Disclaimer: I don't own Loveless, though I'd like to.

Chapter Eight: Decisionless

"Is here alright?"

Kio's voice cut through the silence of the car, startling Yuiko out of her sleepy daze.

"Yes, thank you. I can walk Yuiko-san home from here," Yayoi replied. His hand tightened on Yuiko's.

Strange, how comfortable it was to have Yayoi's hand on hers. Funny that he had never done it before. Yuiko supposed she had never really given him the chance.

The car came to a gentle stop. Yayoi pulled his hand from on top of Yuiko's and opened his door. "Thank you for the ride, Kio-san."

Kio snorted from the front seat. "Its nothing. Hurry up and get home. Its late and the two of you have school tomorrow."

Yuiko quickly undid her seatbelt and opened the car door. She slid out just as Yayoi closed his door and walked over to her. He took her hand again. Yuiko sleepily waved a goodbye to Kio as he sped off.

"We're out front of my house, Yayoi-san," Yuiko said, pointing with her free hand up to the blank shutters staring out of the empty dwelling. "How are you going to get to your…"

"Don't worry about that Yuiko-san. It's a short walk. I'll be fine." Yayoi grinned at her. Yuiko noticed suddenly that he was nearly the same height as she was. She stared at him. "Umm….Yuiko-san?"

Yuiko blinked. She felt really funny. The world wasn't quite right. It felt like the ground was about to drop away from her. She shook her head. "I'm alright, Yayoi-san," she told him. She knew her voice was weak. She smiled. "I was thinking…" She trailed off. It was almost like she was seeing Yayoi for the first time. But that was silly; she had known him since elementary school.

"Don't worry about Ritsuka-kun. Soubi-san will think of something.." Yayoi trailed off. He dropped his gaze from Yuiko's. His hand fell along with his eyes. "Anyway, you better head inside." He walked towards the gate and held it open for Yuiko.

Yuiko nodded dumbly. She walked towards Yayoi and stopped just inside the gate. "Thank you, Yayoi," she whispered.

Yayoi shrugged. "Good night, Yuiko-san," he said. He let the gate fall shut between them and walked away.

Yuiko watched him go in silence. His shoulders were slumped and his ears were down. After a few minutes, he rounded and corner and disappeared from Yuiko's sight.

With a sigh, Yuiko walked up to her front porch and let herself into the old house. It was dark and empty. Both of Yuiko's parents worked the night shift. She would see them in the morning before she left for school.

As she went through her nightly routine, Yuiko's thoughts kept drifting to Yayoi. She felt bad; she should be worried about Ritsuka, but she wasn't. Well, not as much as she should be.

For some reason, Yayoi had seemed so different these past couple days: protecting Yuiko from Ritsuka's brother, from Ritsuka, taking her home, holding her hand.

Maybe Yuiko had been missing something for a long time. She would have to find out tomorrow.

It wasn't long after reaching her decision that Yuiko fell into her usual heavy sleep.

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Truthfully, Kio couldn't wait for his two silent passengers to get out of his car. He knew it was rude, he should have offered to drive the boy home or at least waited until the girl was safely in her house before speeding off, but really, there was only so much one man could take in a day. And seeing two people so close yet so unaware of that closeness, made him long for what he couldn't have even more.

God. He was so tired he was waxing poetic. He needed sleep. He needed a drink. He needed Soubi.

Kio nearly slapped himself. He did not need Soubi. The sleep and the drink, yes. But Soubi, no. But god, he wanted him.

Kio pulled to the side of the rode and rest his head on his steering wheel. He really couldn't do this. It had burned to watch Soubi with Aoyagi. The elder one. But Kio had been too timid to speak his mind, to claim Soubi for himself. To protect Soubi. The fact that Soubi didn't want protection just made it burn more. Kio was no fool. All the planning to rescue Soubi, Kio's own righteous anger, all was in vain is Soubi didn't want to be rescued. He was no damsel in distress and was more than capable of defending himself. But he wouldn't. And that was what burned the most.

