Advocate

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns it. I play with it.

Summary: Sort of AU. Seishirou is sent back into the past by an angry Hokuto after he forces Subaru to kill him, giving him the chance to start again. The assassin however, resenting the changes to his plans, will be playing the older Sumeragi twin's game his own way. Hokuto herself has an importance of her own, and now she is alive again, retaining all memories of her death and subsequent afterlife, she'll play the game just as fiercely, leaving a confused but suspicious Subaru in the middle. Rating T, multiple storylines.

Pairings: Split evenly between Seishirou x Subaru and Kakyou x Hokuto

Warnings: Violence, blood, Boy on boy. If you have a problem with yaoi or blood...you're in the wrong fandom. This is CLAMP, so blood is a given.

Author's note: Hello! Philosopher's Queen here, after a long period of absence... (fails at life) Basically I've been too busy to sit down and actually write for pleasure in FAR TOO LONG. So now that my classes are over, I'm writing for ME. That's all from me :D

... Advocate ...

Prologue: Change of Plan

He knew he was dead, without a shadow of a doubt. He'd planned it that way, and seen Subaru's shaking hand disappearing into his chest. He'd realised not too long ago that the feelings he had for the younger onmyouji ran far deeper and were far more intense than the simple possessiveness he'd understood before. And that was why he had to die. To save Subaru. Otherwise, as Dragons of Heaven and Earth, they would carry on clashing until Seishirou, clearly the stronger onmyouji, destroyed the younger in combat. The flashes of memory from Rainbow Bridge assaulted him, flickers of colour, light, shouting and whispered spells, of hisses of pain and cries of horror from those arriving at the scene, only to watch himself and Subaru engaged in heated, bloody battle. Death was...unexpectedly peaceful. He just seemed to float in nothingness for a while, not bothering to open his eyes. He knew all about Death, he thought. Although the scream was unforeseen.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT!" The voice echoed in his head, and he yelped rather uncharacteristically. "YOU BLOODY FOOL!" it continued to berate him.

"Hokuto?"

"No, you THINK? God, I didn't think even YOU could be this stupid..." Seishirou tried to open his eyes, but was immediately assaulted by blinding light, and he yelped again. "Yeah, you'd BETTER be in pain..." Her voice was everywhere. "You'd better be so damn grateful I'm pulling strings to correct your little...oversight." She muttered. "I'll be seeing you soon, Sei-chan!" She then spat something about idiot assassins, and Seishirou finally opened his eyes. She was nowhere to be seen. He winced at the brightness of the light around him, and called her name uncertainly. What was going on? Soon, the enveloping white light grew too searing for his eyes to handle, forcing him to close them again with a hiss of disapproval. A blinding pain burned in his head, and he let out a gasp of surprise, before his mind went blissfully blank.

... Advocate ...

The first thing he became aware of when he came to was the familiar smell of the Sakura, something that was comforting, yet at the same time filled him with dread as his brain attempted to figure out what was going on.

"Seishirou-san?" The assassin nearly choked on his own tongue. He hadn't heard Subaru say his name like that since he...since before he'd killed Hokuto. Wait, what? Subaru? He shook himself and blinked blearily. With a sting of shock he realised he was in his own Marboroshi. The uncertain voice rang out again. "S...Seishirou-san?" The man blinked again, looking for the source of the voice and spotting the little green-eyed teenager. He did a double take, the realisation that Subaru was here, and very definitely sixteen again finally sinking in. His breath caught in his throat. He had forgotten how pretty younger Subaru had been. His twenty-three year old self had been stunning, obviously, but this child still held onto that breathtaking air of innocence and purity Seishirou had been attracted to in the first place. Memories of the day he'd told Subaru about the bet came hurtling back to him as the young onmyouji stood just a few feet away, oblivious to him.

"This is before everything. Destiny, with a little help from me, intervened after you died." Hokuto's voice echoed in his head, interrupting his thoughts.

"Before...everything?"

"Before you ruined his life, yes." How she could say that sweetly he guessed he would never know. "I can't make you change anything, Sei-chan." Hokuto's voice continued, sadly. "...Don't waste this chance. I've already told you far too much. Someone's probably going to throw a fit up there..." With that, Hokuto's presence faded. Seishirou let out a huff of confusion, which startled the little onmyouji into turning around, confused green eyes trying to work out why he wasn't in a hospital room. With a sudden hiss of pain, Seishirou realised his eye hurt. Or...his not-quite-an-eye-anymore. Subaru finally caught sight of him, and apparently, all confusion was replaced by panic. "Seishirou-san! I...I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, I love you...I'm so stupid, I'm sorry I never realised before...but I'm in love with you, I'm sorry that I made you blind..." The fragile-looking boy had tears streaming down his cheeks as he assaulted Seishirou with his garbled words. So this was what he never got the chance to say before. It amazed Seishirou that Subaru had disregarded the somewhat serious implications of not being in a hospital room in order to beg forgiveness. The assassin blinked. Who needed whose forgiveness? This was it, wasn't it? That pivotal point, the reason Hokuto, the meddling hellion, had brought him back. The question was...could he change anything? Did he have that sort of willpower? It would go against everything he stood for, all of his instincts – and it would be so much fun to torture the boy again, watch him shatter into a thousand pieces...conflicting emotions assailed him, and he glared at the sky. How annoying. He appeared to be having an attack of conscience. Ah, well, it wouldn't be the first time. Conscience he could brush away. He turned his mismatched eyes on Subaru, fleetingly wishing he hadn't lost one of them, the missing depth perception having always irritated him.

Subaru had finished talking, or rather, trailed off uncertainly, bright green eyes full of confusion, and another emotion Seishirou knew the name of but refused to identify. The assassin lifted his head slightly to look upwards, murmuring, "Alright, then, Hokuto-chan. Have it your way. Mess with my plans, would you? I'll play this little game of yours, but be warned...I refuse to bend to your whims. I have my pride..." Then, he smiled, a slight sinister edge to it, before taking a step towards Subaru, whose eyes were nervous now, and focussed on that not-quite-smile.

"Subaru-kun."

... Advocate ...

Whee! I actually finished a prologue of something new!

O.o

The bulk of the story will be focussed on Seishirou, Subaru and Hokuto, with Kakyou making an entrance within a few chapters. I don't know how popular this fandom is, and I don't particularly care, since it actually owns my soul...but any responses would be well appreciated :)

Prologue is short. Chapters will be longer.

Philosopher's Queen