4 + 1

Shirazu

SHIRAZU

Shirazu was awoken by the faint sound of crying. Immediately, his senses were on high alert, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the muffled sobs. The sound originated from a bedroom. Haise's bedroom. The faint tang of alcohol still rested on Shirazu's lips, and he remembered Haise going to bed early after cooking the feast for their 1 year anniversary. He didn't eat a single thing, and he remembered Saiko shooting more than a few worried looks in his direction. 

Truthfully, they were all worried for Haise. Urie was the first to confess his suspicions for their mentor, and that was the first drop in the flood. They all told each other about how he never ate, his strength and his form. Shirazu felt something akin to apprehension as he creaked Haise's door open, expecting something to pop out.

He was greeted by Haise in a fetal position, sheets lightly wrapped around him and crying over a pillow. Judging by his lack of reaction, he was still asleep. Listening in, he could barely hear mutterings through the pillow.

"972... 965..."

"Sassan?"

"958... 951..."

"SASSAN!" Shirazu whisper shouted, meekly pushing at his body in an attempt to rouse him without disturbing the rest of the household. Haise finally roused with a hoarse groan, eyes cracked open and wet with tears.

"Wh... Shirazu..." Haise brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his head, almost like he was recovering from a migraine. For a second there, it looked like one of his eyes were black. A second later and they were gone. "Shirazu... what are you doing in here?" Haise looked confused, as if he hadn't been crying out strange numbers in the night.

Shirazu swallowed. "Sassan, I believe you were having a nightmare." He realised how dumb that sounded. "-I mean, I didn't want you to be having a troubled night after all the hard work you did yesterday, with the food, and the preparations and-"

"Thank you." Haise cut off his rambling with a small smile, his eyes shining in the moonlight.

His stomach grumbled once, twice and went silent. His smile faded, and they were both looking at each other. Haise's expression contained false optimism and looked almost sheepish. "Guess I'll get something in the morning then."

Shirazu frowned. "Sassan, there's no way you're getting back to sleep with that kind of hunger. Let's go downstairs." He grabbed his wrist a bit tighter than he usually would and dragged his superior (God, what was he doing?) out of bed and downstairs, blatantly ignoring Haise's complaints and half-hearted threats.

They arrived in the kitchen and Shirazu passed him an apple. Haise stared at it glumly.

"I think.... I'm in more of an ice cream mood."

Shirazu stared at him. Ice cream? At 2 in the morning? He exhaled and tossed the apple carelessly back into the fruit bowl and walked towards the freezer, searching for Saiko's not so secret stash of ice cream. With a bit of a frozen hand, Shirazu pulled out a half eaten tub of plain vanilla.

Haise simply stared at it, looking pale. "Shirazu... I appreciate your concern but... I've lost my appetite." He put the ice cream back into the fridge, looking wistful. "I'll go see a CCG doctor in the morning." And left the room. Shirazu was left standing there, shirtless and suddenly very, very cold.