Reversal

Here's part four... ::is limp from studying::

Part Four

Seishirou awoke the next morning to find breakfast ready for him, but Subaru was flopped onto the couch and apparently asleep. He smiled and shook his head, then ate the food Subaru had prepared. Then he checked his watch.

"I've got to leave for work now, Subaru-kun," he said, knowing full well that the Sumeragi was awake.

"Are you still a veterinarian?" Subaru called back, sounding somewhat sleepy.

"No, that was mainly for you, since I know you love animals." Also, it was a distinctly good way of redirecting magical backlash, but you probably don't want to know that.

"What do you do now?" Subaru sat up, rubbing his palms over his face and tousling his hair.

"I went corporate." Seishirou checked his watch again, realizing that if he watched Subaru be adorable much longer, he'd be late.

"I made you a lunch."

"Did you?" Seishirou's lips twitched. "That was very considerate of you, Subaru-kun, thank you." He opened the fridge to see a brown paper bag. 'Seishirou-san' was written on it, plus a little heart. Very cute, Subaru-kun. He couldn't help but smile. "Subaru-kun, what are my colleagues going to think of this?"

"If they know what a cold-blooded bastard you are, they'll probably be quite surprised." Subaru smiled pleasantly.

Seishirou blinked, taken off guard again. I really wish he would stop changing personalities on me. "They don't. I do tend to keep that a secret, you know."

"Of course I know."

Of course he does, Seishirou's inner voice said, sounding a little irritated with him. What an utterly stupid thing to say.

"I'm going to be late," he muttered, grabbing his lunch.

Oh, good. Let him see that he's flustered you. That's just brilliant of you. Seishirou, where is your brain?

He left the apartment as quickly as he could.

****

What with breakfast, not to mention the little love note that Subaru had slid into his lunch that nearly made Seishirou choke on the food, Seishirou didn't know what to expect when he got home. What he definitely wasn't expecting was a empty, dark apartment.

Subaru had left a small note. "Had work to do. Be back soon. Hopefully he can keep you company in my absence."

By 'he,' Seishirou assumed Subaru meant the small stuffed bunny that was sitting next to the note. He picked it up, playing idly with the blue ribbon tied around its throat. It was . . . very cute. Almost sickeningly so. It was plush and soft; Seishirou knew it had to be new. He probably bought it while he was out yesterday.

All right, what to do about dinner?

He pondered making one of Subaru's favorite dishes and setting everything up for a romantic, candlelit dinner. If anything would fluster Subaru, it would be that. The problem was, he wasn't sure that anything would fluster Subaru.

Best to avoid the possibility that Subaru would play it up.

He threw together a hasty meal and ate without waiting for the Sumeragi to come home, then had an extremely good idea.

****

Subaru frowned, looking around in the apartment. Seishirou was nowhere to be seen. He hung his coat up on one of the pegs in the hallway, then went into the kitchen. It was always possible that Seishirou had needed to work late.

No, there was a note waiting for him.

"Subaru-kun, I had a little work of my own to attend to. Don't wait up for me; I'll probably be late. Dinner is in the fridge. I brought the bunny with me, in case he was curious to see what I do for a living."

Subaru flinched at the reminder. "Cruel, Seishirou-san . . ." But he'd invited the attack by giving him the bunny in the first place, so shrugged it off. He didn't need to be reminded of what Seishirou did for a living; it was something he wasn't likely to forget. So if Seishirou wanted to be a bastard, that was his right.

He smiled, wrote a note of his own, smoked a cigarette, and went to bed.

When Seishirou came home around two in the morning, Subaru was sound asleep on the sofa. Subaru had left a note that merely said, "Unlike people, stuffed animals love unconditionally."

****

Seishirou got up to find that Subaru had again made him breakfast and left him a lunch. The Sumeragi was sprawled out, sound asleep, on the sofa. Seishirou ate his breakfast and decided to leave early, before Subaru could wake up.

"Avoiding me, Seishirou-san?"

Seishirou managed to not jump. How does he keep doing that? "Of course not, Subaru-kun. Why would I avoid you?"

"You were avoiding me last night, don't deny it," Subaru said.

"No, I just decided the bunny needed to get to know me."

