Milestones
Special Side Story: Re-introduction
(set after Side Story #1, and before "Wedding Day")
"Fuck, not again."
The cloudy, rain-laden midwinter sky offered no aid to the young man whose eyes raised toward it in a plea for patience. Or, at least, better directions than he had. Given the half-demolished state of the city, making and remaking maps was not the highest priority. Thus, Kamui's convenience store map kept taking him down streets which no longer existed, blocked by rubble and/or reconstruction crews. Only two months into the new millennium, public transportation ran only in the outer wards, and taxis were few and far between.
He passed the remains of Tokyo Station, heading back down toward Ginza, through, though he could have sworn he'd made his way through there already. He would have asked if the streets were not mostly deserted, or if those people he did see had body language that told him loud and clear not to approach. Nearly a year's worth of upheaval in their lives kept them afraid, even though the danger had finally passed. He supposed they had a right to be. The Seals and Angels had been preoccupied with kekkai and shinken, earth and humanity; humanity faced the much more immediate problems of looters, edgy police and homelessness. As Kamui walked past an apartment building littered with "NO LOITERING" signs, he wondered how long it would take the average person to recover.
If it were half as long as it was taking him, it would be too long.
Moving him and the others to the dorms had been a wise decision on the Chairman's part; the Seals' area of the mansion had been large with four to seven people living there. Now down to a static three, the place felt overwhelming and empty. A small room shared with Segawa kept Kamui from feeling lonely most of the time. But he still woke some days wondering why Sorata wasn't roaming the halls banging on a pot to call them to breakfast.
He hadn't expected to miss the monk as much as he did. Like a lot of times in his life, he denied the possibility of certain things coming to pass. Even after Kotori, and then again after seeing Subaru holding the Sakurazukamori's body, Kamui refused to consider anyone else dying. His new-found friends in the Seals, Fuuma, even the members of the opposition. Somehow, he would find another way.
The empty feeling that still gnawed in his stomach came from the feeling that he should have been able to do more. Of course, he kept those thoughts to himself; the others would have probably called him selfish or silly, to think he could have done more than ensure the continued existence of mankind. Because the big picture was easier to think about.
Kamui looked at the address on the now-very-creased piece of paper, then glanced back up at the area around him. The map said it was near-ish to Shimbashi station, too close to Roppongi and Shiba Park for his liking. However, he supposed people would find the area around Tokyo Tower to be somewhat more habitable than other parts of the city.
As the ruins of Ginza's high-quality shops and restaurants began to fade into more residential buildings, Kamui noticed the condition of the sidewalks and streets beginning to improve. Turning a corner, he stepped around a chunk of concrete buried in the middle of the sidewalk and onto a narrower street. He checked numbers until he found the correct building, and glanced up to get a glimpse of the twentieth floor. The elevator took its time coming, and while he waited, Kamui began to fidget with the paper with the address on it and gnaw on his bottom lip. For all that the descent seemed slow, the trip up flew by, and he was standing in front of the apartment at the end of the hall much more quickly than he was ready for. He folded the address paper and unfolded and refolded it and then finally put it in his pocket before it tore. He lifted his knuckles to knock and then paused, wondering if it was really necessary, given who they were.
He knocked anyway and heard it rattle through the metal door and down the hallway. A very final-sounding sound.
There was no way to tell if Fuuma was coming to the door; the former Angel's presence permeated the apartment and a bit out beyond it. It was like trying to gauge the movement of a single bead of water in a puddle. When the lock turned, Kamui startled badly enough to take several retreating steps. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets so he could pretend they weren't shaking. The balcony at his left offered a tempting escape; no need to push himself if he wasn't ready. His Gemini would understand.
Wouldn't he?
What kept Kamui standing in front of the door as it opened was that he couldn't be sure of the answer to his question. He didn't really know Fuuma anymore; hadn't really known him since he'd returned from Okinawa. A phantom pain pulsed through his hands and he tried not to appear as apprehensive as he felt. Even though his hands were still buried in his pockets.
