Disclaimer: I don't own ANE/BE or any of its characters.
Two chapters in one week? And I'm completely sane? Amazing! I hope you guys enjoy it.
When Rin woke up the next morning, his head was pounding painfully with a vengeance and his entire body ached. His memory of the previous night was fuzzy at best. All he could remember was going for a walk in the rain. Anything after that was just a blur.
He rolled to his side slowly, trying his best to not make his headache worse. He sat there for a moment and debated if he really needed to go to class. Well, regardless of if he was going or not, he still needed to take a shower. He was still dressed in his clothes from the day before which meant he had not taken a shower. Not to mention that he felt abnormally cold.
'A hot shower should warm me up.' Rin thought, rubbing his arms to warm them up.
He stood up slowly, his legs felt weak and shaky. He tried to walk, but his legs collapsed under him instantly. His headache, combined with the nausea he didn't know that he had until he tried to stand up, had knocked him flat on his ass.
His entire body felt cold. Perhaps it was because he had gone out for a walk in the rain.
"Three... Two... One.." Rin counted himself down before pulling himself back up onto his still shaking legs. He made his way to the bathroom, albeit slowly, and turned on the hot water for his shower. Tugging his shirt off over his head, he noticed small bruises across his right forearm. He ran his thumb over them. Sure enough, they hurt.
"I never get bruises..." He said to himself, mystified. The only thing more curious about the bruises themselves was that he had no idea how he got them.
He stripped himself from the rest of his clothes, tossed his dirty laundry to the side, and hot into the hot shower. The warm water cascading over his skin warmed him up instantly. Rin sighed in relief, he wasn't used to feeling cold.
He finished his shower and towel dried off. Rin reluctantly got dressed in his school uniform and slung Kurikara over his shoulder. He stopped. Debating one final time whether he really wanted to go to class. No one at cram school would care if he showed up or not. If anything, it might please them. They'd finally have a quiet and undisturbed class without him. Yukio would be disappointed, but it wouldn't be the first time. Just the thought of going to cram school made Rin miserable.
He could picture it now, the dirty looks they would give him, the whispering about him behind his back. Why would anyone want to go into an environment like that?
The thought of having to sit through lectures about demons and remedies that he didn't care about with a pounding headache made the final decision for him. He was definitely not going to class. Yukio would be pissed off, but Rin didn't care.
"Rin," a little voice called from behind him, "what's the matter? You look upset."
Rin turned to face the creäture that had spoken. It was Kuro. Kuro nuzzled his head against Rins leg. Rin knelt to Kuro's level, petting the little demon. Kuro especially loved it when Rin scratched behind his ears.
"Nothing's wrong. I'm okay Kuro," Rin replied. He picked Kuro up and placed him on his bed. The little cat demon started purring and curled up into a little ball, feeling content with Rins answer.
Rin gave Kuro a final pet before leaving the dorm room. He wasn't sure where to go, he normally spent the entire day in class. He didn't have any plans or friends to hang out with. Wandering around aimlessly it was. He found his way to a park that had an air of familiarity to it, but he couldn't place why. He strolled down a busy road lined with shops and street vendors. He checked a few of the places out but nothing piqued his interest.
Rin decided to go back to the park and get some quiet. Maybe he could finally clear his head and gather his thoughts. He took a turn down an alley that he thought would drop him off by the park. A few steps down he alley Rin realized he had made a mistake. This wasn't a shortcut and there was a group of unsavory people who looked like they wanted to be left alone; and Rin, not looking for a fight, would happily leave them be.
"Hey," a rough voice drawled out, "I know you. You were uh, at the club last night, right?" The person asked, pointing at Rin.
"Sorry but I think you've got the wrong person," Rin replied quickly, "sorry for bothering you, I'll just be leaving-"
"Relax man, relax. I don't want to hurt you." The person said.
'That's just what a person who wants to hurt you would say.' Rin thought anxiously.
His grip tightening on Kurikara out of habit. The person stepped forward and Rin removed his hand from Kurikara. He recognized this person.
It was the woman from last night Rin realized with a jolt. His memory of the previous night came back to him. Visiting the park, walking down a brightly lit lane into the club, taking shots with strangers... And taking drugs. Rin remember the woman. It was the woman that he had met at the night club, but she looked horrible. In the daylight her face looked pale and gaunt. She was also very skinny, an unhealthy type of skinny.
She looked nothing like she had last night.
Rin looked around, now remembering the night before, he knew where he was. Without the neon lights and night life, the streets were almost unrecognizable to him; but he was definitely here the night before.
She came forward and with surprising strength, pulled Rin into a hug. She gently slipped her hand into his back pocket, "A gift," she whispered in his ear, "I never did give you my name. I'm Cy-"
"Not interested." Rin said firmly, cutting her off. He pried her hugging form away from him, "I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested. Uh, have a good day."
If someone he knew saw him with a group of people like this, who knows that they would think. Rin quickly backtracked out of the alley, going back the way he came. Thankfully, the alley dumped him back on the crowded road littered with people and shops. Walking quickly and facing the ground, he accidentally bumped into someone else.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was-" Rin raised his gaze to the person he ran head first into and his stomach dropped, "Yukio? What are you doing here?"
The two stopped and stared at each other for a moment. A look of confusion and relief crossed over Yukio's face, but then was quickly replaced by one of anger.
