"You pompous ass," spat Kamui. He was extremely cute when angry. But oh, so rude! Seishirou smiled indulgently at him. At once, power flared around Kamui, coiling about his body in incandescent streamers, servant of his hair-trigger temper.

The landscape fell out from beneath the boy, sending him plummeting. He had apparently forgotten that this world was totally under Seishirou's command, it altered as he pleased, at a word, at a whim. Kamui fell into the chasm that had formed suddenly beneath him, and disappeared.

"Kamui!" Subaru made to go after the boy. Seishirou gestured, and the ground the Sumeragi stood upon became a treacherously milling thing, dissolving into pieces, reforming at random, and it was all Subaru could to keep himself from falling, too.

A dim cry floated from within the crevasse:

"Prick!!"

There was a rumbling, a sudden radiance spilling from the gash in the landscape, a shower of fragments as Kamui exploded forth like a small meteor. He hovered in midair, a globe of force surrounding him. His slender body was rigid, fists clenched with rage; he trembled in his impotent fury.

But Seishirou held the ace, and Kamui knew it. He could not be harmed as he was; neither of the Seals would dare touch him. It had to be galling for Kamui -- wielder of so much power, so easily negated.

"Kamui..." Subaru was barely managing to keep his footing, springing from ledge to outcropping to promontory as each presented itself in the shifting terrain. Kamui did not bother to find footing, but simply remained as he was, floating in space; if any rock ventured too close, it met a violent end as it connected with Kamui's personal shield and shivered itself to pieces. It mattered little enough to Seishirou; he didn't intend to physically harm the boy.

Not yet, anyway.

Kamui, on the other hand, appeared to wish a variety of painful and degrading fates upon him. If a look were a weapon, Seishirou would surely lie dead at this moment... The boy's gaze would not merely drill rock, it would level mountains.

"Kamui..." Subaru repeated, trying to reach him, but Seishirou was not about to allow that. A thought, and the already precarious surfaces upon which the onmyouji trod polarized themselves, resisting his efforts to remain upon them. Subaru scrambled in a most undignified way, nearly slipping off several times, somehow managing not to fall but utterly unable to reach Kamui or collect himself enough to launch a counterspell.

"Now, Subaru-kun," Seishirou admonished the struggling onmyouji, "he's only trying to defend his sweetheart. It's cute, really...don't you think so?" Seishirou beamed at them, a smile of sugar-syrup sweetness, practiced to perfection.

The flush that suffused Kamui's face was illuminated very clearly, bathed as he was in the light of the power he threw off. His expression of stunned outrage was priceless, and Seishirou could not keep from chuckling at it.

"Come now," said Seishirou, as Subaru struggled and Kamui sputtered. "You can't deny it, can you?"

Kamui instead suggested that Seishirou do something as spectacularly vulgar as it was anatomically impossible. Seishirou chose to ignore that, and decided to prod further at this interesting sore spot in Kamui, presented as he was with a chance for sport without real retaliation.

"I must say, I admire your progress, 'Kamui'-chan," he went on. "I did the same, after all... First friends, bosom companions... Not so far then, to become intimates, or even --"

"Lovers..." Seishirou dragged the word out into a soft purr, and gave the young Seal a look charged with all the sensuality at his command -- eyes heavy-lidded, half-hidden behind his lashes, brows arched teasingly, lips curved knowingly. It seemed to work -- Kamui turned a decidedly beetlike color. Seishirou could almost feel the heat of that furious blush from where he sat. He wondered how long Kamui would hold out, how much more he could take before erupting into trademark boyish fury.

Seishirou kept part of his attention on that bottled rage, part on keeping Subaru off-balance, and part on what lay just "outside" his maboroshi -- the other Dragons of Heaven, the ones he had not allowed to enter. The monk and the Priestess of Ise he was not too concerned with; the inugami was another matter. Its mistress might be unable to find her way out of a cardboard box, but the dog spirit was an excellent tracker, scenting the ether and slipping along its pathways, insidious as smoke. It was becoming something of a nuisance to misdirect it.

