He gently wiped my eyes. "Don't cry for me, Soubi, and don't cry for Seimei. He is too proud to deserve those tears. If you want to cry, cry for yourself. You've been wronged almost worse than I have."

I pulled that little kid into my arms, hugging him too tight for his own well being. I didn't want to speak right now, but I'm sure that I couldn't. My throat was so tight I could hardly even breath past the emotions I had kept inside my head. The bottle had been opened by Ritsu's careless kiss, the contents poured out by Tokia as he spilled his soul to me.

We were startled when the front door opened. Natsuo, Yoji and Ritsuka stood, embarrassed at the scene before them. Ritsuka was the first one to move, and it was towards us. I wanted to shy away, to avoid this situation.

"Soubi..." Ritsuka whispered, "In three years I've never seen you cry." He had a small smile, but it was a sad one. One devoid of any happiness.

Tokia rested his forehead against mine, an intense feeling flowing from him. Yoji and Natsuo seemed to have gotten the hint and waved towards us.

"We're going out to eat with Kio, don't wait up for us." Natsuo smiled as he closed the door. I felt my body getting warm as I let my gaze drift between Tokia and Ritsuka. Thoughts swam around in my mind that bordered sadistic. Tokia grabbed Ritsuka's hand for a moment, peering into the younger one's eyes earnestly.

"Ritsuka, your future is about to dramatically change."

Tokia lifted up his shirt, pulling it off. For a moment both Ritsuka and I were confused, but my eyes quickly caught the faint letters scrawled underneath his navel. Ritsuka backed away, his breathing getting heavy.

"Soubi what the hell is this," He demanded.

I kept my expression as neutral as possible, feeling a small humming in the back of my mind. "This is exactly what it is. You can either accept your Sentouki or we'll all be crushed."

"Crushed?" Ritsuka repeated.

Tokia turned his head sharply, looking at me. "Soubi, there isn't time. We need to get out of this house."

I didn't bother to question why and stood hurriedly. "Is that them? That humming I keep feeling?" I asked.

Tokia shrugged. "It feels different to everybody. To me it feels like my skin is crawling. Maybe that's just part of their illusion."

Ritsuka sat, still looking perplexed. "Who are you talking about? I don't feel anything!"

"Ritsuka, just get up. We need to leave now." My tone was harsh, but there wasn't time for his questions. Tokia disappeared briefly back into the bedroom, coming out in his clothes from the day before. I suppose Yoji and Natsuo had washed them, as they were perfectly clean.

"Hand me those pills on the floor, please," Tokia motioned to Ritsuka. He took two of them, swallowing them without any problem. "Now my head will be clear for once."

Ritsuka started rubbing his arms, glancing around confusedly. "What's going on?" He asked, his tone becoming panicky.

I went to grab a hold of him, but he threw himself backwards. The horrified expression on his face as I leaned over him made me stop myself. "Tokia, what is he...What's going on?"

Tokia's pained expression killed my doubts. "They're already trying to get into my head. At least I know the things I see aren't real. It seems Ritsuka doesn't have the mental capacity to block intruders. He's suffering from a hallucination, for however long they want him to."

I backed away, watching those perfect eyes go empty with quiet rage and pain. "What's he seeing?"

"Anything we want him to, love." Came a voice from behind me. I whirled around, startled.

How did I not feel them this close?

Tokia slumped to the floor, but it didn't seem to be out of submission.

My heart raced. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Kia, you're medicated. How mean of Ritsu to give those pills back to you." Said the other boy.

"Kana...Don't do this; I don't belong to you! Ritsuka's, I'm Ritsuka's Sentouki..." Tokia argued, his tone pleading.

"If it hadn't been for Seimei, no one would've been the wiser to what we were doing. That little boy has expired, as these two will if you don't come back to us."

Tokia glared at them through the tears in his eyes. "I won't let you do this to them. I'm the only one you're allowed to hurt!" He shouted.

I felt my body go numb. "Expired..." I whispered.

"Hmm, Kana. Seems we hit a sweet spot with Soubi," The other twin, Katsuya, laughed. "Yes, Seimei has expired. He is dead."

I felt my heart break again for that man.

"Katsuya, you should tell him how we did it," Kana urged his brother.

"No, Kana, I think we should show him..."

The sadistic grin caused a wave of panic. I wouldn't be able to fight them like this. They were going to mess with my head and I had no way to defend against it.

"Kana please...Don't do this. There's no reason for this! Why can't you just let me leave?" Tokia cried.

"We've had you for almost three years. Why waste such perfection? It's not like Loveless can ever love another." Kana replied harshly.

Katsuya held up a hand as if to hold off the rest of his brother's sentence. "What will you bargain for your freedom? You have nothing we want, Tokia. Other than the two people in this house there is nothing you can give us that will set you free."

Tokia glanced around nervously. "Not even the Zeros?"

Kana smiled at that. I felt panic seize in my chest.

"Those little cute, numb creatures of Nagisa's? They might be worth your freedom, if you can make it happen." Katsuya answered.

"Tokia, you can't bargain with what you don't own!" I yelled, almost angrily.

Kana's eyes fell on me, a malicious glare causing the rest of my outburst to stop in my throat. "You don't own anybody. Shut your mouth or I'll show you the same kindness I gave Tokia for disobeying me."

Katsuya laughed at his brother's comment. "But I would like to have a peek at that trembling little boy in the corner."

I didn't give them time to move. I threw myself over Ritsuka, hugging him tightly. One of the twins made a disapproving noise.

"How shameful, and just after I threatened him, too..."

"Oh well, now we get to play rough."

I began to whisper kind words into Ritsuka's ear to wake him up from whatever he was seeing, but it didn't seem to reach him. "Ritsuka please, please wake up. I need you to fight this..."

