Title: Ai ni Yotte Influenza
Meaning: Love by Influenza (roughly)
Pairing: KyoxShinya; KaoruxShinya
Type: Fluff-ish drama; romance
Rating: PG
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“He’s adorable, eh?” Kyo said quietly, smiling down at the sleeping drummer draped over his and Kaoru’s laps.
“Aa,” the lead guitarist agreed absently, stroking Shinya’s hair, as was quickly becoming a habit.
“We should get him into bed – he’ll be more comfortable there.”
“Yeah... ”
Together, they maneuvered Shinya up and off both their laps and the couch without jostling him too much. Kyo reluctantly allowed Kaoru (being taller and stronger) to carry the sleeping drummer down the halls to his bedroom. The singer prided himself slightly at obviously knowing the layout of Shinya’s house much better than the guitarist, and immediately smacked himself mentally for that thought. What a pathetic sort of “victory”.
He held the door open, watching Kaoru cradle Shinya almost tenderly to his chest as he carried the sleeping man inside, and turned down the covers as Kaoru settled the drummer on the bed. It was then that Shinya finally shifted a little, his eyes opening in little slits as he peeked around blearily and yawned.
“...Nna?”
“Shhh, Shin-chan. Go to sleep,” Kyo cooed, pressing the pads of his fingers down on Shinya’s eye-lids to urge them closed, “We’ll be here when you really wake up. Everything’s fine.”
“Mmka...” the drummer sighed and settled down more, his eyes closing and his breathing evening out almost instantly.
“He’s asleep,” Kaoru announced needlessly, his voice soft and a tiny smile on his face.
“Those things really would knock out a horse, let alone his skinny self,” Kyo agreed, a matching smile gracing his own lips. He brushed some of Shinya’s hair away from his face and let his fingers linger there, “He really is adorable sleeping, isn’t he?”
“Aa,” the guitarist agreed.
“Hn.”
“That was one of your ‘there’s more’ noises – what is it?” Kaoru asked, turning from Shinya’s sleeping face to look at the side of Kyo’s head.
The younger blonde was staring down at Shinya, keeping his eyes trained on the shiny hair, so he wouldn’t have to look at the purple haired man. He didn’t look up, even though he felt Kaoru’s intense gaze on him, just walked out of the room. Kaoru followed on his heels, taking only enough time to close the door behind himself.
“Oi, Kyo, come on. What the hell did that mean?”
“You don’t even know, do you? It would explain a lot,” Kyo muttered, a brief smirk gracing his lips.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the older man grumbled, rolling his eyes.
“You don’t know that you’re in love with Shinya, do you?”
“Kyo, I’m not – ”
”Yes you are, and your subconscious knows it. I can see it, stupid. You shoved me awake when you came back from lunch because he was sleeping on my lap, and I dare you to tell me otherwise,” Kyo silenced any protests from Kaoru with a Look.
The older man sat back, biting his bottom lip guiltily, because he knew that Kyo was right.
“Thought so,” the blonde said smugly, “So you shoved me awake because you were jealous. You keep looking at him. You keep touching his hair or his face. You just admitted that he was adorable – twice. I’ve never, in all the time I’ve known you, heard you call anything adorable.”
“And just how does this mean I’m in love with him?” Kaoru snapped lowly, his whole body tensing defensively.
“Because I do, too, and I can see myself in you,” the vocalist said simply, shrugging, looking at the floor, now, rather than the man, “You act like I do. You smile at him like I do. You know I had to convince him to sleep with me still there on the couch? Because I wanted the contact that much, and he’s never been one for PDAs – he hates to let his guard down that much.”
Kaoru’s body had mostly relaxed by the end of Kyo’s short speech, but his jaw remained locked. He stared blankly at the wall, thoughts running furiously through his head to the point where he couldn’t tell which thought was which. Kyo dared a peek up at him, and quickly decided not to say anything. He shifted where he stood, intending to go to the kitchen under the pretext of getting a drink, or something – anything – to be away from the awkward silence stretching out between them.
“Why?” the guitarist asked quietly. “I don’t love Shinya. Why do you insist that I do? Why are you trying to push me to accept this, non existent mind you, love, if you love him?”
The vocalist took a deep breath, opening and closing his mouth a few times, trying to formulate a proper reply before speaking. The words refused to come. Finally he sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair agitated-ly in a manner that Kaoru hadn’t seen from him for a long time.
“I ... I’m not pushing you to anything except recognition, Kaoru,” Kyo said softly, “At least I’m not trying to push you past recognition. I know you love him – you should at least accept that. Denial is never a good thing; it always leads to bad places and situations. Trust me on that – I know. I just think ... I think maybe you and he could be happy. He likes you – he’s told me that – ”
“I repeat,” Kaoru broke in, “Why are you telling me this? Why don’t you go for him? If you think he likes me at all, he likes you twice as much. So why don’t you try to make him happy? Shouldn’t you be making your move to get him? Shouldn’t you be taking advantage of this perfect scenario to show him you care at all? Why are you pushing me to go for him?”
