Onmyoujitsu
Author's Notes: Well! - Thank you for the responses, both to this and to Love's Occasions! I plan to populate the X1999 fandom with lots and lots of SK fiction, considering how sparse it is... real life has been incredibly busy, because I've just transferred school, but finally: Sumeragi, fully edited and fresh off the cutting room floor!
Chapter Two: Sumeragi
Kamui Shiro.
The twelfth Sumeragi head sat in the veranda of the gardens, watching the reflected images in the pool in front of her. Her grandson was already on the way back to the Sumeragi estates in the family yacht, one star-marked hand covering the smaller one that belonged to the abovementioned boy.
She frowned silently, not so much in anger but rather in concentration. Even now, after the Promised Day the destiny of Kamui Shiro was woven in with the destiny of the Sumeragi and tied even more closely to that of Subaru's.
Looking at him, one would never have thought that the fate of the world had rested- still rested, to some degree- on this boy's shoulders. His figure was slender, still boyish, not yet full-grown. Gentle features made him look delicate if not outright feminine, and his smile only increased that. A smile came unbidden to the old woman's lips as she wondered idly, If we dressed Shiro-san in a woman's kimono he and Subaru might be more readily accepted in the estates.
It was clear to her, the state of affairs between her grandson and the younger boy. Who was she to interfere? If the youngster could bring the happiness that Subaru had lost since Seishirou Sakurazuka had killed Hokuto, she would have no objections.
Speaking of the Sakurazuka... most of the Clan still had no idea that their vaunted thirteenth head was ironically now the Sakurazukamori, the man they were sworn to oppose. She closed her eyes, fighting off an oncoming migraine as she wondered how it was to be resolved. In her mind floated the image of Setsuka Sakurazuka: a beautiful woman. She had loved her son to the point of insanity, Lady Sumeragi felt. The Sakurazuka... especially the particular line that ran high to the Sakurazukamori... had a high incidence of madness.
I wonder if Shiro-san has any talent for onmyoujitsu.
"We're here," Kagane announced, sticking his head out from the trapdoor in the deck, feet still on the staircase. Kamui immediately flew apart from Subaru- trying to suppress the crimson blush flooding across his cheeks. Kagane raised one eyebrow, but made no comment as their party of four disembarked.
Shortly, Kamui found himself walking a slatted wooden path, raised on small stones and reminiscent of Chinese gardens, the willows around them swaying to the fresh breeze. "Lady Sumeragi wants to see you as soon as you get back," Akani stated, never taking his eyes of Subaru. In return Subaru nodded, almost frosty in his calm silence. Kamui eyed Akani with ever-growing distaste, glad that it was the far more cheerful Kagane who had walked in on him leaning against Subaru, the taller onmyouji's arm around his waist.
He didn't even want to know what Akani would have said.
It brought him to another concern: did the rest of the Sumeragi share the same views? If they did there would be trouble looming... almost longingly Kamui thought of the small apartment they shared in Tokyo and the contradictory peace of the city life. Already there were undercurrents in the air: undercurrents of power and strife that could not be ignored. Something akin to the Promised Day was already brewing, the storm within the contained teacup of the Sumeragi estates.
The main house soon loomed into view. Fronted by immense gardens, the main building lay just behind it all, stretching out into a seeming infinity of curved, covered walkways, constructed of timber and roofed with slate. The architecture was old Japanese, and dragons curled around the roof rafters. How many generations of Sumeragi had those dragons watched over? How many spells had come and gone, how much intrigue had passed under those rough, stable walls, silent mute sentinels to the grandeur and pride of the Sumeragi?
The gardens themselves flowered lushly, not just with ornamental flowers, but with fruit trees laden with the autumn harvest. The careful attention of gardeners was obvious, except for one patch, where the flowers had been allowed to sprout willy-nilly, until it was one wild tangle of roses amongst the other flowers.
Subaru caught the teen looking at it and smiled, a sad, bitter smile. "That was Hokuto's patch. We think she spelled it to grow the way she would always have wanted it to grow- freely."
Silently, not knowing how else to offer comfort, Kamui sought Subaru's hand with his own, offering the onmyouji his shared grief in the loss rather than pity. Subaru's hand tightened around his, stopping just short of hurting the younger boy. If either of their two escorts thought something of this, they didn't show it.
Suddenly, an old woman in a wheelchair approached them, a girl standing behind the wheelchair looking oddly redundant, because Lady Sumeragi maneuvered herself deftly amongst the winding paths without any help whatsoever. Their party sped up, finally meeting the old woman halfway to the main house.
