Chapter 2 - Ice Cream and Roommates

I hope you all like this next chapter, and please, don't forget to review. Even if it's just a short sentence, let me know what you think!

Disclaimer:

Feye: Hello!

Salivating lawyers: Sue...sue...mine...mine!

Feye: *blinkblink* Um...*holds out college tuition bill* I am a poor college student. I have no money. I don't own X/1999.

Lawyers: *wilt*

Seishirou: That's right. Sod off.

Feye: *stares at Seishirou*

Seishirou: ...what?

Feye: *shakes head* ONWARD!

RULES OF THE GAME: PART TWO by Feye Morgan

~*~*~*~*

Seishirou kept coming back to the same dilemma. Outwardly, it looked like a simple paradox, one that the master onmyouji should have had no trouble cracking.

But, as he slowly spooned ice cream into his mouth, he found that he could not. He gazed at the man sitting opposite him.

Sumeragi Subaru was his prey, marked with the inverted pentagrams. This meant that the Sakurazukamori should kill him.

But, Seishirou didn't want to kill Subaru.

But he should want to.

But--

"Seishirou-san?" The dark onmyouji's musings were cut short by the other's question. "You've been staring at me for quite a while now. Care to divulge your thoughts?"

Seishirou blinked and sighed. He considered refusing, but he knew that Subaru would only pester him even more until he finally broke down.

"I'm..." Seishirou paused. he had been about to say 'confused', but he didn't want to tell his star that. It was difficult enough to admit it to himself. "...unsure," he finished. *As if that's so much of a better word,* he thought darkly.

Subaru waited expectantly.

"I'm supposed to want to kill you," Seishirou explained. "But I don't."

Subaru blinked. A small smiled tugged at his lips. "And that's confusing you? It's quite simple, Seishirou-san; you have feelings for me."

"But I shouldn't. I'm supposed to be emotionless."

"But you aren't."

Seishirou nodded.

"And this is a bad thing?" Subaru quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm the Sakurazukamori," Seishirou said, as if the problem was obvious.

"So?" Subaru still wore the soft smile.

"The Sakurazukamori doesn't -have- feelings!" he said, exasperatedly. His teeth clenched down harder than normal on his spoon as he ate another bite of ice cream.

"Well," Subaru stuck his spoon into his ice cream and laced his fingers together in front of himself, "you're the Sakurazukamori, and you have feelings, so therefore that statement is terminally flawed."

Seishirou shot him a withering look. It bounced harmlessly off of Subaru's sunny expression.

"Honestly, Seishirou. Give me one good, convincing reason -why- having feelings for me is bad." Subaru rested his chin on his still-folded hands, and looked into Seishirou's mismatched eyes. He waited.

The dark onmyouji's mouth opened, and then shut. He stared back at the other man.

Subaru smirked and spooned some ice cream into his mouth. "Take your time."

Seishirou glared again, and stoically took a bite of his own ice cream. It was half-melted by now, as was Subaru's.

"The Dark Kamui will kill me," he came up with eventually.

"He hasn't killed Kusanagi yet," Subaru replied, not missing a beat.

Seishirou blinked. he remained silent for a few moments, processing Subaru's statement. "I didn't know that Kusanagi was seeing a Dragon of Heaven, and I doubt if the Dark Kamui knows either. Besides, he seems set on staying out of the battle in either case. I've been quite active, on the contrary."

"Yes, we all noticed," Subaru remarked dryly.

Seishirou ignored him. "I think "Fuuma" would have a problem with me pulling out of the fight."

Subaru tilted his head at his opposite star. "Would you really?" he asked.

"Would I really what? Pull out of the fight?" At Subaru's continued stare, Seishirou nodded. "I can't hurt you, and I've noticed that you are quite close to the other Dragons of Heaven, especially Kamui. Therefore, if I attacked any of the Ten no Ryu...I would be hurting you."

Subaru pondered this. "Well, you -were- planning on dying, so that wouldn't have been much different that pulling out of the battle," he offered.

Seishirou gave him a -look-. "Subaru. I would have been -dead-. There would have been nothing he could -do- about it. But if I'm -alive- and not fighting out of -choice-, he'll be after my blood. He'd consider it treason." Actually, Seishirou wasn't too certain that this was true. The Dark Kamui was too volatile for him to decipher. But Seishirou wasn't about to take the chance, either, on the probable offhand that "Fuuma" did take objection.

