Note: There's a quote from a Disney movie in here if you can catch it… (It was too perfect to leave out… XD) No, before anyone asks, I don't own the Disney movie line...

Chapter 9

Confrontation

Kamui stretched his arms up above his head, breathing in the night air. It had been a good week since he'd last touched ground in the city. A week of staying inside and watching the leaves fall from the trees and feeling... stuck. A strange, half-frightening feeling, as if the ground was sucking as his feet with every step, waiting for him to hold still long enough to pull him under. But after their last encounter, Fuuma had been wary of letting him out again. It was a pity, because Kamui enjoyed their late night excursions. He didn't like being stuck inside. But then, he mused, he had always been the more active twin. Subaru was the one who could sit still for hours listening to their grandmother's tedious instructions on spells and wards, Subaru who had the patience to redo particularly complex hand patterns until he got it right, Subaru who could focus his mind so acutely. It had quickly become obvious that their grandmother's training was not for Kamui, and their mother had almost seemed to expect that. She had told him one night, after a particularly frustrating session with their grandmother, that not everyone had the same power—his strength was not Subaru's—and that it was okay to be himself, because he would discover his own power in time. They were twins, but he wasn't Subaru.

Subaru! He shook his head, as if that could rid him of the cobweb-like strands of memories still clinging to his consciousness—gossamer webs glimmering in the half-light of thoughts and dreams. He was glad that Fuuma had finally agreed to accompany him out again, not only because he thought he might try it on his own soon without the man's permission if he was stuck inside much longer, but because being with Fuuma out in the noise and the hurry of the city was the only thing that kept his thoughts from wandering to his twin. When he was with the man, when they were together… he forgot about Subaru.

It was a bit frightening, because they had always been together, ever since they were little. But now… now he would never see Subaru again. And being with Fuuma was the only thing that made it better. Maybe it was because of that that Kamui had sought the man out more often in the past week. Not that he'd admit it. The only time Fuuma had asked with a sly grin if Kamui had been looking for him, Kamui had scowled and replied scathingly that, if the man's home had had a few less floors and staircases, it wouldn't be so easy to get turned around. But Fuuma's smirk had been just a bit too knowing the rest of the night, and after that he had come to Kamui less and less. Kamui swore the man got some perverse sort of amusement watching him wander around looking for him.

Glancing up suddenly as someone bumped into him particularly hard, Kamui realized he was no longer at Fuuma's side. He groaned. Fuuma's sharp admonition before they'd left had been "Don't get lost." The last thing he needed now was to cause trouble that might make the man refuse to let him outside again…

Fuuma, on the other hand, wasn't really having any difficulty keeping track of Kamui. Maybe it was just that it was easier for him to see over the crowd, but he'd kept a watchful eye on the silken head of hair across the street with relative ease. He'd finally accepted that Kamui didn't mean to get separated, but he kept an eye out nevertheless. Deeply ingrained instincts within him still half expected the boy to use one of their accidental separations to run away. In fact, he was surprised the boy hadn't already tried it…

Maybe… Maybe Kamui had really meant what he'd said about staying.

It didn't make any sense. If the boy hadn't wanted to be allowed outside in order to have a chance to escape, what had he wanted outside for? Fuuma was beginning to realize that, with Kamui, he had no idea what would come next: pure obstinance or sudden compromising or indifferent obedience. In fact, there was only one sure thing about the boy. One single, unwavering fact that guaranteed one day, one way or another, Fuuma would lose him: Kamui was human.

And it very well might have happened that night they'd run into the hunter.

Never again. He never wanted Kamui caught between him and a hunter again. The hunter they had run into during their last excursion was a particularly disturbing memory that bubbled to the surface again and again and refused to be tamped down or resubmerged. He'd had run-ins with hunters before occasionally, but not like this. Not one from the Families carrying around vials of vampire blood. Not one quite that… strong. There had been something off about that strength. Fuuma didn't like it. In fact, he was sure it bode ill.

