Chapter Three
"Nice place you have here," Subaru overheard the physiotherapist say when he arrived on Thursday morning.
"It's Subaru's inheritance," said Kakyou, blandly.
It really was his, too. Seishirou's will named him sole beneficiary and since nobody knew the truth of how the man had really died, Seishirou's lawyer had contacted Subaru and informed him of the terms of his "inheritance". The Sakurazuka ancestral home, a flat downtown and far more money than Subaru would ever need.
Not to mention the black Subaru sports car out the front. He made a note to kick it next time he felt the urge.
The gardener must have quit when he was informed of the master of the house's death. Subaru made another note to track down whom it was and hire the person again.
Satisfied that Kakyou would be safe in the hands of the physiotherapist, Subaru headed out to do some shopping.
The supermarket was very busy, and the normality of it all took him quite by surprise. Still, it took him several moments before he realised the strange looks people gave him if their eyes should meet were because of his eyes. Trying not to blush at being the centre of attention, he made a note to buy some glasses like Fuuma's and continued with his grocery shopping.
Cooking... Had Seishirou-san had a cook? He doubted it. He idly wondered what kind of foods Kakyou liked. Maybe tonight he would make sukiyaki.
"My, aren't we being domestic?"
Subaru jumped and turned around quickly. "Fuuma-I-mean-Kamui," he said, with extreme patience, "what are you doing in a supermarket?"
"Actually, I was looking for you. And before you ask, I wasn't looking here. This is just where I happened to find you."
"Well, here I am. What did you need me for?"
"You took my dreamgazer." He pouted. "Now who am I supposed to talk to?"
Subaru rolled his eyes, and put a package of rice into the cart.
"And that even after what happened to Seishirou..." Fuuma trailed off as Subaru's hand reached for his throat.
"Don't," Subaru spat out, "you dare talk of him in front of me like that. I couldn't care less about keeping you entertained. This is my city. I won't let you destroy it simply on a whim."
"I think you're in the wrong position to be displaying such sentiments, Sumeragi-san," said Fuuma, smugly.
Subaru gave him a long look. "Is humanity worth saving? It's not. Not in any way. But you don't see that. Tell me, 'Kamui', why don't you believe humanity is worth saving?"
Fuuma opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Then, he turned around and walked off. "We'll meet again, Sumeragi-san. Destiny wills it to be so."
" 'Destiny wills it to be so' is not an answer, 'Kamui'," muttered Subaru, feeling inexplicably saddened by the conversation. He systematically finished his shopping and paid for it with Seishirou's credit card.
Subaru dropped by the Post Office to check the mail in Seishirou's post-office box on the way home. Two cheques, a bill, and a letter from his lawyer. He opened them as soon as he got home.
The bill was for the electricity, and the cheques were from the government in payment for his 'work'. He had to admit the Sakurazukamori was well paid.
The envelope from the lawyer contained another envelope, this one addressed in familiar handwriting to "My dear Subaru-kun." Frowning, he tore it open with his finger and began to read.
"Dearest Subaru-kun,
"If you are reading this letter, you have succeeded my position and come to live in my ancestral home, so I feel I owe you an explanation as to what caused me to go so willingly into death.
"Oddly enough, it was something I did that started it - I gave into my temptation and took you to bed. You did not resist. In retrospect perhaps I should have questioned that, but at the time it never occurred to me that you could love me and not want to sleep with me."
Subaru walked into the living room where Kakyou now sat, long legs crossed and engrossed in a book, and settled himself on the couch next to the dreamgazer.
"You were always open to sex.
"It was about a week ago that I realised that was all it was to you; that you gave me your body but nothing more than that.
"And I realised that that was because you really did hate me, even though I believe you to still be in love with me. This is a thought I simply can not bear, yet I can not bring myself to surrender your heart."
Subaru dropped the letter. "No," he said, quietly, desperately, "you're wrong. I didn't hate you. I never hated you. I couldn't hate you... But it never meant anything to me that we slept together, because I knew it didn't mean anything to you. You were wrong! You died because of a misunderstanding! I killed you!"
Kakyou must have picked up the letter after Subaru dropped it, because he was reading it. When he was finished, he leant over to put a hand on Subaru's shoulder. "He had never had emotions of his own before. He could never be expected to understand. It's not your fault."
"He died," insisted Subaru, "because he thought I hated him!"
"He died because it suited him to do so, just like everything else he ever did in his life," said Kakyou. "If he said he only killed your sister because she asked him to, he was lying. He killed her because it suited him. If he had not wanted her to die, he wouldn't have killed her."
"But... my Wish..."
"Your Wish was never granted because he didn't want you to die, Subaru," said Kakyou, in a patient tone.
"You asked me so many times why I didn't just kill you and get it over with. I could never do that, Subaru-kun, because I realised you did not truly lose the bet. I thought I felt nothing for you, but I could not bring myself to kill you, therefore logically I must be feeling something for you.
"So, I only took half your life."
~ * ~
Kakyou was very, very annoyed.
Subaru might never have been able to bring himself to hate Sakurazuka Seishirou, but Kakyou had no such issues. He hated the man with a passion.
