A/N: Apparently Lady Sumeragi doesn't get a character slot. Oh well…This is set in that little appearance with her in the first episode of X-1999, so she's technically the "main" and Subaru is the "supporting". But ffn doesn't like that. Bit of a pointless snippit, but it touches on their relationship, so I figured it was worth writing during mini-breaks. Enjoy.
Call
He continued talking in a monotone, tiredness being the only thing to betray humanity. If it hadn't been for the perpetual exhausting lacing the tone, she could have easily assumed a voice-changer was in employ; she wouldn't have put it past him if it was required as a part of his job. Not to protect his own identity – sadly, he put little care towards his own wellbeing – but simply because it was required from his work.
That was not the case here though, nor to her knowledge had that ever been the case. It wasn't a new situation either; eight years saw her receiving the same sorts of calls. Even when she saw him in person once a year (sometimes he visited outside his sister's ceremony but rarely did he return to Kyoto), it was the same monotone with which he greeted her and by which he departed. The voice of one who's heart had departed from the spirit of life, leaving a traveller trudging through wearing mud and soil in the dim light of the dusk until they stumbled upon their destination and collapsed upon its doorstep.
She cradled the phone to her ear, hearing her grandson's voice wind down in conclusion. Her bones creaked soundlessly and the metal of her chair felt cold in the autumn air. Sounds of traffic overlayed the slight crackling from the pay-phone. Over all, the word seemed tired and worn, a door swinging on its last, unoiled hinges – making the best of things until someone got close enough to oil them smooth.
She simply was not that person for her grandson; she had taken him away from Hokuto to train him. She had done her duty as the twelfth leader to impart wisdom upon her successor, but in the process familial relationships had been reduced to professional cordiality. Not even the technique created and fostered by the Sumeragi clan would allow her to touch her grandson's heart so closely. She simply was not that person.
She sincerely hoped that person came soon. Even if the end result would no doubt make her sad. She was old; her sadness would not last a lifetime, draining blood and marrow from a beating heart. And so, she wearily awaited the day where destiny would be set in stone or reversed: the day where she would, after eight long years, finally receive her grandson's call.
