Mentions of E@t1ng D1s0rd3r, will include a trigger warning before it happens

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The streets were playing the footage of the officers at D.C.. Nejire was pretty uncomfortable for Natsuo, because he certainly was and just tried to hide it for her.

When she checked Twitter and stuff, she saw a lot about Shinya? She showed Natsuo, who looked confused.

"Why's he so famous right now?" He asked. Nejire was laughing at it. "He's good looking but I can't believe they're just ignoring that they had a man tied up in chains." Natsuo grumbled.

"I mean, it was a werewolf..."

"That shouldn't matter. He's still a human." Natsuo's voice was very breathy. As if he was holding back tears and it was choking him up. "I can't stand my dad for that exact reason. He acts like they aren't murdering children."

"Children?" Nejire almost forgot he said that a few days ago. And the horror she saw in the mirrors. It had only been a few days.

She turned to the glass windows of the LA streets and noticed her reflection. Cracking. She looked like a little girl again. Little pigtails in her hair, pretty white church dress for Malachi's church, little Mary Janes and ruffled socks. Classic look.

Nejire felt guilt this time instead of fear. Shinya said that didn't happen. Shinya was the head of an entire department. He couldn't lie. Right?

"Let's go to the mall." He grinned changing the subject. He probably saw the look on her face. "They have better places, and look, we're already at a bus stop!"

"Don't you have a car?" She asked, laughing.

"Yeah, but you know what? I've never been on a bus. Plus, it'll be fun, right?" Nejire squinted and gave him a funny look.

"I've met a bunch of weird people on that bus. But sure~" Nejire laughed. They sat down and waited for a few minutes.

Mina: hey everyone!

Oh it was a new group chat?

Mina: Momo is coming to practice this week! She also had some news for us when she comes back

Nejire raised an eyebrow as everyone started talking on the group chat. Momo still hadn't joined. Her mom had cancer though. Some of the girls were talking about Shinya, which Nejire thought was funny.

Nejire: yall know that's Ryuko's boyfriend right? He's thirty four

Nejire, the dream crusher.

"Hey, the bus is here." Natsuo said, a grin on his face. Nejire laughed at him and lightly punched his chest. He didn't feel any of it obviously, but he pretended to be hurt.

"Oh how you have forsaken me. Thou shall thrive in hell forever!" Natsuo put on a dramatic voice and got on the bus with her, paying the driver a twenty.

"Yo, you know it's only like five dollars, right?" Nejire whispered as they sat down on the sides. Nejire never spent that type of money when it was unnecessary.

"Oh, ok."

...

Nejire snickered at him.

"What?" Natsuo asked.

"Ok, so, little lesson. Don't spend more than necessary. That's how you get robbed-" Nejire said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing. She laughed softly so she didn't disturb anyone on the bus. Natsuo shrugged.

"Hey, if I get robbed, Enji has to pay me more, so why not." He said. "And I don't think anyone wants to mug me." He whispered. Nejire chuckled. He was a big dude. Probably could take a bullet with how much muscle he had. "Just tell me how much I need to spend and I'll listen, Kay?"

"Kay!" Nejire had a new responsibility now. She was so happy and excited. Rich kid spending advisor duty.

"So go to every good store and pick out the best one?" He asked.

Nejire nodded. "That's what I do with all my shopping. I buy like, five things every time I go shopping and then don't go again for like, a month-" Nejire laughed. He laughed as well. They both snickered.

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Nejire: Wanna see my prom dress?

Tamaki looked at the text message and blushed. She'd probably look gorgeous in it.

Tamaki: sure.

It took a moment but eventually he saw a photo of her wearing a brightly colored dress. It was pink and off the shoulder with a bunch of green and blue flowers decorating the part that held up the dress, the sleeves, and the blue flowers decorating the skirt.

"That's so pretty." Was all that came out of his mouth.

Nejire: last minute decision

Tamaki: the pink looks cute

Nejire: AWWW thank you!

"Hey Tamaki! Can you come down here?" Taishiro asked from downstairs. Tamaki got up and went down with Luna in hand.

"Yeah?" He asked, looking around. Taishiro looked pissed. Absolutely pissed. He could feel the floor leave him, as if he was levitating. His anxiety terrified him, especially after what he lived with for years. "W-whats wrong?"

Taishiro sat on the couch and pat the seat next to him. Tamaki obeyed and sat next to him.

"I don't want you going out without me anymore, alright?" Taishiro said, turning the tv on so that Tamaki could watch the lineup of at least fifty S.U.N.S officers and their partners. The lady he had heard a few days prior stood next to Officer Kamihara.

"We are here to protect the children of America from vile entities."

Tamaki flopped back into the couch with a frown on his face. "So they're public now?" He asked in a whisper. This meant he literally couldn't go out without people realizing something was wrong. What the hell. The nighttime wasn't even safe for him anymore.

Wait, he was supposed to hang out with Nejire. He probably couldn't do that anymore...

"I can understand where they're coming from, but it has to be a few days after Shinya and Ryuko came over?" Taishiro cursed. It was like Tamaki was on a rollercoaster. His stomach was turning. "How do they even know you exist?"

