http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/dark5.txt </head><body><pre>*collapses* I'm such a slow writer. Gomen nasai, minna-san... A few of the lines in the first scene are stolen from the original manga, because that's what Sorata *would* say in that situation. ^^; Disclaimer: All the characters (and the two lines mentioned) belong to CLAMP, the world belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton, I'm just having fun. Nothing objectionable. *siiiigh* what can I say, this chapter was necessary plot development. Well, there'll be zombies in the next one. ^_^; ~Chapter Five~ I was already regretting my decision to accompany Arisugawa-kun. There was nothing about my surroundings that suggested a reason for my uneasiness. It could have been any street in the outlying residential areas of Tokyo; the street was pleasant, bordered by a shoulder-high wall and house after small, neat house set back in their yards. The branches of trees, leaves beginning to unfurl in scattered splashes of sun-gilt green, made a harsh ocean around the tiled rooftops. A few houses down this street, the gate of a shrine interrupted the stone wall. Squinting, I made out the kanji on the plate at its center. 'Togakushi.' Hidden Sword. I'd never heard of it; I wondered if it had any special meaning. Arisugawa-kun, checking nameplates, came to a stop in front of the shrine. "Hey, Subaru-san, this is it!" he called happily back. I muttered something, and lengthened my stride to catch up with the irrepressible teenager. Of course the boy we were looking for lived at a shrine. It just wouldn't be the same if he stayed in, say, a normal house like the dozens on this block. Sometimes I wonder if my sister was right when she insisted my life was just like a shoujo manga... I frowned as I drew closer to the shrine. There was something very familiar about it, although I'd never been here before in my life. It was the aura. Something about this place resonated with me-- And then I had it. Death magic had been worked in this place. And it was strong--although the traces were worn so badly that I had barely recognized them. A long time ago, then, but the stones still hadn't forgotten. Arisugawa-kun gave me a weird look. I blinked, and realized that I had frozen a few steps from the gate. Ah well. I gave Arisugawa-kun a cool everything's-all-right-here-why-are-you-looking-at-me-like-that? expression and went through the gate. Even in here, the traces were hardly noticeable. It was so perfect that I wondered whether someone had deliberately hidden the remnants of that old spell. Maybe it wasn't a spell at all. I followed Arisugawa-kun to the right, up to the door of a two-story house, lost in thought. He knocked; I hung back and tried to sort out my confusion. Could it be another necromancer? But I'd met other necromancers and none of them had given me this eerie feeling. Someone inside called, "Coming!" After a moment, the door opened. The boy who'd opened it stared at us. He was tall, not exactly *towering* over Arisugawa-san and I, but not too far from it. I looked up at him. It's really hard to be authoritative with someone ten centimeters taller glowering at you. Arisugawa took a bouncy step forward, and said, "Hi! I'm Arisugawa Sorata--you can call me Sora-chan--and this is Sumeragi Subaru-san. Is there anyone living at this house who's--oh, about this tall, big purple eyes?" He waved vaguely at the level of his chin to indicate height. The boy's eyes went dark with anger, and he took a menacing step towards us. "Are you the ones who attacked Kamui?" he demanded. Arisugawa-kun's mouth dropped open. "HUH?!" "Who's Kamui?" I asked for both of us. The boy looked from one to the other, and his righteous anger deflated slightly. A little of the tenseness slipped out of the atmosphere, and that's when I put two and two together. This boy was the source of the power I had felt outside. I was shocked enough that my curiosity overcame my sense of propriety. "What are you?!" I demanded, then stopped. "Excuse my rudeness," I added, embarrassed. There was an uncomfortable pause. "Please come inside," the boy sighed. --- "It's a good thing that it's Sunday," the boy muttered, showing us to a couch. "Or we'd all have been at school for another hour. Please sit down," he added, belatedly polite. I sat on the edge of the couch. I was still embarrassed by my outburst, but the boy seemed to have taken it in stride. He took a seat across the low table. "My name is Monou Fuuma," he said, and paused. "Oniichan?" a pale, pretty girl asked, drifting into the room. "Who are these people? You didn't tell me we had guests." I wouldn't have believed the transformation if I hadn't been watching. It took Fuuma about half a second to go from lingering menace to brotherly affection. "Kotori!" he said, looking slightly guilty. "These are Arisugawa Sorata-kun and Sumeragi Subaru-san. They're looking for Kamui." "Oh!" she said, one hand fluttering birdlike to cover her mouth. "Pleased to meet you. Kamui-chan's just woken up, I came down to tell you that. Do you want to talk to him?" "Wow," Arisugawa-kun muttered under his breath, staring appreciatively at Kotori. "What a babe..." I coughed. "Yes, we would like to speak with Kamui-san, if he is well enough..." If he'd been attacked, it