Mukuro had kept Fran home from school for several days, seeing that the younger's reaction to the drugs had been very overwhelming; they had left the boy in a depressive, anxious state for almost a week, and he was only just now starting to get better.

What really upset Mukuro the most was the fact that, even though Belphegor had been the entire cause of this, Fran still insisted on dating the blond; it irritated him when he would be sitting on the couch next to his charge and hear the soft ping of Fran's smart-phone as he sent and received messages from the drug addict. No matter how hard he had tried to put an end to this, it only made their relationship more strained.

"Hey, Fran, do you think you can put the phone away for a while now, please?" Mukuro was sitting on the other end of the couch, a cup of tea in his hand as he tried to focus on the DVD he had put on earlier. "It's a bit distracting..."

Fran sighed as he put it into power-saving mode, tossing it carelessly onto the cushion beside him. "Bel-senpai said he had to go anyway..."

There was a lot Mukuro could have said about this – none of it nice – but he knew Fran had already been through a lot and didn't need to feel as if he were being judged for his boyfriend's actions. "I'm sorry, little one. Can we finish this movie now, please? I wanted to watch it with you."

"Sorry, Master." Fran moved so that he rested against his guardian, his head on a strong shoulder. He felt a lanky arm wrap around his middle, holding him close.

The movie wasn't particularly interesting for Fran, but he had a feeling it was because he was so lost in his thoughts, he really wasn't taking much notice of anything around him; he was too busy reliving the blurry memories he had of participating in drug use. He felt ashamed to know that, for all this time after the incident, he had been craving what he barely remembered taking, and it scared him to know that just one night had messed him up like this.

Mukuro, who always had a sixth sense when it came to Fran, looked down at the boy. "What's wrong?"

Fran frowned as he shook his head, knowing he couldn't talk about it with Mukuro – he couldn't disappoint the man who had worked so hard on raising him, not with something like this. "I'm okay..."

"Are you sure?" Mukuro smoothed down teal strands, watching the younger for a few seconds before he turned back to the TV.

"Yes, Master."

The blue-haired man carefully pushed Fran away as he got off the couch, observing the boy in concern. "Let me go make you a hot chocolate... You'll feel better."

Fran nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them as he tried to focus on anything but his thoughts.

The boy gratefully accepted the mug of hot chocolate he was given a few minutes later, curling up back against his guardian. His hands trembled as he held the cup, but Mukuro didn't draw attention to it; he knew it would be because of the drug incident.

A nauseas feeling started overwhelming Fran. He tried his hardest to ignore it, but when he started to dry-retch, he knew he couldn't. He dropped his mug to the hardwood floor, hearing the glass shatter, but he didn't care – he couldn't.

"Fran..." Mukuro sighed as he ran his hand through teal locks. He shook his head, knowing there really wasn't anything he could do except try and keep his charge calm. "Fran, it's going to be alright. Whatever you're bottling up, you shouldn't; you can talk to me about it."

Fran shook his head, the last thing he wanted to do worry the man. He jumped up off the couch, earning a few cuts from the broken glass beneath his feet, and ran up the stairs. He could hear Mukuro chasing after him, but he didn't care; he just slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it, keeping the other away from him.

"Fran!" Mukuro sounded greatly worried as he jiggled the doorhandle. "Fran, please let me in...!"

The boy ignored his guardian's pleas as he climbed into his bed, curling up into a ball beneath the blankets. His whole body trembled as he cried, unable to handle how horrible he was feeling lately.

"Bel-senpai..." Tears leaked down the boy's face and onto his pillow as he whimpered for his boyfriend; he didn't understand entirely why Belphegor would involve him in his habits when the younger had clearly stated many times before he didn't want to try drugs, but he loved the blond too much to hate him for it; he just wished the older male had been more considerate to his wishes and feelings. "Bel-senpai, why...?"

On the other side of the door, a dejected Mukuro made his way back into his own bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed. He could understand how Fran must be feeling; when he had first tried drugs, the crash had hit him as hard as it had Fran, if not harder – despite years of continuous drug and alcohol abuse, the crashes and after-effects had never really gotten better; it had been a full-blown addiction that had kept him coming back for more.

Fran was such a good kid, so it had certainly surprised him to realise that Fran had gotten himself involved in it, but he couldn't blame the younger; he couldn't be certain as Fran didn't remember, but he believed Belphegor may have pressured him into it – much like how Mukuro's cousin had been the one to finally convince him to try a bit, all for the sake of making more money.

"Fran..." Mukuro frowned as he lay back on the double bed, looking up at the white roof. He sighed, not knowing how to help. "I'm sorry, Fran... I should be a better guardian to you..."

