More of Obnoxious!Tree in this part ^_^

Part Five

Mitsuki could smell blood, and she found this vaguely alarming, as it was not a smell she often woke up to. She opened her eyes slowly, and moaned a little as her memory set in.

She forced herself to calm down and analyze her surroundings. She was in a small room, maybe ten feet square. Tsuki and Sakura were on the other side of the room, asleep in a pile. Mitsuki looked closely and saw that their hands were tied in front of them, as were their feet. Obviously whoever was keeping them didn't think too highly of their magic. Then again, with Mitsuki's block cast on the area, it would be difficult for them anyway.

She, on the other hand, had her hands tied behind her back, and her ankles tied to her wrists. She could barely move, other than to squirm around so she could have a look at where she was.

The day before was pretty blurry. She remembered Subaru leaving. She remembered coaxing the kids up to their room to read for a while until Subaru got back. She also remembered seeing a very large, very ugly man looming in front of her.

So what did I do? Screamed like a little girl. Mitsuki rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. After that, things were gone completely for a while; she assumed one of them had hit her. That might explain the smell of blood.

She had an extremely blurry, confused memory of being told to block her and her children's aura so Subaru wouldn't be able to find them. She remembered explaining to the men that her magic wasn't very skilled, she didn't know how to block her aura, she'd have to settle for blocking the magic in the area entirely.

Apparently, they'd liked that idea even better and told her to go ahead.

She'd bluffed.

The tallest man, and quite obviously the leader, had traced a pentagram in the air and sent something flying at her, so quickly that she couldn't even see what it was. All she could do was duck.

Then he smiled and told her, quite politely, that she hadn't done it correctly and she had better give it another try, or else her children would suffer for it.

So she'd done it correctly, and in the end the confusion had made her so dizzy that she'd passed out again.

But now she was awake, and fully awake at that.

So if they have magic, or at least the tall one does, why didn't they use it to capture us? she wondered.

The answer came quickly enough. They hadn't needed to. They'd had the element of surprise on their side, and using their own magic would have left a residue that Subaru may have been able to trace.

But why didn't they put the blocks up themselves? Why make me do it? I'm only a second-rate onmyouji, just enough to ensure it got passed onto the kids, I don't have any formal training at all. Why me?

That, she realized after a moment, was also fairly simple. If Subaru wanted to find her, he was going to have to break the block. That would cause pain, and perhaps even mental damage, to whoever had put the block in place.

Subaru would not risk hurting his wife.

Damn, it's almost perfect, Mitsuki thought, closing her eyes again. Who the hell are these people?

"Mommy?" Sakura's voice was only just above a whisper. "Mommy, are you awake?"

"I'm awake, sweetie," Mitsuki said, just as softly. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I . . . I think I'm okay . . ."

"Tsuki?"

"Yeah, me too." Her son's voice was faint, but steady. Mitsuki felt a well of pride for her children.

"Don't be scared, kids. I'm sure your dad is looking for us right now. He won't let us down."

"We're not scared," Sakura said firmly.

"Then just hold on." Mitsuki repeated it, not sure if she was saying it to reassure herself or her children. "Hold on."

****

"Subaru-kun?"

"Nnn."

"Subaru-kun, you need to get up now."

"Wanna sleep." Subaru rolled over, mummifying himself in the blankets and half-burying his head under the pillows. "Five more minutes . . ."

::Ah, domestic life with your Subaru-kun.::

::Will you shut up?!:: Seishirou ground his teeth in frustration. Sometimes he wanted to take an axe to the Tree. Then again, it had a habit of keeping him from getting too gloomy about Subaru, and he supposed he ought to be grateful, so he was.

In an extremely tempered, limited sort of way.

He had finally let Subaru sleep at about four in the morning, then collapsed on the sofa himself. The Tree, more accurate than any alarm clock, had woken him punctually at nine.

::Great, now you're comparing me to appliances. What next?::

Seishirou rolled his eyes. "Subaru-kun, it's nine o'clock. Your sister is going to be calling any minute. We have work to do. Wake up."

Subaru finally sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck," he mumbled, then his eyes went wide. "Mitsuki . . ."

"You awake now?" Seishirou asked, trying to sound comforting without sounding pitying. A hard balance to strike.

