Kayako Shima bit her lip as she spooned rice out of the pots and into bowls for dinner. By the time she got to the last bowl in the row and placed it on a small tray, she felt like her lip might split if she chewed it any more.
Konekomaru had stopped eating.
While the small boy was known for eating very little normally, he had been eating less and less as time went on while he was cooped up in his room from his unknown illness. Now, in the last couple of days, he had stopped taking food altogether. Juzo hadn't noticed this when he had brought the boy breakfast to days ago, and had only noticed that the food was untouched when dinner of that same day came around. Juzo and Torako and even Ossama himself had gone to try and talk to him, but to no avail. He only continued to lay there silently, not even responding in the slightest to their words. At the rate things were going, she was legitimately afraid that he would starve.
"Hey mom." The sound of her youngest son's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Renzo and Ryuji came into the kitchen together, making a beeline right for her. "Mom, is dinner going to be ready soon? We're starving." Kayako nodded, biting the inside of her lip as she tried to hide her feelings from the children.
"Yes, dinner will be ready soon, so be patient you two. We still have to finish cooking the fish and serving up the rice. Plus we still have to bring Konekomaru his food..." She mostly whispered this last part to herself. So she didn't expect it in the slightest when Renzo said,
"We'll take it to him." Kayako started, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Are you just using this to take a look at him? Konekomaru is not some freak show for you to gawk at Renzo!" Her son stepped back, hands raised defensively. Luckily for him, Ryuji came to his aid.
"We're not Mrs. Shima! We just wanted to do you a favor since you're so busy!" Kayako stared at them for a moment, but sighed and shook her head.
"Oh, alright. I suppose we could use the extra help." She placed the small portions onto a tray and gave it to them with a warning wag of her finger. "But if either of you eat any of that you're in big trouble, you hear me?"
"Yeah, we hear you mom," Renzo said over his shoulder. The two boys left the kitchen with the food, headed for the place where the other boy lay.
–
Konekomaru remained curled up under his sheet, side of his face pressed into his pillow. His hands curled up loosely in front of his chest. It was true, he had stopped eating. He felt no hunger anymore. He had been slowly eating less and less, until this point now, when he didn't feel the desire to eat at all. He knew that the adults and others were worried about him, that was the only thing he didn't like. Konekomaru never wanted anyone to worry about him. He just wanted to stay curled up there and sleep. That was all, not much to ask. He was already thin, so it was no worry to him that he was losing weight.
A scuffling noise sounded from outside the door. He held back a silent sigh, It must be Juzo or Mamushi with food, he thought blandly. He didn't feel hungry again, he was already thinking about just leaving the food. He let out a soft breath, ready to feign sleep again when whoever it was came in the door.
"Hurry up, Bon, this thing is heavy."
"Hold on just another moment. I'm opening the door." Konekomaru could feel himself freeze. Though he didn't hear them very often, he recognized those voices. It was those other two kids from the temple, Ryuuji and Renzo. The memory of Ryuji's glares and Renzo's indifference towards his presence had shaped an opinion within him that neither liked him very much, so he tried his best to stay out of their way.
Why would they be here? He thought with a bit of worry. They have nothing to do with me, did they come here to mock me? That had to be it, they would have no other reason to be there. The thought of them watching him, judging him, was almost too much to bear. As the door rattled open, he ducked his head under the covers and did his best to be still, so they wouldn't know he was awake. If it worked, they would just think that he was asleep and leave, it always did the trick with Mamushi or Juzo, so it had to do the same for them.
"Hey," Renzo said aloud, presumably to him, "we brought you dinner." Konekomaru was careful to keep his breathing under control, keeping a steady, deep rhythm of in and out breaths. There was a quiet clinking as Ryuji set down the tray. "Hey! Did you hear me?" Renzo persisted.
"Give it up, Shima, he's probably asleep. Let's just leave it here for him and go." Konekomaru almost felt the urge to smile when he heard Ryuji say this. It was just what he wanted, after all. Still, there was some deeper feeling within him, something that let a pang through his heart at the same time.
"I know he's awake, Bon, I just know it. Heeey!" He said louder to Konekomaru. "You awake?" He tried speaking loudly a few more times, but got no answer from the smaller boy. Under his blanket, Konekomaru could hear some more talking in whisper form from the two, though he couldn't make out what was being whispered. Just as he finally thought they were going to leave, he let out a muffled cry as something fairly large and heavy landed on top of him. He squirmed weakly under his blanket until he managed to pull it away from his face. Only a couple of steps away from him, Ryuji had just knocked Renzo over the head.
