Bloodline

Disclaimer: CLAMP owns it. I play with it.

Pairings: Seishirou x Subaru, Kakyou x Hokuto

Warnings: Violence, blood, implications of sex. If you have a problem with any of this...you're in the wrong fandom. This is CLAMP, so blood is a given.

Author's note: Ack, I'm sorry this has been so long coming ;w; Work has been so manic recently, and I've been away on course! Could do with a week off! Anyway, I get the feeling this is going to be a bitty chapter. I left out a scene with Hishiro last time, then belatedly realised I ALSO meant to include something else...I should learn to follow my plan structures a little more, heh...thanks for the reviews guys, they make my day so much better!

...Bloodline...

Chapter Seven – Reunited

It should have been riskier. In broad daylight, with the police on high alert, Hishiro should have had more trouble. But his new powers were running away with him, they hummed through him like electricity, and he could feel their potency increase even as the incongruous little dagger buried deep in the heaving chest of the man beneath him leeched his powers. He fell to his knees beside the old man as magic seared up his arms and settled inside him to add to the store he already had. Soon, nothing would be too much trouble for him, not even little Sumeragi.

He felt dishonourable. He had attacked this man, this retired onmyouji with so much latent power and an impressive past, because his stock of victims was dwindling. Onmyoujitsu was not the career it had once been, and the number of practitioners was so low he was having to choose less and less easy targets. And by easy, he meant targets he wouldn't feel too guilty about. Hisa could condition him all she wanted, but this would never ever be right. The elderly man wheezed beneath him, eyes glazed in pain as blood blossomed across his white yukata. Hishiro had surprised him at his shrine, and the battle had been brief. Powerful as the old man was, he hadn't used his magic for anything more than shrine-blessing for years, and his body was slow to respond.

"I'm sorry, elder." Hishiro trembled, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He didn't know the man at all, but he felt like he was losing himself to Hisa's whims, and this insatiable need for power. The man wheezed his last beneath his hands, and fell silent and still, all of his magic gone. Maybe it would be his grandchildren who discovered him. He had not passed on his talent, otherwise Hisa would have had him slaughter the whole family, but what was left of his heart clenched in sorrow as he thought of his own Grandfather, weak and old but still charismatic and clever. This man's children and grandchildren would mourn him, and more than ever, Hishiro felt his resolve crumbling. At least, until an image flickered into his mind, unbidden, of a laughing dark-haired boy and his twin, existing blissfully together with no hint of regret for the slights they had showered upon his family. It was enough to steel him to the murder, and with a sniff, he stood up, blood painting his chest. His fingers crackled with raw power, and he shuddered, multicoloured eyes glowing. With each death, he took on a little of the onmyouji he vanquished, perhaps that was enough to remember them by. One of his eyes was now brown ringed in green, the other split down the middle, half brown, half blue. Brushing the gathered tears from them, he murmured a quick, apologetic prayer-spell to ensure the old man passed on, and walked away, sheathing his dagger. He felt the Ice Witch's pull almost immediately, and a chill seared his skin as her magic drew her to him and he disappeared in a whirl of freezing cold air, leaving behind a little patch of frost where he had stood upon the grass.

...Bloodline...

The sun was pale and low in the sky, though the last of the dusk light streamed through the window of his private ward. Subaru twisted his messy hair around his finger, eyes heavy. The pain was...not bad, he decided, but not comfortable. The medication he was on was dulling it somewhat, but he could feel the prickle of his healing skin, particularly on the tops of his legs. He hated to think what they must look like. The doctors had said that by the time the bandages came off, it would look like horrible sunburn, which is what his shoulders looked like, but it would be best to keep the worst burns covered while the new skin grew back (and thank god it would and he wasn't too badly scarred) to keep off infection. He sighed and rolled slowly onto his front, wincing as the movement pulled on his tight skin. He buried his face in the pillow. He'd never had to spend so long in a hospital before, he must have really scared everyone this time. He kept dreaming about being trapped in that burning car park, though in the dreams, he was always unable to escape. He shuddered, missing Seishirou. He guessed his family weren't letting the man in to see him, but he would be out soon enough and they wouldn't be able to make his decisions for him.

