He had been trying this every night for months, adding not only this nightly run, but even more physical training exercises and to everyone’s surprise extra fencing and sword fighting drills.Īlthough his skills did improve, his original mission of ‘Wearing Himself Down So He Could Get Some Sleep’ was anything but successful. The feeling was not unfamiliar to him, and he pressed on. His breathing was hoarse, each intake felt like tiny knives at his throat. Yuuri tried to focus on the dull pound of Conrad’s boot’s, but they were too reminiscent of what he was trying to avoid in the first place, so he tried to concentrate on his own pounding heartbeat. Running.’ Yuuri attempted to shut off his own mind and pushed his body faster, running further along his path.Ĭonrad was following a yard or two behind him, keeping up with the Japanese teen’s steps no matter what his pace. He seemed to be doing that more and more lately. The ones that were driving him so nuts he couldn’t even close his eyes, and instead pressured him to walk the halls of his own castle lost in reckless thought when he really should be sleeping. The ones that were creeping up into his dreams.

As if he could exhaust his body to the max and crush the feeling that lie in wait, just beneath the surface. It’s like if he could just run that extra mile, just push out that nervous flutter in his heart, it would be over.