Some friends are overly reliant on others.

This man has a long-time friend who was very co-dependent. They traveled to Japan together, and he didn’t want to get stuck babysitting his adult friend, so he set some boundaries. After the trip, his friend started saying awful things about him.

Read below for the full story.

AITA For wanting to Travel alone during our second japan trip to enjoy japan more instead of taking care of my friend

I (25M) have been friends with another (25M) for about 12 years. We went to the same school and stayed close into adulthood. He’s the only son, lives with his parents, and has no financial responsibilities.

During COVID, he became extremely into anime and VTubers and spends almost all his income on merch.

His mother often asked our other friends and me to look out for him because we are more independent and outspoken.

So I tried to help him turn his hobby into something healthier, encouraging him to do art commissions, sell anime figures at conventions, and meet more people. I don’t even like anime or VTubers, but I forced myself to learn about them and participate to support him during all this time.

His dream was to go to Japan, so we went together for the first time. During that trip, almost everything revolved around anime shopping.

He went to the same anime street over and over, and I often waited outside stores for hours watching his bags because he didn’t want to carry them. I barely experienced Japan beyond that. I didn’t complain much, but I was really exhausted.

This man and his friend planned another trip to Japan, but this time, he set some boundaries.

A year later, we went to Japan again. This time, I told him honestly that I didn’t want to repeat the same experience as last time.

I said he could go buy anime stuff alone, and I would walk around, eat, and enjoy the city myself. We could meet later and go back to the hotel together.

After we came back, everything changed. I later found out he told our mutual friends that I was a jerk because I “abandoned” him, that we went to Japan together, but I traveled solo the whole time, and no one helped him watch his things, so he had to carry everything himself.

I was also told he complained that I didn’t share costs the way he expected. Since I wasn’t around him that time, he had to pay for his own travel fees, locker fees, and food (if I were around, he could split the total cost to save money).

I never confronted him. I acted like I didn’t know about it, but suddenly he stopped talking to me entirely. He stopped attending group events, didn’t answer calls, and eventually disappeared from our friend group, while forming a new circle centered around anime and VTubers.

Now I feel hurt, angry, and honestly disgusted by how things ended. I cared about him for years and tried to help him grow, but once I set a boundary, he painted me as the villain, cut me and our other friends off, started a new friend circle, and now acts like he never met us at all.

You’re probably better off without this friend, anyway.

Other people in the comments section have something to say.

Here’s a hilarious comment.

Some valid points from this one.

This user is chiming in.

Dodged a bullet, says this person.

And lastly, people are calling out the friend.

A one-way friendship is no friendship at all.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.