Part Twelve

//If you were a contestant on a game show, and they offered you three doors and told you there was a fabulous prize behind one of them, you have a one in three chance that you will win. Let's say you pick door number one. The game show host would then reveal that there is nothing, in fact, behind door number two.

So now your choices have gone down to doors number one and three. Do you switch or stay? You would think it was a fifty-fifty chance, but this is untrue. You actually, statistically speaking, have a better chance if you switch the door you've chosen. You will win sixty-seven percent of the time. Why does this work?

I don't have a bloody clue.

But it does.//

Sumeragi Hokuto rolled over in her sleep. She wasn't normally troubled by dreams, but she'd been having some damned weird ones lately.

//A person is only selected for reincarnation if they have extremely unfinished business or if their lives have been terribly disrupted, otherwise there would be no room for new souls to enter the world. The odds that one will be chosen for this dubious honor are about one in a thousand.

Once they have been selected, they are given the choice. Do you wish to return or don't you? A fifty-fifty shot; only two answers.

Therefore, the chance that Hokuto would be reincarnated was one in two thousand. (Or, five to the power of negative four.)//

It was just past five in the morning; false dawn. The wonderful thing about false dawn was that there was light, but you couldn't see the sun, so the light seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, leaking in through the cracks in Hokuto's curtains and falling in her eyes.

//The chance that Kakyou would be reincarnated was a solid one in one thousand, as he did not receive a choice. However, as he was one of the Dragons of Earth, the chances of his reincarnation went up significantly, because of the wishes of the Kamui. Therefore it evens out to, perhaps, one in one hundred.

This brings the odds that Kakyou and Hokuto would both be reincarnated up to one in two hundred thousand. (Five to the power of negative six.)//

Hokuto grabbed her pillow and pulled it over her face, muttering in her sleep.

//Just because you are reincarnated, however, doesn't mean you'll necessarily be born in the same place. Sometimes you are, because your unfinished business lies there, but it only happens about one time out of every ten.

They were both born in the same place. The odds of that are one in one hundred.

Therefore, factor that in, and the odds that Hokuto and Kakyou would both be reincarnated in the place where it was necessary for them to be in order to meet again are a stunning one in twenty million.

(Five to the power of negative eight.)

Such a number can only be considered a cosmic fluke.//

Her alarm went off with a click and a blaring of J-Pop.

"I'm up!" she announced to her ceiling, jerking into a sitting position.

Pause.

"Now what on earth was I dreaming about?" she murmured.

//They have already beaten the odds in a fantastic way.

The odds that a seventeen year old high school boy and a twenty-six year old fashion designer would manage to have any sort of relationship beyond friendship are not as bad, but they certainly aren't good.

It's all in determination, anyway. Very little is left to chance anymore.

Do your math.

They'll make it.//

****

Weeks passed. Subaru heeded Kamui's advice and did his best to forget about it. With no other information available, since Kamui wouldn't tell them anything, it wasn't like it really mattered anyway. Seishirou seemed very relieved by Subaru's sudden decision to drop the whole matter, and didn't question it. They abided by Hokuto's two-nights-a-week rule and were, on the whole, content.

"You know what we should do this weekend?" Hokuto asked, three weeks after Subaru's day at the library.

"What?" Subaru asked.

"We should go to the beach!"

Subaru blinked. "It's too cold for that, Neesan."

"It's supposed to be really warm this weekend . . ." she said.

"And we have school on Saturday," he replied.

"But you don't really want to go, do you?" she wheedled.

"No, of course not," Subaru said. "But that doesn't change the fact that -- "

"It's a holiday," Hokuto interrupted him, and tossed the school calandar in his face.

Subaru blinked at it. "Oh," he said. "So it is."

"It's settled then!"

"Neesan! Nothing is settled!"

"One of my friends at work says she has a little beach house that she can rent us with room for six! So you can invite Sei-chan and Kamui-chan. And if you invite Kamui-chan you have to invite Monou-kun. And, hmm . . ."

"Why don't you invite one of your friends, Neesan?"

Hokuto looked startled. "I don't really think any of them would be able to put up with me for an entire weekend," she said ruefully.

"Oh," Subaru said, then grinned. "Should I invite Kakyou-san, then?"

Hokuto turned pink. "If you want," she said.

Subaru snickered. "Neesan, you are entirely transparent. I will invite Kakyou-san and the others at lunch today."

