Ritsuka led Yuiko to the arcade, feeling followed. No, he knew he was being followed. Every now and then he'd catch a whiff of Soubi's cigarettes. As long as that's all he was doing, Ritsuka could ignore him. For now. They made it to the arcade and Yuiko wanted to play DDR. Ritsuka didn't like the game, too much physical exertion, but agreed to compete with her on one game. They played three songs and, despite Yuiko's lack of grace every other time, she's shocking coordinated at the game. They played some Pac-man, and a couple races of Hydro Thunder before Yuiko pointed out that the library would be closing in a couple hours.
They headed out to the library, with Ritsuka feeling a little better. Despite how much the girl annoyed him, her cheerfulness was contagious, and he honestly enjoyed her presence most of the time. Yuiko babbled about wanting to join the track team, or the literary club, normal things and Ritsuka started to get irritated. The tone of her voice suggested that she wanted to talk about something other than school clubs.
"Yuiko, if you want to ask me something then ask me. You know how I don't like it when you try to beat around the bush." Ritsuka tried to put as much patience into his voice as he could muster, but Yuiko deflated a little anyways.
"Um, why did you lie to Agatsuma-san? Did you two have a fight?" She asked meekly, not wanting to intrude where she wasn't wanted. Ritsuka bristled. Trying to figure out what you'd normally call what happened this morning.
"Sort of. But it's nothing you need to worry about Yuiko." Ritsuka tried to sound patient.
"But Yuiko does worry! If you and Agatsuma-san are fighting! Yuiko wants you to tell Yuiko! You two shouldn't fight!" Yuiko had started to raise her voice in agitation, not at Ritsuka, but at the situation, and suddenly realized she was yelling. She blushed and lowered her head, along with her voice.
"People who love each other shouldn't fight. If there's something wrong, I want you to tell me…Please Ritsuka-kun. I'm your friend. Friends depend on each other." Yuiko started to get choked up, and for once, Ritsuka didn't know what to say.
"Hey, Yuiko. You didn't call yourself by your own name." Ritsuka instead pointed out. Yuiko looked confused for a moment before smiling sheepishly.
"Look, Yuiko. I appreciate you wanting to help but, no offense, I don't think it's really any of your business." He hoped that wasn't too mean. Yuiko just nodded meekly.
"Now come on. We have to get to library before it closes so you can get that book." And off they went, Yuiko going back to her babbling, more relaxed having spoken to Ritsuka about her concerns, and Ritsuka still on edge because he knew they were still being followed.
They got to the library right before they closed. Yuiko returned the book and checked out a new one, Yoru no Nezame and Ritsuka checked out a movie for him and Yuiko to watch, Moon Child.
On the way back to Yuiko's they stopped by the convenience store to buy some snacks. Some barbecue chips, pocky, ramune, and a Poccari Sweat. While Ritsuka paid for the snacks Yuiko was staring out the window at something.
"Hey, Yuiko, is there anything else you want to get?" He asked her and she didn't even flinch.
"Yuiko, what are you staring at?" No response. He shook his head no to the cashier and paid, taking the bags and going to stand by Yuiko, trying to follow her gaze. He looked to where she was staring and clenched his teeth. Natsuo and Yoji were standing by a light post across the street, and when they saw Ritsuka, they waved.
"C'mon." Ritsuka grabbed Yuiko by the arm and pulled her back out of the store.
"Ritsuka-kun, aren't those your friends from your apartment building?" Ritsuka narrowed his eyes, since he didn't have his ears to flatten anymore.
"I wouldn't call them friends, but yes, they live in my apartment building." He stormed over to the two and glared, waiting for the inevitable snaky remark.
"Didn't anyone ever warn you that if you keep that face when the wind changes it'll get stuck that way?" Said Yoji.
"What do you want? If you're here to deliver a message don't bother. He can call me himself." Ritsuka said irritated.
"But if he tried to call you'd just ignore him, and he'd rather talk to you in private."
"Oh for the love of…Hang on." Ritsuka turned away and pulled out his cellular to send Soubi an e-mail.
'If you want to tell me something then tell me yourself. Don't send your carrier pigeons. I'll be home later and then we can talk. I just don't want to talk right now.' He sent it and turned back to the trio eyeing him curiously. He grabbed Yuiko's hand again and started to walk away.
"You're job is done. Have a nice night." Ritsuka didn't wait for them to respond, he didn't slow down.
"Ritsuka-kun, what was that all about?" Yuiko asked, sincerely concerned.
"Soubi is too much of a chicken to talk to me in front of you so he sent those two to deliver a message."
"W-what was the message?" Concern still evident in her voice.
"Sending them WAS the message. He wanted me to know that he was keeping an eye on me. He's been following us all day. I didn't want to tell you, because I didn't want you to be paranoid, and I didn't want you to invite him to walk with us because I don't want to be around him. I can't stand him sometimes." As Ritsuka spoke he became more and more agitated. He didn't notice that he had stopped walking. Or that he was shaking. But he was way too aware of how close he was to crying. Before he could break he gripped Yuiko's hand tightly.
