Chapter 1

Everyone tensed when Subaru stepped into the dining room, his hair mussed about his face, still dressed in yesterday's clothes. Well, not everyone. Yuzuriha twittered on about her friends at school before she noticed the silence, turned and meeped at the sight of the vampire.

Subaru smiled at his hosts. "Ohayou gozai masu," he bowed slightly, "I'm sorry for…" he gestured at the room above, at a loss for words.

"You mean you're sorry for keeling over because you were tired? Please," Sorata played along, pushing the green-eyed boy to a seat. Subaru plopped down gratefully. "I cook breakfast today," the monk paused before walking to the kitchen, "Can you…?"

"I can," Subaru supplied helpfully, aware of the awkwardness concerning his nature. After witnessing the debacle with his twin the previous day, Subaru didn't believe that his hosts hadn't concluded that he was a vampire. "It's not my diet, but I can. Like humans with junk food. It won't nourish me, just fill my stomach."

"Then you must try my sandwiches!" Sorata remarked jovially and retrieved a plate for his guest in record time. "It has tomatoes, cucumber, grilled fish with garlic-" he stopped midway, eyes darting around at the sunrays streaming into the room through the gaps between the window frames and curtains. "Shit, the sun-"

Subaru raised the bread to his mouth and bit it, making a show of chewing his food before swallowing visibly. "It's delicious," he smiled at Sorata, "Don't worry. Holy water, sun, garlic – they're all myths." The sunny expression drooped. "About the room…I'm afraid it has to stay like that for a week, at the very least. Knowing Kamui, he may wake sooner."

The onmyouji, who had been reading the papers, put it down on the wooden table and stared at his counterpart, still baffled by their similarities. "Subaru-san, I presume?"

The vampire nodded. "Is there any other way I can address you? I have no surname."

"Mine is Sumeragi," the Seal offered a hand, "Nice to meet you, Subaru-san."

If any of the Dragons of Heaven found the tête-à-tête bizarre, s/he didn't raise any voice.

"The pleasure is mine, Sumeragi-san," Subaru the vampire's hand felt like it belonged to just another human he passed by on the streets everyday, warm and soft, a texture he was familiar with, the human realised, that of a skin sheltered by years of donning gloves.

A millennium of questions threatened to burst from his lips. Why did you wear gloves? Were you marked by Seishirou too? Had you even met Seishirou? Were you and Kamui lovers? How could you forget Seishirou, then? Instead, the one voiced was frivolous, compared to the rest. Wasn't even worthy to be spoken. "You met Yuuko-san, I presume?" As if there was any other way.

Actually, there was. Merely unthinkable.

Subaru nodded again. "Kamui and I did. That was a long time ago."

Silence ensued. Subaru wasn't a master of absentminded conversations – that was more of Sorata's department. Hokuto's too.

It was Kamui the Seal who shattered the tranquility. "H-how are you related t-to K-ka-" he stammered, roses blossoming on his cheeks.

Subaru the vampire took pity on his brother's counterpart. "Kamui is my twin," he answered. At astonished looks, he added, "we're often very intimate."

Kamui and Subaru the Dragon of Heavens were surprised. "Twin?" the onmyouji leaned forward, interested. He couldn't envisage Kamui as his twin. A younger brother, conceivably. Kamui echoed the question in Subaru's mind and blushed again when two pairs of emerald irises glanced at him.

Subaru placed his unfinished sandwich on the plate. "We used to be a triplet." He turned and stared into the windows of his doppelganger's soul. "Hokuto died."

Suddenly, the Sumeragi didn't want to talk about this now. Not with others listening.


Subaru the vampire thanked Kamui the Seal for lending him his clothes. It really helped him, because his twin's copy was the only person with the same size. He smiled when the violet-eyed boy stuttered, "Y-you're w-welcome," before dashing to school.

"He's so shy," Subaru shook his head as his double approached the sofa he was seated on, "My twin is never that timid. He's always irate, astringent, or overprotective."

"Sorata will say he needs to get laid. Except perhaps, he has?" Subaru the onmyouji lowered himself onto the furniture and sat at the other end, regarding his younger self with a raised eyebrow.

"Kamui is very attached to me," Subaru didn't say that he meant 'too attached.' "It has been the two of us for decades."

The human hummed, twirling a cylinder of paper and tobacco between his fingers before slipping it to his lips and igniting the other end. "Cigarette?" he offered the vampire.

The older male declined. "I try not to be addicted to a substance that is not available in every dimension." The use of words implied that he had.

The two stayed in a companionable silence for a moment, before Subaru the pureblood turned to his copy. He started hesitantly. "I saw Seishirou-san."

