A/N: Alright, now, a few things that I want to say. The information I have in this series comes from the 12 eps of the anime as well as what I have read of the manga, which does differ somewhat, and I have the art book for names and such. I kind of mix the information of the two. There are differences like Soubi and Ritsuka's kiss when Ritsuka wants the letter from Ginka, instead of like the anime where Soubi tilts his head up and kisses him (though it IS a steamy sexy kiss that I have as my icon on in the manga Ritsuka grabs Soubi's hair and –pulls- him down for a kiss. Even better, I say! Ritsuka's got a little bite when he's getting what he wants in the end. Also, though I don't think he is named, Ritsuka does have a father Gasp and so yes I will mention him. Obviously I have not read all of the manga yet, so I am afraid my story will be a mix of the two informations! Oh the insanity!
PS: My first hand at a spell battle! Please tell me what you thought of it! Do I suck? Was it okay? () They may show up later, so I need to know. . .
Selfless
That day at school Ritsuka could barely concentrate on what Hitomi was saying. Even Yuiko seemed to sense that something was going on in his head and she only asked twice—maybe three times—what was bothering him. There was no way that he was going to tell -her- that his mind was stuck on what his Fighter had done to him last night. He already caught enough from her about having a 'boyfriend' in college before, and besides, it wasn't just the physical closeness that had bothered him. Ever since he'd met the eccentric blonde artist that his brother had ordered to watch him, the said blonde hadn't been able to keep his hands off of the sixth grader. It was nothing new for Soubi to suddenly hug or even kiss him, and though he had taken it father than ever before just last night, he had left him just like that.
What bothered him was why. Why did Soubi leave? Did he sense that Ritsuka was not ready? Was he really waiting for the youth to command him? If so, he swore he'd never give in to his teasing! But he didn't think that that was it. . .Something about Soubi's hands on his skin made him feel like the older boy really meant what he was doing. He let his forehead fall to his desk with a thump as he thought this, furious at his blush. He was angry. Why? Yes, he was angry at Soubi for taking things so far as to lay him on the bed and, and. . . But what he was really angry at was the fact that even after everything, the blonde had left him so suddenly—without explanation. What if. . .What if Ritsuka just wasn't what he had expected, and he had been disappointed? The fear that encompassed his heart was unexpected and unwelcome. He was so confused that he felt like crying, and there was no way that he was going to cry in the middle of class.
"Ritsuka?" Ms. Shinonome asked, standing beside his desk. When he looked up he saw that she wore a worried expression, which was echoed by the pink-haired girl on the other side of him. It was too much.
"I. . .I don't feel well." He said quietly, looking down with a frown.
"Oh! Well, it's almost time to go home. Would you like to leave ear—. . ." She stopped as her student stood and gathered his bag, heading for the door already. "Be careful, Ritsuka! Perhaps Yuiko should go with. . ."
"No, I'm fine." Ritsuka said, turning with a pasted smile. "Just tired is all, I'm sorry." He added, closing the door. His face fell and he sighed, turning to the long hallway.
That couldn't be it. It just couldn't! Soubi said often enough that he loved him, had he come to believe it? But then, when Soubi told him that he would rather die first than follow an order to kill him. . .What if last night he had decided that he wasn't worth it? He shook his head. He didn't want to have to deal with all of this. He wanted to have all of his memories back, all of his friends—if he had them—and he wanted his brother. His brother. . .It was a whole new Pandora's box that he had yet to open on that one. He remembered Seimei telling him to run to him when he had to, that it was okay to cry to him. He didn't have anyone like that now, because he didn't want to cry to Soubi—even if the infuriating blonde would accept him. He was tired of being protected and yet he was too frightened to take it all alone.
The Spell battles that he didn't have the ability to fight, the enemies that wanted to take him away, and the one ally who remained silent. He dodged into the bathroom, unable to see through the tears that were welling in his eyes, pushing into an empty stall and sliding down against the wall to curl up. The tears overflowed, and he rubbed at them to make them stop, but his chest hitched with the energy it was taking to hold them in. He was alone in the bathroom, though, and so he finally gave in to them. He didn't want to go home, there was nothing for him there. His mother would be home and his father would be away at work to escape from her. Not that it would be any different than when he was home. . .
A little while later the black-eared boy wiped the last of his tears and stood slowly, blowing his nose with some rolled up toilet paper and flushing it as he stepped out to wash his face. He froze as his eyes locked onto the deep blue ones in front of him, his level. Taking a step back in shock he was at a loss for words, and he didn't know whether to be angry at him for not saying anything that he was there, or to be embarrassed that someone had heard him crying.
