Chapter Two
It was three days before Subaru returned to City Hall. The job was more difficult than he had predicted, with new complications constantly springing up and making his target harder to catch.
The actual killing was the easiest part of any job. He simply had to reach out with his power and stop his target's heart. It was the prelude to the death that was the hardest part - getting to know his target, assuring himself the death would harm none and help many. Some he did not even need to kill - a simple touch to the mind and sealing of memories in stone and they were free to live.
He told the tree in no uncertain terms that it belonged to the Sakurazuka family, not him, and that he would feed it when he saw fit and only then. Grudgingly, the Tree had accepted his terms. Still, he found himself feeding it far more often than he would have liked. There were many depraved individuals in this city.
The first thing he noticed when he opened Kakyou's door was that he was not instantly whisked into a dreamscape.
The second was Kakyou himself, sitting on an armchair engrossed in reading a book.
"You're awake," said Subaru, feeling somewhat silly for stating the obvious.
Kakyou looked up. "Ah, Sumeragi-san. I thought perhaps you weren't coming back." He carefully marked his place with a piece of cloth and closed the book.
"I keep my promises," said Subaru. "The job just took longer than I expected, that's all."
Kakyou shrugged, as if it didn't bother him either way.
"Can you walk?" asked Subaru.
The dreamgazer shook his head. "The nurse gave me some exercises to do and the number of a physiotherapist, but I don't have the means to attend regular sessions. And Fuuma ordered the nurse never to come back."
"Fuuma won't help you?" asked Subaru, puzzled. The dark 'kamui' had seemed inordinately fond of his pet dreamgazer.
"I don't think he realises there is a problem," said Kakyou, slowly. "He's very busy."
Subaru frowned. "May I have the number?" Kakyou handed it to him and Subaru went outside to make the call. When he returned, he found Kakyou reading again. "I made you an appointment for Thursday, which is the earliest I could get. He told me he does house calls, so I gave him my address."
Kakyou raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you would be so eager to give away the address of the Sakurazukamori."
Subaru shrugged. "The warding on that house is enough to keep away anything short of the devil himself. I think I'll be safe from a physiotherapist."
He thought he saw Kakyou smile.
"So, will you come with me? I've called a taxi."
Kakyou nodded, wordlessly.
As he gently lifted the dreamgazer out of the chair, Subaru reflected that Kakyou was a lot lighter than he had expected. He also sensed Kakyou was more than a little annoyed at this undignified method of travel but too polite to say anything about it.
"If you don't mind my asking, Sumeragi-san," said a voice as they walked down the hall, "where are you going with my dreamgazer?"
At least Fuuma didn't seem angry. Amused, though and perhaps a bit peeved. Still, Subaru found himself at a loss for words.
"I am not," said Kakyou stiffly, "your dreamgazer."
Subaru looked forwards and backwards between the two of them and winced internally, unconsciously tightening his hold on Kakyou. Taking a deep breath, he told Fuuma he would send a forwarding address and headed for the doors without another word.
~ * ~
As far as Kakyou was concerned, they couldn't have left City Hall fast enough. Subaru, at least, had the sense to realise this.
If there was one thing he could not abide by, it was being regarded as a possession. Oh, he was thankful to Fuuma for getting him out of that musty hole provided by his family, but that did not make him Fuuma's own. He was determined to mean more to the world than just the sum of his powers.
He muttered something of the sort to Subaru during the taxi ride.
"He used to tell me I was his," said Subaru, dully. "But it never bothered me that much, because I knew he was right. My heart belonged to him."
Kakyou stared at him, startled out of his funk. "Why?" he asked, eventually. "He did nothing to deserve it."
Subaru shook his head in some bitter amusement, slumping against the door of the taxi and running his hands through his hair in a somewhat nervous gesture. "First love," he said, as if this explained everything, "is always the strongest. And it is destined to end in a broken heart.
"Second love hurts less, because by the time you can love again you know not to let all your heart go. But I never got over my first love, so he kept my heart in a little box beside him and crushed it a little more whenever we should meet." He paused. "What an odd metaphor. What I mean is, he knew I still loved him and he was determined to use that against me. But I don't think he could ever understand what his own feelings were, except that he wanted me to be his and his alone."
Kakyou regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, and then turned back to the window.
"Tell me," said Subaru, suddenly, "do you love this Tokyo?"
He blinked in surprise. "I've never had the chance to know this Tokyo." He had, after all, spent almost his entire life trapped indoors. His one foray into the outside world had only resulted in a gunshot wound and the death of the one he loved most.
Subaru looked at him in some surprise. "Well. When you're strong enough, remind me to take you around the city."
