Hey there everyone! I put a lot of time into this one and ended up flopping ideas quite a few times, so I hope you all like the finished product! Drop a review when you're done, ok? uvu
"Hello, I'm Kusama Nowaki, I'll be your doctor today. Now what seems to be the problem?"
What exactly wasn't wrong with the current situation? The brunet swiveled slightly in his seat, looking up at the man with big green eyes much too tired for the six year old he appeared to be.
"Well, earlier this night things were normal as usual, but…" Onodera trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase things in a believable way. He turned to Takano in the hopes he could help. "...You saw it, right...?"
He only nodded his head slowly, unsure on what to say himself in regards to describing what had happened.
"What happened earlier?" The doctor had sat down across from the two of them, patiently waiting for an explanation with a smile. "The more detail, the better I would be able to help."
"Well, I was just sitting on the floor in my apartment when all of a sudden I started getting really really hot." He was now looking back up at the doctor, hands fisted up in his loose pants.
"Your apartment?" The phrasing was odd coming from such a young boy, Kusama thought to himself. "Ah, but, was there anything else you were feeling outside of the heat?"
"Well, it felt like my bones were almost melting in a way. You see, um, I…"
"He's 26 years old." Takano interjected, deciding that being blunt was the best way to go about this. There wasn't exactly a way to tiptoe around Onodera's actual age after all.
"26…?" He had a passing thought that all the night shifts had been getting to him. "I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?"
"He's 26... and until around an hour ago, he was about up to here on me." He held up a hand around his neck.
"As in he was climbing-"
"As in when he stood on the floor that's how tall he was."
"...?" His blue eyes scrunched up somewhat in confusion, unable to fully comprehend just what he was being told.
"I shrunk, I know it may be hard to believe, but really! I have a job and I own an apartment, I'm really an adult!"
He slowly regained his breath, but his heart was pounding hard in his chest as he awaited for the doctor to say something- anything at this point.
Having finally collected his thoughts, the doctor's friendly smile had been replaced with a look of skepticism.
"So you're telling me... he shrunk?" Kusama asked, wanting to affirm he was not going crazy.
"Yes, I have picture of how he normally looks on my phone if you want to see." Not even waiting for a response, he had already slipped it out of his pocket and sifted through his files. "Ah, here."
The picture made it clear the brunet was unaware his picture was being taken. Those same tired green eyes were looking off somewhere, hair a bit mussed up but clearly the same as the shrunken man in front of them.
Onodera wanted to ask when and why he had taken the picture, but held back such thoughts, telling himself he could ask later. If the lack of consent he had given- cause there was no way in hell he had ever agreed to Takano ever taking a picture of him- was what would convince this guy they were telling the truth, then so be it.
Those skeptic eyes kept shifting from the phone screen to the boy, still unsure on how to respond to something like this. This was weird enough normally, but for somebody who went through years of medical training and studies it was ever worse.
"I have more," Takano said, ignoring the glare Onodera threw him over his shoulder. "I'm- we're really unsure of how to convince you, or anyone really. But please, if there's anything you can do-"
"I get what your saying, I want to believe you, but from a medical standpoint this is completely unprecedented."
"Kusama-sensei, please, we know that, but I saw him disappear into a puff of steam right in front of me before coming out like this." He put on hand on the brunet's shoulder. "There has to be a reason that this happened."
Those tiny balled-up fists on Onodera's lap only tightened their grip, knuckles starting to go white. He was grasping for something that could prove things, thinking through anything that could remotely relate to this. Any bodily function or feature that could have proved his age outside of his brain had been reversed to his knowledge.
However, in his rush of getting his thoughts together, he was able to remember something from a biology course he took years and years ago.
It had been in a unit on development of the human body, and thank god he had been paying attention. The frontal lobe of the brain, from what he remembered, was not supposed to fully develop until hitting somewhere in your twenties.
With this in mind, he cleared his throat, hopeful.
"Is there the equipment in this hospital to do a scan?" He was looking up again, more confident now.
"You mean for an x-ray of your body?" Kusama was thrown off by the question, but was satisfied enough that it was something he had an answer to.
