One

"Yuma… Yuma!". The 17-year-old boy shot up in the hammock in the attic, which was still his preferred bed and room, despite the fact that he did actually have a proper bedroom and a proper bed too. "What? Who? What? Where?" he asked sleepily, eyes only half-open. They quickly focused on a blue figure hovering in front of him, arms crossed over its chest, looking mildly irritated. "Astral!" Yuma exclaimed, startled at first, though he quickly recovered as Astral spoke again. "Yuma, really?" he said. "Now what did I do?!" Yuma asked, pouting somewhat. "You are going to be late for school – Again" Astral responded. Yumas' eyes widened. "What? No way!" he said, glancing out the window, just in time to see Karis car pulling out of the driveway and speeding off. "Oh man!" Yuma exclaimed, jumping out of bed, stubbing his left-foot toes on a wooden chest nearby when he did so and swearing colorfully because of it, as he quickly tossed on his school uniform and dashed downstairs, Astral following him down with a resigned sigh.

"4 years since I first met you, and still no change in your ability to get up in time. You really should have learned this by now" he commented, as Yuma grabbed his schoolbag, before snatching some leftover rice-balls from the previous nights' dinner into a lunchbox and stuffing another into his mouth, before continuing out the door in 4 jumps, heading for his usual bus-stop some 200 meters away.

"Eating while running… Again" Astral said as he flew beside Yuma "exactly like 4 years ago. Are you certain it has really been that long?". "Hey! Not fair Astral! You could just have woken me up sooner if you're that worried about me!" Yuma responded, half-choking on a bite of food as he did. "Not with the hour at which YOU go to bed, Yuma" the blue-skinned alien replied "as I am also worried that you are not getting enough sleep. It is not healthy you know. You could get very ill". "Nah, I'm fine Astral!" Yuma said, sending the other a bright smile "but thanks for worrying about me!". "Oh, fine are you?" Astral commented dryly, as the bus they had to catch passed them, heading for the bus-stop.

"Then I suppose your runny nose and coughing fits are nothing for me to be worried about either?". "Astral! I told you, I just have a cold! Now, quit distracting me already, the bus is about to leave!" Yuma replied, quickly swallowing the last bites of his breakfast before waving his hand in the air for the bus-driver to stop the bus again, which had just started to pull out to leave. Luckily, the driver saw him, and he hopped into the bus, showing his ticket and then heading for the very back of the bus, like always, after having received a none too pleased look from the driver (it was one of the regular ones though, and so he was used to Yuma often being late).

"Whew, too close" Yuma said in a faint voice to himself, though Astral, invisible to all but Yuma, were still hovering beside him. "You can say that again" the blue being agreed. The bus drive was half an hour long, through the thick traffic of the city, and had Yuma not caught the bus, he would have been at least an hour and a half late for school.

10 minutes into the drive, Yuma was nodding off, just as another coughing fit overtook him, making his shoulders shake as he rode it out. Astral looked at him with worried eyes, then hovered over the seat beside him (unconsciously, the one to Yumas' right, which was behind another seat, and not the one that was open to the rest of the bus, though theoretically only Yuma (and a few others, who had achieved the power to do so through various, different means) could see him and only Yuma, touch him, because of the Emperors Key). Placing a transparent hand on Yumas shoulder, Astral then asked softly "are you certain I should not be worried about this? You seem to be getting worse Yuma, not better".

Yuma glanced at him through half-closed eyes as he leaned his head back against the seat, pulling his bag closer to himself so he didn't take up too much space. "There's no use in worrying Astral. It's a cold, caused by a virus. There's nothing anyone can do about it, not even a doctor" he replied and Astral sighed. "Still, the least you could do was get some proper sleep. Sleep has helped cure you before, when you were running a fever" he responded. "You remember that huh?" Yuma commented in a low tone and Astral nodded. "Of course, I do" he replied "at that time, I too became ill after all. And even then, you had me worried for you".

Yuma smiled softly. He and Astral were partners, officially recognized as such in Astral world, as well as by Yumas' family and friends, although it was not widely known, seeing as Astral was invisible to all, except his other half and a few others. In the past, they had been worrying quite a lot about one another, with either one of them willing to sacrifice their life for the other, and Astral actually having done so once, which had completely broken Yumas' heart, leaving him depressed and locked up in his loft alone, for weeks, only coming down to use the bathroom (if he'd even done that).

But Yuma had finally succeeded in bringing Astral back, with the good will of all Astral Worlds inhabitants, and he and the alien had gone all out, saving not only Astral World and Barian World, but Earth as well, before they had parted for a time. Once the issues that had arisen after Yuma had beaten Astral in their final, fated duel, had been resolved to the best of Astrals' abilities and Astral had re-joined the two worlds of Barian and Astral using the Numeron Code, the alien had been allowed to return to Yuma to stay with him for as long as he desired, unless summoned to aid his world in another way.

Shortly after, Yuma had fallen terribly ill with a very high fever, which in the end had resulted in his admittance to the local hospital for three whole days, doing which Astral, as well as the Key, had been left at home, far from his partner. This, in turn, had made Astral ill too, which Yuma had found out about only when he returned home from the hospital. It had taken another 4 days for Astral to recover enough to aid Yuma in anything again, let alone hover to move around as he preferred.

So yes, Astral did indeed remember that time, very well. As such, it was also a fact that after they had become an item (and even before either one of them realized their feelings towards one another), Astrals lifeforce was tied closely to that of Yuma, even to such a point that it would diminish in a duel, whenever Yuma took damage to his life-points.

Yuma sighed. "I don't know Astral… Maybe you should be worried… But what if I promise to tell Grandma and Sis if I get worse? Would you be able to accept that?" he said in a low whisper, glancing at the blue alien. "That would be agreeable" Astral replied, sending a smile back to his beloved.

Yuma nodded, then leaned his head back against the seat once more and closed his eyes again. "I'm gonna take a little nap, okay Astral? You know where we usually have to get off, right?" he said. "Indeed" Astral responded "I will wake you when we are close". "Thanks Astral" Yuma said, and soon he'd dozed off.

Astral hovered in silence, observing his other half. He liked watching Yuma sleep. It was comforting to him, in many ways. But it was also obvious to him, even without having to use his telepathic abilities which he had so often in the past to communicate with Yuma, that the young man was quite ill. This worried him greatly, and not just because he always worried about Yuma, loving him with all his being, but also because of what was coming. He had intended to inform Yuma of it this morning, but the other had been so preoccupied and in need of speed, that he had not been given the chance to do so. He would have to soon though. He knew this.

It was already starting, though it was very faint in the beginning, but it would get worse and worse for every day, until it peaked, in roughly one weeks' time. And undoubtedly, Yuma would be affected by it as well, being Astrals partner as he was. And his symptoms too, would become stronger and stronger as the days passed. He HAD to be informed! But with him as ill as he seemed now, and apparently getting worse, Astral wasn't exactly pleased at the thought of burdening him even further.

Astral would surely need him though. What he was about to go through, required the willing aid of his partner. His mate. Normally it would be a female Astralian. But this time, it would be a human male. Astral wondered if things would perhaps be different with a mate like that, but he had no reference to learn from, so unfortunately, he would have to just… go with the flow. Not exactly a comforting thought, to the blue alien. What if Yuma got hurt because of his time? What if his human body couldn't handle what Astral knew it would have to? What then would he be able to do? He could not, WOULD not, find another partner, not even if it was just for these few days. He would rather die, than betray his beloved.

And if Yumas body couldn't handle what was to come, Astral would surely do just that. And then Yuma too, the alien feared, would be lost…