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Leo had been throwing up all night and he felt like shit. His head was pounding, his stomach was doing flips, and his throat felt like a million frogs was stuck in it. There was also the fact that Leo was all alone this weekend since Xander was on a business trip, Carmilla was on some romantic getaway, Corrin was at University, and even Elise was gone all weekend on a school ski trip. To make matters worse, there was absolutely no soup in the whole house.
This was fine though. Leo was use to taking care of himself, what was one weekend with a slight cold compared to spending his whole life raising himself. He kept telling himself this over and over as he made his way to the grocery store. All he wanted was a can of beef vegetable soup to make him feel better. That was all he needed. And then he could sleep off this stupid cold.
As he made his way through the soup aisle he spotted the beef vegetable soup. Leo felt a wave of relief when he saw almost the whole aisle had been cleared of food but there was still one can of soup left but as his hand grasped the can another hand grabbed the can at the same time.
"Hey you! NOHRIAN SCUM!" screamed a voice right into his ear but not just any voice, an extremely familiar one that Leo did not feel like dealing with at this moment. He looked over and met eyes with Takumi, the president of the archery club and his rival for valedictorian. Leo noticed that Takumi had a slight flush to his skin and his expression was filled rage. "This is my can of soup. I grabbed it first so let go."
"Well if your eyes were any good you would have seen that I grabbed this can first." Leo smirked at the grey haired teen and pulled the soup can closer towards himself. Leo tried to keep up appearances and stood taller but he could feel his head pounding more with every second he was standing there.
"What?! You’re the one with crap eyes here. Or maybe you just use your-" Takumi kept ranting but Leo couldn’t pay attention to him anymore or it was more like he could barely focus on the man in front of him. He was overcome by a sudden wave of dizziness and felt himself sway forward. He didn’t realize he was so close to Takumi till he almost fell into him. Leo righted himself quickly but as he attempted to stand straight he felt nauseous. Leo decided to drop the can, If he had to fight for it then it wasn’t worth the trouble. It was then that he realized Takumi had gone silent and when he looked over Takumi was giving him a strange look.
"Hey, uh are you alright? You don’t look so good." Takumi spoke more quietly than before and had one hand extended toward Leo while the other one gripped the can of soup to his chest. If there was one thing Leo couldn’t stand it was pity and he especially couldn’t stand it from Takumi not now, not ever.
Leo turned quickly and ran out of the grocery store ignoring the shouting coming from behind him. Leo drove home in a blur trying to concentrate on the roads and not Takumi’s concerned face. No, there was no way it was concern since the grey haired teen had always been passionate about his hate towards Leo. It was probably just pity, Leo rationed, there was no way in hell Takumi actually cared.
As soon as he got home Leo collapsed on his bed. He didn’t need the damn soup. All he needed was a nap and he would probably be healthy when he woke up. Leo burrowed into his blankets, the exhaustion from his small trip taking its toll on him. His last thoughts were of the silver haired archer before he was pulled into a deep slumber.
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When Leo woke up, the moon was low on the horizon and his room was bathed in its soft light. His head was still pounding and his body aching but he felt slightly better after sleeping. One thing he couldn’t ignore now was his stomach which was growling loudly. Leo couldn’t help but wish he grabbed something from the market even it wasn’t a can of soup but instead he was a fool who had ran off without thinking the situation through. As Leo was debating the merits of getting up or just laying there and ignoring his hunger he heard a crash from the kitchen and a high pitched scream.
“Elise? Is that you.” Leo felt his throat ache as he called out for his sister. While there was no response there wad the sound of another crash and another shriek. His throat felt dry and sore and when Leo turned on the light by his bedside he realized there was a glass of water on his nightstand that hadn’t been there before. Leo sat up to drink the water wondering why one of his sisters was back so soon when the door to his room crashed open. Leo froze in shock when it wasn’t one of his siblings but Takumi standing in the doorway holding a tray with a bowl and spoon on it. They both stared in silence at each other for what felt like a decade before Leo finally cleared his throat.
“What exactly are you doing here?” Leo’s was trying to sound accusing but his voice was raspy when he spoke and came out very weak. He sat up straighter as the other teen slowly walked across the room toward him with his head bowed, eyes on the ground, and a slight flush forming on his cheeks.
“Well, after what happened earlier, I called Corrin and he said you were home alone for the weekend. And since you left the store without buying anything I thought that you might need soup more than me.” Takumi spoke quietly and Leo couldn’t help but stare harder at the other boy. Takumi was holding the tray steadily but his face was now bright red and he was shuffling from foot to foot. Takumi’s gaze was still averted when he continued to speak. “You left the door unlocked so I came in and used your kitchen. I also thought you might need some Advil.”
“So you broke into my house, destroyed my kitchen, and made me soup cause you felt bad for me? Is this a trick to poison me and win valedictorian? You- You hate me.“ Now Leo couldn’t hold back the confusion as he pointed at the other teen. This was probably a weird dream. Yeah Leo was just dreaming about Takumi being in his house right now.
“Hey! I didn’t destroy your kitchen!” Takumi screamed indignantly then seemed to be shocked by his own outburst as he started mumbling. Leo had to lean forward a little to understand him. “-and Corrin told me to be nice to you and I don’t exactly hate you.”
Ah Leo remembers Corrin telling him to be nicer to Takumi and at least attempt to be civil. Maybe it was the cold but Leo felt bad about accusing the other teen of breaking in to poison him. Leo cleared his throat and tried to think about what to say.
“Thanks. For the food and coming by to check on me. You didn’t have to but I appreciate it, Takumi.”
