Chapter Five

V

"Let me get this straight," Kio said, storming into Soubi's apartment. "You're keeping a patient here?"

Soubi sighed, rolling his eyes at his slightly obnoxious friend. He had been handwriting his case notes that were long past deadline. Returning to his work, he jotted down a few more observations.

"No," He corrected. "I'm keeping Ritsuka here. And give me back the key I gave you."

"Oh, because that's so much better!" Kio slammed the door, making the high-up apartment shake. "Why the hell do you want your key back?"

"So that you won't keep barging in here at random times."

Soubi had had quite a scare twelve hours before. Ritsuka had called him on Chouma's cell phone, saying that his mother had tried to suffocate him. Soubi had immediately rushed to help. Ritsuka had sounded terrible over the phone, so he had swiped an oxygen mask from the hospital cart and a very small supply of oxygen from the infirmary.

Sure enough, when Soubi had arrived Ritsuka had been a mess. His breathing was labored and he bled from many places. Soubi had taken the teen back to his own apartment after he was asleep and bandaged him up there.

For some reason, it had actually made Soubi worried. He never cared about any of his patients. Ritsuka intrigued him, though, and he liked him. There was just something about him that set him apart from everyone else.

Soubi shook his head, wishing to get back to his work. He needed to finish it, or better yet, clear his mind. Ritsuka slept peacefully in the other room. Soubi wanted to wake him up, but restrained himself from it. Ritsuka needed his sleep; Soubi needed to do his paperwork.

""I know you didn't come here to bother me," Soubi sighed. If you did, your sorry ass is going straight back out that door."

"Don't be so nasty!" Kio commented, taking his place opposite the head doctor. "I've got news on Aoyagi Misaki."

Soubi glanced over the top of his glasses at him, "Ritsuka's mother?"

"The crazy lady who attacked my little sister yesterday," Anger crept in Kio's voice as he spoke of the attack on his sister.

"You've got news on Ritsuka's mother, Crazy Misaki?"

"She escaped."

The impact of the news caught Soubi off guard. He dropped his pencil as the image of finding Ritsuka beaten and broken came into his head. It had been a disturbing sight, especially since it had been a person Soubi cared about. The feeling of caring was new to him, and it didn't leave a good impression when it brought along the feelings of anger and sadness with it.

Why do I care? I've only known the kid for a day. The answer to the question was unknown, something Soubi did not enjoy anything being

At that moment, Soubi felt a fueled hatred for Ritsuka's mother. It was evident that the incident hadn't been the first episode of abuse. Ritsuka had had bandages, bruises, and cuts on his body. Misaki wasn't right in the head, and delusions made her think that Ritsuka belonged in a mental institution, instead of herself. Any person that did that kind of damage to their own child deserved to rot in hell.

"…Soubi?"

Pulled out of his rage, Soubi decided that the stupid paperwork could wait. To hell with Ritsu if Soubi didn't do his paperwork. He was too much of a wuss to fire him, anyways.

"I'm going to go get a few answers out of Ritsuka," Soubi told his friend. "Do some of that work, its long overdue." Not waiting, he walked out of the room and entered the bedroom.

"Hey, wait a second!" He heard Kio call after him. "Why do I always get stuck with your dirty work?"

Ritsuka awoke in an unfamiliar place. He didn't need to open his eyes to tell; just the scent gave it away. The blankets pooled around him smelled partially of cigarette smoke, but mainly of paint, and then there was something else. It wasn't foreign, since Ritsuka was sure he knew it.

Ritsuka opened his eyes and immediately squinted at the incoming sunlight from the window opposite the bed. It streamed in with bright, happy morning light, promising a good day. Ritsuka, however, did not enjoy seeing the light so bright directly after waking up. Groaning, he rolled onto his stomach, an unexpected pain shooting through his body as he did so. He hugged the pillow and enjoyed the warmth that the blankets provided as he tried to remember why he hurt so badly.

Somebody laughed off to the side. Ritsuka, startled, buried himself under the pillow as he heard the person speak. "Would you like me to shut the blinds, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka shot up into a sitting position, "Soubi!" The young doctor was sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking stressed out but also relaxed and happy at the same time. The events from the previous night came rushing back to him, all pushing and shoving to be remembered first. He recalled his mother fighting him, Doctor Chouma intervening, and lastly, Soubi coming to Ritsuka's rescue.

