He woke up upside down, so he blinked and tried to wake up again - to no avail. Every time he would open his eyes and see the upside down chair, walls and windows. His head pounded painfully and he could feel blood tricking down - or up - his face, warm and thick, tickling his eyelashes. He managed to force his eyes upwards and saw that his legs were unceremoniously tied together with a mangy rope, and his arms bound behind his back. He felt very much like a fish about to be cut and have his insides pulled out. He tried to cry and found his throat too constricted to do so.
The room was empty on the side he could see, and out of the window he could see nothing but the grey, dull wall of another building facing it. It was raining; he usually liked the calm sound of the rain, but as he hung upside down he found it anything but. The walls were whitewashed and he could spot, through the haze in his mind, some dents in it as though it had been punched several times.
"We can't leave him hanging like that," someone hissed under their breath - it came from behind him. "He'll bleed to death out of his nose."
"Don't be stupid - he'll be fine," another person spat in a high-pitched voice. For some reason, Ritsuka thought he recognized it, but couldn't pinpoint the voice's owner in his mind. He only felt like falling asleep again...
"He's hogtied, it's not like you're achieving much by letting him hang from the ceiling like dead meat," said the first person again. They were both men, Ritsuka realized.
"It's entertaining." There was a sickening laugh and the sound of chairs scraping against the floor.
"I'm never working for you again, Nisei."
Nisei...that's Seimei's friend.
"You don't have a choice. If I don't keep you safe, Seimei will pull your guts out - or would you enjoy that?"
"You're the sick fuck here, not me," the one who was not Nisei whimpered defensively. Nisei snorted; it was easy to determine which one was which. Nisei sounded like a runaway mental patient, if anything, and the other man sounded downright scared. Ritsuka was surprised to find that he was relatively calm - or maybe it was the bloodloss?
"What will you do when Seimei catches you? Poor Nisei..." the unknown abductor teased, moving around with loud footsteps and shuffling, rustling clothes. Ritsuka bristled, for he was moving closer, but remained still.
"He won't. By the time he even thinks of me little Ritsuka will be long gone," Nisei snickered. Ritsuka felt tears prickle in the corner of his eyes.
"You'll kill him - just like that?" said the other reproachefully.
"I was going to sell him to the prostitution market, but it wouldn't be safe - there's always a chance it'll come back and bite me in the ass," responded Nisei smartly.
"You're controlling your tendencies - if I liked you even a bit I'd say I'm proud of you."
"You don't like me? I'm insulted, now, don't go saying such rude things like you mean them..."
Ritsuka zoned out of their idiotic bickering when the conversation veered from anything important or relevant to the current situation. When he heard the anger swelling in their voices, he dared to try out his bonds and found them quite tight and meticulously tied. He would not wriggle out of them. His heard was spinning faster and faster, so he forced himself to concentrate. He spotted no sharp object or phone. The room was bare and there were two violence-inclined men arguing a few feet behind him, one of which Ritsuka remembered was quite tall and, despite his nimble figure, strong enough. He began to lose hope as blood continued to pour down his face like water from a tap.
"Just look at the pool of blood - he's going to die, so either finish him off or let him down. I don't like to see people suffer," the unknown man sauntered, closer than even to Ritsuka.
"I want to talk to him first. When he wakes up-" Nisei was cut off when Ritsuka began to whimper and squirm, now too desperate to care. His small heart was thundering in his chest now, all thoughts of escape overriden by thoughts of saving his ass. "See! He's so obediant, isn't he? I don't like his skinny ass, or his fakely innocent eyes, but I do understand why Seimei loves him."
"Let him down!" the man shrieked. Nisei told him to shut up in an uncharacteristically high voice before Ritsuke heard something sawing through the rope tying him to the ceiling. He was too dizzy to care much when he slammed down into the floor, hard, and his head split open. He could barely feel it, but he heard the man swear indignantly. "Gently?"
"He's fine," Nisei dismissed, flipping the boy over so he lay on his back. Ritsuka whimpered helplessly again, blinking profusely.
"Obviously," the man scoffed sarcastically. Nisei ignored him.
"Little Ritsuka," Nisei cooed, wiping dirt off his cheek in mock-kindness. Even half-conscious, Ritsuka could see mirth swimming in those dark eyes. "How are we today?"
His answer was a growl and a flick of his tail.
