Disclaimer: I am not Yun Kouga. You are not allowed to beat me with the froggy stick accusation of plagiarism. *sticks out tongue*

*LOL*

A/N: I LIIIIIIIIIVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE! I suppose i should apologize for taking almost a month to post this...but there has been a lot of problems. i do have a life.

Anyway, there's a lot of action in this chapter.

Thanks to:

Cynthia Dollar

Promocat

Roman Juliet

For taking a few minutes to review the last chapter. I should hunt you down and give you a super sized hug.

Dear reader, I can tell you won't listen to my rambles, so-


Mnemosyne seven~

Seimei still remembered that night.

\

He was watching his brother sleep. The little chest rose and fell with almost boring regularity, but he never grew tired.

If it had been any other day, he would have been lying down beside him and they would be asleep.

Ritsuka slept like a log, he never noticed Seimei squeezing in beside him. But he knew that Ritsuka felt it. H e always curled up to Seimei in his sleep.

Seimei allowed a brief smile to grace his lips. The world existed for them.

Only for them.

Everyone else…

They were unimportant.

And soon enough, he would be able to bond with Ritsuka.

His quiet moment was interrupted by a rap on glass. Seimei turned, already knowing who it would be.

Soubi stood outside the doors of his balcony. His Fighter, but not really his. A blank Fighter. Seimei stared at him for a moment, then got up. He undid the lock.

"Soubi."

"Seimei," The blonde artist replied. Soubi glanced at the boy on Seimei's bed.

"It's tonight," Soubi said. "They're nearby."

"Divided," Seimei said idly. "The pair who replaced us. As if they could."

A cold wind whispered through the curtains of Seimei's room. Ritsuka shivered on the bed, stirring restlessly.

Instantly Seimei was at Ritsuka's side. He fixed Soubi with an icy glare, "If you woke Ritsuka, I'll punish you, Soubi."

"I'm sorry."

To his credit, Soubi truly looked apologetic. Seimei suspected that he simply didn't know how to act around kids.

Seimei ignored him and rubbed his brother's head. Ritsuka stopped moving around so much, but suddenly sneezed. Seimei tucked his brother in tenderly.

"That pair…they're waiting in the park now, aren't they?"

"Yes."

Seimei smiled, "We should give them a proper answer to their challenge."

/

Divided was composed of a man and a woman. He ordered Soubi to draw the fight out—he wanted them to be hurt, but alive enough to send his answer to the Seven Moons.

It had begun to rain. His Fighter looked worried, but Seimei didn't mind too much if he was wet. He hardly even felt it.

There was a time when he thought the Seven Moons was his ally. No more. They were set on educating the young ones at the school to believe that there was no choice in bonding.

Why couldn't anyone understand? He was going to give them freedom.

The freedom to choose.

But no, they were brainwashed by the Seven Moons.

If only for that…

"Tell me," Seimei said quietly."Is there no one who believes that the Fighter System is too forceful? We should be able to choose who we bond with."

For how can a Fighter Unit work well together if both were strangers to each other?

"It shouldn't be something determined by birth."

As for him, there was no one but Ritsuka that he wanted.

The Divided male, the Sacrifice, got up with a pained grunt. He was almost completely restricted. "You blaspheme," He spat blood. "We would not allow you to destroy that bond."

The Divided woman stood, "We are Divided. We would show you the real meaning of being separated."

"We divide you from the thing that you value the most!" they intoned in unison.

Seimei had to laugh. The real meaning of being separated? Were they expecting to tear him away from his Fighter? Soubi wasn't the one he valued the most!

"Defend. Your attack has no effect," Soubi said. Instantly, a shield rose into place before them.

It happened within seconds.

There was something wrong. Instead of recoiling against Soubi's wall, the Divided attack zigzagged away from them- into an alleyway covered by shadows.

They missed?

That badly?

But a cold, cold December wind blew. It filled Seimei with an unexplainable sense of dread.

Seimei heard a thump, the thump of something falling. An umbrella slithered out from the passage.

