I'm baaaaaaack! I really felt like writing something today, so I wrote this. It's a bit dark and very sad, but I hope you like it!

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Astral stood back against the wall of Yuma's room, his arms crossed and his expression stoic. He watched as Yuma sat at his desk scribbling away on a homework paper and noted that he was unusually moody and aggressive.

"Yuma?" Astral started. "What is the matter? What has that paper done to you?"

Yuma paused in his writing, slamming the pencil down and turning around swiftly to face the blue spirit.

"Would you just leave me alone, please?" He shrieked. "I'm trying to finish my homework and I can't do that with you running your mouth all the time!"

Astral narrowed his eyes in thought. What was bothering the boy so much? Sure, they argued a lot but Yuma's anger towards him was always more playful than harsh. Astral then thought back to the day's activities…

"Class!" Yuma's teacher cried. "I have been informed by the principal that the school board is requesting we participate in more Parent Days throughout the school year to make sure everyone is keeping up with their work!" The class grumbled in annoyance and a certain boy stiffened and shrunk down in his chair, burying his face in a book to distract himself. The teacher continued. "Please inform your parents that we will be holding our second Parent's Day of the year this Saturday at 8 am sharp! Anyone not in attendance will receive a failing grade for the day!"

Astral sighed. He felt terrible for the boy. Yuma had a habit of hiding his sadness, whether it be with laughter or anger. Astral knew that deep down the boy's mental state was deteriorating, and that in time his suffering could end in tragedy. He recalled a time when he had been waiting outside of the restroom for Yuma and the boy had unknowingly left the door cracked. He had been in there for an awful long time, and Astral had become impatient. Despite Yuma's warning not to enter said room, Astral peered through the slightly open door and was confused by what he saw. Yuma was standing in front of the mirror holding a pair of scissors to his left wrist. He did not actually do any damage, just held the device there for what felt like hours before placing them back into the medicine cabinet and exiting the restroom without a word. Another time Yuma had locked the door after he caught the spirit watching him. This time when he exited the room Astral noticed a bandage on his left wrist. Spots of blood were making their way through the thick fabric. Astral then concluded that Yuma was using his anger as a means to harm himself, and this realization horrified him.

Yuma crumpled up the piece of paper he had been writing on and threw it to the floor, bringing his elbows up onto the desk and resting his head in his hands.

"Yuma? You are upset about what your teacher said today, correct?"

Yuma didn't respond. He backed his chair up and retreated back up into the attic, Astral following suit. Yuma slammed his body down in front of the TV but did not turn in on, sitting completely still and quiet in the dark room. The only light was what was making its way in through the closed window and the glow that Astral's body gave off. Yuma turned towards him.

"What are you staring at?"

Astral was not used to such a cruel tone.

"Yuma, you do not have to take your anger out on other people. This is about the announcement made at school. You know that your sister and grandmother will be more than happy to attend, why don't you just ask them?"

Yuma sighed in annoyance. "It's not the same thing. Everyone else will have there parent's there except me."

"You are not the only person in the world without your parents." Astral responded.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You don't have parent's either. You know what, Astral? Not everything is about you." Yuma retorted. He stood from where he was sitting and retreated back downstairs and towards the bathroom. Astral became worried as he once again recalled the last time the boy had entered that room during a fit of rage.

"Yuma!" Astral called quietly. "Yuma…please don't hurt yourself."

Yuma stopped, spinning around to face his ghostly counterpart.

"Mind your own business, Astral!" He shouted, thankful that his sister and grandmother were not actually home at the moment to hear their altercation.

Astral tried again. "Yuma, please believe me when I tell you that everything will be alright. There are other ways to handle your emotions."

"Whatever, Dr. Know-It-All," the boy grumbled. "Just leave me alone!"

"But isn't that the problem?" Astral questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Yuma sneered.

"You're alone." Astral responded. "That is your problem."

Yuma rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration and anger. He stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door. Astral heard a 'click' as the door locked behind him.

The near empty house was eerily quiet. Astral could hear Yuma mumbling to himself from behind the bathroom door but he couldn't understand anything he was saying. It became silent again. Astral was unsure as to how much time had actually passed before he heard more noises. This time, crying. Yuma was crying. Astral could feel his heart breaking into impossibly small pieces with each sob echoing from the boy. Suddenly, a thud. More silence. Too much silence. Astral swallowed the lump in his throat and waited. Nothing.

Astral always heeded Yuma's warnings not to enter the bathroom at the risk of killing the boy, but Astral was beginning to think that that had been a lie. Nothing happened when he had seen the boy through the crack in the door, so nothing would happen now.

Astral passed through the door and prepared for the worst. Yuma was curled into a ball on the floor next to the bathtub, still crying, but silently. On the sink sat the infamous pair of scissors, but they appeared to be untouched. From what Astral could see, there was no sign of blood anywhere in the room or on the boy's body, and hopefully Yuma had finally come to his senses.

"Get out!"

Astral jumped. Yuma screamed the words again.

"GET OUT!" Yuma unraveled himself and shot to his feet, he yelled the phrase repeatedly, backing Astral into a corner.

"Get. Out. Get. Out. Get out, get out, get out! Go away! Get away from me!"

Suddenly, Yuma began throwing punches at Astral's translucent body, his fists thrashing straight through the spirit. Although there was no contact, Astral was still frightened and shocked. He floated to different areas of the relatively small bathroom but the boy followed, still trying his absolute hardest to physically attack the blue ghost. When the punches briefly stopped, Astral took the chance to focus his powers, allowing himself to temporarily become solid. The punches started again, but before they could make contact Astral reached out and grabbed Yuma's wrist, startling him. Yuma tried to yank his arm away but Astral's grip held. Yuma tried with his other hand but Astral repeated the action.

Yuma stared up at the spirit in shock as Astral's grip on his wrists tightened even more. He fought to get away but Astral roughly pushed him against the wall and lowered him to the floor in an attempt to contain him. He pinned Yuma on his back, his hands above his head and his legs kicking wildly. After several minutes of fitful struggling, Yuma gave up. His anger immediately switched to agony and he broke down into tears. Astral released his hold on Yuma's wrists and the boy covered his face to hide his tears. Astral lightly petted a hand through his hair, trying to calm him. After what felt like an eternity, Astral heard Yuma mumbling again.

"I'm sorry," the boy whispered. "I'm sorry, Astral. I'm so sorry."

Astral shook his head feverishly and held back his own tears. He now realized that the more Yuma shouted at him to leave the more he truly needed him to stay. Yuma was desperate for any sort of love and affection at his point, and Astral wanted to provide that for him.

"Shh," Astral cooed lightly to the boy, still grazing his fingers through his hair. Yuma sat himself up and without warning threw his arms around Astral, clinging to the alien's back and digging his nails into his briefly solid skin. Astral returned the gesture as Yuma buried his face into his shoulder.

"Please don't ever leave me, Astral," he begged quietly. "Please!"

Astral ran his hands up and down the boys back, rocking him gently.

"Never, Yuma." He whispered back.

"I will never leave you."

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Okay, well, there you go! Like I said, kinda dark and very sad but I really wanted to write it. I think that Yuma does use various methods to hide his sadness, and maybe in a future episode it will come out a little more. Not to this extent, of course. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this! (As much as you can enjoy depression and sadness) I'll see you at my next fic!