In the hangar, Hanamichi and captain Akagi surveyed the extent of damages on the planes. Thankfully the two pilots were uninjured but the aircrafts was another matter.
"We have to scrap the wing," Hanamichi told Akagi regretfully, looking at the hopelessly ripped wing of Rukawa's plane.
"Yet another plane."
The two squad members looked to the side and saw Unit Commander Taoka shaking his head when he saw the damage.
"Can I help you with something commander?" asked Akagi repectfully. Although at most times he and the commander doesn't see eye to eye, he still manages to offer cold and clinical respect to the man as an officer to the defence force.
"Nothing, captain," replied Taoka walking towards the two, "Will this affect this unit's upcoming appraisal, that I can't tell you."
~~~~
It was only a few hours to evening but the grey clouds in the sky quickens the atmosphere of darkness. Outside, a few yards away from the hangar, a lone pilot stood with his head down and shoulders stiff with repressed anger.
Baka! Rukawa cursed at himself in disgust, Baka! Baka!
Even when the dark clouds opened to let the cold rain pour onto him, Rukawa refused to move, still berating himself for losing his temper over a mere mechanic. If they fail the next evaluation because of him, he wouldn't blame them if they hate him. But then again Rukawa assumed they hated him anyway.
The rain went on all through the night to the wee hours of morning. Only when the sky turned pink to signal the coming of the sun at the horizon did the dark clouds flitter away to make way for a beautiful day.
At the briefing room, Akagi sat at the head of the table reading a newspaper while Mitsui sat in the next chair, sipping a mug of warm coffee. Hikoichi sat across the first sergeant, flipping through a magazine before he let out a big yawn, "Ah, another boring weekend. Isn't there anything I can do? Do some research perhaps?"
Even the bat on his shoulder looked bored.
"Shut up," Mitsui and Akagi told him simultaneously. After what happened yesterday, they plan on having a peaceful trouble-free day even if it meant locking the chatterbox Hikoichi in a closet all day. And if Hikoichi persists on being so annoying they might even do it.
"But I'm bored!"
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up," the two said cooly.
"Hidoi!" Hikoichi pouted.
"Ohayo!"
The three turned towards the door and saw Sendoh at the threshold, grinning at them with his hands in his pocket. It was rare for the pilot (and also for the rest of the officers in the squad for that matter) to be seen out of uniform during duty, or the favoured thin t-shirt and scruffy jeans during day off, but now wearing a simple but stylish ash grey suit over a white t-shirt, Sendoh changed for the best.
"Kakkoii!" praised Hikoichi, "You're going out on your date with Sakuragi now?"
"Hai," Sendoh nodded, "I'll be meeting him in the restaurant later. It's kind of a formality. Alright, Sergeant Sendoh Akira signing off."
Akagi nodded in assent to Sendoh's salute before the spiky-haired officer stepped out and shut the door behind him.
"I wanna go someplace too..." whined Hikoichi.
"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up," Akagi warned him again.
The shorter pilot scowled.
"Well, I should get ready," Mitsui announced standing up.
"What?" exclaimed Hikoichi, "You're going out too?"
Mitsui nodded, "Hai."
"Off to see Kogure again," sighed Akagi from behind his newspaper.
"Can I come to?" pleaded Hikoichi, putting on his best woeful look.
The scarred-face officer scratched his chin, "Well... alright. Just don't bother me and First Sergeant Kogure."
"Yatta!!" laughed Hikoichi happily, clapping his hands together.
Mitsui shrugged, "We can all go, I guess."
Akagi let his paper fall from his face, "What do you mean 'we'?"
Mitsui grinned, "C'mon. You know you've got nothing to do."
"I'm very busy," Akagi said gruffly, lifting his paper to his face again, when suddenly Hikoichi pulled it back down to persist, "C'mon! What have you got to do?"
"Nothing if you keep whining all day," Akagi growled.
~~~~
Blue fox-eyes eyes squinted, trying to read the numbers which seemed to have gone blurry on the thermometer. The coughs racking along his throat did not help matters as it made his hand shake and when he was finally able to distinguish the small numericals on the intrument, he groaned.
Chikusho. This is what I get for torturing myself over those two bakas.
Placing the thermometer on the desk beside his bed, Rukawa then burrowed himself in the covers, shivering from the uncomfortable chill in his body but also feeling scorched by the heat on his skin.
Now I'm stuck here all weekend, Rukawa moaned inwardly as he let his eyes fall shut against the smooth covers of his pillow.
