A week or two passed and Kamui managed to forget about the ticking time bomb he was sure was around somewhere in his life, waiting to go off. There were very few times in Kamui's life where he could actually remember not expecting the other shoe to drop at any moment, but this one was without a doubt the most pleasant in the collection. Subaru had become something of Chiaki's nanny and favorite playmate, leaving Kamui and Yuzuriha to gradually explore the relationship they had which had up to that point always seemed in the shadow of some struggle or another. Without the demands of an apocalypse or a child to rear to weigh down on his mind Kamui was beginning to realize how fond he really was of Yuzuriha.
Although inwardly he knew that Chiaki should have some friends of his own age to play with, reconstructed Tokyo was still in a tumultuous economic state and so most of Japan. Poverty of the early years after the Promised Day had lead to a low birth rate in the following years and as a result there were not terribly many possible playmates for Chiaki. The parents of the children that were about were of Kamui and Yuzuriha's generation and had been scarred by the terrible events of their own childhood. They were understandably overprotective.
Subaru did not seem at all burdened by the adoration of the young boy. To the contrary, he was delighted by it and liked nothing better than to take Chiaki out of his parents' hands and spoil him completely.
"Neh! Neh! Subaru? Do you think Daddy would like a tie for his birthday?"
Subaru's pace had an affectionately leisurely gate as if even the very moments of his body were conscious of the small boy bouncing along at his side. He considered Chiaki's question with a wise and careful 'hmmmm' before answering "Has he learned how to tie them by himself yet?"
Chiaki blinked his wide gold eyes blankly. He supposed that to Chiaki the idea that an adult could not do adult type things was a bit of a hard concept. "When we were much younger he couldn't do it right, someone always had to straighten it or retie it for him."
"Really?"
"Well your Daddy was a screwy kid."
He rapped soundly on the door to Yuzuriha's apartment, a painfully small place in an almost decent side of town. Of course Yuzuriha was living of a university professor's salary so one could hardly fault her for it.
"Mommy!" Chiaki greeted as the door swung open.
"Hey guys, how was the park?" She ushered them in with a quick paced wave of her hand as she grabbed the tea kettle from the counter with the other. Her apartment was really small enough for her to do this with super human powers. Inuki sat lazily on the kitchen floor, his ears twitching curiously at the sound of familiar voices while the rest of him remained thoroughly uninterested in anything other than sunbathing on the tile floor. He was nudged out once Yuzuriha set about making tea for her guest and trotted with a heavy snort towards Subaru and down the hallway.
"Hey Inuki," Subaru patted the spirit dog-- who growled appreciatively and followed them into the living room..
"Pet Seki too!" Chiaki tugged on his sleeve.
"Seki?" Subaru inquired.
"My doggie," the child pointed besides him quiet matter-of-factorly. "I have one like Mommy."
Subaru stared at the spot indicated. He stared with every sense he had trained for any trace of another spirit pup. But it was no use, he could detect nothing.
"Only I can see him," Chiaki offered helpfully. "He's right there."
He pointed again, this time with more insistence and gazed up expectantly. Subaru felt an extraordinary amount of pressure being put on him to answer correctly, as if he could shatter the fragile world of innocent child's things by one wrong comment.
He looked hopelessly at Yuzuriha, who from the kitchen mouthed 'Imaginary' at him while she prepared their tea.
Oh yeah. Right...
Sometimes being once a Dragon of Heaven, once a Dragon of Earth, once a Sumeragi clan head and always, always an onmyouji ... one forgot about the real world out there where such things as he had seen were children's worlds of make believe. He bent down and patted the spot as if it there were something there as best he could. "Is he a good puppy like Inuki?"
Inuki's gaze was dull and puzzled as he idly watched the exchange from where he sat.
Chiaki nodded cheerfully. "Yup! Do you want to see him do a trick?"
"He does tricks?"
"Chiaki honey, it's 3 o'clock..." Yuzuriha chimed in knowingly.
The child looked most terribly conflicted and for a moment there had been a spark of unbridled excitement in his eyes. What guilty pleasure came at 3 o'clock? He leaned in closer to Subaru and whispered, "Hamtaro Zeta is on ... that's my favorite show. Can I show you later?"
Subaru smiled, "sure."
"You won't be upset?"
"I can wait a half an hour."
"Okay!" Chiaki announced happily as he bolted into the next room to turn on the TV.
