Ritsuka walked down the hall of Soubi's apartment. Wondering where the hell he was, he had never really been in Soubi's apartment except for just chit chatting in the living room or playing video games.

Soubi had said they could do something fun over the weekend but he never called or showed up knocking on Ritsuka's glass door. So he thought he would go see Soubi himself.

Oh, I hope its okay for me to be barging in like this. Ritsuka thought to himself. What am I thinking? Of course it is. Soubi's my boyf- well Soubi's my friend and he wouldn't mind me showing up unannounced, coming in the door and now searching his house. He sighed. Who am I kidding? He's not here so I might as well leave and wait for him to call or something.

"R!"

Ritsuka jumped.

"R!"

"Wh- who's there?" Ritsuka called out into the emptiness of the hallway.

"R! You'll walk the plank for that!"

The voice was deep and rough but Ritsuka wasn't sure it was a grown man considering the now girly giggles filling the air.

"R!" He heard another voice. "My sword says otherwise."

Sword…? Ritsuka gulped.

He heard a thud and then an outburst of giggles. It sounded like it was coming from Soubi's room. But Soubi doesn't giggle like a girl or say, "R!" before every sentence.

The raven haired boy walked over to his fighter's bedroom door and grabbed the doorknob with a shaky hand.

Okay, He told himself. On 3. 1, 2…

"R!"

He jumped out of fright. "3!"

He turned the doorknob and flung open the door.

The room fell silent, all that could be heard was Ritsuka's panting from his fright.

"Ritsuka!" A dark red blur flew across the room and tackled Ritsuka to the ground in a huge embrace.

"Ah! Get off of me!" Ritsuka whined.

"Okay Natsuo," The mint green haired boy laughed. "Get off of him."

"Natsuo?" Ritsuka asked out loud as the boy got off of him.

"Ah…" Natsuo pouted sitting on the floor. "Youji, you're no fun."

"Youij?" The neko boy looked up at the two.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!"

"Uh, we leave here." Natsuo rolled his eye with a huge mischievous grin.

"What are you doing here?" Youji asked.

Ritsuka stood up fixing his hair a little making the two in front of him snicker.

"I was looking for Soubi." Ritsuka explained. "Have you seen him?"

"Oh yeah," Natsuo put a finger on his chin to look cute and puzzled. "Didn't he go with Kio to the store?"

"Yeah," Youji nodded. "I think so."

"Oh." Ritsuka sighed. Kio, why is he with him?

"By the way," Ritsuka looked the two up and down. They had dirt on their faces, their hair was a mess and their outfits consisted most of Soubi's button down shirts which explained why the room looked like Soubi's dressers and closet exploded. "What are you two doing in here?"

"Playing." They answered in unison.

"Playing?" Ritsuka looked confused.

"Yeah," Youji nodded.

"We're pretending to be pirates." Natsuo explained.

"Pretending?" The black haired neko asked like that word was from a foreign language.

"Yeah…" Youji nodded slowly. "Pirates."

"Aw…" Natsuo patted Ritsuka head like he was a lost puppy. "It's okay if you don't know. We'll teach you."

"We will?" Youji asked crossing his arms and took a sit on Soubi's unmade bed.

"Of course." Natsuo smiled sweetly to his other half.

"Fine…" Youji sighed.

"Okay." The burgundy haired boy smiled at the now scared Ritsuka. "Here's how we play, we are pirates who have been at sea for over five years." He held up his five fingers. "I'm the captain because I have the eye patch." He pointed to the white bandage that covered his right eye. "And Youji, in my first mate, he swaps the poop deck." A little smirk came over his face at that last statement.

Ritsuka was still confused but he nodded anyways.

"Now who should you be?" Natsuo asked pondering the thought of what role a boy who doesn't even know what pretend is could play.

"How about the winch?" Youji chuckled.

"The wh-"

"Yeah!" Natsuo's eye lit up. "Ritsuka can be the winch!"

"The what?" Ritsuka finally got the words out.

"The winch." Natsuo giggled. "She's a woman with much power over men."

Youji pulled a pillow over his face to cover up his hard laugher. "MUCH power!"

Ritsuka's long tail was now swaying back and forth across the cold floor. "I'm not sure I want to be a girl…" He blushed.

"Why not?" Youji asked pulling the pillow from his face.

"I just- well I-" He could find the right words.

"You don't think you're pretty enough." Natsuo put a hand over his heart like a mother would, watching her baby sleep. "Well don't you worry, I'll help you get all dressed up and pretty."

