He waited patiently for the walk sign to light up before he started to cross. He looked carefully before walking to the other side, and made sure he had plenty of time to cross. He even started to jog across for some obscure reason- all indicators of a seeming too-careful regard for his life. It was strange, odd, that he would do all these things, considering the state of his mind.

Half-suicidal, half-maddened with the desire to strike out, he was usually not the most careful with his own life. Yet, this one time, he was cautious. It was as if he could feel something at work, as if he knew that there would be a strangeness that time, that moment at the street.

Somehow, a car appeared over the small hill of the road, not seeing, not stopping. With a true disregard for life, it roared through the relatively quiet, empty part of Tokyo, proclaiming in its deeds an arrogance that was matched only by the people inside- rich, young, drunk. It smashed on, the car and people inside one in its childish rampage of delight in destruction.

It hit the young man in a flash of red, knocking him away, far away from its path. Making no indication of either guilt or recognition, it sped on, until it too hit a tree a mile away. The young man was conscious until his last breath a few moments later, and curiously, nothing was in his mind but a hint of confusion.

It is curious to note how the one time he had been so careful, as if pre-cognizant of his doom, it had come upon him anyway. Aware or not, it seemed that fate had a grudge against one Subaru Sumeragi, now dying on an obscure road in a ward of Tokyo. His last thoughts a wondering, a seeking of his sibling, of his lost kindness. Then, a moment to his darker half- almost bitter that his own death was so pointless.

Duncan MacLeod came out of the bar half-drunk, and relatively sane. That is, unless you count the fact that he had been in a karaoke bar, and had actually started to enjoy the singing halfway through. When he had started to chime in to an old, bad ditty that he hadn't even realized that he still remembered, Duncan knew that it was time to get out.

Saying goodbyes to disappointed friends, he let the group sing themselves to oblivion, while he walked out into the brisk night. "Well, that was fun..." His ironic remark echoed into the night, and he realized then how drunk he was. Carefully steadying himself against a building, Duncan started to head toward the hotel, only a few blocks away.

Suppressing the urge to start singing old drinking songs well forgotten, Duncan felt the feeling. A buzz, the signal that there was danger, a rival. Another one like himself, immortal, possibly hunting. Duncan knew that he was not in the best of fighting condition right now- after all, when the ground is like the sea on a stormy day, even a drunk man knows he's probably drunk.

Still, there was no use in trying to not fight- it would be worse if he tried to run. Slipping out his katana from his omnipresent long trench coat, he looked around. Feeling the buzz getting a bit closer, he realized that the other was probably not awake yet. Sighing with a certain amount of relief, he put the sword away.

"Well, better a new student than an old rival, I suppose. Now, where could this one be?" Duncan considered just ignoring the buzz, walking on to the inevitable collapse in his hotel room, which would be followed by the demon's own hangover the next day. He started to step away, before stopping. Shaking his head, Duncan knew that in good conscience, he could not let a potential student get killed off before he knew the rules.

In his years of being an immortal, Duncan had come to be able to analyze the feeling to a certain extent. True direction and accurate proximity was not things he could gather, but generalities were within his grasp. He focused, and through the haze, was able to follow it in a westward direction.

It was a young man, also wearing a trench coat. He was waiting at a walkway, waiting for the light to change. Duncan could tell that he was younger than he seemed, and for a moment wondered if he was indeed awakened. But seeing how carefully he crossed the street, Duncan knew that he could not know. Not yet.

Duncan considered all his options. One would be to go up to him, and ask him if he knew that he was an immortal. No, plan one would not succeed- even Duncan, drunk as he was, could figure that out. Perhaps following him until... no, not that either. He knew that since he did not know this person, there was no way to watch over the stranger until he awoke...

The Watchers. Duncan considered using Joe's considerable network to keep tabs on him instead, but knew that Joe's reach did not reach this far into the East. At least, not reliably. "Well, maybe I should just get to know him first. Then, I'll see." About to head up to the man, perhaps to ask for directions, Duncan saw the car coming straight at him.

About to yell out, he realized that it was too late. Already, he heard the sickening crack of metal hitting bone and flesh, and he started to run over to the victim. Absently, his brain noted that explaining would not be such a problem now- it was always so much easier to one freshly dead and alive than one not yet dead...

When he reached the young man, who looked in his twenties- who would always look in his twenties, Duncan saw that he had already died. Leaving the staring eyes open to the sky, he waited until it came- the inevitable gasp as the now-immortal took a breath of air, and woke to pain fast diminishing.

Subaru felt a shock, and suddenly, he was awake. How was this possible? He had been hit by a car- a silly sort of death for one such as him, but an end, nevertheless. He remembered being pulled up, out- he recognized the 1st stage of soul movement well enough- after all, it was his job. Had been his job? No, it appeared that he was still that, still alive.

He stopped staring at the pinpoints of light, and noticed a man standing, watching him. A gaijin, with long brown hair in a ponytail, he stood as a fighter did- strong, balanced. Subaru started to get up, and groaned as muscles and bones protested. He felt a hand take his arm and help him up, and once it had done so, let him go. What was this buzzing? It was like a roaring in his head... perhaps it was because of his accident?

Subaru shook his head a little, and then looked at Duncan questioningly. "Who are you? Do you know what just happened?" Horribly rude, perhaps, but it needed to be asked... "My name is Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod, and I can explain what just happened to you." He looked around and saw the blood on the ground, on Subaru's clothes, and shook his head.

"However, I think that you may want to get out of here before-" Subaru looked down at himself, at the surroundings, and nodded. "My apartment is not far from here- if you wouldn't mind." Duncan nodded gravely, and followed him. "What's your name?" Subaru remembered the rather forma greeting that Duncan had given, and replied, "Sumeragi Subaru, of the Sumeragi Clan... Is this how people usually greet you?"