"Oh, so it was you." Yayoi said airily. "I was wondering who was crying so pitifully just now. . ." The silver tipped boy crossed his arms and cocked his hip just so. "If only Yuiko could see her hero now, curled up in the bathroom crying his eyes out." He said off hand, looking away. Ritsuka didn't know what to feel, and at the moment, he was to exhausted from crying to feel much at all. He just sighed and moved to brush by his classmate, but Yayoi moved in his way. He glared at the other boy but let it slip when he saw his expression. "Sorry." He said quickly, "I didn't mean it like that. I won't even tell her. . ." He was saying, but Ritsuka just wanted out right now, and he tried to move by again. "Hey," Yayoi protested, grabbing his wrist. "I'm your friend Ritsuka! It's okay for friends to cry in front of each other, isn't it? I mean, not that I would cry in front of you or anything, but. . ."
"Yayoi, I'm not feeling well. Can you let go please?" The black haired boy asked, his eyes on the floor. His wrist was released slowly, and he slipped out of the bathroom before another word could be said. He knew that the other short boy didn't mean anything by what he was saying. Yayoi liked Yuiko, and Ritsuka was in the way. He knew that, just, right now, he didn't care to deal with any of that. As selfish as it was, the only thing that Ritsuka ever had time to think about was himself. Who was really after him and why? Who were his next enemies going to be and what was going to happen to him? Would he ever get his memories back, and when he did would he change? Why did his brother's Fighter insist on saying that he loved him, and then walk away when they were so close. . .So close? So close to what? He didn't want to lose his ears just yet. One side of him told him that Soubi knew that was the reason, but the other side of him told him much darker possibilities. He had already cried, and in front of Yayoi no less!
The Sacrifice breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the front gates. He was almost free to his own thoughts without the added stress of people around him and school work to think of. Not that he had been thinking of about much of that lately. He decided to head for the park to be alone, for there was still a good half an hour before school was out. He looked to the phone around his neck as he walked, wondering if he should just give up and text Soubi, or call him, and let him know he was leaving early. Since when had he come to expect the blonde Fighter to be there, waiting for him with open hand and beguiling eyes? Since it was fact that he -was- there almost every day, he supposed.
It was almost time for school to be out when he stopped. He had reached almost the middle of the park and he stopped at the crossroads where Soubi had first fought the male Zero. He slipped the phone off of his neck and began to dial when he heard something snap behind him. Spinning around, he barely dodged—luck really—the fist that was aimed for his head. With a cry he fell backwards, the cell clattering to the cement sidewalk. He didn't dodge the next one.
';';';';';';';';';';';'; ( Shrugs it kind of reminds me of Soubi's marks XD Which he doesn't have in the manga btw. . .Only the word BELOVED.)
Soubi panted as he reached the gates of the school, looking at the time on his phone. He was just on time for the end of Ritsuka's school, but he wouldn't have the time to smoke before he came to the gate. With a small shrug, the blonde leaned his lanky frame along the side of the wall and leaned his head back against it so that his eyes were facing the sky. He'd had an argument with Kio again today. It was his fault, he shouldn't have told him about last night. He didn't tell him everything, but Kio was like a jealous lover even though they had never even kissed. He didn't know whether Kio was trying to be protective of him—or possessive. Perhaps a little of both, but all said and done, he was the best friend that the Fighter had, and the only one he could speak with about the complicated situations of the Fighters and Sacrifices.
He waved as he saw Yuiko approaching, Yayoi at her heels as per usual. His usual charming smile fell a little when he noticed the absence of his Sacrifice. He tilted his head a little, and Yuiko pouted.
"Ritsuka-chan wasn't feeling well, he went home early." She said. "I thought he would call Soubi-chan! I was hoping you knew how he was doing!" She whined, and Soubi winced a little.
"I'm sorry, he didn't call me."
"Are you two fighting?" She asked unexpectedly, and Soubi blinked his ice blue-violet eyes.
"No. . .Why?" He asked carefully.
"Because he looked real upset today. All day he looked like that, like he had a really bad stomach ache or something! I wonder if his mother will make him soup when he gets home. Maybe I should visit!" She said happily, clapping her hands once and bouncing up and down a few times—in more places than one.
"Oh, no, I think I will go and see him. Alone." Soubi said, his tone so unoffending that Yuiko still smiled.
"Awww," She complained, but giggled. "I get it. You just want to be alone with Ritsuka-chan!" She said with a wink. Soubi fell into his plastic smile.