Subaru complimented himself for not reacting to the name. At least, not visibly.

"I am acquainted with Seishirou-san too, from the place I was from," the vampire folded his legs and leaned on his knees. "Seishirou-san is a hunter."

Subaru released a puff of smoke. "Sakurazuka Seishirou is an assassin."

"I can tell," he replied, raking his hand through his hair, contemplative, "They're different. Sakurazuka-san's older." More lethal, he wanted to state, more impassive. But he didn't.

"Do you see…" the onmyouji gave a vague gesture, "often?"

The boyish Subaru shook his head. "Individuals with large spiritual powers do not have many copies. Otherwise, it will prove disastrous to the precarious balance between worlds. Yuuko-san is unique due to her occupation. I have only seen two Clow Reeds." His hair fell to his eyes and he tossed his head to dislodge the stubborn lock. "Sometimes, the copies possess no powers. I have seen…Subaru and Seishirou in a world without magic."

The Dragon of Heaven wanted to picture that. "Were they happy?"

There was no answer.

The human nearly laughed. Of course, it would never be that easy between them.

"This is the first time I get to speak to a counterpart of mine," he let the dialogue be steered. Those eyes were on him again, large but not youthful. "Would you mind a catharsis?"

"No," Subaru neglected to mention his appointments. He was dutiful, but it wasn't everyday he saw a version of himself.

"In Babylon…that is the world I was from," Subaru began, "Humans and supernatural…creatures have coexisted since the universe was born. There were lines, carefully drawn. Territories…mostly we ignored one another. Of course, there are those whose occupation was to hunt the 'beasts'."

The hunters, the onmyouji thought inwardly. Seishirou-san.

"My clan was one of the Noblest amongst pureblooded vampires," Subaru paused as his counterpart mused, 'More similarities.'

"What needs to be noted is…vampires pride themselves for being inhumane," the vampire shuddered, "Our society was one where power ruled supreme. My grandfather used to tell me…we're lions in human form."

"Father was powerful. He had my magical prowess, Kamui's brute strength and agility and Hokuto's wit and charm. The three of us were his heirs, the only purebloods in the clan. He had been training me to be less compassionate… Father was kind…he was just extremely strict…and when I reached my sixtieth…" The Sumeragi realised the vampire was trembling, teeth clacking against one another, and he reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder, snapping him off the past. The latter blinked at the Seal profusely before handing him a grateful smile.

"Father lost his patience," Subaru took deep breaths. "He locked me in a dungeon…forced me to murder…It-" he choked.

"You don't have to describe in such details," the onmyouji offered, "It's your story. Tell me whatever you wish to."

Subaru's smile widened before he started over. "Hokuto, Kamui and Yue Lan managed to sneak me out." At Sumeragi's puzzled stare, he explained, "Yue Lan is…a friend, to cut a long story short." (A/N: Yue Lan is an OC. Why is she mentioned here? I have several SeixSub stories involving her, but I'm not sure whether I should post them or not)

"So I fled…ran away from home with no aim. Wandered from town to town till Father calmed down, that was what Hokuto suggested. Years passed…I collapsed on a street one day, without money and reluctant to feed from strangers…it would have left obvious trails…and I was too much of a coward…anyways…" His hands fiddled with the hems of his sleeves, "Seishirou-san saved me."

"Little was known about vampires. We were a tight bunch who kept to one another, so he had no clue that I am one when he offered me a shelter."

"I didn't tell him anything, not even my name, especially since he let it slip that he was a hunter…and his mother, Setsuka-san, wanted him to capture a vampire so she could have eternal youth…again another misconception."

Subaru the Seal could envision a thousand and one ways how things had gone wrong, how a tragedy had been born. Had Setsuka-san discovered you were one and demanded your death so you ran? Had your Father located you and murdered Setsuka-san?

"It was the happiest year in my life." Subaru the vampire's eyes glazed over. "I knew I should have left as soon as I regained my health…but Seishirou-san was so gentle…so wonderful. I-I…" he didn't realise he was crying until the human wiped his tears away with a handkerchief. Subaru found the strength to continue. "I fell in love with him."

Then what? Did he reveal that it was a fabrication? A lie? That the person you loved didn't exist?

"T-then," Subaru wasn't about to follow his double's scenario, "Fei Wong Reed's army attacked numerous human civilizations."

The onmyouji was taken off guard. "Who?" he interrupted the narration.

"Fei Wong Reed…a relative of Clow Reed," Subaru the vampire apologised for the lack of background information. "Nearly as powerful too. He…has a Wish. A Wish Yuuko refused to grant. So he set out to fulfil it on his own…wrecking worlds in the process."