"Seimei always rants about how polite you are, but you won't even ask me how I am, in turn. You don't want to disapoint your brother, do you?"
Where was Seimei? Ritsuka thought with a shudder. He wasn't supposed to allow this to happen, he should have protected his brother. All Ritsuka could muster was anger. He mind reeled some more when Nisei punched him in the jaw.
"Well?" He spat expectantly.
Ritsuka could see the other man now. He was dressed all in black except for a navy blue hat and a ring in his finger. He was married. His hair was well-cut and proper, his fingernails clean, his clothes ironned, his figure trim and Ritsuka wondered if he was a businessman. He didn't strike him as evil, however, so the young boy sent him the most distressed eyes he could muster - to no avail. The man looked away and stared at his shoes.
"How are you?" he finally managed, looking anywhere but at Nisei. The older man hummed appreciatively.
"I'm very good, thank you. Tell me something, while we're still able to have this pleasant conversation," He smiled. Ritsuka let his ears flatten against his head, flooding them with thick red liquid. "Has Seimei fucked you yet?"
Ritsuka blinked, then flushed. The man sputtered.
"W-what? Nisei, just get it over with-"
"Shut up Takaya. Go outside and smoke," he ordered. Takaya did not want to leave Nisei alone with the boy - not that it was much consolation for either of them - so he simply agreed to shut up.
"Answer me, boy."
"No," he murmured weakly, trying not to think about it. He shut his eyes, trying to block out the sights and sounds around him. Nisei roughly tugged on his ears until he opened them again.
"Look at me when I talk to you and tell me the truth. He has, hasn't he?"
"No." Ironically enough, it was the truth. Nisei snarled, picked Ritsuka up by his collar and slammed his head against the floor again. The younger boy yelled and squirmed but could not even move an inch.
"Why would you lie? It won't change anything if you tell me. I'm going to kill you either way."
xXxXxXx
When Seimei got home, he didn't even bother to fold his scarf or coat. He nearly kicked the door open in his rage, but managed to keep calm long enough to get upstairs and call for his little brother in a tense voice. When no one answered, he called louder, hoping and praying Ritsuka wasn't in the mood to play some ridiculous and childish game - like hide-and-seek. Again there was no answer, so he looked into both their rooms but found no one. Next he scoured the kitchen, the bathroom, his mother's bedroom (she was fast asleep under the blankets, alone), the lobby, the living room, the dining room and the yard, in that order. Ritsuka was nowhere to be found.
"He went to a friend's without telling me?" he wondered aloud, astounded. His rage had nearly faded and was replaced by some confusion and annoyance. He went back inside and sat in the living room, opening and closing his cell phone a few times, debating whether or not to send an ambulance to Soubi's appartment. It was more a precaution than worry or care, but he was better off with a disobediant Fighter than none at all, putting Nisei aside. Besides, he wasn't quite done with Soubi. In a moment of mercy he dialed the number and told the woman the adress to Soubi's appartment. Once he was done he turned the tv on to the News Channel and watched it boredly.
One hour passed and Seimei went to make supper, thinking maybe Ritsuka would show up by then. He made pasta with tomato sauce, enough for two. Misaki could feed her self by her lonesome.
Two hours passed and Seimei put Ritsuka's portion in the refrigerator, annoyed because it was getting dark outside and his brother still wans't home.
Three hours passed and he was killing his nervousness by watching a special on genetics on tv, sipping an energy drink. Instead of giving his a boost, an energy drink calmed his nerves for some odd reason so he keeped the fridge stocked with them.
Four hours passed and Seimei called all of Ritsuka's friends, not bothering to act polite and charming. No one knew where Ritsuka was and most added 'and I wouldn't tell you even if I knew!', to which he responded by hanging up. He mentally thought of all the places his little brother could be, but none of them would require him to leave for hours on end without telling anyone.
Five hours passed and Seimei decided to go look for him. As he was putting on his coat again, he noticed that all of Ritsuka's shoes and coats were still where they had been when he'd left. Nothing had moved an inch. It was freezing outside too, more so now that it was dark, and Ritsuka disliked being cold and always bundled up properly.
Seimei finished getting dressed and drove to the hospital in Misaki's light blue car, defying the speed limit and laws of physics as he drove. As he parked illegally in the middle of the hospital driveway, he remembered that his last visit had been to see a near-dying Ritsuka. Misaki had brought flowers thinking it was Seimei lying in the hospital. He forgot why he had let her live.
