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Six months ago, Nagito had decided to go gluten-free. When he first told everyone—he had to, considering they often ate lunch together—about this development, Kazuichi had made a comment about how silly it seemed to him for Nagito to be so picky. Sonia, of course, responded to that with a swift smack across the pink-haired boy's face, and Teruteru was delighted to learn that he could try out new recipes. The rest of the class didn't seem to mind.
Hajime had noted that he'd have to ask Makoto for some things, but it wouldn't be a problem. He did wonder why this had started, however.
"Mikan suggested I try it," Nagito said, folding one of his sage-green sweaters up upon his bed. "She said it might help me gain more muscle, and, y'know, help with the depression and stuff."
"How would a diet help with the depression?" Hajime asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not sure," Nagito said, raising his shoulders in confusion. "She probably thinks I have celiac disease or something."
In all honesty, Nagito had begun—a long time ago, actually—to forget everything he'd been diagnosed with. Autism, yes, he knew that one. But after that? Hajime had helped him figure out that he was schizoaffective, but he'd never bothered to try to figure out where he was standing in the physical category.
"Do you think you do?"
"No," Nagito said, a small laugh escaping his lips. "I seriously doubt I do."
Hajime stood up from his position, seated on Nagito's bed, to hug his boyfriend. He tenderly wrapped his arms around Nagito's waist, interrupting the latter's process of folding.
"I'd love you even if you did have celiac disease," Hajime said softly. "But I agree, I don't think you have that."
Nagito nuzzled his head into Hajime's hair before replying, "My mom was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, so maybe that's it."
"What's that?" Hajime mumbled into Nagito's neck.
"Oh, I believe it's, like, a thyroid disease? I think it's hereditary."
Hajime, being the over-zealous boyfriend he was, racked through his brain, digging down into the deepest parts of his head to see if he could find some information on it. He and Izuru were still together, that matter was not debatable, but Hajime frequently forced himself to ignore Kamakura. Today was not one the days where he was able to do that.
"Hashimoto's disease, also called chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is a disease where you're immune system causes your thyroid to not make enough thyroid hormones," Hajime—Izuru, coconsciously—said, information spilling out of him like tea out of a kettle. "Mikan thinks you have that?"
"Well, no, I think I do," Nagito said, "Mikan only thinks I might be gluten intolerant."
"Izuru says that that can cause depression," Hajime said nonchalantly, not noticing his boyfriend's surprise at his statement. "What?"
"I just, well," Nagito said, getting flustered. "I haven't heard from Izuru in...a long time."
Hajime hummed a small reply before turning back upon himself, "So, no gluten anymore?"
"Yeah," Nagito replied with a small laugh. "No more gluten."
"I'll have to learn some gluten-free recipes then, I guess," Hajime said, "Gluten-free bagels will be a challenge, but I'll figure it out."
Nagito turned back to folding his clothes, ignoring—for a moment—his boyfriend's rambling. For now, he was enjoying the thought that his boyfriend—yes, his boyfriend—was okay with him making his own decisions. He was even more elated that he had heard about Izuru, who he hadn't heard from, nonetheless heard of, for at least six months.
For once, he didn't feel like the same Nagito that had stepped out of that game four years ago, he felt like...well, himself. More himself, now, than he had ever felt. Maybe that's what happens when you start to learn about yourself; Nagito had stopped feeling so horrible about himself and instead, focused on learning to cope with those things he discovered.
"Hey, Haji?" Nagito said softly.
"Mhm?"
"I love you. You know that, right?"
Hajime looked up towards his boyfriend, for a second, wondering why he was the one saying such a thing rather than him.
"I know," Hajime replied. "And I'm glad you do, Nags."
A large smile formed across Nagito's face, his cheeks dusted with a red glow from the statement. For once, he was the happiest he had ever been. Sure, to most people, silly things like going gluten-free or taking care of yourself weren't that big of a deal, but to Nagito? They were. Every single thing he did meant he was one step closer to becoming the person he wanted to be.
He wanted to be that person for Hajime.