Late upload, going through some personal stuff, hope you understand
Tanjiro's pov
"Mui, who is that?" Muichiro's brother asked and looked over at me, giving me a small wave. "My friend, his name is Tanjiro" Muichiro replied and Yuichiro smiled "it's nice to meet you Tanjiro!"
I chuckled "it's nice to meet you too, you are Yuichiro, am I right?" I asked and he nodded repeatedly "yup! That's me!"
I chuckled once again and followed Muichiro to the living room "is there anything you'd like to do..? Sorry I am just not really used to talking to people" he laughed slightly.
"Well, I'll do anything honestly, we can just talk" I said but before Muichiro could answer, Yuichiro walked over to me and handed me a small sketchbook "I drew these!" He smiled and sat down next to me.
I opened the sketchbook and flipped through the pages, complimenting his art, not even noticing that Muichiro left somewhere but when he was gone, I thought that it might be a chance to get to know something more.
"Hey Yuichiro? May I ask you something?" I asked and he nodded quickly. "Something about Muichiro, I feel like there's something wrong.. and I am worried, do you know about anything?"
I immediately saw his face fall as he shook his head "no.. he doesn't talk to me or mama about anything" he mumbled quietly "only thing that I realized is that he doesn't eat much.. I hear him crying a lot.."
"I see.. but hey, it's okay, I'll talk to him, we might know each other just for a couple days but he seems open to me, I'll tell you when I realize something, you deserve to know" I said and he smiled in response "thank you Tanjiro!"
I nodded and Muichiro suddenly walked into the living room, dressed in some more cozy clothes. "Do you want anything, Tanjiro? Food? Something to drink?" He asked, his voice filled with worry and nervousness.
"Muichiro please, you don't need to be so nervous, I'll ask if I'll need something, just sit down" I said reassuringly and he nodded a little, sitting down next to me and pulling his sleeves down to hide his hands.
We talked for a bit and played games, soon realizing that the time passed too quickly and it was already 9pm. "I am starving!" Yuichiro groaned and fell down on the couch.
"I'll make us something, is there anything specific you'd like, Tanjiro?" Muichiro asked quietly and I shook my head, letting him decide what he'll make.
...
"Woah Muichiro, this looks amazing!" I said excitedly and took a big bite. "It tastes amazing too!"
Muichiro smiled a little "thank you, how about you, Yui? Do you like it?"
Yuichiro excitedly nodded and looked at him, asking "you won't eat?"
"I ate at school" he replied but I shook my head "no you didn't"
Muichiro's eyes widened slightly as he looked back at Yuichiro who was staring at him as well "you lied again.." he mumbled quietly, about to leave but Muichiro stopped him "Yui please! I'll eat now, okay? Please don't leave" he said desperately and put some food on his plate.
Yuichiro sat back down and we all ate in silence. I took a couple glances at Muichiro who was anxiously fidgeting with the fork before slowly putting the food in his mouth.
...
"It was delicious, Muichiro, you're an incredible cook!" I said and laid the empty plate in a sink "thanks.. you can.. go to my room while I wash the dishes"
I nodded and searched for his room for a bit before finding it on the second floor. His room was small but cozy. I laid my bag down and looked around a bit, seeing a mirror that had written insults all over it.
I frowned while I read them, each insult getting worse. I grabbed the marker that laid next to the mirror and wrote down some nice things for him to read before going to the bed to sit down.
I saw a small notebook on the bed, deciding to have a small peak, being curious on what's in it.. I immediately regretted my decision.
The textbook was filled with nothing but calorie counting, how many times he ate, what he ate, how many times he.. purged and how it made him feel.
Suddenly the door swung open and I immediately laid the textbook down, acting like nothing happened. "I'll go take a quick shower.." he mumbled under his breath and I nodded.
He left and I just sat there for a couple minutes before hearing something. I listened more closely, realizing that it sounded like gagging and coughing which immediately made me worried. I stood up and headed towards the noise.
I knocked on the bathroom door, asking if Muichiro is okay but I got no answer so I just opened the door in worry, seeing him hunched over the toilet.
"Muichiro! Are you okay??" I asked and went over to him, holding his hair back as another wave of vomit hit him. "Go.. away.." he says between heavy breaths.
