Ch. 2
Subaru sat dwarfed in a large armchair, frowning in concentration as he tried to plow his way through an esoteric book on onmyoujitsu. Truth to tell, it was pretty hopeless; he fidgeted for what must have been the thousandth time in five minutes, waiting for his sister to arrive. She was taking an awfully long time to get ready this morning, and he frowned again, now with worry. Perhaps she wasn't feeling well?
But the crash of the door being flung open and the energetic feet pounding towards him gave lie to that idea. He had barely glanced up when he was forcibly glomped by a vague blur of blue and white, a voice in his ear crying, "Good morning, Subaru-kun! Sorry I'm late!"
"Good morning, Hokuto-chan!" Subaru laughed, hugging her just as enthusiastically before pulling back to tilt his head quizzically. "What was taking you so long? You're well, right?"
"Of course!" Hokuto responded, the very picture of health. "Actually, I had a funny dream last night…" she hesitated, eyes oddly thoughtful. "I met someone who could pull me into his dreams. I think… I think it was for real."
"Really?" Subaru asked, wide-eyed. "I've never heard of that power before!" Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he gasped. "He didn't- he didn't try to trap you in the dream, did he?"
"Oh, no, no, no!" Hokuto shook her head in vigorous denial. "Kakyou was a wonderfully nice person, really, only so sad… he must've been lonely before I came. Maybe he's in a magical sleep, or a coma, because he said he couldn't leave." Then she brightened up again. "But, once I was there, I took him to see the ocean! In my dream, of course. He looked so happy, and we stayed there for hours, neither of us wanted to leave…" She laughed a little. "That was why I'm late this morning-- I overslept. That, and I got the idea for the cutest little outfit, I just had to put it together-- what do you think?" Placing one hand on her hip and taking a step back, she turned slowly for Subaru's benefit.
Subaru tilted his head and smiled at the display. She wore a slightly oversized white tank top, with a poufy taffeta skirt made of layers and layers of deep blues, light blues, and transparent whites. Beneath that were blue and white striped stockings, and white mary janes that had been polished to a brilliant shine. To top it all off was a tiny white beret set at a jaunty angle on her head, but apparently, she hadn't quite been content to leave it at that. She must've scrawled across the tank top in blue magic marker this morning, for he couldn't ever remember seeing the enigmatic phrase "Swim to Tokyo" on that particular shirt before, nor the advice it gave on the back, "Be a good swimmer."
"I love it, Hokuto-chan," he grinned, "it's really amazing what you can do with clothes! I mean, haven't you taken all that from other outfits?"
"Mm," she nodded, flashing a smile at him, "I figured it would take long enough as is without going and making a whole new skirt or something… and anyway, it turned out very nicely. Now," she took his arm, "I'll make you breakfast! I'm sure you must be starving by now… and say, you still haven't told me if your dearest love will stop by today…"
"ONII-SAN!!!" Subaru yelped, flushing a deep red as the two walked away, comfortable in the knowledge that they were made for each other, twins who knew each other perfectly and, most importantly, would always be there for one another.
{Hey, what would a TB fanfic be without mention of Hokuto's clothes? ^_~ Anyone who's seen the TB art book knows why I couldn't resist putting "Swim to the Tokyo" in somehow… =P By the way, in case you were wondering about that tense shift, scenes in the dreamscape are put in present tense, and scenes "in real life" are in past tense. I figured that since dreams have a tendency to be more immediate, it makes sense. And it also helps make the dreamscape scenes more surreal… or something like that. ^^;;
Anyway, I'm very proud of myself for getting this chapter out on time, and thank you so much to Sakura Child and Lee for your wonderful comments! See you next week! ^_^}