𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀

7

The day wasn't getting any better for Shouta, however. Halfway through the school day he was thinking that he should just call in sick and go back home, but then he saw Hizashi's smug look when he'd figure out that he had been right and Shouta decided to stay in school out of spite, even if it ended up killing him. He'd rather be dead than see Hizashi being right about something.

But whatever he had been experiencing this morning it only got worse. He was way more tired and felt like he was about to fall asleep standing any second now. He was way grumpier because of that, too. And then there was the whole issue with the smells and sounds and movements. Shouta felt like he couldn't properly focus on anything anymore. Not for long anyway.

And when he tried to focus it just took everything out of him and he wanted to go to bed. All of that nonsense was giving him a headache, too. Plus, he felt strangely itchy. He would blame it all on a lack of sleep, because that's just what it sounded like, right? There was only one problem with that.

Shouta was very well acquainted with the effects lack of sleep had on him. He had gone days without sleep at a time. And no matter how long he had been sleepless, these symptoms just didn't really check out for him. This had never happened to him and he had also not been lacking that much sleep. It was only a few hours, which at this point was fairly normal for him. So Shouta really doubted that that was the cause of the entire issue. But what did he know, right?

Hizashi sure seemed to think that he had it all figured out. He was very insistent that Shouta needed to go home and rest and he made no secret of that. Not even in the teacher's lounge. So Shouta found himself trying to get through his lunch break while everyone around him kept bothering him about taking a break and how was he feeling and why was he still here if he wasn't doing well.

It was annoying. Really, really annoying and Shouta found himself resenting Hizashi more and more for that. So he was glad that he had another hour of free time where he could just sit in the teacher's lounge and where he was almost completely by himself except for Nemuri who thankfully empathised with his struggle. Shouta found it strange that she didn't double down on everything Hizashi said, but maybe she was actually feeling sorry for him for once. Who knew.

At least she wasn't asking him dumb questions and wasn't hassling him about going home or seeing a doctor or resting or whatever. Shouta didn't need rest, he needed to be left alone and there was a very distinct difference between the two that very few people seemed to fully appreciate. Or maybe Shouta was just being a hermit, as usual. Both options were pretty possible.

Shouta leaned back and rubbed his eyes. The papers he was supposed to grade were killing him. It was extremely difficult today for him to string together the words his students had written, almost as if he was losing his knowledge of language or something stupid like that. Which was ridiculous, he could speak and read and write just fine. Except for today for some reason.

His hands went down to his cheeks. They were especially itchy today, almost as if he had shaved and his beard was growing back fresh, but he hadn't shaved. It was weird. He scratched his cheeks and then his head. There were two spots on his head that just seemed to be itchy for no reason as well and it was annoying. Shouta had checked and there wasn't any reason for his scalp to be this itchy - no wounds, no previous scratches, nothing at all that would explain this. And Shouta liked to pride himself on taking very good care of his hair and rarely ever getting dandruff or greasy hair. So this was really bugging him a lot, on top of everything else.

And then there was a weird strain on his back as well, but he didn't even pay much mind to that. Shouta had had a bad posture ever since he was born, so this wasn't really something new. It was just one more thing that was absolutely driving him insane today, but not really a thing he usually worried about. There were more pressing matters to figure out right now. Like how to get back to normal.

And also why Nemuri was glaring at him as if he had just offended her entire family. Not that she would mind much, she was pretty relaxed about what people said about her family, but still. There seemed to be something bothering her and despite his better knowledge, Shouta decided to glance at her and try and figure out what might be wrong. She was still looking at him and just before the eye contact could get uncomfortable, Shouta decided to finally open his mouth.

"So what's on your mind, Nem?" he wanted to know. She just shrugged and looked at him with coveted interest.

"Oh, nothing. Why do you keep scratching your head?" she asked. Oh. That was what that was about.

"Because it's itchy." he answered, grinning in triumph. Nemuri had always been jealous about how little trouble his long hair was giving him. Every other day she was complaining about dandruff or split ends or greasy hair or finding grey hair and it was the most amusing thing for Shouta to flex on her with his fur... Hair. With his hair. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Any hair trouble, Shou?" she wanted to know. Her voice sounded as if she couldn't care less, but Shouta knew exactly how much she was waiting for him to admit to having some sort of problem. Too bad that his hair was completely fine. And even if it wasn't, he wouldn't give her that kind of satisfaction.

"No hair trouble at all." he replied with a big grin. He could see her grimacing for just a second. She really thought she had him, didn't she? Well, Shouta might be feeling like shit today, but this still wouldn't work on him. He was almost proud that even though his entire body and mind was going to shit, his hair was still there doing fine and being on his side. At least one thing.

"Then why's your head itchy?" Nemuri asked. She seemed genuinely confused and also seemed to not really believe him. But that didn't matter, because Nemuri might actually have an idea what was happening here. She was usually good at figuring out this kind of stuff, so maybe she had an idea.

"No clue. Honestly, I checked if it was a problem with my hair or my scalp or anything, but I don't seem to be able to find anything. It's definitely not the hair." Shouta answered with a shrug. Nemuri sighed.

"Well, first of all, fuck you and your perfect hair." she told him, making Shouta chuckle to himself a little. Nemuri being so jealous of his hair was one of his favourite things in the entire world. It was one of the few things that brought him genuine and childlike joy and he never wanted to give that up for anything.

"Noted." he just replied.

"How is your sleep schedule looking lately?" she wanted to know. Shouta shrugged.

"As irregular as usual. But I've been getting about the same amount of sleep I usually get, there was just one time when I missed out on a few hours, that's all. I don't really think it's sleep related."

"Well, you always fail to realize how many things are sleep related, but okay. It might be that your brain is just making you itchy so you'll finally get some rest. I dislike agreeing with him, but Hizashi might actually be right for once." she told him. Shouta shot her a glare, feeling betrayed. Not too much, but just a little.

"Seriously? You're agreeing with him?"

"Yeah, I mean it's not entirely unreasonable. It's actually very reasonable. You've been looking stressed as fuck all week."

"That's because I have been stressed as fuck all week. What's your point?"

"That is exactly my point! You've been stressed, you missed out on some sleep and maybe you even caught some weird virus. And you're still here, somehow struggling through the day. No wonder your body's fed up with you at some point. You should really go and get some rest." Nemuri reasoned. Shouta looked at her grimly for a few seconds, before sighing and turning back to his papers.

"I'll pull through this week and if I'm not better after the weekend, I'll consider it."