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Strays	By : Shuichi77 Category: +G to L > Loveless Views: 1752 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless or any of the characters in any way shape or form and make no money/profit from any of my writings.

Chapter List
- 36
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"N-no…he can't be dead…Soubi, do something!" Ritsuka screamed at the tall blonde with large tears streaming down his cheeks while Saiyuri stood motionless and silent in shock next to him and Sasuke merely stood behind the couch, arms crossed with a calm expression.

"Ritsuka…there isn't anything else I can do…I'm sorry." Soubi's voice was now audibly shaky as he too was very upset by this unfortunate turn of events.

"No! There has to be something!" Ritsuka now had his fists clenched in anger and his eyes shut tight to avoid the sight of the lifeless body on the couch. His screams were only met with silence however, until an idea popped into his head and his eyes flew open. "Soubi! Try electrocuting him!" This completely shocked the blonde.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Yeah that has to work! Like they do at the hospital to shock someone's heart! Except we can engage a battle and you can use an electric spell to shock him and restart his heart." Soubi's eyes grew wide at this and he thought the idea through quickly in his head.

"That just might work…but we have to hurry." He then turned to the tall dark haired man that still stood behind the couch. "Sasuke, we challenge you to a battle of spells!" Ritsuka then also quickly turned toward Sasuke, ready to give this desperate idea a try. They both stood in silence for what felt like years waiting for the tall man to speak and accept their challenge. Once he was being stared down by the desperate duo, Sasuke glared up directly into Soubi's eyes before replying.

"I decline." This caused all three of the others mouths to drop open in shock, but it was Ritsuka who was the first to retort.

"Sasuke! What the hell is the matter with you! This may be the only chance we have to save Reiki and we need to hurry! So stop screwing around!" Despite Ritsuka's efforts, Sasuke merely shifted his glare toward him and answered in a slightly dark tone.

"No."

"But why?!"

"Because I don't want to save him. Frankly, I'm glad he is gone."

This again shocked everyone, but no one more than Saiyuri. These words violently broke her from her frozen state and before anyone knew what was happening, she had landed an incredibly hard punch to the broody man's face, knocking him onto his behind on the floor. Soubi and Ritsuka then only watched on in shock as she slowly moved to stand over Sasuke before leaning down slightly and yanking him up by his shirt collar to be face to face with him. She then spoke in an incredibly eerie voice that they had never heard from the small girl before.

"H-How dare you….How dare you say that! He is your Sacrifice! Your partner! Your only reason for breathing should be to protect that boy! How can you call yourself a Sentouki when you act so cold and indifferent as your Sacrifice dies right before your eyes?!" Sasuke then looked up into the girls fierce eyes with a cool stare and spoke in a soft voice.

"He was my Sacrifice Saiyuri…but he isn't anymore…he hasn't been for a long time." This caused a low growl from the small girl before she began landing blow after blow onto the Sasuke's face at point blank range. Instead of fighting however, he simply allowed the girl to work out her frustrations until Soubi finally picked her up from behind by her sweatshirt. Once she was dangling in the air, she stopped swinging and kicking after a few moments and then broke down into large sobs.

"Ritsuka, take Saiyuri into the studio for a few minutes. Help her calm down. I'm going to stay in here and talk to Sasuke."

Ritsuka was still slightly stunned but was coherent enough to nod slowly at his Sentouki before ushering the girls under his arm as soon as Soubi placed her back on her feet. He then slowly and carefully led her away from the scene and into the quiet study, shutting the door behind them. Once the door was closed, Soubi turned his attention to man lying on the floor. He took a few large steps to be standing next to him, looking down into his blank expression.

"Get up." Soubi spoke in a very firm and slightly angry tone and Sasuke did as he was told, like a puppy who had just been scolded. "Now…first, say your goodbye to him." This earned a small scowl from the dark haired man.

"No. I don't see the point in it." This only deepened Soubi's anger but he did his best to stay firm instead of angry.

"Look Sasuke…I'm going to get to the bottom of all this, but regardless of what you're are feeling right now or what has happened in your past…Reiki was your Sacrifice. And at one time, you would have given your life for him, but regardless of how you feel now…it is a matter of respect. The least you can do for him is to give him a proper goodbye." This caused another low growl from the man as he shot Soubi a fiery glare.

