by indigorhapsody
Kind of Kamui/Keiichi. Platonic friendship or borderline shounen ai? You decide.
A crazy mix of the manga and the anime. Don't ask.
This fic is lame. Don't let that stop you from reading and reviewing. Just don't
say I didn't warn you.
* * *
Not again . . .
There was the figure tied to the cross.
No . . .
The tears welling in his eyes blurred his vision to the point of obscurity,
but he knew with sick certainty who it was that was bound across from him, unconsciously
awaiting Fate.
The scene had played and replayed in his mind countless times.
The pain in his hand throbbed mercilessly. A shadow passed over his face, and
his tears thinned, and he watched helplessly, knowing he should tear his eyes
away from the scene, but as always, he was unable to move, unable to act, unable
to look anywhere else, but where one of those he loved the most destroyed the
other before him.
I don't want to see this again . . .
Everything seemed to shift, ever-so-subtly, and Kamui could see the two figures
starkly outlined against the night sky. The Dark Kamui raised the sword, and
Kamui could hear himself screaming, from far away.
Please, no . . .
And the sword descended before his scream could die.
Who . . .
Disbelief tingled along his scalp. The form, impaled upon the cross, was . .
. not Kotori . . .?
"No."
Shirou Kamui woke in a cold sweat, his skin crawling with panic.
He remained motionless, rigidly sitting up in bed, for a total of about two
seconds, before ripping the covers off and leaping out of bed. Shoving on a
pair of pants over his the boxers he'd been sleeping in, he tore out of the
room, pulling his shoes on as best he could.
He knew where he was going. He'd been there before, several times. What he didn't
understand was the inexplicably strong feeling of dread.
It was just a dream, he repeated to himself, trying to quell the sick
feeling in the pit of his stomach as he pushed open the doors and ran heedlessly
out into the wet night.
It wasn't really raining, but the light drizzle was enough to soak him through
and chill him thoroughly before he reached his destination. Not even considering
the elevator, he took the stairs about four at a time.
The whole place was as silent as death. He sprinted down the hallway towards
the room he wanted, and without hesitating in the slightest, pounded loudly
on the door.
It took a couple minutes, and a desperate Kamui was considering breaking the
door down when it suddenly opened.
A rumpled-looking Segawa Keiichi leaned on the doorframe, blinking in obvious
surprise.
"Shirou-kun?"
Kamui breathed an almost inaudible sigh of relief. "Keiichi."
Keiichi smiled at the smaller boy, making a futile attempt at smoothing his
rumpled hair. Besides that, Keiichi looked surprisingly awake. Now that Kamui's
mind had begun to start working rationally again, he idly wondered how it was
possible for someone to radiate so much energy, even at this time of night.
He paled. This time of night. It had to be unfathomably late.
"I - I'm sorry to bother you," he stammered. "I was just checking
. . ." he trailed off.
Keiichi just laughed a little. "That's ok. It's nice of you to visit. But
Shirou-kun . . ." His smile slipped a little, eyes reflecting concern.
"It's three-thirty in the morning. Is there something wrong?"
Suddenly Kamui felt very foolish. To run over here, in the middle of the night,
because of a nightmare? What had he been thinking? He obviously hadn't been.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. It was very rude of me to bother you. I'm very
sorry. I'll leave now . . ."
"Shirou-kun," Keiichi said to the smaller boy, who had already started
backing away. "You came all this way to see me . . . why don't you come
in? You're soaking wet."
Kamui eyed himself critically, and then glanced back at Keiichi's look of appeal.
"Please?"
"Here you go." Keiichi handed him a mug of warm milk, and sat down
beside him. Kamui sat on the couch, having been cajoled into exchanging his
rain-soaked clothes for some of Keiichi's. They were, of course, a few sizes
too big for him.
"Arigatou," he murmured, taking a sip. "I'm really sorry for
waking you. I feel like I'm intruding."
"Not at all," Keiichi replied dismissively. "But you really should
take better care of yourself, Shirou-kun," he scolded lightly.
Kamui flushed. "I guess I wasn't really thinking."
Keiichi was silent, waiting for him to go on.
"I . . . I had a nightmare." He stopped there. He wasn't sure he was
willing to divulge the details right now.
Keiichi seemed to sense his hesitation, and nodded understandingly. "I've
been having quite a few of those myself, lately," he replied. His bright
eyes seemed to focus on something distant.
There was a long silence.
"Mostly," the older boy went on quietly, "about my parents. I
keep dreaming . . . about the earthquakes."
Kamui watched him carefully. There was something about this boy that always
made him want to study him more closely. Something he just couldn't figure out.
"I'm sorry," Kamui said finally, feeling inadequate.
Suddenly Keiichi's smile was back, the faraway look gone as if it had never
been there. "Listen to you! Apologizing! It's not your fault." He
took a sip of his own cup of milk.
"It's not anybody's fault," he said. "I guess that's why
it's so scary . . . the feeling that there's nothing you can fight, really.
You just feel . . . powerless."
Kamui felt as if he were suffocating.
"It's a terrible feeling. Just watching . . . and knowing there's nothing
you can do. It's already happened."
"I just wish I didn't have to see it, over and over again," Kamui
whispered, half to himself.
"It seems wrong to dwell on it," Keiichi replied. "But even after
the fact, there's always the fear that it will happen again . . ." He paused.
"To someone else you care about. Someone you're afraid to lose."
Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and something significant passed between
them.
Kamui looked away first. "I think you're right."
"Really?"
" . . . Yes."
They stayed up for a while, talking, until Kamui, unable to stay awake for any longer, fell asleep, unconsciously resting on Keiichi's shoulder. The older boy watched him for a while, a strange and thoughtful expression on his face, before finally allowing sleep to overtake him.
Kamui stirred briefly from his sleep.
I'm afraid to lose you . . . Keiichi.
* * *
Stupid? Pointless? OOC? Yeah. Sorry about that. I plan on continuing this, and trying to patch up the things that don't make sense. Like the whole thing. ^_^;