those who we protect [IDOLiSH7]

II

Mitsuki turned his face and met his eyes with Riku's half-awake eyes. "I'm... pant ... I'm alright... pant... I j-just have a cold, nothing too serious" he added. The Izumi brothers were quick to tell that Riku was lying. His eyes, struggling to keep open, his heavy breathing, slowly making a reappearance, it was clear as day that their center was not indeed alright. He tried to get up, only to have Iori push him back down. "Nanase-san, please rest, you're obviously in no condition to do work today" Iori stated. He protested. "But... pant... today we're learning the choreography to our new song with TRIGGER... pant... I have to go". His voice was dry and slowly giving out from all the heavy breathing. "We can work something out with the production team later, but right now, your health is most important" Mitsuki added.

Riku lowered his gaze and apologized, confusing the two brothers. "I... I just don't want my weak body to keep on turning into..." Riku paused for a moment, but then proceeded, his face turned gloomy, along with his eyes becoming watery in the process. "... turning into a poor excuse for being underperforming... I don't want to disappoint anyone, but I feel like... pant... that's all I've been doing ever since we got to perform at the Zero arena".

Riku..." Mitsuki softly murmured. Iori wanted to say something, but before he could find the right words, he was interrupted by Riku. "I still have time to get ready...please let me go... let me..." 

Their center's eyes were slowly finding it more difficult to stay awake; forcing his eyes to open up the moment his eyelids touched. His fight to stay awake lasted a bit longer until he could no longer keep up and finally went to deep sleep. Iori placed his head on Riku's chest, listening carefully to the way he was breathing. He sighed; slightly relieved. "He's still not coming with us, right?" Mitsuki asked. "Of course not, ni-san" he replied while getting up from his knees. Mitsuki got the damp towel, moved Riku's damp bangs to the side, and placed it over his forehead.

Knocking was heard from the door. The brothers went and opened it, to meet Sogo on the other side, with a worrisome look on his face, and the others behind him. "How is Riku-kun?" Sogo asked.

Mitsuki spoke up. "Not good at all, he's running a really high fever and worst-case scenario, he has the flu". Everyone's eyes widened. "I figured" Sogo replied, lowering his gaze. "You guys were in there for a while, so it was clear that something was up" Tamaki added. "Have you told manager yet?" Yamato asked. Iori shook his head. "I suggest that we get Nanase-san treated at the hospital, so I'll call manager now so that she can give us the green light to call for an ambulance," Iori said. Nagi rubbed his thumb against his pointer finger and soon spoke up. "Are you sure we need to call for one? Riku-kun really hates being in hospitals, so I'm not sure if putting him in one is going to make him feel better or worse" Nagi commented. "That's true" Tamaki answered.

"He's in a pretty bad state... I'll just call manager to see what she thinks" Iori said, getting his phone out. He searched for manager on his phone and soon had it against his ear. The room went silent with the only sound being heard was coming from Iori's phone, until a few moments later, she picked up the call on the other end. Her voice was very faint; hard to hear and comprehend, and so the others just had to fill in the blanks based on what Iori's responses were.

Iori: "Good morning, Manager"

Iori: "I'm doing well, I hope you are doing well also"

Iori: "Ummm, we have a situation here at the dorms... Nanase-san is in pretty bad shape"

Iori: "He has a really bad fever..." 

Iori glimpsed back to Riku's door for a moment and turned, facing and looking at Yamato. He mouthed some words out and pointed to Riku's room. Yamato nodded and went to go check on Riku before Iori continued on the phone.

Iori: "He has a really bad fever and had an attack as well, so I'm calling to ask if you think you we should get him some medical attention at a hospital"

Iori: "Yes"

Iori: "Huh?"

Everyone was caught by surprise from Iori's unusual answer.

Iori: "You are?"

The other members were confused. What's going on? they thought. Manager's voice on the phone was hard to make out, but first Tamaki, and soon one by one, everyone started to notice that her voice was starting to sound like she was nearby. The faint sound of keys was heard downstairs. Her words were slowly getting more clear to understand.

"Banri-san helped me finish up the paperwork I had to do before picking you all up, so now I have an empty slot" she said.

"Oh, I see" Iori replied through the phone. The front door downstairs opened.

"Well, I'm here, so I'm going to hang up the phone and talk to you all about this situation upstairs" her voice echoed, from downstairs and though the phone.

"Okay" Iori said and hanged up. The main door upstairs opened.

"Good morning everyone" Tsumugi said, sounding concerned, but hopeful.

"Good morning" everyone responded back. Yamato came out from Riku's room and proceeded to say good morning as well. "How is Riku-san?" she asked.

"I don't know how bad his condition was when Mitsu and Ichi went to check up on him at first, but he's... 'okay'... right now. His breathing, for the most part, is stable, some coughing and heavy breathing at times, and still has a high fever " he replied.

"I see... Riku-san's body is not the same as the rest of us, and we haven't seen him in such a terrible state... since it's still pretty early, we can check him into a hospital, and then we can...". Tsumugi cut off her sentence midway. Confliction started to rise inside her mind. Would dropping him off at a hospital sound like we're getting rid of extra baggage? But Riku-san might be in serious condition and needs medical help. But he's said that hospitals make him feel worse. Would having him recover here be a better option? If he checks into the hospital today, we won't know how long he'll be in there for... and tomorrow is...

"Manager" someone called out. Her head shot up. "Y-yes!" she shouted.

"I think Riku-kun should stay and recover here in the dorms instead of going to a hospital... I... I can stay behind and nurse him while the rest of you go meet with TRIGGER". Tsumugi's eyebrows narrowed, concerned.