"Fine."

"Good. Say your goodbye…I'll be right back."

"Yeah yeah." Sasuke then slowly sauntered over to the red heads lifeless body on the couch and watched as Soubi left the room. He then simply stood over the boy's body for moment, taking in the sight entirely. He then let out a very long sigh before speaking.

"Reiki…it's strange but…I know there was a time that I loved you, cared for you, fought for you, and would have happily died for you. But…I can't seem to remember those feelings at all now. All I feel now is relief…relief that you are gone." The man then clenched his fists in anger and gritted his teeth as he growled lowly through them. "I don't know why…why I feel this way. I know that I was your Sentouki and I know I should care but….I just don't." He then took a deep breath before raising one of his large hands and gently closing Reiki's eyes. "Goodbye Reiki. I'm sorry that I feel nothing…I'm sorry that I failed you…"

With his final thoughts now spoken aloud to the small frame on the sofa, Sasuke let out a long breathe before turning and taking a few steps over to the armchair across from the couch and taking a seat. He was only granted a few short moments of silence before the tall blonde reentered the room with his arms full of neatly folded white sheets. The sight caused Sasuke to stir slightly in his chair and shift his weight to be leaning forward to address Soubi.

"What are those for?" Sasuke's voice had now returned to its usual cool calm tone.

"To wrap him in…so that we can give him a proper burial." This caused Sasuke to silently get up from the chair and walk over to Soubi, and gently take the sheets from his arms. He then spoke in a low ominous tone to the blonde.

"If you want to give him a funeral….then fine. I'll wrap him, go get the brats." Normally Soubi would have immediately scolded Sasuke for daring to call his Ritsuka a brat, but considering the circumstances he simply let it go and made his way toward the studio in silence. Soubi gently knocked on the door before attempting to enter, not wanting to upset either of the fragile duo inside.

"Ritsuka, may I come in?" Soubi waited in a short silence before he heard Ritsuka's small voice call from behind the door.

"Yeah." Soubi then gently opened the door and entered the room before closing the door again behind him. Upon entering the room, he saw Ritsuka, with tear filled eyes, sitting on the floor propped up on his knees slightly with the small blonde girl crying into his lap. The sight broke his heart and all he wanted to do was run to them and comfort them both, but he knew he had to stay strong. Soubi slowly made his way over to the two small bodies on the floor and crouched down to be level with them and placed a large gentle hand on Saiyuri's back.

"Saiyuri, I know you are upset right now but in time, the pain will ease." Soubi spoke to her in a very tender voice that caused her to slowly lift her head from Ritsuka's lap and wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I know…I just…I just don't understand how Sasuke can be acting this way." Soubi let out a small sad sigh at this.

"Neither do it, but I promise I will get to the bottom of it." The girl then gave a few sniffles of her nose and wiped away the last of her tears and nodded slightly to the tall blonde.

"Ok." Soubi then gave both Saiyuri and Ritsuka a small warm smile before standing to his feet and extending a hand to each of them.

"Alright. Now, we should go give him a proper burial."

Ritsuka and Saiyuri both nodded in agreement and each took one of Soubi's hands and allowed themselves to be pulled from the floor gently. The two then silently followed Soubi out of the studio and back into the living room where they saw Sasuke standing patiently by the front door with Reiki's small body, now wrapped perfectly in the sheets, held in his arms. Upon noticing their presence, Sasuke turned his head slightly to face them with his usual expression.

"Well, are you all ready then?" The trio simply nodded silently in reply before following Sasuke out the front door and into the yard. Once outside, Soubi turned to Saiyuri and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Where would you like to bury him?" The girl looked up at him with a sad expression before replying in a soft voice.

"I think we should bury him at my place…he really liked playing in the woods behind the house." Soubi gave a warm smile at this idea.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea." Soubi and the others then turned to Sasuke to await a response, but when they laid eyes on him he shot them all a menacing glare before laying the red heads body onto the grass of the front yard. This action quickly sent red flags flying in Soubi's mind and he took a few steps toward the man.

"Sasuke…what are you doing?" Sasuke answered with another icy glare before replying.

"Step back." The icy stare was enough to frighten even Soubi slightly, so he tentatively took a few steps back to be standing by Ritsuka's side. The three of them then all watched on as Sasuke silently knelt down to the body on the ground and placed a large hand on the boy's chest.

