He had been foolishly enjoying his illusions of some what domestic bliss with Subaru. That brief moment when Subaru had let him cook for him and smiled a warm honest smile when he found Rocky nervous offering to befit his consumption, he had invented a future. He had seen the glimmer of hope, perhaps a false hope, that maybe he could find some way to fit into Subaru's life.
"Subaru?" he turned around to find the onmyouji gone. Lost in the mad flood of people hurrying past the grocery store. He scanned the crowd, certainly the green eyed Sumeragi wouldn't be that hard to find, he didn't exactly know how to blend in.
Finally his eyes pinpointed a mix of the blackest black and the whitest white that he identified to be Subaru Sumeragi and...
He was talking to another man Rocky had never seen before.
Rocky shrugged and put the orange back for the time being. Wading through the crowds like it was a mass of murky black water he called out "Subaru! Subaru! Hey Subaru!!"
--------------
He skidded across the field, frantically panting as he fumbled and tumbled on further. He had to get as far away from other people as possible. He really didn't want anymore deaths on his conscious, especially innocent bystanders.
As his boots ground up against the cold soil he stopped and swung his vision over his shoulder. Green eyes searched the shadow laden field for any trace of what he could feel approaching. Silently he cursed his psychic sense for not being a damn bit more specific about these things.
He recognized the feel of the spell as it was released and his eyes moved away from the field of barley to the field of stars
A dark eagle shadow was dancing with the night, soaring towards him with deadly intent.
The hunt was on.
With a sharp glare he prepared himself.
The bird dived-- a move so obvious it was easily avoided-- and the shikigami sizzled with velvet streaks as it melted up against his shield. "More games," he thought bitterly. "I know I'm not ready, you know I'm not ready, but you have to remind me of our match."
His eyes snapped to the right, another dark bird had sprung into the deep navy sky. But this one seemed to tease him, looping, curving, never really turning fully into that strike. It was surprisingly lazy, twisting about carelessly like a piece of paper in the wind. Subaru wondered if Seishirou was mocking him.
He took out a fan of ofuda. If the shikigami didn't want to get around to attacking he was just going to bring it down.
Then ... his psychic sense screamed and he dove back just before a second bird zoomed past. "Damnit," he hissed, casting the ofuda after that bird instead. A decoy? No...
He turned his attention back to the still airborne eagle, which had casually drifted closer by now. It was much bigger than the others, Subaru realized. Much, much bigger.
In fact it wasn't a bird at all.
"Kamui!" he cried out, more in shock than anything else. Damnit, of all things...
The boy blinked at the sound of his name-- a weird confusion jarring his mind from the thrill of flight-- and looked to the Earth below. The recognition was instantaneous. "Subaru!" his face lit up. He had thought he would never see the onmyouji again. After the man had giving him his black gift, he had disappeared without a trace, leaving the boy to fend for himself.
Until now, where he was suddenly below Kamui in a field like he had been waiting for him.
Kamui curved to catch a more favorable air stream, one that would take him to Subaru easily. The boy had absolutely no clue what he was flying into the middle of and, other than attack him, Subaru wasn't sure how to get the creature to stay away.
There was a screech in the air and Subaru turned to find another one of Seishirou's birds had take to the air. Kamui noticed it as well, and he shot Subaru a questioning look before batting his wings and changing his course completely, curving up and over the wind into the deepest of the night's sky. He was certainly out of earshot now, but his position was clearly one taken to observe the shikigami.
The bird sensed the shift in Subaru's focus almost immediately and with a cruel sense of curiosity dove at the black airborne creature rather than the Sumeragi.
Before a warning could be shouted Kamui had dodged the dark bird, rolling almost effortlessly in the air. He pulled his wings around his body and twirled like a graceful figure skater as the bird whooshed past, dropping a few feet with the spin but a stretch of the black leather was able to stabilize his glide with ease.
Subaru could hear him laugh as the dark bird missed him.
Neither of them expected the shikigami to turn so quickly. And before the boy could smile reassuringly at Subaru it dived again. This time knocking Kamui right out of the air.
With a sharp yelp Kamui lost his sense of balance in the sky and fell out of the air quickly. His wings, though they fought and struggled, could not successfully take back the breeze.
The ground burned his skin, cold and unforgiving. He landed with a sharp crack.
"Shit," Subaru cursed running towards the fallen boy.
