It was a week of stress for all the students. Exams were coming up, and everyone was studying like crazy, including a certain teal haired sophomore. She made her way to the club's room with her binder in her arms. She smiled when she saw her friend, Gumi, also studying before school. Miku sat down next to Gumi and looked over at her notes. "Wanna be my study buddy?" she asked playfully. Gumi smiled and nodded, looking at her own notes. Miku tried to find anything she might be able to correct, since last time she was studying with Gumi, she found out that she had written down the wrong names of the battles during World History notes and confused herself.
"Yeah, these are right," Miku said. "The only thing I would change is put the full name of the emperor, because he has a son named after him." Gumi nodded and scratched out a few words with her pen and rewrote the correct information. They studied like that for a while until Len came in and tossed his book bag onto the floor and collapsed onto the couch. Both girls froze and looked at him.
"Something the matter, Len?" Miku assessed his appearance; he looked like crap. His hair looked like it hadn't been brushed, he was wearing the same shirt he was the day before, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Miku raised her eyebrow at him.
"Yes, something's the matter!" he exclaimed, exasperated. Miku chuckled at his childish behavior.
"What's wrong?" she asked, looking back at her notes, but still listening. Len sighed quite dramatically.
"I have to take an English exam today!" he shouted. Miku froze. English exam? He wasn't in Mrs. Megurine's English class, how could he take her exam?
"They can't do that," she said, clicking her pen closed and giving Len her full attention. "We've read books that you haven't. There's no way you can take an exam over that. Don't your college courses come with an exam or something?" Len groaned and laid down on the yellow, fluffy couch with his feet propped up on the arm rest.
"No, and I'm glad," he replied curtly. "That class is impossible. I'm surprised I haven't failed yet." Miku rolled her eyes and went back to studying.
"College isn't for freshmen," she pointed out, clicking her pen again. She repeated vocab words over and over again in her head. "So when do you take this test?" Len didn't respond for a while, making her look away from her paper to see if he hadn't heard her. She was surprised to see how pale he was. She almost laughed at the situation. Len Kagamine afraid of tests? No, not tests. Failure. Afraid of failure. Miku cleared her throat and tried to go back to her study guide.
"I didn't think of that..." Len mumbled, catching both girls' attention. They stared at him as he sat up. He was looking even more pale. "Oh gosh, I take it right after first period attendance!" His breathing started speeding up. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to study! I-I don't know what this test is even about!" Gumi put her notebook down and looked at him, concerned. She'd never seem him like that. He wasn't usually freaked out about tests.
"Hey, calm down," Gumi commanded, not very good at using her gentle voice. Len did just the opposite, borderlining hyperventilating. Miku stood up and sat down next to him on the couch. She gave him a quick hug, trying to reassure him.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay," she said sweetly. "It's an English 9 test, you're in English 11. You're way over qualified for this test." Either Len was ignoring her, or he simply didn't notice her speaking, because he continued to think about how he was going to fail his exam and he would have to repeat English, redo his papers that he worked so hard on, and his life would be over.
Len widened his eyes. "I think I'm gonna throw up..." He ran over to the trash can and panted, trying to force the contents of his stomach out of his body. He dry heaved and spit into the trash can for at least five minutes. Gumi and Miku looked at each other, frightened. They didn't know what to do. They'd never seen anyone act like this. So naturally, they did the only thing they could do.
Gumi went back to her book and studied some more while Miku rubbed Len's back. She too studied with flashcards. After a while, the bell rang, signaling the students that they had a few minutes to get their stuff ready to go to class. Miku and Gumi started packing up, leaving Len hovering over the trashcan. Gumi left without another word, but Miku felt bad just leaving him there. She watched him for a minute or so, then knelt down beside him and hugged him again rubbing his back.
"It's okay, Len, seriously," she told him. "You're gonna do fine. No need to get this worked up." Miku ruffled his hair and picked up her bag to go to first period. Len wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grimaced, wiping his hands on his jeans. He slowly picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He walked a few steps with his hand on his belly. He stopped. Nope, still too nauseous to walk. He made a break for the trash can.
