Chapter ten

It was Ritsuka's fault that Soubi lost his memory.

Ritsuka never meant for it to happen. He never wanted it to happen. It was something that Soubi had done to cause him to fall amnesic, but it all rooted back to Ritsuka. Soubi had only been trying to help Ritsuka, but he lost something because of it. Ritsuka should have noticed the blaring signs of something being wrong with Soubi so that he could've put a stop to it. Seimei would've listened to Ritsuka. Ritsuka could have very well prevented this, but he hadn't.

It was Ritsuka's fault. Soubi was like this because of him. Now it was up to him to fix it.

Seimei had said Soubi had something to do with Ritsuka's memory loss, but he wouldn't be able to remember it. Ritsuka had realized that if Soubi had actually done anything, Seimei would've made Soubi take his own memory, since Soubi had a conscience and there was no way that Soubi could've properly taken care of him knowing that he was the one who caused Misaki to beat Ritsuka. Misaki beat Ritsuka because he had lost his memories and was not 'her' Ritsuka. Soubi wouldn't be able to live with the fact that he was the person who had made Ritsuka like this in the first place.

"Ritsuka," Kio placed a hand on his shoulder as the young teenager stared up at his own house, a minefield just waiting to blow. It was late afternoon on the day that Ritsuka and Kio had discovered Soubi's recordings. It was unclear who had left the recordings on the computer, whether it had been Seimei or Soubi. It seemed more likely to be Soubi, since Seimei wouldn't want Ritsuka to know that he was the one who attacked Soubi. It would make Ritsuka lose his respect and love for Seimei, which was exactly what happened.

After the last recording where Soubi directly told Ritsuka that there was a note, Ritsuka was sure that it was Soubi who had left the recordings to play. Ritsuka had been determined to turn the house upside down to look for the note, but that was when Kio broke the news to him. He had been talking to the police ever since Ritsuka called him when his mother beat him and threw him out, and he was granted temporary custody of Ritsuka under special circumstances as a foster parent. It was the temporary part that scared Ritsuka a little. He didn't want to go to a foster home or get separated from Soubi. And he certainly couldn't and wouldn't go back to living with his mother, not when he had experienced a week without getting beaten.

They were going back to the Aoyagi household to get Ritsuka's things. Soubi had to come, too, since they couldn't leave him alone at the flat. Ritsuka wanted him to come with him, anyways. Soubi was still a source of comfort for him, even if he didn't remember anything. Ritsuka held onto his hand, leaning heavily on his much taller frame, wondering how he was going to deal with this. Soubi didn't seem to mind Ritsuka's leaning or tight grip on his hand.

"Are you okay?" Kio asked, his grip on Ritsuka's shoulder gentle and reassuring. Ritsuka was safe with these two men. They wouldn't let his mother hurt him anymore. Soubi would be able to understand that this woman wanted to hurt Ritsuka. Kio would be able to hold her off, too. There was nothing to worry about.

Ritsuka looked up at Kio, pushing all thoughts of the recordings away. He gave Soubi's hand a squeeze and told Kio, "I'm ready."

"I'm not going to let her hurt you," Kio reminded him. Ritsuka just nodded. The lights were on in the house and Ritsuka's father's car was there, too, which was an extremely rare occurrence. His father, Kiyoshi, rarely came home, and, when he did, he usually drank and drank until he passed out.

"My father's home…" Ritsuka told Soubi, depositing his overnight bag on the counter and sitting down on the couch close to Soubi.

"Does he ever do anything about…her?" Soubi never called Misaki Ritsuka's mother, but instead referred to her as simply 'her' or sometimes 'Misaki'.

Ritsuka rolled his eyes and sighed; he had truly been hoping Soubi wouldn't press the issue, as it would lead to Ritsuka admitting some things that he didn't really want to let out. It was in Soubi's nature, though, to want to know, to gain the knowledge. It was one of the things that couldn't be changed about him, something that Ritsuka really did like about Soubi, even if it annoyed him quite a bit now.

"Sometimes," Ritsuka started cautiously. He tried to subtly check that his bangs were still covering the right side of his face. Soubi noticed, though, Ritsuka could see that his calculating blue eyes watching him closely. Ritsuka closed his tired eyes and leaned back on Soubi's arm, which had at some point slipped around him. Soubi pulled him close to his side and put the medical textbook he had been reading on the coffee table.

"Sometimes?"

"…When he's not drunk out of mind…" Ritsuka muttered under his breath. As soon as he said it, Ritsuka wanted to take it back, as he knew Soubi would immediately figure everything out from there.

Sure enough, Soubi grabbed his face and turned it so that he was looking at the right side of it. He pushed Ritsuka's black bangs out of the way so that he was looking directly at the purple-ish bruise. Ritsuka didn't try to pull away, as he knew it would be completely useless. Soubi was too much stronger than he was.

