The Second Night
Date: Saturday, September 19th.
It was morning, approximately 10:30 A.M. The storm that hit the area yesterday afternoon was still raging, showing no signs of letting up soon. All the SEES members were sitting in the lounge, relatively silent. Every SEES members except their leader, Minato.
"Is Minato-kun doing any better, Sanada-san?" Ken asked Akihiko.
"I don't know. I left him alone this morning to make sure he got all the sleep he needed." Answered Akihiko.
"It was quite a surprise seeing him get so sick. I've never seen Minato-kun get sick, really." Fuuka added.
"With the situation as it is right now, we can only help aid him in his recovery, as well as make sure we don't go to Tartarus until a few days after he has a full recovery." Mitsuru informed the others.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Akihiko responded.
"Really, senpai? I thought you'd be upset that you couldn't go training." Yukari said to him.
"Well… we can't exactly explore the tower without having our leader along with us. I'll be just fine." He said back to her. "Actually, I think I should go check on him…"Akihiko continued, standing up and headed for the stairs.
"Perhaps that I should accompany him." Aigis said, standing up.
"Oh, no you don't, Aigis. You know that it's against the dorm rules for you to go into the boys' rooms." Yukari said to Aigis. Aigis sat down, defeated.
Akihiko made his way to Minato's room, stopping in front of it and knocking, seeing if Minato is awake or not. He waited a moment but didn't hear any response. Akihiko decided to go inside anyway to check up on him. He walked in and, to his surprise, Minato was awake, sitting upright.
"Oh! You're awake, Arisato…" Akihiko felt a little embarrassed just walking in with him awake. Minato just looked in his direction and nodded.
"Uh, how come you didn't respond when I knocked?" Akihiko was a little perplexed at the moment. Minato pointed his index finger towards his throat. Akihiko was looking at him very confused until he figured as to what Minato was trying to convey. It made him feel slightly idiotic for not immediately knowing.
"Your throat is too sore?" Akihiko questioned to make sure he was correct. Minato nodded to him, having a small sad expression on his face. Akihiko noticed how Minato looked.
"Hey, it's alright. Don't feel bad for that." Akihiko said to Minato, trying to cheer him up. Minato looked back at his senpai and gave a small smile. Akihiko kept a straight face on, but inside he was going crazy with how adorable of a smile his leader had. Just then, Akihiko came up with an idea.
"I'll be right back, I think I know how to help with that." Akihiko informed Minato. With that, Akihiko shut the door and left for the lounge. The others were still there and they noticed that Akihiko had returned.
"Oh, senpai. Is Minato-kun alright?" Yukari asked.
"Yeah, he is and awake. Mitsuru, I wanted to ask you something. Minato has a sore throat and it's preventing him from talking, do you have anything that can help?" Akihiko asked Mitsuru.
"A sore throat you say? Hmm, well what you need is some Licorice root tea. It performs well in soothing sore throats. I'll fetch you some." Mitsuru answered Akihiko, standing up to go to her room to get what Akihiko needed.
A few minutes later, Akihiko returned to Minato's room with a piping hot cup of Licorice root tea for Minato. You wouldn't think so, but it was difficult for Akihiko to walk down the stairs with a cup of tea without spilling any of it on himself or the ground.
"Here. Mitsuru said that this should help with your sore throat, but it's really hot right now." Akihiko said to Minato, handing him the cup. Minato accepted it without question, wanting to have the earliest chance to talk to his senpai he can. Minato blew on it to cool it off a bit. He took a sip of it and winced a bit.
"Heh, it's still kind of hot right? I would've blew it to help cool it off, but I didn't want to make you even sicker." Akihiko said to the younger boy. Minato just stuck some of his tongue out, indicating what the problem was.
"Oh, it's the taste? Heh, Mitsuru did say that it's more of an acquired taste." Akihiko chuckled a bit. Minato just took another gulp of the tea.
"Hey, if you don't like it, it's alright. I can take it." Akihiko said holding his hand out. Minato shook his right hand, gesturing that Akihiko didn't need to do that.
"It's fine. I really appreciate it… thanks, senpai." Minato said to Akihiko, his voice even raspier than it was the previous day. It was really difficult to comprehend his words.
"Hey, don't talk. You don't want to make it even worse, but… you're welcome, Arisato." Akihiko said with a smile coming across his face as well as a small blush.
'Um, it's a little past eleven, are you hungry? You haven't eaten a thing today." Akihiko asked Minato, coming back to Earth. Minato shook his right hand to show that he was so-so hungry.
