Author's Note:
Okay! And now, no more violence for at least another chapter. However, you do get warnings for language, a change of format, and a personality quirk which is neither supported nor refuted by canon. Not that, you know, anyone really cares. ^_~
*`-,--
Yuzuriha's eyes went wide; the soft haze of sleep immediately vanished from her expression.
"This is Subaru-san...?"
Karen cradled the unconscious boy close to her; his head lolled gently into the crook of her arm.
"He's, uh, under a pretty powerful spell," she said patiently. "Could you help me clear off the sofa?"
"Y-yes, of course!"
"Don't seem fair," Sorata grumbled, padding through the doorway. "I mean, jeez, can't he do more than an hour of consciousness at a time?"
"Sorata-san," Arashi said from somewhere in the corridor, "please keep your voice down. You'll wake Kamui."
"What happened to his hair?" Yuzuriha asked, pushing a thick coffee-table book on American musical theatre off the arm of the sofa.
"Well, he says the last thing he remembers is his sixteenth birthday, so I guess this is how he looked back then." Karen smiled briefly. "If you ask me, he was a pretty cute kid."
"If I didn't know better, Karen-san, I'd say you were kinda sweet on 'im," Sorata teased.
"Good thing you know better, then, isn't it? Ah, thanks, Yuzuriha-chan, now help me get him settled--"
Carefully, the two Seals lowered him onto the sofa cushions; Subaru barely stirred, breathing slowly and evenly, as if he had sunk into the same deep sleep as Kamui.
"What happened to him? Is he okay?"
"He doesn't seem to be sick... Kamui was having a nightmare, and he put him right back to sleep with some kind of spell... but then he just sort of fell over." Karen smoothed his hair back from his forehead; he leaned ever so slightly into the touch, like a sleeping puppy responding to its mother's affectionate nuzzling. "I don't know much about magic, really, but he doesn't seem to be hurt, so..."
Yuzuriha perched on the arm of the sofa and peered down at the sleeping boy. "He looks so... different. Not, you know, happier, but... not so sad."
"Yeah..." Sorata sauntered over and draped an arm across the girl's shoulders. "He used to get this look, before... like he was concentratin' on putting his hands in a fire, ya know? Or tryin' to hold on to a piece of ice."
"I wonder what happened to him," Yuzuriha murmured.
Subaru stirred.
"Subaru-san! Oi, can you hear us?" Sorata leaned down so that he was almost nose-to-nose with the boy, and tapped his forehead gently with one finger. "Oi, c'mon, let's get back to the land of the living here... Suuuuubaru-saaaan..."
Subaru's deep green eyes slid open.
And he blushed.
"U-uh--S-s-s-so sorry!" He tried to struggle into a sitting position, and his forehead collided painfully with Sorata's, sending both young men backwards--Subaru sprawled into the sofa cushions, while Sorata staggered back several steps and narrowly avoided falling on his rear.
"Damn, you got a hard head, kid," he muttered. "I'm gonna have a bruise."
"I'm so sorry!" Subaru propped himself up on his elbows. "Really, I didn't mean--"
"Shhhh!" Karen stroked his forehead once again, sweeping his unkempt bangs away from his eyes. "It'll be fine. Sorata-kun always bounces back, isn't that right?"
"Oh, sure. I had a cousin who was a Superball."
Subaru chuckled, and began to twist his gloved fingers together nervously. "If you insist... I'd offer to get you a bandaid, but I don't know where they are."
"Hey, relax. I'll live. I'm a big boy, isn't that right?"
Yuzuriha giggled, and Subaru looked up at her. "Oh--! I'm so sorry, I... have we met?"
"Yes! I'm Nekoi Yuzuriha... another one of the, uh..." She glanced over at Sorata for some help.
"...Dragons of Heaven?" Subaru's eyes widened, and then he bowed in his seat. "I'm sorry to have made you all worry about me, it was very selfish..."
