Author's Note: So as the description said, this is in response to those who wanted a longer version of "These Happy Summer Days". It's not exactly the same thing, and probably won't be QUITE as cute and fluffy, but that's because actually having a plot tends to prevent that sort of thing. :P I still intend it to be mostly focused on "but the couples got to actually be happy this time!", as was the point of the other fic. ^_^ Hope you enjoy!
...
"Rubber Ducky, this is Purple Monkey, do you read me? Come in Rubber Ducky. Over."
"This is Rubber Ducky. Read you loud and clear Purple Monkey. Over."
"Have you spotted the target yet? Over."
"No, target is not yet acquired- wait! Someone is coming out of the temple!" Yuzuriha held up a pair of camouflaged binoculars to her oversized neon orange-rimmed toy sunglasses. "Oh no, false alarm. It's just White Swan. Repeat. False alarm. Over."
Sorata sighed and idly watched Hinoto make her way daintily through the snow on her way out of the temple grounds from his hiding place among the brambles that months before had been verdant bushes pressed against the wall along the temple itself. He shifted, trying to keep his best pants from getting too wet in the slowly melting slush at his ankles and blew on his hands, rubbing them together vigorously to bring a little life back to his frozen fingers.
"Hey Sora-chan? Over." the two-way radio inquired gravelly.
"It's Purple Monkey! Over."
"Right, hey Purple Monkey-chan? Over."
"Yes Rubber Ducky Over?"
"When this is done, can we get ice cream? Over."
"What? It's like ten degrees out." He stared at the little glittering princess crown hot-glued to the top of the pink plastic casing in silence for a moment, waiting for it to respond. "Oh, over."
"I know and it's making me crave ice cream! Over. Oh wait, not over. Or slushies. Ooo or snow cones! Over!"
Sorata thought for a moment. "We could make our own snow cones if we can find the syrup when we get home. Over." His stomach growled.
"Yay! Over." The muffled sound of snow being shaken from the tree branch Yuzuriha was sitting on hissed through the radio and he could just imagine her bouncing on it in glee. He hoped it didn't snap.
They both fell silent again for a while and the minutes ticked by.
"Rubber Ducky-chan? Over."
"Yes Purple Monkey-chan? Over."
"You should probably go on ahead to school. It looks like I may be here a while and I don't want you to be late. Over."
"No way. First period is history." Yuzuriha made a gagging sound. "I don't care if I'm late. Besides, I wanna be here for moral support! Over."
"Yeah but-"
"Alert! Alert! Target acquired! Target is leaving the building, I repeat, target is leaving the building! Now target is- Oh no! She's spotted me! Damn these shades- why couldn't they come in camo too? Fear mission has been compromised! Oh no, target is turning and-"
Arashi thrust aside the branches half-concealing the squatting Sorata in a snapping shower of twigs. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He stared up at her for a second then screamed into the radio. "Run Rubber Ducky! Get out while you still can!"
Yuzuriha leapt down from the tree and bolted, her rain boots making loud crunching sounds as they sank into the fresh powder across the yard.
Arashi ignored her, busy glaring at Sorata, who was still awkwardly crouched in the slush and bushes.
He blushed then ahemed and stood up, brushing himself off with as much dignity as he could possibly fake while still standing a sea of dead branches covered in melted patches of snow. "For you- my lady!", he announced, holding out an enormous, more or less heart-shaped piece of chocolate. "As a token of my undying love!" A small piece of it crumbled, having been crushed in his arms earlier.
Arashi's eyes and mouth all narrowed into small perfectly horizontal slits. She turned on her heals and walked away without another word.
"Nooo!" Sorata leapt over the bushes and scrambled to catch up to her brisk pace, still clutching the chocolate heart. "You must take it! In acknowledgement of my love for you! Please miss!"
Arashi continued staring straight ahead, ignoring his pleas all the way to school.
By the time they had arrived on campus, Sorata had promised her his eternal love, all the stars, the moon, the sun, the clouds, the rainbows, his favorite stuffed animal, and four thousand yen, all to no avail. He was momentarily distracted however when he spotted a friend out of the corner of his eye.
"Ah! Saiki! Hey there kiddo- hoping for some v-day chocolates?" he grinned at the younger boy. "Perhaps from a certain lovely priestess?"
Saiki blushed so hard Sorata thought he'd melt all the snow on the school grounds. "I- um- that is…" he stuttered.
Sorata laid a hand heavily on his shoulder, still cradling the chocolate heart with his other arm, and gave Saiki a serious look. "Don't worry my son. Patience. In time, she will come to love you."
