ficlet: Chiba gets sick

From Chiba’s bedside, Taira called up Ryuusuke to let him know they’d be down a singer for tonight’s rehearsal. There’s an easy joke to be made at Chiba’s expense when he winds up with a cold, but Taira’s not one to make it. Not when the rapper’s usually powerful voice has been reduced to almost nothing, on top of him sneezing, having a fever and headache.

Ever since Koyuki fell ill during their first series of intense pre-recording rehearsals, Ryuusuke had learned to be a bit more understanding. Over the phone: “Tell that idiot to hurry up and get better. And don’t you go catching it from him either. Got it, Taira?”

Accommodating as ever, that Ryuusuke.

As Taira hung up and put away his cellphone, he heard an inquisitive hum from Chiba. It was part of rudimentary system they came up with to preserve his voice, since he was too tired to sign — not that Taira would have understood sign language in the first place.

Taira smiled apologetically. “I’ve got you plenty of things to help get you through the night. Tissue, medicine, soup, and I even brought around my space heater to keep your room nice and toasty. Wish I could stick around…”

“Nnn-hnn,” Chiba replied. Me, too.

“Well, we’ll try our best to get through rehearsal without you.”

This was met by a terse, disappointed, “Hmph” as Chiba pulled the edge of his covers to his face.

Taira started getting to his feet, “Anything else I can get you before I head out?” He was sure he’d thought of everything already…

“…Tunes,” came a rasping whisper.

Taira went to the stereo that sat atop Chiba’s dresser. “I can’t turn this up too loud, in case you fall asleep and forget to turn it off.”

Chiba made a noise of agreement.