Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless. I own this story. That is all. Oh, and a pair of cat ears. Rawr. XD

Rating: This chapter's actually K+ I believe…mostly conversation.

Note: Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long. We've been moving some stuff into storage because we're going to move in the spring. (Same town, new house). I haven't really gotten a chance to sit down and write, so I wrote it all at school and filled up my fan-fiction notebook. I need to get another one now… ;; Most of my notebook is filled with RoyEd stuff…actually, it's about half-and-half. The other part is a lot of Loveless oneshots and some Office fics. Maybe one day I'll put them in… .

Anyhow, see you at the end of the story!! 3

Loveless-Chapter 2-Learn

Ritsuka woke up with a terrible headache the morning after Soubi and he fought. The sun that was so innocently peeking through the blinds seemed to bite at his skin, and he pulled his thick comforter over his head. Scents of Soubi's mild cologne could still be smelt on it though, so Ritsuka threw it off quickly and frowned, burying his face into his pillow. His pillow shared the same scent, so he angrily threw it across the room.

He had yelled at Soubi--told Soubi he hated him. Their bond as fighter and sacrifice was shrinking again, like when he was younger. Every bone in his body ached to hold Soubi in his arms, tell him how sorry he was, and tell him how much he loved him.

"Stupid Soubi…" He mumbled into the floor, just as his cell phone began to ring.

Looking over at it's position next to his bed, he picked it up and flipped it open. It was Yuiko.

"Ritsuka." She cooed into the phone, sounding resilient and happy as always. "Are you okay? I called Soubi last night and he seemed upset. Is everything all right?"

She's always on to me, isn't she? Yuiko always seemed pretty shard apart from her blonde exterior, but her intuition was almost scary sometimes. She seemed to know every thing that he thought, every thing that went on.

He sighed heavily into the phone's receiver. "I guess you could say that it's not." He laid back down in his bed and pulled his blanket back over his head. Soubi's scent filled his nose and made his heart swell.

"Well…" She said after a long silence. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly. She always had a knack at making Ritsuka feel at ease.

"Sure…I'll just come over, okay? I don't want to risk it with my mom or anything."

"Alright Ritsuka." A happy sigh could be heard from the other end. "See you soon then. Get here safely." She added cheerfully. Ritsuka smiled and hung up the phone.

After a long bath and a tall glass of milk, Ritsuka got dressed and quickly left his house.

Walking down the road, Ritsuka stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was cold outside, and he almost wished Soubi was there to warm him up.

The younger man looked at the ground as memories flooded hi mind. Their first kiss; Soubi's gentle lips upon his own…and how could he forget the first time he had told Soubi he loved him? Ritsuka's body felt feverish as Soubi held him close in his bathtub.

These thoughts were a little too much, and Ritsuka began to cry. He ran the rest of the way to Yuiko's house. Just as he lifted his fist to knock, the door swung open and she stared at his tear-stained face.

"Oh Ritsuka…" She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around the sullen boy, and he didn't hesitate to hug her back, holding her close as if she was Soubi, wishing for a moment that her perfume had a different scent. He almost clawed at her back, trying to get closer to her; To feel more of her.

"Ritsuka, calm down…it's okay." She pushed away from him for a moment and looked up into teary eyes. Ritsuka's lip quivered, and he lowered his face so that she couldn't look into his eyes.

"Ritsuka…please…talk to me." She placed her hand on his damp cheek. "Please…don't keep it all inside."

"Yuiko…" He looked back at her, brushing his hair out of his eyes, and taking her hand. "Okay, but you'll want to sit down. This might take a while to explain. I've got a lot to tell."

Soubi's apartment

Meanwhile, Soubi was lying in his bed in agony. Kio was sitting at the end of it, slumped over; He was tired and just wanted Soubi out of bed.

"Soubi, come on." Kio urged. "Ritsuka's said worse. Why are you letting this get to you so much?" Kio's voice was gentle, but Soubi had heard too much of it and he just snapped.

"Don't you get it Kio?! Ritsuka ordered me not to worry about him! He ordered me not to care! He ordered me to! I could never stop worrying about him; I could never stop caring. Ritsuka is the world to me. You just don't understand what that's like to love someone this much." Soubi rolled over so that he couldn't see Kio's face. "My life is Ritsuka; my air, my water, without him, I just feel…dead."

"Dammit Soubi!" Kio huffed, standing up angrily and glaring at him with his hands on his hips. "Don't tell me that I don't know what it's like to love someone! Don't ever say that again! And this is the same thing that happened with Seime! You devoted yourself entirely to him and he screwed you over!" Kio sighed. "Soubi, why can't you just--"

Soubi interrupted him. "Seime was the only one for me." He said dreamily.

