Chapter 4:

Ritsuka couldn't help but feel guilty after Soubi left. It seemed to him that he had hurt Soubi's heart. It wasn't entirely his fault. Haru couldn't be left alone with Masaki nearby. She would probably beat him to death.

"So, do you know where Immortal lives?" he asked Haru. He didn't expect an answer. A question like that was too personal for acquaintances. Haru looked at him with cold stare.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked. "You have Soubi. You can't have my Immortal, too." Ritsuka stumbled backwards. Such a brazen response from someone so badly hurt.

"Th-that's not what I meant," he stammered, attempting to defend his question. "I meant, maybe you could stay with her…b-because it's safer there th-than here." Haru's eyes softened, and he slowly got to his feet, clutching his injured side.

"How sweet," he cooed, tracing invisible lines on Ritsuka's cheek with his finger. "You're worried about me. You and Soubi are so much alike. He asked me the same question back at the college." Ritsuka backed away from Haru in fear, his legs trembling with the urge to run.

But where could he run? Seimei wasn't there anymore. He hadn't been there for nearly three years. He couldn't go to his mother. That would just make matters worse. His father was no help to him as well.

"Oh, you want to run away?" Haru laughed weakly. "But where to? You are alone, like me. You have no family. You have no one to comfort you."

"St-Stop it!" Ritsuka snapped. "That's a lie! Soubi—"

"Soubi?" Haru chuckled. "Soubi can't help you either. He's not always going to come at your beckon call. He won't always answer when you call him. He is human. He can't help it, and neither can we." Ritsuka fell to the ground, nearly banging the back of his head against the wall.

"Haru, stop!" he cried. "Don't talk like that! Don't ever say that again!" Haru, with some difficulty, lowered himself onto his knees and crawled toward the frightened boy until he could feel Ritsuka's breath on his face.

"Am I frightening to you, Ritsuka?" he asked. His voice was sweet, as if it was dribbled in honey and glazed with sweet nectar. Ritsuka tried to shut him out of his mind, but the voice made its way through. "Don't be afraid, my dear Ritsuka," Haru soothed, stroking Ritsuka's face. "I would never do anything to hurt you." He leaned further into Ritsuka's face. He softly rested his lips on Ritsuka's and breathed into his mouth, his eyes closed with content. Ritsuka pulled away and shoved his hands over Haru's mouth.

"Haru, you jerk!" he snapped. "You said you wouldn't do anything!" Haru gently pried away Ritsuka's hands and smiled.

"It was only a kiss," he said. "Nothing more." Haru rose and yawned. "I'm tired," he sighed. "Goodnight, Ritsuka." Ritsuka watched Haru crawl under the blankets of his bed. That boy had acted just as Soubi had the first day they met.

Oi, he thought. Creepy.