A/N: "Wow, Dev. New chapter so soon? Can't update like this with your other Fics, huh?" …I'm sorry. -knocks herself silly- ___ Well, for those who haven't been tormented by my lack of updates to NL and Fyulong Hole, all I can say is: enjoy the next installment of Lover's Heat. (And hopefully I update frequently...[though unlikely])

Chapter Two

Illegal Substances

The following night. Teito escaped again. Taking a hawkzile was out of the question, the storage shed they were kept in was locked tight as there was one missing now. Teito couldn't help but growl at his luck. One stupid hawkzile goes missing, and they immediately act as if someone plotted to rob them all.

Luckily, one was forgotten to be stored away before they were locked.

Teito revved up the engine and sped down to Satan's Playground.

-x-x-x-

He turned off the engine just outside the bar, still on the living vehicle, unsure of whether he should go in or not. Not that he cared, because he really didn't, but the suspicious look in those azure eyes really bothered him. Frau was the one who tried the most, and a few times succeeded, in cheering Teito up when the teen felt like suicide was the only way to go. He remembered those nights when nightmares plagued his thoughts, when the film labeled: The Death of Mikage played over and over in his mind, Frau would always be there, always comforting. He stopped telling him the stupidity everyone else told him, the 'it-will-get-easier', the 'he's-in-a-better-place' and other bullshit like that. Frau would just be there, holding him from jumping over the cliff, agreeing with him even when he was bad-mouthing Mikage.

The bastard left me.

I know.

Why couldn't he take me with him?

I don't know.

He's such a selfish asshole.

I know.

How do I make the pain go away?

I don't know…

The blond never asked for anything but gave up everything. His time and patience. His love and attention.

Teito shook his head. Frau did it out of pity, out of guilt. After all, it was Frau's fault that Mikage couldn't be saved. Yeah, blame everything on Frau…

"You goin' to stay out here, precious?"

Emerald looked up to catch sight of dangerous blue. Wearing a too-tight fitting red dress, Scarlett walked around the hawkzile and slid Teito towards the back of the vehicle. She threw one long leg over the contraption and slid forward to make their knees touch, they faced each other and it took all the will-power the teen had to keep his eyes on Scarlett's.

A dark cloud passed though oddly tinted eyes, and before Teito could comprehend the situation, her well manicured hand took Teito's and slipped it along her inner thigh. Her dress was defiantly not made to be worn while riding a hawkzile.

"You left without saying goodbye yesterday. I thought you might've not liked me." Her voice was sweet, too sweet but being so new to this scene Teito could hardly retaliate, much less think as his hand was guided along the woman's anatomy.

"You don't need to come here anymore. You already found me. How bout…we go back to my place. I have something I want you to try."

Teito could hardly say no, his body constricting in ways that were foreign to him.

As she climbed off the vehicle, Teito scooted forward and felt a fire spread through him as she snuggled behind him, teasing him in ways that made his brain mush and function unstable.

"Perhaps I should wait till we're somewhere else but here…"

The only thing Teito could do was nod as he started the engine and flew down the street.

-x-x-x-

Somehow, his subconscious mind already knew where to go. He flew down the streets as if knowing where exactly Scarlett's place was, and maybe he did know, or his subconscious remembering everything from that hazy night.

Pulled up to a shady looking apartment, but everything on the block looked shady. The blonde removed herself from the hawkzile and pointed to a garage just under the steps leading to the front door.

"You can stash that in there. No one'll break in and steal it."

He did as he was told without uttering a single word. He followed Scarlett up the flight of stairs to her apartment. The scenery began to seem familiar. Teito had been in such a hurry to storm out of there, he didn't remember what the rest of the place looked like. Now he knew.

Her room as 23. Ironic: two divided by three, 666. Not necessarily that exactly, seeing that more sixes followed but still, it was something to think about.

Scarlett let herself in; Teito followed in and closed the door behind him.

He never bothered to realize how tall she was, just an inch or two shy from Frau. Her hair was a tint lighter than Frau's. His was like molten gold, hers like fluorescent lighting. Her eyes weren't as blue as Frau's either. His were frozen lakes, growing darker as they neared the pupils. Scarlett's were some sort of manufactured blue, like the kind you find in a box of crayons. You couldn't label it to a natural color, it was just a color that you were told as such.

How odd was it that they were seen together? Did the people in the Seventh District think the same way when they saw Frau and Teito walk side by side? Why did the teen keep thinking about Frau?

