A/N: Sorry for the wait! I got really busy and I started a new job today! I will probably write more now that my body is moving and not sitting on the couch XD

Pairless

"Does that hurt?"

"Hai."

"And that?"

"Hai."

"What about here?" He pressed hard enough for blood to seep through the white gauze.

"Hai, it does." Soubi said again, calmly.

"Sou-chan, I'm back! I brought you—Hey! What the hell are –they- doing here!" Kio demanded when he spotted the two boys.

"Don't get mad at –us-, he called us." The boy with the eye patch, Natsuo, said as he crossed his arms. Youji, his finger still pressing on a bandage, smiled as innocently as he could with a nod.

"Well stop prodding him or he won't heal!" The blonde demanded, marching over and shooing the sea-green haired boy off of the bed. He set down a white plastic bag. "Store bought, I didn't have time to make anything when class was out. I got you your assignment and the teacher's well wishes. Lucky bastard, if I had been sick he'd of docked a grade level or something." The pierced boy said as he pulled out one of the bentos (boxed lunch) and handed it to his friend. Soubi smiled warmly as he took it.

"Dumo arigato, Kio." He said, and Kio smiled. "Have you two eaten?" He asked Zero, and they shook their heads. "Then you can have it—"

"Now wait a minute! I bought that to feed –you-, not those cute little brats!" Kio protested immediately, snatching the bento.

"But they're growing boys," Soubi said innocently, but he was amused as he always was by Kio's dislike of the Zero boys. Their cuteness must give him insecurities or something. . . The boys both looked crestfallen, manipulation of their 'cuteness' was an art to them, and turned their eyes to the floor. "I'll give you money if you would please go and buy them something, Kio-chan." The Fighter said with a helpless shrug. Kio grumbled but he stood up, slipping his sucker into his mouth and leaving the flat. When they were alone again he opened the box, looking to Youji. "Now, before you found my bandages amusing, what were you saying?" He asked. Youji smiled as he looked back up, hopping back onto the bed.

"It's not Nagisa, and it's not Ritsu-sensei either." He said. "We tried to go back to Nagisa but she said she wanted to have us killed as failed experiments—even though we're the ones that didn't run out on her!"

"She was so mean," Natsuo agreed, looking at his phone. "She said she'd have to start all over again. We didn't know what to do, so we've been hiding."

"Hiding where?" Soubi asked, concerned.

"Around. Don't worry, we're fine." Youji smiled cutely.

"Hm." Soubi said, and he opened his bento as he sat back to think. He didn't know he had any other enemies besides his teacher that tested him, and the scientist teacher that was obsessed with surpassing that teacher by way of defeating him. A new enemy complicated things, and it didn't help Ritsuka towards his goal in finding his own destiny and truth.

', ',

Ritsuka found his path veering off as he headed to school, each step taking him in stead closer to the park. He didn't feel like going to school just to zone out and get nagged at by Yuiko and Hitomi-sensei. He didn't have time to go home and change clothes anyway, and for once he wished they had school uniforms so that no one would notice. Troubling him currently was last night's dream. It wasn't as if he didn't have nightmares often ever since that day, but ever since that one dream in particular, his nightmares had. . .changed. He remembered the soothing words his Fighter had spoken that day to ease his mind and heart, that he would die rather than harm Ritsuka. Still, his dreams always played cruel tricks on him.

Seimei was always there, and he was as he had always been. He spoke so that Ritsuka could understand him, and he protected Ritsuka from his violent and confused mother and non-caring father. He could calm his raging mother with a few soft words and then whisk Ritsuka away to bandage any damage that had been done with careful skillful hands. He was tall and strong and protective. In these dreams he could feel his older brother's arms wrapped tightly around him, feel the warmth of his chest and smell his scent. The dreams used to end in fire, but not lately. Lately, they ended in blood.

Sometimes it was Seimei himself that challenged him, sometimes just shadows. Sometimes, it was the image that had come to hurt him the most, and that was when it was Soubi that hurt him—killed him in these dreams. But Soubi was Seimei and Seimei was Soubi, where was the difference? A Sacrifice and a Fighter, just the way it was supposed to be.

