Chapter 4
Hunter
Subaru was sleeping. Apparently the boy had attempted to wait up, one hand curled around the corner of an old book lying open on the blanket. Wisps of black hair splayed across one white velvet pillow. Legs sprawled haphazardly on the bed sheets. The boy hadn't quite gotten used to the late nights.
Seishirou smiled fondly and brushed strands of black hair away from dark lashes before running one finger lightly down the pale column of the boy's neck. He wondered absently if the boy knew how tempting he was like that, sprawled deliciously where he had fallen on the sheets, head tilted just perfectly, baring the throat.
It had been a strange feeling at first, waking up to the realization that somebody else was in his home. He'd even totally forgotten about Subaru for a few minutes upon waking and had been startled to hear the faint beating of another heart only rooms away, well within the walls of his home. In all his years there, no one had ever penetrated his barriers, and the thought that someone had managed to get in had had him instantly on alert… until the mysterious intruder turned out to be the snow-skinned, pretty little thing he'd brought home only days before, fast asleep and lying innocently on the bed.
Not for the first time, he wondered what had possessed him to bring the boy there. Having a human so close, even one as apparently harmless as Subaru, was dangerous. But he'd had to think fast that night, and getting Subaru out of there had come first. Subaru was his. Here he could watch over the boy, keep him safe from prying eyes and those who wished to use him for their own ends. Here he could be assured of the boy's protection. No one else would be allowed to look upon the boy again—no one else would gaze into those emerald eyes or run fingers through that fine hair or see that gentle smile ever again. All his. The boy would be safe, a pretty doll nestled among the myriads of other treasures that had been brought home over the years—a particularly fragile doll to be handled with great care. The boy amused him, and what amused him he kept.
Staring at that pretty throat, Seishirou again found himself wondering what the boy would taste like… He realized he'd leaned forward before coming back to his senses, and he mentally scowled at himself. The boy wasn't for eating…
Then what, a small voice in the back of his head complained petulantly, is the boy for?
Seishirou pushed that thought away too.
Fuuma stood in the living room of a huge, double-story house situated in the middle of a quaint little grove of sakura trees. The house had been furnished exuberantly, with wispy curtains that let the moonlight spill through onto the floor and thick carpets and ornately carved tables and chairs of exquisite workmanship—it was all very pretty, and all very empty, and all very fake.
"Clever, Seishirou," he muttered to the stillness. He could still vaguely feel the pull of the brother somewhere below him—he was in the right spot. He could feel the presence of multiple spells and barriers, all of which would take him some time and studying to unravel. Clearly he wasn't going to get anywhere until the illusion could be broken, but breaking the illusion might alert Seishirou, and he didn't want Seishirou to know he'd been there quite yet. There was no point in giving away his presence until he was fully prepared. He'd been very careful not to touch anything, even with the gloves. It was only direct contact he truly had to be careful of, but even the gloves might leave faint traces, so it was better to avoid both as much as possible. As long as there was no contact to leave a smell, it would be almost impossible for Seishirou to track him down or even realize he'd been there.
Tamping down his impatience, he studied the illusions and barriers one last time and settled on going home for the day, where he immediately buried himself in his library, pulling old books off the shelves and flicking through yellowed pages. He had his work cut out for him.
Absently he realized this delay meant there was a certain black-haired boy sleeping upstairs he'd have to find a way to keep a little longer…
Seishirou took as many opportunities as he could in the following few days while Subaru's feet were still healing to carry the boy around, much to Subaru's embarrassment. Subaru walked on his own as often as Seishirou let him, or rather, as often as he escaped Seishirou's notice. Admittedly it was a rather clumsy walk at first, despite his efforts to not wince or make any other sign of pain that might attract a certain dark-haired vampire's notice. But his feet healed fast enough, and soon he was walking around like normal.
Seishirou came and went, sometimes letting Subaru know he was going out, but most of the time just disappearing. Subaru never saw him sleeping, and he tried not to think about what the man might be doing when he went out. The time when Seishirou wasn't around was spent exploring. There were a surprising number of rooms, all told, and a great many of them were or had been bedrooms, now mostly being used as storage rooms. Pretty things of all shapes and sizes lined the walls and filled the shelves. There were long, hand-woven rugs on the floors, silver and gold vases on carved cherry wood stands, intricately enameled boxes, and things polished and sparkling and shiny and… They all had one thing in common: they were very pretty, very aesthetically pleasing. Seishirou clearly had a talent for picking up pretty things.
