Disclaimer: We do not own Gravitation.

Chapter 1

Heroin Hell

"Daddy daddy daddy!" Exclaimed a small blonde-haired boy as he yanked his sleeping father's arm. "It's time to get up!" The boy attempted to pull the man out of bed, but accomplished only a hard thud as he fell on his rear end. The boy set his brown eyes dangerously on his sleepingchichi as he silently declared war.

Yuki Eiri awoke to a high-pitched whistle not two feet from his sensitive ears. He jumped to get away from the noise and tumbled out of bed.

"What the hell Aiden!" He cried, staring at the small boy clutching a blow whistle and wearing a mischievous grin.

"It's almost time for school," Aiden replied simply before hurrying out of the room to get dressed.

Eiri half-smiled before pulling himself to his feet and stretching. With the loud child gone he might be able to get some work done. But, then again, sometimes when Aiden was gone the house's silence seemed almost… eerie…

Eiri had just finished pulling on his fresh clothes when Aiden came bounding back into the room and clasped himself to Eiri's leg like a parasite.

"Hey big guy," Eiri said, glancing down. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yep, I ate breakfast and everything," replied Aiden, waving an empty box of pocky in front of his dad.

Eiri cringed. "That is NOT breakfast."

"Sure it is!" Argued Aiden, tossing the box in the trash. "And it was good."

Yuki walked over and snatched a banana off the counter. "Eat this on the ride, it's good for you."

Aiden took the banana and glared at it beforegrabbingup his backpack and heading towards the door. "Come on dad I don't want to be late on the first day!"

Eiri followed his son out to the black Mercedes and helped him into the backseat, buckling his seatbelt tightly before climbing into the driver's seat.

"What are you going to do all day without me to take care of you?" Aiden asked as they headed towards the school.

"Hopefully get some work done, and maybe get some much needed rest," replied Eiri, smiling at his son in the rearview mirror.

They pulled up in front of Tohoku Elementary School. Aiden unhooked himself, grabbed his backpack, and hopped out of the car.

"Are you going to be alright?" Eiri asked through the rolled down window. "Do you want me to walk you to class?"

Aiden turned to his father and let out an exasperated sigh. "Dad I'm nine, not seven," he stated simply.

Eiri smiled at him and nodded before changing gears and driving home.

Aiden watched him go with a sad look. He knew about all of his father's girlfriends, he wasn't stupid. But sometimes his father just seemed so lonely…

Shindou Shuichi couldn't be happier. He was doing something he loved and believed in, and it was the start of a brand new year. Things couldn't be better. So what if all these growing minds came with bickering parents who think that you graded their kid unfairly? So what if the headmaster follows you around like a hawk because you use to play in a band? No harm no foul, and they certainly weren't harming him.

"Hello Shindou-sensei," greeted a small dark-haired girl.

"Hello Saara," replied Shuichi, right before the slouching form of a small boy caught his eyes. "Hey kiddo why the long face?" Shuichi asked.

The boy looked up with beautiful hazel eyes that quickly narrowed. "Why are your eyes purple?" He asked critically.

Shuichi laughed. "I was born that way. You should have seen me when I was a teenager, my hair was pink!"

"That's weird," replied Aiden, ever honest.

Shuichi laughed again. "You're on my list kid. So why did you look so down?"

Aiden shrugged. "Sometimes people just feel down."

"That doesn't make it a good thing."

"But it might not necessarily be a bad thing either, right dono? It's really in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?" Aiden's face remained emotionless. "Like whether the glass is half full or half empty."

Shuichi was taken a little aback. He'd never met a kid this mature, or intelligent, especially not at this age.

"What's your name?" Shuichi asked.

"Uesugi Aiden," replied the boy. "And yours?"

"Shindou Shuichi," Shuichi answered.

"Well Shindou-sensei, thank you for your concern but I'm going to class now," without another word the boy turned on his heel and entered Shuichi's classroom.

Shuichi scratched his head. This was going to be an interesting year.

Eiri sighed, irritated. He was having writer's block and his arms were starting to itch. He needed it. He needed it bad.

He stumbled into his bedroom, quickly fumbling with a wood box underneath the bed. He lifted the lid off the box and stared at the treasure inside. His needles and heroin.

He expertly slid a needle into a vein near his other scars and pushed the liquid relief into his body before lying down on his back and tossing the needle into a nearby wastebasket There were just some things that couldn't be replaced.

The school bell rang and Aiden happily ran outside were he knew his father would be waiting for him. His steps slowed when he got closer to Eiri.

The man's eyes were red and he shook slightly. Aiden knew what this was. He didn't know what was in the needles, but he did know that this was what Eiri looked like every time he used one. This was what the Eiri who wasn't his father looked like.

