Chapter 8: Through the Storm

"Yes."

Why!? Why, oh why, did he have to say yes?

Now here he was, alone, at night, with Soubi, on his bed, and Youji and Natsuo thought it'd be funny to leave!

"Wait where are you going!?"

"Just for a stroll." Natsuo said as he put a cloak around himself, after all he was still an escaped prisoner.

"Maybe some fun." Youji added with a teasing smirk towards the raven.

Ritsuka ignored the suggestive look. "When are you coming back?"

"Late." Natsuo opened the door.

"Real late."

They both waved as they left with a smile worse then a Cheshire cat.

"You're stiff."

Ritsuka snapped out of his thoughts, looking over at Soubi, who was across the room on a stool, sketching his soon to be painting. Ritsuka briefly wondered where that painting was gonna go and who was gonna have it.

"I thought I needed to be still."

Soubi smiled. "You do. You also need to be relaxed though."

That's hard to manage.

"Are you still worried about putting us in danger?"

Ritsuka shook his, even though he was still worried about that. It just wasn't what he was worrying about right now.

"Then is something else troubling you?"

"I just feel nervous, about being painted." That was kinda the truth?

"Why, when you always dance?"

Surely dancing had to be more nerve wracking then being painted, at least Soubi thought so. With everyone watching and looking, one wrong step and you could easily fall and make a fool of yourself. Then again that was something half the gypsys did on purpose, but Ritsuka didn't seem like that type.

"That's different."

"How?"

Ritsuka shrugged. "I'm used to it and it's just easy for me to do."

He remembered when he tried to do juggling first, then magic, then stilt walking, acrobatics, puppeteering, dagger throwing, handwalking, and he never went close to fire breathing or sword swallowing, those were crazy! Dancing was really the last thing he wanted to do, but it was also the only thing he really could do.

"How long have you been a gypsy?"

This had been bugging Soubi for quite sometime. He knew how everyone treated gypsys and how they looked at them, no one would really ever choose to become one. Often pushed into it with nothing else to do, either being outcasted or abandoned. He knew Youji and Natsuo were both born into it, after being abandoned by their mother, a prostitute. He just wanted to know how the boy became one, why he seemed to have a sullen aura around him.

"Two years..."

Ritsuka remember his home life, something he didn't like remembering. His mother always yelling and attacking him, for a reason he didn't understand, and his father not caring at all to stop her, instead choosing to run into the arms of mistress, leaving his mother with more anger and pain to take out on him. He too finally couldn't take it any more and ran away at twelve.

"I'm sorry."

Ritsuka's ears flicked at how close Soubi's voice was and gasped as he hugged him. Wait, when did Soubi move and sit on the bed? And why was he hugging him? Ritsuka blinked and felt something wet go down his cheek. Curiously he touched it and was shocked as he felt another one slide down his other cheek.

When did I start crying?

...

It was dark, storm clouds were roaring, and rain was just pouring down like a waterfall. Nisei peaked out the curtain, there was no one on the streets, not even the guards, but that wasn't surprising, after all who would be out in this storm.

"I hate the rain." He growled, before pulling the curtain back.

He went over and sat on the arm of the couch and looked over at Seimei, who was reading on the other end. He briefly wondered what he was reading, but knew there was no point in asking him because he probably wouldn't tell him.

"Stop starring at me." Seimei ordered.

He looked away. "I'm bored."

"Read a book."

"Don't want to."

Seimei looked up at him, Nisei's voice sounded surprisingly offended.

"Why? Do you have something against books?"

He shook his head.

"Then what is it?"

"I just don't like them." He was staring off.

"Why?"

"I just don't."

"There has to be a reason."

Nisei shrugged. "They're boring I guess."

"You guess? Have you ever even read a book?"

Nisei visibly tensed as he shook his head.

"Why not?"

Nisei stayed silent for a minute. "I never wanted to."

Seimei studied him for a moment before a thought crossed his mind.

"Read this." Seimei threw the book he was reading at him.

"I told you I don't like to." Nisei stated as he barely caught the the book.

"Just the cover."

"I don't like to read period." Nisei stressed as he tossed the book on the couch.

"You don't like to or you can't?"

Nisei curled into himself. "... I can't." His voice was nothing more then a whisper.

Seimei eyes widened as he registered what the gypsy had said. He was just taking a guess that the gypsy couldn't read, he didn't think he actually couldn't.