He returned his attention to Kamui. The boy's fine and unruly hair lifted and fluttered in the small psychic storm of which he was the eye; his rage-darkened glare was the purest indigo violet, in fact quite beautiful ... Seishirou wondered if all high emotion had this effect on Kamui, and found himself thinking, for just an instant, of what it might be like to bed him -- all his smooth loveliness laid out defenseless, silky sweat-damp hair trailing into shimmering half-closed eyes and his mouth open on a low ecstatic cry --

Seishirou quirked a brow, and stepped down from his perch onto a series of ledges that formed conveniently beneath him. He was soon at a level with Kamui, who regarded him warily. Seishirou reached a hand toward the boy. Kamui recoiled, and the shield around him drew itself close to his body, running like a low, pale flame just above the surface of him.

Seishirou pressed closer, saw the simple anger in the boy's face fall into something more complex. Seishirou's hand skirted the very edge of the field surrounding Kamui, and he could feel its terrible power just under his fingertips -- power called to rend, to destroy, writhing ceaselessly in its confinement. Seishirou touched it, just barely skimming -- there was a flash of hot pain, easily suppressed, and a wound opened itself along his palm, a fine slash. The blood was both bright and oddly dark against the skin.

Instantly, the barrier fell, dissipated; Kamui's face had gone so utterly devoid of color that Seishirou half-expected him to faint.

Seishirou smiled his own smile, the predatory smile, the smile that had been the last sight of so many, and stretched forth that hand once more. This time he encountered only the softness of skin... He slid his fingers along Kamui's cheek and down, drawing a trail of blood like the tracks of crimson tears, that color very dark indeed against the boy's deathly white. The look on Kamui's face was tragic and lost; the shields of anger, arrogance and even shock had fallen away just like the shield of power, leaving these things stranded -- all he had left.

Seishirou ran his touch along Kamui's trembling lips, feeling their tender silk, painting them scarlet also, and Kamui closed his eyes.

There was a burst of light, a flare of white-hot energy, and Seishirou felt the strands of magic he'd webbed around Subaru fray and snap, the Gordian knot severed by a single pure intent --

And Seishirou felt himself pulled as if by invisible hands, being yanked away from Kamui with some force. He permitted this, exerting only enough resistance to maintain his balance and readiness. And Subaru --

Subaru -- having broken free of his little treadmill -- now held himself suspended, hanging in midair. It was a sight to behold -- for what Seishirou saw was himself, his own image, but with all the emotion of Subaru's human existence showing transparently as ever on his features, Seishirou's own face. The tall, dark figure hovered before him, a great black bat, the trenchcoat flapping wide like wings -- but it was immersed in the white glory of Subaru's magic, beautiful and angelic.

"Leave him alone, Seishirou-san. This has nothing to do with him." The Sumeragi's voice was taut but level, and it was very, very cold. Seishirou found it somewhat startling.

Out of curiosity, he moved again toward Kamui, who remained stock-still, unable to summon any kind of response, save for the constant flicking of his eyes between the two onmyouji. As Seishirou approached, there was a motion from Subaru, and Seishirou's hand encountered a barrier -- Subaru had thrown a shield around the defenseless boy.

"Leave him be." Subaru stood with his arms folded, standing solidly and uncannily upon nothing. The flaring aureole had pulled itself into a faint light that limned his body.

"Give it up, Seishirou," Subaru continued, still with that unusual forcefulness. "There is a way to reverse this, the means are just outside this maboroshi. Let us out, and we can put things right. There's no point in tormenting Kamui."

Interesting... Seishirou grinned. "Well, well, well... Subaru-kun. I never knew you had it in you. I suppose it's true what they say -- love really does change a man..."

There was a sort of strangled squeak from Kamui. Subaru's expression did not alter.

"We are at an impasse," Subaru stated flatly. "Neither of us can afford to harm the other. What purpose, then, is this stupid game, except for your own sick amusement?"

Seishirou paused, then, and gave the other a long and appraising look. Once, Subaru might have flushed under that regard, or looked away. But the other held the gaze levelly, even coolly. Seishirou let his smile widen, spreading into an expression of fine good cheer.

Subaru really did not understand, not one bit.

"Oh, Subaru-kun." Seishirou shook his head in mock-sadness, though the smile never left his face. "You still don't get it, do you?" He moved away from Kamui, though he did not quite turn his back on the boy, and stepped closer to Subaru, who regarded him with a thin-lipped almost-glare.

