and it updates!! you guys can thank the song "lets hear it for rock bottom" for this actually getting done. it inspired me so much, and it rules imo. (thinks) ah! also, thank you all for reading and faving and such so far! reviews or not, i really appreciate the fact people are interested.

warning: AU, oocish, very slight emoness.
inspiration: "lets hear it for rock bottom" by the offspring
disclaimer: stiiiill isnt mine XD

forgive me btw, i was writing most of this when i was hooked on another pairing. you can probably guess it XD i tried to keep it as backgroundish as possible, but er...anyway, onward! i hope you enjoy!

00000

The bags grew as the sleepless nights continued on. Ever since the incident in class, Yamato simply refused to sleep at all. He'd tolerated the naps, he couldn't avoid those, but not after that. It had been almost a full three days since he'd felt phantom lips press against his own, and the floor underneath him after he'd fallen. The looks and snickers he got when he passed kids in the halls had followed the brunette for all three days, driving the boy up a wall slowly.

He couldn't take this.

Why was this even happening? What had even triggered these weird dreams? Did he eat something weird? Yamato knew he wasn't the best cook, and he'd had to eat his own cooking many times when his mother worked late, but no matter the poisoning he'd never had dreams like these. So why? It was becoming a question he hated. He made a fool of himself over this dream one too many times.

As per usual, Yamato yawned as he walked down the familiar pathway to school. Soon, Lune would show up, and the blond would probably yack his brains out about something or other. He never understood why he was so excited to see Yamato, but he never really payed it much attention. No phantom sounds or tunes popped into mind, something the brunette wasn't sure if he was happy about. He knew Uru wasn't gone, because when he passed by any reflective surface, a wave of crushing depression would hit him.

"If he's not gone, where is he...." he mumbled, squinting a little to get the street back in focus.

"Wheres who?"

Jumping, Yamato turned quickly to look at his smaller friend, who had just showed up. Lune blinked, adjusting his too-large glasses and tilting his head a little. "What? Whats wrong?"

"Don't just appear like that!" Yamato snapped, huffing and crossing his arms as he walked off.

Lune frowned and hurried after the boy. When he was decently caught up, he replied, "But I called you! Three times!" he raised a hand, ticking off his fingers.

Yamato made a face. "Uhuh..." was he really that tired? Well, the street WAS awfully wavy today, and his feet didn't seem to want to move correctly. Suppressing a yawn, he shoved back the aching need to sleep. Why did sleep deprivation have to hurt so much? The boy next to him was quiet, a rarity it seemed. He seemed like he was drawn between something, but what, Yamato couldn't force himself to care.

"Y-You know...!" Lune piped up, glancing up so that the soon reflected off his glasses. Yamato blinked, turning towards him as they walked. The added attention seemed to make the blond falter, but it was temporary. "Its really not that bad...I-I mean about the boy thing." he fumbled for his words, glancing down quickly.

"Wha...?"

"T-That sort of thing is pretty common I hear, and its probably just your mind playing tricks, so you shouldn't worry so much, I mean, I-I-"

"Lune, what the heck are you talking about?" the brunette snapped, honestly confused beyond all belief. Where did this come from?

The smaller boy was quiet, staring at his feet as if he expected them to eat him. Yamato debated just dropping the subject, and would have, had Lune not spoken up again. "Well...ever since that day in class, you've been acting weird." He scrunched up his nose, then shook his head. "Weirder than normal." he added on quickly. The brunette debated hitting him for a moment.

"Mnot weird..."

"But you have been since class...I figured it was because of...well, your dream." he summed up lamely.

"Its cuz mtired. Not weird, or cuz some dream..." the annoyed brunette snapped, half afraid of where that assumption was going. The other half was just too tired to want to hear this sort of thing right now. The two lapsed into silence, the air around them almost tense. Lune didn't mention the dream again.

000

The words haunted Yamato for the rest of the morning. All through home room and math, and then most of science, Lune's words just stuck to him. No matter what he tried to do, his drowsy mind didn't seem to be able to deviate from them. It kept reminding him of the dream, of Uru, of so many weird things. And the more he thought, the more the brunette began to worry. If Uru and himself HAD known each other at a time, what exactly had they been? surely the redhead didn't kiss him for no reason.

