When Kyouka sits up, she can hear every bone in her spine crack. She rolls her shoulders back and listens to her sternum pop.
She taps the spacebar to pause the hook she's been working on since she woke up. After listening to it for the past seven hours, it doesn't sound like much of anything. It sounds more like a repetition of eight simple notes symphonic. Now it just sounds like the same eight notes she's been slaving over for the past six hours.
She figures she needs to step away for a bit and come back to it with fresh ears. She unplugs her earlobes from the personalized extension cord of her laptop and pushes away from her desk.
She blinks at her dim room. It's always this dark in here because her desk is inconveniently placed by the window and her computer screen can't adjust to daylight. Suddenly her phone rings. Distant noise form under her covers bed. She wades through her sheets to answer it. Call ends just as she's about to.
Denki ️
good morning lmao
ok ima go to bed now
morning fr this time
or afternoon lol
wyd
im so hungryyyyyyyyyyyyy
bakugo wont feed me
i hate sleeping over his place lmfao
kinda feeling donuts for breakfast
u down?
hey
hey
heyyyyyyyyy
kyouka
what do u want for breakfast then
fine leave me to eat alone i guess
what did u end up having?
cereal i bet lmfao
special k right?
that shit your mom likes
hey kyouka
u ate something today right?
hey
can i call u?
hey
pick up
answer
answr
asnwer
The dial tone makes her a bit anxious as she calls him. He picks up on the second ring. She half expects him to answer with a chirpy greeting but is met with silence on his end.
"Hey," she says cautiously.
"…Hey."
"Sorry," she says, turning back to her desk, "I was working on something and got kinda carried away."
For a second all she can hear is the mechanical playback of her own words.
"Figured."
"Um." Why is he taking this tone with her? "You still wanna grab something to eat?"
"Are you hungry?"
"Kinda."
"What did you eat today?"
"Today…" she trails off. Her eyes drift to the unopened granola bar on her desk. There are four others in her drawer. Since her mom has to work in the mornings, she usually leaves them for her while Kyouka's still asleep. Her mom leaves them there for her before she goes to work. "I told you, I was busy."
"Kyouka,"
"Yeah?"
"It's six fucking thirty."
She swallows, throat suddenly dry. "I know."
She hears him sigh and somehow his headshake is audible too.
"Get dressed," he tells her before hanging up.
Um. Rude.
She thinks he needs to stop hanging out with Bakugou as she slips a pair of denim shorts on and tucks his shirt under it. She sleeps in it because it's just super cozy and velvety from his fabric softener. Also, it's a Deep Dope band tee from their tour last year. There's knocking on her door as she swipes deodorant under her arms.
She stalks down the stairs with her keys and wallet in one hand and phone in the other. opens the door. He looks at his oversized shirt on her body. Normally he'd be over the moon that she's wearing his clothes but his expression seems unreadable.
"Hey," she says with a little smile.
"Hey." he replies, just as flat as he was on the phone.
"So," she says, slipping her stuff into her pockets, "What are we gonna eat?"
"I already ate."
She looks away from his cold stare. Her gaze floats towards the picture frame on the wall. When Denki first came over, he'd asked if she and her mom were sisters. It pissed her dad off for some reason. "Oh."
"Let's go." He says, pulling her out of her own house.
She locks the door behind them and follows his lead. After that icy greeting, she doesn't really feel like asking where they're going. He's uncharacteristically silent on the walk to the familiar street of the bao stand.
"Hi," he tells the cashier, voice devoid of any coldness it had with her, "Can we get four baos, please?"
She smiles. She knew he'd still have an appetite. He wouldn't let her eat alone. When she pulls her wallet out, he nudges her hand away and mutters, "I got it."
She knows it's supposed to be a kind gesture, but it chills her.
The cashier hands him a cup and Kyouka watches him nod appreciatively before walking over to fill it with sprite. Her favorite.
She sits at an empty table and waits for him to join her. He's still got that strange scowl on his face when he places the cup in front of her and asks, "You drank water today, right?"
"Yup," she nods, taking a sip. "I stay hydrated."
His name gets called so he leaves to pick their order up. She admires the way his blonde hair swishes when he walks back over. "Eat up." he tells her, pushing the tray on her side.
Kyouka stares at the food in disbelief. "This all for me?"
"Yup."
That startles a laugh out of her. He can't be serious. "I can't finish this by myself."
"It's like ten bites."
She blinks down at the buns. Maybe if she had a mouth the size of Kirishima's.
The weight of Denki's stare is starting to pressure her, so she picks the first one up and bites into it. Meanwhile, he goes on his phone but looks up every now and then to make sure she's still eating.
