Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is a little shorter ^^; Alas. But I had a little trouble with this one. I'm past where I had actually sort of outlined the story to so at this point I'm working things out as I go, apologies if it takes longer to upload! Anyway, here's Chapter 8! In which Kamui and Kotori dance!

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It had been two months since Kamui had arrived and still Kotori had not worked up the courage to tell him about her dream.

She sighed and glanced over at him, watching him diligently take notes as the teacher spoke and briefly wished she was as studious as him. She loved the way his eyebrows drew together and his amethyst eyes half vanished behind a veil of dark lashes when he was lost in concentration. His mouth had formed a small moue and she wondered what it would be like if he were to kiss her with those pouty little lips… She shook her head, embarrassed that she had even thought that.

Besides, it didn't seem like that was very likely anyway. She had the feeling he had been avoiding her for the past couple of weeks and every time she spoke to him, his answers were short and he seemed to get away as quickly as he could. Then again, she could swear she could feel him watching her from time to time. And he always looked so sad when he found some excuse to get away from her. Kotori didn't know what to make of it all. She had realized that in her dream she had fallen in love with Kamui, but it never said anything about him falling for her too. She wondered if she was destined for unrequited love, but preferred to not give up hope just yet.

At long last history class came to an end and Kotori breathed a sigh of relief. She could only take so much more hearing about the Meiji revolution; she wasn't one for violence or disagreements, even those that were already over.

"Okay class. Time to discuss what we're going to do for the school arts festival. Any suggestions?"

"Bake sale?"

"No, that's so unoriginal."

"How about a play?"

"I think class 5-A is doing that already."

"Yeah but theirs is going to be a drama, maybe we could do like a comedy?"

A student politely raised her hand.

"Yes Rika?"

"Didn't you used to teach ballroom dancing Terada-sensei?"

The teacher blushed. "Um, yes, why?"

"Maybe you could teach all of us and we could give lessons that day."

"Yeah" echoed around the room as the students all nodded in agreement.

The teacher blushed more deeply. "Well if you guys think it would be successful."

"Of course it would- we have Kotori!" someone blurted out.

"Yeah, all the boys would love a chance to dance with her."

"And the girls would love a chance to dance with Kamui. For someone who hasn't been here that long, he sure is popular." Another girl winked in his direction, causing Kamui to jump and blush as well.

"All right, all right." Terada interrupted them. "Shall we do ladders to choose dance partners for the lessons?"

Everyone agreed that this was probably the best idea and turned around while he drew the diagram on the front board. "Okay!" He announced, signaling that it was ready. Sheets of paper had been taped over the bottom of the board. "Each has a number under it." He explained. Whoever has your matching number will be your dance partner. Unfortunately, because there are an odd number of students, one person will just have me as a partner, so whoever gets number one, see me.

One by one, he called the students up and let them choose their numbers, announcing them as they went so as to find their partners. Rika blushed as she uncovered the number one and Terada looked away quickly, blushing as well. Soon it was Kotori's turn and she pulled back the paper to uncover a small seven. No one had found the other one yet, so she waited on the side of the room as Kamui made his way to the board. He pulled back his number and stared at it for a moment, without calling it out until Terada looked over his shoulder.

"Oh Kotori just drew seven; you're with her then." He gave Kamui a light push toward the side of the room.

She gave him a warm smile. "So we're dance partners then? That's great!"

"Um… yeah." He weakly agreed.

Once everyone had their partners, the students asked the teacher if he could go ahead and start showing them some basic steps that afternoon. He agreed and they pushed aside the desks to form a large space in the center of the room and Terada and Rika stood in the center so that he could show them how to properly hold one's dance partner.

Kamui blushed furiously as he placed one hand on her waist, his touch so light she almost couldn't feel it, as if he were trying not to. Kotori was happy though to take his hand in hers and was surprised by how soft his was. She rested her other hand on his shoulder, wishing for a moment that she could raise it to brush his cheek or run her fingers through those silky looking locks. She wondered if they were as soft as his hands were too.

They tried to follow the teacher's instructions as best they could, but they were both new to dancing and with a crowded room full of inexperienced students there were a great deal of slip-ups and at one point another couple bumped into them unexpectedly, sending Kotori crashing straight into Kamui's chest. He caught her before she could topple over but when she looked up, he was blushing furiously and murmured a rushed apology. She shook her head and blushed herself. "No, thank you." A couple of students had begun to look their way and whisper and she wondered why briefly before returning her focus to the dance lesson.

At last the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day and Kamui immediately withdrew, looking both relieved and sad again. Kotori watched him quickly gather up his belongings and bolt from the room, feeling a little sad as she had hoped to walk home with him that day.

She sighed in disappointment and walked home alone as Saya was still at the chemistry lab. She briefly wondered why it had been taking her sister so much longer to do her labs than usual but brushed the thought off, assuming that they were just harder this year.

That night she dreamed of Kamui again.

Two Kamui actually, one with white feathery wings like an angel's and one with black leathery ones like a demon's.

"Choose one of us." They told her, standing before identical swords.

"Why? One for what?" She asked, clutching a hand to her heart.