"What am I doing here?" Yukio echoed, "I was looking for you! You were acting strange last night and then you didn't show up to class. What are you doing here?"
"I was going for a w-walk and got lost." Rin stammered. It was at least half true.
Yukio eyed Rin appraisingly, as if sensing that Rin hadn't told him the truth. Yukio sighed, his look of anger vanishing. Truth is, he was just worried about Rin and then got scared when he didn't show up for class.
"Come on, let's go." Yukio said.
They didn't speak to each other on the way back. There was tension between them, but neither knew how to face it. When they got back to the dormitory, they sat across from each other at a table in the dining hall. Both unsure of what to say to the other. Rin was terrified that his brother had somehow found out about where he had gone last night. In fear of him finding out from someone else, Rin decided that it would be bast if he told Yukio himself.
"Yukio, I have to tell you some-"
"I think that we need to talk-"
They both spoke simultaneously, talking over each other.
"You go first," Yukio said, gesturing for Rin to talk. He was curious about what Rin wanted to talk about.
"No, it's okay. You go ahead," Rin insisted. Yukio knew, oh God, somehow Yukio had found out. Someone must have told him. Rin's mind was running frantically, trying to piece together how Yukio had found out. Panic prickled across his body, making his mouth go dry and feet go cold.
"I know that you're going through a rough time," Yukio started.
Rin held his breath, he knew where this was going.
"-but skipping your classes to avoid your classmates isn't the answer. The exwires and I are having lunch and I was hoping that you would come with me. I think that it might help."
"What?" Rin asked blankly. That's not what he had expected.
"Will you join the exwires and I for lunch?" Yukio reiterated.
"Uh- yeah, sure. I guess" Rin agreed, not really paying attention.
"Alright," Yukio said, smiling, "I really think that it will help with the tension in the class. Now, what is it you wanted to talk about?"
"Uh..." Rin struggled for words, so Yukio really didn't know? "It was nothing. Just silly stuff."
"Are you sure?"
Rin nodded stiffly.
"I'll see you later then. Don't skip anymore of your classes, okay?"
"Sure."
Rin rested his head against the table and sighed when Yukio left. He thought for sure that Yukio had found out some way. He thought back to the people in the alley, they looked so different. Haggard, and emaciated.
'I guess that's why she wore so much makeup.' Rin thought.
What was that she said back in the alley? A gift? He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small packet. It was full of some foreign looking powder. He stared at it for a moment. This must be what she gave him last night. He fiddled with the packet in his hands, trying to decide what to do with it. He should dispose of it, he knew that. But a small voice in the back of his head was telling him to hold on to it. Just in case. He put it back into his pocket. There was no harm in keeping it after all, it's not like he had a needle or anything.
Where would I even get a needle? He wondered. If he went to a local store and asked if they had needles, it would raise suspicion. On top of that, he barely had enough money to feed himself as it was. Buying something unnecessary would be foolish.
Rin tapped his foot and thought about the matter. His mind clicked, Yukio's medical supplies!
Yukio was bound to have needles somewhere! Rin shot up from where he was sitting and rushed up the stairs, he started to go through Yukio's things, careful not to make too big of a mess. If Yukio showed up while Rin was rummaging through his stuff, Rin would have to come up with a damn good excuse.
After a few short minutes of searching through the medical kits that Yukio had, Rin finally found what he was looking for.
Clean syringes.
He stared at them for a moment. What was he doing? Was... Was he really going to go through with this?
'Just this once.' Rin thought to himself, 'Just this once and then never again.'
Once he had everything ready, he locked himself in the bathroom. He couldn't risk Yukio just waltzing into the room and finding Rin like this.
"Just this once." Rin repeated.
He sat down on the cold bathroom tiles and rolled up his sleeve. His arm still had faint bruise marks from where he had been injected the night before. An area that he could easily conceal would be his best bet.
He took a deep breath and steadied himself, he tried to push the needle into his skin, but panicked. What was he doing? He shook these thoughts away, it was just this one time. He took one more deep breath and pushed the needle into his arm and quickly pressed down the plunger.
He gritted his teeth, it stung more than he remembered. The alcohol he had consumed the night before must have dulled down the pain last night.
He pulled the needle from his arm, and like the night before, it took effect almost immediately. Waves of euphoria and calm washed over him. He felt like he didn't have a single care in the world. Until someone knocked on the door.
"Rin, are you in there?" It was Yukio.
"Uh, yeah! What's up?" Rin said with forced calmness, scrambling to stand up. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit!' He looked around the bathroom. He needed to get rid of the evidence somehow.
"You were going to meet us for lunch, remember?"
Had that much time passed already?
"Err, yeah. How could I forget? Of course I remembered." He lied.
The toilet! He could flush it all down the toilet. He grabbed everything and tossed it into the toilet, flushing it down. He watched for a moment, making sure every last thing was gone.
He pulled his sleeve down and opened the door hurriedly, almost running headfirst into Yukio again. He gave his brother a wide smile.
"I'm ready!"
Yukio was slightly taken aback at his brothers change in behavior, he had seemed really down earlier. Instead of questioning his sudden change in behavior, Yukio smiled. He was glad to have his old brother back.
Going to the main dining hall, Rin only just realized what he had agreed too. He was about to eat with a group of people who hated him. This would certainly be interesting.