"Can you write?"

Nisei shook his head again. "You don't really learn that stuff when you're a gypsy." He mumbled.

Seimei looked at the gypsy. His head was down, his hands gripped tightly onto the couch and he was worrying his lip. Was he truly ashamed and embarrassed by the fact he couldn't read nor write? Seimei wanted to say it was pathetic, but it was kinda more sad then pathetic.

"Do you want me to teach you?"

...

Seimei looked at Nisei as he tried to copy what he had wrote. It was a simple sentence, Nisei actually already knew the letters, he just didn't know exactly how to pronounce them and put them together to make words.

"Hey." He called out, Nisei looked up. "Why do you do what you do?"

Nisei looked down at the paper as he twirled the pen.

"It's all I really know how to do." He looked at him.

"You really can't do anything else?"

He shook his head.

"You're parents didn't teach you anything?"

Nisei smiled, but it looked empty. "My parents abandoned me when I was young. I don't think they really cared to teach me anything."

Seimei stayed quiet, not really knowing how to response to that. How do you response to that? You could say 'I'm sorry', but that really didn't make sense, its not like he abandoned him. He did ask the question though.

"You don't have to feel sad or sorry." Nisei stated as if he could read his mind. "My parents are nothing more than an old dream." He went back to coping Seimei's sentence. "I don't even remember what they look like."

...

Soubi handed Ritsuka a glass of water.

"Are you better now?"

"Mmm hmm." Ritsuka said as he drank some water. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry for asking those questions." Soubi put his hand on the neko's head.

"Don't be. I haven't talked about my parents since I ran away. It feels nice to let it all out." Ritsuka leaded into Soubi's touch, that seemed to become a habit of his, not that Soubi mind, quite the opposite actually, he liked that the boy was getting closer to him.

Ritsuka pulled away and looked at him. "Are we gonna continue the painting now?"

"No, I'll let you rest."

"I really am fine now Soubi. I don't need to rest."

"I believe you. It's just that its getting late." Soubi motioned towards the window, it was almost pitch black outside.

"I can't sleep through storms." Ritsuka said as he could still here the rain, luckily it was lighter then before, but he knew that could easily change.

"Would you like to stay with me?" Soubi asked.

Yes and no was Ritsuka's answer. Yes because of course the obvious, it would comfort him and no because what could happen.

"Umm, sure."

Soubi smiled. "You should get changed then."

Ritsuka nodded before leaving Soubi's room to get his pajamas and change in the other.

...

'What am I doing?'

Ritsuka's mind began running a million thoughts per second. Was he really going to share a bed with this man? Well it's not like anything is going to happen. Right?

'What could happen?'

Not even a moment after that thought he turn dark red as almost every thought of what could happen pasted through his head. He felt dizzy.

'Gosh darn it! Where are Youji and Natuso!?'

...

"We're gonna get sick you know this right?" Natsuo looked over at Youji.

"Hey, it's what we used to do and we were fine back then, so we should be fine right now." Youji sat and the ground.

Currently they were under a small stone bridge to shield them from the rain.

"Well can't argue with that logic." Natsuo said as he sat down next to Youji, wrapping his cloak around the two of them to help keep warm. "We should just be happy we don't still live like this."

"Yeah. Didn't we meet Soubi on a night like this?" Youji snuggled up more to Natsuo. "I wonder what he and Loveless are up to now." He snickered.

"You always have your head in the gutter." Natsuo laughed as he hug him.

"That's probably how we survived everything, we could always make each other laugh."

"That and our reflexes." He smiled.

Youji smiled too.

...

Seimei looked over Nisei as he drew a blanket over him, he had fallen fast asleep on the couch.

"Tsk."

Seimei didn't like it. He didn't like one bit. He didn't like that he actually cared enough to feel sad for this person, this thing, this gypsy! To care enough to cover him when it's cold.

Seimei turned off the light and walked over to the hallway leading to his room.

This was annoying.

"Goodnight."

He didn't like it. He didn't like one bit.

...

Ritsuka was already asleep as Soubi ran his hand through his hair, occasionally the boy would purr and shift closer to him. He really was the cutest thing.

"Goodnight Ritsuka." Soubi whispered as he kissed the boy's head.

Ritsuka smiled in his sleep.

Author's Note: Short chapter, sorry, but at least it's more then a thousand words, right?