9

Hypocrisy

Soubi was rendered absolutely speechless by the site in front of him. Aoyagi Kiyoshi, the man who had beat his son and raped him for being gay, was sitting in his car, deeply kissing another man. That hypocrite. It made Soubi outraged, made him want to throw Kiyoshi in a river and watch him drown. It wasn't the fact that he was gay. That wasn't what made Soubi angry. It was the fact that he called Ritsuka a dirty whore for being gay, and here he was, going against his own words. Not only that, but he was also cheating on his wife.

"Is that…?"

"Yes," Soubi finished for Katsuko-sensei, who was in the car with him. "That's Ritsuka's father."

"And he's…I thought he was married…" Katsuko was just as astounded as Soubi was. The two of them sat in the car, too shocked to get out and stop Kiyoshi from getting too far into the hospital before it was too late. "Isn't he married to Ritsuka's mother?"

A wedding band was visible on Kiyoshi's left hand. His right hand was tangled in his…boyfriend's black hair, the left hand resting on his shoulder. The fact that he hadn't taken off his wedding ring interested Soubi. He assumed that most people who were infidel to their spouses would take off their wedding ring, but Kiyoshi hadn't. He probably had some sort of cover, such as he was getting divorced or that he had lost his wife and couldn't let go quite yet. Then there was the even less likely possibility: this other person knew exactly what was going on and acknowledged that Kiyoshi was married and cheating on his wife. That would be probably the worst case scenario, since Kiyoshi probably spent more time with this man than his family. That meant that Kiyoshi was most likely going to leave his wife soon.

The reason why that was bad was simple: Ritsuka feared his parents getting divorced. He hated the thought of it and it scared the small child. Soubi knew this because, when he would sit with Ritsuka when his parents would fight, he would sometimes nuzzle Soubi's shoulder and express his fear of his mother and father splitting up. The poor kid's family was falling apart at the seams and he knew it was happening, but was terrified at the notion of it.

"Yes, he is," Soubi sighed, still watching the two in the car in front of theirs. "I can't believe him. Damn hypocrite."

Ritsuka couldn't find out about this. This would probably break his heart the rest of the way, not meaning his heart wasn't already broken. It would kill him if he found out. His father beat the hell out of him as 'punishment' for being gay, when he himself was here, making out with another man. Another man who looked like an older Ritsuka, his young, broken son. Ritsuka probably still trusted his father, even after he raped him. He was his dad, after all, and it was clear that he just wanted to be loved by him. He saw how fathers were supposed to act around their children, how they were supposed to take care of their children and teach them and help them. Was it really so wrong that he wanted that?

It wasn't wrong. Ritsuka had been abused and degraded all of his life. His childhood had been slowly stripped away from him. Now he was left clinging to the last string of it, trying to hold on to that thin thread and praying that it wouldn't be ripped away from him. He deserved someone to take care of him, someone to love him. He was a really good kid. He didn't protest when Soubi would help him with his homework, he always went to bed when Soubi told him to, and he never got into any trouble or tried to skip school. Why had such a nice, wonderful child been stuck with a delusional mother and a lying, deceiving bastard of a father? It wasn't fair or just in any way.

"Soubi-san, please calm down," Katsuko-sensei requested, frowning and moving her gaze to Soubi. "Hitting him or picking a fight with him will do no good."

"Yes it will," Soubi growled, watching Kiyoshi's right hand move further down on his partner until it went out of sight. This man was doing sexual things to his friend, things that he did to his son also, but much more violently. Soubi just could not get over the fact that Kiyoshi apparently hated gays with a passion and even went so far as to rape and beat his son for it, but he was obviously homosexual himself.

Ritsuka stared at his reflection in the mirror, curiously wiggling one of his kitten ears, wondering for the first time since being found in the alleyway why his ears were still attached. He wasn't a virgin anymore, but his ears hadn't fallen off. They didn't even tingle or feel limp. They just felt the way they always had. He could move them just as he had before. It was the same with his tail. He could still coil it or wag it or make it droop. He hadn't lost feeling or movement in either of the appendages.