Subaru nodded. "Yeah . . . thank you. For . . . for watching me last night."

Seishirou looked away. "It was no trouble, Subaru-kun. I washed your clothes; you can take a quick shower if you like. In fact, you probably should . . . there's still some dried blood on you."

Subaru raised one hand to the back of his neck with a distasteful expression. "Thanks. I think I'll try to find Mitsuki again first, though."

Seishirou nodded and went out to make breakfast. He came back into Subaru's room about ten minutes later with some toast, tea, and miso soup. "Any luck?"

Subaru was still sitting in bed, looking frustrated. Seishirou looked away again, pretending he hadn't noticed the tears on Subaru's cheeks.

"Nnn," Subaru finally said. "No. Nothing."

Seishirou set the tray down on the bed. "Can you break the block?"

"Not . . . not without hurting Mitsuki." Subaru's voice cracked. "I mean, I could, but she doesn't have any training and the backlash might . . ."

"Forget about it," Seishirou said briefly. "Get ready, okay? We'll be leaving soon."

Subaru nodded, rubbing his eyes. He waited until Seishirou was gone, then got out of bed and headed for the shower. He let the hot water soak him, washing away the last of his weariness and the traces of his tears, and got out fifteen minutes later feeling slightly more human.

Seishirou was just hanging up the phone when he came out. "You just missed your sister," he said. "She said she would cover your Clan duties for today while you and I try to find your family."

Subaru nodded a little. "I expected she would. Not that I'm any less grateful."

"Did you eat your breakfast?" Seishirou asked, feeling a little like a baby-sitter.

"I wasn't very hungry," Subaru said vaguely.

"You should at least try to eat the toast," Seishirou said. "You'll need your strength today; you're recovering from an injury and you didn't get a good night's sleep."

"I suppose." Subaru got the food from Seishirou's bedroom and picked at it.

Seishirou accepted half-victory as better than none at all and put a map of Tokyo on the kitchen table. "These," he said, pointing to a few circles, "are the blank spots we need to investigate."

Subaru looked blank. "How did you pin them down like that? I can tell they're there, but if I wanted to find them, I'd have to play hot-cold."

"I used the Tree's network," Seishirou said. "It's a little difficult to explain."

"Oh." Subaru apparently lost interest.

"How are you feeling?" Seishirou asked, a little belatedly.

"A bit of a headache is all," Subaru said. "I'm fine, really. Are we going?"

Seishirou drained his tea and nodded.

****

Author's Note: For this part I'm assuming Tokyo has a bad part of the city like every other city in the world. I've never been there, so I don't know, so if I'm wrong, don't get mad. I'm a Gaijin, okay? Okay.

"The key to this," Seishirou explained, as he and Subaru both smoked cigarettes while waiting for a taxi, "is to find out what's causing the blank spot. If it can be explained away as something else, quite obviously she's not there."

Subaru nodded slowly.

It was, at the least, an interesting day. A senile old mage who didn't want anyone to find her was the first stop. A haunted cemetery was their second. It was very haunted; Subaru was shaking for a good ten minutes after their hasty departure. An old book of cards by someone named Clow that was in a family's basement was their third.

(Author's Note: Sorry, couldn't resist that one.)

A family of magicians -- most unsavory ones -- was after that.

::We should come back to this later,:: the Tree commented.

::You mean without Subaru-kun?::

::Exactly. Somehow I don't think he wants to see your job up close, and I don't think this family is . . . shall we say . . . condoned by the government.::

"Four down, four to go." Subaru lit a cigarette. Lines were starting to form around his eyes; obvious proof of his weariness. "Halfway done, and not a sign of her yet."

Seishirou was starting to fear that Mitsuki simply wasn't creating a magical blank spot, but was only blocking Subaru's magic. If that's true, she could be anywhere, he thought, and tried not to let his discouragement show.

Another family of magicians, slightly less unsavory but still not up to common standards, were fifth. The center of CLAMP Campus was after that; something Subaru didn't seem very surprised by. He muttered something about Shinken and 1999. Seishirou decided to let it go before pressing for information Subaru was obviously reluctant to give.

After that, Seishirou made Subaru stop long enough to get some dinner. It was already getting dark.

"Two left." Subaru drooped, actually allowing himself to lean on Seishirou for a minute. "I don't think we're going to find them."