"Well, I should get you something… but also something that won't upset your throat or anything, umm maybe one of my protein shakes?" Suggested Akihiko. Minato gave Akihiko a bewildered look.
"Yeah, that's not really something you give a sick person do you?" Akihiko said, sounding a little embarrassed and rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm not really used to these kind of situations. Maybe I should go ask the others." With that, Akihiko left Minato's room and once again back to the lounge.
Everyone was still in the usual spots when Akihiko came down.
"Uh, guys… what do you feed someone with a sore throat?" Akihiko asked the others, feeling embarrassed that he had to ask them something like it.
"Well, for the cooking club, I've read that oatmeal is good, as well as chicken soup." Fuuka answered.
"So are bananas." Yukari added. "They've always helped me when I was a kid."
"Okay, but does anyone know how to cook any of those things?" Akihiko was not a skilled cook in the slightest. The members were all silent, as well as Fuuka because she always messed up in cooking club. The only one that had any positive cooking experience was, you guessed it, the sick leader Minato. Akihiko decided to scavenge through the kitchen to see if there were any microwavable cans of soup or bananas.
"I think it's going to take Minato even longer to get better than we thought" Junpei joked.
After many minutes of scouring the entire kitchen, Akihiko came back to Minato's room with a hot bowl of chicken soup along with a single banana and a glass ice water.
"That took a whole lot longer than I wanted it to be…" Akihiko said, bringing the tray over to the young boy. Minato started chuckling a little. That brought a smile back to Akihiko's face. That is until it caused Minato to cough repeatedly. Akihiko handed him the glass of water. Minato took it and sipped it to help relief himself of the cough.
"Better?" Akihiko asked. Minato nodded, taking in a deep breath.
"I actually never did check to see how are." Akihiko said as he put his left hand on Minato's forehead. It was still very hot to the touch.
"You still got a pretty bad fever." Akihiko informed Minato. Minato sighed and looked to the floor.
"Uh, but don't worry. If you take it easy, I'm sure you'll get better fast. I would expect nothing less of our amazing leader." Akihiko said to Minato, really wanting to make him feel better about the situation. Minato gave Akihiko that smile he loved once again, but this time, he added a hug, wrapping himself around Akihiko's neck. Minato couldn't see, but Akihiko's face was as red as a chili pepper and was completely flabbergasted.
Akihiko had no idea as to what he should do right there. The boy that he had deep feelings for was hugging him. In his room. Alone. Akihiko wasn't sure as to what he should be thinking about what was transpiring. He tried to keep himself from overthinking this and thought that maybe it was just a normal friend hug. You know, maybe just like the ones girls have, of course. That must be it. He didn't want to hurt Minato's feelings so Akihiko wrapped his left arm around Minato's torso and patted his back.
"Heh, I'm here… anytime you need me." Akihiko uttered to Minato, trying extremely hard to regain his composure. Again, he failed at it. Minato let go of Akihiko and proceeded to eat the food that his senpai had brought him. This time, senpai decided not to leave the sick second year student alone.
Hours passed by as the two boys hung out together in Minato's room. Pitter patters of the storm's rain could be heard as water hit against the room's window repeatedly. Akihiko really enjoyed being able to be with Minato for such a long period of time. The only time he got to hang out with him outside of Tartarus was when Minato would bring Akihiko along for Koromaru's walks at night. Even though Minato was unable to talk at all, they spent the time playing the cards Akihiko brought, watching a retro giant monster movie on the TV, and Akihiko telling Minato stories of his different boxing match victories. It made Akihiko delighted to know that he was bringing a smile to Minato's face during this not so delightful time. The time displayed on Minato's clock next to his bed said it was a little after 8 P.M. and Minato appeared to have been growing drowsy.
"You seem pretty, tired, Arisato. You should probably rest now." Akihiko suggested to Minato. Minato tried to protest, but ended up rubbing his right eye, so he just nodded to Akihiko. Akihiko got up and Minato laid down, covering himself with his sheets. Akihiko walked over to Minato and rubbed Minato's head.
"I'm not a dog, senpai…" Minato chuckle out in a low and still raspy voice.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, good night, Arisato." Responded Akihiko. He left and shut the door as Minato quickly drifted off to the realm of dreams. Fuuka was walking up the stairs from the ground floor and saw Akihiko exit Minato's room.
"Oh, senpai, were you in there this whole time?" She asked Akihiko.
"Yeah. He's stuck in there, so I figured he'd be lonely without some company."
"Wow, that's very kind of you, senpai!"
"Heh, yeah thanks. I just want to be sure he gets better as soon as possible."