Of course, he was happy that his ears had stayed, he was just curious why. Was this something like a second chance? The ears and tail on kids signified innocence and being a virgin. Ritsuka's virginity had been unwillingly taken from him. Did that play a part in this? He had always thought that the dropping of the tail and ears was purely physical. He didn't believe that there was anything psychological involved.

Soubi would probably know. Ritsuka would ask him once he came back from the meeting with the lawyer.

Sighing, he stopped looking at his ears and instead looked his reflection in the eye. His face was a mess. The bruises were still dark and his black eye didn't appear to be getting any better. They still remained, dark and marring. He couldn't look in the mirror without being reminded of the terrible night. He couldn't even get away from it when he undressed due to the bandages and scars on his body.

Ritsuka tore his gaze away, limping out of the bathroom. His hips were severely bruised and his left leg was still giving him problems, which he found a little strange. He'd have to ask Katsuko-sensei about that.

"I think Soubi's back," Kio told him once Ritsuka made it back into his room. He had apparently cleaned up all the scattered papers, since he and Ritsuka had made a bit of a mess once the young teen had asked Kio to teach him how to draw a cat.

"Really?" Ritsuka brightened up, his tail wagging and ears straight up. The only reason he'd asked Kio to teach him to draw was because he wanted to draw something for Soubi. His final drawing still wasn't very good, but he still wanted to give it to Soubi. Maybe Soubi could help him improve a little. He was a really good artist, good enough to recently have been featured in a national (or was it worldwide? Ritsuka couldn't remember.) magazine. He was quickly getting famous as an artist and Ritsuka could clearly see why.

"Yes. He's right outside," Kio smiled at Ritsuka, holding out Ritsuka's cat drawing to him. "If you're feeling well enough, I'll take you downstairs to the lobby to see him."

"I'm feeling just fine!" Ritsuka insisted, willing to ignore the pain that walking created so that he could see Soubi sooner.

Soubi didn't know how long he and Katsuko-sensei had been watching Kiyoshi and the other man, but even when they finally pulled away from each other, neither of them noticing the wide-eyed looks they were getting from the man and the woman in the car parked near them. It was even worse since the two cars were facing each other, so all they had to do was look up to see Soubi and Katsuko. They seemed incapable of that, since Kiyoshi was saying something to the other male, before leaning in for another smaller kiss and opening his door to get out.

Soubi was absolutely beyond himself with anger at the older male. It was only Kiyoshi he was angry at. He had no reason to be mad at the other male. He hadn't necessarily done anything wrong. Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was here to see his son, and he had came with another man, someone who was romantically involved with him.

"Soubi-san, no!" Katsuko grabbed Soubi's arm just as he was about to get out of the car as well. He hadn't known that it was so predictable what he was going to do. "If you touch that man, he'll sue you!"

"Not if I can help it," Soubi growled, shaking her off and getting out of the car, slamming the door.

Kiyoshi looked up at Soubi, finally noticing him as he scowled at the older man. There were only a couple feet between them and all Soubi had to do was step forward and he could probably hit him without much effort.

"Hey," Kiyoshi was looking at Soubi with bewildered eyes. He stayed by his car, most likely sensing that running wouldn't do him much good. "You're that college guy that Ritsuka hangs around with."

Soubi took a few steps forward, never dropping Kiyoshi's gaze. He was being cautious, trying not to lash out at him too soon. Even though he was nearly positive that he was going to start a fight with Kiyoshi. He needed to find a few things out first. Did Kiyoshi remember that night and what he did? It didn't really make a difference to Soubi, but he was still curious. Whether he remembered it or not, he had raped Ritsuka and nothing would change that. Soubi wouldn't forgive him. He had no sympathy for him. Something was clearly wrong with Kiyoshi. He wasn't Ritsuka's father and he never would be. He had done too many things wrong. He had abused, ignored, neglected, and, most of all, violated his innocent son. He could never make up for that.

"Yes, I am," Soubi stood in front of Kiyoshi, noticing immediately that Kiyoshi looked rather intimidated. Soubi had a rather large height advantage. Even though Kiyoshi was older than him, Soubi could easily win in a fight against him.