"I get the feelin' he apologizes every time it rains," Sorata muttered in Yuzuriha's ear. She elbowed him hard by way of reply.
"Subaru-san, what happened back there?" Karen asked gently.
"Oh, that..." The boy smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't careful. Whenever an onmyouji casts a spell, it returns to the caster. Usually there's a way to lessen its effects, but I didn't really have time, so--I went to sleep, just like Kamui."
The boy paused as Yuzuriha's inugami, small and grey and blinking sleepily, trotted over to the sofa.
"Oh, what a sweet puppy!" Subaru's expression instantly became one of sheer delight as he held out a black-gloved hand to the little dog. "Whose is he?"
Yuzuriha stifled a faint gasp.
"I see he remembers you," Karen smiled as the inugami started licking at Subaru's fingers. The boy giggled and moved his hand to scratch Inuki's ears affectionately.
"What a good boy," he crooned, his smile broad and completely genuine. "Good boy. What's his name?"
"Inuki."
"He's such a sweetheart..."
Sorata hid a laugh behind his hand, and was promptly elbowed in the ribs again.
"Subaru-san," Yuzuriha said hesitantly, brushing sleep-rumpled hair out of her eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, Nekoi-san."
"Do you remember how to make a kekkai?"
The room went quiet.
Karen and Sorata glanced at each other. Both Seals knew full well what the question meant: if this really was Subaru, then no matter how drastically altered he might be, he would still have the ability to create a kekkai--it was the only real distinguishing mark of a Dragon of Heaven, and thus the only foolproof way of establishing his identity.
Subaru sat up slowly, and then got to his feet. With a look of intense concentration he brought his gloved hands together, staring down at his palms.
"Yes," he said softly.
A faint green glow began to flicker in the space just above his hands, and then it expanded, taking on the shape of a five-pointed star, pulsating like a heart. He opened his hands a little, as if releasing sand or water to fall to the ground, and the star grew, sending a ripple of power spiking through the room. As the green energy raced outwards, spreading away from his slim form, a soft keening sound filled the air: the magic fairly crackled as it wove itself together and pushed out, humming with the promise of protection...
"Su... Subaru?"
The kekkai retreated into his hands and vanished the moment Subaru turned around.
Kamui, drenched in sweat and still tangled in a sheet, was leaning heavily on the doorframe, watching him intensely.
"Kamui-san--"
"Hey, now, you shouldn't be out of bed." Sorata took a step forward, but Kamui waved him off weakly.
"Subaru... is that... is it you?"
"Kamui-san," Yuzuriha ventured, "you don't look so good--"
"Yes, Kamui-san, it's me... but I..."
Kamui's violet eyes went wide, and he stumbled across the threshold towards Subaru, letting out a choked noise as he crossed the few steps between them.
* * *
"Sorry I kind of... fell on you, Subaru."
Kamui curled his scarred hands around his teacup and watched Inuki pad across the surface of the kitchen table. After pulling himself out of sleep, he'd had several confusing briefings on the "new" Subaru and what had happened, whereupon the other Seals had decided to hold a private conference in the living room while both young men adjusted to the situation.
"It's okay. But you shouldn't have been out of bed, not after that nightmare--you looked like you had a fever or something."
"I don't get sick," Kamui said, with a small, bitter smile.
"Still. You're human. And important to all of us."
Kamui looked up at his friend. He could barely believe this was the same person he'd seen only a day or two before, crying bitterly over the broken body of an assassin--he had to really look to see the resemblance. Yes, the voice was the same, albeit higher and more boyish; the facial structure was just a little rounder, but definitely the same.
But the thing that was truly stunning was how everything about him seemed healed.
His eyes were bright, unblinded, alert as they had always been but no longer suspicious. Although he looked shorter and, if at all possible, thinner than he had before the change, he looked far healthier; he smiled easily, spoke politely, and had answered Kamui's cautious "do you want a cigarette" with a resounding "ugh!"