The anxiousness that was creeping along the nape of his neck again wasn't helping. It had been coming and going for awhile now, an uneasy flutter at the edge of his awareness, like someone… watching. The shadow of eyes. Following them. But though there were lots of people who could have been watching them curiously in the crowd—a lord of the city alone with an amethyst-eyed boy—he couldn't brush it aside so easily.

So he attempted to lessen his sense of foreboding by keeping an incredibly close eye on Kamui.

And then, just as Kamui finally caught sight of him and started squirming though the crowd, still a ways away, and Fuuma watched his progress patiently… just then, something else caught his attention—a glimpse of something all too familiar out of the corner of his eye—and he looked up, startled…

…and froze.


Seishirou walked along the edges of the crowd, pulling Subaru gently along behind him as the boy's gaze flitted from human to human in wide-eyed interest. He tightened his grip on the boy's hand, but it wasn't really necessary: Subaru had always had a well-developed sense of acceptable conduct and self-control, binding him faster than Seishirou's hold ever could. Really, he was such a well-behaved boy. A beautiful, well-behaved boy.

There was something pleasing about having such a beautiful thing by his side… and knowing no one else could see it. They were softer than shadows—the reality hidden so well it was less than the flick of lashes. Insubstantial as a sigh. Wrapped wholly in the anonymity of a maboroshi, they could be anyone: the newlyweds next door, what's-their-names one street over, or any other couple out for a late-night stroll. Seishirou had had, at least, to make sure anyone who might be looking for them wouldn't recognize them—had had to make sure their appearance wouldn't match anyone's memory. All that really mattered was that it be something other than what they were. Something that would cause unwanted attention to recall them incorrectly should he decide to drag Subaru closer and wrap him up. Obviously some… alteration had been necessary, though not too much. Subaru was too perfect to ruin with an excessive illusion. And he had been… unwilling to dim the boy's natural radiance—loath, in fact, to change a single thing about the boy.

Discontent, he reached out and curled his fingers along the nape of the boy's neck—a slow, casual caress that earned him a startled glance and a blush—before settling his hand there in subtle warning.

No, he definitely hadn't wanted to change anything. But… it had been necessary. So in the end he'd made some small concessions. Changed a few minor details. And if leaving Subaru relatively unaltered meant a few more glances cast their way, well, diamonds weren't meant to be covered up or hidden away.

Of course… there really hadn't been any need to inform Subaru of this.

After all, it wasn't like the boy could see the illusion. And besides, it was rather amusing watching him blush and stammer and look beautifully bewildered the few times some passerby would call out "Good evening, miss" before hurrying on. Of course, it was the merchants who noticed them most and who kept proffering perfumes or pieces of jewelry at the boy, often with a smooth "A pretty necklace for a pretty lady." Seishirou smirked in self-satisfaction, enjoying the boy's beautiful blush and bewildered embarrassment, and thought it was almost worth it to watch Subaru flush in confusion… if it hadn't meant dealing with the occasional appreciative glances he was being shot.

Yes, he's lovely, isn't he? He wrapped an arm around the boy's waist. But you can't have him. He's mine.

Finally, when Subaru started to shyly correct one last merchant, Seishirou took pity on the boy, pulling an utterly baffled and embarrassed Subaru away and leaning close to whisper seductively in his ear.

"It's an illusion." Seishirou's voice was soft, comforting, but the menacing grin he shot over the boy's shoulder at the poor man beyond was anything but. Satisfied, he watched the vendor quickly seek other, safer customers. "Just an illusion. I altered our appearance so no one would recognize us." Subaru caught on quick.

"They think I'm a girl?!" As if to prove him right, a young man passing by called out a genial "Good evening, young lady!" causing Subaru to turn a mortified shade of red, squeak something incoherent and bury his face in Seishirou's shirt.

"She's just shy," Seishirou explained, chuckling and petting the mop of black hair that was pressed against his chest soothingly, fingering a few imaginary strands that tumbled to the boy's waist. The stranger smiled his understanding and bowed out politely. Maybe allowing the illusion to be as pretty as the real thing hadn't been such a good idea after all, Seishirou mused, watching the man walk away. Then he turned his attention back to the stricken thing in his arms.

