My Love and I

"Well hello there."

A turn of the head away from the scenery. A frown. "Who are you?"

"Aren't I suppose to ask that?"

"No," Kamui replied dryly. "I was here first."

The young man, perhaps in his mid-30ties, walked with a small bounce in his step. He had a smile of fake gold, sparkling but likely to tarnish at any moment. Jet black hair kept short save for a small bit in the back which was braided into a tiny pony tail. He had pretty red eyes, Kamui thought. Almost crimson in their hue.

"Very well then, the name's Daichi. Daichi Sumeragi."

Oh ... of course. Subaru had mentioned guests before. "Ahh ... you're one of Subaru's relatives?"

"Second cousin to the little brat," Daichi announced proudly.

"I'm terribly sorry for your loss." The words felt odd in Kamui's mouth, as if he had no right to say them. But ... it was just one of those things one had to say when someone died.

"Yeah," Daichi's smile faded just a little as he ran his finger across the wooden armrest of Kamui's wheelchair fondly. "Old bird was a real piece of work. I'm going to miss her ... she used to let me use the family name to get out of some pot busts."

Kamui blinked, "what?"

"Nothing, just a little 'I'm working with spiritual forces you couldn't possibly understand officer' ... she pretended not to notice." He flashed Kamui a quick, charming smile and changed the subject with a cock of his head. "You look familiar some how..."

"I do?"

"Yeah ... we must have meet somewhere before. You some long lost nephew 15 times removed of mine?"

"Uhhhh ... I don't think so..."

"One never can tell with this family," Daichi sighed, plopping down on the grass next to Kamui. "Sooo... you play cards?"

"Pardon?" Kamui choked. Hadn't this guy just come back from a funeral for Christ's sake?

"You know, cards. I'd prefer Ma Jong but this isn't the best place for it."

"I guess..."

"Good," his guest smiled, already pushing him towards a stone table over to the side of the courtyard. "Cause I'm sick of being in there watching people who don't want to be there and Subaru who doesn't want them there trying to pretend like their getting along well ... it's depressing. Plus boring as hell. And Subaru won't arm wrestle."

Kamui could not even imagine someone asking Subaru to arm wrestle. Clearly he was at the mercy of a complete lunatic.

"What's your pleasure, care for a little strip poker?"

Kamui looked at the wily Sumeragi dryly. ":Not unless you want to spend 20 minutes helping me out of my clothes everytime I lose."

Daichi shuffled through the cards, a candid little smirk playing on his face as he a counted them quickly. "I wouldn't mind it," he wiggled his eyebrows at Kamui suggestively.

"No thanks."

He shrugged, "how about War then? Nice, easy, long game."

"Is it so important that it's long?" Kamui asked, Daichi was already dividing the cards.

"A most emphatic yes. You don't understand. If it was anyone else but the former clan head the mourners would not stay so long. If it was anyone else succeeding her but Subaru they wouldn't be nearly so anal about setting up how the family is to be run now. Even though Subaru has technically been the clan head for some time now, it was felt that Haruna-obasan kept his dark ways in check. How they think she did that is beyond me, but apparently they're convinced all hell's going to break lose now."

He packed to two equals halves of the deck so that the cards made nice straight piles and handed one to Kamui. "I'm here to prevent civil war from breaking out ... although I hardly think that's necessary."

8 of spades, 4 of hearts, Daichi took the cards.

"Why not?"

"Subaru will just give them whatever they want. He doesn't care, it doesn't take a genius to figure out he doesn't want this job anyway. If he's lucky they'll appoint a new head and disown him ... They won't though."

5 of diamonds played, 6 of hearts, Kamui took the cards.

"Why's that?"

"Better to keep his family ties like a leash around him than cut him completely free. So they'll take away a lot of responsibilities and nearly all of the power of clan head, Subaru won't give a damn and all will be well. Besides in some twisted way I think they like this scenario. At least we know the Sakurazukamori won't be killing off anymore family members."

2 of diamonds, 7 of clubs, Kamui won again.

