A/N: Thanks to everyone who supported the first chapter, and I am excited to be continuing! This chapter will hit a more serious note since it's Subaru, the king of not being able to cut a break to save his life. But perhaps there will be happiness to find, even for him... or at least his own brand of happiness.

Spoilers/Timeline: Not too many spoilers in this one. Timeline is before Tokyo.

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Subaru

Subaru had never been the one out of the two of them who had wanted to run away from Seishirou. He understood Kamui's numerous reasons outlining why running was a good idea, a wish well worth sacrificing the scant stability of their lives for, but he'd gone along with the cat-and-mouse chase through the dimensions more out of loyalty to his brother than any particular desire he felt to escape his hunter's clutches. He had only been caught by Seishirou once before, the first time he'd held the man in his arms and allowed his blood to spill down his throat, and he'd always felt it to be a moment he'd be happy to be frozen in. There was something about that dying man's coldness, the piercing look of his yellow eyes when they'd opened to him for the first time, the ice in his smile when he gazed at Subaru's face and pronounced that he'd at last found the treasure he most wanted to possess, that spoke to Subaru and made him want to surrender to the other man's demands without question. Maybe there was happiness to be found in belonging to a person whose eyes looked at him so intensely, filled with hunger, filled with want.

But even though they were twins, Kamui didn't share the same perspective on the matter as Subaru. The minute he'd found out what Subaru had done and witnessed the way Seishirou's arms wound around Subaru's stomach and his mouth pressed against the vampire's white neck, drinking with an almost sensual excitement, his explosive temper had ignited, and he'd almost half-killed the hunter before snatching Subaru away and carrying him to safety. "What were you thinking, giving your blood to that kind of person?" he'd yelled, but Subaru hadn't heard him at all, dwelling instead on the words Seishirou had whispered in his ears before they'd been separated. Wherever you go, my beautiful one, I will follow you until you are trapped in my arms again, and then you will know what it really means to be mine.

He knew he shouldn't want the kind of world the man promised, but the more he dreamed of it, the better it sounded. He had lived a long time at his brother's side, hundreds upon hundreds of mortal lifetimes, and there had been little meaning to the time he spent other than staying alive and trying to make good with the powers he'd been given. He'd evaded hunters time and time again with the help of Kamui, but he never understood for what reason he had to hang on to his life, or what virtue made his existence more worthy of saving over the men who chased them and ended up dead for it.

But when he'd held Seishirou in his arms and felt the fall of his own blood into the body of another, living for the first time began to make sense. I am alive because you're alive, he realized, a feeling of peace diffusing through his body. I'm here because you want me, because my wish is to give you life through mine.

None of this had kept Kamui from consulting the Dimension Witch about the possibility of expanding their escape routes. "That was no ordinary hunter, Subaru," he'd insisted. "That's the kind of person who would kill you without a second thought. Didn't you see his eyes? He would have devoured you whole if I hadn't stopped him. For as long as I live, I'm not going to let you be his game ever again. He can go off and get himself killed again for all I care."

"But I feel like it may have been okay," Subaru tried to explain, thinking of the best way to put the feelings of his heart into words. "If the person is him, it's fine for him to do what he likes with me."

Kamui's eyes narrowed, a sure sign that his temper was seconds away from being unleashed. "Don't say something sick like that. The way that hunter looked at you wasn't normal. You're not some thing he can just put his perverted hands on whenever he likes. You're my brother. No one is going to hurt you while I'm still here to protect you, all right?"

"But if I wanted him to—"

"Subaru," Kamui interrupted, clenching his teeth. "You don't even understand the consequences of what you want right now. That man is trying to poison your mind, and you're letting him get away with it. It's not going to happen. You and I are leaving, no matter what."

So Subaru had gone along to the Dimension Witch just as Kamui had asked, and had quietly allowed the wish to be made on his behalf. Yuuko hadn't asked Subaru to pay a price, telling Kamui, "This is your wish, and the opposite of what your brother desires, so if what you want is for him to go along with you, you must pay his expense along with your own."