"One of these days," Yuzuriha sighed as she poured their tea. "I will figure out a way to explain Inuki to him without him thinking I've gone wacko. I suppose it better than other things though. I could have to your situation to handle."
"My situation?"
She smiled knowingly, "you and Kamui."
"Oh...."
"That and the whole Sakurazukamori thing... Kamui and I both agree that perhaps it's best that he not know about the past, but how much can we hide? And then there's...."
Subaru looked up curiously, "yes?"
"He says things sometimes Subaru," she confided. "He has a way of saying things..."
"Children do that," the Sumeragi shrugged. "They put things in the most direct terms which sometimes leads one to believe they understand more than they really do."
"It's not just that. It worries me sometimes. I worry about how those things effect Kamui."
"I don't think there's anything to worry about."
"No?"
"Kamui already believes what he wants to. And who knows, maybe it's true. But I don't think his belief will hurt him much, he sees this as fulfilling a promise he made."
"Even if you're right ... I wonder how long we can keep all of this from him."
"Well the lies are more comfortable than the truth," Subaru said as he sipped his tea.
"Meaning?"
"He calls you Mother."
"Oh yeah that," she lowered her voice significantly in case tiny ears might have strayed from the TV. "It was nothing either one of us encouraged. I helped Kamui out a lot with him when he was little, I suppose he just assumed... Kamui never told him to call him Dad, it's just something he did on his own. And we thought it best to just let it be for now. He's too young and the truth is too complicated for him to understand fully. Besides, Kamui felt very strongly that he needed a sense of family. Even if we're not his real parents, it's a simple detail, a simple lie that saves him from so much pain."
"Can he see Inuki?"
She shook her head and took another large gulp of her tea, "nope, not a trace of him. It's odd in some ways, with you guys I got so used to you being able to see Inuki that I just expected Chiaki to be able to as well. But I suppose since he is neither mine nor Kamui's biological child there's no reason he would."
"Well ... he is of Sumeragi blood," Subaru hummed. "But then not everyone born into the Sumeragi family has any power either."
*******
"Surprise!" Chiaki chirped while holding up a misshaped white cake with pride. If the odd smudgings of icing were any indication, he had probably had a hand in its creation.
"What's this?" Subaru asked, looking curiously at Kamui and then back to the odd little cake in the boy's hands.
"I made it," Chiaki explained, pressing it forward for Subaru to take it.
"All by yourself?"
"Well ... Daddy helped a little."
Kamui had the culinary skills of a quadriplegic, he doubted the mass of flour and sugar would even be edible but he accepted it warmly and invited them in anyway.
Apparently Yuzuriha had similar thoughts about the cake and had sent Kamui with a box of cookies as well.
"It's a 'thank you' for looking after him the other night," Kamui explained. "And really for everything."
"It was no trouble."
Well that wasn't really true, there was still an eerie green ring around his bath tub. And Subaru had never realized exactly how bad he was at cleaning until he had a toddler's messes to take care of. He had always been a fairly neat person so his inadequate cleaning supplies and skills were never that much of a problem.
But how does one get finger paint stains off wallpaper?
Kamui couldn't help but notice once he was past the threshold of Subaru's apartment a suitcase and a few well packed boxes. Subaru's apartment seemed in various stages of deconstruction. The walls were shedding their pictures and accessories like pretty fall leaves that floated neatly into properly labeled boxes. "What's all this?"
"I'm going back to Kyoto."
That hit Kamui much harder than he thought it would. From the beginning he had known it would come down to this. It was after all the Sakura that had brought and held Subaru here for so long and it seemed logical that once it was gone he should return to his family. Still Kamui was hurt and disappointed, if nothing else Subaru was an old friend. Kamui didn't have many left and it was never any less painful losing one. Granted Kyoto wasn't exactly a world away, but with his son to take care of and his schedule even occasional visits would be difficult to manage. "For how long? ... Why?"
"Surely you've notice it," Subaru commented evenly as he grabbed some plates and cut the cake.
It was strawberry filled and Subaru paused, finding this both very fitting and very ironic considering their conversation.
"Notice what?" Not wanting to confront his own theories, Kamui chose to play ignorant.
"There's something missing." Subaru murmured. "At first I thought you could fill that void, but you can't really I guess. You can't replace a part of myself that I skipped over." He chuckled warmly, "it was your son that showed me what it was,"
"What is it? Something the Sakura took away?"
"No ... at least not entirely. When I lost my sister I lost any sense I had of it ... but the truth is I was never permitted one of my own."
