Disclaimer: I still don't own Blue Seed. I am still poor.

*I apologize for the sudden changes in scenery. I have lines that separate different sections of the story, but they don't seem to be showing up on the web page. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes. This is the last chapter…I think. It says end…but who knows. If something comes to me...I am likely to add it at a later date. Thank you again for reading my story.

Chapter 5….

Momiji picked up the bag on her steps and peered inside it. She looked around wondering who had brought her all of the things she'd dropped. She opened her purse and took out her wallet to find all of her cash still inside. "Well bless you who ever you are" she said to herself as she turned the key. She noticed that her photo was missing. "Oh Kusanagi…where the hell are you…"

She heard her phone ringing. Rushing to unlock the door and answer it in hopes that maybe Kusanagi would give her a chance to explain she tripped on a cord across her floor and went tumbling into her living room, grabbing at the phone as she fell. With the cord around her ankles, the phone antenna caught in her hair and her face against the floor she let out a panted "H…h….hello?"

"Oh hi Sakura…no, nothing happened…yes, everything's fine…no, I really don't feel like going anywhere…because….just because, damn! what are you my mom?…sorry….no, seriously…ugh…fine!…I'll see you at eight, but for coffee only! Then I'm coming home….bye"

"Can I never rest?" She flopped onto her couch to rest. She only intended to lie there for a moment before heading upstairs to wash her face and scrub the last two days away from her skin, but as her eyelids hung heavy, those moments turned to hours of needed sleep.

Kusanagi opened his eyes slowly. As his vision came into focus he saw the wasteland that was his bathroom. As he stood there was a crunch of broken glass beneath his feet. He bothered not to wash the blood away from his hand and face; his only concern was getting away from all the ugliness around him.

Feeling as though he'd just gotten home, Kusanagi left yet again to set out into what was now the night.

He kept a medium pace…not too fast…not too slow. He did not want to linger, yet he had no clue where he was headed. Without warning, the summer sky seemed to open above his head letting loose the rain everyone had given up hoping for. Kusanagi briefly considered continuing in spite of the storm, but changed his mind with a loud clap of thunder. He didn't like thunder; it breaks one's concentration. Looking to his left, he saw the door to a club or bar of some kind. He pressed his ear to it and could hear music. "Fuck it" he thought and ventured inside. At least it would be a haven from the rain for a short while.

Inside, Kusanagi saw several very odd looking people. He'd seen people like this before, but never so many of them in one place. Most of the men as well as the women had long hair, and most of them wore all black. They had a lot of make-up on and several of them had metal in their faces or tattoos…or both. He stood for a moment watching the dance floor. Some of the people on it were interesting to watch, but most of them just wiggled around everywhere like something was crawling all over them. "Weird…" he said to himself. He liked the music though and decided to stay a while. He'd take in the scenery and listen to the music if nothing else; hopefully he wouldn't be bothered. After getting himself a beer he headed to the upstairs level where he saw pool tables. "Why not?" he thought to himself…at least now he knew how to play…sort of. He sat his beer on a stand and began to set up the table. He was absently noticing the couches and dark decorations when he heard a voice behind him.

"Strangers could get hurt up here you know"

Kusanagi turned around to see a young man, roughly the same height as he, but thinner, with long hair and a painted on pale face staring at him.

 "Look…I just want to be left alone, okay?"

The young man, who was wearing all black, did not waiver. "You foolish humans never listen to anything we say…now, we have a little meeting going on up here…and I think you need to leave."

Kusanagi looked around him and noticed details he's missed during his first scan of the area. There were people almost piled on top of each other. Women…men…some who seemed a little of column A, a little of column B. He noticed one of the girls was bleeding from her wrist area, but she didn't seem to mind. He looked at the one speaking to him and noticed he had scars in the same area. He let out a chuckle.

 "What? Do you guys think you're vampires or something?"

The young man poked Kusanagi in the chest and began a verbal assault. With every new sentence he added a poke for good measure, backing Kusanagi up against the wall. "I don't *poke* think *poke* anything. I *poke* am the *poke* master here. You stupid humans are really *poke* asking for it *poke*!"

Kusanagi held in his urge to laugh at the top of his lungs, and opted instead to give the young lad a word of advice. "You know what?" he began "you really should be happy that you're a normal human being. Don't take this shit for granted…you have the chance to lead a normal, happy life. Take it." He really didn't expect the reaction he got for his counsel.

"Do you want to become dinner?" the young man asked Kusanagi rhetorically. He finished his question with a mistake. A…big…mistake. He pressed his palms flat on Kusanagi's chest and shoved backwards. He intended to shove him into the wall; however, this was not going to be this young man's night.

