'Ello sweeties!

I apologize again for the wait. ~_~

"Wrong."

Soubi's blissful moment was suddenly yanked away from him upon the appearance of the unwelcome guest residing within his precious Sacrifice and his expression showed his discontent clearly. Almost as soon as the intruder revealed himself, Soubi promptly sat up in the bed and picked up Ritsuka's discarded shirt off the floor before throwing it at the boy rather roughly.

"What the hell was that for?" Soubi remained silent, annoying Riku quiet clearly, and the small boy proceeded to crawl towards the blonde with a smug grin. "What…you don't think I'm cute anymore Soubi?" Soubi was none too pleased with boy's cocky tone and he firmly stood from the bed with a grimace.

"You are simply stealing Ritsuka's looks along with his body."

"No…we are sharing and you better get used to it. I think I'll be sticking around for a while."

"Not if I have anything to do with it."

"You don't get to decide that and you surely don't get to tell me what to do. Ritsuka is the only master I answer too." This caused a very sour expression to cross Riku's face which Soubi only answered with an indifferent one.

"Ritsuka and I are just two parts of a whole you know. If you answer to him then you answer to me." Soubi had finally had enough of the boy's comments and he took his face delicately in his large hand and pulled it up to be closer to his own before replying in a cold tone.

"You may have his face and his voice…but do not think for a second that this will cloud my judgment. Just because I won't hurt Ritsuka or his body, doesn't mean that I can't make you suffer in ways you can't even imagine." Soubi then released the boy before sauntering out of the room without another word, closing the bedroom door behind him, leaving Riku slightly taken aback by the cold side of the blonde.

"Geez…you'd think he didn't like me or something."

"Oh you think?!"

"Oh please Ritsuka…sarcasm doesn't suit you."

"Please just shut up."

"Yeah right."

"Will you at least go apologize to him?" Riku paused for a moment to yawn and stretch his arms up high in the air before replying.

"No. I'm tired now; I think I'm done for the day."

Without another word and before Ritsuka was entirely sure what had happened, he suddenly found himself back in control of his body, much to his relief. Ritsuka quickly took a short moment to put his shirt back on and take a few deep breathes. Once he had gathered himself, he made his way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where he found the blonde in front of the stove preparing tea.

"Soubi!" The blonde whipped his head around like a reflex to the sound of Ritsuka's voice.

"Ritsuka?"

"Mmhmm." Ritsuka then smiled wide before walking over to his Sentouki and throwing his arms around his waist, hugging him tightly and burying his face into his soft shirt. "Soubi I'm so sorry!" Soubi couldn't help but to smile softly at this as he wrapped the boy in his arms to comfort him.

"You don't have to apologize for anything Ritsuka." Ritsuka then lifted his head to look up at his partner with a slight blush in his cheeks.

"Thank you Soubi…"

"For what?"

"For everything that you said to Riku…" Soubi gave the boy a warm smile as he gently ran a large hand through his soft hair.

"Of course. What did you think I would do?"

"I don't know…I mean it's always my body and he can be persuasive…"

"Ritsuka, you are the only one I love. Having your body doesn't make him you and no one could ever replace you in my heart." Ritsuka could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes but he fought them back with a smile.

"Thank you Soubi…thank you so much."

"I love you Ritsuka."

"I…I love you too Soubi." The blonde then suddenly scooped the small boy right off his feet, taking him by surprise.

"Let's get you to bed, you must be exhausted."

"Ok." Ritsuka then smiled up at the blonde and allowed him to carry him safely off to the bedroom to finally get a decent night's rest.

The next morning came quickly and the sunlight that began to trickle in through the large bedroom window caused Ritsuka's eyes to slowly flutter open. He let of a yawn before noticing that he was still wrapped in the blonde's arms and the warm feeling caused him to smile as he snuggled closer. The movement was enough to wake the tall blonde and he looked down at his Sacrifice with a smile of his own.

"Good morning Ritsuka."

"Morning."

"Did you sleep ok?"

"Yeah I did actually."

"Good. Now, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Umm omelets?"

"Sounds great."

The blonde then placed a gentle kiss on the boy's forehead before climbing out of the bed and exiting the bedroom. Ritsuka took a moment to stretch and rub the sleep from his eyes before following suit and making his own way into the kitchen, still dressed in only one of Soubi's oversized shirts and a pair of tight black shorts.

"It smells really good Soubi."

"Thank you. It's almost ready."

"Ok." Ritsuka then took a seat in one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table and watched on happily as Soubi gracefully made his way about the kitchen. Ritsuka would never admit it but he always loved the way the blonde look when he was cooking and he was slightly entranced by it until a plate was slid in front of him with a smile.

"Here." Ritsuka was quick to snap out of his daze and return the blonde's smile.

"Thank you."

Soubi then had a seat in the chair at the opposite end of the table with his own plate. The duo ate their breakfast in relative silence, causing Soubi to begin to worry. Once the small boy had finished his breakfast, Soubi promptly took both of their plates to the sink to finish the dishes. Ritsuka remained silent the entire time and seemed as though his thoughts were preoccupied with something else. Soubi did his best to put his worry out of his mind but his attempt didn't last long and it was only a short moment before he finished the dishes and walked over to place a hand on the top of Ritsuka's head.

