#I wasn't going to continue this story but today's prompt made me go hmmm and then I had to

[windfighter]

Eyes for rent, chapter 2

Prompt: Infection | ”Let’s get you cleaned up” | Sponge bath

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It wasn’t getting better. It had been four days and Kouji’s back looked worse every day. All of Kouji looked worse for each day. He couldn’t hide his fever any longer, even the others had noticed it. Takuya finally let Tomoki take one of the firewatches so Kouji could sleep through the whole night.

It didn’t help. The constant attacks by and against the Royal knights probably didn’t help either. Kouji stumbled over his own feet and Junpei grabbed his arm to steady him.

”Sorry”, Kouji mumbled. ”I know you…”

He had trouble catching his breath, Junpei noticed. Just how deep into Kouji’s body had the infection spread?

”You need a hospital”, Junpei whispered.

Kouji looked like he broke with those words. There weren’t any hospitals, they had no idea when they’d get home. No idea when he could get to a hospital. Kouji’s legs trembled.

”Takuya, can we take a breather?” Junpei asked.

Takuya looked at them. Nodded. Kouji slumped to the ground instantly. Junpei feared he wouldn’t get back up. Takuya frowned and seemed to share the same worry.

”Are you hungry?” Izumi asked.

Kouji just closed his eyes. Junpei couldn’t remember the last time he saw Kouji eat anything. He put a hand against Kouji’s forehead. The fever kept rising.

”Can we at least convince you to drink something?” Junpei asked.

Kouichi hovered nearby. Kouji gave a slight nod, so slight it was almost invicible, but Kouichi hurried away, towards a stream they had passed a while ago. Junpei sat down, close enough so Kouji could reach him.

”Tug at me if you need anything”, he said.

”My dignity back”, Kouji whispered.

Junpei snorted. Kouji took a shaky breath. Fell into an unstable slumber. His body twitched. Izumi and Tomoki left to look for food and Takuya got started on a fire. Junpei watched him.

”How long do you think he has?” Takuya asked.

Junpei’s stomach hurt. He didn’t want to think like that, didn’t want to consider the possibility of Kouji dying. But with every day it was getting higher. Time was ticking. Takuya got the fire started, Kouichi returned with water. Shook Kouji awake. Kouji blinked, but his eyes closed again. Kouichi’s shoulders fell.

”Kou...ji…”

Junpei moved closer, pulled Kouji into a sitting position. Kouji leaned heavily against him.

”Come on, you said you’d drink.”

Kouichi filled a small cup with water, held it against Kouji’s lips. Kouji took a few sips before pulling away. His breaths were fast, shallow, and he wrapped an arm around his stomach. Uh-oh. Kouji leaned forwards with a groan and a wince and then the water came back up again. Junpei and Kouichi looked at each other. Not good.

”I’ll…” Kouji mumbled. ”I’ll be better soon. Just need…”

He laid down. Every movement made him wince. Junpei pulled Kouji’s bandana off, grabbed the bucket of water.

”Let’s get you cleaned up before you fall asleep”, he said.

If Kouji would have been even a little bit more lucid he would have protested. But he didn’t, so Junpei started pulling off his sweater. Kouichi was quick to help and Kouji’s sweater fell to the ground. The t-shirt under it was moist, completely drenched at the top of his back. It smelled like death, or at least something putrid. They peeled it off him and Kouji cried out in pain. Kouichi put a hand over his mouth, his eyes widened. Junpei could understand it. Despite having seen the wound every day for the last days it still made him feel sick.

It looked even worse now. Kouji’s whole back was red, more swollen. The wound had turned black in places, huge yellow spots along it. Junpei dipped the bandana in the water and wrung it out. Washed the sweat off Kouji’s body before trying to clean the wound. He wasn’t sure it helped. Pus ran out of it and he dried it off, rinsed the bandana in the water again.

”...he needs antibiotics”, Kouichi said. ”What happened?”

Junpei hesitated, then went back to cleaning the wound.

”Cherubimon”, he said. ”We never had time to take care of it right away.”

It was close enough to the truth to not be a lie, but it hopefully wouldn’t make Kouichi feel guilty. Takuya came over, looked over Junpei’s shoulder.

”Oh eww, that looks horrible.”

”And I’m sure he appreciates you standing there staring at him”, Junpei said and rolled his eyes.

Kouji cried. Junpei stopped working. Leaned over Kouji.

”...hurts”, Kouji mumbled.