A light above flickered on, and much to Teito's surprise, he found himself in the bedroom already. Apparently, there were only three rooms in Scarlett's place: bedroom, bathroom, closet.

"No kitchen?"

"Haha, no Mikage, I tend to eat out."

"No living room?"

"I tend to…entertain here. Enough talk, I want to show you something."

Wild bobcat led the impressionable kitten onto the bed. She relaxed him into the sheets and saddled him without asking for permission. She reached within her cleavage and extracted a tiny vial. As she shook it, something rattled inside.

"It's called Histani. Most call it H or Lover's Heat." The vial popped as she opened the lid, dumping the contents onto the palm of her hand. Three bright pink heart-shaped pills looked so innocent one could hardly imagine what they could do. [1]

Teito was about to learn first hand.

"Trust me," she cooed, placing one of the hearts on her tongue while the rest went back into the vial, "It will make you feel incredible."

-x-x-x-

Morning came, but the night didn't. Teito stared absently up to the ceiling. He felt great, better than great, he felt terrific even if he couldn't remember the night before. Like nothing was wrong with the world, like nothing was ever wrong with the world. He could stay here, here in bed with Scarlett. Here he was Mikage, the guy without a care in the world. Outside the bed he was Teito Klein, slave, Raggs successor, Keeper of the Eye of Mikhail and some other bullshit he might have skipped over. No, this world, this little story he had for himself here, in the Sixth District, was so much simpler than that outside it.

Scarlett was draped over him in all her naked beauty. She had a tattooed butterfly on her right shoulder blade. It was purple. It looked pretty on her. And with the drug still coursing through his system, Teito could swear he could see the butterfly flap its wings.

The body under him twitched, moved, ran a hand down his lean-muscled chest and continued further south, hitching the teen's breath before he could speak a word.

"Good morning, handsome," she purred, her stroking teasing, causing a new fire to irrupt and with the aid of Histani: like fuel to the fire. She knew what she was doing, no doubt about that. Her hands were skilled but with so much hormones pulsing through the teen's veins, he could hardly wonder how many men she had done this for.

"Still high off the H, I see…" her stroking increased, giving Teito that pleasure he was craving for. "The young ones are always so cute…so innocent. I can just eat…you…up…"

She tasted his skin. From his belly button to the dip in his neck. Teito's breathing came ragged; he bucked into her skilled hand. It only caused her to chuckle.

"So impatient, so impatient. How bout another round? The more H in your system, the better the sex."

She left a whining Teito to slip another pink pill into her mouth. And ever so teasingly, she saddled his hips. Skilled tongue went into the teen's mouth as she leaned forward. Teito accepted her offering and let the little pill sizzle on his tongue as he let Scarlett do her own thing.

The sex was the last thing on his mind. His body was in one place, having god knows what done to it but his mind, his mind was sky high, believing that anything in the world was possible. The rush, the excitement. His brain was fucking itself. That's what it felt like, that's what made everything melt into pure ecstasy. He wanted more; he wanted to feel like this till the day he died.

They wanted him to fulfill Mikage's life, well Mikage was about to go out in style.

-x-x-x-

"Give me more." Teito appeared at Scarlett's doorstep as unscheduled as desert rain.

The blonde's eyes widened a fraction, unused to seeing the teen in the late afternoons. He always came around midnight; for two weeks now that's how it had always been. They would smoke, drink. She did most of the talking while he fondled her. Then she would give in and they would have a round of H and the best sex she's had in a long time. Morning would come, the latter would repeat. Mikage would leave still buzzed on the stuff until later that night. But now he was here, half a day early.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. She pushed Teito into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Teito raised a brow as he watched her try to cover her cleavage the best she could. He's seen her naked countless times and she's worried about that now?

"I need more Histani."

"Oh you've got to be fucken kidding me. Dammit Mikage, I'm a little busy. Come back tonight."

She turned to leave but was caught by the wrist, for a boy smaller than her, his grip was tight.

"The guy you're currently fucking can wait. Give me some pills," his voice was shallow, hoarse. There was a desperate need in that tone, in those once bright emerald eyes but now they looked dead. He physically appeared fine but his eyes couldn't lie.

"Oh god. You're turning into some fucken addict. I am not going to be some fucken bitch and feed your addiction. Get the hell out of my face, little boy. I'm done playing with you." She tore her wrist away and was ready to walk back inside her home when a blazing heat encircled her neck.

"Bitch, listen well. I'm tired of your wrinkly old self anyways. What I want is Histani, that's all I ever wanted since your stupid ass gave it to me. Now either hand over your stash or I'll sever your head." Trained in the military to control his Zaphion, Teito never thought he would be using it as a means to feed his craving but here he was.

