Thank you for the reviews! Every one of them makes me happy. Feed back is very important to me and it's very inspiring and fun to incorporate others' ideas. I have no life, so it's hard for me to find time to write. Basically more reviewsfaster update. Either way, thanks for the support!
Disclaimer: Yun Kouga owns Loveless
"I summon thee from your residing to do my bidding, Soubi!"
A puff of smoke filled the room. It was getting thinner every time Ritsuka summoned Soubi. It has been almost two weeks since Ritsuka first summoned him, the Prince of Hell, and although they saw each other almost every day, it still felt like Ritsuka knew nothing about this mysterious devil at all.
As the smoke cleared and Ritsuka snapped out of his thinking he noticed, Soubi was nowhere to be found. 'I did summon him right…?' He looked around, praying for signs that he wasn't going delusional.
"Ritsuka, what did you bake me today?"
Ritsuka's heart fluttered quickly before the calming sense of relief gained dominance over his emotions. He followed the voice, eager to see whom it belonged to. As he nearly ran out of the summoning room, he found the man, sitting contently at the kitchen table with an amused look on his flawless face. Despite the happiness of seeing this man, he had to silently scowl to himself, 'Are all devils born that beautiful?'
Soubi watched the adorable boy as he practically sprinted into the room. "Ritsuka?" he questioned after watching his expression change from delighted to almost an almost remorseful look.
Ritsuka shook his head slowly, choosing to only solely focus on Soubi for the time being. He walked across the room to the stove and opened it, letting the smell of fresh-baked pastry fill the air. It was a very sweet and warm aroma. Soubi smiled instinctively, wondering what Ritsuka's wish could be that would drive him to pay with something just out of the oven -- literally.
Soubi did leave Ritsuka with another alternative…
"Ritsuka…" Despite the warmth of Soubi's breath, it sent a chill down Ritsuka's spine.
"S-Soubi!" the boy stuttered, "Don't creep up on me like that!" a deep blush blossomed on his cheeks. The shock had caused him to lose his page in the book he was vigorously studying just moments before.
He chuckled lightly at the boy's innocent reaction and proceeded to stare at him affectionately while he spoke, "You know, you don't have to pay me with sweets... I'm happy just to help you."
Ritsuka looked up at the man who hovered above him with a skeptical look. His face clearly read something along the lines of, 'Some Saint you are.' He pursed his lips and attempted to explain, "It just wouldn't feel right if I got everything for free."
Soubi's smile returned to his lips in response to Ritsuka's statement. "Then… you can pay me otherwise…"
Ritsuka's slender eyebrow rose in suspicion, just what was Soubi getting at? After finally finding the page he was on he placed the bookmark in the correct area, and turned around to see Soubi eye to eye. "What?"
The blonde's hair fell lightly, framing Soubi's face and gentle smile. His amused expression crept back onto his face as he answered, "Kiss me."
There was a small moment of silence before Ritsuka flatly refused, having turned around to "read his book" in a failed attempt to hide his expression. The blush must have doubled, at the very least and he couldn't help but look flustered as memories from his first encounter with Soubi bubbled back to the surface of his mind.
Soubi expected this answer, so it wasn't very hard to accept the rejection. He knew Ritsuka was sensitive on that topic and seeing the boy flustered was too adorable to pass up.
"Almond-fudge brownies!" he announced, an almost proud look on his face as he proceeded, with hand muffs, to take the steaming stray out of the oven.
Soubi rejoiced while making sure his blasé charade was fully intact. He eyed Ritsuka protectively as the boy neared the table, brownies at hand, placed them on the cooling stray and sat down himself. He let out a sigh, 'All in one piece.' Although Ritsuka wasn't one to be clumsy, he did have his moments, many of them being near Soubi. This made the blond strangely tense and concerned when Ritsuka did anything that could end up in an accident.
The boy did live alone, which didn't help Soubi's concern any bit. The boy's past was very secluded… more like, he never talked about himself, so Soubi knew barely anything about him.
