Disclaimer: Yun Koga is the owner. I am appeasing myself by using her creations for my own dirty purposes. LoL

A/N: I know I am neglecting Takara, Kio, Seimei, and Soubi from the story, but I can't seem to fit them in here anywhere yet. For now I'll continue to focus on Ritsu, Ritsuka, and the two servants, and maybe Nana and Akame, in this chapter. XD Forgive me, everyone.

Underneath Cyan Skies
Chapter 13: Hey, Tell Me Why

"Are you going to go up there?" Aki83 sounded afraid. Ritsuka shrugged and contemplated on the consequences his actions would cause him. "You look tempted to."

"Maybe I am," Ritsuka added. "Are you going to come with me?"

In a shaky voice, Aki83 cried, "absolutely not! I don't want to get abused by Master Ritsu! He'll most likely whip you till you are unable to move!"

"Well, that's the risk I'm going to take, I suppose."

The hybrid humanoid made his way to the stairway, but before he could begin to go up, Aki83 grasped him firmly by one arm and halted his movement. "You mustn't!"

"You make it sound as if I'm going into a battle and never coming back. This isn't like some heroic movie . . ."

"But . . ."

". . . I'll be all right. I know what I might get myself into, so you don't need to worry about me, Aki83."

§§§§§§§§§§

There was no knocking; no signal for the two occupants within the room to know someone was going to oppose on them without a moment's notice. Ritsu was sitting on his desk chair, while Aki24 was standing in front of him. They both turned to look at the intruder.

"You didn't knock, Ritsuka," Ritsu stated.

"I want to talk to you and I can't wait anymore. I was hoping you'd come downstairs sometime soon, but it looks like that might not be the case."

"Don't talk back - I've told you countless times before."

Ritsuka pursed his lips together and nodded; he distinctly remembers.

Aki24 accessed the situation and knew neither she nor Aki83 were needed, so as she was going towards the door to the study, she made sure to drag the bewildered medic with her. Once outside, she whispered, "we need to let them have some time to themselves. This is a critical moment for Master Ritsu."

"Huh?" Aki83 was confused.

"Just come on." Aki24 ushered her companion downstairs.

Meanwhile, inside the enclosed study room, Master and pet stared at one another. Ritsu, too, was accessing his own situation, and now he wasn't too sure on how to go about things. Being penniless was a reality he didn't think could come true . . .

". . . I want to have a talk with you."

"Seeing as you've come in here, I suppose you can," Ritsu said.

"I feel uneasy about something, Master Ritsu." Ritsuka placed a palm to his pounding heart. "I can't explain the feeling, but all I know is that I feel something here within me."

Constricted and trapped - what can a man really do in this sort of predicament?

Ritsu sighed and laid back against his desk chair, face contorted in deep thought. Ritsuka stilled all movement and waited for his Master to say something. "You bore me."

"Ah."

"Someone else can have you . . ." This was a complete lie. Ritsu didn't want to give up his precious pet, but he felt he had to.

"But . . ."

"It has become too bothersome to look after you. You and your suicidal attempts and verbal remarks - I don't need a pet like that, understand? If you were to jump off the balcony at this very moment I could care less; I wouldn't even stop you from doing so."

This felt like a hard slap to the face, for Ritsuka was being rejected all of a sudden. Could this be a consequence for him barging in without permission? Maybe so.

"I don't want to leave you though. I want to stay here."

"Say no more." Ritsu didn't want Ritsuka to be in a place where he would see him slowly falling apart. Pennilessness was quickly dawning on him, and the results were not pretty. "I will send you back to the shop where you can be resold. I don't want to hear any complaints from you, because I just might toss you out into the streets instead if you try to test me."

Tears welled up in the hybrid humanoid's eyes, and they were brimming so fully that a few drops trickled down his cheeks. The warm sensation was like a stinging sensation of a slice of reality - a notion to know rejection causes such a thing to happen. Ritsu has made up his mind; there is no use in arguing.

The only thing Ritsuka said with a bowed head, was, "when are you going to send me there?"

"Tonight."

"Okay." He forced himself to smile, showing his face to his Master, thus letting him see his tears directly. "I guess I'll say goodbye to you later, then."

"Don't bother," was the reply.

From beneath thick, dark lashes, Ritsuka's eyes widened at the cold words he just heard. More tears quickly swelled forth and pooled from his violet eyes. His shoulders began to shake, because he was no longer able to hold it in. This might be his last time so he ought to cry his eyes out right in front of his Master, whether Ritsu would hit him for it or not.

Ritsu made the choice to leave the study and let his pet cry out his sentiments. In due time, he actually might be happy that he was no longer with him, and only then would he realize what a wonderful choice (though at first unwilling) had befallen him. With such riveting thoughts as these, Ritsu appeared sullen in appearance. As he was coming down the stairs both Aki24 and Aki83 were waiting for him, watching his every step and move.

"Are you all right, Master Ritsu?" Aki24 asked, immediately seeing the disposition his Master was in. Aki83, on the other hand, was still pondering over what was happening.

"I'm fine." Ritsu said.

Aki24 looked to the stairway, imagining a sobbing Ritsuka standing up there somewhere. She then looked towards her servant companion, and with a swinging of her head, told him to go up the steps to console a heart-broken pet. Aki83 nodded in response and headed up right away, feet landing none too lightly on the stairs.

"Ritsuka?" Aki83 called out, not entering the study but not being far away from it either. He could hear the hybrid humanoid crying. "Why are you crying, Ritsuka? Did Master Ritsu say something hurtful?"

"I don't wanna be sold back!" was the sudden burst of anguished screaming. "Why! Tell me why!"

