Good Day! I happen to be on break for Thanksgiving so I had time to pump out another chapter. ^_^ I am quite pleased to find that it is actually a lot longer than I normally do it, but i must say that it took a lot more effort to do so. I hope you all enjoy.
As fair warning, there will be flashbacks. They are in italics so that you can tell right a way, but thoughts are also in italics. Also there is a small time skip forward, I just want the story to move a little forward.
Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless and Kyou Kara Maoh, they just like to run a muck in my head!
Unforseen Challenges
(About Two Weeks Later, Blood Pledge Castle)
Yuuri stared out his office window, his eyes drifting down to two people who were currently in the garden having lunch.
"Are you sure your information is correct, Yozak?" came the concerned voice of his Nazukeoya, drawing Yuuri's attention back to the many problems at hand.
"Yep, Captain!" Yozak cheered in his usual way before a slightly more business like tone infected his voice, "I got the information myself. Humans and potentially disgruntled Mazoku are planning to infiltrate the castle. It is rumored that it might be the secret organization that has been stealing the magic swords, the White Ravens. But sadly, I could not find the reason for why they would want to infiltrate."
There was a long silence as the information all sunk into their minds. Before there was a loud sigh that drew all of their attentions to one of the youngest in appearance in the room.
"What do you think about this situation, Weller-kyo? Von Voltaire-kyo?" Murata questioned, leaning back in his chair as if he was tired and needed rest.
"Well the logical reason for them wanting to come into the castle would be to harm Yuuri in some way." Conrad reasoned, looking for confirmation from the others in the room.
Yuuri sighed this time, exasperated by this scenario.
Why is everybody trying to kill me? I swear I am not doing anything bad! Yuuri mental shouted, a small amount of bitterness entering into his thought.
"But we cannot be certain of that. As Yozak has already said, it is rumored that the White Ravens might be involved." the low voice of Gwendal argued with his middle brother, trying to determine all the angles that might be their true goal. "They might be trying to steal Morgif or some other magical device that resides here. Their motive might even be someone else in this castle, why though is still a little unknown, but we cannot rule it out."
Again there was silence until Yuuri finally got tired of it all.
"It seems that we have no choice." Yuuri began as he turned back to the window and watched the two eating lunch. "Gwendal, I want you to strengthen the guard around the City and the castle itself. Even send more guards over to Shinou's temple. But also inform the staff of what might be coming and tell them to act as normal as possible. We do not need to go an alert these infiltrators and have them change their plan. Also inform the guards that they are simply to capture our enemy, trying to cause as minimal damage to that which is around them and those that are receiving the injuries."
Gwendal listened to all that Yuuri had to say, before rising to his feet and bowing his head slightly to show his respect before speaking in his low voice.
"Yes, Heika. I will get on that at once."
Gwendal left the room, leaving the remaining four members to ponder what other courses of action to take.
*~*~*~*(With Ritsuka)*~*~*~*
Ritsuka sat in the garden, the sun warming his skin, making his tail sweep back and forth in a lazy motion and his ears to slightly flop in happiness. His lunch still lingered on his tongue making his mouth water slightly and his heart fill with a small amount of longing that this was how his mother had treated him. He opened his eyes and took in the numerous flowers that surrounded his table, his eyes moving with a slowness that could only be achieved when close to a sleep state. His eyes settled onto his tablemate who was still enjoying the delicious food.
Her light brown eyes suddenly turned away from her plate and looked up, her eyes meeting his, and a blush spreading across her face before a small smile crossed it.
"Did you enjoy the food, Ritsuka?" her voice was small but clear, her blush deepening as she asked.
Ritsuka nodded, a smile spreading across his face.
"It was really good. Thank you, Princess Greta." Ritsuka thanked, watching her face get a little redder before she quickly turned back to her food.
Ritsuka watched her a little longer, remembering how he met the younger girl.
*~*~*~*(Flashback)*~*~*~*
Ritsuka had just arrived at the Blood Pledge Castle a few hours ago. He had been showed his room, which was about the size of his entire upstairs of his house, and had decided to investigate the castle. He had been wondering around the corridors for about an hour, only slightly lost and a little intimated by all the things that he had come across along the way. He finally found himself out in the open, in a vast garden that was filled with so many flowers that it was absolutely breath taking, the sun shining down in just the right way that it called out to Ritsuka to take a nap in the warm rays. Ritsuka wondered over to a bench sleepily, sitting down heavily and sighing in contentment.
He undid the tie on his tail, letting it stretch for a moment before it laid out next to him and began to flick every now and then in happiness. He leaned back, enjoying how his face felt in the sun and not really noticing his hood sliding down and pooling around his neck as his ears perked up.