"Hmm..." Subaru frowned, and ate more of his nearly-liquid ice cream as he pondered this. "We could protect you," he said.

Seishirou raised his eyebrows at the choice of words. "Who is 'we'?" he asked dubiously.

"The Dragons of Heaven, of course."

Seishirou's laugh was harsh. "Honestly, Subaru-kun, why would -they- protect me?" The mere idea was ludicrous.

"Because, firstly," Subaru began to tick off reasons on his fingers, "you've sworn not to fight, secondly, you've shown that you aren't as heartless or emotionless as we all thought, and lastly, I love you, and at least some of my feelings are returned."

Seishirou shook his head. "They have no reason to trust me," he protested.

Subaru sighed, and set his spoon down in his now-empty cup. "You're right: they don't. You have to -earn- their trust. In the meantime, they'll protect you for my sake. I know at least Kamui is aware of how much you mean to me."

Seishirou mulled this over, and silently was forced to agree that Subaru's logic was good.

"I really don't know why..." Subaru's voice had changed to be softer and full of a wistful melancholy. Seishirou's head snapped up to look at him, startled by the switch in tone. "They all seem to care about me so much, but I don't know why. I'm so selfish. They all worry about me, but all I think about is myself..." Subaru's green eyes were downcast and cloudy.

"No!" Seishirou found himself protesting. Subaru looked up, startled. "You are very kind, Subaru-kun," he said firmly. "-Very- kind."

He stared at the dark onmyouji in confusion and surprise. "Why should you, of all people, say that?" he asked. "Back at the Bridge, I didn't even think of what you wanted! All I thought of was myself."

Seishirou didn't really understand the reason (if there was one) behind the Sumeragi's mood swing. But he did understand that he needed comforting (an alien concept to Seishirou. Or, at least, heartfelt comforting was). But he owed it to Subaru to at least try.

"Subaru-kun," he began, "my wish is to see you happy." *At least, I'm pretty sure it is,* he thought. "I had thought that you wished to kill me. Now that I know for certain otherwise..." he shrugged. "Subaru-kun, you are not selfish. A little self-centered maybe, but you have every right to be. You are the kindest person I know. That is why so many people care about you."

Subaru stared at him in wonder. "Seishirou-san..."

Seishirou looked down and finished the last of his ice cream, his face betraying nothing. It made him extremely uncomfortable to know that the words he had just heard had come out of his own mouth. He felt it was incredibly uncharacteristic of him.

What was it about Subaru that made him act like this? It was unnerving. What were those...emotions...that he felt again? An ache, he had told the younger man.

And something else. Something else he could not identify. *Of course I can't identify it,* he thought testily. *I've never -felt- emotions before. How would I be able to identify what is obviously a complex one?* Seishirou would just let it go for now. Maybe in time it would become clear to him. He was, if anything, a very patient man.

He looked back up to find Subaru still watching him. They stared at each other, the silence between them becoming more uncomfortable as the time grew.

"Our ice cream is finished," Seishirou observed after some time.

"Mmm." Subaru pushed his cup around the table with his spoon. "I suppose we should go home, then," he said after a few more moments.

Seishirou stiffened, a barely perceptible reaction. "Your home?"

Subaru nodded. "With the others."

A pause. Then: "I thought you lived alone, in an apartment."

Subaru nodded. "I did. I only moved in with some of the other Seals very recently. Kamui kept asking me to."

Seishirou frowned as yet another tiny emotion surfaced. It felt a little like the ache, only tighter and harsher. After a moment's thought, and perusing through the memory of what he knew of emotions from observation and reading, he identified it as jealousy.

Why on earth would he be feeling jealousy? How confusing.

Seishirou kicked himself mentally, and ordered his brain to return to functioning as normal. Predictably, it didn't listen. He forced himself to concentrate on the conversation.

"That means that explanations will be in order," he concluded.

Subaru nodded, and rubbed his temples in anticipation of the headache soon to come. "Unfortunately." Then a thought seemed to strike him, and he looked up intently at the older man. "Seishirou...I'm being selfish again. I haven't even asked if you want to come with me." There was an apologetic look in the green eyes.

Seishirou blinked, and then thought for a moment. He nodded. "Yes, I want to go with you." He shrugged. "After all, where else can I go?"