A dark blue umbrella with silver stars…

Seimei's eyes widened. There was only one person who could get that from his room. He shoved past Soubi and ran for the alleyway, his boots scattering puddles. "No, It can't be-"

It was.

His little brother lay on the pavement, his eyes closed. For a moment Seimei was too stunned to do anything.

Why was Ritsuka here?

How did he know where to go?

What…

How did this happen?

Seimei picked him up and cradled him close, feeling for a pulse. His hands were shaking too badly. He couldn't feel it.

Was this fear? He thought he was beyond that. It was one of the things that enabled he and Soubi to be the strongest. He feared nothing—at least not until he saw Ritsuka there, unmoving.

"Ritsuka! Wake up! Please open your eyes! It's your Aniki!" he half sobbed. If they killed Ritsuka…

There was a buzzing sound in his head that was making everything blurred. His chest felt hot and heavy.

He was losing control.

As if to pull him back, Ritsuka stirred, but did not open his eyes. Seimei sucked in a breath; Ritsuka was alive!

Alive.

"Seimei?"

Soubi had also approached the alleyway. "What…is he doing here?" he whispered, sounding confused.

Seimei kept his head bowed. Slowly, slowly, his breaths returned to normal. Slowly, slowly, he regained his iron control.

Divided didn't kill Ritsuka, but he was sure they did something.

For that they would pay.

The spell to divide him from the one he valued the most…he didn't care about sending them back anymore. He had an answer, of sorts.

Seimei uttered one word, "Kill."

/

It was the rain, Seimei thought. It was the rain that had made him remember that night.

He stood underneath one of the awnings of Chiyako-sensei's house, watching the raindrops fill the earth. It was raining like this the night Ritsuka lost his memory.

"Seimei, you'll get soaked."

He turned. His fighter, Akane Nisei, was walking to him.

"I don't mind," Seimei said. Indeed he was standing so close to the edge of the roofed part of the house that he was getting wet, but the cold felt good.

Nisei simply stood by him for a while, "You didn't seem surprised when Merciless came back with that report."

"Oh, I was," Seimei replied. "That's why I came to see the past Ritsuka immediately. I had to see him with my own eyes. I didn't have much time, though."

"You hid your surprise well."

"I suppose," Seimei said noncommittally.

"So, do you love him? The other kid?"

Nisei didn't understand. Seimei could detect the faint sneer in his Fighter's voice.

"Of course. Why do you think I wouldn't?"

"He's different, isn't he?"

This was precisely why he hated to be asked questions—it felt like he was being asked to give parts of himself that he wasn't prepared to give. He narrowed his eyes, "Are you like the others, the ones who set requirements before they can love people? I'm not like that. Ritsuka is Ritsuka, no matter what age he is or what time he comes from.

"And before you ask," Seimei added. "Love does not come in quantities. There is no less or more when it comes to Ritsuka. I love both of them."

Nisei held up both hands, "As you say, Seimei. But you really want to order me to do something, right?"

Nisei knew him too well. "Yes. I want you to bring Ritsuka to me."

Ritsuka, I wonder if it's also raining where you are?


Could not be reversed.

The words felt alien to the older Ritsuka. He would never, never regain his memory back. Ritsu had said it.

But more than that…

Soubi! Soubi knew; he knew everything! He knew how he lost his memory, and knew why Seimei was after the Seven Moons!

"You liar!" He shouted at Soubi, flinging the words against his silent Fighter. He hated liars most of all. "You knew all along! Why didn't you tell me?"

Soubi's sky blue eyes held his anguish. "It was about the Seven Moons, Ritsuka."

"Didn't you think I had the right to know? This…this is the cause of everything!"

"Seimei's wrong," Ritsu spoke. "His goals are misguided."

The older Ritsuka ignored him. "You probably only felt sorry for me because you were there. You saw what Divided did to me!"

"No!" Soubi protested.

"Stop it!" The older Ritsuka cried. "Tell me—how can I trust you? You lie about the most important things! You came to me because Seimei ordered you to! You love me because he ordered you to! And you lied to me…you lied to me all along because Seimei ordered you to! What else is there? "


The younger Ritsuka's eyes were huge as he watched their shouting match. The older him was scary when he got mad!

