#my first wlw sickfic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sickficideas · 1 year

Text

guilty || higuchi/gin sickfic

ao3! please refer to here for tags and warnings :)

"Gin."

Her name, followed by a cough.

She turns, and sure enough, her brother is standing not far from the room she was about to enter, looking like he's on his way out.

"Can you do something for me?" he asks, eyes expectant. She raises a brow. He doesn't often ask her for favors, and especially not at work. "Convince Higuchi to go to the infirmary. Do not let her weasel out of it by saying anything about coming to the meeting with me."

Now, this surprises Gin. She recalls being in this exact situation before but with their roles swapped, and that's happened at least a handful of times. Her brother's health falters often, but Higuchi's doesn't. It's probably more likely that she's injured, but she can't be sure based on her brother's request alone.

Ryuunosuke seems to take her silence as acceptance of the task, and he gives her one last look or confirmation before he walks off. Gin wouldn't have objected to it, but she's slightly concerned about the fact that this means Higuchi likely didn't listen to Ryuunosuke's suggestion. And she always listens to him.

She sneaks inside, not expecting to see Higuchi in the main room. There's an office that she's usually in at the very back, blocked off by another door, likely doing her reports.

So, Gin is quick to peer inside.

"Miss Higuchi?" she whispers. She doesn't want to scare her, but she probably will anyway.

"You scared me," Higuchi gasps, a hand flying up to her chest as if it's to stop her heart from squeezing through her ribcage. She turns around to look at Gin.

Oh no, she looks terrible.

They hold eye contact for a bit longer than normal as Gin tries to take mental notes of what she sees. Higuchi's horribly flushed, particularly her cheeks. Her hair is in complete disarray. It's down, Gin's never seen it down before. Part of her bangs almost seem plastered to her forehead from the sweat that's starting to bead up at her hairline. She's really pale, too, which is making her dark circles a lot easier to see than normal, especially in this dim lights.

"Gin, do you…do you need something?" Higuchi stammers nervously. It's only at this point that Gin realizes she's staring.

"Ma'am, you don't look well," Gin says meekly as she steps further into the room. Surely, she's aware of that. She must not feel well either if she's looking like this on the outside.

Higuchi sheepishly drops her eye contact, and turns her head back to her desk. She must realize she doesn't look well outwardly, either. "I'm…I'm okay. I think, maybe…it was hot today, we were in the sun for a long time…"

Gin would have normally taken that as an excuse, but Ryuunosuke is far worse off in those types of situations, and even he looked completely fine to her just now.

In that case, Gin decides to figure out for herself if she's just hot or she has a fever. She can tell the difference between being overheated and having a fever, she regularly has to check her brother for the same thing. She takes a step to stand beside her chair and tucks a hand under her chin to turn her head just a bit. She lays a gentle hand against her cheek, and it's the kind of warmth she would expect from a fever.

Higuchi's eyes are very, very wide. Gin realizes a little too late that Higuchi probably isn't used to this. Since she has to do this with her brother all the time, and he never reacts, just quietly accepts. This probably isn't a normal thing to do for a person's superior.

"I'm - please forgive me," Gin says, slipping her hand back behind her back and bowing her head as she steps back. She feels her own face start to get red.

Higuchi lays a hand over the spot where Gin's was, just a second ago. Her eyes are still wide. Her cheeks suddenly look much more flushed than they should be. "It's…it's okay."

"I'll be right back," Gin says, deciding on a new mission. There's cooling patches somewhere in the cabinets that she keeps there for her brother. She's sure they would help Higuchi some, until Gin can convince her to go to the infirmary.

She takes a couple of them out of the box and sneaks back in, unfortunately, scaring Higuchi again with the knock. Gin forgets that she's stealthy and Higuchi is easily frightened, it's not a good combination.

As she's taking a cooling patch out of the packet, a recent memory of doing this for her brother gives her an idea.

"Miss Higuchi," Gin says quietly.

Higuchi's eyes peer up at her. She really looks exhausted, but she always listens to what she has to say. Gin feels guilty. She doesn't want to take her away from her work, but if even Ryuunosuke is concerned enough to illicit Gin's help, she needs to do something.