“Because he doesn’t.”
“What?”
“He doesn’t.”
“Doesn’t what, for fuck’s sake?” Kaoru snapped.
“Doesn’t love me,” Kyo ground out, looking at the wall just as Kaoru turned to look at him, “He doesn’t even like me – he never has. Not in the way I want him to.”
“Don’t be stupid, Kyo, and don’t try to play stupid,” the guitarist said impatiently, “It doesn’t suit you. Of course he likes you. Out of all of us, he likes you the most. Out of all of us, he trusts you the most. Out of all of us, he feels safest and most relaxed with you. You know more about him than any of us. You’re closer to him than any of us. If you gave him the choice between me and you, I’ve no doubt he’d choose you.”
“That’s total bull. I saw you stroking his cheek. I saw him blushing. He leaned into it. He’s looked at you since La:Sadie’s. He was devastated when that band broke up; he thought he’d never see you again. If he ever thought twice about me, he forgot it the minute you two met.”
“Now you’re talking bullshit, Kyo,” Kaoru snapped, rolling his eyes. He advanced on Kyo, glaring with all the annoyance he held in him, smirking as the shorter man drew back from him. Even so, he didn’t stop until Kyo was backed against the wall and he was standing over him, hands placed on either side of Kyo’s head. “Not only bullshit, but you’re also talking like some jilted lover on a bad soap opera. You sound like someone searching for pity. That’s not the Kyo I know, and that’s not a Kyo I want to know.”
“Well that just sucks for you, doesn’t it?” the blonde snapped, finally facing his leader again, “Because this is what you get, Kaoru. He can’t possibly like both of us, and I’ve told you he’s told me – ”
The purple haired man, quite sick of Kyo’s self-deprecating rant, did the only thing he could that he knew would shut the shorter man up. He kissed him. For a long, long time, stopping only when Kyo, having snapped out of his original, shocked daze, started squirming to get away. Kaoru pulled away from his long time friend then, watching as Kyo raised his hand. At first it seemed like the vocalist might try to wipe his lips, but the motion was quickly aborted in favor of pressing barely trembling fingers to his lips. He stared at Kaoru in shock.
“Why – I don’t ... Why ... ”
“Why did I do that?” Kaoru asked.
Kyo nodded dumbly.
“It shut you up, didn’t it? I couldn’t stand to hear you go on another rant about your worthlessness or whatever it was you were going to go on about. I don’t know who planted that idea in your head in the first place, or helped it along, or whatever it was that they did, but it’s not true and I’d like to beat the shit out of them for it.”
The blonde singer watched his leader, his face registering nothing of his surprise as it was locked in that same look of dumb amazement. He’d never heard Kaoru like this, not unless the guitarist was with Shinya and he thought they were alone.
“Ka...Kaoru?”
The lead guitarist sighed, letting his hands drop to his sides, and backed away a step. He stared hard at Kyo, but when it became clear that the vocalist was not going to say anything he averted his eyes.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “I – I’m gonna ... I’ll go,” he motioned equally stiffly to the bedroom, “Check in. On Shinya.”
“Um. Yeah. Sure.”
Then the taller man was gone, striding as fast as his long legs would carry him down the hall and into Shinya’s bedroom. Kyo watched him leave, fingers still pressed to his lips stupidly. He blinked, realizing this, and dropped them, snarling at himself for acting like some highschool girl. He walked to the couch and flopped down on it, suddenly aching for a cigarette but knowing that Shinya would kill him if he smoked in the apartment. He was so lost in his craving that he didn’t hear Kaoru come up behind him.
“Kyo?” the guitarist asked quietly.
The vocalist almost jumped from his seat. He swivelled around slowly, coming to face Kaoru’s chest. “Yeah?”
“We’ve discovered that he has no medicine, but does he at least have a thermometer?”
Kyo’s chest suddenly got tighter. He strained to keep his voice level, recognizing the same strain in Kaoru. Shinya had only had a fever once before that either could remember, and it hadn’t been a good experience for anyone involved. If he had one again ...
“He should,” Kyo said, and he was up and off the couch, heading for the bathroom with Kaoru on his heels.
A few slams of cabinet doors later and he emerged triumphantly. Kaoru grabbed the instrument from him and disappeared into the bedroom. Kyo followed him in a moment later. The guitarist had perched himself on the bed, stroking Shinya’s cheeks and murmuring for him to wake up. The drummer obeyed slowly, eyelids sliding apart to reveal glazed brown irises. Kyo chewed on his bottom lip in displeasure.
“Shinya?” Kaoru asked, “Shinshin? You with me?”
“K’o..ru?”
“Yeah. Listen, I know you hate it, but open your mouth for me?”
“Why?” the drummer asked softly, petulantly.
“I need to take your temperature?”
“M’ cold. No fever.”
Kaoru’s eyes widened and his jaw set, “I’m sure, Shinshin. But I want to be careful, kay? You don’t get sick, and I don’t want to take chances. Kyo, help him up.” He placed his fingers over Shinya’s lips, “No protests.”
