Fandom: Loveless
Title: Resolution
Pairing: SoubixRitsuka
Rating: overall- NC17; this chapter- R
Timeline: Future AU Although there are hints at some events through volume 4/episode 12, there is no mention of Septimal Moon or Wisdom Resurrection in this story.
Summary: Can Ritsuka forgive Soubi in time to save him?
AN: My first Loveless multi-chapter fic. This story deals with some dark themes, including (but not limited to) graphic violence, abuse, and murder.
Also please remember that the chapter numbering will be off on this website due to the prologue.
-----
Resolution
Chapter 1
"The Dream is Over"
-----
I'll do anything for you, Ritsuka.
I'll give you everything.
My body.
My heart.
My soul.
Everything.
I'll even give my life.
So don't be afraid…
I love you.
-----
... because Seimei told me to...
-----
Five more minutes.
He could spare five more minutes to stare at the heavenly face sleeping beside him.
Ritsuka turned over onto his side, slowly so as not to disturb him. He leaned on his elbow and rested his head in his hand, staring down at his Fighter… his boyfriend… and most recently, his lover.
Almost lover, the seventeen-year-old corrected himself, twitching his ears and tail as a reminder of that fact. For the past six months, they had done everything that lovers could possibly do, except for the one thing that would relieve him of his virginal appendages. Thinking of the night before, and the things that Soubi's mouth and hands had done to make him cry out until he was hoarse, it wasn't long before another part of him began twitching as well.
Trying to ignore his morning growth, Ritsuka smiled warmly as his eyes trailed past Soubi's face to his long blond hair that fanned across the pillow beneath him. He reached out and twirled his fingers around a lock of it, loving the way the silky smooth strands felt against his skin. There was little else in the world that Ritsuka loved more than to lose himself in Soubi's hair, breathing in the faint lavender scent of it. Only the man's startling blue eyes captivated him more.
As if on cue, Soubi's eyelids fluttered briefly before opening, staring up at his young lover in a way that sent a chill down Ritsuka's spine.
"Good morning," he said softly, wrapping his arms around the teen's waist and drawing him closer.
"Soubi." Ritsuka blushed and pulled away, not wanting him to feel his erection. But it was too late; it had already brushed up against Soubi's thigh, prompting a most incredibly seductive smile to form on his lips.
"You should get back before she realizes you're gone," Soubi said, reluctantly loosening his grip on Ritsuka's slender hips.
After a moment of consideration, Ritsuka crawled out of the bed and grabbed the shirt and jeans he wore the night before. He turned away from the bed so that Soubi couldn't see just how aroused he really was beneath the thin material of the shorts he wore. Still, he could feel the man's eyes taking in every inch of him, which did little to soothe his current dilemma.
"I'll be back after school," he said, carefully fastening his jeans and yanking his shirt down over the noticeable bulge in his crotch before turning around.
Soubi yawned and rolled onto his back, stretching out his long, lean body. "Alright. I'll cook dinner then."
Ritsuka kept his eyes trained on Soubi's, although he was painfully aware of the man's own urgent situation beneath the sheet that covered him. He bent over the bed and allowed him a quick, chaste kiss before walking to the door.
"I love you, Ritsuka."
Ritsuka paused with his hand on the door to the small, one room apartment. His cheeks glowed scarlet and he lowered his head, causing his hair to fall forward and conceal his face.
"Love you too," he whispered before bolting out of the door, far too embarrassed to look up and see the stunned look on Soubi's face.
-----
He had just managed to make it back into his room when Misaki began her ritual morning pounding on his bedroom door. While her violent administrations had dwindled considerably over the years, her paranoia was still very much alive.
"Ritsuka! Wake up! You'll be late for school!" she shouted fearfully.
"I'm up," Ritsuka calmly called out, not wanting to upset her further. "I'll be down in a few minutes," he reassured her.
Upon hearing her retreating footsteps, the teen heaved a large sigh of relief; that had been too close.
