Chapter 10- Day 1, Part 1

Soubi opened the door to find an unmarked parcel. Inside was a note addressed to him.

Soubi,

Go to the place where we first met, at 10 AM, and all will be explained on how to find Ritsuka.

Kio

Soubi looked at his watch, which read 9:45. It took him 5 minutes to get to the place, so he made himself a cup of coffee before heading out. Wrapping his scarf around his neck, Soubi lit a cigarette and made his way to see his long forgotten parents.

Sitting on the grave markers was his 'friend', Kio. Soubi walked over, not too pleased with a traitor so close to his diseased parents.

"Kio, get off of them, it's disrespectful."

"Aw, but Sou-chan, they're dead, they won't know." But Kio hopped off when he witnessed Soubi's dark, threatening glare.

"So, how can I find Ritsuka?"

"Tsk tsk, all work and no play. It's always Ritsuka this, and Ritsuka that. What do you see in that thing anyways?"

Instantly Kio was thrown to the ground with a very pissed off Soubi hovering over him.

"Don't you ever say that about Ritsuka, do you hear me? He acts more human than you do, and he's only 12."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, he's a strong-willed kid, but you know that once Ritsuka reaches a certain age, he will stop aging. Soubi, these experiments can't die of old age. Don't you understand? What will happen to Ritsuka when you die? He will be alone again. Master won't accept him back, so what, is he going to sit around and rot? He will have no home to go to. Maybe Ultimate Punishment is for the best."

Soubi leaned down so his face was right next to Kio's.

"If you ever say that again, you will be begging for Ultimate Punishment once I'm through with you." Soubi brought Kio back to his feet.

"Ok, so now tell me, how can I find Ritsuka?"

Kio pulled out a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled down an address.

"Go to this address. The man there should be able to help you more than I can."

Soubi took the paper and headed out of the secluded cemetery.

"Wait!" Soubi paused mid-step. "I-I just wanted to say that I am sorry, and I truly hope that you find Ritsuka before it's too late. Out of all of the experiments, he's had it the worst…"

Soubi kept walking, not looking back to see Kio's guilt stricken face, now even more determined to get Ritsuka back.

Ritsuka hadn't moved in days; he didn't feel the need to. He was waiting for Soubi, so why not save up energy for when he sees him? That's what he told himself, anyways. Every night he'd dream of the day when Soubi would show up at his cell, arms outreached, waiting for Ritsuka to jump into them. That was the only place that Ritsuka felt truly safe, enclosed in the strong arms of his…wait, what exactly was their relationship? Sure he'd kissed him, but Soubi never said if they were an official couple. Then again, they haven't known each other for that long, and Ritsuka didn't accept the kiss when Soubi had given it. He liked snuggling with Soubi and being wrapped in his arms, but he was still only a child, what did Soubi expect from him? Ritsuka curled himself into a ball and lied down, back facing the cell door. Every few hours Master would come down to check on his favorite 'pet', and each time he would find Ritsuka in the same position, no movement, no responses to his calls or conversations.

"Ritsuka, please look at me? I'm just here to make sure that you are still alive, so all I ask for is a twitch, something so that I know that you are ok." Just so that Master wouldn't come in, Ritsuka flicked his tail once, and put it back down.

"Thank you. Please try and eat something, and I will be back to check up on you soon."

Master left and once again there was silence. That was until Ritsuka heard someone coming down the stairs. Wait, Master was just there; who else could-
"Hey Ritsuka-chan, long time no see! I see you were caught in the end…"
Ritsuka turned around at the insulting person, well people.
"What the hell do you guys want!?" Ritsuka hissed, the fur on his tail standing stiff.
"Aw Youji, Rit-chan doesn't like us anymore! We just wanted to play." Now Ritsuka was really upset.
"Play? Play!? If I remember correctly, weren't you guys the ones who tried to take me away from Soubi, and back to this horrible place? Not only that, but you ruined my first date! And now you guys have the nerve to come down here and treat me like a person when before you considered me an object! Don't think I didn't catch that 'Number 12' crap that you referred to me as!"
"Oye, oye Ritsuka, take a breath. We're sorry that we had to do that, but you know that we can't disobey 'Master'. We were going to just warn you, but 'Master' was suspicious and attached a camera to Natsuo's eye patch. It was one of those super small spy ones, so no one would be able to detect it. But you're ok; we thought Sensei would do something to you before he gave you back to 'Master'." Natsuo rubbed his patched eye, remembering when he disobeyed Sensei. Youji never really recovered from seeing his lover's eye sight in his right eye taken from him, and so cruelly too…After hearing that, Ritsuka couldn't stay mad at them, they were experiments, just like him.
"Sorry guys, but I'm not in the mood for your games right now. If you don't mind, could you please leave?"
"But Ritsuka, we wanted to hear more about Soubi."
"Yea, we only got to see him, and man is he a looker!"
"Youji, are you saying that I'm not good enough for you?" Natsuo teared trying to get Youji's attention. Youji scooped Natsuo up into his arms and held him close.
"Of course not my love, no one can compare to you; not even close." He pecked Natsuo's cheek before placing a gentle kiss on his eye patch. Ritsuka watched this, absolutely in awe at how much they cared for each other, and wondered if he'd ever get that.
Soubi…

Soubi finally found the house that matched the address given to him by Kio. But when he got there, something was off, almost like he'd been there before. But that can't be, since he doesn't remember, and it's not like you could forget this house. It stood at 5 floors high with a basement and extended garage. The exterior design was a black, gothic style, and way too many windows to count. There was an ominous cloud hovering over the structure, but Soubi started up the pathway to the door.
"Remember that this is for Ritsuka."
When he got to the door, he rang the bell and waited for hopefully the man with the answers to Ritsuka's whereabouts.