Disclaimer: Loveless does not belong to me nor do any of the characters in this fic. Its called FANfiction for a reason peoples.

Chapter Two: Cell-less

Ritsuka arrived at school the next day with a surprising amount of energy for someone who hadn't slept very well the night before. Yuiko and Yayoi-san were waiting for him by the gates to the large building.

"Ritsuka-kun!" Yuiko bounced in the air when she saw the black-haired young boy.

"Yuiko!" Ritsuka smiled as he walked over to his friends. He was nearly the same height at Yuiko. In another couple of years, or even months, perhaps he would finally be taller than his first, and best, friend.

Yayoi nodded to him. Ritsuka returned the nod. Things would never be comfortable between them, not as long as Yuiko fancied herself in love with Ritsuka and Yayoi with Yuiko, but they were friendly enough. Yuiko was the common factor between them though without her, perhaps they might have become closer friends.

"Did you sleep well last, Ritsuka-kun?" Yuiko asked. Ritsuka felt her studying him intently.

Ritsuka nodded.

"How about you, Yuiko-san?" Yayoi asked. "Did you sleep well?"

Yuiko nodded. "I always sleep well," she announced.

The bell for their classes rang.

"We're going to be late!" Yuiko shouted. She grabbed Ritsuka's hand and drug him, running towards the school building. Yayoi followed, shouting at Yuiko to wait for him.

Ritsuka smiled to himself. It was a ritual. Every morning, they would be almost late. And every afternoon Soubi would be waiting for him outside the school, regardless of whatever other obligations he had. It was familiar. It was normal. Outside of the fights, the lost years of Ritsuka's life, the family waiting for him at home, Ritsuka was normal.

The classroom was crowded with students, some of whom had lost their ears. It had been a big deal the first time a member of their class had lost their ears. A girl, it had been. She had been dating someone from the high-school. That had been earlier that year. Now, it seemed that half the class had shed theirs.

"Ne, Ritsuka-kun, did you understand the homework last night?" Yuiko asked, after she slid into her seat.

"What subject?" Ritsuka asked. He sat down and started fiddling with his notebook, finding the English section. That was the class Yuiko seemed to have the most trouble with.

"English," Yuiko said, predictably.

"I understood it all! I could tutor Yuiko-san if she needed it," Yayoi put in. He waved his homework around as if it would somehow attract Yuiko's attention away from the papers Ritsuka was handing her.

"There it is," he told the pink-haired girl. "Copy it before the Sensei comes in."

"Right!" Yuiko grabbed the papers and bent over her own, writing quickly. Yayoi slumped back into his seat, his ears forward in dejection.

Ritsuka rested his head on his chin, his eyes staring forward into nothing. His dream last night was far from forgotten. Soubi would ask him about it when he saw him. That was certain.

"Ritsuka-kun! Here's your homework back."

Ritsuka looked over at his friend. He smiled at her and took his work back from her outstretched hands. "Thanks, Yuiko," he told her.

"Are you sure everything's all right, Ritsuka-kun?" she asked him.

Ritsuka nodded. He forced a smile onto his face. Her concern was touching even as it was unnerving. He wanted to tell her not to care about him, not to worry, he wasn't worth much anyway.

Yuiko looked as though she was going to say something else, but the teacher walked in and class began.

Ritsuka did well in school. Academics came easily to him. Yuiko struggled. Undoubtedly they would part ways at the end of the year when she went to a lower-level school.

Would he forget Yuiko when she was gone?

The question made him want to grab a camera and take pictures of Yuiko. And Yayoi. And the rest of his classmates, his teachers. Before he forgot them.

But that was stupid. He wouldn't forget. He was still Ritsuka, the same Ritsuka he had always been, even when he couldn't remember it. In spite of what his mother thought and screamed.

Ping.

Ritsuka sat up straight, his eyes wide and focused elsewhere. Someone was near. Fighter and Sacrifice. It wasn't a familiar feel.

Soubi.

"Ritsuka-kun?" Yuiko stared at him. "Are you alright?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm fine," Ritsuka whispered back. Of its own accord, his hand when to his bag where he kept his cell phone. He wasn't supposed to have it while in school, but he couldn't leave it at home. What if Soubi needed him?

