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“Quit moving!” Tsukasa commands. His brows furrow in disapproval as he carefully places a cold towel on top of Nene’s forehead. The girl, despite his continuous nagging, keeps on restlessly moving under the covers in silent protest.
A green wool sweater accompanied with a long white maxi skirt sits on top of Nene’s drawer, carefully ironed and not yet worn. Her bag, packed with necessities and gifts she was supposed to give out, hangs from the wooden hook on her door—untouched. Outside of her window, the world has fallen into a haze as the white snowflakes dance together in harmony against an indigo sky.
Through her groggy vision, it feels like only an hour passed since she woke up, throat scratchy and muscles weak, too tired to move, let alone get out of bed. Nene can’t say for sure how long has actually passed since she woke up or even what time it is right now. Hell—she doesn’t even know when or how Tsukasa arrived at her house! All she knows is that he’s been by her side for quite a while now, replacing cold towels and making sure she drinks every so often while she lay paralyzed, her body burning in unbearable heat one moment and trembling in impossible cold another.
“Hgghh…” A quiet groan escapes her lips. The sudden contact with a fresh cold towel against her burning forehead makes her twitch which earns her another mouthful of complaints from her boyfriend. To her fortune and his dismay, she is too tired to register what he is saying. (Knowing him, he’s probably scolding her about the same thing over and over again.)
‘Don’t move!’ ‘Lay still!’ ‘Drink some more tea!’
The gesture itself is nice, of course, and Nene is incredibly grateful that she has someone who’s willing to go up and beyond for her when she needs it but God does she wish he would just shut the fuck up already.
It’s not like she doesn’t understand Tsukasa’s point of view. After all, her very first thought after realizing she has fallen ill has been exactly him. How will Tsukasa react knowing she got sick on Christmas? The very day they were supposed to go shopping around Shibuya Christmas market, followed by a firework show at Phoenix Wonderland accompanied by Emu and Rui. It’s a question that must have overwhelmed her so much that she passed out again immediately after and hasn’t gotten out of bed since.
He must have found her like this…
Knowing Tsukasa for quite a while now, Nene has already familiarized herself with the fact his sister spent a good chunk of her childhood in the hospital or bedridden at home. It makes sense that Tsukasa, as her older brother, would have plenty of experience when it comes to taking care of a sick person. It dawns on Nene that this might be the reason why the star is so assertive when it comes to nursing Nene back to health and for the first time that night the heat in her face isn’t a consequence of her growing fever.
Suddenly, the atmosphere is interrupted by the roaring growl of someone’s stomach and judging by Tsukasa’s bewildered expressions, Nene concludes that it’s safe to assume it is coming from her. (The painful tension in her muscles made it hard to tell for certain.)
Tsukasa halts to his feet, as if he is a soldier that just received direct orders from the general. “FRET NOT NENE!” He says in an octave too high for the sick girl’s liking. “I’ll fetch you something to eat!”
At once, a strange feeling of panic spikes through Nene’s body.
“Wait!” A raspy scream rolls down her throat and the frail girl jolts up into a sitting position at a rapid speed. With the last bit of her remaining strength, she clenches Tsukasa’s sleeve, holding onto him for her dear life. Honestly, her grip is so weak that Tsukasa could easily pull out of her reach in an instant. But he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t.
The cold towel slips down her forehead and lands in her lap but neither of them move to fix it. For a while, marigold eyes simply stare back at her, wide and with a hint of curiosity. The action, so sudden, must have confused Tsukasa greatly.
For the first time that day, Nene gets to take a proper look at her boyfriend. His hair is glistening as if it has been freshly washed. He’s dressed in a royal blue shirt with black jeans and a black tie—an outfit she has not yet seen on him. It dawns on Nene that Tsukasa, so pure and hopeful, must have fancied up into his best attire just for her.
Her heart sinks at the realization.
Oh…
For a moment, her chest feels like it’s being tied into a tight knot, and the girl, helpless, begins to tear up.
Tsukasa was looking forward to their date…
The thought of Tsukasa waking up early just to do his hair and make up for their date followed by him spending hours searching through his closet, presumably nagging Saki to help him decide what to wear is simply too much for Nene to handle.
Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of guilt and sorrow washes over the girl, who was already overstimulated from her fever, and the light drizzle coming out of her eyes turns into a waterfall.
Weak and helpless, all she can do is cry. Too tired to move she weeps without even bothering to hide her face as the tears and snot runs down her nose and cheeks. It’s too late now. She has already failed Tsukasa. He knows what an insensitive person she is and now he is going to get up and leave her. Because, really—Tsukasa is strong! Even if her grip wasn’t extra weak today he could still easily overpower her, Nene isn’t a fool.
A choked up sob gets stuck in her throat.
He’s going to get up this instant and—
“NENE!” A desperate yell snaps the sickly actress out of her delirium. Tsukasa’s staring at her as if he’s just seen a ghost. His tanned face, now drained out of all of its colour, is looking at her in shock.
