Okay, so maybe I could've been a little more serious about the explanation of my other pole and Loveless and Mom and all that. But, seriously, my mental health was in turmoil. Sarcasm is easy; dealing with two years' worth of sci-fi changes to my life while I was… away, is not. Forgive me.

If you'l still have me, let's try to recap:

I took a two-year vacation to Nowhereville, I mean, I'm not sure, exactly what it is that happened. But upon meditation I think of it in terms of a tree; I was dormant for two years. That sounds so cool, someone's like, 'Hey, where were you for the last couple years, man. I thought we were going to hang out!' then I can be like, 'Yo, man, I was dormant. You can't be hatin' on me fo' dat.'

… I gotta stop learning English from American rap…

Anyway, then I wake up to find I was being abused, well, abused worse than before, by my mother, who had become a complete shut in, holding out for her dead son. Then, there's the whole 'I have another personality that's nothing like me, and happens to be in love with this male college student that can do magic to defeat the evil organization that killed my brother, who, if word on the street is correct, may or may not actually be dead' thing. Yeah… insert mental breakdown here, please. Knowing these things I sincerely hope you'll forgive me for the smart-assing I was doing before.

Let's start this time without (most of) the sarcasm?

I relaxed on the floor next to Natsuo, the calm one, and watched Yoji, the bitchy princess, play the nerd game Wisdom. Not for the first time I felt myself nodding off. It was only five-thirty in the afternoon, but I couldn't sit through the playing of a game where the objective seemed to be socializing and gaining experience points to level up. So far the gaining of points had not involved anything that was even vaguely interesting… period. All of the characters had armor and swords and there was a potion shop on every level/town, but they were more interested in talking to each other than fighting. I had come to the conclusion that the armor and swords and potions were just status symbols; the better you had the higher up you were. But seriously, I did not understand how it was that one actually went about acquiring experience points; they didn't do anything!!! You probably understand when I tell you: I was nearly dead.

So anyways, I was trying to stay alive while Yoji bitched at the screen for some anonymous reason that I, in my comatose state, couldn't ascertain, when Inner Ritsuka… 'stirred' I guess is the right way to articulate what he did. It felt like someone was swishing a feather over my temple from the inside. This is boring, he stated, shifting to the frontline of my consciousness for better reception. I had taken to thinking about how he and I were connected as having a phone in my head. It was pretty much dead on too; there was sometimes a static-y sound over his voice when he was lurking around in certain parts of my brain and the closer he was to my current thoughts the better we could communicate. It was just like a cell phone to have crappy reception even in my head.

No shit? I though back, physically drawing in on myself. I'd noticed a while ago that I tried to bring myself closer to… well, me when I talked to him. I wouldn't have noticed this two years ago, but Inner Rit had, I dunno, tuned my body and mind while I was away; I noticed all kinds of things and was able to link them to things he knew.

There's nothing going on!, he whined, totally pathetic.

Dear gods! Through manner of intense deductive thinking did you come to this astonishing conclusion?! I fired back. Sarcasm is my best friend.

But it was true. After the demonstration of my multiple personalities, Kio and Soubi had retreated to the bed, the one that Natsuo and I were leaning against, to talk about the nature of a 'person' spawning in one's head. Yoji had adopted the PlayStation controller and had refused to let anyone else play. Natsuo had let Yoji do as he pleased and had been encouraging him to play more prudently ever since; his advice went out the window.

God, I groused to Inner me when Natsuo praised Yoji for attacking a girl in princess gear, he's such an enabler.

Can I come—

That is when the phone around my neck began to vibrate and beep.

I nearly died, I swear; I stopped breathing and my heart skipped several beats, way too many for it to be a healthy surprise. People jumping out from behind couches and doors whilst shouting, 'SURPRISE!!!' would've been a healthy surprise. Forgetting that you have a phone around your neck (because it wasn't there the last time you were conscious) and having it ring at max volume making you believe that someone has somehow planted a bomb on you, however, is a good way to have a healthy heart jump out of a healthy person's chest.

Still breathless, I realized I should probably answer it. I grabbed the phone around my neck; it was still ringing and vibrating, and gave a glace around. Everyone was staring at me…. I looked down at the front of my phone.

