Disclaimer: I so want to own Soubi and Ritsuka, yet I can't. Too bad for me since they belong to Yun Koga.

A/N: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER MAY SOUND RATHER WEIRD, and angst is certainly coming for the long haul. Be prepared! Likewise, I'd like feedback on what you thought of this if you're willing to read it. Even I felt that it was rather odd in a way; maybe I was kind of tired when I was writing this because it was pretty late (in the middle of the night, actually), but inspiration struck at me you could say and I was somewhat pissed, too, at the time. (Don't ask why I was pissed, because I am not going to tell you.) XD

Yakusoku
Chapter 25: Reaching For the Unattainable

Takara growled. "I'm not a mindless puppet like you. I have a will and a mind of my own. You've been programmed like a machine; if it's deemed as an order you carry it out. Have you no humane feelings at all?"

Everything seemed like it was standing still; all that mattered to Soubi was the fragile boy he was quickly holding into. He feared letting go, afraid that he'd never see his beautiful face again if he were to be released, but like any caged bird, they eventually yearned to be free.

"Why can't you understand?" Ritsuka asked. "What's the point of suffering for another when it is not necessary?"

"You're so annoying! How can you simply say that like it's not a big deal?" Takara asked, brown eyes flaring with anger.

"Indeed, it isn't."

Something runs far deeper than that. Like thick blood in ice cold water, I fear that my love for you has extended beyond your limits or realm of relative safety.

"Then let go of me. Let me go, Soubi, there's no point in you going on this way." Ritsuka wanted to look at Kio, but somehow he couldn't manage the will to steer his eyes in his direction. A soft, gentle emanating pain was pulsing through his body to his heart; he could easily recognize it as something he didn't want to feel at the moment.

"Let him go, Soubi!" Kio pleaded. "Even if he leaves you you'll still have me! You'll always have me! Always, you hear?"

It's not the same.

"I belong with you, Ritsuka, or did you forget that."

"You belong to you and I belong to me," Ritsuka replied. He scoffed and wondered why he said something so corny such as that. "Belonging to each other is something people make up, but there is no such thing as possession over another - it's absurd."

Losing him would be painful . . . Yeah, very painful. As much as I don't want to admit it, but I'd probably cry if he completely leaves me for good . . .

Soubi doesn't feel for himself enough; and yet, when he does he's too damn greedy.

Kio was at a loss - he could see that Soubi came to really adore the boy; he adored him so much that he was afraid to let go. Perhaps he'd see him again tomorrow, or maybe never again, but risks were always around the corner so why not leap up to the challenge?

"I love you, Ritsuka. I love you more than anything else in the entire world," Soubi told him. "I love you a lot."

Despite how anyone might've taken this phrase Ritsuka actually blushed and glowered angrily. Soubi only said something like this once before, but at that time they've barely begun to know each other - even now, did they know each other as well as they should have? He grit his teeth and willed himself to rethink things through.

Can he possibly mean it this time? His expression looks so sincere and at the same time I feel that I can't trust him at all because he is a liar. Liars never change, right? They'll keep lying till their deathbeds, right? Aren't liars only good at making things up and are never opted to change for the better, even if it were for themselves?

"That's not the point; you told me that you knew my brother. You won't tell me things about him that I want to know - you're always lying to me." With a rough shrug he finally got his arm to slip away from Soubi's grasp. All Kio could do was watch in muted silence like this was a sad drama unfolding in front of him. In his mind he wanted it to swing one way, but perhaps the script was not written the way he desired it, so it could turn out for the worse. "Don't worry, I'll call you later, okay?"

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Sighing, Ritsuka envisioned the last image he had of Soubi and kept replaying it in his mind. From the start he didn't like Soubi, even now, he was thinking that he still didn't like the man. Surely, love was something that was a once in a lifetime feeling. Infatuation was something totally different, especially between a man and a boy. Ritsuka was thinking he was sure of what he believed in.

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Back at the apartment Soubi stayed standing where he was. Not one muscle on his face twitched or moved when the midnight-haired boy walked away. Even Kio was glued to his spot, and the unbearable silence was becoming too much for him - he wanted to speak for himself, he wanted to have a say in the things going on between him and Soubi.

"Look, Soubi, it's not like the kid wants to shy away from you." Soubi did not look at him. "He needs his own territory; he needs his own time to think. He can't keep waiting for you."

"I belong with him, Kio."

"That sounds really annoying - no wonder why the kid hates your guts."

"He hates me?"

"Ah, no, no, he doesn't . . . well, like any normal human being, wanting to say you belong with someone is not the same as saying I love you." From Soubi's confused expression Kio knew that he was not understanding the concept. "And I thought you were the complex thinker of us two, Soubi."

I am following Ritsu's orders. My mission wasn't to fall in love, it was something completely different . . . Seimei's promise - our promise - the fabricated veil of reality is harsh, removing the senses from oneself is impossible. Following orders was what I was good at, so what's wrong with me?

"He's a mirror image . . . "

"What?"

". . . Ritsuka is somehow a mirror image of Seimei."

"Disassociate yourself from him."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

Kio laughed a laugh that sounded all too fake; much to thick with pure jealousy. "Kio, you needn't be jealous of him. We're friends and you should know that we always will be - going beyond that is unacceptable."

"Un . . . Unacceptable?" Soubi nodded. "You're horrible! How-how can you say something like that to me? You're the one that's being unreasonable and it's a felony to love a child the way you do!"

"I'm sorry, Kio."

Tears welled up in his eyes causing his vision to become blurry. Kio was outraged. "Fine. If you're so sprung with that boy you should know that saying he's a mirror image of his brother is going to shatter whatever bond the both of you have, even though it looks like its already been destroyed." Dissatisfied with the way Soubi was handling this Kio could only rant on. "And you know what, I've always wanted to belong to you, not with you. Still, I won't take my word back from before - even if he leaves you you'll still have me, and you always will have me here waiting for you."

"Thank you."

I'm still very far behind, aren't? Will I ever to be able to catch up?

"I feel lighter now after having let out what I think."

"That's good."

"We're still friends?" Kio looked hopeful.

"Of course."

"We sound strange."

"Stranger still - we're always moving."

"As in?"

"Moving on."

"Ah, I understand."

"Understand?"

"Yeah. We keep going, as usual."

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"Yayoi," Takara said, "you seem rather pale today."

"I do?"

"Yup."

"Is something bothering you?" Takara smiled and hugged her brother to herself. "If something is on your mind you know you can always tell your little sister."

"We haven't seen each other in years so it'll take some time."

"Okay."

"However, I do want to say one thing: what is the Seven Moons?"

". . . . . . ."

Chapter 25: END