He retrieved a different outfit from his closet before shedding the clothes he had worn yesterday. After dressing, he ran a brush through his hair, although the end result was pretty much the same as it had looked before.
Love you too.
Ritsuka blushed again as he recalled his words to the older man, whose face had been rightfully shocked beyond belief. He didn't know why he had chosen that particular moment to finally say what he had felt for years now. It just felt right.
And long overdue.
"Soubi," he said softly, loving the way the man's name fell from his lips, be it a whisper or a moan or a scream-
"Ritsuka!" The suspicion in his mother's voice was stronger now.
"Be right there!" he yelled, hurriedly walking out of the bedroom and downstairs for breakfast.
-----
Soubi made it into his apartment with minimal fuss bearing two armfuls of overflowing grocery bags. It was a bit of a splurge, especially on a graduate student's income, but he rarely got to treat Ritsuka to dinner and wanted to make the most of the occasion.
He kicked the door closed behind him and managed his way into the kitchen area, slamming the bags down on the counter. As he began to put the items away, he found his mind, yet again, wandering back to Ritsuka's bashful declaration of love.
Five long years.
It had been five years since he had first met the boy bound to him by order who would become the man bound to him by love. And in that time, blessedly free from the harsh commands of twisted Sacrifices, Soubi was slowly able to regain a semblance of humanity. He was no longer a zombie, lost without the cruel hand of Seimei to guide him.
He was happy.
Finally, he was happy.
And more importantly...
... he was loved.
-----
"Ritsuka," Soubi said, drying a plate with a towel. "You don't have to do that."
"You cooked. This is the least I can do. You just keep drying."
Soubi regarded his young lover as he bent over the kitchen sink, washing each dish, pot, and pan with all the precision of a surgeon. His dark hair hung down over his face and Soubi reached out, sweeping it across his forehead and out of his eyes.
"Is that an order?" he asked with a smug grin.
Ritsuka gave him a sidelong glance. "Yes," he said, reaching into the water and playfully splashing him with a handful.
"Oh, I see," Soubi said, calmly placing the towel aside and removing his glasses. Before Ritsuka could react, Soubi was behind him, pinning him with one hand and splashing him in the face with the other.
"Soubi!" Ritsuka yelled, trying to squirm out of the strong man's arms.
When he tried to aim a second handful of water at Soubi, he only succeeded at hitting himself in the face, which caused the older man to laugh merrily. Ritsuka was struck once again by the joy in Soubi's voice. It was such a natural sound that it was hard to believe that it had ever taken years to perfect.
"Great," Ritsuka proclaimed, turning around in Soubi's arms and staring up at him through damp, shaggy hair. "I'm all wet now."
Soubi reached for the towel he had placed nearby and slowly wiped the water from Ritsuka's face, hair, and ears, never taking his eyes off of him. "Better?" he asked, running it along the length of Ritsuka's nose and following it with a kiss.
Wrapping his arms tightly around Soubi's neck, Ritsuka leaned in to kiss him. Slow, soft pecks soon gave way to a deep, passionate kiss. Soubi playfully nipped at Ritsuka's tongue; it was something he almost always did as a result of their long-ago conversation about tongue biting, something which never failed to make Ritsuka smile in remembrance.
The lovers quickly fumbled their way over to Soubi's bed, shedding their clothing and falling onto the mattress, entwined in each other's arms and legs, grinding against each other with agonizing slowness.
"Soubi," Ritsuka breathed, unable to wait any longer. "Soubi… Soubi…" He spread his legs and wrapped them around Soubi's waist, thrusting himself up into the man's body and making his intention perfectly clear.
"Ritsuka-" He tried to pull himself out of the teen's unrelenting grip.
"I want this... please," Ritsuka implored him with his amethyst eyes. With a shaking hand, he reached between their bodies and placed Soubi's throbbing erection exactly where he wanted it to go and continued thrusting his own against Soubi's abdomen, causing the older man to shudder and moan uncontrollably.
