3. The first lesson.
T: Again very little to say about this one…things develop further and there is a brief cameo from a TB character, hopefully one that most of you guys should know! Warnings are still the same and I still only own the plot.
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The table lies empty, this is the first thing he notices upon crossing again into the Sakurazuka's living room and his intrigue at the absence must show for the other informs him,
"I wish you to concentrate on my words, Shirou-kun and thus I have removed reminders of my past from this room. I am, for the moment, Sakurazuka Seishiro the teacher, rather than Sakura Seishiro the Sakurazukamori."
It takes him an hour to force his mind to make this divide, but once he has done as such, he finds himself relaxing into the lesson.
The Sakurazuka has a manner of explaining the subjects that makes greater sense to Kamui than when his teacher had explained them and, two hours in, he finds himself understanding each subject with a greater clarity than he had previous.
Every hour there is a fifteen minute break from the lesson and the Sakurazuka very deliberately spends the time reading quietly, this in order to give Kamui the freedom to do as he wishes and also to keep a professional distance between them.
As the third hour draws to a close the Sakurazuka closes Kamui's text book and enquires,
"Are you not curious as to how I knew that Subaru was on his way, that day in the classroom?"
"I had thought that we were not talking of such things."
"We are done for the day."
He registers then that the Sakurazuka is smiling again his empty smile and he enquires,
"You have something else to teach me though, do you not?"
"I have many things to teach, Shirou-kun and yet for today…" He stands and steps out of the living room a moment.
When he returns he is wearing his long black trench coat and, curious, Kamui enquires,
"Are you going out?"
"We are going out, Shirou-kun."
"I need to be home soon."
"This shouldn't take long, Shirou-kun."
"Why? Where are you thinking of taking me?"
"You shall have to find out, shan't you? Feel free to leave the books you do not need here with me and I wish you to take this home with you tonight." He presses a battered leather photo album into Kamui's hands and allows the Shirou to examine it a moment.
Each picture in the album is of Subaru, either alone or with his sister and curious, Kamui enquires,
"Why are you letting me have this?"
"It is homework. I wish you to look at every photo and, next lesson, tell me what the oddity within each image is."
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He is suspicious still of the Sakurazuka's intentions and occasionally he finds himself tensing as someone passes by in fear of it being another member of the Dragons of Earth, rather than simply a waitress or a fellow customer.
A handsome lad, who looks about Kamui's age, eventually comes to a stop at their table and smiling brightly at Seishiro he enquires,
"Is this the boy you told me of yesterday, oniichan?"
"Indeed it is. Shirou Kamui I would like to introduce you to Niri Yuya."
"Pleased to meet you." Yuya remarks as he settles down next to Seishiro.
The Sakurazuka orders a round of soft drinks and it is only after they arrive that he remarks,
"Yuya-kun is an old friend of Subaru's."
"Subaru 'niichan looked after me when I was younger." Yua's smile has dimmed a little now and glancing to Seishiro Kamui enquires,
"Why am I here?"
"I was hopeful that you might take me to see Subaru 'niichan…things got a little, difficult, just a short while after I met him and we lost touch.
"After a little searching, however, I found Seishiro 'niichan and I was hopeful then of a reunion.
"But Subaru 'niichan had also pulled a little from Seishiro 'niichan and so I was again thwarted."
"Thankfully Subaru is still your friend, Shirou-kun and thus Yuya-kun has still a chance to give his thanks."
There is something more to this, that much is clear by the smile on Seishiro's lips, yet the hope in Yuya's eyes is enough to dismiss this concern and thus he replies,
"I'll be happy to bring you again together."
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Subaru is sat in the living room of the Seal's home, his eyes focused on the television and his fingers ideally stroking the kitten's fur.
"Subaru, might I have a moment of your time?"
The Onmyoji replies to the positive and, careful not to dislodge his companion, he pulls himself up in his chair,
"I have someone here to see you." Kamui informs the other as he steps a little to one side in order to allow Yuya past.
Subaru seems uncertain a moment and then, as he recognises the other, an odd hurt crosses his face before he smiles a gentle, if not slightly empty, smile.
"Yuya-kun, it has been a long time."
"It has."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Better than I ever did before the transplant."
"And your mother?"
Again that odd flash of pain and the smile that had, until then, been bright on Yuya's lips, fades completely.
"I did not understand, back then, the gravity of what 'kasan had done, Subaru 'niichan and I was a little selfish in my reaction.
"I have wanted, for the longest of time, to apologise for that selfishness, for what 'kasan did and the repercussions it had."
"Yuya-kun…" He looks to Kamui then, and the grief evident now in his eyes, he enquires,
"Could we have some time alone, Kamui?"
He feels hurt at the dismissal and he can not help but wonder if this had been Seishiro's intent…
Can not help but wonder if the lesson here was that he did not known Subaru as well as he believed, that the Sumeragi did not trust him enough to expose all of himself.
The lesson within the photo album remain oblique to him and, though he spends an hour looking through each photo as carefully as he can, he can not see anything odd within the images.
He is all but ready to admit defeat when he belatedly recalls the question Seishiro had asked him a little before giving him this 'homework'
'Are you not curious as to how I knew that Subaru was on his way, that day in the classroom?'
Perhaps there was some mark upon Subaru's skin that allowed Seishiro to track his movements and it was this mark that was the oddity within the photos…
It was sound, in theory, yet he had examined every inch of every picture and Subaru's skin remained, aggravatingly, unblemished.
His eyes fixed suddenly on the young Sumeragi's hands and finally a clarity fell upon him.
In each and every photo Subaru was wearing gloves.
Seishiro's mark had to be somewhere upon the Sumeragi's hands, yet, that being the case, why had he covered the blemish before he knew the Sakurazuka's true identity and then stopped covering the marks once he had learned the truth?
Part of him wished to believe that Subaru was keeping the marks exposed in order to remind himself of the Sakurazuka's 'true nature' and to focus his hatred of the man.
He could not help but think, however, of the Sumeragi's habit of rubbing the back of his hands whenever he was in need of reassurance.
The habit, along with Subaru's general manner whenever the Sakurazuka was mentioned, leads Kamui to a very different conclusion.
Subaru was exposing the marks because he wished Seishiro to find him…
Wished, desperately to die at the Sakurazukamori's hand.
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T: Snerk…what a place to leave it hey? You'll get the next chapter either Monday or Tuesday but until then R+R and don't be afraid to question me, I'm a nice authoress!