Subaru raised an eyebrow. "I bought that bunny as a gift, you know. It's not fair to use it against me." He smiled. "Have you named it?"

"I'm supposed to name the bunny?"

"Of course."

"I'll have to think about it."

"All right. Did you see I made you a lunch again?"

"Yes. I have to go."

"You didn't leave until ten thirty yesterday."

"I have an early meeting," Seishirou lied smoothly.

"Of course you do, Seishirou-san." Subaru lay back down, pulling the covers over his head. "Will you be home for dinner?"

"Yes. Will you?"

"Oh, most likely. See you then."

****

The note in Seishirou's lunch simply read "Having fun yet? I know I am." He tried to figure out if there was any way he could suddenly need to work late, then decided against it. He certainly didn't want Subaru any more convinced that he was avoiding him. He packed up and left at seven o'clock sharp.

His house smelled like incense, which puzzled him because he never bothered with it. Then he realized that Subaru was doing a magic spell in his living room. He was sitting in the middle of five ofada, hands pressed together in prayer position and eyes closed. He was obviously concentrating intensely.

Seishirou took a step forward, then realized that the ofada were wards. They were more of a polite 'do not disturb' sign than anything else. Subaru was well aware of the fact that his wards wouldn't stop Seishirou.

Seishirou stopped for a minute to see if he could figure out what Subaru was up to, but had no clue. He knew that Subaru wasn't going to do anything dangerous, but it was still probably a bad idea to disrupt whatever spell the Sumeragi was doing. He sighed and went into the kitchen.

Subaru had left dinner on the stove with the heat off. There was a note on top of the pot that said, "Go ahead and eat without me; I might be at this for a while. Please don't disturb me."

Seishirou looked at it. "This is your idea of home for dinner?" He ate dinner slowly and waited for Subaru to finish whatever he was doing. Except Subaru didn't even twitch. An hour passed, then two, then three, at which point Seishirou gave up and sat down with a book.

At midnight he decided it was a lost cause and went to bed.

****

At twelve thirty that morning, Subaru's eyes finally opened as he fell backwards. His head was throbbing and his vision was blurry. He had been in trance for five and a half hours. He stared up at the ceiling and smiled as a familiar face hovered in his view. "Hokuto-chan . . ."

"You just had to do that spell again, didn't you," she complained. "You know it knocks you flat whenever you try it, baka. C'mon, sit up."

Subaru cringed under his sister's gaze and propped himself up against the couch. "Gomen," he said faintly. "I had to see you again."

"It's not healthy, Subaru-chan!" Hokuto whacked him over the head, or at least tried to, except her hand didn't even ruffle his hair. Then she settled on the sofa. "So how are things with Sei-chan?" she asked, grinning madly.

"Hokuto-chaaaaan . . ." Subaru protested vaguely, cheeks turning a brilliant red.

"I think things are going marvelously," Hokuto said. "You have a mean streak, though! Making him fall in love with you! That's . . . horrifying! It's like something I would think of!"

Subaru smiled faintly. "I need your help with the details . . . that's why I had to call you again. I'm sorry . . . I know I should let you rest. But I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing . . ."

"Oh, don't be silly." Hokuto gave him a disapproving head shake. "You know I don't mind! It's great entertainment . . . You certainly have him flustered!"

"I know, but I'm already running out of ideas." Subaru sighed. "Can you think of anything?"

"Not off the top of my head, but . . ." Hokuto grinned wickedly.

"But?" Subaru prompted.

"I know exactly who would." Hokuto smirked. "Here, write this down . . ." She recited an address, which he scribbled on a piece of paper. "Go there. Ask for Johnny. He'll recognize you, 'cause I used to go visit him."

"Johnny?" Subaru asked, frowning. "I don't think you ever mentioned him."

"No. But promise not to be scared by anything he says or does."

Subaru raised an eyebrow.

"He's kinda neurotic," Hokuto said with a cheerful grin. "And also a low-level empath. Sort of. Remember Mirei?"

Subaru nodded.

"He can do the same sort of stuff, just on a much lower level. He said I felt like candy canes and the ocean. Weird kid. He'd be great at something like this, though."

