Author's Note: I can't tell everyone how sorry I am that this has taken me so long to write. When I said my TB/X muse is fickle, I guess I meant it! I only hope I don't take another few months for the next part of this. Feel free to pester me or send me ideas or...well, no, please don't send death threats, that's a little overboard. ~laughs~ I hope this chapter is acceptable! Please be kind and let me know what you think.
Thanks this chapter go to Xandra and Draconis-sama. Xandra for being patient beyond all reason while my muse teased me, and Draconis-sama for kickstarting my muse with her wonderful CCS/TB fusion and the evil plot bunny that will be my next X fic. ~bows~ Thank you both very much!
Chapter Two: Double Date
Subaru stirred his food around on the plate a little, staring at it intently without even looking at it. He was focused entirely upon the man sitting across from him, but couldn't force his eyes to actually *look* at him. Finally Subaru couldn't take it anymore. "Why did you leave?" he blurted out suddenly.
Cold amusement played across Seishirou's lips. Subaru imagined he could see the emotion causing the assassin's eyes to glitter behind the dark glasses, but the lenses were impossible to actually see past. "You won. What did you expect me to do? Do you really think I could have stayed?"
Bright green eyes filled with vulnerability and pain before Subaru pulled himself together with a deep breath. "I don't see why not," he replied automatically.
This was met with a deep chuckle. "You're so cute, Subaru-kun." The sentence was clearly mocking, clearly implying that Subaru was being as naïve as he had been at 16. Something about the statement warned Subaru that despite the words, it wasn't actually cute at all.
The Sumeragi blushed, eyes returning to the food as he stirred it again. "What I mean to say," he murmured softly, "is that I wish you hadn't left like that."
*~~*~~*
There was a lull in the roar of the ocean for a moment before another wave began to break against the beach. It was hypnotic, watching and listening while they sat side by side.
She leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying the warm feel of his body against her cheek. A moment later he placed his arm around her and she nestled comfortably there, feeling safe and protected in his embrace.
The moon dipped lower toward the horizon, but they still had a long time to themselves before it was time to return to the rest of the world. She still wondered what the big mystery was, why he was doing this, but Kakyou never so deliberately distracted her without a good reason. Hokuto almost asked him again why they were really there, so far away from everything, when he leaned close to murmur in her ear.
"Coming to the beach in the middle of the day that first time was one of the most wonderful memories I've ever had. It was nice that it was with you, but the majesty of the ocean and seeing it with my own eyes was almost overwhelming. In some ways it was like sharing that first dream with you, when you helped me see beyond my meager experience. In others though, the reality with all its flaws and the sheer noise of it all made it more real than I could grasp. The bright sunshine hurt my eyes, but not enough to want to filter it through anything. I didn't want to wear sunglasses back then ever because I needed to see everything for myself and experience everything I couldn't before."
"I remember," Hokuto murmured, reaching her left arm across to take his free hand and entwine her fingers in his. "No matter how many times I told you I thought you would look good with matching sunglasses, you were so stubborn. I'm glad you learned to listen to reason."
He chuckled softly, kissing the top of her head fondly before he began to speak again. "Coming here at night though, it's much different. It feels like a mix of the real world and the dream world. A marriage of sorts between what I've always known, and what you have shown me."
A hint of premonition sparkled around the edges of Hokuto's consciousness. His choice of words had been deliberate. She barely dared hope, but she somehow knew--
*~~*~~*
Seishirou made every pretense of being calm and in control, but the truth beneath the surface would have shocked anyone who knew him. Not that anyone living really did know him, but if--
He frowned, staring intently into the huge green eyes of the young man before him. No, he still didn't understand this feeling after all these years. He just knew it was there, and it was stronger than before. He knew it was love, he knew he would rather die than see his Subaru-kun come to harm, he knew exactly what this feeling was, but that didn't help him to understand it in the slightest.
So, he mulled over Subaru's statement with the care a police officer might approach a suspicious package after a week of bomb threats. He had no idea how to deal with such a plain and honest admission. "Do you really, Subaru-kun?" he mused aloud. "Have you thought about what would have happened if I hadn't left like that?"
"Every day!" Subaru protested immediately. Then, he backpedaled when Seishirou began to grin. "I mean, not every single day, but it is something I've thought about a lot." He was blushing again. It was amazing to see a grown man blushing like an innocent teenager the way Subaru was. Seishirou wondered if that was because Subaru still thought like a sheltered child, or if it was a regression due to circumstances.
"I imagine it would have made your sister very happy," Seishirou mused. "Then she wouldn't have to kill me for making you cry. Then again, there's no guarantee on that. Tell me, if I announced my undying love to you that day, and wanted to stay by your side, how would you have reacted the first time I had to do my job? My real job."
Subaru's initial reaction was exactly as Seishirou had predicted. He looked hurt and opened his mouth to reply immediately, but then the full nature of the question hit him and he stopped. The words that came next were not quite expected though, and showed that Subaru had indeed changed somewhat over the years. "You did leave though, so I suppose we'll never know."
Seishirou couldn't stop the smile from coming at the serious tone of those words. "You never would have taken that tone with me before, Subaru-kun. All these years apart seem to have helped in some way at least."
"Did you expect my world to end, just because you left?"
"No, and I'm rather glad it didn't."
*~~*~~*
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Hokuto stared, wide eyed, as Kakyou smiled and slipped his hand in a jacket pocket.
He hesitated though, smiling wider than she had ever seen before. "I suppose that all depends on what you had in mind."
