Kiku had missed out on rest all yesterday night, save for the 20 minutes he spent in class, drooling on his workbooks. After a friend of his explaining that they had another new project to work on for class had abruptly waked him up, on top of the one he had been losing sleep on only a few hours before.

Subsequently, he slugged back to his dorm to get some shuteye after his class period, only to be roused awake by his scheduled plans for today dancing in the back of his head. He had a get-together with a cousin who had been visiting Tokyo recently and wanted to meet up with him.

Granted he felt as if his soul had left his body, he couldn't miss a dine-in with a relative he knew he wouldn't be able to see for a very long while. And though Kiku loved his solitude, he kept those close to him high on his priorities list.

After having a bite and trying to hold back on venting about his dreadful and exhausting day so far, he bid his goodbye to his cousin and finally got back to his dorm to take a long-desired rest. But he couldn't. He had another class directly after the meetup. Yesterday's Kiku had made today's schedule off the idea that he would have enough sleep by now. He was wrong.

Kiku trudged into one out of three curriculum classes, his head already starting to pound from the lack of sleep. Art school was not giving him any mercy.

Every calculation, theorem, and vocabulary word wisped passed his head like a dream that he couldn't quite remember. The professor seemed to be introducing a new topic to the class, but Kiku's focus was too far from here to even try picking up his pen to take notes.

He just stared at the color-tinted whiteboard, trying to go to sleep with his eyes wide open.

Next was lunch, then two curriculum classes back-to-back with a puny five-minute break between them. Kiku had decided on taking his lunch to his dorm so that he can eat later and nap now. But then he contemplated the decision. He was so fatigued, what if he passed out right when his eyes closed shut and he didn't wake up to his alarm?

Although he felt like he was falling apart at the seams, he decided not to risk it. He did not want to miss his two classes just because he was guilty of having terrible time management skills.

With bags under his eyes, Kiku spent the next 25 minutes slowly munching on the food he had gotten from the cafeteria.

The curriculum classes collapsed into each other as if they were both just globs of unregistered information in different colored bowls. For a few seconds at a time Kiku didn't even remember which class he was in. He felt like ripping out his hair or crying or cursing to the wind, but he had no energy to do any of that. During the last class, he would've lost his consciousness if it weren't for the professor's needle-sharp pitch in his voice when saying certain accented words.

Kiku felt miserable, and he immediately decided that when he got to his dorm he would drop dead onto his bed and just cuddle up in his uncomfortable uniform. It definitely wasn't like him to do that. But, at this point, he was no longer Kiku. The only thing he seemed to be was depleted.

Kiku wanted to sprint to his room. Or teleport. Or maybe even just fall onto the floor and into a deep sleep. Right when he got to his dorm, he slammed the door closed behind him and raced into his bed like it was a long lost lover... Lover... Alfred.

Kiku didn't even hold his head off the bed to check the alarm clock. It was currently 8:37 PM, meaning it was around 7:37 AM in New York. He sighed, knowing his boyfriend probably wasn't awake yet. It wasn't like Alfred to be awake any earlier than 10:00 AM, and on lucky days, 9:30.

Finally. The warmth of the navy blue sweater vest gravitated him into sleep. After who-knows-how-many hours, Kiku could finally rest his eyes, body, and mind. He began to fall into a blissful trance... His mind slowly displaying pictures in his head of things that made him happy.

Koi ponds, anime, cherry blossom trees, mist, Alfred, solitude, illustrations, top-score grades, Alfred... Al-Alfred!

Kiku's body suddenly sprung to life for a fleeting second as he tripped over to his drawing tablet, turning it on in desperate urgency.

The project was due tomorrow. The project that had originally drained him of sleep and energy was due tomorrow.

Kiku has never been so disoriented in his life. As he held back tears of stress he began to feel the dorm room spinning and his head thumping. He could barely keep his head up, but he knew he had to finish this project.

Projects like these, the one that fell later in the year tended to bash overall grades much harder, and he wasn't going to lose his dream career to sleep. Art school, like almost nothing in his life, has never left him so disorderly and dazed. The only other thing that's ever left him feeling this way was frankly, his boyfriend.

He had been talking to Alfred so much last night that he had given almost no attention to the project he had at hand. He was so mesmerized by Alfred's uplifting and warm laugh that he forgot to blink. It almost seemed as if his smile was so bright it canceled out the light coming from the illustrator's tablet screen.

Kiku opened the half-finished digital drawing with a sigh. He didn't blame Alfred for distracting him from his work. He hadn't been able to Skype with him in so long because of their hectic schedules. Their only forms of communication prior to last night were drowsy, 2-minute morning/night calls usually consisting of "Good morning/night." and "I love you/I love you too." and text message audios.

