Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In early September, with Umemiya's approval, Fuurin’s Tamon Team decided to hold a private picnic on the rooftop. Not sure who came up with the bold idea of arranging a whole hot pot party, but the sparkling eyes of class 1-1’s Grade Captain showed that he absolutely loved it.

This time, they brought two extremely large pots. One is a spicy hot pot, the other is a nourishing mushroom hot pot for “old man” Hiiragi. They all assigned each other to buy dishes and ingredients to gather on the rooftop. Not only dips, but also other side dishes: fried chicken, shrimp tempura, and cold soba noodles. The freshmen borrowed Kotoha's kitchen yesterday to cook these dishes.

While everyone was busy fighting for food, Suo still calmly sat in a corner, his bowl and chopsticks untouched. There was only one cup of tea in his hand.

The first-years were no stranger to his habits, and after ten times of asking and receiving the same answer "I'm on a diet!", the fact that Suo didn't need any source of living other than tea had become a normal understanding. He still sat next to Sakura and Nirei, sipping a cup of tea while chatting and enjoying the blue autumn sky.

However, not everyone accepted his behavior.

"Hey Suo. You’re really not gonna eat anything?"

As he walked out of the table to make more tea, he met Hiiragi and Kaji.

"Hiiragi-san, Kaji-san. I'm on a diet." Suo raised a greeting smile as always.

"So, where is the food?"

Meeting Kaji's sharp gaze, the corners of his mouth stiffened.

"Yes?"

"On a diet, you still have to have food. Just drinking tea is not called a meal."

Hiiragi nodded in agreement. "You know, I’m also on a diet. My stomach is not very good. Maybe you can eat some of the dishes I do."

Before he could return to the table to show him some food, Suo stopped him.

"You don’t have to worry about me, I only eat two meals a day. I do eat breakfast and dinner at home!”

That was a lie. Last night, he ran out of rice so he didn't cook any, and this morning he didn’t feel hungry at all so breakfast was skipped.

The reason behind this can’t be explained in a few words.

First of all, he wasn't so stupid as to think that humans could survive without eating. Suo's kitchen always had a few basic ingredients on hand—and having gotten used to living alone for a few years now, he could cook all the meals himself. Rice, seaweed, dried mackerel, and eggs, if carefully cooked, would become a standard nutritious Japanese breakfast. Besides, he wasn't the kind of person who was too lazy to make a meal.

It's just that, sometimes sitting alone in front of the table, the feeling of exhaustion rises in the stomach makes him not want to do anything else.

From his middle school years, he learned that drinking water would reduce the feeling of hunger. From that point on, it has been a series of days of continuously drinking tea so that he doesn’t have to consume anything else. In his house, there were different kinds of tea from all over the world that his master would send back from time to time. Suo's favorite is a kind of expensive white tea. After drinking it, he no longer felt his stomach cramp during the whole day without eating anything.

Gradually, he resisted the thought of chewing and swallowing food. Even expensive boxes of Japanese desserts were given to class 1-1.

Suo knew this was not right. Humans have to eat three full meals a day. Otherwise, his stomach will shrink more and more, which can cause bleeding and gastritis. At that time, it would be painful, and Suo was not a big fan of pain.

Therefore, Suo still forces himself to eat at least one meal a day. To him, white rice feels like chewing a piece of paper. The exhausting meal sections often resulted in him throwing leftover food in the fridge, or worse - straight to the trash can.

Of course, he wouldn't tell anyone about all this.

Chapter Text

The next morning, as if arranged by God, Suo was assigned on patrol duty with his two seniors, Kaji and Kusumi. In front, Kaji walked idly with hands in pocket, a usual lollipop in his mouth while the background music from the headphones drowning out every other sounds. And Kusumi... did not talk at all. It felt strange because suddenly a talker like Suo didn't know what to do.

If he thought about it carefully, the grade captain and vice-captain of the second year are just like his two friends. With Kaji's temperament, it is impossible to go on patrol without Kusumi's support. When the people of Makochi need something, Kusumi will first pat the class leader on the shoulder to signal, or directly pull down his headphones. He would then assign other teams over the phone. Then Kaji just need to handle the work alone.

In that respect, the two grade captains are quite similar. But talking to Kaji was not the same as Sakura's. If Sakura's gruffness is often compared to a wild cat, Kaji possesses the fury of 10 lions. The memory of almost being caught by him at the rooftop party made him extremely wary.

After all, Sakura is easily fooled, and Kaji is not.

Suo walked around the neighborhood, with a friendly smile on his face, straight back and hands clasped behind his back. No one knew that his heart was torn apart by fatigue. During autumn, the snack stalls in the neighborhood open like mushrooms after rain. Dango, fish cakes, grilled meat skewers, oden hotpot, the smell of fragrant food swirling around distracted his mind.