****

The others were all agreeable to a weekend at the beach, though all of them pointed out that it would probably be too cold to swim. Subaru reminded them all that his sister's insanity wasn't his fault, and everything was settled. They left town Friday evening after school and reached the beach at sunset.

"Umi umi umi umi umiiiiiii!!!!" Hokuto ran down to the ocean to dip her feet in.

The others looked at each other.

"The cabin's over there!" Hokuto bounced back up to them and pointed to a small building. "Let's go!" She scooped up her bag and ran over to it.

"This is going to be a very interesting weekend," Subaru said.

They ventured into the cabin. Hokuto had already examined it. "There are three bedrooms," she reported. "One has a big bed and the other two have two small beds."

"We claim the big bed," Subaru said immediately, pulling Seishirou towards the door Hokuto had motioned to.

"Subaru-chan," Hokuto tried, "that's really not fair. You and I are related; we should take that room."

"I think he means we claim it right now," Seishirou said, letting Subaru drag him into the room.

Within seconds, they were inside and the door was shut.

"Well, I sure don't want that room now," Hokuto grumbled.

Kamui snickered. "The sea air must bring out Subaru's libido," he murmured to Fuuma.

Fuuma choked on his laughter.

"I heard that, Kamui-chan," Hokuto said in a threatening tone of voice.

Kamui looked innocent. "Well, Fuuma and I will take one of the rooms with twin beds, so you two are stuck with the last one."

Hokuto turned pink. Kakyou turned red.

"Kamui-chan, you've known me longest," Hokuto tried. "You should probably share the room with me, and 'Kyou-chan can share with Monou-kun."

"But I want to share with Fuuma," Kamui said. "You don't mind, right, Kakyou-san?"

"Um . . . er . . . that is . . . I guess I . . ." Kakyou stammered, looking like he wished he could run away.

"Great, it's settled then," Kamui said, and headed for one of the rooms with Fuuma in tow.

Hokuto sighed and turned to Kakyou. "You're sure you don't mind?"

Kakyou looked at the floor, blushing fiercely. "I don't mind," he mumbled to his feet.

"Well!" Hokuto said brightly, picking up the cooler. "I'm going to make dinner."

"Do you want any help?" Kakyou asked hesitantly.

She grinned. "Sure!"

***

Subaru and Seishirou emerged from their bedroom about an hour later, fully clothed and looking fairly pleased with themselves. Subaru wandered into the kitchen and leaned over Hokuto's shoulder to see what she was cooking.

Hokuto shot him a glare that could have peeled paint. "I'm glad you're having a good weekend."

Subaru yawned and stretched, grinning. "You're right. This weekend was a good idea."

Seishirou, standing in the doorway, laughed.

Hokuto sighed.

"Where's everyone else?" Subaru asked.

"'Kyou-chan is bringing the rest of the stuff in from the car, because, unlike some people I could mention, he's responsible." Hokuto glared again, and was somewhat annoyed when Subaru snickered. "Kamui-chan and Monou-kun went down to the beach."

"We probably shouldn't disturb them," Seishirou said.

"Probably not," Subaru said. "You need any help with dinner, Neesan?"

"No, I'm okay. 'Kyou-chan is helping. You can go exploring if you want. Dinner will be in about forty minutes."

"Thanks, Neesan." Subaru took Seishirou's hand and tugged him out of the house.

Hokuto sighed, banging things around in the kitchen and trying to not be annoyed.

"What's wrong?" Kakyou asked.

"Nothing. Can you get the flour out of the pantry, please?"

Kakyou got the bag and handed it to her. "Really. Something's bothering you."

"I said it's nothing," Hokuto snapped, and then immediately felt bad. "Gomen, 'Kyou-chan . . . I didn't mean to get mad. It's just . . ."

"You're worried about your brother?" Kakyou surmised.

"Not exactly. I mean, look at him. He's great. I've never seen him this happy." Hokuto stared into the flour she was sifting.

Kakyou felt an immediate urge to help. A moping Hokuto went very strongly against the laws of nature. "Then what's wrong?"

She smiled suddenly. "Oh, you don't want to hear about my problems, 'Kyou-chan. Do we have any noodles?"

Kakyou sighed, got her a bag, and handed it to her. "I do want to hear about," he said. "You just don't want to talk about it."

Hokuto shrugged. "Why would one of my brother's friends want to hear about me?"

