Goodnight Butterfly

Holy crap! I got a review! Thank you, Minto! Now, on with the story :D

The droplets of blood were almost soothing against his skin. He lay there in the faintly warm light of the bedroom, dividing his attention between the crushed butterfly on the floor beside the bed and the drops of blood that slid gracefully across his skin, hypnotizing in their motion. They were warm, almost comforting, like the delicate touch of a mother he had not known since he was a child. The wound on his neck bled freely. Definitely not deep enough to be fatal, he told himself, but just enough to lull him into intoxication with the exhilarating feeling of his own life’s blood making red petals on the bed sheets.

Petals.

The butterfly’s wings resembled petals, too. Like the crushed petals of a dried, blue rose. Delicate and depressing. The vivid sight of the crushed wings and the hot dripping of his own blood were more than enough to distract him from his thoughts. And so there he lay, in the warmth and shelter of his own solitude. Agatsuma Soubi, victim of silence.

“Seimei?” the voice was barely loud enough to be perceptible, but Soubi heard it. He raised his eyes from the trail of blood leaking down his forearm and looked in the direction of the voice. A tiny raven haired boy stood in the doorway, peering into the room. “Are you in here?” his large eyes found Soubi and widened to even bigger proportions. “Oh!”

“Um… hello,” Soubi said softly, alarmed at his sudden presence. So this was Seimei’s brother. He was so much smaller than he had seemed the other times he had glimpsed him. Something about being seen in this situation made him feel utterly vulnerable and ashamed… and then there was also the fact that he was exposing a child to blood. He made a move to sit up, but his hand hit a patch of the sheet where the blood made it slick, and he slipped back into his former vulnerable position. By the time he was finished with the awkward fiasco and looked up, Ritsuka was standing in front of him, a worried expression on his young face.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice more curious than demanding.

“Soubi,” he answered, giving the boy a disarming smile. “I’m a friend of Seimei’s.”

The boy’s face lit up immediately, as though being friends with his brother qualified Soubi for instant trust. “Oh, Seimei’s friend! That’s why you’re here!” he smiled happily at Soubi. “My name is Ritsuka! I’m Seimei’s brother!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ritsuka,” Soubi offered with a small smile. “Seimei told me so much about you.”

Ritsuka grinned, but suddenly his face fell and he looked concerned. “Oh! Soubi, you’re hurt.”

Remembering the name carved into his neck, Soubi covered as much of it as he could with his hand. “No, it’s fine.” there was really no way to explain the wound, and he could think of nothing to distract him. “I just-”

“Why does it say that?” Ritsuka asked, cocking his head and peering at what he could see of the Name. Soubi smiled. It was impossible to hate this boy. He had held a slight grudge against him before today, for being the only person Seimei was willing to get close to when Soubi was the one who loved him… loved him far more than he had ever loved anyone else. But this innocent boy with his large eyes and his ears that twitched whenever he reacted to something was certainly not what he had expected.

Soubi was grateful when the young boy abandoned his previous question. He reached out and moved the hand blocking Soubi’s wound. One of his small fingers brushed a letter gently, a feather-light touch, and Soubi watched him stare at the blood on his finger with some amusement. “You’re bleeding a lot, Soubi. Do you want me to help?”

Soubi chuckled softly. This kid… this brother of Seimei’s… he was cute. There was no denying it. Soubi, who had never been good with children, couldn’t help but think this as he looked down at the small boy whose face was laced with concern. “No, that’s fine, Ritsuka, I can-”

Ritsuka had climbed onto the bed beside him and had picked up the towel Soubi had discarded. He pressed it delicately to the wound, a look of concentration etched deeply into his features. Soubi winced slightly, but quickly grew accustomed to the feeling of the cloth against the raw cuts on his neck. Ritsuka was very serious about his job, dabbing gently at the cuts with the precision of a nurse. He nibbled on his bottom lip as he worked, and his focus reminded Soubi of Seimei for a moment. But this boy was nothing like Seimei.