"I-Is th-that an order?" The older man managed between trembling, smiling down at him.
Ritsuka could only nod and smile in return, pulling him down for a kiss.
-----
Soubi opened his eyes and sat up in the bed, squinting at a clock on the wall.
It was just past midnight.
He turned to look at Ritsuka, who dozed heavily beside him. Soubi reached down and kissed his now earless head.
He had somehow expected that Ritsuka would look drastically different without them. Older. But he looked… exactly like Ritsuka. Only with one missing exception.
Soubi peered in the darkness around Ritsuka's pillows for his ears and frowned when he couldn't find them.
His tail was missing too. Maybe Ritsuka had already put them away while he had slept.
He eased himself out of the bed to use the bathroom. When he was done, he walked into the kitchen area and filled a glass with water. As he raised it to his lips, a figure emerged in the darkness and startled him into dropping it. He barely registered the sting of shards as the glass disintegrated on the hard floor around his feet.
A familiar figure.
One that had died a long time ago.
Soubi's breath gusted out of his mouth as if someone had punched him in the stomach. A shroud of fear and dread enveloped him.
"Sei…Sei…"
Seimei, the beautiful monster himself, his master, his god, stepped out of the darkness and smiled lovingly at Soubi. He put his finger to his lips and motioned toward Soubi's bed, where his little brother slumbered peacefully.
"Soubi," he said softly in his unmistakably angelic voice.
The Fighter dropped to the floor, dimly aware of the warmth of blood from his cut knees pooling around him. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as a lifetime of conditioning destroyed the past five years of his emotional evolution in a single blow.
Seimei grabbed a handful of Soubi's hair and pulled his head up, staring at him with the same deceptively kind face that had been his sole reason for living for years.
To Soubi's dull horror, Seimei held up Ritsuka's ears and tail, which was wrapped neatly around his wrist and hand. "I see you've been busy in my absence, Soubi."
He held Ritsuka's ears to his nose and inhaled deeply, as if savoring the scent of a rose, while his own twitched in response.
"I've been watching you all this time," Seimei said. "You're very beautiful when you pretend that you are an actual living, breathing human being. A most impressive charade if I may say so."
Psychotic anger flashed in Seimei's eyes. "You are Beloved. You are mine. I am very disappointed that you seem to have forgotten this. I left you behind to fight for him. Not to bond with him...
"And certainly not to fuck him."
Soubi's eyes fell upon the bed where Ritsuka slept soundly before being yanked harshly back into Seimei's line of sight.
"How was he? How did he feel? ... How did he taste? I must admit I'm somewhat curious." He turned away coyly and smirked. "Another time," he said. "We will discuss my brother's body another time. We will discuss a great many things in the very near future, Soubi. But for now, you must save him."
Terror raced through Soubi's heart. "Save… him?"
"Yes, you idiot. Did you stop to think that you couldn't just send him home earless and tailless without consequence from my mother? Of course not. You were thinking with your cock. There is no way my mother would let this go without hurting him. Badly. You've endangered him, you selfish bastard. And now you must fix it."
"Fix…?"
"You don't have much time. Go. Now. To my mother's house."
Seimei rubbed his little brother's recently departed tail against Soubi's cheek and smiled sweetly.
"Kill her."
-----
Betrayed - by my soul
The blame - placed on my shoulders
Weight - I will carry all the way to my grave
I cannot be saved- abandoned is my faith
Awaken now the dream is over
- "The Dream is Over" Mushroomhead
-----
AN: While this story is meant to focus primarily on certain atrocities to come, I did want to- however briefly- touch on Soubi and Ritsuka's relationship before Seimei's arrival in this chapter. I could dedicate an entire fic to the development of their relationship alone, but the story I want to tell here is much, much different than just your standard Ritsuka-loses-his-ears-to-Soubi story.