ㅤ
ㅤ" i'm... still a good noodle.. right ? "
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤ" ... sh - shirogane - "

ㅤhands clenched into fists, biting onto his lip as tears streamed his fists. this... this couldn't...

ㅤhow was such a thing possible ? who would do such a thing ??

ㅤ" m - miss shirogane - "

ㅤeach word catching in his throat -
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤsilently sobbing.
ㅤburdened with the regret.
ㅤforced to live with the reality... if he had come sooner, the boy would still be here. or, perhaps he would not have passed all by his lonesome.

ㅤ... he'll wake up soon. he simply needs to rest. that's all.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤhe'll be up soon.

ㅤsetting his body on the bed. lying a corpse into its coffin.
ㅤresting onto his knees beside the other, hands gripping the edge of the sheets. forehand pressed to the back of his knuckles.

ㅤhow could he have neglected him so idiotically ?
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤhow had he not noticed.
ㅤwhat could've happened - how did it slip so seamlessly under his radar ?

ㅤhis streaming sorrows begged such questions.
ㅤsearching for any reason why he would've failed the other. why he had waited so long to've checked on him.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤhe had been working for so long, he simply passed out. he was burnt out. exhausted.

ㅤhe would wake up. soon. he would.

ㅤcarefully standing from the ground, the boy cradled in his arms. his thoughts denied reality, but his tears knew the truth. teeth grit, throat squeezed shut.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤthis... this couldn't be real - how... how had he not noticed !?

ㅤ" CHIHIRO - !! "

ㅤimmediately rushing to the other, kneeling beside him and grabbing hold of his limp body. surely, he was just knocked out.. he would wake up in due time. he... he just needed some rest.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤa pit formed in his stomach, expression growing ghastly and daunting.

ㅤa familiar hot pink splurged across the floor of the programmer's room - knocked from his chair, lying beside it on the floor. mechanics exposed from his desecrated computer.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤthat didn't make any sense... what would've caused such a thing ?

ㅤattempting to turn it, only causing the bronze handle to fall off the door entirely, allowing it to slowly creak away from the frame.

ㅤ" uh.. fuji... sak - "
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤa small rap on the door of the boy's room.

ㅤ" fujisaki ! fujisaki, i know you may not be accepting visitors - but i'm just here to see if you need a break ! "

ㅤperhaps he wasn't in his room - going to knock again, only to notice the broken hand on the door.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤsoon, he would emerge again and bless the world with his smile ! of course !!

ㅤit made total sense - and yet, he still felt compelled to search for him.

ㅤjust as a general checkup - even if he was just hunched over a keyboard, he still needed some kind of human interaction.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤgranted, it had been a while since he had seen the boy...
ㅤsure, he was a bit of a shut in with all of his technology, but he never failed to be about every now and then.

ㅤconcern arose, but hope was maintained. surely, he was just accomplishing a large project !
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤalthough the compass had never agreed with the biker's aggressive tactics ( and really, his overall way of handling himself.. ) it'd be wrong to say he hadn't noticed the positive effects he had on the programmer.

ㅤa small sacrifice made to boost his spirits - raise that much needed charisma !
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ a moment too late.
ㅤ

starseed 🪱

will get these done in a timely manner :))

ㅤ
ㅤ- with me. “

ㅤpushing the bottle back towards the nice, politely declining to the best of his ability.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤ” i am in peak condition ! please, do not - “

ㅤpressing a fist to his chest, attempting to reassure himself, but it was likely evident by the daunting look on his face that there may have been more wrong than just a cough.

ㅤand still, persevere he would.

ㅤ” do - do not place you concerns -
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤdang it !! he had failed to properly warn her… ( * 💧 )

ㅤnow what was he to do ?? he failed his job, how could he go on living knowing that he had let down his one duty ?!

ㅤ” n - nonsense !! “

ㅤclearing his throat, though his voice would remain audibly raspy - but deny, deny, deny he did.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤa coughing fit soon to ensue, struggling to lift another hand to warn tsumiki of the very dangerous water puddle on the ground ! ( * 💧 )

ㅤ… okay, he had to be overreacting just a little bit.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤsickness can not prevail !! he shan’t allow it ! just as he shan’t allow the nurse to TRIP OVER AN UNADDRESSED PUDDLE ON THE FLOOR !?

ㅤ” WA - CK - !! “

ㅤor, so he thought he’d be able to. hand that was previously extended now retracting to cover his face as he keeled over.
ㅤ

ㅤ
ㅤthe compass hadn’t been able to get around to meeting many of the other classes’ students, and he wasn’t quite like makoto enough to attempt to research many of them.

ㅤbut it would be false to say he certainly wasn’t attempting to push through some kind of fever today.
ㅤ

starseed 🪱

will get these done in a timely manner :))

You know where to find me / And I know where to look