"Hey dad," Aiden said cautiously. Eiri just grunted and snubbed out his cigarette.

"Get in the car," he said fiercely. "I have things to do."

Aiden nodded, too afraid of upsetting his father to speak. He climbed into the backseat and buckled his seatbelt. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shindou-sensei waving to him vigorously. He smiled and waved back.

"Who's that?" Eiri asked icily.

"My teacher, Shindou-sensei," replied Aiden softly. "He's a pretty nice guy."

"He looks weird to me," mumbled Eiri, staring at the elementary teacher. He then shifted into drive and they shot out of the parking lot.

Aiden scrunched his eyes shot. If he couldn't see out the window then he couldn't see all the cars that they nearly hit. And if he doesn't see those, then he can convince himself that he's perfectly safe.

"Dad," Aiden started as his father narrowly avoided getting sideswiped by another car. "Can you slow down a bit?"

Eiri glanced at the kid angrily for a moment. "Shut it alright?" He said, then dropped the speed down about 5 miles. "There, happy?" He demanded.

Aiden didn't reply, he just wanted to get home and out of this car. What should have been a 20 minute drive turned into 5.

When they did arrive home Aiden jumped out of the car, grabbed his backpack, and ran inside the house. Eiri watched him go before locking the car and following the boy into his house.

He slumped down on to the couch, feeling tired and overworked. As usual. The high was starting to wear off, and soon he wouldnot only feel tired and overworked, but stressed as well.

A ringing emanated throughout the house, causing Eiri to groan. He snatched up the phone.

"WHAT?" He snapped into the receiver.

"Why must you answer the phone like that?" came an equally irritated voice.

Eiri sighed audibly. "What the hell do you want Mika?"

"Can't I call just to say hello?"

"No."

Mika sighed. "I was calling to check on you. Happy? I was worried. Sakano-san was picking up Takara from Tohoku elementary when he saw your car go screaming out of the lot. Naturally he called Toma to voice his concerns. We were afraid that you had done…. Something again."

Eiri tightened his grip on the phone. Why he sent Aiden to the same school as Mika and Toma's daughter he may never know. He did NOT need this.

"How about this," Eiri started. "How about youand Toma worry about your own goddamn lives?"

"We just don't want you – or Aiden – to get hurt," replied Mika, her voice actually gentle. "We don't want the past to repeat itself."

Eiri slammed the phone down, breathing hard. No… he silently thought, resting his head in his hands. Not now…

Flashback

Eiri sat on the floor, slumped over and high. No matter how much he injected, no matter how long he sat at the computer, he couldn't write anything. It was like a mass conspiracy. Fuck the novel… he thought. Fuck it to hell.

"Fuck everything," he said, punching the wall. All he wanted now was some peace and quiet.

"Daddy?" A voice came from the hallway. Damn.

"Daddy?" the irritating child said again, before finding his father in the living room. He knelt down and touched his father's arm. "I had a bad dream…"

"What the fuck do you want me to do about it?" Eiri asked, yanking his arm away from the child.

Thrown off balance by the sudden loss of Eiri's arm, Aiden stumbled forward into a table, knocking off the very expensive glass lamp perched precariouslyon it. It came down on the ground hard, shattering everything but the lampshade.

Aiden jumped away from the wreckage. "Oops," He said weakly.

"Oops!" repeated Eiri in disbelief. "You…" he grabbed Aiden and yanked the boy towards him. Aiden tried to pull away, but obviously wasn't strong enough. He twisted awkwardly to the side and Eiri heard a very distinctive "SNAP."

Eiri released the child and Aiden fell to his knees crying.

"Dammit," Eiri said, speechless. "Aiden I… we need to take you to the doctor." Eiri swiftly picked the boy up and carried him to the car.

end flashback

Eiri felt hot tears run down his cheeks.

dono- mister

chichi- father

A/N: Bloody Dead Rose here! Hmmmm, I didn't mean to make Aiden quite so… mature and rude. But like father like son right? He's only that way with strangers I guess, and that's how characters grow I suppose, and I think that he's going to be a dynamic character. For those of you who are wandering about the band comment, in this story Shuichi was at one point in time in a band, but not the band we all know. It was Bad Luck with just him and Hiro, and they never got signed on to NG or anything. It's just something they did when they were younger, but that the headmaster doesn't like. Also, I've never done heroin, and I don't know much about it, so if I got the symptoms wrong or anything like that just tell me and I'll fix it. Please review. The next chappie will be written by Eiri4ever, so if it's not updated quickly enough don't hurt me, hurt her! (I still love you partner, but the threats that some reviewers use scare me!)