Uramichi's Stressful Day (Uramichi Breaks Down)

Chapter 1: A Stressful Day

Uramichi Omota is not someone people look at and say, "Oh, him? Yeah, he's mentally stable." No. It's quite the opposite, and even the children who swarm him every day on the Together With Maman stage know it.

Uramichi himself walks a fine line between being aware of his mental condition and not, often speaking desolately to the children about all the horrible downsides of adulthood.

But Uramichi always makes it work.

He has a hard time saying no to people and often worries for his job security if a "no" should ever slip past his lips. Though he wouldn't speak it into reality, he fears not living up to people's expectations. Of course, today is one of those days where he simply cannot say no despite needing to. He briefly recalls the time his back was in pain and he lifted the station director's (not particularly light) grandson nonetheless. He could barely stay on his feet after that scene.

Today, what is Uramichi's issue? He has a cold. A terrible one. One of those colds that make the whole body ache, constant, harassing chills causing a mini earthquake every other moment and a stuffy nose backing up to give an excruciating headache. He is not running a fever, however, so he is not fearful for the children. The only reason the director allows his coworkers time off is when they have a high temperature and/or are vomiting, excluding from alcohol—not that the director has ever allowed Uramichi a day off, anyway. Yesterday, Derekida-san even squawked for twenty minutes about some important clip today. Of course, then, there is no way Uramichi can reasonably miss it unless he does so from a coffin. He worries at his lip, staring up at the ceiling above his bed blankly. It would practically be a resignation letter, wouldn't it?

It takes even more effort than usual to get out of bed and leave the sweat-soaked sheets that had been dry the night before. Dragging his shaky legs across his apartment, Uramichi barely gets fully clothed and makes it into the outside world. Trudging along the sidewalk with his face pinched and shoulders scrunched up uncomfortably, he tries not to think too much about the pain he feels in his muscles. His arms and back ache, especially, and it is far from the welcome soreness from a hard workout.

Uramichi feels a small drop of moisture hit his arm as he reaches a landmark almost halfway through his torturous journey to work. "Ah," he murmurs, lifting his head slowly to look up at the grey, overcast sky as it begins pouring down sheets of rain. Water slams into his upturned face like a slap. Of course it's raining.

He pulls out an umbrella from his bag and tries to pick up his pace, but his whole boy aches so much. Not a minute later, however, a car drives by and splashes Uramichi with a wave of cold and dirty street water. His shivering increases hugely, and he tries to keep his other side as dry as possible with the umbrella. Then, the wind releases a huge gale that sweeps his umbrella from his hand and over a tall fence. "Ah...." he acknowledges it dejectedly, staring after it before steeling himself and continuing on his way to work as he becomes fully drenched in freezing rain water. He figures he probably doesn't look dissimilar to a scrawny wet street rat. He can feel his cold aching against his bones, only getting worse from the weather. His breaths begin coming out with labor, huffing and puffing despite his slow speed.

Uramichi almost slumps to his knees when he finally arrives at work. Rather than that, though, he moves as quickly as he can to his green room, ignoring a worried call from Usahara. He left a trail of water through the hallways, and a puddle forms at his feet as he stands leaning against the closed door, feeling safe in his designated room, finally taking a chance to catch his breath.

He doesn't know how is going to get through today. He usually doesn't, but it is even worse now than usual—that says a lot, he thinks. He has been doing terribly in the gym this past week, barely got any sleep last night and was plagued by nightmares of Kotori-san during what sleep he did manage, woke up feeling horrible this morning, and then got stuck in the rain. He folds his shaky hands over his face like they can guard him from his life, but alas, the world moves on. He must as well.

And he does. He gets ready as usual, though more slowly. He tries to dry off his sopping wet hair, but it remains damp and cold.

Changed into his gymnast oniisan track suit, Uramichi heads to set, where he runs into Usahara and Kumatani. Both of the unchanging bunny and bear masks stare at him as he approaches them, leaving him unsettled, staring back frighteningly as he walks to the curtain's opening which leads into set. "What? Stop staring. It's gross," Uramichi grumbles, and Usao's bunny head tilts.

"Hey, Uramichi-san, you look like shit—" Kamutani slaps a hand over the bunny head's mouth, making it slam into Usahara's face with an "Ack! Hey!"

"Shut up, you shitty rabbit," Uramichi grumbles back, ignoring the comment and making his way out the curtains.

Usahara and Kumatani watch with concern, Usahara fixing his head as his brows scrunch. "Hey, am I going crazy, or are his eye bags worse than ever? Plus, he didn't hit me."

"Shockingly, you're not going crazy on this one," Kumatani confirms.

"And he was shaking?"

The bear beside him stays silent.

As usual, though, Uramichi oniisan makes his way out onto the stage and in front of the whole Together With Maman crew, surrounded by the garishly bright colors he has become so accustomed to. Today, though, the colors only seem to stab at his eyes, forming an alliance with the bright stage lights to make his sharp headache more painful.

He sighs, squeezing his eyes closed. Despite everything, he does not want to disappoint the children.

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First fic in this fandom! Just watched the show and am caught up in the manga :) hope you enjoy!

-Angry
Word Count: 1036