I shook my head "I am not leaving you here like this" I said and Yuichiro peeked into the room "Mui..? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly but Muichiro didn't respond.
"Yui can you get him some water please?" I asked and he quickly nodded, rushing down to the kitchen. I helped Muichiro lean against the wall, asking "feeling better now? Did the food not sit well with you?"
He looked down, still not saying anything. Yuichiro came back with the cup of water and handed it to Muichiro. I looked over at him and gently asked "Yui, can you please leave for a little? I need to talk to him about something"
Yuichiro gave me a tiny nod and left. I sighed and looked over at Muichiro, asking "was that intentional..?"
Muichiro kept his head low, not saying anything once again. "I saw.. what you wrote in your notebook.. I am sorry I know I shouldn't look into your stuff like this but.. why? Why are you doing this?"
Muichiro's eyes filled up with tears as he just buried his face into his knees, starting to sob. This just proved that what I asked was indeed true. "Muichiro.. I know we know each other for just a little time but you can talk to me.. what's bothering you? What are you struggling with? I'll listen.."
He lifted his head up, looking like he wanted to say something but nothing came out "it's okay, take your time, alright? I'll wait" I said comfortingly laying my hand on his head, stroking it gently.
After some time he finally began to talk "I.. hate.. m-myself.. I hate th-that I let this go this far.." he said quietly, his voice cracking slightly.
I nodded understandingly, letting him talk about it as much as he wants to "I am scared t-to gain weight b-because of what happened.. I-I hurt myself, I-I don't have friends.. I-I am scared to trust anyone.. I just.. want to end it all.."
My heart sank deeper with each word he said. I slowly moved towards him, hugging him gently "I am so sorry you're going through that.. no one deserves to go through such pain.."
He shrugged "I don't know.. I-I just don't know how to recover from this.. or even if I w-want to recover.. I-I am scared of going back to the point I was at a year ago"
I nodded once again "everyone deserves to recover and it's okay to be scared of it but hey.. there's a chance.. and I can help you with it"
He pulled away, looking at me with scared look "I-I can't, how would you even do that..? Why do you care..? No one cares.."
"I care because you're my friend.. and you don't deserve to go through this, okay?" I said reassuringly and wiped away his tears "I might not know much about this but I'll try and help you, okay?"
Muichiro looked down and took a deep breath "can you promise me something first..?" He mumbled quietly, almost whispering "promise me that.. you won't leave.."
I smiled sadly and softly replied with "I promise"
Muichiro's pov
We walked out of the bathroom and Tanjiro almost tripped over Yuichiro who was sitting in front of the door. My heart sank as I thought "did he hear us? Does he know now??"
My mind was racing with questions as Yuichiro stood up, coming over to me to hug me "are you feeling better..?" He said quietly and I nodded "much better, now go on, take a shower and once you're fine just come to me, I'll tug you to bed, hm?" I said with a forced smile.
Yuichiro nodded and went to his room to get his pajamas while we headed into my room. I closed the door behind us and sat down on a bed next to Tanjiro.
"Okay, how about we start now, do you have any clean textbook?" Tanjiro asjed and I nodded, reaching into one of the drawers for a textbook, handing it to him quickly.
He opened it and grabbed a pen, saying "okay, firstly you need to start adding regular meals, three would be perfect"
"Three?!" I yelled out in shock, already feeling nauseous at the thought of having so much food in my body.
"Mhm, breakfast, lunch and dinner" he said and my heart sank even deeper, I could barely keep one meal down and now I was supposed to do three.
"Hey it's okay, no need to panic, we'll take it slowly, recovery takes time" Tanjiro said comfortingly, clearly seeing the panic in my eyes "it's okay to be scared but don't worry, you'll feel better once you beat it"
I tried to let the words comfort me but it didn't work, instead I just felt more scared, scared that I won't be able to recover, scared that it'll get worse, scared that I'll get fat, scared that it'll go so far I'll eventually just kill myself.
But I was willing to try.. I wanted to get better because the constant feeling of sadness and the purge to do something was so overwhelming.. I wanted to get better for Yuichiro too..
"I.. want to recover.. I-I promise I'll try.." I I whispered into Tanjiro's neck and he nodded a little, placing his hand on the back of my head, stroking it comfortingly.
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Word count : 1754