"You're here to visit Ritsuka, too?" Kiyoshi guessed, sounding nervous, as if he could guess Soubi's intentions.

"No…" Soubi had to restrain himself and it was taking nearly all of his willpower to do so. He really, really hoped that Ritsuka wasn't watching. The poor kid got terrified when his mother and father fought. He would even get more sacred if he saw Soubi fighting with his dad.

"You're not visiting Ritsuka?"

"No," Soubi repeated. "I stay with him here. Do you know that he's been in the hospital for the past five days?"

Kiyoshi nodded slowly, taking a step back. "Yes I was informed of that," He looked back at the entrance to the hospital, but it was raining too hard for either of them to see where it was. Soubi could only guess the general location of it. It was absolutely pouring out. The rain was coming down even harder and faster than it had before and the heavy rain hadn't let up for the past three or four days. It seemed strangely fitting.

"Why is he in the hospital?" Kiyoshi went on. "Why are you allowed to see him when the hospital told me I was banned from even communicating with him? He is my son, after all."

No. No, that wasn't right. Ritsuka was related to this man, but that did not make them family. Soubi could barely even believe they were related, even though they looked alike. This man had just crossed the line by saying that. Kiyoshi had had his chance to be a part of Ritsuka's life, but he had completely screwed it up. In this type of situation, there were no second chances. Soubi would not risk Ritsuka getting hurt and having his heart broken again.

"He's not your son!" Soubi yelled, surprised at himself. He'd snapped when Kiyoshi had called Ritsuka his son and thought that he deserved to see him. He wasn't there when Ritsuka needed him the most, so why should he be allowed to come back in now?

Startled, Kiyoshi took a few steps back, his eyes growing wide. He was terrified, and Soubi knew why. He had a temper, though he rarely lost it. When he did, people always ended up getting hurt. He had learned to control it, but there were times like these when he simply lost it and an animal took over, something that caused a need to destroy everyone who was a danger to Ritsuka, directly or indirectly.

"Wha…What the hell is wrong with you?" Kiyoshi looked as though he was about to flee. By now, his boyfriend had gotten out of the car and was making his way over to Kiyoshi.

"You want to know why your son is in the hospital?" Soubi yelled at him, rapidly losing his grip and control. This wasn't going to turn out well. Katsuko was right; Kiyoshi had the power to sue him for assaulting him. At this moment, Soubi honestly didn't care, although it was registering somewhere in the back of his mind that this wouldn't help them during court.

"Yes, I would love to know!" Kiyoshi shot back, the fear now showing in his voice.

"You raped him!" Soubi breathed hard, not quite yelling, but still raising his voice. His own stability was faltering even more than it usually did. Kiyoshi had hurt the person Soubi loved. Ritsuka was sitting up in that hospital room, suffering from both his kidneys failing, two STDs, and chest pain from his heart surgery, not to mention his intense emotional pain, all because of what this man did to him.

"I can't see anything, Kio." Ritsuka told him sadly, both hands pressed up against the cold window next to the sliding glass doors of the front entrance to the hospital. They were in the lobby, Ritsuka without his IV for the first time in three days. He was in his own pajamas, too, which made Ritsuka feel almost normal in the room full of bustling doctors, toddlers, and sneezing adults. The lobby was decorated with brightly colored furniture and abstract paintings. A nice looking receptionist sat behind the desk, talking to a woman with a crying toddler.

Kio patted Ritsuka on the head, "It's alright, Ritsuka. Soubi said he was almost back. I'm sure the rain is just slowing them down a little."

Ritsuka frowned, stepping back from the window and sitting down with Kio on the couch. He looked down at his feet hanging off of the couch, not quite touching the floor. "I just miss him," He whispered, almost hoping that Kio hadn't heard. It was embarrassing that he missed Soubi this much, even though he had only been gone for an hour or two.

"I know," Kio said quietly. "I know how close you two are."

Ritsuka looked up at him, pulling his knees to his chest, "Can I tell you something?"

Kio nodded, his expression curious, "Go ahead."

