3000 Stars

Slowly Losing It

"Have you slept at all in the past week?" Hoseok demanded.

Taehyung looked at him blankly, then turned back to the empty worksheet on his desk, leaning on one hand as he stared at it. Hoseok was right to be worried, but Taehyung couldn't bring himself to care. He got himself out of bed, didn't he? He was exhausted. Between training and nightmares he would be surprised to find he had anything like twelve hours of sleep.

It was paying off. His rank had risen to 966, then 950 after he participated in a weekend free-for-all that left his powers depleted and his head spinning. Between that and Dreyk and Zen's silence, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing.

He knew they thought he was stupid.

But he had backed himself into a corner. He couldn't run away.

Besides... the arena continued to call to him. He needed the fighting just as badly as he needed to sleep and eat. He knew if he tried to run away again, it would destroy him. He would shatter, and something would happen. He wasn't sure what. And he didn't want to find out.

Hoseok shook him, scowling. "You need to rest! I don't know what you're doing, but it's not safe!"

No kidding, Taehyung thought sleepily, rubbing his forehead. He had fights later in the day, but perhaps he could get away with a short nap beforehand. He needed something to be wrapped around, something that would help him feel secure, and his blanket wasn't helping. He would have to set some kind of alarm so he wouldn't drop ranks because of a forfeit.

Yoongi's rank had risen to 945.

The gap terrified Taehyung. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Yoongi made it to the top, much less if he made it for a year. If they got into the top five hundred both of them would cement their ranks, gathering enough supporters to remain at max power. After that, it was only a matter of time.

But Taehyung couldn't quit. Not again.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hoseok asked.

Taehyung sighed, standing and leaving the worksheet behind. He would survive without it. He wasn't aiming for high grades anyway. He swayed as the blood rushed to his head, but when he picked up his bag it seemed to pass, leaving him more clear-headed than he had been in his chair. Taehyung walked toward the classroom door, and Hoseok followed him, still scowling.

"You should go to the nurse's office and rest!" he said. "You're not going to get anything done feeling like that!"

Taehyung sighed, rubbing his forehead again. Maybe he would go to the nurse's office. They were generally understanding of students lacking sleep. He had a headache besides. It would be nice to lie down for a little while.

"Oh? Taehyung, what's wrong?" Namjoon asked.

Taehyung glared at him, moving to pass by, and heard Hoseok mutter that he'd been pulling some form of all-nighter and wouldn't listen to him. He felt a rush of anger and exasperation. Why did Hoseok always have to act like this? It was embarrassing to be tailed by a mother hen at school as well as at home.

His parents weren't blind. They knew he was tired, and his mother had left the therapist's number on the fridge with a pointed look that morning. Taehyung didn't care. He wouldn't go back to the therapist. He would defeat Yoongi. He just had to get a few hours of sleep to throw them off his tail before they followed him to the training arena and found out what he was doing.

"Taehyung?" Yoongi called.

Taehyung turned, startled. As he did, Yoongi shouted a warning, and Taehyung felt an impact on the side of his head. The world dissolved for a moment, and then he was lying on the floor, staring up at Yoongi.

"Hoseok's getting a nurse," Yoongi said.

Taehyung stared at him, squinting in confusion. What had happened? He started to get up and Yoongi pushed him back down, shaking his head.

"You hit your head pretty hard. You probably shouldn't move."

"I'm fine," Taehyung grumbled.

"No, you're not," Yoongi said. "You're lucky you're not in the arena, you might have to take the day off."

Oh, fxck. Taehyung shook his head, rolling onto his side and curling into a ball. Yoongi pressed a hand into his side, probably trying to steady him, but Taehyung wrapped his arms around his head and forced himself to breathe. He couldn't break down in front of Yoongi. Not here, not now. If he did, he might reveal himself, and the whole school would find out instead of just one person.

Though, if Yoongi was the type to post fighting results and let the whole school know that Taehyung was an illusionist, they would probably find out anyway. Taehyung forced himself to stay still, even when the approaching footsteps made his head ring.

"What happened?" the nurse asked.

"He walked straight into the lockers," Yoongi said.

Taehyung laughed, then regretted it as his head throbbed. The nurse sighed.

"Can you help me get him up? It should be alright. He can rest in the infirmary for a bit."

"Yeah, sure," Yoongi said. Together they lifted Taehyung, and Taehyung pressed his lips together, hoping he wouldn't throw up.

Yoongi was already going to hate him enough as it was. He didn't need to add making his clothes dirty to that list.