“Li-Like I said it was for Corrin not because I was worried about you or anything.” Takumi spoke quickly and shoved the tray of soup at Leo. The tray had a bowl of soup, a spoon, and 2 pills of Advil on it. After Leo set the tray safety on his lap he quickly swallowed the pills. Takumi stomped over to Leo’s computer desk and dragged the chair over to Leo’s bedside. Leo couldn’t help but watch him as Takumi plopped down into the chair and crossed his arms looking at Leo like he was daring him to say something about being there. “Well hurry up and eat so I can leave already.”
Leo suddenly realized just how hungry he was and dived into the soup. Leo was hit by an explosion of flavors as the soup hit his tongue and couldn’t help but moan. While Leo has always loved soups, beef vegetable was among Leo’s favorite and this particular can was full of chunks of tomatoes and had a rich tomato based broth that was rife with seasonings that only served to enhance the natural tomato flavor. Next to him, Takumi cleared his throat but when he looked over to the other teen Takumi eyes were looking at his bedside table and he had a slight blush again. Leo wondered if the silver haired teen was aware of how easily he blushed. Takumi unfolded his arms and reached for one of the books on Leo’s nightstand which happened to be Leo’s worn copy of the Princess Bride that he had been attempting to read the precious night when he started to feel sick.
“My mother use to read this to me when I was sick. It was one of my favorite books when I was younger.” Takumi shyly glanced up at Leo and gave the blonde a small smile. “It’s still one of my favorites but don’t tell Hinata or he’ll make fun of me.”
“It’s one of my favorite books too.” Leo admitted while continuing to eat his soup and watching at Takumi. Leo couldn’t help but think back to his childhood when he would lay in bed sick and pretend that he was a little boy who had a doting father to read him the epic story. Leo also remembered how he would act out the fight scenes quietly in the library where nobody would bother him. “I use to always love the fight sequences and pretending I was the dread pirate Roberts.”
“Right! I got in trouble once for trying to swing on the window curtains while I was pretending to be in a sword fight. I went full Tarzan and I was swinging on the curtains and yelling at the top of my lungs ‘I AM INIGO MONTOYA YOU KILLED MY FATHER PREPARE TO DIE.’ I guess I was heavier than I thought cause one second I was happily swinging and the next the curtains tore in half and I was flying face first into the ground. My mom was so mad when she found me on the ground wrapped around half of her new blue curtains with rug burns all over my face. She was so angry but I remember my dad just couldn’t stop laughing at me.” Takumi was laughing as he told the story and Leo couldn’t help but chuckle along as he imaging Takumi swinging around. “Heh, I guess we do have something in common after all. You know Corrin told me we’re a lot a like but I didn’t want to believe him.”
“He told me the same thing actually.” Leo took a moment to think about what his brother had said about Takumi and him being very similar. “What’s your favorite food?”
“Um Miso soup probably but I like all types of soup. Why?” Takumi looked confused by the change in topic. Leo couldn’t stop himself from thinking Takumi’s befuddled expression was cute but then quickly wiped that thought from his mind. Takumi cute? That was definitely the cold speaking.
“Interesting. I also love soup but my favorite is beef vegetable.” Leo gestured at the bowl in front of him that was only a quarter filled now. “They say people with similar personalities like the same things. How do you feel about chess?”
“Never played but it’s suppose to be similar to Shogi and I rock at that. I’m the best in my family. Have you ever played Shogi?”
“No, but chess is my favorite game and they’re both very similar. Who would have guessed we have so much in common?” Leo smiled at Takumi and Takumi smiled back at the blonde boy. Leo realized that since Takumi had come he had felt much better. While having a full stomach and taking medication was a contributing factor, just having the other teen over completely distracted him from both the cold and his loneliness.
“You know, it’s nice hanging out with someone with such excellent taste.” Takumi voice was filled with excitement and he was grinning from ear to ear.
“No kidding. I was about to say the exact same thing. Maybe when I’m not bed ridden, we could do this again sometime… Perhaps we can even play Shogi or Chess together” Leo looked down into his now empty bowl of soup and then glanced quickly up to Takumi. Leo lifted the tray holding the soup bowl off his lap and onto his nightstand. Takumi moved to help him but Leo waved him off.
“So what? Now you want to be best friends?” Takumi was smirking at the blonde but Leo could tell that his teasing was light hearted . “...But I would like that too.” The two shared a small smile. Leo enjoyed this moment between them and while he could feel the exhaustion taking over his body again he didn’t want this conversation to end or for Takumi to leave. He leaned back and looked at the book still in Takumi’s hand.
“You know I thought reading it last night might make me feel better but I wasn’t even able to read a paragraph without my head aching or feeling dizzy. It’s a shame that its been so long since I’ve read it.” Leo couldn’t help the yawn that escaped him as he leaned back against his headboard. Takumi seemed to notice Leo’s exhausting and looked concerned.
“If your tired, I can go or…” Takumi trailed off and looked down at the book in his hands. He seemed kind of nervous all of a sudden.
“Or?”
“Well it always made me feel better when my parents would read this to me when I was sick. So I could read the first chapters to you.” Takumi spoke quickly and looked extremely embarrassed to have suggested the idea. The grey haired teen quickly backtracked his suggestion. “Never mind forget I suggested it. Sorry, you’re not a child who needs a bedtime story. It was a stupid-”
“No! I mean it’s not stupid. I was just thinking it would be nice to listen to someone read it...” an awkward silence fell between them before Takumi scooted the chair forward and opened the book.
“The year that buttercup was born…” Leo laid down and closed his eyes as Takumi started reading. Leo let himself be lulled into sleep by Takumi’s soft voice and the image of Buttercup and Westley happily together. Just before Leo was pulled into a peaceful slumber he heard Takumi softly whisper.
“I do not envy the headache you will have when you awake. But for now rest well, Leo."
