3. Release.
T: Silver salamander I actually know what you mean as this story bewitched me as well…though this chapter wasn't exactly the easiest of things! I'll actually take you up on the offer, though I feel rather naughty doing as such! Expect the new chapter in your inbox tomorrow! Moving on, this chapter has a cameo from a couple of Gravitation characters who I've meddled enough with that it's probably not necessary to know what Gravitation is…apart from that warnings remain the same and no, I am not a member of Clamp.
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There was something different about her brother.
Always before today Subaru had seemed to her as a unlit candle, a thing with so much potential if only the right could be found and now…
Now he glowed.
"Hokuto-chan, forgive me for pushing you away…for making the last few months that we had together such a misery."
"I should have been a better sister and respected your wish to remain just the two of us, should have allowed you the time and space you needed to find again your freedom."
Subaru smiled then, the thing so very rare and thus so very beautiful to perceive.
"Shall we begin again?" He enquires.
She responds to that by pulling him close to her and as always this feeling of 'oneness' of being simply a part of some greater thing, is as the greatest of comforts to her.
"So you know Seishrio-chan?" She enquired.
Subaru's attitude changed just barely at the mention of that name, his posture tensing and the veiled shadows within his eyes lifting so that she could all but see the heart of him there.
So he was already enthralled…
She knew, perhaps better than anyone else, how dangerous Seishrio Sakurazuka was and what this intoxication would mean for her brother and yet…
Everything was different to how it should have been and perhaps simply by changing the time of their meeting fate had assured a happier ending for her brother.
"I met him the day before yesterday…"
"Really? The way he talks of you I thought you had known one another for longer."
"It feels that way to me also."
"Subaru…Seishrio-chan is a difficult person to understand strait away and perhaps you should not so hastily allow a friendship between you."
"There is a danger to him, is that what you are trying to tell me?"
"Yes…yes that was it precisely."
After all why tell him who Seishrio-chan truly was when she knew already that Subaru would change the heart of him…
Knew already that it was Subaru whom was fated to kill the Sakurazukamori.
Or at least that was how it would have been if fate had taken its original course.
The future of their love was uncertain in this world and even the foresight of her husband could not see what was to occur.
"What of your fellow Seals?" She enquired, hoping to distract not only Subaru but herself also.
A look of distaste crosses onto his face and sighing she enquires,
"They are not that bad surely, Subaru?"
He did not dignify that with a response and she wondered how he could be so gentle and so open one moment and then shut away completely the next.
There was a solution to this trait, on that she had used a few times before when her brother was feeling particularly stubborn and one that brought with it a wave of nostalgia.
"Perhaps you need to pay a visit to Babylon."
A particular glimmer caught in his eyes and a smile on his lips he enquires,
"Do you think Seishrio-san would come with us?"
"If you asked him, I am sure that he would."
"Obaasan forbade me from going again."
"Then do not tell her."
"You are a bad influence…"
"Guilty."
"Thank you."
A moment of silence and then her brother takes her hands in his and remarks,
"Kakyo will come back to you again, Hokuto-chan."
"I know."
Her smile is forced and yet the words and the hope bottled hard within them was a truth…perhaps the only one she had left within the shadow world she was now living in.
The faint peal of a clock chiming started them out of the quite peace that they had fallen into and sighing Subaru remarked,
"I have to go and call Obaasan."
"Okay. I'll see you soon?"
"Of course…Seishrio-san has my new number and perhaps you could come and visit the apartment some time for a proper talk."
"Perhaps."
She watched as he stood and began jogging towards the exit of the path before she called his name and informed him,
"Don't let Ryuichi drag you into one of his games, Subaru and try to return Seishrio-chan in one piece."
"I can but try, Hokuto-chan."
He remarked before he was lost within the crowds.
……………………………………………………………………………
When one is feeling angry and empty there is very little that is better to get you back on your feet than a stint clubbing.
Within the steady heart beat of the base there was no need to 'feel', no need to be anything other than an extension of that beat.