had probably been the vampires, and very few people got away from an encounter like that with minor wounds. Fuuma gave both of us a very effective death glare as we followed the petite girl up the stairs. I had the feeling he still didn't trust our intentions. Either that, or he had overheard Arisugawa-kun's comment about his sister. Kotori pushed open a door and turned to invite us in. I stepped into the room, and stopped short. I'd thought that Fuuma had an effective glare of death, but the glare that this boy gave Arisugawa-kun and me was practically fatal. Glare or no, though, he was obviously the person Hinoto was looking for. How many people can there be in Japan with *purple* eyes? "Who the hell are you?" he spat at us, sitting up. Suddenly, he winced, and fell back into the pillow. Kotori was at his side in a heartbeat. "Be careful, Kamui-chan!" she scolded. Kamui ignored her. "Well?" he snapped, staring at me. "I'm Arisugawa Sorata, call me Sora-chan," Arisugawa-kun announced. "This is Sumeragi Subaru-san. Nice to meet you, Kamui- chan." The boy gave him an even more homicidal glare. "My name is Shirou Kamui, and I don't believe we've met. Don't be so familiar." Arisugawa-kun laughed a little nervously. "...No sense of humor... Well, Shirou-kun, we needed to talk with you." He gave Kamui a serious look. "There's a story we need to tell you... about your destiny." Kamui glared. "You're talking. So get to the point." "Alone?" Arisugawa-kun suggested hopefully. Fuuma leaned against the wall, arms folded. He didn't look like he planned to go anywhere. Kotori fluttered like the bird she was named after. "Oh, um," she said, wringing her hands. "I'll just go get you some, uh, snacks? All right?" And she was gone. "Snacks?" I murmured. Fuuma glared, and I wisely decided to keep my mouth shut. Arisugawa-kun started paraphrasing Hinoto's speech about the danger of the band of power-hungry vampires that wanted to take over the world. I tuned it out, having heard it before, and stared at Fuuma. He didn't look like he was listening either. He looked, in fact, ready to tear both our throats out if we made the slightest wrong move. Fading back from Arisugawa, who was busy failing to convince Kamui (wild arm gestures and florid adjectives flying everywhere), I turned to the tall high-school student. "You never did answer my question," I said. He frowned at me. I repeated, "What are you?" His lips thinned, and he glanced away. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I sighed, slightly annoyed, and gave up for the moment. I doubted I'd be able to get any more information than that out of him. But I was truly "Whaaaaat?!" Arisugawa-kun yelled, and we both looked over at him. "I *said*," Kamui repeated shortly, "'who cares?' I don't believe in this mystical fate crap and I *certainly* don't believe that it has anything to do with *me*. And even if what you said is true and I'm being hunted down by vampires so that I can help them destroy the world--" the sarcasm was impressive; I considered taking notes-- "why exactly should I care? If they want my power they aren't going to kill me." Arisugawa-kun, train of thought badly derailed, blinked several times. I cleared my throat. After all, I wasn't counting myself on Hinoto's side anymore, but I agreed with Arisugawa-kun on one thing. The boy was in danger. And I had no intention of leaving anyone for the vampires. "Maybe you're safe," I said flatly, "but does that mean that the people *around* you are?" Fuuma gave me a strange look, but didn't say anything. Kamui opened his mouth. From the expression on his face, he intended to make some kind of unpleasant retort. He was interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open. Kotori entered, balancing a few bowls with a brilliant but nervous smile plastered across her face. "Ah, I got some snacks," she said, putting the bowls down neatly. "If you want anything, that is, I mean..." Arisugawa-kun practically dived for his, giving Kotori a wide grin. "Hey, these are great," he added, mouth already full. "Someone's gonna marry you just for your cooking, Miss." "You're too kind," Kotori said, blushing. I kept an eye on Kamui. There was something akin to Awful Realization spreading over his face. He obviously hadn't thought that the girl and her brother could be in danger. "I could ward the house against vampires," I offered. Probably the house itself was safe because of its proximity to the shrine-- vampires weren't known for their love of spirituality--but it was much better to be overcautious than to be dead in your sleep. Kamui, still a little pale, sat up and glared at me. "I don't need your help," he snapped angrily. "I can protect myself and my friends without interference from you. Get out." I had the feeling that only the presence of Fuuma and Kotori (the latter was wide-eyed, with one hand over her mouth) kept Kamui from backing up his order by attacking us. Arisugawa-kun seemed oblivious to the currents of danger running through the room like trip-wires. Putting down his chopsticks, he exclaimed, "Hey, Kamui-kun, maybe you oughta think about that a little! I wouldn't like to go up against guys like *that* on *my*own--" Kamui obviously considered that some kind of insult. The aura of occult power in the room got so thick that I could