This is in no way related to my stories "One without love, no more", "One without love, no more revisited" or any of my other Loveless fanfics, you should check those out though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Loveless

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Chapter 1: Fragile

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11:30pm one rainy night, Kio sat on Soubi's couch watching T.V. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"It's probably that kid", he thought aloud. Sitting up he called "Sou-chan there's someone at the door, maybe it's your little boy."

The other man was already coming down the hall, hoping it was Ritsuka. His sacrifice hadn't responded to his "I love you" text 10 minutes ago, not even with a "liar" reply. There was an ominous feeling in the air, but he sensed no teams nearby. He walked quickly to the door and opened it.

There was Ritsuka as they thought, however not in any condition they would have guessed.

The boy's breathing was short.

His clothes were in tatters.

With skin covered in dirt and blood.

Eyes wide he stared blankly ahead until Soubi's form came into view.

He slowly whispered "Help… me… Sou-", then fell forward. Soubi caught him, lifted him into his arms and rushed inside.

Kio jumped up upon seeing the dismantled child in his friend's arms. "Soubi what-", he stopped mid-sentence Soubi's eyes were pained, there was no time to conceal emotions right now. Clearing the couch, Kio wordlessly directed the other man to lay the child down.

The sight was unbelievable.

Ritsuka had bruises covering his face, feet were bare, pants sliced by what by what appeared to be a razor blade, and shirt torn down the middle, revealing cuts and bruises all over his small body. Dark hair was matted with blood and dirt, and his cat ears were… gone.

Soubi held onto one small blood soaked hand, a mixture of fury and sadness showed in his eyes and his heavy breathing.

Without turning he asked "Kio could you..."

Feeling vomit rising to his throat Kio held it back. He rushed to gather towels, water, and bandages.

As hours passed bringing them into dawn of the next day, the two worked to clean and mend Ritsuka's body. Kio did not touch the boy for fear his friend would kill him at the sight of another person laying their hands on him. Instead he rushed back and forth washing the towels and gathering more from the closet.

They did not speak, but passed blood-stained towels, then finally antiseptic and bandages.

After laying Ritsuka on his bed, and covering him with a quilt, Soubi's mind was filled with rushing thoughts.

When I find who did this…

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End of chapter 1

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Hope you liked it, please review.