"I love you."

"I would die for you."

"My body, my soul, my life, they are yours."

His words sometimes full of emotion, sometimes dull as if he were reading them off of cue cards that Ritsuka simply could not see. Spells. The handsome wiry blond had said that he could manipulate words. Could he make people feel something that they did not? Could this all be some kind of false security? Soubi knew things that he would not let onto, things that Ritsuka so desperately wanted to know. Why was Seimei dead. . .-was- Seimei dead? The thought had come as a shock at first. First joy, and then anger and tension had flooded the sixth grader.

Ritsuka collapsed onto the park picnic table, laying out on the seat. Though he had gotten a pretty good night's sleep, he was tired. He didn't want to think of all these things, but he didn't want to sleep either. Sleeping meant dreaming and staying awake only meant thinking. Instead, he focused on the fall scenery around him, hugging his jacket close to his body. The bloodstains hadn't come out all of the way, and he knew he'd have to get rid of it. For now though, he clasped his hands tightly on the ends of the sleeves and imagined the blood was still warm. Soubi's blood, Soubi's warmth.

He didn't notice when he drifted off to sleep.

', ',

Yuiko frowned when she saw that Ritsuka had not come to school today. Perhaps he hadn't gotten over whatever it was he was sick with. She hoped that Soubi had been able to make him feel better. Perhaps he would just come in late, like he had before! The thought kept her cheery until the last few hours of school when she began to worry again. She got chastised for not paying attention a few times, but Hitomi seemed to understand.

After class she even offered to let Yuiko deliver the day's homework to Ritsuka's house, and of course Yayoi volunteered to join her. The pink-haired girl was her usual bitchy self to him on their way there—for the life of him the silver tipped boy could not figure out why she seemed to dislike him so much! He didn't even cling to her as much as she clung to Ritsuka, but he didn't treat her like this! He found himself becoming increasingly bitter as they neared the address Hitomi-san had written for them, but not towards Ritsuka as he once had been. Yuiko knocked at the door as she loudly called for the house's occupants. The door opened a little and a pale-faced woman looked out.

"What do you want?" She asked quietly.

"Is Ritsuka home?" Yuiko chirped.

"Ritsuka. . .? You've seen my Ritsuka?" The door opened and the woman came into view. Her clothes were fresh and clean but her hair seemed disheveled as if she had just woken up. "Where? When did you see him?"

"We saw him yesterday at school. . ." Yayoi spoke up, wary suddenly.

"He went home sick! Is he not home?" Yuiko pouted, oblivious.

"My Ritsuka has been missing for a long time, and an imposter is here. Which Ritsuka do you know?"

"Um. . ." Yuiko blinked.

"We brought his homework." Yayoi said, holding out the folders. Both of the pre-teens were becoming more than a little uncomfortable in this woman's presence.

"My Ritsuka's homework?" She asked, taking it slowly. "I will give it to him when he comes back. I'll make him his favorite food." She said with a wide smile. Yuiko smiled back, but Yayoi blinked his violet-blue eyes. She closed the door in their faces and both of them stood confused for a moment.

"He. .wasn't. .home?" Yuiko asked, chewing on her lip.

"It doesn't look like it." Yayoi offered, turning around and heading towards the street. "She's crazy." He said when they were a safe distance away.

"That's mean!" Yuiko shouted.

"What, didn't you notice? She kept saying 'her Ritsuka' like the one we know isn't Ritsuka."

"I don't understand." The pink-haired wonder pouted, and Yayoi shrugged. (Do you notice I don't like Yuiko? Evil glare at the pointless Mary-Sue. I mean, we all know Ritsuka's gonna be gay, what with Soubi for around for a lover and all, who wouldn't go gay? XD )

', ',

Soubi was sleeping peacefully—and having very pleasant dreams about his Sacrifice—when his door was slammed open and two small bodies came rushing in. He was sitting up before they reached his bed, looking confused as nothing else burst through in close pursuit. The Zero boys collapsed onto the floor beside the bed, whining. Frowning, the blond Fighter threw his long legs over the side and looked down at them.