"The last two are just as likely as the first two were, by all laws of probability," Seishirou said, lighting a cigarette and offering it to Subaru.

::Actually, there's one left.::

Seishirou blinked. ::What?::

The Tree sighed, which sounded distinctly odd on the inside of Seishirou's mind. ::The eighth is caused by me.::

::Why didn't you say so last night?:: Seishirou consulted the map and was rather chagrined to see that he'd circled Ueno Park without even noticing.

::I did. Someone wasn't listening. Someone was too busy mooning over a certain green-eyed Sumeragi who was sleeping in his bed. A certain Sumeragi who just happens to be frantically searching for his wife.::

::Oh, shut up,:: Seishirou replied, but there was no venom in his tone. The Tree was right, after all. ::You want to tell him the good news, or should I?::

The Tree didn't even dignify that with a response.

"Actually . . ." Seishirou pretended to study the map for a minute. "There's only one. I must have been tired when I did this."

Subaru peered over his shoulder. "What's the eighth?"

Seishirou simply pointed.

"Oh." Subaru sighed. "I suppose that's the Tree, isn't it."

Seishirou nodded.

"One left, then." Subaru pushed his hair out of his face. "Shall we?"

Seishirou nodded, lighting his own cigarette. "It's not far. Let's just walk."

Their path took them into a less and less promising part of town. Subaru shivered involuntarily and surreptitiously moved a little closer to Seishirou. "They don't like us here," he murmured.

"No," Seishirou said. "We're a bit too obviously wealthy. If I'd thought of it, I would have prepared, but I didn't." He gave the area a quick glance. "It doesn't help that it's dark already. We should have come here first."

They walked in silence for a little while. Subaru let Seishirou trace the magic, as he felt a little too tired to be doing it on his own. This left him free to study their surroundings.

He'd never spent much time in the poor areas of Tokyo. The two of them were accosted by pickpockets, beggars, and drunks. Seishirou brushed past them all without even a second glance. Subaru looked away uneasily, not wanting to see their hungry eyes.

"Seishirou-san," he said softly. "We're being followed."

Seishirou glanced over his shoulder. "Hm," he agreed. "Not too surprising, really."

"We can't risk any magic, if we're close to where Mitsuki is being held," Subaru said.

"True. How far ahead of them are we?"

"They're fairly far back," Subaru said. "I can sense them more than see them."

Seishirou nodded, then took Subaru by the wrist and began to tow him efficiently through the crowd. He kept a sharp eye out behind them.

::They don't see you. Now, quickly.::

Seishirou paused briefly to thank the Tree for its help, then pulled Subaru into a narrow alleyway.

"What are we doing?" Subaru whispered.

"Blending in." Seishirou paused. Subaru's going to hate me for this, but it's the only disguise we can put on quickly. "I'm sorry about this; I'll let you slap me later," he said quickly, and kissed Subaru soundly on the lips.

Subaru flinched away in shock. "Seishirou-san, what are you -- "

"Play along, damn it," Seishirou hissed, pulling Subaru into another kiss.

Subaru understood, and forced his muscles to relax, trying to look as if kissing Seishirou in a dark alley in one of the worst parts of town was something he did every day. It was, he came to realize rather quickly, a bad idea. He had not been kissed in almost five years, other than a few friendly kisses from Mitsuki; he had almost forgotten what it was like.

And he had never, in his twenty-four years on the planet, been kissed like this.

Seishirou's lips on his were firm but gentle, seeking without demanding. One of his arms was around Subaru's waist, his hand resting on the small of Subaru's back. The other had them braced against the wall of the building. Subaru lifted his arms slowly and draped them around Seishirou's neck, playing along, and pulling the older man even closer. Seishirou ended the kiss gently and traced his lips down Subaru's jaw, back to brush against his ear. Subaru couldn't help but let out a little gasp.

::You're scaring him. Cut it out.::

Seishirou could feel the tension in the lithe body trapped against the wall next to him. But with one chance to do this, one chance in his entire life for Subaru to be his . . . and maybe to convey some of what he felt without Subaru turning and walking away . . .

He couldn't let that chance pass by.

