I don't own Loveless

Ritsuka raised his scarf up to cover his reddened nose and knocked on the door lightly. After a few moments, the door swung open, revealing a man with pale, blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. He was clothed in a simple, white sweater and black sweatpants.

"Yes?"

"I-I came here after reading the job offer..." Ritsuka trailed off, forgetting what he had meant to say, "So what I mean is, I'm supposed to look after your cat."

The man raised a thin eyebrow and Ritsuka shrank underneath his scrutinizing glare, wondering if he should have just left. But the pay had been quite tantalizing, and the thought of the money he could earn kept him firmly rooted to the spot.

The man suddenly burst out into laughter and smiled slightly, his thin lips twisting into a wry smile.

"Come in." Ritsuka hesitated-was it safe to follow this man in? Maybe the job offer was nothing but a trap. The man seemed to notice his uneasiness and opened the door wide enough for Ritsuka to see it. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bite you."

Ritsuka entered, slipping off his shoes at the entrance and entering the flat. It was large and spacious, and decorated beautifully. There were paintings and small photos hung on the wall and the general theme was modern but at the same time homey. But what caught Ritsuka's attention was the wall parallel to him. The whole wall was a window, and he could see the bustling streets and the crowded cars beneath it. The sun shone brightly, showering him with a curtain of light.

"Wow," Ritsuka murmured, entranced by how extravagant but cozy the place was. He only stopped ogling the place when he heard a light cough behind him. Blushing, he turned around and faced the man who was leaning against the stove casually.

"Hello. Shall we begin with proper introductions? My name is Agatsuma Soubi. You are...?"

"Ristuka! Aoyagi Ritsuka, I mean." Soubi chuckled lightheartedly.

"So, what do you think of my home? Nice?" Ritsuka nodded fervently.

"It's so beautiful! Everything just matches each other so well, and it's just really nice and organized and its like a puzzle!"

"Thank you. It's what I do for a living. Other than painting, I work on interior designing." Ritsuka glanced at the paintings that he had overlooked before. The strokes were clear and the colors were vivid. Out of all of them, the one that caught Ritsuka's eye was the one nearest to the window. It was a painting of the night sky, with bright stars dotting the background. The silhouette of a young boy (with ears, Ritsuka observed) stood on a bridge above what seemed like a calm river, reaching out to the stars. The water reflected the night sky and Ritsuka wondered if that was a real place. It seemed familiar.

"Wow. Did you paint all of those?"

"I did. How old are you?"

"Me?" Ritsuka mentally kicked himself for asking that as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Yes, you." Soubi smiled slightly, enjoying how cute the kid was.

"I'm 17." Soubi backtracked. Young, but not as young as he thought he was.

"Well, Ritsuka, I'm 25. How about you meet my... child?" Soubi strode to his bedroom and found his gray and white kitten curled up in a little ball on his bed, sleeping silently. He sighed-it was like Bean to be sleeping for so long. He gently picked him up and brought him out to Ritsuka, who was still standing near the doorway, awkwardly scratching his arm. Soubi chuckled for what seemed like the hundreth time at that-the kid was just so adorable! And he still had his ears!

Meanwhile, Ritsuka realized why Soubi no longer had his ears. He was 25! It was a little silly that he had been afraid of such a nice man. Ritsuka saw Soubi approaching him, gently handling the kitten in his arms. Ritsuka straightened up immediately and hesitantly approached him. Was he being too informal?

"Ritsuka?" Ritsuka snapped to attention.

"Y-yes?"

"You aren't scared of cats, right? Because this whole job was for you to look after the cat you know..." Ritsuka blushed a bright red and he jumped into action, reaching his arms out to the kitten.

The kitten awoke almost immediately and stretched on Soubi's arms before daintily hopping onto Ritsuka's arms. The cat pushed herself onto Ritsuka's chest and gently licked his face.

"Wow, that's the first time I've seen her be so nice to someone," Soubi muttered before turning to Ritsuka again, "Anyway, this is Bean."