"Ritsuka," Soubi's voice was soft. "Forgive me."

The older Ritsuka was suddenly vindictive. "If I don't want to?"

Soubi bowed his head, "Then it shall be as you wish."

"That's exactly what I mean!" the older Ritsuka screamed. "You don't even have enough guts to stand up to anyone, not even for the one you claim to love!"

Soubi went paper white. He looked like he had been slapped.

"That's enough," the older Ritsuka said, suddenly looking tired. "I don't want to see you, Soubi."

"Ritsuka?" the younger Ritsuka squeaked, startled. "What did you say?"

"I don't want to see you, Soubi," The older Ritsuka said slowly. "I'm going home."

"But…"

The older Ritsuka left.

The younger Ritsuka jumped down from his chair. He couldn't stand Ritsu's office, anyways. He really should decorate it with something other than zombie preserved butterflies.

"Hey, wait!"

The two adults were left in the room. The younger Ritsuka paid them no mind.

"Ritsuka! Wait up!"

The older Ritsuka was running away so fast that the younger Ritsuka was forced to do something drastic to make him stop. Quickening his pace, knowing that the older Ritsuka would hate him for this, (because he hated it when it was done to him too) he grabbed the older Ritsuka's tail and yanked.

Hard.

The older Ritsuka went down on top of the younger Ritsuka. "Ow!" the younger Ritsuka complained. "You're heavy!"

"You were the one who pulled my tail!"

"Because you were going too fast! I couldn't follow you!"

"I don't want to be followed! By anyone!"

"Well, I'll follow you, even if Soubi-san doesn't! Because we're the same!"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" the older Ritsuka bellowed.

The younger Ritsuka shut up, his eyes going wide again.

"I hate it that we're the same! I hate it that Mom still looks for you and not at me! I hate that you're reckless and stupid and cheerful, and that you don't understand anything about this! I hate it that you disappeared and made me live your life! WE'RE NOT THE SAME!"

The younger Ritsuka felt as if he'd been burned. His face crumpled. "You hate me."

"I want you to go away!" the older Ritsuka said, pushing him.

The younger Ritsuka got up. "Don't you think I'm trying?" he whispered gently.

Then, before he cried in front of the older Ritsuka, he walked out.

And the older Ritsuka did not follow him.


Back in Ritsu's office, the teacher and his former student were still in exactly the same position that the two Ritsukas left them.

Ritsu couldn't tell if Soubi had registered anything after Ritsuka had hinted that he didn't want to forgive him.

If Ritsu had been a compassionate person, a compassionate man, he could have given Soubi some comfort. But he was not, and so he took this time to confirm a suspicion.

"He was your punishment, wasn't he, Soubi?"

Soubi's head snapped up. Ah, good. So he wasn't completely catatonic.

"Seimei ordered you to become Ritsuka's fighter because he knew how painful it would be for you…to be separated from Seimei. He was your punishment for the night that you failed to protect the thing that Seimei valued the most—Ritsuka himself."

From the way Soubi's face became cold and expressionless, he had just confirmed that it was true.

"I thought you didn't like pain," Ritsu said sourly. "But you seem to be truly enjoying your time with Ritsuka. Seimei knows exactly how to torture you, even when he's not with you."

And what Ritsuka had just done hurt Soubi badly. It was more than any punishment Seimei could inflict.

The ones who you love could give you more pain than physical wounds.

"You once told me that you'd tear out your own soul if it meant stopping the pain."

Soubi turned away.

"Ritsuka isn't asking you for anything that drastic."

Ah, the ever-lasting Soubi response: Silence.

But he was here, listening to Ritsu, which was more than he'd gotten out of his former student in years. Ritsu was quite enjoying the attention.

"Go on and follow him. You've disobeyed him before," Ritsu said placidly. "Once more shouldn't matter."


When the younger Ritsuka was out of sight, the older Ritsuka-the current Ritsuka-also got up and wandered.

Classes were over and the rooms were empty. Ritsuka wondered briefly what they taught the students here—how to do spell battles? Besides that, what else was there?

Soubi.