"What does it matter what we WERE...it doesn't have to mean we're it NOW." he told himself firmly, glaring at the bathroom sink.

Sometime during science, he'd gotten sink. Yamato remembered why he hated throwing up, and mourned the loss of his light breakfast. Lately, he was always so hungry, but if he ate too much -more than an inch of cereal- he'd get sick, and he didn't know WHY. As if on cue, because not even getting sick seemed to stop it, his stomach sounded off a loud growl. Wincing, he tried to ignore it. Lunch was just a little away, he could wait.

The wait was agonizing, and if he had anything in him left to vomit up, Yamato would have by now from the sheer pain. He'd never been so happy to hear the lunch bell ring before in his life. The food settled heavily in his queasy stomach, instantly upsetting it again, but the brunette ignored the pain. If he didn't eat now, he'd starve until he got home, and he still had some things to do before then.

Just because he was sleep deprived and disturbed didn't mean Yamato had let his social life just fall to pieces. He did his best to hang out with his friends, and be interested whenever Sayama spoke, even if through most of the day he just wanted to pass out. It was probably why people didn't ask him if he was okay very often. When he could distract himself, it wasn't a problem to stay awake.

It had almost been a full week, a mere two days from the finish line. Saturday was just around the corner when it happened. Yamato hadn't been feeling well since he'd started staying up, frequently getting what felt like fevers. Every time he moved it ached, and it felt difficult to breathe. He'd given up trying to make his hair look neat and clean, because no matter how often he washed it, it always looked dirty.

Everyone was questioning him, from the dark bags under his eyes to his unhealthy skin color. Even his mother was paying him more attention. Not that she didn't normally, but it was just strange to get so much attention. Uru hadn't contacted him in any way in the week that had nearly passed. Not a hum nor a slight depression hit the tired boy. Yamato, for his part, would have been ecstatic if just getting excited didn't make him want to puke.

000

A heavy tiredness clung even in this strange pale blue realm. For once, Yamato didn't arrive standing, but laying down. Righting himself into a sitting position was harder than normal, and when he'd managed it, everything began to spin frantically. Grasping his mouth, the brunette forced down the sickness that began to swell in his chest, squeezing his eyes closed to block out the sight. What was going on?

"You're sick." came a quiet reply.

It took only a moment to place a face and a name to the voice. Snapping his head up, Yamato caught sight of a red blur, opening his mouth to cry out. "YOU!"

Just as quickly as he'd moved, the nausea had almost boiled over, forcing the boy to shut his mouth lest he puke. Uru sighed heavily, sitting a dozen or so feet away from Yamato. He made no move to close the distance between the two, only watching the other boy with sad eyes. "Don't move too much...Yamato-sama will get sick."

Get sick? Wasn't he already? The blue world's twisting slowed and calmed only a little, a thick and tense silence filling the area. Yamato thought maybe, if he had a knife, he could cut it in half. He hadn't had such a tense silence in a long time. Glancing up slowly at the redhead, he frowned. He was asleep, and Uru had summoned him here. But what for? What was with that sad expression? It must be important, he thought.

"It is." the smaller male's voice cut through the silence, quiet and small but loud in the room.

"E-Eh?"

"It is important." Uru specified, looking drawn. "Yamato-sama got sick, because he hasn't slept for a long time." looking down at his odd red hands, he wrung the material of his hakama with them. "You cant do that..." he whispered.

Blinking, Yamato narrowed his eyes. "Cant do what? Not sleep? Its fine, isn't it? So long as you don't-"

"ITS NOT FINE!" the redhead cried.

The brunette jumped, staring at the boy as if he had ten heads. He debated on what to say to that, because Uru had never yelled at him before. Looking up, large green eyes dotted with tears, the redhead glared. "Its NOT fine at all! You got very sick! If you kept this up much longer, you would have DIED!"

Died. The word hit Yamato like a sack of bricks, stopping his breath. "D-Died? No way..."

"Its true." Uru snapped, then looked away, glare softening. "Yamato-sama could have died...I don't want you to die, not over something like this!" he said, voice shaky even as he said this, like he wanted to retract the words. "Uru couldn't stand it if Yamato-sama died because of something like a kiss! I-If you really don't want to see me again, Uru will go! Anything, just....just so long as..."

