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Goodnight Butterfly	By : Moonchild10 Category: +G to L > Loveless Views: 3289 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Loveless, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Thanks for all the reviews, guys. I really appreciate it! here's chapter 4.

Thanks so much for the reviews again everybody! I had no idea so many people would read this story! You all make me so happy.

The theme song for this chapter is Bad Luck�s �Anti-Nostalgic� (from Gravitation). Listen to it while you read if you can. It enhances it somehow.

By the way, has anyone read �Little Butterfly� (3-volume manga series by Hinako Takanaga)? It�s such a cute yaoi series, but I can�t seem to find any fellow fangirls.

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In the end, the fireflies

Are only light in paradise

�Seimei!� Ritsuka Aoyagi called out as loudly as he could, ducking out of the way to escape his mother�s hand and veering to the left. He had no idea how long the chase would last; it could be any time from when his mother was satisfied that she had punished him sufficiently or until she snapped back to her senses and became her normal self. Either way, it was always much too long, and today Seimei was nowhere to be found. Still, Ritsuka found himself calling out frantically for his older brother, trying to penetrate the heavens with his voice, make himself heard wherever he had disappeared to. �Seimei!�

The blood was already welling out of the wound on his cheek, making the skin around it feel tight. He raised a hand to it, and his fingers came back sticky with the blood. And then the shock; the blow hit him to the back of the head. Something hard, whatever she was holding� it didn�t matter. The force of it exploded through his head, and he fell, his lip splitting on his teeth as he landed face-first on the kitchen floor. The blood, sticky and almost sweet, dripped into his mouth, and he spit it out onto the tile.

�Seimei! Please help me�� he whimpered, dragging himself forward on his elbows, through the small spattering of the blood he had spit, and scampering under the kitchen table. He hunched himself into a ball there, shivering and struck with the feeling that he could be anywhere in the world right now. This dark space, where he was sheltered from light by the hanging edges of the tablecloth, could be in France or America or even on the moon� there was no difference. Dark was dark. And suddenly he was afraid, and couldn�t really be sure where he was. Because when Seimei wasn�t here, it wasn�t really home� it was somewhere else. A tiny, horrified whimper passed his lips.

�Mother, what are you doing?� the calm, familiar voice made the knot of terror in his gut dissolve. He released his tensed muscles in relief and sat still, hunched in the darkness, and listened to the sound of Seimei�s footsteps coming across the kitchen. �Put that down. It�s okay now. You need to go to sleep.�

�Yes� sleep.� his mother�s voice was faint, and he heard the gentle clang of the pot she had been holding as it was set down on the table. �Thank you, Seimei.�

�Of course, mother. Go to bed. I�ll clean the kitchen.�

Ritsuka leaned forward slightly in anticipation, and as he heard his mother departing, the edge of the tablecloth lifted, and Seimei�s smiling face appeared before him.

�I thought you would be under here.�

�Seimei!� Ritsuka lunged forward happily, looping his arms around Seimei�s neck. His brother lifted him and pulled him out into the light, in more than one sense. Ritsuka clung to him, and Seimei rubbed his hair in a mothering fashion.

�She got your face,� he said in a scolding fashion, touching Ritsuka�s wound lightly. �I wish she wouldn�t do that.�

�She hit me in the head, too,� Ritsuka stated into Seimei�s hair. �It hurts a lot.�

�I know. But it�s alright now, Ritsuka. I promise,� Seimei said, carrying him toward the stairs. �Everything is going to be alright.� Ritsuka protested that he was too old to be carried, but Seimei only laughed and ignored him, pushing open the door to his room with his hip and closing it behind them with his foot.

As Ritsuka was deposited on Seimei�s bed, he was struck with surprise at the clean white sheets, pure as snow. The small, dark patches Soubi�s blood had left were gone. They had still been there when Ritsuka had woken up and gone downstairs, and now the sheets were changed. But he didn�t have time to ponder it much before Seimei returned with some supplies.

�We were out of band-aids,� he said, raising an eyebrow. �But I found one in the cupboard.� he sat beside his brother on the bed and carefully began cleaning the cut. Ritsuka jumped at the sting of the antiseptic, just as he always did, and clutched Seimei�s sleeve. He was relieved when Seimei finished and smoothed the band-aid over the freshly cleaned cut. Ritsuka crawled into his brother�s lap to be hugged, slipping his head under his chin, and Seimei sighed and embraced him. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Ritsuka looked up at him.

�Can we go for a walk, Seimei?� he asked softly.

