4. Yin and Yang.
T: Still very little in the way of plot gripes so on to the reviews!
Ruth: thank you for the time you took to review this one and for the confidence boost! The Imonoyama has his reasons I assure you of that…though maybe he has lost his marbles just slightly! Glad you liked the interaction between Subaru and Yuya…was one of my favourite bits within the chapter!
The angst goes up from here on in and beware the slightly sugary conclusion to this chapter. I own only the words not the people saying them!
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Once Seishiro has concluded the last of the school related lessons he enquires,
"What was the oddity within the pictures?"
"Subaru is wearing gloves in each image."
"Why do you think that is?"
"I had thought, last night, that it was in order to hide a mark that you had placed upon your skin and yet, this morning, I realised that the skin of his hands was perfectly unblemished."
"As it is until I pull upon the marks or Subaru-kun becomes emotive enough to activate them himself."
He picks up his pen then and, in the margin of Kamui's notebook, he sketches an inverse pentacle.
"This is the mark of the Sakurazukamori and this is the mark that I carved into Subaru's flesh when first we met.
"Seeing the mar Subaru-kun's Obaachan feared the intent behind them and she covered them with bespelled gloves."
"Such a thing proved ineffective though, did it not?"
"Indeed."
There is a long moment of silence and then Kamui enquired,
"What did Yuya-kun's mother do to Subaru?"
"Nothing directly." The Sakurazuka gestures then to his blind eye and suddenly the hurt within Subaru's eyes the evening before makes a greater sense to him.
"You sent that child deliberately to remind Subaru of that occasion, did you not?"
"Of course."
Kamui has no want to hear anything further of the rational and he gains his feet with the intent of leaving the house.
"A moment more, Shirou-kun." Seishiro seems to comprehend the venom in his eyes for, his smile broadening, he remarks,
"I promise that it shall be worth your while."
"Are you going to teach me the advantages of viewing individuals as little more than objects?"
"I had thought to teach you a little more of Onmyjitsu and yet if you have no more want to listen to me…"
He is intrigued despite himself and, aware that Seishiro has manipulated him almost perfectly, he settles again onto the sofa.
"Onmyoji are vulnerable always to magical curses and thus there are many things that they are forbidden or instructed to do.
"Onmyoji should not, for example, allow the reproduction of their image for any reason and yet Subaru-kun was always a little lenient as far as the restrictions upon him were concerned.
"He even hoped that he might, one day, be relieved of his position as the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi family and allowed to pursue his ideal career."
"Which was?"
"He wished to be a zookeeper."
"Really?"
Seishiro nods and, an oddly wistful smile on his lips, he informs Kamui,
"I believe that he found animals easier to communicate with than ordinary human beings and this developed, through his kind heart, into a want to help animals somehow.
"He had thought to become a vet and then I told him what such a profession entailed…"
"Why did you choose to become a vet?"
"Partially through boredom and partially due to magical backlash."
"'Magical backlash'?"
"All spells require effort on the part of the caster and the more taxing spells tend to rebound a little onto their source. For one such a Subaru-kun this rebound usually results in a fever or in a minor illness. For one such as myself, however, the results of a rebound can be a little more extreme.
"Sakurazukamori need to concentrate always on their target, need to be focused upon the kill and thus we look for somewhere to re-direct this backlash.
"Kasan directed hers into mentally infirm patients, while I chose animals."
"You mean you allowed creatures to die simply to avoid becoming sick?"
"You sound shocked, Shirou-kun and yet you know what I am, know the emptiness within my heart…"
"People trusted you to help their animals…handed you their hopes and their hearts…I can not believed that even you could be so dismissive…"
Seishiro begins to chuckle then and, once the laughter has abated, he remarks,
"You and Subaru-kun are very similar people, Shirou-kun." Then, after a moment of silence, he remarks,
"The backlash usually struck those creatures that would not have survived anyway. Those too week or too sick to fight the effects of the magic."
The explanation is simple and all too clinical to be comforting and yet…
The fact that the Sakurazuka feels that he has need to explain himself is something that piques Kamui's curiosity….
That makes him believe that perhaps the Sakurazuka is not completely the monster he had believed him to be.
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He can not help but watch Subaru's hands during the evening meal and eventually the Onmyoji notices this attention and, his hands stilling above his food, he enquires,
"Is something wrong, Kamui?"
Caught out Kamui dismisses it as best he can and then he enquires,
"Might you tell me a little more of what it is to be an Onmyoji Subaru?"
"I can spare a half hour after the meal."
"Thank you."
They go to Subaru's room and Kamui has only to take a seat on the floor to become a target for the Onmyoji's kitten.
"What did you name her?" He enquired as he attempted to extricate the creature from his lap as gently as he could manage.
"Hokuto."
Subaru had never specifically mentioned his sister's name and, if not for his contact with Seishiro, Kamui would remain still ignorant.
Thus the boy is forced to squish his natural impulse to still and replies,
"It is a beautiful name."
Subaru seems to consider things a moment and then, an odd smile on his lips, he remarks,
"It was my sisters."
"I see."
After a moment of silence Subaru enquires,
"What did you wish to know of Onmyjitsu?"
"I have been reading a little in the life of an Onmyoji and it became clear to me that they are placed under some hard rules…I wondered if you might tell me of what those rules are."
"Almost all aspects of the Onmyoji's life is ruled in some manner, Kamui and I believe that you would swiftly become board if I mentioned them all to you."
"Tell me three then, that were as the most oppressive to you growing up."
"We can not have our image reproduced in any manner, something neesan constantly forced me to act against by insisting on taking my photo every time we went somewhere new.
"We can not write our true names, something that caused my teachers a nightmare each time they marked one of my test papers.
"Finally we are unable to reveal our true birthday or birthplace to anyone, something that means I am forced to lie to all those I consider 'friends'…forced to lie even to you, Kamui."
He is curious to know how Seishiro had learned of Subaru's true birthday and he makes a point of reminding himself to ask the other when he sees him tomorrow.
Until then he has a friend to assure and smiling pleasantly to Subaru he informs the other,
"I understand why you have to lie; Subaru and I do not hate you for doing as such."
"I am glad, Kamui, for no matter how icy I seem on occasion I truly do appreciate your friendship."
He smiles a little deeper for the sentiment and replies,
"I value your friendship also." Before he allows the Sumeragi some time to himself.
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T: Fairly sure Subaru doesn't mention Hokuto's true name…if I'm wrong then please let me know and I'll find a way to change it! Next update on Wednesday, in the mean time why not let me know what you think so far!