The room in which Subaru had originally woken up turned out to be no exception once he got a lamp in there. In fact, if possible, it held the prettiest pieces of all. The bed's silk sheets were topped by white velvet blankets with blue tassels, while the bed frame itself had a large headboard carved with an image of a sakura tree. A dresser of equal design in the corner held up a dozen glass figurines, and a nightstand proudly displayed an intricate glass clock that had never been wound.
Standing in the middle of all those beautiful objects, Subaru felt inexplicably plain and ordinary—like a plastic plate on a shelf of crystal. That lasted until, one day, Seishirou found him standing awkwardly in the middle of a particularly lavish room, wrapped an arm around him from behind and whispered into his ear: "The most beautiful of all." Subaru thought he might still be blushing from that.
Seishirou, on the other hand, was becoming more and more frustrated. He'd been searching for the missing brother for almost a week without any luck. No one remembered seeing him. No one had heard of him. It was like he'd just disappeared without a trace. Seishirou was beginning to suspect that the boy was intentionally being blocked from him, which seemed to indicate he'd already fallen into the wrong hands. This meant Subaru was in danger. And through Subaru, him as well.
Of course, he could have used Subaru's blood to track down the missing brother once and for all, but he was against that option, because frankly, he had invested too much time into Subaru. Years worth. He had spent years studying the boy's reactions, earning precious obedience and trust. And while it might be fun to see how far he could push before the boy finally crumpled, it would serve no purpose and worse, undo all those years of endeavor. As he watched Subaru drift through a room, hand sweeping the air over the things on the shelves in an insubstantial caress, a small amused smile played at his lips. Yes, he had put a lot of effort into getting the boy to smile and come when called and turn only to him… too much effort to jeopardize it now.
Ever since he'd found Subaru standing in that room, surrounded by all those glass figurines, looking thin and ethereal and delicate, he'd been more aware of how very fragile the boy was. A sense of delicateness echoed in Subaru's every faint gesture, and there were certain aspects of Seishirou's character that he was certain would break the boy as surely as a sudden cold snap would wither a fern's young fronds, certain things he never wanted the boy to know. It was still unclear how much Subaru understood about that night he'd taken him away. Did the boy truly understand he was living with a murderer? Whatever the case, if a bit more difficulty finding Kamui was the price for Subaru's trust, it was worth it. Subaru never needed to know…
Of course, Seishirou couldn't have known the boy was about to be thrown headlong into it anyway…
Subaru had a sneaking suspicion he was becoming nocturnal. It was hard to tell, since he hadn't seen sunlight in a good week, but slowly the periods he spent sleeping were beginning to overlap with Seishirou's, and Seishirou was more accurate than any alarm clock. This was fine with Subaru. This way he could spend as much time with Seishirou as possible, greeting the man when he woke up (though he still wasn't sure where exactly Seishirou slept—he tended to just show up), sometimes eating breakfast together, and always waiting up for Seishirou to return if he went out. Of course, he never actually heard Seishirou return, usually he'd simply turn around and find the man in the room or have strong arms suddenly wrap around him from behind. So when he unexpectedly heard a loud clatter coming from the kitchen one night while waiting for Seishirou, he was more than a little surprised.
Worried, he padded softly down the hall, reaching the kitchen quickly. Across the room, near the opposite hallway, a small pile of books had been knocked over, and Seishirou… Subaru's eyes widened in shock. There was a smear of blood against the wall where Seishirou had slid down and now was slumped on the floor, one hand pressed against his chest, where he had been slashed open nearly from shoulder to waist.
