Subaru stared at his hands.
They were perfectly white, perfectly clean. He knew no matter how hard he looked, he would never find any blood.
But he knew it was there. It was enough.
Looking up, he stared into the mirror. He saw his image, blurred to perfection. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the mirror, before sweeping it across, wiping off the fogged surface to reveal the flaws.
The bags under his eyes. The scars under his face. The dull look in his eyes. And now, the deep purple bruise across his cheek, where the other Kamui had struck him.
He touched it, flinching, and felt an odd shock he could still feel pain. His body seemed to have gone numb.
How easily his last bit of hope had been crushed.
He felt defiled. He WAS defiled.
"What does it matter...it's just more blood..."
He shuddered softly at the memories, the voice in his head, closing his eyes.
Everything was over. At least things would end soon.
He looked over as the other entered, towering over him, before leaning down to gently caress his cheek, finger trailing over the mark he'd left there. His hand slid around behind Subaru's neck, lifting him easily against him and pressing his lips to the discolored skin, gently at first, then painfully harsh. Subaru tensed, before going limped again, compliant. He didn't care anymore.
"The last Sakurazukamori really was the perfect assassin..." Subaru tensed, feeling the warm breath on his face. He knew the other Kamui wanted a response, a reaction of some sort. He turned his head, simply looking at him. The other man's eyes flashed with amusement. "To kill something so absolutely, without destroying the beauty of it...it's amazing."
The beauty...to kill the beauty...
Subaru felt something rise in him, something warm. He felt like he was watching a movie then, suddenly, aware of what was happening, feeling it but not really controlling it. The numbness consumed him completely as he watched his arm pull up, watched his hand stiffen, the fingers pressing together rigidly. He saw the look in the other's Kamui face, the split second realization that he'd become to cocky, let his guard down.
Then the intimacy of the kill. The warmth of the flesh around him, the scrape of the ribs and the softness of the delicate heart tissue. And even deeper, the magic, twisting around his soul, pulling it to the cherry tree, tangling it in her roots.
And for a moment, Subaru saw Fuuma, the Fuuma that Kamui was fighting for. He stared at Subaru, his eyes grateful, before he slid forward, his body falling against Subaru. Subaru held him for a moment, before laying him down and walking out of the room.
As he walked into the sunlight, realization hit him, of what had just happened. He stood there, watching the people bustling by. A little boy began to cry as his brother pulled him along, a group of teen girls scurried past, a girl held on to her boyfriend arm tightly.
Watching them, Subaru felt everything melt away.
He threw back his head an laughed.