Many reassuring words and much fussing later, Subaru finally returned to a more natural shade and stopped ducking his head against Seishirou the few times some passerby offered him a compliment. All the while, Seishirou watched the boy's discomfort with amusement, grinning smugly at anyone who dared venture too close, safe in the knowledge that if any of those moon-struck nitwits knew the truth, they would be horrified. Let them think what they wanted. If they were too blind to see what was right in front of them, they didn't deserve the truth. The fact that he had intentionally woven the illusion to keep them blind had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Absently, he reached out and caressed the boy's cheek. Fools indeed. Reality was far prettier than any illusion.

For a while they walked aimlessly, the din of voices, each pitched above the other, a strangely discordant and overbearingly loud rhythm. From the wince that crossed the boy's face every now and then, he hadn't yet mastered the art of blocking it out. Seishirou had hoped the city would be the perfect place to teach the boy how to focus. The too-quiet hallways of their home were no good for such a lesson.

He started to lean down and whisper into the boy's ear a suggestion when his attention was caught by a dark figure standing tall and silent amid the jarring, jostling mass on the teeming road. Across a desserted alley, gold eyes gleamed back at him with alarming intensity…

Fuuma froze.

Seishirou stilled.

That perfect kind of stillness that meant he had been startled and was not happy about it. For a moment, he experienced the very unpleasant feeling of falling, which ended in a sort of thud as he came to the rather annoying conclusion that there was at least one other person who could see through his illusions. Memories winged back to him from a past he had thought buried, flitting into easier recollection as he registered the golden-eyed man before him.

"Monou-san…" Ridiculous! Seishirou fought a scowl at the revelation. The brat was dead! At least, surely he couldn't have survived… It had been a long time ago, but Seishirou still remembered the annoying girl who had started screaming her brother's name loud enough to be heard for miles. He'd silenced her quickly enough, but not before the brother had woken up. It was rather annoying to suddenly discover he had survived. Even more annoying to discover he was still the same age he had been back then. But who had…? It didn't make sense. He had seen Setsuka's hand go through the man's heart that night, and it wasn't possible to come back from that. And Setsuka had been many things, but inefficient wasn't one of them.

At his side, Subaru's eyes were wide, riveted on Fuuma, and Seishirou could feel a violent tremor running through the hand that was clenched in his sleeve. A white-hot flash of rage snaked through him.

So this is who dared to defile Subaru-kun…

"How's your sister?" Seishirou's smile was polite, almost cordial. At his side, Subaru glanced up at him sharply, recognizing the sickly sweet politeness for what it was—what it hid. The boy had known him far too long to be completely fooled. Seishirou reached down and caught one thin wrist, forcing the boy to stay close.

"You'd know best." A mockery of a smile played across Fuuma's lips at the reply.

"Oh?" With a thoughtful tilt of his head, Seishirou allowed mild bewilderment to slip into his expression. "Is she dead then? Seeing as how you managed a miraculous recovery, I couldn't be sure."

"People don't come back from the dead…"

"Not normally, no."

Seishirou and Subaru had already been on the edge of the crowd, but they had stopped at the mouth of an alley, and Fuuma turned away from the multitude to face them, making the confrontation slightly more secluded. Chatter echoed back and forth along the street, the aimless milling of hundreds of people going about their lives. Seishirou's grip on Subaru remained firm, protective. As long as he had to watch out for the boy as well as himself, he was at a disadvantage. Just one little distraction was all he needed. A few seconds…

"Subaru!" And it came, all wide amethyst eyes and fly-away hair, with a startled cry of introduction. Beside him, Subaru's head jerked up, startled by the familiar voice. Fuuma turned at the sound. It was enough.

Seishirou moved.

He swept his hand across Subaru's eyes before the brother could interfere or claim Subaru's attention for his own, letting the boy slump into his arms. It took all of a second. A second to make sure Subaru wouldn't have to witness what was going to happen next. A second to make sure he wouldn't interfere. A second to take him away from Kamui yet again. And another to lay him carefully on the ground.

