Author's Note: I'm really amazed as how many people like this story, I'm very happy to see so many people responding positively. Thank you all very much for your comments. This story is a whole lot harder to write than I thought it would be because I think Yun Kouga did a great job of intertwining the character's personalities with their situations, and it's making it very difficult to create an AU for them, plus I love the little scene in the park, I keep wanting to write it.

Hm... I just reread the first chapters... I've really got to fix all of the grammar. Sorry you guys.

Chapter 3

"Soubi," the attractive blonde, gave a smile that seemed to almost twist at the edges of his lips into a smirk. His long hair was pulled into a loose ponytail that trailed over one shoulder. The first thing that Ritsuka actually noticed about the painter, though he hadn't really thought about when he had been looking over the magazine, was the man's lack of ears... he was an adult, "Please, call me Soubi."

"Aoyagi," Shinonome Sensei was exacerbated from looking all over the gallery to try and find her lost student. She wasn't sure how to feel when she discovered the student talking with a very tall and very attractive man.

"Ritsuka!" Yuiko suddenly exclaimed, happy to find the shorter boy, she grabbed on to his arm, and asked him to look over a painting with her. It was one of the larger paintings in the room. A painting meant for nothing but to be looked at as a quick glance, a shallow beauty that once stripped would be nothing more than canvas.

The dark haired boy looked back at the artist he had just been talking with, but it seemed that his teacher was intent on keeping his attention, though she was going about it rather nervously, her ears were pressed against her head, and her hands twisted a piece of paper that was once considered a map.

"What do you think?" Yuiko's playful voice asked him about the painting.

"Soubi!" another man about the same age as Agatsuma came in, squirming through the crowd Ritsuka hadn't even noticed until now. It made him wonder just how long he had been staring at the painting of the butterfly, "Soubi, here you are. What are you doing? The news and media are here to interview you."

"I'm on my way," he nodded a goodbye to the teacher and followed the boy with multiple rings glittering in his ears and a lollipop clenched in his teeth. Rituska felt a little offended when the artist didn't even give him a second glance.

"Who was that man, Ritsuka?" the pink haired girl seemed very curious about the man who had held Ritsuka's attention for so long.

The household had started off silent as it always did, just like any other house on the block, some were relieved when they heard nothing coming from the house, but those days were becoming rare. Monday morning was not as pleasant as Sunday's morning had been, he had taken the pickled radishes, he forgot that his mother's Ritsuka didn't like pickled foods, which was odd, because he felt that he rather liked the vegetables, but he wasn't really her son, now was he...?

He pulled the edge of his shirt sleeve down to cover more of the bandages that were wrapped even further up and down his arm, but there wasn't much he could do with the bandage that covered his left cheek. It was odd how he could not bring himself to hate her, he knew that she wasn't well, but she was still his mother and she only wanted her son back. Fortunately, no one really ever asked him about it, mostly thinking that he was just clumsy.

When he arrived to school, Ritsuka started to pull out his books when he ended up taking out the magazine that he had bought on his way to school last time. Feeling slightly apprehensive, the young boy licked his lips as he opened the magazine to the picture of the artist. Before he had been only using the magazine to look at the paintings, but now he was curious about the young artist he had had that strange conversation with. Mr. Agatsuma stuck in the back of Ritsuka's mind, constantly calling his attention to contemplate something, he just couldn't figure out what that something was. By the end of the day, Ritsuka reazlized that he hadn't taken any notes from any of his classes.

"Soubi..." he muttered, recalling that that had been what the artist had wanted him to call him.

"Mou?" a pink haired girl peered out the window from standing behind Ritsuka, "Oh, that's the man Ritsuka was talking to yesterday."

"Yeah..." Yayoi stared just around the girl's shoulder, "Who is he?"