They would try. His grandmother would try. She was furious, and even when she was sitting with him in visiting hours she wouldn't speak to him, eyes cool and full of simmering anger and disappointment. He should have known that nothing Seishirou said would have affected her – she hated and mistrusted him, and she was not easily intimidated. He twisted his head to look out of the window. It must be afternoon, and for November, it was a surprisingly nice day. He wished he could be out in it, hating feeling trapped inside.

He was just contemplating getting up and going to sit at the window to watch the sun sink below the horizon when the door opened, and his grandmother walked in with his doctor. He groaned, yanking the covers up over his head. If Obaa-sama was going to treat him like a petulant child, he would damn well act like one. Reverse logic, but Subaru wasn't exactly feeling gracious. This was absolutely not what he needed right now. Weren't visiting hours over, anyway?

"...wouldn't advise it, Lady Sumeragi. I would like to keep him under observation for a few more days..."

"No disrespect to you, but we have a perfectly good family doctor in Kyoto, and I would like him home and out of trouble as soon as possible. They must have heard him choke on his own tongue, because when he threw back the covers, ignoring the twinge of pain in his lower back, they were both looking at him.

"I'm not going anywhere!" He gasped.

"You are coming home, where you can stay out of trouble. I swear, ever since you were nine years old, you – "

"Maybe you shouldn't have left me alone then! If you're going to blame me for falling for him, then you can damn well blame yourself for leaving a young child alone in a city for him to find in the first place!" He probably deserved the slap she gave him then, barely heard the doctor's protest. It had been a low blow, he knew she had been devastated when she'd found him, and had blamed herself for allowing the Sakurazukamori to mark his hands in the first place. He didn't apologise however, too furious as he touched his fingers gingerly to his sore cheek. At least the woman seemed ashamed to have hit him as she stepped back, not looking at him. Subaru scowled and rubbed his cheek. "I'm not going to Kyoto."

"You don't have a choice." Obaa-sama snapped, guilt disappearing in the wake of her fury. "I am still your legal guardian, and I only want to protect you!"

"I don't need protecting! I was just fine without you!"

"You call this just fine?"

"I need to be here to find out who's responsible for this! How can I do that locked up in Kyoto?" He shrugged out of his grandmother's grip when she reached for him.

"Please don't argue with me, Subaru Sumeragi!" She sighed, and with surprising strength, pulled him off the bed and to his feet. "Will you walk to the car or will I have to call your cousins in to carry you?" The doctor was watching all this with a slight flush on his face, and when Subaru looked to him for help, the man turned his eyes to the floor, refusing to look at him. In the eyes of the law, Subaru was still a minor, and under the jurisdiction of his grandmother.

"It hurts to walk." Subaru narrowed his eyes, but the moment Obaa-sama glared at him he baulked, never able to handle her stare. He cursed his timidity and wished either his sister or Seishirou were here to stick up for him. Or just...to be there to give him the confidence to stick up for himself. The woman didn't hurt him exactly, but her grip on his arm was uncomfortable, and his legs ached, protesting the movement after several days in bed. He stumbled often, and at least once, he noticed his grandmother falter with suppressed guilt at the discomfort she was causing him. "You won't be able to keep me there..." Subaru muttered, flushing as he was practically dragged through the hospital reception in his pyjamas.

She didn't dignify him with a response. He attempted to yank out of her grip once more as she led him to a nondescript black car with the blacked-out windows he recognised, hissing. "Enough, this is ridiculous, I'm not a child anymore..."

"If anything, Subaru, your recent activities here in Tokyo have proved exactly the opposite." Obaa-sama chastened in a clipped voice, and Subaru winced. He was about to reply, but she cut him off. "Enough. We are going home, and you're going to rest until you've completely recovered. Then we can discuss...the other problem."

"Seishirou is not a problem." Subaru ground out. "You're the problem!"