Throwing up didn't make sense. He wasn't sick, last time he checked. He hadn't eaten anything bad. In fact, he hadn't eaten at all. Last night was kinda blurry. He remembered watching TV and drinking two cans of Coke, burping mercilessly because he knew no one was awake and wouldn't judge him. He couldn't remember when he went to sleep. Definitely after 4. He was hungry, but there wasn't anything but cold food he had to heat up, and he didn't want any of that. He wanted toast, but he was too scared to go into the garage to get a loaf of bread from storage because it was dark. He settled on a mug of apple juice that he was kind of sure he didn't finish. He did sleep though! He remembered his mom yelling at him to wake up because he would miss the bus or something. That was...6:30 when she yelled. 2 hours of sleep is good enough, right?
Len groaned and held his tummy. He swallowed repeatedly, the taste of stomach acid unbearable. His deep breathing also led him to swallow every once in awhile. The late bell rang, announcing that he wouldn't be counted present if he didn't run to Professor Shion's. There was no way he was running.
He groaned again and tried to stand up. He did and walked with his hand protectively over his belly. People who passed him in the hall gave him strange looks. He didn't care. He just wanted to get to the nurse as soon as possible.
Soon he came to the door of the nurse. He knocked on it gingerly. He always hated going in there. Not because it was a sick bay, well...that too. But it was because he hated to admit when he was sick. He always felt embarrassed and weak. He never liked asking for help.
The nurse opened the door and took a good look at him. Just from his body language she could tell it was a stomach ache. She put her hand on his shoulder and led him inside, over to the small bed beside her desk. She made him sit and took a better look at him there. He was really, super pale, a little sweaty, and he was holding his stomach with his hand. The nurse frowned and pulled out a thermometer. She turned it on and asked him to hold it under his tongue until it beeped. He nodded, allowing her to put the thermometer in his mouth. Before it was finished, he took it out of his mouth and burped, wincing when he realized how close the nurse had been. He cursed his constant swallowing and looked away from her.
"Sorry," he mumbled. The nurse sighed and restarted the test, this time uninterrupted. She looked puzzled when it came back as normal. She looked at him closer, trying to figure out if this was just some clever facade or not. She placed her hand on his forehead. Huh. It was normal. But her hand was covered in sweat when she pulled it away.
"How do you feel, sweetie?" she asked. Len frowned and rubbed his belly.
"Awful," he mumbled. The nurse touched his stomach to see if she would get a reaction. He didn't seem affected by her touch in the slightest.
"What hurts?" she asked.
"My tummy is upset," he said. "I'm really shaky, it's hard to walk around without my legs feeling like they're gonna collapse under me." The nurse tried to come up with a diagnosis. She found it hard, since most kids didn't have these symptoms when they had a cold or the flu. Shakey? What on earth could have caused him to feel shaky? Maybe food poisoning...
"What have you eaten today, hun?"
"Nothing..." That caught the nurse's attention. Maybe he was malnourished?
"Did you eat dinner?" she asked. Len thought back to the night before. He nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I think so..." The nurse was clearly puzzled. What was wrong with this kid? The nurse contemplated an illness from food the night before, but she doubted it.
"Did you feel bad after dinner?" she asked. Len shook his head.
"No. After dinner, I laid down on the couch and watched TV for a while. I laid there for hours, there's no way I have food poisoning." The nurse raised her eyebrow.
"For hours?" she repeated. He nodded, agreeing with her. "What time did you go to bed last night?" Len hesitated. The nurse sighed.
"Honey, get some sleep at night," she said. "It isn't healthy to stay up all night." Len nodded and stared at the floor. He rubbed his belly some more.
"Do I still have to take my test?" he asked. The nurse froze. Oh. It made sense now. The nurse turned to face him.
"You have a test today?" she asked. He nodded sadly. "A big test?" He nodded again.
"Megurine's exam," he clarified. The nurse tried not to laugh, but it was made difficult by the fact that she knew he wasn't even taking the test he thought he was taking.
"Honey," she smiled brightly, he eyes portraying her amusement. "I think you're stressed out from this test. You're not sick." Len gave her a confused look.