Saiki blinked and shrank back slightly. "Um… thanks…"
"Hey no problem I- ah! Miss! Don't walk away! You still haven't taken the chocolates!" Sorata bounded away in pursuit of his disinterested love interest.
Saiki watched him, baffled by Sorata's endless energy.
"Ah! Saiki! Good morning!"
He turned to the voice's sunshiney smile in time to see its owner reach into the sack she was carrying and hold out a small plastic bag tied with a satin ribbon. "Happy Valentine's Day!"
"Thanks Kotori. How are you this morning?"
She beamed happily. "Really good! I had a good dream last night!"
"Eh? What happened?" Saiki tried to shorten his stride so as not to get too far ahead of her.
"I dreamed that someone named Kamui was coming!" she grinned up at him.
"Eh? Who's that?"
"I have no idea." She gave him another brilliant smile.
He raised an eyebrow and tried not to say something insulting. "But… then why were you happy about it?"
She halted in her tracks and held a hand up to her mouth, her eyes wide. "Oh! I don't know why."
Saiki sighed. "Kotori-chan, don't get too ahead of yourself eh?"
"I won't!" She resumed walking to class with him, looking down at the bag of chocolates in her hands with a gentle, distant smile. "But… for some reason it made me really happy. To know that he was coming."
.
.
This morning was just like any other.
He had been working as a secretary for her for over a year now and she still managed to take his breath away every time she walked in the room. Granted often this was as she snuck in and hugged him from behind, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. But even if she didn't, he was sure Hokuto would still leave him feeling just as light-headed.
Today was no different. Hokuto's chokehold glomp greeted him as she bounded into the room, today clad in a plastic-looking minidress that appeared to be changing colors with the lighting. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the dress itself was in fact changing colors, tiny LED lights embedded in the seams glowing brightly, only outshone by their mistress' presence.
She immediately hopped onto the edge of her desk, crossed her legs, bouncing one, neon stiletto healed-foot energetically in time with the music of her iPod. She nodded her head to the beat, dark chocolate wisps of hair dancing wildly across her cheeks to the upbeat song. As soon as it ended, she pulled the headphones out, tossed the iPod carelessly behind her, settled her elbows on her knees and her chin upon her clear plastic fingerless gloves, drumming bubblegum pink nails against matching curled lips.
"So what's on the list for today maestro?"
"You have a meeting at eleven and a press conference at three about the new line of children's clothing. Oh and I think Ms Kasu- I mean Mrs. Aoki wanted to see you about a new idea; she left some sketches for you-"
She flipped through the folder he handed her, with an occasional "oo" and "ah". She paused at one thoughtfully and suddenly a devilish gleam entered her eyes.
"I dunno, what do you think of this one? Would YOU be turned on by it?" She held up a picture of a particularly lacy piece of lingerie and he blushed right to the tips of his ivory blonde hair. Noticing his embarrassment, she giggled and returned the sketch to the folder. "I'll take that as a yes!" She concluded with satisfaction, stuffing the picture back into the folder and hopping off the desk.
"Well then, if I don't have anything in particular to do until eleven, I am off to see Karen about her magnificent work here! Now then, what did I do with my iPod…"
"Behind the desk." He mumbled, his cheeks still burning.
"Ohohoho, so it is! Thanks!" She leaned forward and air kissed his cheek before bounding out of the room as if gravity itself only partly applied to her.
This morning was just like any other. And Kakyou loved it.
.
.
"Goood morning Karen-san!" Hokuto burst into the office just as Karen was settling in at her desk.
"Good morning Hokuto-chan." She replied with a smile. "Shall I get pour you some coffee as well?"
"That would be lovely thanks!" She hopped over to the corner of the office where a fair-haired little girl was playing with an old teddy bear in a playpen. "And good morning to you too Kazuki!" she added, kissing the child on the forehead.
"Good morning Aunt Hokuto!" she answered brightly. "What about Paul?" she held up the well-worn teddy bear, whose blue ribbon was fraying away.
Hokuto kissed the top of the teddy bear's threadbare head as well. "Good morning to him too of course."
"I don't know why she still plays with that thing. You would think she would like shiny new toys better than my tattered old bear." Karen remarked, returning with the coffee.
"I'm surprised Nataku let her have it. I remember he was so attached to it." Hokuto took the coffee and settled on the edge of the desk, careful not to sit on any of the sketches scattered across it.
"He was, but I suppose he has a bit of a sister complex. It seems he can't say no to Kazuki." Karen chuckled.