A second later, the vial Teito had come to familiarize as heaven's forbidden fruit appeared in Scarlett's palm. He snatched it away and walked out of the hell hole, ignoring the shouts thrown at him from behind.

"Don't ever come back here, alright? Stupid five year old! You'll regret the day you ever crossed Scarlett Red!"

"Think of a better stripper name, bitch!" Teito shouted back before thundering down the stairs. As he exited the complex, his mood went from bad to worse. He turned on spot, and with a simple, agitated blast of his Zaphion, the flight of stairs collapsed into a pile of rubbish.

-x-x-x-

How could someone turn from an innocent child to a crazed addicted teen in the matter of days? Teito's life was never something heart-warming and pleasant since the beginning but how did he hit so low so fast?

From slave, to weapon, to student, to friend, to traitor, to runaway, to Ragg's Prince, to the Keeper of the Eye of Mikhail, to friendless, to hopeless, to self-destructing to addict. Why hadn't someone interfered before? Why hadn't someone noticed the cycle and tried to stop it?

But there he was, going so far as to lick the vial his pills were in just to have something take him on that high again. He had downed the pills like candy, and the product was amazing, but so many, so close together disrupted the timeline. His high wore off in a matter of hours while before it went on for at least the rest of the day.

His body was convulsing, shivering in cold sweat. How could they sell this stuff? Did anyone notice how fast you fell from Histani? Did they notice how easy it was to slip into withdrawal? No, they knew places where they could get their next hit. They weren't fifteen and so desperate for their next happy pill. Their subconscious mind in the need for a good fucking knew where to go to ease the starving monster.

Money.

It had just occurred to Teito that he could buy his own Histani, and not in the shape of stupid pink hearts. It next occurred to him that he had no money, no paying job to get money. Could he borrow? No, that raised too many questions and at the moment, no brilliant lie came to mind. He, in a sense, had always paid for the Histani with his body. Could he do that again? For another woman?

It seemed like a sensible plan. He would just need to find another woman to buy him his drug of choice. Teito grimaced. If he found another woman like Scarlett…

A dealer. It seemed so simple, why didn't he think of it before? If he became a dealer's toy, there would always be a stash somewhere for him to steal. It didn't even matter if he found another woman like Scarlett.

Teito's body shivered. Whether from anticipation or his addiction growling for attention, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

-x-x-x-

Back in the Sixth District, Teito hid his hawkzile in the outskirts of town, away from eyes that might claim his vehicle theirs and steal it again. His need for Histani was beginning to die slightly. Probably because his brain knew that he needed to appear presentable to the public if he even wanted a chance to get his medicine.

The brunet wandered the streets, making sure to avoid the previous bar he went to, hoping he never had to see Scarlett again. A faint scream whistled in the air, it didn't even faze him. The streets were grimy and rat infested; how could something as amazing as Histani come from a rundown place like this?

Teito near gave up hope of finding a dealer. All the places he passed appeared too dangerous to step into. He was a convulsing addict, not an idiot.

The teen wondered if Frau was ever like this; the priest sure as hell was not living up to his title but did he fall so far as to try illegal substances? Teito wondered when he, himself, got like this. Maybe it was after the first week with Scarlett. He could only remember all the drugs he took from her, not her company. There was the brownish-gold powder he smoked, she called that Serene. Then there was this little circular yellow pill, she called that one Merry-go-Round, Mary R. for short. And then one called Militisia. He remembered nothing when he was on that green pill; he decided never to get on it again. [2]

But Frau seemed to have turned around. Sure the guy smoked, and Teito knew he drank from time to time, but never to the point where it appeared that he needed to. It was like the bishop just did it as a reminder of who he was before he joined the clergy. Would the brunet ever be like that too? Would he ever be able to control his raging monster inside and just take drugs because they felt good, not because he needed them?

A flash of light shined in his face too abruptly, Teito staggered as his brain attempted to reboot. The purr of an engine slowly filled his auditory senses and the bright light dimmed down to allow the opening of eyes.

"What's a kid like you doing in a place like this?" a deep voice questioned from within the vehicle.

"Hardly a kid," Teito's second persona took over, "seventeen, legal." [3]

"You look like you're looking for something."

"Maybe I am," Teito walked to the car's window, which began to lower as he approached. "What's it to you?"