"One to live, and one to die." They answered again in unison.

Kotori's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. "What? I could never…"

"Choose!" They commanded and Kotori flinched.

"Is this a test? To see if I can find the real Kamui?" She inquired, remembering a fairytale with something along these lines.

"Choose!" They repeated.

She looked between them, frightened then took a step toward the one with the feathery wings. Surely the angel had to be Kamui… He flashed her a smile that she knew was too sinister to be the Kamui she knew and she quickly backed away with a gasp, terrified of the sinister intent behind those curled lips.

"Him." She pointed to the other more hesitantly, telling herself it was okay, it was just a dream, it was just a dream, just a dream, a dream…

The two suddenly drew the swords and flew at one another, sparks flying as the blades crossed and steel clashed with steel.

"No!" She screamed and the one with the feathered wings glanced at her. Suddenly his face grew more angled, and his hair more spiky and his eyes faded from rich amethyst to a dark gold…

"Oni-"

She jerked awake, her hair falling in a curtain around her face as she bent her head into her hands to cry, heavy sobs wracking her body. It was several moments before she realized she had no idea why she was crying.

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"Onee-saaaaan"

She narrowed her eyes.

"I made you a bento today!" Sorata popped up beside her, triumphantly holding up the box, open to display the rice molded into a ridiculous heart shape.

She looked between him and the box silently.

"I was hoping we could run lines for the play while eating it!"

Okay, he had her there. She did need to practice, as embarrassed as she was to be putting on a puppet show in high school. She followed him over to one of the picnic tables and sat down, pulling out her script. She began reading off the first line, then waited for him to continue, glancing up at him after he didn't say anything.

"Aren't you going to eat?" he asked, cheerfully pushing the bento toward her.

"No."

He pouted childishly. "Buuut. It's good, I promise, I got Yuzu-chan to taste test it for me this morning."

She refused again.

"Oh, did you bring your own lunch you would rather eat?"

"No."

"Eh? Are you just not going to eat lunch then at all?"

"I did not plan to." She replied simply, returning her attention to the script.

He gasped dramatically then leaned forward, a hand next to his mouth and a serious look on his face. "You aren't anorexic are you miss?"

She jerked back. "What? No!"

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone!" He placed a hand heavily on her shoulder in what she guessed was meant to be a reassuring gesture.

In annoyance she grabbed the bento box and deliberately took a bite, then paused and looked back down at the food, stunned. She had expected an idiot like him to mess it up but this was actually quite good. Her thoughts were interrupted though by him shoving his face in front of her again and asking how it was.

"It's fine." She replied coldly. "Now, let's run through the lines like we planned."

She tried to focus on the script but found herself absently reaching for the bento from time to time and she tried to ignore his triumphant smiles every time she did so.

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When he got home, Subaru and Kamui were sitting at the kitchen table, laughing and joking about their days.

The kid opened up a lot more to Subaru than he did to anyone else, Seishirou reflected, hanging up his coat. But then, that wasn't all that surprising; Subaru had always had a way of inadvertently making people open up to and trust him. No, what surprised Seishirou, not to mention irked him, was how Subaru had opened up to the kid. He didn't think he had ever seen Subaru even talk that much to his sister despite their obvious closeness. He made his way to the bathroom to shower away the smell of the hospital that always clung to his clothes and body after a surgery.

Seishirou hated the concept of jealousy, at least when applied to himself. Jealousy meant the power of one individual to hold something another individual wanted out of reach, giving them some sort of control. It didn't matter whether they knew it or not, and Subaru clearly fell into the latter category. It was irrational, Seishirou thought, letting the scent of soap and water cover and shoo away the smell of antiseptics. It wasn't as if he wanted Subaru to sit and chat with him like that. He didn't want Subaru to be protective of him the way he seemed to be of Kamui. He didn't want that friendly smile to be directed at him. So what was there to be jealous of?

Attention. A voice whispered at the back of his mind.

He debated the verity of that suggestion as he toweled off. No, that was perhaps part of it, but that wasn't the main reason he was jealous, he concluded and was pleased to find that Subaru had already gotten into bed and was reading when he stepped out of the shower.

"There are still leftovers if you're hungry." Subaru offered. "I guess the surgery ran longer than expected?"

"There were complications." And yes, he was hungry, in a sense. He crossed the room quickly and pulled the book out of Subaru's hands, to the younger man's surprise.

I don't want your protection.

He gripped Subaru's wrists, pushing him back down on the bed and holding them in place above his head firmly.

I don't want your chitchat.

"Seishi-"

He cut off the name with a fierce kiss, leaving the younger man breathless.

I don't want your friendly smile.

When he pulled away to move down to the pulse in his neck, Seishirou was pleased to see a look of desire spark in those green eyes. He pressed his lips to Subaru's pulse and was also pleased to feel his heart rate speed up along with his breath.

I don't want your attention.

Subaru squirmed, trying to get closer to him, but Seishirou gripped his wrists tighter, knowing it would leave a bruise the next morning. He smiled at the thought of marking Subaru as his own.

I want you.

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Kudos to anyone who recognizes Rika and Terada. :P