3. Postcard memories.
T: As promised here is chapter three and I think it might address a few of the niggles some of you are having in regard to Sakurazukamori Subaru's thoughts on 'the boy'…those wondering why Maki-san was chosen it'll be explained in bits as we go along, so bare with me! Yep warnings remain and sadly I still remain free of the ownership of these guys.
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He is woken today by the whir of the fax machine and though he knows that he should take comfort in the absence of another recollection of that year he can not…
Not yet, at least.
Pulling himself out of bed he makes his way to the fax machine in the dark, his mind having long since memorised the layout of the house.
It seemed that there was to be a conference in a month when Maki-san's partner was to speak on his behalf about the taxation law that had been Maki-san's death warrant.
The assignment was to assassinate both this individual and any other supporter of the law, thus removing the opposition to the dissolution of the law and retaining the current stability of Tokyo.
Getting to Maki-san's partner might prove a challenge if the other was shrewd and understood why their partner had died, where as the other take would be simple enough to undertake.
He sends a list of important questions via the fax to his informants and then takes his lunch close the main building of Maki-san's company, this so that he might learn of the habits of the employees and so that he could better comprehend the situation in regards to security.
It takes him only a short while to see that security is lax, with but one guard within the building and nothing upon the employees to confirm that they are who they claim to be.
Once he has fixed these facts into his mind he abandons his half eaten meal and returns to the house.
His informants have been as swift as always and with his questions suitably answered he phones his tailor to request the swift construction of a deep green suit that he could then adapt later to perfectly match the uniform of the company.
He has just hung up the phone when one of the many postcards pinned to the opposite wall catches his eye.
It had been a quiet little town on the fringes of the mountains and unlike most of his excursions away from Tokyo he had not been alone.
After Kamui's death he and Fuuma had found an odd sort of comfort with one another, from which had spawned an organic friendship that twisted and changed often.
At the time the younger boy had been harbouring a 'crush' of sorts for him and hand been intent that he not go alone this time.
"I can keep you company, Sakurazuka-san."
"Fuuma-kun, you know as well as I that I prefer to be alone on these excursions."
"True, but I have heard that the beds on the mountains are very cold…would you not appreciate someone warming that chill for you?"
The boy regards him with an intense hopefulness in his eyes and the part of the Sakurazukamori that is gripping still to the kind hearted Subaru gives a little.
"You may come, Fuuma-kun, but do not expect it to be anything other than a friendly excursion."
"Of course."
The boy is silent on the journey up to the village and it is only once they reach the hotel room that he makes any comment.
"I do not expect commitment, Sakurazuka-san, nor do I expect you to care.
"All I want is to be appreciated, to have someone hold me and keep away the memories."
He stands at the window, his form silhouetted against a view that he shall later buy on a postcard and for a moment he could pretend that this was not Fuuma but him
As the Dark Kamui the boy had told him that he would never again mistake him for another and yet, in that instant, he saw again the man who he loved with a passion.
He knew it to be a trick, knew that that man was dead and yet…he too had want to simply forget, had want to be swept away into the moment, thus he leans forward and catches the boy into a kiss.
On the way back to Tokyo Fuuma makes a point of directing him to the postcard and, an odd smile on his lips he had said,
"Perhaps you should buy that to inspire some good memories."
He stretches to touch the surface of the postcard, an image of Fuuma clear in his mind, that empty smile on his face and a loss in his eyes that had lingered with him until he had drawn his last breath.
He tears the thing from the wall without thought or rational he shreds it into tiny pieces.
He regards the mindless destruction a moment and then donning his coat heads out for his tailors.
He is just stepping back out into the hustle if Tokyo when he catches the boy's face amid the crowd.
He moves a little so that he is in the boy's eye line and is met with a pleasant smile before the child comes to stand before him.
"I am sorry that I left so soon after getting to the restaurant, but I suddenly recalled that I had agreed to meet someone."
He looks for a lie in the boy's eyes and finds himself smiling when he realises that the tale is nothing but the truth.
"You seemed so sure that you were free."
"I know, I know…kasan tells me always that I have a poor memory, tells me that I am lucky I am so handsome or people would not so readily forgive such a fault."
"She sounds like a smart woman."
The boy blushes a little for the embarrassment of the compliment and smiles a heart stopping smile which he had seen only once before on this face.
"Before I forget again I wished to introduce myself, I am Onitsuka Tenshi."
"Sumeragi Subaru." The old family name spills from his lips without though and as Tenshi perks at the mention of such a prestigious linage he knows he can not now take the words back.
He understands why he introduced himself as such, understands that he wishes to keep Tenshi free of the shadow of the Sakurazukamori for as long as possible.
"Are you of the Sumeragi clan or is that simply a co-incidence?"
"It is a co-incidence." He replies, thank full for at least this small distance between himself and his old clan.
"That is a pity! I have always wanted to meet an Onmyoji, for it sounds like an interesting line of work."
"I am sure that, as with every job, it has its downside."
"Probably." Tenshi responds before the clock across the road from them begins to strike the hour. "I have to be going, Sumeragi-san, but perhaps we could meet tomorrow for some lunch and a proper talk."
"Are you sure that you have no where else to be?"
Tenshi's smile becomes slightly abashed and the blush returns before he responds,
"Very sure."
"Then I would love to meet you."
"Shall we say ten at that little restaurant we went to the last time?"
"Certainly. Would you care for me to write it down for you or shall you remember?"
"You know I think I might regret telling you about my memory problem." The boy responds as he pulls a card from his coat pocket and passes it to him.
"That is my mobile number, just call me if I am not there by half past and before you ask I have a dozen more of those cards in my pocket, so, no, I will not need it back."
With that the boy is gone, some absent tune lilting from him in a succession of hummed notes.
The melody sticks in his mind and as he tracks the journey back to the house he finds himself humming snatches of it.
It is silly; this he comprehends well, for no matter how much Tenshi looks like him he is not and yet…
Already he has fallen in love with the boy.
He understands already that this care can not be returned, that no matter how young he looks and feels he is now old enough to be the boy's father.
Understands that Tenshi will not be able to forgive him the sins he has committed as Sakurazukamori, nor comprehend that he is not simply replacement for him.
Understands that, most likely, the boy has already one he care for or that he views a love between men as a sin.
Yet still he loves him.
Still there grows, in the dark heart of him, a new wish.
A selfish wish.
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T: Don't kill me for that kiss…it just happened I swear it! Keep reviewing and I'll keep listening to your suggestions! Next chapter asap!