"Go Philostrate! Stir up the Athenian youth to merriment" - Theseus, Midsummer Night's Dream.

Here I am, this is the most I've held up a story. Yay for me!

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Yuugi awoke the next moring to the constant monotone beep of the digital alarm on his nightstand. Slapping the snooze, he tried to roll over a fall back asleep. But the small movement had awoken the screaming wounds, the ones that reminded him in a flash of the past twenty odd hours. He groaned with the realization of everything that had gone on the day before.

"Yuugi, you'll be late for school if you don't get moving!" Sugoroku yelled up the stairs for his slumbering grandson to get up. He heard a groan, shuffling, and then a slamming door.

In the bathroom, Yuugi peeled down to shower, and as the water warmed, he examined his arms. The flesh around the cuts was sore and bruised, and the cuts themselves were swollen. The skin was slightly puckered where the scabs were formed, drying and flaking in places. He felt some anger in his chest, anger that he had failed, again. He had failed to kill himself, had failed to see anything in what he had done.

The anger slowly drained away as he stood beneath the hot water. It drained into a gloom, a hollow depressed feeling. He really was useless. He couldn't even manage to get the one thing straight. What a pathetic little shit.

His anger at himself returned. And as he stood under the spray he held one arm againt his stomach, picking at the scab with the other. He felt the slight pain of it, and it almost felt as good as when he cut. Almost.

The urge had him. Like unto a drug, he needed it. He reached out from the shower to the base of the toilet, pulling the tape away from the straight razor he kept there.

'This is for my failure.'

One slow burn as he dragged the razor parallel to the major cut, but not from wrist to elbow, just an inch or two.

'This is for my weakness.'

A sharp sting as he went fast across the cut on his left arm.

"This is for my stupidity." He whispered. A slow, aching sensation as the razor slowly swept across his stomache, leaving a trail of fire and blood in its wake.

He felt a little better, like a smoker after the first cigarette of the morning. He sighed and finished his shower. Getting out he wrapped a towel around his skinny hips as he sought the gauze and salve.

"There's something cold and blank behind her smile; She's standing on an overpass; On her miracle mile" He started to sing. A favorite song of his, even if he wasn't the biggest fan of Marilyn Manson. American alternative was just odd sometimes...

He finished wrapping his arms and put the gauze away. He opened the bathroom door, still singing under his breath.

"Cuz you were from a perfect world; a world that threw me away; today, today to run away..." He opened his hell hole closet, grabbed his uniform, and shut the door. He carefully slipped the pants and shirt on, trying not to disturb his bandages.

"A pill to make you numb, a pill to make you dumb; a pill to make you; anybody else." He laughed as he went down the stairs, his bag slapping his back as he lumbered down said stairs. He plastered his usual smile on as he encountered his grandfather.

"Ohayo Ji-chan!" He chirped, grabbing the pro-offered toast on his way out of the house. He had to walk to school, and he would be late if he didn't leave soon. He waved a goodbye to his grandfather without waiting to hear a reply from Sugoroku.

He let out a whoosh of air, letting the smile slip a bit as he walked, contemplating everything that he had done over his weekend. His mind churned over his repeated failures (such as failing to die, not trying again, leaving the house...). And over his stupid mistakes (leaving the house, falling asleep outdoors...). And thus, lost in his inner musings, he never heard the boy calling his name behind him.

"Yuugi, Yuugi! It's me, Ryou! Hold up!" Ryou ran up behind him, clapping him on his shoulder. Yuugi jumped, heart racing. He sighed as he realized it was not Ushio and his gang out to get him, merely a boy.

"I'm sorry, you are?" He asked in a soft voice, trying to be as polite as possible without getting too involved with the whole situation. A saying he had heard before ran through his mind "Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody." It had worked so far. He had been quiet, and no one had bothered to be his friend. You couldn't possibly get hurt if there was no one there to hurt you in the first place. Right?

Mentally anyways. Physically however....

"Ryou, we met last night...?" He looked hopefull, green eyes shining and a seeming laugh waiting to be heard. His light hair and fair skin made him seem exotic, while his odd accent made him strange.

"Oh yeah, the one from the park. You just moved here?" Ryou nodded.

"It's great to know somebody here now!" Said Ryou quietly. He seemed a book- type person. A man after Yuugi's own heart! He loved to read. What a great escape... To be anyone, at anytime. You could be the bravest person, or simply an observer of greatness. Anything could happen in a book. FIction was nice that way.

If only life were as wonderful.

Yuugi looked to Ryou, realizing that the white-haired boy had been speaking for quite some time.

"G-gomen Ryou. I was off on another world. What were you talking about?" He looked sheepishly at the taller teen.

"Its okay Yuugi, it was nothing." He seemed to frown a little inside of his smile. A little downturn to his smile, a little less spark in his eyes. Yugi felt bad for not paying attention, but nothing could be done for it now. Something to be added to his list of shit he did wrong for later.

They walked the last few minutes in silence, one that was as uncomfortable as the itching burn of Yuugi's arms. Yuugi stopped before he reached the doors of the school, halting Ryou before he could go on too.

"What are your classes? Do we have anything together I mean?" He tried to look interested, happy. Hell, he tried to look hyper even. He felt as if the world knew that his smile was fake. Surely Ryou would have noticed by now the fact that Yuugi had been saddly trying to attempt to seem normal?

