Hikikomori Adventures

15 - The most loneliest day of my life

"Shut up, you little shit! You and little Izu used to watch that show all the time, I know enough about it!" 

The nerd follows behind him as his mom, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. Its beyond faded, the black words that used to be there long gone. Still though, he isn't radiating nervousness like before. He still can't believe that he supposedly knew this loser when they were kids. 

He probably did bully the shit out of him back then if he was this much of a loser when he was a kid too. He enters the kitchen, where his old man and Inko are already sitting at the table, plates of food sitting on the surface. 

Katsuki feels his mouth start to water just looking at it all, and he curses himself for the deep rumble that his stomach lets out. Luckily, he sits down before anyone can bring any attention to it, but he does see the shitty nerd give him a knowing look. 

Mitsuki sits in the middle of Inko and Masaru, leaving him and the nerd to sit next to each other. He stares at the food in front of him for a moment, taking it all in. When was the last time he ate? He remembers getting shit from the convenience store after getting cigarettes, but it was just a bag of chips and a bunch of sugary trash that he ended up not touching. 

Now, seeing all of the food in front of him, steaming and ready to eat, he grips his fork tightly. 

"How was the movie?" 

Inko directs her question to the two of them, her bright green eyes happily scanning them over as she starts to put food on her plate smoothly. Katsuki follows her lead, shoveling food onto his plate. That gets him a pointed look from his mom, but he ignores it. 

The nerd answers for him, smiling back. 

"It was good!" 

Another look from his mom gets him to grumble out after finishing a bite of his food, 

"Fine." 

The table is momentarily free of small talk, filled with the sounds of silverware clinking and chairs shifting. Katsuki closes his eyes for a moment to soak up all of the different tastes of the food, the numbing ache in his stomach that he didn't even know was there slowly disappearing. 

He only gets one more moment of blissful silence before his dad speaks. 

"What do you like to do, Izuku?" 

The nerd next to him, seemingly in the same food haze as him, snaps up. His brows furrow slightly in question, and his dad continues. There is an easy smile on his face, his brown eyes warm and inviting, his own plate full of food. 

"It's been so long since we've seen you, I just wanted to know if your interests have changed!" 

Katsuki doesn't miss the flash of amusement that goes past his old hag's eyes. The nerd quickly finishes what's in his mouth before answering.