Nile stumbles back, reeling in shock.
"A... a what?" he whispers disbelievingly.
"He's... addicted to cocaine." Demure repeats.
"Him?! No way! Kyoya wouldn't-"
"It wasn't voluntary!" Demure say quickly, cutting off Madoka. "At least, not to begin with."
Nile's face creases angrily. "Demure, tell us everything. The whole story."
The darker boy nods slowly, then retells the tale;
"two or three years ago he was being trained by this guy named Doji as part of a deal, ah, Ginka and the others will know that. This guy's training was really brutal and it made Kyoya quite vicious. When Doji realized how strong Kyoya was getting, he began to worry about controlling him, because he was kinda using him as a weapon."
"So the guy injected him with cocaine?!" It's clear how furious Nile is.
Demure nods. He keeps his mouth shut, not wanting to say anything about how Kyoya had grown to need the highs the drug brought, or about how deranged he had looked from the longing it brought as he confessed about his obsession.
Nile kneels down next to his unconscious friend and rolls up one of his long sleeves, revealing tell-tale needle marks. "That sick...-"
"It's not just cocaine."
Nile's breath catches in his throat as Kyoya's once bright blue eyes open. "What do you mean 'not just'?"
The greenette murmurs, "It's... heroin too."
"Heroin?! He got you stuck on two drugs?!" Nile yells in outrage.
An uncomfortable silence follows from Kyoya, and Nile can tell there's something he doesn't want to say.
"Doji... only gave me... the cocaine." He says hesitantly. "I started the heroin myself. I... I dunno why. I can't exactly remember... Maybe I was trying to switch or something?" Kyoya sits up awkwardly, his head kept down. He was still shivering despite how warm the summer air was.
He looked utterly pathetic.
And, the way his face was twisted in shame and self-despising, he knew it.
Nile quietly wonders what to do with him.
This was all wrong. Kyoya Tategami was a fierce lone lion, ready and excited for any challenge that faced him. He was not this hunched, half-starved figure who looked incapable of standing by himself. And yet this is what Nile was seeing right now.
Incapable. That's right. Nile reaches his realization on what to do next. Kyoya won't have the strength for anything right now. He's going to need help from us.
His friend flinches in surprise when he feels Nile grab his arm, looking up at the Egyptian with wide eyes.
"Then it's settled. We'll help you stay off them till the addiction's gone." Nile tells him.
Kyoya just stares at him incredulously. "But... Why would you do that? It's useless..." At the last statement, his voice turns hopeless and somber. "I've tried stopping it, I've tried a lot, but I just can't."
"It's impossible." The phrase that would seem most ridiculous from Kyoya startles them all.
Nile and the others lost for words, Ginka steps forward. "Kyoya, just give it another chance. Maybe you did try to do it alone, but if we all help you it might break the addiction. You can rely on our strength."
Kyoya keeps his head down, refusing to meet their eyes. "Maybe..." He murmurs doubtfully.
Sweet. Got pass that.
Now for the complicated part. It seems that heroin and cocaine have pretty opposite withdrawal symptoms... So... To say the least, this'll be interesting.
Anything you guys wanna throw out before I start the next one?