This chapter is called…

Oh no someone dies!1

"You might as well enjoy the fall…"

Ritsuka tried to scream – possibly for the last time – but his lungs failed him; instead, he clung to Nisei as best he could, chest heaving frantically. It was hard to swallow the fact that he was going to die before he'd done anything significant in his life. And then he was still a virgin, which even in his panic he nearly groaned at. It was too late for Seimei to come, but he wished he could have at least said a proper goodbye before Seimei had left. Too late now.

But then both boys were yanked backwards and Nisei's squawking elevator to an almost painful level. He kept his hold on Ritsuka but was panicking now too, trying to wrench around and see who was dragging him backwards. The person was strong but he was shaking, hands pulling at Nisei's clothes and hair. But they were slowly inching back towards solid ground and Ritsuka cried out in relief when he was now being held over damp soil. He could still hear the ocean roaring like a caged beast, but now it sounded a little bit relaxing instead of terrifying.

"Get your hands off of me!" Nisei yelled, dropping Ritsuka to attempt getting himself free. Ritsuka groaned as he hit the ground and rolled onto his back to see what exactly was going on.

The businessman who had been with Nisei earlier was holding the screaming and thrashing sociopath tightly, despite the shaking. For all Nisei was cunning, it wasn't cutting it anymore; Takaya clearly had the upper hand. Without thinking, Ritsuka stumbled to his feet, lunged himself towards the long-haired man and wrenched his arm into a painful-looking position, satisfying in the sickening crack it produced. Nisei tried to bite him since both his hands were being held down but Ritsuka made sure his limbs were far enough from the man's sharp teeth. He was so blinded by rage that even when the arm started turning a vicious purple color he kept on twisting and yanking on it until it hardly looked like an arm at all, Nisei whimpering pathetically. Soon they were far away from the cliff and Takaya pinned Nisei to the ground and held him there.

"What are you doing? Now he's going to run off and rat us out! I'm too young and beautiful to go to prison," the captured man whimpered, pulling uselessly against the hands holding him down. Ritsuka sneered down at him.

"It's wrong, Nisei…I'm sorry. But you'll be fine." He was lying, but at least Ritsuka would believe him.

"It's wrong? Says the thieving drug-addict, but apparently that's so much better," he sneered, no longer trying to get free. Takaya merely shook his head sadly, but maybe more at himself than at Nisei.

"At least I don't take people's lives away from them."

He then pressed his hand against Nisei's mouth – wary of the teeth – and pinched his nose until the long-haired man could no longer struggle and fell unconscious, head lolling off to one side. He then careful got up, making sure the man wasn't just faking it, before turning to the young Aoyagi boy who was sitting on the ground, touching his wounds.

"Are you okay?" he rumbled, holding out his hand. Ritsuka took it and stood up, still a bit dizzy, but the businessman's hands steadied him.

"No…" he moaned, fingering the gash on the back of his head.

"I'll get you to a hospital, alright? They'll patch you up and then your parents can come pick you up and take you home."

Ritsuka blinked stupidly as the man began walking away, pulling keys out of his pant pocket.

"Wait…" The man turned around, eyebrows raised. "Who are you?"

Takaya scratched the back of his head, eyeing Seimei's brother tiredly. He really wished he could just drop the kid off and go before Seimei came and made it a long, excruciatingly painful day for him. Ritsuka would no doubt tell him he was one of the men who had kidnapped him and now Seimei would pull all the strings at his disposition to catch him – it wouldn't just be something he had to do anymore; it would be his top priority. Takaya shivered and thought of his daughter waiting for him at home.

"You already know my name," he muttered. Ritsuka nodded shyly. "I'm the President of an electric company – for now. I have a daughter and a wife – is that enough?"

"Nisei called you a thieving drug-addict…why?" Ritsuka pushed again, dragging his nails on the dried blood caked all over his face. It gathered under the nail and made it look as though he'd attacked someone – and he had.

For some reason, despite Ritsuka being Seimei's younger brother, the businessman somewhat liked the young teenager. The two siblings were so different - looks excluded – that it was hard to believe they were siblings at all. The ocean was still making an awful lot of noise in the background and Takaya wanted to yell at it to shut up.

