4. Vision.
T: Nothing much to say about this chapter so strait onto the disclaimer…I own only the flimsy plot, please pity me this fact!
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Seishiro has a cloth furled about his eyes and the instant that Kamui sees this he is reminded of his dream. He knows this coincidence means that his dreams have been being tampered with and yet, for the moment, he has no want to dwell on such a thing.
"I would ask you 'why' and yet…"
"You know as much as you need to."
"Precisely." Kamui regards the other a moment and then, fearful of what his answer might be, he enquires, "What shall you do with yourself now?"
"I have no wish, as yet, to leave Subaru's side and my 'work' will not be affected by this infliction."
"Really?"
"Indeed for either I shall find a way to adapt to the loss or…"
"Or?"
"The sakura may offer to restore that which I have lost."
"I was not aware that it had such a power."
"You are curious, I suppose, as to why it did not restore my right eye when I lost it?"
"Yes."
"It did not do as such because the eye served to remind me of that day and of what I had done."
"Is that not a little 'sentimental' for one such as you?"
"Yes but then I am always a little 'emotional' when it comes to Subaru."
"Because you love him?"
"Because he is my successor." The statement is as an end to this particular conversation and the silence that falls then between them is broken only as Subaru steps into the room and remarks,
"The doctor is content to release you tomorrow, Seishiro, but no earlier."
"It was worth a try, I suppose."
Subaru rounds the bed and, settling into the chair opposite that which Kamui occupies, he tangles his fingers into Seishiro's.
"I wish to apologise for my anger the last we talked, Kamui and for allowing my envy to come between us."
"I understand why acted as you did, for we are very similar people and you could not help but wonders why, if Seishiro had 'chosen' me, you had been turned aside."
Subaru nods, then informs him,
"I have decided to step away from the war and I have chosen to inform Soratta of the complete truth of this matter."
"Do you wish me to come with you?"
"No, it is better I do it alone."
Glancing to Seishiro he enquires,
"Do you know of the Shinken's current situation, Seishiro?"
"I am aware that there is something going on, yes, but I remain still ignorant to the details of the matter."
"Imonoyama-san has bound his essence to the matrix of the shield."
"I see." Seishiro's smile has become empty and, aware of what such a thing means, Kamui enquires,
"What have I not been told?"
"A spell such as the one Imonoyama-san has performed requires a blood bind and such things are notoriously difficult to break without harming the one whom has performed it." Subaru replies.
"Yet then why tell Takumura-san that there was a way to break the spell?" Kamui enquires.
"Because we shall have need of his hope and because I am certain there is a way to do this without harming Imonoyama-san."
Seishiro's fingers tighten fractionally upon Subaru's hand and, wishing to allow the pair a moment's privacy, Kamui informs them,
"I am going to go and see Keiichi." Before he stands from his chair and steps out into the hallway.
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Keiichi's hospital room is completely dark when Kamui crosses the threshold and recalling Suoh's words of warning he prepares himself for a rocky visit.
"Keiichi, I am going to switch the light on."
"No." Though the sound of the voice is as Keiichi's the downward cadence of the word makes it all but alien to Kamui's ears.
"Might I come and sit with you then?"
As there is, on this occasion, no emphatic refusal, Kamui makes his way, by use of his hands, to the chair at Keiichi's bedside.
"As I was carried, forcefully, from that building I saw my mother's body pinned beneath the rubble.
"I asked for my 'saviour' to place me down a moment and I was pulled, for the very last time, into her embrace.
"She told me of how very proud she was of me, of how she would wait, with tousan, and accompany me to the next life.
"Then she made me promise that I would lead a happy life." He can hear the tears in those words and, at last, he understands the others reluctance for illumination.
"Keiichi, I do not believe she would begrudge you a few tears."
"I can pay for them with a smile, yes?"
"A true smile, Keiichi, not one that you have to force."
A warm hand comes to rest then upon his cheek and he can not quite suppress the urge to blush.
"I did not know his face and yet his eyes…when I first saw them they reminded me so much of your eyes, Kamui, the similarity so strong that I found myself listening to his words even though they were harsh…even though his presence made my skin crawl.
"I could do nothing but go with him when he asked me and suddenly his eyes seemed so very different to yours…suddenly I could see him for who he truly was…
"By then it was too late, however, and he began to strike at me…"
"Keiichi, I wish to promise that you shall never again follow that other…for if I lost you…"
"He told me that I had something that was his…that for possessing that thing I had been sentenced to die…to what did he refer, Kamui? For as far as I am aware I own nothing of high value."
"'value' is a thing of perception, Keiichi and to my shadowed self that which you unknowingly posses is as the greatest of things."
"Yet what is it?"
"My heart."
There is a small hitch in the others breath and Kamui does not comprehend whether this is a positive thing or a negative.
Indeed it is only when he feels the pressure of Keiichi's lips against his own that he knows, beyond doubt, that the other feels something more for him than simply friendship.
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Soratta has attempted, several times, to stop himself from staring at the new right eye and yet no matter the strength of his effort his gaze always returns.
It is something Subaru is becoming use to already, something that gives him a perverse amusement, for the moment, however he wishes the others full attention and thus he enquires,
"Shall I cover it over for the moment?"
Soratta flinches and, at last, his eyes settle onto a middle distance a little to the left of Subaru's head.
"Forgive me, Sumeragi-san."
"It is quite alright…I understand, after all, how odd this eye will look to others."
There is a moment of uncomfortable silence and then Soratta enquires,
"What is it that you wished to talk to me about?"
"I have decided to step away from this war."
"May I ask why?"
"Because I am in love with the Sakurazukamori and because I know now that he feels in kind."
"I see."
"I wished also for you to know that Kamui has not truly betrayed your trust, for Seishiro is not truly your enemy."
"Was he not the cause of the collapse of Nago Sun? Is he not also a member of the Dragons of Earth?"
"Nago Sun would have fallen even without Seishiro's involvement…as to his part within the Dragon's of Earth…"
"Is he too 'stepping from the war'?"
"Yes."
"I cannot easily forget the lives he has so causally destroyed, nor can I forget what it is that he does for a 'living'…"
"However?"
"I am willing to allow him the 'benefit of the doubt'"
"Thank you, Soratta."
"You can thank me my assuring that I never have cause to doubt this faith, Sumeragi-san."
"As I shall."
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T: Still little to say! Next chapter Sunday until then how about you tell me what you think? Go on I won't bite honest!