"Ritsuka…what's wrong?" The sensation accompanied by the blonde's soft voice finally snapped Ritsuka out of his daze enough to respond, though still seemingly distracted.

"Um…it's nothing…" Soubi chuckled slightly at this.

"You know, sometimes you really aren't a very good liar." Ritsuka then looked up at Soubi with soft eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Alright…it's just that…I haven't heard anything from Riku since last night." Soubi was genuinely surprised by this and decided to take a seat next to the boy to get to the bottom of things.

"Nothing at all? Is that normal?"

"No, not a word. Usually he bothers me all the time. He has even been in my dreams before but since you told him off last night, hasn't said a word."

"Well isn't that a good thing?"

"That's the thing…I don't know. I mean it's all I hope for these days but, it just feels like something is off."

"Well just try not to worry about it at the moment. You have your appointment with today though; maybe she can help you figure it out."

"Yeah…you're right." There was then a short silence while Ritsuka looked as though he was thinking hard on something. "Hey Soubi, do you think she would mind if I came in early? I'm really worried about this…and I'm not going to school today anyway."

"I don't think she would mind, but you are going to have to go back to school eventually."

"I know. I will as soon as I figure out what I'm going to tell everyone." Soubi then stood from his chair with a smile and placed a kiss on Ritsuka's forehead.

"Good. Now go get dressed and I'll drive you."

"Ok."

It was roughly a half hour before both Ritsuka and Soubi were fully dressed and in the car on the way to 's office. Ritsuka was completely silent for the entire ride, being too consumed with his anxiety and worry to even try and make small talk. For the first time Ritsuka was relieved when the car pulled up and came to a stop in front of the small office building in which he found himself every Wednesday.

"Ritsuka, would you like me to wait inside for you or come back?" Ritsuka took a deep breath before exiting the car and turning back to respond to his Sentouki.

"Could you just come back after my hour is done?"

"Of course. I'll be waiting for you when you're finished." Ritsuka was then finally able to at least smile back at the blonde.

"Thank you Soubi. Umm…I love you…" Soubi couldn't help but to chuckle slightly at the timid way Ritsuka always said those words.

"And I love you. I'll see you soon." Ritsuka then gently closed the car door and watched as the blonde drove away before taking another deep breath and making his way into the building and up to the receptionist.

"Um excuse me." The small girl at the desk looked up from her paperwork upon hearing the boy's quiet voice.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"I have an appointment with today at four o'clock but I was hoping she could see me early."

"Hmm she usually doesn't do unscheduled appointments unless it's an emergency, but I'll go ask her. What is your name?"

"Aoyagi, Ritsuka. Tell her it's not an emergency…but I'm having trouble with…something."

"Ok."

"Thank you." The young woman then disappeared though a door leaving Ritsuka all alone in the small waiting room of the office. His anxiety quickly came flooding back and he couldn't even force himself to sit down to wait for a response and instead just paced back and force until the receptionist reemerged.

"She is more than happy to see you now Ritsuka. Go on back."

"Thank you." Ritsuka then quickly made his way through the door, down a long hallway and straight into his therapist's office. Once inside, the doctor stood from her chair and walked over to greet the boy as well as to close the door behind him.

"Good morning Ritsuka, please have a seat."

"Thank you." Ritsuka did as he was told and took a seat on the soft couch against the wall and watched as sat back down in her small rolling office chair.

"So, how has your week been? How are you dealing with your situation?" Ritsuka remained quiet for a short moment as he thought about what he wanted to say.

"This week has been…hard. I thought that if Soubi found out about everything that was going on that he would hate me like mother does, so I kept it a secret from him."

"And do you still feel that way?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"Well…he found out anyway."

"Oh?"

"It turns out that he knows me better than I thought…well enough to be able to tell when me isn't me." The doctor gave a small smile at this.

"And I'm guessing he doesn't hate you."

"No he doesn't. He umm…he loves me."

"Well I can tell he has had quite the influence on you."

"W-why do you say that?"

"Well I have been seeing you for a long time now and you have never freely talked about love at all until now." Ritsuka couldn't help but to blush slightly at this, still not being entirely used to discussing such things.

"Oh…yeah." The doctor then leaned back slightly in her chair and picked up her pen and pad before inquiring further into the boy's life.

"So my receptionist said you were worried about something?"

"Oh right. Well it's my alter ego…um Riku…"

"Ok, what is it exactly that has you worried?"

"Well usually I can hear him in my head almost non-stop. He bothers me day and night, whenever he isn't actually taking over my body, but ever since last night I haven't heard a single word. Soubi said that it sounds like a good thing but I have a bad feeling about it."

"I see. Well why don't we try hypnosis like we talked about? I can try to talk to him and get some answers for you."

"Ok."

"Go ahead and lie down and take a few deep breaths." Ritsuka did as instructed and laid down on the long couch and began to breathe deeply, trying his hardest to calm his racing thoughts.

