Aishuu Offers:
Just Someone I Used to Know
A 1999 Word Challenge Fic
X:1999 is property of CLAMP. This contains spoilers for Tokyo Babylon OAVS, and late-teens X.

When I was a young woman, I almost died. I was cursed with the ability to see the past, and it was a terrible burden. I was dying inside, inch by precious inch, and no one could hear me screaming.

Then I met a young man, and he changed my life. He didn't heal me intentionally, but his concern saved me… It is not a story of love… it is a story of hope- at least in my case.

It sounds like a cliche- a beautiful woman rescued by a man whose own beauty was surpassed only by the kindness of his heart; and to a certain extent it is true. But were it truly to be a that fairytale, it would have ended differently. He wouldn't have been in love with Seishirou.

How odd, that the fairytale prince that freed me from my misery was in love with another man... especially Seishirou. Sakurazuka Seishirou... he seemed so kind, that one time I met him. But he never touched me, never offered to shake my hand. I thought it was out of consideration, but now I know it was out of cunning.

And cruelty. How could anyone want to break someone like Subaru? But he did... and I hated him for that. I never experienced such a pure and terrifying feeling.

Subaru lost his sister to Seishirou's hands... and then they both disappeared.

We moved in similar circles, Subaru and I, but no one spoke his name openly. There were always undercurrents whenever the Sumeragis were mentioned, for tragedy had touched them. There is a fear that by mentioning it, it will take you away as well. Subaru had become a shadow, rather than the ray of light he should have been, and those who had seen him spoke of darkness clinging to a soul that had been pristine.

I worried for him. Even the birth of my twins, Natsu and Fuyu, didn't completely allay that small nagging doubt in my heart, whenever my mind wandered to him. It seemed unfair to me that he didn't know the happiness he had helped me find. Still, it was a small concern.

Time passes, as time does, and Subaru faded away from my thoughts, a wistful wish. Something unfinished. I went on, and lived a happy life, with my husband by my side. I helped the police as they needed me, for my gift was a rare one.

Then the earthquakes came, and I was called to site after site, trying to make sense of what was happening. And for the first time, I lied to the police. I claimed that I didn't understand what was going.

I did- the afterimages of battles nearly overwhelmed me, and I saw the shadows of the kekkai that were raised. I saw discussions of destiny, and felt the anguish and sorrow of the Earth as the chosen ones battled for our destiny. It almost overwhelmed me, and it was only my through my husband's support that I didn't go mad.

Finally came the day that I was called to Rainbow Bridge… and it led me to meet Subaru again.

Rainbow Bridge had fallen in another of the strange earthquakes that was rocking the area… and I was called there. A man had been found dead, and I was supposed to see if I could follow the traces. There had been signs of battle, and eyewitnesses claimed that to see him enter the area before the bridge area before it fell.

I arrived late evening, wearing my husband's trench coat. My neighbor had agreed to watch the twins, but I still didn't want to be out. They were getting old enough to question what Okaasan was doing… and I didn't want to answer those questions.

The body was that of a man, I could tell from the sheet, and from the way it clung, it had been in the river. I looked up at the remains of the bridge, and realized another of those places, the ones the chosen ones… the dragons, as they called themselves, had fallen.

Tokyo was dying around me, and all I could do was watch. I couldn't tell anyone the truth I saw. The battles were beyond those of mortal man.

The policemen pulled the sheet back as I removed my gloves to get the dying impression, and I gasped. "Seishirou!"

I had seen him, before. All of us who moved in the mystic circles knew him, after Sumeragi Hokuto died. The warning of whom the current Sakurazukamori had gone out, and I knew never to approach him. I had only seen him, fleetingly, with Subaru, but now…

"Do you know him?" the policeman asked.

"Sakurazuka Seishirou," I answered, and forced myself to place my hands on his head. I needed to know. This was for Subaru… I promised…

Blood. Death. Falling… and a feeling that shouldn't have been there. Subaru's face, aged and sorrowful… and dark. Surrounded by cherry blossoms, I saw the innocent young Subaru being swept away, replaced by a darker version with a single burning eye, filled with obsession. Then Subaru smiled, and pushed his hand through a phantom Seishirou's chest.

I gasped, and jerked away, and dropped my gloves. Slowly I rose to my feet, and walked away. I heard the police call my name, but I ignored them. Perhaps… now I could save the one who had saved me.

My feet guided me, for I knew where the sakura bloomed at this time of year. The only place... Ueno Park was nearby, and though it was crazy on my behalf, I hoped I could find him there.

The walk took a better part of an hour, and I was tired by the time I got there. Sure enough, there was a male silhouette curled up at the foot of the sakura tree. "Subaru-san?"