~~XX~~

Belphegor glanced down as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, blowing a puff of smoke from his mouth as he noticed Fran's name flashing on his phone.

"Who the fuck is texting you at two in the morning?"

Bel blinked as he looked up, finding his companions watching him with red, clouded eyes. They were all as high as he was, the five of them having been spending hours experimenting with various drug mixtures.

"My boyfriend~ Shishi~" Bel opened the message, reading it aloud. "'Can I come over today? I won't tell Master where I'm going, but I think I've become addicted to something I had; it's all I can think about and I feel physically sick'."

The long, silver-haired male sitting to Bel's left laughed loudly as he patted his friend's shoulder. "What did you give him?"

"I mixed alcohol and ecstasy into his coke, and then gave him a shot of heroin~ Had his cock just begging for my touch~" Bel grinned, loving to share his latest exploits with the others.

"Nice going, trash." The dark-haired man with scars on his face smirked before he took a deep puff of his blunt. "Did you fuck him nice and hard?"

Bel nodded excitedly. "Sure did~ Had his cute little ass bleeding everywhere~"

"Have you got a picture of him? Just talking about this makes me horny~" The third companion, a man who wore sunglasses everywhere regardless of whether it was night or day, run a hand through his green part of hair, smiling in anticipation.

"Sure do~ I even took a few videos from when he was high~ I got his come face pretty damn good, Lussu~"

The last person of the group who sat on Bel's right was silent, a woman with long indigo hair and violet eyes. She didn't speak but, when the blond started handing his phone around the group, her mind quickly put two-and-two together after seeing just who her friend's boyfriend was.

"Isn't he Mukuro Rokudo's charge?" The woman took a sip of her alcoholic beverage, the smell of weed clinging to her black clothing. She remained emotionless as the younger male nodded, instead explaining, "Mukuro's my cousin. I was the one who got him addicted in the first place. He started cleaning himself up when he took the boy in. I haven't heard from him in several years now so I assume he's still clean."

"Man, why'd he even get off this shit for some stupid little brat?" The long-haired man picked up the syringe lying in between their circle, pressing it to his arm. "I'd rather have just slit the kid's throat and stayed on this."

"He would get some pretty adverse effects once the high wore off, and his friends were quick to work out what he was doing." The woman just shrugged. "Once he took Fran in and realised he was too aggressive and neglectful of him, they helped him off it."

"Fuck that trash." The tallest male of the group raised a bong to his lips, taking a long drag before he lowered it. "Should have just let him rot. If I were Rokudo, I'd have stayed on it just to beat that shit's ass."

Belphegor laughed as he took the bong from his friend. "He could have just gotten Froggy into it like you guys did for me~"

"Oh, fuck yeah." The long-haired male smirked at pleasant memories. "You were one crazy little shit when you were high, brat; never seen an eight-year-old hump a pillow like a fucking dog and not even realise what they were doing."

"I remember going home once after being with you guys, and my parents didn't even care that I smelt of weed~ I think my brother was starting to get high off the scent alone~"

The group laughed loudly. The one with the sunglasses spoke up next. "Whatever happened to your brother?"

Belphegor shrugged. "Dunno. He just up and disappeared."

"Bet he's out whoring himself around like Belphegor did!" More laughter filled the room. "Goddamn, you were a tight little kid, Bel; never been with anyone as tight as you."

"I did good for an eight-year-old?" A hopeful grin crossed Bel's face as he waited for the answer.

"Fuck yeah," the scarred male replied. "Haven't been with a lot of kids before, but you were a hell of a lot better than the ones I fucked."

While the men laughed loudly and shared stories, the woman counted money in silence. She knew what her friends were like, and though she dabbled in the same habits they did, sometimes the things they did horrified her; all those years ago when the leader of their group recruited Bel to join them, she had been against the idea of getting him both drunk and high, much less using him as a personal whore. She had been outvoted, and though it didn't make her feel any better, at least Belphegor had enjoyed what the older males had done to him.

Glancing down at the phone that lay abandoned by Bel's side, the woman noticed that one of the videos was still playing. From the looks of what she was watching, Fran had been very high whilst losing what she presumed was his virginity; with the amount of blood that was leaking out of his rear and staining the arousal that plunged in and out of him, it would have hurt a lot, but teal eyes were just staring blankly ahead as Fran moaned, his hand caressing his own erection.

The woman just shook her head, knowing that Belphegor was once a sweet-natured boy who just happened to have shitty parents; she knew, deep down inside of her, he would have turned out vastly different had he not been roped in to all of this shit when he was still barely a boy – and now someone else had become involved.

Violet eyes rolled at the thought.