This time, the slap hurt. A lot. Subaru almost tumbled, but she and one of the many Aides he should really remember the names of (since they were likely cousins of his) wrestled him into the car without letting him draw breath, let alone fall. When he protested again, asking for Hokuto, his grandmother told him she had been informed of his move and explicitly instructed not to interfere. Apparently she had chosen to remain in Tokyo with Kakyou. At least her impending marriage still meant she held favour in the stubborn, old fashioned old woman's eyes, or Subaru might have worried that her anger at him would end up hurting Hokuto and Kakyou. Once she had snapped at him a third time, he fell quiet, and was resolutely silent the rest of the way back to Kyoto, glaring at his pristine, unruffled Grandmother from between his two cousins, who had a grip on his arms. It felt like he was being arrested, carted off in a police van or something. So much for family. Not that he had seen them in goodness knew how long. He and Hokuto both hated the stifling traditions of their family, and had moved to Tokyo to escape it.

The shrine looked exactly the same as ever when they arrived in the early hours of the morning. Subaru had slept fitfully in the car despite his anger. He guessed it was heading for dawn, he remembered car trips to Tokyo taking most of the day when he was young. By now, his gradmother's rage had cooled a little, though now she looked on him with pity and sadness as he fidgeted in the back seat. He refused to admit he was in pain, the morphine having worn off long ago, but she seemed to sense it, and promised him painkillers when they made it up the long drive. Subaru didn't answer, just looked forlornly out of the window. When they helped him out of the car, he couldn't put any weight on his legs at all, having been in bed for three days and sitting in a car for hours, they had cramped, and much to his embarrassment, one of his cousins had to carry him in. Flushing brilliantly, he directed a scowl at his grandmother, hating her for this.

He decided he hated her even more when she took him straight to his old room and left him on the bed, leaving painkillers and water on the little blue bedside table and smoothing the covers on the futon in a ridiculous gesture of affection he knew she didn't mean.

No, that was unfair. She loved him, he knew that. Her eyes said so despite their obvious displeasure. Still, he didn't feel like forgiving her for this. She was dragging him through the proverbial mud with his family and she knew it. They all looked on him with pity and disgust – poor silly, naïve little Subaru, letting himself get taken in by the Sakurazukamori. How positively disgraceful. Well, screw them all.

"You can't lock me up here. I'll just leave, you can't stop me."

"In this state, you are not strong enough to defy me. Please don't try. We will discuss this tomorrow morning. For now, you need to sleep." She said as she left.

Subaru hissed and hurled the glass of water at the door when it shut. It shattered, and glass showered the floor. He felt a bit guilty – someone would cut their feet when they tried to come in. He should probably feel good about that considering how his family had treated him, but he just wasn't that sort of person. He sniffed and sighed, staring out of the window at the moon. "Seishirou..." He murmured. "I'll come back. Please don't be upset with me..."

Glancing around his old room, his stomach did an odd sort of tumble. It hadn't changed since he had been very small. Still painted blue, still full of stuffed toys – lions and penguins, mostly, his two favourites as a little boy – and little wind chimes by the window. He briefly entertained the thought of climbing out. But he knew he wouldn't get far in the state he was in. He would just have to wait out the worst of all this, and hope that Seishirou wasn't too angry when he did manage to escape.

The thought froze his heart. What if Seishirou didn't forgive him? Thought it was his fault, thought he'd gone with his grandmother of his own free will? The man's mood was unpredictable, and he was prone to fits of jealous anger, Subaru knew. He bit his lip, fidgeting. If his grandmother had ruined everything, then family or not, he swore he would never forgive her.

...Bloodline...

Seishirou snapped the police tape with a disdainful glare, stepping into the ruins of his apartment with a grimace. The place was a shell. The walls were blackened and the windows shattered, glass showering the floor.

He felt...hollow. He hadn't spared a thought for the apartment until now, but he had arrived at the hospital this morning to find Subaru gone, and after a fit of temper that had terrified the nurses and resulted in his being thrown out of the place for making a scene, he had paced outside and seethed for over an hour, cursing that damn interfering old hag's name. His shikigami had traced the boy back to Kyoto of course – she must have spirited the boy away the previous evening – but the shrine was a place he couldn't go, protected as it was. He had considered going after the boy anyway, but Hokuto, who had found him hurling abuse at the hospital door like it ha insulted him, had convinced him to trust Subaru. Then, she had told him to do something constructive, and suggested visiting the burnt out flat to see if he could find out any more about what had happened. Not to mention, she wanted a few things from her flat, and since she wasn't allowed in the building, would Seishirou, being one prone to breaking rules anyway, mind awfully picking them up for her?

