SDRA2 OTP Extravaganza

Small Rest (Hajisai/Hajime Makunouchi x Shinji Kasai)

Sidebloggable Prompt: "Wounded"

Tumblr Prompt: https://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/693227723211128832/imagine-a-lifting-b-at-the-gym/amp

"Imagine A lifting B at the gym."

Warning: implied terminal illness, chapter 1 spoilers

***

"Should we start with a jog around the island again?" Hajime suggested as he walked down the outer stairs of the Monocruise.

Behind him were Shinji and Yuki, the latter being dragged against his will. "Yeah, that sounds like a great warmup!" the firefighter agreed. "We should go to Utsuroshima Park after our jog, we can train over there!"

"Wh-Why am I here? Don't you guys normally do your morning jogs with just yourselves?!" Yuki weakly protested.

"Come on, Yuki, let's do a lap around the island! I don't want to hear any whining from you!" Shinji exclaimed, and Hajime chuckled as the poor lucky student was made to work out with them.

After a lap, the trio went to the decided to forgo their plan to go to the park because of the time. Instead, they went back to the workout room and began exercising there. "So, has there been no progress in the investigation so far?" Shinji asked as he did push-ups, while Yuki laid dazed on a treadmill.

"Not that I know so far," Hajime replied, sitting on Shinji's back and letting himself be lifted there, "but I'm sure we'll find out at breakfast."

Yuki sat up and looked over at Hajime. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look so well..." the lucky student fretted.

"Nah, I'm good. I've already missed enough training anyway," the blonde sighed, getting off Shinji's back.

Shinji stopped doing push-ups and got on his side instead. "Hey, if you're not feeling well, dude, you should go rest a bit. Exercising is good, but you shouldn't push yourself for it," the firefighter agreed.

Hajime sighed and stretched a little bit. "Fine, I'll go rest," he conceded, standing back up. 

Shinji stood up with the boxer, then looked towards Yuki. "We'll continue this later."

Yuki nodded, and quickly escaped the workout room to the diner. As for Shinji and Hajime, they began walking up the stairs to get to the third floor dorm rooms. While he was at it, Shinji supposed that he should take a shower after he dropped Hajime off at his room. He didn't want the girls scolding him again.

"By the way, is it a cold or fever or something that's got you down? I can grab some medicine from the mart and bring it here," the firefighter offered.

"No, it's not a cold or anything like that. I do have painkillers in my room though, so you don't need to do that," Hajime assured. "It's just, um, some bad abdominal pain, that's all."

"Oh, is it a cramp or something? Heating packs or hot washcloths on the area will help."

"No, uh... Well, I might as well not keep this from you," Hajime sighed, opening the door to his dorm. "It's a bit of a relapse. When I was a kid, I was really sick. Like, hospitalized kind of sick. It took a miracle for it to go away, but it causes problems every once in a while..."

"O-Oh, I'm sorry..." Shinji exclaimed, immediately regretting his prying into details. "I didn't know..."

"It's fine, I wasn't expecting to tell anyone anyway. Don't beat yourself up over it, I'm already used to needing these breaks. It'll go away very soon, I'm sure of it," Hajime reassured with a smile. 

Shinji nodded, returning the smile. "Take care of yourself, bro. Don't overdo it, send me or Yuki a message if you need anything from the mart or whatnot," he reminded. He had a feeling that Hajime might contact Yuki though, Shinji had heard a few people wonder how Shinji was so unfamiliar with the student handbooks.

At least this wasn't like the time that he nearly crushed the handbook in his hands, Monocrow had given him a warning but had let him off easily. The crow did borrow his handbook for a bit to reinforce it with stronger materials to be 'student-friendly' before giving it back though.

At least Hajime didn't have that problem. He didn't know what kind of illness the boxer had long ago, but if it was bad enough to hospitalize him, then he knew that Hajime needed to rest badly. But for now, he needed to shower and join the group at the diner. He made himself a mental note to bring breakfast up to Hajime afterwards.

***

Several days later, Shinji woke up in his bed with his jaw sore and cold. When he reached his hand up to touch the spot, he found that a makeshift ice pack had been fastened there. He took it off and rubbed his jaw, feeling a slight bump there.

Sitting beside his bed was Yuki, who sat up in his chair when he saw Shinji move. "B-big Bro! Thank god you're okay!" the lucky student fretted. "You were unconscious for a whole day..."

"A whole day? Damn, how hard was I hit?" Shinji wondered. The last thing he remembered was charging at Hajime after the boxer declared that he was working with Mikado, and the other man punched him in the jaw. 

In his opinion, Hajime's declaration that he was never on their side to begin with was a blow that hurt worse than his punch. But even so, Shinji knew how strong Hajime really was. The boxer could easily crushed a human skull in his hands with his strength, and he could have killed Shinji if he wanted to. But he didn't.

"Hey, Yuki," Shinji spoke up, turning back towards the lucky student. "What happened after I passed out yesterday? I hope I didn't miss too much."

"Well, um, Mikado betrayed Hajime, and Monocrow ended up getting Hajime...executed...ugh..." Yuki grimaced and quickly rubbed his eyes. "After that, nobody trusted each other anymore. Kokoro went off alone, Hibiki and Kanade refuse to talk to us anymore, Sora and Setsuka had to carry you here since the infirmary wasn't available, and everyone's depressed. I've been keeping an eye on you in here, Setsuka's been bringing me food."

Shinji sighed as he heard how bad things have gotten. "So, that's the situation? There are three hidden Voids, and Mikado just betrayed them...I think I have an idea," the firefighter decided, getting out his handbook. "Hajime could have killed me, and he said that he thought of us as friends. If the other voids feel the same, then we just need to get them on our side."