Subaru was breathing heavily as he pushed himself up from the ground. *This is it- no backing out. Can I-* He gathered his powers as he remembered what Duncan had said. *Use my own strength...* Smiling, he held his hands out in a defensive position. "Seishirou-san... let's finish this."

Seishirou looked at his strangely exuberant expression before nodding. "Goodbye, Subaru-kun." Then, his hand came up quickly and a string of syllables were uttered, and the wind started. It was almost imperceptible at first, but it picked up speed and strength. It localized as a near hurricane centered around Subaru.

The wind started to whip him around, but Subaru shouted out a word that gave him an anchor to the ground. "Is that it, Seishirou-san?" Seishirou did not respond, and instead floated a few cherry blossoms toward him. As if attracted by those few, the wind started to pick up the piles of blossoms scattered on the ground. Soon, Subaru was surrounded by a whirlwind of blossoms that whipped around him too quickly for any shield to be effective.

Finally, one last incantation, and that was when Subaru started to visibly wilt. The soft, lovely blossoms turned deadly, each becoming a sharp blade which cut viciously into the skin of the person nearest to them. The pink stained to a crimson red that until it was as if Subaru was being painted by his own blood.

"Ha... ha..." Subaru's harsh breathing was all that could be heard as the wind died down. He fell to the ground onto his hands and knees, blood trickling from hundreds of shallow cuts all over his body. Seishirou moved toward him slowly, his expression predatory- the face one of cruel anticipation. "Subaru-kun..." At the voice, the body on the ground tensed, and then sprang. Subaru moved without looking in what seemed to be a random direction, as if trying to get away from his hunter. "Subaru-kun, do you really think that I would let you get away?"

Suddenly, Seishirou gave a small laugh. "Subaru-kun. Did you really think that you could escape by running even closer to my partner? He is hungry..." Subaru disregarded his voice, half-crawling toward the tree, while Seishirou followed. When he deemed that Subaru was close enough, Seishirou moved and stood in front of him, barring his way.

"Sayonara, Subaru-kun." The quiet statement was followed by a small gasp from Subaru, as Seishirou pulled his body up from the ground to face him. Seishirou smiled at him, and then pushed his hand through Subaru's body. Subaru fell, his body arcing to the ground. "Sei...shi-" A sigh, and then his body went still.

Picking up the unnaturally light body, Seishirou concentrated.

/My ally, your meal comes.../

Using what was left of his energy- for if he was being honest, he would have had to admit that the fight had depleted much of his resources- Seishirou used his power to disperse the body into the separate, small blossoms which would go to feed the tree. *What?* Unnatural resistance was coming from the dead body.

Examining his burden, Seishirou saw that a ward was present over the body- a ward that prevented the dismemberment of his body, even after death. *A strange ward, that...* Still, he saw that the ward was going to dissipate soon, so he let it be, and decided to wait it out. Putting the body next to the tree, Seishirou decided that it was time to take care of the two- no, four nuisances that had been floating around during the fight...

Duncan closed his eyes, and shook his head. "So, that's it? Now that crazy bastard is going to know about immortals, and-" Nokoru gave him a helpless look. "MacLeod-san, I am sorry- but there truly is nothing we can do- at least, not against Sakurazukamori-" Seishirou walked at that moment into the little grove of trees and heard what Nokoru had just said.

"So, there is even more reason for all of you to be eliminated..." Seishirou shook his head. "All of you seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time- especially you, protector. You were not very successful in your attempt, sitting in the bushes while Subaru-kun tried in vain to-" Duncan slowly stepped up to him, true rage in his eyes.

"You- you're the reason for all of that hatred... I thought that it was just stupid revenge, that he should just walk away. But now I see exactly how impossible that was for him..." Duncan drew his sword and placed the tip at Seishirou's neck. "Can you defend against this?" Slowly, the blade started to dig in little by little...

"A sword? Do you really think that a sword is going to be what kills me?" The amused, contemptuous voice made Duncan's grip on the sword tighten, and him start to lose what control he had left. "I don't see you getting away-" Suddenly, Seishirou almost blurred in his vision. "What?!"

From behind him, the hated voice spoke to Duncan with condescension. "This was the extent of Subaru's protection... no wonder he made you hide. That was an amusing moment, but now, this little game is over-" Seishirou drew on the small amount of power he had left, and beckoned to his main spirit-bird and fellow hunter from the mists of his mind. Whispering to it, Seishirou was about to let it loose on the gaijin when he saw the other three clustered together.

*Perhaps I should just kill those three first, so that this one can be mine last...* Allowing the bird to materialize, he instructed it to attack the one most vulnerable, and let the shikigami wing toward the three. Knowing that the bird could be counted upon with smaller prey, Seishirou turned back to Duncan.

As he was about to engage in hand-to-sword- for after all, Seishirou had to give himself some handicap- the bird's angry cry made him turn. Somehow, the utterly ordinary three had not only managed to evade the bird, but one of them had actually managed to down it with a strange looking knife. *Ninja!* Looking at the blue-haired one who still had many left in his hand, Seishirou smiled. *This is going to be more interesting than I thought-*

Suddenly, something at the back of his mind awakened. Seishirou concentrated, ignoring the smaller prey as an impossibility asserted itself in his mind. *Subaru-kun?* Sakurazukamori always knew when one of the prey he had marked had died, or had survived- and he had felt Subaru die. Only now, he felt Subaru's presence again. Turning from his lesser prey, Seishirou rushed back toward the tree-

Nokoru watched him leave from behind both Suoh and Akira, who had pushed themselves in front of him to try to absorb any blow that Sakurazukamori may have thrown at him. "Now... now the true fight begins. He knows..." Duncan kept his sword drawn and followed the trio as they started to walk toward where Subaru was.

