Alright guys! You ready for this? Round two of Nameless! Woohoo! We'll see how it goes this time.

I do not own Loveless.

And yes, Soubi and Ritsuka will meet up later. This is more of an intro chapter. Sorz.

Enjoy!

The sun was high, blaring down into Ritsuka's eyes. He looked up into it relentlessly, eyes tearing as black spots began to blur his vision. Somewhat enjoying the sizzling pain, he was forced to blink the water from his eyes when his Fighter pulled at his arm. "Ritsuka-kun!" She said gaily, tugging at his arm. The seventeen year old looked at her, vision slowly restoring so he could see her long dark hair and oceanic eyes. She giggled at him, smiling wide. "You shouldn't stare at the sun, silly, you'll burn your eyes!"

"Yeah-yeah, Mikiri, I know," The teenager mumbled, eyes dialating as he tried to regain focus. They continued walking along the stone-scattered pathway behind their apartment complex, leading them through a garden of flowers and sheltering them in the shadow of a greenhouse. This was their typical Sunday morning stroll.

Mikiri tried to pull Ritsuka closer, but he shrugged her off, moving on ahead of her. Whenever she tried got close to him, the Sacrifice would remember those painful memories from years before, and he could only throw them away before they pained him even more. He was seventeen...it had been four years since he had last saw his temporary fighter. The fake. The liar. The jerk.

Soubi.

An Autumn breeze pushed through the pathway, rustling Ritsuka's hair. He missed the feeling of the wind echoing in his cat ears, and sometimes he felt naked without them on his head, and unconciously he ran his fingers over that place they had been before. A faint smile toyed with his lips, remembering how he had given in to Mikiri just a few months earlier. Given in, but only so he could forget.

Forget. Forget. Forget.

I want to forget it all, he thought, clenching his hair into a tight fist. Four years, and still all I feel is this numbing pain...

Just when the two of them had finally began forming their true bond, the relationship that had been ignited was put out by Seimei. It had seemed like nothing at first when he had first appeared, terrifying both Ritsuka and Soubi. The warnings could have been clear, probably, when Soubi couldn't resist Seimei's commands, but - Ritsuka couldn't remember. He had forced himself to forget all those memories, stuffing them down deep. But sometimes, when he least expected it, the knife would twist and his wound would reopen, leaking his infection everywhere.

Lost in his thoughts, Ritsuka was startled out of his rut when Mikiri stepped in front him, veening in on him. "Ritsuka-kun, what're you thinking about?" She teased, poking at his arm. But even if she said it in a light voice, he could still hear suspicion creeping into her tone. She knew what he thought about.

The earless boy looked at her, amazed. He had lost his virginity to this slightly older girl, and still she would subtly accuse him like his thoughts were a crime. In the midst of him trying to erase Soubi from his life, he had poured out his desire for the man unto Mikiri, opening himself up to her and spewing all the lust, pain, and love he had secretly held for the man unto her. And when he had gutted himself out, he sewed himself shut and remained hollow from that point on, never really giving her a second glance.

"I'm..." He faltered, looking away from her as he sucked in a breath. "It's nothing, Mikiri, nothing."

Ritsuka had definately changed, and his memory had begun to digress more as he forced his mind into lockdown. Days were beginning to slip away from him more easily than they had before, and his headache's had become more frequent. Just thinking about everything made his head hurt. "Hey, do you remember Soubi-san?" He asked quietly, eyes flickering with a dark emotion that was almost unnoticble.. Over the past few years, Loveless had become emotionless and unresponsive in his facial expressions, making it difficult to smile or express himself. But at the very mention of Soubi, his eyes churned slightly, and he was much more responsive than usual. He still loved Soubi…it was obvious to Mikiri. She lowered her chin, dark eyes staring into his distant ones.

"Ritsuka-kun! Why don't you care about me?" She asked bitterly, her eyes forming pools of tears between her gritted teeth. "Why is it always about Soubi? Is there any meaning for the phrase 'Loveless Fighting Unit' to you?" She wailed sobs, grabbing unto Ritsuka's arm. Ritsuka yanked away automatically, pushing her away with his free hand.

"Don't. Touch. Me." He mumbled, looking at her then away. The Fighter whimpered quietly, her eyes welling with tears she didn't want to let fall. Ritsuka, apathetic, only sighed in response. "Mikiri…I lost my ears to you…I wouldn't be complaining if I were in your position." He stated, looking away. Mikiri's eyes widened. She whines so much… He though to himself, shoving his cold fingers deep into his pockets. It was probably going to rain. He wanted to go inside.