Junpei’s stomach hurt. He wished there was any way he could help.

”I know. I’m almost done.”

He wasn’t. He needed more stuff, better stuff. Something clean and not a dirty piece of cloth and water from a muddy river. He rinsed the bandana again, pulled it over the wound once more. Dropped the bandana into the water and pulled Kouji into a sitting position. Kouji was pale, his breaths fast. This was really not good.

”...come on, let’s get you lying down closer to the fire.”

Kouji nodded and Junpei pulled him to his feet, wrapped an arm around him. Kouji felt… thin. He stumbled as they walked over, let Junpei take most of his weight. How were they supposed to be able to save the world with Kouji like this? Junpei shook his head. That was a question for another day.

He lowered Kouji by the fire, laid him down. Kouichi took his shirt off, put it over Kouji. It was thin and the short sleeves didn’t do much to provide warmth, but it covered up the wound.

Junpei pulled his hands across his face. Discovering a new world had been so exciting at first and now it was just… He sighed and sat down. Kouichi gathered up Kouji’s clothes, disappeared towards the river just as Tomoki and Izumi returned, loaded with apples.

”How’s he doing?” Izumi asked as she started putting the apples on sticks.

Tomoki helped, watched Junpei. Junpei scratched the back of his head, helped put the apples over the fire.

”...not great. I don’t think we’ll be able to continue today.”

Or tomorrow. Or the day after. Takuya sat down as well.

”We’re not gonna be able to stay here”, he said. ”They’ll find us.”

Junpei knew. Everyone knew. But they couldn’t hide either. The world would get deleted, Lucemon revived. They needed to stop that from happening. Junpei pulled a hand through his hair, leaned back.

”...we’ll see tomorrow”, he decided.

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New Years Prompt: Kiibo w/ alternate prompt

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Specifics: "hmmm i will try my best, how about S/O asks Kiibo spend New Year together and teaching him how to celebrate by spending time with him! if that makes sense ^^"

Entry for @hanamura-manami

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When Kiibo said he wanted to learn everything about New Years, he wasn't kidding. Asking you to be his teacher was fine of course, but the guy has the biggest amount of childish curiosity you'd ever seen. You got the image of a cat and a dog put together when he was intensely listening to your words. Imagining that one stubborn lock of hair he could never seem to keep down as a tail made the image come into full view.

"Can you explain that for me again?"

"Sure. You know where you got lost?"

"Yeah, I got lost around-"

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"Oh. Wow...I really have been missing out....haven't I?"

"I'm sorry."

"...It's fine. Do continue though! I want to know everything about your New Years traditions Y/N."

"Alright then....What should I cover next?"

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You could only offer a short summary of everything you knew. Most of your explanations only left him with more questions. Anything you couldn't answer, he'd delve into the internet to find the answer to. Quite a common occurrence seeing as he was an extremely sheltered kid up until high school. He was pretty straight-faced back then too, almost lifeless. You're not sure what his father was really doing, but "Proffessor" Idabashi didn't seem to want to fill you in when you actually visited Kiibo at home. You ended up being one of the many people that brought color into Kiibo's previously dull world.

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"Does this mean we're going to have a party?"

"I think it's be best for your first New Years to just be the two of us."

"Oh... I don't think that really lines up with anything I read online though... Isn't this supposed to be a celebration?"

"Kiibo, don't you think you'd become too distracted trying to help me prepare stuff for a party that will only last for as long as people are in our apartment? We'd end up in the kitchen for the majority of the party if we started sending out invites today. Besides, we have no idea if everyone else has plans already with their families."

"Ah! Not everyone though!"

That little magical tablet he's been carrying around with him still comes in handy, even now. He was scrolling through the list of contacts he had. Not that you could really see until he turned the screen towards you with a big smile. You have to admit that seeing him excited about something like this is enough to waiver your opinions and let a few people over.

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"Hm?"

"What about Saihara?"

"He's most likely working on a case tonight, but if you want to call him go ahead. I'm sure he wouldn't mind the company."

"Maybe we can invite Mui-"

"No."

"Hm?"

"I will not let that vulgar-mouthed women into my home just to have her make fun of me again."

"I'm sure she didn't mean it..."

"Kiibo. Do not invite her. Shuichi I can understand. He's polite and quiet. I don't mind him being here."

"You remember how she used to be though.."

"And I know how she is now. Listen, I know you guys are close. I just can't handle her right now. She changed, in a way I can't approve."