Yamato stared at the boy who haunted his dreams for so long, disbelieving of what he was hearing. Uru would leave? He could sleep without fear? The redhead tensed up, eyes downcast and a frown marring his face. He looked miserable. But honestly? Yamato didn't care that much. Sleep. Peace of mind. These were things that he cared about. Not some strange boy who probably didn't exist.

There was a bitter laugh, quiet and shaky. It was the last thing he heard before his ceiling came into view, stark white and such a relief to see. The scent of something warm and salty wafted through the room, combined with something damp on his forehead. Blinking sluggishly, Yamato glanced to his side, surprised to see a vacant chair next to his bed and the sound of quiet talking in the next room.

Everything sounded foggy and distant, but he could swear it was his mother. "Yes...I wont be in today. My son is..."

Something in the back of his mind snapped, probably reality. His mother, calling in sick? How sick WAS he? His heart jumped into his throat when he heard quiet footsteps pad towards his room. He didn't remember getting sick, he hadn't heard his mother call in sick in years. It felt just a little unreal, especially coupled with the dream he'd just had.

Brushing a strand of blond hair from her face, Fushimi sighed to herself. Entering Yamato's room, she was surprised to see him awake. "You should be sleeping." she mumbled, walking into the room more.

He was quiet, unsure of what to say. The blond woman took a seat next to him, sighing heavily. She watched him in mild irritation, crossing her arms over her chest. He stared back, eyes glassy and heavy lidded despite just waking up. A moment went by before Fushimi said a word. Her voice was heavy with exhaustion, eyes closing as she massaged her forehead.

"Well...you really outdid yourself." she muttered. Yamato waited for her to explain what she meant. The woman just watched the brunette for a moment, before continuing. "You passed out in class. You had - HAVE- a ridiculously high fever. That was yesterday."

A high fever? He DID feel warm...blinking slowly, Yamato processed this. He only vaguely remembered hearing someone call his name before Uru's familiar voice filtered in, then darkness. It felt like only minutes ago, hours at the longest. But the alarm clock near his head read eleven thirty, a dead give away that it had been more than a few hours.

Uru's words flitted through his mind, sluggish as they were. "You got very sick! If you kept this up much longer, you would have DIED!" He thought for a long moment, putting the pieces together the best he could. It had been true. Why he was surprised, he wasn't sure. The redhead had frightening accuracy when he told him things. His silence didn't seem to surprise his mother any, the woman heaving another sigh.

"Supposedly, this was caused by lack of sleep." Fushimi said, eying the heavy bags under Yamato's eyes. Those sort of bags shouldn't be on kids. Unconsciously, she absently rubbed at the slight bags under her own eyes. Her mind flitted back to when the boy had tried to tell her about his dreams, the same day she had noticed how zombie like he was. She'd brushed it off, because what kid was ever awake and chipper in the morning? She couldn't help but feel...guilty.

The word was almost ripped from the depths of her mind, because Fushimi hardly ever felt guilty. But there it was, and she found she couldn't entirely meet Yamato's eyes now. Yamato glanced away from his mother, a pit forming in his stomach. So this was his fault? No, it was Uru's. It wasn't his fault that the redhead kept sleep at bay. It was definitely Uru's fault.

000

It had been the first time in weeks that Yamato had slept a full night. He didn't wake up until well into the morning. Hiding his face in his pillow, the brunette groaned, trying to block the sunlight that filtered into his room. His heavy eyelids stung for sleep, but there was a painful twisting in his stomach. Recognizing before he even recognized where he was, Yamato fought the urge to heave a sigh. He wasn't sure if he'd puke if he did sigh anyway.

Kicking at his bedsheets, which was no small feat, he dragged himself from the warm mattress and trekked to the kitchen. He was surprised to see his mother home, least of all in the kitchen heating -what appeared to be- breakfast up. Yamato stood in the doorway, blinking sluggishly as he watched the woman remove the plate from the microwave and set it down where he normally sat.

Yamato just stared for a long moment.

"Aren't you going to sit down and eat?" his mother snapped.