"Eat it", "Don't eat", "Don't want to eat", "I'm too hungry".

As usual, Suo refuses all the food that the people of Makochi give him after helping them. The shopkeepers who were familiar with him on the street thought he had a habit of not eating snacks. But they didn't know that the boy didn't even want to eat anything. Suo ignored all the signals urging him to grab the hot dango skewer in front of him to soothe his empty stomach, ignoring the trembling palms and eyes that were directed at him, staring like sharp knives from the blonde-haired senior.

Suo pursed his lips tightly. He wanted to go back to class. Want to drink tea. As long as he drink enough tea, this feeling will end.

Suddenly, Suo's footsteps stopped. Everything went black like a broken old TV.

The word "hypoglycemia" flashed through his mind like lightning. Although he had never experienced this feeling before, he knew for sure it was. Suo only had half a second to reach out his hand, preventing his face from hitting straight down.

Sick. The palm of his right hand slid on the ground, and his skin must have been torn. The cold crawled up his bone marrow like a centipede. Has autumn in Makochi always been so cold?

In Suo's vision, everything flashed into bright and dark patches. There was a faint noise, Kaji's voice, shaggy brown hair, and the sky was bright. His body was laid against the cold concrete wall. Suddenly, a pink lollipop appeared in sight.

"Eat."

"Kaji-san, please don't tell Sakura-kun and Nire-kun-"

"Then eat."

Don’t want to. Master never let him eat lollipops.

But Suo also didn't want Kaji to be upset, so he also grabbed the candy. The strawberry aroma lingering around the nose tastes like artificial flavoring. Suo tried his best not to spit it out.

Pathetic. He wished there was a hole in the ground to just disappear.

Chapter Text

The next time Suo woke up was on the hospital bed in the infirmary. Next to him was the sound of Hiiragi peeling off a new stomach pill and Kaji, who was still wearing headphones and burying his head in the phone.

There were no clocks in the room. How long had it been since he lost consciousness? Quite a few hours perhaps, the mattress under the back was soft and close to uncomfortable. It felt like the whole body was drained of energy. He couldn't help but sigh, realizing that he had caused trouble. His eyes were still closed, relaxed, and he pretended not to wake up, while the mind constantly making up reasons for the accident.

The ancient Chinese spirit took control, so I fell?

And Suo was also a little curious about the reaction of the other two. Hiiragi would definitely glare at him with the usual look at Sugishita and Sakura when the two of them quarreled for the fifth time of the day. Kaji probably wouldn’t care. But did he keep his word? Did he tell Sakura and Nirei?

A few seconds later, Hiiragi's voice rang out.

"Really, are all of the first-years three years old? Why do I see their faces whenever there's trouble?"

"Agreed." Kaji muttered.

Oh, I’m really lumped together with Sakura and Sugishita.

"And it's even Suo. Shouldn't he be the most mature of the bunch? Why did he fall on the street like this because he didn’t eat?"

"That's right."

"You talked a lot today, Kaji..."

Oh no. Guessed Kaji had found out he was awake.

In the most natural way, Suo slowly opened his eyes, propped his hands on the bed to sit up. Messy brunette hair, his eyepatch misaligned, and the tassel earrings were not as straight as usual. Looked completely innocent. Smiling.

"Ah, Hiiragi-san, Kaji-san, good morning!"

In response to his bright smile was two frowning faces.

Hiiragi’s eyebrows narrowed again, making him look 10 years older, "You’re laughing now? Do you know how bad the situation is?!"

Suo knew it well, it's just that he tries to ignore it every day and every month.

But in the next question, he was asked to list his meals for the past two days. An honest answer would be scolded. But if he made up something nutritious and delicious, he would definitely not fool anyone—after all, he had fallen to the ground right in front of Kaji. Suo had to tell the truth.

This morning, haven't eaten anything. Yesterday morning was the same, at noon he only drank tea while everyone was having a party. He had dinner last night, it was true. Although he only forced himself to eat 1/3 of the rice bowl before it became too troublesome to even hold the chopsticks.

"What a good diet."

Although it was still at a normal low volume, Kaji's tone was grumpy. Suo had no excuses.

"I’m really out of words to say. Here, eat all of this. Kaji, you sit and watch."

It turned out that Hiiragi had ordered food for him. It was a cup of white porridge.

Do I have to eat? I’m not hungry.

Suo waited for the figure of the senior to disappear behind the corridor, and then turned to the other person to negotiate.

"Kaji-san, we'll be late. I'll take it back to class~."

"No."