But no, Ryou didn't notice.

"I have, lets see..." He dug out a schedule from his bag. Holding it in front of him, read out the classes.

"AP Art History, Anatomy, AP Literature, AP Government, Lunch, and AP Calculus and Trig." Yuugi's insides shrivelled as he listened to Ryou read off his schedule. He had all advanced placement courses, whereas Yuugi had mostly on-level courses. Another thing to add to his list.

"Wow, umn... No. I definitly think that we won't be seeing much of each other. I'm in on-level classes, and you... Well, You're in all the advanced ones." He felt like such a dork, stating the painfully obvious."I'm sorry Ryou! I didn't mean to make it sound so... so bad! I merely meant that you were in higher classes, so we won't get to see each other during the day!" He quickly amended, trying to forstall any bad feelings between them.

"No problem Yuugi, I understand. I'll see you after classes then?" He said with a smile.

"Yeah, sure!" A genuine smile beamed from beneath the layers of old and fake smiles. The bell was heard and they both hurried their seperate ways.

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Yuugi sat through his first period with minimal trouble, a few yawns and a dizzy spell. Second period was harder, with him almost getting in terouble for sleeping in class. Third, fourth and fifth went alright, with lunch and study hall spent sleeping rather than either that they were meant for. But in his literature class, he encountered some... trouble.

It had started out innocently enough. A small writing assignment, due at the end of the week. The topic was "What do you like to do and why?" The teacher had challenged them.

"Don't just say things like 'I really like to eat, because it's fun and necessary.'. No, give me something real. Do you like to eat because you are hungry for something you can't have? The affection of a member of the opposite sex? Or maybe you eat from boredom, but feel that you like to do it because you think you like it. Explore your personality. Delve into your thoughts, dreams and desires. Be creative. Now, by the end of the period I want to see three things. The three things you will be writing about."

Yuugi had been thinking for the greater part of that period now, and nothing had come to mind. Hell, he had tried to end his life yesterday because of questions like these! Why on Earth would he want to write about a subject he had no idea how to answer?! He ran through the corridors of his mind, opening and closing mental doors to rooms filled with memories.

When she ambled her way to him, he had little to show for his long period of thought. She stood by his side, observing him.

She saw him as others did, quiet, withdrawn. But he also seemed so friendly and shy. At the same time she knew that there was something more to Yuugi Motou, something dark that he didn't want others to know about. She was hoping that this assignment would be a creative outlet for him. One where she might get to know a bit more about the mysterious personality he kept artfully hidden from plain view.

"How's it going Yuugi?" She asked lightly. She picked up his notebook to look at the sketches and writings he had produced in the period. The doodles were slightly disturbing. They weren't the usual swirls and hearts and stuffs. These were intricately detailed drawings of walls. Corridors. 'The walls of my mind aren't in my head' was the label he had scrawled underneath the drawing. The thoughts on the paper were slightly shallow, and mostly stupid. Things like hang out at the arcade, puzzles, draw, read. There was another that he had apparently erased and crassed out repeatedly, but she could not tell what it had been. His unusual blush was enough to tell her that she had intruded on his private thoughts.

"Not too well actually Mrs Une. I don't know what to write." He looked sheepish, and at the right angle, he looked almost angry and forlorn.

"Well then, explain one of the topics you have written here to me. How about the reading bit. Why do you like to read?" She sat on the top of the desk, watching his reactions as he talked.

"I like to read as an escape. An escape from this life, this reality. In a book I can be who I want to. I can choose how I want to live through the course of it. I can pretend to be royalty, or I can stay in the real world and realize how stupid I am for believing that I could change what I am just by reading. How I sit there, reading a book, trying to escape a life that I shouldn't try to be escaping. What is so wrong in my life that I need to delve into a book to find the answer? I'm sorry, I'm rambling. Don't, " he sighed, "don't mind me." He smiled up at her.

She frowned.

"Yuugi, why do you feel like you have to explain yourself? That's simply how you feel about the subject! This is what I want. I want to know why you love to do what you love. How about the puzzles? Why do you love to do puzzles?"

"I love to be challenged. I've never met a puzzle I couldn't solve." He said smugly. "And it is a great way to feel good about yourself. You've accomplished something that not everyone can do I guess." He quieted down a bit.

"I just got a new puzzle. I can't wait to see what it'll turn out to be."

"Oh really? Doesn't it show you on the box? Like a picture of a kitty or something?" She smiled.

"No, this is one that has never been solved. It's really old. My ji-chan got it from a friend of his, and they thought that maybe I could do it. I doubt it, but I can try!" He grinned. It was false, and as he did it he added another mark to his mental list.

' Why am I saying all of this to her? I don't know! Why does she keep sitting there, acting all high and mighty, like she understands or something!? Why can't she go back to ignoring me? Like she used to. Like everyone used to.'

He smiled darkly. Maybe she just wanted to try to make him feel better.

Fuck. Her.

He held out his hand to ask for his notebook back as the bell rang, signifing the end of the school day.

"Thank you for the discussion Yuugi. I hope you can solve that puzzle." He grinned.

"You know what, thank you too. I'll see you later Mrs Une." And with that, he left.

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Yay for the suckage!