Ethereal - Suegiku

6

        "Jouno, wake up." Tecchou repeatedly poked his colleague's shoulder, desperately trying to wake him up.

"Let me rest, asshole..." The man swiftly turned his head away, and the brunette who was kneeling beside him sighed.

"Please?"

"Shut up."

"You're really gonna make me do this, huh?" Tecchou took a deep breath, picking up a blanket from behind him.

"Do wha-?" Before Jouno could finish, he had been wrapped up in a blanket and was being thrown over his coworker's shoulder.

"I warned you." The man unzipped the tent, and his grip on his colleague tightened.

"H-Hey! Put me down, bastard!!"

"You'll just end up going back to bed. We need you awake today so we can actually enjoy our vacation together, alright?"

"I... I hate you." Jouno sighed as soon as he realized he had hesitated to say those words.

"I know you do." To the man's surprise, his coworker said this in an incredibly dismissive manner, almost as if he didn't believe it anymore.

"I mean it, you know."

"Sure you do." Tecchou chuckled softly, and Jouno sighed in defeat.

"Can you put me down? This blanket is getting incredibly hot."

"Nope. Not yet, anyway." The brunette smiled softly, just before placing his coworker down in a chair, still wrapped up tightly. As Jouno struggled, he heard the sound of another tent unzipping, alongside the voices of his other two colleagues. After a moment of silence, Teruko snickered, and Tachihara was clearly trying his best to not laugh.

"Need a little help, blanket boy?" The girl teased.

"With all due respect, shut up." He seethed. After a brief moment, the man finally managed to get the blanket off of him, seemingly embarrassed by how long it took.

"What the hell did you do to that blanket?! Superglue it?!"

"No, I just wrapped you up in a really specific way. I'm surprised it worked." Tecchou answered nonchalantly, which only served to annoy Jouno even more.

"You..! It's too early for this!!" The man spat, promptly standing up and walking off.

"Hey, where are you going? Come back, you haven't eaten yet. That's not healthy." Tecchou reached out for the man's hand, but he yanked it away and continued walking.

"I need a break, so back off."

The brunette stood in contemplation, watching as the man swiftly walked away. He glanced back at the two other colleagues of his, and Tachihara nodded at him in response. As for Teruko, she simply smirked.

"... Jouno, wait." The brunette began to follow his coworker to his destination, keeping a careful eye on him.

"Jesus, why did you have to follow me?" Jouno huffed, trying to focus on the sounds of the flowing water. "All you're going to do is bother me."

"Because, I just want to make sure you're- what are you doing?" The brunette stopped mid sentence as he watched his coworker walk closer to the river bank.

"I'm desperately hoping that if I get closer to the water, I won't have to hear your voice anymore."

"You could slip and fall in. The rocks are probably really dangerous to walk-" Right as Tecchou was about to finish, he noticed Jouno stumbling, and he shot his hand out to grab his arm; Just barely failing to do so. Without a second thought, the brunette dived into the river to try and help.

Once submerged, Tecchou immediately saw his coworker in front of him, wrapping his arms around him and bringing him to the surface. After taking a moment to breathe, Jouno sighed, still breathing heavily.

"I could have swam up on my own, you know..!"

"I know, but I didn't know if you'd be down there longer because of shock or something! You're not hurt, are you?" Tecchou brought his coworker to a more shallow area, checking his arms carefully until he noticed a significant amount of blood on his left hand.

"What are you doing?" Jouno tried to pull away, but the brunette gripped his shoulders and pulled him closer.

"Please, be more careful next time... Once we get back, I'll help you with your hand. Alright?" Upon hearing the brunette's voice under these circumstances, Jouno said something he'd never imagined.

"That's... Thank you." He muttered.

"... What did you just say?"

"I said thank you."

Tecchou seemed shocked, before smiling widely; it was incredibly rare for him to express himself like this.

"Listen, I... heard what you told me last night." Jouno tilted his head downwards as he spoke, as he could feel the heat creeping up on his face. "... Could you, um... say it again? Just so I can think..?"

"Ah- Sure..!" Tecchou took a deep breath. "I love you."

That was all he needed. Before the brunette knew it, Jouno had wrapped his arms around him, but seemed to hesitate as he stopped his face incredibly close to his coworker's. At this, Tecchou simply smiled, planting a soft kiss on the man's lips.

As the two stood there for a moment, refusing to move, it seemed the rest of the trip would be much easier to get through.