A/N: It's me again! :D Hi~~ Er. Yeah, I'm all talked (?) out at the moment, so I'll just let you guys get to reading, yeah?

Chapter Four

Day 1: Misery Loves its Company


One room, one bathroom, one bed, two suitcases, two people, both males, no privacy.

Baggage in one hand and human baggage draped over the opposite shoulder, Frau began considering that this idea might not have been one of his most brilliant ones. The room was small, very much so. It fitted one twin size bed and a worn-out recliner. The bed was pushed into the farthest corner and it really only took one stride for him to reach it. The armchair was crowded in the corner opposite of the bed; they were practically touching. A doorway to his right led to the bathroom with no door to allow privacy. No windows of any kind allowed light in; a tall lamp beside the recliner immediately turned on once the door had been opened, but even then, the dying bulb hardly gave any light to the room. It was dark, damp, freezing, and yet it smelled oddly clean, or at least had no foul odor.

The two bags in his right hand fell to the floor with an audible thump. Fatigue washed over him in one giant wave. As azure eyes continued to stare at the small bed, only one thought remained constant in Frau's mind: he would not be getting a good night's rest throughout the upcoming two weeks. His alcohol, his cigarettes; that didn't matter as much as his need to fall dead asleep, no thinking, no worries, nothing, if only for a few hours in his day. It was definitely going to be a long 'spiritual journey'.

With a sigh, Frau placed Teito on the bed, going about the task as careful as possible as to not wake the teen. The bishop still had a few things he needed to do before the "rehabilitation" began. He released a sigh of relief as Teito refrained from stirring. With the motel key in one hand, and his last packet of cigarettes (well, for the two weeks, anyway) in the other, Frau left the room to indulge one last time before throwing himself (sober, no less) into what will only be hell on earth for both bishop and slave.

x-x-x

Frau smelled like tobacco and beer. And frankly, he didn't care. It was late, and he knew it. He had only intended on leaving for an hour at most. Instead about five went by, or six, maybe eight, he wasn't sure. It was difficult to remember when all you wanted to do was destroy all your brain cells with alcohol to keep yourself from ever thinking a coherent thought again.

Looking at the situation logically, the brat must have run for the hills the moment he woke up in a motel room, alone. The bishop let out a defeated sigh. During his time in the snow-ridden park near the motel, the blond had planned out the next two weeks in his head: the lectures, arguments and remedies Teito would need in order to even begin to subdue his drug fixation. Now all that seemed to blow up in the bishop's face when even he couldn't control his own fixations.

If, by some miracle Teito was still in the motel room, Frau would need to rethink his strategy a bit. The last thing he needed was to be called a hypocrite. If Teito labeled him that, there was little chance a break-through could be made on the boy. There were reasons why it was okay for Frau to do stupid things like drinking and smoking, but for Teito – especially the bad habits he picked up in the Sixth District – it was far from being 'okay'.

First plan (if Teito was still in the room) was for Frau to take a quick shower. Steam away the smell clinging onto him. Maybe first he would brush his teeth; the taste in his mouth was foul. Teeth first, shower after, and then it would be Teito's turn in the shower. God knows the boy needed it; he was beginning to sweat out the drugs, and that did not smell pleasant. After that…well, Plan A was still a work-in-progress.

Now, if Teito was not there, Frau would make damn well use of the room. After all, he paid thirty-five bucks for it. Round up all his sinful pleasures, indulge, and forget ever belonging to the clergy in the Seventh District, ever becoming Zehel of the 7-Ghosts, being the only one who could wield Verloren's Scythe; forget ever knowing a man named Castor, Labrador, etcetera and, most definitely, forget ever knowing a young boy named Teito Klein. That boy caused him nothing but trouble. And sometimes, it never seemed worth, even if the former slave would reward him with rare smiles.

Frau let out an elongated sigh. What kind of bullshit was he making himself believe? Of course those smiles were worth it. Just the fact that he was the sole person at the receiving end of those smiles, no one else, actually made him feel important, special. Frau gave a small bark-laugh. HA!

The blond was pushing mid-twenties and he honestly believed a fifteen year old kid could make him think he was special? Really, maybe what Castor told him did have some sort of meaning, maybe Frau was childish.

It seemed a bit idiotic to be reading into his life when the whole reason for this trip was to help another's. So as the blond opened the door to room 13, he made it his priority to aid Teito, not himself, Teito, whether the brat wanted it or not.

The weak light in the corner flickered on and shown upon Teito's still form. Exactly how Frau had left him. That worried the bishop a bit. Two days out cold, was the brat even breathing?