The human nodded in comprehension.

"Anyway…after that, men were in frenzy. They blamed the 'beasts', and annihilated them. Father perished," he mourned for a few seconds, before persisting, "Hokuto, Kamui and Yue Lan managed to save themselves and embarked on a journey to find me. Yue Lan…she…has a bond with me, one that enables her to trace me. They didn't take long."

The Sumeragi could sense that he was reaching the climax.

"The night they reached the town Seishirou-san and I resided…Fei Wong's army was assaulting the citizens. There were countless corpses, so much blood, I-" both of them could envisage the butchery, had witnessed it repeatedly. "Setsuka-san was murdered."

Crystalline tears gushed out of glassy gem eyes like blood would from a severe injury. Subaru was hurting, and he was allowed a release. Subaru the Seal comforted his alter ego, wrapping his arm around him gingerly. The latter didn't clutch at him like a lifeline, but the man felt the lips pressed against his neck curling to a smile, and that was sufficient.

"Hokuto was with Setsuka-san when the woman died," the vampire spoke again, "The reasons…I wasn't privy to. May be Setsuka-san thought Hokuto was me. May be Hokuto wanted to help Setsuka-san. May be…it was inevitable." He wasn't about to state, 'a coincidence' because there never was.

"What I was told…Seishirou-san saw Setsuka-san dying in Hokuto's arms and thought Hokuto was his mother's slaughterer."

Oh. OH.

"He screamed, an anguished, animalistic sound that drew me even when I was halfway across the town, searching for him frantically. By the time I arrived…Hokuto was already slumped across him, his hand piercing her, her heart still in his bloodied fingers."

Blood spreading on unsullied shikifuku, a man's hand sticking out of her back. Seishirou-san, smiling coldly.

Subaru fought the memory with all his might.

"I screamed, too. When he turned to me, he appeared shocked. Seishirou-san…must have thought Hokuto was I, thought I betrayed him. If he didn't, he must have thought I betrayed him when I bared my claws at him, my eyes flashing gold. I was so…so angry. It was the first time I ever was…" The vampire trembled again, hands hugging himself. "I fell in love with him, that year. But Hokuto had been with me longer, was as important. For a while, we shouted at each other, hurting with words…until he spoke, 'You lied to me.'…My heart stopped."

It was almost Subaru and Seishirou were reversed. In Babylon, it had been Subaru who withheld truths, who wasn't the person Seishirou thought he was. It had been Subaru who was older, who deceived and betrayed the hunter. (A/N: Karma for Seishirou!)

"One of Fei Wong's army was behind Seishirou-san before any of us could react, stabbing him with a sword. He fell…and I screamed again. Rampaged for the first time in my life, eliminating any soldier in sight. Kamui nearly restrained me…but Yue Lan…she promised to distract Kamui."

What? The Sumeragi couldn't connect the dots. Distract Kamui? Why?

"Seishirou-san was still breathing…but he was in a critical condition. I…I fed him my blood." He broke down. "I-I didn't want him to die…"

"Is Seishirou…?" the onmyouji couldn't grasp the notion.

The vampire shook his head. "I didn't give him enough. I don't want him to be. Seishirou-san has been caught somewhere in between humanity and vampirism. He aged slower…yet he didn't have to consume blood…and he couldn't tap on vampire magic." He sighed, "I don't think he could live with himself if he transformed to a species he hunted."

Another reversal. It was Subaru who left a mark on Seishirou, a reminder that he'd been in the latter's life.

"Kamui was royally pissed. He was convinced that Seishirou-san would kill me. He dragged me to the Dimensional Witch and Wished for the means to cross dimensions." That should be the end of his tale. But it wasn't, the Sumeragi could tell.

"You didn't Wish to flee him," Subaru the onmyouji voiced his observation, and his counterpart didn't refute. "Even though Seishirou-san will put you to death on sight?"

"Even then," the vampire confirmed. "I went along with Kamui, initially, because I hoped Seishirou-san would give up…and move on, live contentedly. When it was clear he won't…after decades…dimensions blurring to one…I changed my mind." He opened his hands and stared at his palms. "For so long…I feel empty. I feel life wasn't worth living. I wanted to be captured. I wanted to quit."

"But you can't." Subaru could understand his double's mind as his own. They were one, in essence, sharing the same soul. "Kamui."

"Kamui." The name was reiterated softly, agony, abhorrence and affection warring in the paradox of his voice. "Kamui needs me. He…fell in love with me, way, way before I fell in love with Seishirou-san. I can't leave him. He has no one left but me." Subaru had no one left but Kamui, either. Burying his face against the fabric of his pants, he was muffled. "I love him."

