Satsuki Kiryuin had never been much of a drinker. She really didn't even enjoy the taste of most alcoholic beverages. Yet, when Nonon opened the door to her apartment with a large grin and boxed red wine in hand, Satsuki had no choice but to accept her fate.

'It's getting better though,' Satsuki mused, idly swirling the red liquid in her hand as Nonon complained good naturedly about the latest date she had been on with Sanganyama. 'Although to be honest, I don't know if I'm adjusting to the taste or it's just the alcohol in my system.'

"…I mean honestly. Who's idea of a romantic date is to go rock climbing? He's such a monkey sometimes. I don't even know why I'm dating him." Nonon paused in her tirade against Uzu and watched Satsuki swirl the wine in her paper-thin glass. "How's the wine?"

"I'm starting to enjoy it." Satsuki admitted, her tone somewhat surprised. "It took me a while to adjust to the flavour, but I'm really starting to get an appreciation for it."

"Or maybe it's because this is our second glass." Nonon grinned. "I can tell by the redness in your cheeks that it's going to your head a bit."

Satsuki suddenly noticed how much heavier her head felt and couldn't help but agree. "Well, what about you?" she asked, somewhat defensively. "I have quite a bit of height and body mass on you, so if I'm feeling the wine then you definitely are."

Nonon drained the remaining wine in her glass and laughed. "You underestimate the amount of partying that band kids do. My tolerance is much higher than yours." She said, getting up to refill her glass. "Anyways, we need some music and we both need to be less sober. Drink up, buttercup."

Satsuki snorted at the pet name but did as she was told, coughing slightly at the burn in the back of her throat. "Not classical, please." She requested.

"You're no fun." Nonon groaned, settling for her alternative playlist that she kept for the uneducated masses. "If I'm going to be listening to modern stuff, I'll need something stronger to get me in the mood. I'll be back." She called, wandering towards the back hallway. Satsuki didn't know what "something stronger" was, and wasn't sure if she wanted to know either. She examined her empty glass for a minute, using her thumb to rub off the lip print on the top of the fragile glass. Deciding that she was still entirely too functional, Satsuki got up to refill her glass again.

"Now I'm not sure if this is something you would be down to try, but I also have this." Nonon said, walking up to the table and setting down a red contraption made of glass.

Satsuki stared for a moment, her brow furrowing as she realized what it was. "That's a bong…right? I wasn't aware that you did drugs, Nonon."

Nonon chuckled. "Just marijuana, nothing stronger Satsuki-chan. I'm a music major, of course I fucking smoke weed." She said, expertly pinching off part of a nug and loading the bowl. "Do you want to try some? I'll set it all up for you so you don't choke."

Satsuki stared at the bong, weighing her options. The wine surged in her system, the lightheadedness telling her that it would be fun to try with very few consequences. Nonon grinned at the serious look on her face and took a large hit, expelling the cloud of smoke towards the open window.

"Come on, Satsuki-chan. Since when is Kiryuin Satsuki afraid of a little weed?"

That decided it for her. "Give me that bong, Nonon."

"Alright!" Nonon crowed. "Give me a second to set it up for you." She carefully lit the bowl for only a second, drawing the smoke in quickly until the chamber of the bong was only lightly filled with smoke that wouldn't be too choking for a beginner.

"Alright, it's full. Don't worry about lighting it or anything, just breathe it in nice and slow okay?" Nonon said, passing the red bong to her friend. Satsuki swallowed harshly, but did as instructed. The smoke tickled her throat going in and made her want to cough, but she resisted the urge and kept drawing in until she could hold no more. She exhaled the small cloud quickly, coughing on the end as she became aware of her burning throat and watering eyes.

"That was pretty good for a first timer." Nonon drawled, taking the bong back and pulling another huge hit. "My first time I coughed so hard I nearly threw up. Want another?" Satsuki nodded after a moment's contemplation, and Nonon made a noise of approval as she drew up another easy hit. This time Satsuki took the hit like a seasoned professional, exhaling the cloud in Nonon's face with a smirk.

"Hey now!" Nonon yelped good-naturedly, waving the smoke out of her face. "Come on, let's go back to the couch and smoke as we talk. I'm tired of standing."

They walked back to the couch and sat down, quietly passing the bong back and forth. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Nonon began chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Satsuki said, unable to help the smile that she felt grow on her face at Nonon's laugh.

"Just…this." Nonon said vaguely, gesturing towards Satsuki. "I'm sitting on my couch, smoking bong with you. It's a very surreal situation." She laughed even harder, this time causing Satsuki to laugh with her and choke on the hit she had been taking.

"I guess this is a bit strange." Satsuki admitted after the burning in her throat subsided. "After being focused on my mother for so long, it's difficult to picture where my life will take me from here. Smoking marijuana with you… not something I would have ever anticipated."