The figure sat up slowly, before turning its white face to me. One bright green eye stared at me, but the other was dulled with blindness… someone had stolen his sight, and I wondered who could ever injure the beautiful person he was. He blinked slowly. "Mirei-san?" he whispered. Then he laughed, sounding a touch mad. "Tonight is the night for the ghosts of my pasts to haunt me…"

I cautiously approached him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, to try to offer comfort- but I had forgotten I had taken my gloves off to view Seishirou. Images of Subaru's life whirled by me, and I screamed, clutching my head as I was overwhelmed.

Hokuto dressed in a shikifuku…. Seishirou's hand piercing her chest…. Obsessively searching for Seishirou… what is your dream?… A boy with the power of the heavens…. Losing an eye… hand through seishrou's chest… YOU ARE MY MASTER!…. embrace the sakura….

The images blurred and made my head throb, and suddenly Subaru was slipping gloved over my hands, though the were not the white ones I had dropped at Rainbow Bridge. They were the black ones I remembered him wearing, and for some reason, they numbed my hands.

He saw my confused expression. "They're warded. I carry they… but I won't be needing them anymore." His expression was dark, and didn't encourage questions.

"Subaru… I… I was called to Rainbow Bridge…" I twisted my hands nervously, and the leather with wards felt smooth, but curiously distant.

Subaru looked at me, and there was a deadness in his face, and his body language was that of someone who had been defeated once too often. "I killed him. Tell the police- I don't care. They won't be able to hold me." There was no smugness in his statement, just fact.

I blinked. "You… killed… him?" I echoed, and just stared at him, kneeling beside where he sat.

There was a curious absent of expression. "It was foreordained. Some things are. Do you know what destiny is, Mirei?"

I nodded slowly. I had met my destiny, and though it had been trying, I was a better person for it.

"My destiny is to take Seishirou's place…" He looked up at the faint pink petals and seemed entranced for a moment. "Soon… we will understand what the world's destiny is, but for that to happen, I must first meet my destiny."

I reached over to touch him again, protected by the gloves, but he evaded my touch. "You've changed, Subaru…"

"I've grown up," he replied. "The Subaru you knew believed in the goodness of humanity- now I know that there's no such thing." He rose to his feet, and I was forced to crane my head to stare up at him. "Do you think this tree is pretty?" he asked abruptly.

I smiled as the petals snowed down around us. "Yes, Subaru. I love sakura blossoms…." I knew that he was about to drop a bombshell, but it was against my nature to lie.

"It's one of the wickedest things in existence. It feeds on souls," he informed me in a flat voice. I pulled away from the tree, never realizing the title Sakurazukamori was so literal. "Be careful of the way things look, Mirei…"

"I-" I rose to my feet quickly, and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. "Subaru… once long ago you gave me hope, merely by caring. Isn't there anything I can do?"

He looked at me, and seemed to be slightly aback. "Do you know… everyone has a Wish?" he asked softly. "I'm not the one who can see them… and I can't grant them…"

I let my hands fall away. "I think Wishes change," I said softly. "But at this instant, the only thing I Wish is for you to be happy…."

He looked at me. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one with an impossible wish." He started to pull away, and I let him go, feeling a that small part of me that had always dreamt of him break inside. Then he paused. "Do you love Tokyo?"

"I… I love the people in it. Tokyo is just a city. Cities come and go, Subaru; it's the people who are important," I said after a moment of thought.

Subaru blinked at me, and then a bitter smile lit his face. "What do you do when the people you love are taken away from you?"

"You live," I answered.

He seemed to consider this. "Mirei… if you really believe that cities can be rebuilt… leave Tokyo. It's coming… and it will spare no one." He made another attempt to leave, and this time, he put a fair amount of distance between us before I could react.

"What is!" I demanded at his back. He didn't answer me, but I wasn't surprised. He vanished into the shadows that had overtaken his life, and I mourned for him, and the sweet youth I had known.

I had failed him. The darkness in his eyes was terrifying to me… and his talk of taking Seishirou's place…

Sakurazukamori… the tree seemed to whisper to me, laughing in triumph. The corruption of the innocent boy I had so cherished was complete, and I was too late. I made another Wish that moment: a Wish that he would find peace.

I knew that would be that last time I ever saw Sumeragi Subaru alive. The next time I see him, it will be when the police call me to investigate his murder scene, and I will place my hands on his body, and see his final moment. I will relive those terrifying moments of helplessness… and for him, it will be combined with joy. When Subaru dies, I will be there for him, and that will be my repayment.

He gave me life with the gift of his smile and concern. I will give him a peaceful death with the gift of truth I bring.

I'm not a clairvoyant- that was my mother's gift. Still, I know this in my heart. Subaru was right about that. Some things are foreordained.