The man inside the car could easily live up to the title of 'Fat-King'. He had curly blond hair, eyes obscured by shades, face chubby (almost fat), and a gut that almost looked big enough to carry a newborn child. He wore a crisp mint green suit, decked out with gold necklaces and an assortment of rings. Each looking more valuable than the other as they curled around fat sausage fingers. A disturbing grin separated his thick cheeks.

"I'm looking for something too. You scratch my back, I scratch yours."

The once good church-going, god-fearing Teito Klein would have refused, would have walked away and never looked back. This new person, however, let a smirk crawl over his features, let 'Mikage' out and in a purring voice that was not his own, answered the man.

"Well then, how bout we settle this little transaction, yeah?"

The door opened, Teito/Mikage stepped inside and made himself comfortable in the back seat. The man sat across from him; Teito took notice that the driver was blocked off from the rest of the car.

"So what do you want from me?" Teito crossed his arms across his chest, his mind plotting escape in case things went sour.

"I've opened up a new club. A Host Club. All I want is for you to escort my lovely female customers. With a pretty face like yours, it's just the refresher many women crave for."

"How far do I have to take things?"

"I pay you to flirt, tease; make them come back for more. What they are willing to pay you to do outside working hours is entirely up to you."

"I need info along with money," Teito admitted, wondering how close he was to his Histani.

"Oh?" Dirty blond eyebrows rose over the shades on the other man.

"Histani. H. I need some."

"Ah, kids and their new drugs. You're just in luck, I'm friends with a manufacturer. I can get you some cheap and straight from the horses mouth."

"Then I think we just settled the deal." A grin broke through Teito's once innocent face.

The man before him extended his hand.

"Seth, Seth King but just call me Seth."

Teito stifled a laugh. This Seth really was the Fat King. Teito shook the man's hand.

"Mikage."

"Have a last name?" the man pulled back his hand, appearing very pleased with himself, like if he just won the lottery.

"No. I can work just as well without one."

"Then how bout we get started today?"

The car rumbled and began to advance forward; Seth pulled out a cigar and lit it. In the instant he inhaled to burn the tobacco, eyes hidden behind shades were revealed: blue.

"I think me and you are going to get along just fine, Mikage."

-x-x-x-

The fifth pounding to his door rattled Teito conscious. He had hoped they would give up and believe him to be dead or to take a hint and just leave him in peace. And for a moment, his wish was granted. The pounding stopped, everything went quite. He was still riding the Pony Express, better known as Merry-go-Round, from last night's Hosting so it made everything calmer. The women he had last night had been really into that stuff. One would think that after two weeks of Hosting, Teito would have gotten used to most of the illegal substances floating around in the Sixth District, but he was sadly mistaken. [4]

Hindrian was introduced to him during his first week of work. It was the craziest thing he ever felt. They injected the clear liquid straight into his main artery in the neck. It was ten-times better than Histani and pushed him beyond the limitations of his pleasure receptors. It even got him so aroused that he took the brunette he was with to the back room and screwed her senseless. Histani was banned from the Club after that.

…Really. Where had Teito's innocence gone?

"It's fucken time to get up, brat!"

The door imploded, causing Teito to sit up rather abruptly. Big mistake. His skull pounded with pain and pleasure, the alcohol wearing out and the drugs running strong were mixing in dangerous ways. Last night it was terrific, the crash he was getting this morning because of a hangover: bad, very, very bad.

"Get out, Frau!" Teito fell back into bed, slamming a pillow over his head to drown out the loud noises and bright light.

"I'll get out when you get up. It's three in the fucking afternoon, what the hell have you been doing all night?"

"Can you just leave me alone! Get the fuck out!"

That sparked the plug which set off the bomb. Frau threw aside the covers on Teito's bed, grabbing the startled teen by the collar to lift him up off the mattress just to slam him back down. The bishop leaned all his weight into his arm, onto the boy's chest. Teito let out a muffled choke; tiny hands tried to pry off larger.

"I've been taking your…bullshit for weeks now," Frau growled. Every bitter emotion that had welled up inside him since Teito's odd behavior came storming out. "I don't know what kind of stupid shit you're getting into-."

"That's right! You never know anything!" Teito managed to shout though it lost impact since his voice sounded so strained. Everything was always about Frau; it was how he was taking it, how he was doing this and that for Teito. The teen was sick of it. Sick and tired of being put last because 'he should be over Mikage by now'. Well he wasn't. He damn well fucking wasn't! "When Mikage died, you didn't know why. When I felt like dying, you didn't know what to do. When I told you to make the pain go away, you fucking didn't know how!" Tears prickled his blood-shot eyes but refused to let them out. "So who's been giving me bullshit for weeks? If I found a way to make the pain go away then let me! Let me get rid of the pain!"

