Chapter Six: A Dragon Gained...and Lost
Subaru sighed as he sat in the waiting room of the CLAMP Academy's hospital. Beside him, sat his long-lost twin sister, Hokuto. She was sound asleep, with her head pillowed against his left shoulder. They had been waiting for the doctor to finish dressing Seishiro's wounds for quite some time now; joyful tears and conversation having given way to thoughtful silence and, for Hokuto, exhausted slumber. With a pained smile, Subaru remembered when they'd entered the lit interior of the hospital, and Hokuto's reaction to the loss of his right eye; her angry expression promised pain for the one who had done the deed, even if it was the Twin Star.
"We're not exactly identical twins anymore, are we, Subaru?" Hokuto had asked, a bit sadly, after the reality of his blindness had sunk in; getting what could only be called a wry smile from both Subaru and Seishiro as a response.
"Hokuto-chan, if you two had truly been identical, then Subaru-kun would have been a 'Subaru-chan' instead." Seishiro stated, getting fervent blushes from the both of them for that.
"SEISHIRO-SAN!" Subaru had shouted, aghast at the thought.
"Well, Sei-chan, we could always throw him into the 'Spring of Drowned Girl' and make it a legitimate relationship." Hokuto said, laughing when a horrified look crossed Subaru's handsome face.
"Hmm...True enough, Hokuto-chan. True enough. All we'll have to do now is book flights to and from China, and then..." Seishiro joked, with a mischievous glint in his good eye as he watched Subaru's expression change from horrified to disgusted.
"You are both too much..." Subaru had muttered, putting on an act of being put off by their teasing; and yet enjoying every moment of it.
"If this is just a dream, then it's the best one I've had in years! I hope I never wake up from it!" Subaru thought, as he returned to the here and now, and gently gripped his sister's hand in his; silently marveling at just how much bigger his own hands now were compared to Hokuto's.
"Subaru-san! What're you doing here?" a youthful voice asked, getting Subaru's attention, and rousing Hokuto from her nap.
"Hello, Kamui-kun. I would say 'Good Evening' but it's almost morning now. Are you heading to Sorata's room?" Subaru asked, as Hokuto rubbed the grit from her eyes, and they both stood to greet the younger Dragon of Heaven. Kamui nodded.
"Yuzuriha-chan is with me, but she's at the front desk. Have to make sure that the get well basket she'd put together is allowed inside Sorata-kun's room." Kamui replied, looking up when Hokuto gently placed a hand to his face, and took a good close look at him.
"Subaru, is this Kamui, the Dragon of Heaven?" Hokuto asked, her eyes softening when she saw the look of wounded innocence in Kamui's deep lavender-blue eyes; secretly remembering when she had seen it in Subaru's eyes, so long ago.
"Hai. Hokuto-chan, this is Shiro Kamui. Kamui-kun, this is my onee-chan, Sumeragi Hokuto." Subaru stated, introducing the two to one another.
"I-it's good to meet finally meet you, Sumeragi-san." Kamui stammered, very honest relief coloring his words as he said that.
"Please! Call me 'Hokuto-chan'! 'Sumeragi-san' is way too formal!" Hokuto chirped, as she enthusiastically smiled and ruffled Kamui's hair.
"Okay." Kamui said, turning when Yuzuriha rushed up to join him; stopping short when she saw Hokuto.
"Oh wow! Subaru-san, is this your onee-chan?" Yuzuriha asked, brown eyes sparkling with joy when she saw the similarities between the two. Subaru nodded and smiled; the act bringing a certain brightness to his remaining emerald eye that had not been there before.
"Then that must mean that Seishiro-san is here too! They're both safe! Thank goodness!" Yuzuriha said, as relieved about this as Kamui was.
"Finally." Seishiro himself muttered, as he limped over to them.
"What did the doctor say, Sei-chan?" Hokuto questioned, as the elder onmyoji lowered himself into a chair to get the weight off of his bad leg.
"The wound on my leg wasn't as deep as we'd first thought...Any deeper, though, and it would have needed stitches. Aside from that, I am fine. No need to worry." Seishiro said, getting sighs of relief from all in front of him.
"Good to hear, Seishiro-san. Very good to hear." Kamui murmured, managing to look confused when the former Sakurazukamori gave him a look that said he had more to tell him, Subaru, and Yuzuriha.
"Sei-chan? Aren't you gonna tell them what you've learned?" Hokuto asked, picking up on the reason for the older man's hesitation. Seishiro sighed.