Kamui despised riddles, especially when he either solved them or lost someone he cared for. He was about to ask Subaru just to be straight with him when they were interrupted by Chiaki proclaiming "Cooooooolll."
Kamui had found that particular word coming out of Chiaki's mouth to be much more menacing than anything Fuuma had every uttered. Because usually what Chiaki considered 'cool' was something that could easily eat him, step on him, fall on him, impale him, or otherwise kill a whole pack of kindergartners. Kamui turned around curiously to see what had caught his son's attention and was not disappointed. While they had been talking Chiaki had been quietly going through Subaru's boxes and was holding an unsheathed ritual dagger a few inches from his face.
"Chiaki, drop it now!"
Kamui was angry certainly, but for once he both looked and sounded it, the child jumped back with a yelp and the knife landed with a clank on the floor.
Kamui stormed over and grabbed the knife and its sheath with such uncharacteristic aggression that Chiaki skitting back a few feet and looked positively terrified. Kamui put the dagger away, "you know better than to play with things like that."
Chiaki nodded
"Go sit over there," he pointed to the kitchen table. "And don't move."
The child complied meekly, nearly melting into one of Subaru's chairs like he wasn't there. Kamui was not stern with him often, but when he was his eyes were neither angry nor concerned but cold and almost ruthless. Subaru raised an eyebrow and volleyed a concerned glance from the child to his father. In the time they had been separated Kamui had grown up quite a bit. He never would have thought that the boy he had knew so well could manage the discipline needed for raising a child. Subaru had assumed that it was Yuzuriha who set down the law, but now it seemed that was not entirely true. Kamui could be strict when he wished to be.
"What do you mean Subaru?" Kamui, satisfied that Chiaki was going to be obedient now, had turned his attention back to their conversation.
Subaru didn't answer right away, he sat on the floor and began organizing the possessions littering it into the appropriate boxes. But it was obvious from the way his hand worked carelessly and the way his eyes looked through every item that Subaru's mind wasn't really on the task. He wasn't simply ignoring Kamui either, it was just that admitting what was on his mind was so very hard for him.
Kamui recognized shame when he saw it, especially on Subaru. It was an emotion that didn't suit the man at all, but it was Subaru's favorite accessory. He kneeled down next to Subaru so he wouldn't have to speak any louder than necessary and put his hand on the man's shoulder gently. "Subaru?"
"I've spoken to my family and they agree that it's best for me to come home where they can keep an eye on me in case this turns into anything dangerous."
"In case what turns into something dangerous?"
Subaru looked up and smiled cheerfully at Kamui. A smile that disturbed Kamui because it was so unlike anything he had ever seen from the Sumeragi. It was like Chiaki's smile, innocent and careless. "I'm not sick Kamui, I've found something that's been missing for a long time. It's just people will say I'm sick and it will hurt you two to have to listen to that. I know you can deal with it, and right now Chiaki doesn't understand it ... but he'll grow up one day Kamui and he'll become ashamed of being so close to me once. I've made your lives hard enough already don't you think?"
Kamui stared, yes he knew what Subaru meant by this. The Sumeragi's behavior had been rather odd and it did not concern Yuzuriha and himself much only because they knew him. They knew that his oddness now was both harmless and a vast improvement from the oddness of his past.
But had they not known him back then, surely they would not think so kindly of Subaru's ways. Perhaps they would even fear he was dangerous. Kamui knew well enough that he couldn't control the beliefs that others had or the actions they took in accordance with those beliefs. If what Subaru had decided to do with the rest of his life was going to make him seem as crazy as he claimed then there was no guarantee Kamui could protect Chiaki from the things people might do or say. There was no way Kamui could protect Subaru either.
"Then..." he began somewhat at a loss for what to say. He wanted to make sure that Subaru knew that he was conceding to Subaru's conclusions not because he didn't want to risk the consequences, but because he had learned to recognize things that were out of his control. He would, if he had any power to ensure it at all, protect both of them from the criticism of the world.
"Subaru is going away?" Chiaki nearly whispered.
The two grown men went silent and stared at the child they seemed to have forgotten was listening to their every word.
He is four years old Kamui found himself thinking as Chiaki looked on the verge of thick heavy tears . Somewhere down the he developed a problem remembering that, and the sniffling and whimpering that came from the boy in the kitchen as he fought back the tears that seemed inevitable seemed a shock to Kamui.
