It had been a week since then.

Gash seemed to be getting worse. The Remix was mass-murdering the remainder of Gash's brain cells, and he would no doubt forget his own name pretty soon. Koruru seemed to be spending much of her time in my room, weeping, upset about what was happening to her second brother, me being her first. That was the problem at the moment--even though recently I've come to terms with my romantic love of Koruru, she didn't return the love in the same form, and that frustrated me a little.

While I was helping Koruru clean up the servants' quarters, we came across Gash's remix stash. It was the clone of a marijuana leaf, only bigger and it irritated the skin when it was touched. It was sort of like Poison Ivy you smoked and it made you high. Koruru and I glanced at each other and we thought the same thought. It was said that withdrawal from Marijuana was powerful, but Gash was a strong demon.

I tossed the itchy stuff into the trash.

Koruru and I finished cleaning the room and made sure to tie it up and latch down the top of the garbage. Gash's hand-eye coordination was suckish lately--chances are he wouldn't be able to open it easily.

The symptoms started the next day. The blonde boy was pacing around the castle, eyes wide with bags under them. He looked terrible, and his skin hung off his form from quickly gaining weight and then not eating anything since then. Whenever someone talked to him, he gave a snappy response.

Koruru and I was the subject of his angry glares, whenever he wasn't skulking around or whining about having a splitting headache or needing a joint. I was almost insulted to know that my twin brother was a druggie, especially since I always made him out to be stronger and smarter than that. Sure, he was no Albert Einstein, but he was smart enough to know that Remix was not happy candy be any means at all.

He finally cornered us at the end of the day. He would not get enough pocket change to but more of the addicting drug for a long, long time. For once, I was very thankful for Eduron's greedy nature. As long as she was greedy, Gash wouldn't get his fix, and maybe his addiction would have vanished by then.

"What did you guys do with it. I know you guys did it. Where is it!" He unknowingly was raising his voice to us. I lightly thought that he might of gotten another fix, but I hurriedly pushed the thought out of my head, since it was a very uncomfortable thought. Gash's eyes looked impossibly worn and tired, maybe a little twitchy, but he did seem to be doing okay. As long as he stayed away from his craving, everything should be okay, right?

Both Koruru and I said innocently that we didn't know what he was talking about. My hands still stung violently from touching the stuff, and I had to resist the urge to scratch, or else I would rub whatever chemical compound that was on the Remix leaf into my skin. He glared at me, muttered a foul curse directed towards me, and turned heels and stormed back into the castle.

She looked at my palms, which were now burning an angry, irritated red. "Are you okay, Zeon?" She asked me, although took care not to touch my hands, less the chemical go to her hands too.

"Well, it burns a lot and it feels like bugs are chewing away at my skin. Aside from that, I'm pretty good I guess…" I replied, blowing cool air onto my palms. I resisted the urge to groan at how to cool air made my hands feel so much better. The pink haired girl that stood beside me saw this, and went into the castle, emerging a couple minutes later with a bucket of ice water for me to soak my hands in. I slid my hands in, almost clasping a chunk of ice with how good it felt against my abused and irritated palms. I sighed out a word of thanks to Koruru, whom replied saying that it was no problem.

"Do you think we did the right thing, throwing away his stash of Remix?" She asked me, beginning to make her famous flower crowns. I resisted the urge to cringe, thinking that if I got stung I would probably be holding one of those ice chunks to my nose. "I mean, he's really mad at us…"

I rolled my eyes at her sentiments. As much as I loved her kindness, her kindness got in the way of plain logic. "Koruru, think about it. Gash could've died if we didn't do anything."

"But what if he's too addicted? What then Zeon? Can't someone die from withdrawal symptoms?" She said rather shrilly. The demon girl was becoming hysterical, I could see. I wanted, now more than ever, to comfort her, to hug her. But I couldn't. Curse Gash and his Remix.

I heaved a sigh. As much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. It wasn't unheard of to die from withdrawal if the drug was taken away too abruptly. I could only think of one thing to say.

"Better to die quitting than to die addicted."

I heard her sniffle and stand up. She walked to the castle and left me alone outside, a half-finished flower crown lay beside me in the green rich grass. I looked up, expecting to see her, but she was gone.

A few weeks passed, and Gash lost all the weight he had gained. He returned to sleeping normal hours, and even joined us at the bench swing, where we would stare at the moon and listen to the creaking. The smell of his drug had long since dissipated, and the irritation it caused on my skin vanished as well. It was almost as though it hadn't happened. But it HAD happened, and no amount of wishing that it hadn't was going to change that. That, admittedly, was an odd prospect.

Gash came to terms with our being related, and as such tended to refer to me as Zeon-niisan or –niisama whenever we were out of earshot of father. He'd be mad if he knew that I slipped up to Gash, after promising not to.

The days were filled with trips. Trips to the river, to the beach, and trips around town as Koruru and Gash went shopping for things that were needed around the castle, like cleaning fluid and food. We didn't go to any more concerts, that was curiously off our agenda ever since what happened last time.

Girls around the village loved to talk to me, and a blue-haired girl named Patie caught sight of Gash. I elbowed him and pointed her out, much to my twin's distain.

"She's just not the type for me…" He muttered, putting a bottle of cleaning solution back on the shelf he had originally taken it off of. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes too obviously.

"Well, you don't want to be alone on Valentine's Day, do you?" I asked, wiggling my silver eyebrows, much to Gash's amusement. The owner of the store glared at him and he instantly quieted down his laughter.

The blond boy shrugged and showed me two bottles of cleaner. "Which do you think'll be better?"

"Dude, I don't know…" I said honestly. "Anyway, I can't wait for Koruru's Valentine chocolates."

"Confident you'll get some?" Gash asked, slipping a bottle into his basket and walking to the front desk. "Maybe you'll go all the way too."

I punched him in the shoulder.

Valentine's Day came along. I expected some chocolates from the princesses asking for marriage, and maybe from Koruru, since she always gave me some. I was especially fond of Koruru's chocolate, since she made them herself, instead of the obviously bought shit that the others got me. It seemed to come from the heart a lot more.

This year, she made chocolates for Gash too, who got none besides that. He happily ate my candies, even though I never recalled telling him that he could. But hey, I didn't plan to eat them, so it was only going to go to waste if no one did.

Upon receiving my candies, I thanked Koruru. She usually said I was welcome and give a heart-meltingly adorable smile, and that's exactly what she did, except she added something. Something I never would have expected, but something totally welcome.

She kissed me.

It was a gentle kiss, square on my lips. I felt blood rush to my face, and realized that I was blushing. After the kiss, she gave me her adorable smile, and got back to work. I went to bed, and found dreams curiously empty. What was there left to dream about when your dreams have already come true?

Story has been updated. Can I haz cookie nao? :3