Grandson and grandmother looked at each other, and Lady Sumeragi's eyes strayed to the still-linked hands. Subaru tugged Kamui even closer to himself, staring back at the old lady will a defiance that she could still remember, when she had first warned the twins that Seishirou was not a person to be trusted. Years had gone by but Subaru was still as she remembered. Relenting, she smiled at Subaru, including Kamui in the smile as well. "Welcome home, Subaru."
Letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, Kamui watched as Subaru broke the contact between them and knelt to embrace the old woman warmly, genuine affection in his voice and smile. "I missed you, Grandmother. You are well?"
"As well as I can be, with the Sumeragi to manage," she said with a wry grin. "If you mean that I still have a couple of years till you chuck me into a grave, yes, I'm plenty fine, grandson. And I presume this is Shiro-san?"
Subaru knew full well that his grandmother had kept track of the events of the Promised Day and knew that this was Kamui Shiro, but protocol had to be followed. "Grandmother, this is Kamui Shiro. Kamui, Lady Sakato Sumeragi, twelfth head of the Sumeragi Clan."
Kamui bowed deeply as the old woman inclined her head to him. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Sumeragi," he said slightly hesitantly, not knowing the correct gestures in a situation like this, uncomfortably aware of Akani's eyes on him. The slight quirk of the old woman's lips reassured him, though, and the skin that tugged him closer to meet keen amber eyes felt warm and dry, like crinkled rice paper.
"It is nice to finally see you in the flesh, Shiro-san. I knew your mother once- I had dealings with the Magami. Your grandmother was my shadow sacrifice," she remembered sadly. "It was the same accident that took the use of my legs..."
"I- I never knew my grandmother. My mother never spoke of her."
"I'm not surprised," the old woman answered briskly, the traces of her former sentiment buried. "The Magami do not talk about the shadow sacrifices they are, nor do they talk about the ones who are gone in someone else's place, although you can be very proud of your mother."
"She was the shadow sacrifice- the kage-nie- for Earth," Kamui whispered, transfixed by the images the old woman brought back, of his mother consumed in flame and fire and telling him to go back to Tokyo for the Shinken and his destiny.
"Indeed," the old woman agreed. "The Sumeragi welcome you, Shiro-san, as a guest of my grandson." The slight twinkle in her eyes told both Subaru and Kamui that she knew everything about the state of affairs between them, and Subaru knew relief that his grandmother approved them. Lady Sumeragi would be a powerful ally on their side. While Subaru was thirteenth head it was still his grandmother who ran much of the day-to-day affairs.
"Shall we go in? It is, after all, impolite to keep guests waiting," Akani had the effrontery to prompt. Kamui could barely stifle a laugh as the old woman fixed him with a glare that could melt steel, then purred almost maliciously, "I'm sure Kamui-san does not mind. After all, he shall be family soon."
Subaru knew he probably looked too delighted to be polite, but he couldn't help it. In a way, he probably had Akani to thank: Lady Sumeragi would never have shown them so much support so soon if she hadn't been needled.
Nevertheless, his grandmother turned herself, and the entire coterie followed her as she spoke rapid instructions to the not-so-redundant-anymore maidservant, instructing her to tell the cooks to prepare the welcoming feast; to ensure that Kamui-san was settled with all possible comfort; to see to it that the Clan knew that Subaru had returned...
"Now you see why we're all afraid of her," Subaru whispered to Kamui, grinning. Kamui grinned back, and as if she knew what they had said, the older woman turned around and gave them an evil grin. "The two of you should go and bathe after the journey. You're going to have to show up at the dinner later, Subaru. Even if afterwards you want to sneak off and give your Kamui-kun the grand tour."
The two blushed.
Kamui looked around at his room, right next to the one that Subaru was quartered in, joined by a smaller teak sliding door, set unobtrusively in one corner of the room. The maid had informed him that a bath had already been run, and he took that to mean that he and Subaru were both disgustingly dirty, at least by female standards.
He stripped quickly; throwing the dirty clothes into a hamper, noting the fluffy white towels already hung on the rack. This wasn't the usual guestroom, he could tell. Normally, guests would never be quartered so close to the Sumeragi Head. Plunging one hand into the bath, he found it warm, and the scent rising from the water was vaguely floral. Lavender? Honeysuckle? Rose? Kamui couldn't really tell.
