Miyuki stared up at the ceiling of his darkened bedroom. It seemed that, yet again, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep tonight.

This had become a recurring problem in the last week or so. No matter what he tried, he was just having difficulty falling asleep. At first it wasn't a big deal, he was just lying in bed for a bit longer than usual for his body to finally succumb to sleep. But as the days went on, the time between going to bed and losing consciousness lengthened.

Last night, he could see the sun poking through his window blinds before he finally… finally slept. But within a couple minutes his alarm had woken him up to go to practice.

Unfortunately for him, it seems the same thing was going to happen again today, judging by the time he read on the digital clock across the room: 04:32.

Xx ️xXx ️xXx ️xX

He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets, trying to rub the tiredness out of him.

It was no use. No matter how many times he tried and how hard he rubbed, he was still tired. Still exhausted.

"You okay, Miyuki?" Kuramochi asked from his seat in front of Miyuki's, his concern for his friend leaking in his voice. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Miyuki said around a yawn. "Just didn't get any good sleep last night."

"Okay," Kuramochi said as he turned back to face the front of the classroom. "Maybe try going to bed earlier tonight, then?"

"Yeah, I'll try that," Miyuki said as he rubbed his eyes again, knowing that it wouldn't be that simple of a solution.

It wasn't like he hadn't been trying different techniques to fall asleep easier. He had made his room as dark as possible, moving around some of the furniture he could in his room to block out the light that came in from the lampposts outside. He had tried the counting sheep method, but gave up when he got to 267. He had tried to just continue on with going over scorebooks and his other homework in the hopes his mind would grow tired and he'd collapse at his desk. But now all of his homework for the rest of the week was already complete and so were the analyses needed for their next three opponents. He had stopped drinking coffee and tea in the evenings, which left him tired, but not tired enough to actually sleep. He snuck outside after everyone had gone to bed to put in more bag swings, that only left him sore for practice in the morning.

None of it, none of it had any effect.

If he were to guess, he'd say he probably got what? Six, maybe seven hours of sleep in the last week, none in the last twenty four hours.

His body still felt tired, extremely tired, but whenever he laid down, either just with his head on a desk or fully in bed, he couldn't fall asleep.

He should ask someone about this, shouldn't he? Either the school nurse or ask Takashima-sensei if she could bring him to a doctor. Maybe even call his dad.

But what would they be able to do, exactly? Give him some drugs? He had tried those before, both the over the counter and prescription ones, they always made him feel sick and nauseous in the morning.

If he stayed up long enough, his body would fall asleep eventually. Maybe when that eventually happened, his sleep schedule would do a reboot and he would be able to fall asleep easily again.

"Miyuki," Kuramochi came around again at their lunch break. He looked even more concerned now. "Are you… are you sure you're okay?"

MIyuki dropped his forehead on his desk. "Does it look like I'm okay?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"What is it? Did Sawamura or Furuya do something yesterday?" Kuramochi asked. "Take that back, this looks worse than your usual pitcher-induced headache. What's up?"

Miyuki ignored the 'pitcher-induced headache' comment, too spent to figure out what that meant. "Can't sleep," he mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" Kuramochi asked.

"I can't sleep," Miyuki repeated himself, groaning. "Haven't for the past week or so."

"Can't sleep?" Kuramochi repeated, question on his tongue. "Like… insomnia?" he asked.

Miyuki slowly dragged his hands down his face, letting out a long breath while doing so. "Something like that," he said.

Kuramochi was quiet for a moment. "Have you… ya' know… tried anything to get better sleep?" he tentatively asked.

"Everything," Miyuki grumbled.

Kuramochi paused, he should do something. Something to help Miyuki. He knew that, but what? "Have you told any of the adults about this?" he asked. "They can probably help you."

Miyuki only groaned. "What would they be able to do?"

"They could… they could do a lot of things," Kuramochi said, thinking. "You know… take you to a doctor, give you a day off to sleep, that sort of thing."

Miyuki let out yet another long groan. "All they'll tell me is to try everything that I've already been trying," he said.

"Can;t a doctor give you… you know, sleeping pills or something?" Kuramochi asked.

At that Miyuki finally turned his head to look the other teen in the eye. "Those make me feel… weird. I hate taking those."

"But if they help you get some sleep…" Kuramochi said. "Maybe it will help?" At Miyuki's continued glare, Kuramochi said. "At least just tell one of the adults and go to the doctor. I'm sure one of them can give you a suggestion you haven't thought of yet."

MIyuki was silent for the remainder of their lunch break, the entire time thinking over what Kuramochi had just said. He hated it, but knew his friend was right. He had already tried everything he could think of to fall asleep, and he was desperate at this point.

"I'll talk to Takashima-sensei at the end of the day," he mumbled to Kuramochi.