[u][h3]Kuhaku Shiro - Combat Class[/h3][/u]

Tried as he might, Shiro couldn't find himself focusing on the fights that followed after his and Luke's. A slight, dull aching in his head slowly stole his attention away from the class. [i]"Ugh.."[/i] Suddenly feeling sick, he began to break out in a cold sweat as his eyes twitched and trembled. Grabbing at part of his face, he shut his eyes tight. Attempting to weather the storm he knew was coming.

[i]"Why does this keep happening? I didn't even use my Semblance for that long! Combined two minutes, tops!"[/i]
As if retaliating at his complaints, his growing headache sharply spiked in pain.
Pulling his hood over his ears, he buried his face in his hands as he hunched over.

Scoot, not yet having witnessed Shiro during one of his 'attacks', was confused and stood on his hind legs as he peered at his friend curiously.
[i][b]"Friend?"[/b][/i]
A high-pitched keening sound deafened him, though he could still 'hear' his telepathic friend's words. Opening his eyes and peering through his gloved fingers, he strained to see through the blurred ocean that swam in front of him. Shutting his eyes again, Shiro began inhaling and exhaling deeply and slowly. Practicing some breathing exercises that sometimes helped him through his episodes. [i]"It's okay..It's okay. I'll be okay. Everything will be alright. Just breathe. Breathe."[/i] His breath shaky and ragged. Scoot was fearful for his friend. Gingerly approaching him, Scoot nudged at Shiro's side with his nose and asked again. [i][b]"Friend?"[/b][/i]

Shiro could feel the world shifting and moving around him. He knew he was beginning to attract some unwanted attention. The concerns of the strangers around him caused them to begin to whisper. [b]"Hey, is that guy alright? Is he okay? He looks sick. Someone should see if he needs to be taken to the infirmary. Oi, someone tap his shoulder and check on him. He didn't do that badly in his fight. Is he hurt?"[/b] All of their words blocked out by the overwhelming high-pitched screeching that only Shiro could detect. With a final slow exhale, the pressure that gripped his skull in a vice grip eased off. The deafening noise fell silent and Shiro could feel his vision clear as he removed his hands from his face and blinked a few times. Sighing in relief, Shiro turned to face his little rodent friend with a smile. Only to find his friend was gone. 

[i]"Wh-what?" He was just right-"[/i]
[b]"Hey man, you good?"[/b]

Shiro felt a hand on his shoulder. The touch sending cold waves of vile revulsion shivering up his spine, freezing him. Dryly swallowing, Shiro dared to turn around in the opposite direction. He really shouldn't have. Face to face with the creatures from his nightmares, Shiro expression slowly twisted into one of abject horror as his voice caught in his throat. If he were to ever describe the creatures that he dubbed the 'Shadow Men', it would be difficult to understand exactly how they instilled such terror into the tiger faunus. Humanoid in their form, they were merely bodies composed of writhing smoke, ash, and dark shadow. They had no features other than that to speak of. No eyes. No ears. No mouths. No faces, really. No fangs or teeth. Nothing. Perhaps it was their familiar yet terribly unfamiliar and alien form that disturbed the poor boy so deep to his core. People who he used to know and recognize devolved into faceless demons that tormented and haunted him. What killed Shiro more than anything was that he knew what he was seeing and hearing wasn't real. Every doctor, every psychologist, psychiatrist, every respectable member of the medical community have told him time and time again that there was no rhyme or reason to his debilitating mental illness. MRIs and CAT scans revealed a healthy brain nestled within his skull. Physicals and various examinations from youth til present day revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Further stumping the medical professionals and only served to drain the hope out of his body. No one could give him an answer as to what was wrong with him, if there was even anything 'wrong' to begin with. 

