Vile: And I am back once more, people! Here is Numbershot 37!

Kotori: I'm getting a bad feeling already.

Vile: Jeez, and I haven't even started the fic! Have I tormented you THAT much?

Kotori: *shoots me a "Did you seriously just ask that?" look*

Vile: All right, all right! Jeez. I think I'm gonna stop adding a disclaimer to my stories, because you all know I don't own the characters and cards of ZEXAL. At any rate, enjoy!

Numbershot 37: Unhealthy Competition

Chapter 1

"Ding, dong, ding, dong…" The bell for the school break rung, and the students left their classes to enjoy their break, eating their lunches along the way. Speaking of which, this is where we find our favorite group of Duelists today: Chowing down in an open break area.

"Itadakimasu!" Yuma chirped, eagerly digging into the lunch he had with him, seemingly forgetting the fact that other people around him (or he just didn't care). This had some of the others, namely Tetsuo, Shark, and Tokunosuke snickering at him.

"Are we sure Yuma-kun isn't a vacuum cleaner, Ura?" Tokunosuke joked, making Hikaya giggle.

"Nah, he's just a little piggy." Tetsuo followed up, making the three snickering boys laugh like heck.

Yuma shot them a look, but kept eating. "Don't knock it, guys!" He said with his mouth full. He gulped his food. "When you're eating something good, you can't help but get it in your mouth quickly!"

"Yeah, but eating too fast can make you sick, Yuma." Kotori told him.

"Ah, you worry too much." Yuma said with his trademark grin. "I've always been a fast eater, and look how well I've turned out!"

"That's questionable…" Takashi nearly whispered.

"I heard that!" Yuma shouted. This made the others laugh.

Then, Cathy heard someone sit in a space next to her. She looked and saw a boy, same age as them, shorter than most of them but taller than Tokunosuke and Hikaya, with light green hair and yellow eyes, getting out a piece of his lunch. He was wearing the standard uniform, but what Cathy really noticed was his skin: It was very pale, almost as if he should've been dead. His nose, however, looked bright red. His eyes also appeared red, as if he hardly got any sleep. The boy apparently noticed her looking at him and gave her an annoyed look. "Can I help you?" He said rudely. His voice sounded stuffed.

Cathy recoiled, but narrowed her eyes. "Jeez, no need to be rude."

"Hmph. You didn't have to stare. What, you've never seen a sick kid before?" His sentence was followed by a sneeze, some snot coming out of his nose (which he sniffed up).

Cathy and Takashi (who also sat near the kid) backed up. "Uh… bless you." Takashi said.

"Stow it, loser." The kid said, closing his lunch box and getting up. "I don't want your sympathy, nor do I need it." As he walked away, they could hear him mumbling. "Stupid healthy jerkwads. Coming down on sick kids like me with all the 'bless you's and 'excuse you's and junk like that." Three coughs were heard from him.

"Jeez, show a guy a little sympathy and he insults you." Shark mused. "What's his deal?"

They kept their eyes on the odd kid, who sat down alone and resumed eating his lunch. He kept a scowl on his face, sniffling every so often. "Haiga!" A voice called. The sick boy's ears perked up, and his head rose: Apparently that was his name. Then, they saw an adult woman running toward the boy. She was dressed like a nurse. "Haiga, what are you doing out here?"

"Eating." Haiga told her, resuming his lunch. "What's it to you?"

"Haiga, you are supposed to be in the infirmary. Did you forget that you were sick?" The woman asked.

Haiga quickly closed his lunch box again. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this. I am NOT staying in that bloody infirmary. I do not need your sympathy or your care. I am perfectly fine." He shot her a glare. "In case you haven't paid attention to my medical records, my illness is not contagious, so I can be around people. And my everyday movement has not been affected, so I reiterate: I… am… FINE."

The woman sighed. "Your parents warned me about your stubbornness. Haiga, research was done. Your illness IS contagious. Several students from your past school ended up sick after hanging around you. You have to stay away from people."

Haiga shrugged his shoulders. "What do I care?" He looked around at the other kids. "All of them… acting all high and mighty because they aren't sick like me. It makes me sicker than I already am. Now that someone decided to tell me that my illness is contagious, I should go make them all sick just to take them down a peg or two." The nurse gasped. "But I'm better than that. Sickening them out of spite is pathetic. I'll wait for them to get sick by natural causes, then I'll see just how tough they are." Haiga got up off the bench. "Go back to your infernal post. Class is going to start soon, so I've got somewhere to get to." He began to walk to his next class, but he was grabbed from behind by the nurse, which angered him. "What the devil are you doing?"

"I'm not playing around, Haiga. I'm taking you back to the infirmary." She said, her mask pulled up over her mouth and nose.

Haiga gained a tic mark. "Blasted nurse, let go of me!" He growled, tilting his hand and biting her arm.

"Ouch!" The nurse yelled, letting go of him as she recoiled.

Haiga jumped away from her, spitting at the ground. "I hope that bite makes you as sick as I am, you bloody harpy!" He growled, sneezing. "From now one, keep your hands off me! If I want your support, I'll ask for it!" With that, Haiga rushed away toward the school building.

The nurse saw that his bite didn't go through her skin, so she wouldn't catch his illness from it. She sighed as she watched Haiga run to the building. "What am I going to do with him…?"

"What was that about, Miss?" The nurse heard a voice say. She turned and saw Kotori in front of her, the others with her.

The nurse sighed again. "Haiga has been diagnosed with a contagious illness. He's been sick since he was 8, but he won't listen to anything doctors are telling him to do. He won't stay in an infirmary, he won't eat any good foods, and he won't take any medicine. His parents warned us that he was an independent and rebellious boy, but we didn't know he'd be this bad."

"You'd think he'd be a little more willing to listen to orders or advice that would help him feel better!" Shark said.

"He used to stay in bed as he should've, but over time, I guess he couldn't take being stuck in one place while life went by. After a year, he just stopped doing his treatments and demanded he be treated normally. Even though he went back to school, no one would go near him because he was sick. As a result, he started hating those that weren't sick, especially those who work in nursing or medical areas. I even saw him laughing when he was watching a hospital burn. I think he's mentally sick as well as physically."

Yuma stepped forward. "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll keep an eye on him. If something bad goes down, we'll make sure he gets to the infirmary."

The nurse smiled. "Arigatou. Can I get your names?"

"I'm Yuma." The boy said, also giving the names of his friends.

*Meanwhile*

Haiga had a scowl on his face as he walked through the building. 'Accursed nurse… Four years, yet she STILL doesn't realize I don't need or want her help. Oh, how I wish I could make her sick… I wish I could make everyone sick… Then they'd see that I am truly stronger than them.' A sneeze finished his thought. He had no idea that a figure in the shadows had heard every word…

Vile: So we've got a stubborn sick kid and a shadowy figure. It's a bad result no matter which way you do the math.

Yuma: *flipping through the script of the fic* *eyes rest on a certain area* *eyes widen* The heck? You're having me end up-

Vile: *slaps hand over Yuma's mouth* Dude! No spoilers! Haven't you learned that?

Shark and Tetsuo: *facepalm while shaking heads*

Vile: *sighs* Close call, huh, viewers? If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! See ya next time!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.