http://clampfix.fanworks.net/ss-fix/awaken3.txt </head><body><pre>Fluff, fluff, fluff... Thanks go to Meia for dialogue (as usual). Vague spoilers for Kakyou's presence in X. Awakening - A Tokyo Babylon "What if..." Part Three: Of Plans and Shops Seishirou spent the next day putting his affairs in order while Subaru was at school. He was somewhat relieved when the twins dropped in to his apartment that afternoon. "Well? Now I have the both of you here -- How did it go?" Seishirou and Subaru looked at each other. "Er... Hokuto-chan?" "Yes? Yes, tell me!" "SomeonewantstokillSeishirou-sanandwe'regoingtohavetofighthim." She blinked at them. "Pardon?" "Someone wants to kill me," clarified Seishirou. "Oh. So, it didn't go well, then?" Subaru blushed. "Well... it was okay at first..." "You wound me, Subaru-kun. I'd like to think I'm a better kisser than--" "Seishirou-/san/!" Hokuto laughed at them, gleefully. "So, what's the problem? Between the two of you I'm sure you can fight off /any/ kind of attacker." Seishirou shrugged, and explained the situation. She frowned. "So, let me get this straight: You can't kill him, because then you'll become the Sakurazukamori. He can't kill you, because then the Sakura would have all your power and, well, you'd be dead. /Subaru/ can't kill him because he would make a very bad assassin, not to mention not knowing which clan he belongs to as a result. You can't destroy the /tree /because that would upset the balance and have disastrous effects on the future of Japan." Seishirou nodded. "And this guy calls himself /Yami/?!" Hokuto collapsed into hysterical giggles. "Hokuto-/chan/! It's not funny!" admonished Subaru. Hokuto sobered up. "So, what do we do?" Subaru gave a miserable shrug. Hoktuo tapped her finger against the bench in thought. "I have an idea," she announced, after almost driving Seishirou insane with the noise. "I think we could talk to Kakyou." "Who?" said Subaru, confused. "A friend of mine. He's a Dreamgazer." "Oh," said Subaru. Seishirou regarded Hokuto thoughtfully, but didn't say anything. "Now, we can't actually go to visit him, because he's confined to a single room and no visitors are allowed. So, we'll have to enter /his/ realm." "How do we do that?" asked Seishirou, curiously. "Well, first you have to close your eyes." "Hokuto-chan, what are you..." began Subaru. Seishirou leaned around and put his hand over Subaru's eyes, obediently closing his own. "Just indulge her, okay?" he murmured into Subaru's ear, feeling gratified when he felt the Sumeragi shiver at the contact. "You can open them now!" she announced, after a few moments. Subaru blinked. "Where are we?" They were in what appeared to be an old fashioned hotel room, with wooden panels and a window that looked out onto the ocean. "Kyou-chan's dreamscape, of course!" "...Kyou-chan? Dreamscape?" "Yes. Now, we have to find some way into his room... Where is the door..." she pressed around on the panelling for a moment. "Aha!" she announced, proudly prodding a knot hole and watching the panelling slide away to reveal another room, this one inhabited by a very beautiful young man with long blond hair. "Oh," said Kakyou, when Hokuto walked in with Subaru and Seishirou in tow. "It's you." Hokuto looked hurt for a bit before she realised he was looking at Seishirou. Seishirou was looking mildly surprised. "Well, this makes things a lot clearer..." he said. "You two know each other?" "I spoke to him once," said Kakyou, casually. "You know, I find it extremely ironic that after all that, the future didn't depend on my decision at all," said Seishirou. "Only in this universe," said Kakyou, distantly. "In another... who knows what might have happened?" "Um, excuse me... What are you two talking about?" asked Hokuto, petulantly. "A dream," said Seishirou. "Just a dream..." Subaru blinked at them. "So, we need a council of war, here," said Hokuto, seeming to dismiss the matter. "Kyou-chan, I assume you already know what's going on. You always do. But, we need a plan. How do we convince Yami (the pretentious assassin) not to kill Seishirou-san?" Kakyou gave them a rueful smile. "It's very hard to change