Hey, I'm back! Sorry if the format looks a little bit off, I'm trying out a new writing program and I'm still getting used to it ^^" This chapter is kind of filler, but it sets up some really important stuff! Otherwise, enjoy!


"You're late," Yao said before Kiku could even look at his clock. Kiku jumped out of bed and headed over to his closet before he was interrupted once again.

"I can't drop you off, or I'd be late too. Just get your brother to bring your homework, I'll have a list of chores written out for you later." And with that Yao left, not long after heading out and locking the front door behind him. Kiku got dressed anyways; It just didn't feel right to be his pyjamas all day long. He took a seat on the edge of his bed, looking at the time once again. It was rare he ever missed a day of school and he didn't know what he was going to do today. He was surprised nobody bothered to wake him up, but he passed it off.

Grabbing his phone and putting it in his pocket, he started to walk around the house, poking his head into different rooms until he made his way downstairs to the living room. He finally settled on turning on the TV and flicking through the channels before deciding there was nothing interesting on and instead laid down and closed his eyes; The sound of the show filled in the silence, and he felt himself drift off as the words started to mesh together.

He woke up sometime later, yawning as he sat back up. Kiku noticed the missed call banners on his phone's home screen, but he chose to ignore it for the moment and instead head to the bathroom for a cold shower to wake him up. As he got undressed he felt his stomach growl loudly, churning painfully. He cringed but continued to throw his clothes on top of the hamper and turn on the water. The cold stream felt good on his skin and Kiku could tell he was starting to feel better. With nobody to hurry him, he took his time, closing his eyes and letting the water run down his face.

He was shivering when he finally stepped out, drying himself off quickly so he could get back into his clothes. Kiku curled up in the same place in the living room and called his dad back. He answered the second time, scolding him for ignoring his messages (and once again for falling back asleep). He'd have to cut the grass and do the laundry today, but that didn't bother him. Still cold, Kiku went to get the lawnmower from the garage, hoping that walking in the sun would warm him up.

It didn't take long for him to finish and put the mower away. The warmth from outside made him feel a lot better, and he felt a lot more motivated than before. Walking inside, he noticed his nose was still runny from before, so he shoved a kleenex in his pocket and moved on to laundry. Once again he felt his stomach churn but he told himself he could wait until he was done with the cleaning. It felt awkward to be digging through his family's clothes but he finished up as fast as possible and stood in front of the dryer, folding everything into neat piles.

Kiku walked back upstairs and drifted into the kitchen, staring at the fridge. He felt like he couldn't trust himself to be in here, rubbing his wrist nervously. Pochi padded into the room behind him, nails clicking on the floor. Kiku had an idea.

"Fuji!" He called out, listening to the jingle of collar tags as his stubborn dog ran up to him. "Wanna go out? Get your leash?" He cooed at the dogs, grabbing their leashes from the door as they happily bounced and yipped at his legs. The two dogs pulled Kiku behind them, running and straining against the leash. Kiku still felt ill but he smiled watching his pets running down the street together. He drew the walk out as long as possible, wandering down random streets until he circled back home. Both Pochi and Fuji were worn out when they walked in through the front door, trotting over to the large dog bed beside the couch and curling up together.

To Kiku's dismay, it was only 2 in the afternoon, and he had been avoiding eating lunch all morning. He figured if he kept himself busy he could ignore the hunger pains until dinner- something he'd cook. That way he'd know exactly what he was doing. The dogs sleepily watched as their owner paced back and forth throughout the house, bringing out garbage bags, bringing in sponges, in and out. They ran away into the other room when Kiku started to vacuum, sweat beading his forehead. When he was done he heard the front door slam shut.

Kiku turned around to see Leon, backpack slung over his shoulder walking in before stopping to look around the house.

