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Ikeda Daiki needed to sleep. He needed to eat and he needed to drink. Yet he couldn't, he needed his Dads permission.
Tei Atsushi gave him that permission, it was working, he was sleeping! He was eating! It took coaxing yes, but he did it, and Tei was proud.
But soon, all their progress collapsed.
The art forger had been put forward, well, put 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 forward, for the second punishment. Electro shock therapy.
Ikeda refused to talk about what happened. And Yaitabashi, the other victim of it, wasn't talking much either. But Tei could only assume they were designed to psycologically hurt them.
As since that day, Daiki again was refusing to eat, sleep or even drink water. He'd also been regressed almost permanently, crying himself to the point of almost being sick constantly leaving Tei being unable to calm him down.
Yokoi had helped, taking him temporarily under her wing to allow to Tei to rest. Which Tei could not be anymore thankful for.
But still no progress was made.
Though just over two days after the "Incident", Tei and Yokoi made their first step in the right direction.
~~~
Tei managed to get him down for around an hour that morning, despite Ikeda's tearful protests, he layed him down and wrapped him in a furry blue blanket, which Tei especially got for him after realising his comfort in soft textures (through it took a long, two hours of digging through the storage room). Then after a lot of gentle soothing from both Tei and Yokoi, he eventually fell asleep.
The immense wave of relief that washed over them was unmessurable, but the immense wave of exaustion that hit Tei really was. Yokoi politely left after a short but hopefully conversation so the part timer could rest, and for a short period, Tei's room was full of bliss and calm.
Both boys asleep next to each other, the weight of the stress of the last couple days felt lighter.
But when Tei awoke in a sleepy haze, his ears were filled with the sounds of desperate sobs.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I'm s-sorry!" Ikeda cried, seemingly to no one.
"Daiki?" Tei asked, his tone was half overcome with sleep, but laced with concern.
"T-Tei! I-I-I'm so s-sorry!" Ikeda managed to choke out.
Tei pushed himself out of his makeshift bed on the floor and felt around in order to turn on the warm-toned lamp next to the bed. As the initial shock of the light subsided in his eyes, (still sensitive after Monomoko's "treatment") the sight of the hysterical art forger came into view.
Ikeda was curled up as small as he could make himself, as gasping sobs wracked his slight frame. The bright light caused him too to recoil, nestling deeping into himself. It was clear to Tei the art forger was regressed.
"Oh.. Daiki.."
Tei gently sat on the bed, careful not to move too quickly.
"Ikeda, I'm not mad. I 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦."
"I-I'm s-sorry!"
"Don't be sorry. I'm really proud Daiki, you needed to sleep and you did."
Ikeda continued to cry, not showing signs of calming down. Tei gently took scooped him up, one hand under his legs and the other being firmly on his back and placed him into his lap. Ikeda did not attempt to protest.
Tei lightly rocked him back and forth, softly murmuring reassurances as a responce to any unwanted apologies.
Eventually, the sobs faded into cries, so Tei took the opportunity while he was calmer to talk to him.
"Ikeda, I promise you, you're allowed to sleep, you're allowed to eat, you're allowed to drink. I'm never going to get mad at you for that, okay?"
"B-But I don't have to... I can't" Ikeda nestled closer into Tei.
"But you do though. That's just human, you need things." Tei made sure his voice was soft, while also being firm with the red haired boy.
"N-No..."
"Daiki."
Ikeda gave up on talking, and just cried into the growing wet patch on Tei's shirt. The art forger was opposite him now, with his legs wrapped around him and Tei's arms holding him in place while gently running up and down his back.
Tei wasn't going to give up that easy though, he wanted to at least get 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 down Ikeda. Whether that be food or water he just needed 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
"Daiki." he said softly. He gently placed his arms on Ikeda's shoulders and pushed the smaller boy back so they were facing each other. The red haired boy attempted to fight back weakly to no avail.
"Daiki, you're going to drink something."
Ikeda's tear streaked face went into panic.
"No! N-No.. I'm not allowed, I can't! I'm not allowed"
"Hey, no." Tei said softly, "You're allowed, I'm not going to be mad at you. You're fine."
Tei brough Ikeda back into his chest.
"You're fine."
The part timer had been keeping a decent supply of random snacks and bottles of water in his desk, since even before the punishment. Having things at hand Ikeda could eat always proved useful, especially when he had trouble getting him to the kitchen when it was occupied. And plus, Tei would rather him be snacking than not eating at all.
And now he was more greatful for it than ever.
~~~
It had been a few minutes now since Tei had told Ikeda he needed to drink. He had calmed down slightly, but still feared the idea.