"What's the problem?" He asked, seeing no visible wounds on either of them.

"It's. . .him."

"He's. . .come." Youji and Natsuo said respectively.

"Who is 'him'?" Soubi asked calmly.

"Nagisa. . .failed. .kill us." Youji trembled, his arms wrapped around himself.

"He came for us, Soubi." Natsuo looked afraid as well. It was the first time he had seen true fear on the faces of the Zero twins since the female Zero had taken down Youji with one strike.

"Help us." Youji stated, his voice not leaving room for debate. Natsuo nodded, grabbing Soubi's un-bandaged hand.

"You said we were cute, Soubi. . .Don't let him kill us, please." The boy with the maroon hair pleaded. Soubi stood and pulled off a majority of his bandages, the scrapes, cuts, and minor burns already fast healing. He left only a choice few around his middle where he had taken the most damage. He slipped into his blue jeans, black tie-belt, and his green T-shirt, sliding on his boots and his long purple coat.

"Where?" He asked.

"He was near the school but he chased us to near the river where you fought those Zero hags and lost. I. . .I think we lost him there." Natsuo said, and Soubi nodded as he headed for the door. He had no real reason to protect these boys, but he didn't agree with anything that Nagisa did. It wasn't so different from his Sensei who pinned down butterflies for pleasure, for her to toy with these cute boys just to get to him. He didn't want it to be his fault. They had failed to defeat him and bring her glory, and if they were going to be punished for that he would never live it down. He might as well of frozen them to death if that was going to happen.

He felt him before he saw him.

Pale lips drew up into a lazy smile as the powerful aura drew near. A tall lanky body lifted from its casual lean against the pole, and he shoved his hands into his dirty jean pockets.

', ',

Ritsuka awoke with a start, falling off of the bench seat. He sat up, rubbing his head as he remembered his surroundings. "Oh, that's right." He yawned, standing up and stretching. He clicked open his phone to see the time and realized that school was over by now. Why had he slept so long? He wondered. But he felt strangely refreshed. A smile touched his lips before he realized it. He'd dreamt of Soubi again, but this time it was good. He'd dreamt of the day they'd spent with Yuiko, Yayoi, Hitomi, and Kio. All of his friend's—well, one of Soubi's—and the people he'd come to hold dear to him. His therapist told him he had to love himself to let other people love him, and that day he'd come to value the Ritsuka that he was today and stopped worrying about becoming the "other Ritsuka" and losing everything.

He hefted up his fallen backpack and headed off towards home. His mother probably wouldn't even notice he wasn't home last night. Oh, but he was wrong.

', ',

Soubi took stalk of the man standing before him. He looked close to the blond Fighter's age, with long white hair flowing in the slight breeze and skin so pale that he could see the dark circles under the sunset colored eyes. He was thinner than Soubi, but his aura was impossibly thick. He couldn't get a read on what the other's status was, be it Fighter or Sacrifice, and that was something never heard of. The white-haired boy wore dirty blue jeans and what seemed to be a slightly blood-stained light blue T-shirt.

"You're Agatsuma Soubi?" The lanky man asked, tilting his head to the side a little. His voice was dry and raw. He tossed his hair out of his eyes then, smiling so fiercely he showed his teeth in a feral grin.

"You have the advantage. Who are you?"

"Me? I am everybody and nobody." Mr. White Hair chuckled, ducking his head a little. Soubi frowned, trying to recall anyone at all from his school that matched this man's description and failing to do so.

"Why where you after Zero?" The blond tried again.

"I don't care about Zero, though I thought it'd be fun to play with one of them while the other ran to get you. They don't deserve to live. They failed Nagisa-sensei, and she let them live." His voice remained airy and amused.

"You wanted me?" Soubi asked, though he was not surprised. "Why?" He asked before an answer could be given.

"Oh. . .You ask such a hard question. So hard, my Soubi-chan." The white haired man cooed, kicking the ground at his feet. His aura was building, and the Fighter was on guard. "Can't you feel it, Soubi-chan? Can't you feel the ache inside of you?" He looked up, his sunset eyes seeming to glow in the dimming light of the day as he stepped closer to the tense blond. "The space where –he- should be? Aoyagi Seimei should be?" The words stung the blond, and he took in a quick breath as the stranger's laughter echoed in the still air.