All that he did 'know' was that nothing could stop him from witnessing the things that he did after utilizing his Semblance.
[i]"Why didn't you end him?"[/i] the Shadow Man that had its hand on his shoulder asked.
[i]"Wh-what?"[/i] the poor tiger boy asked in return.
[i]"That boy you fought."[/i]
[i]"Wh-what do you-"[/i]
[i]"Why didn't you kill him?"[/i]
[i]"It was j-just a sp-sparring match..There's no need to-"
"Weak."
"W-what?"
"You're weak."
"N-no I-"
"You know that's what everyone else thinks."
"I-.."
"You would've lost if you hadn't used your Semblance, huh?"
"..."
"You could've ended him."
"..."
"Shown them all how really strong you are. What you truly are."
"..."
"A Beast."
"N-!"[/i]

Though the Shadow man had no mouth or eyes to speak of, Shiro could feel it grin maliciously. He could feel it laughing at him. Breaking away from the Shadow man's eyeless gaze, Shiro scrambled as he frantically dug in every pocket on him that he could think of. [i]"Shit! Shit! Damn it! Fuck! Where is it?!"[/i] As he continued to search himself, he stopped as soon as he could feel the other Shadow people start to get up and move towards him. Moving closer as they began to whisper at him. Looking back up at the one closest to him, Shiro could feel himself begin to hyperventilate as his reality crumbled around him.

[i]"You can't find them. Can't you?"[/i]
Shiro could only pant in fear as a response.
[i]"Your little candies."[/i]
Shiro whirled around and felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach as a mass of the Shadow people were essentially right on top of him.
Fear getting the best of him. Shiro immediately stood and made a beeline for the exit. Which, he was thankful that he could still see. Breathing heavily as he power walked, he tried his best to ignore the other Shadow people that still sat in their seats. He didn't dare look behind him as he knew some of them would be following.

[i]"Oh, look. One of his crushes is getting cozy with someone else."
"Haha! How pathetic!"
"Aww, wook at the wittle baby trembling in his widdle booties."
"I bet you he's hungry."
"Look at that lustful gleam in his eyes!"
"He wants to kill."
"He wants to eat!"
"Monster."
"Demon."
"Freak."
"Mutant."
[/i]

Over the sound of his own ragged breathing, Shiro kept his eyes on the ground as he made his way toward Combat Class' exit repeating to himself [i]"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real!"[/i] He couldn't have hit the door any harder as he left. Now out in the hallways of Beacon, he halted in his tracks. Thankfully, with everyone at class, there were only a few of 'them' that roamed the halls. Grabbing his hood and making sure it didn't fly off as it pulled it down hard, Shiro broke out in a sprint towards his team dorm room.

[u][h3]Team Swansong's Dormitory[/h3][/u]

Stumbling and staggering Shiro practically body-slammed the door to his team's room. Instinctually, he reached into his trouser pockets to grab at a Scroll that he no longer had. Remembering, he audibly growled and banged his fist against the door. [b]"AGH, DAMN IT!"[/b] Still trying to keep himself in check, he peeled off the elbow-length black glove he wore on his right arm. Carefully unraveling the bandages that covered his forearm to only reveal his fingertips, he was thankful that Beacon was a technologically modern academy. Didn't have your Scroll? As long as your biometrics were properly saved and stored in the school's database and registered to the correct room, you could still get in. He had heard some other student in his class was locked out of his room after showering. Why the boy hadn't thought of that, Shiro couldn't know.

The door beeped and clicked, signalling that it had unlocked. Breathing another sigh of relief, he hastily re-wrapped his arm and slipped his glove back on as he burst into the room. Stopping again, he saw the mess that he had forgotten to organize and clean up and growled again. [b]"GAH, DAMN IT AGAIN!"[/b] It would take him even longer to find what he needed because of his laziness. Upon Shiro's graduation from Signal and eventual transfer to Beacon Academy, his medical records followed him and was shared with the medical staff of Beacon. During the first few days of orientation, Beacon's doctors were well aware of Shiro's mental ailments and the side effects that followed him using his Semblance. They had prescribed him a series of antipsychotics that Shiro seldom used or kept on him to help combat the delusions that he witnessed to help him lead a normal life. Though there was hardly any concrete proof of it and his symptoms didn't fall in line with it, the medical personnel reasoned that he possibly had some form of what they called 'chronic hallucinatory psychosis'. Shiro wasn't sure what it meant, but he kept the medication amongst his things regardless. They never seemed to do much for him, other than make him sick, sleepy, and drain his energy. So, he rarely ever took his meds like he should have and kept it as much as a secret as he could from his friends and teammates. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