Teito huffed as his unplanned tears streaked down his face. Silence lingered for a moment, Frau's glacier eyes as unreadable as ever.

"…have you been taking drugs?" Frau's voice was softer than either expected; emotion finally thawed his twin pieces of ice as he continued to stare down at Teito. A pain he didn't understand threatened to show past his eyes and flow into the rest of his face but the defiant look on Teito's face made anger slowly rise.

The answer to his question was in those muddy disobedient eyes, the answer he had refused to believe for so long…

Frau forced his hand open, his fingered tensed at being held so tightly for so long. Blood slowly flowed back in, giving him feeling back in his fingers. Teito watched in mild confusion as Frau turned his back to him. And so quick, before Teito could understand, the nightstand beside his bed was pulled apart. All its contents were dumped onto the floor, a ravage fury masked Frau's disappointment.

Teito continued to watch in stunned horror was Frau kicked around his belongings, dumping and throwing things around like a ravage dog in search of an infested rat. It finally occurred to the teen to stop this obvious violation of his property.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Where the fuck are you hiding it?" Frau threw aside a backpack of Teito's things, finding nothing of importance in it.

"Hiding what, you stupid idiot?" Teito threw himself on Frau, taking the larger male into an awkward choke-hold which did nothing more than annoy an already pissed off bishop.

As if ridding himself of a bothersome fly, Frau reached behind him, forced the teen to let go, and threw the smaller male onto the bed. The mattress bounced violently at the sudden impact, flipping over and spilling Teito onto the floor. Soon the heavy padded sleeping box fell on top of him.

Blazing azure flew to the wall behind the bed frame. His eyes followed the wall down until he reached the wooden flooring. A board was loose. Frau stalked over to the wooden frame, threw it aside so easily; it crashed into the already busted door. Much to his luck, no one had bothered to come and identify the cursing and crashing.

Falling to his knees, Frau stripped the flooring off in the harshest way possible. The wood snapped, splintered, as he continued to dig like a rampant animal. There it was. A large bag with illegal contents, a razor blade, a mirror and a lighter. He smashed the mirror against the wall to a side of him. He snapped the lighter in two, the flammable liquid dripped all over his hands. He took the razor blade and rammed the sharp edge into the wall before him. Next came the bag; he ripped it open, inspected the contents and grimaced. Teito emerged from underneath the mattress.

Frau was standing now, glaring blue towards startled muddy green. Teito reached out, anguish clear on his face. Without a second look back, Frau proceeded to a door near a corner of the room and disappeared inside.

Teito raced towards Frau, ripping the bottom of his feet on the broken glass that wasn't there a few moments ago. He lost his footing upon feeling the sharp pain and fell to his knees, causing even more cuts and abrasions to appear. As he looked up, he realized he fell just in front of the bathroom door. Frau held his life over the toilet. The bag dripped all its contents into the bowl with an audible plunk, plunk, sshhhhh. Whoosh. Gurgle, gurgle. Hisssss…

Tears flowed freely as the teen watched in utter stupor.

"What…what did you fucking do?"

"It's time for a fucking intervention."

[1] This stuff isn't real. Or at least, I don't think it is. From what I'm certain of, it came from outta mah brain :P But there are pills out there in the shape of little hearts. Don't know what kind, don't want to say what kind, don't even want to research what kind. I'm a 'Just Say No' child. :)

[2] Same as number one up there. I'm almost positive that none of that stuff is real. Just to clarify, the drugs mentioned in that paragraph are basically the only ones found in o7-Ghost land, and Hindrian. Well, in my Fic anyways. Basic alcohol: vodka, beer, tequila, whiskey, etc. can be found here too, as well as tabbaki (tobacco). There is no marijuana, meth, ecstasy, etc. etc.

[3] I find these little notes very amusing. –Ahem– In this fic, seventeen is legal as twenty-one is legal in the good ol' U.S. of A.

[4] Er. Yeah, timeline is confusing. To simplify: 2 weeks with Scarlett, 2 weeks at Host Club. 4 weeks since Teito started doing drugs. The End :)

A/N: Well, I had a lot of footnotes for this Fic…it'll get easier as we progress since most of it was pushed out of the way in this chapter. Well, I still have one more note to say. I'm sure many of you are wondering: 'what does that drug do?' Everything will be explained in the next chapter, courtesy of my favorite o7 Character 33 Until next time, y'all.