worn out.

F For Fatigue

Atsu was tired, staring at the blackboard in the front of the alien teachers desk from his hidden seat in the very back of his class. The kanji on the board is written neatly in chalk, in perfect sync with the pace the children could write and copy it from the blackboard. He'd ran back into class as soon as she'd kissed him. He changed back into his uniform, his tie was strangling him, like a noose, but he was to tired to notice. Not like he cared anyway.

He wanted to sleep, and couldn't find a reason as why not to.

His head was in his arms, eyelids dropped from their original place on his skull, closed. Flaps of skin folded over his eyes so he could succumb to the darkness. The lullaby of pencil on paper sending him to a place he'd rather not be. Not that he knew it was coming.

It's fur was white. It was, he swore.

The bird was also white, it was a dove that he'd found on the road.

Her dress was once white too.

"Hey, Atsu-chan, wake up will ya'?" That's what woke him up, hours later. The mischievous voice of the redhead that sat a seat away from him. The tan hand had slammed on his weathered desk, but yet he did not jolt. He did not scream, and Karma Akabane had made it his mission to scare the ever loving crap out of the pale boy in front of him.

Karma had found interest in his little outburst earlier, Atsu could tell, the sadist was entertained by his rarely shown pain. Not that he cared, because he didn't, he didn't care. He sighed as he turned to look to the side out the window. He had realized three things. All of his classmates were gone, was the first thing he noticed. The window had no shine, the sky faded to darker blues. The sun created sparkles on the dirty glass, almost carelessly through clouds and birds that float through the dark sky. Then he turned his head straight to look past the teen in front of him. The clock read six fourteen. He was screwed, was the second thing.

The sudden ringing of pain in his cheeks had him remember the rules of curfew, was his third.

Atsu slowly got up, his ashen eyes fatigued and still full of much needed slumber. That nightmare-- it's over. He grabbed his backpack from behind his desk. Well, he made the motion to, it wasn't there, the worn material was missing from its place.

"Looking for this?" The tan male in front of him declares, holding a tattered knapsack in his grip. The dull fabric is faded and washed out from the countless times it was caught in the rain due to the owner not having an umbrella to cover it with. The strings are flying off in pairs and groups as it gets older over time.

"Yes." Replies the paler of the two responds, dark eyes seemingly somewhere else, hazed with a strange type of fog. "That's mine, I believe."

A kind of tired sleep can't fix.

"Hey, Atsu-chan? Why are you always so formal?" The taller of the two grinned, it was obviously a ploy to belittle him, but the other boy could not find it in himself to search for that. He simply did not care.

"Formal?" He was stalling for time now, he realized, his sleepy self dissipating now. He wasn't looking forward to getting home this late, the punishment would by far exceed the other ones. He is tired. He rubs at the dark under his eyes, then he yawns. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you always act formal. You introduce yourself formally and you speak respectably to everyone. Guess you got sent here because of your grades then?" The golden eyed male responded, licking his lips as his eyes, bright as the sun, bore into Atsu's eyes. It was grey and gold, they are simply not ment to be. The colors clash, the sun is hidden behind a cloud, or maybe a bird, but it is hidden nonetheless, and the room is dark now. Dust has infested the room, covering the countless wooden boards with a layer of grime and dirt from the outside. Atsu is like the dust, he hides in the dark.

"I suppose my parents taught me to be like this. And, no, my grades are alright, I suppose." Was Atsu's thought on the first matter. Though it wasn't teaching, more like beating him everytime he messed up until it became a habit. And it did. It is a habit. But it doesn't matter anymore, his parents do not care anymore, the beatings have no reason. There is no discipline behind them. They are for fun, his parents are sadistic, and he's come to accept that.

And he sighs, because he knows this already. He knows it cannot change. His leg itches, the bandages are loose. He needs to get home, his poor sister.

"Look, Akaban—

"Call me Kama, everyone here does." The briefcase is dropped on his desk with a loud thump, and the golden eyed boy leaves the room. And unbeknownst to them both, the redhead is not looking for sadistic amusement from the other one in the room and the dull teen is finally enthralled by someone, by something, and he has no idea.

And then the dog is back in Atsu's head, it is snarling and whimpering and no longer white. And Atsu, despite the compulsive need to reach for the olive branch his classmate has lended his way, makes the decision he must drown in an infinite sea of crimson. It appears the color always finds away to see him again.

Then he realizes, that, that boy, his hair is red.

F is for Fatigue;

You have left me intrigued

But because I am so tired, I may not see

My dire pain and my ever growing greed

I may be blind to your happy expression

To your anger and your fear or your cold first impression

Do you remember it was snowing?

On that cold December day

Do you remember the rain was flowing?

Do you remember what to say?

Because I can't not remember, what had happened that night

That a particular bird was left without its flight

And how that little white dog was dyed crimson red?

Do you remember the day she fell and dropped dead?