Fuuma had leapt forward in that second Seishirou turned, but he didn't quite make it before the maboroshi swept over them both, leaving Subaru safe outside and Kamui to be dealt with later. Clearly Fuuma had some Power to see through his maboroshis, to enter and leave them, but he'd have to stay inside if he wanted to face Seishirou. And in so doing, would be just as subject to the illusion as anyone else.

Fuuma felt the tips of his fingers graze Seishirou's arm as the man dodged forward, coming up much closer than Fuuma anticipated—too close to get out of the way in time. He twisted at the last second, just enough to avoid anything fatal, and Seishirou's hand, aimed at his heart, went through his shoulder instead. The man's fingers lanced through muscle and sinew and bone, a brutal strike, before Fuuma turned his momentum into a twist, foot connecting with Seishirou's side, hard enough to break ribs, sending the man skittering away over the ground. Fuuma started after him, but was forced to suddenly jump backward instead as huge rocks jutted up sharply from the flat earth, separating him from Seishirou and effectively blocking him from attack.

Staring at the wall of solid rock that separated him from his enemy, Fuuma considered breaking it, only to be forced back yet again by the ground shifting beneath his feet. He could already feel muscles in his shoulder re-knitting around the hole Seishirou had carved into it.

"You've hurt Subaru-kun. That's not acceptable." The voice came from above him, and Fuuma looked up to see Seishirou walking along the razor edges of a crop of jutting stone nonchalantly, coat billowing in a nonexistent wind.

"You killed my sister," Fuuma retorted. "It just makes us even." And yet, it was strange… he hadn't realized till just then that he hadn't thought about her in weeks. Not since he'd come home to find Kamui gone. Fuuma blinked in surprise. Never before had Kotori's death not weighed on his mind. It felt a bit unpleasant to realize he'd forgotten about her for even a day, let alone a week, like it was somehow disrespectful, or like she'd stopped mattering… And that thought was a bit frightening. Had Kamui done that? How strange…

"Did I?" Seishirou interrupted his musings, politely questioning. "I can't recall. But then… I've killed a lot of people."

Unfortunately, at that point, Seishirou was forced to jump down as Fuuma's foot shattered the stone he'd been standing on into thousands of shards. The fragments exploded outward at the force, cutting bloody gashes into his cheek and arm and side. The familiar liquid stickiness of blood dripped down his skin. Then he brought his hands together into one of a thousand patterns he knew by heart.

"Did you simply slaughter them all for enjoyment then?" Fuuma asked, watching sharply as the thousands of stone shards solidified in mid air, joining into one seemingly-solid mass. There was a shriek—a strange semi-sound like that of a bird crying or rock splintering—and then the mass of sharp shards dove out of the sky, plummeting earthward. No time to fully dodge. Fuuma stumbled backward as it hit him, piercing through the arm he'd raised against it and through his side. Blood splattered over dirt, a red rain on the layer of dry dust that coated the ground. Seishirou's eyes glittered in the darkness.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. Which 'them' are you referring to now?"

"The villages you wipe out when you leave. That's just wasteful, Seishirou." Fuuma reached out to steady himself against a wall of rock, voice firmer than he felt. The rock shards had been part of Seishirou's maboroshi, formed from Power, and this time the wounds wouldn't heal.

"Witnesses must be disposed of, no matter the number." Seishirou shrugged. "But anyone who lets an entire village discover his identity is a fool."

"Playing innocent doesn't suit you," Fuuma retorted. For a second, as he paced sideways along the rock wall at his back, there was a single, beautifully clear path amid the jutting stone that separated them. Forcing torn muscles to comply, Fuuma jerked forward, starting to close that distance, when the rocks on either side ripped apart under the weight of Seishirou's gaze, forcing Fuuma back again with a frustrated hiss. The fragments hung suspended in the air—a mine field of razor-sharp rock—before raining down in a deadly shower of debris. Seeing it coming, Fuuma dodged sideways, but not fast enough. Sharp pain tore through his leg as one of the shards went through the limb and into the rock wall behind, pinning him. It was swiftly followed by another shard through his upper arm and the palm of his other hand. The world went white for a second as his blood stained the rock wall behind him. Then he growled, futilely attempting to jerk himself free. "I was there. I know you were the last one to touch Kotori!"