His stomach sounded off painfully on cue, and he swallowed, stepping towards the table quickly. The first few bites went down without any thought behind them, only to fill the space in his gut. It wasn't until the pain began to die down that he actually began to taste his food. Yesterday, he'd thrown up before he'd really digest anything. He hadn't really held down his food for a while, now that he thought about it. It made the woman's cooking taste that much better.

The weekend passed with little change from this routine, sleep being all Yamato even cared about for the first few days. His dreams were, to his relief, free of Uru and his blue realm. If anything, they were painfully blank.

000

School was different now that he wasn't watching through a thick fog. Yamato found he was clueless about most of what the teacher even said, let alone what he'd even learned. For the first ten minutes of class, he'd stared blankly at the woman as if she had thirty heads, pencil in his motionless hand. When the next class had rolled along, he found his notebook painfully blank, save for random doodles he'd started to pass the hour of bordem.

Another class began to go by, Yamato clueless yet again. It was becoming annoying quickly, and he wished he'd payed more attention. Letting his head thunk against the desk, he repressed a groan. Was every class going to be like this? And there were tests coming up...and work he had to make up...The brunette's hope sank a little more every time he remembered how bad his grades probably were. His mom would kill him...

There was a prod at his side, familiar and a sense of deja vu hit Yamato. He turned to glance at Lune, who gestured to his notebook, filled with papers and letters and lines of words. "I'll let you copy them after class." he whispered.

"REALLY!?" the brunette cried, forgetting where he was.

The blond had a vague blush of embarrassment cover his face, and the brunette realized he'd just spoken so loud. He ducked his head, feeling like an idiot. The teacher, used to the boy's random interruptions, just sighed and pretended she hadn't heard it. The sound of chalk tapping the board continued once again, and the class ignored the two again.

Once he felt it safe, Lune replied. "Really...you were really out of it for a while. I'll help you."

A wave of relief rushed over the brunette, almost crushing. A wide smile split his face and he collapsed on his desk, sighing dramatically, though he kept it quiet. "Thanks!!" he whispered back.

The blond smiled a little to himself, glasses catching the light. "Y-You're welcome."

School passed slowly, the notes Lune provided making the classes seem a little more understandable. It was still a grueling process to connect all the dots and keep up without constantly looking at his own scratchy handwriting. By lunchtime, the brunette was ready to sleep. The three days of sleep didn't seem like they were enough, despite that the heavy bags under his eyes were starting to fade.

Food tasted amazing, no matter how routine the meal was. There was no mad dash to leave the room before anyone noticed the green tinge in his face after Yamato ate either. It was a relief, among many other things. He could actually keep up with what his friends said, picking up on all the things he'd missed. Apparently it wasn't anything big, aside from Oume having a crush on someone and the sneaky jibes that were shot at Lune. Both blonds would blush, and for a moment, Yamato wondered if the two reasons were connected.

When he'd asked about it, the group went quiet, Oume looking at him like he'd just said the stupidest thing in the world. It was short lived though, the blond male quickly changing the subject. The odd occurrence left his memory faster than Uru's existence seemingly had.

It made Yamato wonder for the first time in days. Where HAD Uru gone? He couldn't be gone right? He'd vanished after their first meeting, he remembered. Was he just away for the moment? Or was this really permanent? The question stayed in his mind for the rest of the day, almost haunting him. But when he fell asleep, no dreams of the weird redhead came.

He couldn't have been happier.

000000

AHA. this probably moved a bit too fast huh? ah well...i was never very good with filler, sadly. there shall be more, hopefully more drawn out. i dont know why i was so impatient with this D8;; probably cuz i just haaaate writing filler...eh, my whining ceases~ (thinks) what do i need to cover...oume, you guys remember her right? the scary blond girl who punched yamato? and spazzed to kiyose and akitsu about the bus explosion? tada.

interesting fact: did you know sleep deprivation is used as a way to cure depression? doesnt work that well, cuz the moment you get enough sleep again it kinda backfires but still. and the longest, i think, anyones been proven to stay up was eighteen days and seventeen hours. this was done by a person by the name of jim thomas.

the more you learn~ most people would die from staying up that long...idk why exactly, but i do know lack of sleep lowers your immune system alot.

anyway, enough of that weirdness XD