Seishirou held his hand to the wound that was draining him of blood, panting. The wound had been deeper than he'd thought. Not deep enough to be fatal—he'd taken worse—but deep enough to lose precious amounts of blood, deep enough to weaken him. Under normal circumstances, he would simply have needed to replace the blood he'd lost, and the wound would have healed almost instantly. But with the wound, he hadn't wanted to take the chance of anything going wrong while hunting, especially when he was dripping a trail of blood and there was the risk of being found again by them. Besides, the fact that the wound hadn't healed could only mean one thing: the one who had hit him had used some sort of Power. Of course, there were ways of countering such effects, but the chances of managing to catch someone from one of the Families on a good day was slim, and in his weakened state it was close to impossible. Altogether not good.
So that left him with one option: waiting for the wound to heal at its own, annoyingly slow pace. This meant coming home, which in turn meant facing Subaru… which was out of the question. He couldn't let the boy see him in such a state—not when his control was so weak and he needed blood so desperately. It could be dangerous. He just had to get past Subaru unnoticed. Luckily, the boy had been in a different room when he'd come in. But luck never lasted... He'd barely gotten through the door when he'd been hit by an incredibly strong wave of dizziness and had attempted to grasp at the counter to steady himself. Except, instead, his arm had knocked over the pile of books and he had barely managed to catch himself against the wall before his head spun and his knees gave out, sending him sliding to the floor. Now he panted, waiting for the room to stop spinning. He knew he had to get up before Subaru found him, but…
Even across the room, it was the blood he smelled first—that achingly sweet smell that belonged only to one person. He hadn't even heard anything: no soft footsteps, no swish of fabric… which said something about the state he was in. It was the blood that got his attention. He jerked his head up, instantly focused on the green-eyed boy across the room. He expected to see fear, or hate, or loathing—surely now the boy would see him for what he was or turn away in disgust. If the boy had any sense of self-preservation at all, he would turn and run and never look back. Except, of course, this was Subaru.
"Seishirou-san!" Subaru cried out, and Seishirou felt a moment of little-known panic when the boy started running toward him.
"No! Stay away!" Seishirou made a warding gesture with one bloody hand, glaring threateningly at the boy. Now was not the time for his misguided compassion. But the effort was lost on Subaru.
"You're hurt!" the boy replied, beside him now, hands reaching out uncertainly. "I want to help!" Seishirou batted him away, a little harder than he'd intended, throwing the boy back with bruising force, but he wasn't sorry. The boy had no sense of self-preservation.
Undaunted, Subaru picked himself up off the floor where he'd landed. His chest ached from the blow, and he was surprised how much it hurt to know Seishirou had done it. Seishirou had never… But he brushed that aside. It didn't matter. Seishirou was injured. Seishirou needed help. Determinedly, he stood up and walked calmly back over to the man. He started to reach out to unbutton Seishirou's shirt, so he could see the wound better, but one of Seishirou's hands wrapped around his wrist with bruising intensity. Subaru hid a wince—it was easy to forget how strong Seishirou was, how easily the man could snap his bones—and stared him down instead, which was just as disconcerting, like staring into molten amber, and part of him felt like he was being sucked under. The man didn't let up. Really, Seishirou was too stubborn.
"Let me help," Subaru tried reasoning again. "You're hurt. What do you need?" He started to reach out with his free hand, but suddenly he found himself pressed against the floor, Seishirou on top of him, teeth pressed threateningly against his neck. Fast. He never even saw the man move. Oh…
"Don't offer what you can't give! You have no idea what I need," Seishirou ground out. It was like drowning. He couldn't breathe without being assailed by hunger. Subaru's proximity, Subaru's scent, Subaru's blood running through the faint blue tracery of veins under pale skin. Everything he needed, everything his body was screaming for was sprawled helplessly beneath him. He shook with the control it took to not crush the boy accidentally, to not bury his fangs in the boy's throat. Subaru was like one of those glass figurines in the bedroom: pretty, ephemeral, easily broken, but infinitely more precious, and impossible to replace. No one could ever make another Subaru. If he wanted this one, he had to keep it alive. But Subaru seemed determined to make that difficult. Seishirou stiffened as he felt the boy's arms wrap around his shoulders, pulling him down.
