"Endless" Ch. 1
"Hey Jens, I think your phone is going off" said the golden haired boy to his older brother.
The Blackberry's Guster ringtone could be heard playing softly from the living room.
"Who could be calling me at this hour?" the tall, brown haired boy wondered aloud.
Jens ran from his bedroom into the living room, his hair still wet from the shower, and a towel hanging around his neck. He was 19 and of a slim build, but still in great shape. He still retained the telltale ears and tail that marked him as a virgin, as did his younger brother, Falco, who walked in from the kitchen. Falco, 16, was built like his older brother, slender, but not as tall. His hair was golden in color, and he wore it longer than his brother did.
"Huh? I don't recognize the number" stated Jens, answering the phone. "Hello?"
"Jens?" asked a high-pitched voice on the other side of the line.
The voice was unmistakable; it belonged to Nagisa Sagan. But why would she be calling? And at such a late hour too.
"How did you get this number?" Jens inquired of his former guardian and mentor.
"I have my ways" replied the shrill voice.
"So why are you calling me? I can only guess it's because you want something from us, right?"
"Well, yes. Do you remember Soubi Agatsuma?"
"Of course, Ritsu's slave that he handed over to that Seimei Aoyagi. I heard that Seimei's no longer with us though"
Soubi Agatsuma. Now that was a name Jens hadn't heard in a long time. They had been at the Seven Moons Academy. Jens had been friends of sorts with Soubi, even though he disliked his submissive attitude. Soubi was Ritsu's favorite student, since Soubi did exactly what was told of him; including letting Ritsu take his ears. Then shortly after, he was given to Seimei Aoyagi. Now Seimei was dead, burned alive in an elementary school. Jens and Falco both had read about it in the news. They could only identify him by his dental records.
"That's right. But did you hear that he has joined a new Sacrifice?" asked Nagisa.
"What do you mean he's with a new sacrifice?" asked Jens of the voice on the phone.
"Seimei died and now he's acting as the fighter for his little brother." replied the shrill voice on the other end of the line.
"Do we know his little brother?"
"I doubt it. His name is Ritsuka Aoyagi. He's an elementary student, 12, I think"
"Wow, big age difference. Soubi's what? 20? And you're right. The name's not ringing any bells. What about you Falco, do you know anyone by the name of Ritsuka Aoyagi?" called Jens to his golden haired brother sitting across the room from him.
"The last name sounds familiar, is he related to that Seimei guy?" answered Falco.
"Yup, it's his little brother. I'm talking to Nagisa-sensei. I'll put her on speaker" Jens clicked the speaker phone button on his Blackberry, and Nagisa's voice could now be heard by both brothers.
"Good. This involves the both of you anyway" said Nagisa.
"In what way?" asked Jens and Falco in unison.
"Well I'm in a difficult position here. Ever since we discovered Soubi had joined with Ritsuka, we've been trying to get them to come to the Academy. Breathless was sent first. They failed to reach our expectations to bring them here."
Breathless. Ai and Midori. The brothers met the two when they were still students at the Academy. While they had shown promise as a pair, they certainly weren't suited to face off against Soubi. Why would the Seven Moons send such an inexperienced team to retrieve Soubi and his new sacrifice?
"Well what did you expect? Soubi is probably the best fighter to pass through the Academy. Breathless is hardly a match for the likes of him," said Jens.
"We realized that. Sleepless was sent out next. They weren't successful either. So I decided to send Youji and Natsuo."
A surprised look came across the brothers' faces. Youji and Natsuo. Zero. The genetically engineered team that could not feel pain. Practically Jens and Falco's siblings, since Nagisa had raised all of them together after the death of Jens and Falco's parents. They were incredibly hard to face in battle, though it was possible to defeat them, if one knew how to use their gift against them. Could they have really lost to Soubi? "By the tone of your voice, I'm guessing they failed too?" inquired Jens.
"Unbelievably, yes. Even worse he took them on by himself, without his sacrifice!"
"You're joking? Either he's incredibly talented or incredibly stupid, and knowing Soubi, it's the former"
"Yes, it seems that he lowered the temperature in the battle domain enough that they almost froze to death."
"Well that's one way to do it. They don't notice the change, and before they know it their bodies begin to shut down. So did they come back afterwards?" Falco thought to ask this since the boys would most likely be too afraid of facing Nagisa after being defeated.
"Nope, oddly enough they stayed with Soubi for a while. If he hadn't offered to put them up him, they probably would be dead."
"That sounds like something Soubi would do" said Jens with a smile, which turned to a frown when he thought about the fact that Nagisa would have stood by and left Youji and Natsuo, essentially her two children, to die. "And you just like you to not give a damn about what happens to those boys."
"You watch yourself when you're talking to me!" shouted Nagisa through the phone, making Falco jump.
"Don't piss her off!" Falco mouthed to Jens.
"I am not a child, Nagisa," said Jens coolly. "So are they still with Soubi now?"
"Not anymore, they're home now. I told them they could come back."
"So who did you send out next?"
"Well I sent out the female Zero pair, Kouya and Yamato. They managed to defeat Soubi when he took them on alone, but they were defeated themselves when they faced Soubi and Ritsuka as pair. Apparently Yamato's name disappeared and she started to feel pain. I haven't heard anything from them since then. I'm assuming they're going off the grid."