The man's recent interference certainly did nothing to lessen the fires of his hatred. Just as Subaru was finally beginning to come to terms with himself, as well. Even after death, Seishirou toyed with the Sumeragi's feelings.
Kakyou wanted to hit him. Hard.
Subaru had left in silence, not long after throwing the letter into the fire. The Sumeragi had sat and watched it burn to ashes, all the while surrounded by an aura of insane grief. It was raining outside and Kakyou did not like to think where he might have gone.
With little else to do and no easy way to move around the house, should he wish to do something else, Kakyou returned to his reading.
Kakyou had taken to studying books on onmyoujitsu in his spare time, of which he had lots. The pile of unread books Subaru had left him when he went out for the day had dwindled to a small stack of books he really didn't feel like reading, so he had requested his physiotherapist fetch him some down from Seishirou's bookshelf.
The kind of magical exercises detailed in the first of these books were perfect for Kakyou's own small gift. He learnt wards - nothing strong enough to physically keep a being from crossing them, but enough that he would know if something tried to breach them.
Now he flicked through them, hunting for some way of reaching Subaru. Perhaps the small birds, like Hinoto used...
Hinoto. Now there was a problem to think about deeply...
But not now. He needed to concentrate for this. In neat, slow calligraphy he wrote the appropriate characters on some ofuda he had found within the pages of one of the books, although the resulting exhaustion made it barely seem worth the effort. The spell required him to throw the slips of paper and transform them into shikigami before they hit the ground, which he was just about to do when somebody opened the door.
Kakyou fell over backwards in surprise.
"What are doing?" asked Subaru, with interest. Noticing his predicament, the Sumeragi helped him up and then sat back on his heels, obviously expecting an answer.
The dreamgazer felt his cheeks grow hot. "I found these books," he said, uncomfortably.
Subaru looked at them. "These aren't mine..." he said, slowly. "Where did you find them?"
"They were in one of the bookcases. I told my physiotherapist to get them for me," explained Kakyou, attempting to sound apologetic but not being particularly successful.
"Have you ever done magic before?"
Kakyou shook his head. "Only the magic that applies to my dreamscape."
"You have to be very careful that you write the spells accurately," said Subaru, seriously. "One mistake can dramatically change the outcome of a spell."
"So I gather," said Kakyou, thinking of the extensive warnings in the books he had read.
Subaru cocked his head in thought. "I could teach you, if you like."
Kakyou blinked at him. Subaru looked embarrassed.
"I think," said Kakyou slowly, "that I would like that."
"Nice place you have here," Subaru overheard the physiotherapist say when he arrived on Thursday morning.
"It's Subaru's inheritance," said Kakyou, blandly.
It really was his, too. Seishirou's will named him sole beneficiary and since nobody knew the truth of how the man had really died, Seishirou's lawyer had contacted Subaru and informed him of the terms of his "inheritance". The Sakurazuka ancestral home, a flat downtown and far more money than Subaru would ever need.
Not to mention the black Subaru sports car out the front. He made a note to kick it next time he felt the urge.
The gardener must have quit when he was informed of the master of the house's death. Subaru made another note to track down whom it was and hire the person again.
Satisfied that Kakyou would be safe in the hands of the physiotherapist, Subaru headed out to do some shopping.
The supermarket was very busy, and the normality of it all took him quite by surprise. Still, it took him several moments before he realised the strange looks people gave him if their eyes should meet were because of his eyes. Trying not to blush at being the centre of attention, he made a note to buy some glasses like Fuuma's and continued with his grocery shopping.
Cooking... Had Seishirou-san had a cook? He doubted it. He idly wondered what kind of foods Kakyou liked. Maybe tonight he would make sukiyaki.
"My, aren't we being domestic?"
Subaru jumped and turned around quickly. "Fuuma-I-mean-Kamui," he said, with extreme patience, "what are you doing in a supermarket?"
"Actually, I was looking for you. And before you ask, I wasn't looking here. This is just where I happened to find you."
"Well, here I am. What did you need me for?"
"You took my dreamgazer." He pouted. "Now who am I supposed to talk to?"
Subaru rolled his eyes, and put a package of rice into the cart.
"And that even after what happened to Seishirou..." Fuuma trailed off as Subaru's hand reached for his throat.
"Don't," Subaru spat out, "you dare talk of him in front of me like that. I couldn't care less about keeping you entertained. This is my city. I won't let you destroy it simply on a whim."
"I think you're in the wrong position to be displaying such sentiments, Sumeragi-san," said Fuuma, smugly.
Subaru gave him a long look. "Is humanity worth saving? It's not. Not in any way. But you don't see that. Tell me, 'Kamui', why don't you believe humanity is worth saving?"
Fuuma opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Then, he turned around and walked off. "We'll meet again, Sumeragi-san. Destiny wills it to be so."
" 'Destiny wills it to be so' is not an answer, 'Kamui'," muttered Subaru, feeling inexplicably saddened by the conversation. He systematically finished his shopping and paid for it with Seishirou's credit card.