"But how come I threw up if I'm not sick?" The nurse stopped smiling. He didn't mention that.
The nurse put her hand on his cheek. "You okay?" He nodded, confused. The nurse nodded back and ruffled his hair.
"Stress can make you feel sick," she said. "It can cause you to get a tummy ache, and sometimes you can throw up. But I think you threw up because you were nervous. Honey, there's nothing to be nervous about. This test isn't that big of a deal, if you think about it."
Len looked at her like she was crazy. "It's worth 20% of my grade!" The nurse frowned and held his hand, kneeling down in front of him.
"It may be 20% of your grade, but the exam you're taking is the end of the year exam," she clarified. "You're in College Credit Plus, yeah? That means you're taking the exam for freshmen at the end of the year. It isn't the exam your teacher gives you, it's the state test. It doesn't have anything to do with that class. Mrs. Megurine's exam day is in three days. You're not taking it." Len felt instant relief wash over him. He wasn't taking Mrs. Megurine's test. Bless this woman.
Len hugged her tightly. The nurse pat his back awkwardly. "You're welcome?" Len pulled away and held his tummy. The nurse frowned.
"Your stomach still hurt?" she asked. He nodded. It was fainter, but the pain was still there. The nurse pat his back. "I think you should lie down for a while, sleep. You need it. I won't send you home, since this is caused by stress, and it'll only get worse if you put it off till tomorrow. But I'll let you sleep in here for a few hours, let you out to eat lunch, and if you feel better, you can go back to class." She noticed Len swallow as he nodded.
"And just a tip," she said. "Stop swallowing. You're swallowing air too, which is gonna make you burp. I don't think you wanna burp in the middle of a test, hm?" Len blushed and nodded. The nurse smiled and let him lay down. She turned out the lights and left to go to the cafeteria. She bought a poptart and brought it back to her office. She nudged Len a little, waking him up. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked at the nurse. She handed him the poptart.
"You need to eat," she said. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Len nodded and thanked her. He ate it quickly, happy to have his hunger satisfied. He laid back down and closed his eyes. The nurse smiled at him, then went back to her desk. She was in the middle of writing a note to a parent when she heard and obnoxiously loud burp. She rolled her eyes and swiveled around in her chair to chastise him.
"I told you, stop swallowing air."
Len held his tummy tighter, ignoring her. The nurse furrowed her brows and stood. As she got closer to him, she could see just how big his stomach was. What just happened? He was fine- Okay, "fine" a minute ago. Why was he suddenly bloated like this?
The nurse saw he was still swallowing every few seconds. She also recalled how quickly he ate. Maybe his stomach just couldn't take all the stress and protested. His belly wasn't huge, or even big. But it definitely wasn't flat. The nurse sighed. It was going to be a long day.
"Hun," the nurse said, trying to get his attention. He groaned and turned over, away from her. The nurse sighed and sat down next to him. She rested her palm on top of his shoulder.
"Hey," she whispered. "Len, quit swallowing right now. You're making it worse. I'll go get you some water, but you have to stop swallowing, or else you're not gonna feel any better." The nurse grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and offered it to him. He didn't take it. Instead, he curled up tighter on the bed and closed his eyes. The nurse sighed. He was too stubborn.
Once dial later and the nurse had Mr. Kiyoteru on the other line.
"Hello?" he answered after picking up the phone.
"Hello," the nurse replied. He smiled when he heard her voice. He sort of fancied her, in a way. Though she was way too young for him.
"Ah, Mew, what a surprise," he said cheerily. The nurse rolled her eyes.
"Have you done roll call for your students taking the English exam yet?" Kiyoteru frowned. He was hoping that he would be able to talk with her personally for a while. It had been so long since the last time they did.
"Yes, I have," he answered glumly. "Someone's missing, though. A Mister Kagamine."
"Right, he's in my office now, I don't think he will be able to take this session's exam." Kiyoteru looked at the students in his room, waiting for him to tell them to start. He vaguely remembered Len Kagamine. Good student, very diligent. Never one to start chatting during a lesson, that he was grateful for. He was sick? What was wrong with him? Hopefully nothing too bad...