----
In another room along the same corridor, Hanamichi was getting ready for his 'date' (as Sendoh persisted on calling it), wearing a tanned suit over a white shirt which he left two buttons undone. He made a final brush over his red hair and gave himself a wink in the mirror.
"Lookin' good, Tensai."
----
Rukawa coughed again, disturbing the sweat on his forehead to trickle down to his flushing cheeks. His condition made him aware of every small sound in the room and when his ears caught on the monotonous ticking of the clock beside his bed, Rukawa let his eyes open a crack.
They must be on their date by now...
----
Hanamichi shut the door to his room and walked towards stairs whistling a tune as he passed by the other rooms, when he heard a wretched cough coming from Rukawa's bedroom. The redhead stopped and walked back towards Rukawa's room and knocked but receiving no response from inside he opened the door hesitantly to see a still form lying in the bed.
"Hey, kitsune," whispered Hanamichi, "You awake?"
Since the others had told him about Rukawa's tendency to hit anyone disturbing his sleep, the redhead did not care to venture further but seeing the raven-haired pilot looking less than peaceful in the covers, Hanamichi walked in urgently and placed his palm to touch the sweaty forehead.
"Shit!" cursed Hanamichi pulling his hand away, "You're burning up!"
----
"Here you go, Kiminobu-kun," Mitsui said, handing the spectacled man a paper cup full of chilled juice.
"Doumo arigato," thanked Kogure, accepting the proffered drink with a smile.
The two sat together peacefully under a shade of a tree as they shared a packet of chips, watching the handful of children and other couples enjoying the day at the park. Sitting near the fountain was Hikoichi surrounded by children who were curious at the antics of the pilot's pet bat.
When the two officers heard a rustle behind them, they turned around to see Akagi walking towards them with a bag of peanuts in his hand.
"Enjoying yourself, Akagi?" asked Kogure.
"I guess it's better than being stuck at the base," allowed the tall captain reluctantly.
"Yeah, doing work that's not there," grinned Mitsui.
The captain glared at his first sergeant in annoyance.
"It's a beautiful day, ne?" asked Kogure hurriedly, trying to break the tension between his two friends. It was practice for the two officers to get into that type of banter all the time and he normally plays their mediator whenever he was around. Today was no exception.
"Aa," nodded Mitsui slipping his hand behind Kogure's back discreetly, "I wonder if Hanamichi is enjoying himself at the moment."
----
Rukawa wasn't even aware of the cool cloth gently placed on his forehead, let alone the presence of one worried redhead hovering beside his bed.
A basin of water sat on the desk beside the bed and the redhead was now stripped off his jacket and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows. Glancing at the clock on the desk, Hanamichi's attention was brought back to the 'date' with Sendoh and worried himself whether he should go or cancel it.
----
In a cafe in the small town nearest to the base, a handsome spiky-haired man waited for his date, smiling to himself as he imagined treating the redhead to a day and night out in the town as he has planned. Hanamichi would be surprised, Sendoh thought, since all the redhead thought was that they would only be going out to eat.
Sendoh stirred the green drink in front of him and waited.
----
Rukawa opened his eyes slowly and saw a blurry image beside him. When the image cleared Rukawa recognised the redhead and murmured, "Hanamichi...
Suddenly the raven-haired pilot sat up, ignoring the wet towel falling from his forhead to land as a soggy heap on his lap, and exclaimed, "Sakuragi?! What are you doing here?"
"Eh. Is that anyway to treat someone who's trying to help you?" joked Hanamichi, trying to keep a light tone in his voice but the effect destroyed by the uncomfortable squirming in his seat. The deep blue-eyed gaze seemed to want to peer into his soul and Hanamichi didn't want for it to be seen especially since he has seen Rukawa naked in the shower at one time. If the pilot knew what he was thinking, he wouldn't blame Rukawa if the pilot began calling him a pervert again.
The redhead leaned back in his chair beside the bed and explained, "I passed by your room and heard your coughing. It sounded terrible so I-"
"Idiot!" growled Rukawa, "I can take care of myself!"
"Demo-"
"Go on your stupid date!" barked Rukawa, pointing his finger to the door.
"But you have a very high fever!" protested Hanamichi, "I can't leave you alone like this-"
"I said I can take care of myself!"
The redhead scowled and crossed his arms against his chest, "Don't care. I'm staying and that's it."
Rukawa blinked at him for a moment before he laid back down and turned his back on the mechanic, "Dokka ike-yo*."