*Where-* Subaru shook his head as he opened his eyes. Looking down at himself, he saw that he had already healed, and was now very much alive. *Seishirou-san... he will be coming soon- I have to do this now!* A bit unsteady, he got himself up, and drew on the power that he had been conserving before. *Can I do this?*

Taking a deep breath, he smiled. It was an unusual smile for him, one without any trace of bitterness or anger... as if a younger self had returned, if only for a moment. *This is my strength- my power. Emotion, empathy... I'd forgotten, in my hunt-* He headed toward the nearby cherry tree, the symbol of Sakurazukamori's power. As Subaru got closer, he could feel the pain and suffering the tree thrived on.

As he gazed upon the innocuous looking tree, Subaru's smile turned into a hate-filled glare. "You- you are my true enemy, not him. The power behind Sakurazukamori- the one that forced such a thing to exist... But now, you're going to help me free him." He winced a bit as he stepped to within touching distance of the tree, as the raw emotions of fear and hatred started to penetrate his shields.

*Hokuto-chan... I'm sorry- I don't think I'll ever see you again...* Subaru took out his ceremonial knife, and put it to his wrist. Slicing it quickly, he let the blood run out to touch the bark of the tree. The tree seemed to almost sigh in pleasure, and Subaru felt the tree actively start to pull at his life force. As he died again, Subaru knew that the ward for keeping his body together wasn't going to last this time. *I hope this works-*

"What?!" Seishirou stopped as he saw the strange image in front of him. Subaru, who he had just killed, was now hugging the tree- only he was dead again. Seishirou could feel the absence of his prey's presence, and saw the body starting to be assimilated into the tree.

/Good... Happy/

The tree seemed to be content, a sign that ithad just fed- but somehow, it was wrong. It was impossible... Seishirou frowned as he considered the mystery. He did not like being confused about anything- especially if it concerned his prey... especially if it considered his Subaru-kun... Walking toward the tree, he started to be overwhelmed by the raw energy that was being absorbed and assimilated into his ally. *Subaru-kun had that much power left after the fight?*

Still, he could ignore that and- Seishirou winced as head began to pound- It was picking up what felt like background noise... something that his shields and wards didn't label as a threat. As he got closer to the tree, the low, throbbing hum started to get more intense, and when he touched the tree, he couldn't help but drop to the ground.

*What the-* Seishirou shut his eyes as the hum started to resolve itself into something- it was a moan, a scream that modulated itself into a never ending cycle of pain... Seishirou opened his eyes, and attempted to get away from the tree, hoping that it would make the noise fade away, but it didn't... it stayed.

Seishirou looked at where Subaru's body had been, before it had been absorbed into the tree. "Subaru-kun... what did you do?" Closing his eyes, Seishirou took a deep breath, and then stepped into his own mind. Gazing with inner senses, he tried to find the source of the strange noise.

He found a connection that was still open- the one between him and the one he had carved his sign upon. *Subaru-kun? How is this-* Seishirou decided to find out later, and started to sever the link between the two of them. After all, he was dead... Cutting off what was surely only a ghost of Subaru made Seishirou feel almost... almost sad in a way. After all, it truly meant that this- his greatest hunt- was truly over. That was all it meant...

Seishirou relaxed as the mental tie between the two faded away, and assumed that the headache would soon dissipate as well. Looking toward the tree, he could hear the normal 'noise' of the tree as well, and opened his link to it. After all, he should see how his ally was doing-

"AH!" Seishirou fell as the link that was opened between him and the tree blasted his mind with pure noise- a scream that cycled, that died away only to return a few moments later. *What is this?* Seishirou ignored the steadily mounting pain that came from keeping the link open, and went fully into his ally's consciousness- something that was seldom done, for who went voluntarily into a being who ate pain and souls?

In it, he found the usual 'scenery' of red and pink overtones, with hints of victims who had been absorbed by the tree before at the edges of the scene before him. At the center... at the center was Subaru, his appearance more solid than it should have been for this version of a Dreamscape. He was the one screaming, Seishirou realized, as his life force was being drained away.

*Of course- I should have expected an extreme reaction from one gifted as he- but I didn't realize that it would be so long...* Seishirou's stiff posture relaxed a bit as he saw what had been his enemy fold up onto the ground. The screams ceased as Subaru's life faded away.

*Well, that's that- What?* Seishirou looked on in amazement as the clearly dead body somehow revived, and started to scream again, as the tree had its fill once again. Seishirou realized in shock that the tree's murmurs and constant reminders of its hunger had ceased. "How did you do this, Subaru-kun?"

As if he somehow heard, Subaru's head came up amidst the screams. Looking at him, the crazed green eyes seemed to recognize him for a moment. Hoarse from screaming, the fatigued voice barely managed to whisper out, "Sakurazukamori is no more...", before it gave out on him, forcing his screams to ring mentally in Seishirou's mind.

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