Subaru had almost prayed that Kamui wouldn't be able to materialize two items worthy of Yuuko, but the two of them had plenty of magical artifacts on their person from their travels over the years, and those that were most important to Kamui had been just enough to satisfy Yuuko.

But before she had sent them on their way, she'd taken Subaru's hands in her own and gazed down fixedly at his face. "I have seen your eyes before, on a child who is also you," she said, her sultry voice low and distant. "They are always filled with such a sadness, but for you the future has yet to be determined, and the dreams you will follow to progress what is to come are only just beginning. In honor of that child, it would be wise not to throw away the thing that he can never have because you fear what choosing it signifies. For some of us, the chance for happiness only comes once."

She gently released his hands, and Kamui took them from her to hold onto him as they headed together into the first of the distant countries. Subaru closed his eyes as they traveled through space, the endless worlds blurring into one as they sailed past them. What if I can't go back, or he never finds me again, he fretted, though neither of these question expressed the real concern in his heart. What if my... what if my wish is something disgusting, and this poison Kamui says is filling my mind means I'm becoming the kind of person who cannot be forgiven?

But he could still feel the ghost of Seishirou's mouth against his neck, the hands that had held him tightly in his proper place. It was not his life or his purity he'd had stolen from him; in fact, Seishirou had taken nothing from him that he himself had not willingly given. It was the pulse under his skin that had been altered, the beating of his very heart. There was a reason behind it now, and as sick as that reason was, it was the first thing he'd felt in all of his life that made him understand the powerful beauty of being alive.

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Time had passed, and they had gone to many worlds before arriving in this one. Kamui was the one who determined when they would come and go, and Subaru's duty was to stay in hiding and attract as little attention as possible. If people started to grow familiar with them, that was their signal that it was time to go. Speaking to anyone who Seishirou could question was considered a risk, and Kamui believed him capable of going through any lengths to learn of Subaru's whereabouts. That he had already conferred with the Dimension Witch and was keeping up with their trail was assumed by the both of them, so it was best for them to be on their guard.

This world they had ended up in was a quiet one. The neighborhood where they'd taken shelter had yet to be developed properly, and there were only a few scattered houses here and there, and one five bedroom inn run by an older woman named Rosa. She didn't ask too many questions, and never seemed bothered by the odd appearances of her guests, or Kamui's tendency of keeping Subaru indoors whenever possible.

But even Kamui had to agree that the place where they were living had a comfortable air to it. He seemed to be in a better mood in this world, and was more flexible to Subaru's requests to explore and be allowed to take short walks around the area. Of course, Seishirou was just as likely to show up here as he was anywhere else, but for some reason, the threat seemed less pressing to Kamui in this peaceful place, and Subaru wasn't about to encourage him to go back on his guard.

After eating breakfast with Kamui in their bedroom, Subaru told his brother he was going out for a few minutes to look at the run down park at the end of the neighborhood. He'd always been more sensitive to spirits than his twin, and something about that place was beginning to bother him. Sometimes when he was trying to sleep, he could hear the voice of a young woman calling out someone's name over and over again throughout the night, her tone lost and confused like a child who had lost sight of its parents.

"I'll keep an eye on you from here," Kamui said, setting up by the window that overlooked the street. "Be careful, okay?"

Subaru trekked quietly to the park, but stopped in his tracks when he saw that a young boy wearing a school uniform was already perched on the swings, staring blankly into an empty space across the street from him. Subaru ducked behind a nearby tree so as not to be seen by the child, peeking out just slightly to get a better look. The boy looked to be about twelve years old, with thick black hair and vibrant green eyes framed by long lashes. Subaru felt his legs begin to tremble. It was like staring at a photograph of how he had looked years and years into the past, when he was still a child. There was no question that this was him, but the fact that he was gazing into his own face from the outside looking in filled him with a feeling of terror. That child, right there, is filled inside with the same soul that fills me. The same things troubling my heart may very well one day exist in him, and carry on in an endless cycle of which this soul will never be free.

The child continued to stare straight into the vacant space, and suddenly the voice Subaru had herd the night before came from that exact point the child was studying.

"He said he would come," the girl's voice wept, and even though her body was invisible to him, Subaru had a feeling that the child could see her all too clearly. "He promised he would follow after me. Why didn't he come?"

