6. Kokoro.
T: Without mentioning the reviewers name for fear of removal I wished to sooth their concerns about the amount of time I am spending with the OC in this story. There is a point to it, I promise and as to the oddity of 'the game', wait for chapter 10 and all shall be explained! Anyway…things get even more complex from here on…I blame my over active imagination! Not mine and warnings are the same.
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The shrill notes of Subaru's mobile ringtone stir him into waking and reaching for the offending item, he blearily pulls it closer in order to see the screen.
'Tenshi' blinks clearly on the caller information screen and without question or thought Subaru pushes the answer button.
"Hello?"
"Sumeragi-san, it is Tenshi…" The boy sounds oddly quiet and there is a hesitancy to the boys words that he has never heard before.
"Tenshi-kun, what is the matter?"
"Kasan has been taken to the hospital…she was laughing and joking with me and then…she just collapsed…
Everyone was talking so quickly and I had to get out…had to go away…I was frightened so I phoned you…I hope you don't mind."
He wonders why he was the first to come to the boy's mind, why Tenshi did not phone Usagi-san instead, and an odd burst of hope swings over him as he says,
"I do not mind at all, Tenshi-kun…where are you now?"
"I'm not exactly sure…"
"Are you anywhere near Ueno?"
"I think I am only a little way from it…yes if I look carefully I can see the sakura on the horizon."
"Okay, go to the park and wait for me there, I shouldn't be too long."
"Thank you, Subaru-san."
It feels off to have his voice address him as such and yet it is, at least, better than being address as Sumeragi-san.
He calls out to the tree and asks it to keep an eye on Tenshi once the boy crosses into its territory and to warn the thing that one so alike as its old master would soon be within range.
He finds Tenshi huddled beneath the sakura when he arrives, his eyes red with tears and a pallor to his skin clearly arisen from the shock.
"Tenshi-kun?" The boy starts at the sound of his name and then he is in his arms, his small frame shaking almost as a trapped bird.
"I am so sorry, Subaru-kun…but I was afraid…"
"I know, it is okay now, Tenshi-kun. Where did they take your Kasan?"
"Shinjuku general hospital."
For the briefest moment he sees a frightened mother, the bright flash of a scalpel clenched into her fingers and blood….
So much blood…
He forcibly stops the recollection before it can go any further and concentrates instead on aiding Tenshi.
"Do you want me to ring and get an update on her status?"
A nod and he is reaching for his mobile, his fingers working swiftly to dial the number of the hospital.
He speaks to a nurse and learns that Tenshi's mother is still unconscious, but they are not, as yet, overly worried for her health.
"Have you somewhere to go to, Tenshi-kun? It sounds as though your mother will not be home any time soon and I do not think she would want you on your own."
"Chihiro-chan may let me stay with her…but…"
The boy falls silent and his fear dissipates into a quiet thoughtfulness that may or may not mean anything.
"Who is Chihiro-chan?"
The boy all but freezes this time, his handsome face falling into a blank mask that he recalls oh so well.
"She is…"
"You do not have to tell me if you do not wish."
"I would rather not…things between Chihiro-chan and I are…difficult at the moment."
He refuses to allow himself to take hope in this statement, just because Tenshi did not completely care for Usagi-san, it did not mean that the boy loved him instead.
He stores the information to one side and says,
"You need somewhere to go, Tenshi-kun."
"Could I stay with you, Subaru-san…I know that we have been friends for only a little while but I know that I can trust you…"
"Of course you can stay with me." He replies, the words spilling free before he can consider the risk of having another with him…of bringing Tenshi so close.
"Thank you."
Tenshi is fascinated by the unique architecture of the sakurazukamori's house, and with its close proximity to Ueno.
"Its almost right on your doorstep…is that so you can see the sakura?"
"Amongst other things."
The moment he crosses over the threshold an odd quiet comes upon him that may or may not mean anything.
He allows the boy the time to explore and then he gestures to the spare bedroom and informs him,
"You can sleep in there, Tenshi-kun, there should be some old clothes in the cupboards…"
The boy has stopped still before the French doors that lead out to the garden, awe clear in his eyes.
"It may sound odd; Subaru-san, but I have seen this garden before within my dreams. I am stood here and there by the camellia is a pale woman, her hands covered in blood…" He steps forward, his eyes raised up towards the deep red blossoms of the camellia bush.
"She tells me something and then she falls, the snow about her staining crimson…wither her last breath she tells me ' it is the greatest thing to die for the one you love.'
"Those words should scare me and yet they do not…instead they amuse me greatly…" The boy trails and he moves to come to stand beside him, his hands coming to rest on the boy's shoulders.
"Tenshi-kun, do you dream this often?"
"No, indeed I stopped dreaming it when I turned five…after that I have had only one dream."
"What dream is that?"
"I am crouched beneath a sakura, in my arms is clutched a small boy…I can not see his face no matter how much I try…on his hands are branded two inverse pentagrams, their lines marked with his blood…"
Tenshi shivers and moves instinctively closer to him, a wildness clear now in the boy's eyes.
"That dream scares me, Subaru-san and I do not understand why."
He bends so that he is level with the boy's eyes and enquires,
"Would you forget that dream if you could?"
"Maybe…I know that I should say yes without hesitation and yet part of me has no want to forget that dream or the boy within it."
"It is better that you forget, Tenshi-kun, at least for now." He responds as he places a sleeping spell onto the boy.
Tenshi resists a moment and then teeters back into his waiting arms.
"I am sorry that I must do this, especially when I had promised that I would never do as such.
"Yet I can not watch your distress, nor can I allow you to recall the memory of your previous life…not until I know what it is that I truly wish from you." He informs the unconscious child as he lifts him into his arms.
There is a want to kiss the child and though he will not allow himself to fully release this desire, he does submit a little by allowing himself to kiss the child's forehead.
"Aishiteru." He mumbles, the words as the one certain truth within the Sakurazukamori's life.
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T: I wonder why it took Subaru so long to get to Ueno if it is as close as Tenshi claims…my suggestion is that he had to get dressed, after all meeting the reincarnation of the one you love in your PJ's is a little embarrassing! Hopefully the rest here is self explanatory! R+R and someone please send me some fanart...Tenshi deserves to be realised and I have no drawing talent!