Incoming Call:

Unknown Name

Unknown Number

I flipped it open anyways, "Uh, hello?" I panted, uncomfortable with the 'Let's-All-Stare-At-Ritsuka' game going on. Inner Ritsuka had passed on his hatred of the spotlight to me; I turned and stopped looking at them looking at me.

"Ritsuka?"

My body involuntarily seized up and my mind blanked, my head felt twelve pounds lighter. The breath in my lungs froze, the room dropped from under me and everything in my vision went white. The voice on the other end was rich and smooth and deep and I swear to every god that ever existed, my heart stopped beating as images of a kind smile, a broad chest, and a long, fluffy tail flooded my mind. They were memories of a better time; when I wasn't so jaded and I had had a family and someone to take care of me. Their sharp contrast with my current reality was cruel.

This voice—the person this voice belonged to, was what had made my home a home. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I blinked them away. He had once told me not to cry, it was a memory from long ago, but it felt like a law.

When he spoke next the smile I knew he wore was evident in his voice, "Hey, Ritsuka, it's been so long. Do you even remember me?"

The laugh that left me then felt more real than anything that had come out of my mouth since I'd been 'awake'. "Of course I remember you, silly, you're my big brother! What kind of person would I be if I forgot you?"

The room focused and I was staring into Soubi's wide eyed face, he looked like a dog who had heard his master coming up the front steps after a long day. I never had liked dogs, they were so stupid. Even when they were abused they were still loyal to their masters. It took death to break that kind of loyalty.

The smile in his voice turned into a grin. "You wouldn't be my little brother."

I laughed again but the sound was stifled. I felt a little disoriented then, but realized what had happened.

"Seimei? Is it… is it really you? Why are you still alive? Why did you fake your death? Why aren't you here? Why didn't you take me with you?" The questions poured from my lips without my permission but I hung back, Seimei was as much Inner Ritsuka's brother as he was mine.

There was a throaty laugh, "Yes, it's really me. I'm alive because I'm not dead. And I'm not there because bad people are after me."

Anger that wasn't quite mine snaked through me and I gripped the phone even tighter, "What did you do, Seimei? Did you know Mom almost killed herself because of you! She almost killed me!"

"Nisei is being punished; there's not much to be done about a disobedient dog when his training isn't yet complete." As he said this his humor faded and there was a steely tinge to his voice.

I took a moment to ask myself—and Inner Rit—who is Nisei? And what did this guy have to do with my mother trying to… kill things.

"Put Soubi on, Ritsuka I haven't much more time."

For a moment I panicked, all thoughts that didn't involve 'phone number' fled me; I didn't know his number. But the soft chuckle that filled my ear reassured me.

"I'll call back—when I have more time, okay?"

Like an idiot I nodded, "Okay…." There was so much racing through my mind, all of it going much too fast for me to understand in my state of chaos.

Inner Ritsuka unhooked the phone from its necklace and held it out to Soubi. When he took it his hands were shaking, not much, but just enough to belie the cool, collected look on his face. For a moment he just stared at the phone, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with it. But, whatever trance he was in was broken after a second and he lifted the phone. "Seimei?" he whispered, holding the phone slightly away from his ear. He was still close enough for me to hear the buzz of a reply, but not the actual words. Whatever Seimei said made Soubi cringe. There, under the look of calmness, there was really, very real, fear. Soubi was still shaking. He blanched as whatever Seimei was saying went on.

"…No. I'm not yours anymore," his said lowly, pained voice trembling just a bit, "I'm Loveless." His voice was breathless, he was breathing shallow and fast. Listening to those few words was hearing the pain and suffering of a child ripped, prematurely, from their mother but trying to be strong. "I wouldn't even if it were physically possible for me to."

There was a pause as Seimei replied and in that moment I wanted more that anything to know what he was saying. Soubi held the phone to his ear, completely. All traces of hesitance and fear left him, all emotion left him completely, whatever Seimei was saying was quickly jading Soubi's fearful, dog-loyal mind. "Your orders are the laws of my existence; you ordered me to love him, and I do, I cannot harm him, not only do I love him because I must, I love him because I love him. He is my Sacrifice." As he told my brother this he stared at my neck, where the word—where my name had appeared in tiny delicate letters.

Whatever Seimei's reply was, apparently it didn't surprise Soubi. But his face grew somber. "Goodbye… Beloved," and he closed the phone and promptly passed out on top of me.