Chapter Text
It has now been a month since Atsushi had gotten his job at the Armed Detective Agency. He had gotten his apartment and for the first time in his life he was financially stable, he could afford all his necessities without worry. This is still very new to him, and he is still wary of spending money unnecessarily. What if he became homeless again? What if an emergency came up, and he didn't have the money? What if and if and if.
This thought-process of his had one big exception, and this was to food. Food was such an easy comfort, it made him feel stable, secure and in control of his life. A reminder that he was no longer homeless, on the brink of starvation. It was a necessity. He needed food to live. So whenever he went to the shops, he would allow himself to spend lots of money on an absurd amount of food for one person.
He would eat all of this food, in search of comfort, and safety. A longing feeling that he chased after. He would guzzle and gulp down the food, taste didn't matter, for all he could care it could be the most horrendous food he had ever tasted, it was just about keeping his stomach full. He would eat and eat, it almost felt like a workout, with him sweating profusely at the end. His stomach would bulge out from below him, and God, how it would hurt and ache from the stetch of having to hold such a copious amount of feed. It would hurt so much that he threw up, sometimes unintentionally, others with a little help of his fingers gauging into his throat, in an attempt to rid his body of some of the food in his stomach. This would of course contradict his beliefs of not wasting food and he would feel ever so guilty for it.
This was a near daily routine. After work Atsushi would go to the shop on his way home, and begin his binging session which often lasted hours. He hated it. He hated that no matter how much he ate, how agonizingly full his stomach would be, he would never truly feel the comfort he longed for. He would feel even worse if he threw up, feeling guilty for wasting precious nourishment. In the orphanage if this happened, he would be reprimanded, chastised by the Headmaster for committing the sin of greed. But sure, this was how people normally ate at home. Why wouldn't they? They can buy so much food, why wouldn't they make use of it and eat it all?
Today is Kyouka's first day as Atsushi's roommate. They have just finished work at the Agency and as always, while walking home, Atsushi popped into the local shop to buy their food. When they got home, the bags were placed down, and the two set up the table. They both began to dig in, each selecting something from the bag. Kyouka ate slowly, Atsushi noticed. She took time to chew quietly and savour the flavour, texture, smell.
She heard some loud squelching, and looked up across the table. She saw the man she adored, the one who saved her from the violent life in the Port Mafia, who was now shoving food into his mouth at such an rapid pace. It was like as if he hadn't ate in months. There was a smear of ketchup on his chin and the tip of his nose, some rice grains on the table, and even a bit tea was stained beside his lips. She couldn't help but begin to laugh at the sight. It was absurd for a person to eat to fast, creating such a mess of themselves and their surroundings.
Atsushi lifted his head at the sound. Kyouka was covering her mouth, he could see tears welling up in her eyes from how hard she was laughing. Her smile was nice, and he was happy to see the young girl having a good time but he didn't understand what was the joke.
"What's so funny?", he chimed. Her response took a few seconds, she needed to compose herself. "It's just-", she looked at him and giggled once more, "you are eating so fast! You have food all over your face. It's not going to run away you know?". She began to laugh once more, before eventually going back to her own bowl of food. They talked some more and eventually Kyouka stood up and went to bed.
Atsushi didn't understand why she was leaving all this food for him. Does she not like the food? He could go to another shop with her tomorrow.
He stayed in the kitchen for another hour and half, and kept eating, this time however a bit more conscious of how fast he ate, and about the mess. He finished nearly the entire bag of food as Kyouka walked into the kitchen.
She took a few moments to notice that the food was gone, and assumed Atsushi must have just put it away. "I can help put away the shopping next time", she told him. Atsushi looked puzzled but didn't question her. Kyouka got herself a glass of water and went back to bed.
As Atsushi stood up he felt quite light headed and dizzy, but this wasn't anything new. This always happened after meals. He held his now huge stomach, it hurt like hell. He went to the bathroom and fell to his knees by the toilet. He immediately threw up. A mix of liquid and solid escaped his throat, a filthy brownish green colour. It just kept coming, Atsushi nearly chocking multiple times and coughing a lot. The bathroom was filled with the smell of vomit. Once he felt he was done, he stood up slowly and made sure to clean the bathroom after himself. He made sure no vomit was left in the toilet and that it was aired out, no sign that he was even there.
He finally headed to their room. As he slid the door open as quietly as possible, he saw the dark haired girl sleeping soundly on a futon. He walked carefully to the closet, where he slept, and tried not to wake her. Thankfully the girl stayed asleep. Atsushi layed down and faced the ceiling.
He still was in pain from earlier. After seeing how Kyouka ate, he began to question himself, was he meant to be feeling this pain? Is it normal for him to eat so much? Or is Kyouka the abnormal one? That night was the first of many were the weretiger had to fall asleep with questions of his beliefs of normality.