"It's okay. I want to help," Subaru repeated soothingly. "It's okay." He would gladly give everything to save Seishirou, he'd decided that long ago. It didn't matter what the man was. Seishirou was important to him. If it would help, he would gladly do anything… He pulled Seishirou closer, arching his neck invitingly. And finally, with one last shudder, Seishirou gave in, biting down into that slender, pale throat. Blood welled into his mouth, and the last shreds of control dissolved, plunging the world into absolute darkness…
Subaru drew in a quick breath at the stab of pain as Seishirou's fangs shredded his throat. Instinctively, he clung tighter to the man, curling against him, seeking safety even as little electric shocks shot down his spinal column in searing, lightning-quick bursts. His body arched up involuntarily against it, every muscle drawn tight as a bow string, pressing firmly against the man above him in a long, lithe line, chest to chest, hips to hips. The air felt heavy, cloying, a stickiness that stuck in his throat and sloshed into his lungs and threatened to drown him. He gasped, panting, trying to suck air in through a bruised throat. It hurt. Breathing hurt. Moving hurt. Lying still hurt. He writhed helplessly against the older man, until heavy hands on his hips shoved him roughly back down onto the floor, pinning him like a butterfly to a board: wings unfurled to their fullest, stretched, strained wide in agony… life fading…
He clawed desperately at the darkness that was eating him from the inside out, nails raking into Seishirou's shoulders, but the man shrugged it off as though the boy's hands were nothing more than leaves to be batted away. A faint squirm and he bit deeper, his grip on the boy's throat unbreakable. Subaru choked, dragged in a huge, rattling breath, and choked again. The hands holding him down tightened, nearly crushing his bones between them. Black splotches burned through the fabric of the world, fraying it irreparably. Reality unraveled before him.
Weakly, he clung to the body above him, the only solid object in the darkness, strong and unwavering. One delicate hand pressed softly against the small of the man's back, a pitiable attempt to keep him close, as though afraid they might somehow be parted in that infinite nothingness. Tears glittered suddenly in his lashes.
"Seishirou-san," he choked on the whispered words and dissolved briefly into a fit a painful coughing. "Seishirou-san, where are you?" Green eyes wide and blank, trembling. Afraid. Alone. Except for this stranger, holding him down, never letting him go.
"It's okay," he whispered soothingly, to the man, to the nothingness. "It'll be okay." With the last of his fading strength, he ran his free hand lovingly through the black hair that brushed his jaw. Maybe he was dying… He knew that thought should frighten him, but in the ringing void that had become the world, he could only feel glad. If he was dying, at least it was for Seishirou-san…
Nothing mattered—not the hard floor beneath them, not the steadily slowing drip-drip of Seishirou's blood onto the green-eyed boy below him, and definitely not the scattered books or stained wall.
Sweet. That was the first thought that broke through the darkness. The boy, whoever he was, tasted sweet. Better than any cake or other confectionery ever could, and yet vaguely like the inside of cream puffs, Seishirou mused fuzzily. Altogether delicious.
Fine fingers brushed through his hair, and he moaned contentedly, lapping at the wounds on the boy's neck with little flicks of his tongue, determined not to let a single drop go to waste. And then the hand stilled, the faint rhythm of the heartbeat thinner now, and he opened his eyes, the world clicking back into place with a sickening thump. The blood. The boy.
"Subaru-kun!" He jerked up, a thousand little things rushing back to him. His bruising grip on the boy's hips. The damage done to the boy's slender throat. Distantly, he realized the nasty gash he'd received was finally healing, which simply confirmed what he'd suspected about the boy for quite awhile. Not that it mattered. "Subaru-kun!" He shook the fragile body, half relieved and half upset when the boy moaned incoherently and started coughing. Hurriedly, he tore a strip of his shirt off and wrapped it around the mauled throat, then pulled the boy with him, up into his lap, cradling him carefully.
Subaru blinked dazed green eyes as the world came back into focus with an unpleasant little jolt, somewhat surprised to find that he was still alive. An all-consuming fuzziness was still enveloping him, the darkness dissolving slowly.
"Seishirou-san?" He reached up, brushing the back of one unsteady hand along the line of the man's jaw. Real. It was real. Seishirou caught his hand before it could fall away and swept swift kisses across the knuckles in silent apology, stilling at the end. The boy's skin against his lips was cool, the thin body light as fallen snow in his arms and just as pale, as though the slightest wind might sweep him away. The smudges of bruises were already casting their shadows where his hands had been holding the boy in place. He frowned. But if it bothered Subaru, the boy didn't show it, already otherwise distracted.
