De-ja-vu.
T: Silver salamander I understand entirely…I can't draws either, hence the huge plea for fan art! Warnings remain the same and nope it's still not mine!
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I am summoned to the Diet building in time to be introduced to two new seals and the boy who is supposedly the 'leader' of this rag tag bunch.
The seals treat him as though he is some all mighty thing and yet I can not bring myself to like him, nor the attitude he is sporting.
The first battle of the newly formed 'team' falters with almost perfect precision.
We had been faced with a 'surprise' attack from the Sakurazukamori and assured in their gifts, in their ability to win, the seals had organised an all out attack.
Yet the more they fought the more that their enemy threw back and soon enough they were in trouble.
Enthralled also into the illusion Kamui had attempted, eventually, to break free yet by that point the power surrounding us was enough so that the boy's effort also amounted to nothing.
Reaching for one of my Ofuda I fling it to the far edge of the illusion with a lazy flip of the wrist.
For a moment it seems that even I am to be outwitted by this foe and then the illusion dissolves and we are back within the 'safety' of the basement.
They thank me, each one of them telling me how strong I must be, how fast and confident to defeat the illusion with such ease.
Kamui sees already that I need no such praise, that it little matters to me what happens to them or what they think of me. Thus he remains on the outside of the group, simply watching me with a frown upon his face.
He lingers just a few moments and then he heads back for the elevator, his step never once hesitating despite the force of Hinoto's pleas.
He most likely believes that he is being assured or self motivated and yet, to me at least, he comes across simply as a spoiled child finding suddenly that he can not always get his way.
That on occasion destiny is inescapable.
It is odd and yet that thought brings to mind the dark presence of Seishiro-san…
It is odd that I already think of him as such, we have, after all, only known one another for two days and yet as with everything regarding the man it seems right.
There is a desire within me to see Seishrio-san again and I realise, suddenly, that I have no idea how to find him, that the only thing he told me of himself was his name.
I find myself smiling and making my excuses to the seals I track my way back to Ueno Park.
It is raining by the time I reach the park and I quickly take shelter beneath the tree that I had been near when first I met Seishrio-san.
I recall seeing this tree from a distance when Obaasan had first brought me to Tokyo.
It had stood out to my young mind because it was so tall and because it was coated still in its blossoms despite the season.
I had felt something pulling at me then, a desire to look closer at the tree and yet Obaasan had a-hold of me so tight by that point that I could not break free.
Setting a hand to it's trunk I smile and feeling just a little foolish I inform it,
"I am sorry that it took so long for me to come to you, but I am here now."
It is most likely my imagination running away from me but it seems that the branches are leaning a little closer to me now, that they are almost enveloping me within their web.
"Subaru-kun, what a pleasant surprise." That is Seishrio-san, his presence as a warmth at my back that had gone unnoticed until this moment.
I turn and note quickly that there is a formal edge to his attire today, that he wears now a pair of wire rimmed spectacles.
His eyes are a living hazel that pulls at me and yet there is an edge to them that set a little fear into my heart.
It is the same edge present within Seishrio-san's smile, an edge that warns that perhaps not everything I perceive is true, that there is a darkness to Seishrio-san that I shall never know.
"I did not know that you wore glasses."
"I do not normally, but as I had some paperwork to do and as I am a little short sighted, I am forced to wear these ugly things." He remarks as he touches the thin wire frames.
My first thought is to assure him that the glasses are not ugly, that he is handsome always in my eyes and yet I dismiss that as idiocy and instead enquire,
"Where do you work the, Seishrio-san?"
"I am a lawyer for the Kizuki family."
I know the name well and thus I enquire,
"Would you know my sister?"
He smiles one of his gentle smiles and his hand rises to brush absently at my cheek before he replies,
"I would. In fact I saw her just yesterday."
"How is she?"
The smile fades and I am unsurprised to find that I am concerned.
My sister has always been the one thing in this world that I have cared for.
"You can tell me, Seishrio-san."
"Her husband has fallen again into his coma. The doctors are doing what they can for him but as they still have little idea of what pulled him under in the first place…"
"How is she coping?" I enquire, not wishing to dwell on the issue of Kakyo's coma for too long.