A few minutes later Ritsuka has a blue bath towel wrapped around his waist that hung to his shins, a plain white shirt from Soubi's draw that they tucked in so it wouldn't hand to low and an old brown jacket.

"Wonderful!" Natsuo praised. "Now all you need to know is that a winch does whatever the men want her to do and that she giggles a lot."

"Okay…" Ritsuka said seeming more baffled than before but went along with it anyways.

Natsuo cocked his head and smiled then pulled himself back into a pirate character jumping up on the bed where Youji was napping.

"R! Get up!" Natsuo kicked Youji off the bed. "It's time to set sail once more! The booty we collected at this stop should only be half as good as the booty will collect at the next town!"

"Ay Ay captain!" Youji stated strongly as he pretended to be turning a wheel while standing on the bed. "The winds are with us today and the sounds of the waves are almost as wonderful as a woman's heart."

"Ooooh first mate Youji," Natsuo purred. "When did you become such a romantic man?"

Youji grinned. "Since you made me watch so many sappy love story movies."

The curly haired boy stuck out his bottom lip then smiled again. "Land ho!"

"Yes," Youji pointed at Ritsuka who was just sitting on a pile of laundry not knowing what to do. "There is a hoe."

"Take all you can!" Natsuo shouted as if to a whole crew. "Money! Women! Anything you can carry!"

Youji and him jumped off the bed and grabbed Ritsuka by the arms jolting him up.

"Hey!" The neko boy yelled. "Let me go!"

"You're coming with us winch." Youji told him.

"You're R's now!" Natsuo added piraty like.

They threw him onto the bed and pretended to sail away again.

"R! The sun is going down." Natsuo stated from on top of a dresser. "That means it's time to eat!" He looked at Ritsuka with a sly grin. "And then dessert."

"Oh god…" Ritsuka sighed hiding his face in his hands.

A few bounces on the bed and a few loud squeals later Ritsuka was completely desperate to go home. These two where crazier than two capuchin monkeys running loose at the zoo. He so desperately wanted to go home even if it meant facing his mother in a bad mood.

"Okay winch," Youji stood over the raven haired boy. "Now it's time to really play."

"R! Playin' ol' Davy John's games." Natsuo nodded now perched up in one of the shelves of Soubi's book case. "A game so dirty not even a sea monster will go near it and with no where to run but the locker itself."

"What?" Ritsuka asked looked bewildered and confused.

"Ah lass," Youji put a cold hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Just lay back and let me do the rest."

"WHAT!" Ritsuka screamed as Youji placed his lips over his peach ones.

Natsuo giggled and jumped down from the shelf so he could see better.

"Get off of me!" Ritsuka shoved Youji off. "I'm going home!" He started pulled the jacket and shirt off. "You two are sick! I'm never playing with you guys again!" He looked around for his clothes he had worn before all this craziness but they were nowhere to be found in the other messes in the room. "Damn!" He put the shirt and jacket back on. "Well tell Soubi to call me when he gets home. Bye." He slammed the door shut behind him and began to walk the streets home.

"How embarrassing." Ritsuka mumbled to himself as he walked. "Walking around in public like this, no pants, just a towel people are going to think I'm insane."

A few minutes later he was home, and his mother was nowhere to be found so he figured she had to be out shopping or something.

"Good." The neko told himself after checking every room down stairs to make 100 sure his mother was not home. "At lest I don't have to explain my outfit to her." He mused as he walked up stairs to his room.

In his room he took off the jacket and shirt folding them neatly on the foot of his bed. But when it came to the towel he thought it best to close his curtains before taking it off unfortunately one of the demons stole his underwear.

He walked over to his glass doors that lead out to the porch. He was just about to draw the curtains when he saw a shadowy figure in front of him.

"Hello Ritsuka." He heard the familiar voice of Soubi greet him.

"Soubi!" Ritsuka jumped remembering he was in nothing but a towel.

"May I come in?" The man asked.

"Uh…" Ritsuka looked around for something, a shirt, pants, anything that could cover him better laying on the floor but his room was just to clean that he probably couldn't even find a piece of lent. "Sure…"

He reluctantly opened the sliding glass door and let the man walk in.

Soubi looked the boy up and down then smiled. "Catch you at a bad time?"

"Don't ask…" Ritsuka sighed walking over to his dresser and pulling out a black shirt, blue jeans and of course, underwear.

Ritsuka blushed when he looked at Soubi sitting on the floor propping his back up with his bed.

I can't just change in front of him. Ritsuka thought. But what do I do? I don't want to seem rude and just leave him sitting here while I go into the bathroom and get dressed.

"Is everything okay Ritsuka?" Soubi asked after the boy had just stood there quietly for a while.