"Did you actually see her die?" Seishirou's tone was condescending, but he smiled charmingly. "I have to thank you for finding me. It makes it a lot simpler than tracking you down. And you've brought Kamui-kun to me as well! How thoughtful of you!" The words struck something in Fuuma. A sort of sudden and deep desperation. Kotori was dead. Dead. Nothing could change that now. Nothing he did would make her any less dead. Nothing would ever make her smile again.

Revenge… wouldn't help her at all.

And then there was Kamui. Alive. Real. Kamui, who he should have killed that day he returned home to find the place abhorrently empty. Kamui, who had promised to stay and kept his word—who had become such a… solid presence in Fuuma's home. Anymore, the idea of not having the boy around seemed… foreign. That same sort of empty, unfulfilled feeling as when he'd left the green-eyed brother dying on a white velvet bed. So maybe he couldn't do anything for Kotori, but Kamui… He knew suddenly that he wasn't going to let the boy go. Not now. Not ever. Now, for the first time in decades, maybe it was time to let the past have its peace and take care of the present. The only thing that mattered.

"You can't have Kamui!" Fuuma stared into empty, amber eyes, ignoring the stone shards pinning him in place and the sticky blood soaking his black shirt, splattering at his feet. Seishirou shook his head.

"The boy has seen me. He knows who I am. I can't have him—either of you—running around where they might be able to get a hold of you." Certainly not with all those incriminating memories in their heads. And yet... Seishirou paused to consider how the man had survived to wander around freely all this time as it was. Dangerous. If they'd found him… Seishirou stilled suddenly, the implications of the man's words a sudden alarm. "Your village was wiped out, you said?" How had he survived to remember Seishirou, but not what had happened to his sister? In Seishirou's mind, everything was beginning to make a sick sort of sense. Fuuma obviously didn't have clear memories of his sister's death. He didn't remember. That meant he'd been unconscious during that time or… someone had used compulsion to make him forget. And Fuuma had simply jumped to the most obvious conclusion.

Seishirou frowned. Someone had known… Someone had deliberately pitted them against one another. The whole thing reeked of foul play. But whose? Who had dared toy with him so? He didn't like this new addition to the game. Up till then he'd thought he'd known all of the players and their objectives. This new appearance on the field was most unwelcome. And while it was still unclear to him what this person hoped to gain, one thing he knew for sure: if someone had purposely set Fuuma and him against each other, he had no intention of playing into their hands. And more importantly, Fuuma was his only link to the one responsible.

"We've been tricked." Seishirou dropped his maboroshi, allowing reality to filter back in. But as the street slowly materialized beneath their feet, and the sturdy walls of buildings rose from the dust, and the calls of shop owners again split the air, there were two rather obvious things missing…

Seishirou heard Fuuma's startled exclamation of dawning realization even as his eyes desperately raked the ground where he knew he'd left… But it was no use. Behind him, Fuuma called for Kamui, voice stark against the emptiness, demanding an answer. But no matter how long or hard he called, there would never be a reply.

"Subaru-kun," Seishirou whispered, half to the wind, half to the empty ground where he'd set the boy down only minutes before, knowing, like Fuuma, that it was no use.

"Where are you?"


Author Note: Too many notes to write in 60 seconds… *attempts for a condensed version* First, yes, I know in X Fuuma is stronger than Seishirou, but I thought without the powers of being Kamui it might be a different story. (Speaking of which, I officially love having characters who can mess with memories... it makes everything so wonderfully complicated) Second, the crazy illusion scene… Subaru once gets mistaken for a girl in TB and Seishirou very quickly corrects the mistaken party. My point is, Seishirou's using the illusion as a cover, partly because I personally think he enjoys embarrassing Subaru, NOT because he thinks of Subaru as a girl. Subaru is perfect the way he is. Wanted to make sure that was clear. And finally, I have NO IDEA how Seishirou refers to Kamui. Agh. I couldn't find a reference in the manga, and he's known Kamui longer here than in the canon anyway.

