Author's Note: My apologies, I had kind of forgotten about this story. ^^;; However I made a New Year's resolution which involves lots of writing so I'm going through all my files to see which stories I should start adding to in order to get up my word count for the day. :P So hopefully I'll start updating this one more often.

Also I have a theory that Seishirou is hypoglycemic. I mean practically every time you see him in Tokyo Babylon he is eating and it's almost always something sweet, especially ice cream. My sister eats like that and craves ice cream that way and she's hypoglycemic... it's the sugar and the dairy. I could be totally wrong on that but it's fun to imagine. XD

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Seishirou had been sitting at their usual spot at the bar staring off into space all evening. Ora had been watching him from the stage all evening, resisting the urge to stop singing and go ask him what was wrong; lethargy didn't suit him.

When her last number finally ended she was immediately assaulted by a small group of dedicated fans who had made their way here to see her in person after hearing her and Sue's song on the radio. She couldn't resist stopping and chatting with them, flirting with the cuter ones and teasing the younger ones. When they asked her to come spend more time with them, and tell them about her music, she found herself sorely tempted but declined, hoping they would stick around a few more days. She wanted to know herself what kind of people her songs had reached.

"You've gotten rather popular these days." Seishirou remarked as she slid onto the stool next to him.

"You know what they say about fame."

"I've tried to avoid it myself."

"Probably a good idea for your profession."

He let his head rest on the bar.

She turned, surprised. "Seishirou? Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

She felt his forehead. "You can't be sick, we're dead…"

He was silent for a moment then sighed and straightened up suddenly, smiling. "Let's get ice cream!"

She watched him put on his coat, thinking back on the past few days. "Seishirou?"

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't happen to be a sugar addict would you?"

He smiled over his shoulder at her.

She shook her head and got up, muttering. "All evening I've been worried and it turns out you're just craving sugar…"

There was a vendor on a bridge not far from her apartment that never seemed to close. The vendor had taken a liking to Ora as she had heard her singing out her window one day. She said that between her long hair and her voice, Ora reminded her a bit of her granddaughter. She gave them both the ice cream for free and they wandered across the bridge, staring out at the lights reflecting on the glassy black water.

"They look like fireflies." She said at last, leaning out over the railing as if hoping to capture one. "I remember when I was little seeing a movie where kids were catching fireflies in a jar and kept them as a nightlight by their beds. I always wanted to do that."

"Why didn't you?"

"There were no fireflies anymore when I was a child. The movie was really old."

"You mean they were extinct?"

"No, I'm sure they were still around somewhere but probably mostly in government labs like most real animals."

"Didn't people keep pets?"

"Sure, but real pets were extremely rare. Most people just had robotic animals if any. I guess you could say that the world only belonged to humans then. And by humans of course I mean the ones running the government. It almost seems like the rest of us were their pets."

Seishirou frowned. "Is that what you wanted Kamui?" he asked softly.

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, tell me!"

He grinned. "I have a better idea."

"If it involves clothes, it's not a good idea."

"Fortunately it doesn't."

She laughed and pulled him back toward her building.

.

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Sue had gradually gotten more comfortable with asking Subaru questions over the past three days. He was taciturn most of the time, but his responses to direct questions were surprisingly gentle.

"Subaru?"

"Yes?"

"I've been wondering… why were you at Fairy Park that day?"

He hesitated and she wondered if she had stumbled upon the wrong question and undone the little comfort that had built up over the last three days.

"It was the anniversary of something that happened a long time ago."

"Of something that happened at Fairy Park?"

"No, there used to be a bridge there…" he trailed off quietly.

She studied his expression in silence. It never changed. It was as though his features had been chiseled into their current state. His mouth was set in a straight, noncommittal line, never smiling nor frowning and his eyes never seemed to quite focus on what was right in front of him, as though he were looking through some clouded lens smudged by something in the past. He did not look sad, as Sue had seen sadness before. He looked hopeless. Indifferent.

She reached out without thinking and brushed a hand against his cheek. He jumped as though he had forgotten she was there, backing away from the hand.

"We should go." He awkwardly announced.

Sue silently followed him out of the restaurant and to the train station, wondering if she had offended him in some way. Or worse, if she had touched some painful memory that he would have rather kept locked away in his own secretive heart.

They made their way to the railway station only to discover that their train had been delayed due to an "undisclosed accident".

"What does that mean?" Sue wondered aloud.

"When it's worded like that, it usually means that someone died on the railway tracks."

Sue stared up at him. "How? They're clearly marked aren't they?"

Subaru shrugged. "Sometimes people get pushed onto them, or jump onto them themselves."

Sue weighed these words carefully. She did not have to ask why someone would want to take their own life, but it was strange that they would do so at the cost of others.

She mentioned this to Subaru and he gave her a strange look but did not say a word.

When the train eventually arrived, they discovered that a number of people had decided to forgo that particular trip after all, feeling that it was unlucky or cursed. As a result, Sue and Subaru had their particular compartment all to themselves and shared it in silence. Until Subaru at long last turned to her.

"Why were you there that day?"

"At Fairy Park?"

"You knew it was going to be demolished didn't you."

She nodded.

Subaru parted his lips for a moment then closed them again, turning back toward the window to stare out at the passing scenery. "Nevermind. It's your own business."

Sue cocked her head to one side, letting wintery strands of hair, as light as his were dark, brush against her cheek but did not pry. It seemed like Subaru did not want to talk anymore and this was more than he had heard him say in one day already.

So she turned too, to stare out the window at factory smoke billowing in the distance like angry thunderclouds rolling through the sky.