The next morning, Kariya was alone. As he was the day after that. It was not until the sixth day that Uzuki finally sought him out, and Kariya was grateful.

He was eating plain crisped rice and it was so early he could barely see. It was early because he couldn't sleep, of all things, when just a few days before, all he wanted to do was just that– sleep.

He still wanted to, but it simply wasn't worth it.

There was a small knock on the door. Very quiet and barely there.

Blinking, Kariya kicked his stuff out of the way as he got to the door. He pulled it open, running a hand through his hair, and if he was surprised to see Uzuki there, he didn't show it.

Or he was just to tired to show it.

"What's up?"

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, looking off to the side, but still glancing at him from time to time. "I was wondering if you're still being fair about this no-sugar thing."

Kariya rubbed at his eyes. "Sure."

"Sure as in 'yes', or sure as in 'I can't remember'?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sure as in… unless I eat in my sleep, yes," he replied.

"Name them all out," she insisted.

He nodded, but gestured her inside and went to go dump out his soggy cereal before answering. "Rice Krispies®, milk, water, bread rolls, eggs, pepperoni pizza and… I think that's it."

The dishes rattled as he rinsed them off, setting them on a towel on the counter. "Not much variety," Uzuki said.

"I ran out of ideas."

He walked to the bathroom and she could hear him brushing his teeth as she called, "Didn't sleep well?"

"Sleep?" he called back, mouth clear of toothpaste. "What are you talking about?"

"You look exhausted!"

There was a small crash as something dropped inside and silence after that. He stuck his head out to answer. "I can't imagine why."

She sighed, propping her head on her fist as she waited for him to finish. There was the sound of running water and splashes, and then silence again.

After it went on for too long, Uzuki finally stood, wandering over to the bathroom door. She tapped on the wood. "Kariya? Are you okay?"

Pushing open the door made it bump into his hip. He was leaning over the cracked sink, face wet and water dripping off his nose, eyes closed and muscles unusually pronounced in his arms. He wasn't breathing.

"Kariya?"

"No," he finally answered, in a long gasp, sucking in the air and opening his eyes as he reached for a towel. "I'm not."

"This isn't about the challenge, is it?" she began, tenaciously reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder. He wouldn't look at her.

"No." He rubbed at his face, towel scratching against his stubble, then pushed past her to his room where he sat on his bed hesitatingly, as if he were lost.

Uzuki, leaning against the doorway, said softly, "Nightmares?"

This time, he didn't answer with a straight answer, but it was close enough. "I don't know what's wrong with me lately. They've never been this bad."

"So… the sugar has nothing to do with it."

He looked at her across the room, eyes a little unfocused and so tired it hurt to look at them. "I'm not addicted to sugar, Uzuki. I have a sweet tooth– I admit to that– but I'm not addicted. My lollipops aren't even hard candy."

She scowled. "Then this is no challenge to you."

He focused more on her eyes, narrowing in. "No, it is. It's a good one, too. It's just not as difficult as you thought it would be. The world is boring without the sweet."

Sitting down next to him, she said, "I never said you couldn't have sweet. I said you couldn't have artificial sugar."

"Until a few days ago, I was getting all the real sweetness I needed."

Her face crinkled in confusion. "What? And you call me sappy?"

Grinning weakly, he gave a single, soundless laugh. "Touché."

With that, she brought her legs up, tucking them beneath her and fingered his linens, fidgeting aimlessly. He sat, forearms on his knees and eyes closed. She refused to reach out again for him, and settled with biting her hangnails.

Finally, she had to say something. "Are you going to share?"

He scoffed. "My dreams? No. I can't even remember them."

Again, she was confused. "You can't remember your nightmares?"

"They slip away like everything else," he said, splaying his hands out and cupping them. "Like sand." When he looked at her, she turned an embarrassed shade of pink, much like her hair.

"Don't blame this on me. You pushed me away!"

"I know." He shook his head. "I know that was my fault. I apologize, if it means anything."

Silence.

"They'll go away eventually, too– the dreams," he added.

Her tone was acid. "Did I imply that I cared about their longevity?"

His eyes snapped to her, shocked. "No," he said slowly. "You didn't."

"Than don't be stupid," she said brusquely. "You don't have to let your dreams affect you."

"Uzuki," he said, voice still slow and careful. "I'm sorry I hurt you. It wasn't my intention."

Her expression upset him a little, because she rarely this type of angry– hurt– and it was never aimed at him. "Well, you did."

Honestly, he wasn't sure what to do. For a moment, he continued to sit, looking at her with regret, then he stood up and left.

That hurt more than anything, for her, and she was almost ready to cry when he suddenly returned with a glass of–

"Is that milk?"

He checked it, bringing it up to eye-level. "I think so. That's what it said on the carton."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Why?"