destiny," he said. "You've already managed once." He gave Seishirou a meaningful look. "Destiny won't be willing to be altered again so quickly." "And if has a way of bouncing back to its proper form. Right, /Yumemi/-san?" said Seishirou. Kakyou refrained from commenting. "So, you're saying that there's no way we can prevent Seishirou-san from being killed?" said Subaru, distressed. "There's a chance," admitted Kakyou. He gave Seishirou another significant look. "But you may not like the outcome," he added, almost as an afterthought. "If Seishirou-san lives, I'll be happy," said Subaru, fervently. Seishirou smiled slightly, and gave the boy a hug. "I don't want me to die either, Subaru-kun." Hokuto glanced at them. "So, what do we do?" "We could trying reasoning with him," ventured Subaru. The others stared at him. "Well, we're not going to let him kill Seishirou-san," said Subaru, defensively. "So he's only going to get himself hurt if he tries." Hokuto looked thoughtful. "So, what you're saying is that we should threaten him a bit?" "No!" squeaked Subaru. "That's not what I meant!" "It could work, though," shot back Hokuto. "It might work," interrupted Kakyou, gazing at the twins in a somewhat bemused manner. "But don't count on it." Hokuto groaned. "You're so fatalistic, Kyou-chan." "Ah! It's so late!" exclaimed Subaru suddenly, looking at the clock. "I have homework to do and a job as well!" Hokuto gave her brother an exasperated look. "Okay, okay. We'll be back tomorrow evening, okay, Kyou-chan?" Kakyou nodded. The twins left, Subaru frantically apologising for cutting their visit so short. Seishirou decided to hang back for a moment. He was extremely curious about the dreamgazer. "You know how this is all going to end, don't you?" he said, rhetorically. Kakyou nodded. He regarded Seishirou with a firm, somewhat curious gaze. "I want you to think about this for a moment, Sakurazuka-san. Will you be able to live without him?" Seishirou gave him a searching look, wondering what future the dreamgazer saw for him and his adorable Subaru-kun. "Well," he said, eventually. "We'll just have to see." <CENTER>~ * ~</CENTER> It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Tokyo and the twins were 'helping out' in the Sakurazuka veterinary clinic as usual. Suddenly, out of the blue, Hokuto stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "I have an announcement to make." "Yes, Hokuto-chan?" asked Seashore, washing his hands in the basin. "This afternoon, you're both completely free, right?" Subaru and Seishirou nodded. "Right. We're going shopping." Subaru went white, then red in a kind of horror. "No, /'neesan/, please..." "Hokuto-chan, why exactly are we going shopping?" asked Seishirou, mildly amused by Subaru's reaction. "Because you need /clothes/, that's why, and it would be a great chance to unwind. Now that you're actually /going out/, a whole new wardrobe is required. And I just can't trust you two to pick the right things on your own," she said, in a matter of fact manner. "H-H-Hokuto-chan..." Seishirou glanced at Subaru, then at his sister. "Do I get to help?" he asked, curiously. "Well, of /course/ you do. It wouldn't be much good if we got outfits you hated, would it?" said Hokuto, logically. He wrapped his arms around Subaru's waist and rested his head on the boy's shoulder, causing him to turn bright red. "No, I suppose it wouldn't." "So, where would be a good place?" Seishirou smiled. "I know some nice stores in town and I'm sure you do, too." He untangled himself from Subaru and started closing up the clinic. "I'm free now, why don't we make it a lunch date as well?" Hokuto clapped her hands. "I think it's a great idea." Lunch was a rather charming affair in a little café above a department store. Subaru spent most of it giving the clothes racks to the left vaguely worried looks. The very second after the bill was paid, Hokuto dragged her brother off in the direction of the men's clothing. Seishirou followed at a more sedate pace, amused. She had already been through three different outfits by the time he reached them, each one causing Subaru to blush redder than before. "Ne, Sei-chan, how