"For my own amusement, indeed..." Seishirou stopped perhaps two paces from Subaru, pushed his hands deliberately into his pockets and cocked his head playfully to one side.

"After all," he went on, his voice light, "what could be more important to me?"

Subaru's expression tightened with a faint bitterness. Funny, Seishirou thought, they really did resemble one another... Maybe it was seeing Subaru's expressions on his own face that made it so clear; or perhaps it was being a spectator, seeing himself from without as none ever had.

What, he wondered, had Subaru expected? After all the Sumeragi had been through, everything inflicted upon him at Seishirou's hands, after all the grief, the suffering and blood... Did he really think Seishirou held some higher purpose, that he kept Subaru alive for any purpose other than his own amusement?

Really.

Subaru raised a hand like the magician he was, a single motion that was quite fluid, and Seishirou's personal shield flickered into existence around his body, a reflex. Subaru held a paper talisman aloft; it caught with a white flame, and was not consumed. He released it and it hung, burning, between them -- a symbol, perhaps, of all the unresolved things that hung similarly between the two onmyouji.

"If you wish to fight," Subaru said quietly, "I will fight you." His gaze was level, and almost sad. "But I will not play this game any longer."

Subaru gestured, the sound of the seed-syllable striking the air like a water-drop:

"Om."

The o-fuda gathered its flame into itself. Seishirou waited, wary and ready.

"Shou ki shuku you dou!"

The talisman unfurled itself into a vast, winged shape, a great bird, but not a bird of this world. It was a hawk and it was a dove, though it was neither, and it was a thing of great beauty; it cried with the crystal voice of an angel.

Seishirou was already calling up his own shikigami from behind the protection of his shield, the words shaped precisely by his lips:

"Shou ki shuku in dou..."

Though Subaru had gotten the jump on Seishirou, the Sumeragi did not attack. Instead, he waited patiently as the huge dark eagle took shape over Seishirou's outstretched hand.

Pacifist fool.

Seishirou's own shikigami gave a piercing call as he launched the creature at the other onmyouji. Doing so, he also slipped a few o-fuda from within his sleeve and flicked them forth--

To surround Kamui. Seishirou had no intention of leaving the boy free to attack him. Five talismans clung to the air around the Seal, in an eyeblink connecting themselves with lines of scarlet fire to form a pentacle that held Kamui at its heart.

Meanwhile, the smoky eagle clashed with Subaru's snowy hawk, flares of magical energy erupting as they struck at one another. They veered off, circled, closed to strike again, and again. Subaru clasped his hands into an intricate series of inzou, the syllables of power he uttered almost tangible in the strong magical field.

Subaru was putting an awful lot of himself into this, Seishirou realized; He was drawing on his own personal power for this, in addition to the innate power of the summoned being. If Seishirou wanted to win this, or even draw, he was going to have to do likewise.

Kamui was rattling his little cage, pushing against it first physically, then with his hideous psychic force, but to no avail. Seishirou had woven a cute little trick into it, something he'd cooked up since their last encounter; the power Kamui expended against it was redirected, strengthening what he sought to shatter. The boy knew so little about the finer points of magic, his raw power was so undisciplined; it would take Kamui some time to get around it, if he could do so at all.

The shikigami continued to do shrieking battle, and Subaru bore several scratches from the backlash; Seishirou was yet unmarred. It was disconcerting, seemingly inflicting this damage on himself, his opponent wearing Seishirou's own visage. But stronger than that was some primal impulse, the thing that told him he must prevail, it was his nature to do so, undefeated -- and if the Sumeragi wanted to play hardball, then Seishirou would do likewise.

Subaru was very strong, exponentially stronger than the boy he had been, but Seishirou was far more experienced at inflicting harm -- nearly all of his powers were geared toward such. He was, after all, an assassin. And under Seishirou's onslaught, the younger onmyouji's defense was steadily weakening. Subaru was bleeding from dozens of tiny cuts and scratches, the shikigami bled shining ichor along the leading edges of its wings.