For a moment Nene thinks he’s going to faint but instead, he quickly turns on his heel and kneels beside her bed, forcefully taking her hands into his and oh God—his body is warm. So warm she could melt into his touch.
“What’s wrong!?” Tsukasa cries out. “Please lay down!” The grip of his fists tightens, sending a faint tingle through Nene’s palms.
“I—” Nene opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. Suddenly, everything she’s been wanting to say, everything she feels like she must apologize for, vanishes from her head and the words, stuck in her throat, remain unsaid.
After about ten seconds of silence, Tsukasa lets out a deep breath in a self composing manner before slowly getting up and leaning closer. The action startles Nene who twitches in surprise when she feels Tsukasa reach for her. Nene's not sure what exactly she expected him to do but after carefully grabbing the actress by her shoulders, the star slowly places her back into a laying position.
“Rest.” He commands. “I’m going to bring you some soup and I am not going anywhere. Understood?” Marigold eyes linger on Nene for a moment, painted with worry. Eventually, Nene manages to nod ever so slightly. In her current condition, all she can do is trust Tsukasa. He will be back…he said so and Tsukasa Tenma never goes back on his word.
Just as the blonde is about to get up, a tiny flame inside of Nene’s chest flickers and she musters up just enough strength to mutter a faint “I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” Blonde eyelashes flutter up and down in confusion. “What for?”
Nene truly loves Tsukasa. She loves him for his ambitious, never yielding spirit. She loves him for his courage that she, as much as she would like to deny, envies. She loves his determination that makes her work even harder in order to catch up to him as an actor. After all, Nene and Tsukasa are not only troupemates but also rivals—fuel and motivation for one another to keep on growing so that one day they can conquer the world’s biggest stage and bring a smile onto everyone’s face,
Nene truly loves Tsukasa…
And yet she wants nothing more than to smack him for asking, what she believes is, an obtuse question. Because is he really going to act like everything is okay? What next? He’s going to tell her that it’s all fine?
“We were meant to go out.” She mumbles under her breath, redirecting her gaze to the side, too embarrassed to look her boyfriend in the eyes. Seriously, how shameful…
“Eh?” Tsukasa exclaims. “But you’re sick Nene!”
Ladies and gentlemen, Nene thinks she might have discovered an actual Sherlock Holmes reincarnation.
“Well yeah but…” She tries to further explain herself only to be cut off before she even gets to pick her next words.
“NO BUTS!” Tsukasa interrupts her with an obnoxiously loud holler and while grateful for everything he’s done and keeps on doing for her, she wonders how she ever fell for such a noisy individual. “You are in no position to be going anywhere right now Nene!” He continues in a scolding tone of voice.
At last, she bites her lip and manages to gather up enough strength to properly face Tsukasa. But when her violet eyes travel towards the star, she’s met with an expression akin to one of genuine confusion. He’s staring at her with such a mellow look on his face and Nene curses herself for forgetting that she is dating Tsukasa Tenma. Of course, he’s not angry…It’s Tsukasa that we’re talking about, for crying out loud!
Another burst of shame explodes in Nene’s chest but this time for another reason. She blames her sickness and inability to think rationally for even assuming Tsukasa would cause her trouble over something so obviously out of her control…
“Listen Nene…” Tsukasa’s expression softens. “I know we had plans that both you and I have been looking forward to but right now my number one priority is nursing you back to health.” The tips of his fingers brush softly against her cheek and she lets herself melt into his touch. “We can’t have our diva remain ill, can we?”
Nene’s heart flutters in a manner that Emu would describe as kira kira doki doki.
Unfortunately, there is no more strength left in her body to say anything. Tsukasa must have noticed because he continues to speak. “I’m just happy to spend Christmas with you. Whether we go out or stay inside, it doesn’t matter to me! You need me Nene…so please let me take care of you.” The blonde’s fingers curl against her unbrushed locks as he slowly runs them through her messy sage hair.
A faint smile spreads across Nene’s lips, sending a light wave of aching pain through her jaw muscles. “Thank you…” Her words come out barely above a whisper.
Nene’s heard plenty of Christmas miracles. One could say she experienced it first hand, back during their first Christmas show. And yet—with Tsukasa so lovingly taking care of her with such tenderness and devotion behind his actions—Nene thinks that being loved by Tsukasa Tenma is a miracle in itself. One she is grateful to have a chance to experience personally.
“I love you.” He smiles at her with such a radiant smile plastering his face and Nene’s certain that Tsukasa’s grin alone could cure her illness. She is certain that with him by her side, she is bound to get better in no time.
“I love you too.” Nene whispers, letting herself soften under Tsukasa’s honeyed stare. He’s looking at her with such glowing adoration that for a moment Nene feels like she is about to melt. (And she is about ninety percent certain this is not merely a result of her ongoing fever!)