Disclaimer: If I owned this, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction and the series would have ended instead of leaving us with tons of cliffhangers

Chapter Ten: Answerless

Soubi collapsed onto the cold, stone floor, unable to move, even if he had wanted to. His back felt as though a thousand cats had sharpened their claws upon it. His mouth was swollen and stiff. Blood flaked off every time one of his muscles twitched.

Dimly, Soubi was aware of footsteps on the ground around him, but he was unable to muster the energy to care. Let his master do with him as he wished. It made no difference at this point.

The footsteps vanished with the sound of a clang as a door slammed shut.

Soubi rolled over onto his back. His back protested but Soubi ignored it. Pain he was used to, could endure. He had been trained to endure it.

With a mental groan, Soubi tried to kick-start his brain into action. His mind was the one thing Seimei couldn't take. Not yet, at any rate.

Ritsuka.

Soubi shivered, the cold seeping into his bones. The cold would keep him awake. His body needed time to sleep, to heal.

How had Ritsuka seen into his mind? Their bond, it couldn't possibly be that strong. Though after the other night…

Perhaps they truly did have a full bond now. Soubi hadn't been sure that Ritsuka had actually heard him when he told him to run earlier.

Ritsuka.

It had comforted Soubi, to feel that familiar presence in his head, even as it had frightened him. Ritsuka should not have seen that. He was too young, too fragile. He was under enough pressure without having to worry about Soubi.

His Master had felt Soubi push Ritsuka away. Of course, since their bond was stronger than the one he had with Ritsuka. They had the same name.

His Master had been infuriated then. Soubi's transgression had cost his Master his concentration and pleasure. And for that, Soubi paid.

It was worth it though. To protect Ritsuka.

Everything was.

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Ritsuka woke with a start when he felt two bodies pounce on him.

"What the hell?"

"'Morning, L-Ritsuka!" Natsuo said. He casually lay down next to Ritsuka as if he actually were the cat his ears and tailed resembled.

Youji sat rather more sedately on the bed. "Kio's making breakfast for us."

"He is?" Ritsuka asked. He yawned and surprised to find his face was still stiff. He supposed he had done more than a little bit of crying yesterday. He felt better today. As if he could actually do something to help Soubi.

Help Soubi. That was honestly all Ritsuka cared about. Let Seimei take over the stupid school or whatever else he wanted. But Soubi was his. He wasn't going to give him up. Not to Seimei, not to anyone.

"After breakfast, we'll do some training," Natsuo continued. "And after that…"

"I'm going to find Seimei," Ritsuka finished. His voice was determined.

Zero looked at each other.

"Not so fast, Ritsuka," Youji told him. "To get to your brother, you'd have to go up against Soubi. And you won't be ready for that…"

Ritsuka looked at them, determination shining in his violet eyes.

"Ritsuka…" Natsuo trailed off. He shook his head.

"Why don't we do breakfast and training first?" Youji asked. "We'll argue later."

Ritsuka nodded. "That's fine," he said. Perhaps, by then, Seimei would have made the first move, thus eliminating the need for an argument with the two who were only trying to help him out.

Kio didn't say anything as he dished out breakfast to them. It was boxed ramen-type stuff. Ritsuka's mother made better every morning- when he was allowed to eat it. Still, it was food and that was what mattered.

Kio was strangely silent during the meal. He seemed thoughtful and kept looking at Ritsuka with something like respect in his eyes.

Whatever Zero had told him seemed to have satisfied him. Or at least made him certain he didn't want to know anymore.

"Well, Ritsuka," Natsuo said, as he picked the last bite of food from his plate. "Ready for training?"

Ritsuka nodded and pushed his own plate away. The three of them stood up and left the room, leaving Kio with the clean-up.

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Yuiko stared out the window. It was a warm, spring day. The sun was shining and she could swear she heard the birds chirping.

She looked over at the empty desk beside her.

Where was Ritsuka?

She sighed and lay her head down on the desk, ignoring the teacher's droning voice.

Ritsuka. He was earless now. That meant that he and Soubi were official. There was no way she could deny it anymore. Not even to herself.

Ritsuka was always so nice her and never wanted anything from her. Yuiko wished she could do something nice for Ritsuka, something that would make him give up on Soubi.

But she was also realistic enough to know it wouldn't happen.

Next year, she would go to a different high school than Ritsuka. And he would forget about her.

Not that it would be his fault. They would grow apart. They would become very different people than they were now.

When she thought about it, Yuiko wanted to cry.

Familiarity with Ritsuka had done nothing to dissuade her from loving him. If anything, she had only come to love him more as the years had gone on.

Of course, over the years, Ritsuka had finally come to accept Soubi's love and return it.

Yuiko found she couldn't even be jealous of them. Well, not really. She wondered though, what did it feel like to have someone love you as much as Soubi obviously loved Ritsuka?

"Hawatari-san?"

Yuiko shot her head up. "Yes, sir?" she asked.

"The answer to the question please?"

"General MacArthur was the one in charge of the Occupation," Yayoi whispered beside her.

"General MacArthur, sir," Yuiko repeated.

The teacher went back to his lecture, satisfied that Yuiko was in fact paying attention.

Yuiko offered a shaky grin to Yayoi. Yayoi ignored her and was studiously looking at his notes. She thought she saw a faint hint of pink on his cheeks, though she couldn't be sure.

A knock at the door caught the attention of the entire room.

"What is it?" the teacher asked, annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of his class.

Yuiko heard herself gasp as Soubi and another man, an older version Ritsuka stepped into the room.

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A/N: Cliffhanger much? Pray for schools to be cancelled tomorrow so I have time to write the next chapter.

Fujinakaheero: Glad you like the story! It is kind of crazy. And yeah, it was stated in the anime that he was alive (I unfortunately have not read the manga)

-PhaenilixRM-: I totally did not mean to ignore you in the last chapter! I completely missed your review until after I had uploaded. And yeah, it would be priceless to see Soubi's reaction to Kio's molesting Ritsuka. A shame I don't really have room for it in this fic.

Kimper: Thanks for the complements! I was a little worried about the chapter since that was the first time I did anything like that. Its nice to know that I did it well.

Nikkler: Yeah, I guess it would suck. Probably what has Ritsuka so pissed off this chapter.

Noone: I like Zero a lot. Even more now that they worked themselves into my story.