Frau closed the door behind him just as a strong gush of wind forced itself through the door, bringing with it clumps of snow. They littered the floor and slowly melted into the carpet. The blond made a note not to walk around barefoot. As he stowed away the key into a pocket on his slacks, Frau decided to play with the heater, hoping that the piece of contraption would work.

A rumbling soon began from somewhere in the bathroom region, and even Frau, who was constantly cold, could feel the warm air seep from its designated vents along the floor. Now he proceeded to check on the teen.

Teito looked sickly under the yellow-tinted light and almost matched the brownish-grey covers he was sleeping on. Dark circles stained the bottom of his eyes, his cheeks were hollowed in; even his hair had lost its soft chocolate color. It looked dull and dead. Teito was not supposed to look this way. Frau continually reached into his memory of a time before the death of Mikage; when Teito still had hope, hope in a lot of things. Hope in his future, hope in the people around him, hope that he could change. Now, now that hope was lost. What replaced it was something bitter.

When did Frau go wrong? He did all he could for Teito and yet…the boy still strayed. Maybe…he didn't do enough.

Gloved fingers trailed down Teito's ashen cheek. The teen seemed so breakable, like a wilting flower or a dying puppy; all you could do for it now was to end its misery.

Willing himself to take in a deep breath, Frau managed to find Teito's pulse on the side of his neck. The boy was still alive, though Frau did not like how long it took for his heart to beat. Finding that he could do nothing more than to let Teito continue to fight his drug addiction unconsciously, Frau made his way towards the recliner, moving it so it stationed in front of the door. After this point, he had no intention of leaving until the two weeks were up.

Taking a last look towards the brunet and seeing nothing wrong(er) with the picture, Frau took up his bag and proceeded to the bathroom.

x-x-x

Thirty minutes, maybe? Or was he pushing an hour?

Frau didn't care how long he had stayed in the shower as long as the steaming water continued to pour. This was his only relief now to the torture he was putting himself in. Back when this idea of his still seemed brilliant, he imagined most of his stress would come from Teito constantly yelling at him for ruining his life. Frau never stopped to realize the stress he would put himself in. Constantly worrying about the brat, his nicotine monster scratching the inside of his skull for a fix, an even bigger, uglier monster inside him growling for death-like slumber. It went beyond stupidity that he didn't realize this sooner.

A loud crash brought him back from his self-pitying thoughts and soon, above the shower of steaming water, the sound of gagging and vomiting filled the tiny bathroom.

Frau pushed aside the shower curtain enough to stick his head out. There he saw a mop of dead brown hair above the toilet's rim. Reluctantly, the bishop turned the water off, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around his waist and stepped onto the extremely cold tile floor.

"Hey kid, still alive?"

Teito continued to empty what little he had in his stomach, not even hearing the bishop. As the nausea ceased, Teito flushed the toilet, still uncertain if he should stand. Moving felt like the stupidest thing to do, and the cool tile floors did wonders on his over-heated body. To even begin to describe the feelings rushing through his nervous system would take an eternity, and definitely a decent thesaurus; something his brain had no wish for, so in simple terms, he felt like he was dying, only worse.

"Hey."

A warm hand on his shoulder caused the teen to flinch violently. Somehow, he found himself with his back against the wall, the toilet beside him rather than in front.

At first, the brunet thought himself hallucinating. Why on earth would Frau be doing in his room, correction, his bathroom, dripping wet and in nothing more than towel? He was comfortable around the man, but not to this point, only when he felt like jumping from the church bell tower.

"Wha-?"

"Oh god, you don't even know where you are." Frau turned away from the teen, took his bag from the bathroom floor and proceeded into the room. It peeved him slightly to know that Teito's mind was melting to mush so quickly that simple things such as memory were escaping him.

All modesty gone at this point due to irritation, Frau began to change, not bothering whether the brat saw him or not. Boxers went on first, followed by sleeping bottoms, his favorite ripped black shirt and lastly his trademark gloves.

"Did you really have to change in front of me?"

The blond turned towards the bathroom doorway, catching sight of Teito sitting on the ground, his back resting against the doorframe. With an arm over his stomach and another over his eyes, Frau guessed the brat was going to fall into another puking episode, and soon.

"You didn't have to look," he answered back. Frau took back up his towel and went to drying his hair, scrubbing it violently with the soft cloth.

After his stomach finally settled, Teito dropped the arm across his eyes, properly taking in the room this time. Even if he was being punished, he knew the Nuns would never allow anyone to place him in such a depressing looking room. His attention fled back to the bishop, and snippets of memories began to settle into their proper place.