"Because I am. I spent all my money on drugs, and to get rid of my debt I contacted your brother and, once he was done, never held up my end of the bargain. He sortof has it in for me," Tayaka laughed humourlessly. It was a dry kind of humour, he'd tell you.

"Seimei? Maybe it's another Seimei!" Ritsuka screamed, nervously jumping from one foot to the other now. Takaya blinked. "Seimei likes to read and then comes home and plays with me. He's not a bad person. You're accusing the wrong man!" he snapped.

"Seimei Aoyagi, that's whom I'm referring to. You don't know much about him, do you?"

He wasn't sure what possessed him to say that. The kid looked heartbroken, if anything.

"I do! I know everything about Seimei!" the boy spat, tail fluffed in anger. "And besides, if he did you a favour the least you could do is do what you agreed to do. Thank you very much for saving me, but I won't go with you to the hospital."

And then Ritsuka stormed off, leaving a stunned Takaya standing with his back to the edge of the cliff. Ritsuka was making his way towards the parking lot, which he'd remembered while Nisei was dragging him, but before he reached it he circled it and met the highway instead. He didn't want to see Takaya before he left. If he'd had any confidence in his potential driving skills he might have taken the keys off Nisei's body and tried to drive his car home, but he was alive for now and wanted to keep it that way. When he thought of hitchhiking home, he shivered violently in fear, which in turn insulted his virility.

"I'm not scared!" he yelled at no one in particular. Although, the thought of climbing into a car with a total stranger would be scary for anyone…right?

He decided against it, so he pulled out his cell phone and dialled the only number on speed dial as he was walking a safe distance away from the cliff where he was certain Nisei wouldn't find him, should he wake up.

xXxXxXxXxXx

After causing a total of seven accidents and running over one dog and two skunks, Seimei finally parked his car in front of a paint store and slammed his hand so hard into the car's radio that it cracked and he was left without a radio for an undetermined length of time. He then lay his head against the window, eyeing his mother's ugly steering wheel cover disdainfully. He'd checked every place Nisei had ever been for as long as he could remember and found nothing. Not a single lead. And knowing that it was out of his control was so infuriating that his tail was permanently rigid in anger. He'd called Ritsuka's cell phone but it hadn't picked up, and now it was late at night and his brother was out with his unstable Fighter.

A young woman came towards the car after seeing him abuse the stereo and knocked on the window as if wanting to talk to him – and she did. Seimei instinctively went to start the car but instead opened the car door as fast as he could. The door hit the woman with a loud bang and she was propelled backwards, too stunned to say anything. He then slammed the door shut again and locked the doors, ignoring her indignant screams. She ran off towards her friends, yelling and pointing and stomping. They all took their bags and left, glaring daggers at him.

When his phone rang he nearly banged his head on the steering wheel. The distinctive ringtone indicated who the caller was, so he pulled the phone out of his pocket and pressed the 'talk' button almost hard enough to break it.

"Ritsuka!" he snapped into the phone. He could almost hear his brother cringe.

"I'm, umm….can you pick me up?" He sounded dazed but otherwise healthy and Seimei relaxed – a little.

"What happened?" He opted to ignore Ritsuka's request until he was fully briefed. He could hear the wind picking up wherever Ritsuka was, as well as cars zooming past at top speed. He was near a highway.

"Nothing. I went for a walk and got lost, but then some drunk people roughed me up a bit," he explained as steadily as he could. Even if Seimei hadn't known in advance he was lying, his bad lying skills would have done it.

"You're lying," he accused half-heartedly. "Where's Nisei?" he spat.

"…he's unconscious." Ritsuka sounded defeated.

"Where are you?"

"Route 105, at the observation park near the sea," he recited the large green sign planted next to the highway.

"Don't move," Seimei growled.

He manoeuvred the car out of the parking lot and drove out at slightly less frantic speed towards the well-known highway. At least Ritsuka was safe and Nisei hadn't yet scampered off like a mouse. He refused to admit, even to himself, that his heart had beaten faster than it should while he was looking around. It was very unbecoming, if such a word could ever be used to describe Seimei. But now his head was clear and he could finally drive like a sensible – albeit a very hurried one – person. As he was trying to make the radio work despite it being nearly split in half he remembered a phrase he'd read once.

Love makes us all crazy.

