restaurant girl | t. muichiro

chapter 15: body warmth?

「

𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥, 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩.

」

"Lazy." Mr. Imamura slapped Muichiro hard against the head, the younger male nearly falling to the floor. "You can do another shoot without food."

December had come.

"It's almost been half the day, you dumbass!" The student yelled. "I need food!"

But the grey-haired male pulled him in front of a mirror, holding his shoulders tightly as he stood behind him. "Look at yourself, tell me what you see."

The reflection lies. Muichiro hasn't seen his actual reflection in one year, rather contortions and different versions of himself that he finds undesirable.

He tried to say something, but nothing came out. He was too mortified. "I could've sworn that I was losing weight..."

"Why does it look like I'm gaining it?" The boy whispered.

"It's okay, Tokito." Imamura whispered back in a conforting manner. "If you just work a little longer, you'll feel better. Don't you want that?"

"I..." Muichiro frowned at his reflection, his hands balling up into fists as he clenched his jaw. "I don't know what I want."

"That's why I'm here to help you. I always have been." Golden eyes flickered between the boy and the mirror. "Don't you want help? It's clear your body needs it."

It was as if his body was changing in the mirror in front of him. He hated it. How every mirror he would look into had a different reflection.

It made him want to claw his own skin off. "Does that mean I should drop to seven-fifty?"

"Seven hundred would be most optimal. Just for a few days at a time, though. Then, go back to eight hundred and then rotate." His manager smiled warmly at him. "You'll be better in no time."

"I don't understand." Muichiro grit his teeth. "I've been downing those emetics like candy, how am I gaining weight?!"

"Well, what's the one meal you eat per day?"

Muichiro took some time to think about it. One misstep and he could be thrown into a new diet and prescription. "Lunch. I can eat the lightest during lunch."

"Well, what if you changed it to dinner?" Imamura grinned. "You can eat anything you want during dinner, as long as you just puke it out afterwards and not eat for the rest of the day."

"Really?!" Mint eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion. "Would that work?"

"Of course it will!" The comforting and child-like tone somehow sent waves of security and safety through the younger male. "You can even try it tonight, if you'd like."

So, Muichiro did what he felt he had to.

—

"Muichiro, you sure are eating a lot..." Yuichiro scrunched his nose in disgust.

"Mr. Imamura made me do so many shoots today." I can already feel the nauseousness! The sheer amount of food Muichiro had consumed was unfamiliar, the urge to vomit getting stronger and stronger. "I'm gonna use the restroom."