A/N: Eek, sorry it took so long to put this new chapter up! I've been so piled on with school and stuff…research papers and tests and…blah. Thanks to black.is.the.new.blood (I hope that's still your username, you changed it!) for supporting my first story ". Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and sorry it's kinda short...

Mei laid in the warm sanctuary of his bed, the covers thrown over his head. School would be starting in thirty minutes, but all he could do was roll on the sheets, grasping his stomach as the thoughts flooded his mind.

Those arms wrapped so tightly around him, seeming to proclaim to the world 'This is mine.' Those lips pressed so gently against his soft skin, warming the cold flesh. It had felt so wonderful last night, a euphoria that seemed to last forever. But now…now his stomach tightened into a knot at the mere thought of Ritsuka, let alone going to school.

Mei groaned and rolled on his side as his stomach gave another lunge forward. Even if he skipped school, what then? He would still be sitting here, battling his thoughts and stomach for dominance over his body.

He painfully uncovered himself and brought his two feet slowly to the ground.

The clouds from the previous night still lingered in the sky, seeming to emulate Mei's emotions as they hung immobile. He still felt uneasy about going to school, but it's not like he had much of a choice. The last thing Mei would want was a couple of school officials coming to his door to ask him why he wasn't there.

At that moment a thought jolted through his mind. Ritsuka hadn't come. Not that he had ever come to walk Mei to school, but he thought after last night….He shook his head and it. He was misunderstanding the meaning of the things Ritsuka did last night. There was no way that Ritsuka…

He closed his eyes tightly before his mind could finish the thought. Yet more and more of them came, his mind imagining things that his heart desired. Mei ran desperately toward the school, hoping that the thoughts could not keep up. He didn't know how long he ran, he could only hear the splashes as he mindlessly stepped into the puddles that had formed from the previous night.

Panting and gasping for air, he found himself in front of Hitomi's classroom. His anxiety rose as he thought of Ritsuka sitting at his desk. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? Dammit, Ritsuka was the one who started this whole thing, why was he the one that was so nervous?

He muscled up all the courage that resided within his soul and stepped into the busy classroom. As Mei had predicted, Ritsuka was sitting at his desk. He was lazily holding up his head with one hand and doodling something illegible with the other. Mei stood for a minute, hoping that Ritsuka's eyes would find him. Yet his hand still skewered at the paper in front of him, and his eyes never moved from it.

Mei moved swiftly to his desk, plopping his bag loudly onto the floor, causing Ritsuka to glance up. He looked at Mei, smiled and went back to his mindless work. At first, Mei's heart sank, but he quickly brushed it off. What was he expecting? He snickered at himself, he really was off today.

The clanging of the lunch bell echoed through the hall as the students grouped together to eat and chat. Mei groaned, rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and looked down at the notebook in front of him. There was nothing written there, he couldn't even remember what Hitomi had been babbling about when she was dragging her dulling marker across the board for the last three hours.

His hands slipped into his bag until he felt the moisture of his lunch breath against his fingertips. He flopped the lunch in front of him and stared blankly at it. The sight of the rice and meat in front of him made him queasy and he shoved it away, turning his head. Ritsuka could eat his lunch; he had forgotten to pack one for Ritsuka anyways.

Where was Ritsuka anyways? Mei's dreary eyes searched the room for his friend and stopped immediately at a spot in the corner. Ritsuka and Yuiko were bent over a small pile, laughing. Their faces were so close to each other, rubbing together when they reached toward the pile.

Mei's heart stopped. There was that feeling again, that tearing in his heart that he had first experienced yesterday. It was stronger now, however. He quickly averted his eyes and stood up, knocking his bag over in the process. He didn't bother to pick it up as he headed towards the door, finding it harder and harder to breath.

"Ah, thanks for giving me these doubles from the pictures you took yesterday" Ritsuka said eyeing the stack in his hand "I'll scan them into my computer tonight and give them back tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it" responded Yuiko, waving her hand "I don't need them really."

Ritsuka just nodded and flicked through the stack once again.

"Looks like we got them all, I'll see you later."

"Bu-…alright, I'll e-mail you or something…" Yuiko frowned, waving slightly and walking to her usual lunch spot. The black-haired boy walked over to his bag and placed the pictures carefully in it, making sure they would not become bent by the end of the day. Satisfied that they were safe, he closed his bag and stood to sit with Mei.

All he found was an empty desk with a spilled bag and an unopened lunch.

The sound of water flowing from the sink filled Mei's ears, echoing throughout the lonely bathroom and calming his nerves, if only a little. He slowly turned the handle, causing the water to gradually stop. What the hell was happening to him? Ever since last night his life had turned into a train wreck. His appetite was gone, he couldn't sleep, and he hadn't heard a thing Hitomi had said this morning.

Mei sighed and dropped to the floor. It was nice in here, so quiet and peaceful; it made him feel that no one could bother him. Not even his heart and mind, he was completely free. His head fell against the hard wall and he sighed, placing his hands on his chest. He wanted to stay here forever, in this silly bathroom that meant so much to him at this moment.

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"Mei, Mei! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

Mei could feel warm hands on his arms, shaking and shaking. Why were they doing that?

"Oh God, is his heart beating?!"

One of the hands moved to his chest, pressing hard onto it. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"It's beating but…I've…I've got to call an ambulance!"

He groaned.

"Eh? Mei, Mei?!"

He opened his eyes slowly; he saw the familiar green tiles of the bathroom fuzzily through his blurry vision.

"Are you alright? Don't get up, I'll call someone."