"Do I get to meet your tree?" he asked, not quite able to keep the bitterness out of his tone.
Subaru looked hurt. "There is true beauty in this city, Kakyou-san. Not everything beautiful in this city is tainted with blood."
Kakyou remained silent.
"Look," continued Subaru with a sigh, "I'm not asking for your approval. But I've made my decision now. I have been given this city as my inheritance from two different clans and I intend to see it safely through to the next century."
To Kakyou's relief, the taxi driver suddenly tapped irritably on the screen that separated them. "Is this the place?" he asked.
Subaru glanced out the window, and nodded. He got to pay the taxi driver, and then opened Kakyou's door to help him out.
Seishirou's house was a very traditional affair, with neatly arranged gardens in some need of attention. "Didn't he hire a gardener?" asked Kakyou, without thinking.
Subaru set Kakyou down on the front step to remove his shoes. "I don't know. He didn't really seem the gardening type, so I suppose he must have."
"You didn't really know him very well at all, did you?" marvelled Kakyou.
The Sumeragi shrugged. "He never gave me the chance."
"It's easier to love a person when you don't know them..." ventured Kakyou.
"I expect that's what he figured, yes," said Subaru, lifting Kakyou into his arms again and carrying him into the house.
The inside of the house was much like the outside - stuffy and traditional. His own family had been far too focussed on tradition, which had resulted in Kakyou developing a healthy distaste for it. "When you've been locked up your whole life because that's traditionally what is done with dreamgazers," he had told Hokuto, "you quickly learn that tradition is nothing more than a means of control and preventing change."
When he repeated those words to Subaru, the onmyouji looked thoughtful. "It's a way of keeping yourself safe, I think. If you follow tradition to the letter, you never have to make a decision on your own are therefore safe from blame should something go wrong." He smiled, sadly. "My grandmother raised my sister and I according to tradition and no one would ever dream of blaming her for how we turned out."
"Your sister was..." Kakyou paused, trying to find a polite turn of phrase. "Not the traditional sort," he finished, diplomatically.
Subaru smiled and set him down on one of the sofas that looked out on the back garden. Camelias, he noted, and small water garden. Very pretty.
"Well, neither are we, else neither of us would be here now, would we?" said Subaru, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I wonder, though, how much of the reason we are what we are is because of her," mused Kakyou.
Subaru did not reply.
It was three days before Subaru returned to City Hall. The job was more difficult than he had predicted, with new complications constantly springing up and making his target harder to catch.
The actual killing was the easiest part of any job. He simply had to reach out with his power and stop his target's heart. It was the prelude to the death that was the hardest part - getting to know his target, assuring himself the death would harm none and help many. Some he did not even need to kill - a simple touch to the mind and sealing of memories in stone and they were free to live.
He told the tree in no uncertain terms that it belonged to the Sakurazuka family, not him, and that he would feed it when he saw fit and only then. Grudgingly, the Tree had accepted his terms. Still, he found himself feeding it far more often than he would have liked. There were many depraved individuals in this city.
The first thing he noticed when he opened Kakyou's door was that he was not instantly whisked into a dreamscape.
The second was Kakyou himself, sitting on an armchair engrossed in reading a book.
"You're awake," said Subaru, feeling somewhat silly for stating the obvious.
Kakyou looked up. "Ah, Sumeragi-san. I thought perhaps you weren't coming back." He carefully marked his place with a piece of cloth and closed the book.
"I keep my promises," said Subaru. "The job just took longer than I expected, that's all."
Kakyou shrugged, as if it didn't bother him either way.
"Can you walk?" asked Subaru.
The dreamgazer shook his head. "The nurse gave me some exercises to do and the number of a physiotherapist, but I don't have the means to attend regular sessions. And Fuuma ordered the nurse never to come back."
"Fuuma won't help you?" asked Subaru, puzzled. The dark 'kamui' had seemed inordinately fond of his pet dreamgazer.
"I don't think he realises there is a problem," said Kakyou, slowly. "He's very busy."
Subaru frowned. "May I have the number?" Kakyou handed it to him and Subaru went outside to make the call. When he returned, he found Kakyou reading again. "I made you an appointment for Thursday, which is the earliest I could get. He told me he does house calls, so I gave him my address."
Kakyou raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you would be so eager to give away the address of the Sakurazukamori."
Subaru shrugged. "The warding on that house is enough to keep away anything short of the devil himself. I think I'll be safe from a physiotherapist."
He thought he saw Kakyou smile.
"So, will you come with me? I've called a taxi."
Kakyou nodded, wordlessly.