"..." large wine tinted eyes risked a glance out the window to see the blond man leaning against the opening of the brick gate outside of the school. The tall man was leaning with his back resting against the red brick, his long light blond hair being played with by the gentle breeze as he pulled a cigarette away from his lips to allow blue-grey smoke to stream from his lips to dance in a twisting spiral before dispersing into the cool air.

"Ritsuka?" Yuiko's voice shook the young boy from staring at the man standing outside of the school. His heart was beating fast. He wasn't sure if he was excited about seeing the artsist again, worried that the artist was here to see Shinonome Sensei, or slightly afraid that the earless man might be hunting him down for some unknown reason.

In his flustered, unsure, and very confused position, Ritsuka did the only thing he could think about when he turned to the pink haired girl... he gave a slightly twisted smile, which was obviously not used very often.

Yuiko's face went a bright pink. Although they were friends for a month now, since Ritsuka had entered the school, it was rare for the young girl to see him smile other than when he was trying to throw off the teacher from asking any questions about him.

"Okay, class, stand. Bow."

"Thank you, Sensei," the class said in unison.

"Have a good day."

The class left, and Ritsuka had to decide between being the first one out or making Soubi wait if he really was there for him. Unfortunately curiosity got the better of him, and he rushed out to the tall blonde, who was obviously waiting for him when he pushed himself off of the tall fence and approached him.

"Hello again, Ritsuka, is it?"

"What are you doing here?" he tried to act annoyed, but he was very curious about the adult, which was betrayed by the twitch of his tail, "How do you know my name?"

"I believe it was that spunky young classmate of yours," he leaned in closer while pointing at the bouncing girl with pink pigtails coming towards them, "that shouted out your name when you were at my gallery. As for what I'm doing here... you're an interesting person, Little Ritsuka."

"Don't call me little."

The artist just smiled sweetly, but there was a mischievous glint in his sharp, sapphire eyes, "Would you care to join me for a walk?"

"...Why?"

"To get to know you better of course," he pulled his hand from his pocket, and it seemed as if a revelation had just hit Ritsuka, and he watched the long pale fingers with interest.

"Why do you want to get to know me better?" his eyes were fixated on the hand being offered to him.

"I've never met someone quite like you, and at such a young age..."

"They have name for people like you..." a rather nasal voice grumbled.

"Kio?" the blonde turned his sharp gaze to the other blonde who was working on a lollipop.

"Though I don't believe I need to scare the poor child before he's even had his first kiss."

Ritsuka was slightly confused, but he was smart enough to know what this 'Kio' was talking about, and felt his cheeks begin to pink a little.

"Rituska-kun!" the busty young girl with pink hair ran up to her shorter peer, "What's going on?"

"It's nothing," he muttered and turned to walk down the block, intending to just go straight home even though he hated to do so.

The smoking man took a lollipop from his pocket and quickly unwrapped it before shoving it in Kio's mouth, "I'll catch up with you later."

Quickly falling in stride with the short boy, Soubi smiled down at the odd youth, "You shouldn't be in such a hurry to go home. You're a young boy, wouldn't you prefer to be out on your own for a little bit, experiencing that freedom that you so rarely get?"

Ritsuka tried to ignore the older man, but it was becoming exceedingly more difficult as he found those hands coming in and out of view from the corner of his eye. There was something about those hands. If he hadn't seen the work they were capable of creating would he still be so fascinated? Ritsuka had a terrible feeling that he would. Long fingers were nimble and delicate looking, they seemed as if they could capture a moth by its wings with out leaving any damage.

"You're into photography?" Soubi's low, smooth voice caught Ritsuka off guard, and startled wine tinted eyes turned to the blonde, "The camera."

Looking down at his wrist, Ritsuka realized that he was still carrying his camera in it's leather case, "...Not really... it's more about memories."

The young man with tea colored hair raised an eyebrow, "Memories?"

"When I was younger," he started slowly, "There was an accident, but I don't know what the accident was, nor do I recall anything before that... There's no way for me to remember what happened before then, and I'm not going to forget anything that happens to this me in case the old me returns but doesn't remember the me I am now..."

