10. Payment.
T: It's the final chapter and so the first order of business is to thank all my lovely reviews for keeping me going and to all those who have read this thing for giving me a go! Next I have to warn that the ANGST remains high for this chapter and that italics are still being used in the same way! I own nothing here apart from the rather ropey plot!
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"Why are you doing this, Subaru-kun?"
He regards the other a moment and then, pushing away the illusionary appearance that the sakura had given him, he enquires,
"How long have you known?"
"I knew the instant that your other self told me that he knew of Hokuto's spell and yet I had begun to suspect something of the sort after I saw you at Shinjuku hospital."
Subaru lights a cigarette and after taking a drag he offers the item to Seishiro. The Sakurazukamori accepts graciously and Subaru waits until the other seems less on edge before replying,
"I wished for the events upon this bridge to move in a different manner to their original course."
"Was the outcome not to your liking?"
"No."
After a moment of silence Seishiro steps, cautiously, into his field of vision and, bending down, he presses a hand to Subaru's right eye.
"The day that the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth took your eye I entertained the idea of letting you have my own to replace it. That way not only would the Kamui's taint be removed from your face, but you would also have a constant reminder of me there always before you."
"You truly are selfish, aren't you, Seishiro-san?"
Seishiro leases his grip on his eye and stepping back to Subaru's side he enquires,
"Have you succeeded?"
"You are living still, are you not?"
"What shall you do now?"
"Why should it matter to you, Seishiro?"
The other does not answer this but instead he gestures down towards the road and enquires,
"Did you see the events of this day with your eyes or your mind?"
"My mind."
"Then for the moment, at least, my destiny remains as it was."
He turns his head a little and Seishiro graces him with a warm, accommodating smile, before informing him,
"For the moment this form of yourself exists still in the future, thus are you able to see images from your 'past' in your mind."
He little likes how much sense this logic makes, for it means that Seishiro was to die still…or at least that he is to become Sakurazukamori.
"Perhaps, in the future, we shall find another way for the legacy of the sakura to pass onward."
"Even if that were the case then how do you explain your right eye?"
For the first since the 'gift' of the eye had been bestowed to him Subaru despises its presence in his face and he entertains, momentarily, the thought of gouging it free his skin.
Seishiro places a kiss to his forehead and informs him, "I enjoyed seeing the fruits of my labour, Subaru-kun," Before he is gone from his side.
He remains perched on top the bridge but a few moments more to contemplate the others words and then he too jumps off into the horizon.
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Yuuko is sat at the entrance to her shop when he arrives, a pipe clenched between her teeth and her thin form wrapped into a plain, black, kimono.
"Is this the price I must pay, Yuuko-san? Or is his fate so strong that it can not be altered?"
"All living things die, Subaru-kun, this is a thing that not even I can change." She takes a drag from her pipe and then she informs him, "Part of the price that you must pay for your Wish is, indeed, to know that he shall one day fall by your hand."
"Then of what use was my Wish?"
"You have stopped the tragedy upon the bridge from occurring and in doing as such you have subtly changed destiny's course.
"For you will no longer turn against the seals and thus Kamui will come to you of his suspicion of Hinoto.
"Thus will the duel aspect of her nature be discovered before it becomes too late and thus will many of the tragedies that were caused by this duality be averted." Again she pauses to inhale a little of the pipes smoke and then, an odd smile on her lips, she remarks, "Such things hold little significance to you, however and I would tell you of that which you have want to hear if only your naivety in that regard was not another part of your payment."
It is enough for him to know that he has made some difference to Seishiro's fate, that though the other will fall still by his hand, such a thing may not be as much a tragedy as it had been in his reality.
"What of the final piece of payment?"
Yuuko seems a little off put by the blunt manner of the request and it takes her a few minuets to reply,
"I believe that you know already."
Pressing a hand to his head he says,
"The sakura has been protecting me from the ravages of time and by pushing away its hold upon me I have caused the degeneration to begin again in my mind.
"Soon enough the effects of this degeneration will become enough that I shall again be restricted to a hospital bed, then it shall be but a short time until I die and in doing as such, pay the last of my dept."
"I can take the pain away from you; Subaru-kun…can make it as swift as possible."
"I have no means left to pay for such a favour, Yuuko-san and even if I did I would not take you up on the offer."
She is more than aware that he is refusing this aid for the sake of a vain hope and the pain she feels for this knowledge is clear in her eyes.
She can not, however, warn him that his actions are foolish, for he has nothing with which to pay for the advice and she can no longer give such things for free.
He thanks her for allowing him the opportunity to realise his hidden wish and then he leaves her to her thoughts.
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He eventually comes to the sakura and settling himself into one of the higher branches he allows his body to relax…allows the reality of his other self to take him over…
Kamui is bent over what appears to be a text book when he finds him and he thinks to allow the boy his privacy when the other enquires,
"What can I do for you, Subaru?"
"I wanted a moment to talk to you, but you are busy…"
"Stay, please, I am not getting all that far with this anyway." He remarks as he gestures, wildly, towards the textbook.
"I wish to stop fighting."
"Why?"
"Yesterday I went to the Kekkai on the Rainbow Bridge…Seishiro-san was there..."
"What happened? Did he hurt you, Subaru?"
"No…we did not fight."
"Why?"
"Because someone told me a story that made me think a little clearer about my situation with Seishiro-san. They also told me something that made Seishiro-san think a little also."
"Has something positive come of this, Subaru?"
"He told me that he loved me, Kamui and I do not think that he was lying."
"I see." The boy turns to face him at last, his eyes lingering a great while on Subaru's face before he says, "If you feel that you can no longer fight then I understand, Subaru and yet I would ask, selfishly, that you stayed here with us."
"There is no where else I would care to be, Kamui and thank you for understanding."
He smiles a little for the connotations of this new 'memory' and though he can already feel the pain encroaching into his head he does not regret this decision.
For this way, at least, he might be allowed the smallest of glimpses into destinies new course…
Might be given a little hope for the future of his other self and the one he loved.
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T: Yep that's it…no, I'm not going to tell you how things pan out between our two favourite Onmyoji…yes this is because I don't really know! Nothing else to say about this, hopefully most of the loose ends have been tied up! R+R this is your last chance after all!