Jens thought about all of this for a moment. So one of Nagisa's projects failed? It was true that Kouya and Yamato were the trial batch for the Zero pair, with Youji and Natsuo being the refined final product. While they had more imperfections, the female Zeros were supposed to be more experienced, or so Jens had been told. He had never seen or spoken to them. Could all of these teams have been defeated by Soubi? It was true that he was a superb fighter, but Ritsuka was just a child, inexperienced.
"They were the last team we have sent out, since it seems Soubi and Ritsuka are becoming impossible to defeat," finished Nagisa.
"I still don't see what this has to do with us," said Falco, growing seemingly bored.
"I was getting to that!" snapped Nagisa "I want the two of you to bring Soubi and Ritsuka here"
"No" said Jens
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NO'?" shouted Nagisa. Her high pitched voice had gone from unpleasant to nearly unbearable. Falco winced as she shouted a string of obscenities through the phone at his older brother.
"Just exactly as I said," Jens said calmly. "I have no reason to fight Soubi, or his sacrifice, whom I've never even met."
Jens knew that Nagisa did not like to be told "no" but the last thing he or his brother needed to get involved with was a mess involving the Seven Moons. He had left that life behind, hadn't he? He and his brother had left the Academy two years ago. They had cut off all ties to anyone there. They had started a new life. But then again, he had always wanted to face Soubi when he belonged to "Beloved". That was Seimei Aoyagi's true name, though it didn't seem to fit him, as he was known to be ruthless in battle, and was despised by many, or so he had been told. Jens and Falco had heard the stories about how "Beloved" was impossible to beat. It just couldn't be done. But then again the same was said about Jens and Falco. "Endless" had never been defeated either.
"Jens, are you still there? Answer me!" shrieked Nagisa.
"Yes, we're still here" answered Jens.
"Have you considered just asking them to come to academy? You know you don't always have to resort to violence," Falco said.
"We sent a memo with Sleepless for Ritsuka to meet with us online" replied Nagisa, "Nana was able to make contact with him, as was Ritsu and myself"
"Maybe if you would be patient, you might find that Ritsuka will come on his own" said Jens.
"But what if he doesn't? Then what are we supposed do then?" asked Nagisa
"Give it time. If he is still with Soubi by this point, and has made contact with you online, I think he has at least some interest in what's going on around him" replied Jens.
"Damn you Jens! You're so stubborn!" retorted Nagisa, her voice still shrill, but at least she wasn't screaming.
Jens smiled at this. It was true that he did have a knack for getting under Nagisa's skin.
"You know that I'm right. But I tell you what, Falco and I can come up to Goura to spend some time with you. Not to mention that we know Natsuo and Youji miss us" said Jens.
"It would be fun to get out of town for a day or two. I'm tired of just sitting here at home rotting of boredom" chimed in Falco.
"No you two just stay where you are. If you aren't going to do what I ask of you then I don't want to see you!" answered Nagisa, now beginning to sound like a pouting child.
"Okay have it your way. Before I hang up there is one question for you: What is Ritsuka Aoyagi's true name?" inquired Jens
"Oh that? I almost forgot to tell you. Yes, his true name is 'Loveless'" answered Nagisa
"'Loveless' eh? Interesting. Well good night Nagisa-sensei" said Jens, reaching for his phone sitting on the coffee table.
"Wait! I'm not done talking to yo-"CLICK
Nagisa's voice was cut short by Jens clicking the end call button on his Blackberry. He leaned back on the black leather sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
"You know, even after hearing her voice for all of these years, she never ceases to give me one hell of a headache" sighed Jens, now speaking to his brother in German.
This was normal for the two brothers. After all, they were German. They had both been born in Munich, and had moved to Japan with their parents when Jens was 9 and Falco was 6. To any of their friends, they spoke Japanese. After years of speaking it, their Japanese by this time was almost completely accent free.
"No one pisses her off quite like you" laughed Falco.
"No one tells us anything anymore unless they need something from us. Seimei Aoyagi's death? We read about it in the news. And now Soubi's new sacrifice? Apparently they have been together for some time now, and of course we're just now hearing about it. But that name is interesting" said Jens.
"What? 'Loveless'? Yeah, I guess so. Pretty weird that Seimei's name was 'Beloved' and this Ritsuka's is 'Loveless'. Complete opposites" responded Falco, now sounding slightly more interested than before.
"I know we told her no, but Nagisa did spark my interest a bit. Think about it: a fighter going to a new sacrifice. That's unheard of. But then again, Soubi is a 'blank slate' isn't he? You know what? I think we should go to Goura anyway. It's been almost two years after all" said Jens.
"I know what you're thinking, and I like it!" replied Falco, his devious nature now beginning to show.
"We'll leave the day after tomorrow. We can surprise Nagisa. Damn it's late, almost 1:30. I think I'm going to call it a night" said Jens, now walking upstairs to his bedroom.
"Yeah me too, I'm feeling pretty beat after finishing my exams today. How'd yours go by the way?" asked Falco.
"Eh, not too bad, just took forever. How about yours?"
"I'm positive that I did well on them, but it would be nice if they didn't ask so many questions"
"They're meant to be like that. Those professors get a kick out of seeing their students squirm" Jens said, jokingly.
"Yeah, I forgot how sadistic they are! Anyway, good night Jens"
"Good night" Jens yawned.