"If you don't mind my asking, what's the matter?" he asked, genuinely concerned. A few students in the room overheard their conversation and started spreading rumors to the rest of the students.
"It's nothing, really," the nurse replied, stealing a look at the student on the bed in her office. He didn't look so good. "Just feeling a little sick from stress and nervousness. He'll be fine by next session."
Kiyoteru frowned. She was hiding something from him, and he knew it.
"I think if it's nervousness, then I need to go talk to him," he stated, thinking about how he could help his student and hang out with his girl at the same time.
The nurse shook her head furiously even though she knew he couldn't see her.
"No, no, no, that won't be necessary, just go back to your students and begin your test, Len will be ready by next session."
"But I think I can-"
"Goodbye!" Mew hung up the phone with a certain force that was loud enough to cause the poor boy behind her to moan in agony. She turned around to make sure he was okay.
"How are you feeling?" she asked. He refused to look at her. "Len?" He glanced up at her for half a second, then stared at the floor.
"I'm...not really, ehm..." The nurse raised her eyebrow.
"What's the matter?" she asked. Len hesitated.
"I...I, um..." The nurse waited patiently-not-so-patiently for him to finish. "I kind of...need to, uh..."
"Yes?"
"Bathroom," he said finally.
The nurse wanted to scream, but she remained calm. All that fuss over having to use the restroom? Seriously? It's not like you need to be embarrassed about that. Everyone goes, it's no secret. No reason to hide it.
The nurse grabbed his hand and helped him up. "You need help getting there?" she asked, serious. There was once a time when a student was too stubborn to accept help to the restroom when he was sick after a binge at breakfast, and he ended up not exactly making it. Mew now asked EVERYONE if they needed help getting there.
Len shook his head and stood, clutching his tummy. He made his way into the skinny bathroom and closed the door behind him. The nurse waited for him to finish at her desk, filling out notes and AEP's.
She waited for a while, but without even hearing any noise for ten minutes, she was getting worried. She hadn't heard a single peep out of him the entire time he was in there, so he was either really good and being discrete, or something had gone wrong.
The nurse softly knocked on the door. "Sweetie? Hun, you okay?" No answer. Mew sighed, hoping that he wouldn't kill her for doing this. She opened the door, since it had no lock. Len was leaning heavily against the sink, his head drooping. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he was fully clothed, but quickly became worried when she saw how pale and sweaty he had become. Len looked at her from over his shoulder and smiled a little.
"Just needed to splash some water on my face," he mumbled. The nurse stood there, not sure what to do. Eventually, she made up her mind and wrapped her arm around his, linking their elbows. She led him back to the bed and threw a blanket over him.
"Do you still need to go?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Never had to in the first place," he mumbled. Mew internally rolled her eyes.
"If you need water, please tell me," she said. She wiped sweat off his forehead with her hand and rubbed her hand against her jeans. Len sighed and turned over, away from her. He truly felt awful. His stomach was tied in knots, he was sweaty, he felt light headed, maybe he would even pass out. He frowned and thought about the test he was supposed to take. Oh no. What if the second session was full? What if he couldn't even take the test at all!? He began breathing quick and panicky breaths, making the nurse kneel down beside him and shake his shoulder. He was almost hyperventilating.
"Honey, calm down!" she shouted, then caught herself and lowered her voice, trying to be more gentle. It does no good to yell at someone who is scared or nervous, it only makes things worse. They respond to gentleness and softness.
"Len," she said sweetly. She helped him sit up and half hugged him while rubbing his back. "It's okay. You're going to be fine. There's no reason to worry. The more you worry, the worse you're gonna feel. So let's just calm down, okay?" She waited for his breathing to slow before allowing him to lie down again.
"There we go," she said, smiling. She caressed his cheek with her thumb, remembering how her own nine year old daughter liked the feeling. Len just watched her. He was curious as to why she was touching him like that, but soon he began to feel tired. The lack of sleep was quickly catching up to him, and soon he had closed his eyes and drifted off. The nurse breathed a sigh of relief and went back to her desk, trying to be as quiet as possible. It would be quite some time before she heard his raspy breathing again, and it would sound much different than before, for better or for worse.