Ritsuka had always felt a vague interest in this school because it was where Soubi studied, and where Aniki met him. This was where he met Seimei again after two whole years.

There was still so much, too much, that he didn't know. Ritsu's explanation cleared a lot. Still, it wasn't enough.

Ritsuka sighed. Now that he had calmed down a bit, he felt sorry for the way he acted. Sorry and guilty to Soubi and the younger him. They were really only trying to help—each in their own way.

But Soubi lied to him. And that was something that Ritsuka couldn't process.

Was it to protect him? Soubi protected him entirely too much then. He was no longer a child.

Seimei ordered him to, a voice offered.

Shut up, he told it. Even the voice in his head sounded like the younger him.

But what was the younger Ritsuka's mistake? Why had he shouted at him like that? He was nine. Ritsuka was twelve, and he'd always insisted that he was not a child. Shouldn't he be the level headed one?

He was frustrated with the whole situation. He was beginning to think that maybe Seimei was right. All this, Loveless, Beloved, Sleepless, Breathless-all those names, they were degrading. Who would want a name like Loveless?

If he bonded with Seimei, would he get Seimei's name?

Would he get a new name?

Would he be…

Able to leave his Sentouki behind?

Ritsuka was surprised when he felt sunlight on his face. He'd gotten into the greenhouse.

It was like the greenhouse inside the Wisdom Resurrection chatroom. He didn't know the Fighter School had a greenhouse in the first place, and it lifted his spirits slightly to see so much vibrant life in one place. He reached out and touched a petal—a rose's.

"I didn't know guys liked flowers," commented a voice he thought he knew.

Ritsuka raised his head, then took a step back. Standing before him was the Merciless pair-Akira and Anita.


The younger Ritsuka had seen the playground from a window when they came in. He had wanted to ask Soubi-san if he could play there, but the look on his face told the younger Ritsuka that Soubi was ignoring him again.

Now he was here by himself. There was no one else around. All the students were probably in their dormitories. Youji had told him about it.

He crawled into one of the tubes and curled up to his knees. He wanted the pain he felt to be small and crushed, so that it would not hurt so much.

He was…

Yes.

Melancholy.

Soubi belonged to the other Ritsuka. And the other Ritsuka hated him. He couldn't go back home or back to school because the other Ritsuka was there. He didn't want to go on living with Soubi and seeing the blond adult look at him as he often did—like he was poison.

If this is a dream, let me please wake up, he prayed silently.

He wished that Seimei was here. Seimei would cuddle him and play with him. He'd even find a way for him to go back to school if that was what Ritsuka wanted.

But Ritsu-sensei and the others were saying that Seimei was doing something terrible. Yes, he did pretend to die. And maybe it wasn't so out of character for Seimei to want to hurt other people. For Seimei, that was normal.

Still…

He was Ritsuka's forever big brother.

He needed to find him.

That was where he was supposed to be—by Seimei's side. At least he knew that Seimei would want him.

That being decided, the younger Ritsuka crawled out from the tube. He figured that he should get down to the waiting house first.

Oh-

Kio would be there. And he would ask where he was going.

The younger Ritsuka paced in a small circle. How to get past Kio?

If he had a big distraction—like a bomb or something—he could throw it to one side of the waiting house and Kio would come running out. That was how it happened in the movies, anyways. But the younger Ritsuka didn't have a bomb, so he would have to settle for-

His eyes fell on something leaning against the monkey bars.

A bike!

He brightened. If he got to the freeway, he could ask for directions—to where, he wasn't sure, but at least the others wouldn't chase him.

He got on the bike and began to pedal.


"Hey, isn't that Ritsuka?" Ai asked Midori, pointing out the window.

Midori glanced in that direction, "Oh, yeah. I wonder why he's here?"

"Where is he going?" Ai wondered. "Isn't that one of the school bikes?"

"Let's go ask Ritsu-sensei," Midori suggested.

The Sentouki nodded, "He's our friend after all."


"Merciless…" Ritsuka whispered.

"We're not here to fight," Akira told him calmly. "Seimei asked us to fetch you."

"Aniki?"