"I just wanted to mention…if you were ill, you work very closely with Akutagawa…"

Higuchi normally would have gotten what Gin was getting at pretty quickly, but she can still see the gears in her brain turning. She doesn't quite understand what she's implying, it seems.

"…Akutagawa has a very weak immune system…if you were to pass something to him…"

Of course, now, Higuchi looks absolutely horrified at the notion. With good reason, too. Only a few weeks ago, her brother was hospitalized for a case of the flu that he caught a Black Lizard grunt that entered their meeting room without permission. It took him quite a while to really recover.

"Oh my goodness, Gin, you're right, I…I'm being very irresponsible, I shouldn't…" she says, setting down her pen.

"It's okay, Miss Higuchi. I can accompany you to the infirmary, if you'd like," Gin says, but Higuchi doesn't seem very focused on that. She stands up from her desk, and holds a hand against the side of her head.

"What…what if I…what if I already passed something onto him?" she says, her voice shaking. Gin's a bit concerned with the look in her eyes as she looks over at Gin. Her other hand uses the chair for support to keep herself up. "Gin…he was so sick last time. I was…I was worried that he wouldn't…"

Gin watches her eyes roll backwards as she completely loses her balance, and she crumples to the floor with the chair.

Gin's reflexes are too fast, though. She catches her before her head can hit anything.

She's so warm. Gin can even feel the fever through her clothes. Gin needs to get her to the infirmary quickly.

"Miss Higuchi?" Gin starts quietly, trying to see if she's got any fight left in her at all, but her concern for Ryuunosuke seems to have sent her over the edge. Higuchi probably would have been much more upset with that idea had she known Ryuunosuke is her brother, but thankfully, she's in the dark about that. For now, anyway.

She scoops her up off of the ground and into her arms without any problem at all, and holds her close to her chest so she's secure.

The infirmary is only a few floors down, easily accessible by elevator, and Gin makes it there with Higuchi half-conscious in her arms without a hitch. She can feel her shift and groan, but she doesn't wake up, not completely.

The nurse Gin sees first is one of two that's allowed to treat Gin personally, one of two who she's known since joining the mafia at age thirteen. She looks happy to see her for a split second before she catches sight of the unconscious woman in her arms that Gin wastes no time in setting down on a cot tucked away in the corner. The second one appears not long after.

She's the only one inside, for now.

The second nurse starts, "Isn't she Akutagawa's -"

"Yes, but she's unconscious," Gin says very quietly, "I don't know who normally treats her. Please, just help her."

The nurses don't waste any time. Gin is, after all, a high level commander, and regardless of their ages and her connection with them, they obey her requests.

She stands back to allow them space. Gin recognizes that she's done the task Ryuunosuke requested her to do, and she could leave at any time, but she can't bring herself to. Leaving Higuchi alone to wake up by herself doesn't feel fair.

"Good evening, sir," a male nurse says upon walking by, one Gin doesn't recognize. She simply nods at him to be polite. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Don't engage with the Black Lizard commander. He's already been helped," one of the nurses hisses at him, to which he flinches back.

"Oh, I'm - my apologies, sir," the nurse nods back.

"Go find some cleaning to do elsewhere," the other nurse orders as she's laying a cooling patch over Higuchi's forehead. The male nurse scurries off, and Gin lets go of her breath. She's always thankful for them keeping up the charade.

"Gin…?"

Higuchi seems to be awake enough to hold her eyes open now. She doesn't seem to see Gin, she's too far away from her leaned against the wall, but she must remember what happened before she blacked out.

She sounds so helpless, and almost sounds afraid. Gin panics. She isn't sure how much she remembers, if she remembers anything at all with that fever. She steps forward to kneel beside the cot and she takes her hand, gently, to try and reassure her. "You're just in the infirmary."

She has to say it very quietly to avoid any ears on them.

Her eyes are bleary and fevered, but she keeps them locked on Gin. Her grip is weak, but she squeezes back. "Did I…"

"You have a hundred and three degree fever, miss Higuchi. We would like to keep you here for a few hours to bring it down some. Overnight would be ideal," one of the nurses tells her more clearly than Gin could have. She grits her teeth. A hundred and three is high. No wonder she looks so rough.

