8. Dissolution.
T: With Christmas and the New Year now behind me I hope to be able to get these last chapters out a little swifter! Thank you again to my readers for remaining patient and to Silver Salamander both for putting up with me and being the best of Beta's! Subaru remains ANGSTY in this chapter and a little OOC in places but given the circumstances I'm sure you'll excuse him…oh and there are vague volume 17 references in this one!
Kuraitsubasa: The eye question is answered here, plus Subaru finally decides on a Wish (See if you can guess what it is!). I would apologise for putting all the answers in the last chapter, but I fear it was done deliberately so as to keep the readers reading!
I fear that I am but a fan and thus I do not own anything here apart from the meagre plot!
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subaru stirs from his almost comatose state an hour after the anaesthetic for his operation has worn off and thus the first question that he softly asks Kamui is,
"Why can I see through my right eye?"
Kamui seems reluctant to answer that enquiry and it is this that gives Subaru his answer.
"So I did not dream the events on Rainbow Bridge….the eye with which I see the right side of the world is, in fact, the very eye that I had believed to be destroyed for my sake."
"Subaru…"
"Don't say you're 'sorry' Kamui, for you don't mean the words and I have no wish to hear them."
"I only want to help, Subaru."
"I know and I thank you for your kindness."
"But?"
"But I think that I would like a little time to myself…go and get a little sleep."
"You will call me if you need anything, won't you?"
"Of course."
Once Kamui has left, Subaru pulls himself out of bed and with a slow, wobbling gait, comes to stand before the mirror at the far end of the room.
There are a few bruises and scars upon his face that must have been left over from the operation, yet apart from this he seems physically sound.
The rich hazel of his right eye serves to remind him both of what he has lost and what he has done, he glares at his reflection for but a minute before the anger welling up in his chest caused him to lash his hand out to hit the mirror.
It cracks but does not shatter and as he regards the many replicas of his image he realises something, and a wish forms within his heart.
…………………………………………………………………………………
He sleeps for an hour and then Sorata wakes him, an apology clear in his eyes,
"Hinoto has seen where the next Kekkai will fall…I wouldn't disturb you but there are two locations and with Sumeragi-san as he is…"
"It is alright, Sorata." He remarks as he pulls himself out of bed.
They wait another hour on a Ginza rooftop and then Kamui feels a Kekkai being raised.
There is a flash of Arashi in his head and he has only to inform Sorata of the other's plight before the man is tensed ready to give aid.
A Shikigami appears on the railing and a ghostly image of Hinoto appears,
"Do not go! Please, not just yet. An earthquake will occur shortly here in Ginza and you must stay to protect it!"
Both the image of Hinoto and the Shikigami fades and leaves behind an Ofuda that Kamui recognises well.
He recalls the odd smile he had seen once on Hinoto's face and grasping harder to the Ofuda he asks Sorata to raise an independent Kekkai about them.
He talks to the other of his suspicions regarding Hinoto and Sorata looks a moment at the Ofuda before he remarks,
"I will place a watch on Hinoto, to see what we can, but I recommend that you keep this and show it to Sumeragi-san when he gets better."
There is a moment of silence and Kamui enquires,
"Do you think he will 'get better', Sorata?"
The Monk takes a moment to think of a reply and he has just opened his mouth when the colour drains from his face.
"Sorata?"
"We need to get to Inogashira Park." He remarks as a scratch appears at his left eye.
Panicked now Kamui offers the other his shoulder and once he is used to the added weight he makes off towards the direction of the Park.
……………………………………………………………………………….
He has removed the mirror and is sat quietly reading a book when the door opens to admit his sister.
She has a small box full of useful items from the house balanced in her arm,
"I thought that this room could do with a little brightening up." She remarks grinning, as she places the box down onto the table at the centre of the room.
He regards her a moment before he remarks,
"Why lie, Neesan? You have brought my valuables here because you know I will not return to the house…not while it is empty."
She tenses and the smile freezes on her face,
"Subaru, I will forgive you that harshness because Sei-chan has gone away for a while…"
"Neesan…I won't break if you utter the truth. Seishiro was the Sakurazukamori, he lied to me about the truth of his emotions, about his connection to that individual and then he struck at me until he broke my arm.