"He wants to meet you," Anita clarified. "We're taking you to him."

"I don't want to!"

"We didn't say you had a choice," Akira said.

Soubi, come save me!

Anita took a step towards him, and Ritsuka turned to run. He hated running, since it made him feel helpless and a coward, but what else was he supposed to do? He was one half of a fighter unit, and not even the useful half.

Why would Soubi come anyway? He told him that he didn't want to see him anymore. This time he might just take Ritsuka's orders.

But what if…

There he went again, trusting Soubi even though he was a liar. Ritsuka shook his head furiously, as if to fling the thoughts away. He was supposed to be running.

Akira! He had forgotten her. Now the Sacrifice blocked his way.

Nowhere to run-

"Aah!" Anita yelled suddenly.

Despite himself, Ritsuka stopped running and looked back.

His heart began to leap wildly in his chest. All the fear was gone—he was safe.

Soubi stared at Ritsuka, one hand clamped around Akira's shoulder. "I'm sorry for being late, Ritsuka."


The bike was too big for him, making it difficult to control. The Seven Moons Academy was surrounded by a forest.

He rode past all of it—the trees, the ferns, everything. Nothing was green. It was autumn, so everything was either yellow or orange or red. There was a chilly breeze in the air.

Once or twice he spotted a hidden camera in the foliage. He did his best to hide from them. He didn't want anyone knowing that he was leaving.

He was nearly at the waiting house when he saw another camera winking at him from the trees. He jerked the huge bike out of the lens' view-

Then suddenly the world turned upside down. He had driven the bike straight into a tree, and the younger Ritsuka was thrown off. He felt his wrist bang against the handlebars and then there was a great weight on his legs. He screamed, and then blacked out.

/

"Kid? Kiddo! Hey, Touji! Wake up!"

The younger Ritsuka heard Kio's voice clearly. His eyes fluttered open.

"He lives!" Kio cheered.

"What…happened?" he whispered. He was in Kio's lap. He didn't remember how he had gotten there. Didn't the bike fall on him?

Kio was still smiling, but his eyes were worried. "I was waiting for you and the others to come back. I heard a yell and I found you here. Now, Kiddo, what happened? Where are Sou-chan and your big bro?"

At the thought of the other Ritsuka, he frowned. He rolled off Kio and stood up—or tried to. He managed one second on his feet before he was falling again.

Kio caught him. "Easy there. I think you sprained your ankle. That bike's too big for you anyway."

"NO! I have to-I have to-"

"Calm down, Tou-chan. Did you get into a fight with Sou-chan or Ritsuka? Is that why you're here?"

The younger Ritsuka's face burned. To be found out so easily…"They don't want me to be there anyway, so I…" His ears twitched, "I wanted to go to Seimei."

The adult stared at him for a minute, then gave him a Chupa-Chup. While the younger Ritsuka was still distracted, Kio scooped him up as easily as a rag doll.

"Wah! Put me down!"

"Not doing it. You can't walk and we need to talk."

"What are we going to talk about? Where are we going? I don't want to go to Soubi-san or to the other Ritsuka, so leave me alone! Alone!" He pummeled Kio angrily. "Ow!" he yelped as he jostled his leg.

Kio simply kept his head out of the younger Ritsuka's fists, "Why do you think that Ritsuka doesn't want you?"

"Because he said so!"

"I'm sure he wasn't serious, Touji."

"He was too."

"Maybe he's just scared of you," Kio suggested. "Do you visit him often?"

"No."

"So you see? He doesn't know you. People are scared of what they don't know."

"That's silly," he huffed.

"People usually are."

The younger Ritsuka crossed his arms. He felt like he was being talked down to, and he hated that.

He hadn't changed his mind about running away, but maybe…what Kio said was true. It was still stupid, of course. If the other Ritsuka was scared of him all he needed to do was to say so. The younger Ritsuka would understand—after all, he was scared too.

"You're suddenly quiet," Kio observed.

"Maybe you're right," the younger Ritsuka admitted reluctantly.

"So you won't go away now?"

"No! I still need to go. Seimei needs me."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," said a stranger behind them.