"Okay," Subaru said.

"And if all else fails, buy a book on it," Hokuto suggested. "Now go to bed, your head must be killing you."

"Yeah," Subaru agreed. "I had another question for you, though."

"What?"

"Seishirou-san said . . . that you asked him to kill you."

"Well, I did," Hokuto said.

"Why? And why didn't you tell me the first time I called you back?"

"Well . . . you didn't ask the first time! Besides, I had that spell that I could do . . ."

"Yeah, Seishirou-san mentioned that. What was it?"

"Honestly, Subaru. Don't most people Sei-chan kills end up in the Tree?"

"Yes . . ."

"Do you see me in the Tree?"

"No . . ."

"Well, then!" Hokuto grinned angelically. "Anyway, I was worried that he was going to come after you again, and you'd get stuck in that silly old Tree, since you didn't know this spell. So I had him kill me, and I didn't go to the Tree, and then I bound my soul to yours. So if he had killed you, you would've been pulled to me and the Tree wouldn't have been able to get you. And that's why it's so easy for you to call me back." Hokuto kept grinning. "Get it?"

"Yes," Subaru said, nodding slowly. "I wish you'd told me that, last time."

"I was afraid it would take away a bit of your steam," Hokuto admitted. "And Sei-chan deserves exactly what you're giving him!" She nodded emphatically. "No matter why he killed me. It's what he did to you that matters."

Subaru sighed. "Ano, neesan . . . one more thing . . ."

"What now?" she asked, pretending to be exasperated.

"It's about Kakyou-san . . ."

Hokuto went very still.

"He . . . tried to kill himself."

Hokuto stared at him. "He did what?"

"I'm sorry, I should have gone to visit him like you told me to, but after you died I was so . . ." Subaru shivered, hugging his knees to himself. "And then I found out, and he's not dead, but he won't come out of his Dreamscape."

"He won't?" Hokuto was sounding more and more displeased by the minute. "Well, you tell that little twit that he'd better. Because if he does, you can call me back and I can talk to him."

Subaru smiled weakly. "Hai, I'll tell him that."

"Good." Hokuto looked around. "So this is Sei-chan's new place, huh? Pretty nice, if you ask me." She felt the ties that were holding her to the world start to fade, looked back at her brother, and realized that he was falling asleep. "Subaru-chan . . ." She smiled as he slid sideways and curled in a little heap next to the sofa. "Oyasumi, Subaru-chan," she said, and faded out.

****

Author's Note: Yay! It's time for Johnny!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Johnny is my friend Karasu's. I'm merely borrowing him for the story, with her permission, and with her sitting over my shoulder telling me what he'd say half the time. Do not steal, use, misuse, abuse, or otherwise mistreat Johnny. Or he will kill you. And then we'll hunt you down and kill you. Then we'll send Seishirou after you. It would be really messy, not to mention redundant. So don't try it.

Seishirou walked out to find that Subaru was asleep exactly as he'd left him, only slumped over. The ofada were still there, but the wards were no longer active. The incense had burned down, leaving a small pile of ash.

"Subaru-kun, you are an idiot," Seishirou informed the unconscious boy, packed his own lunch, and left for work.

Subaru woke up about two hours later, feeling groggy and sore from sleeping in such an awkward position. He rubbed his neck, changed out of his shikifuku into his black catsuit and red jacket. He'd always been particularly fond of that outfit; it was the only piece of clothing he'd kept that was a bright color. Even without the hat, he still liked the outfit. He pulled on his boots and left the apartment.

It took him about an hour to walk to the address Hokuto had given him, and wasn't surprised to find that it was a Soapland. He pushed the door open and went in. "Can I help you?" asked the extremely perky girl behind the desk.

"Uh, hai . . ." Subaru looked around nervously. "I'm looking for Johnny."

She eyed him. "And is this for an appointment, or are you just here to speak to him?"

Subaru turned beet red. "J-Just to talk to him. Thank you."

"I'll get him for you." The girl grinned at him and bustled off. She came back a minute later. "Johnny's with a customer right now . . . he should be down in about twenty minutes, if you'll wait."

"I'll wait," Subaru said, then hesitantly asked, "How do you know it's only going to be twenty minutes?"