The four other Seals looked nervous within this environment and yet I could see in each of their eyes the same tensioned curiosity that I had felt when Hokuto-chan had first brought me to this night club.
Soratta had made the least effort of the group as far as clothes went, for he was dressed still in the eclectic mix of casual fabrics that encapsulated his personality.
Arashi had fallen on the traditional black dress, though she had added the unique touch of delicate silver shoes and fine diamond anklets to give the outfit a touch of class.
Yuzihara was wearing a simply camisole top and a richly decorated skirt short enough that she had bypassed the door staff without a second glance.
Kamui was clothed in a pail red mesh top and a pair of figure hugging black trousers that were earning him already some appreciative glances.
I had dug out the box of clubbing outfits Hokuto-chan had constructed for me once I had become addicted and after much debate had ceased onto my old faithful of a dark green crop top and faded jeans patterned here and there with sequins designed to catch the light and draw the eye.
Allowing the beat to settle my mood I marvelled again that I had even managed to convince the others to come with me.
Oddly the main objection had not been that I would be the only member of the team actually legally allowed within the club, but rather that it was a little foolish to over expose ourselves when we were being hunted.
I had whittled them down eventually with the painted Hokuto rant about everyone needing to loosen up and how sometimes having fun was the best sort of training.
I had then expressed the view that we needed some 'together' time as a group.
Then Soratta had voiced the issue of them being underage and I had explained to them that unless they consumed any alcohol they were not doing anything illegal…
Which had, in fact, been the very same rational that Hokuto had used on me when she had dragged me here for the very first time all of nine years ago when I had been but sixteen.
Since then Babylon had been as a second home to me, a place where I could unwind and be whatever I wished.
I spot Seishrio-san against the bar, his dark suit making him stand out very clearly amid the crowd.
I slither through the mass until I am level with him and smiling brightly I inform him,
"I am glad that you could come."
"It sounded like fun." He remarked before he lifted his eyes to regard the other, "Who are your companions?"
"This is Soratta Arisugawa, Arashi Kishu, Yuzihara Neiko and Kamui Shirou.
"Everyone, this is Seishrio Sakurazuka."
"Charmed." He remarks as he takes each of the offered hands and even goes so far as to gently kiss each of the women's before he enquires,
"What shall we be drinking?"
"Spring water and I'll do the honours." I remark.
The bar is crowed enough that it will be a while before I get served and so I scan those waiting to see if I can spot a familiar face.
One stands out almost instantly.
Ryuichi Sakuma, lead singer of the popular group Nittle Grasper and a charming almost child like wit.
Ryu and I had met a couple of weeks after I had began coming to Babylon and the older man had taken one look at my face and proclaimed that I would be the perfect dance partner.
After that he deliberately sought me out whenever he came to Babylon and soon enough a friendship of sorts had grown between us, a friendship that had remained steady even after he had told me who precisely he was and a friendship that I wished greatly to re-kindle.
Thus I hoped free of the press of bodies at my end of the bar and pushed my way in to stand next to him.
"Subaru!" He remarked when he spotted me.
"Good evening Ryu."
"It has been five years since I saw you here last and I thought that you'd decided to give up the clubbing life style."
"Me, Ryu? I thought we knew one another better than that."
"True enough, I suppose. A base junkie such as yourself could never stay away from the clubs for long!" He paused as he glanced around me and then enquires, "Is Hokuto-chan not with you?"
"Hokuto's gotten married, Ryu." The man sighs dramatically and states,
"Such a shame! Especially when she was oh so cute!"
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Ryu." A strange man remarks as he cuts into the other side of Ryu and snakes an arm about the singer.
"You know my heart is yours and yours alone!" The singer retorts before he gestures in my direction and states, "This is the infamous Subaru Sumeragi." The other extends his free hand to me and says,
"I'm Tatsuha Uesugi and I've heard quite a lot about you, Su-chan."
I am about to question the nickname when the bartender finally catches my eye and enquires,
"What can I get you sir?"
"Five waters and whatever that gentleman is having." I remarks as I gesture back down the bar towards Seishrio-san.