"Nejire. It's my fault." Tatami said, walking down. "She asked about Tamaki after she helped him, and that's why we had that talk. I think she told Ryuko."

"Tamaki, I know you're friends with her, but try not to give away too much whenever you're with her."

Ok, so he wasn't banned from seeing her.

"You're also following curfew like everyone else in the country. 9pm on weekdays, 10pm on weekends."

"Isn't it eleven on weekends?"

"It is, but not for you. You have to have your phone on you at all times, tell me where you're going, and text me if there is a change of plans."

"Got it."

Tamaki was wrapped in a warm hug. Like it was from a big marshmallow, or teddy bear. It felt nice against his cold body.

Tamaki kept watching the news and observed how his "life" was crumbling slowly. He was being punished for something he wasn't able to control.

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"I thought you were getting blue?"

"Yeah, but this pink was way too cute." Nejire pouted. "Maybe I should get blue. But it might clash with my hair..." Nejire frowned.

"Get what you want. You'll look good in either."

Nejire looked at herself the mirror again and forgot she hated to do it. She looked at herself and saw the little girl once again. Cute little blue pigtails, blue dress, white little shawl over her shoulders, and black Mary Janes.

"Pink! I'm getting pink."

"Great! So this whole rivalry thing isn't important anymore?"

"Nope!" Nejire was speaking a lot faster than usual. "Let's just buy it." She said before running back to the dressing room to put on her clothes. She was facing the door the entire time, not wanting to look at the mirror behind her.

"That was fast. We've only been here for forty minutes." Natsuo laughed. "Wanna go buy random stuff?"

"Uh... sure! I'm not busy today." Nejire grinned. "Let's just go before you have any classes or anything." She giggled and held her hand out. Natsuo looked down at her and raised his eyebrow. "You can hold my hand if you want to. It's nothing special, Mirio and I hold hands all the time. Yuyu as well."

"Oh, uh... sure?" He said and took her hand really awkwardly. "Oh, did you know Roman doesn't stop talking about you? He calls you the cookie fairy. Pretty sure he has a little crush."

"Kid has his priorities straight. Get the person with infinite cookies." Nejire snickered at her own joked before looking down at her phone for the first time in a few minutes. "Oh, hey, look whats going on now."

Nejire showed her phone to Natsuo and showed him the footage of the news. It was August Yaoyorozu talking in place of his wife. He was reading from a script or something.

"We will begin putting in new safety precautions other than curfews. Garlic will become mandatory to help our friend, Kamihara. Say hi Kamihara, the internet loves you!"

The camera panned to Shinya, who looked at the camera and blinked before laughing. His laugh was inaudible, but the way he bent over made it clear he was really laughing.

"You know, I don't remember ever seeing him without his mask. Like, honestly." Natsuo said.

"Eh, he has a few scars on his jaw and a mole next to his lip. He's really hot, like..." Nejire looked to the side with her lips puckered. "Anyways, let's go to Hot Topic!" Nejire screamed, dragging him across the mall.

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(Trigger warning, EDs)

"Did you know they're calling you hot?" Ryuko asked, laying on the hotel room bed. She wore her pajamas still, which was just a large t-shirt. "I mean, they're right, but kinda jealous." Ryuko said, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

"Huh. That's new." Shinya shrugged. "Anyways! Wanna go get food?"

"No thanks. I'm not hungry." Ryuko said through her teeth. She hadn't eaten all day. Reiko tried to drag her out but Ryuko just told her she'd eat later. Then breakfast at the hotel ended and Reiko was annoyed at her.

"Hey, what's up?"

Ryuko blinked and stared at him. What did he mean? Shinya didn't ask her that. Ever. She didn't get that question from anyone. It was the forbidden fruit of all questions that were able to be asked in her presence. Not supposed to be asked, but eventually, someone would have to ask it and there would have to be a reason it was forbidden.

"Huh?"

"You haven't been hungry a lot lately."

"Anyways! You're the center of attention! Isn't that nice?" She asked, looking for a way out of the topic. She sat up and crawled her way to the end of the bed so she could hug her boyfriend.

"Ryuko, what's going on?"

"Can we not?" She asked with a smile on her face as she gently cradled his face. "I'm perfectly fine. I just don't have an appetite today."

"You haven't eaten in a while. You tell me to eat, should I start telling you as well?" He asked leaning back a bit so he could hold her closer and make up for her body weight.

"Don't do that." She mumbled and fell back on the bed. "Please don't."

"What's wrong?"

"Shinya please. Stop." She mumbled, turning away from him. "I'm not interested in this conversation."

"Ok, fine. Can we pick it up later?"

"I... sure." She whispered as Shinya hugged her.

What if he can feel my fat?

He's probably grossed out by it.

What if he doesn't want to be with me anymore because of it...

"Please let go of me. Sorry." She mumbled again before he let go of her and apologized. 

I'm unhealthy.

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I think this was a really sad chapter.

Nejire is having guilty feelings, Tamaki is in danger, and Ryuko is getting a lot worse. Better? I don't know what the last line is supposed to mean yet though.

Shinya is trying his best and is gonna try harder.