Ritsuka angrily brushed the tears from his face with his shirtsleeve. He hated that he cried so easily. It was a sign of weakness. A reminder of the nothing, the nobody that he was.

Seimei, he thought, Seimei, why is it so difficult?

Am I cursed by my name?

Ritsuka shuddered. Loveless. That was his true name, chosen before he was born, marking and labeling him with the cold truth. One without love.

He slammed his fists down on the table in agitation. Whose fault was it anyway? His? Seimei's? Soubi's? The Seven Moons?

"Ritsuka." He sat up and swiveled around to meet the source of that velvety voice. "Soubi?"

Soubi stepped down gracefully from Ritsuka's window. His eyebrows pulled together in concern as he saw the young boy's face. He crossed the room in a few long strides and took Ritsuka's face into his hands. "You've been crying," he murmured as he brushed the remaining tears away with his slender fingers. "Come." Gently, he carried Ritsuka to the bed, sitting him on his lap. "Ritsuka, I love you."

Ritsuka stiffened. "Soubi! I told you not to say that!"

Soubi chuckled. "But it's true." He leaned down and kissed Ritsuka on the cheek.

How? Ritsuka wondered, how can he say that so casually, so easily? He can't possibly mean it?

Can he?

He looked up into Soubi's caring face and turned away as he felt the stinging in his eyes again. Ritsuka pressed his face against Soubi's chest and felt strong arms close around him as the tears flowed.

Seimei, why does it hurt? Why does it hurt so much to be loved?