Disclaimers: SDA.
Note: T_T After being swamped by work, I bring you Chapter 11…after recovering from a high fever ^.^ what fun... n___n *shrugs* ah well. Erm….o___o it's getting close to the end n___n. ^__^ I had made the decision to post these last four chapters near same date: March 31, 2003, for the reason that this fiction was posted on that date exactly a year ago. (I have it hand-written down…just have to type it up and post it) ^.^ Enjoy!
Warnings: S x K, S x S, K x F, AU, OOC
Predator and Prey
Chapter 11—Heart
By: Yakusoku
The small funeral proceeded on through the windy, dismal afternoon as a small group of black-clothed figures paid their last respects to their dead comrades. There had been no caskets to bury and no bodies to incinerate, since the bodies of Nekoi Yuzuriha and Shiyuu Kusanagi remained unfound; only two headstones with the names of the deceased carved upon their gray surfaces could be seen, standing proudly besides the grave of Monou Kotori. Tears of sadness and loss were hidden and unshed, as each watched on with grave and remorseful acceptance; now was not the time for mourning and depression, as the more pressing matters of the arriving Promised Day squandered any other thought or attention. Farewells were whispered with hopes of safe travels towards the afterlife, and the group left, understanding how easy lives could be lost.
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From the window in his room, the leader of the group watched his fellow dragons of heaven attend the memorial service, grasping tightly onto the hand that held his own bandaged one. He sought support and reassurance, and he turned his head to gaze into the eyes of his companion, his own eyes reflecting grief of loss and distain for the killing. He received a gentle smile before a hand stroked through his mess of unruly hair, and he sighed before closing his eyes in weariness.
"Sleep now…" encouraged the older man in a gentle voice, in a tone that suggested that the younger should do what was advised.
"I want to go visit their graves later on…" replied the boy, opening his tired and jaded amethyst eyes to look beseechingly at the Sumeragi. The silent pleading to not be denied his demand floated into the silence of the air, and Subaru flashed another one of his rare smiles at the teenager, nodding his head in approval to the boy's wishes.
"Now hush…" whispered Subaru, "and go to sleep…"
Lulled by the hand soothing through his hair, he nodded his head once before yawning, closing his eyes and settling into the mess of blankets and pillows.
"Fuuma…" muttered the boy softly under his breath before he lost himself in the sweet deep void of dreamless sleep, the only place he could find escape from the pain of reality.
The onmyouji sighed once more before exiting the room to rest in his own separate room, his mind half occupied by thoughts of Kamui, and half taken by thoughts of his first love, Seishirou. Sudden feelings of nostalgia and remorse clenched his heart excruciatingly, rendering him short of breath for a moment, and then he granted himself a retreat into an exhausted rest.
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The morning sun shown dusty bright, and Subaru groaned as he was aroused from his once deep and peaceful sleep by the dim rays of sunlight dancing through the room he inhabited in this mansion. Sitting up and stretching, he quickly glanced over to the alarm clock on the bedside table, noticing the earliness of the time, and decided to prepare a small breakfast for himself before going out for a morning walk to loosen the tenseness in his muscles. Walking downstairs, however, he was surprised when he discovered the figure of Kamui standing solitarily in the kitchen in front of the large glass panes of the sliding doors leading to the outside garden. One of his hand laid neatly on the glass while the other remained dull and limp by his side, the boy did not seem to notice the entrance of another presence into the room, or if he did notice, did not give any acknowledgement to the other. Subaru breathed in a deep breath as he admired the boy. The beginning sunlight shone on him in the perfect way, making his silky ebony hair glint in the sunlight in a smoky silver and midnight obsidian, lightening his amethyst eyes, and enhancing the effeminateness of the teen's face mixed with boyish charm. In the dawning morning, the boy looked like a divine ghost, the light framing him in an almost aura of glow.
"Kamui…?" Subaru called out softly to the boy stranding in front of him with the back turned to the Sumeragi, almost as if afraid to break the sanctity of the situation. He frowned, however, when he received no response from the leader of the Ten no Ryuu. After a moment of silent contemplation, Subaru blanched and his murky emerald eyes clouded over with worry and distress.
