Touko Fukawa woke up to an unbearable, feverish, constricting feeling. The way her sheets and blanket were tangled and knotted around her body made this sudden sensation even worse. Struggling to sit up, Fukawa brought a hand up to rub drowsily at her eyelids. One hand grasped slowly for her glasses that lay on her nightstand, fumbling before sliding them on. She glanced sluggishly at the clock, squinting slightly at the harsh glow.
2:00am it read.
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she kicked her sheets and blankets off of her legs, too hot to be of any use to her. Yawning, she brought a hand up to scratch as her sweat soaked scalp.
"So early." She half mumbled to herself. And in the middle of such a nice dream too- she sighed wistfully. As the last remnants of sleep wore off, she scowled. Sleep was the last thing she'd be able to do now. What a lovely morning it was already.
As she stood up, she became aware of a slick sheen of sweat covering her body, saturating into her long hair. "Ick." She grumbled, pulling her shirt away from her body.
Deciding to take a shower, Fukawa fumbled through the dark. She winced as she bumped sharply into the edge of her bed frame, rubbing the spot as she maneuvered her way around the offending object to her bathroom.
Fukawa had always liked her bathroom. It was cleaner than everywhere else, mostly due to the fact she used it less than the other rooms. The whole of it gave off a clean feeling, with a warm maroon surrounding her and smokey tiles underfoot. Although medium in size, it was great for a single girl.
Flipping on her mp3 dock, soft, slow piano music began to pour out soothingly. She shed her nightclothes-a simple white t-shirt and baggy flannel pants-and stepped into the warming water. It was cooler than how she usually liked her water, and somehow it...hurt. Like a light bruising along her body. She was mildly upset at her skin for that- small prickling, like her limbs had fallen asleep again.
Fukawa furrowed her brow in confusion. Maybe she was coming down with a cold or the flu. There had been a virus going around lately. She made a mental note to read up on it after her shower.
She began lathering her hair in shampoo, and then conditioner. This entire task by far the most time consuming part of bathing for her- maybe part of the reason she had a certain dislike for showering at all. The soft scent of sandalwood began to waft around her, mixing with the gentle steam.
Gradually, as she stood with slowly awakening limbs, she felt the grime and sweat wash off her body. She fumbled a little, washing with slightly clumsy hands.
As usual, her shower was short, just enough to clean herself and attempt to cool off, although it was a futile attempt. She still felt hot, like there was a slow burning fire beneath the surface of her skin. The lukewarm shower hadn't helped at all. Turning off the water, she gather her hair over her shoulder to wring it out and stepped onto the cool tile.
As she reached for her towel, a dark flash in the mirror made her pause, hand still outstretched. Fumbling slightly to retrieve her glasses, she stared down at her hip. Arching her neck slightly for a better view, she peered down at the pale skin. A large, dark purplish bruise that hadn't been there when she went to bed covered a sizable portion of skin.
Lightly brushing her fingers over the mottled skin, Fukawa tried to think back to when that could've happened. She woke up, got up from her bed, then-oh. Shd had bumped into the frame of her bed. But the bruise was forming at an extremely quick rate, which was impossible for one this size.
She absently wrapped herself in a towel, going through her mental library. She might have a medical book or two lying around.
Fukawa didn't even know why she had a medical book. She had probably picked it up to study a book idea she had formulated, but never got to doing. She sat in the middle of her messy, unmade bed, in the sole light of her bedside lamp she had switched on. Opening the rather thick book, she flipped to the symptoms index.
Fever. She was certain she was throwing off quite a lot of heat, if the new layer of sweat was anything to go by. She saw a large list of diseases and scowled. She would have to narrow down the search. How troublesome.
Chewing on the nail of one of her thumbs, she flipped to Muscle Tenderness. Once again a large list of diseases stared back at her. Letting out a growl of frustration she thought back. Restlessness?
Another long list.
Fukawa shoved the book away, glaring at it spitefully. Although she didn't mind reading, it would take forever to narrow down anything. A doctor would be able to do it faster, and she could care less about doing that. This could turn time consuming. A few pages fluttered open and as she turned to slam the book shut, she paused.
Easy bruising.
Easing the book back into her lap, she began to read the list. One disease in particular sent chills down her spine as she read the list of symptoms that followed it.
A creeping feeling of apprehension made her swallow thickly, and she suddenly felt trapped in the dim room. Bile rising in her throat, a shaking hand traced the word.
Cancer.
It all matched up. Fever, restlessness, easy bruising.
A coincidence, right? Nothing more than that, there had to be something else among the firmly organized information. Something. Anything. Abruptly, Fukawa stood up, pushing the book away with trembling hands. She began to pace, chewing furiously on her thumb nail.
"Disgusting." She muttered aloud.
She halted in her pacing, still gnawing away as she mentally prepared herself. She'd have to go to Hopes Peak Hospital.
Ugh.