"That is why you are restless?" the child asked, extending his hands to the figure only he could see. "Is there someone you are still waiting for?"

"We wanted to die together," the voice cried, drawing closer to the child. "He put the blade in my heart himself, just like I asked him to do. It was what I wished for, what I always wanted. I thought it could only be a happy thing, to be killed by the person who loved me the most, and be sent into a better world by the hands I treasured. But he was supposed to follow me, just like he promised. He told me we were going to be together forever. Why didn't he come?"

The child was trembling, his eyes prickling with tears; he seemed to be a sensitive soul, just the way Subaru had been as a child. "Maybe he couldn't because he wanted you to be the one to do it, just like you wanted him. But you were already gone, and he was left all alone. Maybe that person became afraid because you were no longer with him to give him strength, and his purpose was lost."

"Then he should have come with me, like he promised! How could someone who said he loved me leave me all alone when all I wanted was to stay by his side?" The voice let out a scream of anguish, and the boy collapsed on the swing, hugging his arms tightly around himself. Subaru wondered if the woman was hurting him.

"I want to help..." the boy sniffled, although he looked unable to move. "Maybe I could find that person, and—"

"What meaning does that have? He should find his way to me on his own, or else there is no point. Love is what killed me, and if he was able to survive it, then what exactly was that love? Tell me, boy, what do you know about any of it?"

The air where the woman's voice originated wailed and went still. The boy, still trembling, rested his head within his hands and cried out his pure feelings of sympathy for the woman who would not let herself find peace.

Maybe I should speak to him, Subaru thought, keenly feeling the pain of the child reflected in his own heart. But what can I say that would be of use? I too know nothing about overcoming such a sickness, or forgetting whatever ruins of love I wish to wallow in.

Before he could make up his mind, he saw another boy in the same uniform as the child's approaching the park. This child was slightly older, his body more filled out and sturdy, and his air more confident and sure. His wire rimmed glasses reflected the sun, but when he moved closer into the shade, Subaru could see that his eyes were golden brown, a warm color that managed to pierce from him coldly. Eyes he had only seen once before, but seemed more familiar to him than even his own.

This time, when his legs lost their stability beneath him, Subaru willingly sunk to his knees on the ground.

The boy sat down on the swing beside the child. "Subaru-kun?" he said, his voice relaxed and contented, even flirting with a note of laughter in it. "Did something happen?"

The child looked up momentarily, exposing his wet green eyes and trembling lips, but quickly turned his face away in embarrassment. "Seishirou-sempai," he murmured, trying to brush away his tears before any more could fall.

"You're crying," Seishirou noted gleefully. "How cute. Did someone bully you?"

"No... I'm fine."

"Did you hurt yourself?" He lifted one of the child's slim arms, as if looking for cuts. "Did you fight with your sister again?"

"Seishirou-sempai..." The child's skin was turning pink, and he squirmed a little as Seishirou continued to touch him. The crying had stopped, and the hurt in the child's eyes was replaced by a flustered confusion, as if he was less certain of what to make of the boy beside him than he was of the despondent spirit that had upset him.

"Are you nervous, Subaru-kun? Do you feel like crying again?" Seishirou ran his finger across the wet tracks that still remained on the child's cheek. "Will you show me?"

"Why...?"

"Why? Because Subaru-kun's crying face is the cutest!" Seishirou smiled widely, displaying a perfect row of white teeth. "Now that I've seen it, I want it to be mine, okay?"

"S-Seishirou-sempai...?"

"But it offends me that someone else was the one to cause that face. They probably even had a good long look at it before I came here. It's unacceptable. I should be the only one to bully Subaru-kun." He leaned his lips close to the child's ear. "Can I be the one who makes Subaru-kun cry from now on?"

The child's lips began to tremble again, but there was nothing like unhappiness present in his eyes. "Would that make Seishirou-sempai happy?" he asked, at last looking up into his companion's face.

"Of course. Subaru-kun was made to be mine, after all."

