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It is on the way back to Mortkranken, with the honour student's newest physical examination results in hand, that Jiro faints. He has felt dizzy and nauseous all day, caught between heart palpitations and sweats, so he really can't be surprised when he stumbles over his own feet in the middle of the campus while other students passing him pretend they aren't giving him a wide berth.
A moment later, the lights go out and he collapses on the cobbled path like a puppet with its strings cut.
Fainting always feels so strange. One moment you're standing there, mostly fine, and the next, you find yourself sprawled on the ground with no idea what day it is and where you are. Often enough, he thinks he dreamt the entire past day and collapsing and almost expects to wake up in his bed or bent over an examination table in Mortkranken. The confusion is a familiar feeling to Jiro, whose first truly clear memory these days is of waking up from his coma.
This time, just like back then, he feels a gentle hand on his shoulder, cool fingers on his forehead. Just like then, there's a strong voice cutting through the fog in his brain.
"...ro! Jiro! Jiro!"
Hasn't he had this same dream before?
Jiro's eyes take forever to open, lids leaden against the sunlight. There is the feeling of an injection in his arm. His head is raised carefully and propped up on what he thinks might be a warm sweater. The cool fingers from before cup his cheek, thumb stroking over his cheekbone.
He is certain he has dreamt this before. A sigh escapes him softly, and then his body remembers where it is and shakes the remnant slumber out of his brain.
Finally, Jiro manages to blink his vision clear and the world before him sets back into place. The first person he sees is the honour student, her face full of genuine worry, a feeling worn right on her sleeve like all the other ones she has. Next to her is... a floating doll? That's certainly odd, but Jiro has seen weirder things. This doesn't even make the top of the list. The concern is sweet but he doesn't much care for her or the doll, not like that, not when he needs—
"Yuri," he croaks, eyes meeting his captain's. Yuri looks back at him, expression a mess of indiscernible emotions, and Jiro feels the muscles in his stomach unclench.
"Jiro," Yuri responds, snatching his hand back from the other ghoul's face. In Jiro's expert opinion, he is doing a piss-poor job of acting nonchalant. "You forgot your shot this morning again! How many times do I have to repeat how important it is to stick to your schedule?!"
His voice rises at the end, clearly affected. Yuri does that thing where he looks away haughtily and pretends not to care, but the hand holding the empty syringe is shaking and Jiro knows well enough by now to read between the lines of his captain's body language.
"I'm sorry, Yuri. It was my mistake," he says, making his voice just a tinge softer than its usual monotone in hopes that might convey his sincerity. Then, he looks up at the honour student, whose lap appears to have been used to cushion his head while Yuri hurried over and administered the shot. He offers her a quick but honest, "Thank you," then pushes himself up to an upright position.
Too fast. Big mistake. His vision swims with dark spots and his head hurts while his ears try to figure out which way is up. It's not enough to faint again, but he does sway significantly for someone sitting down and is quickly caught by Yuri, who is still kneeling by his side.
"Ah! Watch out!" Yuri exclaims, wrapping an arm around Jiro's shoulders to steady him. "Don't be stupid! Move more carefully!"
Jiro answers with an appeasing hum. He looks up at Yuri through his lashes, over the upper rim of his glasses. If he savours the embrace a little more than he should and relishes the pink tint to his doctor's cheeks, then who would be the wiser?
Yuri sighs, dropping the tough act for just a second. Slowly, he slides an arm around his junior's side and manoeuvres them both to stand, allowing Jiro to lean most of his weight on him. He throws the honour student a look over his shoulder and thanks her for contacting him, his tone much gentler than he would usually dare to let it be.
Then, they begin the long trek back towards Mortkranken.
"I will be more careful," Jiro says after a few steps, his standard deadpan masking the lie. A bone deep exhaustion spreads through his body, taking away his ability to feel bad for keeping Yuri from his busy schedule and using him more or less as a literal crutch. "I tend to forget my meds more often after an all-nighter."
Yuri looks up at him, craning his head a good bit to meet Jiro's eyes. His hair looks messy and slept-in. There's a look on his tired face that is downright apologetic.
"Right..." he mumbles, his hand unconsciously tightening around the arm Jiro has slung over his shoulder. He clears his throat, then continues, "As your doctor, I have to advise you to follow a better sleep schedule. Stop pulling so many all-nighters!"
The hypocrite.
"As your assistant," Jiro replies evenly, "how can I not follow your every step?"
That does the trick. Jiro knows from the ensuing silence that Yuri will simply keep commandeering him around as usual, and there is nothing else that Jiro needs than that.
"Come on, let's get you back to the lab," Yuri finally says, tightening his grip on Jiro's waist as he picks up the pace. "I'll restitch your sutures and after that you are in desperate need of a shower. Think you can manage that on your own, Jiro?"
"Mn, probably not," Jiro lies smoothly, letting his foot catch on one of cobblestones and imbalancing Yuri in the process, though not enough to send them both stumbling. "I am still feeling pretty dizzy right now."
Yuri's brightly flushed face at the implications does not go unnoticed. He stutters a little when he replies, "O- okay, then the great Dr. Isami Yuri w- will have to help you with that!"
Jiro allows himself just the slightest of smiles, the muscles in his face dragging softly at his lips in a way that feels almost foreign to him.
The next time Yuri looks at him, Jiro's small and overexerted heart skips a short beat.
What would he ever do without his great Dr. Isami Yuri?