Ritsuka waved a hand in front of Soubi in an attempt to bring him back from… wherever he was. He blinked and Ritsuka greeted him with a smile. "Soubi… you do like almond brownies, ne?"
Soubi rested his head in his hand, his elbow on the table and stared back at Ritsuka. "I like anything you bake, Ritsuka."
The boy's ebony tail twitched and a pink blush made its way onto his porcelain face once more. He should be used to Soubi by now, he always flirted. But somehow, even if they were tiny comments like this, he still enjoyed hearing them.
The brownies were decently warm now and Ritsuka proceeded to cut Soubi a piece. The man reached out to grab the plate from him and their hands brushed. Ritsuka instinctively backed away, the plate already in the blond's possession.
Soubi had an almost hurt and somewhat worried expression as he watched the boy's reaction. Nonetheless, he took the fork which had been previously placed on the table and began to eat away at the sweet. He swallowed, "Your wish?"
Ritsuka frowned; did he have to want something from this man? Couldn't wanting to see him be enough? "I want you to help me find something…" He started, cutting a piece of brownie for himself to nibble on.
Soubi's perked up and an eyebrow rose in curiosity. "Couldn't you just wish for a new one? That would save you ti—"
"No!" Ritsuka spat, his voice filled with a mixture of anger and frustration. "I want you to help me find…"
Soubi was surprised by the boy's reaction, could this thing he wanted to find be so important that it couldn't be replaced? He watched the shota boy closely; his ears were flat against his head, tail still twitching slightly. He seemed overall hesitant. The man waited, curiosity brimming.
"… My brother."
The room was engulfed in silence. Soubi placed his plate on the table, remnants of brownie shaking. He moved to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his ring finger. Ritsuka looked up, his dark violet eyes searching for an answer on the devil's face, but he saw nothing. Nothing, until the man looked up at him with a gentle, yet… grim? Smile on his lips.
"Certainly." Ritsuka absorbed the words, letting them marinate for a while before reacting. His obsidian ears perked up and a bright smile flashed across his face. "Thank you, Soubi! Thank you!" He flung out of his chair and pulled Soubi into a tight embrace. Despite the man sitting down, he was still tall on the chair. The blond rubbed soothing circles on Ritsuka's back; it was so small underneath Soubi's hand – so fragile.
"But Ritsuka, a wish like that… requires time… and greater payment." He spoke softly into the boy's ear and almost instantly, the boy pulled away to stare into the blond's hazel eyes.
"What?"
Soubi was hesitant and shifted slightly in the chair. "Do you know anything about contracting with devils?" He watched the small boy as he blinked and shook his head from side to side. So cute—
"Well…" he began, watching as Ritsuka made his way back to his seat. "A contract is a bond between Summoner and Devil. The stronger the bond… the stronger the two become. A very long time ago, summoners summoned devil's to test strength, and to control power. The system became corrupt, like most things with power do. The act of fighting with a devil was banned and that is why summoning today goes as far as simple payment and wishes. However, there are still holes in the banning. When the devil needs to put real effort into a wish and requires the help of his summoner, a greater payment is required… one that would strengthen their bond."
Ritsuka stared at the man intently, soaking in the information, trying to comprehend the best he could. 'Summoners and Devils would fight each other for power… it was banned… and now summoners can only ask for wishes? Makes sense… but… a greater payment? Other than sweets?'
Soubi could read the curious expression on Ritsuka's face and answered his question nonchalantly, "Kiss me."
Ritsuka stared for a moment at the man, 'A contract is a bond… I have a contract with Soubi… the greater the bond… the stronger the team… payment… a kiss…? Does that mean the bond is…' Ritsuka's face flushed the brightest crimson, so much that it made him a bit light headed. '… sexual?!'