�It�s late, Ritsuka. You need to get to bed,� Seimei told him in that irritating paternal tone of his. Ritsuka whined and grabbed the front of his jacket.

�Please?� he mewled, giving his brother a pleading look. �Pleeeeeeease, Seimei? Just a short one? I promise I won�t whine when you say it�s time to go back! Please?�

Seimei sighed and rubbed his brother�s hair. �Alright, but just a short one, and then you�re going to bed when we get home.�

Overjoyed, Ritsuka busied himself with getting his shoes, all the while chattering about his day at school and the various mischief he and Osamu had caused for the teacher during the lunch period. Seimei listened patiently, all the while staring at the place where his Sentouki had lie only a few hours previously and silently prayed that his younger brother had seen neither Soubi nor the damage he himself had inflicted on him. Leaving the house had been careless, yes, but he had been going to pick Ritsuka up from a friend�s house, not realizing that Ritsuka had just come home and had just happened not to see him before he left. He only hoped the consequences were not what he feared. If Ritsuka found out� if he saw that part of Seimei that he tried so hard never to show, he didn�t know how he would live with himself.

The night air was cool as the two brothers stepped outside, and Ritsuka pulled his jacket against himself as they left the porch and began the walk. The moon was a thin white crescent high above, and reflected in its dim light, everything looked eerie and cold, like something out of a bad dream. But to Ritsuka, it was beautiful, and he was not afraid. As long as Seimei was with him, nothing bad could ever happen to him. Seimei fixed everything.

�Look at this, Seimei!� he cried out excitedly, pointing to a pure white moth that fluttered past. �A moth! And look at that! And this!� the youngest Aoyagi bounced happily beside his brother, who chuckled softly at his enthusiasm. Everything they passed, he seemed to become excited over, sparkling with animation as he hurried beside his older brother, soaking up the atmosphere of the night.

�Do you hear that, Ritsuka?� Seimei asked him. �That humming sound.�

�Yep! Is that the crickets?� he asked, leaning closer to a bush as they passed it and trying to hear the sound more clearly.

�No, it�s higurashi cicadas,� Seimei explained patiently. �They like to sit in the trees during the summer in the evening and chirp like this. They have special noisemakers that help them make that sound� they�re part of their skeleton, and they�re called �timbals�.�

Ritsuka nodded excitedly. �Oh! I didn�t know that! That�s really neat, Seimei!� the two continued walking in silence for a moment before the young boy spoke again. This time, his tone was less excited. �But autumn is coming, Seimei. What happens to the cicadas when summer is over?� he sounded worried, pensive. �Do they die?�

Seimei rubbed his brother�s hair affectionately. �No, they burrow underground where it�s warm and then come out when spring comes again.�

�Oh!� Ritsuka said, his excitement back. �Like rabbits! You know everything, Seimei.�

Seimei gave a soft laugh and slipped his hand through Ritsuka�s, despite his protests that he was far too old to need his hand held. The two walked in silence along the sidewalk for a few minutes. The night air was warmer than it had seemed at first, the last few weeks of summer still casting their soft blanket over the city and making the need to clutch their jackets to themselves far less urgent. Under the light of that cold crescent, they moved steadily along across the pavement, hand in hand. As they passed the park, Seimei led Ritsuka off of the sidewalk and through the trees.

�Let�s go this way, Ritsuka. There�s a place I want to show you.�

�Okay, Seimei,� Ritsuka complied, complaining little about having his hand held now that they were away from the glow of the street lamps and in the darker setting surrounded by trees. They headed through the trees, moving at a slow pace, Seimei pointing out things in the dimness. The cicadas were even louder beneath the trees, and Ritsuka peered up at the branches, trying to catch a glimpse of one. �Seimei?� he asked after a few minutes.

�What is it, Ritsuka?�

�Earlier today� when I was hiding from mother under the table� I was so scared, and I� I got lost.�

�Got lost?�

�I forgot everything for a minute, Seimei. I forgot where I was and what was going on, and I was really lost for a minute� like that time when we got separated in the mall. Until you came, I forgot everything.�

�Do you forget things a lot, Ritsuka?� Seimei asked him softly, giving his hand a squeeze.

