Chapter Eleven

When Yuu first rose from whatever unplanned slumber he fell into, he didn't remember much. His bed wasn't as plush as usual, and he tossed over, trying to get more comfortable. The blanket wrapped over him kept him warm, yet not as warm as he would've liked on this winter morning.

It was when he heard the light snoring of another individual when he realized he was not in the bed he should be, and rather, not in the castle. His eyes flew open and he sat upright, viewing his surroundings. Considering the sun was only just rising, he had to strain his eyes to see where he was. He was in a small room, one that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years; the windows were grubby and the lack of furniture - a bed, a small armoire, an armchair with fuzz coming out of it, and a nightstand with a lamp - in the room seriously called for a good dusting.

In the armchair, Yuu located who the snores belonged to: Mika. He was sprawled out on the chair, head dipped back and his eyes closed. His mouth was slightly parted, breathing softly. With one look, Yuu could tell that was not comfortable lying there.

Suddenly, the events of last night flooded into his mind. From the tour of the town, to the clearing, to the night sky full of stars, to the waterfall, to his falling in and catching what felt like mild hypothermia, it sent a wave of emotions through his head and almost knocked him back down on the too-thin pillow.

Is this really where Mika lives? Yuu thought with pity. Sleeping on this scratchy, thin mattress with a quilt that barely counted as a blanket and a pillow with practically no stuffing in it... it all seemed inhumane. In comparison to his lush, infinitely luxurious lifestyle, this felt unreal, almost like some sick joke. Do other people live this way too?

Before, Yuu was only thinking about Mika's personality and how he looked. Now, when he was placed into a scenario in which he lived day-to-day, it made the situation a lot more realer. Perhaps Mika's life was not as amazing and exciting as he first thought. Suddenly, he had a lot more questions for the sleeping blonde: Why can't he live in a better place? Just where was his family? Does he have a job? Does he go to school?

"Shit," Yuu hissed, cursing himself. School.

Having no clear concept of what time it really was, he ripped the blanket off himself and stood up, recoiling in surprise when he felt the cool wood of the floor hit his bare feet. Searching the room with wild eyes, he located his shoes and yanked them on. He paused at the door that he assumed to lead him out, hand hesitant over the loose doorknob. He looked over at Mika, who hadn't stirred from his mild commotion. His gaze lingered for a moment longer, studying him.

Yuu debated waking Mika up to say goodbye, but the reminder of what the castle workers would do if they found him missing in the morning told him otherwise.

"I'll be back soon, Mika," He whispered, knowing he couldn't hear.

Using all of his will not to turn around, Yuu turned the doorknob and slipped out of the room, ending up in what looked like a common room. It was just as miserable-looking as Mika's bedroom, with a small living space consisting of a couch, chair, and coffee table. A small fireplace was in the corner of the room. There were no appliances in what looked like the kitchen area, only a giant rusty kettle with a pit underneath it, a small, empty table, two chairs, and some cabinets collecting cobwebs. Yuu didn't notice any sort of water fixture anywhere.

The runs back and forth to the castle and the city were becoming surprisingly less painful now, or maybe it was just that Yuu was so distracted in his own thoughts while running he hardly noticed the burning feeling in his legs and feet. The sun was almost in the sky at this point, breaking daylight. The castle was in view, all Yuu had to do was loop around and climb into his window through the back.

Standing below the tree by his bedroom window, Yuu thought it would be really cool if his escape room came with an actual door to escape. Maybe he should consider getting that built in. It would certainly be a whole lot easier than trying to climb this monster of a tree, Yuu thought as he jumped to grab the first branch. He pulled himself up, being immediately reminded of his serious lack of upper body strength, placing his foot in the crook of two branches and hoisted himself to a higher position. Don't look down, Yuu reminded himself sternly. Of course, he didn't listen and did it anyway, immediately paling when he saw how high he was. Determined to make it into this room without falling to his death, he scrambled the rest of the way up, focusing on meticulous positioning to get to the thick overgrown branch right by his balcony.

When he was able to successfully scale the tree and escape to the safe, solid footing of the balcony, he breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly, he pushed the unlocked window open and bolted into his bed, immediately welcomed by the coziness of it. He nearly fell asleep right then and there, but the craziness of this morning forbade him from doing so. His mind wandered to Mika - probably the default setting of his brain by this point - and the memories of how he got into Mika's bed in the first place resurfaced.

He was mainly unconscious, so the extent of what he remembered was strong arms lifting him up, the frigid wind making him even colder, and eventually being greeted by warmth when he finally lost consciousness. If Yuu wasn't mistaken, it felt as if a kiss was pressed against the crown of his head when he was dozing off, but it must've been his imagination.

Yuu felt himself nodding off again, wanting nothing more than to sleep and regain some sort of sanity after last night. As the day came and went, and the sun rose again, yesterday became nothing more than a distant memory, almost feeling like a dream. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard the door slowly creak open, with soft footsteps padding closer to him.

"Yuichiro-sama...?" The kind voice of Shiori-san tore through his dreamy reverie. "Yuichiro-sama, it's time for your classes at the Royal Academy..."

Yuu groaned loudly and yanked his pillow out from under him, flopping it over his head. "Don't make me go, Shiori-san..." He whined, voice muffled by the cushion.

"Why not?" Shiori-san questioned. "Are you not feeling well?"

