"Happy birthday Ritsuka." The tall beautiful blonde presented the now slightly taller cat eared boy with a small simple cake that was adorned with fifteen white candles.

"Thank you!"

Ritsuka then closed his eyes and blew out all of the candles at once. When his eyes were closed, he was lost in thoughts for what felt like a long time. He couldn't help but to take that time to reflect on everything that had happened in the last three years since he met Soubi. He thought about how hard they had fought side by side to defeat Septimal Moon, he thought about how lucky he was that all of his friends now attended the same middle school as him. But more than anything he thought about how close he and Soubi had grown in all this time. They had gone from the very one sided personal relationship and awkward battle relationship at best, to a now very close and equal love for one another and had now become a formidable fighting pair despite the fact that they didn't share a name and Ritsuka's name had yet to appear. Never the less, they had become truly bonded to each other and Ritsuka had even moved into Soubi's new larger apartment. For once in Ritsuka's life, he felt happy about himself and where he was. This was a feeling that he would have never thought possible but one that he cherished every day. He was then snapped out of his thoughts once the candles were out and his ears were met with the sultry sound of Soubi's voice.

"So what did you wish for?"

"I can't tell otherwise it won't come true." Ritsuka's tone was very coy and playful, causing Soubi to chuckle slightly.

"Fair enough." Soubi then made a few slices into the cake before serving a piece to his Sacrifice with a smile and Ritsuka gladly accepted with an equally warm smile of his own.

"Thanks Soubi; but you don't have to wait on me hand and foot you know."

"I'm aware; but I enjoy it." Ritsuka gave a small bashful scoff at this and couldn't help but to blush slightly.

"I know I know." Ritsuka then took a small bit of the cake before letting out a small smile; it was chocolate, his favorite flavor. It warmed his stomach with its sweetness and it warmed his heart that Soubi always knew the little things about that he liked. The sight gave the tall blonde a great satisfaction; he always took every smile or laugh from the boy as a small victory in their game of love.

The rest of the evening was filled with small tender moments, laughs and smiles before concluding just before eleven o'clock with the duo slipping out of their regular clothes, into their pajamas, or lack thereof in Soubi's case, and into the large bed they shared together. It didn't take long for Ritsuka to drift away to a peaceful sleep wrapped safely in his Sentouki's arms and as had become his habit, Soubi followed behind in sleep only after making sure that Ritsuka was sound asleep and the house was silent and safe.

As the lights go out in the cozy home, all seems safe and warm inside…but our blissful duo remains seemingly unaware of the things being set in motion just outside their window….

"They just went to sleep. They had a cake and talked for a while. Nothing out of the ordinary. What are your orders?"

"Report back for the night. Continue your surveillance first thing tomorrow."

"Understood."

*click*

As soon as the line went silent, the small red headed boy flipped his phone closed and took the binoculars away from his face before turning to the boy perched next to him in the tree across the street from Soubi's apartment.

"Let's go Youji; that's all for tonight."

"Aw! That's boring! We haven't gotten to do anything fun in forever." The blue haired boy then crossed his arms and began to pout in a childish manner.This caused the red head to lean over and place a small kiss on his forehead.

"Don't be that way Youji. I promise we will get to have some fun soon. As long as we do what we are told, there will be plenty of fun to have. Now let's go home." This was enough to coax Youji out if his pout and put a smile on his face.

"Fine. But you better not be lying Natsuo; I wanna do something fun." This caused the red head to chuckle slightly.

"We will."

The shadowy duo then made their way down from the tree in one jump, ignoring the height from which they jumped. As soon as they hit the ground however, they stopped for a moment and turned to each other before the blue haired boy spoke with a giggle.

"I gotta admit, I thought being Zero was cool enough but these new implants really are cool." This also caused the red head to giggle.

"Agreed." He then clasped onto his Sacrifices hand tightly before leading the way on their long walk home, both of them beaming with anxiousness of the days to come.

So the curtain falls on the beginning of our tale and already the air is afoul with the stench of something…sinister. How long can Loveless and his Sentouki remain blissfully unaware of the wheels turning around them? And just exactly who or…what is following them? I suppose…all we can do is watch and wait.