The child's face collapsed in relief, and fresh tears began to fall from his eyes and slide slowly down his smiling cheeks. He sat quietly as Seishirou kissed them away, but Subaru felt in his heart that if he had spoken at that moment, it would have been to express his happiness at being chosen by this man in yet another world, to be possessed solely by the only arms that had ever felt like home.

After a few minutes, Seishirou pulled away and announced he was going to head to school. The child stood up to join him, but Seishirou forced him back into his seat, saying that his face wasn't ready yet to be seen by anyone else. He would give the teachers an excuse for him to show up late while the child took a moment to collect himself and wipe away the traces of the sorrow and joy that had spilled from his heart.

Subaru knew he should be getting back. Kamui was probably only seconds away from coming down and dragging him to the inn, and there was most likely little value in approaching the child and frightening him with a face resembling his own. But Subaru felt his feet moving forward in any case, desperate to find the answer to the question he had been unable to figure out on his own.

He settled down into the swing beside the child, the place Seishirou had only just vacated. Without thinking, his hands attempted to mimic the way Seishirou had held on to the chains, seeking the lingering warmth of the hand that moved under the same dictates as the soul he had fallen in love with and left behind.

The child looked up at him from an angle, without displaying most of the face he had reserved for another. When their green eyes met, his body tensed just slightly, although he said nothing and did not look away.

"It's okay to turn your face to me," Subaru said softly. "It won't break your promise. Your face is my own, and I have seen it many times, with tears or otherwise."

The child obeyed, still choosing to remain silent.

Subaru leaned forward. "Can I ask you something? That spirit from before... is there anything you can do to help her?"

"There are many spirits," the boy said, his eyes growing solemn. "And many that do not want to have their problems solved kindly. The only thing that will bring that soul happiness is having the one she is waiting for join her by his own choice, and too much time has passed for that to happen in the natural course of things. But her presence is causing trouble in this place. Developers are losing money, and families are moving away. I'm going to have to exorcise her." He closed his eyes and placed his hand over his heart. "But..."

Only a child, but his heart is already old, Subaru noted, saddened but not surprised. "But...?"

"I wanted to tell her that it's okay. That person loved her enough to grant her wish, even though it was probably painful for him. Even if he can't destroy himself with his own hands, he's probably waiting for her, too. Even if she can't see it now, there's a reason for her to be happy."

Subaru sighed, lifting up one hand to press against the child's forehead while he placed the other on his own. Their temperatures were the same, neither burning hot nor cold. Perfectly normal, just as it was supposed to be.

"You and I," he asked, searching the child's eyes, "is there something wrong with us? Or is it really okay to feel like this?"

The child stared at him, unmoving.

"The person you care about... does he make you happy?"

"Yes," the child finally answered, some of the smile returning to his eyes. "Everyone says he's a bad person and it isn't safe, but I don't want to be protected. All I wish is to be as he pleases."

"That's how it is, then." Subaru dropped his hand and gave a satisfied nod. "I see that this soul's wish isn't going to change."

The two of them sat there together, their heads bowed as the morning grew warmer and the rest of the half empty neighborhood rose from bed. Please find me, Subaru prayed as he always did when a new day began. Catch me again, and make me yours. But the sky remained silent, and no answer fell at his feet. For now, it had to be enough that this child was happy and could look upon the love in his heart with a measure of peace.

In ten more minutes, Kamui had joined them, staring down at the pair with troubled eyes. At length, he cleared his throat, trying to keep his emotions in check. "Subaru."

"Yes?"

"I think it's time for us to go now. We've been here too long."

"I understand."

Subaru rose to his feet and took Kamui's hands. It had stopped bothering him so much that he had to leave these places and make it that much harder for Seishirou to keep up with their pace. The thing Seishirou had wished for was what Subaru had wished for as well, and even with thousands of worlds between them, he did not believe the universe was strong enough to keep them apart indefinitely while their two hearts called out for each other.

He met the child's eyes one last time as the magic surrounded them and their bodies began their ascent from this world to the next. "Be happy," he murmured to the child, although he was the one of the two of them who would be forced to wait for happiness, who would struggle from world to world until the other half of his heart caught him again.

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Next Up: Kamui