The shikigami had only been playing with Kamui, Subaru soon realized. It could have very easily have pierced the boy's body, but there was not even the slightest trace of a wound made with magic. Seishirou had not meant to hurt him, but the fall had not been so gracious ... he had plummeted onto his right wing, which was now broken. The leathery black skin was divided with streams of fresh blood running down its aerodynamic plain and into the dark soil below. Kamui was already to his knees, but the pain from the injury kept his hands to the ground. He groaned.
Subaru's eyes darted to the sky, the eagle swung around leisurely before landing gracefully on the shoulder of its master who had finally made his appearance only a few feet away.
Seishirou took his time lighting his cigarette before he looked up at the Sumeragi casually. His one white unseeing eye caught the moonlight with a gentle rounded flash and it detracted from the friendly smile he offered the onmyouji.
He said nothing, only appeared to be waiting. The eagle had faded away into nothingness with a light 'caw'.
Subaru's eyes moved back to Kamui, the injured boy shivering in pain, then back to Seishirou.
He did not need to be told something twice.
With as much care as possible he scooped the boy into his arms and ran as fast as he could.
Nothing followed him into the night, the game was over for now.
--------------
The faint noise of car horns and TVs from the subdued city were muffled by the breeze that swept into Subaru's room. The room glowed navy, starlight and moonlight mixing with the black shadows and making everything seem monotonous. Monotonous except for a small spec of glowing amber eating away at a cigarette pressed in-between the delicate slender fingers of the figure lounging carelessly on the bed.
Subaru smiled, his skin was the same color as the clouds-- a soft dreary bluish white. He was shirtless again, his light skin seemed to melt and blend into the white sheets beneath him. That made the eye strike the dark jeans first, accentuating the lower parts of the Sumeragi's body. A suggestive image, Seishirou wondered if he did that on purpose.
The fingers lifted the cigarette to the thin lips. The eyes drifted shut briefly and the figure exhaled. Then they open again with a flick of the fingers as ash was knocked from the cigarette.
Another smile.
"Seishirou-san," he greeted.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
The onmyouji shook his head, "wasn't expecting you tonight."
"Oh?"
"Just enjoying some time with my thoughts," Subaru said smoothly, eyes drifting back to the cigarette smoldering in his hand. Seishirou was about to reply when they snapped up again and promptly silenced him. "Seishirou-san, why do you keep coming back?"
"Don't you enjoy my company Subaru-kun?"
Subaru smirked slightly, attention turning back to the dying cigarette. "Of course, but I'm curious. If you know you have very little chance of winning, why keep coming back?"
"You're one to talk," Seishirou chuckled.
The cigarette met it's untimely end and Subaru rose from his bed. His feet patting softly on the hardwood floor and he walked towards the assassin. The room was too dark to really see anymore than a vague outline, but Seishirou could hear the Sumeragi's weight shifted across the floor boards.
He stepped aside awkwardly as it became clear the onmyouji intended the walk right through him. Watching the thin body move silently into the doorway then stop and threw a glance back at him.
"Can I offer you like anything?"
Seishirou snatched Subaru's wrist. He stared at it for a long time, thumb running over the veins ... blue trails across the skin almost like stains on the flesh.
"Is there something wrong Seishirou-san?"
He stepped into the doorway, the air between them becoming warm and tense as the Sumeragi's eyes stared impassively at his face, waiting for Seishirou's hand to release him. Seishirou tilted his head to the side slightly, lowering his chin. His breath curved into Subaru's mouth before their lips met in a gentle kiss.
It surprised Subaru because it seemed almost nervous and that within itself was a totally absurd idea. He moved forward, deepening the kiss curiously-- noting a second of hesitation in Seishirou before the assassin's arms seized him, hands grasping and searching the soft skin at the same time. Subaru's back was soon pressed up against the frame of the door, wooden scratching against skin.
It was different somehow. These kisses were not possessive. Not desperate in the sense Subaru usually understood from Seishirou, just needy.
The energy died slowly, kisses becoming weaker and slower as Seishirou appeared to be thinking something through carefully. His hands slipped down to rest on Subaru's hips, his cheek pressed lightly against Subaru's temple. For a moment they danced in a room without sound to a melody it seemed Subaru couldn't hear. He waited, trying to decrypt the signals from Seishirou's bizarre behavior.