"The man that I loved, is, if he even existed, buried beneath the hard impassiveness of the Sakurazukamori and if he did fight himself from that shell there is now the matter of my right eye between us."
"Stop this!"
"Stop what? Neesan, you have to understand that you cannot coat this is sugar and hope it sets itself to normal…you have to accept it as I have and decide on the best way to move on."
She turns on him then, a sharp anger clear in her eyes,
"Is that what you want, Subaru? To 'deal' with this as though it is simply a trifle….as though this is not the end of your world…how is that any better than 'sugar coating' the harshness of it?"
"Perhaps it is not and yet the alternative of shutting myself away seems so wasteful.
"You are here to both help and be helped by me and there is Kamui-kun also…"
"Watch yourself about Kamui, Subaru, most especially now when there is the temptation to use that boy to bring a warmth to your life."
"I want only what is best for him, Neesan, nothing else."
"Then please, Subaru, for Kamui's sake if not your own, be careful."
There is a moment of silence then and the last of her anger fades away into a soft caring expression that he recalls well from childhood.
"Kakyo and I have finally settled on a date for the wedding."
"When?"
"A week tomorrow."
……………………………………………………………………….
He is sat patiently in the gardens at the centre of the Campus, a book propped onto knees, waiting for Kamui to appear so that they might continue the boy's studies.
He has just reached a particularly interesting chapter of the book when a pleasant voice enquires,
"Might I have a moment?"
He glances up to meet the soft brown eyes of the boy he had bumped into momentarily at sunshine 60.
"You are Segawa Keiichi, aren't you?"
"That is correct and you are Sumeragi Subaru."
"Yes, how may I help you, Segawa-kun?"
"Firstly I wanted to thank you for helping out in the earthquake at Sunshine 60.
"Shirou-san told me how you lost your eye getting to him and I wanted to say how sorry I was for your loss.
I also wanted to talk to you a little about Shirou-kun."
"Of course." He remarks as he puts his book down to one side.
"He's always seemed a like a nervous individual…skittish and a little unsure. Recently, however, he's seemed so much worse…every little noise frightens him and he looks so thin…
"He talks of you a great deal and I thought that if anyone knew if something or someone was troubling him it would be you."
"Kamui…Kamui has just recently lost someone to whom he was very close and the pain of that loss is enough that he has not been taking the greatest of cares of himself.
"It does not help that his friend did not die naturally, but rather was stolen away from him by someone Kamui had believed also a friend."
"No wonder he seems so reluctant to trust anyone."
"He trusts you, Segawa-kun."
"I am not sure if I would go that far, Sumeragi-san…he tolerates me, certainly, but to call that toleration trust…"
"Give him time, Segawa-kun and I am sure that you will find that he opens out to you."
Keiichi seems to consider this a moment and then he enquires,
"Where is the gentleman that I have seen you with before on Campus? I had thought to find you with him today but…"
He has become used, over the weeks, to having individuals enquire after Seishiro's welfare, yet this casual enquiry still hurts him enough that it takes him a moment before he can respond.
"He has gone away for a while on a business trip."
"You miss him."
"I love him."
Keiichi looks a little startled at that confession and then a soft smile comes to his lips,
"It is nice that you can be so open about your emotions, Sumeragi-san.
"Kasan used to say that it was a show of a person when they were able to forget about prejudices and simply allow themselves to love."
There is a wistfulness in Keiichi's voice now and Subaru is about to ask him of its cause when Kamui appears from the bushes.
"I am sorry I am late, Subaru, but sensei kept us back later than I had expected."
"It is okay, Kamui, Segawa-kun has been keeping me company."
"For too long, truth be known. I'll see you at lunch, Kamui." Keiichi remarks as he gains his feet.
Subaru waits for the other to go before he informs Kamui,
"That boy is very perceptive."
"Yes, he is." There is a note of despair in Kamui's voice and though there is a thought to pursue it, he chooses not to.
Kamui will tell him if it is important, after all.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
T: He he…can you sense the foreshadowing…can you? Kamui will also have explained Subaru's eye to Keiichi, which is why he does not mention it…eh he… Sweat drop! R+R I need the love!