"E…Ejiki?" whispered Subaru, hoping that the boy will not reply to that title, that the boy was simply too deep in thought and had not heard him properly. To his dismay, however, the boy turned his head around, his dull, lifeless violet eyes facing him, holding a questioningly gaze with a sense of fake innocent curiosity.
"Goshujin-sama1?—" Suddenly the boy froze and his expression fell as his eyes dropped from studying the beautiful and angelic face of the Sumeragi to observing the lines on the polished hard-wood floor. He wrapped his arms around his own body in an almost protective and reassuring embrace, even as his eyesight blurred as stinging hot tears pooled at the trim of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Subaru…" apologized the young Seal, "it's just that—"
"Sometimes it's easier to be someone else, right?" interrupted the onmyouji, his eyes gazing at the other with understanding shining in them.
"Hai…When I'm 'Ejiki', or when my conscience is that of 'him', it's so much easier to escape the pain…It's not me. Kamui Shirou did not suffer…'Ejiki' did.." whispered Kamui, his hands reaching up furiously brush away the irritating tears. He was surprised, however, when a foreign hand reached over to brush them away for him, and he looked up startled to find Subaru standing in front of him, observing the fallen crystal droplets on his pale hand. As if on impulse, Subaru closed the small distance of gap between them and wrapped his arms around the lithe and slender teenage body.
"Shhh…I know…I used to be that way, after Seishirou-san killed…Hokuto-chan…I sealed my heart away, burying myself into my work, my role as the 13th Head of the Sumeragi Clan. It wasn't any better though…I just felt empty and lonely and half alive really…" whispered Subaru into the ear of Kamui. Hesitantly and almost shyly, Kamui returned the embrace and hugged Subaru back, understanding that he needed the support of the Sumeragi as much as Subaru needed his encouragement. The silence lengthened on as the two drew peace and comfort from each other.
"Subaru?" The quietness of the moment was broken by that small, tiny whisper, those words having almost unintentionally left the lips of the teen without his mind's total consent.
"Hai?"
"Thank you…for being here for me."
A smile broke out on both of their faces. Albeit the sadness and heartaches mixed with the smile, it was still the first happy and content smile the two had shown in their expressions in a long time.
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Arisugawa Sorata and Kishuu Arashi continued on their rounds of inspecting the shields surrounding the CLAMP Campus, knowing that even the slightest crack can allow the area to become vulnerable to attacks from the Dragon of Earth. The tensions and conflicts of the battle between the two groups of Dragons have mounted to a critical point, and both sides were waiting for the time when the delicate balance between peace and fighting would break and chaos would break loose.
Unexpected, wires shot out of the ground, surrounding the unsuspecting and stunned pair, and proceeded to charge and attack the two teenagers, crackling with electrical energy and hissing with desire for bloodshed. A screen featuring Yatouji Satsuki's face appeared from the ground, assembled from different metallic parts from the underground wire network, and the attack on the pair ceased in midair a few inches from piercing into the flesh of the two Dragons of Heaven. Arashi released her sword from her palm and poised it into a perfect defensive mode, while Sorata concentrated on gathering as much electrical force as he could muster between his hands.
"One simple question shall decide your fate," said Satsuki, her synthetic computer-generated voice sounding curious and smooth, a minuscule sense of threat hanging in the tone.
"And what's that?" questioned Sorata, his brows furrowing in part concentration and part confusion.
"Why can you not kill people?" asked Satsuki, her glasses glinting in the light BEAST reflected into her eyes as forms of data appeared on her screen.
Sorata snorted and glared into the display screen, his eyes challenging Satsuki. "That's an easy question to answer…There'll be someone sad if their loved ones died!"
Satsuki considered the answer for a few deafening moments, and her eyes softened as she understood the meaning of those words, but instantly her indifference and nonchalance was back in her heart as she realized one truth: no one will miss her if she disappeared.
