Disclaimer: I do not own X.
Warnings: None really, some continuing OOC.
Notes: Thanks to all readers for their support! I now feel guilty for complaining about the lack of reviews in the last chapter. Lol. But seriously, I hope I didn't force anyone to give me feedback with my words. I just wanted to know if anyone had thoughts on this fic, or enjoyed it. Anyway, this nutty story is finally winding down, so I'm afraid I couldn't take some of your suggestions on expanding it. Please read ahead and have fun. And thank you again. ^_^
Chapter 6 – Babysitting Duties
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Subaru Sumeragi groaned. It was too early in the morning to be woken up by the bird perched on the oak tree right outside his window. Groggily he got up and shot the offending noisemaker a glare. The sparrow just tilted his head, and hopped closer to alight on Subaru's hand. Subaru had an affinity with animals; when he was younger he had wanted to become a zookeeper. But right now…
"GET OUT!" Subaru's eye twitched.
The bird flew off in an indignant huff, but not before he had left a gooey green-white surprise on Subaru's palm.
"AHHHHH!"
*************
Arashi, Sorata, and Yuzuriha looked up from their breakfast at the yell. Kamui was too busy making words out of his alphabet cereal to care. A few minutes later, they heard the routine sounds of running water, so they resumed eating. Kamui was giggling while making another nasty word in his milk when the onmyouji entered the dinning room.
"Subaru-san?" Yuzuriha inquired. The man's face was calm and detached. The only thing out of place was the little tick under Subaru's left eye, but that was already fading.
"I'm fine. Thank you, Yuzuriha-chan, Arashi-san, and Sorata-san, for taking care of me, while I was…er…" Subaru blushed, mortified at the few memories he could recall from the blur that had been the past few days.
"No problem," Sorata grinned.
"Yep, now that you're all better you can help us take care of Kamui-kun," Yuzuriha added.
"Of course."
"Subaru-san, I am glad to see you well again. I'm afraid I have to say goodbye rather abruptly. I have a meeting with Hinoto-sama, today," Arashi bowed and left the table.
"Oh, and I have to meet someone at the park," Yuzuriha knocked herself in the head with the back of her palm. Then she gobbled the last of her eggs down and bolted out the door with a loud, "Bye-bye!"
"Su~baru, come look at what I made," Kamui tugged on the onmyouji's sleeve.
"Uh…I really got a hankering of some of that food at the new restaurant down the street. I promise I'll be back really soon," Sorata laughed and edged his way out the door. Subaru blinked, and sat with Kamui as he made a few jokes and giggled at his cereal. Subaru tried not to turn red and endured Kamui's crass comments for fifteen minutes. It became apparent that the others had abandoned him, and would NOT be returning anytime "soon."
"Su~baru," Kamui suddenly stopped in his lewd ramblings and leaned against the older man's neck, his breath heavy and warm. "Can we please, I mean, w-will you…" He fiddled around with the buttons of Subaru's dress shirt. Subaru swallowed as Kamui's breaths tickled his ear. Kamui shyly beamed, "Will you buy me some more chocolate ice cream?"
Getting exactly what he deserved for thinking along such indecent lines (at least in the authoress' opinion), Subaru fell over in his chair and painfully bumped his head.
*************
Seishirou Sakurazuka whistled as he walked jauntily down the crowded street. Today, Subaru would be back to his normal self. It would be fun teasing his prey again, now that the drug had worn off, and there would be no unexpected reactions. It was cute to see Subaru act so childlike again, and the heat that had coursed through him when Subaru had licked the ice-cream had been nice…but there was nothing like seeing Subaru's green eyes clouded in pain, anger…and perhaps longing, as he gazed at him. Seishirou sighed. His nose tickled when he caught a whiff of mouth-watering scents down the next block. Ah…a food fair! It really was going to be a wonderful day.
*************
"Kamui, please wait up," Subaru huffed as Kamui caught the smell of cotton candy and sprinted off into one of downtown Tokyo's semi-annual street fairs. He had already eaten five chocolate cones, but the boy actually wanted more. Kamui really was too much…who knew the savior of earth had a notorious sweet tooth and could act so flighty?
Like you've been any better.
Subaru winced…he did not need his conscience talking to him. But, it wasn't much of a problem. If he was still 16, he would be reliving each embarrassing moment, worrying if his behavior had been an inconvenience for some one. Subaru Sumeragi didn't have time for that anymore; his mind was already full of sorrow and sakura…
Hokuto-chan, you would've loved to see this.
Subaru did not realize he had declined into a slow amble while he was preoccupied. The onmyouji halted, and gazed around. It was late afternoon, and a few lanterns were already lit. Happy couples passed by in printed kimonos and yukatas. Small children were shrieking thorough the streets. A boy was proudly bellowing out to everyone how he had caught a goldfish at one of the stands. A group of junior high girls were debating across from him; should they buy the oily foods at the price of meager weekly allowances, and slim figures? It was an ordinary, everyday scene in Tokyo. And it would remain a lovely memory, just like his sister, in Subaru's mind forever…apocalypse or not.
"Subaru!" It seemed to Subaru, that he had wasted hours chasing after Kamui. The boy had actually turned back on his own after sensing his fellow Dragon of Heaven was no longer following him.
"Kamui."
"Do you want to try that?" Kamui tugged his sleeves toward the goldfish game.
