7. Mother.
T: For those waiting for the S+S (and it is on its way!) I fear you have a little while yet both because of the issues that stand between the two Onmyoji and because of the situation they are in…this is actually my one big warning for this chapter and thus I shall tell you that nothing you see here, apart, that is from the plot and Orito, is mine and I'll let you get on with it!
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She listens, as patiently as possible to her brother's impersonal answering machine message and, upon its conclusion, leaves as polite a message as she can manage in her current state.
Her husband watches her slam the phone down with a concerned air and she believes is going to receive another of his 'try not to panic' speeches when a knock on the door stops the words.
She thinks, for a moment after opening the door, that her eyes are playing tricks on her and then her 'guest' smiles and says, "It has been a long time Hokuto-chan," and she knows that she is not imagining things...
…Knows that Seishiro truly is stood at her doorstep with the sleeping form of his teenaged son cradled protectively against his chest.
"Won't you come in?"
She allows him the chance to settle his child down onto her sofa before she furls him into a tight hug and enquires,
"It's been an age since I last saw you, Sei-chan, where have you been hiding yourself to?"
"I've been buried deep in my work."
"I hope that you've been looking after yourself and not working too hard."
"I assure you that I have been maintaining both my physical and my spiritual health."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"It seems you've gotten married since I saw you last."
"That's right! Kakyo's off out with one of the kids at the moment but I'm sure he'll be back in time for you to meet him."
"You have children then?"
"I've got two eight year old sons…Kamui and Fuuma…they're twins but they're fraternal so it's easy enough to tell them apart."
"Kamui has yet to return home, isn't that right?"
"How did you know?"
"It seems that the bond between our children is strong enough that Orito knew Kamui was in danger without the necessity of a brand."
"Then this is not simply a social call"
"No I came to offer my help."
"Might I ask why?"
Seishiro settles onto the sofa next to his son and, placing a hand to the child's forehead, he remarks,
"Never before have I seen Orito loose his control in the manner that he did today and never before have I been forced to restrain him by the force of my magic…before his mother died I promised her that I would give him a happy life and thus it is only logical to ease his distress in this matter and return Kamui to him."
"There is something else as well, isn't there?"
"I wished also to ease the distress that Subaru-kun shall feel because of this matter."
She had not expected so frank a reply and for a moment she can do little but watch the gentle movement of Seishiro's fingers through Orito's hair. Eventually she tips her head to one side and informs the elder man,
"You have changed a great deal since the last we met."
"I have grown up."
"Might I ask how?"
"It is a long story."
"What of the tale of your late wife?"
"Orito's mother was never my 'wife', for she was too independent to be so tied and I was too young for such a commitment. Yet to your question…I will tell you of her gladly.
"As Sakurazukamori I have had to become as one with the darkness of this city and thus, since my succession, I have mixed with many individuals of 'questionable' morals.
"One such individual was a man whom I knew only as 'Saki' and, for some reason that I never knew, he always insisted on conducting our business in tea houses.
"At one such meeting one of the Geisha who was serving us caught my eye and the fascination was enough that I sought her out in order to learn more of her.
"I learned, swiftly, of the fierce independence in her heart and the passion with which she lived the every moment of her life…began to crave her fiery brilliance enough that eventually I paid a small fortune in order to take her from her Okia.
"Once in my home she insisted on being called 'Ying-fa', something that was a little amusement of hers that I never truly comprehended." He places his hands, then, into his trouser pocket and pulls free a well worn rectangle of canvas. "In the months after she came completely into my life we became close friends and, for a month, I pressed for the chance to become something more.
"Ying-fa would always look at me and, setting her cool fingers to my face, she would say, 'you are not yet ready, in the heart of you, to separate the physical aspect of love from the mental and, as your heart has been given already to another, it would destroy our friendship if you pushed further.'
"I did not understand, at the time, what she was trying to tell me and yet, at the end of the month, my mind turned onto other things and thus the matter was laid to rest.
"On the day of my 18th birthday Ying-fa told me the truth of her situation…told me that, by the end of the year, she would be dead.
"Then she smiled in a compelling manner that was uniquely her own and enquired, 'I have want to make some form of mark upon this world before I am gone, Seishiro…wish to live on somehow…do you think you are mature enough now to aid me in such an endeavour?'
"The plea in her words had been so sincere that I could not but agree to help her..." He passes her the small slip of canvas and she is met with a highly detailed portrait of two individuals stood in a relaxed embrace.
One of the two is clearly Seishiro, his face younger than it is now and yet it contains still the dangerous beauty that is as the other's defining feature. The other is clearly Orito's mother, for her smile is directly akin to her son's.
Hokuto studies this woman carefully, her eyes trailing the predominant rise of the other's abdomen, the graceful line of her neck and fixating upon the colour of the other's eyes.
They are almost the precise shade of green as her brother's, something she knows is more than simple coincidence and that serves to ease a little more of her anxiety.
"She was very beautiful." She remarks as she passes the strip of canvas back into Seishiro's waiting hands.
"Yes, she was."
There is a long moment of silence and then, smiling in a manner she recalls far too well, Seishiro enquires.
"How did you and Kizuki-san meant?"
"Well it all began when I had a dream that was not quite my own…"
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He presses the button on his answering machine as he passes it and he barely has time to register the shear volume of messages that have been left before his sister's voice cuts in.
'Subaru, would you ring and tell me if you see Kamui on your travels today.' A click and his sister's voice again,
'Subaru, could you call when you get this message, I need to talk to you about tracking spells.' A click and again his sister's voice cuts in, a panic clear now in her every word,
'Subaru, I really need to talk to you. Kamui did not come back from school earlier and it's been long enough now that I'm really scared…' He grabs the phone before the next message begins and dialling his sister's number he waits, impatiently, for her to pick up.
"Kizuki desu."
"Neesan, have you Kamui yet?"
"No."
"Give me two minuets and I'll be there."
"I need to warn you that…"
Whatever she had been about to say is cut off as he sets the phone to the hook, there will be, after all, time enough to talk of such things once he is at the apartment.
His sister looks less traumatised than he believes she might and, suddenly very weary, he enquires,
"Have things settled themselves out?"
"No, they have not."
"Then why are you so calm?"
"Because I know now that he is, at least, alive."
"How?"
"It is best that you come in."
As he crosses into the apartments compact living room he is met first with the sleeping form of Seishiro's son and then with the man himself.
He feels his every muscle freeze into place…feels his traitorous heart swelling and hears himself utter the other's name in a painfully childish manner.
Then Seishiro smiles and he feels his body relaxing…feels time flowing again about him.
"It is good to see you again, Subaru-kun."
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T: You will most likely wish to strangle me right now so I'm legging it! Please R+R and you'll see the next chapter Tusday.