Subaru smiled slightly and rose to gather their empty ice cream cups. Seishirou watched him as he disposed of them. The younger man was truly graceful, and quite beautiful. Seishirou had never denied this; he appreciated beautiful things.

But it seemed now that Subaru was more than just a thing.

Subaru took hold of Seishirou's hand once more, and, ignoring the stares they received from the other customers in the shop, left.

Neither of them had money for a taxi, nor did they feel like taking one if they had. They wound up arriving at Subaru's residence in the trademark style of Seals and Angels; landing gracefully from the air onto the sidewalk in front of the apartment.

"I hope I've caught them before they've left," Subaru muttered. At Seishirou's raised eyebrow, he explained. "Our yumemi predicted that another kekkai was due to fall today, so most of them are going to protect that. I was the only one left to protect Rainbow Bridge, but I went earlier than planned today."

Seishirou frowned slightly. "Subaru...you said that your yumemi told you about my Wish?" He had forgotten to ask about that earlier.

Subaru turned around. Apparently he, too, had forgotten. "No, actually. I went to see our yumemi, but when she took me into her Dreamscape, your yumemi interrupted."

Seishirou blinked, visibly surprised. "Kakyou?" he asked.

Subaru nodded.

Seishirou stood silent in thought. *Now why would Kakyou do such a thing?* he thought curiously.

"Apparently he wanted to make certain that Hokuto-chan's last spell wasn't wasted," Subaru explained, sensing the other man's confusion.

Seishirou blinked again. "Kakyou knew Hokuto-chan?"

Subaru nodded. "Apparently he loved her." Subaru said this without emotion, carefully keeping any resentment he still had left against Seishirou concealed.

The Sakurazukamori's eyes widened slightly in realization. *So she is Kakyou's "special person". That is why he wants to die* He frowned, wondering if he should feel regret or not...wondering if indeed he did feel regret, and just hadn't recognized it yet. *Emotions are too confusing. My life was much simpler without them* Seishirou thought, annoyed.

"You should probably wait out here," Subaru told Seishirou. "They might try to kill you on sight, otherwise."

Seishirou raised an eyebrow. "You think so? Even if you're with me?"

Subaru paused. "Hmm..." The younger man pondered whether or not to risk it. Then again, he doubted if other Seals would attack in such a location unless provoked first by the Sakurazukamori. He motioned for the other man to walk with him. Seishirou complied, after replacing his sunglasses on his nose, and followed a step behind Subaru as he opened the door and strode inside.

"Tadaima!" he called. Seishirou instinctually took survey of the room. A young man he knew from talking to Yuuto to be Sorata sat on a couch in the living room. A cheerful-looking girl walked out of the kitchen holding a tray of tea, while being followed by a spirit-dog. She was accompanied by a more somber girl with long ebony hair. Kamui was nowhere to be seen...at the moment.

Any greetings they had on their lips died as soon as they spotted Seishirou. All three recognized him instantly by his aura. He had, after all, attacked them once before at the Diet building, and he remembered Sorata and the somber girl watching him fight Subaru at their first meeting, before the Dark Kamui had awoken.

Their reaction was instantaneous. The spirit dog stepped in front of the cheerful girl, growling menacingly. Sorata leapt to his feet, tense and ready to spring. The other girl extended her hand, which glowed brightly for a moment before a katana shot out from her palm. A very tense silence followed.

"It's all right," Subaru assured them hastily. "Seishirou-san has no intentions of harm."

Sorata's eyes narrowed. "Sakurazukamori," he confirmed, studying Seishirou calculatingly. He looked at Subaru. "How do you know?" He frowned. "And why are you protecting him? I thought you hated him."

The somber girl drew her katana in front of herself. "What is he doing here?" she asked Subaru.

"Arashi, Sorata, it's okay, really," Subaru said again. They waited for an explanation, never letting their guard down once. Seishirou merely watched passively from behind his dark glasses.

"Where's Kamui?" Subaru asked first. "He should hear this too."

"I'm right here," a voice came from upstairs. Seishirou heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and the slight figure of the leader of the Dragons of Heaven appeared. Violet eyes widened in surprise when they rested on Seishirou. There was another moment of silence. Then: "Subaru? What is he doing here?"

"You'd better sit down. All of you."