Just as he was about to cross the line between consciousness and sleep, he suddenly felt a tingle run down his spin as something brushed his ear, almost making him sigh. But then that feeling turned into a sharp pain as something tugged on the same ear, making Ritsuka yelp in surprise and fall off the bench. He shot his head around and saw a girl that was only a few years younger than him, staring at him in wonder as her hand was still stretched out where his head had been only a moment before.
Ritsuka suddenly realized that it was the girl who had touched his ear and blushed a bright red as he remembered that it was an extremely intimate act to touch another's ears or tail.
Embarrassed and feeling awkward, Ritsuka shot to his feet and turned on his heel to flee when there was a sharp pain from his tail. Another yelp escaped his lips as he whipped around once more, this time seeing the same girl with her hand tightly on his tail.
"Why did you do that?" Ritsuka shot at the girl, embarrassment trying to mask itself under his anger.
"You have ears…"the girl murmured, fascination still covering her face, obviously not hearing his heated question. Her eyes shifted down to the furry appendage in her hand, as Ritsuka slowly got more embarrassed by the second and uncertainty as to what to do in this situation started to cloud his mind over in anger.
But just then a voice was carried across the gardens and catching the two's attention. They both turned in unison, but the girl quickly let go of Ritsuka's tail and ran towards the two approaching figures.
"YUURI!" the small girl cried out in happiness, flinging herself at the black haired teen as he caught the girl in a tight hug before swinging her around in a quick circle.
Ritsuka watched the scene before him, his hands reaching down to grasp his tail, as Yuuri's taller companion took in the distraught look of Ritsuka.
"Ritsuka, what is wrong?" the faithful general of the king asked, taking an unconscious step forward as if he was going to sweep Ritsuka up into his arms, reminding Ritsuka of a certain blonde who used to do just that to him all the time.
Ritsuka flushed a little bit, noticing all the attention on him.
"She grabbed my ears and tail." Ritsuka stated in a tone that somehow managed to sound both embarrassed and angry all at the same time. This confused the three and they all stared at Ritsuka, who turned a slightly darker shade of pink before he finally came out and said it. "Where I am from, one does not touch another's ears or tail unless they have a very intimate relationship with that person."
There was silence in the garden for a moment as his little explanation started to sink in. Gwendal suddenly turned away, but not quick enough to hide his slightly pink cheeks from Ritsuka. But before he could say anything, the girl broke away from Yuuri and ran back over to Ritsuka, grabbing his hands and a look of sincere apology on her face.
"I am so sorry! I did not mean to. I had just never seen such a thing before and my hands just moved of their own accord." The girl pleaded. "Please forgive me."
Ritsuka just couldn't help it, he nodded his head a small smile crossing his face as his ears perked up. The girl smiled back, relief coloring her face.
"I'm Greta, I am Yuuri's daughter. It is nice to meet you!"
*~*~*~*(BREAK)*~*~*~*
Ritsuka withdrew from his memories, a small smile covering his face as he remembered how he acted when he heard that Greta was in fact Yuuri's daughter. But after that little meeting, the girl had never left Ritsuka's side, dragging him around where ever she wanted to go.
"Ritsuka?" Greta's voice reached his ears, causing him to turn his attention back towards her.
"Yes, Princess Greta?" Ritsuka inquired, tilting his head to the side as he looked at her and watched as her face tinted pink for a moment.
"W-well…" she began, fiddling with the hem of her shirt as her eyes glanced down at the table and then back up towards him. "You see, I have to go for my lessons with Gunter and I was wondering if you wanted to come along. It will be in the library…"
"Of course I will come!" Ritsuka instantly replied, the thought of a library exciting him.
"Great! Let's go then!" Greta cheered, instantly jumping to her feet and grabbing Ritsuka's hand, pulling him up and along towards the many archways that lead to the intricate hallways of the castle.
Ritsuka could never understand why the girl always insisted on holding his hand, but he never stopped it. Sadly, most of the occupants of the castle were currently betting on whether or not the two would ever get married, and when Yuuri and Wolfram heard this they were in various different degrees of rage. They both basically threatened him to never hurt the girl in any way, shape, or form. This left Ritsuka in a very weird predicament. Not only did the fathers of the girl get upset, but apparently Gwendal had also gotten upset by the news and had the scariest look on his face for a good three days.
Ritsuka smiled to himself, still being pulled down the many hallways until they reached a set of double doors. Ritsuka helped Greta push open the door, and Ritsuka allowed himself to be dragged into the vast room while he stared around in utter amazement. Greta lead Ritsuka over to a table were a man in all white and long lavender hair sat pouring over a large pile of books.
