Till Death and Beyond

Disclaimer: Perhaps it got lost in the mail….

Author's Note: This is my first fic, so please be nice. Reviews please? Written while I was in a depressed mood, so don't read if you're looking for something happy.

Warning: Spoilers from a later episode (dun remember which one) and a mild swear



Suboshi sat dejectedly on a rock and looked into the steel-gray water of the lake. The rain made ripples that stretched endlessly, reflecting themselves. And his tears added to those reflected ripples, and added to the rain.

'Aniki,' he thought, 'Why did you leave me alone like this?' Tears came fresh and new, bringing new tracks onto his already soaked face. 'I'm so lonely without you…'

Why had Seryuu turned his back on Suboshi? Why had all four gods abandoned him? It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair. Amiboshi, the one person in the world that loved him, was gone. Suboshi buried his face in his hands, trying to stop the sobs that wracked his thin body. His brother…

"Aniki, please come back! Please…" He sobbed into his arms and it was harder and harder to breathe. No matter how he looked at it, Suboshi came only to the conclusion that life was too painful.

'Yui-sama…' He loved her; that he well knew. And though he loved her and took care of her, she hated him. He knew she did and wondered why. What had he ever done to deserve what was happening to him now?

He thought of Yui's cold voice and how she ignored him completely. She loved Nakago… Nakago was all that any of the others seemed to need.

A thought hit him suddenly. No one needed him, and they never did. No one cared for him. Suboshi looked into the gray lake, eyes sore from crying. It would be an easy answer, a way to end it all…

"Suboshi! Suboshi-kun, where are you?" A worried female voice was calling to him through the rain. It sounded to be coming closer, too… "Suboshi?"

He looked up. "Yui-sama?"

"Hai, Suboshi-kun. Daijobu ka?" She smiled gently at him and he saw a bit of what he loved about her. She was kind and gentle, but she had been hurt… But what she saw surprised her. Suboshi was shivering slightly from the rain and his face was vaguely flushed. His wet hair hung into his large blue eyes, which were wide and pleading. Lonely and sad and begging for someone to save him, someone to love him.

Seeing him so vulnerable, so child-like, hurt Yui. She kneeled down and hugged him, drawing his head to her shoulder. "Shh… Daijobu, Suboshi-kun." She whispered. "You can cry if you need to. Gomen ne… Gomen nasai"

And he did, he cried, as he had not when his parents died. Cried, as he hadn't for as long as he could remember. Yui cried with him, and in a way he was comforted. 'Ashiteiru, Yui-sama… Ashiteiru…'

When his tears finally slowed, he looked into her gentle face. "G-gomen, Yui-sama… I didn't mean-"

She smiled. "Daijobu." She shivered slightly. "Now c'mon. Let's go in; it's cold and you're going to get sick!"

Suboshi followed and smiled slightly at her back. "Arigato…"

[pic]

Suboshi chased Suzaku no Miko down the crowded street of Tokyo. She would finally pay for what she had done to Yui-sama. He would make her regret she had ever caused his love pain. And maybe, just maybe, Yui would love him back. Let him protect her forever…

He rudely shoved people out of his way. They might cause him to lose Miaka! Then he spotted her just ahead. 'I have you now, Suzako no Miko!' And he stuck out with his reisheiku, catching the teenage girl in their ropes. She screamed and fell, bound still.

"Yui-sama doesn't want you killed," he growled, closing his hands around the miko's slim throut. "But for Yui-sama's humiliation… For Yui- sama's humiliation, death is too good for you!" As the girl began to choke, the sound of honking horns distracted him and a voice angrily shouted his name.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Miaka pushed him away and ran to her brother in the crowd. He didn't care; he had Tamahome to deal with now. Standing up he regarded his opponent coolly, ignoring the romantic speech that Tamahome delivered to Miaka. Let them have their fun; neither would be alive tomorrow.

It seemed that his enemy was ready to fight. But this fight would be easy; Tamahome had no powers anymore… Suboshi struck out with his weapon, but each time Tamahome danced away. "Dammit, Tamahome! Stop dodging and fight me!"

And suddenly, the other seishi darted forward and kicked him in the face. Suboshi stumbled back slightly, watching in shock as Tamahome ran away. Nani?

Where was the coward going anyway? Then, 3 men in blue uniforms surrounded him.

"You have to come down to the station with us…" they began.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" He watched as the men fell before removing a bell from his weapon. "Follow him," he murmered. "Follow him until his body is filled with holes!"

Following at a slight jog, Miaka's voice shouted from behind him. "Matte, Suboshi!"

He turned, impatient with the delay. "Are you so eager to die?" He couldn't fail Yui after all….

Then Tamahome came running up, the missing bell trailing behind him in the air. Well, well… So the coward showed after all. He ran right up to Suboshi before jumping up and out of the way.

'Trying to attack me with my own meteor bell? I see right through you!' But before he could move, hands gripped his legs and arms. Looking down, he gasped in surprise. Those children! They were dead! He had killed them himself! And before he could move, the meteor bell punctured his chest and come out his back. He never saw where it stopped.

Falling to his knees, Suboshi gasped and found that he could not breathe. 'Aniki…'

"Suboshi-kun!" Yui's voice broke into his thoughts of his brother and Suboshi smiled into her wide blue eyes.

"Gomen… Yui-sama… I… failed you…" How hard it was to talk…

"Iie… You didn't fail me," she whispered, cradling his head in her lap.

"Wo …ai ni… Yui-sama. I'll love you forever. I'll… protect you… 'Till death and beyond…"

Suboshi's eyes drooped closed as he whispered to her. Yui gasped. "Suboshi?" When she got no response from the peaceful figure on the ground, tears trickled from her eyes. "Iie… IIE!!!!!"

She cried as his body disappeared. Why had she been so mean to him? Why had she ignored him while he had cared for her? When he had done nothing but love her? Why had she realized too late… "I love you too, Suboshi… I love you too."

Till death and beyond….