The vocalist was on the other side of the wide bed and helping his friend up before the drummer could form a reply. He fought to keep from hissing when his bare hand came into contact with Shinya’s neck. The slight man was burning up. Between himself and Kaoru they managed to prop Shinya up against the headboard and get the thermometer into his mouth. The drummer pouted unhappily, but held the thermometer dutifully in his mouth until it beeped, sounding much louder and shriller in the silence of the room than it did normally. Kaoru grabbed it from Shinya’s mouth and peered at the digital display.
His body tensed and he forced himself to remain calm, tossing the thermometer over for the shorter man to see. His voice was steady and soft when he spoke, and the vocalist knew that Shinya’s sickness really was much worse than they’d thought.
“Kyo, call the others. Totchi went to Die’s place, he’s probably still there. Tell them we’re taking Shinya to the hospital.”
Kyo didn’t argue, just grabbed the phone on the bedside table, sliding off the bed so Kaoru could gather the drummer from his cocoon of blankets easily. Die’s number was in Shinya’s speed dial, as were all of their numbers, which the back of Kyo’s mind found both interesting and amusing – he knew that his own phone didn’t hold any numbers but the noodle shop near his house. The phone rang twice before Die picked up; in the interim Kaoru managed to all but swaddle Shinya in blankets and yank out his cell phone, calling the hospital. The drummer seemed confused, as though he wasn’t sure what was going on, and Kyo’s chest tightened further.
“Moshi-moshi?” Die’s voice sounded.
“Die, we’re bringing Shinya to the hospital. He – he’s worse off than we thought. 40.5 fever.”[1]
“WHAT?”
Kyo winced at the sudden rise in volume and pulled the phone away from his ear. In the background he could hear Toshiya’s voice rising in intonation. Die muttered something to the side that Kyo couldn’t make out.
“What hospital are you taking him to?”
Toshiya cried out ‘HOSPITAL?!’. Kyo sighed, “Not sure. Kaoru’s called emergency. I’ll know when he tells me.”
“What the hell does he have?” Die ground out.
“I don’t know,” Kyo snapped back, “I don’t think Shinya knows. We’d have it under control if he did.”
“Right, right. Sorry. Call when you know. I’m gonna start over to Shinya’s place.”
“Un.”
They hung up at the same time. Kyo could imagine Toshiya gripping Die’s shirt and demanding to know the whole story. The mental image made him smirk briefly. He dropped the phone back onto its cradle and joined Kaoru in the livingroom. The lead guitarist was sitting on the couch, stroking Shinya’s back while the younger man coughed heavily. Kyo came up behind them, making enough noise that neither were startled – though the vocalist doubted Shinya had it in him to be startled.
“They’re coming. Hospital?”
“They’re coming. Get the door?”
“Right.”
The blonde singer slid into his shoes and opened the door, waiting until Kaoru and Shinya were through before grabbing the spare set of keys and locking the door behind them. He caught up with them at the elevator and had to forcibly stop himself from grabbing onto Kaoru. As they waited he chanted to himself: He’ll be all right. He’ll be fine. This is Shinya, here – it can’t be that bad. It can’t.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t working. The drummer shifted in Kaoru’s arms and murmured something unintelligible. Immediately both the vocalist and the guitarist were cooing reassuring nothings in sync. A back part of Shinya’s fevered mind registered this as something to be wholly amused by, but try as he might he couldn’t summon the energy to smile, let alone laugh at them. The elevator pinged as the doors opened, and the three piled in.
“‘M hot,” Shinya muttered.
“I’m not surprised,” Kaoru replied, “You have a fever.”
“Really?”
The guitarist made an affirmative noise. The corners of Shinya’s lips twitched downwards in an attempt at frowning.
“Bad?”
“Fairly.”
“Oh. ... Sorry,” the younger man breathed, closing his eyes and leaning closer to Kaoru’s warm body.
“For what?” the pink-haired man asked, eyebrows raising to his hairline.
Shinya thought a moment, then attempted a shrug, “Don’ ‘member. Tell ya when I do.”
Kaoru couldn’t help the startled laughter that forced its way from his throat. Neither could Kyo. The elevator stopped moving and paused a moment before it pinged and opened its doors.
“Only you, Shinshin,” Kaoru sighed.
They stepped out of the box and strode into the lobby. Kaoru settled himself on the provided couch, making sure Shinya was secure in his lap. Kyo hovered over both of them, idly sweeping damp hair from Shinya’s face. Moments later sirens could be heard wailing, the volume growing as they closed in on Shinya’s apartment building. Kyo and Kaoru let out twin sighs of relief. The drummer tried again to laugh at them, but was far too tired. He let himself drift slowly off to sleep, registering only vaguely that he was being moved before he succumbed completely to the comforting blackness.
NOTES
[1] This temperature is in degrees Celcius. It’s 105 in Farenheit. Not sure if they actually use Celcius in Japan, but it makes sense to me that they would.