Dlbn: Welcome to another chapter! Was going to update over the weekend, but I went to a three-day rock festival with my sister, nephew, and brother in law, so I didn't have time. (I didn't sleep there, I went home Friday and Saturday night but I worked Sunday) Got to meet Pop Evil (again. I go to every one of their shows that comes near where I live but the first time I saw them I met them cuz I bought something from the merch table for them and was one of the first 50 to do so, so my and a friend got to go meet them), Hollywood Undead, and Halestorm and get their autographs so that was awesome.

Nbld: It was a ton of fun, even if we did get our asses handed to us courtesy of moshers and crowd surfers.

Dlbn: True. Also, my dental surgery went well, except the damn morons didn't bother to tell me I had stitches so when I saw one coming out from one tooth and found the other one floating in my mouth a couple days later cuz it came out, I was like wtf? Idiots. Only tooth that bothers me is the one near where they gave me novicane. Must have hit a nerve or something. Once again *sigh* idiots.

So let's kick it into high gear while we watch the ending of Houdini and Doyle and start the Review Corner! Thank you to giselleavellaneda09, Promocat, and halbarath for reviewing! Candy for you all!

Giselleavellaneda09: Aw it's okay. He'll pop up every so often in here if needed.

Promocat: He's baaack! ;) Seimei probably told him he wasn't allowed to say anything or something. It's something Seimei would do and since it's an order, Soubi won't refuse it.

Halbarath: Maybe Ritsuka fell for him back then and didn't even realize it ;) No, I'm kidding. He's just a really nice kid and doesn't appreciate/tolerate rudeness. I've explained it in other fics, but it's briefly mentioned (since it's also in a few of my other fics) in a later chapter here too, so I won't say anything here. Thanks for the cheering up. If we had a blender, I'd do that lol I've been eating ice cream and pudding anyway cuz they said it was fine, so my dentist can get over it. I brush my teeth after I eat and stuff so I should be okay.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but minor characters that aren't canon and don't really appear here, so no worries. Everything canon belongs to Yun Kouga. I make NOTHING out of writing in this category.

Dedication: This is dedicated to the people I was hanging with at the concert this weekend when Five Finger Death Punch was playing. I got kicked hard and this woman behind me pulled me in front of her and her husband so I wouldn't get hurt again, and the two girls on the side of me worked with me to protect one another from crowd surfers and the mosh pit that started in front of us. I know you'll never read this, but thanks everyone!

000

Insults and curses flew from Misaki's mouth as Ritsuka ran around the house to escape her. She threw plates and various other items as she shouted, running after him. After the third lap around the downstairs, Ritsuka ran up towards his room. No, that was the first place she'd look for him. Instead he went into Seimei's room and shut and locked the door behind her. Seimei…where was Seimei? He knew waiting for his father wouldn't do him any good. It wasn't like he was coming home any time soon. But where was Seimei? Normally his brother would be home by now from hanging with his friends. It was a Sunday, so there was no school for either of the brothers. What was keeping Seimei so long? And more importantly, why was his mother doing this? She kept saying he wasn't her Ritsuka and ordering him to give the old Ritsuka back. What had he done wrong? Ritsuka replayed the entire day over in his mind but couldn't pinpoint what had made her snap. Had he said something wrong? Done something? Eaten something? Maybe it was something he didn't do or say or eat when he should have. She tended to give him traps like that. but it never got to the point where he was hiding from his own mother in his brother's room because his own room was too obvious of a hiding spot and his parents' room was off limits. Ritsuka dove into Seimei's closet; careful not to make any noise as he heard his mother tearing apart his bedroom and shouting for him to stop hiding.

Like the first time he had heard his parents fight, Ritsuka covered his human ears, flattened his neko ones, and closed his eyes. he didn't mutter any apologies this time, knowing it would make her try to break into Seimei's room if she was able to hear him over all her shouting and throwing things. He heard the front door open and felt relief wash over him. Seimei. Seimei was home! He heard footsteps pounding up the stairs.

"Mother?" Seimei's voice wondered. "What are you doing to Ritsuka's room?"

"That thing is not Ritsuka!" Their mother countered. "My Ritsuka is gone! That thing took over his body and won't give him back!"

He heard what sounded like a slap and all went quiet.

"I should get to dinner…now…"

"No, mother, you should rest. I'll feed Ritsuka and me." Seimei argued. "Go to bed and take a nap. You've had a long day and you need to de-stress."

"Yes…sleep…good idea…"

Ritsuka sat in the closet, listening to his mother make her way past the room and down the stairs.

"Ritsuka?" Seimei's voice asked. "Where are you?"

Ritsuka left the safety of the closet. "I'm here, Seimei…I knew she'd look in there…I…"

The doorknob jiggled.

"It's me, Ritsuka. Let me in, please. It's my room, after all."

Ritsuka did as Seimei asked. The door opened as Seimei stepped in. The elder brother closed the door behind him. Once Ritsuka heard the lock turn into place, he leapt into his brother's arms.

"Seimei!" He cried. "You were so late and I was so worried!"

"It's okay, Ritsuka. You're safe now. Did she hurt you?"

"My cheek…and my arm…"

"Alright, I'll clean you up." Seimei wiped away the tears. "Poor baby. What happened?"

"I…I don't know!" Ritsuka sobbed. "Everything was fine, and then the next second she snapped at me and started yelling and throwing things…"

"I saw the mess downstairs. What made her mad?"

"I don't know, Seimei!" Ritsuka cried. "I must have done something wrong…it's my fault…"

Seimei gripped him by the arms and pulled him away a little.

"Don't you think that, kitten." He ordered. "There is nothing in this world that you could do that would make that acceptable. Mother is sick. Her medicine makes her do funny things. That's not your fault."

Seimei fixed Ritsuka's hair and unlocked the door. He pulled the frightened neko into the bathroom across the hall and locked it. Pulling down a first aid kit, he made Ritsuka sit on the toilet while he got the supplies. He got out ointment and bandages.

"You're going to stay in my room tonight, okay? I want you by my side all night so I can protect you." He ruffled Ritsuka's hair, pushing bangs out of his face. "When mother gets that way, I want you to run. If I'm not home, go outside. If I'm home, come find me. I won't let her hurt you, Ritsuka. I promise."

"You promise?" Ritsuka sniffed, pulling up his sleeve to show where his mother had hit him.

There was a very light bruise where a fist had landed, but only his cheek had been cut by a flying object she had thrown.

"I promise, Ritsuka. I'll always be here for you."