"What was that all about?! What on Earth made you think it was a good idea at all to jump on top of him like that?!" Ryuji asked with a loud voice. Renzo shrugged, rubbing his head.
"See? I told you he was awake," was all he said. Suddenly, they both looked at Konekomaru, making him freeze up like a deer in a pair of headlights, eyes wide with a sudden type of fear.
Whatever Bon and Shima had been expecting, they never thought it would be this. What they saw in front of them wasn't any marvelous thing or important-looking person. It was just a boy about their age, so thin that his clothes were bagging on him, looking positively terrified. He clutched his blanket in his hands as if it was a shield, holding it up over his mouth to hide a part of his face. Bon sent another glare in Shima's direction before looking back at Konekomaru.
"We, uh, brought you some food," he said a bit awkwardly. After a moment, Konekomaru seemed to let his muscles relax, at least to the point that he didn't look frozen with fear.
"Um... thank you," he finally responded with a thin voice that was nearly a whisper. He eased himself so he was lying back down on his bed. "You can just...leave it there. I'll eat it later." A quiet breath escaped him as he pulled the covers half-way over his face, and he waited for them to leave again so he could rest quietly and peacefully.
"You know, everyone's really worried about you." Konekomaru was a bit surprised to say the least when he realized that Ryuji was addressing him. Peeking over the edge of his blanket, he glanced at the blurry outline of the other boy. "We've heard our moms talking about you, they want you to eat, why don't you?" Konekomaru didn't know what to say, so he remained silent. Ryuji didn't seem to like this, so he took something off the plate, a piece of fish, and shoved it in front of his face. "Come on, eat! You've got to be hungry."
"No..." Konekomaru whimpered, though he still managed to keep the food from passing his lips. "No...please... stop..." He was whimpering still, like a puppy that was crying from being punished. Still, Ryuji was persistent. "Please stop it!" He finally cried out. Shaking with effort, he sat himself up and mustered all he could into a glare at them. "Why won't you both just leave me alone? Why do you keep on trying to hurt me?" Ryuji and Renzo glanced at each other, confused.
"Hurt you?" Renzo asked. "Why would we do that? We just want to talk."
"Why? You have nothing to do with me. You've never even spoken to me until now." Ryuji raised an eyebrow at him, though Konekomaru couldn't see this.
"Well, you never stick around long enough for us to get a word out to you. You always just bow and run away every time you see us." Konekomaru was still holding his ground, though his shaking didn't help much.
"So then, why are you always glaring at me every time I come near you." Now it was Ryuji's turn to be confused.
"I glare at you?" Renzo chuckled from where he had made himself comfortable, cross-legged on the tatami-covered floor.
"Ah, he's not glaring at you. That's just what he always looks like. I swear he was born glaring." Ryuji shot a look at him and Shima laughed again and pointed at him. "See? Just like that." Konekomaru obviously couldn't see, but he felt himself start to relax his tense muscles a bit. "Anyways, I was wondering. Why do you keep yourself cooped up in here all the time? Our parents have been talking about it for weeks." Konekomaru looked down at his blankets, avoiding looking at their faces.
"Well, I just haven't been feeling well," he mumbled. "I want to get better, but I just can't seem to get over whatever it is." He touched his palm against his own chest, feeling his own heartbeat.
"Maybe it's because you're not going outside," Renzo suggested. "I mean, you're really pale and skinny. You should eat more too. I don't know how you're not eating, I get hungry if I don't eat for a few hours." Renzo rambled on for a moment before Ryuji shut him up with a clock to the noggin. Konekomaru watched with an unintentionally grim expression on his face. When they caught a glance of how he looked, they became confused even more.
"Why're you looking so sad? Is something wrong?" Renzo asked. Konekomaru only looked at him, more blankly than before. He shook his head listlessly to show that he was fine, but the boys didn't buy it. Ryuji picked up another piece of fish from the plate (the first one had been dropped on the floor and was dirty) and held it out to the thin boy.
"Come on, eat. You want to get better, right? So you've gotta' eat so you can get stronger." Konekomaru stared at the blurry piece of fish flesh that was held out in front of him. Ryuji held a serious face, but that broke out into a grin when a tiny hand finally reached out and took the food from his hand. He kept on grinning as Konekomaru began to nibble at it slowly. "Yeah! That's it! See, like this you'll be better in no time!"
Konekomaru looked at them, feeling a bit lighter for the first time in quite a while. His face felt a bit funny, and it took him a full minute to realize that he was smiling.
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Story's not done yet, more to come still. Stay tuned everyone! We are nearing the conclusion! Thanks once again to all reviewers, I hope you stick around until the grand finale!