"Because that's all Johnny got paid for, and he won't go a minute over," the girl answered cheerfully.

Subaru wanted to sink into the floor. Instead he sank into a chair to wait, wondering how on earth Johnny could do what he did if he had the same power as Mirei. After a long second of waiting, he began to fidget, pulling out a cigarette and a lighter.

Exactly twenty minutes later, an American boy came down the steps from upstairs. He was a little taller than Subaru with a thin, willowy frame and large eyes. His hair was dark brown, but lighter at the same time, as if it was coated in dust. He was wearing extremely tight black vinyl pants and a loose, see-through shirt. "Hokuto," he said, sounding surprised. "You cut your hair." He spoke heavily accented, rather halting Japanese. Then he frowned. "Oh, you're not Hokuto. You must be her brother."

"H-Hai," Subaru stammered. "Sumeragi Subaru." He stubbed out the cigarette and extended his hand, which Johnny shook. He noticed that Johnny wore black silk gloves.

"Forgive me for asking, but why are you here? Your sister told me you'd pass out before coming in a place like this, and you look like you're about to. In fact, why don't you sit back down before you do. We can go in the other room." He turned and walked away, motioning for Subaru to follow. Subaru, seeing no better option, did so. He settled into a wooden chair in the next room. "I haven't seen Hokuto in a while," Johnny said. "Where's she been?"

Subaru fiddled with the bottom of his jacket. "Hokuto's dead," he said softly.

Johnny blinked. "Excuse me?" He blinked again. "I heard you, right? I mean, I'm a little buzzed right now and my Japanese isn't the greatest. But you did say that she's dead?"

"Yes," Subaru said.

Johnny appeared to take this in stride. "May I ask how?"

Subaru tried to think of a short way to explain it. There wasn't one. "Do you have a few hours?"

Johnny checked his wallet. "I guess I've made enough for today."

Subaru explained the entire, messy story to him.

Johnny considered this. "So your goal is to make your son of a bitch pseudo-boyfriend pay. Right?"

Subaru smiled a little. "Yes. And that's where you come in."

"Well, then." Johnny folded his hands in front of his face. "What would you like to know?"

"I need to make him fall in love with me. And I don't know how."

Johnny frowned a little. "Well, it depends. Are you going for romance or seduction?"

Subaru turned pink. "I don't think I could do seduction. Let's go with romance."

"Okay," Johnny said. "To begin with, nice candlelit dinner for two. With his favorite foods. Very low lighting aside from the candles."

Subaru nodded. "Sounds good so far."

Johnny continued to think. "How's your English? And his?"

"Mine's good, his is better," Subaru said.

"Then can we switch to English now? My Japanese is kind of limited."

Subaru nodded. "Sure," he said in English. "But why do you ask about his?"

"Have you heard of the movie The Princess Bride?" Johnny asked. He spoke much faster and sounded much more sure of himself now that he was in his native language.

"No."

"Find it. Rent it. Watch it. Trust me."

Subaru smiled a little. "All right. What else?"

Johnny frowned, running his hands through his hair. "I usually play seduction games, not twisted courtship. Let me think."

"It's okay, take your time," Subaru said. "I don't need to be home for hours, anyway."

"I don't know how to do romantic things," Johnny complained. "Liam doesn't go for walks on the beach. Liam goes for sex on the beach."

"Who's Liam?" Subaru asked.

"My boyfriend," Johnny answered. "But our relationship is hardly a traditional one."

Subaru smiled crookedly. "Like mine and Seishirou-san's is."

"Okay, good point. Do you like toy stores, Subaru?"

"Yes."

"Have him go shopping with you. End up at a toy store and play with stuff. It'll be cute. He'll love it. And make him buy you something big and expensive."

Subaru grinned. "That's a great idea."

Johnny kept thinking. "Long walks and PDAs. Or better yet, picnics."

"PDAs?" Subaru asked questioningly.

"Public displays of affection," Johnny said, and raised an eyebrow as Subaru turned the color of a tomato. "I'm guessing that's a problem."

"I'm not a very . . . publicly affectionate person," Subaru said.

