Hello all, and thanks for reading. This chapter has a lighter feeling, for the most part, so hopefully it brings a smile to people's faces.

/GG/

Hand in Hand

Soubi watched with amusement from his kitchen as the two little hellions known as Zeros put make-up on a sleeping Ritsuka's face. Yes, he knew he'd catch a lot of crap from his little sacrifice when the kid woke up from the much needed nap, but he also knew that letting Natsuo and Youji have their fun meant that Ritsuka was doing kid things rather than playing, or in a better word, fighting, in Soubi's world. Giving the boy a chance to be a child was extremely important to the fighter.

A grin blossomed on the man's face as he saw Natsuo take some lime green eye shadow and rub it on the sleeping cat-boy's eyelids. The incredible part of all this happened to be that Ritsuka had not woken up; in fact he hadn't even moved. Deep in his head the adult was worried as to why the kid was so tired all the time. Neither Zero had any information on the subject.

"He's not tired in class," Youji said nonchalantly.

"Maybe he's just tired of all that rubbish with his brother, I know I am," Natsuo supplied as he rubbed glitter all over Ritsuka's hair.

"Don't do that! I wanted to put that on his face after we finished putting his mask on!" Youji cried, earning him a smack upside the head.

"We can still put it on his face if he's asleep, but if you freak out like that he's gonna wake up."

Youji giggled. "I say we get that camera of his and photograph his transformation. We can sell them to the idiots at school."

"Hey, good idea," Natsuo said with a grin. "Soubi, can you get the camera out of his bag for us?"

"No," the fighter said. "I won't have anything to do with this."

"You're no fun, were you like that before the ears were taken?" Youji asked as he went in search of Ritsuka's bag.

"Yes," Soubi deadpanned.

"At least I don't have to worry about losing my personality when we finally get rid of them," Youji said as he dumped the bag upside down on the floor. He sifted through the contents and found the camera and left everything else in an unceremonious pile on the ground.

"I'm surprised you haven't lost them to each other yet," Soubi mumbled. He walked over and put Ritsuka's things back in his bag.

Soubi handled each and every piece of belonging like it was the most important thing in the world; because to Ritsuka it may well have been. Anything that he was allowed to touch deserved care and precision. He'd never let himself hurt anything that belonged to the boy.

His hand rested on a few pictures that were in the bag. Each picture had a common theme; Soubi and Ritsuka. The idea of Ritsuka keeping pictures like that close to his person made the man feel elated. Small gestures like that tended to make him feel as if they were closer than he already thought.

He put the pictures in the bag along with the rest of Ristuka's belongings. Then he placed the bag where it had been prior to Youji mucking with it. One of these days he wanted to teach the little punk some manners, but not when Ritsuka was around. When the boy was around he only thought of him and no one else.

Soubi was just about to head over to the kitchen when he heard a cough, followed by various curses from the Zeros as Ritsuka woke up.

"What are you doing to me?" Ritsuka demanded as he came to only to see Youji leaning over him with a paintbrush in his fingers.

"We just decided to give you a makeover. Kio had a magazine about it on the table and since you were asleep we had nothing better to do," Youji explained with no emotion whatsoever.

"So you decided to practice on me?"

Ritsuka wasn't really in the mood, but when his fingers went to his face and he felt powder and goop all over his cheeks he about fell out of Soubi's bed. The fact that he'd fallen asleep at some point between the school and Soubi's apartment hadn't even entered his mind as he tried to figure out what was up with his face. All he knew was that even his hair felt weird.

It only took a moment of thought for him to hop from the bed and run to the curtain that sectioned off the bathroom from the rest of the apartment. He tore the partition aside and raced to the mirror. Staring back at him wasn't his face, nor was it the face of the Ritsuka from before when Seimei was alive. No, this was the face of a clown. He had purple lips, green eyes, overly pink cheeks, and enough glitter on his face to turn him into Peter Pan's fairy.

He couldn't even scream in shock he was glued to the floor; hands resting on the sink. Violet eyes bugged out of his head and he could see his cat ears twitching at the feel of gel leaking down his head. This wasn't a makeover, this was harassment.

"Soubi," he finally choked. "Why?" He looked at the man who had a bemused expression on his face. "Why did you allow them to do this?"

Soubi couldn't help the smile that spread on his face at the young man's look of pure horror. It was obviously the first time anyone had ever played with him while he slept, but from some of the stories Kio had told him about being a kid, playing pranks on sleeping friends was a rite of passage for kids.

"Because, Ritsuka," Soubi stated simply. "This is something kids do to one another. They play games. Now it's your turn to come up with a prank to play on them."

Ritsuka looked at his reflection in the mirror and shook his head. He'd need a bath before he could even think of something to do to get back at the other boys, who were currently laughing and rolling on the floor in utter ecstasy at the looks the boy was giving.

/GG/

Soubi eventually sent the Zeros in search of food so Ritsuka could take a bath. Soubi sat on a chair next to the curtain to give the boy some privacy. His sacrifice was talking to himself about ways to retaliate that didn't involve Soubi chanting any words of destruction.

Eventually Ritsuka sat down in the bathtub and Soubi was surprised when the curtain was removed from between the two. He looked at the small boy in his bathtub and felt a camaraderie with him he'd never really felt with the other's brother. Ritsuka was special, that much was certain.

"Have you thought of what to do to get back at the boys, Ritsuka?" Soubi asked with a slight grin.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember what old Ritsuka would have done in this situation, so I am learning all of this for the first time. Do you have any ideas?" the boy asked as he dunked his head under the water.