It took him a while to recognize the brunette woman in the pink skirt as his own teacher.

"It's…alright Hitomi-sensei, I guess I just fell asleep at lunch. I had trouble sleeping last night." Mei reassured her. It took a few minutes of convincing and a quick trip to the nurse's office before Hitomi would let him come back to class. Not that it mattered much; by the time he drearily entered the classroom again there was only twenty minutes left in class.

"Uh….free time for the rest of class, just keep it down, ok?" Hitomi shouted as she rummaged through her bag. The class immediately erupted in the noises of desks moving and mouths talking.

"Let's see…what did I do with those worksheets…Ah! Here we go." She scooped out a pile of papers and swiftly handed one to Mei. "Please have this completed by tomorrow. You missed the lesson for this, but you can find the information in your book. Let's see….what page…."

The bell rang sharply and the class quickly moved their desks back and began to collect their bags.

"It's alright, Hitomi-sensei, I'm sure I can figure it out on my own." Mei muttered desperately. He was overwhelmed with the feeling to leave. Not to any specific place, just away from this school, or maybe away from his life.

"Are you-" She couldn't get out of the question before Mei had snuck out of the classroom.

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"Ritsuka, Rituka!" He could hear Yuiko's voice coming closer and closer to him, the squeaky sound echoing through his ears. Ritsuka turned around, not saying anything, just looking at her in a questioning manner.

"I thought we-" She motioned towards a group of girls behind her "could all go to the mall. They're having a sale on-"

"No thanks, I don't like shopping" He responded. He made an effort to be nicer to her than he felt necessary.

"But Ritsuka…"

"He said he doesn't wanna go. Boys suck at shopping anyways, all they do is complain!" One of the girls behind her shouted. The rest of the girls murmured in agreement and dragged Yuiko away.

"See you tomorrow." Ritsuka smiled and walked in the opposite direction. He sat in the hall for a few moments, looking towards the classroom door. Where the hell was Mei, was Hitomi going to keep him there all day? After a few more minutes of impatient waiting, he reaching for the door and entered the classroom.

"Eh? Did you forget something, Ritsuka?" Hitomi glanced up, her glasses were crooked and her hair was disheveled. There was a large stack of essays on her desk; she had only finished grading a few.

"Er…isn't Mei here?"
"Mei? No, he left a few minutes ago. Don't worry I already gave him the-" Before she could finish her statement he had already left the room. She sighed, adjusting her glasses, and looking blankly at the stack of papers in front of her.

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The cold, moist air whipped across Mei's face as he sat on a swing in the park near the school. His hands were becoming numb from gripping the cold metal of the chains, but he did not remove them. He just sat swaying slightly, the wind seeming to persuade him to swing.

He sighed, his breath appearing before him and disappearing into the air. He watched it as it headed towards the gray sky above him. Life had been so much easier a few days ago, and yet, his soul was thirsty for more of those feelings and he didn't know how to quench it.

He felt cold moisture on his cheek fall down his cheek. A tear? No, it had begun raining again; it now sprinkled on his entire body. Mei considered going home, but remained on the swing, too tired to move. All he could do was watch his feet as they scraped the soft dirt below him. The rain was coming down harder now, his hair was wet and he began shivering, but he still refused to move.

He was tired again…he wanted to sleep. Closing his eyes, he bent his head down and allowed his numbed hands to fall from the metal chains.

The cold water on his face stopped, and was replaced by the loud pitter-patter of rain falling on fabric.

"You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here too long." Mei knew that voice. He didn't respond, his head continuing to hang in the moist air. A warm hand brushed the hair from his face and gently held his cheek. Mei gathered the energy to open his eyes and slightly lift his head up.

"Ritsuka…" He managed to mutter out. There was no verbal response from the taller boy, just arms lifting him from the swing and wrapping around him.

"Ritsuka…" Mei repeated. He buried his face into soft fabric of Ritsuka's shirt, Ritsuka's free hand moving to gently pet Mei's head as his other held the umbrella above them.

"Are you ok?" Ritsuka asked, his mouth moving down to Mei's ear.

"…Ye…Yeah" It was happening again, just like last night…what was he going to-

His thoughts were completely shut down when Ritsuka's arm pulled him closer, if that was possible, and warm lips met his. The umbrella that has sheltered them was dropped, and they stood exposed in the falling rain.

Mei's body was filled with warmth, as if Ritsuka was breathing new life into him. His mouth was filled of the taste of Ritsuka, his nose with the musk of Ritsuka, all of his senses were overpowered by the simple kiss. Ritsuka's arms seemed to move into his body, gently plucking at the strings of his heart.

The lips were removed from his, but the arms remained coiled tightly around him. Mei opened his eyes, looking into Ritsuka, trying to find an answer.

Yet all it offered was a disarming smile and eyes that searched into his. Mei couldn't hold it anymore, all the feelings that had been pent up in his heart burst out and he cried, wrapping his arms around Ritsuka and letting the tears fall onto his shoulder. He leaned down once again and spoke softly in his ear.

"Let me take you home." Confusion and frustration coursed through Mei's body, he pulled himself from Ritsuka's grip.

"No! Ritsuka...I...I don't understand. Why…why did you do what you did just now? Why did you do what you did last night? I'm…" his voice broke as tears once again streamed down his face "I'm so confused, Ritsuka…"

Those strong arms were around him again, pulling him towards Ritsuka.

"I love you."

A/N: Whew! That didn't sound too cliché did it? Hope not ;;, anyways, please R&R and junk, I've got finals coming up so I don't know when the next chapter will be up!