Nonon put the bong down on the table, her face taking a more sober expression. "Now that we've both had enough, there's actually something that I've wanted to talk to you about, Satsuki."

Satsuki cocked a brow. "And we couldn't have this conversation sober because..?"

"Because it's not something that I would normally be brave enough to ask about." Nonon admitted. "Plus weed and alcohol keeps things honest. I know that you wouldn't lie to me, but I also know that you usually tend to keep some things hidden from others."

Satsuki exhaled through her nose, uncomfortable with the turn their night was taking. "Nonon…" she began.

"Just hear me out, okay? I was there in the operations room when Houka pulled up the footage of you hanging in that cage. Naked." Nonon took a deep breath, her hand nervously sweeping her hair out of her eyes. "I've been your friend since kindergarten, and there are two things that I've noticed about you over the years. One is that you never talk about your mother outside of how to defeat her, and the other is that you've always hated returning home. So… I guess when I saw you in that cage, some uncomfortable connections were made in my head."

"It was just a coincidence, Nonon." Satsuki tried to lie, but the words came out flat and false sounding.

Nonon made a small noise of amusement. "See what I mean about weed keeping things honest?" She sighed. "At any rate I had convinced myself that I was imagining things, until I talked with your sister."

Satsuki's head snapped up at that. "What does Ryuuko have to do with any of this?"

"Well, you know how Uzu had initially been chasing after her, her being his ultimate rival and all that garbage. I'll admit that it really pissed me off, and for a while there I pretty much refused to have anything to do with the transfer student even though it wasn't actually her fault. But she ended up at the same bar as me one night, and we talked it out over drinks.

"Ryuuko told me that she turned down Uzu, and that he understood she was not an option for him. She also had told him that she suspected I had feelings for him, and that he should consider asking me out." Nonon continued. "When I asked her why, she said that wasn't interested in being with another person for a while because of intimacy problems."

Satsuki's mouth went dry. 'You are jumping to conclusions, Satsuki.' She told herself, trying to keep a neutral expression.

Nonon appraised the look on her friend's face. "She did… Satsuki." Nonon said softly. "You know what I'm talking about."

Satsuki flinched, reeling back from her friend's concern and got to her feet. She began to pace, a horrified look on her face. "When?" she breathed.

"When Ragyo forced Junketsu on her." Nonon answered softly. "She said that Ragyo implanted several memories in her head. Things like what life would have been like if she grew up as a child of Ragyo, along with…" Nonon's voice broke, and she stared at the floor for a moment while considering how best to phrase the rest of her sentence. "Along with being in bed with Ragyo and Nui."

Satsuki stood stock still, trying to process what Nonon just said. "She never told me." She whispered, more to herself than to Nonon.

"That's because she was afraid to burden you with it." Nonon said gently. "She figured that if it happened to her, it would have happened to you." Nonon got up off the couch and stood in front of Satsuki, trying to catch her eye. Satsuki stubbornly stared at the floor.

"Satsuki… look at me." Nonon whispered, reaching out to take her friends hand. Satsuki reluctantly raised her gaze, desperately trying to retain the tears that were threatening to spill over. Nonon gave her a sad smile. "She did… didn't she? Satsuki-chan?"

"Yes." Satsuki breathed. That was all it took for her composure to slip and the dam to break. Tears began streaming down her face as she let out a long, shuddering sob.

"You can let it out." Nonon murmured, her thumb stroking the back of Satsuki's hand in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. Satsuki began to cry harder, the emotion overwhelming her after being supressed for so long. Her legs lost their strength and she sank to her knees, still releasing an ugly torrent of emotion. Nonon allowed her to fall, kneeling beside her oldest friend and quietly being there for her. After several minutes Satsuki's sobs subsided, her breaths slowly smoothing out as she calmed down.

"We're going to get through this, Satsuki." Nonon murmured. "Together. I'll look into therapy for you, and Ryuuko. But you don't need to keep this hidden away anymore."

Satsuki raised her head and gave Nonon a watery smile. "Thank you." She whispered hoarsely, trying to convey the incredible gratitude she felt into those two simple words.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm just glad that I was able to finally be useful." Nonon chuckled. Satsuki let out a choked laugh and wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm.

"I guess Ryuuko and I have some talking to do." Satsuki said, slowly standing back up. The headrush she received reminded her that she was still quite intoxicated. "Maybe I should borrow some marijuana from you."

Nonon snorted before doubling over with laughter. "Satsuki," she choked out, her eyes streaming. "Where do you think I got it from?"

Satsuki blinked, surprised, before Nonon's laughter became too infectious and she joined in. After the release of sorrow she just endured, laughing felt incredibly cleansing. She felt the invisible pressure easing off her shoulders until she felt light enough to fly. While she wasn't looking forwards the long process of healing ahead of her, it was comforting to her that she didn't need to endure it alone any more.