The Sound of a Beating Heart
Chapter two: Sad Diamonds

Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless, any other characters are purely fictional.
A/N: This is an original AU fic. I'm putting in some pronunciation help for the French words in the story.

Montmartre - môN - mahrt (with a soft t)
Mme - French abbreviation for Madame
Francs - The form of currency used in France at the time

"Yayoi!" Charlotte proclaimed, giving her companion a light smack on the arm. They were backstage at the Dansuer, a cabaret styled club. Not many people had arrived for the evening yet. The two hid behind the giant red velvet curtain on the stage.

The boy frowned and rubbed his arm. "Is that necessary?"

"Perfectly!" Charlotte smiled wide.

"Ah, now now!" Interrupted a middle aged woman. "I say I accepted you two here to be the pretty little things you appear to be, not the mischievous demons you really are!"

Charlotte gave a polite curtsy and a dazzling smile. "We apologize Madame Sigismund." Charlottes tongue wrapped difficultly around the German surname. "I promise once it's time to start dancing I'll become flirty and charming. Much like a butterfly ripping free from it's cocoon, no?"

"Ja, that's perfect!" Her plump rosy cheeks smiled. Mme Sigismund was a lithe German woman with a strong bone structure. After the untimely and suspicious death of her husband shortly after their marriage she moved to Paris and opened up The Dansuer. "It's a shame that the only thing that draws these men to you butterflies is dancing the can-can. Who wants flying frocks and peeks of bloomers when you could watch a performance of Faust?" She tacked on sarcastically.

Yayoi secretly cocked an eyebrow and kept his eyes to the side, he didn't like looking Sigismund in the eye. Charlotte was the speaker of this duo.

Charlotte shrugged dramatically. "If keeping the frocks flying keeps the francs flowing then I don't see a problem." Sigismund nodded her head up and down, while walking away with a slight giggle.

Yayoi tapped Charlotte's leg with his foot. "What is Faust?"

Charlotte shrugged.

"Anyway, what did you want?" Yayoi's brow furrowed and his lips pursed with dissatisfaction of being bothered.

"See that man?" Charlottes delicate finger pointed to a large burly man sitting with another gentleman.

"Wow, he's ugly. What about him?"

"He told me last night, 'Charlotte your friend, he isn't like you is he? Why he's a dancer and still has his ears!', like I'm supposed to feel bad about not having them anymore or something. But anyway I agreed and he told me, 'I'd like for nothing more than to have him in my bed, so young and beautiful!'" Charlotte erupted into fits of giggles while she watched her friends face turn green.

"That's enough, quit it!" Yayoi pleaded.

"No it's not enough! C'mon Yayoi, can't you picture losing your precious ears to him? All sweaty beneath the sheets with a man that has a stomach larger than you are? I bet his fur could keep you warm!" Yayoi gagged, earning a loud laugh from the girl. "I bet the poor man hasn't even seen Ugly Jr. in years."

"Ugly Jr.?"

"You know, his thing! The thing that he wants to go poking on you with so much."

Yayoi drew back in horror with his mouth fallen open, his hands flew up to cover his ears. "Ugh! Charlotte, gross! Stop making things up!"

"Okay so maybe he didn't say that exactly. But it's my woman's intuition, I read his mind. All of these bastards think alike, ya' know?"

He frowned. "That is true. They come in here with pockets full of money and think whichever can give away the most of it to whomever will pay attention to the bastard wins."

"Dancers aren't for love."

"No they aren't."

"And who said they were anyway? Dancing is about being a moving piece of art. Bourgeoisie bastards only think with their-"

"Charlotte don't get started." Yayoi frowned.

Charlotte heaved a great big sigh. "I'm sorry." Her eyes floated downward, and her shoulders stooped down.

Yayoi knelt quickly by her side and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I'm stuck here too you know. And the others too. You're not as alone as you think you are."

She smiled weakly. "Thanks. So are you ready for another night of the drunken can-can?"

He stood back up, and his eyes scanned The Dansuer as it began to fill and the dancers skittered about backstage getting ready. "More ready than you are, I bet." He smiled.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Dear Ritsuka,

There are not many things I am aloud to say about what has happened. Please do not be frightened. Right now you are on a craft that is rare in Japan, an airplane. It is bound for a city named Paris in the country of France. The area you will be staying in is called Montmartre. I know that you'll be kept safe. But, I'm sorry for anything negative that may happen to you. Please understand.

I love you,
Soubi

Ritsuka gazed with empty eyes at the cold and impersonal note from Soubi. It had been given to him by one of his captors. Any time Ritsuka landed eyes on them, the cat boy wrinkled his nose in distaste. Not only were they responsible for his abruptly leaving Gion, they looked like bizarre commodities. He'd been told of these people before, but had never seen one. People who's skin would not need the pale make-up of a geisha, and naturally round eyes. He didn't even know the proper name for them. There were plenty of them to see now. He did not know what a 'plane' was either. The whirring of the blades and the roar of the engine frightened him, and all he could see out of the pilots window was sky. The plane he was on was very simple. One single large area with a single pilot, and a door leading outside. With him were the two men that had pulled him away, the man with the bear voice, and the pilot.

