Warnings: Frustration, unrequited lust, minor confusion, and a cliffhanger.
Part Seven
Subaru moved from fruit to popsicles.
It was absolutely ridiculous, but Seishirou felt he might go insane from wanting him so badly. Somehow, Subaru managed to have an effect on him that no one else had ever had. It was the bizarre way the Sumeragi managed to combine innocence and sensuality, appealing to everything Seishirou had ever wanted in a person.
And Subaru always held him at arm's length.
By the end of the week, Seishirou was sick of it. If Subaru was going to continue to lead him on like this, it was time he stopped being a tease.
It was Friday and he'd had a long week, not to mention a tiring one. Subaru was in the kitchen cooking dinner, not even doing anything out of the ordinary other than what he was wearing. Even that wasn't too outrageous; just a white V-neck sweater and his black leather pants.
"Subaru-kun, we need to talk."
"Hm?" Subaru turned around to face him.
"I thought you might want to know that there's a flaw in your plan."
"Oh?" Subaru looked skeptical.
"I'm guessing at this point that your plan is to drive me crazy and make me decide that I'm in love with you and admit it so you'll stop torturing me."
"Generally speaking, yes."
"So let's say I was to say right now that I had decided I love you. How would you know I'm not lying?"
Subaru just smiled. "I have my ways, Seishirou-san. And right now, you would be lying. Obviously, since you wouldn't have asked if you planned on telling the truth."
"I didn't plan on saying I was in love with you," Seishirou told him.
"I know," Subaru said with a smile.
"Then did it occur to you that what you're doing is dangerous?" Seishirou asked in a low voice, moving a little closer.
Subaru blinked. "Dangerous?"
"It's not fair to tease a man the way you've been," Seishirou told him. "Sometimes it's enough to drive someone to drastic measures . . ." He reached out and toyed with a few strands of Subaru's hair.
"Oh, really." Subaru didn't sound impressed.
"Really." Seishirou's lips brushed over his. "Very dangerous." He leaned in for a kiss, pinning Subaru against the wall. "Especially with someone like me . . . who doesn't care if you get hurt . . ." He traced Subaru's jaw with one finger, kissing him more deeply, pushing Subaru's lips apart. He pulled away long enough to say, "You don't know what the real Seishirou-san would do . . ." His hand had worked its way under Subaru's shirt. He kissed him again, sliding his tongue between the Sumeragi's lips.
And jerked away as there was a sharp pain in his mouth, and he tasted blood.
That little bastard had bitten him.
Seishirou put one hand to his bleeding lip in surprise, then attempted to dodge as Subaru punched him squarely in the jaw. He stumbled backwards a step, then regained his balance.
"Don't you dare," Subaru hissed. "Don't you ever treat me like that again."
Seishirou rubbed his jaw. "Then stop being a tease," he retorted. "If you're ready to offer what you promise that's one thing, but if you're not, then stop it."
"Oh, having trouble controlling yourself, Seishirou-san?" Subaru asked furiously. "I'd think an emotionless man like you wouldn't be having any problems at all."
"Lust isn't the same thing as love," Seishirou snapped, unknowingly nearly quoting Johnny. "I could have ice water in my veins instead of blood and I'd still be having trouble controlling myself."
Subaru's eyes went wide.
Ice water and blood . . .
So that's what Johnny had meant.
Before Subaru could collect himself, Seishirou had turned on his heel and stormed out of the apartment.
Subaru slid to the floor, his shaking knees unable to hold him up any longer. After a long time spent trying to gather himself together, he got up and wrote a note to Seishirou. Then he simply curled up on the sofa in a ball of misery and waited to fall asleep.
****
Seishirou blinked and stared in astonishment. No, it just wasn't possible. Not at all.
On the other hand, it would explain an awful lot . . .
He crossed the room and tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Konban wa, Johnny."
Johnny whirled around and blinked, obviously surprised to see him. But he collected himself quickly. "Hi, Sei-san."
Seishirou ignored the nickname. "You work here? At a Soapland?"
Johnny shrugged. "We all have to eat."
Seishirou considered this. "So you're the one who's been giving Subaru tips this entire time." He didn't wait for Johnny to reply. "That explains a lot."
Johnny just smiled. "He learned from the best. Here to work off a little tension, Sei-san?"
"You could put it that way."
"What happened to your face?" Johnny asked, eyeing the growing bruise.
"Subaru-kun and I had a disagreement."
"That was quite a disagreement."
"I'm inclined to agree. May I ask a question?"
"You can always ask."
"How do you know Subaru-kun?"
"Mutual friends," Johnny replied.
"I see," Seishirou said. "If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."
****
Seishirou got home near dawn, exhausted and not feeling any better. Subaru was asleep on the sofa, looking miserable. He had left a very short note.
"You're right, lust isn't the same thing as love. If it was only lust, anyone would do."
Seishirou crumpled up the note and went to bed.
****
"I need to ask a favor," Subaru said, sitting down on the rocks next to Kakyou. He'd been visiting every week. "I'm putting the final part of my plan into action and I need a little help with the details."
"Oh?" Kakyou asked, watching the waves pensively.
Subaru smiled a little. "It's like this . . ."