"Did the Sakurazukamori kill a lot of Sumeragis?"

Daichi laughed, "I wouldn't be surprised if the Sakurazuka clan had our pictures in a shooting gallery. It's been like this for 200 hundred years at least. Sumeragis get in the way either by job, stubbornness, luck or plain stupidity, and end up dead. Happened to Subaru's father, my great-uncle-- that's Subaru's grandfather-- our great-great-grandfather ... on and on and on and on..."

"How ... how do you know Subaru won't kill anyone related to him?"

Queen of Clubs, 3 of hearts ... Daichi pulled his card across the table slowly, tapping their edges on the table thoughtfully before adding them to his pile. "Subaru? Doesn't have it in him..."

"He is--"

"Oh I know, he kills. But not anyone he knows. He couldn't kill anyone he knows I don't think. It's a compromise he's made ... I'm surprised he hasn't feed himself to the damn thing."

Kamui was too.

4 of spades met 4 of diamonds, War.

They delt out three cards each face down. Jack of clubs verses 6 of clubs. Daichi took his cards with a grin.

"Got to hand it to him though," Daichi chuckled. "Damn kid outdid me in the end. I was always the blacksheep of the family. Now everything I do is insignificant. Geesh... overachiever."

"Are you an onmyouji?"

Ace of clubs to 7 of spades, Kamui was beginning to wonder if Daichi had fixed the deck.

"Nope, I'm a civilian. Couldn't squeeze a drop of onmyoujitsu out of me with a clamp-- Hey now I know where I know you from!"

Kamui blinked.

"You wouldn't remember I don't imagine, but I seem to recall last time I was down here ... oh maybe two years ago? Trying to find a place where I and my companion could have a little ... discretion, and picking the wrong room." He laughed cheerful as Kamui groaned and trying to hide his blush, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to announce. "Dare I say she wasn't in the mood after that."

"I'm sure you made up for it."

Daichi shrugged and drew another card, the 9 of diamonds. "Didn't get the chance actually ... she quit soon after."

Kamui choked on his own breath. "Wait you mean she worked here?"

His answer was accompanied by a wild and cunning grin. "Yup, quit stalling anyway ... draw your top card."

3 of diamonds

"Sucks for you."

They played on for the better part of two hours, few words spoken between them. It was chilly out, Kamui was trying not to shiver. Partly because he was enjoying this, a real sense of human contact for once, and partly because if they moved the game inside they were more likely to be found. And his companion dragged off some where with another relative to discuss some matter that Kamui could not be privy to.

And cards were really much more interesting than staring out the window.

"Say ... don't think I caught your name.."

"Kamui Shirou."

4 of clubs to 4 of diamonds, that made a Quadruple War.

They stared at each other.

"Well... what are the odds of that?" Daichi mused.

"I suppose it's possible."

"All things are Shirou, especially here. Well ... shall we?"

They delt out three cards quickly, laminated fronts cracking hard as they were whipped from the top of the piles. Then the fourth cards were pulled from the top of the deck, each glancing at the card they held knowing that a triple war would surely make or break the game.

"Imagine we're playing for the fate of the world here," Daichi mused, grinning like an idiot.

"Been there, done that." Kamui sounded bored.

"No T shirt?"

"No T shirt."

"Cheap fatalistic bastards. Save the world before bedtime, give the boy a T shirt" Daichi grumbled.

And with a look they sat their cards down.

9 of clubs to the Ace of hearts.

"I win," Kamui announced with a smooth grin.

"Ow, ow that was painful!" Daichi complained, as if the loss played its voodoo across his body, bringing horrible pain. "...Wanna play again?"

"Sure," Kamui smiled. It wasn't like he has better things to do.

Daichi quickly gathered up all the cards and shuffled them skillfully. "So Shirou Kamui ... Hm? Not the Kamui?"

Kamui frowned as he watched him divide up the cards very carefully. From what he knew of him already, he didn't put it past him to cheat. "Yeah ... the same."

