First Sick Day [Kasamatsu x Reader]

Walking down the sidewalk in a semi-rush, Kasamatsu gave out clipped apologies whenever he bumped into a stranger. His eyes were half closed as he walked, gaze focused mainly on the ground so he could watch his steps carefully. Every other minute or so, he would yawn quite loudly into his fist, not caring who happened to see him do so. His muscles ached from just having practice and his mind had started to shut down by the time the end of school came. To say he was tired would be the biggest understatement of the year.

Taking his cellphone out of his uniform pocket, he glanced at the time and was instantly reminded why he had been so tired throughout the day. He had been texting his girlfriend during the night, encouraging her to stay awake as she studied for another upcoming math test. This time around she had told him she would study on her own, seeing as the last time he had helped her hadn’t turned out so well.

--

Laying in his bed, Kasamatsu glanced at the clock on his bedside table. 11:30 p.m. He felt another vibration from the phone he had sitting idly on his chest and he instantly picked it up to read the new text.

‘I’m having so much trouble with this subject. Why does math exist?’

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at the stupid question, quickly typing back a response. Inwardly, he mocked himself for finding it so easy to express his words through text, yet the moment [Name] was physically standing in front of him he became a quivering fool.

The night had continued on like that for a while with [Name] complaining about things she hated and Kasamatsu answering with understanding or reprimanding responses. Before the two knew it, time had flown by. By the time he had checked his clock again, it was already 2:00 in the morning and Kasamatsu had to call it a night. Wishing her a good night, he placed his phone on the bedside table in hopes of getting enough sleep for school the next day.

--

Obviously he hadn’t. Neither had [Name] apparently, for the very next morning she had texted him, saying she had stayed up later to study some more, only to fall ill the next morning. He remembered groaning when he read that text, knowing full well that she had become ill due to a combination of lack of sleep and the events of earlier that week. He cursed her for always being too forgetful to grab an umbrella before leaving her home.

--

“Hello, Kasamatsu-kun,” [Name] greeted happily after Kasamatsu had opened the door to his home. Her hair and clothes were dripping from the rain that was pouring outside.

Quickly, Kasamatsu yanked her into the house. “I-Idiot, y-your're soaked!”

“Ah, that’s okay! I’ll just borrow a towel.”

--

He remembered her being a shivering mess that day and he swore to himself if it ever happened again, he would handle it better.

Making his way down the sidewalk, he turned onto a familiar street that he knew would lead him to her house. As soon as practice had ended, he decided he would pay her a visit. Kise had begged to come along, wanting to go on an adventure with his senior, but Kasamatsu had quickly refused his offer, telling the blonde model to buzz off before he could hit him. Kise had whined, saying something about Kasamatsu always mysteriously going across town by himself for still unknown reasons, but complied anyway. Kasamatsu was glad the blonde hadn’t decided to persist on coming along. He barely wanted to be a trembling mess in front of his girlfriend, let alone his teammate.

Finally making it to her front door, Kasamatsu noticed that her parents’ cars were not in the driveway. He bit his lip, wondering if they would be the only two in the house as he rang the doorbell. From inside, he could hear the sound of a television decreasing in volume and a soft cough as a person acknowledged their visitor. Before too long, the door swung open to reveal a squinting [Name], clad in her pajama pants and a tight camisole.

“Kasamatsu-kun? What are you doing here?” She asked as she let the Kaijou captain into her home. He removed his shoes at the door, leaving his school bag near it as well as she led him into the living room.

“I, uh, I was w-worried about you,” Kasamatsu spoke softly, not knowing whether she was sensitive to sound or not. He tried his best to avert his eyes from her figure, not quite used to seeing her in such casual clothing. He sat on the couch next to her as she wrapped a blanket around herself, her attention no longer on the television show she had been watching.

“That’s so sweet,” she said between coughs, covering her mouth and turning completely away. “You shouldn’t have come though. I don’t want to get you sick.”

Kasamatsu scoffed, feeling bad whenever she gave a hoarse response or turned her head to cough in the other direction. “I have a better immune system than you,” he murmured after a while.

“But you can still get sick,” she responded quickly, still giving him a sweet, tired smile. “It wouldn’t be very good for Kaijou’s point guard and captain to skip practice due to an illness. By the way, how was practice today? Sorry I missed it. I was really looking forward to seeing all of your team for the first time.”