The pair with the bony hands had equally as bony bodies. Malnourished slaves with foul mouths and far from outstanding personalities. They seemed to like to spit a lot, wetting the ground. Ritsuka had wished that they kept the blindfold on him so he didn't have to watch it. He had learned the third man was named Lucien. Lucien may have had the deep roaring voice of a bear, but his body was lithe. He did however have thick dark hair on his arms, chest, and face. He had given the order to knock Ritsuka out. Even so, Ritsuka couldn't feel that he was a menacing threat. Lucien actually gave off a warm fatherly feeling.

Ritsuka had in that horrifying instant, sunk back into the old Ritsuka. The taste of blood in his mouth, the ache in his head, and the fear for his life in this strange metal room took a huge psychological toll on the boy. So he had reverted into his former self, Ritsuka before he met Soubi and was bought from Mieko. Before he came to his okiya, and before Soubi taught him what love was. He sat in the very back of the plane, knees drawn up to his chest and arms wrapped protectively around them. Typically he kept his face down, but on occasion he peeked up to stare with seething hatred at his captors and fear towards the window of passing sky. In his right hand he clutched Soubi's letter, crinkling the paper and giving it small tears. I love him so muchRitsuka would think. But then he would remember his situation and how Soubi let these men take him. He remembered his lover's silence and cold tone in the letter. These thoughts made tears sting at his eyes, and they fell from his face straight down on to the silk yukata that was now soiled with dirt and body oils.

He's sorry? He's sorry?! Please understand?! How does he expect me to understand anything that's going on. What's going to happen to me? Who are these people taking me to? Ritsuka's heart began to beat faster and faster and he began to panic. How can he ask me not to be frightened?! The cat boy's breathing quickened, but he barely noticed. Why did you let me be captured? Did he... Ritsuka's train of thought froze as well as his breathing. The two bony men and Lucien gave him looks out of the corner of their eyes to make sure their merchandise wasn't defected. Ritsuka's eyes darted back down into his lap and he squeezed into an even tighter shape. That must be it. He sold me. He got me cheap, made me famous, and sold me to some strange foreign country for a high price. The geisha mentally slapped himself. That can't be it. Soubi loves me. He told me so. He said, "I could never get rid of you Ritsuka." He promised to stay with me forever. Ritsuka wrinkled his nose. I guess what they say is true. A geisha is not free to love, ever. We sell what we sell and leave patrons to their lives. I'm so stupid. He wished sorely that he could return home.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The okiya was dark. Natsuo and Youji were out doing their nightly duties as artists of charm. Yuiko had locked herself in her room, refusing to clean. She only came out to grab her dinner and to relieve herself. Kio and Soubi sat across from each other at the low kitchen table. The only light was the candle burning between them, sending off dancing shapes of light on the planes of their faces. Ritsuka had been gone for two days. But this time he hadn't run away, a terrible sinking feeling in their stomachs informed them otherwise.

Soubi held in his hand a letter, written on paper that seemed to have been aged on purpose and was scented like flowers. Kio could see the writing on it from it's backside, due to the candle light. He flipped a lock of hair from in front of his eyes and squinted impatiently. What frustrated and frightened him was that the letter was in a language he did not know, the characters on the page were completely alien to him. Soubi seemed to know what he was reading though, to an extent.

Kio swallowed and sat the bowl down on the table hard to bring his friend's attention to himself, "Soubi."

The man looked up and raised his eyebrows. His face held a drained and emotionless expression.

"What's going on?"

Soubi frowned. "The world is coming to an end."

"What are you talking about?!" His expression hardened.

"There are things you don't know Kio. About me, about ... Ritsuka. Things I wish I didn't know."

Kio's cheeks reddened in mild anger, but he kept his head. "I'm quick to learn, so tell me. I don't see what could be so terrible that you'd keep it from me."

"I'm not keeping anything from you specifically. Ritsuka is safe at the moment." Soubi took another bite of fish.

"What do you mean for the moment? Quit avoiding whatever your thinking about. What's going on?"

The blond looked contemplative, but kept silent.

"Soubi. Where is Ritsuka?"

The man peeked out of the open door to the courtyard in mid twilight. "I'm not good with judging the timing of these new things. He may be there already, he may not be."

Kio's brow wrinkled. "What do you mean new things? At least tell me where he is going."

"A European country called France."

The youth looked even more confused. "Europe? France? Where is that? Is it a new island on the coast or something?"

Soubi smiled a small smile at Kio's unfamiliarity with the planet he called home. "Not quite. It is another nation entirely, roughly 6,000 miles away."