Negotiations failed. That's right, how could he ditch Hiiragi's mission.

"But I can't sit eat in the infirmary~"

The reason is reasonable enough, for Suo. What will he say next? Is there something as simple as eating and drinking that can't be done?

Contrary to Suo's imagination, Kaji thought for a while, and said, "Then bring that to the rooftop."

The rooftop?

Chapter Text

What would Master think if he saw Suo’s current self?

Martial arts exercises, meditation, tea sessions. These are the habits that the master has honed every day, and Suo himself has never let go of these exercises. Despite all of that, he could not perform a simple task such as eating a decent meal. That's not adult-like behavior.

The rooftop was truly a better place for eating than an infirmary. After pushing the door, Kaji began to walk around as if looking for something.

"Kaji-san? What's the matter?"

“… Nothing."

The autumn wind on the rooftop brought in the cold of early winter. The aftermath of low blood sugar made Suo sway. He sat at the empty table that was usually used in meetings between Umemiya and the Four Heavenly Kings, while Kaji sat on the bench next to him, his face still as indifferent as ever. Is he going to sit and watch Suo eat from beginning to end?

The box of hot white porridge in his hand made the feeling of guilt flare up in his throat. After all, Hiiragi spent his own money to buy this meal, so it would be impolite to waste it. Under Kaji's gaze, Suo opened the box and scooped each spoonful of porridge into his mouth. Could he feel the taste of the food? Yes. Chicken porridge, mildly salty. Fragrant, and very warm. The white porridge was almost as diluted as water, but he still chewed it as if he was forced to eat scrap iron.

Chewing, chewing, swallowing. As uniform as a machine.

After a half, he wanted to give up. However, Suo is still Suo, who was best at hiding emotions. Just two seconds later, the corner of his eye curled up into his usual innocent expression.

"Kaji-san, I already eat. You don't need to waste time sitting here anymore."

So hurry up and go back to class. Suo said to himself.

Dark blue eyes indifferently observed every small expression on Suo’s face. Answered with a huff.

"I won't ask why you skipped the meal."

Yes?

"You'll come up with a lie anyway. You're not an idiot, so you know the consequences yourself. If you don't eat well, you'll get sick just like Hiiragi-san."

Suo was surprised. Was he always a talkative person?

"When something goes wrong, you will suffer yourself and don't tell anyone. Even around you, right here in Fuurin, everyone is ready to help you."

At the first glance, it sounded like he was describing Sakura. Sakura kept everything a secret, his past, his injuries, his illness, and the fact that he cares about the people in the town despite his attempts to deny it. Suo never thought that those words could also be used to talk about himself.

He said that the people at Fuurin would be willing to help him, but was that true?

Kaji looked at his phone, then rolled his eyes towards the door leading to the rooftop. "They should be here now."

Who are?

Following his gaze, Suo looked towards the door. A black and white head, and the other gold peeked in. His heart jumped a beat. Surprise, almost panic rose in the red eye, why were the two of them, Sakura and Nirei, here?

Nirei excitedly ran in front to greet the two of them, and Sakura, as always, followed quietly. In each person's hand was a lunch box from a convenience store, perhaps they just bought during this morning's patrol. The blonde man's voice sounded from the top of his head.

"Food is the same food, but eating with other people is a little more fun. From now on, just sit and eat lunch with them. Every day."

Then, Kaji put the headphones back on and left, leaving several pairs of eyes looking at him in utter confusion.

Sakura pointed to the door and jumped up, "He suddenly texted us to bring our lunches to the rooftop. And now he just left?! What’s wrong with him?!" Meanwhile, Nirei's eyes quickly caught sight of the box of white porridge in Suo's hand.

"Oooooo! It’s the first time I see Suo-san bring any food to school! If you're having lunch alone, why don't you call us? But wait, you only eat white porridge? Is that enough? Do you want anything more?"

Hearing that, Sakura also slowly pushed his lunch box to the middle of the table, muttering that Suo could take anything.

He laughed, "No need to force yourself, Sakura-kun, I know you love that fried chicken, so just eat as much as you want!"

The class leader's face turned red; this time it must have been due to anger. He hauled the lunch box back and began to shove everything into his mouth. Beside him, Nirei also opened the lunch box and gave a speech about the delicious and cheap places to eat in Makochi.

For Suo, this scene... It's strange. Here, on the wooden table on the rooftop are two door-to-door lunch boxes from a cheap convenience store and a simple box of white porridge. It is far different from the expensive meals at home.

Suo realized that this was not his lunch. It was the lunch that Hiiragi had bought, Kaji forced him to eat it, and Sakura and Nirei sat down to eat with him.

Maybe it’ll work this time.