Alone is only a word...

Thanks to my reviewers, you mean so much more to me than I think you realize. And you'll find out who it is in this chapter. I'm working without much inspiriation, except the thought that you might want to see more. So if it sucks, tell me and I'll redo it.

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He sat on the grass of the small mid-town park, watching the small children play with their toys. They laugh, so carefree, so wonderful.

I used to be like that, he mused. Or did I? Was I ever so happy just to be alive?

Yes. I must have been.

He giggled slightly at the antics of a couple of kids as they sat on the merry-go-round. It was the kind you sit on and push, so that when you got back off, you wanted to throw up. He hoisted himself off the grass, wanting to take part in the fun. His arms burned with the strain, and his head swam even as his breath shortened. He was only several hours from his attempted suicide, and he hadn't really gotten over the dizzy-nauseous spells yet.

He slowly walked to the playground, and smiled as the children eyed him warily.

So maybe he did look a bit rough...

He couldn't help but be a bit pale and dizzy. Maybe they thought he was drunk...?

He smiled again, a true smile. One reserved only for those precious few moments he found. Those were few and far between nowadays.

And now he waved gently, hoping to gain entrance to their game. He knew how much it would hurt inside if they rejected him, but he felt that it was worth the shot right now.

He cleared a sore throat. "Ahem, hey! D'you think I could join you?" He smiled again.

When was the last time he had smiled so much?

The kids looked nervous, but decided to give it a try. They opened a hole in the merry-go-round, and were ready to start it again. He shook his head.

"No, I'll push, how's that?" He said softly. They nodded enthusiastically now, wanting that free ride!

Heave, heave, heave. Pumping, rushing, faint. The meager amount of blood pumped through aching veins.

He was reminded of a line from a movie, "I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more."

Battery acid... That seemed about right.

He heard a faint buzzing as his head went fuzzy, as though wrapped in a towel. But he giggled, and it passed.

That's it, he said, I'm delusional, that's all.

He panted with exertion, but when he saw the kid's faces, he laughed/panted more. He knew that he would probably pass out soon, but, he thought, It was worth it. They are happier now than I have been in ages. So let them have their fun. Lord knows we all need to feel loved.

He stopped, falling to the ground. The kids all laughed and hopped off of the now slowly spinning contraption. One of them leaned over into his field of view and asked him a question.

He took a second to register this before asking one himself.

"What?"

"Are you okay...?"

"...Yeah."

"You sure don't look okay Mr..."

"Yuugi. And y'know what? No, I'm not okay." He smiled. "But thanks anyways."

The kid looked at him funnily as he made to sit up. His head spun and his stomach agreed. Maybe that hadn't been one of his brighter ideas.

"Why aren't you okay Mr. Yuugi?" The kid looked at him with a sense of wariness, as though he might bite.

"It's a long story. But today, I tried something, and even failed at that. One of many things I can't seem to get right. But you shouldn't worry about me, or have to listen to my pathetic life endangering problems. Go, have some fun while you still can." He felt almost as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. As though he wasn't about to collapse from the sheer weight of his troubles.

"...You want me to push you on the wheelie?" The kid smiled.

"....Yeah... Why not?"

He got to his feet dizzily, then managed to climb onto the "wheelie". He lay across it, legs just barely hanging over the side. He sighed as he watched the sky above. Suddenly it started to rotate. The kid was pushing the contraption slowly in a circle, allowing him to watch the world go by in a lazy circle.

"Maybe you were right. Maybe this was what I needed, thanks kid."

"Sometimes, all I need is to have someone to push me. To let me go without having to work at it. Like having someone push you on the swings. Cuz then you can see the other stuff on the playground without having to remember to keep pumping your legs."

Yuugi just contemplated this for a few seconds. He let it wash over him, just as the wind and the sky seemed to wash over his body.

"How do you know so much...I can't even figure out what's going on in my life anymore, and here you are making so much sense. Where were you earlier today... When I needed this so much more?" He said the last bit more to himself than to the kid.

"I was here, figuring that out." The kid smiled in his twirling vision. Then suddenly that smile turned into a gasp and a frightened screech. He pointed to Yuugi, and with wide eyes started to back away.

"What..?" He was groggier than before, but just chalked it up to the spinning.

"Y-y-you...Your arms..." Yuugi managed to lift his head enough to glimpse his arms.

Well, that wasn't good... The black "bandages" were wet, and small drips of blood were seeping cautiously through the thin fabric.

"Fuck." He lay back down, to tired to try to stop the bleeding.

"What happened, Mr. Yuugi? Why are they like that?" The kid was more intrigued than scared at this point.

"Because I was lonely. Because I was utterly and completely useless. Because no one cared. That's why they are the way they are. Because I'm so tired now... Because all I want to do is sleep forever. Because there was no one to push my swing." He started to mumble as he lost his train of thought.

Or more likely his train of consciousness.

The kid looked startled at this revelation, but said nothing as he watched the older teen slowly slip into the grips of unconsciousness.

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And that's all for now. What will happen to our crazy misfit? No one knows! R&R? Please?