Author's Note: Here's another "rough draft" chapter. There's about twenty-seven in all, but I won't be putting them all up at once, of course.

Disclaimer: X and Tokyo Babylon, as well as all characters, events, and fictional places, belong to Clamp, and whoever else may own rights. I am simply borrowing for a non-profit means of entertainment, which only encourages further reading of actual Clamp materials.

Chapter Thirteen:

Sorata separated from the group with a nod, checking his watch to make sure he'd have enough time to run all of his errands before meeting back up with the other Seals. He should have time and then some. At least, that's what he hoped. In his recent life things had gotten to the point where he couldn't tie his shoe without some dire emergency coming up.

His first stop was a phone booth, randomly chosen for its position away from the Campus and any Kekkai. From there he called Mt. Kouya and gave one of his droning reports. He didn't enjoy the bureaucracy, but he had come to accept that it was a necessary part of war. Or, at least what they wished the war could be. Making regular reports and keeping everyone back at the monastery updated made the people he most cared about happy. They were the closest thing he had ever had to family before meeting the other Seals, they were like older brothers or parents, and having them comforted by his words made him happier.

A flash of white and lilac drew him from where he concentrated on keeping up a small shield so that others couldn't hear his conversation. With a quick "goodbye" he hung up on the other monk and rushed out of the phone booth, glancing around. There had been something so familiar about that face that he had only seen for a millisecond. Something that seemed to call out for him. Shaking his head he leaned back against the nearest wall, confusion filling his mind as to what he had just seen.

"Problems?"

"Not now, Monou," the Dragon of Heaven said from behind closed eyelids as he attempted to reinforce his mental shields.

Sorata could hear the intake of air into the Angel's lungs as the older boy leaned closer. "After all of our little talks you'd think we'd be on closer terms...Call me /Kamui/."

"I'd rather not." He finally pushed away from the wall, brushing past the golden eyed menace and trying to recall where he was headed before the distraction that caught him in yet another awkward moment with the Chi no Kamui.

"Oh, but I insist, Sora-chan. It just doesn't seem right for us not to be more personal with each other. After all, I'm probably going to kill you. If you can't be close to your murderer, who can you be close to?" The cold voice sent a shiver down the young monk's spine and he had to fight from speeding up his pace anymore than a quick walk. The boy who was once Monou Fuuma could probably sense the fear seeping from his very soul, he didn't need an even more obvious sign of the effect the elder Dragon had on him.

At the touch of a surprisingly gentle hand on his arm he whipped around, smile in place but eyes glaring into /Kamui/'s. "What do you want?"

"Something's got you spooked...I was just wondering if I could be of some assistance?" Those golden eyes searched Sorata's chocolate ones, as if looking for a weakness within the teen's defenses.

The Seal snorted. "Oh, and you're just so concerned about my feelings."

The Dragon of Earth gave a sinister smile. "Shouldn't I be? After all, what you do will directly effect everyone's fate, won't it, oh First of the Seals."

Before a witty remark could escape the Ten no Ryu, or even a polite "fuck off," his attention was drawn elsewhere. "Shit," he exclaimed as he watched a kekkai rising at the other side of the city. Shooting a scowl at the Dark Kamui, unable to stop himself from wondering if the other had purposely distracted him, he shot off, bounding onto the nearest building and roof-hopping towards the fight.

Arashi groaned, flopping down into a large leather armchair as soon as she got inside the mansion, not caring about the fact she was probably getting dirt and blood all over the expensive upholstery. It had been one fight after another for herself and four of the other Seals, Sorata and the Sumeragi always coming at the tail end of the encounter. She couldn't help but find that fact suspicious, especially when neither felt like giving a better excuse than a shrug or wry grin when she questioned them. No one else cared enough to even wonder.

The only reason the priestess didn't push the monk too hard was that the last two fights he had come in to, just in time to miss first the blonde haired "pretty boy" and then the scantily clad pyrokinetic, he had seemed to be itching for a fight. Something was frustrating him, or more precisely frustrating his efforts to help his fellow Dragons of Heaven.

The brunette Seal had put up no kekkai that the girl had known of, but it was still possible he was having encounters with an Angel. Arashi knew from watching Kamui and Daisuke dealing with the Chi no Ryu that they could be very manipulative. 'And the only servants of Earth we haven't encountered during one of our fights are the two that are the most dangerous mentally...'

Satisfied that she had figured out what was ailing her teammate she resolved to approach him at the first possible instance with a more direct question than she could have asked before. In her excitement over the idea of helping her first real friend she didn't even notice she had completely forgotten about the same type of activity by another Seal.

Afterwards...

"Sorata...?"

"Not right now, Neechan, I'm catching a movie with Subaru!"

"Sorata...?"

"Sorry, Neechan, I've gotta help Kakyou with dinner!"

"Sorata...?"

"Listen, Arashi, I can't talk right now, I promised Takamura-sempai I'd get these papers on the Rijichou's desk within five minutes!"

"Sorata...?"

"Hi! Can't talk, dinner with the guys."