"Your father did this, didn't he?"Soubi's voice was strangely dark, making Ritsuka know that now Soubi not only hated Ritsuka's mother, but he hated his father, too.

"No!" Ritsuka lied. "It was my mother!"

"It was your father," Soubi told him firmly.

"How can you tell?"

Soubi traced the bruise with one finger. "Your mother's right handed."

Ritsuka frowned, not seeing how that explained anything. "That doesn't mean anything."

"You were hit on the right side of your face," Soubi explained simply. Ritsuka's eyes flickered away, realizing his friend's logic. Soubi went on, "And there's a mark from a wedding band. Misaki doesn't wear hers, correct? Plus, it's traditional to wear a wedding band on the left hand, not the right. How long is he staying?"

Soubi let go of Ritsuka's face and Ritsuka, in turn, leaned his head against Soubi's shoulder. "He's off of work for a week…"

"Call your mother and tell her that you're going to be going staying at a friend's house for a week."

Ritsuka mumbled an agreement, knowing that he was really going to be staying with Soubi, like usual, and not a regular friend's house. It made him happy, though, to be spending time with Soubi in a place he knew was safe.

Kiyoshi was the one to answer the door and immediately looked confused to see his son flanked by two older, tall men, one of which Ritsuka was holding hands seemed to not be drunk, but not be sober, either. Ritsuka tightened his grip around Soubi's hand.

"Who are you?" Kiyoshi glared at all three of them. Ritsuka sighed, knowing that his father sometimes forgot who Ritsuka was if he had been drinking. Ritsuka had never thought much of his father, but at times like this, he was at an all time low in Ritsuka's mind.

"I'm Ritsuka, your son," Ritsuka wanted to leave. He really did. He couldn't, though, he had to go back and get the photos to help teach Soubi.

"Oh, it's you," Was all Kiyoshi said. Maybe I was wrong, Ritsuka thought. Maybe he is drunk.

Kio cleared his throat, reminding Kiyoshi that he was there. "I need to talk to you about your son's living conditions. Do you mind if we come in?"

"Do as you please," Ritsuka's father stepped aside, letting them through the doorway. Kio nodded to Ritsuka and Ritsuka pulled Soubi towards the stairs. He hurriedly led Soubi into the bedroom and shut the door, wondering if he should lock it. Strong arms locked around his body and Ritsuka yelped as he was pulled backwards, only to find that it was just Soubi, not his mother. He relaxed and let Soubi lift him into his lap. Soubi's big hands were on his hips, keeping him there firmly.

Soubi was worried about him. Of course he could sense that being in this house made Ritsuka more jumpy and distant. Maybe it was only Soubi's instinct to hold Ritsuka close like this when the Sacrifice was sad and lonely. Ritsuka placed his arms around Soubi's neck, bringing him closer. He wondered how long Kio would be and if Ritsuka had enough time to take a short nap with Soubi. That was what he really wanted, to have Soubi close against him to give him comfort in this wretched house.

"Let's lay down, Soubi," Ritsuka hoped that he understood most of that sentence. He had showed Soubi what 'laying down' was and Soubi knew his name, now, though he didn't know the pronoun 'let's'. Pronouns and conjugation would be the hardest to teach Soubi. Ritsuka knew that from his foreign class at school. Actually, it might be easy for Soubi, since he was learning his first language, Japanese, again, not a second language. Soubi was like a child. He would pick more things up the more he was talked to.

Ritsuka pulled Soubi down with him, keeping his arms locked loosely around his neck. Soubi patted the bed with one hand, "Bed?"

"Yes," Ritsuka closed his eyes, pressing his body close to Soubi's, his face buried in his chest. "Good job."

"Ritsuka?"

"Yes?" Ritsuka had his eyes closed, trying to fall asleep. Soubi's scent was all around him, no different from when before Soubi had lost his memory. Well, he smelled less of cigarettes than it had before, but Ritsuka liked that.

"Love?" Soubi's arms had slipped around Ritsuka, holding him tightly against him. Soubi knew that there was something bad about this house and he was trying to protect Ritsuka from it. That was yet another quality he retained. Soubi was still over-protective of Ritsuka.

"Yes, I love you," Ritsuka blushed and hid his face even more. Soubi stopped talking, then, and simply held Ritsuka close. Everything else on Ritsuka's mind disappeared and he concentrated just on Soubi's scent and warmth. Eventually, he was lulled into a light sleep as he listened to Soubi's breathing and heartbeat, entranced by the feeling of the Fighter so close to him.

Ritsuka and Soubi both awoke to yelling outside the now opened door.