"You speak the truth…but my heart can no longer accept that answer…" whispered Satsuki before launching the attack once again on the two. Sorata and Arashi fought brilliantly and bravely, working together yet separately to try to defend themselves as best as they could, being slightly outnumbered by the overwhelming amount of wires darting out of the tattered and broken ground. Arashi jumped from area to area, slashing viciously with her blade to dislodge as many heavy metal wires as she can in multiple swipes; Sorata shot forth bursts of electrical impulses, damaging some wires and rendering others useless and dead. Suddenly, Arashi gasped as she saw a whole cluster aim at the back of her Special person, who was too busy fending off other enemies to notice those meaning to murder him from behind. On impulse rather than logic, she leaped forward powerfully and blocked the way to the wire's original target with her own flesh, blood spurting from her beaten and punctured body. With a soft groan, her body collided into that of Sorata, who had turned around when he heard the crushing of bones and the piercing of flesh from behind him. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief as his arms reached forward automatically to catch the body of his dying love, and he fell to his knees downwards onto the ground with the convulsing Arashi against his body.
"Nee-chan…?" whispered Sorata, not really believing the situation at hand to be reality at all. He didn't notice when the tears started gathering at the rim of his eyes, and the bitter tears fell freely without their owner detecting them even once.
"So…ra….ta…." whispered Arashi, tears gathering in her eyes at the pain, but her elegant and bloodstained lips twirled upwards into a soft smile for her Special One. "It's…cold……So…ra….ta…..hol…..d…….me….."
Sorata did as he was told and embraced his love in a tight embrace, noticing each convulsion until finally the beautiful shrine maiden laid dead and unmoving in his arms. He howled and screamed into the air in anguish and anger, hugging the dead corpse to his body in a desperate hold, sobbing and convulsing as his heart broke from the loss.
Suddenly, with a calmness washing over him, he gently placed the body of Arashi onto the ground and stood up with a wildness and desperation in his stance. His eyes were broken eyes, as if he had nothing left in the world to live for…the eyes of a man wishing for only for death.
"You killed Nee-chan…" muttered Sorata under his breath, as his head lowered once more to inspect the bleeding corpse of his beautiful love on the ground. "You killed her…" The teras continued to flow from the rims of his eyes downward across the plains of cheeks to drip and die out on the lifeless cheeks of Arashi. Suddenly his head snapped up to face the wires and the screen and he screamed out, "I'm going to kill you!!!" before pushing forward into the mess and tangle of wires, his body radiating pure and uncontrolled electrical energy. He grabbed some wires and pumped his whole being's energy into the system of the BEAST, overloading the system with over absorption of energy, and the BEAST screamed out, the wires violently shooting forward to embed themselves into their destroyer's flesh, hoping to strike the offender dead to save the super computer. The outpour of energy from Sorata didn't stop though, and as the system started exploding, his body went up in flames as it explodes into millions of pieces of grossly burnt fluids and organs and muscles.
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The BEAST screeched in pain and continued to flash the world "kill" on its screens over and over again, not releasing Satsuki from its grasp and thereby sending shocks of electrical currents running throughout her body. She convulsed in her seat and screamed out in pain, her body thrashing with the wires attached into her body like a ragged little puppet thrown around carelessly by some unknown controller.
"Satsuki!!!"
The blond-haired civil servant rushed forward into the fray and attempted to free the computer genius from her prison, all the while flashing his reassuring smile at the pained and dying Dragon of Earth even as wires started to pierce into his body and cut and bruise him.
"Yuu….to…." whispered Satsuki, "…love….you…."
With those last words the explosion went off as BEAST overloads, and the two Dragons who got caught in the blast of the fire and energy died instantly, the fire lapping at and decimating their disembodied corpses lying askew on the burning and crumbling ground.
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"Two Ten no Ryuu and two Chi no Ryuu are dead, I'm sure you know," stated Seishirou to his companion as they continued to watch the impressive display of Tokyo city burning from fireworks and sky darkening with smoke. The older man stole a glance at his leader while still licking and nibbling at his ice cream, enjoying the cool and delicious flavors washing over his tongue.