The tall artist looked over the young boy who spoke more like a young man, "You poor thing... At such a young age."

Ritsuka pondered these words for a moment, he had never heard anyone give him pity. His mother didn't think he was her son, his father was barely ever around and even when he was he would just walk away when mother seemed to have an episode. He had never wanted to bother his teachers or peers with the information, and his therapist seemed to have more interest in him for how mature he was... no one ever really mentioned his age... he was definitely more mature than most children his age, so it made sense that no adult ever really saw him as a twelve year old. Soubi looked at him with accepting eyes as he ruffled the boy's hair a little, stroking the cat ears as he did so.

He had never known that he needed or wanted comfort until that moment as he practically threw himself into Soubi's arms. He didn't cry, but it was obvious that he wanted the taller man to comfort him as if he were crying.

"You can't cry now," Soubi noted, "but you will one day..."

Ritsuka's brows furrowed as he tried to make himself cry. It was as if the barrier to his emotions was built too strong even if he didn't want it that way. He had only felt this kind of comfort with one person before, "Seimei."

"No, it's Soubi," he continued stroking the dark hair.

Realizing he had mentioned his brother's name out loud, Ritsuka pulled away, feeling a little embarrassed that he had so quickly jumped into this man's arms.

Leaning forward a little, the tall man gently lifted Ritsuka's arm, bringing the camera into view, "Why don't we take some pictures, and make sure that you'll always remember today."

Those deep pools of purple regarded the tall, thin man carefully. He wasn't sure how he felt about the man, but the fact that he seemed to understand Ritsuka's feeling about remembering things made him feel elated. His mother wasn't sure if she hated or loved him, his father was never really around, his therapist was paid to understand him, and he didn't even want to think about the kids in his class. This man... this artist seemed to actually understand, and was rather happy to accommodate his needs.

Happy, how long had it been since he had actually felt happy? Ritsuka smiled up at the beautiful man.

"Ritsuka-kun!" Yuiko called out to the young boy, "Ritsuka-kun, are you alright?"

"Huh?" he looked up at the pink haired girl, "What?"

"Ritsuka-kun hasn't listened to a word Yuiko's said," she pouted.

The young boy just shook his head, he didn't even bother correcting her grammar this time, and bit his tongue at telling her that he had been listening, but just didn't care.

"Ritsuka-kun..." she whined. Unlike Ritsuka, it was easy to tell what age she really was. He felt bothered by being surrounded by such petty creatures as the rest of the sixth graders. He wanted to be out talking with Soubi again. Somehow the conversations he held with Soubi were far more entertaining. At the same time, though, he wasn't sure how to feel about being around Soubi so much. The man's interest in him were somewhat questionable. After all, why would a popular young artist want to spend so much time with a twelve year old?

The rain was pounding against the classroom window, blurring the outside world from the children all waiting and wanting to run around outside and jump in the puddles. Ritsuka, on the other hand, was focused only on the tall figure waiting by the gate. Sharp blue eyes turned up to meet wine colored orbs. Even through the pattering droplets, Ritsuka could see Soubi's gave very clearly.

"Why are you here again?"

"I made some new artwork, I was hoping to get your opinion on them," he leaned in a little closer, holding the umbrella over both of them.

"Why?"

"You have a very keen eye. I like to hear what you have to say about my works," he lifted Ritsuka's hand and pressed his lips to the thin chilly fingers, "Let's get you out of this rain."

Ritsuka looked at the blonde, considering his options; an abusive mother, a useless father, or a man who might have a lolita complex. Pursing his lips, Ritsuka shook his head, life had given him some great choices. Sighing, he followed Soubi, at least he was attractive.

~TBC~

I've finally been able to catch up on some writing, and I think I have a vague idea of where this story might be going after this, but it'll probably be a while before I figure out the next chapter. I hope you readers will bear with me.