As he gently lifted the dreamgazer out of the chair, Subaru reflected that Kakyou was a lot lighter than he had expected. He also sensed Kakyou was more than a little annoyed at this undignified method of travel but too polite to say anything about it.
"If you don't mind my asking, Sumeragi-san," said a voice as they walked down the hall, "where are you going with my dreamgazer?"
At least Fuuma didn't seem angry. Amused, though and perhaps a bit peeved. Still, Subaru found himself at a loss for words.
"I am not," said Kakyou stiffly, "your dreamgazer."
Subaru looked forwards and backwards between the two of them and winced internally, unconsciously tightening his hold on Kakyou. Taking a deep breath, he told Fuuma he would send a forwarding address and headed for the doors without another word.
As far as Kakyou was concerned, they couldn't have left City Hall fast enough. Subaru, at least, had the sense to realise this.
If there was one thing he could not abide by, it was being regarded as a possession. Oh, he was thankful to Fuuma for getting him out of that musty hole provided by his family, but that did not make him Fuuma's own. He was determined to mean more to the world than just the sum of his powers.
He muttered something of the sort to Subaru during the taxi ride.
"He used to tell me I was his," said Subaru, dully. "But it never bothered me that much, because I knew he was right. My heart belonged to him."
Kakyou stared at him, startled out of his funk. "Why?" he asked, eventually. "He did nothing to deserve it."
Subaru shook his head in some bitter amusement, slumping against the door of the taxi and running his hands through his hair in a somewhat nervous gesture. "First love," he said, as if this explained everything, "is always the strongest. And it is destined to end in a broken heart.
"Second love hurts less, because by the time you can love again you know not to let all your heart go. But I never got over my first love, so he kept my heart in a little box beside him and crushed it a little more whenever we should meet." He paused. "What an odd metaphor. What I mean is, he knew I still loved him and he was determined to use that against me. But I don't think he could ever understand what his own feelings were, except that he wanted me to be his and his alone."
Kakyou regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, and then turned back to the window.
"Tell me," said Subaru, suddenly, "do you love this Tokyo?"
He blinked in surprise. "I've never had the chance to know this Tokyo." He had, after all, spent almost his entire life trapped indoors. His one foray into the outside world had only resulted in a gunshot wound and the death of the one he loved most.
Subaru looked at him in some surprise. "Well. When you're strong enough, remind me to take you around the city."
"Do I get to meet your tree?" he asked, not quite able to keep the bitterness out of his tone.
Subaru looked hurt. "There is true beauty in this city, Kakyou-san. Not everything beautiful in this city is tainted with blood."
Kakyou remained silent.
"Look," continued Subaru with a sigh, "I'm not asking for your approval. But I've made my decision now. I have been given this city as my inheritance from two different clans and I intend to see it safely through to the next century."
To Kakyou's relief, the taxi driver suddenly tapped irritably on the screen that separated them. "Is this the place?" he asked.
Subaru glanced out the window, and nodded. He got to pay the taxi driver, and then opened Kakyou's door to help him out.
Seishirou's house was a very traditional affair, with neatly arranged gardens in some need of attention. "Didn't he hire a gardener?" asked Kakyou, without thinking.
Subaru set Kakyou down on the front step to remove his shoes. "I don't know. He didn't really seem the gardening type, so I suppose he must have."
"You didn't really know him very well at all, did you?" marvelled Kakyou.
The Sumeragi shrugged. "He never gave me the chance."
"It's easier to love a person when you don't know them..." ventured Kakyou.
"I expect that's what he figured, yes," said Subaru, lifting Kakyou into his arms again and carrying him into the house.
The inside of the house was much like the outside - stuffy and traditional. His own family had been far too focussed on tradition, which had resulted in Kakyou developing a healthy distaste for it. "When you've been locked up your whole life because that's traditionally what is done with dreamgazers," he had told Hokuto, "you quickly learn that tradition is nothing more than a means of control and preventing change."
When he repeated those words to Subaru, the onmyouji looked thoughtful. "It's a way of keeping yourself safe, I think. If you follow tradition to the letter, you never have to make a decision on your own are therefore safe from blame should something go wrong." He smiled, sadly. "My grandmother raised my sister and I according to tradition and no one would ever dream of blaming her for how we turned out."
"Your sister was..." Kakyou paused, trying to find a polite turn of phrase. "Not the traditional sort," he finished, diplomatically.
Subaru smiled and set him down on one of the sofas that looked out on the back garden. Camelias, he noted, and small water garden. Very pretty.
"Well, neither are we, else neither of us would be here now, would we?" said Subaru, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I wonder, though, how much of the reason we are what we are is because of her," mused Kakyou.
Subaru did not reply.