"Is this supposed to be the place for my…" Teito would have quoted the air but the arm across his stomach felt oddly comforting and he felt that if he removed it, the nausea would come back, "spiritual journey?"

"How're you feelin'?" Frau threw the towel aside and sat himself on the bed, arms on his knees as he kept his sight on the brunet. Since Teito wasn't yelling, the blond thought it would be polite to return the favor.

Teito shrugged, turning his sights away from the bishop. Though he still felt like driving a knife into his stomach, there was this odd feeling running through him. He still felt the pain. The scratching, pounding in his skull, the burning, constricting feel in his chest, the burning in his stomach, the bugs crawling all over his skin but it was also as if all that he was feeling wasn't real, that it was all imaginary.

Frau sighed as he dropped his forehead into his open palm. The teen looked so…dead. There was no other word for it. The juvenile innocence was gone; he looked like an old man ready to pass over.

"Do you know why you're here?" Frau asked a different question, hoping against all that it would spark something in those lifeless eyes.

"Cause you hate me?"

Really, it's like the brat's on auto-mode. Frau looked up irritated from behind his hand, keeping it over his mouth to hide the frown he was trying to suppress.

"No, it's because you have a problem."

"We all have problems."

"Your problem involves with you killing yourself."

"Well you won't kill me, I can't do it. Might as well let something pleasant do the job."

"Are you fucking serious?" Frau snapped, feeling disgusted at the calm tone Teito was using.

That did it. Teito turned to him, rage clear on his face.

"Well, excuse me! I'm sorry I no longer live up to your pathetic little 'bishops' expectations. I don't see why you can't just leave me the fuck alone and mind your own damn business!"

"You live," Frau grinded his teeth, hands clenching the mattress tightly, afraid he might use his strength unintentionally against the teen, "in the House of God. You're taking who knows what and you're bringing that shit into the church! Who in their right mind would bring drugs into a church?"

"You fucking bring cigarettes and alcohol onto church grounds! Why should I listen to anything you have to say if you do the same exact thing I do?"

"It's not the same! The alcohol and cigarettes won't kill me, but whatever the hell you're taking certainly is killing you! So we are not the same and don't ever think of comparing my habits with yours!"

"Then let me leave! If you care about the image of your oh-so-precious church, then get rid of me! Kick me out! I'm sure you have no problem with that, Zehel! Killing off the wicked is your job right? Well, here I am! Drug addict in all his pathetic glory! Do the honors and get rid of one of millions of sinners roaming the earth!"

Unable to control it any longer, Frau lost himself to his anger. He shot towards the sitting brunet, grabbed him by the neck and began to squeeze. Frau's body was shaking in fury, his mind set on one thing. Teito gasped and struggled under his hand as the teen was slowly lifted from the ground and his feet. It was like the feral animal inside Frau was let loose; it was hungry, and it was hungry for blood. He squeezed his hand tighter, his mind still on the single road but his eyes were no longer seeing anything.

Teito's vision went blurry, pain no longer registered but that of his burning lungs and crushed neck. He wheezed and coughed to draw in any breath he could. Strangulation was defiantly one way he didn't want to die so he did the only thing that came to mind at the moment. With both hands around Frau's wrist, Teito moved one along the length of the man's arm as far as he could reach.

Frau felt a small pinch in his arm, and that was all that was needed to bring him back and repress the feral monster in him. He immediately opened his hand, the sound of Teito crashing to the floor followed soon after, coughing and hacking. Frau refused to look down, terrified at what he had just done. He raised his hand up and looked at it as if it was a foreign object. That's when he caught sight of a dark red ring around his forearm. As he turned his arm to get a better view, he realized it was a burn. First degree but it didn't even sting. Almost like sunburn, but a pathetic excuse for one. Teito did this to him with his zaphion, as a last resort to get the blond to let go. Frau swallowed, hard.

"G-go take a shower. There're clothes in that bag for you."

He kept his sight to the wall before him as he heard Teito scurry about at his feet. In little time the water was running and the shower curtain swished closed.

Feeling almost in a dazed state, Frau fell into the recliner. He rested his elbow on the armrest and placed his chin on the palm of his hand. He closed his eyes, unsure of where he should put his gaze. He felt so…wrong.

This was only the first night and Frau almost…killed the boy. He had never felt so angry before…never had the need to express anger like that.

Azure eyes opened and moved to stare at his limp right arm that lay on his thigh. He opened and closed his fist, watching his muscles twitch as he strained his hand to close tighter.

What if, by the end of the two weeks, only one person left room 13?

A/N: Wow…geez. Kinda serious, huh? I've never written Frau like that before… (Yeah…no typical rant today.) Let's see how the next chapter goes, yeah? Till then~