The boy broke into a wave of sobs that cut through the silence hard. Maybe it was the reaction to be expected from any child, but it struck Kamui in a very surreal way as it echoed what he felt on the inside as well. And perhaps it was because it was so quiet in the apartment that the cries seemed to circle urgently around.
"Chiaki," Subaru sighed, the soft smile on his face telling the boy he was touched by his sorrow. "I'll only be in Kyoto ... you can come visit on weekends if you like."
Chiaki peeked up just a bit at Kamui, still weary that his crying might further annoy his father, "Can we Daddy?" He was hardly eased by the invitation. It had stopped his wailing, but not the whimpering or the tears. It seemed Chiaki really did understand that even with the occasional visit his friendship with the older man was at an end.
Kamui nodded. His manner did not do much to assuage Chiaki, but he felt too conflicted and unhappy himself to smile for the boy. The best he could manage was to stand silently with his arms folded over his chest and look dimly off into space.
It was undoubtedly for the best. The Sumeragi estate had sheltered Kamui from the world before, it would be the best place for Subaru. The large nearly self sufficient manor had held a whole mess of secrets in dark corners through out the ages. More to the point it was family, Subaru had spent what seemed like eons isolated from his family.
Now that he finally had one of his own Kamui had learned that the family was among a person's most valuable possessions.
And yet Kamui knew that all the common sense in the world could not ease the child inside of him who like Chiaki had now broken into hard sobs again. Kamui smiled softly at the helpless looking Subaru who could do little to cheer up the boy and picked up his son carefully. "He's tired I think ... we should probably head home for a nap now. Enjoy the cake."
Subaru nodded, looking guilty and adorably upset that he hadn't been able to comfort the child despite his best intentions. He saw them to the door before he went to finish packing.
And Kamui walked down the hallway outside of Subaru's apartment without an appropriate goodbye to comfort them. He let Chiaki cry into his shoulder without a comment save for an occasional soft phrase as he stroked his hair. Perhaps a better parent would be a little more sympathetic, but Kamui had gotten used to loss. He couldn't help feeling like this wasn't worth all the dramatics he felt swelling up around it. Maybe he was too frustrated at himself for being so upset about Subaru leaving to allow himself to be a comfort to the child in his arms.
"Daddy...?"
"Hmmm?" he hummed softly as he watched the elevator slowly lowered them through floors.
"Is Kyoto far away?" Chiaki sniffled as he rubbed the last tears out of his eyes.
Kamui shook his head, "not too far."
"Is it nice there? Will Subaru be happy?"
"I hope so." Kamui sighed softly. "But I'm sure he'll miss you very much."
Chiaki whimpered a little and buried himself under Kamui's chin. "Who will play with him? Won't he be lonely?"
Kamui couldn't help but smile. Kissing Chiaki softly on the head he told the boy warmly that, "I'm sure Subaru will be okay. We'll go visit him as often as you want to just so that you can make sure ... but right now let's go home."
*******
Things in Tokyo seemed dark and dull for the next couple of weeks. Chiaki had become rather sullen and quiet as the days moved on and Kamui and Yuzuriha were forced to live lives with a lot less cheerful chaos. Kamui could not enjoy the lack of stress this awarded him because he couldn't shake the feeling of emptiness.
Bad enough to lose Subaru, but seeing Chiaki depressed and lethargic was worse. Was it absolutely impossible for him to find a place in his life for all the people he wanted to hold close and make them all happy without complications?
Fate did not seem to be on his side, but then ... it rarely was.
Subaru called once he had gotten settled back in Kyoto to let them all know he was fine. Although he talked to Chiaki for some time the boy did little but nod and respond in brief unhappy sentences. Kamui didn't know whether to try to cheer him up or to scowl him for skulking and trying to make Subaru feel bad about leaving. He felt that either choice could possibly make the situation worse and since he had no one to turn to for insights into what Chiaki was thinking he felt rather helpless.
Yuzuriha had began staying over a lot. They had spent so many night talking until they both feel asleep on the couch that Kamui had moved his alarm clock out into the living room just to keep them from missing work. Once again he found himself being thankful for Yuzuriha's company. He would assure himself that he wanted her came over so often because Chiaki needed to see that the people he loved weren't going to leave him, but late at night when Chiaki had been sound asleep for hours and Kamui struggled to find a comfortable position with which to sleep without waking Yuzuriha he admitted to himself how silly that thought really was. Chiaki didn't really need her here, he was the one who needed her here. Because he wasn't afraid of looking foolish in front of her like he was with Subaru and she seemed to remind him that he had to make decisions like the ones he was struggling to make if he wanted to protect the people he loved. She was a tremendous comfort.
