A Little Bet
A Yume Side Story
Chapter Six
Subaru woke up the next morning to find himself alone in the house. He wondered for a moment where Seishirou was, then decided he was probably better off not knowing and what did he care, anyway?
He went out to the kitchen to break his fast, only to discover it was, in fact, afternoon.
Shrugging, he attributed it to the stress of the previous day, and prepared himself something to eat all the same.
After he'd finished his meal, he went into the living room to practice reading with his altered vision. After about an hour, he got up and gently stopped the clock.
Someone knocked on the door. "Sumeragi-san?"
Curious, Subaru got up to answer it, after first making sure his bandage was covering his injury.
It was the landlady's daughter, complete with squirming puppy. He realised to his surprise that he hadn't even noticed Faido's absence since he got up.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Sumeragi-san, but Sakurazuka-san said you were at home but still injured, only I have to go out this afternoon, so I have to bring Faido-chan back... Is it okay?"
He nodded. "I'm very grateful to you for looking after her for so long," he said, quietly.
She giggled. "It's okay, really. I love puppies."
Subaru smiled tentatively. "I do, too," he confided.
She giggled again. "Well, I have to go. Bai bai, Faido-chan!"
Subaru watched her run down the hallway, and then turned back to his apartment and locked the door.
He carried Faido to the living room and sat down with her on his lap, gently ruffling her ears. "You know, I might as well have called you Hokuto," he said, conversationally. "Because I think you're the closest I'm ever going to get to a daughter."
The puppy jumped off his lap and ran to her ball, wagging her tail hopefully. He smiled indulgently at her. "Oh, come on. Bring it over here."
He occupied himself entertaining the puppy for a good ten minutes or so before his mind began to wander.
"Faido..." he said, quietly. "You'll listen, won't you? You won't judge me."
The puppy sat in front of him and tilted her head quizzically, winning still another smile from Subaru.
"It's nothing important. I just felt the need to talk to someone. About... you know. Seishirou-san.
"He's not the person I thought he was. He never was that person. It's only now that I'm really getting to know the kind of person Sakurazuka Seishirou is." He smiled, bitterly. "I suppose if you could talk you'd be asking me whether I love the real Seishirou." He looked off into the distance for a while. "And I wouldn't be able to answer you, because I don't know. I'm not sure I even know what love is, any more.
Faido jumped up and settled herself on his lap again. He petted her absently.
"I thought I knew at sixteen. But it can't have been true love, because it didn't change anything. Love is supposed to work miracles, right?" He felt a few tears trickle down his cheeks, and saw them splash onto the creamy fur. The puppy whined softly. "And I wonder if love is just a myth, or whether it's just for me that it doesn't exist...
"But most of all, I wonder why he didn't love me. Am I so unlovable?" The puppy licked the salt off his cheek, making him smile involuntarily. "I guess you don't think so." He was silent for a moment, patting the puppy. "And I have Tsuru, and Kamui, both of whom love me like family," he continued, quietly. The thought comforted him, a lot. He began to feel that even if this 'bet' with Seishirou ended badly, he might even be able to live on, if he made an effort.
He picked up Faido and lifted her up to meet his eyes. "Thank you," he said, softly, "for reminding me of the little loves."
The puppy licked him on the nose.
"You know, at first I thought I would just stay away from him for the rest of my time on this earth. He put out the bright light in my life, I didn't think I could bear to see him again.
"But then I stopped hurting and started thinking, and I began to realise that he must have some bright light in his life, too, and I wondered if it had been me.
"So I came back. To find out if I was."
~ * ~
Seishirou was somewhat concerned that the only social life he seemed to have was going out for icecream with an extremely twisted teenager that had a penchant for sadism.
He still wasn't entirely certain about the whole affair with Subaru's eye. It bothered him, for reasons he couldn't quite make out.
But, still, it was best to keep on Fuuma's good side. And he did enjoy the icecream.
He wondered what Fuuma would see as his Wish. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know.
"I'm sorry about your building," said Fuuma. "I assure you, it wasn't deliberate."
Seishirou was surprised for a moment, since so much time had passed since his building collapsed he'd almost forgotten the cause.
He wondered why Fuuma brought it up now.
Seishirou gazed at him, evenly. For a moment, he could have sworn that Fuuma was lying. But why would he lie about that, of all things? "It's quite alright," he said, shrugging. "I'd almost forgotten about it."
"And you seemed to find yourself a new place quite quickly, didn't you?" said Fuuma, musingly. "I wonder about you and that onmyouji."
"We knew each other," said Seishirou, with dignity, "a long time ago."
"He knows the Seals," observed the boy.
"His cousin is the Head of the Sumeragi Clan." Seishirou shrugged.
"Is he a threat?"
Seishirou laughed. "Subaru couldn't kill someone even if he wanted to. He has a 'kind heart'."
"He Marked you, though."
Seishirou hadn't realised that Fuuma had noticed that. He shrugged again.
"You must have a very interesting past, if he felt the need to do that. I don't think this is just the rivalry between Sumeragi and Sakurazukamori."
"If you know that about his family, you must also know that I am the one that killed his sister," said Seishirou, coldly. "What is it that you wish to know, 'Kamui'?"
"I want to know," said Fuuma, coolly, "if he is going to hinder our cause."
"No," said Seishirou. "I rather think you put an end to his inclination to mess with fate." He threw the paper wrapping of his cone into the bin. "I have a job to do. I'll see you around."
He took care of his job in his usual quick, cold manner. When it was all over, he wiped the blood off his gloves distastefully. He just couldn't find any satisfaction in death, recently.
Perhaps it was that he could sense the end of the world coming. There really wasn't much point in killing for the future of Japan when the people of Japan had no future.
Or perhaps it was something else.
He thought of his Subaru-kun, stuck alone in his apartment for the day, most-likely knowing where Seishirou was and what he was doing. He knew Subaru didn't approve of the Sakurazukamori's use of onmyoujitsu. Of course he didn't, being the former Head of the Sumeragi clan and a wielder of white magic.
He wondered what had brought that particular line of thought on.
When he got back to the apartment, he discovered that Subaru had apparently fallen asleep while sitting on the sofa. He was half-inclined to leave him there like that, but then he remembered Subaru's injury and grudgingly bent over to pick the onmyouji up.
Subaru didn't wake, not even when Seishirou tucked him into bed.
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