Scale - Tsukishima Kei

Chapter 13

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I start to feel self conscious as Tsukishima has been absently staring at me for the past 5 minutes.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing. You just look different." He says, going back to working on his homework.

"Is that bad?" I ask, moving my eyes back down to my work as well. He's currently sitting at my desk, and I'm sitting on the floor, my back pressed against my bed.

"Maybe. I'm just worried about you." He sighs and I frown, putting my stuff down and sitting on my bed.

"Why? I'm fine." The corners of my lips tug down.

"How long do you work out? And how often?" He asks, scribbling down something on his paper.

"What?" I chuckle nervously. "Where's this coming from?"

"What you're doing is dangerous. You know that right?" He puts his pencil down and turns to me, reaching into his pocket and shaking the bottle of pills.

I gulp, bouncing my leg up and down.

"This isn't healthy. Are you trying to kill yourself?" He asks, his tone quickly changing to hold anger in it.

"Calm down. It's working isn't it? It's fine." I cross my arms over my chest and he sighs.

He takes the top off the bottle and strides over to the bathroom.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I ask, quickly following him.

He doesn't respond, just walks to the toilet and dumps them in there.

"Tsukishima, what are you doing?!" I grab his hand, but they're already gone. He snatches his hand away from me, flushing the toilet and throwing the bottle in the trash.

"I told you they're dangerous, didn't I?" He leans against the bathroom doorframe and I gape at him.

"Tsukishima that's the only thing helping" I say angrily and he walks to me, cupping my face.

"Are you even trying?" He asks.

"Fuck off." I say, shocked he would even ask that. "Of course I tried! You think I get bullied all my fucking life and I wouldn't try?!" I push him off me and walk into my room.

"One of the side effects of diet pills is a change in attitude." He says, following me.

I roll my eyes, not responding.

"Why can't you see that I'm just worried about you?" He asks and I sit on my bed, facing away from him.

"Why can't you see that I'm doing it for you?!" I exclaim, trying to hold back tears.

It silent for a moment before I feel the bed dip from his weight.

"For me? Why would you do that?" He puts a hand on my shoulder, rubbing it lightly.

"I don't want to embarrass you anymore." I sniffle, a few tears slipping out.

"What? When do you embarrass me?" He gets up and walks around me, sitting in front of me.

"All the time! Just because we don't go out doesn't mean you're not embarrassed of me. I don't even know why you like me! I'm big! You're the opposite of me. You should have a fit girlfriend. Someone skinny and pretty and-"

"I can't stand to hear you talk anymore." He crosses his arms, glaring at me. "If you keep going, I'll break up with you."

I look up at him, hastily wiping away my tears. He stares at me, face blank.

"You should. You deserve a lot better." I whisper quietly. He doesn't respond for a moment, but when he does his face is still unchanged.

"You're an idiot. Seriously." He sets his glasses on my desk and rubs his face. "It's getting tiring having to say this to you all the time. It's starting to feel like I'm your babysitter, not your boyfriend. I'm tired of having to reassure you that I don't care how you look. I don't care about your weight, and I'm so sick and fucking tired of you comparing my body to yours. I don't care if you lose weight or not. But if you insist on doing it in an unhealthy way- I don't want to be with you."