All in all, he looked worlds better--even, Kamui thought with a slight blush, a bit more attractive.
The only thing that struck him as being slightly off was the gloves.
"Subaru, why do you wear those?"
The boy blinked, and looked down at his hands. "I... I don't remember. I've worn them for so many years... I think I was in an accident, and I might have been hurt pretty badly. I can't take these off unless I'm completely alone, so... usually I just don't bother."
He doesn't know about the stars, Kamui thought, amazed. Of course he wouldn't, if he doesn't remember--
If he doesn't remember the Sakurazukamori.
"It's okay, though," Subaru went on cheerfully. "I mean, they haven't stopped me from doing things like spellcasting or playing the violin."
Kamui blinked.
"You play the violin?"
"I haven't played for you?"
"No, never."
Inuki whined, trying to dip his nose into Subaru's teacup; the boy picked him up gently by the scruff of his neck and deposited him on the floor.
"That's odd..." He chuckled and shook his head. "There's so much I don't remember... you'll have to forgive me if I ask about things like that."
"It's okay."
I just hope I have answers, Kamui added mentally.
* * *
Arashi shook her head firmly.
"I think our only option is to go see Princess Hinoto," she repeated. "She's the only one who can tell us for certain what's wrong with him."
"I dunno, babe. I mean, yeah, she can see what's going on and all, but..."
Sorata, completely ignoring the furious blush that rose to Arashi's cheeks on being referred to as "babe", plowed right ahead with his train of thought. "I think somebody oughta trail the Dragons of Earth. I mean, I have this weird feeling they're behind what's happened to Subaru-san, seeing as they were the ones who brought him back here."
"Why, do you think they're having him watched?" Karen looked a little surprised.
"Could be. Whatever reason they had for bringin' him back, it's not just 'cause we missed our good buddy and they have a soft spot for reunion scenes. And smart as the Princess is, I dunno if she can give us the why of things along with the what."
"Shadowing a Dragon of Earth--any of them--would be ridiculously risky," Arashi shot back.
"Then I'll do it real quiet-like. They don't call it 'shadowin'' for nothin', babe."
"What should we tell Subaru-san?" Seiichiro put in, sensing an imminent fit of bad temper from the other end of the coffee table.
"About what?"
"Well--should we tell him he's changed, or just act as if we've always known him in this form?"
There was a moment of tense silence.
Then Yuzuriha spoke, timidly.
"I think," she said, her voice soft with uncertainty, "we shouldn't worry him. Whatever he's forgotten, all the terrible things he's been through--why should he worry about things he doesn't remember?"
Karen chuckled, an almost wistful little sound.
"It's the hardest thing in the world to be happy," she said quietly. "Maybe it would be... useful to see how he manages it."
Silence descended again. None of the Seals looked at each other.
Subaru's voice, bright with cheerfulness, drifted through the kitchen door.
"No, down, boy! That's it. Oh, yes, you are a good dog, aren't you? You're such a good dog."
Karen stood.
"But I think that getting the Princess' opinion couldn't hurt."
* * *
"Princess Hinoto?"
The dreamgazer caught the ripple of sound moving towards her across the dream-plane; slowly she lifted her head in a well-rehearsed, graceful gesture.
"Yes, Souhi?"
"Kamui and the... the head of the Sumeragi family are here."
Inwardly, Hinoto smiled; doubtless the little incident at the Bridge had gone perfectly according to her plan, and now Kamui would haul his broken friend before her, demanding to know why he remained withdrawn, begging for her help...
"Send them in, Souhi."
She turned towards the doorway and carefully tuned her othersenses to register the newcomers.
Kamui's presence was the same complicated net of strength and confusion, fear and hope--but the other Seal...
The other Seal was not what he had been.
Where she should have sensed years of heartache, bitterness, longing beyond reason, there was a strange sort of bright optimism. The long jagged scars across his psyche were gone; no memory of any substantial hurt lingered.
