured.
"Damnit Mako, why didn't you tell me you were sick" he mumbled to himself before hoisting him into his arms and heading towards his bedroom.
Pushing open the door to the bedroom, Sousuke lay Makoto on the bed and proceeded to look for something more comfortable that he could sleep in. Finding a loose fitting shirt and a pair of loose pair of pants laying over the back of his desk chair he grabbed them up and took them back over to the bed, setting them beside Makoto and taking a look at him again he realized that he was out cold and would not be able to help. Sighing to himself and praying that he wouldn't get a punch in the face for this later he went about taking stripping him down to his boxer briefs and redressing him, trying not to stare at the well built body nearly as big as his own.
He wasn't stupid, he knew that he liked Makoto he just didn't know how "Mamakoto" as he had heard Rin refer to him as before; felt about him. But he could figure out later, right now Makoto needed to be looked after first and feelings could be addressed later. After he had finished dressing him and tucking him under his blankets he headed to the bathroom, returning after a few minutes with a cold cloth which he set on Makoto's forehead. Pulling over the desk chair Sousuke sat down and prepared to wait until Mako woke up.
A little while later Sousuke was brought out of his contemplation of Makoto's breathing by the sound of someone calling on Skype. Checking the time he wondered who could be calling when it was only 3:30 before quietly getting up and heading to the living room. Sitting down in front of where the computer was set up, he was surprised to see that it was Rin calling and quickly accepted the call.
"Oy! It's about time you answered" grumbled the shark toothed red head as his image appeared on screen with Nanase beside him.
"Yo Rin, Nanase, you called early I wasn't expecting to hear from you for another hour" Sousuke said leaning back on his hands.
"Yea, well we figured we would call before you and Mako-"
"Where's Makoto?" Haru cut Rin off before he could finish his sentence.
Sighing Sousuke closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair before looking back at the screen and seeing 2 pairs of worried eyes on him responded.
"He's in bed, running a pretty high fever. He passed out on me just after we got home, he didn't even tell me he was sick" he grumbled.
At that response Rin groaned and rubbed his temples while he saw Haru facepalm, he cocked an eyebrow at their reactions.
"I get the feeling this is nothing new then..." he said sighing again. Rin snorted before replying.
"Are you kidding? Makoto is rediculously good at hiding things he doesn't want people to know, which is pretty much everything. The first time it happened we were all at Haru's, we freaked and had to get his dad to come get him."
"When he woke up we went to see him and he informed us that he had been feeling sick for a couple days but didn't want to worry us." Haru added
Sousuke knew he shouldn't be surprised, but he was floored at just how selfless Makoto could be, even as a kid.
'Well then, if he can't look after himself properly I guess I'll just have to look after him instead' he thought to himself.
"Can you cook?" Haru asked suddenly.
"Hmm? Yea I can, why?" he asked curiously.
"Because Makoto's going to be stuck in bed the next 2 days at least and won't be able to cook for himself, though once he's able to get up and moving he recovers pretty quick" Rin said.
"He won't have much of an appetite so broth and rice will be best. He also keeps cold medicine in his bathroom cabinet in case anyone gets sick, though he rarely uses it himself." Haru continued.
Nodding, Sousuke had never been so glad that they didn't have classes on Friday this semester, that would give Mako 3 days to recover.
"Anyway, we'll let you go. Tell Makoto we'll call again tomorrow. You'll take good care of him in the meantime right?" Rin asked.
"Of course. Someone's got to take care of him after all" Sousuke said, wondering just where that came from.
Rin smiled and nodded when Haru spoke up for the last time.
"Yamazaki" he called.
"Hmm?" Sousuke cocked an eyebrow at how serious the conversation turned.
"Don't hurt him. If you do I'll never forgive you." he said, sounding serious.
"Eh? I won't, he deserves to be looked after for a change" Sousuke responded seriously, though he was feeling somewhat confused.
"Good" Haru said with a small smile.
"Talk to you tomorrow lover boy!" Rin snickered before disconecting the call.
Sousuke sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes, processing what just happened before blushing the colour of a cherry and hiding his face in his hands. He thought he was doing a good job hiding his feelings for the green eyed boy but apparently he was wrong. If the impromptu blessings of both their friends were any indication he was being painfully transparent.