"Come on, let's get to your house before your mom starts to worry. Besides, it's starting to get dark." Ritsuka forced a smile. But when he looked at Yuiko his smile faltered. She was crying.
"Hey, Yuiko. What's wrong? Why are you crying? There's no reason to cry." Ritsuka tried to reassure her. She just wiped her eyes, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Ritsuka-kun. Yuiko knows she shouldn't cry. I just can't help it, I don't like it when you two fight." She sniffled and wiped her face on her sleeve.
"Me and him fight all the time and you've never cried before so why -" But he was cut off before he could finish his sentence.
"BUT NEVER LIKE THIS! Yeah, you've argued, and he gets on your nerves, but I've never seen Ritsuka-kun like this. You look so, so…sad. Yuiko thinks you should go home and talk about it. You don't have to talk to Yuiko, but you need to talk to Agatsuma-san. Please. Yuiko doesn't like it when you look like that. Yuiko likes it when Ritsuka-kun smiles. Ritsuka-kun looks so handsome when you smile. Yuiko just doesn't want Ritsuka-kun to be sad anymore. I know I'm not too bright, but I'm not stupid. I've seen the way Ritsuka-kun struggles to look happy today. I don't want you to have to struggle. Yuiko wants - I mean, I want happiness to come to you naturally. It's okay to cry, as long as you can smile afterwards. That's what my mom always tells me." Yuiko sniffled again and wiped her nose on her sleeve nervously. Ritsuka felt his lip quiver.
Before he knew it, his arms were wrapped around Yuiko's waist. He didn't cry, but when Yuiko wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he couldn't help but feel a little comforted. A single tear slipped from each eye and he pulled away before he could slip any further.
"Thanks Yuiko. That really means a lot to me. But I just need to be away from him for a while. But I promise, I will go talk to him later. But for now, I just need time. Okay?" Ritsuka forced his voice to be strong and hoped it was working. When Yuiko nodded and smiled, he knew it had.
"Now let's get going before your mom starts blowing up your phone." Yuiko laughed and happily led the way towards her house.
Sure enough, when they got there her mom was worried. They sat and watched the movie laughing and eating snacks. At some point, after Ritsuka had fallen asleep, he heard voices talking in the front room. A few minutes later, someone picked him up and cradled him to his chest.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you both home? It's really no trouble." Came the voice of Yuiko's mother, Hikari.
"It's perfectly all right. It's a lovely night after all." Ritsuka's breath hitched at the sound of Soubi's voice, but he remained otherwise asleep.
"All right. But please be safe, and take care of yourself. Poor dear. He's seemed like he's been walking on egg shells all night." The concern evident in Hikari's voice.
"Yes, thank you very much. You have a good night." And with that, they left. Soubi walked in silence for about twenty minutes before finally speaking.
"Ritsuka, I know your awake. You can stop pretending." Ritsuka tensed, but kept his eyes closed.
"If you knew I was awake then why are you still carrying me?" He snapped, already on edge.
"Why not?" Came his cryptic reply. They walked in silence for a while longer. Neither of them saying anything. And Ritsuka was content staying in Soubi's arms in the silence. They stayed like that all the way into the apartment. Soubi stood in the door way, just cradling Ritsuka to his chest. Finally, he put Ritsuka down, and Ritsuka was a little disappointed.
"Ritsuka…" Soubi said quietly.
"No, Soubi. Just don't. Don't start. I can't stand it."
"I don't understand."
"You don't need to! All you need to understand is that it makes me feel better! What's so hard to understand about that!" Ritsuka was shaking with repressed emotion, and fighting hard to keep his voice under control.
"Ritsuka, please." Soubi's voice, tight with emotion, was shaking.
"No, Soubi! I can't stand it! I can't…" Ritsuka's voice broke and he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Quickly, he covered his mouth, frozen. Soubi took a tentative step towards him, but Ritsuka stumbled backwards, falling backwards.
"Ritsuka, please. I need to understand. You're my sacrifice." Soubi tried to reason with him.
"That's all I am, isn't it? I'm just your sacrifice. You're only with me because Seme told you to love me." Ritsuka found his feet and darted around Soubi, knocking him over in the process. Tearing open the door he darted away.
"Ritsuka! Wait!" Soubi called after him. But still Ritsuka ran. But from what, he wasn't exactly sure…He only knew that he needed to get away.
Soubi struggled to his feet, but by the time he got to the stairs there was naught to be seen of Ritsuka. He knew he would never catch him, but he had to go look for him. Soubi grabbed a flashlight and dashed out of the apartment after his sacrifice. He had to find Ritsuka before something bad happened to him. And there was a terrible feeling in the pit of Soubi's stomach that something would.
He knew he couldn't have Ritsuka back in his arms soon enough.
END CHAPTER: Hope you liked it. Rate and Review!