"I love Soubi," Ritsuka confessed, dropping the older male's gaze and resting his chin on his knees. "But…I don't know how to tell him. I don't know if I want to." Ritsuka was thinking out loud, putting his thoughts and feelings into words. He did love Soubi. He loved him more than anything. Telling him, on the other hand, was terrifying.

"Why is that?"

"Telling him is…scary," Ritsuka murmured, keeping his voice down. He was scared to tell Soubi. Everything Ritsuka loved ended up dead or leaving him. Seimei had 'died'. His father had eventually ended up raping him. His mother hated him. His friends were idiots (with the exception of Natsuo and Youji) and neither understood what he was going through. That left him with nothing. Now there was a man who loved him and who would hold him closely whenever Ritsuka needed him. He didn't want that to go away. Once he loved someone, they always had something happen to them that either changed them or killed them. What if, when he told Soubi his feelings, the same things happened to him?

Of course, Ritsuka knew that Soubi would never, ever hurt him, but what if he got tired of having to deal with Ritsuka? The boy knew he cried and wet the bed a lot. Soubi didn't have to put up with that. He could have anyone he wanted, and he was with Ritsuka, a little, crying child. If Ritsuka told him that he loved him, would he realize that he could easily find someone who didn't have as many problems?

"I mean, if I tell him," Ritsuka went on cautiously. "What if he realizes that he can get someone better than me? I'm younger than him and I have a lot of problems… Wouldn't he be better off with someone his age with no problems?"

"No, Ritsuka," Kio put his hand on his shoulder, leaning over and looking at Ritsuka. "Soubi has been through a lot. You probably don't even know the half of it. He loves you. You're the only person who can make him smile and forget about what your brother did to him. Before you…he never smiled or laughed. He always just sort of…sulked. He was personality-less, Ritsuka. You changed him and he loves you." Kio took a deep breath before going on, "Look, how do you feel about Soubi?"

Ritsuka looked up at him again, "I love him."

"Elaborate on that," Kio instructed.

"I feel like…" Ritsuka thought for a long moment, trying to form feelings into words. "Whenever I think about him, my heart beats faster and I get this warm feeling in my chest. When I think about my father, it helps when he holds me. He makes me happy. When I'm with him, I can forget about…what happened. It's like it's just him and me. No one else exists. I really feel like I can't live without him, even though I did before."

Ritsuka tugged at a loose thread on his pajama shirt, nervous. Was that what he was supposed to say? Had he said something wrong? Was that the wrong answer? Ritsuka hated saying the wrong thing. It always made him feel as if he had failed a test or disappointed someone. His father used to yell for saying the wrong thing at dinner whenever one of his clients came over or when the entire family would get invited out.

"How could you say something like that?"

Ritsuka tried to make himself smaller underneath his dad's gaze, but it proved useless. Kiyoshi had him cornered, backed up against the counters in the kitchen, his dress coat still on. His daddy had been fuming all the way home, ever since Ritsuka let it slip that his mother didn't let him eat dinner much, so Seimei had to cook for him a lot. He hadn't known he wasn't supposed to say something like that.

He hadn't meant to!

He hadn't meant to make his dad angry!

He really hadn't!

"I'm sorry!" Ritsuka cried, sniffling and wiping his eyes with his sleeve, wondering where Seimei was. His older brother had been forced by Kiyoshi to come, too, even though he had been planning on taking Ritsuka to the park and then making dinner for the two of them while Kiyoshi and Misaki went out.

"Sorry? You're sorry? You think that's going to fix this?" Kiyoshi leaned down, his face inches from his crying son's. "That man was my client, Ritsuka. Do you realize that if he decides to find another lawyer, you'll be the cause of it?"

"I didn't mean to!" Ritsuka tried again, crying even harder. He hated getting yelled at. It made his chest ache for reasons he didn't quite understand, but knew it was because he disappointed one of the people he strove to impress. He was terrified of how angry his dad looked and how he was yelling at him and blaming everything on him.