"Oh." Johnny hid a smile. "But that's a good thing. Because if you don't like to do it, or at least you don't usually do it, it'll make more of an impression when you do."

Subaru pondered this logic. "What kind of PDA?"

"Holding hands. That seems very possessive. And hugs. I'd say arm around the shoulder but I think you're probably too short. Arm around the waist maybe."

"I can manage that."

"And kissing, of course."

"K-K-Kissing?"

Johnny fell out of his chair laughing. When he finally contained himself, he got back up. "Subaru, you're too cute. I see why this two-faced, slimy bastard likes you."

Subaru sighed, trying to suppress the blushing. "I've never kissed anyone before."

Johnny shrugged. "So practice."

Subaru choked. "On who?!"

Johnny suppressed the urge to say, 'Well, I could.' No point in scaring the kid. "No, never mind. First little pecks on the cheeks, then stand on your tiptoes and just kiss him."

"I'll die of embarrassment."

"I'll take that to mean you'll never give him a real kiss in public."

"No."

Johnny pondered. "Think he can feel jealous?"

"Probably. Maybe. Why?"

Johnny smirked. "Kiss someone else."

Subaru fell out of his chair.

"No, just kidding."

"Don't do that, you scared me!"

Johnny grinned. "Seriously, though . . . I'd be more than happy to . . ." He coughed. "Help out, if you needed anyone in that department."

Subaru smiled back tentatively. "Well, maybe you can come over for dinner sometime . . . that would be an interesting experiment."

"Be aware that if I think it's working, I'll be all over you. I have to get revenge for Hokuto somehow. Now I can't think of any more romantic stuff. How about the seduction?"

Subaru squeaked. "There will be no seduction!"

"Sure there won't," Johnny said. "Just let me give you a few tips and you can decide if you want to take them."

"Okay," Subaru said hesitantly.

Johnny grinned. "Okay, now I'm all set. Wait 'til he's sitting. Come up behind him, wrap your arms loosely around his shoulders. And say something, anything, right by his ear, softly. Exhale while you're right there. Maybe lick his ear just a tiny bit. The beauty of this is that you can claim it was all accidental if you work it right. Subaru . . . are you still breathing?"

Subaru looked like he was about to pass out. "You . . . you want me to . . ."

Johnny tried not to snicker.

"How is this supposed to be accidental?" Subaru finally managed.

"You could be asking what's for dinner. It doesn't matter if it's accidental. You can claim that it is."

"Yeah, he'll almost believe that . . ." Subaru muttered. "But . . . lick his ear?!"

"Either that or the little hairs on the back of his neck," Johnny said, nodding. "But the ear works better, since you're already right there."

"Why do I have to lick anything?" Subaru protested.

"Because he'll like it," Johnny said. "You just have to do it with finesse."

"Finesse?!"

"Yeah. Think cat, not dog, and you'll be all set. Anyway, you can claim it's accidental even if you both know it's not. Now you're playing a game."

Subaru covered his face with his hands. "How did I get talked into this conversation . . .?"

"To make the prick fall in love with you." Johnny eyed him. "That is what you want, right? Because to hear your story, cute isn't going to do it. You tried a year of cute, and it didn't work. It's time to change tactics. And this is about as different as you can get."

Subaru made a face.

"Anyway, that's lesson one. The lingering touch."

"What do I do after that?"

"Leave the room. See if you can get him to watch you. If you can, head for the sofa. Sway a little. Then sprawl out. As artistically as possible. Even if he doesn't do anything you'll look damned good."

"Um . . . what if he does do something?" Subaru suddenly looked terrified.

Johnny shrugged. "Go with it if you want. But I would suggest not. Push him away gently and tell him he can't have anything until he's decided he loves you."

"That's not really fair . . ."

"Are you interested in fair?"

"No."

"Okay then. That concludes Lesson One in Using Sex as a Weapon."

"What's lesson two?"

"Fruit."

Author's Note: Isn't Johnny great? If you're wondering why Hokuto would know an American prostitute, please refer to Annex/Smile. Feedback? Johnny would like feedback... and trust me, you don't want to deal with him when he's pissy ^_~ I'll try to get part five up soon... no promises though, editing's a bitch.