Subaru looked down… and blinked. And blinked again. It took him a few minutes to decide he really was staring at Seishirou's chest. Wonderingly, he reached out to press fingertips to the bloody, but otherwise unmarred skin.
"What… How…" His voice was hoarse, echoing from a raw, damaged throat. Seishirou put a finger to those soft lips, shaking his head. But Subaru was determined. He shook off the drowsiness a bit more and forced himself to form coherent sentences. "What happened? I thought… you were hurt."
"I was." Realizing nothing would do until the boy's curiosity was satisfied, Seishirou carefully divested himself of the bloody, torn, and utterly ruined shirt so that Subaru could see for himself, humming when the boy's gentle fingers traced the old path of the wound. "Your blood… it boosts our natural healing abilities."
"I did that?" Subaru blinked wondering, half-glazed eyes at him.
"Mm," Seishirou agreed, before leaning down to whisper accusingly into the boy's ear. "You never told me you had Power."
"Ah… hmm." Subaru smiled, a weak, guilty smile. All the more beautiful for it. "It's not… I mean… I can't do anything useful." Another cough punctuated the statement.
Seishirou pouted, prodding the boy a little. "You mean healing vampires isn't considered useful these days?"
"I didn't mean…!" Subaru managed to blush faintly despite the loss of blood. "Of course I'm glad I could help. It's just… I can use a few spells, nothing big."
Seishirou shrugged. He had a feeling the boy was being modest, but as long as the boy wasn't suddenly going to develop some dangerous ability, he really didn't care. Of course, if Subaru had Power, what did that say about the brother…? Letting Kamui escape was beginning to seem worse and worse.
"So, ah, what happened anyway?" Subaru touched his bloody chest again, lightly. "If it's not a bother…"
"Hunters." Seishirou shrugged again.
"Hunters?" Subaru's eyes widened. Seishirou nodded.
"This one used Power," he elaborated. "That's why the wound wouldn't heal."
Subaru truly looked sad. "Are there a lot of people trying to kill you?"
"A few, but it's the ones who want you alive you have to worry about." Seishirou grinned mischievously at Subaru's adorably puzzled expression, but before the boy could inquire as to his meaning, he yawned cutely. Clearly, the drowsiness was finally settling in for good. Seishirou scooped him up into his arms, declaring, "Time for boys to be in bed!" Subaru didn't protest and was already mostly asleep by the time Seishirou got him to his bedroom and blew the lamp out. For a few minutes Seishirou listened to the sounds of rhythmic breathing and contemplated the gentle pull that now sang in his blood. It was almost a pity, here he finally had a decent line on Kamui's location and he couldn't do anything about it. Subaru would have to be watched over the rest of the night to make sure he'd be okay. Noting the direction of the pull, he reluctantly tuned it out and turned his attention back to the boy on the bed, settling beside him and listening to the soft sounds of his heart until dawn stole the darkness away.
Author Note: Thanks to my ever-patient Chara-Beta, a HUGE chunk of the ending scene was redone at midnight last night, expanding it by 600 words and taking it from fun and fluffy to dark and angsty. Because it was done in such short notice, I'm positive there are errors in it, and I apologize for that. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
First and foremost… a WARNING. I think. I got a bit carried away in the next chapter, and technically, as it is, it's rated M. ^_^;; I can do one of two things. I can take out the grand total of… *counts* …three lines that are tipping it over the edge in order to keep it rated T (and then post the complete and original thing on LJ a week later). *mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "if I'd only left his pants on"* (It's not what you think... *sweat*) OR… I could change the entire story to M, which will throw it out of the main list of fic updates, and see who stays with me… *pant, wheeze, gasp* What's your opinion? Would you stop reading if it became M?