"I'd like to think I'm your friend too," Kakyou said softly.

Hokuto said nothing.

"You seem to spend an awful lot of time with Subaru-san's friends," Kakyou said, and watched Hokuto's flinch. "Do you not have many of your own?"

"Well, I had a few a while ago, but I lost track of most of them when I had to move back home to take care of Subaru-chan," she said. "I guess they didn't really care enough to keep in touch with me."

"I'm sorry," Kakyou said. "I don't know why."

"Oh, because I'm loud and obnoxious and annoying," Hokuto said.

"I don't think you are," Kakyou replied.

Hokuto opened the bag of noodles and shook them out into a pot. "Well, you're among the precious few. Anyway, I guess . . . I guess seeing Subaru so happy makes me feel kinda lonely. Because it's great when I've got him, but soon he's going to graduate and go off and be happy somewhere without me."

"Subaru-san would never just abandon you like that," Kakyou protested immediately.

She grinned at him. "And you wouldn't either, ne, 'Kyou-chan?"

Kakyou turned red and mumbled something.

She laughed. "You're too serious. C'mere so I can show you how to do this."

Kakyou walked over and leaned over her shoulder, watching as she instructed him on how to combine the ingredients. "You're a good cook," he said.

"Lotsa practice," she said. The cabbage kept skidding when she tried to cut it. "Here, hold this in place for me, will you? It's too round."

Kakyou reached over her and took hold of it, turning pink as their fingers brushed together. Once Hokuto had cut it in half, she laid it flat side down so he could let go. "Thanks," she said.

She turned around a little too quickly. Kakyou was still right behind her, and hastened to catch her as she stumbled, and somewhere in the midst of the confusion, her lips brushed against his.

Both of them leapt backwards as if they'd been stung.

Hokuto let out a tiny nervous laugh. "Gomen, 'Kyou-chan."

Kakyou just stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Hokuto began chopping cabbage with abandon, trying to stop blushing. "Can you get the milk, 'Kyou-chan?"

Kakyou silently got it out of the fridge and handed it to her.

"Thanks."

Kakyou wanted to say something. Badly. But he couldn't think of anything. Hokuto had kissed him. By accident, sure, but it had still definitely been a kiss. And it had been nice. He'd liked it. But he certainly couldn't tell Hokuto that. She was twenty-six. Twenty-six year old women were not interested in seventeen year old boys. Particularly evidenced by the fact that she'd quickly changed the subject.

He realized he'd been standing there silently for a good few minutes. The air was growing thick with tension.

"Hokuto-san . . ."

She jumped and looked over at him. "What?"

He smiled at her, the rare smile that was precious because so few people ever saw it. "Thank you for inviting me this weekend."

She blinked. "Subaru-chan invited you, not me."

He just kept smiling. "I know. But he did it because you wanted him to, ne?"

"Well, maybe," she mumbled, looking away.

"Then thanks."

She finally smiled back. "You're welcome, 'Kyou-chan. You're great fun to have along."

****

"It's almost enough to make you want to cry, isn't it," Subaru said mournfully.

Seishirou blinked. "What is?"

Subaru pointed to the two figures sitting on the beach with the hand that Seishirou wasn't holding. "Them. Sitting there. With two handy feet of space between them so they won't even accidentally brush up against each other."

Seishirou chuckled. The two of them were enjoying a casual stroll up and down the beach.

"There must be something we can do," Subaru said thoughtfully.

Seishirou pondered. "They're pretty close to the water . . . we could splash them."

"I don't think that would help," Subaru said dryly.

"Well, no, but it would be fun." Seishirou smirked.

Subaru gave him a look. "Think of something useful."

"We could tell Kamui-kun that Fuuma-kun is really a frog that will turn into a prince if they kiss."

"Seishirou-san!"

Seishirou grinned, unremorseful.

"Jerk."

"You love me anyway."

"You're still a jerk. Can't you think of anything useful?"

"We should've let them have the room with one big bed," Seishirou said. Then, after a pause, he added, "Actually, no. I don't want to give that up."

Subaru laughed. "I just feel like there must be something we're missing, that's all."

"Well, we can only throw them at each other so much," Seishirou said.

"It's annoying."

"Come on. You've seen the way Fuuma-kun looks at Kamui-kun. They'll work it out eventually."

