Disclaimer: Do not own X. Clamp owns X. Sue not.

Many, many thanks to my beta, Cait-hime-sama-dono

Hair

Seishiro has become very concerned about his facial hair in the last two years or so of his life. He realized he had a problem one mid noon as, while reading a short fax, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully (the map to his next victim's house came out blurry through the machine) he noted the obvious, thick, sharp bristles covering his cheeks, jaw line and neck.

He stopped his reading, placed the fax on his study's table and walked to the bathroom to inspect his face.

And there they were; visibly long bristles darkening half his face instead of the smooth soft skin he had this very morning after his regular shaving.

Thinking back on it, Seishiro realized that, indeed, for the past few years he has been shaving each morning. He never paid much attention to it because he knew that he is a healthy, testosterone-rich, adult male and that shaving every morning was a part of it.

Yet, hadn't he once shaved only once in a few days? Since the age of sixteen, when he first took a shaving knife into his palm to use it, he has been shaving one or twice a week.

When had it become every morning?

Perhaps it is his mental state at morning time that brought upon this ignorance to his own body's changes.

Seishiro goes to sleep very late every night and often has to wake up very early the next morning to research his next victims.

When he wakes he usually hits his snooze button a few times until he manages to fully wake up. Then, not until his first strong coffee of the morning is consumed, along with the day's first cigarette, in the neat garden chair on his large balcony, is Seishiro fully awake.

Being 'fully awake' does not mean that Seishiro is fully aware of things that aren't immediate dangers or severe changes in his environment; it merely means that his mind is no longer foggy with sleep. By the time he hits the shower and his usual morning preening (a ritual about where the hairbrush lays on the sink's marble edge and when to reach for the deodorant, etc.) Seishiro's mind is mostly occupied by plans of when he will be where today and what will he do.

And that is why he never noticed how often he needs to shave these days; his mind is too preoccupied. The coffee's stimulating effect probably has much to do with his morning train of thoughts' distraction from down to earth matters such as physical changes.

Seishiro is not very happy about having to shave twice a day; it cramps his style. If his roaming of the city takes longer than eight hours and the morning becomes noon and twilight, Seishiro turns from looking like a sleek, stylish dark man to a pathetic late 80s pop singer look-alike.

So he started carrying a small electric shaving machine in his coat pocket and takes more frequent glances at himself in random mirrors and shopping windows to check on his appearance.

Using public lavatories to re-shave himself did not turn so much into the slightly humiliating experience when caught by another patron of the men's room; it is enough to glance at his wristwatch neurotically with a pained enough expression of hurry and lack of time to pass as the average salary man, preparing himself for a meeting close at hand.

One evening, in a secluded shrub surrounded corner of a very intimate charming little park, Subaru noted this change as well. Seishiro had a particularly hectic day which included a rather heavily armed victim and another slippery, overly talkative prey, and Subaru's snaring included many an ofuda exchange before they reached this dark green haven.

"Hmmn," the onmyouji in his arms complains as Seishiro bites down his long sensuous white neck, "you're prickly, stay away from me, it hurts."

Seishiro shuts the other man up with a kiss.

The next morning, when Subaru's chin is covered by red marks and small scratches, Seishiro curses himself for an unwanted damage to his property which he himself caused. The cute accusing glares Subaru stabs him with do not help to make the small wounds seem any better.

He needs to shave more often, especially before meeting his opposite star.

(tbc)