"What are you getting at?"

"You can never be one with him, Soubi, not without completing a bonding. Even then you will always bleed for the sin of betraying your Name."

"What do you know? Explain, please." Soubi tried to stay calm.

"I can fill that space inside of you, Soubi-chan! I can bond with you as no other can, I can take the name of whoever I please and make it my own! I am Pairless." Said the man with the razorblade smile. Soubi's icy violet eyes widened and he took a step back. "No more pretending, my Soubi-chan! No more blood and no more pain! I am strong, I would make a Sacrifice without equal! What do you say. . .my pretty butterfly?"

"I have a Sacrifice." Soubi said firmly, holding out a hand in preparation for a battle. "His name is Aoyagi Ritsuka, but you know this."

"-Loveless-." Pairless said acidly. "He is who I've come for!" He laughed, and Soubi was getting annoyed. "You think that I would want to be paired with a betrayer like –you­-?" The man asked, smiling as he prepared to fight as well.

"I declare a spell battle." Soubi said smoothly, and the spells were active at once. Searing hot fire blazed towards Soubi so that even with his defense he felt the heat on his face and hand. He countered with a cold wall of ice that melted into water to pool at their feet, which he froze to send back towards the white-haired man in the form of sharp thick stakes.

"Shatter!" Pairless screamed, closing his fist as the ice exploded into thousands of glittering fragments, which he sent with a wind back towards Soubi, "Slice,"

"Defense!" Soubi shouted, conjuring the invisible wall.

"Penetrate!" Mr. Razorblade Smile shouted in joy, and to Soubi's shock it did. The shards of ice melted almost as soon as they touched his heated skin, but the fact that they had broken his defense was enough to worry him. A Fighter without a Sacrifice was halved in power, and Soubi had never, ever been beaten one-on-one by anyone! He didn't intend to lose now, either.

"Blaze of hell, leave ash in your wake. . .Infernal!" The bright red-orange fire spiraled towards the white-haired man, who's smile never faltered.

"Reject!" He cried, so full of emotion it sounded like elation. The fire roared into a circle like the very mouth of hell.

"Engulf." Soubi commanded, and the fire closed in, "Implode." And the barrier broke. Pairless screamed as the fire singed his hair and face, burning his clothing and his skin under it.

"Torrent of the abyss, watery grave beyond, tsunami!" He cried, and the raging fire hissed as it was put out. "Drown!" He screamed, aiming his hand towards the blond. The water was blocked, but it fell to the ground 'lifeless' and Soubi caught the feint, but not before his opponent could shout, "Impale!" Spikes of water shot towards the injured Fighter, who nimbly dodged them all but one, which speared his right thigh through. He grit his teeth, throwing his head back and closing his eyes for just a moment before the water fell to the ground again. Panting, he stayed on his feet, eyes narrowed and deadly.

"You've made. . .me break my promise."

"What promise?" Pairless chirped, smirking.

"Not to. . .fight alone."

"A promise to a pretend Sacrifice! You can never be one with him! Never! You will never know the joy of a real bond again! Let the boy be, let him decide his own destiny!" Pairless fumed, and lightning jumped from his fingertips. Soubi's defense caught the most of it, but the water conducted the other part, bringing him to his knees as it numbed his body. Impossible. . .This man, this monster. . .Wasn't right. He was a Sacrifice, a Fighter. . .All in one, though he had no name!

"I am. . .protecting. . .his choice." Soubi coughed, blood splattering onto his hand.

"What?" Pairless asked, but Soubi did not answer. "Tch, have it your way! I'll leave you alive—I've got no reason to kill you. If I bring him to Nagisa-sensei it'll be enough that I defeated you and stole him away! She'll change her mind about me then!" He laughed, walking up to Soubi, who was whispering under his breath. White chains shot up from the ground, and Pairless blinked as they closed in on him. "What's this? Ohhh, kinky." He said with a smirk. "But it won't matter. I won't kill the already wounded. Next time, let's fight for real, okay? Darkness, void, transition, sleep!" He shouted, placing his palm to Soubi's forehead. The Fighter's body tensed, then fell to the grass, limp and unconscious. "Ta ta, my Soubi-chan!" Pairless said, blowing a kiss as he walked away, brushing the soot off of his clothes.