"Incinerate. Turn everything to ash."

As the words flowed from the man's mouth, everything seemed to happen in slow motion to the small blonde girl standing at Ritsuka's side. She watched on in horror as the bubbly boy that she once knew, was consumed in flames and turned to ash right before her eyes. In reality, the whole ordeal lasted only a few seconds and when it was all over, all three spectators were in a stunned silence. They all stood frozen for a short moment before Saiyuri softly spoke to the man who had now stood from the pile of ashes that was now blowing in the wind.

"S-Sasuke…why…why did you do that?" Sasuke let out a long sigh before stepping over to where the trio stood to answer the small girl.

"He wanted it this way."

"W-what do you mean?"

"After running away from the academy, we both made a promise to each other that if anything ever happened to either of us that the other would burn the body. We didn't want to take any chance that Nagisa might find our bodies and use them for one of her experiments." This answer surprisingly enough, actually brought the smallest smile to the girls face; it was a small comfort to see that Sasuke still held love for Reiki somewhere deep in his heart.

"I see."

"Besides, burying him would just be a hassle anyway." This smug retort once again lit a fiery anger inside Saiyuri and Ritsuka could see her clench her fists as she fought back tears once again. Soubi also noticed this and saw a confrontation on the horizon so he quickly tried to break the tension and spoke to the small girl.

"Saiyuri, I'm sure this changes your plan slightly…so what is the new plan?" Luckily this refocused the girls attention to the bigger picture and she slowly exhaled and relaxed her muscles before replying.

"Well that still depends on how the recon went." She then turned to the cross armed man a few feet in front of her. "So Sasuke, did you two at least find us a way in?"

"Yes and no."

"Well which is it? I'm in no mood to play around."

"Well we found what looked like an old abandoned exit that might still lead into the building, but I don't know for sure if it does still go into the building and even if it did, that's where we were attacked by Nagisa so she will surely have that blocked off by now. So basically, no." The earned a frustrated sigh from the small blonde.

"Great…" The girl then lowered her head in defeat before the subtle sound of Ritsuka's voice pulled her attention.

"It's ok Saiyuri, I'm sure we can think of a way in."

"Yeah…"The girls voice was still audibly defeated and she once again lowered her head, this time to be very deep in thought. They all stood in silence in the front yard for a few moments before Saiyuri's head shot up with a smile.

"I've got it!" Ritsuka was so relieved to see her smile and became very anxious to hear the new plan.

"Well what is it Saiyuri?"

"We can't talk about it here; we need to go back to my place."

"Ok. Soubi and I can meet you there" Ritsuka was now getting more and more anxious, but his excitement was quickly cut short by the small girl.

"Hang on a second…I need you and Soubi to do something before we go."

"Ok, what is it?"

"Well…we are going through with the plan tomorrow so everyone is going to need to know the plan. So I need you to gather up everyone we have." Ritsuka and Soubi were both a little surprised by this but Ritsuka decided to inquire further.

"You want us to get everybody to your place right now?"

"You got it!"

"Ok…I'm sure we can get ahold of all the Zeros but, Yuiko and Yayoi are at the academy…" This earned him a sly grin from the girl.

"Yes...but, they have phones don't they?"

"Well yeah…"

"Ok then call them. Tell them how to get to my place and tell them that it is of the upmost importance and I'm sure they will find a way. I mean…if Sasuke can get Reiki's loud mouth out the building, I'm sure Yayoi is more than capable of sneaking them out." Ritsuka couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle at the girls confidence.

"Ok, you're probably right."

"I usually am." Soubi then joined in with a small smile, being relieved to see the girl returning to her normal bubbly self despite the awful events of the night.

"Well Ritsuka and I will call everyone right away and let them know where to go; then we will meet you there."

"Ok. I am going to fly home and Sasuke can take a cab and hopefully everyone will arrive at the same time." Ritsuka gave a happy nod at this but Soubi on the other hand, cut in with a firm tone.

"No. Sasuke will ride with us." The blonde then shot the other man a serious glare. "I need to talk with him." Saiyuri was admittedly a little taken aback by this but decided it was best not to question.

"Ok Soubi, whatever you say; as long you get everyone to my place as soon as possible."