"No, like a scan of my brain… if I'm remembering things correctly my frontal cortex development should be proof of this, right?"
They were back in the car now, Onodera once again in the back seat because of his size.
While it hadn't lasted long, the time spent at the hospital had been taxing on him. He had been overly aware of every noise around him and a headache had throbbed lightly right behind his eyes- maybe it was that or the building stress of his predicament.
Kusama seemed to trust their words more now, but he still couldn't hide the bite of doubt that seeped into his attitude. While he remained wary of what was going on, he was able to help them to set up a later appointment for a MRI scan as well as x-rays to see just what was going on in his body for in a week.
Onodera wanted to tell himself he could just calm down a bit- that they were going to figure all this out and he would be back to whatever his normal was in no time.
But really, how would he get by like this? He still had to work, pay bills, and handle the limited shopping that he did at the convenience and grocery stores by the train among other responsibilities.
And oh god, he could only imagine what would happen if he happened to avoid one too many of his mother's calls. He couldn't very well pick up the phone with the voice he had right now!
Or even worse, what if she went and tried to set him up with another woman without his permission again? What was he supposed to then? Meet her in this state just to reject her? And that was only if anyone would even bother to take him seriously.
And what about Takano? He knew that Onodera was the same- mentally at least. How were they going to move forward from here? They already had the boss and employee thing, the two guys thing, they sure as hell didn't need this.
He felt his heart clench, a passing thought telling him he might not have to deal with the boss and employee thing for the time being. While he couldn't exactly call his work all that fun for him, he did find it rewarding to have something to put his time and energy into and get actual results.
And even with results, he still did find himself feeling useless a lot of the time. If not for Takano reassuring him every now and then he would probably not even be around the Emerald editors anymore.
While he felt Takano did help pull him along, he couldn't help but feel he was only chasing him like all those years ago. Someone was always casting a shadow on him and this time around his boss happened to be that someone.
And now as a cruel reminder of how insignificant he had felt, he now had the size to match.
And why was he thinking like this? There was no way he would be like this forever, right?
"Onodera, hey. You ok?" Having been lost in thought, Onodera had failed to notice they were back in the complex's parking garage.
"O-oh, yeah, I'm fine." He took out his seatbelt and hopped out of the car only to find himself stumbling again. "As fine as I can be…"
"Here," He picked up the brunet for the third time that night and made his way to the elevator. "I have to say, you're much easier to carry when you're like this."
"Shut up!" The high pitched voice struck Takano's ears and he couldn't help the slight wince that appeared on his face. "Would you just take this seriously?"
"I am, trust me." They walked into the lift, and began to make their way up to the twelfth floor. "I was in such a rush that I almost ran out the door without my car keys."
"...Wait, what about my apartment?" He had left the door open, not knowing he wouldn't be coming back for a good while.
"Ah, I'm sure it's fine. I've never heard of someone coming up to a twelfth floor apartment to steal things." Takano stared on at the wall, feeling the glare of those big eyes on him.
"Well I couldn't very well handle locking the door earlier, seeing as how I was practically melting!" There was a resonating ding before the doors slid open and they could see his door, as suspected, to be open. "Ugh, seriously?!"
"I'm sorry, I was more worried about you than your apartment, okay? You're much more important than anything in there." His eyes softened at the slight blush that took over the now round face.
It pained him in a way, seeing that face that should be innocent and bright with youth's naivety to look so worn-out. His eyes shouldn't have been so tired, not until he started rebelling and staying up late into the night to read a book he just had to know the ending to.
But to see what he would've looked like if they had someone been able to meet even earlier in life than either had, that was also a comfort. Even if it was years before they actually initially met, seeing his young face did bring back memories of his high school relationship with him. If he were to just part those messy bangs- maybe gel them into that style-
"Takano-san, are you ok?" Onodera was looking at him with worry, yet another thing Takano didn't want to see, knowing there had to be plenty of things going through the brunet's head right now.
"I'm fine, your face is just bringing back a few things." He lips curved up the slightest bit and he turned his attention to his bag to retrieve his key, keeping his hold on the brunet with one arm now.