Daichi's hands came to a slow stop, his eyes fixed on Kamui somewhat surprised. He had clearly not expected such an answer. Although there are few things in this world that would truly surprise a born and breed Sumeragi. "No shit? ... somehow I'd thought you'd be taller."

"Why am I not surprised to find you out here?"

It was Subaru, who had either escaped from his relatives or Daichi was wrong and he had killed every single one of them off. Kamui doubted the latter though, his shoes were still off.

"SUBBY!!!!!!" Daichi practically squealed. "Come on, we're playing for organs this round, you're just in time to join in. Sit, sit!"

"Subby?" Kamui asked Subaru curiously, looking as innocent as a cherub. A cherub who would probably make good old of the name much later mind you.

Subaru ignored any use of the old childhood nick name as a general rule but nevertheless sat down at the table. "Has he molested you yet?" he asked Kamui. With a perfectly straight face no less.

"Many, many times," Daichi supplied. "As always you missed the marathon sex, he was a good whore ... but I tired him out quickly."

"I'm sure that's terribly difficult to do considering he's in a wheel chair," Subaru replied. A dry but sharp sarcastic tone in his voice as he looked down at his elder cousin.

"Oh, he's so faking it."

It was a remark that earned him a borderline obscene gesture from Kamui.

"Nice to see you two are getting along."

"Oh Subby-chan ... where have your manners gone? Doesn't your older, wiser, more experienced cousin get a hug?"

"That depends, are you going to steal my wallet again?"

Daichi look appalled at the very suggestion of knavery. "I would never--"

"It's in the right hand inner pocket of your jacket," Subaru supplied.

"...damn, no fair using your onmyou-psychic-jitsu mad skills on me."

"How are you two even remotely related?" Kamui asked, in a sense of dumb wonder. To think that a family gene pool could have so much variation. On one hand the solemn, soft spoken Subaru. On the other the wicked scoundrel that was Daichi Sumeragi.

"Powerful anti-angst genes brought into the family by the saint that is my mother," Daichi supplied with a grin. "And speaking of saintly woman, you did get your invite right?"

Subaru nodded, "I'm surprised there even was one for me." Then Kamui saw Subaru do something he imagined Subaru had not done in a long time, he smiled. A real smile. Not brilliant and wild like his that of his cousin, but real nonetheless, "Thank you."

"You're coming of course."

"I doubt I'd be welcome there."

"I doubt I'd be welcome there," Daichi smirked. "But that doesn't mean I'm not coming."

"Well ... it is your wedding."

"My set of handcuffs and large roomy car trunk say that you will be there. And you will not blow anything up. Come on, it's like hell freezing over ... who'd have thought I'd be getting married?"

"Certainly not half of the female staff here," Subaru commented.

"You have to come Subaru."

"If obligations permit," was all the Sumeragi head would give him.

"Obligations? What obligations? You mean to your shrubbery? Tell it to give you the day off."

"Do you want to be clan head?"

"Ooooo... hordes of onmyouji to do my bidding? The ability to summon up armies of evil minions? The amazing chick drawing powers of a shikifuku? Ooo Me! Me! Pick me!"

"You're forgetting the powerful air of mystery," Kamui added.

"Yes ... this is definitely a career change I can see happening. You over there, throw those worthless pieces of paper at him! And you, start chanting Bohemian Rhapsody! The power! The power! ... I can see why they're worried about this being in your hands Subby. Clearly you would abuse the ability to banish spirits with Queen's greatest hits."

The sound of yet another voice clearing her throat cut through the yard, and it was perhaps the only sound that could silence Daichi so quickly and reduce him to a polite, normal-- or reasonably so-- person. It was a woman's voice. And despite his crude and brassy nature, Daichi was really quite respectful in a woman's presence. He gave her a fond smile and a tiny wave.

"Daichi-san," she nodded in recognition. "Sumeragi-san, excuse me, but I'm here to take Shirou-san to dinner."

That earned appreciative looks from Daichi, "you stud."

Subaru coughed, "she here to see him to dinner."

"Actually I was talking about her. Escorting such a pretty young thing. I'm jealous."

"Tokyo?!?!? You can't be serious."