He puts his phone down just as she's finishing her first bun. His screen glows, the notifications are starting to stack, but he waits until she picks another up to reply.
"How is it?" he asks over his texting.
She covers her mouth because she's still chewing. "Shrimp's kinda spicy. But pork was good."
"Try the chicken," he tells her.
She honestly had her eye on it, but her stomach's starting to constrict. She puts the bun down to take a sip of sprite. Maybe it's the soda that's got her feeling so full.
She sighs down at the daunting amount left.
"Finish your food," he says, in a tone that reminds her of her dad.
"I'm full."
"Just take one more bite."
"I'm full," she repeats. This is sounding more and more like an exchange between her and her parents at the dinner table back when she was a kid.
Denki picks a slice of chicken up with his free hand and brings it to her face. She makes a tiny noise of protest but leans in.
After pushing it inside her mouth, he presses the pad of his thumb on her lips and watches her chew. He edges off the smudge of sauce from his finger and she sucks it clean. This makes the table beside them very uncomfortable.
Then he reaches for his own bun and eats that and half of the other in less than a minute. Kyouka watches him take one large bite of the fourth before putting it back on the plate. The last one's brisket. He left her the bigger half.
"Finish it," he tells her with his mouth full.
She does. Even if it kinda hurts.
When the plate's cleared, Denki throws their trash away and holds the door for her while thanking the cashier again. The silence of their walk is broken only by Denki crushing ice between his teeth and his lighter footsteps.
She listens to that for a while. They're taking the long way back. His silence seems friendly enough for her to explain herself.
"I'm not like…" she mumbles after they turn a corner. "I'm fine. I just forgot to eat."
When she peeks at him from her peripheral, he's frowning at his vans. "For the millionth time?"
Kyouka sighs as quietly as possible so she doesn't upset him. "When I'm home alone all day, my parents aren't around to call me down to eat or anything, so yeah. I guess it happens sometimes."
Denki shakes his head and keeps walking. Their steps almost sync up.
"Dude," she says, "I don't have an eating disorder. It's just that I've got a tiny tummy."
"Good to know, dude," he sneers, walking just a step forward.
"Denki—" she starts before getting pulled into an alleyway. Her shoulders hit the filthy bricks until she's sandwiched between their rough texture and his solid chest.
A lock of hair falls over the wrong side of his part when he peers down at her. His eyebrows furrow into a frown that doesn't belong on his face.
"I'm worried about you," he sulks. And she suddenly feels horrible and responsible for his sadness.
She reaches out to put the strand of hair back in place. "I told you I was fine." she mutters, twirling its smoothness between her fingers.
"You're obviously not. Forgetting to eat and shit. Like, how do you forget? Did you starve away the part of your brain that controls hunger? Or do you just feed off the light from your laptop? Huh? Do you photosynthesize?"
Somewhere she knows he's not entirely joking, but she still finds it funny. He seems genuinely upset though so she tries to cover her mouth. Denki blinks out of his spiel long enough to notice her giggles and the corners of his lip pull into a smile.
"Well," he pokes her bellybutton. "Do you?"
Her torso almost doubles over from the contact. She hates being touched after a meal.
"Yeah," she winces, holding his wrist to keep him away. "In fact, I have to keep the blinds shut or else I'll start sprouting vines like Ibara."
"Ha-ha." he mocks, messing her fringe up with his large, staticky palm. She forgets how much bigger he is than her now. "Don't you have snacks at home? Like, fruit and nuts and shit."
Her mind wanders to the clementines and almonds and craisins her parents keep stocked in the kitchen. "I guess."
"So eat that."
"I do," she insists, "It's just… I get in the zone and forget everything. Like I don't even have to pee. You know what I mean? Kinda like how you're on your phone at night and you don't even realize how late it is until the sun rises, and then you send me a goodnight text at five in the morning."
He looks away in begrudging understanding.
"It's like that." she says, "It's exactly like that."
He still won't look at her.
"Denki," she says again, and cups his cheek to guide his face back to hers. "Baby, don't worry about me. I'm fine. Really."
He covers her hand with his and measures the size of every joint in her fingers. "Are you?"
His touch lingers on her ring finger. She tries not to read anything out of it. "I've always been… twiggy."
He nods to himself before looking back up at her.
"Just promise me you won't wait until sunset to eat breakfast again," he says, waffling their fingers together and bringing them to his lips. Her knuckles heat up from one of his kisses.
"I promise."
"And pick up the next time I call you."
"I will."
He seems complacent with her submission. She thinks that's what gives him the courage to murmur, "And send toe pics."
Kyouka shoves him off for trying to take advantage of her guilt and walks away. "Dream on, dickweed."