Another request from Wolf_LZ~! Do enjoy the oneshot, and I apologize in advance for the slight angst present in this chapter ;-;

Warning: This oneshot contains certain topics that may be highly ... ah, triggering to some people, for the lack of a better term. There are personae with particular addictions (as the title might suggest) that might be considered harmful to most, and I hope this oneshot doesn't influence any of you guys to partake in activities involving such 'addictions'. In other words, don't do drugs.

Now, on with the story!

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Spinning, twirling, spinning, with no absolute end — The fragile world collides all around the orange-haired man, alone in the depths of his grief.

Musical tunes echo in his breaking world, spinning around his aching heart, as a young girl sings of beauty and everlasting love in the far distance, her voice known to him beyond even a sense of familiarity. The femininity in it has lingered in his thoughts for far too long now that it was simply something he could never forget, no matter how much he wished to.

And as much as it was simply unforgettable, it was also unreachable.

Words that were coated with sincerity and sung with a gentle softness to it filled his miserable world with a unique kind of beauty like he'd never known — A beauty that was enlightening, and yet depressing at the very same time, for that beauty was something he could no longer see, nor hear.

The usual enthusiastic playboy was stricken with grief, each and every time he thought of the (H/c)-featured girl named (L/n) (F/n).

She was his childhood friend; a girl possessing (E/c) gems that shone with a kind of hope so rare, it was divine. Her gorgeous smile would always infect him with that same kind of hope, allowing him to forget all of his troubles, even for just one fleeting moment.

The times they've spent together have all served as a temporary solace for Maehara Hiroto, a time allocated for reveries and positivity. (F/n)'s mere presence was a form of comfort for him — a feeling that was far different from the usual when he was with all those other girls he'd speak to in a manner that was flirtatious and a tone that was seductive in nature.

With (F/n), he could settle for the person he truly was, deep inside — Not as the guy who broke girls' hearts just for fun and moved on like it was all nothing, but as the guy who was sincere with his feelings and was always eager to help a friend in need. In truth, he preferred that side of him, that genuine side (F/n) had admitted to have loved, in passing.

Maehara's fingers had fallen motionless, midway through flipping a page of the yearbook Koro-sensei had made each and every one of them.

For a second there, her smile felt so close, and yet so far at the same time. It was like meeting her for the first time as a stubborn 5-year old all over again.

With a shake of the head, Maehara gingerly grabbed the whole of the yearbook with both hands, and with small, careful motions, he placed the book back into his bedside drawer. To think that seven years have already passed since the day Class E's homeroom teacher had bid a final farewell to all of them, it pained him.

But the day reserved to mourn for their loss of a great sensei had already gone — Today, he was going to pay his respects to someone else.

Someone else he also held dear, close to his heart.

Like every other time he paid a visit, the skies were gloomy and the clouds completely dark, sign enough that a downpour was about to occur.

Well, it was a good thing he had his umbrella readied, then.

In a rush, Maehara prepared himself, and no longer than a minute later, he was standing with a heavy heart in front of the door that led to the outside world, his beauteous face devoid of any emotion.

He didn't like the feeling of grief. He preferred lust — excitement, bliss. But today, after seven whole years of failing to move-on completely, he felt nothing else but grief and heartache aplenty. To most Japanese, it was just another ordinary day — The children are heading over to school in order to learn, the working adults are hastily preparing themselves as they get off in their respective destinations.

However, 'most Japanese' didn't include Maehara, who had taken a leave from work in preference for coming back to the place he'd always end up in whenever he had the opportunity — whenever he had the time, whenever he was stressed, whenever he was happy, whenever he was sorrowful, and whenever he simply wanted to reminisce all the memories they've created together.

A blessing, it truly was that he managed to land in the Class E with his best friend, Yuuma. After all, it was there in that very classroom where he met Koro-sensei, Megu, Okano ... and where his friendship with (F/n) grew into something even stronger, more passionate, with more life and vigor.