Kusanagi had had it. This kid was way over the line now. He gripped his wrists and spun him around, turning the tables. With Kusanagi's hand gripping the fair faced boy's cheeks, his long nails just short of cutting into him, he lifted the boy's feet from the floor. The mitamas in his hands started to glow a bright blue and the sharp blades ripped their way from Kusanagi's forearms. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Now who wants to be dinner?"

The boy was kicking and pleading to be let down for a few moments before Kusanagi finally dropped him to the ground. The room froze. The people around were staring at him with an odd mixture of fear and hero worship. Kusanagi simply went back to playing his game. He didn't make much progress however before a young woman approached him. She ran her nose along his neck, obviously smelling him, before licking his knuckles, even though they were still caked with dried blood in places. She came back to his ear "I know what that smell is…it's power…and I want it" She started to lick his ear before he grabbed her by her hair and moved her face away from him. He pressed his blade against her neck. He spoke harshly, "If you value that tongue of yours…you'll keep it in your mouth."

"You'll have to forgive my sister"

Kusanagi released the girl's hair and turned to see who spoke. Another woman, though a bit older, stood in front of him.

She spoke very matter of factly. "My sister is a walking hard on, you'll have to forgive her. What brings you here?"

"That's really none of your business"

"Well I just can't imagine what you'd be doing here. If I could sit with you, maybe you could help me understand…and I could help you as well."

Kusanagi was tired of her advances by this point and snapped back with a quick "No, thanks"

"I really think you should" she pressed.

"Look lady, I suggest you leave me the hell alone. I'm in a shitty mood and willing to share it." Kusanagi had hoped she would leave with this, but she moved closer to him, running her hand along his shoulder.

She spoke to him again, this time with a low voice that was almost a whisper. "Mamoru Kusanagi…don't you understand? This is all a game. Let fate keep testing you and you will lose." She turned to walk away.

Kusanagi blinked. "How do you know my name?" he called after her. "What does that stuff you said mean?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder to him; she did not answer his questions. She simply said "find your own path." And she disappeared into the wash of people below.

He looked around him, everything had been muted. He could see all of them asking him questions, touching his mitamas and chattering about, but could hear not a sound. He hopped over the railing to the lower level and headed for the door. The rain no longer a concern.

Once the droplets of water hit his face the sound came rushing back to his ears and he realized the horde of his curious followers was right behind him. He leapt into the air to hop from rooftop to rooftop, where he could be alone. Once he knew he'd lost them he sat down under a small covering on the rooftop he'd chosen to stop on. He watched the rain drip in front of him. It was a warm summer shower; the thunder was gone, leaving only the peaceful sound of the raindrops. He began to think of what the strange woman said to him. He tried his best to figure out what it meant and how it applied to him, but failed. Then he remembered the last thing she said…"find your own path"… Although he wasn't sure she meant it this way, Kusanagi began to realize that he didn't really know who he was. He'd spent his whole life in servitude. For one reason or another, he'd never been able to pursue anything he was interested in. He'd had no time to discover just what it was that made him…him. He sat and thought about all the things he liked…the things he didn't like…the things that made him smile…the things he loved to do…the things he wanted in life. He always knew these things, but had never taken time to really invest in them. It occurred to him that if he barely knew himself…other people couldn't know him that well either. He must seem terribly bland to the untrained eye. Momiji. She must have driven herself crazy trying to figure out how to deal with him…how to please him…how to surprise him. He was grateful for his epiphany, but couldn't help but wish it had come to him earlier. There, under a small make-shift rain tarp, he decided that now it was time he got to know Mamoru Kusanagi.

Momiji woke to a clap of thunder. She looked at her clock…7:30. "Ugh…" She forced herself to get up and make her way up the stairs to clean herself up a bit before meeting Sakura for coffee.

She was walking down the street trying to think of anything but Kusanagi when she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Well…she saw his jacket anyways. His back was turned to her and it looked like maybe he'd died his hair black. He was…smoking? She dismissed the idiosyncrasies and ran towards him yelling "Kusanagi!"

Miyun felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see a green eyed girl staring at her looking confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Momiji Fujimiya…I…thought you were….someone else…"

"OH! So you're Momiji huh? It's good to put a face to the stories. Mamoru was right…you are pretty hot." Miyun followed her comment with a wink.

Momiji was wondering just who this woman was wearing Kusanagi's jacket and why she was calling him by his first name. "Wait…Kusanagi told you about me? When? Where?...and who are you?"

"My name's Miyun, and yeah, he and I had a pretty long talk at my place. He left his jacket. I like it, so I was wearing it until I saw him again…but you could give it to him if you want."