Sighing (he seemed to be doing that a lot today) he leaned back on his hands again looking at the ceiling. He sat there in silence for awhile just letting his thoughts drift until he heard a soft groaning coming from the bedroom. Getting up he quickly grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen before heading to the bathroom. Opening up the cabinet he saw the medicine that Haru said would be there and grabbed it before heading into the bedroom.
Setting the water and medicine on the bedside table, Sousuke resumed him seat beside Makoto's bed and watched, breathing a sigh of relief as hazy green eyes opened up under furrowed brows.
"Sousuke?" he mumbled confusedly.
Smiling softly at how cute Makoto looked, Sousuke grabbed a couple medicine tablets and the glass of water before responding.
"Yea, here take these" he said as he held up the pills to Makoto's mouth. Makoto opened his mouth and Sousuke popped them in, helping the younger man sit up and drink the water to wash them down before settling him back to bed.
Setting the glass back down on the table Sousuke turned back around to see Makoto still looking at him with a confused look on his face.
"Umm, I hate to ask but...why am I in bed?" Makoto asked with a sheepish smile on his face.
Giving a soft huff of laughter Sousuke leaned forward and lightly flicked Makoto in the forehead.
"You're in bed because somebody didn't tell me he was sick and passed out about 5 minutes after we walked in the door" he said, then proceeded to cup both hands around Makoto's face and rested their foreheads together.
"You worried me Mako, I don't think I've ever seen you sick and then you suddenly passed out on me. If Rin and Nanase hadn't called early I was seriously debating on calling an ambulance." he said softly.
"I'm really sorry" Makoto answered quietly "but midterms are coming up and I didn't want to miss class, Rin and Haru were calling, and you were coming over and I really, really like you so I didn't want to cancel-" he cut himself off, eyes going wide and turning bright red, suddenly pulling the blankets up over his head.
Sousuke sat back and blinked, trying to process the fact that Makoto just said that he liked him. He liked him a lot apparently. Sousuke was so happy he couldn't help but chuckle a bit before leaning forward and trying to get Makoto to uncover his head.
"Mako..."he said pulling at the blankets "come on Mako, look at me" finally he succeeded in getting the blankets away from his face to come face to face with a very red faced Makoto.
"I'm sorry!" Makoto blurted out "I'm sorry, I know you don't feel the same way, just forget I said any-" he was cut off by a finger to his lips and he quickly looked up at Sousuke who had a warm look on his face.
"I like you too" he said with a soft smile.
Makoto looked at him in shock.
"Really?" he breathed out, eyes shining with hope.
"Really. So, Makoto Tachibana, will you go out with me" Sousuke asked with a grin and a wink.
"Yes!" He laughed, reaching for Sousuke's hand and entwining their fingers together.
They stayed like that for awhile, just enjoying each other's company when Makoto, who was starting to fall asleep again spoke up.
"I can't wait to tell Rin and Haru" he said with a sleepy smile, but then he frowned slightly, brows furrowing "but you said they already called while I was out earlier."
"Yea they did, but they said they would call again tomorrow...they didn't seem too impressed when I said you had passed out though" he said with a smirk before he chuckled and continued "also I think they have their suspicions about us already, they both gave me their blessing in a very roundabout way before the call ended."
Makoto chucked before sighing, his eyes almost closed.
"That doesn't surprise me at all, I hope they won't be too angry with me tomorrow" he mumbled, ending with a large yawn.
Sousuke chucked softly and gently brushed Makoto's hair away from his face.
"I don't think it's possible for anyone to stay mad at you long, now go to sleep" he said
"Will you still be here when I wake up?" Makoto asked softly.
"Of course, now rest. I want you to get better" he said softly, bringing their entwined hands to his lips and laying a soft kiss there.
"Okay Sou..." he smiled softly and closed his eyes.
'This is kind of nice, having someone take care of me for a change' he thought as he fell asleep.
Sousuke smiled as he heard Makoto's breathing even out as he fell into asleep. Gently untangling their fingers he laid Makoto's hand back on the bed before getting up and leaning over to kiss him softly on the forehead. Heading out of the room Sousuke started planning, he had 3 days to completely spoil Makoto while he was sick, and he was going to make use of every one of them. Smiling happily he headed to the kitchen to get something ready for when Makoto woke up again.