"SOUBI! Get out!" he yelled, pulling the man by his sleeve. He complied, standing and allowed the small boy to push him into the summoning room and have the door slammed on him. "I don't want to see you again!" Ritsuka yelled, frustration coating his voice. The devil wasn't surprised, this reaction was expected.
"Stupid Soubi…" Ritsuka muttered to himself, leaning against the closed door, staring at the floor dully.
Later that night…
Petite hands held a paper full of ingredients the boy hand to buy in front of his dark eyes in an attempt to think of something else. As he walked the streets of the busy city, he grumbled to himself, his brows seemingly permanently furrowed. The feline boy was lost in thought, if a bystander were to look at him now, it would either a. seem like he was trying to win a staring contest with a piece of paper or b. having a mid-life crises. Both of those choices were wrong of course. The answer was actually c. having a fight with a devil about their relationship.
A small sigh escaped the boy's lips as he dropped his arm, paper in hand to look up at the bright lights around him that filled the night sky above. The streets were a bit more crowded today. The moving bodies around him helped shelter him from the late-autumn wind. It was chilly, especially tonight. The boy scowled under his breath, all he had on was a scarf and a thin sweat shirt that didn't do much to protect him against the wind.
However, he pushed his way through the ocean of people, to find himself next to a building that cut back into a very dim-lighted alley-way. Something about it looked more than eerie and despite his get telling him to move, he rejected its request, proceeding to tie his undone shoelace.
And just as his gut told him he was wrong to do so, he blinked to find himself being pulled violently into the alleyway by a set of two hands. He kicked, finding it useless, the paper of ingredients in his hand, crumpled. The two people pushed him against the brick wall in the back of the alley, releasing the hold they had on his mouth.
He sucked the air in greedily as they let go, ignoring his achy back. The small boy glared needles through the darkness, desperately looking for the cause of his pain. It was so dark – he only vaguely saw the two figures. They were small, about the same height as him. His eyes slowly began to adjust to the dim lighting and he was almost surprised as he saw his perpetrators in detail. They looked the same age as Ritsuka, one had a strange yet effortlessly straight foam-green hair while the others' was a more wild and curly maroon. He wore an eye-patch and seemed more docile than the one with the green hair. They were both smiling mischievously until the one with green hair spoke to the other.
"Ehh??" he whined, blatantly disappointed, "So this is the reason Nagisa-sensei's been jealous of that jerk?! The hell? He's just a whimp!" he pointed a finger at Ritsuka. The boy's ebony tail twitched, irritated, 'What the hell are they talking about?' It was rare for Ritsuka to curse, but did these to really have a right to just drag him into a dark secluded alleyway and then argue about him?!
"Hmm… he does look quite pathetic." The one with Maroon hair agreed, his voice smirked. "She told us to check him out, but it seems there's nothing to see." He giggled slightly.
"Heh," the other choked out, "We should just get rid of him, then we won't have to listen to her complaints." The one with Maroon hair giggled again in agreement. With that, the one with green hair took something out from behind him with seemed to be a long and slender… bar of some sort.
Ritsuka's breath stopped as he inspected the item closer. It was a bat. And he was pretty sure they weren't planning on going home without using it… on him. The green-haired boy's arm cranked back, and Ritsuka flinched, awaiting the connection between the bat and himself. His eyes squeezed tight and his muscles tensed in instinctively in hopes of lessening the pain of impact.
'Soubi!'
The face of the man he had just yelled at flashed in his mind. Why did he have to die in such a pathetic way? Why couldn't he have been nicer to Soubi, the only one who ever kept him company? And then he heard it -- the air move around the object at incredible speed as the bat's momentum flew forward and then he heard the disgusting crunching sound of a hit.
Wow... I'm smart. Dx I just found out how to edit my documents. -.- I'm such a newb. Anyway, I want to update this soon! (it's so darn troublesome to find the time and inspiration) Either way, I hope you liked this chapter! Review if you have any comments, suggestions, etc. It would make me really happy! w