Looking blankly at her, he placed it in her hands. "To inform the masses that what it contains is indeed, milk."

She scowled again.

"Fine. Because it always makes me feel better. Try it," he insisted.

"Knowing you, it's probably expired."

He actually grinned at that. "Have a little faith."

The milk tasted fine, maybe a little on the bland end, but fine. "What do you drink, 2%?"

"Skim, I think."

She grimaced. "It's not working."

He looked at her a moment, then shrugging, he said, "Well then. Clearly you're suffering from something a bit of liquid happiness can't cure."

"I'm half convinced you're completely deranged," she said, staring at him like he was high.

And then he laughed with no comeback to shoot back at her.

The milk sloshed a little as he took it and finished it off. He pushed it onto the already cluttered bedside table, a couple of papers flapping to the floor. "So," he started to say.

"One more day," she said in turn.

Appearing amused, he agreed. "Yes, but I was about to ask you if what I said is really the problem here."

She turned to him, face livid. "Are you implying that this is solely my fault? Again?"

He held up his hands. "Not at all, though I worded it indelicately. I was wondering– am wondering– if there is any other factor at work here. Though I know my harshness clearly injured you, my words were solely pertaining to me. They were in no way aimed at you, so… What's wrong, Uzuki?" he asked.

She gnawed at her lip. "It was just what you said."

Disconcerted, he formed his next words carefully, "Then how do I make it up to you?"

"Ramen."

He tried not to laugh. "That's it?"

Her eyes smiled. "That's it."

"Ramen Don or Shadow Ramen?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I dunno. I'm suspicious of ulterior motives. I was wondering if you wanted to bankrupt me, or something of the like."

The stood at the end of the street, watching as people parted out of their way even if they couldn't see them. Whenever the RG did see them, they somehow knew to stay away. Kariya wasn't sure if that only applied to them or not, as Uzuki fought off any curious people with a fierce murderous aura. Once, a small kid had touched her hair as she waited in line and Kariya had thought that'd be the end of that poor boy. But upon seeing him, no doubt realizing his youth, she had simply turned around with an odd, half-angry face and ignored him.

Kariya slipped his wallet out of his pocket as they approached Ramen Don, absently counting his yen, then passing over the appropriate amount to order Miso Ramen, his personal favorite. He turned to Uzuki, though he already knew what she would want.

"Same."

He blinked, then paid for that, too. He began to ask her why she–

"Because I always order the same thing, and so do you unless it's a special treat… so I'm trying something new," she claimed.

All he did was shrug and get the ramen when it was up. He slid into the seat next to her, passing her the bowl, then tucked into his own.

After a few bites, he asked, "Do you like it?"

"I always thought it was okay," she said, popping a carrot slice in her mouth. "and Ramen Don's good no matter what you get."

"That's true."

"Yeah."

Kariya was ranging from vaguely awkward to bored. It was small talk and downright strange to be talking small and emotionless with Uzuki.

Whether she knew or not, the fact of the matter was… he wasn't liking it.

"Look, Uzuki–"

"What's this?" Uzuki plucked a clear vegetable out of the broth.

"Water chestnut," he said, his earnest expression dying on his face.

"Huh."

She sucked on it, then moved on from sorting through the vegetables to eating the noodles. He watched her, not even bothering to touch his food, expression impassive and completely bored.

"The weather's cooler lately," she said absently after picking out all the noodles and moving on to drink the broth.

Any other time, he would have mocked her that she would mention the weather. 'Be creative!' he would have said, then moved onto a subject like the taste of wild bear. This time he said, "I guess." and turned away to watch his ramen, as if it was far more interesting than his companion and would save him from a second death.

"What did you do these last few days?" she asked, setting her bowl down, but looking out the window instead of at him.

"Nothing. Look–" he started again, waited a moment to see if she would interrupt him, then continued, gazing at her intently. "If you're trying to kill me, you're doing an excellent job."

She met his gaze and smiled. It was fake. "Kill you? You're already dead, Kariya."

And somehow, coming from her at that moment, it was as if he'd been slapped. He dropped his gaze and turned back to his food, finishing it simply so he wouldn't insult the owner.

There was a blank, empty silence as they walked back to his apartment, but when they reached it, she said, "See you tomorrow, then!" and began to walk away.

"Now wait a second!" Kariya protested, catching back up to her and shoving his key back in his pocket.

She turned back to him, smile still fake and his face fell again from any animation to complete emptiness, much like the silence that had been between them, but with a little more desolation to it.

He wanted to joke– say something like, 'I thought you said no artificial sugar?'

He hesitated, then said blandly, "Yeah. See you tomorrow."

She gave a little wave and left as he stood there, not really sure what had just happened. He then slowly made his way back to his apartment.

He locked the door behind him, then sat down on his couch. He stared a the wall, face dead.

What had just happened? What was the point of being dead when it was just as empty as living?