The male servant shook visibly from the painful grievance. He could do absolutely nothing for the poor, sobbing creature. A strong urge to go inside the study and hold on tightly to Ritsuka was tempting, but what right and what business was it of him to do such a thing? It was probably better to let Ritsuka vent for a while.

"Why, Master Ritsu! What can be your true reason for doing this to me!"

From downstairs Aki24 and Ritsu could hear Ritsuka loud and clear. Both remained there standing, unmoving, and desperately trying to be unaffected by the words . . .

After a long while, Aki83 spoke out in a soft voice. "Ritsuka, you are to be sold?" He only asked for further confirmation over anything else, though dark-haired creature did not reply. "This is news to me, but perhaps you might be happier in the long run - Master Ritsu must be thinking along the lines of that. I've been with him for a really long time, and it is likely that he might do something like this."

Aki83 had yet know his Master became penniless over night; and it was because of this that he could not fathom why his Master would want to resell Ritsuka in the first place.

"Don't feel too bad . . . Escaping all the torture . . . The abuse . . . Was something you always wanted . . . So don't feel too bad," Aki83 continued. Somehow, someway, he hoped his cajoling helped, if only by a slight margin, then at least it would be better than nothing. "Your amount of feeling loss cannot be measured by someone like me, but I know you can move on easily . . .You're young, lively, unabashed, and in every way spirited."

"No! I won't accept any of this! I can't! I . . .!"

Hot tears refused to stop falling and they were annoying the heck out of Ritsuka. For all his tears were worth, hot blood should course through his eyes instead. Screaming . . . Crying . . . Aching . . . Resenting . . . Emptiness . . . Which consumed Ritsuka most at this very moment? Even he didn't know.

§§§§§§§§§§

A dark could hung over everyone's heads when they were all buckled down and driving to the pet shop. This was the place of origin for Ritsuka; where he first met the man sitting directly in front of him; where he was first acknowledged as a someone and not a something. That feeling only lasted a moment back then, but it was a good memory.

The pet shop's door swung open and then closed after what seemed to be thirty seconds later. The sales clerk showed a bright smile, displaying his bright, white, teeth.

"Oh! Is this one coming back already?" he asked, eyeing Ritsuka suggestively. "3588AR, eh? I was certain you would keep him for life - he is quite the beauty after all."

Ritsuka didn't recall the sales clerk ever calling him a beauty before . . .

"Looks mean nothing when such a pitiful thing bites the hand of whom who feeds it," Ritsu said.

The sales clerk gasped and looked at Ritsuka in horror, before saying, "how awful! I knew these things could never be trusted! He was a feisty one from the start!" He went around and behind his counter to duck down beyond eye view. Within a few seconds he popped back up with a sheet of paper. "Here are the lease papers. Sign it and you are giving the shop permission to withhold this animalistic thing from you."

"How much will I be getting back?" Ritsu asked, voice seemingly cold on the exterior.

Ritsuka was now devastated . . . His Master really was going to go through with this.

"Quite a bit of the money you've bought it with. I'd say about eighty-percent of the money you spent on it."

"All right."

"So it is a done deal?" the sales clerk asked, a hidden smirk gracing his ugly lips, as Ritsuka would like to describe it. "Then I'll need to go to the back and retrieve the money; I'll be back as soon as I can."

Ritsuka watched the sales clerk walk away, as a sinking feeling settled itself in the pit of his stomach. For one lingering moment he wanted to gaze into his Master's eyes, but he feared to do so, for he was afraid of what he might see. All Ritsuka did was let his arms hang limply on either side of his body, and he stood in a straight manner, much like a taunt bow's string.

Aki83 abruptly spoke then, surprising all the occupants present. In fact, he even surprised himself. "We're going to miss you," he had said, and with the sudden realization of his own words, he visibly became wide-eyed and shuddered softly. As in the 'we' part, Aki83 meant to speak on his Master's behalf as well, but alas, he wasn't too sure that that was what his Master wanted. In correction, he hastily added, "I mean I'm going to miss you . . . Quite dearly."

Ritsuka found it within himself to smile - the man's words touched his heart and warmed his soul. Those simple words may seem ineffective to some, and yet to Ritsuka they meant absolutely everything. He was going to lose the life he shared with them; the long, hard-earned days of pain and joy; in the heat of the moment he was even going to miss his Master's vindictive side while in bed . . . Not once would he believe to think such a thought, but here he was thinking it.

The languid recalls did not last long - the sales clerk re-emerged from the hidden area behind the counter. A small envelope bulging with money was clasped within his hands. The disgusting smile was still on his face, and perhaps they never did leave his lips while he was back there counting out the money. It was as if he was happy to take back the dejected hybrid humanoid; in his own way, he was relishing in the fact that Ritsuka was returned, for being rejected by a man of Ritsu's decree was utterly delightful in his eyes.

"One-hundred, two-hundred, three-hundred . . ."

The sales clerk's voice droned on and on, monotone-sounding in its line of work. Ritsuka worked his ears on blocking out the sound . . . He wanted to be anywhere else but here.

Ritsu's final words were, "thank you."

He accepted the money, went towards the door, and walked out as if he didn't have a care in the world. Aki24 followed suit after him, not saying anything to the pain-stricken humanoid while she passed by him. Aki83, however, took the time to go up to the creature and expressed a hearty farewell, though his mind was far from being in such a state.

"Goodbye, Ritsuka."

" . . . d-don't go?" A plea. A last attempt to keep in tact with the people he's come to accept in his life.

The corners of the man servant's eyes watered in sympathetic appeal. "I must, Ritsuka. I am sorry."

And with only that he broke away from Ritsuka, scuttling to the door as quickly as he could. The door swung wide open and then slowly went back on its hinges, well-oiled and silent in its retreat to its proper place. In a way, this was like the closing of a way of life for the hybrid humanoid, like the heavy loss of something left awry.

Chapter 13: END