Her blind eyes went wide in genuine surprise.
"Subaru-san," she murmured.
"Princess."
She couldn't hear the voice, not with her useless physical ears, but she knew the sound was different. She knew the light tenor had gone up half an octave, that the hard edge of forced civility had disappeared from his tone.
What sort of dreams had she missed, that this came as a surprise to her now?
Kamui's voice nudged at her consciousness--he was willing the words towards her, instead of speaking them aloud. "We think he's under a spell--he doesn't remember us, his eye is healed. It's like half his life got... erased."
Powerful magic indeed. Hinoto turned her attention to the young clanhead; little ripples of respect flowed towards her. Her othersenses brought back a brief portrait of this new boy-Subaru: his presence was taut with politeness and the earnest desire to learn. She guessed that, if she had been able to actually see him, she would have seen that his head was bowed slightly and his hands were primly folded in his lap.
His hands. A spike of familiar magic caught her attention: the Sakurazukamori's marks were still branded into his presence, though not as strongly as they had been while the assassin was still living. Their energy seemed to be muted by something else; cautiously she nudged at his aura, and a slight shock came back to her.
She faintly remembered dreaming of the young clanhead years before--the dream had been of an awkward boy, no more than thirteen, practising sword-form to clear his mind the night before he took on the title of clan leader. That boy had worn black gloves in her vision, gloves with a powerful charm sewn inside to keep the predator's mark from prying minds.
"Come here, please, Subaru-san," she said, making sure to keep her "voice" as smooth and sweet as possible.
She sensed the boy move closer to her; with some effort, she lifted a hand, shaking it free of the heavy stiff silk of her sleeve.
"Kneel."
He did. She reached up and out into the sensory void that was the real world--apparently he sensed what she was trying to do, for he took her small hand in both of his, smooth warm leather pressing against her skin.
The boy gently guided her hand to rest on his cheek; for a moment her small fingers registered nothing more than that his skin was wonderfully soft.
Then the visions hit her, and she gasped.
Okay! And now, no more violence for at least another chapter. However, you do get warnings for language, a change of format, and a personality quirk which is neither supported nor refuted by canon. Not that, you know, anyone really cares. ^_~
*`-,--
Yuzuriha's eyes went wide; the soft haze of sleep immediately vanished from her expression.
"This is Subaru-san...?"
Karen cradled the unconscious boy close to her; his head lolled gently into the crook of her arm.
"He's, uh, under a pretty powerful spell," she said patiently. "Could you help me clear off the sofa?"
"Y-yes, of course!"
"Don't seem fair," Sorata grumbled, padding through the doorway. "I mean, jeez, can't he do more than an hour of consciousness at a time?"
"Sorata-san," Arashi said from somewhere in the corridor, "please keep your voice down. You'll wake Kamui."
"What happened to his hair?" Yuzuriha asked, pushing a thick coffee-table book on American musical theatre off the arm of the sofa.
"Well, he says the last thing he remembers is his sixteenth birthday, so I guess this is how he looked back then." Karen smiled briefly. "If you ask me, he was a pretty cute kid."
"If I didn't know better, Karen-san, I'd say you were kinda sweet on 'im," Sorata teased.
"Good thing you know better, then, isn't it? Ah, thanks, Yuzuriha-chan, now help me get him settled--"
Carefully, the two Seals lowered him onto the sofa cushions; Subaru barely stirred, breathing slowly and evenly, as if he had sunk into the same deep sleep as Kamui.
"What happened to him? Is he okay?"
"He doesn't seem to be sick... Kamui was having a nightmare, and he put him right back to sleep with some kind of spell... but then he just sort of fell over." Karen smoothed his hair back from his forehead; he leaned ever so slightly into the touch, like a sleeping puppy responding to its mother's affectionate nuzzling. "I don't know much about magic, really, but he doesn't seem to be hurt, so..."
Yuzuriha perched on the arm of the sofa and peered down at the sleeping boy. "He looks so... different. Not, you know, happier, but... not so sad."