Fuuma held the door open as he leaned on the doorjamb and looked him over. "Hi," he finally said, his expression softening, eyes no longer as intense. Kamui let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Ah... hi."
The other teen stepped back into the foyer, still propping the door open. Kamui hesitated and turned a little sideways, facing Fuuma as he stepped past him. "Took me a little while to find it, but here I am," he said, forcing his tone to sound light. He even managed a self-depreciating smile as he backed further into the foyer, stopping to slip off his shoes.
"Bad directions?" Fuuma asked as he let the door swing shut. Kamui succeeded in not watching it close. Instead, he nodded at Fuuma's question.
"I got turned around a few times, but I figured it out." Kamui saw Fuuma watching his every movement, and felt a bizarre sort of relief; there was a real possibility that Fuuma couldn't help but take in everything, driven to it by the past in the same way Kamui couldn't help wondering not if, but when he would be pressed up against a wall with Fuuma's hand around his throat. His stomach performed an uneasy roll at the thought.
But then, Fuuma smiled a little and walked into the apartment. "Happened to me, too, in the beginning."
Kamui fell into step behind him after a moment, cautiously pulling his hands out of his pockets, somehow feeling steadier than he had outside. "How long have you lived here?"
Fuuma's shoulders shrugged. "Six months or so."
Stopping at the couch, Kamui ran a hand along the still-pristine fabric and couldn't shake the feeling that the answer was more technical than truth. Still, his old friend had been here since before that day. Almost wistfully, Kamui looked around to try and guage what Fuuma had been like without the show; the man behind the curtain, as it were. "Ah. It's... it's nice."
Fuuma laughed, and Kamui shuddered. Then he cringed, balling his hand in the couch fabric. Fuuma didn't appear to notice. Instead, he gestured to the back of the living area, drawing the younger teen's attention to the windows. "I picked it for the view."
The nervousness grudgingly gave way to awe as he took in the nearly panoramic view of the bay and what remained of the Chuou skyline. "I can see why..." Kamui murmured, stepping closer to the window, stopping just out of arm's reach of the glass. Just beyond the edge of the window pane, Tokyo Bay churned, pushing back against the hastily reconstructed levees that had driven it out of the streets. White foam capped the waves as they broke on the cement and reformed, moving back out to safer waters. There weren't any boats out on the bay, and probably wouldn't be until someone decided what to do with the ugly, twisted mess that had been Rainbow Bridge. As much as Kamui wanted to look away, he stared, gaze roving over the broken girders and the handful of cables that stirred whenever the wind applied the right amount of force.
If only the kekkai's collapse had taken the whole thing down.
Kamui finally had to turn away and face the mostly dark apartment, to stop from taking the next, logical thought toward the one Seal whose fate he hadn't been able to account for. When he looked up, he met Fuuma's eyes and saw a thoughtful expression. As if the other had decided to study him and his reaction to the view. Kamui frowned, wondering how Fuuma could be so comfortable with them being in the same room together. Something about the situation wasn't fair. The battle had ended, he had won... and yet, the two of them remained the same.
"I have to tell you something," Kamui blurted out, surprising himself. Fuuma blinked at the outburst. "No offense or anything, but... but you're a complete asshole."
The other just looked at him, the expression of careful study melting into eyebrows crawling up a smooth forehead.
Kamui glanced down at his hands as they fidgeted and shrugged. "Just saying." Silence continued to meet his words, and eventually, he had to look back up, craving feedback, no matter what the kind.
Fuuma's expression could have been pinched, save for the soft smile that hovered on his lips. He just spread his hands out at his sides, and said, "I know."
Swallowing against a painful lump in his throat, Kamui stood very, very still, holding back from reaching out to the other. "I wish I could have saved the others," he whispered, vision blurring as he saw his Gemini look up.
"But you couldn't." Not a recrimination. Not even that blank, icy-cold voice he had spent months associating with his old friend.
Just simple fact, spoken by someone who could, finally, understand.
"I'm... glad you came, today."
Kamui laughed, though it came out weaker than he'd hoped it would. "So am I."
This is a "special" side story because it was written as a present for a friend. With her permission, I'm posting it with the rest of the stories.
