And, finally, here it is. You would not believe the trouble this scene caused me. Thanks to Meia, Ven and Murasaki for being there to help.

Warnings for this part: Spoilers for X, book 16. Violence. Angst. Pain.

A Little Bet
A Yume Sidestory.
Chapter Seven

It was another cold winter day. Subaru walked up to where Seishirou stood and leant over the bridge, staring down at the churning water below. Subaru was shivering slightly in the cool breeze.

"Are you cold, Subaru-kun?" said Seishirou, with a mild smile. "Here, have my coat."

The onmyouji gave him a look, and ignored the offer. "You killed somebody here, didn't you?" said Subaru, quietly.

"Yes."

"Who? Why?"

He shrugged. "Does it matter? They died."

Subaru frowned. "Even if they were bad people, they didn't deserve to die like that."

Seishirou raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"What you do to them... No matter how evil they are, it's too cruel."

"So, you think I should let them live? Subaru-kun, I get paid to be an assassin, not a preacher of morals."

The onmyouji glared. "Kill them if you must. But there's no need to torture their souls."

"Cute, Subaru-kun. But I can't. It's not the kind of person I am."

Subaru slapped him.

He put a hand to his burning cheek, raising his eyebrows to show his surprise. "My, aren't we feeling brave, Subaru-kun?"

Subaru just glared at him.

"But, you know, you really shouldn't mess with assassins. After all, it would be easiest thing in the world for me to..." He began drawing power from the Sakura into his hand, smiling pleasantly. He knew perfectly well that using it on Subaru would only result in his own death, but he was fairly certain Hokuto had never told her brother what her final spell was.

Besides, he felt like playing a bit. He let a predator's smile creep onto his face and took a step closer, so close that he would only have to lean forward a little to take the other's lips in his...

Subaru shifted his head out of Seishirou's reach, expression simply one of pain. Annoyed, Seishirou diverted his power back to the Sakura. He wasn't about to willingly let himself be killed, and especially not as the result of one of his victims. The tree wasn't entirely impressed with him, but it accepted the power hungrily.

What Seishirou hadn't been expecting was that Subaru would have seen his spell in formation, and decided to act against it. He ducked to the side, too late, as he felt the sickening crunch of Subaru's hand connecting with his chest.

Some detached part of him observed that Subaru had broken several of his ribs, and probably punctured a lung as well. It was certainly bleeding a lot. Subaru pulled his hand back, staring at the blood coating it in a kind of horror. "S-Seishirou..." he said, in a voice that was barely a whisper.

No honorific now, Subaru-kun? You surprise me, thought another part of him.

"I think you should know," he managed to get out, with a certain amount of difficulty because of his injury, "that your sister's final spell was that if I should ever try to kill you the same way I killed her, the spell would rebound."

He saw Subaru's eyes widen in shock, and then it was just too much effort to stay conscious and he fell into darkness.

~ * ~

Subaru returned home in a daze. Numbly, he unlocked his door and went inside. It was eerily silent. Faido was probably still with the landlady's daughter. He couldn't bring himself to go downstairs and collect her, and instead rang to inform her he couldn't pick her up that evening.

Subaru had rung for an ambulance as soon as he could think again, told them where they were, and then fled. He hadn't stopped running until he reached his apartment. He had no idea if Seishirou was alive or not, only that his hand was covered in blood.

He ran for the tap as soon as he saw one and washed the blood off, scrubbing at it until his skin was rubbed raw and stinging.

He should be hungry, but he couldn't bring himself to eat anything. His stomach rebelled violently at the thought of food.

How could I do that? he thought. How did I... Why did he let me...

He ran to the toilet and was violently ill.

Feeling dirty and worthless, he went back to the bathroom to shower and then collapsed into bed, expecting not to be able to sleep a wink.

In truth, he didn't so much fall asleep as pass out.

In his dreams, Subaru was warm and comfortable, held by reassuring arms. He opened his eyes, hoping the feeling wouldn't disappear. He blinked at his companion, now certain that this was a dream.

"Oh, Subaru..." said Hokuto, looking both apologetic and frustrated. "I wasn't expecting you to kill him by accident!"

He blinked at his twin. "H-Hokuto-chan..."

She took a step back and regarded him critically. "You look horrible. You should take better care of yourself."

He knew what was coming next.

"And your clothes! Didn't I teach you anything?!"

Subaru wasn't in the mood to laugh. "Oneesan... He isn't dead, is he?" he said, in a small voice.

Hokuto hesitated.

Subaru fell to his knees. "No..."

"He was in the Sakura," said Hokuto, quietly. "I'm sorry." She knelt beside him and held him loosely around the shoulders.

For the first time that day, Subaru broke down and cried.

--
*ahem*
Please do not kill me.
(I wish I could write longer chapters. Then I wouldn't feel so pathetic.)

Oh, and I'd like to thank Taryn for providing the original X translations on her wonderful site.