"We will."

"Ok then, I'm off boys. Please do hurry." The small girl then raised her hood over her head before muttering her spell under her breath and taking off seamlessly into the air, leaving the three boys alone with nothing but a tense atmosphere. As soon as Saiyuri was far out of sight, Soubi turned to his Sacrifice with a smile.

"Well let's go inside and call everyone." Ritsuka was more than happy to oblige and promptly followed Soubi back into the house, looking over his shoulder only once to make sure that Sasuke was following as well. Once they were all safely inside, Soubi let out a long breathe before turning to address the duo that were now standing behind him in the entry way.

"Ok, Ritsuka you call Yamato and Kouya and then Yuiko and Yayoi. Make sure that you give them detailed instructions on how to get to Saiyuri's; but when you call Yuiko, try to keep the call as short as possible, we don't want to take any chance of getting them caught."

"Right!" Ritsuka then gave a big grin before running up to the master bedroom where he had left his cell phone. Once Ritsuka was out of sight, Soubi turned his attention to the dark haired man in front of him.

"I'm going to contact the Zero boys." Soubi's tone had now reverted to a very firm one, bringing back all the tension to the room.

"And what would you like for me to do?" Soubi was immediately annoyed with Sasuke's overly sarcastic tone and replied with an almost angry tone.

"You can just sit there and wait patiently. Think you can manage that?" The blonde was met with only a gruff sigh as Sasuke begrudgingly did as he was told and took a seat on the large couch, crossing his arms in pissed off manner. Soubi couldn't help but to let out a barely audible chuckle at the man that was now pouting on his couch like a child, before slipping away into his studio to call Youji and Natsuo, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

Once Sasuke was alone, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to the events that had played out not only that evening but everything that had been happening between him and his late Sacrifice for the past few weeks. The more he thought however, the more frustrated he became. It seemed as though no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even remember any of the good times they had shared to together. He could feel all his memories of the boy slowly fading away but what baffled him the most was the overwhelming feeling of apathy he felt toward the red head and his death. He couldn't understand why he felt no guilt, no pain, no misery, he felt simply nothing. He became consumed with thoughts and questions and he just couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something was off about the entire situation. He was pulled away from his thoughts however when the tall blonde remerged from the studio. He followed the blonde with his eyes until Soubi took a seat in the chair opposite him.

"Well, Youji and Natsuo were awake luckily and will meet us there by cab shortly."

"Alright" Just then before another word could be spoken, Ritsuka made his way happily down the stairs with a large grin on his face. The boy promptly made his way over to his Sentouki before plopping himself down in his lap and looking up at him with a smile.

"Yamato and Kouya are getting in the car now to meet us there and I was able to get ahold of Yayoi and he said that he would go wake up Yuiko right away and sneak them out of the academy. He said that he knows the guards routes really well so they should be able to slip by no problem." Soubi gave a warm smile at this and placed a gentle kiss on the top of the boys head.

"Good, I'm glad. We should probably get going then."

"Mmhmm." Ritsuka then quickly lifted himself from Soubi's lap and ran over to put on his heavy winter coat that Yamato and Kouya had given him. Soubi was quick to follow and rose from his chair before making his way over to the entry way to put on his coat. The duo was both fully dressed and ready to go when they looked over to find Sasuke still sitting quietly on the couch. Soubi was quickly becoming more and more frustrated with this man and was quick to almost bark at him.

"Hey! Are you coming? We don't have all night and everyone will be on their way shortly. Saiyuri will be upset if we take any longer than necessary." Again Soubi was given an angry scoff as Sasuke leisurely rose from his seat and walked over to join them in the entry way.

"Well let's get going then." Sasuke's tone was still a very annoyed one but Soubi was slightly relieved that he was at least doing as he asked.

"Alright."

The trio then made their way to Soubi's car where the blonde opened up the passenger side front door before ushering in his petite Sacrifice, leaving Sasuke to make his own way into the backseat. Once everyone was inside the car, Soubi started the engine and began their drive to Kazuka Manor. The drive started out in complete silence but it wasn't long before Soubi finally decided to attempt to figure out what exactly happened only less than an hour earlier that night. He turned his gaze into the rear view mirror to address the man in the backseat.

"Sasuke, let's talk about what happened."