"I'd rather wait till the rest of the Dragons of Heaven are gathered, Hokuto-chan. That way, I won't have to repeat myself." Seishiro responded, quietly, as he slowly got to his feet again; wincing slightly and paling a little bit in response to the pain that was now surging through his leg. Kamui and Subaru were both quick to react; they firmly had him sit back down, and then charged Hokuto with guarding him (to make sure he didn't try to follow them as they visited Sorata).
"It's almost like having two Subarus to look after!" Seishiro and Hokuto both thought, as they watched the trio walk down the hallway towards the room where Sorata was recovering.
"Do you think he's doing okay?" Yuzuriha asked, as she walked alongside the two male Dragon of Heaven.
"Sorata-kun, you mean? Arashi-san had said that she'd stay by his side." Kamui replied, trying to reassure the kittenish young Dragon.
"But he was hurt so badly! It's a wonder he's still with us at all! And that goes for Seishiro-chan as well!" Yuzuriha said, remembering what it had been like when Kamui, Arashi, and Subaru had returned with the gravely injured Seishiro a little over a month before.
"I agree with you there, Nekoi-san. But it makes me glad that they are both still alive. Very glad." Subaru murmured, with a warmth in his voice that the two younger Dragons had certainly never heard before.
"I...I like Sorata-kun a lot, you know...And Seishiro-chan too! If someone so close to my heart were to die...I'd be so sad! So sad that I could die from sorrow. So I'm really, really glad they're both okay." Yuzuriha sniffled, as relieved tears finally made their way down her cheeks. She was a bit surprised when Subaru gently brushed his fingertips against the right side of her face; ridding it of the tears, and almost giving her a fatherly look as he dried the left side as well.
"You've got a warm and gentle heart, Nekoi-san. Thank you for not giving up...on any of us." Subaru murmured, referring to when he'd also been in the hospital after the loss of his eye, and how she'd stayed until it got dark. For a moment, Yuzuriha was taken aback by the way Subaru was acting, then she smiled wholeheartedly.
"You're welcome, Subaru-san!" Yuzuriha mewed, happy to finally be getting a glimpse at the Subaru that had existed almost ten years before. When they had finally reached the door to Sorata's room, Kamui went ahead and knocked. For a few moments, nothing happened; then what sounded like a motor came to their ears.
"Vroom?" Subaru, Kamui, and Yuzuriha wondered, exchanging confused glances before the door suddenly flew open.
"ARASHI!" Sorata shouted, in a panic-stricken voice; knocking all three of his visitors down, and alerting two others to the distress in his voice.
"I didn't think he'd do that!" Subaru muttered, "Sheesh."
"Don't bust the door open like that! You all but hit my face!" Yuzuriha whined, as she tried to get her own racing heart to slow down.
"Glad it was a miss!" Sorata said, giving them an apologetic look before it gave way to worry, once again.
"What about Kishu-san, Sorata-kun?" Seishiro's voice asked, as he and Hokuto arrived at the scene as well; with Seishiro leaning heavily on Hokuto's shoulder until Subaru had gotten to his feet again.
"She...she's not here." Sorata muttered, gasping a little bit from his panic-induced sprint from within the room.
"Are you sure she didn't just go outside for something?" Yuzuriha asked, innocently, "A bite to eat, perhaps?"
"No...It wasn't that kind of deal." Sorata murmured, as a hint of shame appeared on his face.
"Did something happen between you two?" Kamui asked, worriedly; not wanting to hear of any strife between his friends. Sorata nodded, and buried his face in one hand.
"I...I guess you could say that...It was more like the two of us did something together..." Sorata admitted.
"Oh no...you didn't..." Hokuto said, breaking her unusual silence, and getting yet another ashamed nod from the young monk for an answer.
"Yeah. But I...I've got a really bad feeling about this..." Sorata said, as foreboding settled itself firmly around the group.
"Is...Is this the reason I was able to change sides? Did the Twin Star know about this as well?" Seishiro wondered, now knowing that he'd just filled Arashi's position as a Dragon of Heaven...and he could only wonder which Dragon of Earth was going to be replaced next.
"Kamui's about to endure yet another heartbreak..."
Author's Note!
Sorry about the short chapter, minna, but there might be some problems with future chapters. Since the manga has only reached a certain point (and I have been using it as sort of a 'guideline') I am not sure how the story will progress from here, since the end of the X manga is supposed to be different, compared to that of the movie or TV series. Please, bear with me, okay? Thanks for your patience!
Gemini14