"Relax, Ritsuka, or you're going to hurt yourself even more," Soubi told him soothingly, with a smile on his face. Ritsuka took little notice of his aching body, but settled back down, anyways. "You looked cute when you were asleep."

Ritsuka felt his face redden at the side-comment and quickly glanced away. "Soubi?" He wanted to know about the girl who'd got in-between Misaki and he. Maybe Soubi would know who she was.

"Hm?"

"Do you know a Doctor Kaidou Chouma?"

Soubi laughed again, not at his question but at something in it. Nevertheless, Ritsuka still frowned and pouted a little. "Doctor Kaidou Chouma? Is that what she's going by now?" He laughed again. His laugh made him look less stressed and happier. It was a nice laugh, a comforting one, one much like his voice. "If you want to know how I know her then its going to take some explanation."

Ritsuka remembered another name that Chouma had mentioned. "I've got time. And do you have any idea who Kio is? Doctor Kaidou mentioned them on the phone."

"You really are new here," Soubi joked again. "Of course I know Kio. He's Chouma's brother, and the two of them are my only friends. In fact, Kio's in the other room."

As if on a cue, the person Ritsuka had seen restraining Chouma poked their head into the room. It was a man with unruly green hair, street clothed, and about seven earrings in each of his ears. He was an adult, which was shown from his lack of cat ears.

"I heard my name," He said pointedly. His eyes widened at Ritsuka, and then flicked away to meet Soubi's gaze. "He looks-!"

"Go back to work," Soubi hurriedly cut him off. "Ritsu wants those reports done by this week." With his words and the shock of seeing Ritsuka, Kio sulked away.

"The way this place works," Soubi turned his attention back to Ritsuka. "Is that there is a board of seven members. I'm on it, Chouma's on it, even hyper Kio, who you just saw, is on it. I'm the head doctor, Kio works below me and is the head therapist, and Chouma is an inventor and the head experimental psychologist.

"There's also four more of us. Nagisa is head of biological studies. She also works at our hospital, or infirmary, if you prefer. Seven is a medical examiner and the head of security. Then there's Ritsu. All he does is make sure that everyone gets their work done, and he usually pisses all of us off. Then he yells at Nagisa and Seven. He runs this whole place."

Ritsuka waited for Soubi to continue, and was puzzled when he didn't. Including himself, Soubi had only listed six people. Initially, he had said there were seven. That left one person. Could it be that that person was not on the council anymore?

"Who was the seventh person?" Ritsuka sat up again, ignoring his body's protests, and looked Soubi in the eyes. His blue eyes were clouded over, as if he had more secrets than he let on.

"Its interesting that you say 'who was', Ritsuka," Soubi concluded after a moment of thinking. "I'm assuming that you already have an idea of who the seventh person was, correct?"

"Seimei was on the board before he died," Ritsuka kept any emotion from his face or voice. He didn't want to think about his brother's death. Ritsuka had loved Seimei like nothing else. He had been his best friend, the one person Ritsuka went to to talk to. He was gone, though, which meant that he no longer had anybody like that.

Ritsuka's way of dealing with Seimei's death was not dealing with it at all. He let no emotion play out on his face. He let no person get close to him. It seemed to have worked, at first, but Ritsuka was getting tired of being emotionless.

He wanted people to be close to him. He wanted that same closeness he'd felt with Seimei. Maybe Soubi was the way to start. He had rejected a more-than-willing Yuiko the day before, and had darted away from Soubi when he had closed the physical gap in-between them. He also didn't want people to get close to him because they'd all eventually leave and forget him.

"That's right," Soubi looked away from him and froze for a split second, clearly reliving a bad memory.

Soubi was somehow different from everyone else. Sure, he was weird because he'd kissed him and told him he loved him, but other than that there was just something unique about him. Ritsuka's relationship with him was obviously different from his with the other doctors. It also seemed that Soubi knew that there was nothing wrong with him. Something about him urged him closer to the mysterious man…

"Tell me what you're remembering about Seimei," Ritsuka pressed.