"Sorata...?"

"Subaru. Homework help. Bye!"

"Sorata...?"

"Goin' out!"

Arashi rolled her eyes as she watched the monk run off once more. They hadn't been attacked for days, days in which Sorata had been spending all his time either with the yumemi or the onmyouji, and she was beginning to forget exactly what was so important about confronting him in the first place. It had to be much more trouble than it was worth. The week was almost over, and she was sick and tired of being placed near the end of her friend's 'special people' list. Surely if he was really in such trouble he'd have come forward by now. After all, out of all the Seals, she had the most reason to trust the young monk.

Next Day...

Subaru usually liked shopping, but, then again, Subaru was usually with people who knew how to shop. A young man and two teenagers who had been hidden away almost their entire lives and a slightly younger boy currently drowning in angst were not the height of the shopping elite. The onmyouji was currently finding himself bored with something he usually loved. Someone was going to die for that.

"Not enjoying yourself?" But, he did have the very good looking, albeit frustrating, yumemi to keep him company.

"Oh, of course I am...After all, I was a model, no? I love clothes," he grinned brightly, keeping an annoyed twitch from starting at the corner of his eyes.

"No, you're not having any fun, but I guess that is to be expected. I wouldn't be able to relax, either, surrounded by the enemy."

The Sumeragi's head shot up, eyes narrowing with malicious intent as he glared at Kuzuki, prepared to fight, if it came to that. His cover was blown, far sooner than he expected, and he wouldn't let the Ten no Ryu catch him off guard. He opened his mouth, ready to reply with a scathing remark, when he felt a hand land on his shoulders. He whipped around, blinking into Sorata's smiling face.

"Hey, guys, you fell behind so I thought I'd wait up for you. Neechan and Kamui decided to move onto another store." Subaru looked around, and, sure enough, they had stopped outside of the previous store, one which was no longer occupied by the Kamui or the priestess.

"Ah," he replied, following Sorata as he walked towards the new destination, genki grin evaporating the hostility previously exuding from the silver haired man and the black haired boy. "Are you enjoying yourself, Sora-chan?" he asked, cutely.

The monk smiled at him and nodded enthusiastically. "I only wish Neechan would let me help her in the dressing room." He gave a long suffering sigh and brought a hand to the back of his head, flinching slightly. Subaru laughed as he remembered how hard the hidden priestess had hit the brunette when he had tried to do exactly that.

"Well, you can always help me when I'm in a dressing room, Sora-chan!" He cast a flirtatious look towards the younger boy, enjoying the way the monk blushed and stammered, and also enjoying the way the yumemi turned a very interesting shade of green.

The onmyouji's attention, though, was quickly pulled from the two Ten no Ryu as a familiar buzzing filled his head. He looked around, eyes narrowing, as the world seemed to explode around them.

Earlier...

Yuuto blinked in surprise, staring at the /Kamui/ once the younger man was finished speaking. "Is that entirely wise?"

That earned him a critical glare. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, Sumeragi-san is with them..."

/Kamui/ gave a sinister smirk. "All the more reason to play now."

Currently...

Kamui flinched as the music hit his eardrums even before he and Arashi entered the store. "They must have it on full volume," he said, somewhat loudly.

"WHAT?" Arashi shouted, questioningly.

"NOTHING," he shouted back.

"WHAT?" she asked, again, with a confused expression.

Kamui gave a sigh and shook his head, hoping she would at least understand that. The two resorted to non-verbal communication, otherwise very mundane hand-signals, as they navigated through the store, picking out clothing and entering the dressing rooms, which, if it were possible, had even louder music playing. Kamui had thought that Suoh's metal-techno-punk-whatever was bad.

He knew he should have taken it as a warning when the yumemi stepped off the street in a few graceful bounds, but he was too preoccupied with the flashing of the street lights and groaning of the earth to pay attention to what the Ten no Ryu was doing. Later he would severely criticize himself for being such an idiot--the dreamer would know a thing or two about the future.

Wires pushed their way from under the pavement, sending shards of concrete flying at the two dragons left standing there, Sorata dodging and Subaru pulling a shield up. He felt power stretching around him and realized the silver-haired man was creating a kekkai around the area, and he felt a slight relief that he wouldn't have been put into a spot where he was expected to do that.

Watching the technology that so carefully ran human lives run amok in the street, one thought stood out among all his others, directed at the person he knew was responsible. 'That cocky, spiky haired bastard.' He had somehow managed to be distracted enough not to notice that a bundle of wires was shooting towards him, probably because he hadn't really thought that Yatouji would hurt him. Obviously /Kamui/ had told her to be convincing.

He turned, slightly shocked, and could only stare at the cords for a moment, power gathering, but he knew he would be too slow to keep himself from at least a little damage. He heard a shout from beside him, but didn't really comprehend it. His last thought was that at the very least he would not be killed, and once he recovered, he'd cause He Who Hunts the Power of God no end of trouble--maybe even help the annoyingly friendly Seals, just to get under 'Fuuma's' skin.