Momiji felt her cheeks growing hot. Just what was Kusanagi doing at this random woman's house anyways? And why had he left his jacket there? She felt her mind being clouded with jealous anger. "I should have known he'd go running to some random consort! Keep the damn jacket, you'll probably see him before I do…I certainly hope you two have a good time!" Momiji spat as she turned to stomp away; she'd have a difficult time of this though, seeing as how Miyun had a handful of her hair, holding her in place.

"You listen to me you brat! He's a great guy, and he's sexy as hell. I'd be all over him if it weren't for one unfortunate detail…he's in love with you! If the two of you could just pull your heads out of your asses long enough to see that maybe we'd all get along huh?" She released Momiji's hair as she finished.

Momiji just stared at her blankly. "He...said that? He said he's in love with me?"

Miyun nodded. "Yep…really put a damper on my plans."

Momiji mouthed a thank you in Miyun's direction and took off running before Miyun had the chance to give her the jacket.

Sakura would have to understand. Momiji had more important things to tend to. She really didn't care about the rain, even after she'd dropped her umbrella. She ran to all the places she thought Kusanagi might be…the park…a few trees he liked…a few street corners he was fond of…with no luck. Finally, soaked to the marrow after over two hours of running around, she figured she'd give it one last shot and hope he was at home. She took a few moments to rest and took off running again.

Kusanagi watched the street from his place on the roof. A girl came running by…it was Momiji. "What is she doing?" he asked aloud. She was soaked. He tried to figure out where she was going in such a hurry and against his better judgment decided to follow her.

She ran up to his door and began pounding on it.

He wondered what she wanted. He crept up closer to her so that he could hear her words over the rain.

"Kusanagi…c'mon…let me in. Are you there?" she waited. And waited. Finally she began to speak again.

 "Look…if you're in there listen to me okay? I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry for everything. I didn't do anything with Murakumo. I couldn't. I left him because I realized I didn't want anything to do with him. I'd been in the park for hours when you found me this morning. I was thinking of you. That seems to be all I can do. I can't stop thinking about you for one single moment, and it's driving me crazy. I love you. I always have. I don't want to be with anyone else as long as I live and I feel like I'm dying without you."

There was no response. With a heavy heart Momiji turned to walk home, her eyes on the ground.

"Did you mean all that stuff?"

She looked up to see Kusanagi staring at her, a serious look on his face.

"My life has been hell for 2 days and I can't take it if you're not serious. It's now or never Momiji."

Kusanagi had never been so stern with her. She kind of liked it. "I mean every word…just please…don't shut me out."

"Well, why don't you come inside and get dry?" He paused "...be warned…the place is a wreck"

"Thanks"… "Boy...he was right about the wreck" she thought to herself as she entered the apartment. "It looks like someone broke in here…"

"Let's just say I had a shitty morning." He handed her a towel, a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. "Sorry" he said "it's the only stuff I have that'll fit you"

"Thank you" she headed for the bathroom to change, but Kusanagi stopped her.

"Why don't you change in the bedroom, and I'll stay out here, okay?"

"O…okay..."

Kusanagi went into the bathroom and changed his clothes quickly. When he took his exit, he locked the door from the inside behind him. He could break in later, but for now he didn't want Momiji seeing the state it was in. He knocked on the bedroom door.

"It's open…I'm decent"

He opened the door to see her sitting upright on the bed. She motioned for him to sit beside her. He did so.

"Look Kus, I want to give you something." She opened her palm to reveal a key.

"Momiji, I think maybe we should take things slow for a bit. The last two days raised a lot of questions. You keep that for me for now, okay?"

Momiji tried to mask her hurt feelings. She'd expected a different reaction from him, but then again, he'd surprised her quite a bit the last few days. "Okay" she finally said.

"I don't want to go back into the rain…is it okay if I stay here? I'll sleep on the couch." Momiji half expected to be turned down.

"Sure…I'll…ah…get you some bed…stuff…" Kusanagi got up and headed for the linen closet, Momiji right behind him. He stopped suddenly. "Momiji?"

"Yeah?"

He turned, put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I love you. I really…really love you. I've never felt anything so intense, painful, confusing…and worth all of it, okay?"

Momiji didn't know what to say. She wanted to scream and tackle him to the ground, but the air around her seemed to hang so heavily. She settled with "I love you too. No one else. Just you. Always."

They stood like that for a long time. Ultimately, Kusanagi's expression softened a bit. He pulled her to him with one swift movement. He held her there…close and tight for several minutes.

"Why don't you sleep in here with me?"

"Thank you…"

That night, with Momiji's head upon his chest while she slept soundly, his hand in her hair and his arms around her, Kusanagi knew who he was. He smiled and drifted into the rest he so badly deserved.

End

That's it! For now anyways…I may do a sequel…just a whole new story. I dunno. Please review. Thanks so much for reading!

Reika