"What the hell, Soubi?! Then what does that make Ritsuka? You're making this huge fuss over him and you just said Seime was-- God, I just can't take it!" He sat back down, defeated. "I can't take this stress anymore. Just talk to Ritsuka. Apologize for whatever he thinks you did, or whatever, just don't--" His voice faded and he dropped his head.

"What…?" Soubi rolled back over and looked at him, sitting up a bit.

"Just don't be like this. I can't stand to see you unhappy, you know. It drives me absolutely crazy. Just being around you makes my head spin."

"Kio…" Soubi sat up and scooted over to the other man, and gently wrapped his arms around him. "I'm sorry I said that you don't know what love is like. I think I know what you were talking about."

Kio blushed wildly but laid his head on Soubi's shoulder, seeking comfort. "It's okay…You need to fix things with Ritsuka." Kio blushed again and looked down at his hands.

"You're so cute, Kio." Soubi purred into the other man's ear. "Going against what you want for someone else's happiness. You truly are a wonderful person." He rubbed his nose against Kio's cheek and let him go. "I'll talk to Ritsuka tomorrow, I promise."

"That you will." A voice came from behind them. Standing in the doorway was Youji, followed by Natsuo.

"I can tell you two are close. Your bond is unbreakable, despite what you may thing. I want to talk to Ritsuka about this. Is there anything you want me to tell him?" Natsuo grinned.

"Ah…" Soubi said in question. "Tell him…Tell him I love him. That is all." He smiled.

"Just as I thought. Something mushy." Youji giggled and turned out the door. "Goodbye Soubi!" He smiled and flashed a peace sign at the two, and then walked off, hand in hand with Natsuo.

Kio watched as Soubi laid back down. "Why don't you rest. You haven't slept for a while. Everything's going to be okay, Soubi. I promise."

"Thanks Kio." Soubi yawned. As his eyelashes fluttered closed, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

Home of Yuiko Hawatari

"Yuiko, this is all going to sound a bit strange, but…Soubi and I are bound together by much more than you think." He shifted nervously in his seat.

"Well, yeah, you and Soubi are so close." She looked a little confused, and watched him fold his hands, unfold them, and fidget with his sleeve.

"We're bonded…In a way that you wouldn't think." Ritsuka began to unbutton his shirt, and Yuiko looked away quickly.

"Ritsuka, what are you--" She stopped short when Ritsuka pulled her around to look at him, and she finally saw the marks on his chest. "BELOVED" they said.

"Ritsuka, what is that? Some kind of tattoo?" She couldn't help but reach out and riun her fingers over it.

"I guess so. It happened after Soubi and I--" He nervously pointed at his head, gesturing about his ears. "The first time we were together."

Yuiko was still completely oblivious.

"We're bonded by this word. Before Soubi knew me, he was bonded to my brother Seime. He didn't lose his ears to him, but they were bonded by this word too. It was Seime and Soubi's name. My name used to be Loveless, but after Soubi--he was going against his name with me--so we had to do something--so we did it. After that, Soubi and I were bound together by this name. We are Beloved now. It's almost impossible for us to live apart. It feels like there's pieces of me being torn apart and thrown askew. When we're apart, it hurts so much…" He looked up at Yuiko, who threw her arms around him.

"Oh Ritsuka…" She whispered. "I'll always be here for you, always." She looked up at him. "But first you need to talk to Soubi." She grinned. "I love you and I want you to be happy." She kissed him softly on the cheek. "Don't be apart from Soubi."

"Yuiko…" Ritsuka leaned over and returned her kiss, then wrapped his arms around her. As he held her, she whispered into his ear.

"Everything's going to be all right, Ritsuka…I promise."

Wow, short chapter, eh?
Sorry about that. I wrote it out and it was a lot longer on paper. I guess that's the burden of compies. I wrote this and realized that I gave Ritsuka and Soubi both a best friend that really loves them and comforts them in this chapter. Maybe there's some connection to myself…T-T

How lame xD

I hope you liked it, and I promise, next chappie wont disappoint! I might start using some Japanese phrases in my writing, so give me feedback as to whether or not that's a good thing. I just think it fits nicely, with the whole, "Suki Dayo." Thing.

Forever yours, geeky, and full of yaoi smut,

Hannah. 333

p.s I put that little bit of SoubixKio fluff in there because my friend Brit always complains that there aren't enough SoubixKio fics out there. Maybe I'll write her one some day. Until then, I'm keeping it SouxRit.