His hand was lifted to Seishirou's lips the soft moist flesh dragging across the back of the thumb, brushing over the joint. Seishirou's finger's were cupped around his wrist, the assassins thumb pressed into his palm and the hand lay weak and submissive in the hold ... allowing those lips to skate over the skin lightly. A brief hissed from the Sumeragi and his fingers tighten around Seishirou's hold as the stars glowed softly.
He lead Subaru away from the door, an odd smile on his face, kissing the onmyouji again and again. His hand slide up Subaru's arm and brushed around his neck. More kisses down his chest and across his collar bone.
"Seishirou--ack!" Subaru words were caught off as he was pulled down into the bed and nearly fell on top of Seishirou in the process. His arms managed to catch himself an inch above Seishirou's body and he finally allowed his confusion about the situation to slip through.
The older man smiled, if he had ever stopped smiling in the first place, and his hand glided under Subaru's chin to lift it into another kiss.
--------------
Rocky's broken wing was as good as new in two days. A remarkable recovery for him, an impossible recovery for anyone else. A tell tale sign that like the wings he was beginning to master use of his power.
Rocky stood, watching his reflection in the mirror with fascination. His eyes glanced back to Subaru, who was leaning against the window frame ... watching the proceedings. The boy smiled weakly and flexed his right wing gently, expecting great pain.
When he felt nothing more than a tenseness from muscles that hadn't been used for a while, relief flooded his face with a soft sigh.
He looked at Subaru's reflection questioningly, it nodded for him to continue to test the wing's movement.
Back ... forth ... out ... in. It cramped a little when he tried to bring it close enough to fold on his back, but that was not unbearable
"Good as new, better than new!" the boy chirped in approval.
Subaru nodded, "I was impressed back there."
Rocky shrugged shyly, a slight blush creep up his cheeks. "With me?"
"Aa, I had no idea you would develop such a talent for flight ... did you teach yourself how to do it?"
Rocky nodded, "It's not hard."
The boy wobbled as he walked, feet still uneasy with the relatively new feature of his body. But even with them drawn up against his back he was clumsy. Rooms they stayed in were never made for such creatures. Enclosed spaces were not favorable to him.
"You should withdraw them," Subaru murmured.
"Huh?" Rocky turned to meet Subaru's green eyes.
"I thought about this before, since those wings are only an advantage in flight. But I wanted to wait until the right one had healed. You should pull them back inside."
"I can do that?"
Subaru nodded, "a simple matter of shifting energy ... And to someone with your strength it shouldn't be difficult."
Rocky blushed again and shrugged indifferently. "I don't know how ... show me?"
With a soft smile Subaru approached. Rocky's eyes flutter closed as the Sumeragi's finger tips pressed gently on his back. "Relax, feel you body's energy moving ... now focus on your wings and that buzz of raw power through them ... And ... pull them in as you normally would but this time draw their power all the way into your center."
The boy frowned in concentration and struggled with the instructions. Subaru's hands reached out with his own strength and guided him gently through the motions. He didn't not do the work for Rocky, only pushing softly to show the boy what words were failing to capture, how the power should be directed and such.
The wings folded gracefully and melted into the boy's back.
The heavy mass of bone and muscle would not be diffused so easily and left ridges across Rocky's smooth shoulder blades. Subaru frowned and pressed down on them a bit, realizing that if they were compacted any further it would be difficult for the boy to draw them on his own. "Okay," he shrugged. "Now let them out again..."
The creature stared back at him blankly.
"Just do the same thing, only in reverse," Subaru offered.
It took Rocky a few moments of considering before he decided to give it a try. And without Subaru's help the great mass that emerged slowly from his back was wracked with jarring movements and little twitches. Decidedly clumsy, Subaru decided, but it was hard to do for someone with no magickal training.
Five minutes later the wings had fully emerged and Rocky frowned as he moved them a little.
"Problem?"
"They're sore," he complained. "I think I pulled a muscle."
Subaru couldn't withhold the snicker. "That has largely to do with the way you brought them out. Don't rush so much and don't try to move them until they've fully emerged, just let it go naturally. When you're more familiar with the process you'll be able to release them quickly."
But boy frowned and tried drawing them back as Subaru had shown him, taking care to be slower this time. It took longer, but the movements were smoother and easier just as Subaru has said they should be. He beamed and turned around to gaze proudly at his bear back.
"Hey cool," the boy's face shifted in wonderment. He smiled and looked up at the Sumeragi. "Did you do that?"
Subaru shook his head, "nope, that was your own unique sense of fashion I imagine."
