Chapter 1

Running down the street Soubi skidded to a slippery stop in front of Ritsuka's house. He hurriedly climbed up to the second floor balcony; he paused for the quickest second to catch his breath. Soubi quietly slid the glass door open and drew aside the curtains. He cast his worried blue eyes about the room. He was dripping from the rain, soaked from head to toe; his clothing and his hair were pasted to his body. He knew that this would be the reason for his Sacrifice's yelled rant later: him catching a cold and the dripped water on his floor. The only problem was that his Ritsuka was nowhere to be seen and his little blue cell phone was lying on the bed, blinking with the messages and email Soubi had been continually sending since the he had gotten out of school. He anxiously made his way around the room, looking for any clues, anything hinting to the boy's whereabouts. To go so long without hearing from him was highly unusual -- even if it was a simple "Leave me alone," he always received some kind of a response, and Soubi found the silence completely unnerving.

As he walked farther into the room, he noticed a sliver of light coming from the door that he couldn't remember having ever seen open before and there seemed to be a bit of a haze emitting from it. Quietly inching closer, he heard a humming that grew louder as he moved closer. An eyebrow raised in curiosity. The voice was easily recognizable -for someone who paid as much attention as he did that is- as Ritsuka. He peeked through the door, because he had to be sure that the boy was ok, he rationalized. His eyes widened as he saw the boy in the most unguarded state he could ever remember seeing him: taking a bath -- taking a bath and humming.

The small neko-boy lounged in the large bath, his slender leg bent up and out of the water as he washed it with a soapy cloth. Soubi watched his beloved Sacrifice, entranced as Ritsuka happily rinsed himself and finished his bath, but when he stood to dry off, Soubi glanced away. As much as he wanted to look, he had already invaded his Sacrifice's privacy enough for one day. He walked over to the bed and leaned against the footboard to wait for the boy who would emerge from the still slightly steaming bathroom, attempting nonchalance.

The dark-haired boy walked into the unlit room with a fluffy maroon towel wrapped around his slim hips, his hair still dripping slightly. Making his way right by the silent Soubi, who was too busily eyeing the exposed skin on display to announce his presence, Ritsuka turned and bent to retrieve his sleeping clothes from the bureau. Before he could reach out to open the drawer, he started in surprise as he heard a sharp gasp from behind him. He turned around quickly, taking a step back into the bureau while making sure to keep a secure hold on his towel, to spot the shocked Sentoki.

"What are you doing here?!" Ritsuka asked, too surprised to be angry, as he wrapped his arms around himself, trying to cover as much skin as possible without dropping his towel in the process. His eyes darted to the bathroom door -contemplating making a run for it- then back to Soubi. He knew there'd be no way he could outrun him, should Soubi decide to chase after him.

Soubi didn't answer. Instead he reached for the boy and gently turned him back around. Ritsuka could only move as Soubi wanted him to. "Your name," he said simply and without further explanation. "What?" was all that the Sacrifice could say as he felt Soubi sink to his knees his head lowering as he kept eye-contact. He felt the older man's hands rest softly on his hips, almost as though he was afraid to break the young boy. Ritsuka's heart hammered in his chest as he felt Soubi lightly tug at the towel. "Hey!" He said as he tried to move away. He stopped when he realized that Soubi wasn't trying to remove the towel and that it hadn't moved far down. He felt a feather light kiss so low on his back that it made him start and he attempted to move away again, but his Sentoki's grip was too strong and he didn't budge.

"What are you talking about?" he asked breathily as he gave up trying to shake Soubi's grip.

"Loveless" was Soubi's simple reply as his soft lips continued to lightly move against Ritsuka's smooth skin, his hand caressing the boy's silken tail as he did so. "Your real name."

"You found it?" Ritsuka asked, bewildered and rather unintelligently. He turned his head to try and get a look without moving his body much. "Soubi, stop. I want to see!" he said with a slight whine, trying to break the blonds grasp for a second time, again to no avail. "Let me see," he whined when the kisses and now licks didn't cease. Soubi finally pulled away but kept his hands tightly on the shorter boy's hips as he directed him to the bathroom. When Ritsuka turned to get a look at his name, Soubi's hands went back to the hips that where now facing him.

They both stared with fascination at the name reflected in the mirror. The lettering was rather mechanical and yet the lines still gave off a slightly jagged look. Momentarily, Soubi's rather brilliant blue eyes soon wandered down to Ritsuka, who still looked at his name in wonder as he moved this way and that, watching it change shape as he did so. Feeling a drop from the taller man's still wet hair, Ritsuka blinked as if awakening and looked up, noticing for the first time that his Sentoki was soaked. "Soubi, you're going to get sick if you don't dry off!" he said sternly, his face flushing red in anger and a hint of worry in his violet eyes "And look at this trail water, and these puddles!" he added as an afterthought. Soubi itched to kiss him. The boy pulled away from the blond, led him by the hand into his room, and handed him a dry towel.

Soubi smiled at his boy's predictable reaction and dried himself off. He took off his jacket and hung it on the back of the computer chair so that it could dry. He toweled his hair making sure it was completely dry, because it wouldn't do to continue to drip all over Ritsuka's room – even though his Sacrifice was incredibly cute when his face was red with anger and yelling.

Ritsuka moved to his bureau again and pulled out pants to sleep in and a long-sleeved shirt. "Why did you come?" he asked, walking back to the bathroom to change, leaving the door open just enough so he could hear Soubi's response. He glanced threw the sliver of open door to make sure the older man wasn't trying to peek.

"You weren't answering me." The Fighter answered simply.

"I had to stay after class. Shinonome-sensei wanted to talk to me about my paper," Ritsuka replied as he emerged, buttoning up his night shirt. "Did I worry you?" he asked, looking up through his lashes at the blue-eyed man.

"Yes." Soubi freely admitted.

"It's late." Ritsuka said, glancing at his digital clock, changing the subject.

"Should I leave?" The Fighter asked, following his gaze.

"It's still raining." The boy said, amethyst eyes shifting to his glass doors, out of which he could see the rain still falling in torrents.

"I could use your umbrella. I will bring it back this time." Soubi said with a small smile, remembering the stern reprimand he received every time he forgot to bring it back.

"Stay." Ritsuka said, not meeting Soubi's eyes as his hands lingered over the last button of his shirt. He moved over to the bed and crawled in, lifting up his comforter for Soubi. "Stay?" he said again, this time a little unsure of himself as he looked up at the taller man.

Soubi slipped off his shoes and eagerly slid into the bed, pulling an unresisting Ritsuka into his arms, his hand resting where he knew the newly discovered name was written. The Sentoki slipped his fingers under the waistband of his Sacrifice's pants, causing the boy to start closer to Soubi. The blond smiled contently as he began to caress the jagged lines of the name, tracing them. Ritsuka snuggled closer, leaned up, and placed the softest kiss onto Soubi's still-smiling lips; smiling at the irony, Loveless? One without love should not be able to kiss so sweetly, hold so tightly, nor smile so warmly.