Additional warning coming up: there's a mild torture scene in the next chapter. (It wasn't intended to be torture, but I guess it turned out that way) Also, I had way too much fun with Fuuma and Seishirou in the same scene in ch. 10. Those two amuse me when they're together. XD Finally, some people have already seen my notes on this, but congratulations to Pendragon (caught the reference to the Shinkens), Shinken16 (yes, the character who died was Saiki! I have reasons for using him that I might never get to tell… T_T), and VampireYumi (who caught onto the fact that Seishirou has a pendant in his bedroom with the same shape as on the hunter's cloak). Objects that were too vague and got missed include a crossbow (what finally made me decide on a weapon) and cloak from Tsubasa in ch. 8 and a stuffed frog from X in ch. 7. Nothing in this chapter (except, perhaps, a rather obvious parody of a fight from X). Oh, and there's a... discrepency in one of the characters' reasoning. Something that doesn't add up if you think about it... *nasty grin* It's intentional. ^_~

Bad news, I'm back in school, and I can't guarantee any regularly updating anymore, not with a capstone project due this year. Yikes. This story is just getting way too long… T_T (and taking so much time!)

P.S.: It is impossible to get brackets of any kind into the summary box! I've tried typing them in, copy/pasting them in, and using the ascii code! It's not possible… -_-

Review Responses:

Schnickledooger: Good news and bad news, Schnick. I refuse to post 10 until I get 11 and 12 to you at the least. I suspect readers aren't going to like that so much, because I've still got a ways to go on 11. On the other hand… I have a good chunk of 12 done, and whenever I get around to 11, 12 should be finished practically at the same time. Have I ever told you how glad I am to have you as a beta? It really, really helps...

Shinken16: Well, I didn't mean to make it seem like Kamui was totally over Subaru. (Sometimes, I swear, I'm just one chapter too late in fixing the problem) But attempting to move on with life more or less, yes. Or at least, before the end of this chapter he was. XD I'm glad someone found my attempted-subtle teasing of Kamui's height amusing. And yay! I'm really glad someone figured out that was Saiki! (I actually thought it was obvious, but NO ONE except you said a thing, so now I'm reevaluating my definition of obvious…) But *nods happily* it was definitely way too much fun to let Fuuma kill him again. :D

Leuv: Some people think I've got Subaru pretty well, other people think he should be more assertive. But you're right, I'm using the TB characterization for him, so he's not as… bitter as in X. (One day I 'will' write an X Subaru!) Oh, that's right! I don't know why I forget about the TRC vampirism. Probably because I find the vampirism in TRC… strange. Like, their vampires can go out in the sun and don't seem to need to eat anything for long periods of time. Usually I stick to the canon as much as possible, but I guess when it comes to vampires, I'm quite contrary! ^_^ "If my guess is true it has sth to do with the other pairing." Yep! Not in the same way, but yep. Oh, and forgive me for imposing, um… that line might have a different interpretation. (It's just a pain, because lines in X are so vague sometimes) I think, when Fuuma said he was going to do the same thing as Seishirou, he wasn't referring to erasing a mark, but to the way Seishirou chose to end everything by making Subaru kill him (there's a small flashback picture right before Fuuma's line that shows Seishirou's death again). I think it has something to do with Kamui and Fuuma's Wish, but I don't know. Like I said, it's hard to tell with CLAMP. ^^;

Nekoi: *laugh* Oo! That would have been fun to write! Subaru eating Kamui and all. *grins* But nope, not this time. Although, in the original story plan, I 'almost' had Subaru eating Hokuto! ^_^ Unfortunately, the next couple chapters won't have a lot of fluff, because plot gets in the way. But hopefully that'll be a good thing too.

