Disclaimer: You found this story on a site with the word "fan" in the title. Do you really think I made up everything in this story?
Chapter Six: Faithless
When Ritsuka woke the next day, Soubi wasn't in the room. The window was open, letting in a chill breeze. The bed next to Ritsuka was cold. Sunlight shone through the fluttering curtains. That meant it was late in the morning. Soubi's cell phone lay on the pillow next to Ritsuka's head. It was flashing red. The chiming of it must have woken Ritsuka up. Ritsuka was late for school. His mother would kill him. So would the teachers. Was the Seimei the one who called? Where was Soubi now? He left without saying goodbye. Yuiko would be worried sick.
Ritsuka sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. He didn't really care about being late for school. He felt he could lay back down and sleep for another five hours. He wanted to.
Soubi.
It was probably good that Ritsuka missed school. He wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway.
Mechanically, Ritsuka reached for the cell phone. He picked it up and opened it. A text message. From Soubi.
Soubi?
Eagerly, Ritsuka read the message, almost afraid of what it might say:
Ritsuka, take my cell. I'll get a new one for myself and call you later with the number. Be careful.
Ritsuka stared at the message for quite some time. How had Soubi sent the message to him? The name on the top of the message box read Kio.
He must have borrowed Kio's phone.
Ritsuka closed the phone and set it down on the pillow. He looked at his clock. 11:00. It was too late to go to school, to early to go wait outside to explain to Yuiko why he wasn't there.
Did he even want to explain why he wasn't in school today?
Ritsuka sighed. The first thing he had to do was get dressed, which he did quickly. He decided he was hungry. He couldn't go to his mother for food. He couldn't deal with her right now. He didn't think he had the energy.
Ritsuka pulled on khaki colored pants and a tight black long-sleeved shirt. It felt strange to pull on his pants without worrying about his tail. He supposed he would get used to it.
What was Soubi doing? How much did Kio know? Ritsuka briefly toyed with the idea of calling him…or the Zero team. Just for someone to talk to.
Ritsuka reached under his bed and pulled out the money his father gave him on a weekly basis. It wasn't ever a lot, but Ritsuka saved it up. Really, when did he ever need to spend money? His father bought him school supplies and Soubi would buy him anything else he wanted. Even if Ritsuka didn't ask him to. Sometimes Ritsuka wondered where Soubi got his money from. He supposed Soubi made a living selling paintings or something, but he had never thought to ask the older man.
The money was more than enough to buy a burger and some fries at the ice cream shop where he and Soubi had eaten yesterday. Ritsuka stuck it all in his pocket and slung his school bag over his shoulder. Having his homework might give him time to not think about things he didn't really want to think about.
Not thinking was unhealthy, Katsuko-sensei said. If you had a problem you should analyze it and figure out the best solution. Not thinking was the equivalent of going through life and letting others make the decisions for you.
Ritsuka wondered if Katsuko-sensei would say the thing if he asked her what to do about a not-dead brother who just stole his boyfriend.
Ritsuka went down the stairs of his house quietly. With any luck, his mother wouldn't notice him. Though she might be pleased if he wasn't in school at the moment. That was more like the "real Ritsuka".
Luck, for the first time in the past twenty-four hours, was with him. His mother either wasn't paying attention or wasn't home.
Ritsuka slipped on his shoes and left the house quickly before his mother could change.
As he walked toward the ice cream parlor, Ritsuka fingered his bandaged cheek. His mother wasn't a bad person. She really loved him. Just not the 'him' he was now.
And, with last nights revelations, Ritsuka found some sympathy for his mother, more than he had felt in years. Over the rest of his elementary and early middle school years, Ritsuka had stopped caring about his mother. She was someone to be avoided and endured.
But knowing that Seimei had driven her to…
What had Soubi said last night? Loveless- the one without love. Both Fighter and Sacrifice. Ritsuka could both cast spells and take damage…
Sacrifices, normal ones, couldn't cast spells. That meant that Seimei couldn't have wiped his mother's memory.
Ritsuka stopped walking.
Soubi. Soubi had wiped his mother's memory. Soubi had made the mistake that had cost his mother her sanity. It was Soubi's fault…
No!
Ritsuka started to run. He didn't want to believe it. Soubi wouldn't, couldn't do something like that. He couldn't do something that amoral…
But Soubi had offered to kill the killers of Seimei. If ordered, Soubi could, and would, do anything for the one he loved.
He loved.
His feet pounding on the pavement, Ritsuka rushed up the street. The few people he ran past must have stared at him, but he didn't care. How could he care about something so trivial? His thoughts were turned inward. To Soubi.
Ritsuka ran until he reached the park, a familiar sanctuary. He was no longer hungry. He was tired and out of breath. He leaned against a tree, panting and trying not to put his thoughts in order. If he thought, he might discover that everything he had been clinging too, that Soubi, was a lie.
Soubi had lied. Again.
That cut more than the knowledge that Soubi had been the one to ruin his mother's mind. Soubi's crimes could be forgiven. But this lie, even one by omission, cut Ritsuka to the bone.
One more lie, piled on top of everything else. What else had Soubi lied about? And why had Ritsuka ever believed, ever trusted the man? All he had ever told Ritsuka were lies and half-truths.
Ritsuka closed his eyes, fighting the tears that threatened to fall.
In his hand, Soubi's cell phone rang.
Ritsuka stood up, suddenly, as though he had made a decision.
If Soubi would continue to tell him lies, then Ritsuka would just have to figure out the truth by himself.
Ritsuka tried to tell himself that throwing the still-ringing phone into the trash can did not feel like cutting his own arm off.
He was hungry. He needed to eat something before he met Yuiko at the school gates. Maybe he would go to her house for a bit after she got out of school. And Yayoi too. Maybe he had a new video game.
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A/N: Well that chapter was supposed to be completely different, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. It was supposed to be called "Earless" for fairly obvious reasons, but I think that'll be next chapter.
Lily: Thanks for compliments! My only worry about the lack of lemon last chapter was that someone would complain that its not 'adult enough' for an adult fiction site. People are weird sometimes.
The Chronicler: I told you, you need to watch the series again without drooling at all the pretty boys. And no matter how much you're looking forward to reading more, it'll still take you another four chapters to get around to it.
Teldra: More than happy to comply. Here is the 'more' you asked for.
Sadil: Wow, enthusiastic reception there. Glad you approve.
Lyerial: Thanks! I can't wait to see Seimei's reaction either (I've got the solution to the story worked out, but not the details).
-PhaenilixRM-: Yeah, I'm mad at the anime too for ending the way it did. Hence, this story, which I hope is somewhat a continuation…
Sei Ikari: What's the point of a really long make-out session? I guess since he's so much younger than Soubi, that sort of skirts the issue, but I think fifteen is old enough, especially since they've been 'dating' for three years now.
Nikkler: Hmmm…you're the second person to be interested in Seimei's reaction and I must say that's something I haven't thought of.