KICKING THE HABIT

By Crystal Mullins(Nightcon)

PART 2

The voice was angry and harsh, Gisho. "He's never coming near Hakuei again, he almost got him killed!" There was a pause then Gisho spoke again. "Good! I hope they keep him in jail permanently!" Another pause. "Whatever, ja!"

Hakuei opened his eyes as Gisho clicked shut his mobile phone and thrust it into his pocket. Gisho was angry, but he was crying silently with large tear falling down his face.

Hakuei looked down at himself. His skin was a pale grey and an IV stuck obscenely out of his arm. His raised his hand to his face; his skin felt dry and slack. He felt the air tubes running out of his nose. He looked at the hand in front of his face; the fingers shook rapidly. He tried to clamp his fist shut to stop the shaking but he couldn't find the strength.

Gisho did a double take as he glanced at Hakuei and saw that he was awake. He screamed for O-Jiro and Chisato and rushed to the side of the bed. Gisho still looked furious, at Hakuei now, but he grabbed the limp arm that didn't have the IV in it and said tightly, "I thought we lost you! How could you be so stupid as to do drugs?" He looked like he would say more but the other band members rushed into the room. Behind them, a doctor in a white coat with a clipboard walked calmly into the room.

The doctor nodded to the members, whom he thought after spending all night awake in the hospital looked just as strung out as their friend in the stiff bed. He settled his eyes on Hakuei sternly. There was no pity in his eyes. He had seen too many junkies to feel bad for them anymore. Hakuei squirmed under the intense gaze.

Gisho watched Hakuei; he had changed so much in the last few months that they had been on break. Before, he would have returned that stare so intensely that he would not have been the first to look away.

"You are very lucky to be alive." The doctor began. "That cocaine you snorted last night was laced with various household chemicals, including bleach and drain cleaner. Frankly, I didn't think you were going to make it through the night."

O-Jiro winced and Chisato bit his lip. Gisho sucked in his breath as a fresh wave of furry washed over him. He was going to kill that bastard, Die.

***

"Hey, you, wake up!"

Die groaned and rolled onto his back in the small jail cell where he was on the stiff cot. He looked up at the guard who was wearing a stiffly ironed uniform and had a perfectly straight spine as he looked down at him.

"Someone paid your bail. Get up, you're going home."

Die thought to himself as they handed him back his belt and shoelaces, Who could have paid my bail, I didn't call anyone last night… did I?

The guard let him out into the lobby near the elevators. Die sucked in his breath as he looked at a very angry Shinya standing with his arms crossed, and looked very much like he wanted a cigarette despite how much he hated them.

Die shuffled over and couldn't bring himself to look Shinya in the face. His head pounded so hard that when he finally looked up he could actually see the veins pounding in front of his eyes so the room looked like it was thumping around him. He felt so hungry he could barely stand it.

"What time is it?" Die asked very quietly.

"8:00 am, and I didn't appreciate being called at 3:00 this morning to bail your ass out of jail. Jesus, Die, since when do you take drugs?"

Die didn't answer and looked away again as he pushed the button on the elevator to call it to them. "How did you know I was here?"

Shinya gritted his teeth and pursed his lips until they appeared thin. "You mean you don't remember? You called me and were freaking out; I couldn't even understand what you said! The cops took the phone from you and told me you were here."

That when Die remembered Hakuei, on the floor unconscious and hardly breathing. He frantically started to open his mouth to speak but Shinya interrupted him. "Hakuei's fine. He just woke up about an hour ago."

Die let out his breath heavily and leaned back against the wall of the elevator. He closed his eyes and tried to will his headache away to no avail. He opened his eyes when he heard a sniffing. Shinya had his back turned away from him and had his hand risen up to his face.

"Shinya?" Die tried to touch his shoulder, was he crying?

Shinya jerked away but still wouldn't look at him. When he spoke his voice was hard and stiff. "Kaoru wants to talk to you, now. I'll bring you to the studio, we were supposed to have practice this morning."

***

"I want to go home!" Hakuei whined as soon as the doctor came into the room.

Gisho grunted. "Shut up, Hakuei."

The doctor could understand Gisho's answer but only looked at Hakuei and said, "You can go, but not alone, you have to be in someone else's care. Otherwise, we aren't allowed to release you."

O-Jiro looked at Chisato, who was just about to volunteer, but Gisho raised his hand and said, "I'll take him."

They nodded, knowing that would probably have happened anyway.

Hakuei gulped, Gisho was his best friend but by the way he was looking at him he didn't feel to safe at the moment.

Gisho's hard stare went straight through Hakuei. He had Hakuei for a long time and never knew him to be so stupid. As his best friend, it was up to him to straighten Hakuei out.

***

As soon as Die followed him into the conference room he could feel the chill that Kaoru gave off in his stair. He was sitting at the far end of the conference table with his hands clasped in front of him. His eyes never left Die's face.

Die didn't look the same as he used to. His best friend was now pale with huge black bags under his eyes. His lips were dry and he had let about two inches of his normal black hair grow in beneath the bright red that had faded immensely. His clothes were wrinkled and stained and he still smelled like drugs.

"Sit down, Die." As soon as he was seated, with Shinya next to him though the others chose to stay away, Kaoru said, "Die, you are my best friend, and you are very important to this band, but we can't let a scandle ruin us." He paused to see Die's reaction but he hadnt moved.

"You have one month to get sober, that's as long as we can afford to give you. After that, if you haven't quiet drugs and sobered up, you are out of the band."

Toshiya gasped and grabbed Kaoru's hand. Kyo paled but stayed still, wanting to cry at the idea of the band being broken up. Shinya didn't move. Die dropped his head into his hands and cried.

to be continued...