"You're going to be punished, Ritsuka," Kiyoshi raised his hand as if he was preparing to strike Ritsuka.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Kiyoshi and Ritsuka both looked to see Seimei at the bottom of the steps. Ritsuka secretly rejoiced and then prayed that Seimei wasn't mad at him, too. He had sounded really, really angry, and Seimei almost never cursed around Ritsuka. He wiped his eyes again, the tears still rolling down his face. He tried to get himself to stop, ashamed at what he did and knowing that if Seimei yelled at him, that would be worse than Kiyoshi yelling at him.

"Seimei…" Ritsuka said softly, wanting him to protect him from his father, who still had his hand raised.

Seimei was at Ritsuka's side instantly, wrapping his arms around his small younger brother and picking him up. Ritsuka cried into his shoulder, feeling humiliated and horrible for disappointing his father.

"You heard what he said!" Kiyoshi sounded both defensive and panicked, as if he was afraid of Seimei. "I'm going to lose my client because of him and what he said!"

"He's ten," Seimei hissed, placing a hand on the back of Ritsuka's head. "He doesn't know what to say and what not to say. You can't blame him for that. You're an unbelievable bastard. You nearly hit your own son because of one little slip of the tongue."

Seimei took Ritsuka upstairs then, carrying him up the stairs and bringing him into his room, not Ritsuka's own. He set Ritsuka down on the fluffy bed, mopping his tears up with some Kleenex and slowly taking Ritsuka's jacket off and unbuttoning his dress shirt, whispering words of comfort to him. He told Ritsuka fairytales, his whispering creating fantasies with princesses and dragons in Ritsuka's mind, blocking out the images of his daddy about to hit him and yelling at him for doing something wrong. Seimei soon had him half asleep as the older boy pulled a warm set of pajamas on him and tucked him in, cocooning him in blankets and sitting beside him.

"I'm sorry, Ritsuka."

Ritsuka stirred, trying to open his eyes. "He just yelled at me. 'S no big deal…Sei…" He managed to murmur. He pulled his arms out of his cocoon and reached out, Seimei meeting him halfway and hugging his little brother tightly. Ritsuka pulled him down further, not knowing why his brother was acting so strange, but enjoying his time with him. Seimei laid beside him, not releasing Ritsuka or even getting under the blankets with him.

"I'll protect you, Ritsuka," Seimei whispered, just as Ritsuka was beginning to doze off again. "I won't let him hurt you again."

Even though Ritsuka thought his beloved older brother was just over reacting, he didn't protest. After a little while, Seimei started telling another fairytale, this one different from the rest, with two brother princes falling in love and their evil, murderous father being sent into exile. That night, Ritsuka had strange dreams, all of them surrounding the two imaginary princes and their father, only this time, Ritsuka dreamed that the father didn't try to murder the two, but tried to do something that Ritsuka didn't quite understand, but still caused him to wake up, crying and upset.

"Ritsuka? Ritsuka, is something wrong?" Kio was snapping his fingers in front of Ritsuka's face, drawing the teen out of his sudden reminiscence. Ritsuka startled, jumping at his return to Earth. He had no idea why he had remembered that now, of all times, when they'd been talking about Ritsuka's feelings for Soubi. Something about it bothered him, though, and made him strangely anxious. There was a reason he had recalled that. It wasn't a good memory, even though it was with Seimei. There was just something that made him nervous about the way Seimei had been speaking to him and that dream he'd had.

"No, nothing's wrong," Ritsuka shook his head, clearing the last remaining bits of the memory from his brain. He looked at his folded up drawing, hoping that he'd done well enough for Soubi to like it.

"How do you feel when other people flirt with Soubi?" Asked Kio, continuing their previous conversation.

Ritsuka pushed the memory into the back of his mind, focusing on Kio's question instead. He knew the feeling of jealousy very well by now. When Ritsuka and Soubi went out anywhere, people always assumed that they weren't a couple. This resulted in both males and females constantly flirting with Soubi in front of Ritsuka. It made Ritsuka absolutely sick with rage at the people who did it, especially since Soubi never did anything to cause them to. He never even flirted back, though he often did flirt with Ritsuka, something that made the small child blush.

"I hate it," Ritsuka stated bluntly. "He's my boyfriend. I don't like other people trying to take him away from me. I love him and he loves me."