Kamui blinked, and Arashi's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Seishirou. However, the four cautiously did as Subaru asked.

"You all know I've been looking for the Sakurazukamori."

Sorata and Kamui nodded. "For nine years," Kamui added, his violet eyes darting back and forth between the two onmyoujis.

Subaru nodded. "You've probably all thought, except maybe you, Kamui, that my intentions were to kill Seishirou-san."

The Seals waited.

Subaru took a deep breath. "Actually my Wish was to be killed by him." He winced, waiting for the inevitable reaction.

There was a pregnant pause in which the Seals stared incredulously at Subaru. Then they all began shouting at once.

"Subaru! Are you mad?!" Sorata protested. "You can't throw your life away like that!"

Arashi's face showed shock. "Why would you want that, Subaru?" she asked.

Yuzuriha looked hurt. "You promised me that you'd call on Inuki and me for help if you were in danger! You simply can't go off and let yourself die after that!"

Kamui was the only one who remained silent, choosing merely to look at Subaru. It was obvious that he hadn't known of Subaru's Wish...but for some reason the boy wasn't as surprised as the others. Perhaps it was because he empathized with Subaru's pain. Seishirou knew that before the Dark Kamui had awoken, he had been one of the Light Kamui's closest friends.

Subaru raised his hands. "Wait a second!" he called loudly over their protests. "I'm still quite alive, if you've noticed!"

That shut them up.

"Now, let me explain here," Subaru continued in a normal tone of voice. "Late last night I went to see Hinoto-hime. She took me into her Dreamscape, but the yumemi for the Dragons of Earth interrupted." He looked at Kamui and addressed him. "I believe that has happened to you before, Kamui."

The violet-eyed boy nodded. "Kakyou." He spoke the name of the dreamseer.

Subaru nodded. "Apparently Kakyou was in love with my sister, Hokuto, and he wanted to honor her last spell by giving me some...information." The onmyouji paused to collect his thoughts.

Seishirou watched. The other Dragons of Heaven continued to eye him, just in case he decided to make a sudden move. The dark onmyouji kept his hands loosely at his sides and in plain sight.

"Kakyou told me of my sister's last spell, and of Seishirou's Wish." He looked back at Seishirou briefly before continuing. "His Wish, it turned out, was to die by my hands."

Four pairs of eyes blinked at the dark onmyouji. "Why?" Arashi asked.

Seishirou took it upon himself to answer. "I Wished for Subaru to be happy, and I thought that he Wished to kill me." He shrugged.

"Hokuto's last spell was one intended to keep both of us from dying," Subaru explained. "She knew that I could never kill Seishirou of my own accord, but she didn't trust Seishirou-san."

"Smart girl," Sorata muttered beneath his breath.

Subaru didn't seem to have heard the remark. "So, she cast a spell on Seishirou, dictating that if he ever tried to kill me in the way he had killed her, the act would rebound on him instead."

Kamui blinked, and made the connection. "He intended to use you as the suicide weapon," he stated flatly.

Subaru winced slightly. "Thank you, Kamui, for your delicate phrasing," he said, slightly annoyed. "Yes. Kakyou had Seen this, and fortunately told me beforehand. So, I went to Rainbow Bridge early on, and stopped him."

Four pairs of eyes blinked slowly. "And?" Kamui asked.

"And I told him that I love him, which I do," Subaru concluded. Widening eyes greeting this statement. "Once I made it clear that I do not want to kill him, and once I had convinced him of how much he means to me, Seishirou admitted that he doesn't want to kill me either."

"You have no idea how confusing that is, either," Seishirou muttered.

"Oh, you'll live." Subaru elbowed him. Seishirou blinked at him from behind his glasses, eyebrows raised. "Anyway, the bottom line is that he has agreed to stay out of the battle from now on. In his own words: if he fought any of you, he would be inadvertently hurting me."

"Quite unacceptable," Seishirou stated firmly.

"Okaaaay..." Sorata still looked dubious.

"The problem is that Fuuma is going to be out for his blood once he hears." At this point Subaru was beginning to look nervous. "And...er...I was hoping that we could all, um..."

"Keep him safe for you?" Kamui finished for him, a wry expression on his face.

Subaru nodded.

There was silence in the room for several very long moments.

"I don't trust him." Sorata's voice was flat. "Not one bit."