"Erm…Kamui," Subaru's cheeks turned pink as he saw a few people pass by them with curious glances. The game was quite juvenile; only children were captivated by it.
"I remember…Kotori, Fuuma, and me…we used to play this every fair," Kamui smiled wistfully. The smile melted away, until only nostalgia remained in his eyes. "That was before I moved…it was a long time ago." Subaru stared at him for a silent moment.
"Do you want a fish?" He took of his coat and pushed it towards Kamui.
"Nani?"
"I'll take that as a yes," Subaru rolled up the sleeves of his black turtleneck and nodded to the vendor. Kamui fumbled in Subaru's coat pocket for payment. Subaru was presented with a string with the hook, which he slowly lowered. It caught the tied up end of one balloon. He drew up the thread slowly; if he made any sudden movements the balloon would drop back into the tub of water. But Subaru Sumeragi was a patient man…after all, he had waited for years to be found by the Sakurazukamori.
"Thanks Subaru," Kamui beamed as the vendor handed him a plastic bag in exchange for Subaru's balloon. Kamui began to make faces at the goldfish swimming frantically within his grasp.
"Hello, Subaru-kun."
Subaru jerked. He had not expected the sinuous voice from his daily recollections to be suddenly relocated behind his ear.
"Hello, Seishirou-san."
"You're back to normal I see. That cool look is back in your green eyes. Pity, I did miss that other Subaru."
"Other Subaru?"
"The one that had ice cream on me yesterday."
"On you? Even if I did, don't you mean with you?" Subaru's eyes widened in confusion. Seishirou could see the question marks all over his prey's face. Subaru really had not changed…not where it counted.
"No…of course not. How could you forget that intimate moment?" Seishirou neared closer to the Sumeragi, until he breathed into his right ear, "How could you forget what you – OUCH!" Seishirou glared. He had forgotten that they had an audience. Kamui was seething. He looked like he wanted to kick Seishirou in the knee again.
"You can't have him!"
"Huh?" Both Seishirou and Subaru blinked.
"You already took Fuuma away from me…he treated you to ice cream. When we were little, he never treated Kotori or me!" Kamui sniffed like a small child. Logically, a seven-year-old Fuuma wouldn't have had the financial means to treat his friends to sweets. The drugged mind of the Earth's savior had strangely regressed and become more unbalanced.
"Kamui, are you okay?" Subaru looked concerned. While Seishirou remained surprised, Kamui glomped onto his friend.
"Hey!" Seishirou tried to pry off the touch-feely boy that was molesting his toy. The said boy wasn't called Kamui for nothing; it was easier to get week-old bubble gum out of hair. After several attempts, the assassin gave up. Seishirou labored to breathe, then coughed when he caught Subaru staring oddly at him. He smoothed back his hair and lit a cigarette, but the tick above Seishirou's right temple dashed away any hopes he had of maintaining the façade of the Sakurazukamori's supposed composure in all situations, be they small or great.
"Seishirou-san, are you…are you sweating?"
"Of course not," Seishirou donned on his sunglasses.
"Are you sure? I can see it coming down your right cheek."
"I'm NOT!" Seishirou yelled. Subaru was taken back by his dark counterpart's frustration and fury. "Ahem…I guess this is not a good time to visit you," Seishirou stared at the crowd gathering around them at his outburst. "I'll play with you later, Subaru-kun," Wearing a debonair smile, he melted away in a flurry of sakura. Children began to clap at the show, catching the blossoms that faded to nothingness just as their fingertips began to learn the flowers' soft texture.
Subaru blinked. Was it his imagination, or had Seishirou taken out a lacy pink handkerchief in the last fleeting moments to dab his head with?
"Subaru! Let's go get sweets!"
Subaru yelped as he was dragged down the street by a less than sane Kamui – the action definitely did not enhance the dignity of the 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan. His grandmother would be frowning right now if she saw his predicament, but Hokuto-chan - she'd be laughing. Subaru smiled.
**************
Three hours later.
Current residence of the Dragons of Heaven.
"Oh, my stomach hurts!" Kamui groaned as he rolled dramatically around on the sofa, and fell off.
"Kamui!" Subaru helped him up from the living room rug. "You shouldn't have eaten so much at the fair!"
"Can't help it…everything looked so delicious," Kamui panted, clutching his stomach. He dropped back down to the floor, and rolled until he was face down on the carpet.
"Kamui, stop playing games," Subaru sighed. "Kamui?"
The savior of Earth was not moving.
"Kamui!" Subaru bent down to grab hold of him. At that moment, three Dragons of Heaven appeared at the door with surprised faces that shifted quickly into horror and concern. Subaru Sumeragi clinched his teeth. Sumeragis did not make good baby-sitters.
"Subaru-san?"
"I'm sorry. Please, help me," Subaru could not help the panic from seeping out of his voice as he frantically shifted Kamui's dead weight into his arms. It was awkward, trying to get the unconscious boy to the sofa.
Three Dragons of Heaven sweat-dropped; so these were the repercussions of abandoning Kamui to Subaru. Apparently the Sumeragi could handle spirits, ghosts, inugami and deadly assassins, but when it came to one innocently sleeping boy…
"Ah!" A loud thump.
…Subaru Sumeragi was no match.
The End
Next – Epilogue
It's almost the end folks, please review!