"How late are you working on Friday?" his voice was so low and deep he almost didn't recognize it himself.
Yuzuriha yawned, she had wedged herself nicely under his arm and was using his shoulder as a less than fluffy pillow. "Classes are canceled on Friday."
"Really? Why? Is it some bizarre holiday I've forgotten about?"
"Naahh.." she yawned again.
"You know I can't keep all these Boy's Day, Girl's Day, Genderless Android's Day things straight."
She laughed softly and closed her eyes a bit, the dim light from the muted television casting a flickering highlight over her skin. "I think it's a Reading Day actually."
"Reading Day..." Kamui processed the phrase slowly. "Is that one of those things where I have to take Chiaki to the library or else I'm a 'Bad Parent'?"
She shook her head with a bright grin, "no it's a day off the university gives so students can catch up with their studies."
"Ohhhh..."
"Why? What do you want to do on Friday?"
"I talked to Subaru today, and I was thinking we'd take the train down to Kyoto on Friday and spend the weekend with him."
"That sounds nice. Is the Sumeragi estate a good vacation spot. Could I have a staff to serve my every need?" She stretched out almost on top of him so that her fingertips reached for the ceiling. "Maybe they have a private spa and I can get a nice long massage?"
Kamui pondered this briefly, "my old physical therapist might be around somewhere. But I think that's about as far as you'll get with that. Although they do have room service if your cute enough."
"Silly boy," Yuzuriha yawned. "I trademarked cuteness."
*******
"Chiaki, you're getting the window dirty..." Kamui sighed helplessly. Chiaki's face had been plastered to the window ever since the train had left the station. Now the condensation his warm breath was leaving on the window was thick enough to obstruct the vision out of it. "Besides your nose might get stuck smooshed like that if you keep it up."
It was his first time on a train ... that he could remember at least. So Kamui wasn't surprised that he found the whole experience so exciting and fascinating, nor was he necessarily displeased about it. It was just ... instilling a sense of good behavior in a child required consistency. Despite the cuteness, pressing one's face up against the window and holding it there for hours was not very polite.
He looked at Yuzuriha helplessly, but her attention had been claimed by the magazine she had brought a long with them.
Well .... at least he was being quiet. Maybe Kamui would let him stare and just ... uhhh apologize to the conductor later.
The train finally pulled to a halt at their station after what seemed like an eternity of time. Chiaki catapulted into Kamui's lap like an explosion had propelled him away from the window. "Subaru! Subaru, Daddy!! It's Subaru!!!"
Kamui lowered his head to peak out the window. And well there he was, grinned broadly and waving to them from the platform. It was something of a shock because Subaru Sumeragi had always been such a reserved and quiet figure to Kamui, and yet he was behaving like an absolute ninny. Or a kid at Christmas ... either way not the usual Sumeragi pomp and circumstance. And standing beside him was....
Daichi Sumeragi.
Kamui swallowed the hard lump in his throat and gathered Chiaki up along with their bags so that they could exit the train. He knew that this moment was inevitable, but he had been hoping that he didn't have to meet Daichi head on like this. There were two people on the Sumeragi estate that Kamui dreaded any extended contact with, so of course Subaru brought one of them along to greet them.
"SUUUUUUUUUBBBBAARUUUUUUU!!!!" Chiaki waved happily with the one arm that wasn't wrapped around Kamui's neck before roughly dislodging himself from Kamui's hold so that he could race across the train platform and nearly tackle the older man.
"Future linebacker in the making," Yuzuriha smirked as she helped Kamui reorganize his hold over their belongings.
"What are you kidding me? Subaru a prissy little girl when it comes to that, a stiff wind could blow him over."
She poked him softly in the ribs, "you're one to talk."
Kamui might have argued the point were Chiaki not bouncing eagerly at Subaru's feet and attracting considerable amounts of attention from Subaru's cousin.
Yuzuriha noted his worried look and followed his line of sight curiously. "Oh ... is that him?"
"Yeah..." Kamui sighed.
"You know it's been four years, legally I don't think he has a basis--"
"I'm not even thinking about that," Kamui cut her off sharply.
"Still Kamui..."