"You," hissed Kio.

He had seen this person only once—when he was taken by Bloodless. He was the prisoner that was given in exchange for him.

"Akane Nisei," he introduced himself with a smile. "Beloved." He held out his hand, which indeed sported the word.

Kio felt the boy in his arms stiffen. He looked down. Touji was looking at Nisei intently, his eyes narrowed.

"Did you injure yourself?"Nisei asked Touji. "I'm here to take you to Seimei."

Kio didn't know why, but he hated this guy. He hated the way Nisei was looking at Touji—like Ritsuka's little brother was someone's pet he was sent to fetch. He hated the way that Nisei was ignoring him and talking only to Touji. He hated how dismissively Akane Nisei glanced at Touji's swelling ankle.

Kio knew that this was a man who didn't think anything of using violence to get his way.

"Did you send for him?" Kio asked Touji now.

Touji shook his head, still not taking his eyes off Nisei, "I don't know him."

Nisei circled them, and Kio shifted to face him. If Touji was suspicious of Nisei, he wasn't going to hand him over.

Nisei laughed, "I thought you wanted to be with Seimei? Don't make this difficult, Ritsuka."

"Ritsuka?" Kio repeated.

"I don't want to go with YOU," Touji announced, folding his arms. "If Seimei wanted to see me, he should just go here."

Nisei shook his head, "He can't just go in here after the last time, moron."

And Kio knew what was going to happen before it did: Touji leant forward so violently that he slipped out of Kio's arms. "Don't call me a moron!"

"Kiddo!"

"Ow," Touji gasped, his face going pale. He'd landed on his sprained ankle.

"Are you al-"

Then, the air was knocked out of Kio as Nisei slammed him against the wall. Kio was disoriented for a few critical seconds before he heard a click.

"Kio!" he heard Touji cry.

Kio came to his senses in time to see a gun pointed at his head. Nisei had his forearm braced against Kio's shoulders, keeping their bodies close. He was impossibly strong.

Touji was staring at the two adults with wide eyes, his fright so palpable that Kio tried to fight Nisei off. That expression was so wrong on Touji's face. Kio squirmed harder.

Nisei averted the gun for a moment, then shot Kio's right hand.

\

Everything went white.

Touji screamed. He scrambled to his feet, trying to pounce on Nisei, but Nisei placed back the gun back to the side of Kio's head.

"Seimei has ordered me not to harm you," Kio heard Nisei say as waves of pain washed over him. "But he didn't say anything about hurting anyone else. Now. Come with me or I'll kill him and take you with me anyway."

Kio held the pain at bay long enough to focus on Touji. "Don't," he croaked.

Touji was shaking; Kio could see it from where he was. The kid looked down to see Kio's blood—a lot of it—dripping down onto the floor. "Kio," he whimpered.

"I'll be fine, kiddo. You shouldn't-"

Nisei hit Kio's mouth with the side of his gun, "Don't force me to use a Spell on you." His gaze turned back to Touji. "Well?"

Touji only stared at Nisei. Kio shook his head at him.

"Well?" Nisei asked again, this time cocking the gun.

"All right, all right!" Touji said desperately. "I'll go with you, just don't hurt him anymore!"

No… Kio watched helplessly as Touji's shoulders slumped with defeat. I'm sorry, Kio wanted to say. This is all my fault.

"Now that is exactly what I wanted to hear," Nisei said, looking pleasant again. "At least blood didn't get on my clothes. Can you walk, or should I carry you?"

Touji bit his lip. Then, he pushed himself to his feet, wobbling.

Nisei swept forward to steady him, but Touji pushed him away. "Get away from me," Touji said in a voice that sounded exactly like Ritsuka's.

Kio blinked. Although confused, he silently cheered Touji on as he took step after painful step. Nisei let go of Kio.

Finally!

Kio ran at Nisei again, unwilling to take any part in this kidnap from under his very nose. But Nisei ducked and the next thing Kio felt was a blow to his head.

"Run away, kiddo," he whispered, before the darkness took him.


"What happened?" Ritsuka wondered.

