Chapter Text
“Morning!” Teto greeted from where she was on the staircase, watching the TV power on to the lively intro of a kids show.
“It's Miku!” The teal haired show host appeared from the bottom of the screen, swaying her body to the beat of the music. “Good morning, Teto!” She waved from where she stood.
“You're energetic today,” the chimera started on her breakfast, turning the stove and pulling out the ingredients for a simple breakfast.
“Why, I'm simply happy to see my number one fan!” Miku leaned forwards, her face taking up most of the screen. “What are we having today?”
“Just some scrambled eggs and toast, nothing too much to start the day,” she scraped the eggs from the pan onto a plate, setting the meal on the table.
“Let's eat!” Miku pulled out a leek off screen, immediately snacking on the vegetable.
“Miku you can't have a leek for breakfast,” Teto shot an exasperated look at the cartoon, the spoon halfway to her mouth.
“I don't see why not,” she took another bite out of the leek.
“Miku, that's not enough for the day,”
“But I don't have a stomach,” Miku shrugged, continuing to take small bites out of her supposed breakfast.
“What”
Teto sighed as she placed the bags of groceries on the table. Her stomach growled in protest as it panged with hunger.
“Little star, I suggest getting some food in you, your stomach is basically crying for it,” Miku popped up on the TV, an awkward smile gracing her face.
“Yeah yeah, I'm going,” Teto walked to the kitchen stove, wondering what she could cook. She took a take out box from one of the bags, placing it in the microwave to reheat. She didn't want to make anything so she had ordered some food from a restaurant.
“What you eating?” Miku inquired from the TV, resting her cheek on her palm.
“Just some rice, nothing very fancy,” Teto had picked out a smaller portion, she had gotten better at keeping down food from where she started with Miku's help so she'd been increasing her food portions to get her body used to it.
She put the trash bin next to the legs of the table when she set down the food. She started doing so in case she couldn't handle the increased portion and had to vomit out the meal, though she doubted she needed it this time.
“Eat slow okay?” Teto rolled her eyes at the cartoon, she had eaten a bigger portion without regurgitating it all so Miku was just worrying too much.
“I know, I know,” Teto scooped up the meal into her mouth, swallowing the chewed up food. She continued to eat but something felt… off. She shrugged it off as just her imagination.
She swallowed down scoop after scoop, all the food settling at the bottom of her stomach as if it wasn't edible at all. She really wasn't feeling well, but it's fine, she'd eaten more than this. She gagged on another scoop, but she continued to eat, she could taste bile from the back of her throat.
Vomit threatened to spill and she pulled the trash bin up to her chest. The bile spilled over, splashing into the trash bag as she heaved and retched. Tears streamed down her face and her throat burned, her knuckles turned white from how hard she gripped the edges of the trash bin.
“Little star!” Miku exclaimed, panicking over what she was supposed to do. She scrambled around on the TV, eyes wide open to reveal her piercing blue gaze.
Teto had regurgitated all her stomach’s contents at that point but she continued to dry heave, her tears mixing with the vomit in the bin. She gripped her hair, taking uneven breaths as her vision blurred, drowning all noise out in an ear piercing hum. What had happened? Hadn't she gotten better? Was all that effort worthless?
Oh
Oh god
Had all that effort in trying to make her stomach handle more food gone to waste? Had it all been a waste of her time?
She wanted to puke again, disbelief clouding over her features. All that, for nothing.
She faintly registered the crackling sound of static, different in comparison to the high pitched hum that pierced her mind and ears.
“Te— d- you he– me?” A blurry voice could be heard, its sound mixing with the ongoing static. Teto tried to reply but the words got stuck in her sore throat, lodged between her panic and anxiety. “Pa— a-tack! Ca– y—self” pa-panic attack, she was having a panic attack.
She tried to calm herself down, however the panic still kept its hold. She briefly felt the feeling of static on her finger tips and directed all attention to the static, the sensation pulsing like a heartbeat. Slowly, she felt her breathing even out. Sight came first, then sound and smell.
“Are you feeling alright, my star?” Miku glanced at the chimera kneeling on the ground, worry coating her words.
“A-ah, yeah,” Teto looked down to realize her palm was pressed flat against the TV screen. She must have done that in her blurred state.
“Breathe, in and out, follow me,” Miku pressed her palm against the screen, sending pulses of static into Teto's skin, grounding her in the process.
“Miku…” the chimera leaned against the table where the TV was set, hand still placed firmly against the display.
“You're alright, I'm here, you're fine,” Miku tried to calm Teto down, although she was still heaving and slightly gagging. “Why not take a rest? You certainly seem like you need one,” Miku fiddled with her fingers, bothered by her inability to help.
“A-alright…” Teto shakily stood up, stumbling on her way to the bedroom. Miku watched her, concern evident on her face.
"How can I help you, little star?"
Teto collapsed onto the bed, claws gripping the soft linen of the bed sheet. How useless, even Miku decided to have her get out of the way.
She glanced at the photo frame on the desk, a picture of bitter memories encased within the wooden frame. The picture was ripped in two, haphazardly stuck back together with tape. Three figures were present on said photo, one separated from the other two by the tear line trailing it's way down.
Teto traced a circle into the bed sheet, eyes pulling away from the photo frame. She really missed her friends.
She buried her face into the pillow, throwing a blanket over herself.
"If we see each other again, will you forgive me?"