A/N: Sorry for the slow update! My computer was being a bitch and lost the file I had saved, and I was about to write the entire chapter over when it decides to recover the lost file! I guess I got lucky this time. Anyway, this chapter, you'll see a bit of humor on Eyes' part, and even a hot steamy shower scene! (No pun intended.) I still don't have any trained monkeys, so I guess I'll have to type this myself. I could probably get CeTe or KousukeAsazuki to work for me. Anyway, enjoy!

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Eyes ignored the ass slapping he'd received and shook his head. How he came to be Kanone's boyfriend was beyond him. Maybe he could trade him in somewhere for a monkey. Monkeys couldn't possibly be as horny as Kanone. Maybe a cat...he liked cats. They were quiet, clean, and well trained, and he did tend to enjoy the purring. It was calming. But then again, he already had a pet. There was Kanone...and although Kousuke belonged to Ayumu, he was as close to a pet as humanly possible. Of course, he was more like a dog than any other species that came to mind. He growled at certain things that annoyed him, he begged, hell, he even gave a whimper from time to time! Ryoko had repeatedly qualified him as an annoying Chihuahua, but a different breed came to his mind. (I think you all know!) No, if anything, Eyes thought of the redhead as a poodle. (dies laughing) A slight grin tugged at the British Blade Child's stoic features and he made a mental note to buy Kousuke a studded hot pink collar when he got the chance. 'Poodles have to look pretty, after all.' He thought to himself, the grin turning into a full-fledged smile. He had to throw himself down on his bed and bury his face in a pillow to keep from laughing.

Once he had recovered from the torrent of abuse his mind was unleashing upon him, he sat up and tried to catch his breath. He fought the urge to smile yet again and made his way to the bathroom to wash up before he went to dinner with everyone. Entering the room, he stripped himself of his sleeveless black shirt and put it aside, moving on to his belt and pants, which were quickly thrown aside as he stepped into the shower and turned the knobs. A shower of ice cold spray hit him full force, but quickly turned warm in due time. Rutherford leaned his head back, closing his eyes to better enjoy the assault of spray running down his pale chest and arms, to glide down to his stomach, past slim hips and tight, round ass, and dripping down his legs to finally pool together to swirl down the drain. (Oh, how I love teasing you guys! Grins evilly) Eyes stayed like that, immersing himself in the rushing water and curtain of steam, enjoying every minute of it. The warm spray danced across his face as he extended an arm to reach for the bar of soap and the navy blue cloth hanging form the shower rack against the wall. After passing the soap over the towel a few times, he returned it to its resting place on the rack and passed the lathered towel over his shoulders and neck, quickly moving down to wash his pale chest and the other parts of his body.

Eyes dragged the dark cloth over the flesh that covered his imperfect, missing rib, finding that spot and pressing lightly at where the missing rib would be. A soft coo left his lips as he carefully massaged that area, finding it extremely sensitive to the touch, but at the same time, growing more curious, like a child who fawns over a new toy. He remembered the exquisite, mind-numbing sensation he felt when Kanone had discovered that spot early in the relationship and never ceased to be amused by the sounds that came out of Eyes when he kissed him there, or sucked lightly at the flesh. A shiver ran up the boy's spine, reveling in the fact that he could grow hard by just a little attention to his imperfect, flawed body.

Never had he even considered that being cursed could reap such great rewards. Kanone had seen that, and used it to his advantage. He was the one who took his time and lavished every perfect, or imperfect part of his body, and made Eyes writhe and moan shamelessly beneath him. Eyes forced himself to stop delighting in his excursions and narrowed his eyes, remembering all too well what had happened that night. 'He made me beg.' Now, Eyes wasn't the type of person to beg to anyone, and he'd be damned if someone thought they had the right to make him do something so degrading. But Kanone...they had been childhood friends and lovers, and Eyes had promised his heart...and his soul to his love sometime after his mother passed away. With both of those in his possession, then Kanone had every right to make his young lover beg, and he took every opportunity to do so.

Sighing, Eyes put the towel away and grabbed the bottle of minty shampoo from the overhead rack and popped the cap, quickly pouring some into his hair. Fingers gently scrubbed, foam building around the pale digits. Rutherford sighed with the contact, his eyes slowly closing. He remained focused on his work, but his mind had drifted.

He once remembered Kanone commenting on his hair as he washed it. It was a simple act, one that Kanone thought would help relieve some of the day's stress and put the boy's mind at ease. Eyes had protested at first, saying that he didn't need anyone's help to take care of himself, but his boyfriend had insisted. Rutherford remembered the older boy laughing as he shampooed his hair, saying that those white locks were like silk...pure white silk...and how they slipped through his fingers like water. Of course, Eyes really didn't see what was so fascinating about his hair, how Kanone, as well as his overly obsessive fans fawned over something so petty as that. It really didn't matter. Looks weren't that important to him. Sure, he cared about his appearance, but not to the point where it became ridiculously absurd. He was not one to be vain.

Rutherford moved his head under the warm spray to get the foam out, his fingers making quick work of the lightly bubbling foam and removing any traces of it from his hair. He rubbed the water from his eyes and the process was repeated over for the conditioner and papaya extract. (That's how he gets his hair so soft!) Once that task had been completed, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, quick in drying himself off, and shaking any excess water from his dripping strands. He slid into his boxers and the rest of his clothes that had been lying on the massive bed, and proceeded to walk out into the area where his piano stood.

