The Tale of a Century \\ SoraMafu

>> Thirty Four <<

Mafu awoke to see Soraru, who was already awake and scrolling through his phone, next to him. Mafu shifted, which caught Soraru's attention. He smiled at the white haired boy, but the smile slowly turned into a frown. "Mafu, are you okay? You're looking kind of flushed."

Now that he mentioned it, Mafu was feeling a bit lightheaded. "No, I'm okay," he lied. He rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed. Black spots appeared in his vision, and he shook his head to clear them. "I'm going to go get ready."

Mafu could feel Soraru's gaze follow and pierce his back as he made his way to the bathroom on wobbly legs. He breifly held onto the doorframe as he passed to keep balance. Once he made it into the bathroom, he closed the door and turned around a bit too quickly. The room swung to one side, and Mafu held onto the counter so hard his knuckles turned a deathly white. Black spots danced around in his vision again, and his legs gave out, causing him to fall onto the floor with a thud.

Not even a second after Mafu collapsed, the door flew open with an anxious Soraru. "I head a sound. Mafu are you ok--" his words cut off when he saw Mafu's form on the ground, trembling. "Mafu--!" Soraru quickly kneeled on the floor, and pulled the white haired boy's head onto his lap. Mafu's shaky hand clutched the fabric of Soraru's shirt and buried his face further into Soraru's lap. He was breathing shallowly.

"Nn... It might've been when I went to... the library. And yesterday when... I went to school... I proabably didn't wear... enough..." Mafu tried to explain.

"Shhh, Mafu, don't talk." Soraru put his hand on Mafu's forehead. "Dammit, it's a fever. I knew it."

He picked Mafu up, cradling his head, "Let's get you to bed."

Soraru gently placed Mafu, whose cheeks were dusted red, on the mattress. "I'm going to go get the thermometer and medicine, keep resting," he quickly informed before leaving the room. When he was alone, Mafu rolled over onto his side and caught sight of the drawer that was still slightly cracked open from the day before. That's right. He still needed to check it.

Mafu pulled himself out of bed, trying to make as less noise as possible, as not to alert Soraru. He crawled over to the drawer and pulled it open. On top of some papers, books, and pencils lay a picture. Taking the picture out, Mafu sat back and leaned against the side of the bed. It was a picture of Soraru, but that wasn't what made his eyes widen. It was the jagged, white, papery edge indicating another half to the image. Mafu's grip tightened on the image, and his other hand found his way to his temple. He could feel a throbbing headache forming. He heard footsteps outside, but didn't move.

"Mafu?" Soraru's voice echoed in his mind. "What are you doing on the floor? I told you to--"

"What is this?" Soraru was cut off by Mafu's soft, quivering voice.

"What's what...." That's when Soraru caught sight of it. The open drawer. The picture in his hand. His mind went blank. "... Mafu... I...."

Mafu suddenly stood up and turned around to face Soraru. The abrupt movement caused him to lose balance, and he leaned on the bed. "I said... what is this?!" he was practically shouting. "Soraru, why didn't you tell me?"

Soraru was stoned. It was unbelievable in itself for the soft-spoken and timid Mafumafu to get angry. But to the extent where he would unknowingly drop the use of honorifics was terrifying and quite concerning. Even if the man himself told Mafu to stop using honorifics, he knew that the boy would still do it. It was out of habit for him. Soraru slowly made his way over to Mafu and squeezed his eyes shut. "Mafu, you're sick, get back into bed," he urged.

"... the hell. We-We've been living under the same roof for... for... you.. you even kissed me... and you..!"

"Mafu! Now is not the time for this! You have a fever--"

"Don't call me Mafu!" Mafu screamed, stepping back.

Soraru froze and watched Mafu's panting and shaking figure. He guessed that it was more from anger than the fever. "Don't call me... Mafu..." the boy repeated. It was like a complete personality change. Soraru wanted to believe it was because of the sickness.

Soraru reached forward, "Ma...." he trailed off.

"Don't touch me!" Mafu slapped his hand away, tears forming in his eyes. Before Soraru could react, Mafu bolted past him. The sound of the front door closing sounded not long after.

Soraru sucked in a breath, and ran a hand through his hair. "Mafu...."