XXX. Stormier
"Subaru…so good to see you again. It's been a while."
Even though his outer composure was calm and collected, as he said those words, Seishiro could feel his energy building inside of his body, his depraved, long awaiting body, like the ingredients of a chemical potion finally coming together.
Things had finally fallen into place.
He had originally vowed to travel to the ends of the universe to find Subaru, as well as his vampiric twin, and gain immortality. That was the cut and dry version that he had subscribed himself to.
But in this wish, his grand design, he was to give up his right eye. With each world he traveled to, the sight in the violet orb dissipated and dissipated until finally, in the last world, the world of the twilight, the world of Tokyo, he lost the vision completely. Now that his vision had disappeared into the stained glass, the vessel of his right eye, he was certain that he would find the vampire twins.
And he had.
He had tracked them back to Tokyo – this was where Fuuma had told him not to go. But Fuuma knew that he would venture there anywhere – they were brothers anyway – the same wavelength would follow them always.
The ruins of the buildings and roads, dilapidation abound, seemed appropriate. It seemed to symbolize him in a way – the disrepair, the damage, the collapse that he left behind in each of the worlds he had been to, in each of the people he had interacted with.
He didn't even bat an eye when he finally found the two, perched amongst the wreckage, the former glory of what was and what was to be, late into the night.
He leaned against one of the light poles, arms crossed, the electricity flickering on and off, the shadow that seemed to follow Seishiro wherever he went coming and going within a flash.
They turned – Subaru's eyes were widened with expectant fear, and Kamui had pounced in front of his brother, his orbs turning a vampiric gold and his nails growing into that of talons.
"You-! Stay away from Subaru!" He growled at the hunter, the one that had hurt them so much in the past. "Or so help me, I-"
Subaru, shaking slightly, put a cautious hand on Kamui's shoulder, making him turn his head in his direction, looking directly in the other boy's now-golden orbs. "Please, brother – it is all right. I will talk to him, but that is all."
The older brother spat back, "But Subaru! H-h-he..."
Seishiro felt a small grin paint his face. Even after all this time, it was still amusing to see the effect he had on people, especially on this individual.
Kamui paused for a moment, no doubt trying to figure out what to do with the bastard in front of him. He lowered his talons for hands, his eyes slit as he moved slightly, so that Subaru would walk in front of him.
Subaru walked steadily, his gait betraying a slight tremor appearing every now and then, before he finally stopped in front of Seishiro, his brows furrowed, his fists clenched next to his form.
It was nice to see his prey present himself for him.
His smile grew wider.
"We have much to talk about…Subaru. It has been a long time since we've discussed anything face to face." Seishiro stated, a memory brimming into the edges of his mind. It had been too long…
Subaru's eyes thinned somewhat. "That's because…last time…you killed our…my…older sister Hokuto." Another tremor. "And…you tried to kill Kamui. And me."
Seishiro felt a jolt of recollection reverberate in his mind.
Ah yes…
"Why did you do that?"
The blood of the older sister suddenly ran his own cold – it was not until then before he realized –
Hokuto had reminded him of his mother…how willing she was in giving up her own life…
Perhaps…
That is why…
"Yes." He replied coldly. "I remember."
Kamui had fallen silent – he had reverted back into his original form, but his haunches were still up, as if wanting to destroy Seishiro at any moment.
Subaru nodded, the beginning of tears forming in his eyes. "But…I trusted…you. I…believed…you. Every word you said…all that time…I believed you. And now I realize that it was all lies…" He closed his emerald orbs tightly, looking like he was trying to force the tears back into them before they leaked out.
Seishiro noticed the boy's shaking, and the grin he had been wearing disappeared.
"But…I still…I still…"
"You want to kill me…right?" Seishiro finished the sentence for him, as if reading his mind. He had no trouble saying those words, for they were true.
Subaru now wore a face of a determined warrior, a disposition that reminded him so much of Syaoran's…the face of growth…the face of maturity…the face of someone who had experienced an exponential amount of trauma and grief in his short life, and had lived to tell the tale…and learn from his past…
Had he missed that much?
"Not just that."
Subaru walked closer, the few steps that he took reverberating in Seishiro's ears; Kamui's widened eyes were following his every stride.
Subaru's eyes were now focused entirely on Seishiro's mismatched ones.
The altruistic boy…
The savage hunter…
Looking into each other's eyes…
Into each other's souls…
The small smile Seishiro had before returned, but now with a new understanding behind it.
"Subaru…you are too kind to me. I don't deserve the compassion, the sympathy that you have given me. You are truly pure."
Now he knew the fate that awaited him.
There was no mistaking it.
He was indebted to it from the moment he was born – his lineage really had followed him wherever he went.
There was something in the boy's eyes now – a storm cloud that wavered in and out in his eyes.
Subaru's eyes finally thinned until Seishiro could only see the light of his orbs reflected by the lamp post's flicker.
The pentagrams on both his hands were evident now, the red aura reaching out bright and clear.
Subaru drew back his right hand.
Seishiro closed his eyes.
With a finishing blow, the boy punctured the hunter's body with his hand, the magical properties allowing him to go through the stomach and out his back, lancing him true and straight.
Kamui let out an audible gasp – he was petrified in his spot.
The feeling of Subaru's hand in his body was no short a fulfilling one for Seishiro. His body was now going through a metamorphosis – the metamorphosis of what had always awaited him. His breath came out choked and strangled, blood pooling in his mouth until he finally coughed, the blood coating the front of his priestly garb. With that cough, Subaru and Seishiro collapsed onto the ground, Subaru's hand still in his body until he chose to pull it out, fast and hard, only to catch Seishiro on his lap before he fell onto the cold ground.
Trying to catch his breath, and sensing the irony of that statement, Seishiro looked up at Subaru.
Subaru's formerly thin orbs were now wide. He was distraught, his chest heaving, his hands shaking, the blood that had come from Seishiro staining his clothing.
But he also had the look of someone who had just granted a deep promise to themselves.
Seishiro held that image in his memory, and treasured it.
With all of the strength he had left, he drew himself closer to Subaru's face, until his lips painted with his own blood reached the shell of the boy's ear.
"I…came here…I did…everything…because…I…"
He left this world, with only Subaru's words following him.
"I'm so sorry!"
Yes…
Now he could go…
He had accomplished…
The goal of the Sakurazukamori…
Just…like his mother always wanted…
There was no immortality like being killed by the one he loved most.
As he left, the sky, which had been held with grey clouds since the beginning, had grown stormier, and now, finally, razorblade raindrops were released, washing the world away of the trials long experienced with each cut.
Owari
