Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Lost Souls ❯ XIV ( Chapter 14 )

Everyone had something to do the next evening. Subaru didn't inquire too deeply into what these things might be, because he didn't want to feel guilty about going off on his own for a few more rounds of deep thought. He decided to walk around Tokyo and try to bring more memories to the surface, but hours later he didn't have anything to show for it.

He planned to be out for as long as it took to either remember something or wear himself out enough to sleep...but this was not to be. He was just taking one step after another through the bizarrely similar yet alien neighborhoods he remembered. His steps faltered as a strange feeling came over him, like a pulling or a drawing, and he sensed a great deal of energy being gathered somewhere. He jumped to higher ground casually, and was somehow unsurprised to see a great, faintly green circular kekkai settle into place some distance away. He knew whose that had to be somehow. Yuzuriha. It just made sense that hers would be circular, though he didn't know how he jumped to that conclusion.

For a time he just watched, stunned. Somehow, the implications of meeting the other Dragons of Heaven had not quite sunk in. He had a vague idea that he'd lost his memory in a battle like this, and he'd seen the effects of the "earthquakes" as he'd wandered the city, but looking at this happening brought home a new dimension of reality to what was going on. These weren't just random friends Subaru had made over time. They were comrades in a war to determine the fate of the world. Even sweet little Yuzuriha, who appeared too slight to be any good in a fight--she had obvious immeasurable power to defeat those who stood against her. They all did. They all had to.

Subaru shook himself. This was a clear signal for battle, and all he was doing was standing on a random rooftop and gawking. He should be helping. He should be running to her side, just in case. Even as he came to that decision he saw the kekkai begin to crumble and fade.

"Yuzuriha-chan!"

He ran, leaping from building to building, using whatever he could to launch from, knowing that whatever had broken her...he would be too late. Whatever had happened, he was already too late to help her. He hoped someone else had been closer; that someone else had been able to get there, whatever happened. Maybe she was only injured. Maybe she was knocked unconscious. Sorata or Arashi would surely be by her side, or maybe one of the other adults like Aoki or Karen. Kamui would have hurried to her aid as well, so there was a chance...and Subaru had to believe in that chance.

Even as he had that thought though, he felt another gathering of power, and saw a tremendous explosion not far away. No kekkai was raised...why not? Who fought this time? If Subaru could not reach Yuzuriha in time, maybe he would be more help here. Maybe he could avert disaster this time.

The scene, when he arrived, was some twisted nightmare version of reality. Slabs of concrete had been ripped from the ground and tossed aside with titanic might and spectacular disregard for the surroundings. Blood seemed to stain everything, some of it in small dots of splashes, some in great streaks, and at one point he saw a great pool of it. Amidst the rubble a corpse was tossed carelessly. Its head stared unseeing in a direction that was almost looking at the body, and Subaru stared uneasily for a moment. This was only the starting point. The fight went on, moving onward and upward...and Subaru leapt quickly to see what he could do.

Upon the rooftop, Subaru froze in shock and horror. He only half-saw the reality of Kamui with his hand plunged into--through--the chest of the taller guy in front of him. Everything froze around them, capturing the absolute shock on all three faces.

...for a wild moment, Subaru thought he was seeing an image of himself beneath that accursed tree, dressed in his ceremonial robe, ready to face Seishirou-san one last time. It wasn't though. And, if it wasn't himself he saw, it could only be one person...

"...I won't let you kill Subaru!..."

"...You can't kill me, Hokuto..."

"...I know...but...there is one spell that only I can use..."

"...only you?..."

"...I want you to kill me..."

...his hand was like a knife, or a sword, cleanly plunged through her heart as he held her close in an embrace that Subaru almost envied...she called out Subaru's name as she died...smiled up at Seishirou through her pain...blood...so much blood...Hokuto's blood, everywhere, tinting everything red...staining the sakura petals a more brilliant shade of pink until that pink was all Subaru could see...Hokuto, limp, in his arms, and Seishirou was smiling sweetly right at him...looking right at him...

Subaru fell to his knees.

Time began again. Tears were falling down Kamui's face, and the person he'd just tried to kill had a faintly amused look on his face. It was an expression Subaru could so easily see Seishirou wearing...an expression so detached from concern for a simple thing like death or mere pain.... With a sickening slurp, the boy pulled Kamui's hand from his own body and held it over his heart. "This is the spot. Here." He pressed Kamui's hand harder over that spot, smearing blood in a bright patch like a target. Kamui's aim had been too high and a little far over...this new spot was only half stained with blood from the first wound. "You see? That's where you want to aim."

Kamui's eyes widened, growing blank, looking withdrawn. Subaru too did not know what to make of this. He shuddered, holding himself, trying not to be sick. He saw himself reflected in Kamui's eyes and wondered if he would do any better...no. He wasn't even the one involved and all he could do was stare.

"What's wrong? Go on..." he bent closer to Kamui, almost like a lover's embrace. "I'll die. One blow is all it takes."

Kamui's hand finally clenched in the t-shirt material, and he clung to the young man's chest desperately. "Why? Tell me!" His voice broke, and he took a great gasp of breath. "Fuuma...why?"

Subaru could see the brief look of sadness...of disappointment...upon Fuuma's face. Then, it was gone. His eyes became intense, dangerous, and Subaru found himself climbing back to his feet as he watched the next events unfold. Fuuma pulled Kamui into an even closer embrace, making a show of tasting the tears that fell down his face, wiping them from Kamui's cheeks so intimately and kindly.... "Chances like that don't come along every day," Fuuma admonished gently. "Pity to have wasted it."

Everything from that point happened in that chaos that turns events into something that happens "all at once." Fuuma tossed Kamui like a rag doll across the roof, pulling telekinetically at the structure to provide him with a nice surface to pin Kamui against. Subaru started impotently forward before he realized he could actually do something useful to help his friend and protect everything around them. It was a little belated on his part, but he concentrated everything he had into weaving the magic he was so familiar with into the great kekkai of the Dragons of Heaven, removing this place from the rest of the world carefully. It was a protective measure, but it was also a beacon to his allies and a battle cry. He'd just declared war upon this person, Fuuma, who so carelessly and ruthlessly handled Kamui.