"Yeah..." Sorata sauntered over and draped an arm across the girl's shoulders. "He used to get this look, before... like he was concentratin' on putting his hands in a fire, ya know? Or tryin' to hold on to a piece of ice."
"I wonder what happened to him," Yuzuriha murmured.
Subaru stirred.
"Subaru-san! Oi, can you hear us?" Sorata leaned down so that he was almost nose-to-nose with the boy, and tapped his forehead gently with one finger. "Oi, c'mon, let's get back to the land of the living here... Suuuuubaru-saaaan..."
Subaru's deep green eyes slid open.
And he blushed.
"U-uh--S-s-s-so sorry!" He tried to struggle into a sitting position, and his forehead collided painfully with Sorata's, sending both young men backwards--Subaru sprawled into the sofa cushions, while Sorata staggered back several steps and narrowly avoided falling on his rear.
"Damn, you got a hard head, kid," he muttered. "I'm gonna have a bruise."
"I'm so sorry!" Subaru propped himself up on his elbows. "Really, I didn't mean--"
"Shhhh!" Karen stroked his forehead once again, sweeping his unkempt bangs away from his eyes. "It'll be fine. Sorata-kun always bounces back, isn't that right?"
"Oh, sure. I had a cousin who was a Superball."
Subaru chuckled, and began to twist his gloved fingers together nervously. "If you insist... I'd offer to get you a bandaid, but I don't know where they are."
"Hey, relax. I'll live. I'm a big boy, isn't that right?"
Yuzuriha giggled, and Subaru looked up at her. "Oh--! I'm so sorry, I... have we met?"
"Yes! I'm Nekoi Yuzuriha... another one of the, uh..." She glanced over at Sorata for some help.
"...Dragons of Heaven?" Subaru's eyes widened, and then he bowed in his seat. "I'm sorry to have made you all worry about me, it was very selfish..."
"I get the feelin' he apologizes every time it rains," Sorata muttered in Yuzuriha's ear. She elbowed him hard by way of reply.
"Subaru-san, what happened back there?" Karen asked gently.
"Oh, that..." The boy smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't careful. Whenever an onmyouji casts a spell, it returns to the caster. Usually there's a way to lessen its effects, but I didn't really have time, so--I went to sleep, just like Kamui."
The boy paused as Yuzuriha's inugami, small and grey and blinking sleepily, trotted over to the sofa.
"Oh, what a sweet puppy!" Subaru's expression instantly became one of sheer delight as he held out a black-gloved hand to the little dog. "Whose is he?"
Yuzuriha stifled a faint gasp.
"I see he remembers you," Karen smiled as the inugami started licking at Subaru's fingers. The boy giggled and moved his hand to scratch Inuki's ears affectionately.
"What a good boy," he crooned, his smile broad and completely genuine. "Good boy. What's his name?"
"Inuki."
"He's such a sweetheart..."
Sorata hid a laugh behind his hand, and was promptly elbowed in the ribs again.
"Subaru-san," Yuzuriha said hesitantly, brushing sleep-rumpled hair out of her eyes. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, Nekoi-san."
"Do you remember how to make a kekkai?"
The room went quiet.
Karen and Sorata glanced at each other. Both Seals knew full well what the question meant: if this really was Subaru, then no matter how drastically altered he might be, he would still have the ability to create a kekkai--it was the only real distinguishing mark of a Dragon of Heaven, and thus the only foolproof way of establishing his identity.
Subaru sat up slowly, and then got to his feet. With a look of intense concentration he brought his gloved hands together, staring down at his palms.
"Yes," he said softly.
A faint green glow began to flicker in the space just above his hands, and then it expanded, taking on the shape of a five-pointed star, pulsating like a heart. He opened his hands a little, as if releasing sand or water to fall to the ground, and the star grew, sending a ripple of power spiking through the room. As the green energy raced outwards, spreading away from his slim form, a soft keening sound filled the air: the magic fairly crackled as it wove itself together and pushed out, humming with the promise of protection...