Mikiri's attitude really irked him sometimes, and he felt a violent craving overwhelm him. He wanted to kick something…or better yet, kill somebody. Ritsuka wanted to kill something! Taking out his phone, Ritsuka rapidly typed up an email to the Septimal Moon Headquaters, requesting another elimination assignment. They had been on hold for a while, recognizing his violent tendencies, but Ritsuka knew that Seven-tan would allow him if he persisted enough.

And that was their job as members of Septimal Moon. Ritsuka had taken the place of Seimei as one of the seven, sitting in as the "Aoyagi" member. Once he graduated from Seven Voices Academy, they introduced him to his fighter and they initiated their special jobs as vanquishers of rebellious and troublesome Fighting Units. For Septimal Moon, it brought justice. For Ritsuka, it brought pleasure. And it was his only way to keep himself distracted from falling into the insanity.

"Ahhh! Why, why? Why must you be so harsh Ritsuka?" She asked in her whiny voice, finally bursting into the tears she could no longer hold in. Ritsuka blinked at his Fighter. If only she was like Soubi…if only she was Soubi. But Ritsuka knew that wasn't fair for her, considering he hardly remembered Soubi anymore… his face, his clothes, his voice; all of it was gone. So there was no point in him wishing for something he didn't even know. Soubi was a memory that slipped through his grasp like sand, and he knew he would never be able to hold on to his essence. Eventually he would even forget his name, Ritsuka was sure.

"I'm…sorry," He uttered quietly, withdrawing into himself. Mikiri's eyes widened and she also withdrew her emotions. She could sense Ritsuka closing down, and recognized it as the time he needed to be alone. Often, he required solitude - especially after the spell battles. For Mikiri, she would rather stay by his side and comfort him, but she tried to accept his desires and obliged when he gave the subtle hints. Stepping away from him, she nodded her head, sniffling quietly. He continued stepping forward, Mikiri looked after him sadly, and then dropping her gaze to the earth. The sky was starting to darken, rain fizzling down in tiny droplets. The sun was gone, and the spring day was shifting to the April showers.

"Ritsuka..." She sighed, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. "I care about you so much…why don't you love me? Are you truly…loveless? I know I'm not loveless…no matter how horrible my name is…" But she knew this too was a lie. Although Mikiri wished that she hadn't killed those people, that didn't mean her heart held no hatred. Mikiri, although emotionless, was still merciless.

000000000000

Entering into the greenhouse, Ritsuka took a brief moment to admire the flowers that were still standing after the first chills of autumn had kissed the earth. The rest, though, hung limp and faded and the boy could feel a strange sense of mutual understanding between him and the dulled plants. Wilted. Weak. Dying. A headache pulsed through the Sacrifice's mind and he breathed in sharply, wishing he was able to say a spell to hypnotize himself. He'd asked Mikiri before, but she would be so overlly attentitive his headache would actually worsen. He was bound to her, by his name -

"Loveless. Beloved. Hah. These name's hold no meaning to me..." He fumed, shaking his head as he clenched his fists. "All these ties we're attached to, forcing us together and...tearing us apart." He felt that stinging in his eyes, that pain that always whispered to him, telling him that he was going to cry. But Ritsuka fought against it, shoving that emotion down his throat and into his gut.

He thought about his clearer memories from the past three years, how cruel and quiet and ruthless he had become. He had killed many Fighting Units, and he had done it without regrets. It didn't matter if they were potentially unnecessary deaths – they were imbeciles and foolish units, who didn't deserve to live. Team Loveless and Beloved were the best known Fighting Units out there, and they were God-like to the other teams. Except one killed with justice, and the other killed with vengeance. Sometimes the lines were blurred, though, and Ritsuka knew it all too well.

But Ritsuka didn't care.

Ritsuka was no more.

When Soubi left, all of that changed.

Ritsuka looked up at the ceiling, and he saw the swirling clouds through the plexi-glass. "I wonder if Mikiri got inside…" He thought absent-mindedly, not really caring if the poor girl would be dry or not. He was just trying to distract himself. He didn't really care about his Sentouki, even though they had even made love before. He hadn't really cared what happened to him at the time, he had become so numb…

He was suddenly aware of the sound of another humans footsteps. At first, he thought it could be Mikiri, but the weight and resonance of it differed from her light pitter-patter. "Loveless!" He heard a deep voice call, and all time froze. He stiffened, body clenching up and joints tightening. That name...that voice...a flood of memories pushed into him, and a nausea churned up in his gut. He clasped his hand over his mouth, trying to push the sickness down, looking over at the intruder with wide eyes. Dark hair...elegant tail...

"Seimei…"