Warnings: None

RIOT CHILD

Chapter 05:

"River"

When they were eight years old, Yusuke fell into the river on the south side of town and developed the most terrible cold of his life.

Chills, nauseas, sweating, fever, runny nose, sore throat—all the things Keiko tried to avoid with her constant use of medical masks and hand sanitizer baths. Perhaps the first time in his life, Yusuke understood. He understood why she detested getting sick and why she took such great pains to avoid it. It felt like a really mean, nasty elephant sat on his chest with every breath, and like a cactus had been lodged in his neck, and like a bunch of cold worms had settled in his belly to have a squirmy party. If he never experienced this again, it would be too soon. He couldn't even play video games, his hands shook so hard from the chills. The TV was too loud, and Atsuko didn't even try to give him something to do to pass the time. Bored and in pain and thrashing from discomfort, it was all he could do to lay in bed and try to sleep, but even sleep stayed away from the sickness that had settled in his chest. Like it was afraid of getting sick, too. It was little wonder Yusuke assumed Keiko would stay far, far away from his running nose, too.

Which probably why she shocked him so badly when she showed up on his third day home from school with what looked like an entire pharmacy inside her book bag.

Keiko didn't talk much. She just got to work while Atsuko snored on the couch in the other room. Making soup, cleaning up Yusuke's room, helping him blow his nose and take his meds—she even fed him a meal bite by bite, her expression hidden behind two layered medical masks, her usual thick glasses, and a plastic face shield Yusuke was pretty sure Keiko had made herself from the discarded packaging of one of his action figures.

Still. He knew she didn't want to be there. He couldn't ignore the way her hands shook as she helped him change out of his sweat-soaked pajamas, wipe down his limbs with a damp cloth, and change his filthy bedding. He couldn't help but notice that she looked as sweaty as he did, bangs slicked down against her wet forehead behind her face shield. He couldn't help but be aware of the breaks she took to compose herself in the other room, nor the way she doused her hands constantly in hand sanitizer.

"Just go home."

The words slipped out midway through a session with a device she called a humidifier, one Keiko had loaded up with some minty-smelling stuff to help his breathing. But she just shook her head, the trembling hands on his shoulder holding him steady in the steam.

"No." Her voice, muffled by the masks, held firmer than her rubber-clad hands. "No. I'm not leaving you."

"But you hate sick people."

Keiko scoffed. "I don't hate sick people. I hate sickness. There's a difference."

Yusuke wasn't sure if he believed her, but he didn't say so. He was too tired to argue. He just shut his eyes and tried to breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Tell the mean old elephant on his chest to take a hike. Hopefully the medicine would kick in soon. Hopefully Keiko would keep bringing it. He could still hear Atsuko snoring in the other room, oblivious.

"I guess I know how lonely it can get."

Yusuke's eyes slotted open. Keiko sat on the other side of the humidifier, holding him up over it, but she didn't look at him as she adjusted her grip on his shoulders. She just stared into the steam, his view of her face clouding over as steam fogged the plastic visor Keiko wore so doggedly.

"I know how it feels when you're trapped like this," she muttered. "When you can't go out. When you're stuck." Her head moved slowly from side to side. "I get it. And I won't let you do it alone."

Atsuko's snoring provided the soundtrack to the rest of the day. While Atsuko slept, Keiko cared—and when the next day broke, Yusuke was feeling a little better.

NOTES:

Clearly she's remembering her time in quarantine, with that comment about loneliness.

Hi. Been a while. Trying to get back into writing, so as is my Coming-Out-of-Hiatus Tradition, I found a prompt list and am going to be following it daily during October. Will add entries to both RIOT CHILD and Children of Misfortune. Maybe something on a surprise project here and there, IDK. But I hope you enjoyed this first entry on the list, which was "river."

Also! This was in no small part inspired by a manga chapter in which Yusuke falls into river and gets sick (it was a flashback to his childhood). In that chapter, he pretends to feel better so Keiko won't worry over him. This alternate version shows how their relationship is different in this reality.