"And would you leave Soubi if he were going through the same things you were?"

Ritsuka shook his head.

"You said you love Soubi," Kio tilted Ritsuka's head up, looking into his eyes. "You also said Soubi loves you. I'm positive both those are true. So, if you love Soubi and wouldn't leave him if he were going through this, what makes you think he would leave you? Ritsuka, he feels the same way about you as you feel about him."

When Soubi punched Kiyoshi, it felt amazingly good. It was quick. Before he knew it, he had closed the distance between them and hit Kiyoshi, his fist connecting with the older man's face. In that single moment, the only thought going through his mind was that he hoped he had broken Kiyoshi's nose and that he was doing this for his violated Sacrifice.

Kiyoshi stumbled backwards into his boyfriend, coughing and holding his nose, blood spurting from it. His boyfriend grabbed him, wrapping his arms around his waist. He kept Kiyoshi close to him as the lawyer bent over, his hand covered in blood, looking as though Soubi had truly hit him hard enough to make him throw up. Soubi wouldn't doubt it. His right cheek was already bruising, turning a dark black color.

Kiyoshi's boyfriend glared at Soubi, and for the first time Soubi got a good look at him. He truly did remind him of Ritsuka. He knew that they weren't related, but there were quite a few similarities. His hair was cut in same way Ritsuka's was, and his eyes were a sort of bluish-purple, though not vibrant violet like Ritsuka's. This man didn't look excessively feminine, but he had a soft face with an almost feminine look to it. He was tall, taller than Kiyoshi, but shorter than Soubi, and in his mid thirties. Soubi could almost imagine that Ritsuka might look somewhat like this when he grew up.

"I…I did not rape my son!" Kiyoshi looked up at Soubi from his bent over position. His eyes narrowed at Soubi, giving him a look that would make anyone else immediately back off. Soubi wasn't intimidated, though. What could Kiyoshi do that was worse than what he did to Ritsuka? Besides, Soubi could win in a fight against him easily.

"You raped him!" Soubi insisted, yelling again. "Why do you think he's in the hospital? He tried to tell you that he's gay and you beat the hell out of him for it!"

Kiyoshi's eyes widened and he stopped struggling against his boyfriend, who was now holding his arms behind his back, keeping him from attacking Soubi. By now, the rain was starting to let up a little and Soubi could now see the front doors.

"My son is not gay!" Kiyoshi finally shouted, pulling out of his boyfriend's grasp. He still held his nose, the sleeves of his coat stained red from the blood.

His boyfriend grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look into his eyes, "What's wrong with being gay?"

Kiyoshi fell silent, his mouth agape. He looked from Soubi to the other male, clearly realizing that he'd said something wrong. Soubi crossed his arms, waiting for Ritsuka's father to say something, his mind wandering as he did so. Even sober, Kiyoshi believed that his son being gay was wrong and would probably punish him for it, though Soubi had just witnessed him kissing this man who looked like Ritsuka.

Soubi's eyes drifted to the door, seeing the startled face of his adorable Sacrifice. He was just about to run to Ritsuka, knowing that the child had seen him hit his father, but Kiyoshi attacked him before he could.

"Look, Kio!" Ritsuka called, overjoyed at seeing Kio's car in the parking lot. "The rain is letting up!" His tail wagged and he pressed his hands against the window, his hands causing it to fog up a little.

Ritsuka looked back at Kio, smiling. He couldn't wait to see Soubi again and show him the drawing. He wanted to ask him why his ears stayed and if they would ever fall off. Maybe he'd know why his leg felt strange, too.

Kio offered him his hand, "Why don't we wait outside? As long as we don't go off the hospital grounds, I think it's alright."

Ritsuka nodded, taking his hand for support, hesitating at first. Kio led him out the sliding glass door, taking him just outside. The rain was really beginning to thin out, making it so that Ritsuka could see into the parking lot. Ritsuka leaned on Kio, trying to make out the people standing by Kio's car, slowing recognizing his father's car parked in front of Kio's. Three people were standing outside, their identities becoming clear when the rain quickly thinned out enough for Ritsuka to see who they were and to finally make out their words.