****
Seishirou came home from work Monday with an aching head. He and Subaru had avoided each other like the plague over the weekend. Now he was confronted by the smell of dinner cooking and dim lighting. Not this again . . . "Tadaima, Subaru-kun."
Subaru poked his head out of the kitchen. He was wearing a sweater (which had once been Seishirou's and thus was far too big, and Seishirou knew he'd never get it back, but it was loose and looked good on Subaru, so who was complaining) and jeans. "Okaeri, Seishirou-san. I cooked dinner, then I think we need to talk."
Seishirou nodded silently, though he didn't look forward to it. Dinner passed mostly in silence.
Subaru clutched his mug of tea between both hands. "To begin with . . . I owe you an apology. It wasn't fair of me to lead you on like that when I couldn't offer what it looked like I was offering."
Seishirou accepted this silently.
"I honestly would do anything to make you love me . . . except that. That's something I can't give you unless you truly care for me."
Seishirou continued to drink his tea in silence.
Subaru looked at him, eyes open and honest. "I want to make you happy, Seishirou-san. And I thought it was working. That night . . . on the sofa . . . you looked so peaceful. I want . . . more times like that."
So did Seishirou, and he wanted it so badly that he could never admit it to the Sumeragi. He still said nothing.
"Seishirou-san," Subaru said quietly, "why don't you have emotions?"
Seishirou blinked; that had to be the last question he was expecting from Subaru. It was a perfectly reasonable question, however, and he wondered why Subaru had never asked it before. Then he tried to figure out exactly what he was supposed to say in reply. Eventually he just shrugged. "It's part of what being the Sakurazukamori is."
"But what happened to them?" Subaru pressed. "Are you just born without them? Do you get rid of them? Do you lock them up?"
"Subaru-kun," Seishirou said softly, "what you're asking is if you have any chance of ever getting through to me."
Subaru hung his head. "I-I suppose so, yes."
"Why are you asking me this now?" Seishirou asked, confused.
Subaru shrugged his thin shoulders.
He's starting to lose hope, Seishirou realized. That means that he might give up soon and things can go back to the way they should be.
He knew he should have felt satisfied, but instead there was only an aching sense of loss.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, his life would be empty without Subaru.
Best to tell the truth then, and give the younger man that one spark of hope.
"They're bound," he finally said. "It's a spell performed by the parents at birth. They're held by bonds of 'jitsu that keep them from interfering with being the Sakurazukamori."
"Oh," Subaru said, and Seishirou could see the hope blossoming in his eyes. That means if I could reverse the spell . . . they might be set free . . .
And Seishirou simply didn't have the heart to tell him that it would be impossible. The spell had held steady for twenty-five years, had been reinforced by years of training and being a cold-blooded assassin. Even if Subaru could manage to reverse it, the repercussions would be devastating, perhaps even enough to kill the older man.
But that trembling that he felt now, whenever Subaru was near . . . didn't that speak to the fact that the spell was weakening?
Seishirou didn't know.
Subaru stood and cleared his place, dumping the dishes in the sink, then picked up Seishirou's and did the same. "Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked quietly.
"Sure," Seishirou said. I'd like that, Subaru-kun . . . I'd like it very much.
Subaru pulled his white trenchcoat on over his clothes and handed Seishirou his coat. The two of them walked out into the cool night air. Subaru shivered a little and Seishirou moved closer, putting his arm around the younger man's shoulders. Subaru wrapped his arm around Seishirou's waist and leaned his head on his shoulder, and for a while the two of them walked in silence, simply content to be with one another.
Seishirou realized later that he was far too wrapped up in the Sumeragi's presence; what happened next might have been completely preventable, had he been paying attention. As it was, his instincts flared up with a sense of danger about two seconds before the gunshot.
He knew it was aimed at him - who on earth would want to kill Subaru? - but it never hit him. There was nothing except a dull thud as Subaru's body crashed into his own, a sharp gasp of pain, and then a wave of dizziness as both of them fell to the ground in a tangled heap. There was that smell again, lavender and aftershave, but underneath it was the scent of blood.
"Subaru-kun!" Seishirou quickly made it to his knees and scanned the area with his second sight, but the assassin, whoever he had been, was gone. Seishirou knelt next to Subaru, who was bleeding from a wound in his shoulder. Seishirou quickly estimated the height difference and where they had been standing and how much Subaru had moved. If that bullet had hit its intended target, it probably would have killed him.
"Subaru-kun!" The Sumeragi's eyes were closed, he had obviously passed out. Seishirou looked at the wound and determined that it wasn't life threatening, it was too low to have broken his collarbone but too high to have punctured a lung. Seishirou took off his jacket and pressed it against the wound, trying to slow the blood loss. It probably wouldn't be good for Subaru, but he ought to be able to move him safely, without causing further damage. Seishirou checked for an exit wound and saw that there was one; the bullet wasn't still inside Subaru's body. This was both good and bad; though it meant that it wasn't still doing harm, Subaru was losing blood twice as fast.
Seishirou scooped Subaru up in his arms and ran for a phone.
****
WAHAHAHAHA!!! CLIFFHANGER!!! ::coughs:: Erm, yeah. Sorry that this part is so short. I'll try to get more up soon.