Class E was where he belonged, and forever, he would consider himself a member of the Assassination Classroom along with his 28 other classmates, including her.

A hesitant breath left the man's lips as he lifted his hand up to turn the doorknob, and then he silently commenced with the journey back to her resting place. It was completely unlike him to be feeling this way, but it wasn't surprising in the least.

After all, he'd lost two of the people he had loved within just one week, seven years ago, and he had spent the past few days lamenting all day long.

The tears coalesced when the rain started to fall from the stygian skies above — Causing his already forlorn mood to worsen even more. Yet he remained with the umbrella held steadily over his stiff figure, walking without impediment to the grassy place wherein stones lie and lost souls often reside.

Maehara knew that he should've been used to the pain right now, but even after seven incomplete years without his teacher and the girl he loved, he was still unable to get over the horrid emotions that came with grieving.

(F/n) was an optimistic girl who had a passion for all things science — Astronomy, in particular. She was one who carried positivity wherever she went and was best friends with the greenette they called 'Kayano Kaede', who possessed the same cheery attitude (F/n) had — At least, that was the act Kayano had put up in order to mislead everyone from the truth, which just so happened to be what (F/n) had done as well, though Maehara had found out too late.

It wasn't just (F/n)'s personality that her classmates had seen beautiful, however, for her looks were just as extraordinary. Stunning without effort, Maehara could say, and it was completely true to him.

It was without a doubt that he was entirely addicted to (F/n) and her sincere ways. He treasured her, adored her, welcomed her into his life, the natural instincts of a playboy wishing to find a lover who would actually stay.

And the moment she accepted his confession of love — at 2 o' clock in the freaking morning one chilly day — he honestly felt like she would. She'd even given him delicious chocolates on Valentine's Day in the E-Class.

Then everything went downfall from there.

(F/n) started acting up, exaggerating on the little things, her time spent with them diminishing in drastic numbers each day. Of course, her sudden change in attitude did not escape Maehara's notice, but he had shrugged it off back then, believing it was just her time of the month.

But boy, was he completely wrong.

It was the day right after they had found out about the government's unexpected schemes and their plan to assassinate Koro-sensei which had not come to the students' knowledge until the final days leading up to their graduation.

Being her childhood friend and having her house right across his, Maehara always knew where to go whenever he felt troubled and needed the support of someone close to him.

So he stood by her front door and waited for her to allow him inside. He knew that, just like him and the rest of the class, she was deeply troubled. After all, their teacher was involved in an assassination attempt that wasn't their own — and yet could very well succeed — before they even got a chance to say their farewells to the best teacher they've ever had.

In addition to that, they had already decided they would try to save Koro-sensei, not kill him.

One could argue that they had no other choice on the matter and that the only way to save the world from exploding in one week's time was to kill him. Even if that were the case, it was already decided that it must be them and only them as Koro-sensei's students who would be in charge of assassinating him, not someone else who practically knew nothing about aforesaid creature except for the fact that he was a yellow octopus capable of ending all life on earth as they know it.

With all these conflicting, bothersome thoughts haunting him, Maehara felt the need to vent his anger out, and for someone to listen to him as he did so. Except no matter how loudly and how many times he rang the doorbell, knocked on the door, and called out her name, she wouldn't respond.

"Where could she have gone?" he wondered aloud, the confusion expressed clearly on his face as he took his mobile phone out from his right breast pocket and began to scroll through his contact list.

And then at that very moment, a piercingly loud crash resonated from within (F/n)'s residence, alarming the boy with little effort. Maehara exclaimed her name with great distress as he pocketed his phone and forced her front door open with next to entirely no regard for the wrecked condition that would become of it.

Her name left his lips in incessant and desperate repetitions, the lack of response from the girl sending him into a state of panic.

He stopped reluctantly right before the bathroom door on the second level, tracing the source of the crash to that very area in the house. And then the very instant he threw the door open, he froze in shock.