"Over…overnight?" Higuchi asks, turning her head just a bit to meet eyes with the nurse.

"Yes, ma'am. It's eight in the evening, after all," the nurse says.

"It's…it's eight?" Higuchi repeats. She's trying to sit herself up, but one of the nurses aids Gin in gently guiding her back down. "I have to…there's a meeting with Akutagawa, and…my…"

"Please focus on resting, miss Higuchi. Your superior can handle any meeting on his own, I'm sure," the nurse assures her. "We need your health in good shape so you can continue to do your job well."

Gin watches her visibly relax at that suggestion. She's relating it to Ryuunosuke, of course, she can tell. She can't do her job for Ryuunosuke if she's unwell, so she needs to rest in order to feel better quickly to do just that, in her mind.

There's still something unsure in her expression though, as she's starting to lose her battle with sleep.

"Can you…can you do me a favor, Gin…?" she asks, her head slowly rolling to the side to meet her gaze

"Of course, ma'am," Gin nods.

"I…I need to tell my sister I won't be home on time," she says quietly. "My phone…it's still on the desk, I think…"

Oh. Gin didn't know that Higuchi had a sister.

"I can do that for you. I'll be back shortly," Gin says with a bow of her head, and Higuchi barely manages a thank you before her eyes shut.

Gin stands in a doorway for a moment, concerned by her condition. She thinks if she makes any kind of call to her sister herself, she'll worry her greatly. She seems to be pretty out of it in general, she might not be able to get her point across. Maybe Gin can do it for her.

She's back at their break room and headed towards the office in no time at all, and she's surprised to see Ryuunosuke sitting at the desk Higuchi was at earlier. Of course, now the lights are off and he's favoring a lamp.

Ryuunosuke doesn't turn his head. "I assume you succeeded."

Gin nods.

"You can speak. No one else is here," Ryuunosuke tells her. She appreciates the reassurance. She's always a little nervous about accidently outing herself, so she never speaks to her brother while they're working.

It looks to Gin like he's filling out the report Higuchi was working on, something she's greatly surprised by. Her brother hates this sort of thing. It frustrates him more than Gin can really understand, so it's interesting to her that he's doing it voluntarily on Higuchi's behalf.

"Did you know miss Higuchi has a sister?" Gin says quietly.

Ryuunosuke turns his head. "I didn't."

"So you're both hiding your sisters from each other," Gin half jokes, holding back a smile under her mask.

Ryuunosuke doesn't smile, but the sound he makes almost sounds like it would have been a laugh as he turns back around. Unfortunately, though, whatever that was seems to have set off his lungs, and he's thrown into a coughing fit that lasts a bit longer than normal.

Gin puts a hand on his back because that's all she can really do, even if it hurts her. It sounds so painful. They didn't used to sound this painful.

"I'll get you some water," Gin says as his coughs finally die down a bit, and she sneaks out of the room to grab in a glass. When she comes back, he's back to the report like nothing happened. She sets the glass on the desk..

"Thank you," he murmurs.

"Are you okay?" she asks. She always does.

"I'm fine," he answers. That's his answer every time, whether he is or not. He takes a few sips of the water.

"Are you sure?" Gin asks again.

"I'm sure," Ryuunosuke tells her. Usually, he's more honest the second time, but Gin will worry regardless. He hands Gin the cellphone that supposedly belongs to Higuchi, apparently looking for something to get her off of his case. "Do as your superior asked of you."

"Right," she says, taking the cellphone and turning it on, onto to be met with a lock screen. "Oh. I don't know her password."

Ryuunosuke sighs for a good five seconds. "It's zero one zero three."

Gin tries not to giggle. That's Ryuunosuke's birthday. Or at least, the one Gin gave him when they were kids. "First of March?"

"Yes. Make your phone call, Gin," Ryuunosuke insists, sounding exasperated.

"I'm surprised she even knows what it is," Gin says. She's glad she knows when it is. She's sure Ryuunosuke hates it.

Gin steps out of the office room as she's looking through Higuchi's contacts and eventually lands on one labeled sister, and she hits the call button without much thought.

She answers right away.

"Hello? Ichiyo?"