"You got me." He said cheerily. Yuiko nodded and hugged him goodbye, then waved to Yayoi who nodded and waved. The college student was surprised when the silver tipped boy did not follow after his crush, but remained standing in front of him curiously. "Yayoi, wasn't it?"
"What? Oh, yeah. . .Um, Soubi-san. . .I saw Ritsuka earlier. He was crying in the bathroom, but he didn't know I was there until he was finished. I think something's wrong." The youth said seriously, his ears low on his head. Soubi's expression was serious for a moment, and then he smiled again.
"You're very nice. You could have said that in front of Yuiko-chan and maybe made her lose a little faith in Ritsuka." He said evenly, but Yayoi shrugged.
"Nah, she'd just worry -more-. And besides. . .I don't want to win her by making her not like anyone else. Who wants to be chosen last?" He asked, his cheeks tinged pink. Soubi nodded, agreeing. "Besides. . .Ritsuka has you. Maybe she'll understand that someday." He said, shrugging.
"Thank you." He said, turning to leave as he opened his phone.
';';';';';';';';';';';';
The sound of the phone ringing brought Ritsuka around, and his first impulse was to reach for it, but when he felt nothing he opened his eyes. The sunlight was already dying as he could see the orange sky through the trees above him. He sat up quickly, then placed a hand gingerly to his cheek where it throbbed.
"My apologies," A bright voice said, and Ritsuka focused his eyes on the young man that was now leaning over him. He had blond hair that curled and waved, hanging in front of the right side of his face a little, and was short in the back. His skin was pale and his eyes were a light blue, and when combined with his manner of dress and earless head the black-eared boy was reminded of Soubi for a moment before he shook himself aware. "I told him not to hit you, but he went and did it anyway. . ." His voice was light and very polite, and he chewed his nail as he spoke.
"Wh. . .who?" Loveless asked, rubbing his cheek.
"Oh! That was rude of me, wasn't it? My name is Adori, and this is Fail." He said, swinging out his arm to indicate the other young man sitting on a bench a little away from the two. He was tall and slender, but his tight jeans and sleeveless black shirt showed off his toned physique. His hair was raven black and it was cut to his chin, a little lower in the front than in the back.
"What do you want? Why did you hit me? My phone is ringing. . ." He added as an after thought, looking around again for his phone.
"You mean this?" The one introduced as Fail asked, holding up the light blue cell. Ritsuka stood, but Fail had already opened it and pressed the End button.
"Hey!" He protested, and Adori frowned.
"But we haven't answered you yet." He said, and when Ritsuka looked confused he continued. "What do we want? That would be you of course, Loveless." He said with a smirk. Ritsuka's eyes widened and he took a step back, his whole body tense and his ears back defensively.
"You're from the Seven Moons. . ." He said acidly.
"Pin-pong! Give the boy a prize, Adori! Tell him more, maybe. . ." The raven-haired boy laughed.
"Oh, well. . . We have come to collect you, Loveless. Someone wants to talk to you." He said lightly, a weak smile on his face.
"What are you being so damn nice for, Adori! Let's just get this over with, what do ya say, kid?" He asked, standing and snapping the phone closed again.
"What are you going to do?" Ritsuka asked, warily. Once, Midori and Ai had asked to speak with him, and nothing bad had happened. If he could get these two to talk to him and then get away. . . Whenever Soubi was with him it seemed they could never avoid a fight, but if he was alone. . . "I'll go. . .If you promise not to hurt me."
"Of course not—"
"That all depends on if you behave!" Fail said with a laugh, and Adori gave him a disapproving look that sobered him.
"I promise that if you go with us -we- will not harm you." The blonde said simply, offering another sincere smile. The phone rang again and even as Ritsuka reached for it Fail was handing it to him. He snatched it away and answered it quickly.
"Soubi." He stated, and listened for a moment. "I'm at the park. . .no. . .No, I'm fine. I just felt like a walk, I didn't want to go home. . .Yeah. . .What? He told you? The little creep he. . .No, I said I was fine!" He complained into the phone. Fail snickered, nudging Adori and making an off color comment about a husband and a wife quarreling. Ritsuka froze when the line went silent, and then he answered, "No one. Just some people here. No, don't come, I want to be alone. . .I said don't come—!" He was cut off as Fail snatched the phone.