Lying there on the bathroom floor in a crumpled mess was a girl around Maehara's age who looked absolutely nothing like (F/n).

Or at the very least, the (F/n) that he knew of.

Dull-hued curls of hair that were once coloured a bright (H/c); blurred (E/c) eyes that reflected shattered glass in place of the shining gems they usually appeared to be; sickly complexion that was paler than normal; and lips that had no amount of red on it at all.

Maehara had taken all of these into account as he stared wide-eyed and motionless at the unconscious girl. His light-brown orbs traveled to the sachets of tiny white crystals clattered all over the floor surrounding (F/n).

They weren't sugar, and Maehara knew that for a fact upon putting two-and-two together. There was a label attached to the each one of the sachets, and they all read 'Cocaine'.

Maehara snapped himself out of the depressing memory when he realized he'd been standing stock-still in front of his destination for minutes, already.

Blades of green covered the land below and all around him, reaching up to as far as his eyes' vision could see in the distance. Crosses and stones of similar hues of gray remain rooted to the ground in fixed arrangements like the trees that stood tall and strong, scattered around the place.

With a deep intake of breath, Maehara strode forward, tense as he took in the sight of the numerous gravestones. Much like it was a routine that he performed on a day-to-day basis, his feet led him directly to a particular spot in the cemetery.

Even after all these years, Maehara could still feel the heartache, a pain so immense that it was indescribable.

It was the day right after their graduation when (F/n) was rushed to the hospital in a critical state. Despite all his pleads and tears — both shed and unshed alike — she had still refused to listen to him.

She refused to give up her addiction to drugs.

Maehara realized that was actually the very first time she had practically said 'no' to him with such misery in her voice — As if she truly wanted to quit, but at the same time, she just couldn't find it in her heart to do so.

He prayed, and prayed, and prayed that she would make it.

Their classmates and teachers prayed, and prayed, and prayed that she would live through it all.

But in the end, she didn't. In the end, her addiction had caused her untimely demise. Just like his addiction to her had caused his internal demise, that very same day.

Her death was recorded at around 1:59 in the morning, just one minute shy from 2 am, with the last of her words being—

"Say hello to the stars for me tonight, Hiroto..."

—before she slowly closed her eyes for one final time as all the life that was once in her disappeared into eternal slumber. The love of his life was never to awaken again, and never to see the stars again. She fell limp in Maehara's weak, trembling arms.

1:59 am — A minute later, and once again Maehara was reminded of the beauty he lost to an addiction that could never be satiated. How unfair, life truly was, for it to take away the 15-year old girl who did nothing but bring beauty into his world.

He'd never felt so heartbroken his entire life — aside from when Koro-sensei had left them, at least — that he couldn't even express his pain through mere words.

Why didn't life take him away instead? He had failed to save the girl he loved who died before he could even say those three precious words for one last time, so why wasn't he taken away instead of her?

He wailed and wallowed in despair for months after that.

Isogai had been the one who'd succeeded in getting him to come out of his shell and the barriers he had built all around himself in the hopes that doing so would prevent him from feeling any more of the pain and grief. But that didn't mean Isogai found the task to be easy, and neither was the case for any of their other classmates who had also expressed concern.

And now, seven years after her death and another additional year of gathering the courage to pay his respects once and yet again, Maehara stood over her gravestone, a bouquet of assorted flowers he had bought on the way there held securely with one hand, and his umbrella with the other.

March 15, his calendar had read when he had awoken earlier that morning — 2 days after Koro-sensei's death anniversary.

Maehara's eyes darted from word to word and number to number as he read the characters engraved ever so carefully onto the semi-circular stone.

Here lies (L/n) (F/n).
(MM/DD/YY - March 15, 2016)
'May you shine alongside the stars in the night sky forevermore.'

"...I had loved you back then, and I still do now."

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I'm not actually sorry for any of the angst, at all. HAHAHAHHAHAHAH

[Word Count (minus Author's note): 2,553 words | Published on: December 9, 2017]