Yuu debated lying to her and playing hooky in order to get the extra sleep he needed, but knew that would come back to bite him when he fell behind in schoolwork. "No, I'm alright," He muttered eventually, giving up. It took all of his will to push off the thick covers off of him and to pull himself into a sitting position. "I'll be down for breakfast soon. Thank you for waking me, Shiori-san. That will be all."

Shiori-san took that as her cue to leave the prince alone to get ready. It was actually possible - and totally customary, in some places - for maids to dress the royal family so they didn't have to do it themselves. Well, Yuu was completely capable of putting on his own pants. Even if he wasn't, he wouldn't have some castle worker do it for him.

Yuu did his usual routine of getting ready; taking a shower, freshening up in the bathroom, dressing in the Academy blazer, collared shirt, tie, and trousers, and brushing his hair with his fingers until it looked presentable. Looking in the mirror, he saw the dark circles forming under his eyes. Rubbing his eyes, he hissed out a sigh. This was going to be a long day.

- - - -

"Ichinose-san, where is your Latin translation?"

Shit.

"What's with that look? Did you not do the assignment?" His teacher questioned again loudly. The class turned silent, with twenty pairs of eyes boring into the sides of Yuu's head.

Yuu blushed, embarrassed. "No, I didn't, ma'am."

From across the room, Mitsuba snorted, clearly enjoying the conversation. She didn't even try to cover it up with a cough or anything. Asshole, Yuu thought automatically.

"Please see me after class, Ichinose-san," The teacher said in a low voice, shaking her head. Dipping his head so he could avoid the stares of his classmates, Yuu focused on the desk and willed himself to be swallowed whole by the ground. He knew it was a mistake to forgo his homework last night, but he had to admit, whatever scolding he would get after the bell rang would be worth yesterday's events.

When the bell did ring after an hour's worth of time wasted on verb conjugation practice, Yuu remained still when the rest of the class moved to pack up their things and file out the door, chattering amongst one another. Yuu placed his notebook in his backpack and his pencil in its case, moving slowly towards the teacher's desk, who seemed to be eyeing him closely.

"Is everything okay, Ichinose-san?" She questioned. "I've noticed you've seemed really tired in class lately, and forgetting assignments more often than you should be. Is the work too hard for you to understand?"

"No, miss," Yuu ducked his head. "I just forgot to do it. I just haven't been getting much sleep lately."

"I understand," The teacher nodded. "You must be really busy with royal duties and things. Don't worry, I'm going to let it slide this time. However, if you need me to assign you a tutor, that's not an issue-"

"No thank you, miss, I'm fine, really," Yuu mustered up the most genuine smile he could manage. "I'll be caught up by tomorrow."

"Alright, Ichinose-san," The teacher sighed a bit. "Have a good day." Yuu wished her the same and left the classroom quickly, grateful he didn't have to get a tutor. Mitsuba was the best in his class and there was no question that he'd be unlucky enough to be assigned to her. To prove his contempt, he shuddered distastefully as he headed to history class.

Yuu hated class transitions. It was typical for other students to stare at him in the halls, to whisper things to their friends like he didn't have working ears, and although it's gone on for years, Yuu never got used to the attention. He didn't like people staring or talking to him, so he ducked his head, ignored the classmates crowding the halls, and walked faster.

- - - -

By the time lunch rolled around, Yuu wasn't feeling up for socializing. He figured he would just go eat by himself in some desolate hallway, to enjoy his bento in peace and sort out these thoughts running around in his head. However, he spotted Yoichi climbing up the stairwell as he descended it, wishing desperately he could just pass without being noticed.

"Hey, Yuichiro-kun!" Yoichi greeted him cheerily just as they were about to pass each other. Trying not to show his slight discomfort, Yuu forced himself to smile and raised his hand weakly to wave.

"Hi, Yoichi," Yuu mumbled with not nearly as much enthusiasm. As if it was a nervous habit, Yoichi bounced on the balls of his feet with his hands clasped behind his back, holding his own bento box.

"Where are you going? The roof is that way," He pointed up with one of his hands, frowning with confusion etched on his features.

"I'm, uh-" Yuu quickly searched for a legitimate excuse. "I need to catch up on some homework. I was going to eat in the Latin classroom."

"Oh!" Yoichi brightened, if that was even possible, considering his natural spunkiness. "Well, do you want me to join you?"

"'S alright," Yuu shook his head. "You go on with everyone else. Tell them I said hi."

"Alright, Yuichiro-kun, Yoichi began to head up the stairs. "See you later, then." Yuu mumbled a response and quickly bolted down the rest of the stairs as soon as Yoichi was out of earshot. He wandered through the halls, hearing the amiable chatter of the students eating lunch inside the classrooms. He went down another stairwell and outside to the courtyard, where it was windy, but at least he was by himself.

He sat at one of the outdoor benches by the courtyard, unpacking his bento slowly. He positioned his chopsticks and picked up a sushi roll, plopping it into his mouth. As he chewed, his mind began to wander back to yesterday.

Guilt was quickly setting in on Yuu ever since he left so suddenly without warning. Does Mika hate me? Yuu thought with disdain. Running away without an explanation... He's probably so angry he doesn't want to see me again.

Yuu came to a conclusion at the end of the lunch period after spending the entire half-hour wondering about various things and worrying. He figured in order to never hurt Mika again, he just wouldn't ever go back. Then Mika would forget about him and live the best life possible: one without him.

Yes, Yuu decided firmly. That's the best way to go.