AN: Wow! Two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll! Well. Some random fluff in this chapter, including a new character. Yay!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Loveless. Stop rubbing it in.

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It was near Christmas time. It was mostly slush out in the streets; dirt-marred puddles of melting dreams. I had gone nearly two months without a battle, and it was driving me mad. Two months of sickening peace, of college classes, of my roommate, of life. The normality was awkward, I didn't like having a schedule, didn't like routine, or habit. These were things that made you lazy. I took special pains to find different ways to get to class every day, counted exact change and different combinations of bills and coins that could form that exact change. I would spend large amounts of time in clothing deparments, trying to make up outfits out of all the clothes and ending up purchasing a few completely matchless items so that I could take them home and puzzle over them more. Anything to keep my mind busy. Anything to prevent me from getting used to one way of doing things. I didn't want to lose focus and think about anything other than what was at hand. I didn't want, didn't need to remember... that man. I refused to recall his name, his face, or what he was to me. He lingered in the shadows, and I refused to shine a light on the name carved onto his skin, right over his--
Like I said, I was getting restless. I was afraid of getting extra time, or giving my mind any slack. Spell battles were rewarding in that they stimulated my mind... and I never lost. I had intended to challenge Beloved, as everyone within the fighting scope knew that they were the strongest. I had not lost in a while and was willing to try out Aoyagi Seimei and Agatsuma Soubi... but then I realized that, while in my stupor after A-- his death, Seimei had also been murdered. I considered pursuing the case... could Seimei and... he... could they have been killed by the same people? I knew nothing. But anyway, Beloved was no longer a team to be challenged. I wondered if I could have found Agatsuma-san, having had a casual acquaintance with him in Fighting School, but I never did find him... while I still cared, that is. Now that I've shut down all the parts of me that still remember... him... I might have passed Agatsuma-san a few times in the subway station without really paying heed to it.

I wondered why I had not been able to find any parties to challenge for so long. Surely they weren't afraid of a lone Fighter? Perhaps they were ashamed that so many groups had lost to me already. Given, the ones I had taken on were mostly of the middle-ranking, no one who had a big reputation. More illustrious duos had refused to fight me two to one, something about it being against the rules and unfair. I protested that it was only unfair to me, and also that I didn't mind it at all. Still, most strong teams would not fight me as long as I was lacking a Sacrifice to tell me what to do. But I didn't need a Sacrifice, I wanted to tell them, I KNOW what to do, Aya-kun...

Aya-kun tells me. I hear his voice, I do. Whenever I battle, it's like he's there again. I don't really pay much attention to it, because like I said, I fight because it helps me forget but... I'm always surprised when I finish a battle and I turn to see no one behind me. But the tactics are all his. The orders are Aya's orders. I have a Sacrifice, I want to tell them. Aya is my Sacrifice. Was. I don't know what to tell them any more, only that I don't mind their advantage over me, only that they should know better than to take it easy on me.

At a lack for anything else to do to kill the time, I did a bit of bus hopping, hit the shops and bought a pair of thick woolen socks. These I gave to an old shivering man who slumped beside a wall of the subway station. He'd been there since last summer, and I saw that he still has the blanket that I gave him the previous winter. He looked up at me through his wrinkled face and thanked me. I spared him a smile and left. I stopped at a Haagen Dazs ice cream shop and asked to purchase a pint of plain vanilla ice cream. I reached for my wallet, only to find, to my amusement, that someone had cut through my back pocket while I was on the bus and had effectively robbed me of my money.

I smiled sheepishly at the cashier. "I'm sorry, Miss. It seems that I've been robbed."

"Oh..." she blinked. "Well, um. I'm sorry, but if you can't pay for it..."

"I know. I'll just have to come back for it later," I sighed, looking at the ice cream. It would have to wait for tomorrow.

A crisp five-hundred yen bill presented itself to her. I raised an eyebrow. This was... different. I followed the bill to the hand that was holding it, up an arm, across a broad shoulder and a graceful neck to the face of a boy, his cat-ears still intact. "Will this be enough?" he asked cheerfully.

"Er... it's 540 for a pint, sir. Will you be paying for it?" asked the cashier.

"Yup!" The boy fished around in his wallet and came up with a hundred yen. I closed his hand around it. He looked at me, puzzled, and I shook my head.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

"Random acts of kindness!" he said cheerfully as he tugged his fist away and gave the cashier his money. He looked up at me through amber colored eyes that shone beneath midnight blue bangs and grinned at me. "I saw what you did for that old man back there. I gave him some money, too." He folded his hands behind him. "I thought it was really cool, you know? Most people these days are too self-absorbed to notice that anyone else needs help. And, well, since you seem to have been robbed, I thought I'd help you out!"