Also, before someone complains about the thing with Fuuma: a bit here on the difference between spells, Powers, and onmyoujutsu as used in this fic… Onmyoujutsu, as an art, probably won't be mentioned specifically in this fic, but rather as a collection of spells, raw talent, and practitioners. Spells are general and can be used by anyone with some semblance of talent and a bit of understanding (obviously, the more talent and understanding, the more difficult the spells that can be cast). Strength figures in too, though. For instance, theoretically an incredibly powerful but amateur spell caster might be able to shatter the more intricate castings of more experienced practitioners, but would have little control over the spell. Power is more individualized. It runs in certain Families and cannot be used by anyone outside those Families no matter how hard they might try. It's innate, not something that can be learned. Sometimes spells can mimic Powers though. For instance, Seishirou can weave a maboroshi, but he can also use spells that create illusions. The latter is what Fuuma runs into in this chapter.
As for the reason behind Fuuma's anger with Sei… I won't say for sure, because you'll find out next chapter, but I 'will' say that some people already have it right. (which probably gives it away anyway… XD)
Oh, and finally… I had a few people demand to be added to the stats. So, the total is now… 8 Fu/Kam fans and 8 Sei/Su fans. It's a tie. XD
Review Responses:
Schnickledooger: Aw, it's their first time, and it turned out all painful! *realizes what she just said and blushes* You see what you do to me?! I'm sorry it didn't turn out 'better' than Fu/Kam's for you, but I think I 'am' glad I switched it. Thanks again for the suggestion.
Secret For Keeps: That's true. And really, I 'am' taking characterization from all over the place. Subaru is most blatantly from TB, while Sei sort of bounces between the two. Kamui at least is definitely X. I'll let you decide for yourself whether or not Kamui gets mauled thoroughly enough, but Fuuma is definitely going to be darker than TRC. He hasn't yet done anything super horrible (which probably stems from me worrying about making him irredeemable), but we'll see what you think of ch. 6. *sly* Ah, yes, I do know that nothing is actually 'happening' with Su and Sei as of yet… but that's going to change like NOW. *blinks innocently* Next chapter Su will get dragged into it and things will happen. *nods* Thanks for the link! I checked it out. *always interested in more Kamui and Fuuma* Mou, but all the stories are so short! T_T
Rivendellelve: Yes! Thank you so much! That's exactly the scene I needed! You're a life saver! And now it's more obvious what I did wrong in ch. 6's scene… ^_^ *goes to fix it*
The Philosopher's Queen: Aw, just when I was starting to get her into Fu/Kam there's all this Sei/Su! *laugh* Ah, yes, TB's Subaru is irresistible. So cute! Once you understand where Sei and Su are coming from, you can't help but like them. *_* Don't worry about not knowing what Sei took from Fuuma—it will, of course, be explained shortly. It's not really one of the 'big' secrets in this story. ^_~
Sute-hikahika: Ah, so that's what happened! I wondered! I thought "ah" was a bit ambiguous, but I wasn't going to complain. XD Anyway, oo, good characterization catch! ~_~ (Dang it!) And we've worked so hard to keep all the characters in character too! But okay, really, I knew that it was impossible to be perfect, particularly since I'm trying to do this having only read the entirety of X/1999 once… Not to mention, everyone has a different idea of how characters should be. For example, I've got some people complaining that Kamui's too reserved, and other's saying he's just fine. (At least I expected 'that' conflict) Fuuma's difficult because… *backs up a sec* I've seen a couple authors portray Fuuma as something like a machine, whose only purpose is to fulfill wishes. I thought this was interesting but sort of strange until you mentioned this interesting bit of characterization I'd forgotten about. So I thought about it, but I can't come up with a single thing Fuuma did that 'couldn't' be viewed as the fulfillment of somebody's Wish. However, now I've got a problem. My version of Fuuma is not Kamui and cannot see Wishes. He needs his own motivations. So I don't feel 'too' bad about leaving him with a revenge motive. *winces* Seishirou on the other hand… Oh goodness, I'm totally surprised 'someone' hasn't found/mentioned a Seishirou characterization problem yet. T_T I'm already running into problems with him left and right: 1) I wasn't sure in this chapter what Seishirou would do if Subaru ran into him seriously wounded. 2) Seishirou's the one with all the answers in this fic for the most part, but getting Seishirou to spill secrets? Tch. *feels the weight of hundreds of angry Sei/Su fans* 3) If Seishirou had been around after Subaru became Sakurazukamori, would he have taught Subaru what to do? This might not have come up in the manga, but I'm going to run right into it headfirst if I make Subaru a vampire. T_T