She punched him lightly on the shoulder, pretending to be mad. "You know exactly what I'm thinking! Don't play games with me!" He laughed so easily in reply, and Hokuto wondered how he could be so at ease...unless.... "You dreamed this already, didn't you?"
The smile faded, slipping away along with the lighthearted mood that had sprung upon them. "Not this moment, not exactly--"
"But you already know what's going to happen. You already know what I'll say."
He looked out over the ocean, and pulled out the jewelry box his hand had already been holding. "It's not as romantic this way," he said sadly as he pulled opened the box and pulled out a ring. His smile was now a wry twist on his lips as he pulled her hand and placed the ring carefully on her finger.
Hokuto tackled him back into the sand, and hugged him hard until he was gasping for breath. "Yes it is! Do you think something like that really matters to me? The important thing is, you asked!"
"Technically, I didn't."
"Close enough."
*~~*~~*
By the time they had both finished eating, Subaru had no idea what to think. Everything was inside out and upside down from where it was supposed to be. "Do you expect everything to be okay again, just because you're here now? I'm not sixteen anymore, and everything is different now."
"I expected nothing, Subaru-kun. You're the one who can't seem to decide what you want."
It was true. Over the course of the night, Subaru had gone back and forth many times, happy and angry and hurt and hopeful.... "You're right. I can't. I just don't know why you're here, now, after being gone for so long. What do you want from me?"
Seishirou was silent for a long time after that question, and Subaru was happy to help that silence be maintained. He needed to regain control of his emotions, because the turmoil he was in now was just too much. Seishirou paid for their food, refusing to listen to Subaru's protests and the offer to pay for his half. They were back on the street and walking, apparently aimless, before Seishirou answered the question that had been presented.
"What do I want from you? I want the answer to a question." He leaned in close to Subaru, causing the younger man's heart to race and a blush to stain his cheeks. "In a year's time I kept the truth from you at every turn. You never knew who I was. You didn't know what I was until I had already left. So, the question is, do you want to know?"
Subaru swallowed hard, trying to think rationally about this. His grandmother's voice was clamoring in the back of his mind, lecturing about the danger of the Sakurazukamori and the evil he represented. As a counterpoint he could hear Hokuto chattering on and on about how romantic the idea was, like a fairytale or shojou manga. Subaru stood somewhere in the middle, face to face with the reality that no one else seemed to understand.
The honest truth.... "Yes." More than anything. But, he kept his answer to one word. It was all he could really bring himself to say, wondering if he was willingly wandering into a worse trap than the original bet could have been. What would have really happened, if--? No, he didn't want to think about that. What had happened was bad enough. That could have been much worse.
*~~*~~*
Kakyou held a hand out to help Hokuto stand. "We stayed a little longer than I planned."
"Oh? I suppose the world is going to come to and end just because we're late?"
He looked at her impassively, ignoring her teasing tone. "It might."
Her eyes grew as large as saucers for a moment, but then she stuck her tongue out and glared. "You shouldn't joke about things like that, I'll never know when you're serious! Wait, don't tell me if you're being serious or not, let's just go."
The yumemi shrugged, not entirely sure if he was joking either. Too many things were still up in the air, and things were still falling into place as the turn of the millennia approached. Still, those events were still far enough in the future that he could lay them aside for now. "You'll want to turn your phone back on once we reach the street."
"Is this what it's going to be like, the rest of our lives?" She wrapped an arm around his waist as they walked back in the darkness.
"Maybe," he admitted softly, kissing the top of her head. "I suppose that depends on how long the rest of our lives will actually be."
"When I first found you, before we met, you were so resigned about the fate of the world and the state of your dreams. I thought I'd have to fight you for years to get you to change your mind about fate and destiny, but you suddenly changed, and you never told me why. What happened?"
Kakyou froze, standing stiffly with a deep frown on his face. He looked down at Hokuto once again, and then shivered. "Not tonight. Ask me another time, but not tonight. We should be thinking of happy things right now."
She reached up, brushing his cheek lightly in an affectionate gesture. "Okay then, I'll ask some other day. I don't want to ruin this night with heavy thoughts when I'm so happy."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, holding each other under the stars as the damp air cooled. He felt Hokuto shiver and immediately draped his jacket over her shoulders. As soon as they reached the street, Hokuto took out her phone and made sure the signal was good. She had just smiled triumphantly when she saw it was good, when the phone rang. She jumped, glaring at Kakyou when he turned to hide his smile. "You knew this would happen," she accused.
He just nodded as she answered.
"Subaru! I'm so glad you called, I have wonderful ne--"
She broke off and listened for a minute. "Ah, I'm sorry she didn't--" She was interrupted again. The pause was longer this time, then she just asked, "Who?"
Kakyou pulled out his own phone and called a taxi. The date was over. Hokuto would want to be there for her brother now, as soon as possible. At least he'd done all he could to put her in a good mood and prepare her for this. Perhaps fate would continue to be thwarted. Perhaps his dreams this time would prove untrue as well. Hokuto was living proof that he wasn't always right after all. She was his hope. Her life was everything to him. "Don't worry, tell him we'll be there within the hour."
She nodded and smiled appreciatively, passing the message to her twin. She hung up, just as a lone taxi drove up the street toward them. "Is *this* how it will be, for the rest of our lives?"
"Probably," he sighed heavily, opening the car door for her.
"My answer, to that question you never asked, is yes."
"I already knew that."
"Oh, sure, but it's still nice to hear."
He clasped her hand in his, twining his fingers between hers possessively as he gave directions to the driver. He sat back, thinking that he should be worrying because there was so much to worry about now. He didn't. Instead he just stared at his fiancée and thought about how lucky he was.