Subaru dropped by the Post Office to check the mail in Seishirou's post-office box on the way home. Two cheques, a bill, and a letter from his lawyer. He opened them as soon as he got home.
The bill was for the electricity, and the cheques were from the government in payment for his 'work'. He had to admit the Sakurazukamori was well paid.
The envelope from the lawyer contained another envelope, this one addressed in familiar handwriting to "My dear Subaru-kun." Frowning, he tore it open with his finger and began to read.
"Dearest Subaru-kun,
"If you are reading this letter, you have succeeded my position and come to live in my ancestral home, so I feel I owe you an explanation as to what caused me to go so willingly into death.
"Oddly enough, it was something I did that started it - I gave into my temptation and took you to bed. You did not resist. In retrospect perhaps I should have questioned that, but at the time it never occurred to me that you could love me and not want to sleep with me."
Subaru walked into the living room where Kakyou now sat, long legs crossed and engrossed in a book, and settled himself on the couch next to the dreamgazer.
"You were always open to sex.
"It was about a week ago that I realised that was all it was to you; that you gave me your body but nothing more than that.
"And I realised that that was because you really did hate me, even though I believe you to still be in love with me. This is a thought I simply can not bear, yet I can not bring myself to surrender your heart."
Subaru dropped the letter. "No," he said, quietly, desperately, "you're wrong. I didn't hate you. I never hated you. I couldn't hate you... But it never meant anything to me that we slept together, because I knew it didn't mean anything to you. You were wrong! You died because of a misunderstanding! I killed you!"
Kakyou must have picked up the letter after Subaru dropped it, because he was reading it. When he was finished, he leant over to put a hand on Subaru's shoulder. "He had never had emotions of his own before. He could never be expected to understand. It's not your fault."
"He died," insisted Subaru, "because he thought I hated him!"
"He died because it suited him to do so, just like everything else he ever did in his life," said Kakyou. "If he said he only killed your sister because she asked him to, he was lying. He killed her because it suited him. If he had not wanted her to die, he wouldn't have killed her."
"But... my Wish..."
"Your Wish was never granted because he didn't want you to die, Subaru," said Kakyou, in a patient tone.
"You asked me so many times why I didn't just kill you and get it over with. I could never do that, Subaru-kun, because I realised you did not truly lose the bet. I thought I felt nothing for you, but I could not bring myself to kill you, therefore logically I must be feeling something for you.
"So, I only took half your life."
Kakyou was very, very annoyed.
Subaru might never have been able to bring himself to hate Sakurazuka Seishirou, but Kakyou had no such issues. He hated the man with a passion.
The man's recent interference certainly did nothing to lessen the fires of his hatred. Just as Subaru was finally beginning to come to terms with himself, as well. Even after death, Seishirou toyed with the Sumeragi's feelings.
Kakyou wanted to hit him. Hard.
Subaru had left in silence, not long after throwing the letter into the fire. The Sumeragi had sat and watched it burn to ashes, all the while surrounded by an aura of insane grief. It was raining outside and Kakyou did not like to think where he might have gone.
With little else to do and no easy way to move around the house, should he wish to do something else, Kakyou returned to his reading.
Kakyou had taken to studying books on onmyoujitsu in his spare time, of which he had lots. The pile of unread books Subaru had left him when he went out for the day had dwindled to a small stack of books he really didn't feel like reading, so he had requested his physiotherapist fetch him some down from Seishirou's bookshelf.
The kind of magical exercises detailed in the first of these books were perfect for Kakyou's own small gift. He learnt wards - nothing strong enough to physically keep a being from crossing them, but enough that he would know if something tried to breach them.
Now he flicked through them, hunting for some way of reaching Subaru. Perhaps the small birds, like Hinoto used...
Hinoto. Now there was a problem to think about deeply...
But not now. He needed to concentrate for this. In neat, slow calligraphy he wrote the appropriate characters on some ofuda he had found within the pages of one of the books, although the resulting exhaustion made it barely seem worth the effort. The spell required him to throw the slips of paper and transform them into shikigami before they hit the ground, which he was just about to do when somebody opened the door.
Kakyou fell over backwards in surprise.
"What are doing?" asked Subaru, with interest. Noticing his predicament, the Sumeragi helped him up and then sat back on his heels, obviously expecting an answer.
The dreamgazer felt his cheeks grow hot. "I found these books," he said, uncomfortably.
Subaru looked at them. "These aren't mine..." he said, slowly. "Where did you find them?"
"They were in one of the bookcases. I told my physiotherapist to get them for me," explained Kakyou, attempting to sound apologetic but not being particularly successful.
"Have you ever done magic before?"
Kakyou shook his head. "Only the magic that applies to my dreamscape."
"You have to be very careful that you write the spells accurately," said Subaru, seriously. "One mistake can dramatically change the outcome of a spell."
"So I gather," said Kakyou, thinking of the extensive warnings in the books he had read.
Subaru cocked his head in thought. "I could teach you, if you like."
Kakyou blinked at him. Subaru looked embarrassed.
"I think," said Kakyou slowly, "that I would like that."