"Two can play at that game," Soubi smiled a mischievous smile. "Tell me what you're thinking about me."

"N-no!" Soubi knew how to get into Ritsuka's head. "Can I ask you a few questions?" Ritsuka had more questions, although his early explanation cleared up a few things.

"Go ahead, Ritsuka. Ask me anything you want."

"First of all," Ritsuka looked around. "Where the hell am I?"

Soubi laughed again, as if he thought the answer should be obvious. "I brought you back to my apartment last night."

Okay, maybe he is just a big weirdo.

"I'm in… your apartment…" Ritsuka narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that illegal?"

"Because you're my patient?" Soubi guessed. "I didn't bring you here as my patient, I brought you here as someone who wanted to help another person in of my assistance." He leaned towards the bed and put his hands on either side of Ritsuka, smirking, "And because I like you."

Although he tried not to, Ritsuka flushed deeply. Regaining his composer, he shoved Soubi away from him, wincing in pain.

"What hurts?" He asked simply.

"Everything," Ritsuka thought about his mother. She had tried to kill him. It hadn't been the first time, though, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Why do you let her do this to you?" Soubi touched a bandage on his forehead, his voice taking on a softer tone. "What could you have possibly done that would make her do this to you?"

"I'm not her Ritsuka," Ritsuka muttered, forcing his gaze away from the other male's. "And I love her." It was the truth. Ritsuka loved Misaki, and couldn't leave her. It wasn't her fault that she was like this, anyways.

"How could you possibly love someone who tried to kill you?" Ritsuka froze at the quiet question. Soubi's hands idly fingered the piece of gauze, trailing down to tilt the boy's head up and forcing him to look him in the eyes.

How can I love someone who doesn't even think of me as a person? Ritsuka struggled with the question everyday. Whenever he was back at home, Mother would test him with the foods he ate, and his actions. If he chose a food that the Old Ritsuka hated, he would be beaten. He had to be careful around her, otherwise he could end up in the hospital.

"Tell me about 'her Ritsuka'," Soubi prodded.

Ritsuka didn't want to tell the story, but Soubi needed to hear it. "I lost my memory two years ago," He started. "I completely changed. I'm a different person now. She tests me, everyday, with food and stuff. I'm not who she wants me to be; I'm not Ritsuka. I'll disappear, one day, and nobody will remember me. The Old Ritsuka will return and I'll be gone for good."

"Is that why you take pictures?" Soubi's voice had that same gentle, comforting tone as before. It made Ritsuka feel better, somehow.

Solemnly, he nodded, "It's a way of making memories. That way, I won't be forgotten."

It was the first time Ritsuka had ever told anyone the full story. It felt weird, to be in his doctor's apartment, sleeping in his bed, and spilling out all of his secrets to him. No other doctor had ever had this affect on him, but Ritsuka couldn't help wondering if Soubi was like this with all his patients.

"I won't forget you, Ritsuka," There those were those kinds of words again. The way Soubi chose his words gave Ritsuka a sense of security, one he wasn't sure was false or not.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Ritsuka said half-heartedly. Maybe I don't want him to forget me. "Anyways, do you treat all of your patients like this?"

Soubi leaned back in his chair, grinning again and crossing his arms behind his head. "Nope. You're special."

Ritsuka huffed, preparing to ask why when the man interrupted him.

"As your doctor, I have to do an initial examination on you. Do you want to do it here or in the examination room?"

"Which way are we supposed to do it?" Ritsuka asked suspiciously.

"In the examination room. I'll carry you, if you want," Soubi held out his arms.

Ritsuka had been through this before and knew that it would be embarrassing to do it in front of Soubi. Being carried in would cause him even more embarrassment.

"No way."

"Koya!" Yamato called, banging on the their dorm door. Neither had classes until afternoon and Yamato had new gossip for her beloved girlfriend.

"Just come in!"

Yamato twisted the knob and stepped inside her and Koya's brightly decorated room. She plopped herself down on the single bed, watching Koya brush her hair in the mirror. She reached forward and picked up her black fake ears and fixed them on the hidden cloth headband.