::They've passed by, lover boy. It's safe now; they saw you and assumed you were exactly what you looked like.::

::Yes, but Subaru doesn't know that.::

The Tree rolled its eyes, which made Seishirou blink because the Tree didn't have eyes, technically speaking, but he could swear that the Tree rolled its eyes.

Seishirou turned his attention back to Subaru, tracing his lips over the Sumeragi's pale skin; cheeks, eyelids, forehead, before eventually pulling away. "I think they're gone," he said, trying not to sound as breathless as he was.

Subaru looked disappointed for just a flash of an instant. "Are you sure?" he asked, voice strained.

"No . . ." Seishirou couldn't help it. "Maybe . . . just in case . . ."

Subaru melted back into his arms, kissing back eagerly, and it occurred to Seishirou that Subaru was playing along just a bit too enthusiastically. Not that he was complaining, but still . . .

::Give me a break. He knows they're gone just as well as you do. If you can't pass up your one chance, why should he?::

::But we're supposed to be looking for his wife,:: Seishirou protested.

::You think I know what he's doing? I'm just stating the obvious. The Sumeragi isn't an idiot; he must have noticed when they were gone. This is his excuse the same way it's yours.::

::In that case, maybe I should stop.::

::Right. Since when do you have morals?::

Stung, Seishirou ended the kiss and pulled away, taking a step back. "Sorry about that," he muttered, refusing to look at Subaru.

Subaru took a deep breath, forcing his emotions to still. There would be time to figure this out later; right now they had more important things to do. "There's nothing to be sorry for," he said, but his voice came out a little colder than he'd meant it. "Don't worry about it."

Seishirou tried not to be disappointed at Subaru's tone of voice. "I think it's safe to go," he said, still steadfastly staring at the ground.

::Aw, does someone need a cold shower?::

Seishirou paused. ::You know, if you ever want to eat again . . .::

The Tree just laughed.

Seishirou cleared his throat and they left the alleyway, both a little worse for the wear. "We're almost there," Seishirou reported. "I think it's coming from that building on the corner."

'That building' was a rundown warehouse. "Looks pretty likely," Subaru said, trying not to sound too hopeful, lest he jinx them.

Seishirou pushed the door open and the two of them went inside.

It was completely empty. A burned-out warehouse, nothing more, nothing less.

"Why -- ?" Subaru began, but Seishirou held up a hand to silence him.

"Do you feel that?" he whispered, waiting for an answer from either of his compatriots.

Subaru started to shake his head, then stopped and centered himself, stretching himself outward.

"She was here," he whispered.

Seishirou nodded. There was a faint -- very faint -- sense of magic in the air. Almost enough that he might write it off as old, but it had Mitsuki's feel to it.

"They moved her," Subaru said flatly.

"The men who were following us," Seishirou mused aloud. "They must not have been ordinary thugs. When we hid, they came ahead and that gave them time to move out." His head snapped up suddenly. "But that means the magical blank spot should be moving. And it isn't; they must have had her fix it in place before they left so they wouldn't be detected. Subaru, quick -- send your Shiki to find them."

Subaru's eyes widened a little and he nodded briefly, lifting his arm and sending his three-headed Shikigami flying away.

::She might have produced another one to bring with them,:: the Tree chimed in.

::I know. That's what you and I are looking for.::

He could almost hear the Tree's leaves rustle in assent. He tapped into its power, searching --

::There!::

Subaru opened his eyes. "I can't -- "

Seishirou cut him off. "Subaru-kun, was Mitsuki talented enough to fix a magical block here and still block the area around their group?"

Subaru paused, looking doubtful. "Maybe, but she's never had any training at all, so I doubt it -- "

"Then let's go!" Seishirou grabbed Subaru by the wrist and pulled him out of the warehouse at a dead run.

"Where are we going?" Subaru gasped out.

"If she's not the one blocking it, we can break the block, and it's easy to find right now because it's moving." Seishirou skidded to a halt. "But too fast. They must be in a car. Can you break it?"

"I can try." Subaru folded his hands into prayer position and closed his eyes, lost in fierce concentration.

Seishirou lifted his arm and his Shikigami appeared. "When he breaks it," he instructed it carefully, "I want you to go there, okay?"

The hawk's head bobbed and it took off for the sky.

Subaru was chanting under his breath. Seishirou took him by the arm and pulled him gently into another alley, where they wouldn't be noticed. Then he closed his eyes, watching through his hawk's as it flew steadily towards its goal.