"What the hell are they doing?" That was his father's voice, roaring and angry. Ritsuka heard Soubi whimper at the noise level and squirm a little against Ritsuka. Ritsuka was comfortable, so much so that he refused to get up, or even to open his eyes. His father had obviously discovered them sleeping together on the bed. It seemed so typical of him to go with his first assumption and throw an adult drunken temper tantrum, one that would usually result in hitting Ritsuka or him falling down the stairs and knocking himself out.

"Aoyagi-kun, please," Kio's tone was much quieter and calmer, yet still firm. "Soubi and Ritsuka are very close."

There was some stomping around and Soubi seemed to be getting extremely agitated and bothered by it. "Calm down, Soubi," Ritsuka whispered, his face still pressed into the man's chest. "It's okay; they're just arguing."

"Kio?" Soubi's voice was quiet, too, as if he didn't want the two outside to hear them, either.

"Yes," Inside, Ritsuka was extremely proud of Soubi. He learned so quickly and it seemed as though he had retained everything Ritsuka had taught him that afternoon. "Kio and Kiyoshi."

"Kiyoshi?"

"Yeah…I'll explain later. Go back to sleep for now, okay?" If they ignored him long enough, Kiyoshi might stop or he would just knock himself out. Then, Ritsuka could gather his things and go back home with Soubi and Kio without getting hurt. Unfortunately, that sounded like an unlikely and near-impossible scenario. When Kiyoshi got mad while he had been drinking, there was really no stopping him until he passed out or got knocked unconscious.

"Close? They're close? Is that how you explain what I saw in there?" There was some more storming around and Ritsuka pulled his head away from Soubi's chest a little to see them standing just outside the doorway.

Kio had apparently had enough, since he started yelling, too, "Look, I'll have you know that I have absolutely no respect for you. I don't see how you can sit there and watch your wife beat your son-!"

"You have no idea how hard it is to have a son who lost his memory!" Kiyoshi cut him off. "How can you come into my house and tell me how to raise my child when you know nothing about us? How do you expect me to deal with my son becoming a completely different person while my other son despises me and then goes off to get killed?"

Kio took a step towards him so that he was right up in Kiyoshi's face and invading his personal space, something that was clearly making Kiyoshi uncomfortable. "That's no excuse for letting your wife beat your child. I can't believe that you would freak out at seeing your son innocently asleep with someone."

Kiyoshi stopped yelling, though now he was talking loudly, and his words stung Ritsuka more than blows to his face ever could, "Apparently, my son needs to be taught a lesson. I thought I raised him better than to be a gay little whore."

Ritsuka saw his father raise his hand, preparing to slap Kio and he was out of the bed and in the doorway, ready to beg his father to just let them all go. Kio just smirked, "Hit me, then. It's better than hitting your son. You only have one child now. Do you want to lose him completely, too? Go ahead and hit me. See how much better it makes you feel."

Kiyoshi glared at him, but didn't hit him. He whirled around, probably to go see if his 'whore' of a son was still sleeping, but instead found Ritsuka in the doorway, looking up at his father in fear and shock. His father wasn't heavy set and he didn't look very strong. He was actually a tall, lean man in his mid-thirties and was a lot stronger than he looked to be. Kiyoshi was actually a nice man when he was sober. Just a couple weeks ago he had taken Ritsuka out to buy new school clothes and supplies. When he drank, though, he lost all control.

"Here he is now," Kiyoshi's face twisted into a wicked grin and his words were enormously slurred. "Here's my gay son now. Where have you been the past couple of weeks? Your mother tells me you run off every time she tries to talk to you. I see that you've made a 'friend'." He looked pointedly at Soubi, who was glaring at Kiyoshi. Ritsuka's father didn't appear to have been told about Soubi's memory loss. "I never imagined you'd like men, much less older men. Do you let him screw you Ritsuka? Do you?"

Ritsuka was terrified at this point. He knew that Kio would at least try to keep Kiyoshi from attacking him and Soubi looked ready to jump at him at any second, but Kiyoshi's words could still hurt Ritsuka. He hated Ritsuka. He wanted to hurt him, and this want was different than Misaki's. Ritsuka's mother was delusional; Kiyoshi was just drunk. This happened almost every night he came home. He would come into Ritsuka's room extremely intoxicated and yell obscenities and ugly names at Ritsuka. Ritsuka would run at the first chance he got, which was usually pretty early on.

It was because of his father that Ritsuka vowed to never get drunk. Soubi drank, but Ritsuka had never seen him intoxicated or anything close to it. Sometimes he just got a little dizzy and had to lay down, but nothing more. Soubi knew when to stop. Ritsuka had seen Kio inebriated, and had run and hid from him for hours until Soubi found him cowered under his bed in the flat. Kio wasn't a mean drunk like Kiyoshi, but it still scared him.

