A/N: Alright, with this chapter the M rating is officially in effect. Our semes are ready to pounce, so the sexuality and language will be accordingly influenced. If you are underage and still insist on reading, just don't get caught or convince your parents to hunt me down for posting corrupting naughty stuff on the web. As for now, please enjoy the reunion of Subaru and Seishirou and the conclusion to their part in this little tale. Thank you to those who have been reading and reviewing, I appreciate the support and feedback!

Spoilers/Timeline: Timeline is after Nihon, there are no spoilers for anything the previous chapters haven't already discussed.

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Subaru and Seishirou

Subaru warmed his hands in front of the fire in the tavern, watching the snowflakes falling on the other side of the foggy window. Already he was beginning to adjust to the cold and enjoy the foreign atmosphere of this new country, Jade, but Kamui had been on edge from the moment they arrived, most likely since the people who lived here hadn't been bothered by their abrupt appearance in the town square after falling from the sky. It turned out that Syaoran's group had been the ones to pass through here in the past, but Kamui was convinced, due to Fuuma's appearance in Tokyo and Seishirou's in Outo around the same time as Syaoran's, that the worlds that had been traveled frequently by the others needed to be avoided. He had been all for leaving right away up until the point where Subaru faked a cold and insisted he needed rest before moving again.

So they'd ended up lodging in the local tavern while Subaru 'recuperated' in a nice warm bed, leaving Kamui to fight through the cold and earn them money in part-time employment at the tavern's stable. Although Subaru felt guilty over this, he knew if he didn't act out his convalescence convincingly, Kamui would drag them away and finish off the last chance they had. Most days were boring as he laid in his bed and watched the snow whipping through the wind, but Kamui at least let him down to eat in the barroom on quiet evenings like this so he could stretch his legs and benefit from the variation in scenery.

While Subaru gazed longingly outside the window, Kamui returned to their table armed with a steaming bowl of soup and a cup of herbal tea. "Are you keeping warm, Subaru?" he asked, reaching out to test the temperature of his brother's forehead. "The barkeep says this is one of the longest and coldest winters they've had, and they don't seem to have any technology to make their houses warmer."

"I'm perfectly comfortable," Subaru said, nodding to the wool blanket Kamui had forced him to bring down from their room. "In fact, I'm a little bit hot."

"Really? Just looking outside the window gives me chills. Here." He lifted the spoon and attempted to ladle it into Subaru's mouth.

"I can do that myself, Kamui." Subaru retrieved the spoon, frowning. "What about you? You haven't looked well since we left Tokyo."

"How can I? That guy could show up again, and..." He trailed off, looking pained.

"Do you mean Fuuma?" Subaru reached across the table to grab Kamui's hand. "Is it really such a bad thing that you like him?"

"I don't! Not at all! Who could possibly like someone like him? You'd have to be... sick."

Subaru's fists clenched. "But why? Why is it so sick to love someone? Why would we be born to love if we had to spend our lives denying it?" He stared into his soup, tears collecting in his eyes. I'm tired, he realized as Kamui stroked his hand and tried to soothe him again. I don't want to go any further than this. I want to stop here.

From the other side of the window, he suddenly heard a woman scream. The tavern went silent, and a few of the patrons, including Kamui, hurried over to the window to crack it open and see what had happened. Outside, a small crowd had circled around a figure lying in the snow, its face buried and its body completely still.

"Is it a corpse?" a young woman asked, clapping her hand over her mouth. "Was someone murdered?"

"No, look, it's moving!"

Sure enough, the body began to slowly crouch onto its knees, brushing snow from its long green coat as it caught its balance. Subaru's heart rate increased. It wasn't the person he was waiting for, but it was the surest next step to finding him, the beginning of the end.

The man's figure rose the rest of the way to his feet with a groan, his long limbs stretching out their stiffness and more flakes of snow falling from his hair and clothes. An even greater group of people came to gather around him, asking if he had reached them in the same way as their new visitors, and how long he intended to stay. His ears seemed to perk up at Kamui's name, and Subaru could see a few hands pointing him in the direction of the tavern.

Kamui's tea cup slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor. "Subaru," he said in a toneless voice, his hands shaking in either fear or anger. "Let's go."

Subaru stared at him for a moment, sipping his soup. The cooking here wasn't really all that good, he realized, but it didn't really matter. There was something else he was hungry for, something that was soon to reach him if there was any kindness left to his fate. He felt blood pulsing through his veins, waiting, just waiting to be spilled.