"I got your sketches!" Hokuto announced, holding up the folder triumphantly. "They're fantastic as usual!
"Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products- hoping to try out a few on Seiichiro myself." She winked.
"You would think after all those years you worked as an underwear model he would be immune to this sort of thing." Hokuto laughed.
"Nah, he's still a man after all. I mean it took him months to even ask me out on our first date, he was so embarrassed every time he came to one of our shows."
"Ohohoho, really? I wish I had been around for that! It would have been so much fun to tease him!"
"You would have still been in high school then though."
"Even better! I could have dragged Subaru along too and watched him squirm at the sight of lingerie models on the catwalk as well!"
Karen laughed at the image. "Your poor brother. Ah well, everything worked out in the end."
"Yep yep! Now then, shall we go over the drawings and decide on materials to use and whatnot?"
"Certainly."
.
.
The acrid scent of hot metal was suffocating and the sizzle as rain cooled it too quickly hissed behind the intermittent sound of falling debris. Footsteps crunched across the broken concrete and he clutched at the cloak around his shoulders to prevent the wind from ripping it away as it tugged insistently on the shredded and burned tatters at the edge of it. The rough cloth of the hood scraped against his cheek but he ignored it, watching the two boys fight it out, one more half-heartedly than the other. When at last the taller boy had the other pinned to the ground, a sword carefully aimed just above his heart, he stepped forward, pulled the hood back, and spoke, tasting acid in the raindrops that hit his lips.
I wish…
Subaru jerked awake, tangled in sweat-soaked sheets, panting heavily. He lay on his back, trembling and trying to make his vision focus enough to ascertain his whereabouts but a flood of memories was cascading through his mind, leaving him drenched in confusion.
Subaru Sumeragi.
25 years old.
Veterina-
-mouji
Two dragons twisted around his torso, squeezing the last of his breath away.
CLAMP School grad-
Dragon of hea-
-rth
"No, stop!" He pressed his palms to his eyes and recalled memories of breathing techniques to remain calm.
After several moments of this, he gingerly pulled his hands away and stared at a clear, ordinary ceiling. He hesitantly sat up, ignoring a momentary vertigo at the motion and unwound the sheets still clinging damply to his limbs before wandering out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where the scent of pancakes met him cheerfully. The person standing at the stove making them glanced over his shoulder and smiled.
"Ah, good morning Subaru-kun!"
All the blood drained from Subaru's face and suddenly the room spun again. The smell of pancakes twisted and became the metallic-sweet scent of blood and cherry blossoms. His hand felt sticky and warm as something thick and red splashed carelessly across his vision. Something heavy fell into his arms and warm breath tickled his ear as final words were whispered into it.
"Subaru-kun? Subaru, what's wrong?" The man stepped away from the stove and took a step toward him.
Subaru half-stepped, half-fell forward, burying his face in his shoulder. He began sobbing uncontrollably, twisting his fingers in the other man's shirt and clutching at his back, afraid to let go.
"Seishirou-san…"
.
.
Kamui stirred and pulled himself into a sitting position, feeling a throbbing at the back of his head that meant he must have hit it somehow. He rubbed the back of it and realized as he did so that it wasn't just his head after all. His whole body ached and he could feel bruises, some old and some new blossoming over most of his skin. He shivered then looked down, staring uncomprehending at the white powder dusted over his dirty, torn and blood-stained uniform.
Snow. It finally dawned on him.
A sword, flashing silver against black fabric, a grey and ominous sky gathering behind it whipped across Kamui's vision and he flinched and gasped, covering his eyes with one hand.
"Weirdo…" he heard someone mutter and jerked his head up to see people walking past the end of the alleyway he seemed to be sitting in. He clutched at a brick wall, feeling it scrape raw and blistered fingers, some still bandaged from various cuts, and dragged himself to his feet.
I wish…
His mouth felt gritty and he coughed, feeling bruised ribs protest at the abrupt motion. At the end of the alleyway he stared out into the street, which he thought he recognized but something seemed… off.
The deep, bone-shaking groan of heavy steel beams collapsing and slamming their full weight into one another and concrete rolled over him, causing another shudder. He looked up. The buildings were all intact. The street was in one piece, no long gaping crevice stretching over it, swallowing people and cars as it ripped through the city. Kamui could hear the echoes of screams but not the originals. No one was screaming. No one was crying. No one was running.
No one was dying.
He had no idea where he was.
...
Oho, so I know this probably seems a bit confusing at the moment but give it time and it will all begin to make sense! ^_^