Seishirou wasn't stupid. It was an obvious distraction, but one he was grateful for.

He sighed a little as he picked up a photograph from the floor, the frame broken, glass shattered. He edges of the picture were blackish and curled, but the picture was still visible – himself and the three youngsters on the day Hokuto and Kakyou got engaged. Running a hand through his hair, he tucked the photograph into his pocket and picked his way through the flat, wrinkling his nose at the smoky smell. Very little could be salvaged, he quickly realised. A few drawers full of clothes were intact, though they would have to be washed several times to rid them of smoke, and the bathroom was largely untouched. He swept some of their things into a bag with a sigh, and continued on, wincing whenever something creaked. The building was supposed to be cordoned off, but as Hokuto had intimated, Seishirou had never really been one to abide by laws of any sort.

He'd visited her flat first. His honorary sister's home hadn't been nearly as wrecked, though it was uninhabitable for the time being. He already had a hiking rucksack with some of the bits she'd asked for in it, but was swiftly coming to the conclusion that there was very little he could salvage from the mess that was his old apartment.

Blowing his fringe from his eyes, he shrugged his shoulders, and whispered a spell. His shiki burst into existence and swept around the room with a caw. "Anything?" The assassin asked after a few moments. The hawk shrieked and disappeared in a burst of magic. Apart from a sudden, intensely cold feeling, as though icy rain was falling on his face, there was nothing. So whoever attacked had covered their tracks. There was no way to trace what had happened. Narrowing his eyes, Seishirou drew a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it, figuring it wouldn't make a scrap of difference in the smoky room anyway. Leaning against the wall, he stared at the scraps of curtain still hanging from the rail, idly remembering how often Subaru had told him off for smoking beside those very curtains.

He cut himself off. Thinking about Subaru was oddly painful, and he didn't like all these stupid, annoying, unwelcome feelings. He wasn't used to not having what he wanted.

He reached out to touch the singed scrap of floaty material. He never thought he'd be attached to anything. Never before had he cared so much about material possessions. Especially not stupid curtains. But these were theirs. His and Subaru's curtains. In a way, they, along with everything else the pair shared, were proof that he had a heart, and at least sort of understood how to use it. They represented the life the pair of mismatched onmyouji had built for themselves in the last tumultuous year.

He missed Subaru.

When he made it back to Hokuto's flat, he found the girl sprawled on the sofa, Kakyou asleep in her lap. Most of the old furniture was still covered – they hadn't done much unpacking, having spent most of their time at the hospital with Subaru. It was lucky the twins' had kept their old apartments their Obaa-sama had bought for them, especially since Seishirou was camping out in Subaru's until alternative arrangements could be made. When the girl saw him in the doorway, she smiled weakly. "Sei-chan...are you alright?"

"...I think so..."

"Oh..." Carefully sliding Kakyou's head off her lap and onto the sofa cushions, Hokuto got up and crossed the room, wrapping her arms around the assassin's middle. Seishirou hugged her shoulders, a dazed expression on his face. It...hurt. All of this odd uncertainty. His fear for Subaru still simmered in his stomach, he missed their flat already, and their odd little shared existence. He didn't know how to cope with the bereft feelings Subaru's absence was garnering. It wasn't like last time, when he'd been so sure of his non-feelings, so certain of his own intentions.

"Hokuto-chan..."

"I know. It hurts. Feelings do, you know. Love hurts, too. All the time." She whispered, looking up at him. "But...it's only human to be sad when something like this happens." She reached up and touched his cheek. Seishirou covered her hand with his and squeezed her shoulders.

"I'm very fond of you, you know that?" He admitted quietly, sliding the rucksack off his shoulder.