He remembered thinking the author was a fool and a love-struck whelp who could only write well-constructed sentences and apply good metaphors. But now he found that it rang true, although he would argue that he was not, in any sense of the word, crazy. But for him to publically assault a woman, kill animals and possibly people in his hurry and destroy a radio was pretty damn crazy, all things considered.

He was almost at the park when he spotted Ritsuka standing like a scarecrow on the side of the road, looking positively lost. Seimei cursed and slowed down, ignoring the angry honks that resounded. Ritsuka recognized Misaki's car and got into the passenger's side, pressing his face into Seimei's shirt as soon as he was buckled in and the door was closed. Seimei noticed that blood matting his brother's silky hair and decorating his face, as well as the various bruises and other wounds all over his body. And then he decided to do something completely unorthodox.

"Let's go home."

And Ritsuka nodded in his shirt, hands clutching the fabric now too. Seimei figured he could always find Nisei again, or trick him into coming back. For now, he just wanted to fix his brother up and make him some food – surely he was hungry. As if in tuned with his thoughts, Ritsuka's stomach grumbled loudly. The younger boy managed a small smile.

Seimei picked up some fast food on the road and watched with one eye still on the road as Ritsuka shoved food down his throat like a starved animal. Normally he would try to get Ritsuka to eat like a civilized person, but for the moment he didn't care enough to act out on it. He was offered a handful of fries and ate them despite hating McDonald's food with a passion, because Ritsuka smiled when he did.

Once they got home, Seimei herded Ritsuka upstairs, picking up some things from the bathroom as they headed to his room. Ritsuka sat on the bed as he disinfected and bandaged most of the wounds and put some ice on Ritsuka's sore shoulder. They were relatively quiet, neither knowing quite what to say. Ritsuka could feel his brother's breath on the back of his neck and shivered involuntarily.

"Are you still hungry?" Seimei rumbled, pulling the icepack away and rubbing his shoulder instead. Ritsuka sighed in relief and shook his head. "Will you tell me what happened now?"

The younger boy looked down at his hands; they were still full of blood. He looked like the werewolves in movies after a full moon night. He owed Seimei an explication but he deigned to give it to him – somehow it felt like his battle, even though he knew he'd just been a pawn in a game between his brother and Nisei. He didn't want to drag Seimei into it, although he already was. He began with waking up upside down and finished with leaving Takaya near the cliff. Seimei was quiet as he listened and never stopped his massage. Ritsuka was sure his brain was working hard despite Seimei's calm, occasionally smiling face.

"…Takaya said you were a bad person, and you wanted to hurt him. I told him he had the wrong person."

Ritsuka was hoping Seimei would agree with him and say that Takaya had the wrong person. But Seimei remained silent, and for the first time Ritsuka felt the elder respond physically to what he was saying: his hands tightened ever so slightly on Ritsuka's shoulder.

"Are you a bad person?" Ritsuka asked under his breath once he thought the silence had gone on long enough. To his surprise, Seimei kissed his ear and hugged him from behind.

"I'm just trying to make the world a suitable place for us," he explained, busying himself by kissing Ritsuka's neck from behind. His brother squirmed and tried to muffle his giggles.

"It's not a suitable place already?" he inquired, ears twitching.

"No – but don't worry, it will be. Your big brother will take care of it," he teased and Ritsuka giggled again. When he stopped, Seimei turned him over so they were facing each other.

"Have you killed people, Seimei?"

It was almost inaudible and Ritsuka was staring at anything but his brother when he asked that. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know, or cared for that matter. What would it change? Seimei wouldn't kill him…would he?

"Have I killed who?" Seimei repeated uneasily.

"People! Men and woman! Humans!" Ritsuka yelled, suddenly frightened. Then Seimei smiled and Ritsuka frowned, puzzled.

"Yes." Then he pressed his lips against Ritsuka's, his tail flicking gracefully behind him. The youngest brother was still for a while before he responded, kissing back somewhat stiffly. He blindly grabbed Seimei's tail as it flicked close by and rubbed it, causing Seimei to groan. When Seimei's mouth invaded his mouth, he crawled into the taller boy's lap and wrapped his arms around his neck, moaning softly. Ritsuka whined softly when Seimei pulled away.

"You're not upset?" he asked the hazy-minded teenager in his lap. Ritsuka blinked stupidly.