The cell phone was silent and dead. Ritsuka gently picked it up. He kept it under his desk as he opened it. Quickly, he tapped out a message to Soubi:

There's a team nearby. Are you alright?

Ritsuka closed the cell phone with a snap. The entire class jumped and turned at the sound.

The teacher stopped his lesson, chalk in hand. "What was that?" he asked.

Ritsuka stayed silent, not even daring to move, to drop the cell phone back into his bag. The teacher's eyes roved the room.

Something in his manner must have given him away, because the teacher marched over towards Ritsuka.

"Stand up," the teacher ordered brusquely.

Ritsuka stood up slowly. Cell phone still in hand. The teacher saw it. "You know those are forbidden in school." He pointed.

"Yes, sir," Ritsuka replied. Every eye in the class was on him.

"Give it to me."

Ritsuka's eyes widened again. He stared at the teacher who stood, meeting him eye for eye, with his hand outstretched, empty palm upwards.

"Now, Aoyagi-kun."

Reluctantly, Ritsuka placed the phone into the teacher's palm. The teacher took it just as a red light started flashing.

"You can have it back when your parents come and get it." The teacher walked away after he placed the cell phone in his pocked.

Ritsuka felt his knees give out. He fell into the chair. Soubi! How was he supposed to connect with him now? What if Soubi needed him? Soubi couldn't fight alone. But how could Ritsuka go to him if he didn't know?

"You shouldn't have pulled it out in class," Yuiko said softly.

Ritsuka shrugged as the teacher turned back around. "And that's enough out of you Hawatari-san. We're in class, if you'll remember that."

Abashed, Yuiko dipped her head in acknowledgement of the teacher's scolding.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. By the end of the day, Ritsuka was worried sick. He looked out the windows of his school, anxious to see if the familiar figure was standing by entrance to the school.

It was.

Ritsuka felt weak-kneed all over again. He raced ahead of Yayoi and Yuiko to greet Soubi by the gate.

Soubi smiled when he saw Ritsuka. He threw his cigarette to the ground and let it burn out.

"Ritsuka," he said.

"You're alright." Ritsuka could barely get the words out between his gasps for air.

Soubi looked puzzled. "You didn't receive my text message?" he asked.

"The teacher took it," Yuiko said, coming up along with Yayoi.

"What were you thinking, pulling it out in the middle of class, anyway?" Yayoi asked him.

Ritsuka shook his head.

"Nevermind that. You should tell your parents to drop by and pick it up." Yuiko sounded so confident. "Anyway, you want to go to my house? My parents are at work. Soubi-san is welcome too."

Soubi shook his head. "I have some work to finish. Before that I was wondering if I could have Ritsuka to myself for a bit today?"

Yuiko nodded. "Alright then. C'mon Yayoi! I have a new video game!"

Yayoi stared at her, as though she had grown another head. His bewildered expression changed to one of joy however, when Yuiko grabbed his arm and drug him off elsewhere.

"That was fast," Soubi commented.

"I think she's learned that when we want to be alone, we mean it," Ritsuka replied. He looked up at Soubi. "Sorry about the cell phone. I don't think my parents will pick it up for me…"

Soubi shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Ritsuka. I'll talk to the teacher for you. And after that, we'll get ice cream. How does that sound?"

Ritsuka nodded. He wasn't surprised by either offer. Not really. Well, perhaps the park instead of ice cream. But either way, it was somewhere where they could talk without interruption from either Ritsuka's mother or Kio-san.

Soubi smiled softly at Ritsuka as he walked away in search of Ritsuka's teacher and cell phone.

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A/N: Sorry about any spelling errors in the last chapter. I shouldn't write/post when I'm really too tired to be awake. Also, to anyone reading this on sorry about funky scene changes. I'm not sure about the new rules concerning 'special characters' but I'll try and find a new to way indicate scene changes.

mE: Thanks for the complements! After posting last night, I went to see what other stuff there was concerning Loveless online and I did notice a lack of it. I was sure that other people would have had my ideas already too. Not that I'm complaining, at all!