"Cool," he looked back at the markings on his back. "I've always wanted a tattoo..."
--------------
It was an advertisement that had lure Subaru clumsily away, although he could not remember exactly what it was. It made him think that perhaps he had not just wandered away from Kamui and his grocery shopping but had been cut from the herd of people like a cow to be roped. But in any case, something about the glimmer in the ad-- whatever it was insisting he must have-- pulled his attention enough for him to take a few steps closer for a better look.
A few steps soon turned into a half a block...
And when he felt the warm arms wrap around him from behind and the weight pushing against his shoulders and back he was not startled in the slightest. Perhaps some part of him was answering to this person's call. Perhaps they would always be drawn to each other. Not like a moth to the flame, but like two colliding atoms-- mutual self-destruction.
"Okaeri nasai, Subaru-kun." Seishirou purred in his ear.
He did not respond at first, some piece of his mind was still mesmerized. Instead he kept staring up at the ad. He would later wish he could remember exactly what it had been for.
"You've come back ... back to my Tokyo," the older man observed. He released Subaru from the hug and put a more socially acceptable space in between them.
"Yes," Subaru said, nodding away his trance. His voice was steady but slightly disorientated. He glanced at Seishirou briefly, not pushing the man away but not acknowledging his touch either. "I have."
"Subaru! Subaru! Hey Subaru!!"
Seishirou glanced around the onmyouji, lowering his sunglasses subtly with a gentle smile. His one live eye had a wild glint sparkling through it as it rooted the speaker from the faces of the crowd. "Well hello ... Subaru you have a fangirl..." he cooed.
The Sumeragi scowled and glanced in the direction of Kamui's voice. "I think you should get your eye checked Seishirou-san, that's a boy."
Seishirou blinked as he watched Kamui weave in closer. "So it is," he mumbled. Then chuckling softly, "how darling, I approve Subaru-kun ... you have excellent tastes."
Subaru's scowled deepen, "don't be ridiculous."
The Sakurazukamori pushed his glasses back up with a terrible smirk. "You're such a helpless romantic Subaru-kun. Or is this more of that Sumeragi purity nonsense?" He shot a brief glance over to the boy struggling towards them. "Doesn't look like he'd mind, such a pretty little thing."
"Seishirou-san--"
"Oh I wouldn't be jealous Subaru-kun, it's one of the qualities I find so charming about you, the ability to love everyone."
Subaru opened his mouth to respond only to be cut off as Kamui exploded through the crowd. "Subaru!" he exclaimed, bouncing slightly as he settled down next to the two men. His cheeks were flushed, his hair tousled in slight wispy waves, and his breath came out in soft gasps.
"Kawaii neh?" Seishirou commented to Subaru as he lit a cigarette.
Subaru bristled, causing Seishirou to laugh and nudge him in the ribs.
"Well Subaru-kun, aren't you going to introduce me to your," he turned his gaze back to the boy with a soft predatory smirk. Leaning close enough for his breath to curve in Subaru's ear he murmured, "friend?"
"Subaru-...kun?" Kamui muttered, staring at Seishirou with shattered eyes. He felt a tinge of jealously bubble up. So this was that person so special to Subaru.
"Aa that's right," Seishirou smiled at the boy. He glanced back at Subaru, "and since our mutual friend here doesn't seemed inclined to courtesy right now... who might you be?"
"I'm ...Ka--Rocky." Kamui said firmly. He ignored the way Subaru's expression changed as he lied. The way one eyebrow lifted in a question that would not be spoken.
"A pleasure to meet you I'm sure."
"And who are you?" Kamui asked coldly.
"An old friend of Subaru-kun's," Seishirou explained, exhaling some streams of smoke. "Seishirou Sakurazuka. And how are you and my Subaru-kun acquainted?"
"Seishirou-san," Subaru hissed.
"We're ... living together!" Kamui snorted proudly. It was true, they were, even if the implications of the phrase did not quite match the reality. He pushed his shoulders back and glared coldly at Seishirou with a certain matter-of-factness that the Sakurazukamori found highly amusing.
Subaru choked, his eyes snapping open. "Kamu--"
Seishirou smiled, completely ignoring Subaru-- who would have only spoiled the fun, "Oh is that so?." He bent down a little so that he was more on Kamui's level. "I didn't realize the situation. Might I infringe a little and ask you a personal question?"
"Ahhhh...okay.." the boy nodded.