Seeing the man sitting there brought the slightly unpleasant memory of how they met to Ritsuka's mind.
*~*~*~*(Flashback)*~*~*~*
Ritsuka stared up at the castle that was before him, his mouth slightly hanging open at his shock. He felt his tail twitch from under his jacket and his hood shift when his ears tried to move. It had been decided that it would be best to hide Ritsuka's unique features from that of the main population until they were certain that Ritsuka would be safe from scorn.
"Ritsuka, it is time to dismount now." Came the low voice of Gwendal, making Ritsuka jump slightly and look at the general who rode on a grey stallion right next to him.
Ritsuka turned back to the one he was holding on to as they rode their black horse, seeing Yuuri turn to look at him and smile kindly at him.
Ritsuka swung his leg over the back of the horse and landed carefully on his feet, patting the black horse and looking back up at the young king who was still mounted. But before any words could be exchanged there was a loud cry that drowned all other noise out.
"HHHEEEIIIKKKAAA!" came a voice that sounded as if someone was crying in joy.
Ritsuka turned towards the voice only to see a white blur leap at him. Ritsuka stumbled back and ran into the stallion he had just dismounted and spooked the poor creature, causing it to bolt with his charge still on top and holding on for dear life as various different people chased after the frightened animal. Ritsuka was enveloped into a tight embrace that quickly turned suffocating and very wet.
*~*~*~*(BREAK)*~*~*~*
Ritsuka suppressed a shudder at the thought, recalling how it had taken thirty minutes to convince the hysterically crying man to release a blue faced Ritsuka. In the end, Gwendal had to threaten Gunter to let go and then he had basically sacrificed the rescued Yuuri to the still sobbing man, who quickly grabbed hold of his real target and began his antics once more.
"Ah, Princess Greta, you are right on time!" came Gunter's voice, breaking Ritsuka from his memories once more. "Oh, and Ritsuka is here with you? How very nice to see you again Ritsuka."
Ritsuka smiled slightly at the happy man, nodding his head in acknowledgement before replying, "It is nice to see you as well Gunter. I hope that I am not intruding during your lesson time. Greta mentioned a library and I just had to come see it for myself."
"Of course not, Ritsuka! You are most welcome here, feel free to look over all the books or you may even join us for our lesson today." Gunter offered, gesturing for the two to sit down.
Greta moved forward to sit but Ritsuka saw a few books on a nearby shelf that piqued his interest.
"I think I want to take a good look at the books first, if you don't mind." Ritsuka stated, already moving towards the books in question.
"Of course, Ritsuka. Feel free to look to your heart's content." Gunter answered, smiling encouragingly, before turning his attention to his student and beginning his lesson.
Ritsuka, tuned out the two talking voices as he scanned over the books on their shelves. As he looked he noticed that there were no titles printed onto the bindings, but brushed it off as he pulled a random book from a shelf and opened up to the first page. He stared down at the white page, looking at the intricate writing that was scrawled across the page, but could not read a word of it.
What is going on? Ritsuka wondered to himself as he flipped through the book looking at random pages and only being able to understand a few very minor words out of the mass of ink. Getting a little frustrated at the book, he placed it back on the shelf and grabbed another off quickly. Flipping through it and coming across the same problem.
Ritsuka decided to investigate other selves and see if it was the same for all the books, only to find with a heavy heart that it was. But as he walked he noticed that the books were getting older and he could understand a few more words with each row he passed. This confused him a little but he quickly set the observation a side and hurried down to the end of the hall to the last row.
As he began down it, he noticed that the books here had titles printed on the bindings and not only that but the words were printed in his language. As he scanned over the ancient books, trying to decide which one to read, he spotted one that had him reaching for it instantly. He pulled down the slim volume taking in the green cover and the gold writing that was stamped across it.
"Namesakes and Contracts…" Ritsuka read, a confused look marring his face as he slowly made his way over to a window.
He sat down onto the window seat, enjoying the sun that caressed his skin, and leaned heavily against the window's glassy surface. He opened the tattered book to the first page, careful not to damage it in anyway, and looking down at the page that greeted him. It took only a moment for him to realize that it was in fact a list of names, with two other columns listed next to the name column.
But as his eyes shifted over to the other two columns, there was a sound of shattering glass coming directly behind him. A pair of strong arms wrapping around his torso and a sharp pain to the back of his neck were all he was able to notice before his world went black.
*~*~*~*(BREAK)*~*~*~*
OMG! That is it for this chapter, I am so happy that I wrote so much and I hope that you enjoyed it! ^_^ Reviews are appreciated, I swear it makes me write the story quicker when I see that I have gotten reviews. If there are any questions please ask away! See you all soon!