"Man," he started, "Dad really worked you today,"

"Y-yeah, but it wasn't so bad," Kiku replied, wrapping the cord around the hook before shoving the whole thing back into the closet. Leon shrugged and ran up to his room, dropping his bag on the stairs. "Laundry downstairs!" He called after his brother, but he was sure he didn't hear. Kiku pulled out the Kleenex from earlier, sneezing from all the dust. Not long after the rest of the family came home, doing their own things. When their dad got home Kiku started Stir-Fry, taking his time making everything just right. At dinner, his dad complimented the food and how nice the house looked, his siblings agreeing.

Kiku smiled softly as he stirred his food around the plate, occasionally taking a bite. His dad told him not to worry about dishes tonight, so he took the work that Leon had forgotten to give him earlier up to his room. Today had been a good day. He did his work, he cleaned the house, he controlled himself during dinner that night, and his family had been impressed with his efforts. He made sure to set his alarm and set it at the right time so he wouldn't be late again. It was easy for him to fall asleep, the fatigue starting to hit him as he closed his eyes.

Kiku woke up early, earlier than his alarm with a throbbing headache. His throat felt sore and his nose was starting to run. An awful churning feeling in his stomach had him doubled over on the bed, taking deep breaths. He tried to stand up and get a glass of water from the kitchen, but a wave of nausea hit him and he instead ran to the bathroom.

He kneeled in front of the toilet, arms crossed over his stomach as he focused on keeping the little food in his stomach down. He didn't even bother flicking on the light switch, the dark sky offering almost no light. When he thought he was okay, Kiku tried standing up once more. That was a mistake. Nausea returned except this time he wasn't prepared, and he felt the bile rise up in his throat.

On the other side of the door, his father had woken up after hearing somebody running through the house. He leaned on the door frame worried, listening to the choking from inside. When it was silent again, he knocked softly.

"You okay in there?" He asked, waiting for a response.

Kiku came to the door, opening it just slightly. "I'm fine," he said, voice gravelly. He must've gotten sick from the cold shower; no wonder why he was shivering and sneezing yesterday. He let his dad walk with him back to his room, turning on the lights as they walked in. He was told to lay back down and have some tea, he'd be staying home again today.

He nodded as his father turned around to boil water, slowly blinking his eyes. Kiku hated staying home, it just felt wrong to him. He was lost in his own thoughts until Yao walked back in, a mug in his hands. As Yao handed the cup, he felt how cold Kiku's hands were compared to his.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked with a concerned look. Kiku had definitely been acting more closed off; he hoped he wasn't making himself sick with stress. Yao had done the same before at work, and it put such a huge strain on him. When Kiku scrunched his eyebrows together he explained.

"You look pale, and your hands are freezing," he told him. Kiku's eyes flicked away.

"I haven't been feeling well this week, hopefully, some medicine will help," Kiku said. He took a long sip of tea before his father could say anything else. He was told to stay in bed and drink lots of liquid, flu tablets were in the cupboard downstairs. Nodding, Kiku curled up with his phone, too uncomfortable to fall back asleep. He had been spending more and more time on that site, reading post after post. He knew he was pale and cold from the lack of nutrients, but he didn't feel it until he was next to someone else.

Nobody cared anymore when he'd skip lunch or turn down snacks, besides Feli who was always disappointed he wouldn't take any of his food. They just assumed he wasn't hungry. Kiku could feel himself getting lighter, his clothes getting bigger on him. He hid it well with belts and the oversized hoodies he already wore. He knew he lost all the weight that he's wanted but every time he stopped it seemed like he immediately gained it all back. Leon stopped into his room and told him he'd get his work. Mei told him goodbye and hope he feels better, she's sweet. When everybody was out of the house Kiku allowed himself to fully relax. He was going to try to let himself rest today; he had been feeling fatigued for a few weeks now, another side effect of malnutrition.

At school, Leon was ranting to his close friend, Emil Oxenstierna. "He's lucky," he complained, "he gets to stay home two days in a row, prolly more." Emil shrugged. "So what? He's got a cold let him rest. Besides, it's two days he has to make up anyways," Leon just huffed.

