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Akito pushed open the door to the twenty-four hour pharmacy, ignoring the bells that rang. It wasn’t the first time he had been here, far from it. He’d been to the pharmacy several times before whether it was to get pills for insomnia for his mom or pain killers for himself and adhd pills for his cousin.
He knew exactly what to look for as soon as he entered so he spent no time wandering about. He paid the exact change and left with his purchases. It wasn’t very late, around eight forty-five at night - which wasn’t a bad time to be out and buying stuff.
However, for whatever reason, his stomach churned as he clutched the bag as he walked down the street. The mansion was not too far from the pharmacy, around a fifteen or so minute walk. The sounds of the city and the streets filled his ears as he walked and got lost in his thoughts.
Everyone in the mansion looked fine, appeared fine, acted like they were alright. But he knew everyone had their issues. He knew Shiho didn’t like being touched, he knew Honami struggled with doing what everyone asked of her, he knew Minori and Emu both struggled with adhd. The place was filled with issues but they were managing.
So far at least, they were managing.
Sometimes, he felt as if he were a second Honami. He wasn’t the nicest person out there but he did what he could for his friends. He was extremely bad at displays of affection but he did what he could do - whether it be last minute grocery shopping or driving someone to a place where they had to go. Of course he complained and grumbled and was mean about it, but he still did it.
He pushed himself until he was bloodshot and exhausted. He pushed himself until his legs felt like jelly.
Every time he visited the Sekai to practice, he could feel Meiko’s watchful eyes on him, watching him as he sang and sang until his throat ran dry and his eyes watered.
She watched him silently as he fell apart and brought himself together again.
He knew she would always help him up if he fell apart. And she hadn’t yet.
And she was right, he would always fix himself and keep on going until he fell apart again. And when he fell apart again, he’d just fix himself and repeat the cycle.
He never bothered to question exactly how long he could last like this.
He rang the doorbell, patiently waiting for someone to open the door. There was a click and the door opened to reveal Shizuku. “Ah, Akito-kun!” She greeted happily, moving so he could enter. “Welcome back, did you get what you went to get?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I did,” he said. “They’re all in the bag. The stuff Minori asked for, the stuff Mafuyu wanted and the stuff ‘Kasa asked me to get for Saki,” He nodded at the bag before adding, “Where are they?”
Shizuku locked the door behind them. “I heard Ichika-chan talk about going out for karaoke, and I think Airi-chan took Ena-chan out for dinner since it is her birthday. I don’t think Mafuyu-kun is back from work yet, and I’m not sure where Minori is.” she answered.
He tossed the bag of drugs on the living room table before collapsing on the couch. “Thanks Shizuku,”
He sighed as he sank into the couch, too lazy to reach for the TV remote to drown himself in some anime or music. He had already bought cheesecake for his sister on his way back from school earlier and wished her a happy birthday. His phone pinged and he groaned, bringing it out to check the notification, which was a direct message from An.
An -> Akitoe
An: where tf are you
An: we’ve been waiting FOREVERR
Akitoe: im at home
Akitoe: why
An: did you forget about practice
Akitoe: oh
His dumbass had forgotten about practice and he didn’t feel like particularly going that day anyways. But then if he didn’t go, his partners would kill him.
“Do I have to?” He groaned, his fingers stopping in front of his phone’s keyboard. “I don’t wanna,”
“You don’t want to…?” He heard Shizuku’s voice from somewhere behind him.
“I don’t want to go to practice today, it's nine p.m and I’m exhausted.” He said, somehow sinking further into the couch.
“Then I suggest you don’t go and take some rest,” Shizuku said.
“I want to but An will kill me if I don’t go.”
“Tell her you need some well deserved rest,” Shizuku suggested.
“I don’t think I deserve rest,” he said dryly. “I’m just tired from walking everywhere today.”
Shizuku switched on the kitchen light before bringing out two glasses from the cabinet. “Akito-kun, do you want tea?” she offered.
He stayed silent before he asked, “You don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Then that would be cool, thanks,”
She brought over the glasses of tea, handing one to him as she sat next to him on the couch. “I really think you shouldn’t go to practice today,” she said. “You look exhausted and I saw you rush to school without eating breakfast today morning.”
Shit.
He forgot Shizuku took the credit course at Miyajo and therefore didn’t have to attend all of her classes. Of course she would’ve seen him rush to school without eating that morning.
“I go to school without eating breakfast a lot,” he shrugged it off. “Besides, I ate lunch,”
“Normally you stuff at least an energy bar or you drink milk before you run to school or even have a banana, and Honami-chan didn’t even have time to give you your lunch before you were running out of the door.” She said firmly.
“I bought something at a konbini,” he shrugged.
“A sandwich or an onigiri from a konbini is not enough to fuel you for a whole school day, Akito-kun,” she scolded gently. “I’m not new to this, Akito-kun, I’ve seen Shi-kun go to school without eating breakfast and forgetting lunch several times and I’ve always been concerned but you know Shi-kun,” she trailed off.
Akito heard the silent plea of Let me be there for you.
“But that’s not an excuse for me to not go to practice,” he argued. “We have a performance on May eleventh and we have to prepare for that so-”
“May eleventh is two weeks away, you have time to practice,” she told him. “One day of rest won’t hurt you.” She reasoned out. “You should tell An-chan that,”
“She’s just gonna call me lazy if I say that.”
“Are you sure? You know she worries for you, right?”
Akito carefully took a sip of the green tea Shizuku had made. “We bicker a lot but that’s always been our thing,” he said slowly. “But yeah, I guess she worries for me in her own way.”
“If you don’t want to tell her you’re tired, you can just tell her that I’m holding you hostage to make you do chores.”
He choked on his tea. “You’re holding me what now-”
He didn’t think he’d ever heard Shizuku of all people use the word hostage before.
She nodded seriously. “If it helps get you out of practice then yes,”
He stared at her. If it were Honami sitting next to him, she would have given him some encouraging and energizing words and yeeted him into practice, Minori would’ve done the same. Shizuku did not force him into practice for whatever reason.
“I heard a series of concerning sounds from the bathroom earlier today afternoon,” she said. “I think that was you,”
Shit times two.
He had gone to the bathroom after his stomach disagreed with the konbini food. It had expired and he didn’t know. And he had felt very angry at himself for that and he ended up punching the cabinets in his anger. He hadn’t known Shizuku had heard.
“So I think it’s best for you to take some rest today,” she continued. “It’ll do you well and I really think you deserve it.”
He took another sip of his tea as he texted An back.
An -> Akitoe
Akitoe: 悪い don’t think I can make it today
An: why
Akitoe: being held hostage by Shizuku since no one else is home
Akitoe: need to do dishes ://
An: oh ok
An: take care of yourself
An: dont break anything
Akitoe: WHEN HAVE I EVER BROKEN ANYTHING IN THE KITCHEN
“I think An bought it,” he said.
“Wonderful,” Shizuku clasped her hands together. “If you want to nap on the couch you can, I can take care of everything else,”
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” he asked as he watched her pick up her empty glass of tea and go back to the kitchen.
“Yes, don’t worry about me, please take some rest.”
“If you say so,” he moved so he could lie down comfortably on the couch, staring at the ceiling before drifting to sleep.
Maybe sometimes, it was okay to fall apart where no one was looking. Maybe it was okay to fix yourself after a little bit.
He woke up to a text from An asking if he had a good rest and to tell the rest of the squad whenever he wasn’t feeling great and needed a breather. Minori and Mafuyu had texted him a thank you for buying the medicines they needed respectively.
And he silently thanked Shizuku for forcing him to skip practice so he could have a well deserved break.