4. Fate.
T: The good news is that this is not the last chapter, the bad news is that the next one shall be and that, despite my best efforts, this chapter will, again, end on a cliff hanger! Angst is on the up and there are a few self created theories that might cause a few people head aches! I still own nothing other than the plot.
Mysty: Keiichi went to see Sei-chan because he felt what he had to say would benefit more from a face to face meeting, that and he was curious to see the other. (also I thought it would be fun for the pair to bond a little!) It would have been a nice idea wouldn't it? I've chosen to do something a little different, as you'll see in this chapter, hopefully it will be something you'll appreciate! Thank you for your encouragement and please consider the bonus of an extra chapter as my little gift to you. (Though you may want to wait until you read that chapter before you do as such!)
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The 'Kamui of the Dragons of Earth' had lost control, had been pushed, again, into the darker recesses of the mind of one Fuuma Monou.
Freed, for the moment, from the nightmare that his life had become, Fuuma can not but wonder where he is, where his sister is and why he feels as a coma must when they first stir back into 'reality'.
The room in which he is currently sitting is clearly his own, for it feels and looks a little as his bedroom in the temple.
However, many of the more personal items are coated now in a layer of dust and he is struck with the oddest of notions that the room has been laid out in this manner more for curiosity than sentimentality.
He is so lost in attempting to find some form of light amid the darkness', that it is only when he hears the sound of a throat clearing that he realises he is no longer alone.
His 'companion' is an older gentleman dressed in the colourful manner of a 'gentleman of the night;' and yet his well manicured hands bare the calluses and the ink stains of a 'salary man'.
"I have been asked to inform you that the Sakurazukamori has, at last, shown himself again. Kanoe also wished me to 'gently suggest' that we go and have a 'word' with him.
"She was more than aware of what your response would be to such a request and yet she asked that I make it still."
He knows this 'stranger' is expecting something of him, that, despite the oddity of such a thing, this older man is looking to him for guidance.
Puffing himself out as much a possible, he says,
"I am sure that the Sakurazukamori is an intelligent man and that he knows already that we are upset with him.
"You may tell Kanoe that I am going out for a little 'fresh air' today and allow her to interpret that information as she will." The words are little more than improvisation, however they seem to be precisely what this other had been waiting for, for he smiles and responds, "I understand," before he leaves Fuuma again on his own.
He knows that he has to get free of this place, that every moment he spends here is a moment more when his 'ignorance' might be discovered.
Grabbing what he assumes is his coat he works his way through the maze of corridor until he finds a doorway out into the open air.
Once 'free' he runs, as swiftly as he can, towards the Clamp academy, desperate for answers and desperate also to simply hold Kotori again in his arms.
……………………………………………………………………….
He awakens to the smell of brewing tea and, despite feeling as though he has spent the previous evening drinking, he chooses to go and 'investigate' the scent.
Keiichi is gently browning off the last of a large batch of pancakes, his attention divided between this task and the other 'house guest.'
"Good afternoon, Seishiro-san, Segawa-kun."
"Good afternoon, Kamui-kun, are you feeling any better?" He wishes to respond to the question with something positive; wishes to ease the worry clear in both Seishiro's eyes and voice…
However, the words are stalled in his throat and a swarm of foreign images swamp him. Each image features the simple act of one individual killing another, the clothing style and setting the only things that alter from image to image.
Only once he has seen the final three 'scenes' does he realise what it is that he is seeing and the significance of these 'visions'.
For these 'visions' feature the death of a man who could only be Seishiro's father, the death of Seishiro's mother and then, finally, the death of Seishiro himself.
In watching this final image play to its conclusion, in watching Subaru's bloodied hands clinging tightly to Seishiro's corpse, he finds, at last, the answers to the unanswered questions he had kept close since Fuuma place them into his head.
Seishiro's true wish had been to die at Subaru's hands, to erase as much of the pain he had caused the Sumeragi by allowing him to exact his vengeance.
Hokuto's final spell had been cast in the hopes that Seishiro might find his humanity and, in doing as such, realise her wish.
And, finally, Hokuto's Final Spell had been created in order that, should Seishiro attack Subaru, the attack would rebound back onto him.
"Kamui is everything alright?" This is Keiichi and Kamui forces a smile onto his face before responding,
"I'll be fine in a moment; I just need to wash my face…"
Shut into the sanctuary of Keiichi's bathroom he empties what little there had been in his stomach into the toilet and, once he has washed his face, he enquires,
"What the hell was that?" His voice dipped again into the whisper that seems to have become habitual whenever he is talking to the Tree.
: Memories. :
"Even the last?"
: That is a recollection of what Seishiro wished to occur, of the fate that he had desired the most. :
"Why then am I seeing it?"
: I thought that you would appreciate an answer to the questions in your head; also there must be a price for you wish to set Seishiro free. :
"Is it not enough that I have taken on his role, that always now my hands will be tainted by the blood of innocents?"
: That was more a 'consequence; of your wish than a 'price.' :
"There will be more, won't there?"
: That is something you shall have to decide. :
"What do you mean by that?"
: You wished him to forget the path he had been walking, a wish that was granted and that you have paid for by recalling those memories in his stead.
: It is a payment that will be enforced again should you desire him to forget other 'incidents' of his life as Sakurazukamori. :
"Sooner or later those memories would swamp my own…would become as the reality of my world."
: Is such a thing so terrible a fate? For swamped by the memories of Seishiro's dispassionate acts, you would loose your compassion.
: Would become wholly Sakurazukamori, rather than half as you are now. :
"I have no want for such a thing."
: Not now, but in time… :
"No!" The word leaves his mouth as a vehement thing and he is little surprised when, a moment later, Keiichi's voice filters through the doorway in an enquiry of,
"Is everything well?" He briefly considers lying, the thought staunched by the reality of where such a thing would leave him…of what his life would become if he kept this secret to himself.
The Tree's grim prediction ringing still in his ears he says,
"Would you come in here a moment, Segawa-kun? There is something I have a want to discuss."
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T: The next chapter really will be the last and is going to be slightly bigger that previous ones, this to make up for the fact that this chapter is slightly smaller! It will be up Tuesday at the latest and until then R+R!