Duncan laughed a little. "Well, people don't usually have clans anymore- You can call me old-fashioned." It was a short walk, even for two unsteady people- one unusually dazed, and the other partially drunk now. When Subaru let himself into his apartment, Duncan couldn't help giving him a surprised look. "Aren't you afraid of thieves? Even in Japan, leaving your door unlocked-"

Subaru gave him a quiet look. "There is nothing here to steal." As Subaru opened the door, Duncan stepped in and saw that he had been speaking true. The room was bare, unfurnished except for a full length mirror and a couch, with a blanket atop of it. Nothing else, except for large windows covered by a curtain.

"Austere, aren't you?" Duncan saw the fragments of another mirror in the corner, as if another mirror had been broken. Giving the young man a careful look, he realized that this was no normal salaryman. As he sat down at the couch, Subaru went to the kitchen, bringing back two glasses of water. At Duncan's look, he shrugged. "I don't drink."

"All right. Now... aren't you curious about what happened? Usually, people-" Subaru interjected, "Usually?" Duncan gave him an uneasy look. People reacted to this news very differently, he'd found. Duncan hoped that he wouldn't be one of those who refused to believe entirely.

Duncan's voice lost all levity or curiosity as he spoke the words that had started his own immortality. "You are an immortal. One of a few who walk this earth. A person who cannot die by normal means. You will never age, will always heal from almost all wounds. You will never die." Duncan paused for a moment, before he continued. "I am four hundred years old, born in the Highlands of Scotland, and I am not by any means the oldest..."

Subaru put down the glass onto the floor, and gave him a odd look. It was at once both trusting and absolutely cold, and made Duncan pause for a moment. "Do you believe me?" Subaru smiled gently. "You believe what you say. That is enough for me." Duncan looked at him for a moment, before going to the pile of glass on the floor. Picking up a shard, he placed it at his arm.

He sliced his arm, careful not to bloody the couch, and watched as the wound disappeared with a sizzle of lightning. "Do you see? No more blood coming out, no more wound. Here. You try." Duncan had found that it was easier sometimes just to let the person see. Expecting some sort of argument, Duncan was surprised when Subaru grabbed the glass from him, and sliced his own wrist even deeper into the vein than was necessary.

Subaru felt the pain and welcomed it. Watching the blood course down, he wondered if it could possibly be true, and if it wasn't... would he die like this? Fascinated as he felt the blood escape from his body too quickly for safety, he was rewarded with the sight of his own flesh smoothing over and healing. "So... you say that I am immortal?" This was said in a far off tone, almost ethereal in it's distance.

"Yes." Duncan had a feeling that the young man hadn't accepted it yet, and was ready for almost any reaction. Rage, fear, disbelief- he had seem all those before. However, what he did not expect was Subaru sitting down on the couch, and starting to laugh. It was a rusty laugh, as if it hadn't been used for quite a while, and one which made his flesh shiver.

Duncan remembered hearing laughter like that too many times. Times when he had seen men broken by torture, or just mad- it was the same hopeless, mocking laugh of a person who knows too much. "No death for me, ever? No death... no need, then. He wouldn't have succeeded... Oh, Neesan..."

Duncan knew the tone of despair when he heard it- another thing that he would have to work out with his new student. "Well, it is not true immortality. You can die if your head is cut off. And that brings me to the game-" Subaru's far-seeing eyes returned to Duncan's face. "The game? What game is this?"

Duncan reached into his trench coat and pulled out his katana. "This kind of game- one of life and death. You're going to have to learn how to use one of these. That'll be a start. The game... there can be only one. There are a number of immortals in this world, and one day, there will be only one left. To that one, there goes a prize. No one knows what it is, but that is the ultimate goal..."

"So you all go around killing each other?" Subaru's voice was distantly pain-filled. "Death, and more death- is that what being immortal means?" Duncan shook his head. "There will be those who will challenge you, but also ones that will wish you no harm. Many of us don't particularly care about the prize- all we want to do is live."

Subaru gave him a sharp look. "Why are you doing this? Shouldn't you not be helping me? After all, you are supposed to want to kill me-" Another shaky laugh. "Well, this should make my hunt a bit more interesting, don't you think?" Duncan gauged Subaru's state, trying to see how much of his reaction was stress, and how much was his normal persona.

"Like I said- some of us don't care about the prize, or about the game, beyond defending ourselves. But you can't try to live away from the game, or else they come and find you. Trust me. If only because they think you've gotten weak, or..." Duncan realized how maudlin he was sounding- this happened to him sometimes when he was drunk. *Tessa...*

He had been lost in his memories for a moment, and didn't notice Subaru get up and return the glasses to the kitchen. From there, his voice floated out. "MacLeod-san. Please get some rest on my couch- you seem to need it." As Subaru put away the cups into the cupboard, he heard the sound of a body falling into the couch.

Subaru glanced almost ruefully into the bare refrigerator, and sighed, closing the door. "This... has certainly been an interesting day..." He sat on the floor of the cold kitchen, resting his head against the now-closed door. "So..." A bitter laugh escaped. "Neesan. There was no need for your sacrifice. There was no need for it all... and yet..."

Duncan heard the muffled sounds coming from the kitchen, and decided to ignore it. People sometimes need time to adjust- or else, they didn't survive. Somehow, Duncan knew that this one did not wish to... that would make his job a lot harder. As he drifted off into sleep, he couldn't help wonder how he got himself into these situations... *I really am a Boy Scout... Amanda would laugh if she saw me like this.*

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