"Answer me!" Kiyoshi brought Ritsuka back down to Earth with a hard slap. Ritsuka stumbled backwards, leaving the doorway. Kio was yelling in the background, but Ritsuka didn't hear. In what seemed like less than a second, Soubi had Kiyoshi pinned against the short railing near the stairs.

That wasn't what surprised Ritsuka the most, though. It was when Soubi spoke in a low voice that was nearly a growl, "I swear that if you ever touch him again that I will kill you slowly. What kind of a man drinks his troubles away and beats his son for it?"

Ritsuka froze, ceasing to rub the forming bruise on his cheek. Every thought in his head left in a flurry as soon as he heard Soubi speak normally, not in the broken one-worded sentences containing only words Ritsuka had taught him. The change had been so sudden. Soubi couldn't just regain his memories like that. It wasn't possible. It had to be temporary. Soubi had seen the situation Ritsuka had been in and maybe the need to protect him had been stronger than the block that kept him from his memories, breaking it temporarily.

"It's not like you under-!"

Soubi hit him, just as hard as Kiyoshi had slapped Ritsuka, if not harder. "Oh, I understand perfectly well." It could also be a sudden rush of adrenaline that had caused the flow of memories to start again. "You deserve to go to hell," Soubi went on, holding Kiyoshi roughly by the collar of his shirt. "And if you don't sign the consent forms we brought, I'll send you there myself, right here, right now."

"You can't tell me what to do," The look on Ritsuka's father's face betrayed him. He was scared, petrified with fear, as he realized that Soubi could probably kill him with a simple shove over the railing.

"Do you really want to mess with me right now?" Soubi moved a hand to Kiyoshi's throat. Kiyoshi just vigorously shook his head. "I didn't think so. You're a horrible, weak, selfish man. I should've taken Ritsuka from here a year ago. He certainly doesn't deserve parents like you. Sign or I'll kill you and forge the signature myself."

"P-please let me go. I'll sign it, I swear…" Ritsuka willed Soubi not to let him go. Kiyoshi would run, as he was a coward, as well as a selfish bastard.

"Get on the ground," Soubi ordered, making Ritsuka silently cheer for him. This was only temporary, but Soubi was still saving him. He just hoped that Soubi's memories would stay long enough for Ritsuka to ask him some questions and tell him some things that he had been meaning to.

Kiyoshi opened, sinking to the ground on his knees, his hands in the air as if Soubi was holding a gun to his head. He was trapped between the wall and a very furious, extremely violent Soubi. Soubi gave him a swift kick, sending him flat on the ground on his stomach. Ritsuka watched as Soubi put his foot on Kiyoshi's back, keeping him down and also indirectly making him accept that he had lost the fight.

Soubi nodded at Kio, and Ritsuka glanced at him, seeing that Kio was in as much awe as Ritsuka was. "Give him the consent orders," Soubi told Kio. Silently, Kio did and gave Soubi a hard look before retreating to his previous spot. Ritsuka had been frozen to his spot until then, but he suddenly found himself able to move. He immediately went to Soubi, putting his arms around his waist so that he was hugging him tightly. Soubi pushed his hand into his hair, rubbing the spot between his kitten ears gently.

"Are you alright?" Ritsuka asked, looking up at him. That wide, clear look in his eyes was gone, replaced by the troubles that Soubi could never get away from. Ritsuka loved this man, whether he had his memories or not, it didn't matter.

"I'm fine," Soubi's voice was much softer and gentler than the one he had been using with Kiyoshi. "But I won't be in a few hours. I'm sorry, Ritsuka, but this is only temporary. It's a chemical reaction I'm having to you being in danger."

"I know," Ritsuka said sad, dropping Soubi's gaze. "How long…?"

"A few hours," Soubi answered without Ritsuka having to ask the entire question.

"What are you two—ow!" Soubi pressed down with his foot, crushing Kiyoshi against the floor momentarily before he could get out the full question.

"Just sign the damn papers!" Soubi snapped. He turned back to Ritsuka and Kio, "Go into Ritsuka's room, both of you. I'll come in as soon as I'm done here. I'll answer whatever questions you two have, but I'm afraid we don't have very much time."

Did you notice that the first lines of this chapter are the opening lines of this fic?

Here's an early update. So, the Kiyoshi in this fic is different from the Kiyoshi in Taken. Also, HOW WAS THAT FOR AN ENDING?

Thanks to Lovelessreviewer, Lolita, mew, bigmachine, Riaries, EternalTearsOfBlood, DarkAngelJudas, Tlcatlady, Cynthia Dollar, Tamer Lorika, and promocat! I love you guys! Keep reviewing!

And sorry for not doing much with the note. I felt like this needed to be done first.

~Wolfie