And if the threat of Chiaki's biological father somehow finding out what had been hidden from him in the past and trying to take back what was in all rights his did not bother Kamui then he was being unfairly rude to Yuzuriha when he ignored her and walked towards the group. The truth was he was not as concerned about whether Daichi had legal basis or not as he was concerned about what the conflict would put Chiaki threw should it ever come up.
"Cute kid," Daichi greeted him. "How old is he?"
"Uhh... four." Somehow he was hoping Daichi wasn't going to do the math about that. It would have been quite hard for him to have fathered a child with Yuzuriha four years ago after all.
"Almost five!" Chiaki protested.
"Really? And that pretty thing over there is your wife?" He pointed at Yuzuriha and laughed heartily when Kamui kind of reluctantly nodded (well technically she wasn't his ... but for the sake of simplicity he wasn't going to go there). "Kamui you stud!"
Kamui flushed and shot a hot glance at Subaru who seemed totally oblivious to any anxiety he might have caused by inviting his favorite cousin. Instead the Sumeragi was very happy to have animated conversation with the child who'd attached himself to his arm, and between the two of them Kamui was having trouble telling which one was the minor.
Daichi stared ahead at Subaru as he walked along side Kamui, Yuzuriha trailing behind them for the moment. "Bit of a wacko isn't he?"
"Huh?"
"Subaru," Daichi clarified. "I suppose if one had to return from the hell he's been through crazy ... this is the best type of crazy one could hope for. I don't really know whether to accept that child like quality he's found for what it is and be happy for him or to worry like the others do that one day we'll find one of his trailing ducklings hanging up by their intestines..."
"Ducklings?" Kamui blinked.
"Yeah, if he weren't the former Sakurazukamori it would be cute. He's got a pack of little kids that follow him around the estate all day. I guess he's become something of the Sumeragi clan's resident nanny."
"And people don't like that?"
Daichi shrugged, "they're uneasy about it, because although we're proud of him for finally defeating our age old enemy ... there are very few people who think that anyone could return from that with morals uncompromised. But then, if he were going to run about slaughtering little children there would be very little we could do to stop him. The magic in the family isn't what it used to be, I doubt that if Subaru put his mind to it anyone in our family would be able to defend themselves.
"But it's really good that you came to visit."
"Is it?" Kamui echoed. "Why, are things that bad for him here?"
"Oh not at all. Subaru's such a nitwit I doubt if he's noticed any of the tension at all. The kids are happy, he's happy having them around ... maybe he just doesn't care what the adults think about it. What I meant is that ... well people feel more comfortable with Subaru when you're around."
This Kamui had never considered before although it seemed like he had heard something like that in the past. "Me?" he laughed. "It's not like I'm known for putting my faith in the right people."
What with Fuuma, Hinoto, Arashi and yes Subaru too, although he hardly blamed most of them for what they had done so long ago. If anything he blamed himself. But still he could not see how anyone could look at this and be assured by his judge of character.
"Well people like you on the manor, and because Subaru means so much to you they sympathize. You want to see Subaru happy, and so do they because they seem to trust you. I imagine that when the see that you trust your own son with Subaru they'll begin to accept that this is just the way he is now."
Up ahead Subaru had been telling Chiaki all about Daichi Sumeragi and especially Daichi Sumeragi's motorcycle. "Maybe he'll give you a ride sometime."
"Really? Cool!!! Is it here?" Eyes wide as china serving plates Chiaki scrambled around Daichi excitedly.
Kamui bristled with what he knew was silly and unfounded jealously.
"No, we came in his car today," Subaru smiled. "Because he wouldn't let me drive it."
Daichi raised an eyebrow, "excuse me? Last time I let you drive you asked me why some of the lines on the road were yellow and some white."
"An innocent question!"
"Yeah well ... no more driving for Subby-kun after that. Especially not in the onmyoujimobile."
"The 'onmyoujimobile'?" Yuzuriha snickered.
"Well ... it's a minivan," Daichi grinned. "And when I have like a billion little onmyouji kids I'll have to pack them all up in there. It seemed an appropriate name."
Kamui hoped that no one noticed the soft growl he indulged himself with. He was fortunate as no one seemed to. But Chiaki did look up cheerfully and tug on his sleeve urgently.
"Daddy, Daddy, can I ride on Daichi-san's motorcycle when we get there? Can I please?"
"No," he replied a little harsher than he really meant to. But it was a fumble that was easy to recover from. "Those things are dangerous and I don't want you on one."
"Awwwww Daaaaad--"
"He's right kiddo, you're a little too small for a bike ride yet. Maybe next time okay?" Daichi smiled warmly down at Chiaki and Kamui wondered how long it would be before someone pointed out how much they really looked a like.
