All the World's a Stage, a x/1999 fanfic

All a World's a Stage
sapphireglass

For the fourth night this week sleep evaded Subaru. After nearly two hours of tossing and turning, he knew it was fruitless to make any more attempts at getting some sleep. So he got up, grabbed his keys and headed out. Walking has proved on many occasions to be a good antidote to insomnia.

Even though it was late, there were still many people about. Tokyo was probably one of the few cities that never sleeps. Sometimes Subaru loved her for it, but not tonight. Tonight, he wanted quiet and solitude. His feet took him to a small park across town. There he found a winding path amidst the cherry blossom trees, where he walked with only the whispering wind as company.

Seishirou took off his glasses, folded them neatly and placed them in his breast pocket. Tonight the Sakurazukamori had a matter to dispose off. The kill will be anything but a challenge. He was a young heir, barely out of his teens and his innocence had long been corrupted. Even though his actions were less than innocent, his mind had not matured to truly fathom the consequences of his actions.

He lit a cigarette as he waited for his victim to arrive. He inhaled a lungful of smoke and on the exhale the smoke formed perfect little ringlets. While he watched those ringlets rise and eventually disappear, he wondered that when his mother spoke of the thing that would kill him would be the one he loved most, perhaps she was referring the theses little buggers. A packet a day since he was sixteen; his one true love.

He heard shallow footfalls hit the pavement; the sound was amplified by the stillness in the park. He turned only to be surprised by the person he found. It was not his victim, but Subaru-kun meandering through the park. What a pleasant surprise. Lady Luck must be smiling down upon him. He moved silently around until he got the perfect view to watch his Subaru through the trees. There was nothing Seishirou enjoyed more than watching his favourite pet, especially when said pet is oblivious to the surveillance.

He noticed that Subaru has changed in the years since they last met. Those eyes that used to shine with blind optimism now only reflected the anguish of living. The pain made him more beautiful, Seishirou thought.

Unfortunately, his plan to silently observe was foiled by the untimely arrival of his victim. With such a short distance separating them, Subaru would have to be deaf to not hear them speak. The annoyance was short lived, because a new plan has formed in place of the old. A slow, somewhat sadistic smirk appeared on his face. There was a change to the program; there will be a show worth watching tonight.

The first thing to be done was to incapacitate his victim, having an unwilling participant will hinder his plan's success. Seishirou brought his hand up and cast a simple spell that rendered his victim limp and immobile. He caught him by the waist just before he fell to the round, mimicking actions similar to that of a lover's.

Subaru neared a sharp turn in the path when he heard voices nearby; one belonged to an unknown man and the other belonged to an unmistakable one. Subaru's treacherous feet almost tripped against themselves to round the bend only to confirm with his eyes what his ears already knew. There a few feet away stood Seishirou-san. He didn't even notice he had an audience, so lost was he in the embrace with another man. No matter how Subaru's mind panicked, his feet were rooted on the spot. His eyes waited anxiously for the scene in front to play out. A captured audience awaited.

A graceful wave conjured thousands of cherry blossoms to float down like snowflakes. Seishirou was a seasoned actor; he knew the ins and outs of creating the perfect atmosphere. The pedals themselves were beautiful and created a sense of serenity, but it also served as a sinister reminder that such beauty was paid at a high price. As Seishirou once told Subaru, the reason cherry blossoms were pink was because they're pedals were stained with blood of his victims.

The stage was set, the props were ready, and all that's left is for him to awe his audience.

He positioned himself so that Subaru had a panoramic view of the stage. A gentle flicker removed the first couple of buttons of the boy's shirt, revealing most of his chest area. Seishirou was a little disappointed to find the boy's skin wasn't nearly as soft and smooth as Subaru's. It would indeed be a pleasure to run his hand down Subaru's body. Bending his head with deliberate slowness he allowed his lips to grace the column of the boy's neck, slowly and softly, completing the most important spell.

Subaru didn't just want to look away, he wanted to run. But his body refused time and time again to obey. The intimacy of Seishirou's actions should have made him turn away in embarrassment, but he found himself entranced by his gentleness. Seishirou never held him with such care, their encounter left him more broken then before. Invisible bruises marked his heart, those that never seemed to fade.

Time was etching towards the climax, the moment every action was building up to. Seishirou let the body fall a little, which gave him room to bring back his arm. He held that position for what seem like eternity before he moved his hand with a forceful thrust through the boy's chest, right through the centre, piercing his heart.

Subaru gasped. Knowing that Seishirou killed and seeing it were two very different concepts. What sounded like a gruesome task was in reality much more refined.

Subaru would have fainted if he knew at that very moment his face would betray his darkest yearnings. If there had been a mirror, Subaru would have found his face reflected a look of wanting. Wanting to be killed in the exact same manner; wanting Seishirou's attention to be so solely focused on him; wanting his blood to be the one staining those hands.

The climatic moment fades. A good climax is unfortunately always short lived.

Reality reared its ugly head. Seishirou hadn't planned for the blood to make such a mess. If it weren't for Subaru, this would have been a minimal job. Seishirou had been in the business long enough to know the much blood wouldn't come off at the dry-cleaners. It was a pity; another new suit wasted. He knew it was a waste to dwell on the unchangeable, anyway; sacrifices must be made to ensure a perfect performance.

Getting rid of the body was almost always far more complicated than killing it, especially if the task is to be done elegantly. He couldn't just heave the body over his shoulders and carry it away, thus it usually evolved an elaborate illusion to make the body disappear as if it just disintegrated into nothingness. The kill had taken a lot out of Seishirou; the method he adopted was one of the most complex spells, one that was usually reserved for very special victims. The heart was where most of a person's spiritual energy resided, and to pierce it Seishirou needed to conjure large amounts of energy in his arm.

Just as Seishirou was about to pull his hand out form the boys chest, he flickered his eyes to meet Subaru's emerald ones. He was delighted to find Subaru flushed with embarrassment at being caught gaping. The success of his performance brought a new surge of energy and a stronger resolve to leave the stage as dramatically as the entrance. He was going to make himself dissolve into a flurry of petals that was then carried away on the wind.

Just before he left he couldn't resist a final peek thorough the curtains. His entire audience was still standing in ovation. Perfect.

How he got home he doesn't recall, though Subaru knew he stood staring long after Seishirou departed.

Even now, hours later, the image of Seishirou's hand puncturing his heart would not stop flickering in his vision. Some say that life is only extinguishable by death. But Subaru knows without dying what it feels like to have a hole where the heart is suppose to be. Each day only exists to bring him closer to his meaningless future.

Finally exhaustion forced his eyes to close.

He made his Wish.

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