"O-oh. Sorry." The apology came in a mumble.
"Not all bad things, most are good." He turned the key in the slot and opened it, walking into the genkan. "I can just see these big eyes peering at me from behind a bookshelf and at that Pandaway filled with excitement that one time we ran into each other by coincidence. Things like that are good."
"I'm glad you can think of those things in a positive light." He huffed as he was put down on the couch, which seemed much larger now.
"Hey, you don't mean to tell me you didn't enjoy any of the things we did together in high school?" He sat down next to him, arms crossing over his chest. "I know you definitely enjoyed when we would-"
"Could you not." He scooted to the side, distancing himself from the older man.
"What? What's wrong about talking about how we would talk about books? It's not like there's anything wrong with that." Takano shrugged and Onodera felt bad again, having thought he was going another route with the tone he had been speaking in. Just as he was about to speak himself, the raven continued. "And there was the sex, too."
"Takano-san!" He gave another shriek that reminded the other not to upset the brunet in this state.
"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't be talking about things like that when you're like this. We're not going to be able to do anything like that for the foreseeable future…"
"Well, yeah."
"Lovey dovey things should be fine though, right?" Takano leaned towards the brunet, smiling a bit. "When you're so cute like this, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to ruffle your hair."
"T-takano-san, please-"
"Alright, if you say so." Before the younger could finish his sentence, a hand mussed up his hair, making it more of a mess than it already was. "I thought you'd never ask."
"That's because I would never ask..." He murmured under his breath as the hand slowed down and slender fingers ran through his hair.
"I guess so." He agreed as he pulled back, resting his hands on his lap. "Anyways, what are you going to do for now? I mean, I don't feel comfortable leaving you in your apartment on your own, so I think you should stay here for now."
"I don't think your comfort should have anything to do with this, you're not directly affected by this."
"Except I am. As your boss, I'm going to have to adjust your workload in order to not overwhelm you in this state. We especially can't have you staying up too late or being too involved with the stress of hell week."
"I've gotten along just fine up until now!" The moment that his protest was voiced, he regretted it.
"Hah, no. Did you already conveniently forget how you collapsed and Isaka-san had to take you to the hospital? Or have you always had such a selective memory?"
His tone suggested his words were meant to also apply to other things that Onodera didn't quite like to think about, and it hurt. Sure they've argued plenty over the past months they've been in each other's lives but tonight was definitely one of the worst nights they've had in awhile.
Even thinking back now, the apology from earlier over text was, well, over text. Even if they're uncooperative natures did keep them from getting things like this over and out of their systems as they should be, they both said (or thought to themselves) that they were trying to work things out.
But his chest felt tight and his throat went dry and he couldn't say a word all over again.
Takano seemed to realize this, brows drawing together in concern and voice taking a gentler tone. "Hey, that was bad of me to say, sorry."
Onodera only let out a shaky breath and shifted his weight away from the older, the thoughts from the car ride still swirling in his head.
"Onodera?" He was leaning forward so he could see the younger's face.
"Could you go get my stuff?"
It took a moment for Takano to process what he had just been asked before he nodded and walked off with a, "Sure,".
When he walked in, he was welcomed by piles of clothes and trash scattered about the hardwood floor. Not phased by it, his eyes scanned the area in search of the bag Onodera had been carrying earlier that day.
In his search, he let his mind wander to other things, like just how they were going to resolve all this. They had already argued numerous times that day, which wasn't all that out of the ordinary. The problem was the bite behind the words; they were much more hurtful than normal.
Seeing as how they were going to be sharing his apartment for a while, they would have the time to talk for sure. Just how to bring all this up though?
He felt like he had pushed too far this time, and the damage was more than he could handle with his normal attempts to patch things up.
He was going need to ease into things, taking each step slowly and gently not to break what they still had.
Pulling the bag over his shoulder, checking over what was in it- keys, work, laptop, cellphone, now a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a comb among other random items he had in it.
Surely he wouldn't be able to mess things up if he thought out what he did carefully, right?
Distracted, he failed to notice the phone's vibrations from inside the bag.