Kaminari raised a brow when he saw the package on Bakugou's desk. Bakugou rarely buys anything online, and this package delivered to the agency rather than his house. Curiosity made it impossible not to take a look at the name of the sender. "Hatsume Mei? Did Bakugou order a new gadget or something?" The box was small enough to fit in one hand, and it was significantly lighter than Kaminari expected. He shook the box around to hear a clattering sound on the inside. There seems to be another box in there. "Huh!"
"What are you doing?"
Kaminari turned around to see Bakugou who just arrived after taking Kamiko to school. "Hey man! Just wondering what you got here! Did you get a new support item?" the electric blonde asked.
Bakugou snatched the box out of Kaminari's hand, glaring at his friend since high school. "None of your business." He took out a pocket knife and cut open the tape on the box. There was a folded piece of paper and a smaller box on the inside. Bakugou unfolded the sheet of paper to find that it was the manual to the device he ordered. Kaminari picked up the smaller box from inside. The smaller box was made of clear plastic, so Kaminari could easily see the inside.
"Earrings?"
"Give it back." Bakugou clicked his tongue, holding his hand out. Kaminari placed the box on Bakugou's palm obediently before the ash blonde could get mad. Bakugou glanced at the box, then back at the manual, reading it carefully.
For some reason Kaminari felt unnerving, not just a little unnerving but extremely unnerving. Normally Bakugou would scream at him or even make explosions at him when he takes his stuff. However, Bakugou just ordered calmly, almost as if he were afraid to damage the content inside the box. "What's it for? You don't have piercings," Kaminari asked.
"It's a tracking device." Bakugou opened the small box to take out two black studs. He placed them on the table and took out his phone as well. He followed the instructions on the manual Hatsume sent, and picked up the small studs one by one, twirling them around his fingers as if he were searching for something. Kaminari's eyes widened a little when Bakugou somehow found a button on the tiny stud, causing a small light to flicker. The ash blonde then quickly did some tapping around on his phone, and apparently the pairing was done.
"Is this for Iki? I thought you can track her through her phone." Kaminari watched Bakugou carefully put the studs back in the small box.
"Last time she almost lost her phone," Bakugou replied, clicking his tongue. "That shithead."
"Oh!" Kaminari replied. "But why are you smiling?"
Bakugou's 'smile' immediately dropped, and he looked up at Kaminari with brows knitted. "I'm not smiling."
"You were. You were smiling when you called her shithead," Kaminari argued. He pulled a chair from the side and sat himself down by Bakugou. "Okay this has been bothering me for a while now, but I think you changed. Ever since you started living with Iki, you became much more...calm."
"I'M ALWAYS CALM!" Bakugou slammed his fist into the desk.
"Okay I take that back." Kaminari laughed. "But seriously, I think you changed."
"Maybe."
"Wanna talk about it?" Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows. Bakugou's brows twitched with annoyance. He shoved Kaminari by the face, knocking the hero to the ground. "Ack!"
"Fuck off!" Bakugou simply hissed before going on patrol.
Towards the end of the day, Kamiko started to feel a chill run throughout her body. Strange. It was the middle of summer, and Japan was known for its hot and humid summers, so why was she feeling cold? Regretting wearing only a t-shirt and shorts, she grabbed the controller for the air conditioning and turned the temperature up.
"Are you insane?! That's 27 degrees Celsius! You want us to burn to death?!" Akemi snatched the controller from Kamiko and turned the temperature back down to 23. Kamiko also knew 27 degrees was overdoing it, but she didn't know why she just felt really cold. She rubbed her arms with her palms, hoping to warm herself up. "Are you okay?"
"I think so. I don't know why, I just feel really cold," Kamiko said.
"Cold? Anything else?" Akemi pulled out her phone.
"A little light headed."
Akemi thought for a second, and then said, "Could be low blood sugar. Want a chocolate croissant? I'll go get one from the cafe." She then grabbed the old dusty blanket lying around on one of the chairs and patted the dust off. "Better than nothing." She put the blanket over Kamiko, wrapping it around her body. Kamiko grabbed the edges of the blanket in front, hoping it would lock her body heat. Akemi placed a hand on Kamiko's forehead, and the other on her own, and her brows furrowed.