Ritsuka�s brow was furrowed in thought. �Lately, I have been. Little things. They usually come back, and I�m confused about why it happens. I don�t want to forget, Seimei.� the younger boy sounded afraid now. �I don�t want to get lost again.�

Seimei stopped walking and knelt in front of Ritsuka, placing his hands on his shoulders. �Listen Ritsuka, you don�t have to be afraid. Because if you ever forget, I�ll be here to help you remember, okay? I promise I won�t let you get lost.�

�Okay,� Ritsuka said, most of the fear now absent from his face. �Do you� promise you won�t let me get lost?�

�Of course, Ritsuka. You know I�ll always keep you safe, no matter what. I would never let you get lost.�

Ritsuka�s tail flicked happily. �You�ll always protect me?�

�Of course.�

Ritsuka smiled and hugged Seimei tightly, who embraced him back and rubbed a hand absentmindedly over his ears. �I�m so glad I have you, Seimei!� he held onto him tightly for a moment, purring quietly, and then pulled back and grabbed his brother�s hand. �Let�s go!�

Seimei smiled at him and led him onward. �We�re almost there.�

At the break in the trees ahead, they stepped into a small clearing. The moon, released from the net of treetops above them, gleamed its cool light against their skin. Inside the small clearing, spider webs glistened with dew on the barberry bushes, intricate maps of silken thread in between the tiny, frothy pink blossoms. The moonlight turned the beads of water on the webs into liquid silver, gleaming brightly like a thousand tiny jewels. And in the air, tiny orbs of light hovered, darting through the night like searchlights.

�Wow!� Ritsuka hurried into the clearing and stood in the center, lifting his face into the moonlight. �This is so pretty, Seimei! How did you find it?�

Seimei smiled, following him calmly. �I ran across it a while ago while I was out walking.�

�Oh,� Ritsuka muttered absentmindedly, following one of the orbs of light with his finger. He reached out to touch it, and it darted away. Scowling, he chased after it, moving quickly across the cool grass, and came face to face with another, and then another, until he was chasing them in all directions, first one, then the next, abandoning each to chase the next one that crossed his path.

Ritsuka�s hair lifted up from his head as he ran after the fireflies, the air rushed through the holes in his sneakers, and he felt the very heartbeat of the night, lifting him and letting him run fast, faster, surpassing all limits of human speed. He was a lightning bolt, moving too fast for the world to see. He was the king of swiftness. Laughing happily, his face flushed from the running, Ritsuka darted manically behind firefly after firefly, the delight of the chase rushing through his body like pure, sweet sugar. Beneath the light of that moon, everything but that moment rushed away, leaving him full of the pure energy of the night and the simple joy of chasing fireflies when he should definitely have been in bed by now.

Finally, tired from his running, Ritsuka flopped down in the grass, his chest heaving. Seimei lay down with him, his head against Ritsuka�s, his feet pointing in the opposite direction. Ritsuka sighed happily, gazing up at the velvety ceiling dusted with stars. The two of them lay there together, quiet and content, watching the stars and moths and the tiny fireflies that darted through the air like so many small fairies.

�This is so much fun, Seimei. Thanks for taking me.�

�You�re welcome, Ritsuka.�

�Um� Seimei?�

�Yes?�

�What happened to Soubi?�

Seimei froze in the grass, his eyes locked unmovingly on the sky. �Who?�

�Soubi! He�s your friend! He has light-colored hair! And he doesn�t have any ears! And he�s really nice!� Ritsuka reminded him innocently. �He got hurt today� do you know what happened?�

Seimei gazed petulantly at the stars, chewing on his bottom lip for a moment before answering. He could feel a deep, thick knot of anger at Soubi rising up inside his chest. How dare he allow his younger brother to see him like that? �No Ritsuka, I don�t know what happened to him.�

�Oh. Well� he had a cut on his neck. But don�t worry, I cleaned it and put some band-aids on it, just like you showed me!� Ritsuka said proudly. �So he�s going to be okay.�

Seimei clenched his teeth slightly. �Good job Ritsuka,� he said labouredly. �I�m proud of you.�

Ritsuka gave a hum of contentment, and the two lay silently beneath the ceiling of stars, Seimei agonizing over the things Ritsuka had said, and Ritsuka softly singing the tune to a song he had heard that afternoon, dedicating it to the glittering of the stars and the graceful swinging of the fireflies. It wasn�t long before propped himself up on his elbows and crawled over to Seimei to rest his head on his chest.

�I love you, Seimei.�

�I love you too, Ritsuka,� Seimei replied, rubbing his brother�s hair affectionately. And then finally, as the cicadas sensed the coming of the later night and one by one ceased their chirping, leaving the clearing silent save for the soft whispering of a dove somewhere nearby, Seimei gathered up a sleeping Ritsuka and started for home.

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Decided to explore Seimei�s sweet side� because we all know he has one somewhere. He must, if Junko Minagawa loves him so much XD

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Goodnight Butterfly