****

It really was too cold to swim, at least at night, so they built a campfire on the beach after dinner and sat around for a while. Subaru and Seishirou left first, causing a few muttered comments from Hokuto. Kakyou caught the last half of one and turned bright red because all he heard was '. . . more of a sex life than me, the little pipsqueak.'

"Well, I'm pretty tired," she said brightly, ignoring Kakyou's blush. "Why don't we put out the fire and head inside?"

This was quickly agreed upon.

"Hey, there's a porch swing," Kamui said. "I didn't see that earlier."

"Want to sit out here for a while?" Fuuma asked.

"Sure," Kamui said. "It's a beautiful night, after all . . ."

"Well, I'm going to bed," Hokuto said.

"Me too," Kakyou mumbled.

The two of them went inside.

"They're so cute," Kamui said with a grin, settling on the swing.

Fuuma sat next to him, and they started to rock back and forth. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah," Kamui said. "It's been a good day." He breathed in the sea air deeply. "A really good day."

Fuuma put an arm around his shoulders.

"It makes me glad I saved the world." Kamui looked out at the stars. "Even though we both had to go through hell . . . in a way I'm glad it was me. Because I know that I helped to preserve this."

Fuuma nodded his agreement. "I'm glad too. And I'm glad that you're glad."

Kamui laughed. "I'm glad that . . . that Subaru decided to let it go. Because he'll be happier this way." He paused, then added softly, "And it helps me let go, too. I guess maybe I was holding onto the hope that he'd get his memory back before he met Seishirou, and he would want to be with me." He shrugged. "Didn't happen. But I think I've learned to not worry about the things that don't happen." He rested his head on Fuuma's shoulder. "I think I could be happy like this."

"Good," Fuuma said, smoothing his hair gently. "Because I think you and I deserve it after everything."

"Yeah, well," Kamui said. "That's what this was for, after all."

Fuuma kissed the top of his head. "I love you, you know."

"I know," Kamui murmured, enjoying the feeling of Fuuma's warmth against him, of Fuuma's fingers through his hair. "I think I may love you too. I just . . . I don't know yet."

"It's okay," Fuuma said. "We've got time."

Kamui laughed. "Yeah, I suppose we do. I mean, I don't feel sixteen. I feel so much older than sixteen."

"Well, you are," Fuuma said.

"I know. It just makes it weird sometimes."

Fuuma nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Kamui shivered a little. "It's getting cold. Let's go in."

Fuuma stood up, then offered his hand to Kamui. Kamui took it, and the two of them went into the house. "Think someone will come to wake us up tomorrow?" he asked.

"I doubt it. We'll probably all sleep in. It's a holiday, after all. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

Kamui smiled. "You know, it's pretty chilly in here, too. We might have to huddle together for body heat."

Fuuma laughed. "I was hoping you'd say that."

****

"Ne, Kamui-kun . . ."

Kamui turned from where he was watching the ocean to see Seishirou regarding him seriously. "Yeah?" he asked. "Where's Subaru?" It was odd to see Seishirou without Subaru; these days the two of them were rarely apart.

"He's inside helping his sister. Where's Fuuma?"

"He went to get a sweater. It's really too cold for a beach weekend."

"Yeah." Seishirou nodded.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Did you want something?" Kamui finally asked.

"I just wanted to ask you a question," Seishirou said.

Another pause.

Seishirou took a deep breath, as if he were committing himself to something. "Did Subaru-kun ever go talk to you about that whole reincarnation thing?"

Kamui blinked. "Yeah. Didn't he tell you?"

"No." Seishirou shrugged. "I didn't really give him the impression that I wanted to hear it. I guess I didn't like the idea very much. It's not even that . . . I just thought it was something we didn't really want to remember. I thought he should leave it alone. And I guess he did, because he never told me what conclusions he came to, if he came to any at all."

Kamui paused, looking at him. "Why are you asking me this instead of him?"

"Because if he's willing to let it go, I don't want to bring it up again. I just had one question. That I don't really want him knowing about anyway."

"Well, he did figure it out, and he was right," Kamui said.

"And how do you know that?"

Kamui paused. "Because I have my memories. Fuuma does too. We're the only ones who do, though."

"I suppose I shouldn't ask for more details," Seishirou said.

"No," Kamui said.

"Just one question, though -- does it have anything to do with Ueno Park?"

Kamui's whole body flinched.

"It does."

"How did you know that?" Kamui asked quietly.

