Lifeline | SaneGiyuu Modern AU

🌊| 4 - The morning after |💨

Giyuu woke to a splitting pain in his head.

Huh... I'm alive?

With a jolt, he recognised the boy laying next to him, and the early morning events flooded back into his scattered mind.

Oh yeah... He showed up just after I took all those pills.

Spitting a strand of long black hair from his mouth, Giyuu rolled over gingerly, trying not to wake the boy beside him. Sanemi had dark circles beneath his twitching eyelids, and his snores were light. Giyuu wondered how long he had layed awake for before getting a chance to sleep.

Almost as if he could sense his gaze, Sanemi opened one of his eyes sleepily. A yawn escaped his lips, and Giyuu felt his chest warm slightly. Despite the guilt eating away at him... He was glad to have Sanemi with him. It was almost as if he really cared.

"Mhm, mornun..." Sanemi groaned, slowly stretching out his muscles. "What's the time?"

Giyuu blinked and then looked to the alarm clock at his bedside. For some reason, it was turned over on its face... When he flipped it back up again, it read 1:19pm.

"20 past one." He mumbled in reply. Sanemi snorted as he swung his legs out of bed; Giyuu assumed this meant he didn't sleep much.

It didn't take Sanemi long to get dressed and washed. He pulled on a tracksuit he found in Giyuu's drawer and swished mouthwash around inside his cheeks whilst Giyuu waited in bed.

With a grunt, Giyuu mustered up all his energy and tried to do the same. However, when his feet hit the ground, he was overcome with nausea that sent him plummeting to the floor. Footsteps thudded rapidly towards him as he lay his pounding head against the carpet.

"Hey, you have to be careful!" Sanemi exclaimed in frustration, hauling Giyuu back to his feet. A sickening feeling swam around inside of him, luckily his companion was there to steady him.

Sweat trickled down Giyuu's forehead and his eyes were dull. He leaned into Sanemi and began to slump over, tired of standing.

"Hey- Hey! You have to stand up!" Sanemi grabbed onto Giyuu as his legs went limp. "You can't just give up in the middle of standing!"

No sound came from Giyuu in reply other than a short "huff". Sanemi grumbled under his breath and scooped the dejected man up in his arms, carrying him bridal style down the stairs and into the main rooms of the house. Clammy hands clutched as the neck of Sanemi's shirt, reminding him of a helpless child. Everything about Giyuu's state should have made Sanemi angry... But he just couldn't muster it up.

I know how he feels. I can't be angry with him when I know exactly how much he's hurting.

They made their way to the living room, Giyuu wrapped up in Sanemi's arms. Gently, as if he was holding something precious and breakable, Sanemi layed him down and pulled a blanket over his shoulders.

"Rest for now, try to stretch a bit if you can. You got a coffee machine?" Fatigue was chipping away at Sanemi's body, and the lack of caffeine in his blood certainly wasn't helping. Giyuu nodded and motioned towards a door to his right.

The door swung open easily as Sanemi entered the kitchen. It was just like the living room; prim, proper, tidy, professional, robotic. There was nothing alive about the house, no personality, no home-y atmosphere...

"How long have you lived here?" Sanemi called through the open doorway as he set the water to boil. He could hear Giyuu yawn from the other room, followed by the rustling of blankets.

"Almost 2 years now, it was my sister's place. I used to rent it out to a friend, but he... doesn't need it anymore."

Sanemi noticed a strange tone in Giyuu's voice, but chose to ignore it. After all, he was a pretty strange guy...

He's lived here all that time, yet hasn't even bothered to hang up a picture or anything?

"You have a sister?" He called again through the doorway. This time, he didn't get an answer.

...

The gentle whirring of the coffee machine spun to a halt, and Sanemi was relieved. He hadn't got much more than 3 hours sleep last night, and he could barely even function.

"Do you wanna go out and find something to eat?" Sanemi suggested, sauntering back up to Giyuu with his coffee mug in hand. Giyuu nodded silently, but then grimaced when he saw the colour of what was in Sanemi's cup.

"Are you seriously drinking pure expresso? That's gross!" Something resembling a laugh was in Giyuu's tone, and Sanemi chuckled in response.

"Creamer is for pussies." He teased and nudged Giyuu. "Cmon, we should get you dressed so we can look for food. I'm starving."

With a nod, Giyuu allowed Sanemi to lead him back upstairs. As they walked, a thought sprung into Giyuu's mind.

"What about school? Won't we get in trouble for having the day off?" He frowned, lines spreading across his furrowed brow. Giyuu hadn't even thought about school yet that day... Now that he remembered, he felt bad. After all, Sanemi would be in trouble now aswell.

Seeing the worry on his face, Sanemi huffed and smirked. "Yeah, you don't have to worry about that. For the next 5 days, you and I have-" He dramatically clutched at his stomach and contorted his face. "The stomach flu!"

Giyuu laughed and smiled at the ground. "Thanks Sanemi. For all of this."

...

A strange feeling was squirming around inside of Sanemi. Giyuu's smile was far warmer and sweeter than he had expected: the way his laugh carried through the air, the way the corners of his eyes turned slightly upwards, the way his brow softened, the way his cheeks puffed up... Sanemi felt his face grow hot.

What the hell... Am I blushing? That's so gross!

"Uh, Shinazugawa? Are you okay? Sorry for calling you Sanemi, I swear I didn't mean to-"

Ripped from his thoughts, his purple tinged eyes widened. Whilst he was distracted, the pale-haired boy didn't even notice that Giyuu had called him by his first name...

A first name basis is a sign of friendship and closeness. Nobody calls me Sanemi, but this guy... Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with it.

"Don't sweat it, you can call me Sanemi if you like." A faint flush spread over his face as he glanced away, nonchalantly. This was a first for him... He had never given anyone permissions like this before.

Giyuu's face lit up. "R-really? Is that okay? Well then, you can call me Giyuu!" Another wide smile was thrown Sanemi's way, making them both turn pink.

"I, um... Thanks." Sanemi mumbled. It was now his turn to look at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with the blue-haired boy infront of him. Embarrassment was partly resposible for his flusteredness... But there was something else. Another feeling that Sanemi couldn't quite name, that was making him feel light-headed and giddy.

"Sanemi? Are you sure that's okay?" Giyuu poked his arm twice and pulled Sanemi out of his flustered daze. Clearing his throat, he clenched his jaw slightly.

"Yes, It's fine!" The tone of his voice was rougher than he had intended it to be (and slightly high-pitched), but Giyuu didn't seem phased. "Cmon, you really need to get dressed so we can get food. I'm gonna starve at this rate!"

Giyuu laughed again, softer this time. He entered his room to change and mumbled something to Sanemi before he shut the door:

"You're such a drama queen..."

...

1288 words

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