the world at large

[masukukunai]

Yousuke had a spare room. It wasn't really much, just enough to have a bed and a dresser and a couple of other things, but it was serviceable. He always meant to clean out his boxes from initially moving into the flat from the space, and then maybe nab himself a roomie. Split the rent, you know? He was just as stingy as he always was and half of

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[eatsyourscience]

Souji didn't give a lot of thought to the cosmetic effects of chemo; the nausea and fatigue kept his mind well-focused on other things. It wasn't until he met Chie at Aiya for lunch--or the pile of meat she called lunch; he was having enough trouble trying to convince himself that he could still navigate a rainy day special like he were still in his second year of high school--that it came to his attention. She could see patches of his scalp through his hair, she said, and then she promptly managed to pull out a whole clump of gray strands and freak herself out. That was when he decided maybe he should actually pay a little attention to what he looked like. At least if it kept that look off of his friends' faces.

He bought a razor at Shiroku on his way home, purposely avoiding going to Junes for it. Looking at himself in the mirror, he decided that the reason he hadn't noticed yet was because his hair was so light.

Initially intending to take care of shaving his head before Yousuke got home from work, a brief bout of trying not to fall and crack his head open on the sink delays that, and he ends up sitting on the floor for a little while with the razor in one hand, idly plucking out his hair with the other.

[masukukunai]

Yousuke gets off of work at 8 every night, when the store closes for the day. Usually he gets hung up for a little bit with paperwork and meetings with employees, so he doesn't get home until around 9. Such was the life of a salaryman in Japan. He was lucky he even got days off.

Still, it was nice coming home every night to a friendly face. He considered having Souji around a give and take situation. On one hand, yeah, he was sick. Really sick. And that sucked more than anything. But at the same time, his best friend was living with him. He had someone to spend time with, and talk to, that really understood him. They could joke around and have fun and that really made him feel good. And he even kept the house clean!

The knob on the front door jiggles as Yousuke tries to unlock it with a suitcase in one hand and keys in the other.

"I'm hooooome," he announces in his usual way. He's quick to toe off his shoes, deposit his case on the table, and loosen his tie, before falling face-first into the living-room couch. He lets out a long, weary sigh into a throw pillow. It isn't anything new. He's always grateful to get off his feet.

[eatsyourscience]

Souji brushes a clump of hair off of his fingers and, bracing a hand against the wall for balance, he gets himself back on his feet and goes out to the living room.

"Welcome home." Slipping the razor into his pocket, he drifts over to the couch and pokes Yousuke in the shoulder. "Are you hungry? Or are you going to pass out?"

[masukukunai]

"Mmm... Both?" he pushes himself up with both hands and stretches his back. Sitting down is so great. He's never going to stand up again, "you offering to feed me?"

[eatsyourscience]

"I'm offering to get you food. If you're going to be awake to eat it." But he's still heading for the kitchen. It'll be heated up leftovers, but that's still not bad.

[masukukunai]

"I'm up, I'm up!" and Yousuke would eat anything put in front of him at this point, the last time he ate was lunch. He reluctantly gets up and follows Souji into the kitchen out of mild curiosity, "did you cook something today?"

[eatsyourscience]

"It's from yesterday."

[masukukunai]

"Ah, yeah. Sounds good."

He sits down at the small breakfast table, putting his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand.

"What'd you do today?"

[eatsyourscience]

"I hung out with Chie. She was off." He stands and watches the dish spin in the microwave. "I was going to shave my head."

[masukukunai]

Yousuke perks right up at hearing that. It was true that Souji's hair was really thinning these days, he just never thought...

"Shave your head? Wow-- uh, it's a good thing you didn't do it yet! It would have been really weird to come home to you with a bald head all outta nowhere."

[eatsyourscience]

The corner of his mouth quirks at that. "Want to help?"

[masukukunai]

"Help? Do you need help?" he looks a little flustered, "I mean, of you need it, I can totally help. I'd, uh, I'd like to help."

[eatsyourscience]

"I can't see the back of my head."

[masukukunai]

"Right, right... No problem."

The microwave dings when it's through heating the food, and Yousuke goes to fetch it. He burns his mouth with the first bite, because he's too hungry to wait. He continues to talk to Souji around the food in his cheek.

"Do you need to buy an electric razor? I just shave with a regular one."

[eatsyourscience]

"I just bought a regular one." He produces it from his pocket to show Yousuke.

[masukukunai]

Yousuke chews thoughtfully.

"Your hair is so thin now that it'd probably get the job done. It'll take awhile though."