A lot of things can happen in six months, and Noiz' last ones had been packed to the brim. Two weeks after Aoba' disappearance, he had heard of a fighting virtual game from a school mate. It seemed the game had started in the island a couple of years before, but it had become so popular that a company had started to regulate the matches, adding rules and a virtual referee. Noiz found it greatly interesting and decided to do his research. He found a way of sneaking out of the apartment without being seen, and the rest was easy: learning about the area where the game was usually played, watching a couple of matches, and then finally trying his hand at Rhyme.

Rhyme was exactly what Noiz had been craving for his entire life, he knew from the start. The sensations during the game were so vivid that Noiz found himself, for the first time in his life, feeling through his five senses. His lack of tactility seemed to disappear during the game. He experienced pain, at last, a deep and raging pain, but afterwards, when the match finished, no injuries would be left in his body. Noiz was marvelled; he still couldn't believe something as good existed.

Rhyme became his new obsession. He started to sneak out every night to find out where the next game would be. But the rhymers, in fact, used the game as an excuse for an alternative way of life, and soon Noiz saw that, if he wanted to embrace Rhyme as his own way of life, then he would need to blend, as being good in the game was not enough. He started to dress like that people, and he had piercings done. The piercing thing was quite addictive for him, he discovered, and in the end he had them in every part of his body that could be hidden at home and at school. Many things more were usual in that night world of the rhymers, and Noiz tried all of them. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex.

Alcohol was alright at first, but at some point his mind got lulled and his senses muffled: it was the opposite effect of what he was looking for. So he usually had a beer or a whisky shot and stopped there.

Drugs. Noiz soon divided them into two types. The opiate derivates and weed had the same effect on him than alcohol: he crossed them off the list. Amphetamines and their chemical derivates were better, in Noiz' opinion: they sharpened his senses and his mind raced. But he soon realised that, although they didn't seem to have any secondary effect on him, he soon began to crave them also during day, to help him alleviate the endless school hours. He knew perfectly well that, as soon as his night life started to affect his days, he would be thoroughly fucked. He had to maintain a façade as a model student, keep his good grades and appear as "normal" at home, or his parents would find out everything he did at night and then Rhyme would become a distant dream when he would be locked in his room again. So he decided drugs would be had only when they were unavoidable in order to blend with his fellow rhymers.

And about sex… Well. After all the noise, he didn't find it that special. It was something mechanical, monotonous and, unless he was really turned on, it was only a useful outlet for stress and frustration. He blamed it on his dulled tactility, but he didn't see that the people around him took sex any differently from him.

The other thing he liked about Rhyme was that he had found a potential source of income. Now that Rhyme was regulated, the players had to wait until the virtual referee, Usui, appeared and opened a Rhyme field. But nobody knew where exactly would Usui appear, so many players lost their chance of playing if they couldn't find it in time… and that was where Noiz entered. He had always been really good at computers, and after some hit and miss tries, he finally got to open a back door at Usui's system, so now knowing where the next Rhyme match would be was a child's play. At first he used this for his own convenience, for him to be able to play every night; he, and the team he started, who soon became one of the biggest and better known: Ruff Rabbit. But in a while he realised knowledge was money, and that people was prone to pay a lot for a bit of beforehand information.

So life was… not good, but not bad either. A bit empty, a bit bitter. He had freedom. He didn't have friends, but he had lots of acquaintances in the island by now, so when the loneliness bit hard he always had people he could text. And there was always the next Rhyme match to look forward to.

And then he finally met Aoba again.

"…Look what the cat brought! Isn't that the Fritz kid?"

It was not the best of greetings, but Noiz didn't expect anything different. What he didn't expect, either, was the state in which he found Aoba. He was a total wreck: his eye bags were deep and way bigger than before, his clothes were dirty and too big, giving him a gaunt look, his long blue hair was pulled in a loose pony tail, with more locks on his face than in the actual tail, and his eyes had a slight manic glint. All in all, after a long stare evaluating his greatly missed crush, Noiz decided Aoba was still cute, in his own way, but drugs and alcohol were taking their toll on the boy.