"As well as can be expected."
"I know that it is not really fair of me to make you a third party, Seishrio-san, but could you ask her if she wants to talk to me?"
"Of course, Subaru-kun, but if you do not mind me asking why are you so distanced in the first place?"
I consider lying and yet why bother, especially when Seishrio-san has so quickly become a part of my life?
"I have not always been the best of people, Seishrio-san, and I believe my bitterness drove Hokuto-chan away in the end.
"Though I suppose it did not help that Obaasan would never have approved of her marriage to Kakyo."
"It would seem to me that a union between your houses would be most favourable."
Again the conversation seemed to be dragging me into the position of having to tell Seishrio-kun about the Year of Destiny and unlike the last time there seemed no visible escape rout.
How could I explain Obaasan's dislike of Kakyo without mentioning that he was a Dragon of Earth? That by her blood Hokuto was forced to be opposed to the man she loved?
"I suppose there are 'extenuating circumstance', are there not, Subaru-kun?"
It was a simplistic escape and yet I was glad for it…
I had no want to endanger Seishrio-san, especially when he was quickly becoming as important to me as Hokuto-chan…
Perhaps he was now even more important that her in my heart.
I felt an irrational blush heat my skin and go to turn my head slightly from Seishrio-san if only so that I could gather my thoughts.
Yet Seishrio-san prevents this escape by catching a hold of my chin.
His smile becomes predatory and he leans towards me a little before he states,
"You know, Subaru-kun, you are rather cute when you blush."
There was a scant inch between us as though it had been but two days since we met, though he was still all but a stranger to me, I yearned for that gap to be closed.
Yearned to possess and be possessed by this man.
"Seishrio-san…"
The smile changed again into the half sincere, gentle, smile that was his normal and releasing his grip he steps away from me.
"I should be getting back before Kizuki-san docks my pay."
He opens out the umbrella that he had set against the tree and steps back into the rain before I stop him.
"How can I get a-hold of you, Seishiro-san?"
He smiles again that predatory smile and drags free a card from his coat pocket with his free hand,
"That is my office number, Subaru-kun. I will let my secretary know to put you strait through when you ring."
I take the card and finding a pen and a scrap of paper amid the dregs within my pockets I hastily scratch down my telephone number before passing it into his care.
"I shall talk to you soon, Subaru-kun."
He remarks before he is lost within the rain.
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Only when the younger man has gone does he return to the tree and yet the spirit seems to have lost its desire to be fed and instead states,
'That child is of a powerful blood.' In a manner that is almost an enquiry.
'He is a Sumeragi.'
'And yet you have allowed him to live, have even gone so far as to encourage an intimacy between you…why would that be, Seishrio-sama?'
'He is an interesting individual and he has the potential to keep me amused for a while.'
'I see…yet you will kill him eventually, will you not?'
'Of course.'
He could not understand why that felt like a lie, why some part of him desired to keep that man alive forever no matter what sacrifice he would have to give for that desire to be fulfilled.
In that one moment when Subaru-kun had been at his mercy, when but one movement could have changed the nature of their 'intimacy' he had felt the oddest of thrills.
Something akin to the electric thrill of the kill and yet this was not a sensation caused by a power boost…
No, this was something far, far, more dangerous.
This was the thrill of a true emotion.
Yet that was foolish…
He had only known that man for the smallest of times and though there was some indefinable spark of something within the other he was still less than some of the other people Seishrio had known, and killed, over the years.
And yet…
Seishrio little liked feeling this weak and thus he was finding this entire situation very infuriating indeed.
How could that man have slipped so easily into his thoughts and his concerns? How could that man evoke so many conflicting emotions within Seishiro's heat without conscious thought or effort?
Why was there no logical explanation for what was occurring?
Lighting a cigarette Seishrio decided to turn his mind to the more pressing issue at the moment.
The issue of whom he would chose to be the tree's next victim.
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T: Yet another chapter down and hopefully another up tomorrow...yep the rest are all fairly well this size and there are thirteen more to go…run away now if that thought daunts you as much as it does me! R+R because this authoress loves to be loved!