He had no trouble getting the number to Soubi's room because his Fighter had anticipated his coming and asked the nurse to let in 'a tall handsome boy with dark hair' whenever he came. Seimei liked that about Soubi: he was no coward. He knew his punishment would last and he took it like a man, despite his less than manly appearance.
Soubi's room was bleak and boring, like most hospital rooms were, but there was a 'Get well soon!' yellow and purple card staring back at Seimei from the nightstand. Seimei picked it up slowly, aware of Soubi's eyes watching him submissively, and opened it. He had to squint to decipher the chicken scratch.
I know who did this to you Soubi! Its Seimei again isnt it? Lemme at him and Ill deal with him for you. Dont let him do this to you...
Come back soon.
Love, Kyo.
"Has your friend not heard of proper punctuation?" he inquired half-heartedly. "Or is he too lazy to bother?"
"The latter," Soubi answered calmly. Seimei eyed him more thoughtfully than aggressively, though, so Soubi sat up and stared at the wall in front of him. "You want to know where Ritsuka is?"
"You had something to do with it?" he snarled. Soubi shrugged.
"I was asked to get you away from the house for an hour or two. I didn't touch him."
Seimei felt his blood boil in his veins with rage and he crumpled the card in his hand until it wasn't much more than a bumpy ball of paper. Soubi watched it roll across the floor when his Sacrifice let it fall out of his hand like a dog.
"You desobeyed me and you helped someone hurt my brother. Tell me who - no, let me guess, it's that effeminate sociopath isn't it? You'd better tell me everything, Soubi," he warned as gently as he could so as not to be overheard by passing nurses and doctors. He could not afford to be kicked out now.
Soubi, surprisingly, had never met Nisei more than once or twice, but he'd only needed fifteen seconds with the man to know that was who Seimei was talking about.
"Nisei took Ritsuka. I do not know why."
"Why would you listen to him? Or are you that appalingly stupid?" Soubi certainly felt stupid, on top of feeling quite ashamed.
"He said that he could erase your name from me - being your true Fighter - if he wanted to. He told me to get you away and he would leave me alone. I don't want to be separated from you, Seimei."
Seimei bristled and shivered with disgust. The room smelled so strongly of sterilization that it made his nerves even more jumpy - and they were shot to begin with. Soubi had never seen Seimei look quite so...distressed.
"You really are stupid. Nisei can't do that, even I can't do that," Seimei roared, forgetting to be quiet. Soubi jumped. "You chose him over me, but I'll deal with you once I'm done with Nisei. Tell me where he went," he added, slightly calmer.
"I didn't chose-" he stopped himself midsentence. "I don't know. He didn't tell me much..."
Seimei didn't stick around to find out what else he knew. He exited the hospital and was unsurprised to find that the car had been towed and was no longer there. He jogged down to the parking lot and found an unlocked car near the emergency entrance. He managed to the get the car going without the keys and sped out onto the highway, going faster still.
"Where would Nisei go to hide...?"
xXxXxXx
"Stop squirming, little Ritsuka, or I'll drop you early," said Nisei giddily. He was walking down the side of a high clfif overlooking the sea, churning and roaring as the storm hit its peak, Ritsuka slung over his shoulder. Ritsuka could see the waves swallowing up the sharp rocks greedily, as they would with his body once it broke on one of the teeth-like rocks. If he squirmed, Nisei would drop him and he would fall. The tears on his cheeks went unnoticed thanks to the rain wetting his face.
"Why? I've never done anything to you!" he wailed, looking away from the deadly cliff. He felt Nisei laugh.
"You're taking what's most precious away from me, and that's quite unnaceptable. I can't sabotage you either - he just thinks you're so perfect, unlike me. Once you're gone he won't have much choice, will he? Don't be a child and do as you're told."
So Ritsuka shut up. Nisei finally seemed to find his favorite spot and stopped, his feet three inches from the edge of the cliff. He looked down, smiling as if it were a bright sunny day at the beach. He then took Ritsuka into his arms bridal-style and held out his arms so the boy was dangling over the edge of the cliff, stiff and wide-eyed.
"You might as well enjoy the fall."
...Dun dun dun