"You raped him!"

Ritsuka froze, his eyes wide. That was Soubi's voice. Soubi was one of the people in the group of three. He was yelling at someone, more angered than Ritsuka had ever seen him. It should've scared him, but it didn't, since he knew that Soubi would never yell at him like that. He was more startled than afraid, though he was more curious than startled. He wanted to know who Soubi was fighting with and why, but he was a little wary to find out. He could see a black haired man standing in front of whoever Soubi was shouting at, blocking Ritsuka's view of the actual person.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Who are you to say that?"

Ritsuka stepped back, shaking with sudden fear. He looked from the three arguing to the hospital entrance finally to an equally startled Kio. He wanted to run and hide, but he didn't know where to go. He was lost, rapidly losing all awareness of his surroundings as his mind unwilling focused on the three. The man…the man that Soubi was yelling at and who he was currently lunging for…

Was Ritsuka's father.

A cry broke from Ritsuka, almost too high pitched to be his own. Both his hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white and his fingernails digging into his skin, tiny beads of red forming. He didn't register the pain. He couldn't, not when his father was here. He couldn't tear his eyes away from where Soubi had punched his father, causing Kiyoshi to stumble back into whoever the black-haired man was. Ritsuka wanted to run, either back inside or to Soubi so that he could beg him to stop. He couldn't get his body to move. It was as if the fear he felt was gluing him to the pavement.

It wasn't just his father that was scaring him; it was also that Soubi and he were fighting physically. That made him absolutely terrified. What if his father hurt Soubi? He didn't care if it was Soubi hurting his father, but the other way around made Ritsuka nervous and worried. He didn't want Soubi hurt! Kiyoshi was more than capable of it, Ritsuka knew. He'd hurt Ritsuka a lot. He didn't want him to do the same to Soubi!

"Kio!" Ritsuka turned his gaze to Kio, his eyes filling with tears at the thought of his lover being hurt. He clutched the college student's shirt, pulling at it even though he had Kio's attention. Kio looked down at him, a concerned expression on his face. Ritsuka didn't know what to say, so he just whimpered loudly and wiped his eyes with the hand that wasn't holding onto Kio's shirt.

"It's alright, Ritsuka," Ritsuka let out another cry as Kio pulled him into a tight hug.

"Get off of me!" Another yell came from Soubi.

"Take back what you said!" Kiyoshi shouted back at him, followed by a yelp of pain, which sounded like his father, but Ritsuka feared that it came from Soubi.

Ritsuka tried to turn around to look, but Kio prevented him from moving and covered his eyes. All Ritsuka could do was go limp in his hold and listen. He was crying, and felt pathetic for doing so. Soubi was strong and could seemingly win any sort of fight, but Ritsuka was still panicking, thinking that Soubi would end up hurt.

"Soubi-san, stop!"

Ritsuka silenced his whimpers, hearing Katsuko-sensei's voice. She would be able to help. She would understand, right? If anyone could talk some sense into Soubi. When Ritsuka was too afraid to, it would be either Katsuko-sensei or Kio.

"Don't you think I'm trying?" Following Soubi's voice, there was a loud slam and another yelp of pain, this time louder.

Soubi had Kiyoshi pinned roughly against his car, holding him down by the shoulders. He was being yelled at by Katsuko and having insults thrown at him from Kiyoshi's boyfriend, who was also trying to pull Soubi off of Kiyoshi. The older male was still fighting, though Soubi was successfully holding him down without much trouble. Something distracted Soubi, then, and he glanced towards the hospital entrance.

Ritsuka was crying, Soubi could immediately tell, and the small child was clinging on to Kio. Kio hugged Ritsuka closely, covering his eyes by having Ritsuka put his head on his shoulder. Soubi's hold on Kiyoshi loosened as he looked at Ritsuka. The boy must've not only seen Soubi hit Kiyoshi, but he must've seen the entire fight.

