Disclaimer: The characters within this story all belong to CLAMP.
Warnings: Subtext.
Summary: Rikuo wakes in the morning and the world is all wrong.
Completed: January 10, 2010

Altered Perspective
by: Kagome-reincarnation

"R-Rikuo!" the smaller man cried out, his eyes blinking back tears from the pain. "Th-that hurts!"

The black-haired teenager scoffed. "It's supposed to," he said unkindly. "Get off of me."

Kazahaya frowned, rubbing at the spot on his arm that the other boy had pinched so viciously. "What's your problem?" he demanded, obviously not happy with the way things were going.

Rikuo rolled his eyes. "What's my problem?" he asked, almost incredulously. "First off, I'm stuck in with you. Second, you say we're at Green Drugstore, but no matter how I look at it, this is not the same Green Drugstore that I always work at. Third," Rikuo narrowed his eyes, "Thirdly, you, despite the fact that you look exactly like him, are not Kazahaya!"

The smaller teen, though a bit puzzled, was quite certain that he was, in fact, Kazahaya Kudo.

"…Did you land on your head too hard when I pushed you out of bed last night?" he asked, looking at Rikuo's face cautiously.

The larger teen simply gawked at him, feeling as though the other boy needed to have his head examined. Of course, the Kazahaya look-alike was looking at him in quite the same way.

Rikuo scowled, rubbing at his eyes with a hand.

"This doesn't make any sense," he muttered. "Where's Kakei? And Saiga?"

Kazahaya perked up at the familiar names. "Ah, they're downstairs. Tsukiko-san and Kei are visiting so they're keeping them comp—Hey, where are you going?!"

Rikuo had gotten to his feet immediately at the mention of 'downstairs.' The name of the woman he'd been seeking for so long had him straight up running for the door.

He slammed out of it, only to stop short. This… Was not his apartment. The setting was entirely different and although the streets below were clamoring with the honking of horns and the occasional skidding of breaks, it wasn't a street he'd seen before that he could remember.

Rikuo turned on the teenage boy that had followed him out to the landing. "Where are we?" he demanded, almost menacingly.

Kazahaya frowned. "We're at our apartment…?"

Rikuo frowned, realizing several significant facts. "Where were the curtains?"

The slim teenager's eyes went wide. "Th-the curtains?!" Immediately, the other boy had understood something terrible. "R-Rikuo, we got rid of those when we moved," he said weakly, a hand on the banister of the outside stairs.

Suddenly, Rikuo had the understanding that it wasn't Kazahaya that was wrong in this world – it was him. Why else would everything have changed as he remained the same?

He breathed in and out a couple of times, trying to keep his mind from going into overdrive and panicking the way he knew he shouldn't. At least now he had some idea of where he was, even if it was freakishly weird and disturbing.

"What year is it?" he asked the Kazahaya clone quietly. "What's today's date?"

The other boy recited it to him obediently, and Rikuo turned to punch the wall.

"That can't be right," he said, his eyebrows drawn together. "That's… the day after yesterday."

Kazahaya pressed a hand against his forehead. "Come on," the smaller boy said, a bit more determined now. He had no idea what was going on, and it seemed as though the not-Rikuo before him had even fewer clues as to their current situation. "Let's go find Kakei."

Rikuo was appalled to realize that everything was different. The bus schedules – which he noted as they got onto one –, the car models, and even the fashion sense were all different from what one might typically see.

Feeling helpless, he became angry. He knew better than to take it out on the innocent Kazahaya, and so his anger remained silent. The trip to visit Kakei, who he quickly learned was fifteen minutes away instead of the usual three minute walk and one minute run, was filled with tension. Neither Kazahaya nor Rikuo could understand what was going on, and both had their own musings to worry about.

Neither wanted to speak with a stranger, no matter how familiar he looked.

It got to the point where the malleable tension became less tangible and more oppressive. It was a relief to both boys when the doors of the Green Drugstore appeared. Without a shared word between them, they broke out into sprints. Kazahaya made it first, being the speedier of the two, but instead of holding the door, immediately headed in, seeking out the Seer that they needed.

"Kakei-san!" he called as soon as he entered, hearing Rikuo's heavy footsteps behind him. "Kakei-san, we have a problem!" His voice cracked on the last word, despite his attempts to keep his voice level and calm.

Saiga must have sensed the turmoil he was going through because it was the larger man that appeared first, immediately ushering Kazahaya through to the back room, leaving Rikuo to follow after.

Saiga nodded towards the help – which Rikuo was surprised to see wasn't them, but some boy with oddly colored eyes. He'd looked questioningly at Saiga, but the large man only shrugged, with the single-word explanation of, "Yuko."

Unsure of what that meant, Rikuo gave a noncommittal nod before following them to meet Kakei.

As soon as he saw the other man, he realized that Kakei was also aware that something was wrong. There was a serious expression on the Seer's face and it wasn't in the way Kakei's face set when he was trying to trick Kazahaya.

"What happened to me?" Rikuo asked immediately.

Kakei responded just as swiftly. "Tell me the symptoms. What's different? Do you have a headache? And sores or aches on your body?"

Rikuo might have answered – would have, in fact – if his searching eyes hadn't found Tsukiko. As it was, instead of the answers that Kakei was looking for, it was her name that left his lips. "T-Tsukiko…"

She turned to look at him with a smile. "Hello, Rikuo."

"You're… alive." Rikuo spoke, more to himself than anyone else. "That's good."

Kakei exchanged a glance with Tsukiko, knowing the woman would be able to help in a situation that was so far out of his hands.

"I'm alive, Rikuo. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," she said. "Now tell us what happened. What do you remember?"

The whole thing came tumbling out. As soon as he started explaining, he'd been unable to pause for breath until he'd finished. He didn't realize that Kazahaya's Kei had gone to hug him, or that Saiga and Kakei were exchanging worried glances while looking towards Kazahaya, whose own hurt and confusion was beginning to show on his face.

"I… think I have an idea of what may have happened," Kakei said slowly. He looked towards Tsukiko, who nodded at him.

Rikuo waited for the man to continue.

"Rikuo, you've swapped bodies with a Rikuo from an alternate universe."