Chapter 7- Master?

An hour later Ritsuka emerged from the bathroom, tears dried and breathing evened. Soubi had been pacing back and forth in the living room, worried that he'd crossed the line this time. He'd even called Kio after the first half hour of not knowing what to do.

"I've never felt this way before, so useless. I just don't know what to do…"

He stopped his pacing when he heard soft feet padding across the wooden floor. The sullen faced Ritsuka looked up and stumbled over to Soubi. Tears building up, Ritsuka launched himself at Soubi and held on tight. The tears were released and a new waterworks show began.

"I'm so sorry Soubi! You are nothing but nice to me and I always treat you so poorly! I just-I just…"

"Sh, Ritsuka, it's ok. What is it that you want to say? Whatever you say will never ever jeopardize your living situation. Remember that, and learn to trust me. I too am sorry; I shouldn't have pushed you like that."

Soubi rubbed gentle, soothing circles in Ritsuka's back to try and calm his neko-chan.

"Soubi, how can you blame yourself when all I do is yell and run away? How can you still treat me so kindly, and not be upset with me?"

Ritsuka's small hands uncurled slightly so that he would be able to lift his head. Soubi picked him up gingerly and carried his him over to the couch where he let the boy curl up on his lap. Eyes began to droop while hands unfurled as Ritsuka began to doze off. With lips slightly parted, Ritsuka whispered, "Thank you Soubi." before his world once again, went black…

Ritsuka awoke and jumped up, once realizing his surroundings. "Where am I!?"

He looked around, a dark 8x8 cell with a clasp in the bars for food to slide in. There was a tatami mat on the floor with a complimentary pillow and blanket.

"That dream again…It comes almost every night, so I don't know why I'm still confused when I wake up. I wonder where Soubi is; is he even still alive?"

SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR

Soubi had been a wreck the last couple of weeks. He had been searching for Ritsuka everywhere, but all of his leads turned up dead ends. He still dreamed of that night…

"Thank you Soubi."

Soubi smiled as he felt his little kitten snuggle closer. "I don't remember the last time I had been this happy."

He looked up suddenly, realizing that something was wrong. He heard a sound outside, so he put a blanket over Ritsuka before getting up and checking it out. He slowly opened the door to find, nothing.

"Strange." He thought, but just as he was about to close the door, a hand with long, slender fingers shot out and grabbed a hold of the handle, forcing his way in.

All of the ruckus woke poor Ritsuka up, and as he finally realized what was going on, his eyes widened in pure terror.

A blonde man, equal to Soubi's height, walked in with a pale man with long, dark hair and a black trench coat in toe.

"So, we meet again." the dark haired man smirked.

"Who are you?" Soubi growled, anger building up inside of him.

"Akame Nisei and you are Soubi. How nice to finally meet you."

"Nisei, stop talking. We have work to do. Get the boy, Master is getting impatient." The blonde man's eyes glinted as he watched Soubi's face go from angry to confused, to surprised.

"Yes, Agatsuma Soubi, that means that I will be taking away your precious Ritsuka. Speaking of Ritsuka, where is our 'little' experiment?

"Aw, but Ritsu-sensei, we just got here. Can't we stay and play with Soubi's body before we go? It's been ages since I've gotten to torture someone!"

"Silence! You lost those privileges when you let number 12 escape! Now, Master is already pissed, let's not worsen his mood."

Nisei let out a deep sigh and went in search of Ritsuka. Soubi had stayed silent, partially because he was taking in all of the information that he had just overheard, and partially because he was afraid for Ritsuka's life. He'd had hoped that Nisei would bypass the cute, little, black ears that were peeking out from behind the dark blanket, but his senses were impeccable and pulled Ritsuka out instantly.

"Ha, gotcha! Now, come with us peacefully, and you Soubi won't get hurt."

Ritsuka stopped thrashing about and looked at Soubi regretfully. Shiny pearls slid down his face. "Goodbye Soubi. Thanks for everything, and I'm sorry that I got you mixed up in all of this. Please, don't look for me…"

Nisei put Ritsuka down and he silently walked out of the apartment. Ritsu-sensei followed, and Nisei took the rear, but not before leaving Soubi a present.

"Ugh!"

Ritsuka whipped his head around to find Soubi on the floor, writhing in pain and holding the back of his head. Nisei slipped the crowbar back into his trench coat and walked out without a word.

"You promised not to hurt him!" Ritsuka screamed. He tried to run to Soubi's side, but Ritsu-sensei stopped him.

"I never promised anything, number 12." Nisei grinned from ear to ear.

"You bastard!" Ritsuka went after Nisei, claws erect and ready to strike, but Ritsu-sensei picked him up before any damage could come to his servant.

"Enough. Leave him number 12."

The last thing Soubi saw were the tears that Ritsuka cried for him.

A/N- Wow, sorry for the uberly long delay. I've actually had this chapter written for months, but then I had medical problems and had to have brain surgery in August, so yea, my bad for not updating. BUT I have the next chapter written, and there will be a traitor, but on who's side, Soubi's or Master's? Keep reading to find out! And thanks again for all the support and patience!