The Lady Pendragon: You changed your name! :o Oh, you're not such a horrible guesser! ^_~ You're right though, Fuuma isn't particularly upset about being a vampire. *tries to imagine Fuuma being freaked about killing people and bursts out laughing* I'm sorry, I just can't see a self-pitying Fuuma. Let's say it doesn't bother him either way. *sparkles with amusement* Mm, yeah, the thing I love about Kamui is those little sparks of anger and personality. Though I thought he was a bit of a brat in the beginning. I remind you of Anne Rice? Wow, that's probably an honor (though she writes PAGES of needless description in my opinion. Rar, if she'd just get to the plot!). Oh, you are so close with that line it's not even funny! *refuses to tell you which one* The truth behind that is, of course, at the core of my plot, so I can't divulge that information, but arg, you're making me want to… *pouts* Anyway, good catch again. That's exactly what I based the older boys' personalities on: Sei doesn't lie, but he says the truth in a way that'll make you perceive it the way he wants, and he's possessive of his things, and he simply doesn't 'care' about anyone else. Fuuma on the other hand isn't exactly telling the whole truth either. For instance, he tells Kamui he's going to find Subaru, but of course he doesn't care about Subaru at all. Except in his case, it's not that he's purposely misconstruing the truth, he just doesn't care how Kamui takes it and sees no reason to clarify. If Sei's the type to hide in the shadows and sneak in unnoticed, Fuuma's the type to walk up to the front gate (though he 'can' be careful when necessary). As for Subaru and Kamui becoming vampires… You'll see. *grins* No, actually, multiple characters 'will' die, they're just not necessarily 'main' characters, and some of them may not be as dead as they seem. ^_~ Oi, arg, once again, as soon as you said 'elusive' I knew exactly what you were talking about. I do that all the time, I swear. It's not that I don't know the correct word! Give me a sentence with the two choices and I'll pick the right one every time, but I have to be actively 'thinking' about it, whereas when I'm writing I'm reading the 'sentence' and 'paragraph' flow over 'individual words.' *headdesk* Thank you.
Laustic: *laugh* I won't kill you for liking Sei/Su! I like them too, obviously, or I wouldn't be writing them. The only reason you might hear me shriek at them is because I'm struggling really bad with Sei later on. ~_~
Neko Roxas: Yay! A Fu/Kam fan! Heh heh, we are slowly evening out with the Sei/Su fans! *secretly rooting for the Fu/Kam population*
Nekoi: Sorry if I embarrassed you. ^^;; It was just a really good point. And you were right, I 'should' have at least mentioned the arm was still broken. In this case, because I knew I'd mentioned it later, I didn't think about it. *sweat*
Jaxard: Hello to you too, Jax! ^_^ Ah, I certainly loved writing Fu and Kam's bite scene (though looking back now, I wish I'd made it longer—it feels a bit short to me). My Chara-Beta is upset because she thinks their bite scene was better than Su and Sei's in 'this' chapter. *smirks*
Cheshire Cat: Sugoi! Your entire review came through this time! *much relieved* I'm definitely glad my plot has become easier to understand. I bet there are still a lot of questions and curious readers though. ^_^ The next chapter is one of my favorites—I've been gnashing my teeth impatiently wanting to post it for quite awhile now. (There's a lot of Fuuma in it too)
Shinken16: Actually, I chose Kamui and Subaru to be twins simply because I needed already established connections so they'd have 'reasons' to try and find each other, but the fact that it fit in with TRC just worked out perfectly. And with that you just hit upon my second secret reason for writing this fic. After reading TB, I just couldn't see how Subaru managed to survive as a vampire in TRC. So my other reason for this fic is to show just how many things are 'wrong' with a vampire-ized Subaru. :D *is having too much fun in the later chapters*
Billy: *grins* Oh, I so totally refuse to say who turned Fuuma yet! The answer to 'that' question is going to take a bit. ^_^ (it's too important to give away just yet) But in this case, no, that's not what Fuuma is upset about.