"Su... Subaru?"
The kekkai retreated into his hands and vanished the moment Subaru turned around.
Kamui, drenched in sweat and still tangled in a sheet, was leaning heavily on the doorframe, watching him intensely.
"Kamui-san--"
"Hey, now, you shouldn't be out of bed." Sorata took a step forward, but Kamui waved him off weakly.
"Subaru... is that... is it you?"
"Kamui-san," Yuzuriha ventured, "you don't look so good--"
"Yes, Kamui-san, it's me... but I..."
Kamui's violet eyes went wide, and he stumbled across the threshold towards Subaru, letting out a choked noise as he crossed the few steps between them.
* * *
"Sorry I kind of... fell on you, Subaru."
Kamui curled his scarred hands around his teacup and watched Inuki pad across the surface of the kitchen table. After pulling himself out of sleep, he'd had several confusing briefings on the "new" Subaru and what had happened, whereupon the other Seals had decided to hold a private conference in the living room while both young men adjusted to the situation.
"It's okay. But you shouldn't have been out of bed, not after that nightmare--you looked like you had a fever or something."
"I don't get sick," Kamui said, with a small, bitter smile.
"Still. You're human. And important to all of us."
Kamui looked up at his friend. He could barely believe this was the same person he'd seen only a day or two before, crying bitterly over the broken body of an assassin--he had to really look to see the resemblance. Yes, the voice was the same, albeit higher and more boyish; the facial structure was just a little rounder, but definitely the same.
But the thing that was truly stunning was how everything about him seemed healed.
His eyes were bright, unblinded, alert as they had always been but no longer suspicious. Although he looked shorter and, if at all possible, thinner than he had before the change, he looked far healthier; he smiled easily, spoke politely, and had answered Kamui's cautious "do you want a cigarette" with a resounding "ugh!"
All in all, he looked worlds better--even, Kamui thought with a slight blush, a bit more attractive.
The only thing that struck him as being slightly off was the gloves.
"Subaru, why do you wear those?"
The boy blinked, and looked down at his hands. "I... I don't remember. I've worn them for so many years... I think I was in an accident, and I might have been hurt pretty badly. I can't take these off unless I'm completely alone, so... usually I just don't bother."
He doesn't know about the stars, Kamui thought, amazed. Of course he wouldn't, if he doesn't remember--
If he doesn't remember the Sakurazukamori.
"It's okay, though," Subaru went on cheerfully. "I mean, they haven't stopped me from doing things like spellcasting or playing the violin."
Kamui blinked.
"You play the violin?"
"I haven't played for you?"
"No, never."
Inuki whined, trying to dip his nose into Subaru's teacup; the boy picked him up gently by the scruff of his neck and deposited him on the floor.
"That's odd..." He chuckled and shook his head. "There's so much I don't remember... you'll have to forgive me if I ask about things like that."
"It's okay."
I just hope I have answers, Kamui added mentally.
* * *
Arashi shook her head firmly.
"I think our only option is to go see Princess Hinoto," she repeated. "She's the only one who can tell us for certain what's wrong with him."
"I dunno, babe. I mean, yeah, she can see what's going on and all, but..."
Sorata, completely ignoring the furious blush that rose to Arashi's cheeks on being referred to as "babe", plowed right ahead with his train of thought. "I think somebody oughta trail the Dragons of Earth. I mean, I have this weird feeling they're behind what's happened to Subaru-san, seeing as they were the ones who brought him back here."
"Why, do you think they're having him watched?" Karen looked a little surprised.
"Could be. Whatever reason they had for bringin' him back, it's not just 'cause we missed our good buddy and they have a soft spot for reunion scenes. And smart as the Princess is, I dunno if she can give us the why of things along with the what."
"Shadowing a Dragon of Earth--any of them--would be ridiculously risky," Arashi shot back.