"Actually you might be a little feverish. I think you should go home and rest. The art history finals is this Friday, wouldn't want you down with a fever day of," she suggested. "Still want that croissant?"
Kamiko chuckled. "If you're gonna get one." Akemi stuck a tongue out playfully at her friend.
"Wait here." Akemi grabbed her purse and dashed out of the studio. The sun was going down, and Kamiko felt the chill getting worse. She pulled on the blanket to make it wrap tighter around herself. She also moved away from the air conditioning so it doesn't blow cold air at her. I should call Clearvo. She pulled out her phone to pull up the sidekick's number. She rubbed her eyes when the characters started to blur a little bit, but she quickly found Clearvo's contact and dialed his cellphone.
"Hey, Iki-senpai what's up?"
"You still in the area?"
"Yeah. Something wrong?"
"Nothing, just...It's a little early but I was wondering if you can take me back to the agency."
"Sure! I'll be waiting at the front gate."
A few minutes after the call was over, Akemi came back with a hot chocolate croissant just out of the oven. She gave the croissant to Kamiko before she left. "Drink lots of water. Stay hydrated," the pink haired artist said before her friend left the studio.
This evening was a beautiful one. The sky was dyed red and the clouds were a beautiful shade of orange and yellow. She saw a lot of students taking pictures of the beautiful dusk and city sceneries as she walked through the campus towards the gate.
Clearvo had noticed how pale Kamiko looked way before she reached him, so he took off his jacket and put it over her shoulders.
"You don't look good at all. Should I call Ground Zero and have him take you home?" The younger man asked.
Kamiko shook her head. "He's on duty. I don't wanna bother him." She carefully placed the back of her hand on her forehead. It didn't feel that hot to the touch, so she should be fine. "I'm probably just a little low on blood sugar. I'll be fine after I eat this." She pulled out the croissant Akemi bought her before she left. It was still hot and steamy.
Each bite she took, there was the sweet liquid-y hot dark chocolate filling inside that warmed her from inside out. Surely she'd feel much better after this. The sweetness in her mouth was pure bliss, making the walk back to the agency much more enjoyable.
Bakugou was handing the drug dealers he caught to the police when he got a text from Clearvo.
Iki-senpai doesn't look so good, it simply read.
"Shitty Hair, I'm heading back to the agency, you take care of the rest," Bakugou said to Kirishima, who happened to be with him at the time. The ash blonde made off before Kirishima could ask him what was going on. Ground Zero blasted himself into the air, lifting himself above even the tallest buildings, then he used his explosions to propel himself forward, using buildings as temporary landings from time to time as he made his way back to the agency. Kamiko... What did Clearvo mean by 'doesn't look so good?' He had to find out immediately.
Bakugou hadn't felt his uneasy since last time she was nearly caught by the Nomu. His heart pounded faster than in should, and sweat rolled off his temples like a fountain. Could she be injured? Sick? Or worse?
"Shitty woman!" Bakugou shouted as he burst into the agency. He found Kamiko sitting on the couch in the lounge, a blanket around her and a mug of hot tea in her hands. She turned her head, eyes wide to see him back so soon. She just saw the news of him capturing the drug dealers, and now he's back.
"Bakugou?"
"The fuck is wrong with you?" Bakugou asked as he walked over to her.
"Wha-" Kamiko's jaws dropped. What did she do this time to get him so mad? She gulped when he leaned over the back of the couch to study her complexion.
She was unbelievably pale, and there were droplets of sweat here and there on her forehead, and yet she had this blanket around her. Was she cold? Bakugou was still wearing his gloves so he couldn't check her temperature with his hands. Instead, he moved her bangs out of the way and placed his forehead against hers. "Ba-"
"Shut up shitface," he hissed at her before taking his forehead off of hers. "You're burning up."
"I'm fine Bakugou." Kamiko smiled reassuringly. "Just a slight fever. It'll go down soon." Her smile faded when she saw the frown on his face though. Bakugou dragged her up from the couch. "Bakugou?!"
"We're going home," he said.