Oh, no. Gin forgot she's terrible at this kind of thing. Her stomach turns. She considers hanging up.

"I'm sorry, this is one of your sister's subordinates," she says quietly. Her hand shakes holding the phone, "she - she asked I inform you she won't be home tonight."

"Oh, god, is she okay?"

"Yes ma'am, she's just…under the weather. She's currently being treated," Gin says, trying to make sure she doesn't worry her any further with her choice of words. "I'm calling you on her behalf so she can rest."

"Okay, so she's not hurt. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you telling me." she says, sounding relieved by the explanation. "Which one are you?"

Gin blinks. "I'm sorry…?"

"Oh, I mean…which subordinate? Are you Gin?" she asks expectantly.

Is she still anxious, or is it butterflies? Are those feelings the same? Why does her sister know her name, and enough to know that she's Higuchi's subordinate? Does she talk about her?

"Yes - yes, ma'am," Gin stammers nervously.

"Ichiyo talks about you all the time. You sound like you'd be really pretty," her sister says, and Gin can feel her face getting hot. Higuchi talks about her all the time? Gin sounds like she'd be pretty? No one has ever called her pretty.

Does Higuchi think -

"Anyways, I'm sorry, I'm sure you're busy! Let me know if anything changes with her, and…I guess I'll wait to hear back tomorrow?" she asks, sounding unsure.

"Um, yes - yes, ma'am. I'll make sure of it," Gin says, even nodding despite the fact that it can't be seen.

"Okay. Thank you again, Gin. You guys be careful," she says, and Gin nervously repeats the sentiment before Higuchi's sister hangs up.

Ryuunosuke scares her, she gasps at the sight of him in the doorway. She's not sure how long he's been standing there. He's leaned against the frame with his arms crossed.

"I've never seen you so flustered," he says, looking vaguely surprised. "What did she say to you?"

"She, um…she just…" she mumbles. She doesn't think she wants to repeat any of that, especially not to her brother. "Actually, I should head back, so - so I can tell her."

Ryuunosuke's vague surprised expression remains. "Mhm."

"I think I'll stay with her for a while too," she says. She's still concerned about her being by herself. A hundred degree fever could muddle anyone's brain.

"I'll come join you when I'm finished here," he says.

"Actually, I don't - I don't think you should," Gin says as she slides Higuchi's phone into her pocket.

"And why is that?"

"She's…she's really worried already that she's already passed something onto you. Especially after what happened a few weeks ago," Gin tells him, and she can already tell by his sigh that he doesn't like that answer. "Being near the infirmary in general isn't a good idea for you."

Gin feels guilty. She knows her brother hates being treated like he's fragile, but he is. And sometimes she has to treat him that way. She half expects him to retaliate or argue, but he doesn't. For some reason, he's been much more passive the past few months. Like he doesn't have the grit left to argue.

"Fine," he mumbles.

Gin steps forward to hug him before he can walk away, gently, something neither of them do often at all, but for some reason she feels compelled to right now. He seems unsure whether he wants to reciprocate it at first, but he does. Gin is always concerned about her sickly brother, but Higuchi's worries have reflected onto her even more today.

"Go home and rest when you're done. Or stay here," Gin tells him quietly. There's a bedroom on the opposite side of the office here.

"I'll stay here," he says. "You need to rest as well. Don't stay up all night."

Gin thinks she might if it's to look after Higuchi, but she won't tell her brother.

Once she's back at the infirmary, both nurses out of the room, leaving Higuchi the only one occupying a cot in the corner of the room.

The lights are dim, only a lamp beside her cot is illuminating the room, and that's the only thing that's showing her Higuchi's distressed expression. Gin can't tell if she's asleep or not.

"Miss Higuchi?" Gin starts quietly, sitting at the very edge of the side of the cot.

Higuchi struggles to open her eyes, but once she does, they're locked on Gin and they're full of fear. She tries to sit herself up and a hand flies up to her mouth, and she chokes on her own breath for a moment before she vomits onto the bed sheets before Gin has any time to react. Gin is stunned for a few seconds.

She's hyperventilating. Gin realizes that she's caught her in the middle of some kind of anxiety attack. Gin doesn't think she's going to throw up again, she really thinks that that was purely from nerves.