"Then I'll do it real quiet-like. They don't call it 'shadowin'' for nothin', babe."
"What should we tell Subaru-san?" Seiichiro put in, sensing an imminent fit of bad temper from the other end of the coffee table.
"About what?"
"Well--should we tell him he's changed, or just act as if we've always known him in this form?"
There was a moment of tense silence.
Then Yuzuriha spoke, timidly.
"I think," she said, her voice soft with uncertainty, "we shouldn't worry him. Whatever he's forgotten, all the terrible things he's been through--why should he worry about things he doesn't remember?"
Karen chuckled, an almost wistful little sound.
"It's the hardest thing in the world to be happy," she said quietly. "Maybe it would be... useful to see how he manages it."
Silence descended again. None of the Seals looked at each other.
Subaru's voice, bright with cheerfulness, drifted through the kitchen door.
"No, down, boy! That's it. Oh, yes, you are a good dog, aren't you? You're such a good dog."
Karen stood.
"But I think that getting the Princess' opinion couldn't hurt."
* * *
"Princess Hinoto?"
The dreamgazer caught the ripple of sound moving towards her across the dream-plane; slowly she lifted her head in a well-rehearsed, graceful gesture.
"Yes, Souhi?"
"Kamui and the... the head of the Sumeragi family are here."
Inwardly, Hinoto smiled; doubtless the little incident at the Bridge had gone perfectly according to her plan, and now Kamui would haul his broken friend before her, demanding to know why he remained withdrawn, begging for her help...
"Send them in, Souhi."
She turned towards the doorway and carefully tuned her othersenses to register the newcomers.
Kamui's presence was the same complicated net of strength and confusion, fear and hope--but the other Seal...
The other Seal was not what he had been.
Where she should have sensed years of heartache, bitterness, longing beyond reason, there was a strange sort of bright optimism. The long jagged scars across his psyche were gone; no memory of any substantial hurt lingered.
Her blind eyes went wide in genuine surprise.
"Subaru-san," she murmured.
"Princess."
She couldn't hear the voice, not with her useless physical ears, but she knew the sound was different. She knew the light tenor had gone up half an octave, that the hard edge of forced civility had disappeared from his tone.
What sort of dreams had she missed, that this came as a surprise to her now?
Kamui's voice nudged at her consciousness--he was willing the words towards her, instead of speaking them aloud. "We think he's under a spell--he doesn't remember us, his eye is healed. It's like half his life got... erased."
Powerful magic indeed. Hinoto turned her attention to the young clanhead; little ripples of respect flowed towards her. Her othersenses brought back a brief portrait of this new boy-Subaru: his presence was taut with politeness and the earnest desire to learn. She guessed that, if she had been able to actually see him, she would have seen that his head was bowed slightly and his hands were primly folded in his lap.
His hands. A spike of familiar magic caught her attention: the Sakurazukamori's marks were still branded into his presence, though not as strongly as they had been while the assassin was still living. Their energy seemed to be muted by something else; cautiously she nudged at his aura, and a slight shock came back to her.
She faintly remembered dreaming of the young clanhead years before--the dream had been of an awkward boy, no more than thirteen, practising sword-form to clear his mind the night before he took on the title of clan leader. That boy had worn black gloves in her vision, gloves with a powerful charm sewn inside to keep the predator's mark from prying minds.
"Come here, please, Subaru-san," she said, making sure to keep her "voice" as smooth and sweet as possible.
She sensed the boy move closer to her; with some effort, she lifted a hand, shaking it free of the heavy stiff silk of her sleeve.
"Kneel."
He did. She reached up and out into the sensory void that was the real world--apparently he sensed what she was trying to do, for he took her small hand in both of his, smooth warm leather pressing against her skin.
The boy gently guided her hand to rest on his cheek; for a moment her small fingers registered nothing more than that his skin was wonderfully soft.
Then the visions hit her, and she gasped.