"Stubborn kitsune," Hanamichi grumbled to his back.
Not hearing any other movement from Hanamichi told him that the redhead was planning on staying. Touched by the grudging concern from the redhead, Rukawa allowed a soft smile cross his lips, "Do'aho."
(*Get away/Fuck off)
----
Sendoh glanced at his watch again and sighed. Looking out the window he saw a redheaded person running across the street towards the restaurant and his heart nearly leapt with joy but when the person made a detour towards a girl sitting on a bench, his heart settled back down into it's state of depression.
It's not him. Where is he?
----
Rukawa's temperature was still high and the redhead busied himself trying to bring it down by constantly cooling Rukawa's skin with the small towel dipped in cold water. Hanamichi did not leave the room for hours. If he did he would have heard the sound of the phone ringing from inside the office located at the end of the corridor.
----
Sendoh put the phone down back on its receiver and frowned. Disappointed, he realised that he was being stood up but just as quick the feeling of worry began to crawl into his mind as he wondered why.
----
Rukawa found it difficult to breathe and his pale chest heaved as if the room was suffocating him. The buttons of his pajama top have gotten loose from his restlessness and Hanamichi tried valiantly to stop staring at the lean expanse of smooth skin so close to his touch. He has been patting Rukawa's burning skin on the face and neck with the wet towel for a while and now he debated on whether to touch Rukawa on the chest as well.
Of course you can! Hanamichi scolded himself in disgust, He's a guy and so are you. There's nothing that he has that you don't have!
Keeping a professional mind of nursing the pilot to health, he began to wipe off the sweat now trailing on the raven-haired man's body. When his hand finally reached the edge of Rukawa's pajama waist-band, Hanamichi gulped.
Okay, then there are some things that aren't similiar to one's own...
"Sakuragi..." croaked Rukawa suddenly.
"H-Hai," stammered Hanamichi
"I need to go to the toilet."
"Hai," the redhead squeaked.
Hanamichi led the brunette out of the room and along the corridor, offering his shoulder for support. Feeling his strength and sense of coordination wan due to the sickness, Rukawa leaned against the cool, healthy body heavily as he allowed the redhead to hold onto his waist to keep him from falling.
When they passed through an open window, he vaguely heard the droning sound of an aircraft pass by the building. He felt the redhead stop and followed Hanamichi's stare out the window.
"C1-30," commented Rukawa softly.
Hanamichi nodded, "Aa. I think that's the one that goes to 'Irojima. Sugoi, ne?"
He was raptly watching the enormous aircraft cross the sky with admiration that he didn't realise Rukawa was staring at him with an expression one would not expect to see on a person known for his cold and aloof manner. When Hanamichi felt the pilot lean his head against his shoulder, the redhead turned his head to the side to look at the fox-eyed man's face. Rukawa's blue eyes were hidden underneath the dark bangs and the rest of his face was nestled against the redhead's neck.
"Hanamichi..."
"Y-Yeah?" Hanamichi stammered, feeling the heat of Rukawa's breath against his skin.
Rukawa burrowed his face closer against Hanamichi's throat and whispered, "I think I've fallen in love with you..."
Not hearing the softly uttered words, Hanamichi cocked his head to the side and asked, "What? I can't hear you."
"I want us to be together like this... forever..."
Hanamichi's eyes widened. Oh, he definitely heard that one!
"Z-Zutto?"
The redhead was so shocked of that admission that he tripped without even walking. He could imagine his friends at his engineering class laughing at him if they saw him at that moment but because his brain was screaming at him that he was lying on the floor with Rukawa's warm body draped on top of him, the humour in his mind died.
When the drone of the aircraft faded out in the distance, Hanamichi could feel the palpable silence descending in that quiet corridor. He stayed still, not trusting himself to move out of the brackets of Rukawa's arms at both sides of his face. After a long tangible moment, Rukawa pushed himself up and the redhead gulped at seeing the intensity in the deep blue fox eyes before they closed when the pilot leaned back down again to whisper against his ear, "Moron."
"N-Nani?"
Suddenly Rukawa pushed himself off of the redhead weakly and said hoarsely, "You're so naive."
"Nani?" sputtered Hanamichi, sitting up, "Your fever-"
Rukawa scoffed, "A stupid fever doesn't bother me at all."
But even as he walked unsteadily away, Rukawa cursed himself for being weak under the influence of the fever, hating the sickness that made him pour his heart out to the redheaded mechanic still sitting on the floor, staring at his back stupidly.