"Well" Subaru started up again, completely ignorant to the undertones of the conversation. Whether he knew better or not was anyone's guess but one would think that he would understand why Kamui was behaving as he was. "Daichi has lots of other neat stuff too we could--"
Kamui gave Subaru a look that was murderous and the onmyouji wisely did not finish his sentences. No one said anything for a while; Chiaki seemed to sense this was not a good subject to discuss with his father right at this moment. Yuzuriha, ever the useful one, was distracting Daichi with tales of her life as a scholar and environmentalist so well he didn't seem to notice the conversation about him had been cut off.
*******
Normally Kamui was not an early morning person. He struggled and forced himself up out of bed and wandered around like an old ghost haunting for an hour or so before he rushed out the door to battle Tokyo's impossible traffic. Cramped in a tiny car, a growing migraine and every ounce of his body and mind wishing it was back in bed sound asleep. So it was with much irritation that he found himself completely and totally wide awake at 9 o'clock in the morning on the one day he could sleep in. And when the bed he had been given was significantly more comfortable than his own ... well it just figured.
He found Yuzuriha in the kitchen of the little guest house-- one of many they found out-- that had been prepared for their visit with a cup of coffee in one hand and a grin plastered all over her face the likes of which he had not seen since she was a girl.
"Morning," he yawned only to be 'shh'ed, nudged out of the way gently, and a cup of coffee placed in his hand. He was a little insulted, but figured that might be early morning crankiness afterall and took a good sip from his cup before he whispered "what?"
Yuzuriha pointed to the couch in the living room. "That is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Don't wake them."
Kamui blinked and moved so that he could see over the back of the couch ... Subaru was stretched out over it sound asleep with Chiaki curled up practically on top of him, also sound asleep and sucking his thumb contentedly.
"How late were they up last night?" Kamui wondered outloud. He had thought that Chiaki was in bed before him. In fact he was almost sure of it.
"I put Chiaki to bed before 7 last night, but I think he must have sneaked out after we went to bed and hung out with Subaru."
Kamui rolled his eyes, "figures. I was sure we wouldn't have to worry about him sneaking out of the house at least until he was 6..."
She laughed, "yeah well ... he's precocious."
"Let's just hope he doesn't pick up Subaru's bad habits. Subaru chews on his chopsticks sometimes and it always really annoyed me."
Yuzuriha stiffed a laugh before taking Kamui by the arm and leading him towards the front door. "I want to see some of the manor's gardens, walk with me?"
He deposited his coffee cup with one final sip into the sink and trailing her out of the guest house, taking care not to disturb the slumbering children on the couch. Distantly he was surprised how much he still remembered about the Sumeragi estate and how well he could lead her around the grounds to all the charming spots that were sure to delight her.
"Are you going to be like this everytime will come up here to visit Subaru?" she asked while they stood below a giant plum tree. Below them was a thick grove of different spring blooming trees guarded carefully by a steep drop that made the floor of the grove seem like a black pit.
"Like what?" Kamui asked, although he seemed to know what she meant already.
"You were very nasty to Subaru's cousin yesterday. Not outright, but I doubt he's stupid enough for it to have gone unnoticed. And if it's because you don't want Chiaki to develop a relationship with him and if you intend to continue these silly hostilities, next time we'll come up here without you."
In his heart Kamui wanted to argue his point with her. But in truth he didn't know what his point was, he liked Daichi and he knew he was being a bit of a prick for no good reason. A part of him wanted to tell Yuzuriha that Daichi was a no good jerk who abandoned his own kid but the truth was Daichi had never known that Maiko was pregnant in the first place. Kamui, even in his most bitter and hurtful moods, couldn't fault him for that.
"I'm ... this is going to sound really silly ... but I'm almost afraid he'll like Daichi better than me."
It had rained the night before and the leaves of the plum tree were still sparkling with tender drops of rain water. If the breeze picked up just a little they'd fall like delicate tears onto their cheeks and foreheads. Kamui flinched as a little hit him too close to his eye for comfort but Yuzuriha laughed happily at the light shower. She almost glowed in the morning's fragile sunlight. "Listen Kamui, he's going to find out eventually. Either you're going to tell him or he's going to figure it out on his own and want to know who his real parents are. Isn't it better that when that happens he already has a relationship with his father and mother rather than comforting perfect strangers? Isn't this a whole lot less painful for him in the end?"