"Ikeda, is it okay if I put you down on the bed for a minute?" Tei asked. "Just for a minute."
Ikeda hesitated.
"Uhh.. I.. Ahh.. O-Okay."
Tei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright. Thanks buddy."
He manoevered the red haired boy back onto the bed. The part timer grabbed the navy blanket from the end of the mattress, which Ikeda must have discarded in his fit of panic, and draped it over his small frame.
Tei stood up and headed to his desk. He got one bottle of water, then glanced over his shoulder. Ikeda was preoccupied fiddling with the edge of his blanket. He turned back round and quickly shoved a couple of cereal bars into his overall pockets. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦.
He sat back down on the bed, placing the water next to him.
"Wanna come back Daiki?"
Ikeda nodded.
Keeping him wrapped in the blanket, Tei lifted him onto his lap, this time rather than being opposite each other Ikeda was side-on, so Ikeda would be able to drink easier.
The pink haired boy picked the water bottle back up, causing Ikeda to recoil in fear.
"It's fine. You're not in trouble."
"Uhm.. R-Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'm.. Allowed?"
"Yeah, of course." Tei smiled softly. Ikeda seemed to be warming up to the idea, and the part timer was glad he was able to help.
"O-Okay." said the smaller boy.
Tei popped open the lid of the bottle, and handed it to the art forger.
Ikeda stared at it for a minute. He glanced at Tei for reassurance.
"You're allowed, Daiki."
His grey eyes turned back to the water bottle. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥.
He brought the bottle to his lips and took one small sip, which led to another, and soon enough Ikeda had drank almost a third of the bottle. And Tei could not be any more proud.
"You done?" Tei asked gently. "I'm really proud of you Daiki."
"Y-Yeah, I'm sorry"
"Don't be sorry. It's okay! I'm just.. Really happy you drank something Ikeda."
"O-Okay."
Tei took the bottle off Ikeda, closed the cap and placed it back on the bed next to him.
"I'm proud of you."
The pink haired boy wrapped his arm back around him.
"I really am, Daiki."
Ikeda did not respond through words, but nestled further into Tei's arms.
𝘐𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.
A few minutes past, of the two boys in comfortable silence. The smaller's cries had now subsided and replaced by stable breaths, clutching onto the blanket with his bad arm and wrapping his good one around Tei.
~~~
The cereal bars remained in the part timer's pocket. It wasn't much, but it would give Ikeda some level of sustenance.
And if Ikeda did eat, just one small thing, that would prove to him that he was, infact allowed, and eating in general from that point would become easier for him.
Ikeda had already taken two big steps forward, so Tei decided to try his luck with a third.
"Daiki, would you like something to eat?"
"I- What?"
Tei took one of the cereal bars out of his pockets. It was a simple chocolate flavour, as the red haired boy seemed to prefer.
"Can you please try and eat this? I'm really proud of you for drinking but you need to eat too."
"I... I can?"
Tei nodded.
"Uhm.. O-.. Okay"
"Here, I'll open it for you"
The part timer tore open the wrapper and handed it to Ikeda.
"There we go." he said softly, giving the smaller boy a reasurring smile.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Ikeda took a bite. He chewed it slowly before swallowing, then looked at Tei.
The part timer felt like crying. He was eating. 𝘐𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨!
"I- Daiki, thank you.. Can you keep going for me?"
The small art forger ate through the cereal bar at a relatively quick pace, the days of starvation catching up to him.
Once he'd finished the last bite, Tei pulled him closer.
"Daiki. I'm so, so proud of you."
"R-Really?"
"Yes."
Tei buried his face in Ikedas hair, it was recently washed from when he found Ikeda last night, drenched in his own vomit. The part timer carried him to the shower to get him cleaned up, he felt washing his hair would also help in comforting him. He 𝘸𝘢𝘴 allowed to take care of himself in more ways than the absolute minimum.
But from then, just round about 12 hours ago, the progress made to now was astronomical.
As Ikeda relaxed on the pink haired boy's lap, Tei felt his breath began to slow against his chest. He gently removed his head from the smallers and looked at his face. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.
Tei couldn't hold back his cries anymore. He was so so 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥. A light shower of silent tears tracked his cheeks, yet he couldn't be any happier. The hardest step was over.
He took a minute to compose himself, then gently lifted Ikeda, keeping the blanket wrapped around him. He softly layed him down onto Tei's pillow, then just stood back to admire his work for a moment, before the part timer himself layed down on his own pile of sheets on the floor.
Despite only being midday, Tei drifted off fast due to the exaustion of the last few days.
The room descended into silence yet again, but this time, the atmosphere felt less heavy.
𝘈𝘴 𝘐𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘪 𝘈𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥.