Subaru lay awake sitting on his bed. Surprisingly enough, he was not catatonic yet. Just last week, he had met with Seishirou-san at Rainbow Bridge, and had killed him. Then yesterday, Fuma had offered him Seishirou's eye, and he had accepted. Now, he stayed in bed, just thinking. Getting up and putting on his clothes, Subaru headed outside, to face the bright lights of day. Walking down the street, he heard a noise rumbling behind a bush; following it, he found a small pond. Sitting beside it, he stared into it for a while, feeling strangely at peace, when the image of a beautiful woman with long black hair appeared. "You have a wish?" the woman asked.
Subaru blinked a few times in shock, but then recovered. His family told stories of the space-time witch. "Not really; at least none you could grant me." The space-time witch grinned. "You wish to see him again, yes?" Subaru said nothing; only glanced downwards. "I can grant you that wish." Subaru looked up. "You can?" The witch smiled wickedly. "Not the way you think, but yes, I can." Subaru thought about it. He figured he had nothing to lose. If he was crazy, then nothing would happen; if he wasn't…he would see Seishirou again. The temptation was overwhelming. "Alright, I want to see Seishirou again. What is the price…?" Subaru struggled for a word to call her. The witch smiled."Yuko. The name's Yuko. And your price is the powers you inherited from Sakurazukamori. Do you still wish for this?" Subaru took a few moments to consider, than consented. "Yes Yuko, I would like it very much."
Subaru awoke in his room, what seemed to be the next morning. Getting up, he sighed heavily and went to go look through his closet for new clothes. 'I should have known' he thought, a little dismayed. He knew it was impossible, but he wanted to see Seishirou so badly. He was thinking about Seishirou so intently he barely noticed that none of the clothes looked like his. Pulling out a few pairs, his brow crinkled as he noticed a lot of the clothes were high school uniforms and baggy jeans. Gasping, he turned out of the room and began to look around the kitchen and living room. All of the rooms were furnished and none of them belonged to him. 'What the…' he thought, just as the door opened.
"Who are you?" a teenage boy asked him from the front door. Subaru blanched. "In my apartment, at least I thought…" The boy raised a brow but didn't contend further. Actually, he looked quite amused."So, let me get this straight. You came into my apartment on accident?" Subaru stared at the boy. He looked to be around 17 or 18, and yet he was so familiar. He was wearing a high school uniform and a hat, blocking Subaru from getting a good look at any of his features. Subaru was so intent on trying to make out the boy's look; he barely noticed the crooked grin that the younger man now sported.
"So, you're lost. Any idea of where you're supposed to be?" Subaru just looked around. Not wanting to believe he wasn't at his apartment. The apartment was built the same, even the
carpet was the same color. Never being in this situation before, Subaru used his new first line of defense, attitude. "Actually, I'm supposed to be looking for a friend, and since it seems their not here at the moment, it seems I should go look for them, so… I'll be on my way." Gathering himself, he prepared to leave when the boy held out his hand. "Hold on, I'll go with you." Subaru was prepared to argue when the boy disappeared into the bathroom, so he just waited by the door for him. He had to admit, it was less awkward than he had expected it to be, him being a stranger in this boy's apartment. "So, where are your parents?" he called out to the boy. Subaru cupped his mouth; he had not meant to say that out loud. "I live by myself," came the slightly muffled response. Subaru's heart clenched in sympathy for the boy, he hadn't known his parents either. After several minutes, the boy re-emerged.
They stared at each other for a few minutes. "What?" the boy asked inquiringly. Subaru couldn't speak. The boy still had his uniform on, it was clean and crisp, and his hair waved slightly over his eyes, which were a beautiful honey-gold color. Slight sounds escaped his mouth as he continued to stare. Seishirou… he thought wordlessly, suddenly his body felt too heavy for his feet, and he fell to the ground. "Hey…are you alright?" the younger man called to him. Subaru allowed the boy to lift him up. "Yes…everything is fine." Subaru felt a blush rise over his cheeks for the first time since he first met Seishirou, and the workings of an emotion he long wanted to forget started to emerge. "I'm going to be on my way now." Not even giving the boy a chance to argue, Subaru raced out of the door, walking blindly to no specific destination. Finally, he found a nice tea shop in which to sit. The waitress came up and asked him what he wanted. "Just black tea please." He asked her. He looked hesitantly out of the window. It was nearing evening and he had at least some time to think things through. "That will be two dollars, sir" the waitress told him. Reaching into his back pocket, Subaru pulled out two crinkled bills. The lady accepted it, and then looked at it in confusion. "Uh…Sir. This isn't our form of currency."
Subaru barely had a chance to get a word out before Seishirou walked in. "Sorry. My friend is from out of town, he forgot. Here" he said, handing the waitress a five dollar bill. "This should cover it, and could you get me whatever he has?" The waitress blushed, nodded, and then turned to go get their tea. "You really aren't from here are you?" Seishirou asked quietly; Subaru looked down and nodded. "No." Seishirou gave an odd smile. "Before I get deeper into matters, what's you name stranger?" Subaru felt a blush rise to his cheeks from embarrasment. As much as this young man looked and talked and acted like his Seishirou; he wasn't. "Mira…my name is Mira." Seishirou smiled. "Mira-kun, welcome to my universe."