Warm… so warm now… Why is it always warm? Could it be from the…

And sure enough, flames soon invaded his memory again, but this time, something was different. He was Seimei tied to his chair, head down and dripping wet. Ritsuka could smell the putrid odor from the gasoline and he could feel it. He heard dripping, but how could he hear it from so far away? Then, quite unexpectedly, a droplet of something cold slid down his cheek. He wasn't crying, although he knew he should have been, but still, he checked. What he found was completely confusing and surprising- his hair was wet. No, not just his hair; his whole body was soaked. He shivered, trying to put things together in his head; trying to figure out why he was suddenly wet, too, but that smell… it was unmistakable.

Then, through the silence was that horrible sound of a lighter flicking open, and Ritsuka's eyes widened as far as they could. He tried to move, to flee, but it was no use! It was almost like he was bound… and sure enough, he looked down and found himself tied to a chair, just like his brother. No, no, no…. he struggled to get free… but it was already too late. The flames hit the gas and the fire found him. He watched in utter horror as his brother's body burst into flames, and not even a moment later, his own body was burning. It was so hot, so painful… The fire tore through his clothes and it licked at his skin before cutting deep into him, turning his blood ablaze. It hurt… his blood was boiling, skin peeling away, and he was alone. Nobody was going to save him. Just as the pain reached its height, he yelled out.

"Soubi!!"

--

Ritsuka jolted suddenly as consciousness returned to him; breath rushing into his lungs as if he'd not been breathing at all. But this time, when he awoke, he was already sitting mostly upright, and there were strong arms wrapped around his middle, restraining him. Once he'd caught his breath, the overheating boy took in his surroundings, trying to determine what was going on. Upon looking down, he saw a quite familiar-looking purple coat draped over him. Though he knew the owner of the coat, he could not get his mind to focus. Just under the coat, he could feel hands softly moving, slowly loosening their hold around him. It almost tickled… looking under the purple thing, he was shocked, though, to see deep scratches along the bare arms holding him. He bet that his fingertips were stained with blood. 'Oh God' he thought to himself, 'whose arm is this? What have I done….? Where am I?!'

"Ritsuka."

That calm, semi-deep voice… he knew it! Looking up slowly, as not to further hurt his head, he began to focus in on a face framed with beautiful blonde hair. Yes… he knew this pretty man.

"S-Soubi…" His throat still felt dry and hoarse, like sandpaper. He wanted to grab onto his neck, but he knew it wouldn't help relieve his pain. Luckily, Soubi knew what to do. From seemingly nowhere, he pulled out a chilled bottle of water and removed the cap with his free hand. He didn't stop there, though; no, not Soubi… he also brought the bottle to the dehydrated boy's lips and waited for him to drink before returning the cap. Oh, how his throat felt better, and Ritsuka couldn't have been more grateful after he then brought the cold plastic to his face in an attempt to reduce the heat. He hadn't realized just how warm he was until then! He was finally getting some attention, some help, and he let it sink in as his eyes slid closed. Although, only a moment of silence passed before the man beneath him shifted and brought him back.

"Ritsuka." His voice…. What was that? He almost sounded…fearful. Was Soubi afraid for some reason? Even in battle he hardly used such a worried tone… But instead of drifting back to that wonderful bliss of sleep, he decided to crack his eyes open and reply. He had a good guess as to what Soubi would say.

"Mm… Soubi. Sorry about… your arm. I did it, right?" He referred to the scratches, not exactly wanting to go into his current condition.

"It's alright, but you were tossing."

"Mm…"

Not quite satisfied with Ritsuka's lack of clarification, Soubi set the bottle softly down next to him and brought his much larger hand to the boy's hot and swelling cheek. Did he blush that time? He was so flushed from the fever, nobody would be able to tell.

"You're still very warm. Do you remember collapsing?" Ritsuka thought about it a moment before lightly shaking his head. Soubi's frown deepened.

"We should check your temperature; you may be sick."

"I did… Back at school."

"Oh? Was it high?" The boy nodded this time.

"In that case, you shouldn't be out and about now."

