Hi. Okay, the story has gotten rolling. [Pardon the pun. As you can see there's a lot of drug use in this story, and it just keeps getting better and better! Seriously though, this coming chapter isn't super-exciting but it's pretty important. I'm gonna be updating pretty frequently so just bear with me if you find this story to be dragging.

This story is gonna be quite long.

Blah blah blah don't own furuba blah blah just wanted to write this shit.

Okay now read it.

-ReLATeS

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Haru had pulled all the blinds down, but the misty glow of dawn shone in from around the edges. The boy hugged his knees and leaned against the cool surface of the wall by his cot.

Kyo had opted to sleep on the roof; Haru hadn't succeeded in keeping his eyes closed for more than a few seconds. He was exhausted, but was fully aware that he would be awake for at least a few more hours.

He looked across the room and caught his reflection in a full-length mirror. His eyeliner seemed to have completely vanished off his face...

He sniffed and rubbed the tears from his cheeks. Some embarrassing part of him wondered if Kyo, a story above him, was thinking about him, too.

He parted his lips and exhaled slowly. His headache worsened as his eyes began to sting again and his cheekbones, raw from being rubbed, became wet again. The euphoria was gone, and there was no denying it- his life sucked.

He laid down and looked at the wall for an hour.

Haru ventured downstairs in a daze, space and time melting past him. He grabbed a can of coke out of the refrigerator, opened it over the sink, and poured its contents down the drain. He produced a switchblade from his pocket and poked six holes in one side, then flattened it a bit. Then he melted onto the roof and smoked weed for a few minutes. He barely even noticed Kyo lying on the other side.

The high came slowly. It was predictable and boring, but it at least alleviated the agony of coming down from ex. Haru didn't know if he had ever been so tired in his entire life, but at the same time his brain simply refused to shut down. He needed oxycontin.

The white-haired boy didn't take much notice when he heard Kyo shifting on the roof tiles; however, he froze when a harsh voice announced, "I can smell that."

Haru lit up and inhaled deeply, held it in, and let it come out his nose. "Oh," he replied, nonchalant. He turned his head side to side and relished the resulting dizziness.

"Haru, are you EVER sober?"

Haru lit up again, inhaled, exhaled. "No."

Kyo laughed a little, and sat down next to Haru. "It's not so bad."

It took a moment for this to register; Haru looked to his left at the streak of orange and tan- he took a moment to force his eyes into focus- and coughed. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"I used to think you were really cool, but now, there is NEVER a time I see you when you're not on something," Kyo snapped, obviously unaware that Haru wasn't going to respond. "You piss me off. You have a problem, Haru, I'm serious."

"/Everything/ pisses you off," Haru managed. "You think /I/ have a problem?"

A few moments passed before Haru offered the can to Kyo, who took it without saying a word. Haru flicked the lighter above the lump of plant matter and instructed, "breathe in."

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August rolled in two weeks later, and since their encounter on the rooftop, Haru and Kyo had barely spent a day apart from each other. When it came time for Haru to do heavier drugs, Kyo would either leave the room or, when that wasn't an option, simply look away. Haru had essentially given up persuading Kyo to try anything new; the answer was always no. Always.

Haru asked the other boy to guard the door for him as he separated a line of white powder from the rest of his stash. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled through his nose, then positioned a straw above the line and swiftly made the powder disappear.

Kyo stared in fascination at the grain on the wood door and tried to ignore the small noises Haru was making. "Uh, you feelin' okay?" He tried, timidly. There was no response. He could feel the other boy getting up and moving around the room.

Kyo closed his eyes tight and braced his feet against the door. He didn't want to know what Haru had just done, or what it was doing to his brain. He just wanted to...

"Go smoke," Haru said, a little too quickly. Kyo spun around, dazed; for lack of better words, he asked "huh?"

"Go smoke," Haru repeated, looking side-to-side very fast, then handing Kyo a bag of weed. "Just give me like twenty minutes. I just need like twenty minutes. Okay? Twenty minutes, ish."

"Okay. Be cool," Kyo instructed, as if he were speaking to a kindergartener. Before leaving, he wedged a rather frial wooden chair under his bedroom door handle.

Kyo paused for a moment and looked at the floorboards, fingering the bag; after his moment of hesitation, he sulked past Tohru's room and into their communal bathroom, silently opening the window and climbing, feline, onto the cold tiles of the roof. The stars were clearly visible; Kyo sat down awkwardly and lit up. Time passed.

He held his head in his hands. Then he looked up. The heavens were spinning, and swirls of color were weaving their way through the stars. He hadn't noticed Haru sitting down beside him, but he turned to him as if he had been there all along.

"It's laced with acid. Sorry, I gave you the wrong one."

Kyo flipped. "... You know I don't want any of that! How fucking stupid can you-"

"It's fine, it's fine, it's fine..." Haru reassured, wrapping his arms around the orange-haired boy's waist and watching his eyes dart back and forth, following visions they both knew didn't actually exist. "You'll be okay. I

promise."

"Haru, where... whoa... Where do you get all this shit anyway?" Kyo's eyes rolled back in his head for a split second, and then he continued to watch his fantasies.

"Various people," was Haru's slightly-too-vague response. "I was actually saving that for when I really need it... you know how hard it is to come across acid around here..."

Kyo couldn't hear what Haru was saying. But everything was sparkling as if it was wet... and blue... and purple. He found Haru's face with his hand and ran his index finger along the boy's jawbone. "Haru."

Haru gave an "mm" to show he was listening.

"Haru... kiss me, okay?"

It took a moment for the silence to pass. But then Kyo felt a hand on his face, and a pair of soft lips pressed against his own.

He felt a rush that spread through his lungs and made his fingers burn. Kyo didn't close his eyes for a moment. But when he did, he saw fireworks.