"I don't want to try that…it sounds weird."

"But…"

"Why does it sound "weird" Ritsuka-kun?"

Aoyagi's ears drooped and he turned his head away from the two teens staring at him pleadingly.

"I don't want to get on that thing." He said, the thing turning out to be the Ferris wheel where Yuiko and Yayoi were standing just beside the line leading up to it. Their ears too drooped but from Ritsuka's refusal to get onto the easy-going ride rather then the idea of riding it. Yayoi was pleased that Yuiko would be riding with him on the ride, grant it he was still only half an inch taller then Yuiko but it was still a lot better then his height set-back when they were twelve years old. He was still bent on making her his…and this was one of his few chances to ride something that required two people. Unfortunately…four years of Aoyagi Ritsuka had made him into a sap and he was beginning to like the boy's company more then he used to. A friendship was forged on both ends but it wasn't enough for Yayoi to sacrifice Yuiko to him.

"Does your stomach hurt, Ritsuka-kun?" Yuiko asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"No. I just don't want to get on that." He said stiffly.

Yayoi's ears lifted immediately.

Was it because he would have to get on by himself?

"Aoyagi-kun…do you want someone to ride with you?" Yayoi asked, blinking past his glasses at his classmate.

"That's not it!" he snapped; gasping when he noticed that he had shouted and lowered his eyes again; continuing in a quieter tone, "I…just don't want to ride it, that's all. You guys can go ahead and ride it; I'm going to go get something to eat at one of the stands."

"Ritsuka-kun…" Yuiko frowned, pouting.

"I'm ok, Yuiko-chan." Ritsuka said with a wry smile, "Go on."

Yayoi reached over and encircled his fingers around Yuiko's wrist, lightly tugging on it. "Yuiko-san…the line's gone down."

She hesitated but Ritsuka just smiled and nodded his head, she protested for a moment longer before Yayoi led her away to get into the decreasing line before more people found out the decreasing rate.

Ritsuka watched them retreat further and further away before he turned his back to them and the ride itself, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat as he wondered towards the many venders that lined the walkways of the amusement park. As he said to them, he would get something to eat but with the rate that the ride was going…it wasn't going to be over when he had already eaten something. That was the curse of waiting…time crawled on forever.

Letting his feet determine which of the venders he was bound to go to, Ritsuka's mind focused on the item that his fingers kept coiling around in his pocket. The smooth casing of his cell phone that Soubi had given him. He didn't allow the adult to purchase him a different one, cell phones were expensive and he wasn't in need of an advanced gadget as most students seemed to be interested in. The idea of checking his e-mail while talking to Yuiko or even Soubi and downloading i-tunes were not exactly turn-ons in his mind.

"What kind will you have?"

Ritsuka looked up at the vender he had stopped randomly in front of. It was a pleasant-looking middle-aged woman and a vender of some strange advertisement mentioning "The Ice-Cream of the Future!" in aqua characters with little dots of pink and the same shade added to the sides. He looked at the little list of kinds taped onto the glass; each one was written in the color that most suited the flavor.

"Chocolate-Mint?" he read aloud and then looked up at the woman, "I'll have that one…"

She nodded and removed a wax-coated paper bowl from a stack and then scooped up spoonfuls of tiny dots of brown and a very light green. He arched an eyebrow at the substance, fingers absently stroking the phone in his pocket while the other felt for money and he paid the woman for the awkward treat. It was only later when he realized that it was actually a tasty item and he would be looking for that stand in the future.

Even after this little treat, however, Ritsuka's mind wondered back to the cell phone in his pocket, his hand was gripping it now and he even pulled it out, looking down at it as it rest peacefully in his palm. The nagging question had returned and he sighed.

"I want to call him…but he'd just say the same thing…" he mumbled, shoving the phone back into the depths of the pocket. "I love you, I love you, I love you…"

He silently cursed Soubi in frustration as his quoting had so suddenly caused him to be placed in a foul mood.

Does he really love me?

Judging by how casually the man said it, he found it hardly likely…but it has been four years and Soubi had kissed him so many times in between those years…they felt real and meaningful…but most of them occurred during battles with bored members of Seven Moons that were dispatched to cause them problems as they seemed to always do.

Ritsuka slung himself onto the side of a brick planter supporting a small shrub of some sort that the park must have installed as decoration. He braced his hands behind him and let his head drop back; staring up at the sky as small clouds drifted past, not much of a threat to the sun bearing down upon the amusement park with unseasonly heat.

The sacrifice's eyes began to droop, the lids wanting to shut out the sky before a shadow crossed the sunlight and did not move. Someone was standing in front of him. Perhaps it was Yuiko who decided at the last minute that she didn't want to ride the Ferris Wheel without him being on the ride as well…the voice that seemed to carry over all of the surrounding voices was proof that that was definitely not the case…

"Ritsuka?"

He jerked his head up immediately, eyes wide as the deep voice echoed in his ears and gaze drinking up every second that they stared at the figure before him.

"S-Soubi!"

The man smiled , leaning forward with his hands in his pockets, a cigarette between his lips and a steady stream of smoke disappearing into the atmosphere before Ritsuka could attempt to follow it and let his sights rest on something else rather then the dirty blond before him. He felt his ears relaxing and starting to lower as the color rose in his cheeks.

He had just debated over calling the man…and here he was. Was Soubi spying on him? How was it that he always turned up wherever he was at on that same day? It was never coincidence…and he was sure that Soubi made certain of that.

"What are you doing here?"

