Shadow of the Past
It was a chilly, misty morning as Subaru woke up that day.
As he leaned his head against the window glass, he could see waterdrops dripping from the cherry blossoms outside the house. It must have been raining for quite a while, since the whole garden was soaked. The water surface was about two centimeters off ground.
Subaru stared at his own reflection on the window glass. He never knew how he managed to come to this place after all what happened in the Rainbow Bridge. He had the impression that he had lost the control of his body by the time Seishirou leaved him alone in this world.
Yes, that's true…
Subaru closed his eyes and the whole memories came back to torture him again. The whole emotions overwhelmed him the same way they did last time.
Perhaps this was what people called hell. Having to go through the worst part in life over and over again.
Yesterday, the Kamui of the Dragon of Earth came by and offered him something he would never be able to refuse. Subaru had accepted it. Seishirou's eye.
The young man turned to look at the sealed eye on the table.
There was noone beside him who knew enough of his feelings to give him any advice concerning this matter. There had always been noone. Noone, since Hokuto passed away and Seishirou disappeared from his life.
And yet, Subaru survived that time because he knew somewhere out there Seishirou was alive. Subaru simply had to track him out, then he wouldn't be alone again.
But now, things seemed to be hopeless. Now Subaru was really alone.
Fuuma smirked as he remarked how selfish Seishirou was. On the other hand, Subaru had been selfish himself. It was his wish to lose the same eye like Seishirou, although Seishirou disliked it. Now he had to face Seishirou's selfishness as well. The selfishness which demanded him to take the eye and regain both intact eyes.
Subaru smiled desperately.
He never understood why his wishes and Seishirou's wishes were simply opposites. Was it true that their hearts didn't match? Was it fate? Fate which was carved in a deep line between the head of the Sumeragi clan and the head of the Sakurazuka clan?
And what about the Kamui from the Dragon of Earth? Did his heart match with Seishirou's? How come?
But that's not true… Subaru whispered to himself.
Kamui of the Dragon of Earth had the ability, and that's all. There was no connection between them, surely not.
The wind blew harder outside.
As Subaru looked at his reflection again, he asked himself why the person behind him had no shadow. Or perhaps he wasn't there?
No…
He was there.
Subaru turned around and looked at Sakurazukamori's face. The man looked as fine as the time Subaru saw him on the Rainbow Bridge before they started with the battle.
Seishirou smiled at him, the same smile Subaru never understood. After Hokuto's death all he did was to respond the smile with a sourly expression. But now, Subaru learned to reply his smile with another smile. And so he smiled at the man standing before him.
Subaru made a slight movement with his hand, and Seishirou took a seat on the floor. His expression didn't change at all, and that didn't surprise Subaru at all. That was exactly the way he wanted him to be.
In this place, in this moment, just the two of us. This was what Subaru dreamed of for years, apart from all disorders in this world.
"Seishirou-san," he whispered softly to the man sitting in front of him. "I have had a very beautiful time with you here. I am very happy."
Subaru reached after the sealed eye on the table and held it in his hands tightly.
"Fuuma-san.. no, the Kamui of the Dragon of Earth had nicely come just to bring your keepsake here."
His hands were shaking as he spoke, and so he held the eye container even tightlier in his hands.
"And so, I want to say good bye."
Tears came to his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
Subaru looked sadly at Seishirou, though he still smiled.
"Good bye…"
Subaru's trembling voice chanted the same words he once used in one of his task. In one task, in which he had to send away the shadow of a reawaken dead man. He just never dreamed that he would have to do the same to himself. To send Seishirou away under tears.
Seishirou's body fell backward in such an elegance. The second it touched the floor, it crumbled into dusts, which was quickly blown by the wind.
Soon there was nothing left from the Seishirou, who had been accompanying Subaru all the time since he arrived in the house.
As Subaru lied on his back in the hospital the next morning before his eye-transplantation operation, he once again asked himself if his heart and Seishirou's heart were simply incompatible.
Whatever the truth might be, he would force his way through the fate. He would see the world from Seishirou's eyes. He would take his place as Sakurazukamori and Dragon of Earth. If that's what it took to unite their hearts…. he would do anything.