Kio's eyes swelled and he spit up his rice. "What?! Soubi! Why? What on Earth is he that far away for? What's he doing?"

The blonde shook his head. "Ritsuka doesn't know it, but he's spending some bonding time with his older brother."

"Aoyagi? Aoyagi Semei? You can't be serious. This is a joke."

Soubi fiddled with his fingernails, an unusually nervous gesture for him.

Kio bit his lip. This wasn't good. "Then he isn't safe. He doesn't even know yet does he? How could you put him at risk like that?"

"No, he doesn't know. I wasn't the one who came up with this."

"Then who is?"

"Semei asked for Ritsu to find him, and he did. Ritsu wanted him and I had no choice but to give Ritsuka to him."

Kio stared with a blank face. Shock had absorbed him.

"Life and everything it dictates is always changing. You know that." Soubi kept his eyes to the side.

"Apparently not. You're still Ritsu's slave. You're still Semei's slave too. You've given up the one person who actually cared for you and for what? Some kind of cheap thrill or a bit a pleasure?"

The blond occupied his mouth with a piece of fish.

Kio's face crumpled. "Your not even Soubi anymore are you? Your some kind of monster." His face reddened with anger, and he stared nastily at his friend. Finally, with no words to say he stood up from the table and stormed down the hall to his bedroom. Soubi stared blankly out of the open door as it began to rain a cold rain in the courtyard.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Stop that." Semei said, his nose wrinkled in disgust.

"What is it? What did I do wrong?!" Nisei's eyes widened.

The former sighed. "You eat too much. Your beautiful frame will become fat if you don't watch out."

Nisei nodded quickly, and dropped his fork full of cake onto the plate. Nisei had messy dark hair and dark eyes that were, most of the time, widened in a crazed state or in fear. Despite the warning in his partner's words, he remained rail thin no matter what. "When is he," his words threw knives mentioning that man, "sending the new arrival?"

"Ritsu should have acquired our little porcelain prize days ago. If all went well the plane should have already arrived, at a private and out of the way location." The left corner of Semei's mouth rose in a small smile.

Nisei rolled his eyes. "Why hide it. No police are worried about any kinds of trafficking right now, not with that invasion or whatever these smelly people are worried over."

"The French government apparently has some man by the name of Adolf Hitler on their watch list, in a country named Germany." He shrugged. "I'm not worried."

"There are too many countries in this place. Why didn't we set this up in Japan? Why are we here?"

"Courtesans of beauty are widely available back home, but the French treat these women and boys like sick obsessions. Their ready to throw any amount of money away for pleasure here. No worries over things like grace and reputation." He took a sip of tea and set his cup back down on the table. "He's here."

No more than a few moments later a hard knock sounded on the door frame. Lucien's tall frame filled the door way. Nisei wrinkled his nose and turned his head away. He mumbled under his breath, "I can't stand that smell." Without moving his eyes from Lucien's Semei reached across the table and knocked Nisei's tea cup off of the table, spilling tea into his lap and causing the cup to crash into tiny pieces on the floor. Nisei's eyes bulged and he gritted his teeth, he stood up from the table knocking his chair back and bolted to an adjacent room. Semei smiled. "You do have to punish people sometimes don't you?"

Lucien remained silent and nodded. "He's a bit shaken and dirty, but other than that he's in perfect condition."

"As expected, send him in."

Lucien stepped to the side, to reveal Ritsuka who had been hiding behind him like a frightened child. His brows wrinkled in confusion and his eyes strained to recognize the somewhat familiar stranger across the room.

"It's okay, precious Ritsuka. I'll keep you safe. Here, come to me." Semei's personality had shifted completely. He gave off a warm exuberance, and a comforting feeling of being home. Gingerly, as if he were stepping on glass, Ritsuka took a step. His arms wrapped around his torso defensively, his safety blanket. "My name is Seimei." He continued. "And this is you new home. Welcome." He smiled. Ritsuka took a few small steps, to be a few feet into the room. He looked around at all the western styled furniture and decorations that reminded himself of Soubi's study, only absent the smell of smoke. Ritsuka's delicate features hardened.

"There's no need to be afraid. I'll show you your real talent, and lead you to discover a world you never dreamed would exist."

For those who don't keep up with the manga, Nisei was introduced in volume 5 and is created by Yun Kouga. He is not one of my originals. These first few chapters are a bit angsty, but lighter chapters are to come. Writing for this is coming along very slowwwlyyy. I have NO time on my hands. But I hate being off schedule so I'm doing this all for you guys :)

PREVIEWS FOR CHAPTER THREE - TUESDAY OCTOBER 21ST, 2008
What Semei didn't know about he couldn't stop.

"Mr. Priss is really in trouble isn't he?"

"Keep up your end of the deal."

"...but of course I won't make you do what the others participate in..."