"You're out of your uniform already?" Yamato inquired as the other girl turned around to see how Yamato thought she looked. "You look great, now come on," She grabbed her wrist, leading her out the door.

"Where are we going?" Koya asked in surprise. She followed, though, without objection.

Yamato smiled at her and led her down the ramp, heading into the sunlight. Behind one of the staff houses, was a small forest. Koya and Yamato often jumped the short fence and headed out into the secrecy of the well-shaded woods to talk.

That was where Yamato was headed now. She helped Koya up and over the fence and then hoister herself over it. The two headed into the usual clearing and sat on the soft grass, enjoying the shade provided from the hot sun by the trees.

"So what is so urgent that you had to rush me here?" Koya laid down on her side, facing Yamato.

"You remember that kid I told you about?"

"Ritsuka? Yeah I remember him."

Yamato fingered a piece of soft grass, a wide grin on her face. "Agatsuma-Sensei took his case!" She exclaimed, leaning over her from her sitting position.

"What?" Koya abruptly sat up, almost hitting Yamato in the head. It was very rare for Agatsuma-Sensei to take someone's case as soon as they got to the institution. In fact, Yamato couldn't recall it ever happening.

"Wait, it gets better!" She told her excitedly. "Do you remember Seimei? He died really mysteriously about a year back after he was pulled from the board."

"What about him?" Koya was now interested in what Yamato had to tell her.

"The kid is Aoyagi Ritsuka, Seimei's brother!"

Koya's eyes grew very wide, as if she was connecting the dots and piecing together information. "Didn't you say that Agatsuma-Sensei was in a relationship with Seimei at one point and Seimei was very violent to him?"

"That's right," Yamato winked at her girlfriend, using a tone of voice that a teacher would use to praise a student. "Agatsuma-Sensei has taken this Ritsuka under his wing. I was down by the beach the other day and I saw Agatsuma-Sensei kiss the kid!"

"No way!" Koya leaned in further. "You saw him do that? Isn't that illegal, or something?"

"Yeah, but there's more. Last night, the stupid kid's mother beat the living crap out of him-!"

"I would rather you not talk about my brother like that," A deep, cold voice said. A young man, dressed in a full suit, stepped out of the shadows with a book under one arm. His curly black hair fell to his broad shoulders and his reading glasses were low on his nose. A crushing aura surrounded him, giving off the sense that he simply wanted to hurt people as much as he could.

The two girls' expressions changed to horror and they clung onto each other, scooting back against a tree.

"Sei-Seimei…?" Yamato's voice shook with fear. She recognized the man from when she would see the man in the hallways when Septimal Moon would meet. He was weird and creepy. He would meet her eyes in the hallway and flash a completely sadistic grin at her, one that looked like it belonged to a killer.

"Yamato," That grin flashed at her again and Yamato shrunk backwards. Seimei's black cat ears twitched as he paused and observed her. "Are you afraid of me, my dear?"

"Leave her alone!" Koya snapped bravely. "You have no right to be here! You're supposed to be dead!"

Seimei was supposed to be dead, but he was standing right in front of them. Even Yamato, who had just-passing grades, could figure out that Seimei had faked his death.

"Hello, Koya," Seimei greeted. He crouched down to their height and took a knife from his back pocket, fingering the blade carefully. "I bet the way you're looking at me now is the same way you would look at your father."

Koya made a small squeaking noise at the mention of her wretched father.

Seimei smiled even more, knowing he'd hit on a sensitive note, "What did he say when he was raping you? How many times did he tie you down and force himself inside of you? How many times, Koya? How many times?"

Yamato watched Koya squeeze her eyes shut as the tears started to fall.

"Shut up!" Yamato yelled. "Don't talk to her like that! Don't you have any respect for anyone's feelings, or are you just some sociopath?"

Seimei sighed and stood up. "Take them, Nisei," He motioned to something above Koya and Yamato's heads. "I've had about enough of them." Yamato felt a movement behind her, and then she and Koya were gagged and bound in a second. "The two of you are vital for my plans," Yamato heard Seimei say before the two girls were hit over the head and knocked out.

Hello everybody.

I'm not gonna say much here beause its like three in the morning and I need to find my wallet and go to sleep.

Review please,

~Chey Wolfe