Count to Ten

Special Quest: Overcome This Fever

"I apologize for entering your cell like this," Shouto's said. Izuku opened his eyes, slowly, everything was hazy. He could see a number of things on the coffee table. Was he on the couch? Why?

"Shouto?" Izuku mumbled. He felt hot all over. He was burning up.

"Considering I am the only person you've allowed into your cell, I was the only person willing to enter it and nurse you back to health. Although, this is partially my fault to begin with. I hope I am not troubling you too much, Izuku," Shouto placed the cold cloth on Izuku's forehead. That felt slightly better. Izuku couldn't tell up from down. He just felt gross. He also didn't think Shouto was real. He thought he was just an illusion crafted by his mind. He smiled at this illusion.

"Shouto," he repeated. He grabbed Shouto's hand and held it on his face. His hand was cool. It felt nice. Izuku felt too hot.

"Your fever must be worse than I thought," Shouto frowned. "You're acting a bit out of character."

"Shouto cold. Me is hot," Izuku fumbled with his buttons. He wanted to take off this annoying suit. His sweat was clinging to him. It was uncomfortable.

Shouto assisted in taking off the suit jacket, vest, and unbuttoning Izuku's shirt a bit more to allow for breathing room. Anything more than that, Shouto couldn't bring himself to take off. Izuku was in a weird state of mind. He didn't want to act out of hand. Besides, he'd already caused this fever by acting out of hand the last time they'd met.

Izuku rolled off of the couch and onto Shouto's lap. He giggled, looking up at him with his face on Shouto's legs. "Shouto cold," he giggled again. He sat up, groggily, and pushed Shouto down onto the ground. He forced Shouto's shirt up, resting his head on Shouto's chest. "Shouto cold," he repeated, closing his eyes.

Shouto couldn't move for a number of reasons. He didn't want to disturb Izuku. He also didn't want to force Deku out. So, all he could do was lie there, closing his own eyes, and sighing. He hadn't slept much the night before so maybe now was a good a time as any to try.

Izuku's light snores resounded in Shouto's ears. It didn't take long before they both were asleep. The two lay there, on the floor, Izuku on top of Shouto, sleeping soundly. Deku nowhere to be found. Even he wasn't so evil as to show up when Izuku was clearly sick.

An hour? Maybe two hours? Some time passed and Izuku's eyes fluttered open. He sat up and rubbed his face. He felt refreshed but didn't know why. He looked down. Odd. Why wasn't he wearing all of his clothes? He looked down again. Shouto?! Not only was Shouto there but his clothing was messed up too! What had he done?! He didn't touch someone in their sleep, did he? Did Deku? There was so much uncertainty.

Shouto opened his eyes. He stared at Izuku. He yawned. He sat up. "Do you feel better?" he asked while fixing his shirt.

"I'm really sorry," Izuku scratched his arm through the thin fabric. "I'm really really sorry," he apologized over and over. Shouto grabbed his wrist, to keep him from scratching, and Izuku looked into his eyes. There was a fear in them, in Izuku's eyes, and Shouto only felt guilty about this. He let go of Izuku's arm. It was a bad idea to touch him.

"You don't have to apologize," Shouto sighed. He closed his eyes and grabbed the bridge of his nose. He sighed again. "This is partially my fault."

"No! No, no, no, no!" Izuku waved his hands frantically. "It's not your fault! It's my fault. I'm the faulty one, it was me," Izuku moved to scratch his arm again, but he refrained, Shouto had essentially told him not to, after all.

"We are both guilty parties," Shouto gestured to the two of them. "Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Izuku frowned. He still felt terrible about the whole thing. He contaminated Shouto. That should be a crime. Ah, he wasn't the criminal, he was the crime. He had committed a crime (the crime of contaminating Shouto) so now he was officially a criminal. It was right for him to be locked up in here.

"Do you still feel hot?" Shouto asked. He lifted up his hand to feel Izuku's temperature but refrained. He probably shouldn't touch him.

Izuku leaned forward to place his forehead on Shouto's hand. "Shouto is the exception. I can touch Shouto. Shouto can touch me," Izuku said. He was certain of that now. If Shouto was already contaminated there was nothing to hold back for anymore. He might as well just let it happen. It still felt odd, touching someone, after being so touch starved for all of these years. But, it wasn't terrible. The terrible part happened already. Nothing to worry about.

"You're still a bit warm," Shouto said. His hand lingered on Izuku's head. He wanted to remove it but every time he went to, he couldn't. Something about what Izuku had said made him nervous. Why was Izuku okay with him?

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked. "You look pale, paler than normal." Shouto removed his hand. He placed it on the ground. He was confused, conflicted, any number of things. Something was off about their entire relationship. He'd agreed to being assigned to him because he thought that he could help. But apparently, he was making it a bit worse. If Izuku became fixated on him it could backfire later.

No, that wasn't it. It wasn't just about Izuku. Shouto was becoming attached to him. When had it started? He tried to think. 'You don't usually let people call you by your name.' Hadn't Touya said something like that? Did that mean Shouto was always attached to him? From the very first time they'd met? This was a problem. The line between patient and doctor had was always blurry for the two. Shouto's inner motives were becoming known to him. But, the thought of simply walking away and handing Izuku over to some other doctor wasn't exactly something he agreed with. Anger. Now that's an emotion Shouto refrained from feeling. He tried to push it to the side. The more he thought about it the more it angered him. Just stop thinking about it then. Just. Stop. Thinking.

"Shouto?" Izuku placed his hands on Shouto's face. He stared at him. "You're going far away. Are you okay?"

"I apologize," Shouto said. "I have just made a realization I feel I would have been better off not knowing. But, there is something I would like to ask you about the next item on your list."

"Okay?" Izuku crossed his arms and sat on his legs.

"Where exactly did you plan on going?" The list had said 'go on a date' but not anything about who he wished to go on a date with or where he'd like to go. Who he wished to go with was no longer a concern. Shouto was going to have to do it. There was no one else. The first reason being, Izuku didn't have contact with anyone else. The second reason being, well, Shouto would be far too angry if anyone else took him out.

"Hm," Izuku pondered it for a while, "I think I'd like to go to a park!" he smiled. A smile too pure for this world. A smile that Shouto would just have to protect. Fuck the line between patient and doctor. Shouto wasn't straight anyway.