"No." Ritsuka said in an amazingly demanding but soft voice. Soubi almost jumped. "No…" he tried again. "I want to stay… for just a bit longer…"



Soubi silently agreed and watched as Ritsuka settled back against him more comfortably and looked around. The park was unusually empty at the time, but the few people who walked by paid him and his fighter no mind. It was boring, almost enough to make Ritsuka pass out again, until the sight of a mother and a little boy walked into his line of sight. The image of a perfect family… a smiling mother holding hands with her overactive little boy made tears come to Ritsuka's eyes. Unconsciously, he gripped Soubi's arm again, and seeing what the boy was staring at, the blonde understood. Without a word, Soubi tightened his hold on his sacrifice and gently lifted his chin up and back to stare into his warm crystalline eyes.

"You are loved, Ritsuka."

Those few words cut into Ritsuka like a knife. Soubi always said he loved him, and even though the words were different this time, he wanted to believe they meant the same thing. It was most recently, when he'd been feeling to cut off and alone that he needed someone to tell him they loved him, and for that, he could always count on Soubi. …but then, why didn't the man just outright say it to him? Ritsuka couldn't answer that, and the heat was returning to his weakened body. He needed to go somewhere else, he knew, so with a sigh, he lightly pushed away from Soubi.

"Maybe we should go now." But as soon as his feet connected with the ground, albeit softly, he couldn't contain a wince. This made Soubi snap back into action, and before Ritsuka knew it, his fighter was kneeling on the ground in front of him. A blush was surely rising to his cheeks, deepening the color already brought on by the fever.



"Ritsuka, is something wrong?" The boy was reluctant to answer, but as he shifted his left foot again, he knew he couldn't hide it any longer.

"My… my ankle. I hurt it going down the stairs." Looking down, Soubi stared at the boy's leg, and then he looked back up, as if to ask permission, before going into action. As carefully as he could, Soubi lifted Ritsuka's leg and let it rest on his knee as he removed the boy's shoe and sock to assess the damage.

"Hmm… it is swollen. You may have sprained it."

"I was afraid of that." Ritsuka whined a little as Soubi turned it around and prodded it, but not once did he raise his voice against the man. He understood his good intentions, after all.

"Do you think… it'll get better soon, Soubi?" So cute…

"As long as you stay off of it for a couple of days, it should be fine."

A couple of days? He couldn't afford to be inactive that long! He feared what his mother would say or do to him while he was cooped up in the house under her care. Though he was afraid, he knew he couldn't avoid his mother forever. At least he could spend a little more time with Soubi to raise his courage before facing her. He'd just realized that he had been spacing out, but the ice-cold bottle on his swollen ankle was just as painful as it was refreshing. Once he got over his initial shock, he opened one eye and sat his hands down on Soubi's hair.

"Thank you, Soubi… but we should go now."

"Not yet."

"Mm?" Ritsuka was confused, but that confusion turned into almost horror as he watched Soubi lean down more towards his leg, eyes closed. Burning even redder 

than any fever could cause, Ritsuka shouted out and roughly pushed Soubi's head. His strength couldn't do much, but the blonde got the hint and rose his head back up, almost loving the harsh grip Ritsuka had on his hair.

"Something wrong?"

"Y-yeah! Just what did you think you were doing just now?!"

"I was going to kiss it and make it better!"

"Kissing it wont do anything! You're an adult! You should know better!"

"Aw, but I want to make you feel well again, Ritsuka. I love you." 3

"I-I don't want to hear that! Geeze…" Face still burning, Ritsuka rose his head just a little to take a look around the park. Seeing that the cose was clear, for the moment, the boy quickly spoke. "Makeitquick."

"What was that?" Soubi almost sounded shocked. His charge was going to let him? It was… so cute!

"I said go ahead! If you're going to then you're going to, but do it now while nobody is watching!!" Ritsuka, the ever shy, would normally never allow such a thing, even in private, but Soubi was delighted that he was given permission, and he wasted no time in lowering his lips to softly kiss the boy's injury. His skin was still terribly hot, even there, and it made Soubi reassess the situation. As he rose back to his feet, he held out his hand for the younger to take. As soon as he did, the older man supported him as they walked.

"Ritsuka, are you hungry?"

"What?"

"You look like you haven't eaten. Would you like to get something on the way? You need to eat well to get better, after all!"

"….Yeah, Soubi… I guess you're right."