Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Smoke and Mirrors ❯ The End ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note: Finally! I hope people didn't give up hope in all this time, but the Soul Sucking Fic of Doom is back and taking on a new dimension. S&M is dedicated to Etrangere and GrayMM, for their friendship and support, and thanks are again extended to Asha (Larania Drake) and Mars (The Hanged Man), for giving me the original plot bunny as well as various other distractions and help and...it's a long list, so we'll just go with this. ^_~ I love you guys.

And, of course, to everyone who read and reviewed Lost Souls before. This fic would not be what it is without each of you supporting me. Thank you.

I. The End

Sakurazuka Seishirou did not expect to be in the hospital. He didn't expect to be here at all, and he wasn't sure what to do with himself now that he was. He didn't expect to be staring at the darkened ceiling at three in the morning wondering how he would find time to slip away and attend to the needs of his Tree.

And, he really didn't expect these insomniac musings to be interrupted by the arrival of Kamui.

No, not the young and innocent one who seemed to have latched on to Subaru as a big brother figure the last few months. The dark and sinister one that granted your darkest wishes and still found time to enjoy a cone of ice cream between friends. Or, well, colleagues. Seishirou didn't think he really had any friends--not even Subaru, who was his lover and closest companion. Hokuto had been his friend, in a way. Or, at least, the closest he'd had.

He should probably be disturbed by that thought.

"Your Wish has changed," the Kamui formerly known as Fuuma said, sitting at the foot of the bed casually.

Seishirou almost shrugged, but just thinking about it made his shoulder hurt. "I wouldn't suppose it has anything to do with a cigarette and getting the hell out of here, would it?"

Kamui laughed. "Tut, tut, you should know by now that a want is not the same as a Wish."

"It's a very strong want," Seishirou said, closing his eyes and leaning back into his pillow.

"Do you even know what your wish is?"

Seishirou frowned, opening his eyes slowly to look at the teenager with a wary look. "I should be dead, but instead I'm in a hospital and on so many drugs it's amazing I remember my own name. You want to talk deeper philosophy and obscure motivations while I'm in this condition? I'm surprised I'm even awake."

Kamui laughed. "No, I didn't think you would know yet. I thought you should know that it has changed though. Now you've got something to dwell on in the middle of the night instead of wanting that next cigarette."

"I don't think it will be 'instead of.'"

Kamui just smiled knowingly.

"Has anyone told you lately that you're a smug bastard?" Seishirou asked in a weary but slightly amused tone.

"Not since the last time you said it," Kamui replied in an even more amused tone. "If you died, I think I might miss it."

"Just tell Subaru I wanted him to. He'd do it."

"He's too polite. It might be amusing the first couple of times if he forced himself to actually say it, but after a while..." He waved his hand in the air theatrically to show how old it would get. "Nobody can be quite the thorn in my side that you are, Seishirou-san."

Seishirou just leaned back into the pillow, ignoring the barb. "I could come up with some new things to call you," he said, closing his eyes.

"To think this is how you treat your Kamui. Shameful."

"What are you going to do about it? Kill me?"

Kamui laughed. "Amusing, but no."

"Because it goes against my Wish?"

"Because I have other uses for you, Sakurazukamori."

The way the words were said gave Seishirou reason to pause, thoughtful. It wasn't the usual light banter they shared. It was the voice of Kamui. Not words exchanged between equals, colleagues, companions...this was the voice of destiny.

"Not for a while, you won't." Seishirou closed his eyes, frowning, wondering why he wasn't asleep. He knew how many drugs he was on. He could feel them fighting through his system, because he had to be aware of them. He had to let them work, or the Tree's magic would banish them as a defensive measure. It had been the same when he'd lost his eye.

It was something that had saved his life a couple of times as well.

"Soon enough," came the soft reply. "I'll be seeing you"

Seishirou opened his mouth to reply--

--and woke up.

Damn it. If I was dreaming, why did I still have to hurt so much?

There was, of course, no answer.

There was only the startled gasp of the young man in the room with him. Kamui. The other one. Subaru's friend.

Seishirou felt his head start throbbing, and decided to hell with trying to be proper. He dealt with them too much to play this game, especially within the confines of his own consciousness. He was in too much pain to care.

"I'll tell Subaru you're awake."

Kamui ran from the room quickly, and Seishirou blinked after him weakly. Between the drugs and the pain he couldn't think clearly, except to wonder that it was that boy holding vigil at that moment. Coincidence, surely.

He leaned back to close his eyes until Subaru returned.