3. Cigarettes

Ritsuka didn't have to go far. Right down the street he could see two cigarette butts glowing in the dark; the people smoking them were barely visible through the night. Approaching them, one of the shining points dropped to the ground and was put out. Hesitantly, Ritsuka stopped a few feet away, unsure of what to say or to do. He was caught completely off guard as he suddenly heard a hoarse voice: "battle system initiate!"
He was met by total darkness, all the light of the houses around him vanished. The unit didn't leave him any time to explain, didn't even introduce themselves, the fighter just launched an attack: "Leaves turn into knives, attack!"
What a simple move, Soubi would have turned it down right away. But I can't even stop one single of those blades…
He just stood there, looking at the duo dumbly, not even trying to dodge the sharp metal.
Pain shot through him as the first found its way to his delicate skin, continuing what his mother begun, adding new gashes and reopening old wounds. He hissed, trying to wipe some blood of his cheek, while heavy chains tightened around his arms and neck, making breathing difficult. Gasping for air, he wanted to tell them to end this battle, he hadn't wanted to fight; he had just wanted to go with them. But again they cut off his attempts to speak, yelling another spell at him. "No… stop...," again his voice sounded weak, he himself could barely hear it. A huge fire ball rolled towards him, some flames licking at his skin already. The new burning pain gave him new strength, "STOP!" He stumbled backwards, away from the fire, which still circled but didn't approach him anymore; it looked as if the ball bounced against an invisible barrier. He was still able to feel the heat coming from it, burning his lungs as he tried to breathe with the ever tightening shackles. "I…," he coughed, "forfeit".
Slightly lightheaded from the loss of blood, Ritsuka sunk to the ground as the street came back to view. The mysterious fighter pair stepped into the spot of a streetlight, the sacrifice stepped forward, "We're Speechless, I'm Hajime and this is Isao. You're going to come with us. Ritsu-sensei is awaiting you." Ritsuka didn't bother to answer, so he just nodded and picked up his bag. Taking a look at the duffle bag, Hajime only raised an eyebrow, not questioning his motives and turned away. Not the talkative type. Fine with me…
Ritsuka had to fully focus now on standing up straight again and walking behind them.
By the time he got pushed into a little rusty car, most of the blood had dried already, but two cuts still bled profusely. Glad that Soubi had made him take a first aid kit everywhere he went alone, he took out some bandages and wrapped the gashes. He didn't bother to take off his torn shirt and just pulled a sweatshirt over it.
Slowly he began to tremble, exhaustion and fear finally taking over him. He closed his eyes, leaned against the seat and took a shuddering breath. He could hear the pair walking around the car and settling down in the front seats, still completely silent. Apart from the "introduction" Ritsuka hadn't heard them say a single word, neither to him nor to each other.
Due to that, he was caught by surprise as Isao turned around, and offered him a cigarette out of a light blue pack. Ritsuka recognized it as the brand Soubi always used to smoke.
Ritsuka, who still had problems with his shaking hands, reluctantly took one. Again, neither of them commented on the fact that a 14 year old smoked. Ritsuka inwardly shrugged; it wasn't completely unusual after all.

The lighter in front of him clicked. Over the years Ritsuka had watched his fighter smoke a lot, so he knew in the abstract how to do it. But it turned out to be more complicated than expected. Ignoring Isao's smirk at his cough, Ritsuka took his first drag.
He had never felt anything this amazing before: It seemed as if Soubi was really close to him. His smell lingered all around him. He felt him inside his body: the scent in his nose, the taste in his mouth. He took another drag. He was breathing Soubi.
He imagined Soubi brushing his fingers against his cheek, chuckling at the blush creeping over Ritsuka's face. He closed his eyes; opposed to his usual reaction, he tried to lean into the touch.
Again he lifted the cigarette to his lips. It tasted the same as Soubi's kisses. He remembered the last time after a battle. He could almost feel Soubi's lips on his, the usual tingling sensation and his hot breath against his skin.
Slowly calming down, Ritsuka stopped shaking and enjoyed his first smoke, lost in memories.


Thanks for reading!
I wasn't sure about the battle, any suggestions?

If somebody is wondering what Soubi's doing... I'll try to write that in the next chapter. But Soubi is a lot harder for me to write of...

I still don't own loveless (which probably is a good thing, because my drawing sucks)