about this?" she asked, holding up a somewhat revealing shirt of black silk. Subaru looked like he was about to keel over on the spot. "I think it looks... interesting," said Seishirou, diplomatically. "And these to go with it!" announced the girl, holding up a pair of tight green velvet pants and dragging her brother off in the direction of the change rooms. About five minutes later, Subaru emerged, scarlet. "It's a bit... tight," he said miserably, pulling at the sleeves. "Mo~u, Subaru, that's the /point/." Subaru gave Seishirou a somewhat desperate look. Seishirou decided to come to his rescue. "Keep the pants, Hokuto-chan, but why don't we find him a looser shirt..." Subaru gave the tight pants he was wearing a slightly disturbed look. His sister bounced off, muttering to herself about what colours suited her brother and what styles were in fashion. "Um, Seishirou-san..." said Subaru, sounding slightly nervous. "Yes?" he asked, coming to sit behind him on the change room's tiny bench. "You know how I told you I'd done a lot of growing up before...?" "Yes?" Seishirou said, curious as to where this was going. "Well, I've decided I'm not going to put up with this any more," said Subaru, sounding uncharacteristically offended. He blinked. "I-I-If you l-love me, you just have to tell me. You don't have to t-tease me about it. I don't like this." "Subaru..." he began. Inwardly, he was annoyed at himself. It had never occurred to him before that their 'harmless' teasing might hurt the boy so much. He tried again. "I'm sorry, Subaru-kun." Subaru was silent for a moment, then he wrapped his arms around Seishirou's waist in a tight hug. "Thank you," he sighed. "That's all I wanted to know." "But I'm not lying, you know," Seishirou added, unable to stop himself. "I really do think you're beautiful." Subaru blushed cutely. "And those pants /do/ look good on you." "Seishirou-/san/!" he exclaimed. "I'm not teasing. It's the simple truth." He stood up and leant over the Sumeragi, amused that Subaru was already closing his eyes in anticipation of a kiss. "SUBARU!" came a horribly familiar voice. "SEI-CHAN! Come here! I found this shirt I think you'll /really /like!" Seishirou took a breath to calm himself. Murdering Subaru's only sister wouldn't make him look good at all. After about an hour, Hokuto was finally satisfied with her purchases and Subaru had an almost entirely new wardrobe, despite the boy looking the whole time like the ordeal couldn't end soon enough. "So, where shall we go now?" asked the more hyperactive Sumeragi twin. Subaru gave his companions a hopeful look. "Icecream?" Tempting as it was, Seishirou didn't really feel like it. "Not icecream... How about crépes?" "With chocolate mousse and melted marshmallows?" asked Hokuto, excitedly. "I know this great place in the park..." Subaru blinked. "That sounds messy." His sister just smiled enigmatically. "You'd be surprised." They bought their crépes from a vendor in the park and made their way to a secluded grove of sakura to eat them. After about five minutes of watching Subaru lick marshmallow off his fingers, Seishirou was beginning to feel the ice cream would have been a better option. Just as he began to feel he could bring himself to forget about Hokuto altogether, the girl jumped up and announced she was going to find a tap because it just wasn't /ladylike/ to lick her fingers like her brother was doing. Seishirou waited a good thirty seconds before turning back to Subaru. "Subaru- kun..." he began, smiling slightly. Subaru blinked at him, fingertip still a little inside his mouth. Seishirou pulled the hand away gently and replaced it with his own lips. All in all, he reflected, it was the perfect end to an altogether enjoyable shopping trip. He hadn't thought it possible for life to be this good. He wanted it to be like this forever. -- To Be Continued... And in the next part, things lose the fluffy edge for a bit. Random notes: Yumemi = Dreamgazer, what Kakyou is. Neesan = Older sister. Crépes with Mousse and Melted Marshmallow = What I had in Fremantle when Meia came here.</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>