"Oh... uh. Thanks," I said. The cashier gave the boy his change and I left the shop to go buy a ticket for the subway, only... I swore under my breath. "Looks like I'll be walking home today," I muttered to myself.

"Huh?" the boy appeared at my elbow again. I involuntarily stepped away from him. Was this guy stalking me or something? "Oh, do you need ticket fare? I could buy a ticket for you, if that's what you need."

"Umm." I really didn't want to push the generosity of this kid, but, numb and masochistic though I was, I really didn't want to walk through ten miles of slush just to get home. Had it been any other season, I might have given it more thought. "Well, if it's not too much trouble..."

"Not at all!" reassured the boy as he ran off to buy us subway tokens. He returned a short while later and as we were taking trains in the same direction, we boarded the very next one and sat down in the relatively empty car. My stop was a good bit away, so I pried open the carton of ice cream and dug a silver spoon out of my bag. I was halfway through my third bite when I noticed the boy staring at me.

"Uh. Would you like some?" I offered. After all, it was his money that had bought it. He was probably entitled to some compensation for his generosity. His eyes sparkled at the prospect of ice cream.

"...Yes, but I'm not allowed to have any," he said sadly. "I'm on a diet, you see."

I raised an eyebrow. "What for? You're in really good shape!"

He blushed and shook his head. "I have to watch my weight; I'm a dancer."

I thought about it for a while. "I guess you can't have ice cream then."

"Yeah," he said wistfully.

"Too bad," I sympathized. I put a spoonful into my mouth, letting it melt into sweet vanilla froth before I swallowed. I felt his eyes still on me, and a surprisingly devilish thought crossed my mind. "It's really good," I said, my voice dropping an octave, my eyes locked on his as I licked my lips. I watched his face turn crimson.

"Y-yeah?" he squeaked, turning even redder as I wrapped my lips around the spoon, sucking it clean. I couldn't help it. This kid was really cute. A part of him reminded me of... no one. I quickly smiled to cover up my hesitation.

"It's so sweet and creamy..." I whispered, leaning closer to him. "Utterly delectable." How adorable. I was seducing him with a commercial. And, by the looks of it, it was working.

"I... I guess a... bite... w-wouldn't hurt," he suggested shyly.

"No, I'm sure a bite would be quite... pleasurable..." I raised a spoonful to his mouth and he took it, slowly, keeping his eyes glued to mine. I shivered at the look in the amber eyes. I hadn't done this in a long while...

"I cannot believe you convinced me to finish a whole pint with you!" he exclaimed, laughing a bit guiltily. "I'm going to gain so much weight from that!" The carton was sitting inside the wastebin, and the spoon back in my bag. There were still a couple of minutes before we arrived at my stop.

"It was good ice cream, though," I said with a smirk and a sidelong glance at him.

He caught my eye and looked away, blushing fiercely. "Wha'd you... do that for?" he asked.

"Hmm?" I pretended not to know what he was talking about.

"Y-you... You know," he said, his face darkening even further. "With the... ice cream... " I laughed and tugged on a lock of purple hair in thought.

"I don't know, I've just been... bored lately." He looked at me curiously. "And it's... fun, with you. Most kids who still have their ears don't trust adults like me." He beamed at the praise and his ears twitched happily. "And thank you again for helping me pay for the ice cream and the train ticket."

"Oh, that's no problem at all," he brushed it off with a smile. "... Bored, huh?" I nodded. When I didn't elaborate, he seemed to get a determined look on his face. "You're a... you're a Sentouki, aren't you? You're a Fighter?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Well... yes. How did you know?" I didn't recall saying anything about being a Fighter, or hinting at spell battles. How could he possibly know what I was? To my surprise, he grabbed my bandaged arm with a long-fingered hand. I stiffened, that's where...

"Your name is here, isn't it?" he said softly, closing his eyes. "At first I thought your arm was bandaged because you hurt it... but when you opened that carton of ice cream, you used your right arm. You didn't favor it at all! So I realized... you must be hiding your name under here, right?" He opened his eyes and looked at me inquiringly, as if he really wanted to see that I understood. I smiled and nodded. He looked... strange. Like he was gathering up the nerve to ask me something. Then he looked at me, REALLY looked at me, and asked, "Are you Dearest?"