"I know," acknowledged Fuuma, peering darkly at the burning flames through his pair of tinted glasses the usual feral smirk no longer upon his face. "Their wishes were granted."2
"Hm."
A moment of silence settled over the pair, interrupted only by distant sounds of fire engines roaring and speeding down the streets to the source of fire, trying vainly to get through the traffic of cars and panicking pedestrians running for their lives. Many people, courageous volunteers and brave firefighters, rushed into battle with the hissing flames, pumping and throwing water using buckets and water hoses.
"I suggest you finish your little treat soon, Sakurazuka," notified Fuuma, eyes still gazing at the flames, as if contemplating some important thought.
"And why is that?" questioned Seishirou, already beginning to start doing what was recommended by Fuuma; he knew the teenager would not suggest something without a reason behind it.
"Your Sumeragi is waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge…Time for your wish to be granted…" answered Fuuma, throwing his unfinished ice cream away, eyes following the distance the comestible fell through the air from the roof to the bottom of the building.
"Subaru-kun…?" Instantly, Seishirou turned to face the direction of the Rainbow Bridge at Tokyo Bay, intent on leaving as soon as possible to greet his enemy and lover though his heart was still sore from the wound delivered when Subaru played with his emotions to gain an advantage.
"You know," began Fuuma, effectively stopping Seishirou in his tracks, "his wish is changing…There are two wishes now. You'll have to find out…which wish overpowers the other."
Without another word, Seishirou left the premises and preceded on to face his destiny.
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He stood gazing down at the swirling masses of water of Tokyo Bay, his fingers absently twiddling the stick of burning cigarette, his eyes watching the pale dream of smoke travel upwards to disappear into the deepening afternoon sky. The sun started its daily routine of setting, and the streaks of sunlight painted the sky crimson and scarlet with occasional streams and lines of deep pink and purples and oranges.
He was there on request by the dreamgazer Princess Hinoto, and he agreed to this task readily, especially since he heard the name Sakurazukamori mentioned. Though he does not completely trusted the dreamgazer and her dreams of the future, he knew the truth in her dreams, even if not all were accurate in predicting time or place.
A hand reached out to cup his own, disrupting his thoughts, and his head immediately spun around in surprise, startled from the sudden contact of skin to skin. A few flakes of burning ash fell onto the hand that grasped his own, and he murmured a soft statement concerning the gray particles of dust, to which he received no response.
"/Kamui/ said that you are struggling between wishes…" whispered Seishirou softly, his mouth near the Sumeragi's ear, and, unable to restrain himself of one last small luxury, nibbled gently on his lover's earlobe, eliciting a soft gasp from the other.
"Seishirou-san…" The voice was full of nostalgia.
"I know…just…let's step out of time for a moment before we resume our roles of fighting…" murmured Seishirou, nuzzling the Sumeragi's head in an almost sad gesture.
In a few minutes, the delicate and fragile beauty of love between the two men shattered, and the dark and the light fought viciously against each other in the star-shaped kekkai that the Ten no Ryuu had risen. Pieces of ofudas shot out through the air in various directions to transform into massive power strikes. Birds and feathers of purest white erupted from Subaru's ofudas in consecutive snaps, and fought against Seishirou's ebony black bird of prey, and meanwhile, powers were exchanged between the two onmyoujis. They chanted their spells of efficient little syllables and cast their powers, blasting through concrete and steel metal wrecked during the battle, trying to penetrate shields generated by the other side. A few injuries and cuts were received on both sides, nothing too much of significance. Suddenly, black sakura petals surrounded the Sumeragi and transformed into the branches of Sakura tree, wrapping themselves tightly around the man's limbs, preventing movement and trapping him effectively. Calmness washed over him and he reached into his sleeve with his fingers to grab out one lone ofuda, then cut his finger with the edge of the paper, letting the small collection of blood pool onto the paper. Before long, the branches were dispelled into the illusion they were.