"No," he said at length. "Let's stay here."

"Are you crazy? If we wait a second longer, he'll come in here and see us!"

"And isn't that what you want?" Subaru asked. "If that happens, wouldn't it be fine?"

Kamui's eyes widened, but he wasn't able to say anything in response. For the first time Subaru had ever seen, he looked afraid. It was such a strange thing. Kamui showed anger towards those who interfered with him, tenderness towards those he loved, and indifference towards those who did not fall in either category, but never before had he ever shown anyone that he was capable of fear. It was fitting somehow that the threat of Fuuma would be the thing to change him. Subaru understood the reasons why he was afraid, and in many ways he was terrified himself. They would be treading on dangerous ground by trusting in their hearts rather than their better judgment, and there was no promise of a safe landing for either of them.

While Kamui hesitated, Fuuma strolled into the tavern and sought them out at their table near the back. He placed his hand on Kamui's shoulder, and Kamui turned around to gaze up at him, but did not brush him off or extend his nails or do anything other than stare in confusion, as if he had lost track of everything he once did to keep distance or escape the things that chased him.

"Hello there, Kamui," Fuuma said in his usual cheerful voice, smiling with affection down at the man held beneath his hands. "Subaru."

"Y-you sound like it's perfectly natural for you to be here," Kamui said, his voice coming out in an uncertain croak.

"Of course it is! I wanted to find you, after all."

"So you've become that kind of hunter. Just like your brother. I knew it."

"My brother and I have always been the same kind of hunter. Treasure hunters, Kamui. It just so happens that our favorite treasures are cute little vampires that don't like to stay put. But it seems I've got you now." He leaned forward, sliding his arms against Kamui's shoulders until they were draped over his chest and easing his lips closer and closer to Kamui's neck. "So let's be lovers, okay?"

"Subaru, please," Kamui whispered as Fuuma gently kissed the exposed skin beneath his neck cloth. "All of this was for you. Don't make me turn my back now."

Subaru shook his head and reached to press his palm against Kamui's forehead. "You're fine, just like this. And so am I. You can't follow my path forever when you've finally found your own. And I said it from the very beginning: I don't need anyone to look after me."

Subaru pulled away slowly, watching his brother's face crumple into another look he had never seen before, a conflict between unbearable sadness and breathless relief at having been set free of the restrictive burden he had imposed upon himself. All of the patrons seemed to be watching, mesmerized at the beauty of Kamui in this singular moment, but Fuuma gently turned him so he could not be seen, and a large thump on the roof distracted their attention once again from the intimate display in front of them.

"Must be hailing again," the barkeep guessed, looking unconcerned. "Damned winter. Makes one almost think fondly of the rain in spring."

"But what if a tree fell on it?" someone fretted. "The roof will collapse if you don't make sure."

"Nonsense. Not a single bit of sawdust came down when it was hit. It's hail, I tell you, and more of the big stuff will come down soon enough."

Subaru shook his head wordlessly and headed for the door. He knew what it was. There was no way of explaining why or how, but he knew. His heart had pounded right along to the thump on the roof, and there was no way of mistaking the exact composition of what he was feeling, only that he had felt it once before, and there was only one person who could draw up that feeling in him.

"Wait, Subaru!" Kamui called after him, belatedly realizing that his brother was making an escape, but Fuuma held fast to him and ordered Subaru to go while he still had time.

The wind was cold outside. Subaru only had the long black cape he had always worn, and on any other day, that would not have been enough to keep him comfortable. But for now, he felt perfectly warm inside. He felt full and alive, a vibrant and vital being whose dying fuse had been relit. He wondered how he had been able to survive so long without this feeling, and how his body could survive its onslaught now after so great an absence. It almost felt like drowning, but he had reason enough to stay afloat, to hold on tightly to something stable in order to meet the sunlight shining on the surface.

Seishirou was standing on the roof, his black robes whipping in the sharp wind like shadows. Gold eye met green, and they stared at each other without interruption, neither moving nor speaking, but simply taking each other in, admiring the full glory of the feast before tearing right through it and eating their fill.

At length, Subaru slowly lifted his pale hand, unfolding his fingers and exposing the naked palm. Seishirou took a step down the roof, landing so gracefully in the snow that his foot barely made an imprint on its surface. His hand reached out and accepted Subaru's, the fingers lacing together and the palms pressing heat into each other. He roughly yanked Subaru forward against his shoulder, exposing his neck and pressing his lips against it.