He approached him all the same.

"Tsch. I told you not to call me that. But, of course, you are too busy to remember my name…"

He stopped by Aoba's side, greeting the rest of his group with a simple nod. Aoba grinned.

"Noiz. I remember. How could I forget such a ridiculous name?"

His voice slurred, and his left hand moved spasmodically. Noiz would bet that month's earnings that Aoba was high. His concern was confirmed right when the blue haired boy came closer to him and rested his face on his shoulder, smirking.

"The good part of finding you here is that I can finally make a move on you…" he whispered, in a voice that Noiz would certainly find seductive in other circumstances. "Are you busy tonight?"

Noiz pushed him away. Aoba's grin fell, and a tiny spot of sobriety popped its head out on his features.

"Oh. You are too young for that, I should have guessed…"

"It's not that".

Aoba pursed his lips until they were just a white tight line.

"…I thought you liked me", he muttered at last, turning around.

"I like you better when you are not high."

But of course Aoba was already talking to other people and ignoring him. Noiz sighed and went to watch the game.

The two of them stayed near the Rhyme field for hours, though, and Noiz couldn't help to glance at Aoba now and then. He didn't seem to be in any team, and just wandered around the groups, but everybody seemed to know him. Neither of them played that night: Noiz was too busy collecting his money from his patrons and cheering his team, and Aoba was definitely too high and had other things in mind. A little alarm rang off on Noiz' mind when he caught a glimpse of blue hair disappearing into a dark side alley with two men. After a short hesitation, he decided to follow them. Fortunately, they didn't go far, and stayed inside the part of the alleys where rhymers came and went. Still, one of them had an arm casually thrown around Aoba's shoulders, and the other one touched his waist with too much familiarity for Noiz' taste. Especially because Aoba soon started to shook those hands off him and, while still grinning and looking friendly, it was obvious he wanted his personal space back. The two guys (tall, blonde and with a very similar look) smiled back at him and didn't seem offended at all. Good.

The next time Noiz let his gaze wander, he wasn't searching for a certain blue haired guy, but certainly started to worry when he didn't see Aoba at first. People had started to scatter, but he would have noticed if Aoba had gone home… And then, at last, he found him. Aoba was sitting down on the floor, leaning back against a wall, with his eyes shut. Noiz walked towards him, waving goodbye his acquaintances.

"Hey", he called in Aoba's direction. "Are you sleeping?"

He crouched down beside the slumbered boy. Some of his blue bangs were plastered to his face because of the sweat. Noiz looked around, but he couldn't see any of the mates with whom he had previously seen Aoba. He is alone, then, he thought.

"Hey", he repeated. "Go home, you shouldn't sleep here, in the street."

At the lack of response, Noiz sighed and pulled Aoba on his feet, passing one of the lax arms around his own shoulders and starting to drag him. The young man seemed to react at last, feeling the movement.

"What the… Fritz Kid, what the hell are you doing?"

"Taking you home, obviously. Tell me your address."

Aoba said nothing. Noiz shot him a questioning look, half dressed in annoyance.

"I… I can't… can't go home like this", Aoba stuttered, his eyelids and head already falling down.

Noiz groaned, and kept walking, dragging Aoba along.

Ten long and painful minutes later, Noiz was at last setting a half asleep, half unconscious Aoba on Theo's bed. He took his trainers and his hoodie off and tucked him in. The young man chose precisely that moment to stir up and open his eyes. They were clouded, but that golden glint that Noiz remembered was still there, hidden behind layers of drugs and general stupidity. Aoba stared at him, serious.

"Noiz?"

"Shhh… Just sleep. We are at my place."

"…Your parents?"

"Back in Germany."

"Oh. How convenient". And he closed his eyes again, seemingly relaxed. Noiz turned around to go to his own bedroom, when Aoba's tiny voice made him stop at the door. "Noiz… Do you still like me?"

"Lots."

And he hurried to close the door behind him, feeling a strange knot inside his guts.