And right now, Shiro was desperate to prevent his attacks from driving him absolutely insane so early on in the day. Something brushed against his body and caused him to yell out in surprise. Practically jumping out of his skin as he crashed into some nearby dressers. Hand on his chest as it visibly heaved, he was relieved to see his friend Scoot. [b]"Scoot! Scoot, you gotta help me. I-I'm looking for an orange bottle with a white cap on it, can you help me find it? I really need it, right now! I-it has some little...uhh...rocks in it!"[/b] He prayed that the Scoot he saw was the actual ferret.

Scoot blinked and tilted his head. Shiro then wondered if ferrets were colorblind. Shaking his head, he let out an exasperated sigh as he continued to dig through his mess of belongings to locate his pills. Scoot sniffed and looked around before helping his friend. After a few minutes, Shiro found the rattling orange pill bottle and scrambled to the connected bathroom. Standing at the sink, he struggled for a moment before he opened the bottle and tossed two of the tablets into his mouth. Setting the bottle down on the counter, he turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the stream of water. Collecting enough liquid in his gloved hands, he brought his hands to his face and gulped down the tablets. Turning off the faucet he stalked back the main room and snatched up Abel's detestable alarm clock. Bringing it with him into the bathroom, he stopped and turned back towards the open door of his dorm. Seeing the curious heads of the Shadow people peeking through, Shiro bolted into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. With the sole and heel of his boots, he kept his legs pressed against the door to prevent any of 'them' from coming in.

[b]"GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"[/b] He screamed at them.
With a shaking hand, he set Abel's alarm clock on the ground next to him.
The medicine the doctors gave him was supposedly fast acting. If 10-to-15 minutes was 'fast-acting'.
Removing his combined weapons from his back, he hugged them tightly to his chest for comfort as he lay on the ground of the bathroom. His back up against the bathroom sink counter.
[i]"Count backwards from 60 seconds and repeat. Inhale slow, exhale slow."[/i]
Staring at the clock as he began his practice, he waited for the medication to take effect.
Scoot stood at his side, still terribly concerned for his friend. Alternating between looking at the bathroom door and to Shiro.
[i]"60...59...58..."[/i]
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He would have to remember to keep some tablets with him at all times.
[i]"57...56...55..."[/i]
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Maybe in some discreet pouch he could keep with Scoot.
[i]"54...53...52..."[/i]
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He didn't think to bring any with him because he was afraid he would drop or lose it during his match.
He could've still kept some with Scoot as he sat in the stands.
[i]"51...50...49..."[/i]
Breathe in. Breathe out.
A knock at the bathroom door startled him.
[b]"Shiro? Are you in there? Are you okay?"[/b]
Thinking it was another delusion, he couldn't bring himself to answer.
Instead, he just kicked at the door in the hopes of scaring away whatever Shadow knocked for him.
[i]"48...47...46..."[/i]
Breathe in. Breathe out.
He felt his eyes grow heavy.
[i]"45....44...."[/i]
He struggled to keep his eyes on the time displayed on the clock.
Damn side effects. What if 'they' got to him as he slept?
No matter. Part of whatever medication they gave him had some sort of sedative in it. Within less than a minute, Shiro was out cold on the bathroom floor. The strength that came with him being awake left him. His hold on Kladenets and Perun slackened as they gently slid off of his body to rest on the ground next to him. His boots pressed up against the bathroom door also slid off as the door slowly creaked open.

Scoot, unsure of what exactly just happened, nestled close to his sleeping friend as curled himself into a ball as he lay  next to him. Deciding to stay awake to guard over his troubled companion from whatever phantoms and specters that plagued him.