Seishirou sighed a little. "I don't expect you to," he told them. "All we are asking is for you to make sure Fuuma or any of the other Angels doesn't kill me off."

"For my sake," Subaru added softly. "Please..." His cheeks reddened slightly. Seishirou knew that Subaru felt it presumptuous to be asking this of them. "I know this is a huge favor to ask of you...but I trust him."

Arashi's eyes narrowed slightly. "But you love him. Of course you trust him."

Subaru bit his lip, a twinge of panic beginning to surface in his green eyes.

"I will trust him," Kamui spoke up suddenly. "For Subaru's sake. I..." he paused, violet eyes downcast. "I know what it is like to have faith in something that seems hopeless." Everyone in the room knew he was talking about his Wish to get Fuuma back. "I haven't given up. I never will give up, and I haven't been given a shred of hope." The eyes raised. "But Subaru has, and it's more than a shred. I see no reason to deny him."

Subaru's eyes blazed with gratitude, and he looked hopefully at the rest of the Seals.

Yuzuriha tilted her head curiously. She studied Seishirou. "Inuki?" she called quietly. The dog whined slightly and trotted cautiously over to the dark onmyouji. Seishirou blinked, and knelt down to the spirit's level. Slowly he held out a hand. He was aware of the eyes that watched both him and the dog intently. Inuki sniffed him, whined, and backed up a step. Then, very slowly, the creature's tail began to wag. His hackles settled, and he relaxed before trotting back to the girl. Yuzuriha clapped her hands together and beamed. "Inuki likes him!" she proclaimed. "So I trust him too!"

Arashi sighed and nodded as well. Sorata followed suit, albeit grudgingly.

Subaru's shoulders slumped with relief, and he smiled broadly. "Thank you!" Seishirou also managed a small genuine smile.

Sorata looked at Seishirou. "Where will you be staying?" he asked unexpectedly.

The onmyouji blinked in confusion, though Sorata couldn't see due to the shades. "I have an apartment," he began.

Sorata snorted. "As if that's safe anymore. Look, we promised to keep you alive. I don't have to like it, but I keep my promises. You'll stay here with us." He leaned back and crossed his arms, pointedly giving him a look that plainly said: 'Go on. Refuse. I dare you.'

Seishirou stared and opened his mouth to protest more. He was cut off by a sharp elbow digging into his lower ribs. He shot a look at Subaru.

"Don't you dare argue, Seishirou-san," Subaru told him cooly. "I've gone through too much to have you die by your own stubbornness and stupidity.

Seishirou flushed, but remained silent. Subaru continued to watch him. The younger man frowned. "And for Kami-sama's sake, take those sunglasses off." He reached up and pulled them off before Seishirou could stop him.

The dark onmyouji's eyes widened with surprise in spite of himself. "Subaru-kun..." Seishirou felt exposed without his glasses and in front of people he barely knew.

Subaru ignored him. "We do have an extra room," he noted. "Seishirou could move in there. That is, if no one else minds."

They all shook their heads. "It's fine with us," Arashi said. "You'll want to bring some of your belongings with you, of course." She fixed Seishirou with a cool gaze.

"I don't have many possessions," he said.

Yuzuriha jumped up. "Well, before you do that, we all have to have some tea, and you can tell us more about yourself, Seishirou-san!" she chirped. "Come on everyone! It'll get cold!" She beamed and bounced genkily over to the table, and began to pour out tea.

Subaru smiled, but the older man thought he could detect a hint of wicked glee in his eyes. He stared suspiciously at the Sumeragi, who merely beamed right back at him. His expression reminded Seishirou unnervingly of Hokuto. "Yes, Seishirou, it'll be good for you! Now don't make me drag you over. It's undignified."

Seishirou suppressed a groan. He was pulled reluctantly by Subaru towards the table. It was still only morning, and he already had a headache.

*This is going to be a very long day*

~*~*~*~*~

Well, there's chapter two for you! Longer than I had thought it would be, that's for certain. And, wonder of wonders, I actually have an idea of what I'm going to write for chapter three. Amazing, isn't it? ^_^ Well, please, please -please- do leave or send me some comments. I LOVE constructive criticism, no matter how harsh (just don't flame: it's quite senseless, and it only serves to hurt my feelings). And, if you have praise...I need it. ^^ Thanks for reading!





Would you like to submit a review?

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment