He should have known that things wouldn't have been as easy as all that. The first day in Japan and in a Japanese school had actually gone much better than he could have imagined it would. Yeah he'd been starting to get symptoms from withdraws, but it hadn't been all that bad. Sure there'd been a painful muscle spasm here and there and a sharp pain go through his head and eyes plus the shakes a bit. But they hadn't lasted long before he was okay again and he was able to talk with Yugi who had introduced him to his little friend group and acted as the translator between Atemu and the others. Well he and the kid that was called Ryou Bakura did anyway, turned out the white haired boy also came from a background of people who loved old Egyptian history and had spent some time back in his homeland.

All in all, the group of friends had seemed to like him well enough though a part of him wondered if it was just the novelty of him being a foreign student. Would they still be as warm to him once he had been there a while and learned their language? A cynical part of his mind said that, no they wouldn't. Another part however, the guy Atemu used to be peeked out a small bit, and dared to hope that perhaps they would. That part dared think that perhaps his parents had been right and this was a fresh start, a better one. Those hopes, especially the last one was in the back of his mind though as he had gotten to the school. He was greeted by Yugi and at the blond guy - Joey if he remembered right. After that the day just seemed like it was going to be another good one.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

The cravings and irritability had started up first then the fatigue began. He'd been doing good most of the day, the first half of it in fact. Even when he felt like he was going to snap at someone over something miniscule, he bit down on his tongue and kept his barbed words to himself. Until that is he'd fallen asleep in class and woke up to that bitch Chouno yelling at him. The irritability wouldn't be denied then and he yelled right back at her, calling her out for the bitch she was and told her, her friendly demeanor outside of class was as fake as her off brand designer clothes.

No shock to anyone that had landed him in deep water and he was sure he was going to hear about it after school, back at his dad's. But he stood outside the classroom holding buckets of water all the same, a scowl on his face. He'd continued to fume as he stood out there, calling her every name in the book he could think of and even inventing some of his own. Out there in the hall is where the shakes started up again as did the sweating as his cravings had him nearly mindless with the need to go hunt down something that would give him a quick fix. Until that is, Joey joined him in the hallway and stood beside him with a twin scowl as his own, his arms folded. It had been only then that he heard the bitch teacher ranting in Japanese from inside the classroom. Had Joey gotten under her skin too somehow? Had he done it on purpose? Yugi had mentioned the blond having a similar situation at one point in his life.

The tall blond said something to him then which of course, Atemu didn't understand a word of. Seemed Joey had forgotten that for a moment because he suddenly looked sheepish and pointed at one of the buckets Atemu held then held out his hand. It was then the Egyptian teen realized that Joey was offering to take one and gratefully handed it over. His whole body was beginning to feel weak at that point and the shaking was making the water slosh.

Still that wasn't as bad as what happened next. He was suddenly ravenous and when lunchtime rolled around, he didn't have the same reservations as the day before and helped Yugi eat half of his lunch.. Only to expel every last morsel what seemed like a mere five minutes later. He'd barely had time for his eyes to go wide when his stomach churned and he turned from the group to vomit his guts out. He hadn't understood what any of them said at that point even if his ears weren't roaring, but knew that they were concerned for him. No sooner had he stopped vomiting than he was suddenly on his stomach, laying in the puddle of bile and seizing.

He just barely remembered an ambulance and paramedics rushing him to the hospital before he had blacked out. Most likely the trauma his body was facing had made his brain be like "nope!" and whisk him off into unconsciousness. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he woke back up in the hospital and on a very uncomfortable hospital bed. But when he turned his head toward the window, it was dark out and he saw his father dozing in a chair close by him.

Gods! Of course they called dad! And dad probably called mom! Fuck my life!

That had been..

...

Wait..

...

How many days ago had that been? He couldn't remember that now. Which really spoke of how sorry a state he was in. As if he needed anymore reminding! His head felt like jackhammers were going off in his brain and his body felt too sensitive and too hot even as he shivered from feeling cold. At least the worst of it was over now though.. Those hallucinations had been no joke. His mind had turned against him and gave life to his worst fears. Some of which he didn't even know he still had after all this time and some that were entirely new. Some even that were so bizarre, he had no idea how his brain came up with it.

It had started off with a fear of abandonment of all things. A fear that had asserted itself when he was still incredibly young. Five years old in fact if memory served when his parents divorced and went their separate ways. It had been a mutual understanding between the two adults and as far as divorces went, it had been amicable. But young little Atemu had thought it was all his fault as children do. He knew better now of course, but back then. At least his mother and father both had tried their best to assure him that it wasn't his fault, they both loved him and in a way still loved each other, but not in the way they once did. Still though it had caused his young mind to worry that he would be left behind by his mother too one day. He knew now though that wasn't the case and knew if his parents had stayed together for his sake they would have only come to resent one another.

As it stood right now, they were civil with one another. No, no, friendly was the better and more accurate word. He had watched his mom talk to his dad over the phone for years, talking like old friends.

Anyway, that wasn't the hallucinations stopped. The new fears featured Yugi and his friend group. Because of his hallucinating brain, he saw them so vividly and real in his room, every last one of them with disgust and hatred on their faces. They told him in no uncertain terms that he was worthless and nothing, pathetic to be laying there convulsing still at times, his body thinking it needed the next high because of the tricks he'd pulled on it. What hurt the most though was the hallucination of Yugi that came to him, his sweet face contorted into a mask of revulsion. That Yugi had spat bile and poison at him, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was disgusting, that he'd never amount to anything now if he ever would have in his life. That angelic boy turned demonic and told him he hated him, that he hoped he rotted and continued to live the torment he was experiencing. Then after the group were done spitting their venom and hopes of his demise at him, they'd walked away and through one of his walls.

Only for Akefia of all people to step out of where they disappeared. That was where it got bizarre and truly horrifying. It was no secret that he and Akefia despised one another and yet he hallucinated himself being fucked by the other man. He saw himself getting off to the other teen and just as his hallucination self was about to reach the sexual high, Akefia had gripped his shoulders and- Gods the thing he'd turned into! He'd never seen anything more terrifying than that monstrous demon, not even in the scariest horror games or movies he'd played or watched. The thing was so massive, he didn't even know how the phantom had fit into his room in the first place! But fit it did and its clawed hands on his phantom's shoulders squeezed then pulled until he watched himself literally be torn in half!

Shadows had danced around the room after that he saw evil looking beings of some kind crawling along his ceiling and walls, he could have sworn he even saw a massive snake slinking along his floor. But all through it the only moving he did was what he couldn't control, shaking turning into seizing. Each time the seizing would start, that massive monster was there to hold him down and laugh in his face and he could swear he felt himself being pulled apart for real.

He knew he was going into a panic attack now just thinking back on it as his fevered and oversensitive, pain filled body moved about on his mattress that was usually so soft and comfortable. It felt more like a bed of nails now and the blankets on him like a blanket of thorns. He heard something that sounded like a whimper escape past his lips as he heard distant evil laughter taunting him until he shakily and weakly got onto his knees looking around for the source. That whimper became even louder as his door cracked open.

Yugi practically jumped out of his skin when Atemu screamed when he cracked open the door. Mister Sennen had already told him though that Atemu had been experiencing hallucinations and if that scream was anything to go by then they had been pretty terrifying. So Yugi was careful as he finished stepping into the room and held up his hands in a gesture of peace. Atemu looked at him like they had never met before at first, his scarlet gaze wide and frightened, his breathing heavy and labored. The blood shot look of his eyes only made the scarlet of his irises seem darker too.. No, he wouldn't be letting himself think about how pretty the other teen's eyes were right then.

"Atemu.. Its Yugi, remember me..? From school?" he said, keeping his voice soft in hopes it would soothe the other boy.

He kept his steps unhurried and slow as he watched Atemu blink at him, sigh, then flop over onto his bed with a groan. Yugi wasn't sure how to take that. Was he relieved that it hadn't been something scary coming from the doorway? Was he irritated that a guy that was still a stranger to him was seeing him so vulnerable? Or was he just exhausted?

"I uh.. I know its probably not the best timing.. But.. Well we've been worried about you.."

That seemed to surprise Atemu as the boy had, had his face covered up. But then the blanket was pulled down and Yugi who had made it to Atemu's bedside was meeting his eyes again. This time there was no doubt that the Egyptian born teen recognized him, he could see familiarity there and an almost warmth. Or was that just his hopeful mind playing pranks on him?

"I'm ah-" Atemu tried to reply but his throat was clearly pretty sore considering how he winced when he tried to talk.

But Yugi had come prepared and offered a bottle of water to the other boy. The tanned teen only blinked at it at first then gratefully took the water from him, shakily getting onto his knees to take a drink. Probably so it didn't spill all over him and the bed.

"Sorry, I should have brought a straw.."

But Atemu was already shaking his head and weakly waved away the shorter boy's concerns as he drank heavily from the bottle. He drained half the water in fact before he put the cap back on the bottle and licked his lips of excess droplets. He must have been parched. Had he not had anything to drink since they last saw each other? Had he even eaten since then? Probably not. Good thing he had come prepared. He dug around in the satchel he'd brought with him and pulled out a package of salted crackers, a wrapped melon bread and another bottle of water and placed them on the bedside table in easy reach of his new friend. He turned to look back at Atemu in concern then only to blush and look away when he found the other boy already looking at him.

"Why are you-" A pause to swallow. "Doing this, Yugi?"

"Well Joey said that light foods and salted things are best for upset stomachs during withdraws and-"

"No, I mean why are you here. Why are you helping me?"

"Because you're my friend, Atemu."

Yugi didn't know what Atemu was expecting him to say, but when the shorter looked at him, Atemu looked surprised and caught off guard. Did he not see them as friends? That sent a pain through his heart and he found himself wondering if he'd stepped over some invisible boundary. But as the two gazed at one another, seeming frozen in place, the older boy smiled at him. The same warm and surprised smile as the day they met.

"Friends huh.. That sounds pretty good.."