It had been three weeks since Chazz had joined Slifer Red – three long weeks of pretending to be alright. Jaden's constant badgering was starting to wear on his nerves, which were already worn almost lower that he could deal with. But he couldn't really complain about it for now, because he was at least free from his brothers, from their constant judgement of him.

"Chazz? You in there?" Asked Jaden, knocking on Chazz's door. He came in when Chazz replied angrily that he was indeed in here, and that he wanted to be left alone. But Jaden had heard that response so many times that he just came in anyway.

He took in Chazz's plastic-wrapped Obelisk Blue uniform on his wall, hanging there like the last shreds of pride that Chazz had. Chazz gave him a faint smile, that seemed to be content.

"Chazz! I'm glad that you're feeling better." He said, sitting on the edge of Chazz's bed. And Jaden had a look of such complete relief that Chazz was better – the sort of look that showed that he really did care about Chazz. Chazz didn't want to disappoint Jaden, so he just nodded, refusing to admit that he wasn't okay, that he was worse than he ever had been.

"Yeah. I'm feeling loads better." He said, shrugging. "It's nice to have a family of sorts."

"That's awesome Chazz, I'm really glad that you're feeling better. Hey, if you need anything, you know my room is right next to yours!" He said with a grin, and jogged out of the room, leaving Chazz on the bed, staring out the door.

Why did Jaden care so much? What was it about Jaden that allowed him to really want to help Chazz? He didn't understand it…but he had to admit that it was nice to have someone notice him for once.

-----

"How's Chazz doing?" Asked Syrus back in the room, looking at Jaden.

"He's awesome, Sy! He actually smiled."

Syrus grinned at Jaden, and both boys lay in their respective beds, drifting off to sleep with sweet dreams in their minds. Dreams that things were finally alright, that nothing was falling apart.

----

Chazz looked at himself quickly in the mirror. His gym clothes were baggy, where most boy's gym clothes hugged their body pretty closely. He then jogged out onto the court where all the boys were stretching. He bent down, picking up his tennis racket. It was time to try out of sport's team, and each boy was required to do at least one sport for the year.

Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley all had to do tennis, because they had forgotten to sign up for any other sports. Chazz chose tennis as his first choice, because, having been raised in a family where physical fitness was a must, and class was another must, tennis was one of the most common sports that he played.

"Serve!" Yelled Chazz, facing Jaden across the court. He raised his arm, and then let fly. The ball came hurtling towards Jaden, and Jaden was forced to dodge it in surprise, shocked that Chazz was so good at this sport.

"Awesome!"

Jaden yelled, and served the ball back, both boys starting a furious battle, slamming the ball with no mercy at each other. Fifteen minutes later they were both panting, hair clinging to their faces as they took off in amazing bursts of speed to get balls on the ground, slamming them across the court in painfully perfect lobs.

Jaden served back, and Chazz let the ball go bouncing past him.

"Come on! Chazz, grab the ball!" Yelled Jaden, dancing on his feet, eager to get going with the match.

But Chazz was doubled over, his pale face twisted slightly. He didn't seem to be hearing Jaden. Jaden began to feel uneasy, but it wasn't until Chazz began to shake that he ran over to him.

Chazz straightened up, and Jaden let out a sigh of relief.

Then Chazz fell to the ground in a dead faint, his chest completely still, devoid of a single breath.