4. Star crossed.

T: Sorry about the delay but I've been chained up at work! Warnings the same and it's still not mine…sigh…

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Something about the girl who had fainted in the cafeteria had recalled to him the woman in his dream and yet that could easily have been simply because of the subject he had been discussing with Subaru-kun, but moments before the incident.

He had dreamt, last night, not of the woman, but of Subaru-kun and the way that his beautiful green eyes had all but closed off as he'd told him the truth of the one Seishiro had searched a lifetime for.

'They use their magic to kill, not for pleasure or money, but simply to feed the spirit of the sakura.'

'What of this mark?' He had enquired as he had sketched onto his notebook an inverse pentagram.

The boy had shook his head and said,

'It is the mark of the clan and they place it on those that they wish to kill.'

'Am I so marked?' He enquired.

The boy stretches from him and there is a bright crackle of energy before the boy had sighed and replied,

'Yes…I am sorry.'

In the dream Seishrio had smiled and stretched to touch that all but translucent skin before informing the boy,

'I want your care, not your pity, Subaru-kun.'

The boy had smiled beautifully and stretched to caress his face before Seishiro had felt himself stirring into wakefulness.

He had not wrote the dream into his book, fearing both that Subaru might one day come upon it and that somehow Subaru would prove as much a foolish obsession as his previous.

Suoh is waiting for him as he crosses onto the Campus grounds, displeasure clear in his golden eyes,

"Why am I granted the pleasure of your company so early in the morning?"

"Kaichou is busy entertaining our new student,"

"Do Akira and yourself not usually aid him in the orientation of new students?"

"We do, usually, but Kaichou has decided that our skills could be better used 'elsewhere' today."

"And you left him voluntarily?"

"No, he is just over there." The younger boy remarks as he gestures to a shock of blond hair clear on the walkway a little to their right.

Sakura is beside him, her beautiful face all but glowing as she speaks to Noruko of something or another.

"This is the first time I have had to be this far way from him because he has asked it of me…

"I knew that one day he would decide to choose one girl to care for above the others, but I hopped…" He trails as the pair turn suddenly in their direction and Sakura's melodic voice cries,

"Ohiyo, Yuko-san."

Noruko is smiling in a carefree manner Seishiro had believed reserved for Suoh alone and there is an evident weariness in the Imonoyama's attitude towards his bodyguard that had not before been present.

"I must thank you for convincing Sakura-chan to visit the Campus, Yuko-san."

He feels Suoh's glare directed towards him and he smiles politely before saying,

"I am sure she would have come here eventually even without my goading, Imonoyama-san and you will excuse my abruptness but as Takumura-san is free I would like to take the opportunity to improve my form."

The Imonoyama remarks before he takes a gentle hold of his charges arm and escorts her away down the path.

Once he was entirely out of earshot Seishiro informs Suoh,

"I did not know Noruko would fall for her, nor did I plan for such a thing."

He sighs and his eyes slide closed before he remarks,

"I know and I am sorry for the accusation."

He re-shoulders his book bag and enquires,

"Are you going to carry on following them, or would you actually care to join me in a little work out."

"A spar actually sounds like a good idea." He replies.

As always Suoh wins each spar, though on their second match Seishiro almost had the Takumura, something that concerned him enough that once they had had enough he enquires,

"This thing with Noruko has you very concerned, doesn't it, Suoh-kun?"

"Something is not right, Seishiro-sempi…I feel as though he is in danger, as though there is some enemy close to him and yet there is no one but that girl.

"I worry that I am allowing my emotions to cloud my judgement, worry that my envy is making her seem as threat to him…worry that I shall be so focused on hating her that I will not see a real threat to him before it is too late."

"Suoh-kun, I know you too well to believe such a thing…perhaps it is true that your envy of Sakurazuka-san is clouding your view of her and yet I do not believe it will ever be enough to make you blind to a true threat to your one." Suoh sighs and an odd melancholy falls over him before he replies,

"I wish I could have such a faith in myself as you do, Seishiro-sempi…"

………………………………………………………………………….