“You’re very good at this, Ritsuka. Where did you learn this sort of thing?”

“From Seimei. I watch him do this whenever I get hurt,” the eight-year-old explained carefully, applying pressure to the wound. Soubi felt a pang of overwhelming sympathy. Seimei had told him once, briefly, about the harm their mother inflicted on the younger of the two brothers. The anger in Seimei’s voice when he spoke of it had been frightening, and now Soubi could understand why. “It’s not bleeding too much anymore!” the child informed him as he removed the towel. “You’re going to be okay!”

Soubi smiled tenderly at the small boy. “All thanks to your wonderful nursing skills.”

Ritsuka was busy frowning at the wound, which hurt worse than before it had come into contact with the towel but was no longer dripping. “Hmm… I’ll be right back!” the boy jumped up and hurried out of the room before Soubi had time to protest. He returned in a matter of moments with a small box of band-aids and a coy smile. “Seimei always uses these.”

Ritsuka spent the next five minutes sitting on Soubi’s stomach and carefully applying band-aids to his wound. He delicately placed one over every line and smoothed it down with his finger. His touch was so gentle; nothing like Seimei’s. And Soubi couldn’t help but wonder… why did he feel completely safe around this child? Why did he feel sheltered, like nothing could touch him? It was confusing but relieving all at once, and he felt a bit of his usual stress melt away as he sat there under the watchful eye of his young nurse. By the time Ritsuka had finished, the box of band-aids was empty, and the younger male had a look of accomplishment on his face.

“There!” he said happily, holding up the hand mirror he had brought with him on his trip to fetch the band-aids. Soubi smiled at the sight of BELOVED spelled out in band-aids, carefully covering every trace of the cuts.

“You did a wonderful job, Ritsuka,” he said with a small smile, touching the band-aids lightly with one finger. “Thank you.” Ritsuka was looking at him suspiciously, and Soubi couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “What is it?”

“Your ears. They’re gone. You’re a grown-up,” Ritsuka said pensively.

“No, I’m not a grown-up. I’m 16. I’m only a year older than Seimei,” Soubi explained delicately. Ritsuka seemed satisfied with this answer.

“Why are your ears gone, Soubi?”

“Well… why aren’t yours gone, Ritsuka?”

“Because I’m not a grown-up,” he stated pointedly. “And you’re not either, but your ears are gone… why, Soubi?”

Soubi sighed. “I’m sure Seimei will explain that to you when you’re a little older. Thank you very much for taking such good care of me, Ritsuka-kun. But I really should be going… I don’t want to be a bother.” he stood up to leave, but Ritsuka latched onto his arm, and Soubi, surprised, smiled at him.

“No, stay! It’s okay, you’re not bothering me! You’re Seimei’s friend…” his brain seemed to be working to reach some kind of conclusion as he paused. “So it’s okay if you stay here, isn’t it?”

“I suppose it-”

“You need to stay here and go to sleep! Seimei always makes me go to sleep after I get hurt. He says it helps you heal better! So… you need to go to sleep!” there was a trace of a demanding note in the young boy’s voice as he said this.

“Ritsuka, I don’t think-”

“Seimei says it helps!” Ritsuka pushed him backward onto the bed and pulled the quilt up over him before he could protest. “So you have to sleep. And I’ll stay here and make sure you do sleep!” Ritsuka said persistently as he moved up beside him and sat beside Soubi, wiggling a bit to get comfortable. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. “I’ll stay here and make sure nobody hurts you.” Soubi almost objected, but then a small, warm hand rested itself on his head and began to pet lightly at his blond hair. “Don’t worry.”

Something about that touch was so comforting that Soubi couldn’t find it in himself to complain. And so he closed his eyes and allowed his body to relax at the delicate touch against his hair. And so, earless though he was, the cat fell finally into blissful sleep under the watchful eye of the kitten.