Kasamatsu shook his head and chose to ignore her question, not wanting to talk about basketball for the moment as she continued to cough into her hands. When she sneezed a few times, he leaned towards the small table in the living room and grabbed a tissue from the box resting there, handing it to her with slightly shaking hands. She thanked him before wiping at her nose, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks and adding to the warmth her fever brought. She didn’t mind that Kasamatsu had come by for a visit. She only wished that she didn’t look like a dying mess when he did.

“Where’s your medicine?” Kasamatsu’s question caught [Name]’s attention and she pointed him in the direction of her bathroom, telling him the cough syrup would be behind the mirror in the cabinet. He immediately got up to find it, returning a few minutes later with a couple of bottles. [Name] recognized some of them as every day cold relievers. Sitting back down, Kasamatsu took one of the bottles and started to measure out the right amount of medicine, willing his shaky hands to be still for once. “Here, you should take this.”

Watching in disgust as the purple, grape flavored liquid poured into the small measuring cup, [Name] found herself gagging at the thought of having to ingest it. When Kasamatsu had tried handing it to her, she pushed his hand away, refusing the awful syrup. Kasamatsu sighed, not wanting this to turn into another struggle.

“Just take the damned medicine already, idiot,” he snapped at her as she refused him for the umpteenth time. “Or do you really not want to get better anytime soon?!”

“The longer I’m sick, the longer I can avoid my next math test,” she huffed, turning her body away from him.

So that was her game.

“The longer you’re sick, the longer you can’t see your friends.”

“They can always visit. You’re visiting me.”

“I can’t visit all the time.”

“I can text you.”

“What if I don’t answer?”

“I’ll wait.”

Kasamatsu sighed, knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to win this battle with just a normal response. Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, he set the cup of medicine down on the small table before shifting over to sit just behind [Name] on the couch. His trembling arms snaked their way around her torso and he placed his chin on her shoulder. He couldn’t tell if the heat he was feeling was from his own skin or hers.

“T-The longer you’re sick, the longer we h-have to wait before going on d-d-dates again…”

Kasamatsu was met with silence for the longest while and he started to get irritated, wondering if he had said such an embarrassing thing for nothing. Just as he opened his mouth to reprimand her again, [Name]’s hand reached for the medicine cup before bringing it to her hesitant lips. She swallowed the medicine in one gulp and Kasamatsu could feel her shudder as it slid down her throat. He smirked to himself in triumph, having won the battle this time.

“Better be one hell of a date,” [Name] muttered as she turned in Kasamatsu’s embrace to face him with a small smile.

Kasamatsu nodded in response, silently giving the girl his word that it would be a good one. As the rest of the evening went on, Kasamatsu and [Name] lounged around on her living room’s couch, watching movies that happened to be playing on the television. Eventually, Kasamatsu found his eyelids becoming heavier, the stress of the day finally reaching him as he allowed them to slip shut. [Name], who had finally stopped coughing so harshly thanks to the medicine, had also slipped into some well-deserved rest.

The two napped peacefully, both secretly excited for the next time they could go out together.

{EXTRA}

The very next day, Kasamatsu had felt better than ever. His day went off without a hitch and he expected the trend to continue. His lucky break, however, had ended as soon as he noticed the new text he had received during practice. Picking up his phone after it vibrated once, Kasamatsu flipped it open quickly. [Name] had texted him.

‘Look at this cute photo my mom took of us when she found us on the couch yesterday!’ Below the words was a photograph of the couple, sleeping peacefully on the couch. [Name]’s head placed gently on Kasamatsu’s shoulder and his own head resting against her. Both had content looks on their faces, their fingers loosely intertwined as they held hands.

Kasamatsu sat on the bleachers beside Kaijou’s basketball court, his hand trying desperately to cover up his reddening face as he looked at the picture [Name] had just texted him. Kise happened to be walking by when Kasamatsu checked the text and decided to look over his captain’s shoulder to see what it was about. Quickly turning his phone away from Kise’s prying eyes, Kasamatsu made sure the blonde hadn’t seen the more than embarrassing photograph.

“Aw, come on Senpai!” Kise started whining, trying in vain to get a glimpse. “I want to see, too! It’s not like you’re looking at porn, right?!”

He promptly received a kick to the back of the head.