http://clampfix.fanworks.net/tb-fix/fatal1.txt </head><body><pre> An original Tokyo Babylon fanfic The Fatal First Step... "We can't afford to play with fire Or tempt a serpent's bite Nor can we ever think that sin Will bring us delight." -----anon 1st Path: Regret Step 1: [Sumeragi Jiro] :Monologue: I'm Sumeragi Jiro, the 18th head of the Sumeragi Clan. The legendary Sumeragi Clan which has been protecting Japan since ancient times. The Clan of purity and divinity, where the omnyoujitsu is kept pure and unabridged. But just like knowledge, over the years, things simply improve, and omnyoujitsu, likewise, has expanded and improved vastly since its days. My past is like an overcast shadow, where I don't know it and neither can I trust my memories. But it's not what I know that matters the most, it's what other people know. Otousan, likewise, was an omnyouji. He was the 17th head of the Sumeragi Clan, but his 'reign' was short-lived. He died at an age of 30, of grief and desperation, just like one of our past heads. The 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan, Sumeragi Subaru. Although Subaru did not die at 30, he too, died of grief and desperation. Sumeragi Subaru was one of our most honoured and most tragic clanheads. He was involved in the 'Final Fight', where two sister seeresses gathered two groups of people who would fight out for the sake of saving/destroying Earth. My ancestor belonged to the Dragons of Heavens, the Seven Seals, who were standing on the side of humanity. The opponent who killed him- Sakurazuka Seishirou, belonged to the Dragons of Earth, the Seven Angels, who were intent on saving Earth, even to the extent of destroying humanity. Sakurazuka Seishirou was no normal human. He was also an omnyouji, but he used his powers for killing, unlike the Sumeragi. We used our powers to save and purify, and try to do as much good as possible. Seishirou was a paid killer, an assassin. He belonged to the single member clan, the [Sakurazukamori]. Subaru and Seishirou had met long before the fight, and the personal feud between them dated back to the time where Subaru's twin, Sumeragi Hokuto, was killed. It was said that Subaru had made a bet with the Sakurazukamori unknowingly and the outcome of it was the cost of his life. But Hokuto, his twin sister had offered to sacrifice her own life for Subaru's. That was what which started the feud between the Sumeragi and the Sakurazuka family. Unknowingly, the later generations of both clans were forced to carry out what their ancestors had promised each other. Obaasama never told me why my father died, although I had asked her many times, whether his death had anything to do with the Sakurazuka family feud, she refused to tell me. I have very faint recollections of what Otousan was like before he passed away. I was still very young then and knew nothing except to play and sleep. But a single encounter with Otousan that occasion, where Otousan gave me his first warning and it was forever embedded deeply in my memories.. "Jiro," he said. "Jiro, remember, never harm the Sakurazukamori. You will become the 18th head of the Sumeragi Clan, but don't risk it and risk your sister as well." I never understood what he was trying to tell me. I am his only child. I don't have a sister, and I never know who my mother is. Otousan never lived to tell me who's my mother. Obaasama refuses to tell me when I ask. Obaasama is always hiding things from me. She always tells me that it's for my own good, but I can't see what good she can do to me by not telling me the truth. >From youth, I have grown a habit of telling Obaasama everything. She's the only one who knows my secrets and bad habits. But lately, the situation has changed. I started becoming very vague with what I do, but she doesn't seem to notice it. Or maybe she does. But she is certainly not telling. I never told her about the girl I met in the park the other day. She has a very pretty name. Yuki. Snow. And like snow, she is pale and beautiful, with a certain amount of iciness around her, a little like an Ice Queen. I did not talk to her for more than ten minutes, but I felt as if I have known for my whole lifetime. I spotted her under the sakura tree, where my ancestor- Subaru's body was buried. She had her hand to the trunk of the tree, and her eyes were closed. It was almost as if she was listening to the tree talk. She also has the most beautiful pair of eyes I've ever seen. They are dark, with no definite colour. The colour is sometimes brown, sometimes dark blue, always wavering, the fire in them never staying still. Maybe I should have told Obaasama