"Now? What about your duty?" Kamiko grabbed her backpack from the side as she was pulled by Bakugou out of the agency. She ignored the heat gathering in her cheeks, hoping Bakugou would just assume it's one of the affects of the fever. Bakugou took her backpack from her and threw it over his back. He grabbed her waist with one hand, and with the other he made an explosion that propelled them into the air. "AAAHHH!" She screamed when she felt her feet leave the ground. She threw her arms around his neck for support as Bakugou's grip on her waist tightened. Bakugou felt a tight squeeze in his chest when Kamiko buried her face in his shoulder, but he quickly ignored it and continued to make his way down the streets.
They passed the third and fifth street, and were making their way down towards Kamiko's apartment. Before going up to the apartment, Bakugou stopped by the convenience store to buy some medicine and cold packs as well as ingredients for dinner.
Kamiko changed into her pajamas and was forced to lay in bed. By now the light-headedness turned into a harsh throbbing in the head. She groaned as she rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. She felt cold but she was sweating all over. Bakugou threw her blanket over her and unwrapped a cold pack. He slapped the cold pack hard on her forhead, earning an, "Ack" from the woman. "Bakugou, can't you be gentler?"
"You're fault for getting sick. Don't you have a test coming up?" he asked as he took her temperature.
"Mmhm, this Friday," Kamiko confirmed.
"That's in two days dumbass. And you get sick now?"
"I'll be fine by tomorrow," Kamiko replied with a smile. "My fevers usually go down after a good sleep."
"Well it better." Bakugou slipped his gauntlets and mask off. He didn't care that Kamiko was in the bedroom, since there was nowhere else to change. He took off the shirt of his costume as Kamiko watched. She gulped when she saw the defined lines of his muscles. Her eyes ran across the many scars on his body as he pulled out a shirt from the closet, wondering where he got them.
Bakugou changed into his casual top, leaving his black battle pants on since he didn't want to change that in front of her. He grabbed the thermometer he bought just now at the convenience store and took her temperature.
"Bakugou, it's hot in here," Kamiko said as she took her arms out of the blanket, but the moment her arms touched the air outside, she immediately felt cold. She let out a groan of discomfort.
"Put it back in," Bakugou growled at her as he shoved her arms back inside the blankets. The thermometer made a beeping noise, and Bakugou checked the temperature on it. "Thirty eight point two, high fever." His brows furrowed.
"No wonder I feel like shit right now," Kamiko chuckled as she closed her eyes.
Bakugou took out a box of fever reducing medication from the plastic bag. He poured Kamiko a glass of water and handed her two pills. Kamiko slowly sat up and took the pills from him gratefully. She sipped the water to wash the pills down her throat. "Sleep. I'll make some congee," he said.
"Sorry Bakugou. Even though you're already so busy..." Kamiko looked up at the ash blonde guiltily. Her eyes widened with surprise when the blonde hero sat down at the edge of her bed and placed a hand on her head, and slowly moved down to caress her cheek. His thumb brushed back and forth on her cheekbone. Bakugou?
Bakugou's eyes narrowed at her now flushed face. Her cheeks were hot to the touch. This shitty woman was right. She's always causing him trouble. From the Nomu attack to her daily meals, and now he even has to take care of her when she's sick. For some reason, however, he can't get mad at her. It somehow felt natural to him that he should be the one taking care of her. He slowly pushed her down and laid her bed back on the pillow, then pulled the blanket over her. He brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face.
It's been so long since someone last took care of her like this when she's sick. In freshman sophomore year, Kamiko had to get through worse on her own. "This feels so nice..." she muttered, closing her eyes against the touch of Bakugou's fingers.
"Just go to sleep," Bakugou muttered. He sat there staring at her as the affects of the medication kicked in. Her expression softened and her breaths became soft and steady. She slept with her mouth slightly open. "Heh, no wonder you drool in your sleep." Bakugou smirked.
He gently brushed her bangs to the side so they don't stick onto the cold pack. "You know I must be going crazy. The more I look at you the more I can't stop looking at you." His fingers trickled along her still burning hot skin, followed by his eyes, and gently brushed against her slightly chapped lips. "Sometimes I think you might feel the same way I feel about you, but I can't tell for sure..." He leaned his head down, until his face was hovering merely millimeters over hers. "Sleep well." He closed his eyes, and pressed his lips down gently over her chapped ones.