9. Love.
T: Need to warn you of the Keiichi angst in this chapter and of the Kakyo angst (When is Kakyo not angsty?). Everything else remains as it was and you'll be glad to hear that the psychobabble has disappeared for a while! You may also wish to know that there are only three chapters left. Not mine, though if I wish hard enough perhaps it may be one day!
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"I believe he 'refers' to myself, Sumeragi-san."
Keiichi is stood in the doorway, a medium sized bag tossed over one shoulder and his school bag hanging, at a jaunty angle, over the other.
Gaining his feet Kamui relives the other of the heaver of his burden and enquires,
"I believe you've met Keiichi briefly before, Subaru?"
"'Briefly' being the optimum word."
"I must apologise again for the interruption, Sumeragi-san. If I had known Kamui was with another person…"
Subaru's smile fades and he informs Keiichi,
"I am assured that you would still have done as you have now…Kamui is, after all, a precious thing to you and to share him with another…"
"You mistake me, I believe, for another, Sumeragi-san, for though it is true that I love Kamui, I do not feel the need to hold him to me simply for the sake of that emotion.
"He is, after all, a free spirit and thus to cage him would be morally wrong."
"Then why did you not announce your presence sooner?"
"I had thought to announce myself when I stepped into the house, but I heard your voice and thought it rude to interrupt.
"Thus I had intended to retire to the bedroom and unpack, but then I head the distress in Kamui's voice and could not stop myself from looking to see if he was well."
The Onmyoji smile returns at that and, bowing as well as he can while sitting, he informs Keiichi,
"You may call me Subaru, if you have want."
"Then I would be Keiichi to you, Subaru-san."
Kamui little understands what has passed between the two and yet he is glad that the matter has come to a positive conclusion.
"Might you give me a moment, Subaru?"
"Certainly."
It takes him all of a minute to store Keiichi's bag away and he has just stepped back into the hall when Keiichi's fingers tangle into his own.
"Subaru-san will not mind being on his own a few minutes more."
"What is wrong?"
"I had want to ask you that question myself, Kamui, for you sounded so very distressed…"
"I have been battling against the 'other Kamui' with the hope that I might get Fuuma back…that I might have at least a little of my family again at my side…
"Yet that hope was an ignorant one for the 'other Kamui' is little more than an illusion."
"Yet why would he wish you to kill him?"
"To assure that I survive."
Keiichi's fingers tighten, fractionally, upon his skin and, his eyes not quite meeting Kamui's, he enquires,
"Were you sincere in your statement to Subaru-san, Kamui, or did you say such a thing merely because you believe yourself irrevocably tied to me?"
"I love you Keiichi, beyond rational and beyond doubt."
"Yet why? Fuuma has been there always, sheltering and supporting you while I…"
"You gave me friendship when I believed such a thing impossible…trusted your faith to me without question…"
"To love me simply for such things…"
"I love you for you, Keiichi."
The other pulls him into an intense kiss and, once they have separated, he remarks,
"I have a want to be with you through this, Kamui, to shelter and support you as he once did…"
"Yet if you are hurt…"
"I love you, Kamui, so much that I would withstand a thousand tortures simply to keep you safe.
"Yet you wished to say 'if you were hurt I would be destroyed' and so I give you another, more comforting, reply…
"I wish to be at your side and yet, as I am now, I can not do as such…thus I have want to grow…in order that I am strong enough to defend myself and thus strong enough that you will allow me to fight with you."
"For you to change who you are simply for my sake…"
"Not 'change', Kamui, 'adapt'."
"And who will help you perform this 'adaptation'?"
"Sakurazuka-san."
He is little surprised by this answer and, wishing to know the entirety of the matter, he enquires,
"When did you see Seishiro?"
"He was sat out on the pathway 'enjoying the sunshine'"
This explained, at least, how Subaru had known where to find him and it also settled the one fear he had had left in regard to his 'interference' and its ramifications.
For he had believed that Seishiro might become distant again from Subaru now that his truth had been exposed, yet his being here when such a thing was unnecessary, spoke of a want to have Subaru close…of an in composing need to have the other always in sight and to thus be assured of his safety.
"How did you fall upon the subject of being trained then?"
"He asked me if I was serious in my affection for you and when I replied to the positive he asked me if I was prepared for the dangers of being always at your side.
"I hesitated a moment in my reply and smiling he informed me 'I can help you to become prepared, Segawa-kun.'
"Aware of how much you have progressed under his tuition I agreed without hesitation and thus was the deal set."
"When do you begin your lessons then?"
"Sunday." He smiles then and leasing his hold on Kamui's fingers he enquires, "I believe Subaru-san has been kept waiting long enough, do you not?"
"He has indeed."
"Then let us return to the living room."
………………………………………………………………………………..
He is not used to sharing his bed with another and, though the warmth at his back is a comfort, he feels also trapped and a little feverish.
With such a contraction of feeling swimming through his mind he has managed but three hours sleep and even this had been in short, half hour, increments.
He had wish to be mentally awake tomorrow, for he had offered to aid Subaru in the search for a solution to the 'problem' with the Shinken and thus he knows he needs to get some 'proper' sleep.
He briefly entertains the idea of spending the night on the larger of the two sofas in the sitting room, but swiftly dismissed it when he realises how such an action may be viewed by the other.
He decides, eventually, to make himself a glass of warm milk and he has just extricated himself from Keiichi's grasp when a sudden wave of fatigue takes him.
He recognises this as the spell of a Dreamseer a moment too late to resist and he pulled, unwilling, into the familiar inky darkness of the dreamscape.
The figure who sits but a little before him is not Hinoto and, all too aware of how precarious a situation he is in, he enquires,
"Are you the Dreamseer of the Dragons of Earth?"
"I am."
"Then why are you here…why have you called me to you?"
The Dreamseer gestures to his right and there blooms the image of a woman whom Kamui recognises, all but instantly, as Hokuto.
"I loved this girl so much and yet that care was not enough to stop fate…to stop her from dying."
A crimson stain spreads about the heart of the image and then it explodes into a cloud of sakura blossoms.
"Her wish, as with so many in this world, was not to be realised and she was to die a senseless death."
"You mean that Seishiro would have died at Subaru's hand?"
"Yes and, in accordance with the rule of fate, Subaru would have filled the vacant seat within the Dragon's Earth."
"What of now?"
"The small threads that link together to form the future have begun to change…the Kekkai upon the Rainbow Bridge will fall now by a hand other than the Sakurazukamori's, the wish in your heart has turned from what it might have become and, most importantly, the Shinken will remain structurally sound."
"Yet what does this mean for myself…for the future of this world?"
"Everything will remain as it was as long as your remain ignorant of the betrayal of one whom you trust and as long as the Sakurazukamori keep his final secret close to his heart."
"Yet who has betrayed me and what secret is Seishiro harbouring?"
"I can not answer you directly, Kamui, for your other self watches me always.
"I wish to hold hope, however, that the words of she who loved you hold true and thus I will again influence your dreams…
"Will again give you a glimpse of what is to come."
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T: To be truthful I wasn't actually going to make Kamui's first dream prophetic but then the plot turned and it made more sense for it to be as such…as Hinoto is, by this point, evil, such a dream could only come to the Shirou via Kakyou and thus I needed to point this out and explain why the Dreamseer was aiding the 'enemy'.
I wish to point out, randomly, that I am amused by the concept of Sei-chan and Keiichi training together...have a whole montage in my head…am very aware of how sad this makes me! Next chapter tomorrow.