Seishiro is sat eating his lunch when he spots Subaru amongst the crowd, the younger lad's lithe form all but disappearing amid the fabric of his uniform.

"Subaru-kun!" The boy smiles when his eyes catch Seishiro's and pushing his way through the masses he makes his way to the table,

"Good afternoon, Seishiro-san."

"Good afternoon, Subaru-kun. I assume that you have not had to work today,"

"That is right…how are you today?" He enquires as he settles into the chair opposite.

"Truly? I have been more than a little paranoid today…jumping at every shadow and generally reacting as though the Sakurazukamori is going to appear from no-where and kill me."

"IT is an understandable reaction and I am sorry that the news could not have been better for you.

"However, there are many things we can do to insure that she can not find you and even should I be unable to dispel the curse completely I think we should be able to make sure that you live as long as you are destined to."

Seishiro dips to pull a few thick textbooks from his bag and sprawling them onto the table he says,

"I have already been researching warding spells and other related things in hope that you would make such an offer to me."

The Boy grabs for the text book and flips through the pages until something catches his eyes and he places it, still open, onto the table.

"The kanji for this basic warding spell is printed incorrectly, yet someone has not only written it out correctly in the margin but they have improved the spell so that it heals as well as wards." He remarks as he points to the precise annotations clear in the margin of the text book.

"What are you inferring?" Seishrio enquires anger clear in his voice; the boy flushes and replies,

"I simply wished to compliment your work, Seishrio-san…I am sorry if I offended you in any manner."

Cursing the quick temperedness inherited from his father he stretches to grab for the younger boys hand, both in a wish to comfort and simply for the desire to touch the boy.

"Subaru-kun, I did not mean to scare you…I am a little wary when it comes to my choice in profession, especially after kasan reacted so violently to my choice."

That was, of course, an understatement.

Kasan had never completely understood his wish to pursue his obsession with the woman from his dreams and when he had chosen that obsession over his father's business…

She had refused to disinherit him, hopeful still that he would come to his sense, but she had denied him the money and the connections that had been his by birthright and may have made his search all the easier.

"Why did you decide on this path then?" The boy enquires as he loops their fingers together in an almost casual gesture.

"Ever since the Sakurazukamori left her mark upon me I have dreamt of her…have seen nothing but her in my dreams.

"I wished to know why that was and what it was that she told me each night as I was dreaming and thus I began to research into the occult.

"Though I learned nothing of consequence about her I found that I was fascinated by the occult and after being accepted to Clamp Campus I decided to make that obsession into an actual profession."

"Do you regret that choice now when you have learned the truth of her you hunted?"

"No, for though she has proven less than I had made her in my mind…though this hunt has divided me from my family…I have gained much through it."

The boy blushes again and leasing his hand he returns to his examination of the spell books.

Being this close to the boy is oddly intoxicating and he has to constantly prevent himself from researching out for unnecessary contact between them.

He has felt such desires before and yet they have never so affected his control…

Perhaps he feels this way for the openness of the boy's manner and his soul or perhaps it is because he believes he feels some odd bond of kinship between them.

Whatever the reason he comprehends that already he desires so very much of the boy…

Desires more than he knows is permissible when they have known one another for but the briefest of instants.

Something that Suoh had said to him once, long ago, comes to him and it seems all the more poignant considering the current situation his friend was in.

'As a Ninja I hide always in plain sight, even in regards to my emotions.

'I care for Kaichou as you know and I refuse to be ashamed of that care. However, I am aware that loving as such has a potential for danger or exploitation, thus though I allow myself to do for Kaichou as I wish, I shall never overtly make my feelings clear.

'Thus other people are free to make what assumptions they will of my feelings.

Subaru seemed almost as naïve as Noruko when it came to the matter of 'love' and Seishiro was practiced enough that he could easily coddle the boy without ever being overtly affectionate.

Smiling to himself Seishiro leans forwards in his chair and allows himself to let go his control and simply enjoy being in Subaru's presence.

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T: Next chapter either tomorrow or Tue depending on how I go! R+R I'm desperate for any sign that someone is reading this!