', ',

She called to him as he entered the door and Ritsuka's heart froze with fear. He could smell the food as he neared the kitchen and his heart thawed to race in his chest. It smelled good, but was it supposed to? Had losing his memory really affected his taste as his mother seemed to think that it had? Was he supposed to like this? Was he supposed to hate it? His stomach growled, and he thought that even if he hated it he would probably still eat. One, because he was hungry, and two because his mother had made it. It was what was –supposed- to happen, wasn't it?

Ears lowered, he peeked into the kitchen. "Hi mother." He said quietly. His mother looked up, smiling her usual over-happy smile. He swallowed as she came towards him.

"Look Ritsuka, look what I've made for you! It's your favorite, see, it's kalamari and plum onigiri! You like that, right?" She asked. Ritsuka swallowed again, then he noticed a folder on the table.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Oh, this! Some friends from school said they knew my Ritsuka and they brought his homework, isn't that nice? You're my Ritsuka, right?"

"Yes." He said, feeling guilty for lying to her. He wasn't the one she wanted after all.

"Oh good, then you'll eat!"

"Of course." He said, moving to the table. The slap caught him off guard, and he stumbled.

"My Ritsuka hates onigiri! He would never eat it!" She shouted. The pre-teen curled himself up, but it didn't stop her tirade. . .

Thirty minuets later he walked out of the bathroom. He'd done a lazy job of bandaging his cheek, but he'd put Band-Aids on his other scratches alright. The black-eared boy wasn't tired, but his mind didn't want to think about anything at the moment. He sat awake on his bed for a long while as he thought about Soubi and the dream earlier.

It was all a lie.

His friends, his security. No one could help him, no one was left to run to. He was alone in this world, and the only people that were around him loved a stranger. He didn't know himself, except through them, but then did he even exist? He acted the way they wanted to, did what they wanted to do, and yet his mother was not that easy to please. If only she'd tell him how to act! He'd gladly eat anything she cooked as long as she said he should like it, that he used to like it! He'd do anything to get her love back! At least when Seimei had been around, he'd had someone to run to. He turned into his pillow and sobbed into it, feeling like he hadn't cried in a while though he knew it was only yesterday that he had. He looked up to see the bloodstained jacket resting on the back of his chair and he sniffed. Soubi had gotten hurt trying to save him. . .because of Seimei's order. He said he loved him, yet he also said that he manipulated words. The Fighter had said he'd die before following an order to kill him. What good was dying? He would have never wanted Seimei to die for him, so why did Soubi insist of saying such things? It hurt even more when he said them.

He sat up, slipping out of bed to dress. He wasn't going to be able to sleep, so he might as well go to check on Soubi. Besides, there was no telling what Kio would do to an injured and vulnerable Soubi, he thought.

There was a strange man standing outside of Soubi's apartment complex. He was tall and his hair was long and white, but his clothes were dirty and—bloody? Ritsuka tucked his head down as he tried to pass him, but to his shock the stranger turned and looked straight into his purple-red eyes. The black-eared boy's eyes widened at the color of the man's eyes, like a light amber. Was he a friend of Soubi's, Ritsuka wondered. He had no ears, either.

"Loveless." The stranger said, and Ritsuka took in a quick breath, his hand shooting to his phone on instinct. "Oh, don't be afraid, my Loveless." The dry voice was quick to counter, his smile inviting and warm. "I'm not here to hurt you. . .quite the opposite. I'm here to complete you."

"What do you mean? Complete me? I don't have time, I'm sorry, I have to go." Ritsuka said quickly, trying to bypass the tall man but finding his way blocked. Soubi's apartment was right up those stairs! He opened his mouth to shout for his Fighter when his breath was taken away quite suddenly. The pale-skinned man had opened his shirt to reveal the unmistakable words going downwards from his left collarbone, over his heart: LOVELESS.