DarkTaoAngel: Okay, a new story, I know. But I promise I'll update my other ones (someday…). So, read this one for now and complain later!
Soubi shifted slightly where he lay, yawning quietly as he fought the comforting sleep that was trying to claim him again in an attempt to wake himself up. His dark, obsidian eyes fluttered open and fell upon the still-sleeping figure beside him. The 15-year-old Ritsuka slept so soundly it was difficult to tell whether he was still alive or not; his chest rose and fell slowly as he breathed deeply, his plum-colored hair falling onto his face delicately as he unconsciously turned as he slept. He'd changed so much in the almost three years that Soubi had known him that it was impossible to tell that it was still the same person laying next to him. His hair had grown out very little and his face still resembled the child that Soubi had fallen in love with what seemed so many years ago, but mentally he had changed beyond anything else. Now he didn't mind the sudden intimate personality that was so characteristic of Soubi, and Soubi smiled slightly as he noted that Ritsuka did not even have his ears anymore, and probably not his tail either.
Ritsuka stirred in his sleep slightly, but Soubi managed to lull him back into his dreams with his soft words and low voice. He'd always had the ability to calm Ritsuka, even in the most drastic and unsettlingly dangerous of times, and sleeping was no different. Besides, Soubi needed all the time he could get to think through a possible way to tell Ritsuka gently that, at the age of only 15, he'd lost his ears to the 22-year-old man.
Soubi brushed some loose strands of deep purple hair from Ritsuka's face, noting that he now looked much like Seimei had when he was Ritsuka's age. Of course, Seimei had still had his ears when he had died, and as he thought about it, so should Ritsuka. Soubi knew that Ritsuka was much too young, but he'd practically begged for it, and Soubi hadn't been much older when he'd lost his own cat ears.
Soubi slung one arm around Ritsuka's slim waist, holding him tightly against himself. It was still very early, he reasoned, and there was no problem with sleeping in a bit later than usual.
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"Crap! How's mom going to handle this? She already flips out about me not liking certain foods that I did before; what'll she say when I come home and tell her that I lost my ears at this age?" Ritsuka mentally slapped himself, knowing that his mother wasn't the real problem. How would everyone else take it? How would Shinonome-sensei handle it?
Even though Ritsuka was in tenth grade, Shinonome-sensei was still his teacher. After a long fight with the school board, she'd reasoned that moving on to teaching high school would be a bit easier. And by the time Ritsuka had reached tenth grade, Shinonome had been moved up to teaching that exact grade. It was nice knowing that she was there for him and that he could talk to her, but it was a bit unnerving that she was the person most likely to find out about Ritsuka loosing his ears and freak out because of it.
Yuiko was still Ritsuka's best friend, but had never become anything other than that. She and Yayoi had been dating for about two months now, and they were virtually perfect for each other. Yayoi had grown quite a bit, though he still only surpassed Yuiko by a few centimeters. It was alright with her, though, and after discovering that Ritsuka and Soubi were an item, she'd given up on Ritsuka entirely. Even though the two were still the best of friends, the question still haunted Ritsuka in his mind: how would she take it?
Ritsuka shook his head and continued the long walk to school, lucky that he didn't have to face his mother for at least six more hours. He pulled the hood of his light grey sweater up over his head, praying that it stayed up – and that he would be able to wear it – all of the school day at least. He mentally thanked Soubi for being relatively the same size as he was, as he hadn't had time to stop by home to get his own clothes. And he couldn't wear his clothes from the night before because he'd had no time to get them washed, and he really needed to if he was going to wear them again.
"Crap!" Ritsuka nearly shouted – but stopped himself in time – as he looked at his watch, noting that school had started already and he was at least fifteen minutes late. Soubi! He thought, He woke me up late! Now how am I going to explain that to sensei? Not another problem! I already have enough of them dealing with Septimal Moon!
Ritsuka had spend the past two years battling that very same team that had killed his brother, Seimei, and he'd gotten to know most of them by their names, but as far as discovering who'd killed his brother, he still was no closer than he had been two years ago. He'd found six of the seven members of Septimal Moon, but the last one remained a mystery. He hadn't found out yet whether or not his brother had been one of them, but he had discovered that, apart from the main seven members, there was a boss out there as well. And it was their boss who had murdered Seimei.
