Hello! Sorry again for the long wait! Trying to balance all these stories gets chaotic but I appreciate you all sticking with me!

Enjoy!

"Alter ego hmm?"

"Yes."

"So Ritsuka is still in there then?"

"Yup."

"But you control his body?"

"For the time being."

"I see…"

There was then a moment of silence as Soubi gazed deep into this foreign persons eyes before plucking the boy up from the bed by his wrists with just one large hand. The smaller boy quickly started to struggle against the blonde.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"I don't think so."

Riku then began to thrash his legs ferociously until Soubi grabbed hold of the boy's small ankles with his free hand so that he was now carrying him like a captured animal. Now fully restrained, Riku stopped his struggling and begrudgingly submitted to the blonde with a pout as he carried him out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen. Once in the small kitchen, Soubi sat the boy down into one of the chairs before unraveling the bandages from his neck and using them to bind Riku's hands together behind the back of the chair. With the boy safely bound, Soubi pulled over another chair to be right in front of the boy and sat it in backwards so that his crossed arms lay atop the back of it.

"Alright Riku…I have some questions for you then." The irritated boy gave a small scowl before complying in a sarcastic tone.

"Fine. Ask away."

"Where is Ritsuka?"

"He is here. His consciousness is just trapped within our mind at the moment."

"How long have you been a part of him?"

"Well I came into being sometime after he met you actually."

"So then you are saying that you are my doing?"

"No, not exactly." Soubi was quickly growing agitated with the boy's attitude and vague answers and his tone clearly reflected such.

"Then why do you exist? How did you come to be?"

"You really want to know?"

"Yes." There was then a short silence as Ritsuka's voice finally broke through to the person possessing his body.

"Riku don't! You have done enough! He doesn't need to know all this. Please…."

"Oh but he is asking so nicely Ritsuka…do you really expect me to say no to such a pretty face?" This odd banter caused Soubi's eyes to grow wide and his stern expression to finally break.

"What are you saying?! Can you hear Ritsuka? Can he hear me?"

"Yes, we can communicate to each other and yes he can hear you. He can see you too." Soubi then stood suddenly from his chair and took the boy's face delicately in his hands before looking deep into his eyes to speak.

"Ritsuka…I'm sorry that I have caused this to happen…I'm so sorry. Just please…please come back to me." Riku remained silent for once as a kindness to his host, waiting to hear anything from Ritsuka. Ritsuka remained silent as well however as his heart started to break at the sight of Soubi pleading with teary eyes thinking that this was his fault.

"Riku…I don't think I have the heart to tell him anyway…just tell him everything. Tell him that nothing is his fault…tell him that he is the only thing that keeps me going…and that I love him. Tell him that."

"Alright." Soubi then released the boy's face in slight confusion, now not knowing who he was talking to.

"Ritsuka…?"

"No, sorry; still me."

"Then tell me how this happened."

"Well I came about because Ritsuka isn't exactly the best at expressing what he wants. He puts his feelings and wellbeing far behind those of others. He often makes himself suffer so that he can see the people he loves happy. Going back as far as his father leaving, he has repressed these feelings and continued to put others first. After enough time, the repressed feelings manifested into me." Soubi's expression then softened slightly but was still a very pained one.

"So then-" His words were quickly cut off by the fiery boy tied to the chair in front of him.

"I'm not finished." The boy's sour tone quickly brought a scowl to the blonde's face but he listened none the less.

"Continue then…"

"Thank you…Ritsuka says, this isn't your fault. In fact, he says that you are what keeps him going."

"R-really…?"

"Yes. He also says…he loves you." Soubi then remained silent for a moment before taking the boy by the collar of his pajama shirt and addressing him in a serious tone.

"Don't toy with me…"

"What?! You don't believe me?"

"Frankly….no I don't." Riku then let out a very aggravated sigh.

"Fine…he can tell you himself then." Soubi then watched on sternly as the boy in his grasp went limp and his eyes fluttered shut. This caused Soubi to panic slightly and he was quick to release the boy and untie his hands, fearing that something bad might have happened. After another short moment though, his eyes fluttered open once more and Soubi saw his eyes quickly fill with large tears.

"Soubi!" Ritsuka then wrapped his arms desperately around the blonde's small waist and buried his face in his torso while continuing to sob.

"Ritsuka?"

"Y-yeah it's me." Ritsuka then pulled his face out of Soubi's torso to look up at him with red cheeks and still teary eyes. "Soubi I'm so sorry! I-I should have told you what was going on b-but I was so afraid you would do the same thing mother did. None of this is your fault, it's all my fault. Soubi…please don't hate me please…I-I love you Soubi…please don't hate me." Soubi's heart began to ache in pain at the pathetic sight of the small boy and he was quick to take his small face in his hands and wipe away his tears.

"Hush now. It's alright." Ritsuka did his best to stop sobbing long enough to reply.

"No it's not…" Soubi then gave a warm smile before placing a gentle kiss on the top of the boy's head.

"Everything is ok Ritsuka. I could never hate you. Why would you even think that?" The small boy then looked up at Soubi with large watery eyes.

"Because…I'm broken…again. It's bad enough that I lost sight of myself when Seimei died but now it's happened again only worse this time and on top of that I couldn't even bring myself to tell you about it. I'm just horrible…" The blonde could feel his heart breaking at these words and he did the best to comfort the boy by giving him a warm smile as he wiped away his tears.