"Ok now, just keep breathing and focus only on the sound of my voice. I'm going to count backwards from ten and when I say one, you will be a deep sleep leaving your conscious free to relax and drift away; and when I snap my fingers, you will wake up feeling just fine." There was then a short silence and all that could be heard was Ritsuka's deep long breaths.

"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one." As soon as the last word was muttered, Ritsuka suddenly shot up to a sitting position and began whipping his head in all directions until his sight landed on the doctor.

"Oh…it's you."

"You must be Riku."

"You got it. I guess they didn't give you that degree for nothing." Luckily the doctor was more than used to this kind of behavior and the boy's comments didn't seem to faze her at all.

"No they definitely didn't. Now, I hear you have been causing Ritsuka all kinds of trouble." Riku gave a chuckle at this.

"Yeah? And who told you that non-sense?"

"Ritsuka, as well as a few people at the school that you weren't very nice to."

"Well Ritsuka doesn't know any better. I am just the honest side of him."

"Is that the way you see it? That you are just honest?"

"That's the way it is, like it or not." Riku replied in an aloof tone while the doctor continued jotting things down calmly on her notepad.

"I see. Now I'd like to ask you a few questions if that's all right."

"Like what?"

"Let's start with when and why you came to manifest with in Ritsuka?" Riku was silent for a moment before leaning back on the couch with a grin.

"On second thought, I don't really feel like answering your questions, I'm tired of questions. I think I'd rather talk about you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"What would you like to know?" Riku cracked a very sinister grin at this question.

"How about…do you make it a habit to hit on your patients? Or is Ritsuka just special?" was completely shocked by this statement and her calm demeanor quickly shattered into one of shock and dread.

"E-excuse me?!"

"You heard me."

"I don't know what you are talking about!"

"You can't lie to me doctor. Ritsuka might be too timid to say anything but I'm not and don't forget that I have access to all the memories that Ritsuka does. Maybe he is just too naïve to notice how upset you get when he talks about that busty friend of his, but I can't believe you actually took him on a date." The small woman was quickly becoming more and more flustered by the situation and was now just trying to keep herself together enough to defend herself.

"I do not get upset! And that was purely professional." Riku then stood from his place and walked over to be right in front of the doctor before taking her chin firmly in one of his small hands.

"Oh come on doctor…we are awfully cute after all. You know…this could be your chance really. His body, here in your office, under your control….I won't say anything if you don't."

"S-stop it!" then began to panic and quickly pushed the small boy away from her, causing him to burst out in sinister laughter.

"You really are a foolish woman. You think I would let you touch this body? You are way too old! Not to mention, not nearly as delicious looking at the tall blonde I've got at home." The doctor was becoming completely overwhelmed by the situation and had now abandoned every sense of professionalism.

"That's enough! You are awful!" The woman then finally came to her senses enough to snap her fingers, bring the boy suddenly down back onto the couch in silence. She then took advantage of the brief moment that it took Ritsuka to fully come around to gather herself and calm down.

"Nnn… ? Did it work?" Luckily the woman had collected herself enough to remain calm and professional.

"Yes it did." Ritsuka then slowly sat up and let out a small yawn before replying.

"Well did you figure anything out?"

"I'm afraid I wasn't able to learn very much, he is very…difficult."

"I know he is…but what did you figure out?"

"All I was really able to gather was that, whether it's true or not, he truly believes that he is simply the honest side of you."

"He can think that all he wants…"

"You know it's true Ritsuka."

"Damn it!" was slightly surprised by Ritsuka's sudden outburst.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, sorry. He is just back to bothering me again."

"I see, well I am sorry to hear that but it looks like our time is up for the week." Ritsuka hadn't even noticed that an hour had gone by and he looked to the clock for confirmation before standing up from the couch with a sigh.

"Right. Well thank you again for seeing me so early." The woman also stood from her chair with a smile and walked over to open the door for the small boy.

"You are very welcome Ritsuka. I will see you next week and until then, just do your best to really figure out the kind of things that trigger your personality switch. That will help you gain some control of the situation."

"Ok."

Ritsuka then exited the small office leaving the doctor alone to gather herself and fully process what just happened. As he made his way down the hallway Ritsuka wasn't sure if he really felt any better about the situation but something the doctor mentioned was lingering in his mind. He hadn't really noticed until then but he realized then that it had become easier to talk about the way he felt about Soubi. It may not have been what he was looking for but Ritsuka was at least able to smile about his growing feelings. By the time he came back through the door once more into the waiting room, Soubi was already waiting for him with a smile.

"Hey Soubi."

"Hello. How did it go?" Ritsuka gave the blonde a quick hug before pulling him along out of the building.

"It was ok. I didn't really figure anything out…but I still feel a little better." The duo then arrived at the car and Soubi quickly opened the passenger door for his Sacrifice.

"I'm glad to hear that Ritsuka."

"Yeah." The blonde then climbed in the other side began their drive home, feeling at least a little less worried about the boy. Ritsuka still had a smile on his face when the car began rolling and for the first time since this all began, he felt hopeful. All the hope quickly shattered however when his alter ego interjected on his good mood.

"Now things are going to get really interesting…"

TBC