Subaru's cigarette was burnt out. He snubbed it on the ashtray and lit another, the tang of nicotine bittersweet on his taste buds. "Not the way he does," the Dragon of Heaven remarked.

So that was the difference. Subaru the vampire hadn't been shattered and blown adrift by Hokuto's death because he had an anchor.

Kamui.

His Kamui hadn't reached him too late, had wormed under Subaru's skin before he encountered Seishirou.

"I can't leave him," Subaru reiterated, a desperate attempt to convince himself rather than a rebuttal to his double's implicit proposition, "not before I ensure that he can be happy without me." He hoped the moment would arrive sooner than latter. Subaru had bared his claws at the hunter in Acid Tokyo, then, but he was aware that Kamui hadn't been freed. No, Kamui's heart had been captured by Seishirou-san's younger brother.

The stillness that had been the narration's curtain call was oppressive. Subaru didn't offer to share his tragedy. The vampire didn't inquire, either. When the onmyouji disentangled himself from the sympathetic embrace, there was no protests.

"Thank you," the man stated after he rose to his feet.

"No, thank you," Subaru the vampire shook his head, large eyes staring at his double, the wisdom swirling in the emerald pools belaying his age, "for listening without passing any judgment."

Sumeragi nodded and walked away.

(A/N: If the story sounds familiar…it's inspired from J.J. Blue's As Long as the Rain Keeps Falling)


Sorata sung as he cooked.

"So if I capsize on your thighs' high tide, B5, you've sunk my battleship, please turn me on, I'm Mr Coffee with an automatic drip—" (A/N: From Insaneidiot's All that Glitters – boyband!X, must check it out if you haven't!)

Arashi blushed, splotches of crimson blossoming on her face, while Yuzuriha choked. "P-please!" She hid her face with the plates she was setting, "There are underage people here!" the girl peeked at Subaru the vampire, who was arranging the cutleries.

The male mentioned stared back at the cheerful lady. "I'm sorry, you have not my sympathy," he smiled, not at all disturbed by the innuendoes, "I'm 118 years old."

Three pairs of eyes widened. "For real?" Sorata replied as he brought the pan to the dining hall, pouring sizzling stir-fries to a large bowl.

Subaru seemed thoughtful, tapping his chin with his fingers. "Well…I'm not sure…time flows differently across dimensions. But I definitely passed my 110th year benchmark."

Arashi hesitated. "Is it true, then? That vampires are-"

The boyish male interrupted, "No, vampires aren't immortal. We just age slower."

"Way slower then," Sorata commented, returning to the kitchen to retrieve the soup.

"Individuals with remarkable spiritual powers also have long lifespan," Arashi conceded, "Like the 12th Head of Sumeragi Clan," she turned to the monk for confirmation.

Sorata didn't want to be reminded of the incidence and smacked his face with his hand. Yuzuriha tilted her head. "Like one human year are seven for dogs?"

"Dogs?" Subaru appeared honestly perplexed.

The ball of energy in human form pointed at Inuki, who was slumped at her feet, tail wagging sluggishly. "Inuki is a spiritual dog," Yuzuriha blinked.

"So it's called a dog in this world," Subaru bent down and petted Inuki on the head, "Animals vary in various worlds. In some it is impossible to domesticate one." (A/N: I assume 'Babylon' has werewolves, not mere dogs)

Sorata opened his mouth, but his retort was lost in the earthquake, the ground beneath quaking abruptly.

Not bothering to shield themselves from objects who submitted to the attraction of gravity, the Seals rushed out instead, bringing their guest with them. "The building will not crumble," Sorata assured Subaru when the latter glanced at the room occupied by his twin concernedly.

"A kekkai is destroyed," Arashi observed, craning to search for the location.

Before the Dragons of Heaven were delivered a vision the instant Subaru Sumeragi erected a kekkai around Sunshine 60, Subaru the vampire had already shot through the air, riding the wind under his feet, Kamui's name under his breath. The violet-eyed sacrifice might not be his brother, but the connection between their souls alerted him whenever Kamui was in danger.


Belonging to a species superior to humanity, Subaru arrived at the pandemonium earlier than the Seals, unobstructed by the kekkai since he possessed the ability to cross worlds and a kekkai was but an alternate dimension. The sight of Kamui, straining against scraps of metals, bleeding from gashes all over his frail, slim form, wasn't a mere déjà vu. "The hunter's double," Subaru murmured under his breath, migraine pounding in his skull.