Ritsuka skidded along the sidewalk leading up to the large high school that he went to, nearly falling as his feet met the ever-slippery marble floors. He quickened his pace considerably as he neared the classroom, spotting Yuiko through the open doorway. He quickly snatched a dark-colored hat from his backpack and put it on under his hoodie, knowing that it would certainly stay on better than his hood would, and walked calmly into his first-hour classroom as though he hadn't been late in the first place.
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"Ritsuka-kun, what happened? Why were you late? Yuiko wants to know!" Yuiko exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down as they're third-hour break time began. Every day they had one hour to themselves to do whatever they wanted, and since Yuiko wasn't in any of Ritsuka's classes this year, that was the only time that they could talk without getting in trouble.
"It's nothing, okay? Besides, I wasn't that late anyway, only a few minutes. Don't worry about it, alright?" Yuiko nodded, dismissing the subject entirely, knowing that it could be something that Ritsuka was sensitive about. Sometimes, if she said the wrong thing at the wrong time, Ritsuka would be angry at her for days; and other times the same thing wouldn't affect him in the least.
"Okay, I get it. Yuiko won't talk about it," Yuiko didn't have the problem of speaking in first person anymore, but she still tended to use her own name because she knew that it deeply annoyed Ritsuka, "Hey, what's with the hat? It's sorta funny-looking. Can Yuiko see?"
Ritsuka made a quick attempt to prevent Yuiko to snatch the hat from him, but she still got to it before him, and in one quick motion his head was left uncovered. Ritsuka tried his best to cover up the fact that his ears were gone by shielding his head with his arms, but Yuiko, who was starting confusedly at him, had already noticed.
"Ritsuka-kun, your ears are missing! And your tail too! What happened?" Of course it was a rhetorical question, and Ritsuka felt no need to answer it. His face red from embarrassment, he turned to Yayoi, who looked like he would much rather shrink away into nothing than say something.
"Well I- I mean, Soubi, well… you know, and- yeah…" Ritsuka tried his best to phrase it, but Yuiko seemed to get the point. All she'd really gotten out of his rambling was the name Soubi, and she had known him for almost as long as Ritsuka. She was a bit glad, really, but she would have been mortified if it had been anyone other than Soubi. She didn't know why, but she knew that it would happen sooner or later.
An awkward silence followed, the time in which Ritsuka took to grab his hat back from Yuiko and readjust it to cover where his ears would have, and should have, been. Yuiko took the remaining time to talk to him about some math problem that she needed help with and a great book she'd read the night before, and all the while Yayoi was left standing there, having no idea what had just happened.
How can they talk so normally about something like that? He thought to himself. He hadn't known Soubi for very long, but he'd known that he was a guy, and that he was nearly eight years older than any of them. But eventually he merely shrugged it off rather than questioned it, and went back to forth hour as though nothing had happened, as did Yuiko.
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"Aoyagi Ritsuka-san, take off your hat now please!" Shinonome-sensei scolded, trying her best to take order rather than let everyone step all over her. Her authority had never been the best, but at least she was getting better at standing up for herself.
After break, Ritsuka had class with Shinonome-sensei, and although his other teachers hadn't questioned him wearing a hat, Shinonome was different. Right when he'd entered her classroom she's started ordering him to take it off, and Ritsuka had no idea how to handle it. What if the other students found out? Wouldn't they taunt him, even more than usual?
"I can't, sensei! Please understand!" Ritsuka begged, trying to reason with her without telling her why he couldn't, "Can't I wear it, just for today?" Ritsuka asked, knowing that it would be for much longer than one day, and he was very thankful that he had been the first person to enter the classroom, meaning that no other students were there… yet.
"No. I'm sorry Ritsuka-kun, but you're going to have to take it off," Ritsuka sighed in defeat, knowing that his sensei wasn't about to back down, and slowly pulled his hat off.
DarkTaoAngel: Bwahaha! I was seriously going to write more. Really, I was. But I've been on hiatus with my writing for about a month now (as far as finishing a chapter), so I decided to leave it here and work on a new chapter for the continuation. I hope this doesn't really suck (because it's my first Loveless fanfiction), but I spent tons of time on it, so I at least hope I get some reviews!