"Yes. I do." Hokuto smiled a little sadly. "I just wish you'd realised how human you really are before the end of your year with my brother." Stepping away, she clicked back into happy mode and began to rifle through the rucksack. "Mou, you didn't bring much!"

"There wasn't a lot left to bring. Well, from our apartment. It's a shell."

Hokuto winced at the stricken expression on Seishirou's face. It was a little unsettling, how much the man depended on her brother now, though he would never realise it or admit it to himself. Now they had spent several months in each others' company, to be apart, to know that even she could not convince Obaa-sama to let Subaru go, and knowing Seishirou could not drag him out of the shrine in Kyoto (as powerful as he was, ancient Sumeragi magic was still stronger, keeping him out of his arch enemies' ancestral home) must be destroying him. She stepped closer again. They had never been touchy-feely close, not since she had first confronted him after her rewind. Not like before, anyway. But now, it seemed like the man might need the affection. Still though, she hung back. Seishirou was not the vet both twins had hugged and relaxed around anymore. This Seishirou, Sakurazukamori through and through, still ruthless and cold despite Subaru's influence, might reject any comfort she tried to offer. So she just touched his arm. "You...really miss him, don't you?"

"It scares me that suddenly I can't..." He trailed off, not finishing his sentence and frowning at the floor. "What should I do? I can't go and get him."

"I told you. Trust him. He loves you more than anything, he will fight her."

"Will he? We both know he's scared of her."

"Sei-chan! That's not trusting him. Give him some credit, he's grown up a lot. He knows what he wants, and maybe it will take him a little time, but please just...have some faith in him. He's still...he may still only be seventeen, but he's the head of the family. He'll realise he's in charge. I promise."

Seishirou shot her an odd look, but she held his gaze, hoping her message had gotten through. She was concerned that Subaru would cave to his grandmother's wishes because she wasn't there to support him...

...Bloodline...

Two days later and Seishirou was about ready to tear his own hair out. Frustrated and lonely, even with Hokuto only a few doors away, he felt restless. He wandered slowly back to the apartment block, a few brochures for new apartments in his hands. He leaved through them absently, wondering about finding a bigger place. Maybe a penthouse flat somewhere, Subaru would love the view. Maybe he could find one with a view of Tokyo tower, even? It was irrational to believe that finding the perfect flat would suddenly make Subaru materialise, but it would serve as another pleasant distraction to imagine himself and Subaru living in one of these horrifically expensive but lovely places.

He kicked off his shoes carelessly as he entered, chucking the brochures on the floor in the hall so he could take off his coat, shrugging it from his shoulders and dropping it on the floor.

"...How many times have I told you not to throw your clothes around...?"

Seishirou froze, and slowly spun around until he was facing the living room door. "Subaru..." He breathed, blinking slowly.

The younger boy smiled weakly at him, one arm in a sling and bandages around his head and stomach, wearing an open shirt of Seishirou's and loose tracksuit bottoms for comfort.

"I thought you'd gone back to Kyoto..." Seishirou said dumbly, unable to process Subaru's sudden appearance quickly enough.

"I came back. I told you she couldn't keep me from you. I told Obaa-sama I'd drag our family name through the press with a court case if she tried to keep me locked up in Kyoto. It was...strange. She looked at me then, and I don't think she could even be angry...she let me go. I went to Hokuto's, and she told me you were camping out in my old apartment." He whispered. Subaru could barely believe it himself. He'd screamed at his grandmother that he'd never forgive her for trying to tear them apart, and he'd choked out in a half-sob that he loved Seishirou and nothing she could do short of killing him would change that.

He'd felt guilty, as she'd looked so sad, so heartbroken that he was choosing Seishirou over his family. He'd fallen to his knees before her then, and pressed his face into her robes. "Please." He'd gasped. "Please trust me. Even if what you believe is true, and this is a mistake, let me make it myself. I've done everything you've ever asked of me, Obaa-sama, everything. Everything's been for the family, or for strangers...please let me be selfish, just this once. I love him." Her face had been indifferent when she'd let him go, but he'd never forget the pain in her eyes, simmering just behind the careful neutrality. Still. He had done the right thing by defying her – she could not rule his life forever.