A gap was forming in Subaru's defense, a hairline crack widening, just a bit more and Seishirou would deliver the blow to shatter it totally --

Kamui's cage-rattling suddenly stopped, and Seishirou felt a kind of jolt, the fields of summoned power jerked and changed shape.

Subaru's shikigami shone with a dazzling brilliance, like magnesium alight, too bright to look at directly. It screamed with the sound of a thousand breaking mirrors, streaked like a star toward its opponent --

-- And straight through it. Seishirou felt the impact, staggered under the raw force of "Kamui", that awesome power somehow channeled through Subaru's disciplined mind. He tried to let the shikigami take it, reflexively disengaging his mind from the creature as it was obliterated, raveling into ribbons which spiraled into nothingness. Even so, the hit left him reeling -- the mental backlash sent everything a fuzzy grey, and he could feel his brain sliding into whiteness; his grasp on the threads of magic was slipping, slipping, and the world he'd woven around them all was coming apart in an eerie slow motion...

There were voices, and a sort of splitting, a tearing in the walls of the maboroshi. Magical bonds settled upon him, holding him firmly; then he was tipping into unconciousness, too stunned to resist, and the last thing he brought into the blankness was the terrible, impossible knowledge --

He was defeated.

It had been very strange... Subaru had felt himself weakening, he'd known he couldn't hold out much longer against Seishirou -- and then a new energy had rushed into him, a wonderful fire, the power to do anything, the power to change a world --

The power of "Kamui". The boy had managed to channel his own power into Subaru, boosting his flagging magical power with that seemingly inexhaustible strength.

Subaru had forgotten, really... He was bound undeniably to Seishirou, for so long and in so many ways -- but he was linked also to Kamui. This bond was more recent, but had just proved itself to be quite deep -- deep enough and strong enough for the transfer of elemental power. And that had been enough, finally -- enough to crush Seishirou's attack, enough to wedge itself into Sakurazukamori's walls of illusion and crack them wide, giving the others the chance to break through from without. And as Seishirou crumpled, the maboroshi falling to pieces around them all, Subaru had flung a spell around the other onmyouji - again feeling that thrilling quicksilver heat as Kamui poured energy into him so he could bind the other securely and send him into magical sleep.

Now, riding in the back of one of the Imonoyama's fleet of long black cars, Subaru kept the Sakurazukamori carefully bespelled, seated directly between Kamui and himself. The channel he and the boy had created remained open as Kamui continue to feed energy into the magical wards. Kamui was not used to moderating his power, as Subaru could feel from fluctuations in the flow that hummed between them like electricity in a wire. But he was trying, and Subaru thought it might do the boy some good to practice this finer control. It was well that Seishirou's body was accustomed to channeling high amounts of energy; Subaru did not know if his own body could have withstood that first frantic outpouring of Kamui's energy quite so well.

A silence had spread itself over the others in the limo. Sorata frowned out the window, seated next to Arashi but refraining from his usual antics. The priestess sat primly, eyes cast downward and expressionless. Yuzuriha ocasionally reached out to stroke Inuki, as if for comfort, or to reassure. The dog spirit kept a watchful eye on their spellbound passenger. Kamui, also -- he gazed at the trespasser in his friend's body, with unwavering intensity and an unreadable expression, all the way back.

At the Imonoyama mansion, they were greeted by two members of what Sorata often referred to as "the Terrible Trio" -- Nokoru and Suoh. Nokoru led the four other Seals away to prepare for the task ahead. Suoh took over the handling of the Sakurazukamori, lifting the long, reed-slim body almost effortlessly. The man's face was as grave as ever, but his golden eyes were kind as they touched Subaru's. With something of a start, Subaru noticed he was looking down on Takamura.

Subaru followed him into the mansion, where he was led through long hallways and down many a staircase, until they reached some hidden subbasement. Within was darkness, the gleam of candles, and a type of altar. There stood two platforms, draped in white. Suoh lay his burden upon one of them.

Subaru gazed down at the unconscious figure as Suoh retreated. His very own face, caught in the stillness of seeming slumber, the lids fast shut, the brows a smooth arch above them, shadows of lashes cast by the candlelight... He looked very young. No-one ever saw themselves asleep, did they? He lay the back of his hand agaist the sleeping cheek and thought about how much of stranger he was to himself.