"Yes!" Ritsuka jumped. "I mean," He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Yes, everything is fine. Um, I need to get dressed so…"

"So can I close my eyes?" Soubi smirked.

"Yes." He nodded without thinking. "I mean no. No, uh, I'm going to go into the bathroom. But don't worry, I'll keep the door open so we can still talk."

"Okay." Soubi nodded pulling a cigarette out as Ritsuka walked into the bathroom.

"And don't you dare smoke in my room!" Ritsuka shouted.

Damn. Soubi sighed putting the cigarette back in its pack and into his pocket. He's too smart.

"So where were you all day?" Ritsuka asked from the bathroom.

"What do you mean?" Soubi asked calmly.

"Don't give me that." Ritsuka huffed. "I went to your apartment and you weren't there. Where were you?"

"The art supply store." Soubi confessed then raised a curious eyebrow that Ritsuka couldn't see. "Why did you go to my apartment? You could have called."

"Well excuse me!" Ritsuka huffed sticking his head out the door. "I didn't know you had secrets to hide from me at your apartment."

"I didn't mean it like that." Soubi smirked. "I just meant, you normally call and I was curious as to why that has changed."

"It hasn't changed." Ritsuka scuffed walking out of the bathroom. "You had just said we could do something together this weekend but you had never bothered to call me about it or anything so-"

"So you came to my apartment because you wanted to do something with me that badly?" Soubi grinned. "Aren't you sweet?"

Ritsuka rolled his eyes. "Well I guess it doesn't matter anymore considering the Zero demons at your place wore me out."

Soubi's eyebrows entwined together. "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," Ratsuka face became red. "Just that they forced me to play a stupid game with them with me winding up here in nothing but a towel."

"What were you playing?" Soubi asked with worried wide eyes.

"Oh," Ritsuka shrugged and his face began to become its normal color again. "It's called… I think…" He had lost the word for it but then he remembered. "Pretending!" He perked up. "Yeah, we pretended to b pirates."

"And how did you loose your clothes?" Soubi asked.

"I was the winch…" Ritsuka blushed.

Soubi busted out laughing. He could help it. This child was just too cute! His little blush as the "dirty word" left his lips. The way his ears laid flat on his head and how his innocent eyes looking up at him like a puppy's in front of the mess it had made.

"It's not funny!" Ritsuka scowled.

"You're right." Soubi tried to stop his uncontrollable laughing. "It's just- Just you're too cute!"

Ritsuka huffed as Soubi finally stopped laughing. "Now I'll never tell you anything again."

Soubi smiled warmly at the boy. "I'm sorry Ritsuka; I did not mean to laugh."

"But you did."

"I know," Soubi took the boy's hand in his own pulling him into his lap. "And I'm sorry."

Ritsuka wanted to be mad but he just couldn't. Soubi was just too warm and he smelt of musk and smoke and that relaxed him for some reason.

"Now what do you want to do?" Soubi asked.

"Well…" Ritsuka thought. "Would you like to pretend with me?" A light blush rose to his pale cheeks.

"As you wish." Soubi nodded with a smiled.

Ritsuka crossed his arms and huffed standing up feeling like there was no hope in pretending with this man. "Soubi, don't say it like that. Just say okay or something normal like that."

"But you're my little prince," Soubi stood up and walked up next to the neko boy. "And I am your humble servant. I do anything I am told to do. But right now I would like to know something."

"And that would be?" Ritsuka looked up man with a smug face.

"What are you going to do about the dragon that stole the princess today?"

What? Ritsuka could believe it. Soubi was pretending? Okay think Ritsuka. Ritsuka told himself. Think on your feet. What am I going to do about the dragon that stole the princess?

"Ah," Ritsuka waved a hand in the air as if you wave the question away. "Let some knight go save her or something. I don't really care. I mean she is the woman my father wants me to marry is she not?"

"Yes…" Soubi didn't really know what to say. He didn't expect Ritsuka to get into character that quickly. He was really acting like a prince. "But why does that matter?"

"Because I don't want to marry her!" Ritsuka huffed playfully like a spoiled child. "Let someone else save her and they can fall in love."

"So then my lord," Soubi asked thinking on his feet like Ritsuka. "Who do you want to marry?"

"I don't know." Ritsuka looked at him with hungry eyes. "But what I do know is that I want him to be strong," He stepped closer to the tall man. "Handsome." Another step. "And can hold me for hours and never get uncomfortable." He was chest to chest with Soubi and his smiled was growing as the man just stared at him.

"Good call." Soubi kissed the boy's cold lips and breathed on his mouth, "My little prince."