"Bean...?" Ritsuka looked up at Soubi(his head only reached up to Soubi's shoulders) and furrowed his eyebrows. What a strange name.

"It's because one of my close friends thought that she looked like a gray carioca bean, which was his favorite bean, and therefore took the liberty of naming him. Even though I said not to."

"But then why does she respond to the name?"

"Because he called her so often with that name she got used to it." Soubi shrugged and raised his golden spectacles up his nose. "Well, I don't really care anymore. Anyway, let's go over the job because I should go to work soon. You just need to feed her, play with her for a while and then train her up to some extent. I know she's a cat, but hey, you never know. And you can make whatever you want for lunch. You choose the hours each week." Ristuka nodded once, adding each responsibility to his mental checklist.

"This week, I'll work in the mornings, seven to nine, if its okay with you."

"Sure. I'll be leaving the house at seven, so we'll probably see each other. Anyways, I'm gonna have to go."

Soubi disappeared into his room and reentered, wearing a black suit and a striped tie.

"New client," he said, "wish me luck!"

And with that, he disappeared out the door, leaving Ritsuka to his thoughts with Bean.

Ritsuka began by cleaning Bean. He didn't know when the last time Soubi had washed her was but it was probably more than a month ago. So he gently led Bean to the bathroom with some yarn after filling the tub with two inches of water. Much to his surprise, the kitten didn't squirm away or scratch him like other cats did but simply sat in the water, seeming to enjoy the water.

Ritsuka played with her for a while with the yarn, making sure she was used to the water before washing her. He started washing her body first and made sure he scrubbed her paws gently but firmly. Bean stared at him with her violet eyes for a while before yawning. Ritsuka quickly finished washing her and dried her off thoroughly-it was obvious that she was sleepy.

Ritsuka carried her into Soubi's bedroom and laid her on the bed, like Soubi instructed him to do. He sat down hesitantly and scratched the base of her ears and stroked her soft fur, eliciting a deep purr that made his hand slightly vibrate.

Ritsuka stood up and started wandering around the dimly lit room(he had only turned on the lamp), even though he knew he really shouldn't be. The walls were a dim yellow and there were multiple photographs on the walls. There were some of a tall, skinny blonde man, who Ritsuka assumed was Soubi, with a man with light green hair. They were smiling widely, their arms around each other's shoulders. Ritsuka was surprised to see that he didn't have ears, even though he seemed to be around his own age.

After a while, Ritsuka got hungry so he went to the kitchen and boiled some cup noodles, since that was all he knew how to cook, and took it to the window to eat. As soon as he was about to take a bite, Bean appeared from the door, stretching, her back arching. Ritsuka laughed and snapped a quick picture with his handy camera. He would show that to Soubi later. He fed Bean some of the canned cat food by the window and they sat together, staring out the window.

It was then that Soubi returned and he had to stare at the image in front of him. A young boy and a kitten eating their separate meals but staring out the window together. Their tails were waving back and forth at the same rhythm and Soubi smiled.

"I'm back," he called, startling the both of them. Ritsuka got up, blushing, empty cup in hand.

"S-sorry. I just got a bit hungry," he said, rubbing his neck nervously.

"It's fine," Soubi assured and took a look at what he was holding, "but you could have eaten something better, like spaghetti. Why'd you eat that?"

Ritsuka blushed a deeper shade of red. "I-I can't really cook," he stammered. Soubi sighed but ruffled his hair, being careful not to touch his ears.

"I'll make you some food before I go next time, okay?"

"O-okay."

And so their routine began.

Hello! I just recently read Loveless and just fell in love! I just had to write a fanfic for Ritsuka and Soubi. This is my first Loveless fanfic! The plot line is similar to this fic I read a long time ago, I don't remember the author or the pairing, but it was not an anime. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please, please, please review! It really inspires me to write. I'm sure you're tired of hearing it from other writers as well but it really is a huge treat to read through the reviews.

-Strawberry