His ruminations were interrupted by the arrival of the others, a familiar voice floating through the door:

"...but truly, Miss, you should wear hakama more often, they're really sexy -- ouch!!"

The door swung open, letting in some more light, and Nokoru became visible, standing to one side to let the others enter first.

Arashi glided silently into the room, dressed for ceremony. Her long hair was bound with paper and cord, and she was dressed in kimono and hakama. Gossamer over-robes fluttered like moth's wings as she moved. She was followed by Sorata, rubbing his arm and looking quite a bit like a kicked puppy. He was dressed in his monk's robes, and his feet were bare. Behind him came Yuzuriha, wearing robes not unlike the ones Subaru himself used for ceremony. She wore a band tied over her brow, and carried an unusual scepterlike object. Of the inugami there was no sign.

Trailing them, looking rather uncomfortable, came Kamui. Astonishingly, he was dressed in full formal kamishimo. The width of the stiff winglike shoulder piece was exaggerated by the slenderness of his sash-bound waist, and it made him appear strangely authoritative. Subaru reflected that it looked quite well on him.

Arashi indicated the empty pallet with a small and graceful gesture.

"We will begin when you are ready, Sumeragi-san."

Subaru lay down on the pallet, which was rather hard but not too uncomfortable. Stretching out, he felt a hand take his. Opening his eyes, he met the worried violet gaze he knew would be trained on him with as much confidence as he could muster, and gave Kamui's hand a brief squeeze. The boy seemed about to say something, but bit his lip and released Subaru, taking his place between the two pallets.

Subaru closed his eyes, hearing Arashi's measured voice begin to raise a soft chant, taken up in turn by the others, and he let himself be pulled into the place of rest, into the same magical slumber which held Seishirou. He felt a warm hand touch his forehead lightly -- Kamui -- then fell swiftly into the scented dark.

*****

The dreams - ah, the dreams - falling, spinning, wrenching, formless and incoherent -- here there was only the grey-white blackness and a field of hurtful stars, nebulae without color and entities without shape, spiraling, until the cold and the heat must overtake everything and make it into something else --

-- something other --

-- something it was meant to be.

And in that, a sense of passage, a crossing, an insubstantial comet brushing against and somehow through its fellow traveler on that long instant's journey --

.: Blue-white light in a golden sphere, pure and balanced and in some way perfect, complete in its incompleteness...

Poised and solitary, so alone... Lonely, as such a thing must be, and not even knowing it. :.

A voice echoed dimly, sad but still bright, the voice of one long departed, as if recalled from a dream:

"... but oh, Subaru... Do not judge him too hard, for he is only what he must be... Subaru..." The voice trailed away, leaving him alone again in the strangeness, the pain, and the laughter...

The pale darkness...

Su... ba... ru...

Suba... ru...

"Subaru."

It was exactly like rising from deep water, breaking the surface of the unnatural night and so up into the realm of waking, gasping a single, blessed breath...

Subaru opened his eyes. There was darkness, but it was of the dark variety, and two pale blobs slowly resolved themselves into Kamui and Yuzuriha, their concerned faces hovering maybe a foot above him.

A foot... above him...?

Subaru sat up, and was immediately assailed by dizziness. He found himself clutching weakly at Kamui, who bore him up with deceptive strength.

"Subaru?"

"Kamui. It worked, Kamui..." The words came out in a tremorous but easily identifiable tenor. Turning his head carefully, Subaru could see that a tall figure lay prone on the other pallet.

Cautiously Subaru rose, despite the protests of Sorata and Arashi (in agreement, for once). Kamui did not say a word, but remained in attendance on Subaru, steadying him, and Subaru found he was grateful for the support the boy offered. They made their way over to the other platform, where Seishirou lay unconscious still. Subaru could just barely sense the faint magical web that held the other in sleep. That would be Arashi's innate caution, though the magician would be almost totally drained after the battle and the arduous exchange.

Asleep, Seishirou, too, looked very young.

Seishirou-san.

Right now, you are so defenseless. I could do anything to you I might wish. You are at my mercy.

My mercy...

It would be practical, and a definite coup, to eliminate Sakurazukamori here and now -- and in so doing, take out one of their strongest enemies, one of the biggest obstacles to the preservation of humanity which was the goal of every Seal.