"Is Subaru-kun a good lover?"
Kamui's confidence stumbled, he had not expected such a question. If he continued the misinterpretation Subaru would likely be furious, but if he backed up and explained that he and Subaru were not technically lovers he felt that this 'Seishirou-san' would take advantage of the opportunity to restate whatever claim he so obviously had over Subaru's heart. He squirmed under Seishirou expecting stare. "Well... Ummm..."
The older man's gentle laugh interrupted his fumbling. "Well Subaru-kun you certainly know how to pick them, he's almost as adorable as you."
Subaru grunted in response, before clasping his hand fiercely around Kamui's arm and snapping him to his side. "You'll excuse us Seishirou-san. I have things to discuss with my lover"
Without waiting for Seishirou's answer, Subaru angrily dragged Kamui back down the street.
-------------
Seishirou watched the slumbering Sumeragi curiously. He couldn't explain it but somehow something had changed about the younger man. There was a certain glow about him he couldn't quite identify, but it transfixed him. He could watch Subaru sleep forever, study the gentle curves of his body all day, immerse himself in the memory of their bodies intertwined like two roots of the Sakura over and over and over again.
For some reason the Sakura's had not infringed upon his thoughts lately. In spite of the fact he kept her well feed as always and there was no reason for her to push into his attention, it bothered him because he could not remember a time when he could not feel the Sakura's observance.
His hand gently stoked Subaru's hair and he was very pleased when the Sumeragi mumbled something in his sleep and shifted closer to the touch.
He was so very beautiful. The most beautiful creature Seishirou had ever encountered, he wished he could figure out what it was that made him seem slightly different. What it was that held Seishirou's attention so. His mind drifted back to their most unusual night, this night. Why had that felt so--
The reality hit him hard. Nothing had changed about Subaru, something had changed about him. So slowly that Seishirou had not even noticed when the sex stopped being a battle and started being a request. He smiled, then laughed and looked down at the sleep Sumeragi one more time before brushing his fingers under Subaru's cheek and awakening him.
The dazed green eyes opened slowly and for the first time Seishirou realized how long Subaru's eyelashes really were. Those eyes looked up questioningly at Seishirou as words began to form on his tongue. Seishirou silence them, fingers running down the cheek and across the chin, the lips lowering slowly as if for a kiss.
Subaru leaning up to meet them, but just before they touched that kiss turned into a whisper, "Now ... it's your turn."
Subaru blinked, he was about to ask Seishirou what he meant when his mind screamed from within his head. His eye grew wide and he barely had enough time to roll off the bed before Seishirou strike would have killed him.
"S-seishirou?"
He had hit the ground with a hard 'thump', he could feel the burn of bruises forming already ... but he didn't have the time to think about that. Seishirou was already perched on the edge of the bed like a mountain lion.
Without thought Subaru scrambled up to his feet just before Seishirou pounced. He stumbled a little, practically throwing himself across the room, reaching the door with a relieved sigh. As if he had touched homebase.
Seishirou was taking his time, brushing off a slight daze his got from hitting the floor as his prey melted through his fingers. He rubbed his head, listening to Subaru's desperate gasps from the other side.
He would let the Sumeragi recover, because he loved him.
Seishirou smiled bitterly, yes it was finally true. This feeling of warmth and peace, this was love he was sure of it.
"Why? What's wrong?" the Sumeragi's voice cracked with the words.
Seishirou smiled brightly at Subaru, approaching him slowly in order to soothe him away from flight. "Wrong? Nothing's wrong ... everything's going precisely to plan."
Even with the open door Subaru felt as if he was trapped against a wall, with each step Seishirou took making the room a bit smaller, a bit darker. Then finally Seishirou was right in front of him, body so close he could feel the man's foot rubbing next to his. Seishirou looked disinterested, his eyes filled with a dull contempt as if Subaru was something so infinitely small and inferior his thoughts were of absolute no consequence.
"Oh God no..." Subaru thought. "Please don't do this to me again, not again. It was different this time..."
"You said it yourself Subaru-kun, you expect to die here. Has that changed?"
"No."
The wolfish smile replaced the look of scrutiny in Seishirou's face, "then what's the problem? You were so good at this game before.."
Subaru swallowed the lump in his throat, he was afraid-- this seemed to amuse Seishirou-- he had never been afraid before. Never with Seishirou that is. Confused, hurt, sad, but always with the dull acceptance that fear would do nothing to change anything. He was not sure how fear would help him here...
