Disclaimer: Still don't own Loveless. :(

And thanks to everyone who reviewed! Don't worry, nothing happened between Yayoi and Ritsuka. xD

Enjoy the chapter!

Morning Surprise

Chapter III

Ritsuka kept hesitating knocking on the door. He came here specifically to see Soubi, and now he was curious to figure out why Yayoi was there, but the yelling coming from inside the small apartment was giving him second thoughts. It didn't seem like he was going to walk in on anything…disturbing, but he could tell there was a bit of a fight going on inside.

Just as he was about to try and knock (for probably the tenth time), he heard Youji say, "Come on, Natsuo. Let's get out of the house while they continue their little fight."

He backed up just in time as Youji opened the door, Natsuo close behind him.

"Oh, hey, Ritsuka. What are you doing back here?"

"None of your business!" Ritsuka yelled, pushing past them and stomping inside the apartment.

Once inside, he stopped and stared. Yayoi was standing there, looking like he usually did after being rejected by Yuiko. This time, however, there were no ears to droop down close to the boy's head.

"Y-Yayoi… You too?" he asked after several minutes of silence.

Yayoi nodded and pointed to Kio. "All because of that pervert!"

Kio looked offended.

"It's all your fault you little brat! 'Suki Dayo, Kio! Suki Dayo! Do whatever you want with me!'" he mocked.

"You got everyone drunk, including me!" Yayoi shouted back.

Kio winked. "Alcohol loosens you up to expose your true feelings."

"That's enough!" Soubi exclaimed.

The two immediately stopped their squabbling. They didn't like the tone in Soubi's voice. Kio fell down on his knees in front of Soubi, hugging his foot.

"Sou-chan! I didn't mean to make you angry! I know I shouldn't have gotten everyone drunk last night. Forgive me?!"

Soubi pushed Kio off of his foot angrily. Yayoi quickly walked over to Ritsuka to avoid the older man.

"Where's Yuiko-san at?" he asked.

Ritsuka paused for a moment before answering. He was still in shock from everything that was happening today.

"Uh…she went to your house… We were both going together but then I ran over here instead."

"She what?! No! I can't go home now! I'll kill myself if she sees me like this!" Yayoi screamed.

Before Ritsuka could say anything, Yayoi rushed out of the house, screaming. He's always had serious issues, Ritsuka thought briefly before turning back to Soubi.

"Kio, just please get out right now." Soubi said, looking over at Ritsuka.

Kio looked up at his friend. "Why?! What are you gonna do to the poor kid now, pervert?!"

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were you. You went and did the exact same thing. The only difference is that I love Ritsuka and you have no idea who that other kid is!"

The man stood up, but kept his head down. He knew he'd lost, and what's worse was that he'd become what he always yelled at his friend for being – a pervert. Well, maybe Soubi wasn't really a pervert. More of a pedophile, though that really wouldn't be the best wording either. He'd never fully understand Soubi, so it was best to keep away when things like this happened.

"Fine, I'm leaving. I'll just…stay away for a while…" Kio said, walking out the door and closing it softly behind him.

Ritsuka took the opportunity to catch Soubi off-guard and ran to him, hugging him tightly. The older man jumped slightly. He never expected Ritsuka to do something like that. Looking down at the boy, he hugged him back, happy that Ritsuka was the one hugging him for once. The teen kept his eyes shut. He wanted to stay there forever, just him and Soubi holding each other.

"Soubi…I-I love you…" he blurted out.

Feeling something wet splash onto his hair, he looked up to see Soubi crying.

"Soubi…?"

"Ritsuka…" Soubi whispered. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that. I thought you hated me."

Ritsuka jerked his head up, still holding on tight to the man. "Soubi, I could never hate you…"

Soubi looked down at him. "Even after what happened last night?"

"Of course not!" Ritsuka yelled, shaking his head. "I…uh… I don't care that you were the one who took my ears. I'm just mad because we were both drunk at the time…"

Without a word, Soubi scooped the boy into his arms, hugging him as tight as he could. After a few moments, hugging wasn't enough, and the two soon found themselves deeply involved in a kiss. The older man was surprised that Ritsuka was kissing him back. Up until now, their kisses had been one-sided.

Maybe what happened last night wasn't so bad after all, Soubi thought. What he thought would ruin their relationship had definitely brought them closer. Even though he'd never again see his Ritsuka with those darling little neko ears and tail, this was certainly worth it.

"Ohayo, Aoyagi-san!"

As Misaki opened the door, she was greeted by a young teenage girl, her long, dark brown hair parted into twin tails. She had a big grin on her face, and was dressed in a long-sleeved dark blue top with equally dark blue jeans. Her outfit was covered by a long, black trench coat.