He heard Subaru spit out one sharp syllable, and as the hawk rounded a corner, what he was seeing dissolved into something that wasn't there before. A long black car, simple enough, but the man in the front passenger seat . . .

turned . . .

and looked, through the hawk, at Seishirou.

His lips were moving.

Seishirou directed his attention to hearing what his Shikigami heard, and came in on the last half of the sentence, barely audible over the traffic and the wind that whistled because of the speed of both the car and the hawk.

". . . gratulations . . . but if you succeed . . . one of them will die."

"Subaru, stop!"

Subaru's eyes snapped open and his concentration evaporated, the spell with it. "What?" he asked. "I almost had it . . . I could almost see her . . ."

Seishirou paused, trying to find a way to tell him. "You did have it, Subaru-kun. My Shikigami was there. They're all right, all three of them."

"Then why did you have me stop?" Subaru sounded close to tears. "We could have found them!"

"Because he knew we were doing it!" Seishirou half-yelled. "He saw my Shiki and he looked straight through it, at me! He shouldn't have been able to do that; we thought they didn't have magic! And he said . . ." Seishirou ruthlessly regained his control, calming himself. "He said that if we succeeded . . ."

Subaru went white and leaned against the wall for support. "Who are they?" he whispered. "They can block magic, they can see your Shikigami . . . and we only have until tomorrow night to figure this out!"

Seishirou forced himself to be calm. "No. Not 'we.' You're going back to my apartment."

"What?!" Subaru half-shrieked.

"Subaru-kun. Be reasonable. You are how they're tracing us, because they know you're the one looking. They've seen me now, but I'm more than capable of blocking my own aura."

"I can block mine too," Subaru said weakly.

"Subaru-kun, they're watching you. I will be able to get around undetected, and I can at least get some information if nothing else. I have a lot more practice at this than you do. It's also past ten o'clock at night and you got five hours of sleep. I'm far more used to being up all night."

"But . . ." Subaru's voice wavered. "But they're counting on me."

"Subaru-kun . . ." Seishirou put his hands on Subaru's upper arms. "Do you trust me?"

Subaru drew in breath sharply.

Seishirou simply looked at him, holding his gaze.

"H-Hai," Subaru finally said, and he looked at the ground. "I trust you."

"Then go back to my apartment and get some rest." Seishirou fished out his keys and handed them over. "You can just leave the door unlocked when you go to bed so I can get in later. I promise, I'll do everything in my power to find them. But you look like you're ready to fall asleep on your feet. That spell must have taken it out of you, you know."

Now that Seishirou mentioned it, Subaru realized that he was exhausted. "Hai," he finally repeated. "Thank you . . . Seishirou-san. But can I ask a question?"

"Sure." Seishirou redirected his gaze to the street, looking for a taxi.

"Why are you doing this?"

Seishirou paused. He could say it was because of his orders, but that wasn't technically true. He had already been planning on helping anyway; his orders had only given him an excuse if Subaru asked.

Now Subaru was asking, and Seishirou couldn't bring himself to lie. He'd lied enough.

"Because . . ." Seishirou looked away. "Because losing your family would hurt you terribly. And I would do anything to keep you from pain. Because I still care for you, Subaru-kun."

There was a long silence. Seishirou began to fear that this admission was going to make Subaru freeze up again.

"Oh," Subaru finally said, very faintly. "I . . . I understand. Thank you."

Seishirou glanced up at him, to see Subaru looking steadily away, a very light blush on his cheeks. "Go get some rest, Subaru-kun," he said softly.

"Okay." Subaru managed a half-smile. "When will you be back?"

Seishirou checked his watch. "I shouldn't be more than three or four hours," he said. A taxi finally pulled up and he opened the door for Subaru. "So I'll see you then."

Subaru nodded, getting into the taxi and giving Seishirou a little half-wave as he drove off.

::As if, after what happened in the alley, he can deny you still have feelings for him.:: The Tree's voice was amused. ::What, did you think this was going to surprise him? You worry too much, Seishirou.::

::With good reason,:: Seishirou said, a tad defensively.

::Well, I suppose.:: The Tree was rather indifferent. ::Now are we going to get any work done or what?::

****