2. Games.
T: For fear of loosing my story I will not be replying to my reviewers directly this time round, but thank you guys for the support and never fear I shall answer your worries and your questions as we go on! One thing of note from this chapter onwards italics represents a flash back into the past, precisely when and where will be defined within the flashback. Warnings are still the same and sadly I still fail in the ability to claim responsibility to these guys.
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There had only ever been one future and though they had tried vainly to steer things away from that eventually, it had come to pass anyway.
For the true Wish of the Kamui of the dragons of heaven had prevented it from being any other way…had forced onto them that one final conclusion.
The other Kamui had told him that that Wish was to die at his hands, both in a hope of restoring Fuuma back to himself and in protecting the fragility of Tokyo.
In the latter he had succeeded whole-heartedly and none of those who had been uninvolved in the Final Battle had known the danger they were under.
In the first…The Sakurazukamori had been there at the Final Battle, part of him watching as one might a play or a television show and another part hoping against hope that the true Kamui would succeed.
Yet the Shinken of that Kamui had shattered and, almost at snails pace, he had fallen, with out weapon, onto the blade of his Twin Star.
Final words had been exchanged between the two and the Sakurazukamori had waited for Armageddon.
Tokyo had not fallen…the world had not faltered and the boy known once as Fuuma Monu had come to stand at his side, his hands soaked crimson with the blood of his other self.
"The future has come." He remarks, his voice still a deadpan and yet there is something else there also now.
"You wished it otherwise, didn't you?" The other smiles in a humourless fashion and replies,
"Yes, for I loved him and had thought that he would survive…that he would find it in himself to destroy me."
"You regret that he did not know these things, that he believed your Wish something other than it was."
"That is true and I can not be surprised that you would see such a thing…"
Unspoken is the thought that the Sakurazukamori can see such things for he has lived them…has become numb for the hurt of these things.
The Kamui of the Dragons of Earth touches his heart and remarks, randomly,
"He shall live on in me."
The Sakurazukamori starts awake with those bitter words clear still in his mind.
He had not thought of Fuuma or of the time after Kamui's death for ten long years and he had believed that those times were done with haunting him.
It was the boy, that he knew beyond doubt and yet even should he begin to recall more of that terrible time…even should he again be presented with recollections of a time further back he would not let the child go…
Could not.
It had been so eerie, the boys every movement, every vocal inflection and every like had been as that of the man the Sakurazukamori had loved…no…loved still.
In fact it was almost as a perfect replica of the Year of the Bet but for one thing.
He was now Sakurazukamori and the child before him had been the innocent, unsuspecting, victim…
Thoughts such as that were warrant to lead him to trouble…warrant to head him down paths he had no care for and into the murkier depths of the imagination.
Lead to questions he did not want to dwell on and, worst of all, lead to the thought of those last words.
He realises, a moment before it becomes too late, that he is dwelling and that he was doing the one thing he had thought to avoid.
He showers in ice cold water, the shock of the chill enough to clear away the last of the murkiness.
He dresses today in soft pink, the hue adding an extra touch of the feminine to his appearance and yet he knows this acts as a lure on occasions…knows that only the deep crimson hue of blood suits him better.
Maki-san's daily routine is mapped clear in his mind and he plans his day so that at lunchtime they bump into one another.
"Sakurazuka-san?" The other enquires as he spots him amid the other diners.
"Maki-san, what an unexpected surprise. Please, come and join me, I have a want to apologise for my sudden departure and for a little company."
The other takes the offer for company gladly and settles into the chair opposite before he says,
"You do not have to rationalise yesterday, Sakurazuka-san…we had only just truly met and I got a little…forward…" The other is blushing and it brings a youth to his features, which is appealing in a clinical kind of manner.
"No, not forward at all, indeed you have been a little slow for me…I have watched you since the first day I saw you, after all." The man's blush deepens at this, a pleasant smile now on his face that informs that he has been caught and caught well.
"I saw my younger brother through the window and I had a want to know why he was so far from home at such a late hour."
"I see…is everything alright at home?"
"Kasan had another of her turns and she sent Yama to look for me…thank fully I got to her before it became serious and she's all but normal again now."
"I am glad…I do not suppose you would care to join me for a walk? I have a half day today and as I'm all alone at home…"
"It just so happens that I have also a half day and so I will gladly join you one I have finished this coffee."
They talk as they are walking, Maki-san constantly beginning a topic of conversation and listening, with wide-eyed anticipation, to his answers.
He is wrapped deep in the weaving of his illusion and thus does not take not of their course until it become too late.
Maki-san has brought him to the foot of the Rainbow Bridge…
Since that time he has revisited all of the landmarks of his past, has faced all the memories lurking within stone and concrete…all but those that linger within this particular structure.
Maki-san sees well his hesitancy and enquires,
"What is the matter, Sakurazuka-san? Do you not care for the beauty of the lights?"
"No…no, it is not that…the lights are indeed beautiful."
"Then why have you stopped so suddenly?" He enquires as he steps a little closer, "You are shaking and you have gone so white…"
"Long ago someone I cared a great deal for died upon this bridge."
"Was it accidental or…"
"He was murdered."
"I am sorry, Sakurazuka-san, I truly am…if I had but known…"
"No…no, it is okay…the past is the past, after all." He remarks as he closes the gap between them and crushed Maki-san into a kiss.
He breaks free eventually and catching the others hands into his enquires,
"Shall we move elsewhere?"
"Where?"
"We could go to Ueno Park for a while and then…" He snakes a hand into the back of the others shirt as a hint of what might come next and Maki-san takes the bate.
"It sounds good."
Once he is within the boundaries of Ueno Park and he can feel the comforting pulse of the tree, he forgets easily that odd moment of distress.
He allows Maki-san to kiss him a few more times both for the sake of the game and because he needs the comfort that the other is offering him.
Needs, more than anything, to know that his is not alone.
Eventually this desire passes and it is then that he lets the illusion go…then that he allows Maki-san to see his 'True face'.
A panic comes to Maki-san's eyes and he moves a little from his side before he enquires,
"Who are you?"
"Who else could I be, Maki Hichigo? When you have set into motion a taxation plan that would bankrupt the more privileged of this city and threaten the stability of Japan itself?"
He is white now and a grim realisation clear in his eyes he enquires,
"Sakurazukamori?"
"Correct." He replies before he strikes, with pinpoint precision, for the other's heart.
Murder is now as nothing to him and once he has fed the corpse to the tree he lights a cigarette, a gentle smile on his lips.
The game had almost been lost this time and yet, as always he had succeeded.
As always the Sakurazukamori was the victor.
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T: This is a little filler episode between the plot, this is something that might happen regularly with this story so bare with me! Next chapter tues at the latest, till then R+R and you're spots (Should you have any) will magically disappear.