A hand grabbed me roughly, but I dropped all my weight onto Ritsuka.

"Kana, would you please get this man off of him? He's being difficult."

I felt a searing hot pain across my skin, but I ignored it. "You can't win against me using pain." I growled, holding Ritsuka's now limp body tighter. "I was trained to ignore it. I'm invincible. Omnipotent."

"Tch, what kind of nonsense is that? You know what? You're barely even a fighter, Soubi. Seimei may have used you efficiently, but in the end you're just a lost dog without his master or his damned bone. So step aside before I kill you like I killed your little Beloved Sacrifice."

My heart pounded furiously, but I didn't obey them. I could hear Tokia sobbing across from us, but it didn't register. I initiated the system, wanting to declare this an official battle.

"You are joking, aren't you? Soubi, you're mind must have gone bad when Seimei left you. You don't even have a sacrifice you can use, so now you're fighting at a quarter of your strength."

"Don't tell me that like you're better than I am," I growled, feeling energy surge through my skin. "There are none of you little brats that can defeat me. All you know is petty manipulation tactics. Cleave, hew, and smite."

The spells tore at them, apparently unexpectedly. I hadn't had any idea who the fighter was , but my suspicions were confirmed when Kana deflected them, but only just barely in time.

"So quick and nasty, Soubi. I was hoping you'd draw this little tiff out longer..."

"I don't like to play games with the likes of you," I replied.

Katsuya glared, muttering commands to Kana. Kana smiled a little, raising his hand. "See the things you regret the most Soubi, and remember them with a ten-fold intensity."

I hesitated, not seeing or feeling the attack.

"Could it be there is nothing you regret, Soubi?" Katsuya asked.

I stared, not moving a muscle. I was expecting something more from them than for me to feel regretful.

"Seems so," Kana said, almost downheartedly. "I guess we'll have to use our real special ones against him."

"Dissociate and separate. Your bond is pathetic," I growled. "All you do is use worthless words. Incinerate; the air around you is stagnant with the stench of your own death as you smolder to nothing."

The air was suddenly ablaze and Kana panicked, though it was barely a look in his eyes. "Avert; there is nothing to burn in this space."

"Yes, everything will burn. There is nothing you can say that will stop you from burning to death." I said firmly, realizing that my house was going to be severely damaged after this.

"Redirect; take it ten-fold!"

I held up a hand. "Holy water; wash away the filth that is Illusion."

The water hit them hard, but Kana kept it at bay. "You fight pretty hard once you're serious. How about we make a deal?"

"I make no deals with the likes of you."

"Oh, but it'll be so much fun! We'll take Ritsuka out of his little hallucinations and take him with us." Katsuya offered.

I snorted. "Just what kind of deal is that?"

Katsuya smiled a little. "Oh, you didn't let me finish. We'll take Ritsuka and he will stay unharmed until you bring us a suitable replacement for Tokia. If by chance none is found, either take Ritsuka back for yourself and give us Tokia or we keep your precious virgin Ritsuka and he won't stay innocent for very long."

I frowned. "You'll have to kill me first. I'm not giving anyone to you. What you've done to Tokia is beyond natural and no one needs to go through that kind of pain."

"Are you saying you want to finish this little battle, Soubi? Because there's not anyway to block our little visions. Once implanted in your brain, they keep running. Your mind will be ravished for all the bad memories you've got up there and it will combine them into one. I'm sure Ritsuka is having fun watching his brother burn to death, begging for you to save his brother." Kana laughed maniacally.

I clenched my teeth. "Let's finish this."

"With pleasure," Katsuya added. "Kana give him what he needs."

Kana's hands came together with a ball of light. "Soubi, do you know what kind of energy this is? Spiritual energy. It's potent, almost deadly. I'm about to use your mind to win."

Everything went white for a second and I put a hand up to shield the light, but when I put my hand down, I realized I wasn't where I should have been.

The sun was shining brightly through the window and I recognized immediately where I was.

Ritsu's eyes gleamed at me behind those glasses. "Soubi, you seem distracted lately."

I nodded, as if out of habit. I couldn't seem to control my actions. "Things have been...slow lately."

"You mean with Seimei, of course?"

"Yeah..."

I felt teacher's arms around me, but I didn't move. I couldn't move. No matter how badly I wanted to scream there wasn't anyone around who would hear me. I struggled for a moment, but his grip was strong, his words mesmerizing.

"Don't fight me, Soubi. You need to be loved, just like this."

I fought back tears as he pursued his own physical desires.

Long after I could only lay there, wondering why I wasn't waking up from this nightmare. It slowly faded to Seimei.

"Soubi? Where did you disappear...to?" His eyes moved over me and I fell apart again.

"I couldn't stop him, he wouldn't stop!" I cried. "I'm too weak to even protect myself!"

Seimei sat back, observing my breakdown on the floor. "Will you let this build you up or break you down, Soubi?"

I looked up at him. "What?"

"I said, will you let this build you up. Or will it break you down?" He repeated.

I looked away, fresh tears falling. I closed my eyes, unbelieving of his incredulousness. Of all the times he could have spoken so arrogantly to me, so uncaring, why did it have to be now when I needed him the most?

When I opened my eyes, I was back inside my house. A feeling of emptiness overcame me as I sat up realizing it was well into the night. Tokia was sitting beside me, crying as well.

"I didn't think you were going to wake up. They left me with a message, though. We've got until tomorrow at five p.m. to provide them with either a replacement or me." Tokia whispered.

I wiped away my own tears, pulling Tokia into an embrace. "I don't want to give you back to them, nor do I want anyone else to go through your pain." I whispered. "What the hell are we going to do?"

Tokia shook his head. "Then I will go back to them with pride in my heart. If it saves Ritsuka, I will gladly give him to you forever."