Soubi laughed slightly. "I have less knowledge than you do on the subject, Ritsuka. I haven't had classmates like yours to help you come up with ideas."

He popped back up and shook his head slightly. "I can hardly ask Yuiko or Yayoi to help; they'd insist on coming over and I know that eventually Kio will show up. I don't want them to be on the receiving end of one of his lectures about hanging around with perverts."

That was a true statement; though he didn't tell the boy that Kio was actually out of town for a week, so there was no way the guy would show up like he usually did. Kio would have gone off on Soubi for keeping company with kids as he always did. Eventually it would get around to sex and that would probably end up embarrassing anyone who still had cat ears.

Ritsuka then came up with a good idea. "Soubi, can we make pudding?"

Soubi cocked his head to one side. "Sure, but how is that going to get back at them?"

The boy grinned. "I want to switch the sugar with salt. Both Natsuo and Youji have a sweet tooth. If we mix the two and have them help us make the pudding then they will dig in and get a surprise very quickly. The last time we made cookies they were the only ones who ended up eating any anyway."

A loud belly laugh followed as the blond threw back his head and let out an out of character laugh at the idea. Yes, the Zero boys tended to do things without thinking, which was proof that they were way too young to be in their position as a fighting unit. So, this meant that they would inhale the pudding while Soubi and Ritsuka were cleaning the dishes. To make it even more believable, Ritsuka and Soubi could even taste some and pretend to like it, even though it was going to taste horrible.

"You can be downright evil, Ritsuka," Soubi said with a smile.

"So you'll help me?" Soubi could hardly say no to someone who sounded so hopeful.

"Of course, Ritsuka. I will help you with whatever you ask for."

/GG/

Once the Zeros had returned and the plan had been set in motion, Ritsuka and Soubi worked together like clockwork. Each movement was meticulous and almost like it was planned out from the very beginning. Later on Soubi would comment that the reason they worked so well together was the bond had been cultivated enough to ensure their success as a pair, no matter what they did.

That aside, once the pudding was done and two little boys were salivating with desire, they watched with wide eyes as Soubi fed a little to Ritsuka who smiled and said it was awesome. Ritsuka then fed it to Soubi who agreed that it tasted wonderful.

"Let's clean up and then we can eat together," Ritsuka suggested as he took the implements used to create the pudding to the sink. Soubi nodded and started to put the ingredients away.

With their backs turned for just a fraction of a second it was more than enough time for Natsuo and Youji to sneak into the pudding and all but inhale it. Their minds didn't even comprehend that something was wrong with the taste immediately until Natsuo's eyes went wide. Moments later, when Soubi and Ritsuka turned around to see what was happening, both Natsuo and Youji started to spit what was in their mouths to the floor and run to the refrigerator for any sort of beverage to take the horrible taste from their mouths.

"Argh!" Youji heaved as he took a container of juice and downed it in moments. Natsuo followed suit, but the taste lingered.

"What happened?" Ritsuka asked innocently; the taste was already out of his mouth because he'd only eaten a small portion.

"It tastes horrible!" both boys screamed at once, eyes in slits.

"Why did it taste so horrible for us and not for you?" Natsuo asked as he coughed.

"It did taste bad for us," Ritsuka stated simply. "But unlike you two, we weren't greedy and only took a small taste. You two inhaled most of it before the taste had time to settle."

"So this was intentional?" Youji asked, pissed.

"Yes, payback for your little makeover this morning."

Upon hearing the word payback, both Zero boys halted any movement and thought for a moment. Ritsuka was sure they were planning their next attack, but instead he was enveloped in a hug.

"That was an awesome prank, where did you learn that one?" Natsuo asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, you need to teach us where to come up with some of these," Youji all but begged.

Soubi stood back and watched the scene unfold. Ritsuka had a grin on his face because he had managed to best the other boys. They, in turn, had grins on their faces because Ritsuka had played along and kept them from being bored. No hard feelings lasted after that initial hug.

/GG/

After Natsuo and Youji fell asleep, Soubi walked Ritsuka back to his house. They held hands and ambled down the road at a slow and steady pace.

"That was fun, Soubi," Ritsuka said. "We made some good memories today."

"Yes, Ritsuka, we did. Just promise me you will get some sleep tonight since you've been really tired as of late."

"Oh, I know I've been tired, but that's because I was working on this for you," Ritsuka said as he stopped and pulled a book from his bag. He handed it to Soubi who took it with a confused look on his face.

He opened the book and read the inscription on the front cover: Our Memories – Soubi and Ritsuka. On the first page was the first picture taken of the two while at the park. Each page was full of pictures taken with the two of them and with their other friends.

"So, this is why you had pictures in your bag, I found them when Youji dumped your bag looking for your camera."

Ritsuka blushed a little. "No, I have a few pictures in my bag so I can always remember some of our times together. I wanted you to always have those memories too, so I made this book in case you ever forget."

Soubi pulled the boy into a hug and kissed him on the head. "Nothing will ever happen to make me forget you, Ritsuka."

A tear slid down Ritsuka's cheek and he was glad the older man couldn't see. His biggest fear used to be if he lost his memory again. That had been replaced when he thought he'd lost Soubi. Now his biggest fear was the other man forgetting him.

"I love you, Ritsuka," Soubi whispered. "That will never change. Thank you for giving me these memories so I can remind myself of them every night."

'I love you too, Soubi,' Ritsuka thought. 'And I meant what I said; I'm never going to leave you.'

The two continued back toward Ritsuka's house; hand in hand with smiles in their eyes.