"…about what?" he mumbled, kissing Seimei's neck. Seimei just smiled again.

"Let's go to bed," he breathed into Ritsuka's cat ear; it twitched as the hot breath hit it.

"What? No," he whimpered, busy trying to pull Seimei's shirt up. Seimei let him take it off since he'd be sleeping without it anyway. When he lay down, Ritsuka looked at him, horrified. "You were distracting me!" he gasped.

"Take of your shirt and sleep with me," Seimei insisted, patting the spot on the bed next to him. Ritsuka obeyed, although grudgingly and when he was on the bed Seimei pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him.

xXxXxXxXx

"Did you see that report on the news last night? It's gross!" a short-haired girl yelled while opening a carton of milk. A couple of classmates, Ritsuka included, looked up from their lunches to look at her.

"What are you talking about?" inquired the freckle-faced in front of Ritsuka. The girl shook her head in disbelief.

"It was all over the news, like, all day! This kid found out that his parents were – get this – brother and sister. And now there are masses hanging out in from of their home saying that it's wrong and trying to get them arrested. I mean, it's not worth arresting over, but," she paused to take a sip of her milk. People were listening intently now, ears pricked forward (except those who had none anymore), "it's just gross. I'd never think about sleeping with like, my brother, or even kissing him. And the parents were saying that it shouldn't make any difference but it does, doesn't it? Besides, there's a chance the kid has like…fucked up chromosomes, or something."

People were nodding and vocalizing their agreement bit Ritsuka was just staring at his food, suddenly feeling very queasy. He thought of Seimei's smiling face, his slightly wavy hair, the way he walked so gracefully, how he always cleaned everything, his kisses…he looked at the trashcan, wondering if he should have it next to him.

"Some people are just fucked up," the freckle-faced boy declared, and half the room nodded their heads. He then turned to Ritsuka, sandwich in hand. "Imagine if you slept with your brother. I mean, he's good looking and all, but…like, ew, right? My sister's a nerd so I cringe even thinking about it," he snorted, licking mayonnaise off one of his fingers. Ritsuka just shrugged.

When the school day was over, Ritsuka declined all offers to walk home with him and walked alone, head bowed. It was wrong, wasn't it? He'd assumed that it would always be okay and that people would accept it because it was love and it shouldn't matter. But no one would ever accept him sleeping with his brother once he did, and on top of that they were both boys. He wondered if they were both severely fucked up and just hadn't realized it yet. No, he hadn't been fucked up as a child; it was all Seimei's doing…

"How was school today?"

Ritsuka glared at Seimei over his homework; his brother was standing in his room, a towel drying off his hair. He was smiling again. He was just going to ignore him when Seimei leaned down and kissed him, slipping one hand into his hair. His tail fluffed and he shoved his brother off with his hands, seething.

"Stop it! This is all your fault! I was fine before you came and fucked me up. You like messing with people's heads, and you're messing with mine – but I won't stand for it! Get out! Unlike you, I'm normal and I like girls who aren't related to me."

When Seimei didn't move, Ritsuka pushed his body out his room and slammed the door, oblivious to the tears dripping down his face. He listened but could only hear Seimei's regular breathing.

What am I hoping for? That he'll beg for me to let him in? But I don't want that…I think…

But Seimei didn't ask to be let back in; in fact he didn't say anything. He walked towards his room and Ritsuka heard his online game come on. Seimei was acting like nothing was wrong. He even took out his cell phone and talked to someone on the other line in a perfectly even voice.

"He really was just messing with me…"

Eeeeeeendddd…for now.

Lol I was joking, no one dies.

…I don't know how it's going to end, or even if it will end. I'm so confused. I was thinking of bringing Ritsuka's Fighter but…I mean…how off topic can I get without it getting boring? Seriously. I thought of killing Ritsuka. Or Seimei. Or having Seimei leave cause he hurt Ritsuka. Or Ritsuka never wanting to continue relationshipping (not a word) with Seimei. Or the world ending. Or Nisei killing Ritsuka. Or Ritsuka loosing his memories. Or Seimei lying about being in love.

..but hey, read and review and I'll write fast. It strokes my writing ego :) Lol…yes, ego. Thank you for suggestions though, they kinda help. And to every other awesome reader…and whatnot…

It's not a cliffhanger (really)…aren't you so happy?