"Kio suggested I took him here. I had a feeling that you would still be here since Yuiko-chan told me you were coming along with Yayoi-kun and herself. I'm glad I chose now to come, otherwise I might not have been able to see you today."

"Why would that be a problem?" Ritsuka asked, arching an eyebrow, causing his ears to return back to their upright position.

Soubi looked down at the teen in surprise.

"You wouldn't miss me?"

Ritsuka's face burned as he turned his head away, glaring off to the side as he muttered something that was too soft for Soubi to hear. The Fighter simply smile and approached Ritsuka, reaching down and turning his face up to him, bending down he kissed him, earning a rigid individual for a moment before he felt the familiar push of Ritsuka's protesting hands. He grew to know those hands rather well…

"Stop it! You can't do that in public!" he shouted, jumping up, Soubi straightening casually, unfazed by Ritsuka's yelling. "There are little kids present and don't you think that you might give some little old ladies heart attacks with displays like that?"

Soubi glanced back over his shoulder, "I don't see any old ladies, no children either." He said, returning his gaze to Ritsuka, "Only a few vendors and people enjoying other means of entertainment…"

"Soubi…" he growled.

"Where are Yuiko-chan and Yayoi-kun, by the way?" he asked, Ritsuka feeling as if he could fall over when he heard the abrupt change of subject all of a sudden.

"They're on the Ferris wheel."

"Why did you not get on?"

"I didn't want to." He said sharply, "I'm waiting for them to get off."

"The line was pretty long…it could take a while…yet you want to sit here alone?" Soubi's eyebrows raised, "Rather lonely day at the amusement park, Ritsuka. You don't have to be alone if that was why you didn't get on…"

"I'm not lonely." Ritsuka snapped, striding off. Soubi followed him, not far behind and walking at an easier pace behind his sacrifice. "Besides, how can I be lonely when you follow me everywhere?"

Soubi smiled, lengthening his strides so that he walked beside Ritsuka, reaching over, he rested a hand over the teen's shoulder and guided him to his side, draping his arm about him the closer his body came.

"I can't leave you alone, Ritsuka…" he said softly so that only Ritsuka could hear.

It wasn't much of a challenge…every time he spoke, his would be the only voice Ritsuka could hear. The Sentouki could bend words to his will, manipulate them into spells that entwined Ritsuka in their verbal fingers and fastened him to the adult with shackles made from syllables. The intoxicating pronouns and antonyms, that slid sensually from pale lips accompanied by the visual flash of intelligence behind windows of glasses. Acronyms teased, adjectives caressed…he was trapped…he had been trapped since the first sound of a letter that formed the first word of what passed Soubi's lips left his vocal chords. He had been under the Japanese spell ever since.

"Days…nights…weekends…holidays." Soubi breathed, pulling Ritsuka gently with him and slipping behind one of the stands, pushing him against the brick wall that fenced in the amusement park and bracing his hands on either side of the teen's shoulders.

"Y-You can't do that…" he managed to choke out, shriking a little, somehow intimidated by the intense blue eyes focusing upon him. The bastard still had a height advantage…

"I can. There is nothing I can't do for you, Ritsuka…" he said and leaned down, his mouth near his human ear, "I'm going to be around you, until the end of time…"

Ritsuka jumped, his back scratching against the rough bricks as Soubi rested a hand upon his shoulder, another settling against his hip. The sacrifice was pushed against the wall by the hand upon his shoulder as a warm mouth brushed against his jaw and moved down to his neck, the hip hand stroking up the teen's side, dragging up his shirt partially with each firm stroke.

"S-Stop it—" Ritsuka choked out as Soubi pressed his lips against his jugular after tilting his head back. The tips of his ears grazed the wall and his tail whipped side to side on occasion. Soubi's long fingers curled behind his head, his pinky on his neck while the other digits tangled into his hair.

It was obvious that the man wasn't about to stop by his own verbal command…his words had no where near the effect that Soubi's had upon him.

The Sentouki's fingers grazed the exposed sliver of skin that was Ritsuka's stomach and earned a gasp from his Sacrifice and felt the boy cringe from his touch. They had only been sensual once and that had been years ago when he was still only twelve…but Zero luckily stopped Soubi's persuit before Ritsuka's ears would be in any danger.

But not this time…

This time there were no enemies to harm newfound friends…no screams of horror or agony…only the merriment of the amusement park and the sounds of Soubi's pecking kissed trailing up his neck to his jaw again and then consuming his lips. A sound vibrated through Ritsuka's hesitant lips as he managed to respond to the kiss. It was hard not to kiss back when one's mouth was receiving so much attention…

Soubi's hand turned and his nails grazed over the flesh of Ritsuka's stomach. They didn't hurt, but they sent a tickling sensation through the quivering muscles and the high school student shivered, his response muffled by Soubi's gag that was his own mouth.

He pushed his hand up beneath Ritsuka's shirt, opening his eyes slightly to see the result of his touches and kisses. Ritsuka seemed to be giving in…but was it just a spur of the moment? Would that be enough to change the names that were so different? The polar opposite names that made them so ineffective to the bored enemies?

"Hey, what are you doing back there?" a gruff voice snapped, Soubi pulling away and Ritsuka letting out a gasp, his lips glistening and cheeks flushed.

A vendor was there, obviously noticing that there was something happening behind his booth and went to check on it…he was probably not suspecting to see what it was that he saw.

Before Ritsuka could react, Soubi's fingers seized his wrist and he was pulled out from behind the vendor's booth, his legs were forced into a run as Soubi towed him behind, leading him back towards the rides. They were heading for the Ferris wheel.

Yuiko and Yayoi were just getting off.