Gah… It took me far too long to write this. And I don't know whether this is something to be proud of, so… Sorry if it's not worth your while.

Disclaimer:: Loveless is not mine. Neither are Soubi, Ritsuka, or the mother. So… Don't sue me, 'cause all you're gonna get is an SAT Question-Per-Day calendar. Don't think anyone wants that.

So, without further ado…

Happy Birthday, Ritsuka

It was about six o'clock in the morning when the alarm clock went off. A small raven-haired boy sat up in his bed, rubbing at his eyes and glaring at the clock – before an expression of surprise overtook his face. Six o'clock? He never woke up that early. The need was never present… It was usually his mom that woke him up, her face in a smile as she ruffled his hair and bid him good morning.

With a soft sigh, the boy plopped back down on the bed, only to find that he had whacked his head against the headboard in the process. Why had that happened? He'd never done that before… The bed was perfect for him to just plop back down, for he slept low, and usually curled up into a ball.

A smile played on the boy's lips as he got up again, walking to the closet to get his clothing. A short thought ran through his head – Seimei should be up, downstairs, waiting for Ritsuka at the table, breakfast cooked and served. The little boy really did love his brother… He was always so nice to him, always smiling, always petting his head and telling him that he did well on one project or another. Seimei was the only one that knew just how much difficulty Ritsuka had in doing his homework while he could instead be social, playing in the park with the rest of his friends.

As Ritsuka dressed, he noticed that the mark on his shoulders was fainter than usual. With his below-average skills in English, the boy still couldn't understand what the word meant, but he could read it letter by letter. "L-O-V-E-L-E-S-S," he said it, letter by letter, as he said it every morning, not even daring to put it together into a word. Its faintness bothered him slightly – it had been there ever since he started being able to dress himself, and it was usually much darker. As he wondered if anything should be done about that, and observed it more carefully, he noted that it was becoming more opaque second by second, and breathed a sigh of relief. That was good. It meant he wasn't sick or anything, for that was when the mark usually faded.

After Ritsuka finished dressing, he finally noticed that something was wrong with his room – his clothing too, now that it came down to that. The whole room was different overall, his furniture not where it normally was, and his clothes were different, definitely different from what they had been yesterday… There was a corkboard full of pictures that he'd never seen before at the back of the room, next to the table that held the computer – but the computer was Seimei's! And this was definitely not Seimei's room… Ritsuka blinked, and shook his head. Neither was it his own room as he remembered it. The window was in a totally different place, and the view out of it presented an entirely different neighborhood.

"Seimei?!" the cat-eared boy called out, sticking his head out of the door of the room, only to be baffled by an unfamiliar hallway. His ears flat against his head and his tail twitching behind him, Ritsuka walked out of his room cautiously. He didn't smell breakfast… By now, it had gotten to his mind that something was wrong after all, something had changed, and he had no idea what or when or why.

After making his way downstairs, into the living room, Ritsuka again surveyed his surroundings, and yet again found himself confused, even more than before. There was an altar in the corner of the living room – an altar! He definitely did not remember an altar. A few more careful steps towards it, and he saw Seimei's picture surrounded by white chrysanthemums. The younger Aoyagi felt his eyes widen in shock. Seimei? How? He had been alive yesterday, laughing with his younger brother as they discovered a new site on the internet that was so adorable that Ritsuka just had to explore it further. He couldn't be dead, he couldn't have died overnight. That was impossible – not Seimei… The picture that rested on the altar caught Ritsuka's eyes with its unfamiliarity – and the boy sank to his knees, burying his hands in his hair.

"Ritsuka?" His mother was coming downstairs, and the boy got up and ran to the woman, diving into her arms. What he didn't expect was her pushing him away from herself. "You're not Ritsuka!" she yelled, her madness-ridden eyes not really seeing him.

"Mom? Mom, it's me!" Ritsuka cried, tears spilling from his eyes as he tried to approach the woman. "What's wrong, Mom? Why is there an altar to Seimei?"

"As if you don't know, you little beast! Get away from me!"

The boy shied back, only now noticing the changes that would have been apparent on first-glance if only he did not have his eyes blurred by tears. "But… Mom, it's me, it's Ritsuka!" he tried again, eyes widening in disbelief. "Your son, your little one! It's me!"

That got her to stop… She focused her glare on him, for what seemed like an eternity to the young one, and then broke down sobbing. "Ritsuka… Ritsuka, you're back, my baby, you're back," she muttered, sinking to the floor much like Ritsuka had done when he saw the altar.

"Mom?" The boy knelt down in front of his mother, shocked by her crying. "What's the matter, Mom? Where's Dad? Where's Seimei?" the boy questioned, curious even through his disbelief.

"It's me and you now, baby… Now that you're finally back, it's me and you," his mother replied, pulling him into her arms and sobbing on his shoulder. Ritsuka felt his jacket become instantly stained with tears.

