A/N: this has taken me waaay too long to update, and I'm really really sorry for that!
I hope you enjoy this chapter..

"…focus on the things you have the power to change…focus…"

Sasuke was sitting on the window sill in one of the hidden corridors, his knees pulled up towards his chest and his gaze on the world outside; completely ignoring the existence of his roommate as he muttered under his breath, trying to figure out what he should do now that the headmaster was gone. No, not gone—he reminded himself—just…absent.
If only.
His eyes darkened at the memory of the headmaster's crumpled body and he clenched his fist, bringing it up to rest on his knee. He couldn't run away anymore, not after the Headmaster was attacked. Without the Headmaster the shield around the school was useless; and yet even thinking about confronting the Furem was terrifying…

Juugo leaned against the stone wall opposite the window and folded his arms, his amber eyes focused on Sasuke as he watched his roommate think.
He and Sasuke were supposed to be attending professor Prael's lecture on the applied use of Latin incantations, but instead of heading to the field like they should have they had gone to one of the more abandoned corners of the school to brood in one of the hidden passageways.
Not that a dark stone corridor was Juugo's idea of a good place to think, but it seemed to be what Sasuke wanted so he just kept his opinion to himself.

"…What can you do to stop me?"

Juugo shivered as Sasuke repeated the Furem's question aloud, goosebumps rising on his arms and neck as the air suddenly grew cold.
The corridor had been pleasantly cool and refreshing when they first got there—like a stream in the middle of summer. But now it was growing colder and colder, not actually dropping in temperature, but losing the natural warmth that emanates from living things.
Was this because of the Furem?—he wondered. Whoever or whatever that was…he didn't really know.

There were a lot of things he didn't know, he realized.
Not just about the Furem, but about the school, the Headmaster, Sasuke, and all of the events of the last few weeks. It all seemed so connected, and yet he couldn't piece any of it together.

All he knew was that ever since he was a child he had had fits that would cause him to destroy the things around him, and that Sasuke was the only one who could stop those fits.
He didn't even know why he had the painful attacks in the first place, the Headmaster had never been able to tell him… But they had been terrible, and each one had felt like there was something inside of him trying to tear its way out—painful, blinding, tormenting.
The memories were still fresh in his mind: the heat that would prickle across his skin and the red cloud that would fog his vision, blinding him almost completely as something roared in his ears, the confusion in his brain as rage took over…all followed by an emptiness that would creep through his veins as his vision would slowly clear and he was left to see the damage he had caused, exposed to the fear and hatred in the students' eyes, feelings that were so often in the professors' gazes too…

"Quidam non vivent…"

The hollow feeling that came with the murmured words broke Juugo's train of thought, and he opened his eyes—he hadn't even realized he'd closed them—his gaze focusing on his roommate as he watched the dark-haired male think.
He was muttering Latin now and the stagnant feeling of death in the air was growing denser with each syllable.
Juugo's eyebrows furrowed as he became aware of something in Sasuke's countenance that was changing.
He was becoming emptier, paler, hollow… and for a moment Juugo saw a flash of the Sasuke he had met in the woods several weeks ago; the cold ethereal figure with no physical warmth. And he wondered for a moment if Sasuke was going to disappear altogether.

"Sasuke—" It came out as a dry croak and Juugo cleared his throat. He hadn't realized his throat had gotten so dry, but then again he hadn't really been paying attention. He was hungry too, now that he thought about it.
How long have we been here?

"Sasuke."
He managed a normal tone of voice this time and Sasuke's head snapped up in response, the air instantly clearing as his ceaseless muttering finally stopped.
"Hn?"
"What…what were you…doing?" Juugo had to pause in between words to catch his breath. The thick air from before had been suffocating, and when it had cleared up so fast the rush of clear oxygen to his brain had made him dizzy.

"I was trying to sort—" Sasuke stopped as he noticed the lack of color in Juugo's face.
"Are you alright?" He jumped down from his seat on the window sill and took a step forward to get a better look, his dark eyes narrowing. "You're pale."

"Yeah…" Juugo replied, leaning his head back against the rough-cut stone as he took a deep breath. "I'm fine." He paused for a moment, hesitant to ask anything
"…What about you?"

Sasuke's head drew back ever so slightly in a display of surprise. "What?"

"You looked like…like you were…" Fading out of existence. Juugo trailed off, realizing there wasn't any way to explain what he had just seen, especially when he didn't really understand it himself.

"…like I was dying?" Sasuke supplied suddenly
Juugo gave a shrug, shocked that Sasuke had volunteered the end of his sentence and even more shocked that he had voiced his exact thoughts. "…A little bit…"

Sasuke said nothing as he lifted his hand to examine it closely.

After he had been found and woken by the Headmaster from the coma-like state he had been in as a result of the furem's last attack on the school years ago, he hadn't been able to feel anything—heat, cold, hunger…Nothing at all.
It wasn't until recently—after he'd met Juugo, actually—that the forgotten sensations has begun to come back; only…
He flexed his fingers slowly as the warmth they had had from before he'd started brooding began to gradually come back into the tips. His thinking about the Furem must have driven away that feeling, and that's why Juugo had said what he'd said about the air becoming thick.
*Language, when spoken correctly and aligned with our thoughts, has magical properties that will affect the physical plain of existence. *
The words from his Latin textbook came into his mind along with the words he had been muttering while deep in thought.
Quidam non vivent. I do not live…
So he had unintentionally been causing the change in the air.

"Are you okay?"
Juugo prompted, anxious for some kind of response
Sasuke dropped his hand to his side, his thumb slipping into the corner of his pocket
"Yeah."
Juugo nodded in satisfaction and then placed a hand on his stomach as it growled loudly, a sheepish smile lifting the corner of his mouth
"then do you want to go to the lunch hall? I think I could use some food"
Sasuke almost laughed as he started to follow Juugo towards the exit but then stopped.
He'd been putting Juugo in danger as a result of his thoughtless muttering. If he'd gone any farther he might have unintentionally put him in a coma. Or killed him…

"Um…"
Juugo paused and turned, leaning his head to the side with a questioning expression on his face
Sasuke swallowed the sour taste of guilt in the back of his mouth and cleared his throat so he could speak properly
"about what was happening in the air. I was careless with the things I was saying and it was affecting you. I'm sorry…"

Juugo blinked in surprise. The thought of it being Sasuke's fault hadn't even crossed his mind
"It's fine Sasuke, really"
For a moment it didn't look like Sasuke was going to accept that quick a response as he searched Juugo's face with his dark eyes, but after a few seconds of silence the tension in his expression softened a little and he visibly relaxed
"Are you sure?"
He still had to ask and Juugo sighed "it wasn't any worse than what's been happening to us every time I have one of my fits…"
There was a hint of wry humor in his voice and Sasuke snorted, tossing his head in agreement

"Now let's go eat before someone clears off the tables"