I blinked. "I... uh," I cleared my throat, "no. I'm sorry." He looked crestfallen, and I felt truly sorry for him.

"Have you... heard of such a Fighter?" he asked hopelessly. "A Sentouki named Dearest?" Again I answered negative and he sighed.

"Who is Dearest?" I asked. I had never heard this name before, and I had heard my share of true names.

He sighed. "I am. Well. The Sacrifice, anyway. I've been searching for my Fighter for two years now... but no one has heard of him. Even with this gift of mine, identifying Fighters, I can't find him." He looked pretty miserable, so I squeezed his shoulder.

"Hey," I said. "Don't be like that. At least you know that your partner's alive, right?"

His face scrunched up in thought. "Well, actually," he said, "I don't know, that's just the thing. What if he... or she... was in an accident and died early on? Then I'll never find my Fighter."

"Why the rush?" I asked gently. "Don't be in a hurry to enter the world of spell battles. It's a dangerous pasttime." I poked him on the nose. "Especially for cute little Sacrifices like yourself." He stuck his tongue out at me, then smiled.

"Your Sacrifice must be very lucky to have such a cool Fighter by his side," he said enviously. "I bet you protect him with your life, huh?" I sucked in a breath and held it, counting to ten and patiently repairing the hole in my mental shield. He immediately sensed that something was wrong and studied my face, amber eyes searching for a clue as to what was amiss. "I'm sorry," he said. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Ah... no," I reassured him. "It's just that my... my Sacrifice died. A long time ago. He was murdered." I smiled valiantly, willing my control to not slip.

"Oh... I'm so sorry," he said with genuine regret. "I had no idea. I was being stupid." He suddenly looked up at me again. "Wait... so are you... Agatsumi Soubi? Beloved's Fighter?"

"No," said a cold male voice. "He's Tsukihiro Kirin. The Heartless Sentouki." We both looked up at the newcomer. It turned out that there were two of them with us in the cart, both male. One of them was an ice blond, the other with dusty brown hair and green eyes. "The infamous lone Fighter, ne?" the blond spoke. "Took down my sister's team a while back. We're here to reclaim our honor."

I snorted. "You're that ice queen's onii-chan? Then you should do more to help her train. That girl couldn't cast a proper attack spell if it was carved into the inside of her eyelids." The blond growled.

"Do not insult Usagi!" he ordered. I scowled. No one was allowed to order me. No one. "You will follow us off when we reach the next station. There, we will battle you, Heartless."

As we waited to arrive at the next station, the boy tugged on my sleeve. "Lone Fighter?" he asked. "Don't you need a Sacrifice to be stronger?" Upon seeing my expression, he sighed. "These guys are known as Seamless. I've heard of them; they're pretty tough. Are you sure you don't need any help?" I looked at him in confusion, then realized what he was implying. I laughed.

"What, are you offering your services, Dearest?" I asked. He looked wounded by my laughter, so I ruffled his hair. "I'm not doubting your ability," I told him. "I'm just concerned for your safety. You don't look a day over seventeen, at most. What if you get hurt?" He scowled and opened his mouth to protest. "No," I said adamantly, softly. Seamless was leering at us. "I've only just met you, I'm not putting you in danger. And besides, I'm not your Fighter." He looked irresolute. "You've done enough for me today, you should go home," I said gently.

He looked away, defeated. "Can I... can I at least have your phone number?" he said timidly. I grinned.

"Of course." I pulled out my cellphone and we swapped numbers. The train slowed to a stop and I stood to leave. I turned at the door and asked him, "What's your name?"

"Takahashi Rinke," he replied as the doors slid closed between us. I spun around to face the two I had followed.

"Alright, let's see what you've got," I said boredly. "Want to introduce yourselves or something? I'm all up for fancy speeches."

"I am Kouji!" said the blond.

"I am Akeno!" said the brunette.

"It's not like I'm going to remember," I interrupted. They bristled and I grinned.

"We are SEAMLESS! A smooth repetoire of spells that leave no flaw or hesitation!"

And the battle I'd been waiting two months for began.

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AN: Well! That's another chapter! So fun to write! Now I've noticed that no one is reviewing! You can't fool me! I KNOW THAT I AM GETTING HITS! So preeeease review? Even if you don't like the story concept or don't think it's very good, please let me know! It's depressing to write things and to be met with absolute silence on the other end.