"Finally back? Mom, I've never left!" Ritsuka nearly shouted. He was confused out of his mind. This couldn't be right. He couldn't remember ever being away – and remembered yesterday clearly, too clearly for any time to have passed between this day and that one. It was then he noticed the calendar on the wall… '2006' it said on the top. 2006!

"Mom! That calendar can't be right. It's not going to be 2006 for another two years!" Ritsuka writhed his way out of his mother's arms to stare at the thing more carefully. Days had been crossed off with a red marker, up to the twenty-first. The next thing that shocked him, other than the date, was the month. It was the twenty-first of December… The boy's birthday.

"I'm serious, Mom! That can't be right! It was June yesterday! The seventeenth! We went to the park, I remember it. It was so much fun, with Seimei and Dad and you and me…" As he noticed the changing expression on his mother's face, Ritsuka slowly shrunk back.

"Don't remind me of that time, Ritsuka. The day after, that monster took over, pretended to be you. Oh, Ritsuka, I've missed you so much!" With that, the woman dragged him towards herself again, hugging him tight and muttering, "Happy Birthday, Ritsuka," in his ear.

"But, Mom!" Ritsuka attempted to get away yet again, confused beyond the point of no return. "It's summer! It can't be my birthday…"

"It is, Ritsuka! You're twelve today."

The boy gaped, his jaw literally dropping to the ground. Had his mother gone insane? There was no way in the world that he was twelve, no, he was still ten! Perhaps it was better to go along with it, though… "Alright, Mom…" he replied, his voice shaking.

"Shall we have a party, Ritsuka? Or shall we go somewhere, just the two of us?" His mother had gotten herself up off of the floor, and pulled the boy up behind her. "Or maybe we can just stay home and I can cook all your favorite foods and you can promise never to leave me again…" The smile Ritsuka remembered was back on his mom's face as she moved pointedly to the kitchen. "What would you like to eat, Ritsuka?"

"Anything, Mom. You know what I like… I'm starving." Ritsuka smiled. At least his mom was back to normal… "I want to go to the park. Can we go?"

"After we eat, Ritsuka. We can do anything today, go anywhere you'd like."

Another smile graced the small boy's lips. "I need to get something from my room, Mom. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sure, dear. I'll have food ready by then." The woman hummed softly as she moved in the kitchen, her old beauty and strength seeming to come back to her with every moment. Shaking his head slightly, his ears tipped slightly, the boy walked back up the stairs, still uncertain of exactly where his room was located in this strange house.

It had taken him three tries to find the door that lead to the room he had woken up in. However, even as the boy had thought everything except the time lapse had been settled, another surprise awaited him.

"Happy birthday, Ritsuka."

What?! An adult – in his room! On top of that, an adult that he had never met before! He definitely had not walk through the front door – so how did he get in? The boy hissed, his ears pressed back against his head and his tail weaving behind him.

"Get out of my room," he growled. Ritsuka had been notorious in school for his occasional mood swings, especially the ones that took over when he was angry. "I don't know who you are and I don't know what you're doing in my room, but if you don't leave right now, I'll scream and Mother is going to phone the police."

The expression on the blond adult's face was that of complete shock. Clearly, this had not been the greeting he expected… A soft cough, and the man's hand moved to push a pair of glasses farther up his nose, the blue eyes scrutinizing the much smaller boy. "Is something wrong, Ritsuka?"

The nerve of this man! Ritsuka stepped forward, intending to give the other a piece of his mind. He, however, stopped abruptly as he saw something flash across the blonde's face. Recognition, maybe? Or realization? Ritsuka didn't know. The man, however, chuckled, and held both his hands up in the air. "Alright, alright, Loveless, I'm leaving. Your mother must be happy..."

Within a heartbeat, the boy felt himself collapse into the larger male's arms.

Ritsuka woke up as the sun shone in his face, and glanced to the alarm clock. Drat! He had intended to get up early and escape someplace where his friends wouldn't find him – it was his birthday, and he was definitely in no mood for celebration. His mother had been getting steadily worse for the past while, abusing him more and more often.

As he looked around the room, his eyes landed on Soubi, asleep in the computer chair. Ritsuka couldn't do anything but wonder as to how long the man he had grown so used to had been there. Definitely not all night… But for the better part of the morning, surely. Soubi wasn't one to sleep unless he had nothing to do for the longest time.

A soft groan, and the older man opened his eyes to focus on Ritsuka's face. The boy watched those almost-too-delicate eyebrows form a frown before Soubi smiled.

"Let's try this again, shall we? Happy birthday, Ritsuka."

See, now that wasn't too horrid, was it?

Alright, so maybe it was. I need to write more… Constructive criticism, anyone? Or just criticism, or a constructive comment – anything will do.

I felt the need to write down my philosophycal thoughts on the identity of Loveless. So this is completely pointless. In my opinion, the old Ritsuka was Loveless – not because he didn't get love, but because he couldn't give any. The new Ritsuka doesn't have a name – he's like Soubi, a bit. He's not Loveless – he's just himself.

Written with no consideration or knowledge of any plot after volume 7.

By the by – happy Valentine's Day, everyone!