A/N: Rated K+ for dark themes. I do not own Loveless or its characters in any fashion.
Ritsuka had heard the phrase a hundred times: Words hold power. It seemed to be uttered from every living being in this new world he had been haphazardly tossed into. Words were the key to power, Words were what brought you to the top of the food chain. Ritsuka had firsthand experience of this awesome power words possessed, how they could make one feel loved, cherished, special. How they could make a crying child smile, or heal a wounded heart. He also knew the power they had to seep into the body and claw through the mind, decaying the soul until nothing was left but the shell of a person.
Yes, Ritsuka knew the power of Words. Yet what he yearned for was to harness the power of Silence.
Silence was a tricky thing to come by. Silence could tell a whole story, and at the same time, Silence could tell absolutely nothing. Silence could build friendships as easily as Silence could destroy them. Silence comforted you and made you feel utterly alone. Silence could do all of this and more without speaking a single Word.
Words and Silence didn't get along. Words liked to be heard, to be repeated, to be made the center of attention. Silence made Words uncomfortable. Words spoke Lies, Lies that clouded the mind, making decisions hazy and feelings invalid. Words whispered doubts and crumbled confidence. Words twisted reality so that it made the image distorted, made the users of these Words feel better. Silence, on the other hand, spoke Truth. Silence showed everything in its raw form, not sugarcoating or twisting anything to its favor. Words shied away from such righteous honesty, and brainwashed People to do the same. People, like Words, hate Silence because Silence shows People the Truth. Sure, People say they want the Truth, that they crave the Truth, but when Silence gives them the Truth, they recoil from it. Suddenly People don't want to know what hot dogs are made of or where their spouse was sleeping last Thursday night. To try to save themselves from the Truth, People speak these Words, these Lies, and suddenly it is too loud for anyone to hear the Silence.
Ritsuka tearfully watched Words move out of his brother's mouth. He patiently waited - no, hoped - for the Master of Words to speak Silence.
Because Ritsuka wanted to hear the Truth for once in his life.
A/N: I wrote this tidbit on a 12 hour car ride to relieve my boredom. This little one-shot strongly mirrors what I believe in life: if you listen too closely to the Words you'll miss what's being said in the Silence. It also mirrors that one song Martina McBride sang about that little girl who was abused by her parents, but it would be ludicrous to assume I was listening to that song on repeat while writing this story. *shifty eyes*