Logical, yes. But...

...my mercy...

...it would not be Subaru.

"Let him go."

Kamui looked sharply at Subaru.

"Now is not the time," he continued. "We'll wait... until the Promised Day, if we must."

Arashi's eyes were dark with something hidden, but she kept her hands folded and tilted her head slightly in acknowledgement of Subaru's decision. Sorata said nothing, but the monk's eyes were understanding. Though Takamura's face was like something carved from stone, Nokoru smiled very slightly, very gently. The Sakurazukamori continued to slumber.

"Um..." Yuzuriha scratched her head and glanced about at the others.

"So what do we do with him?"

*****

Night had blanketed the CLAMP campus, and a pleasantly crisp autumn breeze slid over its vast lawns and through the branches of its many trees. The stars shone brightly from the clear night sky and the gibbous moon poured pale light, painting everything in shades of silver and indigo.

Subaru stood at the railing of a third-floor balcony, smoking a cigarette and thinking of nothing in particular, taking a breather from the bright liveliness of the Imonoyama mansion. He could hear muted music and laughter, drifting up from the colossal ballroom on the ground floor.

Given the strains of the day and the success of their little plan, the Imonoyama had declared that some celebration was in order. Once Sakurazukamori had been taken care of -- Kamui had wanted to truss the man like a turkey and leave him in a trash heap somewhere, but Subaru had opted for leaving him in his own apartment to recover -- the Imonoyama had made his declaration. Rather dramatically, too -- Subaru had by now learned the significance of the tasseled folding fan. Takamura had gone white at its appearance in his superior's hand, though Ijyuin had seemed delighted.

The idea had been greeted with surprising enthusiasm, and even now the bacchanalia of cake, ice cream and karaoke was still going strong. It was good, Subaru supposed, for people under the immense strains of being Seals to have some form of relaxation. They were kids, most of them... Fourteen to sixteen years of age, bearing the responsibility for billions. Yes, they certainly deserved some respite, though Subaru himself had no taste for their amusements.

The music died down, and faint voices made their way up:

"Come on, Kamui!" Sorata's voice. "Have a little fun, it won't kill ya!"

"We'll sing 'Wakarete mo Suki-na Hito'! You have to know that one!" Yuzuriha's voice, carrying and unmistakable.

"What is this, the 'Seven Seals Karaoke Classics'?" Karen's laughter sparkled on the night air.

"Awww...you made him mad! Now we'll never get him to sing!" More laughter.

The music started up again, and two voices -- it sounded like Karen and Seiichirou -- began to sing "Izakaya".

The other Seals had tried their best to get Subaru in on their fun, with a complete lack of success. He just wouldn't do it, even now...

...a slim figure clad in a fluffy white angel dress, complete with wings, outraged and outrageous...

"What are you talking about? Sei-chan took us out to this karaoke box because you said you'd never been! Do you want to put his hard-earned money to waste?!"

"I don't know many songs... Besides, I'm tone-deaf..."

"You have a very nice voice, Subaru-kun. I'm sure it will be fine..."

But Subaru was used to these things, the memories, and their painful twinge went almost unnoticed.

"Subaru?"

He did not start at the soft voice behind him. There was really no way Subaru could be surprised, not by Kamui; they were too well-connected. And to Subaru's senses as a Seal, the boy had an aura the approximate size of Tokyo.

"You escaped, I see," Subaru commented, stubbing out the cigarette and letting the breeze take the last of the smoke away.

Kamui snorted. "Barely. What a bunch of lunatics. No way am I gonna sing some cheesy old love song with 'em." He folded his arms and gazed sullenly over the lawns below. "They can all go to Hell," he declared, nodding his head decisively.

Subaru smiled, just a little bit. They spent several moments in an amicable silence, leaning against the balcony's railing, before Kamui spoke up again.

"I'm glad it worked, you know."

Subaru puzzled at him a moment; his mind had been occupied in admiring the way the moonlight painted Kamui's profile in silver.

"The transfer," Kamui elucidated. "I think I prefer you in your own body, thank you very much." The Seal turned to face Subaru, and his lips curled into a slightly mischievous grin.