"Miss Higuchi, can you breathe with me?" Gin says gently with a hand on her shoulder. Gin doesn't expect her to be shaking so much. Gin can hardly hold her hand still

"Gin," she stammers, her eyes wide and wild. She's not looking at her, "what if he dies because of me."

Gin's heart aches. Of course she's thinking about Ryuunosuke.

"Miss Higuchi," Gin starts gently, trying to enter Higuchi's tunneled vision. "Please don't worry so much…I just saw him, he's okay."

She feels so guilty. Tears start to slip from Higuchi's eyes, and she doesn't seem to be able to take in anything she's saying. Gin shouldn't have made her paranoid like that. Sure, it's a possibility, but she's misguided by her high fever.

The nurses appear, seeming to have caught wind of the situation. One of them is quick to take away the soiled blanket and replace it and the other exchanges a worried glance with Gin, but she thinks she can handle this.

She takes Higuchi's hand as gently as she can with both of her own, and that gets her attention. She's really crying now, hot tears streaming down her cheeks that surely aren't helping her feel any better, but she's looking at Gin, at least.

She takes in a deep breath, and holds it for a few seconds before letting go, and hopes that Higuchi will understand she's asking her to do the same. Higuchi's hand is shaking so much. Gin holds it tighter and repeats what she just did, and by the third time, Higuchi seems to have caught on.

"Just keep that going," Gin tells her with a gentle smile, keeping a good grip on her hand. Higuchi's eyes flood with tears again as soon as she says that, and she leans forward to hide her face in Gin's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she murmurs, her voice shaking. She's not quite hyperventilating anymore, but she's clearly still not out of the woods.

"It's okay," Gin says. She's a little unsure what to do at first, but she thinks Higuchi is looking for comfort, and Gin is in no place to refuse to give it to her, so she holds her closer with a hand on the back of her head and around her shoulders. "I spoke to your sister, she knows your situation. And I asked Ryuunosuke to stay away from the infirmary for now."

"Oh, that's…that's good," she says quietly.

Gin realizes that she slipped up and used her brother's first name with someone who has no idea they're related, but Higuchi doesn't seem to notice, or at least, she doesn't comment on it. Gin will thank her fever for that.

Gin can feel her start to relax against her, even physically she's less tense, so she takes the opportunity to lie her back down onto the pillows, and she's already looking half asleep again. She can imagine that took a lot out of her with the fever she has.

"I think this fever was brought on by stress," one of the nurses whispers as Higuchi's eyes start to fall shut again. "She should be okay by tomorrow with some good rest."

Gin leans forward to fix Higuchi's bangs just enough so they're not sticking to her face as the nurse works to replace the cooling patch on her forehead.

"Did you hear that? You don't have to worry about passing anything to Akutagawa," Gin tells her quietly, but all she gets from her is a tiny groan.

"Such a selfless woman," the nurse sighs. "To be so concerned about someone else's health with the condition she's in…"

She's always been that way. It's admirable that she can keep that up with everything that goes on in the Port Mafia.

Higuchi's eyes flutter open just a bit, to meet Gin's gaze. "Gin…?"

"Yes?" she asks.

"Are you…are you leaving?" she mumbles.

"No, ma'am, I'm staying here with you," she assures her. Higuchi's hand lays itself over Gin's, her fevered gaze fixed on her.

"Please…lay with me," Higuchi murmurs, her eyes already losing her battle with consciousness. Gin isn't sure if she really wants her to do that, or if she's just her fevered brain. Her own cheeks start to feel hot at the idea, but who is she to refuse her?

Regardless, Gin finds herself taking off her coat, and lying down next to her on the cot. She's feeling tired herself, maybe this isn't a bad idea.

Higuchi's hand looks for something to hold onto, and Gin slips her hand into hers, and it's not long at all before she's relaxed and asleep once again.

How is she going to tell her brother she has a massive crush on his subordinate?

#my first wlw sickfic #i love higugin so much #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #higuchi ichiyo #akutagawa gin #higuchi ichiyou #higugin #wlw #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #sickfic #fever #ill #illness #vomiting #my fanfictions

15 notes · View notes