"Alright, enough of this," He said, putting it to his ear. "This is Soubi Agatsuma, Beloved's Fighter?" He asked, and Adori grabbed a hold of the short boy's arms to hold him. Ritsuka's ears went back again and he yelled for the phone to be given back but Fail only moved farther away instead. "This is Fail. Adori and I are going to escort this poor, innocent, lonely boy to our humble leader, so why don't you just be a good boy and wait for your real master, hm?" He asked, laughing. "Ciao." He hung up the phone, with Ritsuka in the background shouting at Soubi not to come. "What do you think?" He asked Adori, who nodded.
"I'm sorry," He said to Ritsuka, "But we have to wait." The black ears drooped and the boy sat down hard on the ground.
';';';';';';';';';';';';
It wasn't ten minuets later when Soubi came rushing up to the trio, and the lamps were already coming on to fight the darkness that was closing in on them at the closure of another day. Adori and Fail stood ready, and they allowed Ritsuka to step forward in front of them to confront his Fighter.
"Soubi, I told you not to come, and that was an order!" He shouted at the blonde man, who was still panting.
"I. . .didn't. . .hear you." He said simply, offering a slight smile through his tension.
"You're lying to me! I told you not to lie! GO away Soubi, I'm going to go with them and find out the answers for myself! I don't need you! It's not like you tell me anything anyway!" Ritsuka cried, desperate now more than ever for the answers he sought. He didn't cared if he died, as long as he was able to get his answers before it happened! He'd never seen Soubi's face so stricken, so crestfallen and full of pain. He almost lost his resolve, but he steeled himself.
"I can't let you do that." Soubi said, stepping up to wrap one arm around Ritsuka's shoulders.
"NO Soubi! This is an order, I want you to leave right now!" The Sacrifice was screaming. "You're disobeying me!"
"Then punish me later. I declare a spell battle!" The Fighter shouted, one arm still tightly around the pre-teen's slender shoulders as the other swept out wide. The area around them swirled into blackness, some of the scenery still hanging around like a twisted mockery of what they were. Adori moved to stand in front of Fail, and the two clasped hands, closing their eyes.
"You cannot possibly defeat us, Beloved's Fighter," Fail laughed. "Not one so close as we, you traitor!"
"We share one name, we share one heart, we share one soul. You can bend us, you can break us, but you can never part us: SELFLESS." They said as one, and Adori stepped in front of his raven haired counter part.
"Do it, Adori. Don't hold back." Fail said with a smirk, and his Fighter nodded, his face a mask of sad resolve. The lithe blonde held out his hand,
"A thousand pricks leave a thousand stings. Needle hurricane!" His high voice shouted, and thousands of thin shining needles shot towards the make-shift Loveless pair. Soubi scoffed at the attack as usual, holding out his hand,
"What you send must come back," He said, and the mirror like wall appeared. "Three times returned." He added, closing the fist, and instead of sending the wave of deadly shining weapons simply back, it multiplied them before that. As they struck, Adori he didn't flinch, but his Sacrifice Fail merely showed his teeth as the countless cuts appeared all over his body. Through it all he held his fixed smile, though pain was evident on his features. Adori didn't even bother with a backwards glance, but his face was full of sorrow.
"Restraint," He said, then as it was countered, "Replace the chains and rend the bond of words!" He shouted, and the Loveless side found themselves in chains once again. Soubi shrugged this off, though he supported Ritsuka in his arms. He wished he knew more about these two suddenly, as he realized what was happening. He felt it, his bond with Ritsuka was dangerously frail at the moment, and he knew that his Sacrifice's heart was not in the battle at all. It was so easy! Normally, a spell such as that would never have worked on the two, when they were fighting for a common goal. But now it seemed, at least in Ritsuka's mind, they were as opposite as night and day. He knew the spell he was against, but could he counter in time? He would have to.
"Restraint," He said, and oddly Adori did not even try to counter, not did Fail speak, merely grit his teeth and winced, his body shuddering. The raven haired Sacrifice of Selfless was panting heavily, and he licked some of the blood from the back of his hand as he smirked.
"Can you take it, Soubi? The pain. . ." He hissed. Soubi's ice blue eyes narrowed and he held out his hand as quick as Adori did. The next few spells did a lot of damage to them both, being restrained, though there was another oddity. Neither side was reflecting or defending, merely attacking.
"What's going on!" Ritsuka shouted as yet another attack hit them, only to leave –Soubi- singed from the fire. "I'm the Sacrifice, so why—?" He stopped as Soubi gave him a wistful smile, and he felt his eyes watering. The Fighter knew something he didn't, of course. One of the spells from earlier was doing this, and being naive as he was, he had no idea what it was. Stupid Soubi! He hadn't wanted to fight in the first place!