Kiyoshi was looking in the same direction, too. Slowly, Soubi let go of him, taking a step back silently. This wasn't the way to settle things, especially with Ritsuka watching them. Fighting wasn't going to do anything. It wasn't going to make Kiyoshi realize what he did. It wasn't going to let him see how much Ritsuka was hurting. Fighting wasn't going to make him feel pain, or get him to give up custody of Ritsuka. This was useless and it was making Ritsuka hurt.

"Ritsuka!" Kiyoshi shouted to the boy. "Come here!"

"Shut up!" Soubi hissed, turning his attention back to Kiyoshi. "He's terrified of you. Why would he want to see you?"

"I didn't do anything to him!"

Soubi wasn't listening anymore. He was back to staring at Ritsuka, watching as the boy tore himself out of Kio's arms and ran (well, it was something between limping and running) back inside, disappearing into the crowd of bustling people. Kio yelled after him, looking back at Soubi before going after Ritsuka. Soubi did nothing, slowly coming to the realization that he should be with Ritsuka, not throwing insults at his father. It might make him feel better, but it wasn't helping Ritsuka's broken heart and betrayed trust any.

The next thing Soubi did was go after Ritsuka and Kio, leaving a startled Katsuko, an angered Kiyoshi, and a confused unnamed man behind.

Soubi planned to search the entire ward for Ritsuka, but he figured that the first logical place to check would be Ritsuka's room. He found that Ritsuka was hiding in the bathroom, the door shut and locked. His occasional small cries could be heard from behind it, as well as sniffling. Kio waited outside, trying to coax Ritsuka out, though his persuasion proved to be no good.

Soubi was out of breath by the time he entered the room, having just run up multiple flights of stairs without thinking of the elevator that he could've so easily used. He was too worried about Ritsuka to do any sort of intelligible thinking that didn't directly relate to the boy.

"Is he okay?" Soubi asked his friend, breathless. Kio just shook his head in response, moving away from the door.

Ritsuka hid in the bathroom, scared of his father and praying to a god he didn't believe in. He was praying that Soubi didn't get hurt. He wished he had the courage to go back into the parking lot and stop the fight, but he couldn't…

He would if he could.

But he couldn't.

He couldn't face his daddy. Not now, and probably not ever. When he had looked at his face in the rain outside, all he could see was the man who had violently ripped his virginity from him, all with an evil smirk on his face and the scent of alcohol on his breath. He could no longer see the person who would comfort him for a short period of time after Seimei's death. All he could see was the man who he called 'daddy', who had beat him and raped him and ignored him. Every time he looked at him now, the memories would come rushing back, just like they had in the parking lot. Nothing would ever be the same again.


So, does anyone want to draw any conclusions from the memory with Seimei?

Because I'll tell you right now, I dropped a few hints. I'd love to hear your theories!

Thanks to cereal-killa, Ritsuka-chan1092, sathreal, LYRICA, Marmar23, Kenn-chan, CrapXhead, love-lost-in-the-grave, forbalathegreen, Serenity Lhane, Raikiba, Jazzie29, XxKageTenshixX, ASTROZOMBIE8, Gurgicalcipher, Alois Pinstripe, Tlcatlady, Tamer Lorika, and Innocentuke97 for all the great reviews! You guys have no idea how much reviews make me overjoyed and cause me to have more inspiration!

I'm really, really sorry that I didn't include the explanation of the ears. Originally, it was in there, but the chapter got overly long and I split it into two parts. I promise that the explanation is already written into the next chapter and will not be taken out.

Alright, so here's what I have planned. I'm going to do a small 'look' into certain character's minds for chapter eleven. It will be written in first person and in present tense and the 'looks' will all take place in chapter 10, though they will be published as chapter elven. The characters that I'll be writing as in that chapter are Katsuko, Seimei (who shows up a bit in the next chapter, too), Kiyoshi's boyfriend, and Kiyoshi. I'm doing this because I know that it must be hard to understand Kiyoshi in particular and because I want to let you all know what goes through the minds of the other characters.

Anyways, please, please review and tell me your thoughts and predictions!

~Wolfie

ps: No, Kiyoshi's boyfriend isn't Seimei, but Seimei will be appearing. And for once, he's not the villian.