*****
Have you ever heard the sound a sword makes as it enters a body? It's not a ringing tone like most people think, nor is it the meaty thunk of a stick on a corpse. If you listen very carefully, the only sound you can hear of the flesh is the gasps that are emitted from the mouth and the disbelief that permeates the aura of invincibility that has abandoned you at the worst possible moment.
*Thwick. Flip-flip-flip-flop thunk. Ting* "K K K Kamui" The shattered sword slipped from my grasp and fell sixty stories to the ground below. Time seemed to be mired in melted plastic; it didn't bother me that I was dying so much as the expansion of awareness. As Kamui, I could begin to feel the subtle threads of the Earth begin to weaken, and the twisted skeins of Fate crumble as Kamui pulled the sword out from my body. Blood sprayed out in a random fashion, not in a predictable form like I expected.
After all, why should the spray be random if the rest of life is foreordained?
I collapsed on broken girder, shattered and twisted from the fierce but one-sided battle. "It's finished." You wouldn't even look at me, just staring off into the morning sun with the bleeding blade placed flat against your palm. That is what hurt most of all; that after all the sacrifice that I had gone through, that you would still not look me in the eye. Maybe you really are still Shiro Kamui- maybe that one small semblance of the person you once were is keeping you from finishing the job quickly. Well, quick or slow nnnhhh I'm still dying. The world slowly tilts and fades into darkness and sakura petals fall from the sky.
Subaru-kun. The Sakuruzakamori had protected me inside of his maboroshi- why? I tried to reach out toward him, telling him to get away before he was hurt or killed. I had lost Kamui and failed to protect Kotori. To lose Subaru to Kamui would be to destroy my own spirit I'd rather die for them instead. The young onmyouji walked forward stiffly, the sakura tree shifting until it was behind me.
"Baka," he swore, and pulled me up against the tree. I screamed softly- the wounds had reopened and the intensity of Subaru's angst clawed at me. "You snap out of it! Stop trying to protect Kamui!" In spite of the torment I was in, I somehow managed to bring myself to look him in the eye. "Listen to me. I know what you're doing. Because it's exactly what I did with Seishirou. I left you because I thought that it was my destiny to follow in his footsteps. I had held back my powers back while he was alive. Because I loved him." The emerald eye blazed at me; Subaru never talked in more than broken fragments. Subaru moved his hand, ripped off a piece of the white coat to staunch the flow. He swore again, the vitriol burning into me more than sympathy ever could, the pleading words rendering my defenses null. "Don't fail Kotori and Kamui like I failed Hokuto and Seishirou-san. Don't sacrifice yourself in vain."
"Fuuma-kun. Please don't fail me either. I really"
Then you shattered the maboroshi and pierced the pale-white skin at the shoulder. A crackle shook the air, and the Kekkai began to fade. The final whisper of Subaru was left to the winds and his death-knell tolled my final strength. The power of Kamui surged to my fingers, and I clutched at the handle of the Shinken. The final barrier broke down, a shaft of blue lightning torched the sky, and a silver blade graced the air as you lost your grip on your sword. I didn't know why I did what I did, but I still couldn't bring myself to bring my power against you
So I pulled you down to the surface with me, and the Shinken arced into a final descent. Maybe I did this for Kotori-chan. Maybe I did this for Subaru-kun. Maybe I did this for me. But in the end, I know that I did it for you, Kamui-chan.
I'm just sorry that nnhhh we had to die together. But it's all ok now.
"Arigatou Fuu-kun Gomen I'm so sorry. But I'm glad it was you. I'm glad it was you."
And with that, you collapsed onto my chest, lavender eyes closing a final time. And even as I felt my own eyes close, I was happy.
*****
The brilliant sunset was blurred by the sudden onset of tears. But it was still a sunset, setting over the same world as it had risen over that morning. Two graves were freshly covered in sakura and graced with the tears of the world. He would remember this day as clearly as he remembered that one on Rainbow Bridge.
Aisheteru, Fuu-kun.
Subaru walked alone into the empty streets of Tokyo.