doppo couldn't remember the last time he'd felt comfortable. home with hifumi was lovely and all, but hifumi wasn't always home when doppo needed him. often hifumi was working late at the host club, wooing as many women as he could to rake in the big bucks. as the most forgotten member of matenrou, it's not like the media was keeping up with his mental health either, not that he could've handled it. panic attacks weren't fun when you were surrounded by cameras and curious people. generally, it just made them worse. if doppo was lucky at all, he'd be featured in a picture with hifumi and get dragged in the comments, which didn't make going in public very fun.
but meeting dr. jinguji jakurai had helped him. sometimes he'd stop by the hospital by himself just to visit the doctor before he got off of work to see how he was doing. jakurai, as the top doctor in shinjuku and possibly all of japan, had a very busy and hectic schedule. he'd always be called in at the strangest times, something that he insisted was horrible for his circadian rhythm, and his old bones, as hifumi liked to say. which made doppo smile. doctor jakurai wasn't that old, only mid - thirties, but the way he didn't challenge the title of 'old man' made him seem like a very cozy and comfortable person to be around.
jakurai was far from being a psychiatrist, but he still listened to doppo and gave him very good advice, just like doppo wanted. hifumi's advice was usually ... hifumi - ish. hifumi was good for venting - he listened well and kept the conversation interesting. the only issue was that, when doppo rhetorically asked what he was to do, hifumi gave airheaded advice. 'just do this!' or 'just do that!' as if it was that easy. hifumi was an okay friend too, maybe a twin flame if you could call him that, but if he had the chance, he'd rather live with the doctor. selfish and a pipe dream, but true.
at least he thought it had been until he'd fainted from exhaustion at his job and the doctor had taken it upon himself to provide a place for doppo to rest and recuperate from corporate slavery. it had been a little after he was supposed to take his lunch break, which he inevitably had to skip because multiple other people's workloads had been pushed onto him. all he'd managed to get was a simple 500 yen energy drink that he'd forgotten he stored in a drawer of his work desk for safe keeping and barely even got a sip of it at that. he'd just been too overworked, too exhausted to continue. and when one of his coworkers simply called for hifumi to come pick him up, the blonde had never sped over to the shinjuku hospital so fast in his life.
the doctor had just settled down some patients, leaving the o.r., when several nurses came in, saying that his matenrou member was carrying some scary fainted guy who kept muttering creepily. jakurai didn't have to ask who, and simply rushed to the waiting room, easily securing doppo a bed in his own office so that he could rest after they went over the red head's vitals. that's when hifumi forlornly mentioned wishing doppo could take some sort of vacation. jakurai agreed and had decided that doppo would spend a few weeks with him off in the country. he certainly deserved it.
the so - called "country" was little more than a traditional japanese home in some rolling suburbs, but it fit doppo just fine. here, he felt in his soul, he could relax. yet as much as he wanted to, his body wouldn't let him rest. he felt like he needed to be doing something, needed to have something to occupy his hands. being all alone in dr. jakurai's house wasn't exactly riveting, and doppo often felt like he was intruding, having agreed to this in a moment of impulsivity. but the doctor really didn't mind. instead, he levied to take as many days off as doppo did, though still on call. the drive wasn't too far so doppo couldn't complain and try to push away the offer.
and just like that, doppo kannonzaka was living his dream. for once in his life, something seemed to go right. the house was serene. jakurai was a very calming person, even though he sometimes worried about being boring. sometimes in the morning, jakurai would take doppo fishing at the local hatchery before taking whatever they caught home to cook it up for breakfast. if they didn't end up catching anything, jakurai would acquiesce and buy some fast food for doppo, as a treat. jakurai would much rather cook him something nice from scratch. the choice never mattered to doppo. he liked simply being with the doctor. they'd chat while doing the dishes, small talk that doppo usually hated but absolutely adored with the doctor. then after dishes it was house chores before jakurai asked him what he wished to eat for lunch. doppo always responded with 'whatever you'd like, i don't mind', but jakurai always seemed to make exactly what doppo wanted. then after lunch, jakurai would stop by the hospital to check things out, take some vitals while doppo stayed home and napped. a walk in the garden in the backyard before dinner, and then a walk around the neighborhood after dinner. it was so beautifully domestic that doppo wondered if this was what married life felt like - domesticity with your favorite person for all of eternity, tranquil and beautiful.
however, it only made sense that this consistent stream of healthy meals three times a day would benefit doppo in the physiological department. doppo had always been a bit underweight, abs nowhere to be seen withe a concave stomach and angel wing ribs. it got even worse as he got older and his metabolism slowed down, jutting hip bones met with a soft yet still concave stomach. the small amount of body fat needed somewhere to go and it chose the most obvious place. but living with jakurai seemed to fix that. doppo filled out healthily, stomach no longer concave and hip bones and ribs becoming padded with soft, healthier looking flesh. his cheeks even gained a bit more color, what with going so many places with jakurai. the clothes that fit him before he came got a little too snug, and while doppo worried about getting fat, jakurai soothed his worries by assuring the younger that he was keeping tabs on him, and that he'd be nothing but healthy.
until doppo couldn't button his pants anymore. a pale sliver of tummy taunted him, obscuring his hands and the buttons of the jeans that he'd bought with jakurai the other day. he felt like his eyes nearly popped out of his head. oh god, he was getting fat. getting lazy and sedentary off his dear friend's good will like some cat. doppo had been on the verge of a breakdown when jakurai had knocked on his door, asking if he was ready to go to the hatchery yet. doppo couldn't respond so he simply stayed silent, willing his shaking to go away. it didn't and neither did jakurai. in fact, jakurai came into the room and simply smiled that mature and gentle smile the calmed doppo all the way down into the center of his soul.
"you look much healthier," he'd crooned, laying a thin hand on doppo's softer shoulder. "do you feel better?"
and doppo didn't have the heart to disagree.