"Trapped again, Subaru-kun," he murmured before lightly running his mouth against a chosen patch of skin, at last arousing goosebumps on Subaru's flesh.

"You took too long," Subaru breathed back. "Seishirou."

Holding his breath, he agonizingly awaited the moment when Seishirou's slow and torturous movements turned into a sharp bite, tearing open his skin and allowing his blood to flow forth. His heart was pounding and his breathing grew heavy, and when he saw small flecks of red spot the snow at their feet, he almost fainted with the beauty of it, this perfect feeling of being willing prey mastered by his hunter.

Seishirou pulled away too soon, licking the wound closed and languidly cleaning off his lips and teeth of the blood that stained them. He kept Subaru pressed close to his heart, and though Kamui had long made claims that Seishirou could not possibly possess one, he could hear it beating steadily through the fabric, thrumming in time to Subaru's own.

"Too many people can see you," Seishirou whispered into his ear. "Where can we go?"

"We... we have a room," Subaru said, barely able to speak through his sharp intakes of breath.

"Will our brothers be there, Subaru-kun?"

"Oh... um..." If it was up to Kamui, he would probably be rushing out of the tavern this very minute to slaughter Seishirou, so Subaru had to assume that Fuuma had subdued him in some way or another. "It's possible."

"Then I suggest you think of someplace else." Seishirou gave his neck a gentle nibble, though it was not enough to draw blood. "I'm losing patience."

"The... the place where Sakura and the others stayed has been abandoned. We would be squatting if we used it, but—"

"Wrong. We will be feeding." He teased the new red mark on Subaru's neck with his tongue. "And fucking."

Subaru had to close his eyes and count to ten before he was able to compose himself again. He managed to choke out, "I'll take you there," but it was so incoherent that Seishirou laughed and simply followed his lead.

The lodgings of the former doctor were boarded up, but Seishirou made quick work of the planks and lock before slamming Subaru into the wall and tearing off his neck cloth. "So beautiful," Seishirou murmured, brushing the skin with his fingers. "And who does it belong to?"

"You, Seishirou."

"And I can taste it, right?"

"You don't need to ask. Just take whatever you want."

"Good boy."

Seishirou bit down into the juncture of his neck and shoulders, and Subaru gasped at the sudden burst of both pain and pleasure invading his body. The hunter's mouth worked lustily at the wound, lapping at the blood like a starving man, but somehow still managing to relish each lick, and as he drank, he forced Subaru further into the wall and crushed his fist into his black hair, pulling upwards to further expose Subaru's skin.

When he at last pulled away, he did not bother to close Subaru's wound, but instead allowed the blood to trickle down the skin of his chest. With a smile, he pulled off Subaru's cape and eased him out of his shirt, admiring the vibrant smear against the canvas of his soft white body. "Sexy," he murmured, pressing his lips against the mark. "And I'm going to punish you for denying me this for so long. Will you resist?"

"No." Subaru reached out to cradle Seishirou's face in his hands. "This... this was also what I wanted."

"Silly thing. You should be more coy and protective of yourself." He turned his head and pulled one of Subaru's fingers into his mouth. "I met another you when I traveled. I know the exact way to destroy that dear heart of yours."

"I saw myself, too. And you. I know no matter what, even if you break me, that I won't be able to escape."

"Is it because you won't? Or because you can't?" He tightened his grip around Subaru, lifting an eyebrow.

"Because I won't. My heart has no will to belong without yours."

"Very good indeed. It seems I can trap you perfectly even here. But just because you don't plan on resisting doesn't mean I'm going to be gentle." He swirled his finger through the blood still dripping from Subaru's shoulder and licked it away slowly. "Because I learned something in the time we were apart."

"Yes?"

"There's absolutely nothing cuter in this world then Subaru-kun's crying face. Even more than the blood, you look better bathed in your tears."

With a laugh, he spun Subaru around and pulled him to the ground so he was sitting in his lap. Subaru could feel Seishirou's arousal pressing against his back, rubbing against him insistently. "Do you get it?" he whispered. "How much I've been waiting for this? I'm going to make you scream. I'm going to take you until you won't be able to think of anything other than me."