"I want to know why ... I thought..."
Seishirou hand cupped his cheek, his eyes drawing further and further into Subaru's fear until their foreheads were pressed together. "Subaru...you.."
He could feel the hot breath across his lips before the kiss began. It was not passionate but it could have been given time. Subaru shied away for only moment, then he reach up into it as if chasing that part of Seishirou he had knew before with his lips. He almost lost himself. He almost didn't realize that the warmth burning in his heart not was not from his heart but outside it.
Subaru pushed away and stumbled out of the room. "No!!"
Desperate breaths, he had to fight to pump air into his lungs as his emotions choked his strength. "No! That isn't true! If that was true ... you wouldn't... Seishirou please don't..."
The assassin took two steps forward, staring down at Subaru as the Sumeragi scooted nervous inches across the floor. "You'll thank me later," he replied coldly. "For releasing you of all this. There's only pain in it."
Subaru slide back a little further, if he could only keep Seishirou from getting too close, maybe then he could talk some sense into him. "That's not true. I can't allow myself to believe you believe that. I'm happy here."
Seishirou crouched between the Sumeragi's legs, as if it was some stray cat on the floor and not his terrified lover. His smile was soft but distinctly sad. "You've never lied to me before, breaks my heart to hear that now."
"It's not a lie..."
"Ah, but it is, but it is. You could never be happy like this..." his fingers traced over the star on Subaru's right hand. "And neither could I."
"We could make it work..." Subaru offered pathetically, pulling himself back a little more as the assassin stood again.
Seishirou closed his eyes and smiled, "not like this ... you really don't understand do you?"
Subaru shook his head, "please don't Seishirou... It doesn't have to be like this."
There was a dark sigh as the Sakurazukamori said, "yes it does."
And with that, Subaru bolted-- grabbing his trenchcoat to shelter his naked body and running out of his own apartment without even looking back.
He did not go far obviously, he had nothing with him save for his coat and a pack of cigarettes hidden within that. Nor did he expect to be able to hide or run from Seishirou, but he had to run ... he was so scared. Not of his death but of what he was doing to he whom he loved, Seishirou wanted to kill him ... perhaps more than he ever had before.
The tears were hot down his face as he hid under the stair well, dark shadows to clothe him from sight. It would be quite easy for Seishirou to find him if he really wanted to. And true Subaru did not even really want to hide from him in the first place, he just didn't know what to do. He couldn't fight back against Seishirou, and yet if he used the same strategy he used in bed ... Seishirou would kill him.
He drew his knees up to his chest, he didn't understand... What was he suppose to do?
He was trapped in a impossible situation, with no course of action his mind could decide upon save for one carnal instinct...
Run.
It was the only solution. He could not find a better happiness without Seishirou, he could not allow Seishirou to kill him. He needed more time. Perhaps with time Seishirou would change his mind, or he would figure something out. Some way to keep Seishirou from destroying both of them.
Run.
-------------
"Subaru... Subaru-Ow! Subaru you're hurting me!!!" Rocky yelped as the onmyouji darkly dragged him down the street. "Ow, hey ... Subaru!"
Subaru whipped Rocky's light frame around so that the boy was in front of him and clamped down on his shoulders so hard Rocky flinched. "If you ever, ever do anything like that again you better find another place to stay."
Subaru's stare was acidic, filled with an anger that Rocky had never seen before in the kind onmyouji. He averted his eyes, casting his stare down to the ground. "I'm sorry ... I shouldn't have--"
"No you shouldn't have. Maybe you thought that was funny, but I didn't." He raised his finger harshly to the boy. "You and I will never have that sort of relationship."
Rocky flinched, if his heart had just been broken he was a foolish boy indeed. He knew that there was too much between them, he and Subaru had an impossible wall that would always stand right in the center of their relationship. But to hear Subaru so angry about it made it feel like a rejection. "I know," he mumbled. "I'm sorry Subaru..."
He was not going to cry, he couldn't cry. Please God don't let him cry.
Subaru soften a bit, but not enough to melt his eyes, still empty and harsh. "He could have hurt you ... he might still. It's dangerous to be close to me Kamui, and even more dangerous to tell him that you are-- it's dangerous to be important to me."
"Who is he?" Rocky asked softly.
"The Sakurazukamori," Subaru whispered. It was the first time Rocky had heard that dreaded title.
