Subtle Addiction

Rated: M for Violence, Sexual Content, and Yaoi Situations,

Pairing: ShuichixYuki

A/N: Yet again, I do not own Gravitation or it's Characters. This fic is a little different that my other ones. I've never done one like this, so bear with me as I try to Get my point across in the only way I know how. I'd like to thank the support of my loyal reviewers, and even the ones who've only left one review.

Chapter 1:

Some people can handle it. For others, it only takes one time to break them. Everyone knew Shuichi was the latter of the two categories, so when he came to them with the proposition of heading to the states for a year long tour, no one was really surprised. The 20 year old pop star had a critical penchant for running away from his problems.

What really got everyone was the easiness with which he accepted everything. The were no and's, if's, or but's about their next tour. Shuichi was Leaving Japan with a determination that clearly stated that he had no intention of ever coming back.

He'd gone all out for the transit to America, His flashy, revealing stage outfits were replaced with just as provocative pieces, less revealing, yet left even less for the imagination. His hair had been cut shorter and dyed a midnight purple. Over a two year period, Shuichi had filled out more. No longer scrawny and pathetic looking, his body was honed and perfected by lithe, muscle. To put it bluntly, Shuichi Shindou was a heart throb.

Hiro knew from the second they departed from Japan, that it was a bad idea. He had a feeling in his gut that couldn't be ignored. Shuichi was a walking time bomb, and America had the passcode for self destruction.

He couldn't have been more right. As he sat in the darkness of his hotel room, staring blankly at the phone in his hands, contemplating what to do. No one could deny the changes they saw in their bandmate, but there was nothing any one of them could do about it. No one held sway over Shuichi's life like... Yeah. That was a dead end.

Sighing, Hiro sat the phone beside him on the bed and dropped his head into his hands. He had no choice though, did he? He could call the novelist, explain what was happening. The worst he could say was no. No one had heard hide no tail from Yuki since the day Shuichi broke up with him. Why things when down the way they did, no one knew, but the cold hard truth was the lead singer hadn't even mentioned his name once in over the eleven months they'd been in America.

While Bad Luck was stealing the hearts of every man, woman, and child in the States, the band itself was deteriorating at an alarming rate. And it was all centered around the number one pop singer's new favorite addiction.

Shuichi always drank on occasion, but from the night he went clubbing seven months ago and nearly drank himself into a coma, Hiro knew something wasn't right. Smoking had been the next big surprise, but K had put an end to that real quick, threatening Shuichi in his usual manor that if he ever saw another cigarette in his possession, he was going to make him regret it.

Oddly enough, the vocalist listened. Curiosity is what lead Shuichi's best friend into finding out about the drugs. Following him back to the hotel one night, he'd seen the transfer of money and pharmaceutical drugs between Shuichi and a shady character in the middle of the night.

Of course it was brought to the attention of K the very next day, and Shuichi was once again reprimanded and the ordeal ended without another mishap. Hiro decided to let the subject drop, knowing full well that his friend was far from in the clear.

In the ninth month, everyone finally realized what was going on. It was completely unexpected that Shuichi had another lover. But with the constant late arrivals, his complete disregard for his responsibilities, his insomnia and utter lack of energy, they figured out who had introduced the Pop star to the harder stuff. The stuff that Shuichi had been hiding for who knew how long.

When Shuichi started showing up for work with bruises on him, Hiro had never been more happy that their tour was coming to a close. America really was all about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, and all of them had had enough.

Picking up the phone again, Hiro dialed the number with renewed determination.

Yuki sat in the dark study, staring blankly into space. The last thing he was expecting was a phone call from America, let alone from his ex-lover's best friend. It was acceptable though. The part he couldn't wrap his mind around, was the reason he'd been called.

Shuichi... HIS innocent Shu was doing what? He would openly admit that the break up was hard on both of them, but he was almost positive that his life had been the one disrupted the most.

Eying his bookshelf, he regarded the last novel he'd written, published just before Shuichi had walked out of his life. It was no one's fault but his own, but the day the bundle of ecstatic hyperactive happiness left, something left with him. It was commonly referred to in the writers world as a muse.

Had it really been almost a year since the last time he'd seen him? Eleven months, two weeks, two days and fourteen hours to be exact. With a dejected huff, he leaned back in his computer chair and closed his eyes. Gods he was pathetic...

Hiro wanted his help. Told him he didn't know who else to turn to. What was he supposed to do with that? Shuichi had kicked HIM to the curb, and now the guitarist just expected him to waltz back into Shu's life like nothing had happened? There really was such a thing as asking for too much.

On the other hand, Shuichi was coming back to Japan in a month. Would he be able to just sit back and do nothing after everything he'd learned? He knew the answer before the question even came to mind. No one would be able to just do nothing when a person they cared about destroyed themselves from the inside out. No one could justify the pain the other was suffering, especially when they were the cause of it. Maybe not directly, but all these changes began after that fateful day. What was he supposed to think?

A/N: So... What do you think Yuki did did that finally did it in for them? It must have been something horrible, right? ^_^ And Shuichi on drugs? It's almost taboo! XD but I wanted to come up with something different. And different this shall be. I promise. ^_^