Subaru couldn't tell Seishirou that he was already the only real thought he was capable of anymore. Maybe it was a kind of sickness in a way. He still had a brother, and somewhere their mother still lived in the world they had left her. There were the people they had met in other worlds, the kindly people who had fed and taken care of them, and the troubled figures of Sakura, Kurogane, Fai, and the boy in their midst who was one but two. But all he could think of was Seishirou. His body was already screaming for his, weeping tears of sweat, beating and churning and opening itself only for the hunter pressed against him. Even if his want was selfish and as corrupting as a disease inside of him, he felt so deliriously happy that it barely mattered to him that he had forgotten to care for everything else.

Seishirou's hands found the waist of his pants, and slowly slid them over his hips, stopping as each bit of skin was revealed to tease and torture it with his fingers. "So beautiful," he cooed, his voice thick and cold, but so familiar, so dear. Subaru felt the first of the tears begin to gather. It was good, but too slow. And at the same time, too much. His heart could barely take each caress, but his body wanted more, to dive faster into this new form of pleasure, even if it ended up being painful. He felt like he was dying, even though the sting of his wound had receded and the cool of the air still had yet to return to him. What he was dying of was something more raw, something sweeter.

"Seishirou, I—"

"What, you wish to demand something of me?" Seishirou laughed and slid his hands down Subaru's waist to the strained arousal he'd been ignoring. "Do you really think you're in the position to be greedy?" He gave a swift stroke, then pulled his hands away, waiting.

"Your skin..." Subaru gasped out, the tears finally slipping down his face. "Please."

"You want it so badly you're crying? Perfect. If you want it, how about you get it for yourself?" He guided Subaru's hands to the latch of his robe. "I'm sure you're more than capable of taking care of it with your own hands."

Subaru began to open the clasps, but had only reached the third when Seishirou returned his hands to his throbbing skin and his mouth to close over the salty tears. Subaru's hands fell away as they instinctively gripped into Seishirou's back, and the yards of black cloth remained in place.

"How incompetent, Subaru-kun. Is that how badly you want to feel me against you? You'll never be able to achieve anything like this." But Seishirou didn't hold back on his ministrations, and harshly pushed Subaru onto his back as he worked. "How selfish of you."

"I... I... Seishirou." He bit his lip, feeling his body clenching as Seishirou increased his pace, stealing his powers of speech. It was so close, but not enough. He wanted the cool touch of Seishirou's full body beside his, to see the skin that would come inside his own. Desperately, he extended a nail and tore through the rest of Seishirou's clasps, at last causing the robe to fall partway open.

"Oh, you'll pay for that," Seishirou said, again pulling his hands away. "Ruining the only clothes I have to wear in this place. You really are so very selfish, Subaru-kun."

"But I..." He couldn't think of a way to say that he needed to come and now without sounding pitiful, although he was pretty sure that reducing him to a pitiful, sobbing creature was exactly what Seishirou wanted.

"Want something?"

"Seishirou..." He crept closer, easing Seishirou's robes down his shoulder and pressing their bare skin together, darkening his cold chest with blood. "Please."

"Please...?"

"Please, take me all the way there."

"Just you, you selfish boy?"

"You, too."

"And how would I do that, Subaru-kun?"

"Come inside. Please." A few more tears slipped down his cheeks, which seemed to spur Seishirou back into action.

"Very well. You do beg so nicely."

Seishirou began to undo the fastenings of his trousers, and ordered Subaru to sit up a little his lap. Once again, he seemed to be moving much too slowly. Subaru was tremoring so much that he felt seconds away from collapsing, and his body was already in torment from having already been brought so close to completion. By time Seishirou slipped a finger inside of him to prepare him at least a little for what was to come and then at last ordered him to lower himself, Subaru could hardly move himself steadily, and required Seishirou's assistance to complete their joining neatly.

White light exploded behind Subaru's eyes as Seishirou drove into him. He had known it was going to hurt, but he hadn't realized how overwhelming it would feel to be locked firmly with someone else's body with nowhere to run or turn but to the arms of the person who was trapping him. And somewhere in the midst of all that was an undeniable pleasure, a feeling of warmth diffusing through his core, a sensation that he was surprised could be caused by such a frozen body. He whimpered as Seishirou pushed his full length the rest of the way in, driven further into the unsteady mix of emotions without time to prepare.

"Sei...shirou... please... a moment... please."