"I dunno..."
"I mean what if you found out years ago when we were living on CLAMP campus that Imonoyama-san was your father?"
Kamui yelped and jumped back a little. "Imonoyama-san?!?!?!? You have to be kidding me Yu ... he'd have .... he'd have been like 5 when he was with my mother!!! Ewwwwww..."
"Well it was just an example..." she giggled.
"Still, ewww..." Kamui paced over to the edge of the grove's small cliff, still trying to shake that mental picture from his head.
"My point was," she swung up next to him with a good solid step. "It would be better for it to be someone you knew and had a positive relationship with right? Otherwise you might have compared him to all sorts of bizarre idealistic fantasies about what sort of person your father is."
"And Imonoyama-san was the best example?? God the Sakurazukamori would have been less gross. I think I need to stab out both my eyes now ... I can't get the image of my mother with a 5 year old Imonoyama-san out of my head....
"Will you stop it," she punched him in the shoulder.
Perhaps a bit too hard ... or maybe Kamui simply had his weight on the wrong foot, because he lost his balance and in the panic of realizing he was going to fall into the grove he reached out for something...
What he grabbed was Yuzuriha's arm and unfortunately she was not much better at keeping her footing, sending the two of them sliding down the steep decline and tumbling into the dark terrain below.
"Ow....." Kamui whined. "Can we ... not do that again?"
"...do you promise to be good?" She was pressed awkwardly on his chest, her cheek lightly bruised by his collarbone.
"Yeah ... if I let Chiaki spent time with Daichi ... will you stop beating me up and throwing me off cliffs?"
"I think I can managed that Kamui," she smiled. A smiled that faltered with a sharp yelp once she tried to disentangle herself from him.
"What? What's the matter?"
"It's just my ankle ... it hurt when I tried to get up... I'm fine though," she assured him as she struggled to get to her feet again. But it was obvious from the way she flinched as she put weight on it that she was not at all fine.
"It could be broken or twisted or at least sprained or something Yu."
"Don't be silly, you landed harder than I did. I'm just little sore and muddy Kamui." She brushed off her skirt as if to emphasize her point. "I'll stay off it just to be sure, but I can walk back to the manor no problem."
Kamui tilted his head and scratched some of the dirt out of his hair. The incline had been steep, but it was not going to be hard to follow the steady path back up it. The trail was loaded with thick cakey mud that was more likely to ruin their shoes than cause them to slip again and Kamui could easily imagine sinking up to his ankles in the dark creamy filth.
He nodded solemnly to himself and, before she could think to protest, scooped Yuzuriha up and headed for the trail. It was a bit easier than he expected it to be, either Yuzuriha really was as light as she looked or he didn't have the girly arms everyone thought he did.
She squeaked in surprise but didn't struggle or make things difficult for him even though she wasn't overly pleased about being carried up a small hill like a helpless girl. Thus the fit she threw was a charming one consisting of many stern looks and a few well placed helpless 'oh why did God leave men so devoid of common sense' sighs. "You're being so silly today.."
He shrugged as best he could well holding her and climbing up the steady path at the same time. "Well I think you might be right ... Chiaki might be able to spend time here with both of his birth parents without some dramatic divine proclamation and some one exploding. In the end we're still a family no matter what right, you, me and Chiaki? Things can be like this for a while and I think all of us will be happy, even Subaru. It may not be the end of the world after all, and I'm pretty happy about that."
"End of the World ... god those are always such a bore."
"Yeah ... what with the mass death and destruction..."
She kissed him softly on the cheek, "Kamui Shirou, you bad boy, you've been in the angst again before dinner haven't you?"
He gave her a side ways glance as one good step hosted them up out of the grove and back onto the spacious lawn. His eyes were just touched with a cold humorless glow since he didn't particularly like being teased about being a pansy little angst machine, not even from Yuzuriha. But this didn't seem to bother Yuzuriha in the slightest. In fact, despite her protests to the contrary, one might think from her manner that she was quite enjoying being carried up the muddy hill in Kamui's arms.
"I told you," she continued to chastise him playfully. "We're saving that angst for Chiaki's teenage years."
"Lord help us," Kamui sighed. "He's not allowed to be an angsty teenager. Hell ... he's not allowed to be a teenager at all. Chiaki can angst when he's in his twenties living on his own and we're as far away from Japan as possible on a cruise ship in the Caribbean."
"It's a deal," Yuzuriha agreed.