"I was just walking by a while ago. And it felt like . . . like someone was calling my name. I could almost hear it."

Kamui turned to him quickly, his voice panicked but controlled. "Don't go there, Seishirou . . . don't ever go there again. Stay away from that park."

Seishirou blinked at him. "Why?"

"Don't ask questions, just believe me," Kamui said.

"Did I die there?" Seishirou asked bluntly.

Kamui hesitated. "No."

"Then why is it calling me?"

Kamui just shook his head. "I can't explain. Not without having to tell you a lot more than you want to know. You'll just have to trust me."

Seishirou looked at him for a long second.

"Subaru died there." Kamui shuddered. "I still remember . . . I was just a few seconds too late."

"How did he -- "

"No," Kamui said. "Don't ask me that. Because even if I wanted to tell you . . . I don't think I could bring myself to say it."

Seishirou fell silent.

"Please just trust me," Kamui said. "Promise me you won't go there again."

"But -- " Seishirou began.

"Promise me," Kamui repeated.

Seishirou met Kamui's eyes for a long second, then nodded. "Okay. I promise."

Kamui relaxed visibly. "Thanks." Before he could say anything else, Fuuma and Subaru wandered down from the house.

"It's chilly out here," Subaru said, standing in front of Seishirou and leaning back against him. Seishirou wrapped his arms around Subaru's waist from behind. "But I thought we should give Kakyou-san and neesan a little private time."

The four of them snickered.

"Those two really are cuter than should be humanly possible," Fuuma remarked, draping a tentative arm around Kamui's shoulders. Kamui smiled up at him.

"It's too bad about the huge age gap," Seishirou mused.

Kamui coughed very loudly, causing Subaru and Seishirou to both give him a suspicious glance and Fuuma to stifle a very bad fit of laughter.

"I'm sure they'll overcome," Kamui finally said, nodding very seriously.

Fuuma started laughing again.

"Don't make jokes we don't understand," Seishirou said.

"Sorry." Kamui's lips twitched.

Subaru and Seishirou looked at each other.

"So how bad was it?" Subaru asked resignedly.

"Nine years," Kamui said. "Same as Hokuto and Kakyou-san."

"Well, it doesn't matter now," Seishirou said peaceably.

"True," Kamui said.

"I'm cold." Subaru shivered.

"Let's give them a little longer, then head in," Kamui suggested.

****

"Well, I hope you both had a good time!" Hokuto said cheerfully to Kamui and Fuuma, pulling the car into Kamui's driveway.

"It was lots of fun," Kamui said, getting out of the car. "Thanks for having us."

"Yeah, thanks," Fuuma echoed.

"See you tomorrow at school," Subaru said, waving at his friends.

Hokuto frowned a little as she began to drive away. "It's a little late to be dropping them both off at Kamui-chan's house, isn't it?"

"Monou-san is probably staying the night," Subaru said. "He does fairly often."

"Ah," Hokuto said, nodding a little. "Well, they seem to be doing better!"

"Yeah," Subaru said. "I'm really glad."

They reached Kakyou's house about ten minutes later. "Did you have fun, 'Kyou-chan?" Hokuto asked him cheerfully.

He smiled at her. "Yeah. I did. Thanks for inviting me."

She just grinned back. "Come over soon, okay?"

He nodded. "I will." Then he turned a brilliant red as Hokuto leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you later," he mumbled, getting out of the car.

Subaru pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh.

"Laugh it up while you have the chance, Subaru-chan," Hokuto said dryly, waiting to make sure Kakyou got into the house okay.

"Hey, fair's fair," Subaru said. "You're always laughing at me."

"I guess," Hokuto said reluctantly. "Am I taking you home, Sei-chan, or are you coming over?"

They looked at each other.

"I do have a lot of homework," Seishirou said with a sigh.

"Heaven forbid you two have to separate for more than five minutes," Hokuto remarked.

Subaru pouted. "Neesan, you're mean."

"We'll survive, I'm sure," Seishirou said.

****

//It is only at certain points in one's life that he feels finally everything is going well, finally he can relax. Kamui has now reached that point; everything has been set in motion, everything is moving smoothly.

Perhaps he can thinking about something else for a while.

It's not that this is always when something goes wrong; it's just that it always takes you off guard when it does.//

****

And yeah. Preview for the next part: All hell breaks loose. Feedback? Please?