The bar tender snatches up four bottles of water and while I am passing them out to the Seals fixes Seishrio what turns out to be dark rum and coke with a stress on the rum.
I had had him pinned as more of a whisky man and yet I was by no means perfect at guessing a persons beverage of choice.
"Are you singing tonight?" I enquire to Ryu once I've pocketed my change.
"No, it's my night off tonight."
"So I'll see you later?"
"Of course." He remarks before he turns to the barman and begins dictating his order.
Equipped with my one essential for the night I make a be-line for my usual dancing spot at the centre of the floor, fully aware of my fellow Seals following behind me like frightened animals.
Seishrio, it seemed, was content to stay at the bar for the moment, something I hoped that I could change as the night wore on and the rum he was drinking finally hit home.
"Right everyone, lesson number one: If you want to blend into a club rather than stick out like the fresh meat that you are, let go and allow the beat to guide your movements.
"Do not worry about those around you because they are not worrying about you. Just listen to the tempo and move."
It took them a while to absorb that lesson, but soon enough they had loosened up enough to have separated away from me and joined into other groups of dancers.
"It is a lie, is it not?" Kamui enquired.
The boy had been the only one to remain close at my side, his violet eyes calmly regarding my every move and emotion.
"Shirou-kun, here in the club it is all a lie. That is lesson number two."
"So here I can be who I wish to be?"
"That is correct. In this place you are simply another one of the mass, another entity existing simply for the rhythm and the thrill that it gives you."
A smile bloomed onto his face and it is the first that I realise how achingly beautiful he is, how much weight he had been carrying on his shoulders.
He moves a little closer to me and I know this game well enough that I do not recoil, that I adjust the rhythm of my dance to match his in a perfect synchronicity.
We dance the perfect dance, out bodies close enough that there is an intimacy to our movements and yet we never touch, for it is in anticipation that one finds excitement and enjoyment.
Kamui gains confidence and he closes the space so that we are touching just barely at the hip.
He slows the rhythm of our dancing down so that we are moving against the beat and a lazy smile appearing on his lips he twines one of legs about mine and leaning close enquires,
"What would you do if I closed this gap, Sumeragi-san?" The shape of the words ghosting against my lips, "Would you continue the game or would you recoil?"
"It would depend on the game." I reply before I break away easily from his grip.
There is a heat at my back now and turning I am met with the wild fire of Seishrio-san's gaze.
"I believe this dance is mine." He remarks as he pulls me into the crook of his arm.
Kamui smiles and bowing politely remarks,
"Perhaps another time." Before he vanishes into the crowd.
"It seems that you are a bit of a tease, Subaru-kun."
"That?" I enquire as I begin to move again to the rhythm of the music, "It was an illusion, Seishrio-san, as with everything else in this place."
"Life is the illusion." He remarks before he begins to dance.
It is nothing flamboyant or openly sensual and yet there is a power in his movement, a grace that comes only with practice.
Unlike with Kamui I have a want to see how far I can take the game, have a want to see if Seishrio-san will allow me the chance to bring us closer together.
Thus I take his initiative and slow my moments down and close as much of the space between us as I dare without invitation.
His eyes are all but glowing in this light and that bright ferocity seems to become him, seems to ass to the danger that is always a part of him.
"Perhaps that is so, Seishrio-san. Perhaps life is an illusion, but this is truth."
I close the distance between us then and though I have kissed many people before it has never felt this good.
I feel his arms attempting to pull me even closer than I already am and then the kiss becomes deeper, truer, and suddenly it is as though the rest of the world has faded.
As though he is all that has ever truly mattered to me.
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T: I make no apologies for the cameo…it started out small I swear and then I got volume 3 of Gravitation, learned that Grasper had a song called Super Subaru and the rest was history! Subaru's club edict is exactly the same as mine which means he shall be suffering greatly in the next chapter! I've always seen Sei-chan as a bourbon man myself, but as always in my life the rum prevailed and thus he is drinking my drink! R+R or I'll cry!