"Ritsuka…you are not broken. You are perfect just the way you are. Everybody has problems in their life and we all just deal with them in different ways, this is just your way of dealing with it. Granted it isn't the healthiest way but I'm here for you. I understand why you hid this from me but I know now and now we can get through this together. I will never leave your side Ritsuka."

"S-Soubi…I don't know what to say…"

"Thank you is a good start." For once Ritsuka completely ignored the voice in his head and simply stared up at his Sentouki starry eyed.

"You don't have to say anything." The blonde then placed a delicate kiss on the boy's lips which Ritsuka gladly accepted.

"But Soubi…"

"Yes?"

"What am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can't stay out of school forever and I can't just stay in the house either; but I don't know how I can show my face back at school…and what do I do if Riku decides to take over during school or when I'm out in public?" Soubi then gave a curious expression about the same time that Ritsuka realized that Soubi didn't know the real reason that he left school the other day.

"What happened at school?"

"Well…that was the first time Riku came out and well…he wasn't very nice. He called everyone names and was mean to them, even Yuiko and Shinonome Sensei."

"Hmm, you'll just have to apologize."

"But how do I even explain what happened?"

"Well I don't think it's a good idea to tell everyone about what is going on but you might be able to pass it off as an outburst from sleep deprivation."

"That's actually a really good idea. But-" Ritsuka words were then promptly cut off by the blonde.

"Shh. Let's take it one step at a time. I promise we will figure everything out together."

"O-ok"

"Ritsuka! Come on! I let you talk to him now let me back out!"

"No!" Soubi then watched on as Ritsuka clasped his hands desperately at the sides of his head, covering his ears.

"Ritsuka! What's wrong?!"

"It's Riku. He never stops talking and he is always trying to take control!"

"Well if you would just let me out, you could get some peace and quiet and I could really get us somewhere with him."

"No! Shut up! You've done enough!" Soubi could only watch on helplessly as the boy struggled, not knowing at all how to help him.

"Ritsuka I thought we had an understanding!"

"Yeah well I change my mind! So just shut up and go away already!" Soubi could no longer bear to watch the boy he loved suffer so he did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms tightly around him.

"Try and calm down."

"I can't! He won't stop!"

"Well try and focus on something else."

"Like what?!" Soubi then gently pried Ritsuka's hands from his head to look at him with another warm smile.

"Like this."

Soubi then wrapped a large arm around the small of Ritsuka's back and pulled him close into a deep kiss. Ritsuka was quick to melt into the feeling of Soubi's lips on his and this feeling alone caused him to moan just enough to allow Soubi entrance. The blonde took great care to savor every second and flavor of his small partner as if it was his last moment on earth. Ritsuka too was finally able to truly enjoy this feeling and he wrapped his arms around Soubi's strong neck, pulling him in even closer. After a moment Ritsuka reluctantly broke away purely from a need of air and the two stayed where they were panting for breath before the blonde spoke.

"Any better?"

"U-um…it seems to be helping….I can't hear him anymore."

"Good."

"Well wasn't that fun." Ritsuka lowered his head in defeat upon hearing the voice.

"Nevermind…" Soubi on the other hand put on a determined grin before scooping the boy up in his arms. "Soubi! What are you doing?"

"Taking your mind off of him."

Ritsuka was slightly nervous about what the blonde meant but he was desperate to try anything to keep his mind off of the parasite in his mind. This determination is what gave him the bravery to remain silent and cooperative when Soubi took him into the bedroom and laid him gently on the bed. He then simply watched on in a daze as the blonde climbed onto the bed and leaned over him before capturing his lips once again in a deep kiss. Again Ritsuka allowed himself to be swept away in the feeling of butterflies fluttering about in his gut. Soubi then took advantage of the boy's distraction and slipped a large hand up Ritsuka's loose fitting t shirt. He explored every inch of boy's soft supple skin until he latched onto one of his pert nipples causing the boy to break their kiss to allow a gasping moan to escape his lips. The sound was almost intoxicating to the blonde and at that moment all he wanted was to hear more sounds from those lips and he was determined to get them. Driven by this, Soubi gently lifted Ritsuka up off the bed just enough to slide off his shirt and toss it to the floor. He then laid the boy back down, surprisingly without protest, and began leaving a trail of wet kisses all along the soft skin of his torso earning him breathy moans as he did. The blonde then gently clamped down onto one of the boys nipples and flicked and swirled his tongue around it causing even more gasps and moans to fall from the boys lips. The sounds were like music to the blonde and he was quickly losing himself to the desire of the situation and this was becoming very apparent by the growing bulge in his jeans. Soubi then halted his assault only to press his lips against Ritsuka's once again, this time using it as a distraction so that he could stealthily move a hand to find the small bulge that was also becoming apparent in Ritsuka's tight jeans. As soon as Soubi's hand brushed against the sensitive spot, Ritsuka broke free from their kiss to cry out once more and arch his back at the feeling.

"A-ah…"

Soubi, being very pleased with himself, moved once more to place a trail of kisses along Ritsuka's neck causing the boy to cry out even more than before. The blonde was then slightly surprised when he felt the small boy reach for the button on his jeans and attempt to unbutton them. He then turned to look at th boy who now had on a very sinister grin.

"Ritsuka?"

"Not any more. No reason we should stop there though."

TBC