"Sakurazukamori's just not my type," Kamui said, then laughed. Subaru thought he could see the boy flush faintly, though it was hard to tell in the half-light. The boy put a hand behind behind his head in a gesture of adolescent self-consciousness, totally at odds with his usual prickliness. Subaru found it very appealing.

Kamui dropped the hand as a thought seemed to occur to him. "Hey, I think I'm gonna go see if Yuzuriha's eaten all the ice cream yet. See ya inside, huh?" Kamui turned and walked back indoors, chuckling faintly.

Subaru regarded the retreating figure until it disappeared around a corner. He thought about Kamui, just now, and Seishirou's words in the maboroshi.

Kamui...

...could he possibly...

Did he really...?

Subaru shook his head slightly, as if to dismiss the thought.

Then an idea cropped up, and he smiled. A real smile, not the half-smile he'd smiled for so long... it felt good. So good, in fact, that it made him wonder why he hadn't done it sooner, why he hadn't opened himself up to the possibilities... It was a clean feeling, something pure and simple welling up from a place he'd long thought barren.

Subaru went inside, wondering where he might find Ijyuin. If anyone knew how to make a good ice-cream soda, it would be him.

Strawberry, with lots of whipped cream, a plump red cherry on top...

...and two straws.

The first being regarded the second through amused, somewhat outsized eyes. Its long, long fingers were laced rather smugly before it.

"More than you expected, my dear?" it asked the second being, who seemed not at all pleased. "I must confess some small surprise myself -- I hadn't expected them to resolve it so quickly. The connection between the 'Kamui' of the Seven Seals and the subject Sumeragi Subaru is an... unexpected quantity."

"You might say that." The second being's voice was strictly measured.

"Ah, yes... The earlier affair with the subjects Sakurazuka Seishirou and Sumeragi Subaru was yours, was it not... and the death of the subject Monou Kotori, also. Heavy-handed, I told you. And look what consequence."

"It is not yet ended, precious one." The second being's voice was edged now, betraying something not entirely unlike anger.

The first being chose to ignore this display of weakness in its counterpart. "True, true. You may not have unraveled all of your work on the two, unwitting. Even we cannot know what a combination of events -- or subjects -- will bring. And it is that unpredictability which makes this so diverting."

"Until our next Game, then?" The edge had been smoothed out, and the first being's voice held only its words.

The first being inclined its head in agreement. "Let them rest...for now."

Almost as one, they rose, the lattice of icy light flickering out at once. Silently, they left the room of the Game, and the room's lights died as if taken with them. They left only darkness in their wake, save for the dim blue radiance from within the the Board.

The Board, where a sphere hung serenely in starry blackness, covered in water and white clouds, and clusters of light where the nighttime cities of humanity struggled against the ordinary dark, unknowing.

AUTHOR'S COMMENTS (meaningless utterances) :

You made it! Congratulations! You receive the amazing Chia Head(tm) and a lifetime supply of tasty California Cheese!

OK, maybe not... ^^;;;

But you did tough it out through the whole thing, and I thank you for putting up with my first attempt at fiction in at least 5 years (I was trying to quit, but...).

Notes:

"Wakarete mo Suki-na Hito" ("The Person I Like Even Though We've Broken Up") is the song that Hokuto makes Subaru sing as a duet with Seishirou in Tokyo Babylon #5. It's apparently a karaoke standard -- we even learned it in Japanese class! "Izakaya" is another one of those, about a man and a woman meeting in a bar.

The passage regarding Hokuto, Subaru, and Seishirou in the karaoke box is taken from Tokyo Babylon #5. The translation is mine.

Hakama are those wide pants-like things sometimes worn with kimono. Kamishimo consists of kimono, hakama, and this big stiff shoulder thingie that I don't remember the name of. It's extremely traditional and formal, and it looks really cool, and Kamui is modeling it for us here on the left.

And now, the acknowledgements... Thank you to: N-san, for being so endlessly inspiring; the legions of fanfickers out there who've made a nice little niche for this stuff (yay, I'm not the only one!); the MTD bus system for always being late and thus giving me writing time; and to the Kirin Co., makers of Gogo no Koucha Afternoon Tea, for making a damned fine source of caffeine. Thank you and goodnight.