He seemed to shake it off going down the list of people to invite over before the day was over. It seemed to turn into a quick back and forth game of yes and no's.

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"What about Tenko?"

"Hon, Tenko is training right now. It's all over her social media accounts, pictures of her sensei, the dojo, pictures of her what appears to be her sending someone across the room. She's halfway across the city right now. It's really nice to see her be so passionate about her craft.... She was so timid before."

"Himiko?"

"She's doing a private magic show today. I have no idea where she is though. I doubt she'll want to take a taxi here though."

"Kaito?"

"......Where is Kaito? Have you even heard from him recently?"

"....Not really. He keeps posting images of rockets on his Instagram story though."

"Huh, he must have finally reached his dream of being famous. Good for him. That space program thing straightened him out a lot."

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For a moment, Kiibo seemed to have gone quiet when he reached the name of someone he didn't particularly have the best history with. You knew who it was without needing to look at the screen.

"You want to invite Ouma?"

"......"

The glare you got from him made you chuckle.

"I thought as much. I didn't mean it hon."

His eyes quickly softened, seemingly remorseful. You can understand why. Ouma used to tease him, something you put a stop to yourself. He had just as much of a distaste for him as you did for Mui. You knew he'd never bring himself to hate anyone though.

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"It's not that I hate him or anything he's just...."

"He's difficult to handle. He's loud, likes to make a mess, and can be a little rude or disrespectful. I get it."

"Y/N, he asked me if I had a d-"

"YES, yes I remember. God what a memory that was. Hard to think that was just a few years ago. Still can't believe he thought you were a robot, it was almost kind of funny really..."

"Mm...I'm very grateful that you wanted to stay with me throughout everything. I know that I still have a lot to work on..."

"Still shocked I said yes?"

"Yeah....I just...I don't know a lot about life. Not like you or our friends do at least."

"Just because he kept you in the dark doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone else do that. Unless it's like....you know, mental scarring."

"Yeah that was an uncomfortable conversation."

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Much to his dismay, everyone he called seemed to be busy. He was pleasantly informed by Shuichi that he was now married. Apparently in the time between high school and the academy he had met and married a woman he became friends with online. Who would have guessed that he would have been married before the two of you? He certainly deserved it after everything he went through. The two of you could barely make out her name since he was talking so fast. He seemed so happy with Alexis.

"Hey guys I got to go. Dinner reservation y'know?"

"I hope it goes well."

"Thanks Ibadashi! I'll talk to you later ok?"

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The only one who wasn't busy was strangely Tsumugi, but she insisted she didn't want to intrude on your evening together before promptly hanging up.

"That was weird."

"I thought Tsumugi liked being around people?"

"Maybe she'd just rather be alone today."

"......Should I just check she's ok?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

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".....I feel like there's still so much left for me to learn...."

"You still have time to learn, so if you still have questions after today's over, then you can always ask."

"I guess I'm a little disappointed we didn't get to have a party."

"Well that generally for families to gather for. Like Christmas."

"......"

"What?"

"All I have are you and dad."

"And all your friends."

"They didn't want to come over though."

"There's always next year hon. We just caught them a little too late this year. Don't take it too personally, ok?"

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"What does it mean when the countdown starts?"

"It means that there is mere seconds left before the year is over."

"And-.....Oh."

"Hm?"

When your turned to look at him, his face was bright red. He seemingly found something that had him a bit flustered.

"Something wrong?"

"...No..."

"Why are you all red then."

"Just read something I didn't expect to see."

"What, something scandalous?"

You exaggerated your words by moving your hands in a dramatic way. It got a small laugh out of him. Success!

"No, it's just that "Midnight Kiss" thing."

"Oh yeah...You're still not used to affection yet. That should be good practice for you."

"EXcuse me?"

His voice crack was enough to tease him over, but you wouldn't dare.

".....Do you not want to?"

"....I mean I do but.....it's so overwhelming..."

"You'll learn to get over that feeling after a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you just got to get used to having small amounts of affection per day, or big. Whatever you feel comfortable with of course."

"Huh..."

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The whole countdown went down without a hitch. He didn't really understand why that got him so excited until you gave him a quick peck. Something that wasn't really expecting this year.

"Did I surprise you?"

"...Yeah..."

"Well, happy New Year Kiibo."

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Hope you don't mind the guest appearances and twist on your prompt, I was trying to make it way more fun on my end.