Soon both Soubi and Fail were panting heavily, barely standing. Sweat and blood dripped to the ground with soft patters as they struggled to remain conscious.
"I'm ready. . .Adori," Panted Fail, and his Fighter nodded. They clasped hands again, and Soubi knew this was it. He turned to Ritsuka, grabbing his shoulders gently and leaning down a little—though with the wounds he was more leaning –on- him.
"Ritsuka. . . Listen. . .I promised you, didn't I? And you said I was your Fighter. We do this together. . .I'm with you." He said, breathlessly, as he moved closer.
Adori and Fail were pressing against one another, their foreheads together, limbs as entwined as the chains that restrained them as they whispered close to one another's lips as if stealing each other's very breath.
Shame flooded Ritsuka suddenly. Soubi was right. That night that Yamato and Kouya had wounded Soubi to the brink of death and Youji and Natsuo had teased him about his "true" Fighter coming into the picture, Ritsuka had proclaimed that he didn't want another Fighter other than Soubi. Soubi, who had promised to follow his order and help him find out who killed Seimei, and what they wanted with him. His eyes watered as he came closer to Soubi, grabbing his hair and pulling him down. "I'm sorry," He whispered. Seeing Selfless' closeness, he knew that neither would survive this alone.
As one Selfless' eyes opened, and they shouted. "Selfless blood pact, spear the heart of the bondless!"
At the same time that the great red sword appeared from the pool of blood at Fail's feet, Ritsuka's lips touched Soubi's, and the older boy deepened the kiss almost immediately. A bright wall of shimmering blue-black wings embraced the two, and Selfless' great sword was sent soaring back to them. The chains around Ritsuka's neck burned uncontrollably, and they pinched at his throat until he couldn't breath, then they were gone. He almost fell into his wounded Fighter's arms, who wasn't doing much better himself. He sank to the ground slowly, resting Soubi's head on his shoulder as the blonde fought to keep his eyes open. Ritsuka looked across as the barrier fell away, the fight won. He was shocked to see Fail cradling a Adori in his arms as tears streamed from his face.
"Why the hell did you do that, Adori!" He was screaming, "Why would you use that spell, damn you! WHY! Don't you dare close your eyes on me!" He pleaded, then he glared to Loveless. "I will get you for this, I swear I will!" He shouted, but a hand on his cheek stopped him. He looked back, surprised. He grit his teeth then, and with one last glare to the winners, they were gone.
Neither one of them spoke for a long moment, though Ritsuka clung to Soubi as if he, too, were going to fade away. The tears couldn't stop, and he buried his face into Soubi's long blonde hair—damp already with sweat and blood. "I'm sorry." He said again, but the Fighter's strong arm wound around his waist, holding back tightly.
"It's not so bad. This isn't like you."
"I know, I'll stop in a minute! It's just. . .Why did I not get hurt? I was here, and I was useless! I don't want to be useless, I wanted to do this alone so that we didn't have to get hurt anymore, and instead -only- you got hurt! I can't do anything right, not even. . ." He sniffed, rubbing his eyes as he clung to his Fighter. Soubi smiled, pulling back to look at his Sacrifice.
"That's what this was all about?" He asked, his voice holding that ever-irritating amusement. "About me leaving last night?" At the sight of the boy's lowered ears and nervous swing of his tail, Soubi took a hold of the boy's chin, tilting it up. "Ritsuka, I love you. You are my Sacrifice, and I am your Fighter. Adori and Fail could not win because they are selfless, and they can only fight as if both of them are expendable. They switched our place in the restraints. If I had blocked, it would have gone through to you."
"You thought I couldn't take it?" The black eared boy asked, half angry.
"I needed you to understand the difference between selfish and selfless." He said simply, then winced, leaning heavily on Ritsuka who yelped.
"Soubi! Soubi, are you alright? Where's your phone, who can I call?" He asked frantically. There was no way he could carry the college student by himself!
"K. . .Kio." Soubi groaned, holding his side.
"Kio? The blonde guy with the earrings?" Ritsuka asked. He'd only met Kio once that he could remember, and he searched for the number in the phone as Soubi's eyes slipped closed. "No, no, Soubi, stay awake, please!" He pleaded, and his Fighter smiled, as if was happy as can be with his head resting comfortably in his Sacrifice's lap, bleeding away his strength.
". . .Be. . .Alright. . .Call. . .Love you." He said softly, and his eyes closed.