"What do you want?" Ritsuka's mother asked, glaring at the girl.

The teen ignored the older woman's rudeness, keeping the smile plastered on her face.

"I'm a classmate of Ritsuka-kun! Is he here by any chance?"

"He's not here right now." Misaki answered, slamming the door.

"Pfft! How rude!" the girl muttered, turning away from the door.

She began walking down the sidewalk, meeting up with a slightly older girl at the corner.

"Riko-chan! I told you it wouldn't work! His mother's too crazy!"

The older one sighed. She was two years older than her Sacrifice, but she was the one that always came up with the ideas that never worked.

"Well, Ritsu-sensei is trying to get us to get Loveless over to Septimal Moon! What else are we gonna do?" Riko said.

"We could wait 'til Winter Break ends!" the younger one exclaimed, smiling. "I'm in several of his classes, so it won't be hard for me to talk to him!"

"But Asami-chan! Isn't he mad at you for calling him gay that one time?"

Asami glared at her Fighter. "I'm sure he's forgotten all about it!"

"Soubi…don't you ever turn on the heater?"

The man smiled as Ritsuka pulled the covers tightly around his small body. Amidst their kissing, they'd somehow ended up on the bed again with a repeat of last night – without the alcohol. The two were now huddled up under the covers, trying to keep warm.

"Go turn it on." Soubi said, shivering slightly.

"It's your house."

"You're the one who brought it up."

Ritsuka looked up at him, glaring slightly. "I order you to go turn on the heater."

Soubi quickly jumped up, pulling the only blanket off the bed and wrapping it around him. "Fine, but I have to keep warm while I turn it on." he said, walking over to turn on the heater.

"Soubi! Bring that back!" the boy exclaimed, now shivering visibly.

He took his time turning on the heater and walking back to the bed. Teasing his Sacrifice was always fun with Ritsuka yelling and screaming at him. Ritsuka quickly took the blanket from Soubi as he laid back down, hitting him slightly on the arm.

"You trying to kill me?!"

Soubi grinned at him. "Of course not. Why would I want to kill the one I love?"

The only noise in the small apartment was their giggling as Soubi glomped Ritsuka violently, kissing him on the cheek.

"What are you going to do about your mother?" Soubi asked after a while.

Ritsuka shook his head. "I don't know. She'll kill me if she sees me without my ears. And if she doesn't kill me, I'll definitely be bruised for a while."

"You don't have to go home." Soubi said. "You could always stay here with me."

The boy sat up. "But even if I did, I'd still have to say something to her! And I'd have to get my things, too!" He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"But, Ritsuka, I don't want to see you get hurt anymore. I'm sick of seeing you with bandages all over your face."

Ritsuka gave him a small smile. "Hey, I've been dealing with this for four years already. I'll survive. I'll call you when I get home to let you know if I'm alright, but first I'm gonna stop by Yayoi-san's house to see what happened with Yuiko and everything."

The boy climbed out of bed and got dressed. Soubi looked at him with a worried look on his face.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

Ritsuka shook his head. "I'll be fine!" He walked over to Soubi and hugged him before heading towards the door. "I'll call you later."

"Good-bye. I love you." Soubi called after him.

"Love you, too!"

Ritsuka quickly skipped towards Yayoi's house. He could see Yayoi and Yuiko standing there. The two had apparently been standing there for quite some time – doing absolutely nothing.

"Uh…guys?" He poked them both softly on the shoulder as he came up to them.

"Y-Yayoi-san?" Yuiko asked finally. "What happened to your ears?!"

Yayoi was hanging his head and staring at the ground. "Well…I-uh…got drunk, and…things happened."

"That's almost exactly what Ritsuka said!" Yuiko exclaimed. "It wasn't you instead of Soubi, was it?!"

The two boys jumped back in shock at the idea. "Ewww, no!!!" they said together.

"Then who was it?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"…Some guy named Kio." Yayoi said after a couple minutes of trying to remember the name.

Yuiko stared blankly at her friends. "I'm going home…" she said. "I can't take anymore surprises today."

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A/N: Eh, I don't like how the ending came out, but I had to end it soon since it was already getting to be around 5 pages long. Anyway, what do you think of the new characters? They weren't really planned. When I started this, I didn't plan on having Septimal Moon in it or any original characters, but a friend of mine just suddenly started throwing out ideas to me after she started reading this and before long, Riko and Asami came up. In case anyone's wondering, they both have their ears.

And on the next chapter, it'll be up as soon as possible. I an idea for a Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu fanfic I may start on. Dunno yet. But it'll definitely be up sometime next week! Hopefully before Tuesday.

Now review!