He stepped in nevertheless, sinking himself in so that he was entirely underwater, the liquid spilling over the sides of the bath, then held his breath for as long as he could before emerging out of the water. Reaching for the soap bar, he began rubbing it all over himself, feeling the grime and dirt of several days on the road beginning to disappear. Rinsing himself off as he stepped back into the bath, he lay there, wondering what would his reception would be. He was painfully aware of his outsider status, and he didn't want to make things difficult for Subaru.
Ah well. There was, after all, nothing that could be done about that... especially since Subaru wanted him here. He hoped that was so.
He dried off, slinging the slightly damp towel around his hips and walking out. And he died. Subaru was there, sitting on his bed, eyeing him with a vaguely amused look as well as something else, something alien to those eyes... lust- wonder- awe- Kamui realized.
"It seems my grandmother wants to... doll you up. You now have a choice, Kamui. I'm going down to the dinner in my usual clothes. Black shirt and jeans. You, on the other hand, can wear your own clothing... or my grandmother's old kimono. She must have sent someone to the storage rooms to dig it out..." the older man's eyes scanned the lithe, damp body in front of him. "It'll fit you alright."
"I- I don't know how to wear a kimono- especially a woman's..." Kamui said, willing the blush to go away. Away away away.
"I could help, but would it be alright with you?" Subaru asked warily, looking at Kamui, concern in his eyes.
Kamui blushed harder. "Um... could we just try and see how I look in it?"
Subaru nodded. "Of course. Take off the towel."
Blushing even harder, Kamui complied.
The older man walked over, placed his hands on Kamui's shoulders. "You're beautiful. Did I ever tell you that?" Gently, he pressed a light kiss to Kamui's lips, and the younger boy shivered once, the tingling sensation spreading from his lips to his fingertips, down to his toes, to his groin...
"First, you get the tabi socks." Bending, he tugged them on for Kamui, lifting one foot and supporting him with one hand in the small of Kamui's back, pulling the sock on one-handedly, dressing the younger boy like he was a doll made of priceless porcelain.
"Then, the slip: juban," Subaru instructed. "I think we'll leave off the skirt, just wear the collar, Kamui." Carefully arranging the white collar around the younger boy's neck, Subaru picked up the kimono off the bed, wrapping the right side around Kamui's body, then the left. "A bit too long- I think Grandmother was taller when she wore this... never mind," he continued, folding the excess material and keeping it in place with one hand while he reached for another piece of clothing.
"The koshi-himo," Subaru muttered to himself, tying the belt around the excess material. "I should be able to remember... then the date-jime... you should be glad Grandmother didn't make you wear a formal obi. You'd never be able to manage: those are brocade and 4 meters in length. Weigh a ton.
"Last, the obi-jime..." Kamui could feel Subaru fiddling with the tie, then he stopped. "Butterfly knots. Hokuto would be proud of me..." and suddenly Kamui knew why Subaru was so good at this.
Turning hesitantly, Kamui cocked his head at Subaru. "Do I- do I look alright?"
For answer, Subaru moved closer to the smaller boy, capturing his lips as he tilted Kamui's chin upwards, nibbling softly at one tender lip. "Why don't you see for yourself? There's a full-length mirror in my room. You need to practice walking in this thing too."
Kamui soon saw the truth of Subaru's words- the furisode sleeves were, though not extremely long, were still longer than he was used to, and walking in the constrictive dress was incredibly difficult. Several times he stumbled, and only the supporting arms of Subaru stopped him falling and breaking his neck.
Finally, they stood in front of the mirror, and Kamui's mouth fell softly open. "You see?" Subaru chuckled, resting his head over the younger boy's shoulder. "You would pass for a girl very easily, Kamui. A beautiful girl." Kamui admired the kimono patterns, the thread painstakingly rendering a maple leaf design, fitting the autumnal weather they were having.
Subaru buried his nose in the warm skin at the nape of Kamui's neck, breathing in deeply and then letting his breath tickle over the sensitive skin, delighting in the small shudder than ran through Kamui's small frame. "I love you so much, Kamui."
"Me too," the smaller boy breathed, trembling slightly.
Arrhythmic: Okay, who's willing to draw me nice pic of Crossdressing!Kamui? But I thought it makes a cute picture. A great deal of fluff here, but I have my later chapters planned out, so you can expect a bit of action and nerves in future... as well as a little humour in chapter four...
And as always, R&R!
