Disclaimer: I do not (sadly) own Loveless or any of its characters. Tori and Aya are my own characters, so I do own them. Please review, and NO FLAMING please or I will not continue.
Bleeding Angels
Violet eyes stared back at my green ones as the new student looked out over the classroom. He was attractive, black hair slightly tousled, cat ears poking up through his hair. His tail twitched as if he was impatient, his eyes grew annoyed. I could tell he didn't like waiting.
"This is Aoyagi Ritsuka-kun," our teacher said. "Please make him feel welcome." She smiled.
Japanese, I thought. Perfect. Now I could put my hard work to the test. I stood up and smiled.
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Aoyagi-san," I said. "Watashi wa Tori." I switched to english. "But you can call me Kitsune." I waited for his reaction, hoping I'd gotten everything right. A smile sneaked onto his face as he realized there was someone here who could understand him.
"You can call me Ritsuka," he replied, indicating that he wanted to be friends. I was glad that I finally had someone to talk to who was just like me. I pointed to the empty desk beside me and told the teacher that he could sit there.
"Ritsuka-kun," I began. He looked at me with those beautiful violet eyes and suddenly I couldn't think. I noticed him staring, and I shook my head to clear it. "I was wondering if you needed to share a textbook." He smiled and moved his desk over to mine. I opened my book to the unit we were just starting and glanced at the title in surprise. We were studying Japanese culture. Ritsuka and I looked at each other and smiled. We couldn't wait to show off.
"There is another student transferring here next week," the teacher began, just as a knock at the door interrupted her. The door opened and a tall blond man with bandages around his neck walked in.
"Please forgive the interruption," he apologized. I stared. He didn't have ears! He was an adult! I blushed when I realized I was staring and looked away. "Ritsuka-chan, you forgot this. He handed Ritsuka a paper bag. "Sukitaiyou, Ritsuka-chan," he said. I looked from Ritsuka to the man. Ritsuka's face was very red.
"You don't mean that, Soubi. You're just saying that because Seimei ordered you to," Ritsuka said angrily. Soubi was unperturbed.
"I mean it completely, Ritsuka-chan," he replied gently without a trace of anger. My friend leaned over and whispered
"Your face is worse than Ritsuka's." I put my head down, embarrassed. "What did Soubi say?" she asked me. I lifted my head slightly off the desk so I could talk.
"Sukitaiyou means I love you," I replied in a whisper. Something in my mind clicked. "I knew I'd heard the Aoyagi name before," I suddenly realized. My friend looked at me curiously. "Aoyagi Seimei," I whispered. "Ritsuka-kun's older brother, I believe. Seimei was found burned to death 4 years ago."
"What's so special about that?" my friend asked. I looked at her with a sad expression on my face.
"He was found sitting in Ritsuka-kun's seat in his elementary school," I finished. The look on her face changed to one of horror and sympathy. I was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing I was. What a traumatic experience. It was a wonder he talked to anyone at all. "Don't act any differently," I warned. "He probably doesn't want to talk about it. I know I wouldn't want to remember it."
Ritsuka returned to his seat, apologizing for the interruption. We smiled and told him it was okay.
"Daijoubu, daijoubu," I assured him. "We love missing class time." Ritsuka laughed.
Soubi, watching through the window, began to think.
He looks happier, more open than he was when I met him, Soubi thought. I'm glad he's making new friends. He needed that. Soubi smiled and walked away. I guess I had nothing to worry about after all.
As the days went by, I noticed that Ritsuka was not very friendly to most strangers. He stayed close to Sam and I, being the first two he'd met. It seemed like he had two sides, one that he showed to his friends and one that he showed to everyone else. Even when people picked on him because of his unique eyes, he stood like a stone and took it. I wondered how he was able to when most people those bullies got to ended up mentally scarred for life. It seemed as if he'd needed to harden his heart to the world. I filed that away for the future to ponder on a rainy day as he came towards me with a bloody lip and black eye. I drew him into the shadows and put my hand on his face. He tensed, and I backed off.
"Your lip," I explained. "Not to mention that you have a horrid black eye." He looked at me like
What can you do about it? I smiled.
"Just trust me, please. I know you've been hurt, but please trust me," I said. He closed his eyes, silently giving me permission.
My hand rested on the side of his face and began to glow violet. His black eye turned back to normal color and the slit on his lip closed up. He rubbed his cheek where my hand had been.
"It tingles," he said, smiling. I returned the smile and replied.
"It does that." Looking at my watch, I realized we needed to get going. "Come on. We don't want to be late for class," I reminded him. We rejoined the crowd and headed back to class.