"What did I say about being selfish? I thought you said I could take whatever I wanted, and I want you to feel me, just like this." He began rocking his hips, and as Subaru released a panicked moan, Seishirou bit down again into the wound he had been drinking from for another taste of the velvet blood of his prey. Subaru shivered and could not hold back the primal noise that came from him at the indescribable feeling of being pleasured and devoured by Seishirou at the same time. It was too much, too good to be tolerated. He felt himself nearly coming again, when Seishirou grabbed him tightly and shook his head.

"I didn't chase you here so you could be satisfied alone," he hissed. "Allow me to get myself up to speed with you." He pulled out and pushed Subaru to his knees to drive his hips harder from behind, dramatically increasing his pace. Subaru drove his claws into the floorboards and tried to quiet the cries rising from his throat without much success.

"How valiant of you, Subaru-kun, but you're fighting a losing battle," Seishirou teased. "We're already breaking all the rules here. Squatting. Feeding. Fucking. Property damage. Assault." He punctuated each word with a thrust and a bite down Subaru's back. "Why not add disturbing the peace to the list? Come on, cry for me."

Subaru obeyed, though he allowed the floor to muffle the worst of his screams. If someone came and witnessed them, it wouldn't be just Kamui trying to keep Seishirou away. Even though the sex was consensual, there was no explaining away the blood unabashedly smeared across their skin.

Just as Subaru decided his body wouldn't be able to take any of it— the pain and the pleasure and everything else— for any longer, Seishirou at last loosened his grip on him and allowed his body to release itself onto his waiting hand. With a few more pumps of his hips, Seishirou, too, choked out a quiet grunt, and something warm spilled inside Subaru's body and down his legs as Seishirou pulled out and rested their two breathless bodies onto the floor.

"Just look at the mess you've become, Subaru-kun," Seishirou chuckled to himself, finally bending over to lick the wound on Subaru's shoulder shut. "I wish there was something here that could take a picture. So you can see the way you look after you've become completely mine."

"Even if I can't see it, I can feel it."

"And how does it suit you?"

"I feel as if you've taken everything, and I'm a shell waiting to be filled by you again." Subaru paused, rethinking his phrasing. "A shell waiting to be filled again when it recovers from the first time, of course."

"You've forgotten something. I haven't taken quite everything yet."

"You haven't?"

"Not at all." His fingers curled around Subaru's jaw, and he moved his face in closer. Before Subaru realized what was happening, their mouths were crushed together and Seishirou's tongue was pushing against his, filling him in a new and different way.

When Seishirou pulled away, Subaru pressed his hands to his lips in amazement. "I didn't think you would ever do that," he admitted, his voice shaking. He was glad Seishirou seemed to have a thing for his crying face, since the tears were staking a claim on his eyes yet again.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"That's something usually reserved as a sign of love."

"Is it really? I wonder, then." He stroked Subaru's face with an unfathomable smile. "You know, I'm not allowed to leave this place now because you would never let me catch you before I used up my powers. And unless you change your mind and choose to follow your brother instead of me, you're going to be staying here, too. If you think of it, you're almost like my bride, Subaru-kun."

"Your... bride...?"

"You ought to take responsibility for what you've done, my beautiful one. As my prey, I expect you to give me your body, but as my bride, well..." He leaned in for another taste of Subaru's lips. "You ought to be a bit loving, too."

"I do love you," Subaru said solemnly. "Forever."

"Very good. Then let's be happy, you and I."

Subaru smiled and rested his head against Seishirou's chest. His body ached, and suddenly the cold had come back through the cracked doorway and his shoulder was throbbing where Seishirou had bitten him, and although he knew it wouldn't be long until the powers in his body gave him reprieve, he felt exhausted to his very core. But never in his life had it felt so good to take in the air, to live and to breathe in the same presence as this cruelly exacting man, his precious and most important Seishirou.

Suddenly, the memory of his other self filled his vision, his hands gripping tightly to the chains of the swing, his smile only forthcoming when Seishirou had kissed away his tears and confessed that Subaru had made him happy. He had looked so oddly contented in that place, but still he had worried that he was taking a wrong step and putting himself into hands that would destroy him or take what little sense of value he had away.

But it really is okay, he realized as he held tightly to Seishirou's body, burying into the comfort of his arms. This is the fate that was meant to be mine. This place he has given me is my home, and I am finally, finally here.

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Next Up: Kamui and Fuuma