about her then. She is, after all, a Sakurazuka. -------------------------------------------- Step 2: [Sakurazuka Yuki] :Monologue: Kaasan. How do you feel down there, together with all our ancestors and a few of the past heads of the Sumeragi Clan? I'm sure they'll enjoy your company. Everybody said you're a very charming woman. I believed them. Even now, I still believe them. The [Sakurazukamori] are all fascinating people. I met him just now. The boy- no, it should be man, you had been telling me about for about as long as you lived. He is a very charismatic person, actually, and very boyish too. A very attractive 'prey'. Sumeragi Jiro. 18th head of the Sumeragi Clan. You failed to capture him, Kaasan. You've been incompetent for the last few years of your life. Thank God I ended it early for you. You'll never be able to capture him, Kaasan. Not in this lifetime, and not in the next one either. Because I've already marked him. He's mine. Nobody, not the 16th head of the Sumeragi Clan, not you, not his father can take him away from me. Nobody. He's absolutely, totally and entirely mine. I've caught the butterfly, Kaasan. The prized butterfly which you had been chasing after ever since you set your eyes on. In a way, he's yours and yet he's not. You'd failed. He'll be mine. I'll claim him within one month. Just in time for Christmas. Isn't that your most favourite festival, Kaasan? I can promise you that I'll get him. He'll never be able to escape from my grasp once I've tightened my fingers around him. Sumeragi Jiro is mine. Forever mine. You were such a pitiful thing, Kaasan. Your prized butterfly is mine. You had actually lost to your own daughter. Looks like your age was catching up even then. Sayonara, Kaasan. Your Christmas gift this year shall be the butterfly I've caught. Sumeragi Jiro. I will catch the butterfly you failed to catch. I will catch the butterful you bear not catch. I will show you how good I am. I'll succeed. Then you'd never tell me I'm incompetent ever again. --------------------------------------------- Step 3: [Sumeragi Sonoko] :Monologue: Something has happened to Jiro. He's not telling me anything. Ever since the death of Yoshiki, he's been blank. Like a piece of white canvas. I dared not tell him about his parentage, although he yearns to know about it. I dared not tell him about his mother and maternal grandparents, for I fear the way he would look at the truth. I fear that he will love them, especially his mother. His mother is one person we never talk about. It is a silent agreement between us since his childhood times. We never talk about his mother. Whenever he starts breaching that subject, I'll just stop. He knows that it makes me unhappy to talk about his mother. Jiro is a very understanding and sensitive child. He hates to hurt people. He's always been good. He has tried his best not to upset anyone. I remembered once, when he asked me this question which shocked me. *"Obaasama, do I have a sister?"* I thought he had found out the truth then. I was so scared, I didn't dare to reply to him. He came so close to the truth- the reality which I didn't want to face up to. My son's mistake. Sumeragi Yoshiki, my only son, the 17th head of the Sumeragi Clan. His fatal mistake. Falling in love with the wrong woman at the wrong time. Maybe it was my fault that he did that. Yoshiki was sort of a child delinquent during his youth, he smoked and made trouble. And then he met this girl. She entered and left his life unexpectedly. She was beautiful, with a kind of ice-like beauty and feline-like grace. She never erred, at least, never before him. To him, she was perfect. His perfect image of a wife. His perfect idea of a person whom he would like to settle down with. That was his mistake, loving that girl was his mistake and my eternal crime. I saw it happening but still I did nothing. I was thinking then, that maybe once, just once. But I was wrong. The two of them should have never met in the first place. My son's sin. My sin. My grandson's sin. The eternal Sumeragi curse. 1st Path: End Disclaimers: All characters are solely my own creation except the idea of the Sumeragi and Sakurazukamori together with Sakurazuka Seishirou and Sumeragi Subaru belongs to CLAMP. The idea of X inserted into this fic also belong to CLAMP as well. Okay, in short, all characters in present belong to me but the main idea of omnyoujitsu and 'Final Fight' belongs to CLAMP. Gosh, I am confusing myself... Acknowledgements: To Hypertia for inspiring this fic in me and to the UAWCML for helping out so much. Jenni</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>