He was so happy to see Alfred's messy blonde hair and half-lidded baby blue eyes the night before. The way he tugged onto the kitty plushie he had sent Alfred for Valentines' Day a few months back. The way he made Kiku giggle when he fumbled for his glasses, which he accidentally swept off the nightstand due to his blurred vision. Even with a taunting art project pleading with Kiku for him to continue working on, Kiku still couldn't keep his eyes off the American.

And now, here Kiku was, holding his head over his tablet with a brain of mush, barely being able to think straight (pfft). Even the thought of Alfred held him back from finishing the drawing.

Kiku's stylus shakily slides across the screen turning a few simple lines into an image, then trying to implement a meaning in that image. The sketch was soft green hill sitting in front of Mountain Fuji. A delicate cherry blossom tree sitting off to the side.

A sunset of golds and violets and pinks falling upon the sky, overlooking an empty picnic, reminding Kiku of the first time he visited America to meet Alfred. It was late spring, and they had gone to Alfred's old house out it the New York countryside to have a backyard picnic. Just reminiscing it made a soft smile grow on his tired face.

He yawned softly for what felt like the hundredth time today as he added details to the pastel picture. Finishing the last touches, he slowly scanned the drawing on the tablet, hoping his strained eyesight wasn't deceiving him.

Kiku exhaled shakily as his body slumped into his desk chair. He knew falling asleep in a chair wouldn't be very good for his health, but neither would him staying up even a second more.

Just as he was finally collapsing into sleep his phone buzzed to life. His dulled eyes crawled over to the lit up screen.

He felt his heart flutter softly. It was from Alfred.

The clock on Kiku's phone read 10:15 PM. It was probably 9:16 AM, which is awfully early for him.

"R u awke?"

"Yes." Kiku's fingers lazily tapped in the letters. He wanted to text "barely", but he didn't want Alfred to stop texting him.

"I didnt want to wake u up but I had a nightmare"

A nightmare? Kiku subconsciously furrowed his eyebrows in concern. "What happened?"

"I went to meet you at the airport over in Toykyo. it was really weird looking and there were robots and flying fish evrywhere. When I found you at the gate I went hug you and pushed me away from you"

Kiku frowned. "Then what happened? Did I turn into a monster and did I scare you?'

"What? No. You just pushed me away and left. I was so upset that I started crying and some random flight attendant girl from the plane gave me a hug. Then I went to go back onto a plane back to NY and I had to go through security, and the workers there didn't let me on the plane becaus I had Blossom in my bag."

Kiku's heart sunk. He called it a nightmare? And he started crying? Kiku's eyes wet from drowsiness, and now tears. He didn't know how to reply. Blossom? Was that what he named the cat plushie?

"I got so scared when I woke up this morning bcuz i looked around and you weren't there." Alfred followed up his previous text. After a few silent seconds, the next text from him appeared, "I really thought I lost you. and it hurt so much."

"Alfred-san" was all Kiku replied back with. He felt as if his heart was going to flatline the entire day, but Alfred's texts were making his heart beat so fast.

Unexpectedly, the next text was a short audio message. Kiku gently tapped the play button and raised the volume.

"I wish could wake up next to you every morning, Kiku... I love you so much."

Kiku had to catch his own breath as tears pooled in his eyes. Even after an entire day of stress and exhaustion, Alfred immediately brought him to tears. It almost shocked Kiku how quickly he started crying. He missed Alfred more than ever. And with all the burdens and mind-numbing nights of art school, all Kiku wanted to do was cuddle with Alfred and forget the world even existed.

Kiku slowly brought his phone's mic to his lips, and even though his feelings felt so strong and a passionate and he could hear his heart thumping in his ears, the voice that seeped through his lips sounded weak, light, and worn out.

"I-I love you too, Alfred-san." Kiku's voice had dissolved into a voice filled with blissful tears.

Only a few mere seconds after the audio message had been sent, Kiku received one back.

"Kiku, are you okay, babe? You sound really tired. I really hope I'm not keeping you up at night... Or at least I don't want to keep you up all night in that kind of way." Alfred made a suggestive chuckle that got cut off by the audio ending.

For a millisecond Kiku was kind of thankful Alfred wasn't here because his face felt like it was bright red.

Kiku let out a nervous and shivering sigh, "Yes. I'm very tired. I'm going to bed now. Good morning, Alfred-san." Before turning off the voice recording Kiku hesitantly made a kissing sound and quickly turned off the recording, feeling slightly more embarrassed.

Alfred let out a slightly louder chuckle in reply, "Good night, Keeks." He, as well, made the kissing sound back.