"What about it?"

"Well, as I said before, Reiki was killed by your spell because of the fact that your bond with your Sacrifice had been permanently severed."

"Yeah. What's your point?"

"Well I think you and I both would like to know why you reacted, or more accurately didn't react, to his death."

"Maybe I do want to know, have any theories professor?" Soubi did his best to remain calm and brush off the man's snide comments.

"Well I do have one theory."

"Ok well let's hear it." There was then a short silence before Soubi continued.

"Sasuke, before Reiki's death you could always see the fine thread that tied you to him correct?"

"Yeah, every battle pair can see that."

"Well do me a favor and close your eyes and try to see that thread now." There was then another silence as Sasuke did in fact close his eyes and began searching for the delicate filament that once always led him to his Sacrifice. "Do you see it?"

"Yes…"

"Well, what does it look like? Where does it lead now?" Sasuke then opened his eyes with a slightly surprised expression.

"The thread is glowing red, as if it's on fire. And…it only leads back to me. I can see it wrap around me before connecting back to my own body."

"Hmm…just as I suspected."

"What are you talking about?" Soubi then let out a short sigh before replying.

"Well…it would seem that Nagisa's blind hatred toward Sacrifices has led her to put something extra in your genetic make-up."

"Something extra?" Ritsuka was now sitting on the edge of his seat as he listened intently to what the two were saying.

"Yes. When she created the Zero girls, Kouya and Yamato, she put in a defense mechanism of sorts in the Sentouki. This mechanism allows for the Sentouki to be able to take on as many new Sacrifices as they please. But in order for her to do this without the bond of the two getting in the way, she had to make sure that the bond could be severed without any remorse from the Sentouki. Ritsuka and I saw this backfire when Kouya refused to let her Sacrifice go even after several attempts to replace her."

"Ok so what does that have to do with me?"

"Well it looks like she installed the same thing in your DNA; but it also looks like she made some adjustments when it comes to you…from what I can tell, she somehow altered your DNA so that in the case of the death of your Sacrifice, you would feel no pain and would even slowly lose all memories of that Sacrifice. This would make it much easier for her to pair you with another blank one without any protest. That's why your thread is now centered purely on yourself." Ritsuka couldn't help but to gasp lightly at this; he knew that Nagisa liked to play dirty, but he never imagined she would do such a thing. Sasuke however didn't seem to be very surprised by this at all.

"Well that all makes sense I suppose…but there isn't a whole lot a can do about it then is there?"

"No, I'm afraid not…"

"I see. Well I accept this fate and will deal with it on my own."

"I understand."

The car was then once again filled with silence and Ritsuka slumped back in his seat before letting out a small sigh. Everything that had happened was just now sinking in and he was doing his best to keep his composure and even tried to keep himself distracted by watching the moonlit scenery wiz by. As he stared out of the window, a small worry popped into his head as he remembered what Soubi had just said about the thread that binds a Sentouki and a Sacrifice. He then thought back to the night when he had become trapped in the academy during a training exercise when he first learned about that thread. He couldn't fight the sinking feeling in his gut when he remembered that at that time he could see his own thread no matter how hard he had tried. He then suddenly had an epiphany as he realized that he had never even attempted to find his thread since then. Upon this realization he took a deep breath before gently closing his eyes and focusing all his energy on locating his thread. After a short moment, an amazing sight danced before his closed eyes. He could see his thread for the first time in his life and what he saw made his heart melt with joy. There coming right from the center of his chest where his cracked name lay sprawled across his flesh, was not a fine filament but a brilliant golden glowing thread. And much to his relief, this unbelievable beautiful thread, when traced all the way to the end, led directly to the tall handsome blonde seated next to him. This reaffirmed everything that Ritsuka felt deep down in his heart toward his Sentouki. This was an assurance that Soubi was his true partner, his one and only Sentouki and true love. He was then snapped out of his daze by the feeling of a gentle hand being placed in his thigh. When he opened his eyes, he found himself entranced by the tall blonde's warm smile and soft tender whisper.

"It is beautiful isn't it? The thread that eternally bonds us together." Ritsuka's cheeks flushed slightly at this and he simply couldn't hold back his smile as butterflies filled his stomach.

"Yes…it truly is."

TBC
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Strays