TheLadyPendragon: No, it makes sense. I get it. ^_^ Middle-ground is hard to find. Sometimes I worry about being too vague and not clear, and other times… I find I maybe shouldn't have worried. A scene in ch. 10 I thought was mild and normal-level violent, my beta found disturbing. So maybe it depends on who you are. I'll put a torture warning on it anyway (though that certainly wasn't the responsible party's intentions), and I'll have to ask you what you thought (if it's still middle-ground). -_~ (At least no one loses an eye… that I know of) As for Kamui… oh, intervention is coming. Sort of. *cackles* Let's just say Fuuma never saw it coming… ^_~ Somehow I always feel vaguely smug and oddly pleased whenever you quote things you like. XD As for Kamui, I do believe I am rather pleased with him getting to make a difference in the fight, because it's so hard to find ways to show Kamui's strength right now, when he's the only human. Anyway, yes, the pendant and cylinder are from the canon, but they were mentioned earlier. There's actually two more (really vague). But good job on the Shinkens! You were the only one who caught that! (either that, or no one else said anything) But no no! Please don't stop rambling! I shall be very sad if you do! T_T

Billy11: Ch. 11 or 12 is looking to be the chapter with all the answers, so hopefully any confusion will be cleared up then. But yes, Sei-chan is definitely a big part of the answer. As for Subaru… well, first off, there are actually two problems going on simultaneously. If Subaru had realized biting people could make them 'happy,' then he might not have had such a problem with it, but that solution would have frustrated Seishirou, who can be obscenely possessive. Second, this may just be a difference of opinion, but Fuuma tells Subaru, after becoming the Sakurazukamori, that he might have filled Sei's position, but he doesn't have to do anything, and Subaru says "then I won't." CLAMP is infamous for being vague, but I took that to mean Subaru didn't intend to kill anyone, not even for Sei. ^_^; I don't know. I can see it both ways. In the end, I could only pick one. (And of course, it doesn't help that Seishirou is notorious for not showing emotion, so my version of Subaru probably doesn't even realize he cares)

VampireYumi: YES! Thank you, Yumi! I'm so glad someone put together the symbols! *much relieved* I thought putting them in the same chapter would make it easier to notice, but you're the only one who seems to have gotten it. ^_^ At least, finally, Fuuma fully realizes he doesn't want to lose Kamui now. That realization took forever. Sometimes it takes losing something to recognize its importance. And hopefully their relationship will start to improve now. As for the guy who got killed, well, if you read the author note, now you have the answer. *waves… across continents and oceans even*

fan-fan31: The last couple chapters were longer, yes, at 5.5 thousand words apiece, but sadly these next ones are shorter, at 3 to 4 thousand. Don't hurt me! XD Well, I think this officially means the Fu/Kam fans are winning. You're the second one I've gotten since my last count, but no new Sei/Su fans. Though I'm not sure if that's because there 'are' more Fu/Kam fans, or if it's because Sei wasn't in chapter 1 and the Sei/Su fans stopped reading. With fanfiction, who knows. -_~ Personally I think Fu and Kam's relationship is very… difficult. I mean, on the surface, there's a lot of pain and abuse there, but when you look at the motivations, it's deeper than that. I just wish I knew for sure what their Wishes were! Anyway, enough babbling, thanks for the review!

laustic: *giggles* I'm glad you liked Sei last chapter! I'm beginning to realize that everyone has a different idea of how characters should act, and at any given time someone is unhappy with some aspect of them. With all the frustration of trying to get two extraordinarily difficult characters right, it feels good to know someone's happy with it. ^_^

Elodie J: Ah! Elodie! I saw your review on my other story, but having not gotten to update yet, I haven't gotten to reply! Sorry about updating late (and doubly sorry that it might happen more often from here on out), but I didn't realize anyone was paying so much attention! (If people don't speak up and tell me they're waiting, how am I supposed to know they are? *disarming puppy eyes* I checked the hits on my profile, and practically no one had read my note, so I figured no one cared...) As for Fuuma, arg! I'm still miffed that he knew exactly what Sei and Sub's Wishes were, had the power to make it better, and didn't do a thing! Anyway, though, isn't it fun pulling things from the books and seeing how many people notice? ^_^ There are some very perceptive fans out there. (Though I admit, like you, I often just want the story and keep reading, expecting the author to explain later) Anyway, I think part of the problem is that Subaru's strength is most evident when he's protecting someone, and he hasn't had a chance to do that in this fic yet. Later, I hope. Later. Finally, I'm glad a couple people found that line about the end of the world humorous. I debated again and again about taking it out, afraid that it was dorky. XD