barely breathe. "Arisugawa-kun," I said, "perhaps we *should* leave." He looked up with a protest, met my best forbidding glare, and folded. Something made me hesitate before leaving--probably my damned sense of duty kicking in at the worst possible time again. It's second in line after curiosity for probable cause of my death. And so I took one of my business cards (Sumeragi Subaru, exorcisms, vampire slaying and séances) out of my pocket and offered it to Kamui. "Please call me if you reconsider," I said. "You *are* in great danger." A little of the anger ebbed from his stance--amazing what courtesy will get you--and he took the card. I hoped that he wouldn't need it. But something told me that he would. --- Arisugawa-kun strolled right into Hinoto's paper-screened room, heedless. I stopped just outside, steeling my resolve. I still wasn't entirely sure that antagonizing the ancient master vampire was a good idea. Right then. Be annoyed, not nervous... I slid the door open and walked in. Hinoto turned wide scarlet eyes on me, seeming curious. ~Sumeragi- san, what is it?~ "You lied to me," I said. Something like surprise, or anger, flicked across her face and was gone so quickly that I wasn't sure I'd seen anything at all. "You told me Seishirou-san was working with your enemies." ~They aren't my enemies, they're the enemies of the entire human race,~ Hinoto said, but there was a little thread of nervousness in her mental voice. And she was obviously trying to change the subject. "Regardless. Seishirou-san is not working with them. I have no reason to continue helping you." Arisugawa-kun was giving me that disbelieving 'but don't you care about the future of the human race?' look again. I ignored him, glaring at the ancient vampire. ~I see what may be,~ Hinoto pointed out, acquiring an expression of concern that was almost certainly faked. ~I don't always see what already is. Sakurazuka-san will certainly become a member of my sister's clan, even if he has not yet done so.~ Dirty fighting, but she'd used this technique before. I was determined not to give in. "Hinoto-san, I don't believe you." One of her twin attendants made a sharp move in my direction, looking homicidal, but Hinoto waved her back. ~It is the truth.~ "Respectfully, Hinoto-san, you have given me little reason to believe you and told me *nothing* of substance. Sayonara." I bowed, punctiliously, and escaped the room before Hinoto could respond or the twin attendants could kill me. Not, perhaps, the most graceful exit. But what the hell--it worked. --- Bone-deep exhaustion was beginning to set in by the time I made it back to my apartment. I fumbled for my keys left-handed, pulled them out and managed to unlock the door with only a few false starts. It swung open, and I walked in, pulling my coat off. There was a strange smell in the single room. I froze. It was all too familiar. Sakura petals. Sweet, cloying, with the nearly unnoticeable copper- meat blood tang underneath. I could actually feel the blood draining from my cheeks. Although I knew that he could break the wards on my apartment if he wanted, I was certain that no vampire could enter a private residence without specific permission from someone who lived there. And I didn't recall giving Seishirou-san anything resembling permission. I scanned the room, suddenly feeling extremely paranoid. Everything looked the same--Seishirou-san obviously wasn't *still* here, I would have noticed that no matter how tired I was. But... there was that scent on the air... Suddenly my gaze fell on a new addition to my table. Something rather spiky. I reached behind myself, awkwardly, and hit the light switch. The pitiless yellow light struck the object, and form and color leapt out at me. *Flowers*. A broken branch covered in white, frothy blooms--at least it wasn't sakura. Nevertheless, several synapses fried before I decided I wasn't going to think about what this meant. I walked slowly closer, weighing the There was a note. With very familiar calligraphic handwriting on the front. Nervously, I crossed to the table and picked up the note, opening its neat creases. A short message. "Subaru-kun" --I wish he'd drop the suffix, I'm twenty-five-- "I do hope you're recovering. I won't be meeting you for a few nights" --he thinks that's unwelcome news?! Okay... maybe a little... "since I'm busy with my new allies. Sorry." ...Allies? The word slowly percolated. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at Hinoto. It looked like she had been telling the truth. Suddenly, the stiff paper stirred in my hand and began to crumble. Sakura petals whirled away from the paper, their silky, cold kisses brushing my fingers. I dropped it, gasping something unprintable, then stood back and watched as the branch of blossoms met the same fate. Somehow, even though my window was closed, locked, and the curtains were shut, a breeze whirled the petals away. They melted somehow; I didn't see any disappear, but there were fewer every minute, until they were all gone. Except for the single petal resting on the table. An illusion, of course. I reached down and picked it up, gently. He hadn't actually entered my apartment. My hand clenched, crushing the petal, but when I opened it there was nothing there.</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>