Kio had been ecstatic when Aoyagi had vanished out of Soubi's life. Not just because he had a shot at the blond man, but because Soubi had a shot to break free from Aoyagi's control over him.

Then Ritsuka showed up and Soubi had dedicated his life to the too-young kid brother of Aoyagi.

But, after meeting him, Kio had pushed his own desires to the back of his mind. Soubi was happy and Ritsuka gentle. Kio had supported the relationship, had backed off and kept his own constantly growing feelings hidden.

But now…now he didn't know what to do. He was back at square one. The boy were right. It wasn't ethical to mess with Ritsuka's memories, to force him to become what he was not. Neither was it ethical to take Soubi from what he wanted, even if what he wanted was killing him.

Soubi would have to make that decision himself.

The most frustrating the part, the part that made Kio want to scream, to rip something to shreds, to break something into a million pieces, was that Soubi would not make the decision himself and Kio was powerless to help.

He hated being useless. He hated the Aoyagi family. He hated Soubi's need to be abused. Most of all, at the moment, he hated himself for caring so much on something so futile.

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"That was too cruel, Ji-chan," Tsou-chan said between giggles. "Did you see the look on blondie's face when you called him out?"

Youji grinned at his other half. Yes, he knew he had pegged Kio correctly. The man was so obviously in love with Soubi and it was so futile. It was amusing. It still had them laughing even as they neared Soubi's apartment.

The two had skipped out without paying the bill. Let Kio suffer the consequences if he tried to go back there! Youji thought he might even suggest it one night, just to see what would happen.

"Ne, Ji-chan, are we going to do anything about Soubi and Ritsuka?" Natsuo asked him, changing moods drastically.

Youji shrugged. He had met what he had told Kio. It wasn't ethical and it wasn't his place to interfere with another team. By Seven Moons standards, Ritsuka wasn't doing anything wrong; he was acting as he was supposed to. The fact that his Fighter was so perfect was a blessing. It would make them strong.

Too strong, if you asked Youji.

He shook his head at his other half. "No. We won't mess with Ritsuka's mind. Don't forget, we owe Soubi-san. And Soubi-san wants it this way."

"Does he?" Natsuo asked. "He chose Ritsuka over Seimei and this new person is more like Seimei than…"

Youji shrugged. "That's not our concern. Fighting them will be though."

Natsuo stopped walking. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Simple. Ritsuka will want to try out Soubi's powers on the battlefield soon and we're the two most likely targets."

"So? He hasn't had any training yet. Or, he doesn't remember it."

Youji rolled his eyes. "Soubi doesn't need him trained. He'll crush it and I'm thinking this new Ritsuka will order us killed."

Natsuo shuddered. "So, what's the plan?" He obviously remembered the last time the two had fought Soubi. With his Sacrifice at his side, Soubi would be even more unbeatable then he had been the first time they had fought.

Youji was certain they wouldn't survive a fight with both Soubi and Ritsuka. But… "We get Ritsuka to fight him on his own."

"What?" Natsuo looked like Youji had grown a second head. "He's a Sacrifice he can't…"

"He's not a Sacrifice. He's Loveless, remember? And he knows he can fight on his own. If he's cocky enough and if we goad him enough, we may be able to force a fight without Soubi around. Then, we finish Ritsuka." Youji grinned. Actually, the plan was good. It would also do as blondie had asked and free Soubi from Ritsuka as well. Oh, Soubi would be pissed, but they could always vanish and hide from the Fighter's wrath. Perhaps, after killing Loveless, they'd be able to return to Nagisa-sensei.

Youji met his soul-mate's grin across the dark night. He knew they were on the same page now.

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A/N: Hmmm…there was a definite lack of Soubi and Ritsuka for the second chapter in a row. But the story is progressing. Hope you guys enjoyed!

As always, thanks for the reviews, everyone!