The two onmyoujis started gathering their power for one last round of dominance against the other, hoping to gain the advantage in this last critical confrontation. The two beings shot forward, crackling auras of energy surrounding their bodies, and they clashed once more, exerting all of the skills and power they have………
The smoke clouded around the two figures, both kneeling down on the ground. Blood splattered downwards, staining the area with the heated liquid. Tears flowing uncontrolled down his cheeks, agonized emerald eyes gazed into the pained chocolate eyes. The Sumeragi had his arm punched through the Sakurazuka's heart, and the dying man was barely clinging onto the last threads of vitality left in his body.
"Sei…Seishirou…san…" whimpred Subaru, his voice cracked with emotion.
Seishirou smiled a tender smile, albeit somewhat pained, and reached up one shaky hand to cup Subaru's cheek. He leaned heavily upon the smaller body, and his face inched upwards towards his marked prey's face.
"Subaru…I…you…" whispered Seishirou before leaning forward to place his lips onto that of Subaru's in a passionate kiss. Subaru could taste the metallic flavor of warm flood in his mouth as their tongues entwined in a wild tangle, but love overshadowed the small details of imperfection in the kiss. The desperate but blissful kiss ended too soon, both participating members thought, but Seishirou was fading fast, his breath no longer remaining controlled.
As the Sakurazukamori gasped for his last few breaths, his body still trying to prolong the inevitable, he rasped out one last fragmented sentence into the ear of his lover:
"For…you…sweetest Su…baru…"
With that, the 13th Head of the Sakurazukas passed away from the living world. And as a parting and perhaps blessing gift to his love, he used the last of his onmyoujutsu and energy to destroy the presence of the Sakura, thus freeing all of the souls trapped within through centuries of murders and sacrifices. The Sakura's branches and trunk groaned in proest but finally relinquished, its body splitting and bark cracking. It was his wish that he could keep Subaru from becoming to killer he was, unhappy and lonely.
Subaru continued to cling onto the corpse even as the bridge started to collapse, distraught as his heart was by the overwhelming realization that Seishirou was dead.
["Subaru-chan is so silly!"] a voice echoed through his mind, the sound familiar.
["I hold his heart more than you realized, Hokuto-chan!"] laughed another voice in a teasing manner.
["Yes…but Subaru likes another! And he's just sitting there like an idiot, clutching at your dead body!"] argued the first voice, identified to be Hokuto. A hint of pout was in that voice, though the actual expression was not seen.
'Hokuto? Seishirou-san?' thought Subaru wearily, beginning to stir from his stupor.
["The one and only!"] giggled the first voice.
["Here, stuck with your twin sister,"] piped up the second voice.
More tears fell from his cheeks, this time in happiness and reminiscence.
["Subaru-chan!! Get your lazy butt off of that ground and get back to Kamui-chan's room or I will personally go back to the realm of the living and kick you there!!!"] threatened Hokuto, the seriousness broken by hints of joking.
'I…thank you…' replied Subaru through his mind. The pain still fresh in his heart, he escaped from the wreckage of the bridge, leaving behind the heartaches of his past with the corpse falling into the water, moving ahead into the immediate needs of the future.
1—'goshujin' is Japanese for 'master'. I think I already mentioned that 'ejiki' stands for 'prey'.
2—Wishes…let's see 9__9 if I remember correctly, Sorata wanted to die protecting the woman he loves (which is Arashi), Arashi wanted Sorata to live, Satsuki…er…^_^;; I don't know, but I'm guessing she wants to find a reason for happiness…and Yuuto……I have absolutely no idea…but maybe to show Satsuki happiness? T_T Bleh. Just know that Arashi's wish overpowered Sorata's for the moment before Sorata's kicked in and so they both died. Satsuki and Yuuto's wishes (well, in this fiction anyways) probably could have been granted without their deaths, but then there's the factor of BEAST…so everyone died ^_^;
Author: Whew…That's that. ^_^;; Gosh I'm so late in posting…__;; The manga is taking so long…9__9 and so is that website. T.T;;; Anyways ^_^ JA NE!!! AND SEND ME REVIEWS IF YOU WANT TO!!! *disappears*