"Subaru!" Kamui shouted frantically as Subaru attempted, futilely, to release him, risking a brawl against another familiar figure with three leaf-like symbols on his forehead…Nataku was the name, if Subaru wasn't mistaken. The pureblood turned, a reflexive gesture, to realise that the human had been referring to his doppelganger. "Save Subaru!" Kamui cried, his eyes rooted to a place a distance away.

Subaru followed his line of sight to discover the devil cornering a bloodied figure, slumped face down on the floor, and abusing him as though it was a rag doll.

The Dimension traveler mulled over the situation. He shouldn't be here, not really. He mustn't interfere with the Fates of other worlds.

Fear contorted Kamui's face, lavender puppy eyes begging him. "P-please," he choked.

Hell. Subaru thanked the Gods his twin was too prideful to plead and utilise his exquisite eyes. Otherwise there was no way Subaru could refute.


The tip of a leather shoe forced the 13th Head of Sumeragi Clan to look into his enemy's eyes, wincing when the ghost of a man superposed the teenager in his view. Fingers clasping strands of his hair, keeping his head in place, Subaru shivered as he asked, voice weak. "Why do you and Seishirou-san…"

"Look so much alike?" Fuuma finished the onmyouji's trail of thought, lips curling leftward to a smirk as he raised a hand, flexing and tensing his fingers, poising to stab his victim. "You…wish it to be so, that's why!" (A/N: Dialogue from X/1999 volume 12, chapter 114)

Subaru watched, helpless against the approaching appendages intentioned to gouging his eyes. That wasn't accurate; he was resigned to the assault. Subaru had Wished for his right eye to be blinded, occasionally.

Before the act could be committed, someone barreled to the space between the Angel and the Seal, separating them. Hairs tickled Subaru's face and slipped into his mouth before the impact sent him flying to the railing behind him, the back of his head hitting the metal. He vaguely heard Kamui screaming his name before the concussion robed him of his consciousness.


"SUBARU!" Kamui broke free off his bindings as Fuuma hit Subaru the vampire, who flung himself to his double's front, on the right side of his face, causing the two to collide against the railing a few feet away. Subaru the Seal fainted, the kekkai dissolving, while the younger-looking one clutched his face, blood dripping off his hand. His visible left eye twitched in pain, but he was nowhere near dying.

"Well, we see each other again," Fuuma appeared amused, "I'd love to keep you company, but in light of the oncoming Dragons of Heaven…"

"Wait," Subaru spoke calmly, his hand sliding down to his side as Fuuma began to retreat. The vampire's right eye was a mess, there was a hole where one could peek at his brain through it, oozing with crimson liquid, but his cells were regenerating quickly. Fuuma watched the process with a morbid curiosity. "I'm sorry," the vampire continued. His knowledge of his counterpart's tormentor was little, but… "I'm sorry I'm always with him. I'm sorry I'm a hindrance to your goal," Subaru had wanted to say those words to Fuuma the hunter. A substitute was better than none. Besides, the circumstances surrounding the quartet seemed similar.

They were, indeed, bounded souls.

The Angel's burnt sienna eyes widened. A millisecond later, his surprise disintegrated. "It's not your fault," it was replaced by a wistful expression. "Kamui chooses to not realise his Wish."

Subaru averted his gaze. "I'm still sorry," he conceded. Kamui's head was harder than a quart.

"Glad to find that you're very insightful, Subaru-san," Kamui the Dragon of Earth waved at him, "My opinion of you changed." He flashed the vampire a grin.

"I wish you happiness," Subaru whispered, his t-shirt fluttering in the wind, as Kamui reached him. Placing his hands on the boyish male's shoulder, the violet-eyed teenager snapped him off his daze. "Subaru!"

The vampire smiled. By then his wound had mostly healed, the edges of his irises forming. "I'm okay," Subaru said as Kamui peered into his injured eye, cringing at the goriness. After his pupil had returned, Subaru dared to blink, his lid encountering friction against the flawless curvature of his cornea, and rubbed the blood off his face. "Vampires, especially pureblooded ones like I am, have incredible recuperative abilities. Rather than worrying about me," he gestured at the prone figure that resembled himself, "We should bring Sumeragi-san to the hospital, don't you think?"

Kamui turned to the older man, throwing his arm over his own shoulder, and tried to lift the onmyouji up. Subaru hurried to his double's other side. Together, they jumped across rooftops, eyes darting to find the nearest hospital.

"Thank you," Kamui spoke suddenly, gazing at the vampire sincerely as they cut through the sky. "I-I can't imagine-"

"Shush. Don't linger on those thoughts. Your fears didn't come to pass," Subaru comforted his twin's look-alike the best he could, with a deadweight bearing down on his shoulders, "You're welcome."

TBC