"He looks like he's been sick forever, Dad keeps giving him free passes," He added, hoping Emil would feel some sort of sorry for him. "All I get is in trouble for that."

"What do you mean?"

"He's always pale and cooped up in his room. Plus he always carries tea and a shawl around the house. Where did he even get a shawl?" Leon continues on for a few more minutes about his 'unfair treatment' while Emil stares down at the floor, thinking. He taps his friend on the shoulder, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Hasn't he been like, losing a lot of weight?" He asked, catching Leon off guard.

"Kind of, practically all he does is sleep and study," Leon explained, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," Emil said with a softer tone. He shrugged. "I guess he just kinda sounds like how Lukas was-" Leon cut him off.

"I know my brother, he's a perfectionist like my dad. It's stress-work. He'll sit down and panic about every little detail until eventually he gets sick and takes a break. He really is fine." After this, Emil went tense and mumbled something under his breath, Leon only hearing "...my brother too…" before his friend gave a short wave goodbye and rushed up the stairs with a group of students. Leon felt bad knowing that was probably the wrong thing to say, but Emil had already left, meaning he'd have to wait until later to apologize.

At home, Kiku sat up in bed with his computer in his lap and Fuji curled up asleep at the end of the bed. His eyes were fixated on the screen, scrolling through post after post as he had been doing recently. He had logged in to his school's page earlier, hoping to get some work done, but he quickly got distracted and left it sitting open with nothing done yet. The roof of his mouth stung from the boiling hot tea he had drunk a few minutes ago in hopes of warming himself up.

Even wrapped in blankets and a sweater he still had the chills, goosebumps rising on his arms and legs. He wanted to walk out to the kitchen and grab something small, but he couldn't get himself to leave the bed. Slowly, as to not disturb his pet, Kiku hurried out of his room and downstairs into the kitchen. He threw open the fridge doors and grabbed the first thing he saw- a small yoghurt cup sitting on one of the shelves. Grabbing a spoon he headed back to his bedroom, feeling the cold of the plastic in his hands.

Kiku sat back down and tore open the foil lid, taking a huge spoonful. When he tried to swallow, his mouth burned despite the cold of the food and he cringed as it went down his throat. He forced the rest down anyways and opened up his phone. He noticed that unless he repeated it over and over throughout the day, he didn't always remember how much he ate during school. Instead, he got a fitness app from the store and had been logging in every day. He figured that as long as nobody looked through it, it would be safe enough. Luckily, he didn't have very nosy friends or family, save for maybe his younger brother.

He'd have to back to school eventually, but it actually felt nice staying home once he let himself relax. Another day or two wouldn't really hurt, would it? When his father was back home, he pulled out the homework Mei had brought up to him and pretended not to notice him walking in. "Good to see you're not falling behind," Yao noted. Kiku looked up and silently nodded. "Feeling better?"

"Somewhat," Kiku answered, trying to get as gravelly of a voice as possible. "My throat still hurts though, and my stomach," he added. His father gave him a look but grabbed the cup from off his bedside table. "I'll let you stay one more day but you're going back," his father told him with a glance. Before Kiku could say anything he shut the bedroom door behind him. Kiku sat there awkwardly, looking down at his papers. That was the first time he had ever lied to someone's face, on top of trying to get out of school. Normally, he would rush to finish up his work but today he felt so...exhausted.

He tossed the papers on the floor near his bed and lied back down in bed. All he wanted to do was sleep through the next day. When Leon came in to bring him the takeout they had ordered that night, he found his brother already passed out, asleep. Leon set the plate down on his desk in case he woke up later, then noticed the papers scattered on the floor. He picked them up and read through them, noticing that barely anything was written on them. Suddenly he felt bad for complaining, especially knowing that his classes were much, much easier than his brothers. He set them back down on the ground and left, making sure to leave the door cracked just a little bit.


Thank you all for reading and the support you've given for this story! It means a lot ^w^