Smiling at Seishirou, he felt his cheeks pink at the expression on the older man's face. In seconds he was laughing as the assassin swept him carefully into a hug. "I've never been so afraid." He admitted in a whisper, and Subaru shivered against him. "I thought I would lose you, you looked so close to death, and then, when she took you away...I went to the hospital, nearly lost it when I found out your family had discharged you and spirited you off somewhere."

"I can imagine..." He could, too, he knew he'd be terrified if Seishirou had been in hospital – remembered when the older man lost his eye.

"How are you...?"

"It...comes and goes. The pain, I mean. The backs of my legs hurt, even though my magic is working to fix it. My back is sore, though it's fine under the gauze, if I move too much it hurts..."

"Then you should be in bed." Instead of lifting him as he usually would, Seishirou merely guided the young onmyouji back to his old bedroom, settling him on his front on the double futon and lifting the shirt. Even above where the bandages ended, he could see the boy's bright red shoulders. It was like sunburn, but worse. "Did they give you – "

"On the bedside table."

A pause, and Seishirou chuckled. "I guess it's for the less affected areas?" He asked as he picked up the tube of antiseptic burn salve. At Subaru's nod, Seishirou straddled the skinny boy, his knees either side of slim hips, and pushed his shirt right up over his shoulders. Adjusting his glasses, he gave the tube of cream a once-over, reading the directions on the side. Amused green eyes watched him. Subaru's head was pillowed on his arm.

"I suspect you can just rub it on."

"I'm checking."

"Careful, or you'll out-mother Hokuto-chan."

"I highly doubt that's possible." The assassin replied blandly, squirting some of the cream onto his fingers and rubbing it gently into the boy's blistered shoulders. Subaru let out a happy sigh and wriggled under his touch, the cream cooling his livid skin. "Will it scar? Did the doctor say?" He rubbed slow, sensual circles on the younger boy's shoulders

"The skin will be discoloured for a while, yes. And my back might have some tissue scarring, but the burn on my legs and shoulders should fade eventually." He sounded a little upset.

"You know it makes no difference to me, right?" Seishirou kissed the less sensitive skin of Subaru's neck, leaning down to reassure the little onmyouji. "You're still beautiful." He finished rubbing in the cream, making sure to catch even the less badly burned patches of skin. "And you're still brave."

"And I'm still scared." Subaru mumbled into the pillow. "What if something like that happens again? What if you're hurt? What if – "

"Hush." Seishirou climbed off the smaller boy and pulled him up and into his arms, carefully arranging them so he wasn't touching any of the burns that weren't bandaged. "I've set up so many new wards my own mother couldn't get through."

"Your mother's dead."

"That's hardly the point. Nothing's getting through my barriers, okay? And before you ask, yes, they cover the whole block, including your sister's apartment."

Subaru, his mouth already open, shut it with a sheepish grin, blushing. "I love you."

They spent the evening curled in each other's arms, and Seishirou wondered for the hundredth time how he'd managed to go eight years sleeping alone, when five days had been so difficult.

...Bloodline...

Author's note: Hishiro's eyes being multicoloured is loosely based on my own eyes, one of which is blue with a ring of brown, the other is hazel. My mother has heterochromia too, so it's hereditary. Also, on Obaa-sama. I love the old lady. She seems to care a great deal for Subaru, but I'd imagine she never knew about the extent of his love for Seishirou. It does seem like the sort of thing she would massively overreact to and be angry at. Luckily, she does love her grandson, and by the time the 'unseen' scene in this story happens, she's calmed down and realised that in her anger, she hurt him both emotionally and physically. What I have imagined (though she is not a 'speaking' character in this verse and therefore I can't really put it across strongly in the story) is that she is more horrified by her own rash actions than Subaru's once she actually allows him to discuss it with her. She loves him and wants what's best for him, but for the time being, she's accepte that he's growing up and has to choose for himself, however frightened she is. After all, her hatred for Sakurazukamori is built on fear for the twins' safety.

Next time: Hisa and Hishiro reflect on the Sumeragi twins following their attack, and decide to waste no more time, taking advantage while Subaru is still recovering.