The Merciless pair had behaved most strangely. They had claimed that they were ordered by Seimei to "fetch Ritsuka", whatever that meant. However, they declined to participate in a Spell Battle and instead took on Soubi in a fistfight.

Soubi agreed.

Now Ritsuka stood behind Soubi, watching his Fighter wipe blood from his mouth. Soubi's head was bowed, and Akira and Anita seemed tireless.

"Soubi," Ritsuka began.

Soubi turned to look at him. It was the first time that Ritsuka addressed his Sentouki directly.

"I'll protect you, Ritsuka. Don't worry."

"Soubi," Ritsuka repeated. "Shut up and listen to me."

Akira laughed, "You really should listen when your Sacrifice tells you something."

"I will not give Ritsuka to you."

"Didn't I tell you to listen to me?" Ritsuka said, exasperated.

Obediently, Soubi returned his gaze to him.

Ritsuka looked at Soubi directly. "Get up and fight."

Soubi looked surprised for a moment. Then he relaxed.

"Yes, Master," Soubi murmured, rising to his feet.

And Ritsuka knew it-they were going to win.

Nothing could stop Soubi when he wore an expression like that.

Just then, a phone rang. Anita reached into her pocket and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? Oh, really? That's too bad, we were getting to a good part…All right." She looked at Akira, "Let's go. We're finished here."

"What?" Ritsuka said.

Akira didn't say anything, just followed Anita as they ran for the door. Soubi tried to stop them, but Akira destroyed a large flower pot at the other Sentouki's feet.

"Stop!"

Anita turned back. Her face was almost sad. "Shouldn't you first try to find what you've lost, Ritsuka?"


"Are you all right, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka looked up at Soubi. His lip was bleeding, and there was a bruise on his jaw. A button was missing from his coat, but otherwise he seemed fine. "Aren't you the one who fought?" he asked, angry at Soubi for getting himself hurt.

Soubi smiled, "I'm fine."

Ritsuka turned away, unwilling to fight with Soubi again. "What did they mean, what I lost?" He asked instead.

"I have no idea." Soubi's brows furrowed, then he looked around. "I only realized this now, but where's the other one?"

"The-" Ritsuka began.

"Hey, Ritsuka!"

They turned. Midori and Ai were at the entrance of the greenhouse.

"So you're here after all!" Ai exclaimed. "We thought there was a spell battle."

"There was." Soubi replied as the three kids exchanged greetings. "They escaped."

"We have to tell Ritsu-sensei that there were intruders again. I guess it must have been our imagination, seeing Ritsuka on a bike, Ai," Midori finally said.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Ritsuka asked keenly. "You saw me on a bike?"

Ai blinked, "You were going to the waiting house."

There was a silence.

"Ritsuka, what happened?" Soubi inquired. "He was with you, wasn't he?"

"He…" Ritsuka was turning pale. "I yelled at him, and he went away."

"Away where?"

"Who are you talking about?" Midori demanded.

Ritsuka and Soubi ignored him. If the younger Ritsuka was alone when Merciless came…

What if Merciless wasn't alone?

The younger Ritsuka had no Fighter to defend him.

What if someone from Seimei's side saw the younger Ritsuka?

Soubi's phone beeped, and they all jumped. Soubi reached for his phone.

And his eyes widened at the name.

Seimei…

"Soubi?"

It rang and rang.

"Who is it?"

Wordlessly, Soubi pressed the "answer" key.

Instantly, Seimei's voice was in his ear. Only two sentences, but they confirmed his belief that he'd failed terribly.

"You are still my Fighter. You are not to go after him."

Then the line went dead.


And by the time they found Kio, almost an hour later, it was too late.

The little Ritsuka was gone.


That's it for the seventh. thank you for the people who stay with me though I took a long time between chapters.

Drop me a line or two. even if it's just to whack me with a rubber chicken for making you. dear reader, wait.

Any comments on the story/chapter will be welcomed as well.

i've finally gotten enough nerve to ask someone to beta-read my story! this is a shout out to CheyWolfe. Hi, chey! We went through a lot to get this chapter up, didn't we? * laughs *

REVIEW! clicky the little button...please!