"I am," she said, calmly and casually. A voice of true authority that he had no right to question. "Subaru-san will be leaving upon the end of the week."

"Haruna-san, I understand the importance of Subaru learning to survive on his own and acquire the wisdom one can only gain through life experience. We all wish to see Naoki's son develop his considerable promise but ... TOKYO????"

"It is a large an important city, Tsubasa-gikei, he will need to be familiar with it when he assumes his position."

"There are many troubled cities in Japan ... perhaps Hiroshima for example--"

"No, it will be Tokyo."

He paused. "I amuse you have forgotten that Tokyo is the city of Sakurazukamori."

"I have not."

"Then you have surely forgotten that Subaru-kun is marked--"

"I most certainly have not," she corrected.

"Then you will accuse me when I say Haruna-san, that you are off your bloody rocker."

"There are many people in Tokyo, the Sakurazukamori and Subaru-san are only two of them."

"If we were talking about two ordinary people I might agree that the odds are in our favor, but--"

"He has his gloves."

She had to believe that. It was a thinly veiled assurance and she knew it, but she had to believe it. Crazy as it was to assume that a thin sheet of cloth could protect him, she had to convince them that she believed it.

Her brother-in-law seemed at a loss for words. And on some level she did not like having to arguing with him. He had always respected her, she had been a good wife to his brother, a mother to his nephew and a formidable onmyouji. It was only through his support that she succeeded in taking on the position of clan head-- if only because he was a less than decent onmyouji himself and had no desire to carry on in his brother's place.

When Subaru was born with an incredible power, she had been legitimized, her place as the clan head undisputed ... but that did not give her free rein. The position of clan head could be one of great power or a mere figurehead taken out for display, depending on her abilities. If he opposed her decision now...

"...I would rather he not go out on his own anywhere," he finally admitted. "Here we know for sure he'll be safe."

She frowned and pushed a lock of soft gray hair back into place. "We have a job to do, Subaru-san has a tradition to uphold. To protect Japan," in more ways than his duties as a Sumeragi. "There is a choice to be made, the Sakurazuka clan has been around for ages ... almost as long as ourselves. They are not just going to go away. He is not just going to go away. The hunter will always be out there. Now, we can hide behind the estate walls here and let Japan fall to ruins, or we can do our job as the Sumeragi family."

He looked up slowly, "and damn the consequences?"

It pained her to know that was what it came down to. A risk that she had no right to take for her young grandson. "You know how important Tokyo is," she whispered. "To the world."

"Yes..."

"Then you know as well as I do that he will not fall to the Sakurazukamori."

"It is foolishness to rely on such things."

"Yes..." she agreed. "It is. But it will be good enough for the family. He is one of the Seven Seals and will serve the Kamui to protect humanity."

He was quiet for a long time. "I don't like it."

"I know."

"He trusts too easily."

"That's what makes him so strong."

"It may also be what kills him."

"Hokuto-san will be there with him."

"And she can protect him from the Sakurazukamori?"

"She has good instincts, and she loves her brother. If anyone suspicious threatens them, she will inform us here. He won't die ... destiny guarantees that."

"...I will tell the family then."

"Thank you Tsubasa-gikei."

Kamui looked up, "how old was he?"

"14 at the time."

He stared off through the room as it faded to black, faded out of existence. "Why did you really send him to Tokyo?"

She frowned and considered her answer for a moment before speaking-- her eyes not moving away from the scene that was slowly dimming away. "What do you suppose are qualities that a good leader should have?"

"Mmmm... courage, selflessness, wisdom, compassion ... and empathy." He smiled brightly and laughed, "all the qualities I don't have I guess."

She regarded him then, out of the corner of her eye with a pained and piteous gaze. The edges of her lips formed a softer polite smile before she nodded affirmatively. "I won't raise a clan head that will run with his tail between his legs everytime there's something to be done that will endanger him. Nor one that is ruled by fear of what might happen. Even if he were not marked, the Sakurazukamori might kill him as he did his father and his grandfather."

"So into the belly of the beast we go?"