He still had plenty of time before he had to meet Ryoko and the others for dinner, so he sat at the piano bench, just as he had done several times before. He ran his pale digits over the cool ivory, reacquainting himself with the keys, not that he had to. He knew the instrument inside and out. He knew every key, every string and its individual sound, every complex piece that held it all together. He'd spent his whole life around the majestic instrument, and had developed a sort of bond with it. No, he needed no re-acquaintance, not when he had become one with the very instrument he aspired to play. The passion he had to hear the soft, concordant notes burned at his fingertips, searing the flesh there until he dragged them over the cold, hard keys. But those heated digits were far from satisfied. Rutherford's hands struck across the keyboard like lightning, rapturing in the thunderous pitch that resounded through the room and reverberated off the walls. And then he was calm.

The ridiculously complicated piece slowed gradually to a slow, smooth tickling of the keys. Rutherford let his hands guide themselves, knowing the exact placement of each key to let his eyes drift shut. Only with about a year of practice he could trust himself not to make a single mistake as he played blindly, feeling out and memorizing each key, each note it possessed. For any other it would have taken years longer. Kanone had always said he was a fast learner…

'Kanone…' His mind drifted. 'You taught me so much, so long ago…' But this was one skill that Kanone had never been able to teach him. No, Kanone's talents weren't suited to mentoring him in music. Eyes had gathered his skills from one far greater than him. He had been taught by Kiyotaka. Most of it, though was self teaching, but on some occasions, when Kiyotaka saw fit, he had stepped in and guided him through it. Eyes still held Kanone in high regard, but there were just some things he was lacking…culinary skills, for example. No offense to his childhood friend and mentor, but the boy couldn't cook for crap! Hs mind drifted to a time where Kanone had tried to fix a simple cup of instant ramen. It wasn't a very pleasant experience to say the least…the instant ramen bowl ended up catching on fire.

Rutherford shook his head lightly. How Kanone could be so horrible at something so simple was beyond him. A man who thought up elaborate strategies and tactics to use against the Hunters on a daily basis…couldn't even prepare a cup of ramen! "Absurd." The boy spoke aloud. His own culinary expertise, however, was on a level that rivaled Ayumu's. It was no wonder Kanone always tried to stay for dinner! His cooking hadn't been taught to him by Kiyotaka, no, he learned from someone most dear to him…the woman who gave birth to him, raised him… his mother.

He would never forget the day that she had been murdered, brutally killed in front of him by the Hunters on his thirteenth birthday. It was his fault…if he hadn't been born a Blade child, then…

He forced himself to stop in his playing, moving away from his piano to look out of the window. 'I wish I could see you again…' He couldn't change the past. All he could do was keep going forward, despite what the future held. That is how the Blade Children always lived. A sigh escaped his lips and he turned to glance at the clock hanging upon the wall. Not much time had passed since he sat down. His thoughts had kept him preoccupied for only ten minutes, and he still had over two hours left before he had to be at the restaurant. This wasn't going to be easy…

"Ok, so Ryoko, answer this for me. What should I give Eyes for a Valentines Day present?" Rio asked, after chewing the piece of strawberry shortcake she had in her mouth at the moment. "I mean, he's rich, so he probably has everything he already wants!"

"Like Kanone…" Kousuke mumbled beneath his breath.

"Shut up, Kousuke! I think it's nice that they're together. They do make a cute couple…if you ignore the jealous stares from Rutherford's fans." Ryoko added.

"I don't think that they like Kanone too much." Rio stated. "Some girl gave me a letter to give to him yesterday, and I think that almost all of the fans want him dead or something! It's scary! They're worse than the Hunters!" Rio whined.

"Come on, Rio. They can't be that bad." Kousuke smirked.

"Rutherford's fans are crazy! Why can't you see that? They want Kanone dead! For all we know, all of them could be Hunters!" Rio wailed. "I don't want Kanone to die!" the poor girl sobbed, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. (Geez, someone gets emotional during the holidays!)

"Thanks a lot, Kousuke." Ryoko frowned, punching the idiot in the arm. "Calm down, Rio. It's highly unlikely that every single one of those idiot fangirls are Hunters. You're just upset. There's no way that can ever happen." She wiped away Rio's tears and offered her some of her ice cream sundae.

"Maybe you're right." Rio sniffed, bringing the spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. "Thank you, Ryoko."

"Sure." The brunette smiled.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A/N: Well, Rio…wow…Valentines Day really gets her emotional, huh? Good thing Ryoko was there to calm her, or who knows what will have happened! Now about Eyes' thoughts on Kanone…yeah, It's a shame the poor guy can't cook a damn thing, now can he? I'm not going to explain the shower scene, I think that was pretty much self-explanatory. I know most of you are thinking, how weird it must be to have a guy write a yaoi fic (and I'll get to that chapter soon, I swear!) But it's my damned friend who got me into this, and to be honest, it's not all that foreign to me. Anyway, I hope you all can wait until I put up the next chapter, it'll be awhile! (But not as long as the wait for this chapter was!)