Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction / X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimers as per previous chapters

Chapter 6

It was much later, past midnight, when Subaru's eyes snapped open and his brow furrowed. Sleep had failed to come to him while he tossed and turned on the bed. He was seized by the urge to look once again at the sketch that Hokuto had brought home, which had sent them traipsing all over town that evening.

Subaru was suddenly quite certain that whatever he was missing was in that picture.

It wasn't difficult to slip out of bed and walk to the door unnoticed; Subaru had always been quiet, and Hokuto slept quite soundly. The Sumeragi smiled at the image of his sister sprawled across the bed before slipping through the door into the sitting room.

The sketch was neatly laid out on the coffee table. Subaru squinted at it, and then turned on a nearby lamp.

It looked exactly the same as it had that afternoon-black and white, the buildings and trees and people all had sharp, crisp edges, rather like a photographic image. It was a representation of what had been there when the artist had drawn it.

Except for one element.

Subaru's eyes narrowed as they lit upon the slim, ethereal figure clinging to a post and staring off after someone.

It was the same "ghost" he'd seen earlier that evening. Everything was beginning to click into place.

Absently, Subaru wondered if he'd be able to dress without disturbing Hokuto or Seishirou-san. This was something that he needed to deal with alone.

And right now.

An alarmed expression flittered across Subaru's face when he remembered the sketches he'd seen on Ajibana Naosuke's table. Oh no! If what he was thinking was true, then…

Subaru quickly shook his head to set the thought aside. He simply had to get to the artist quickly before it was too late.

A dark silhouette moved within the shadows, watching the Sumeragi as he did his best to sneak from the suite. It was as he had expected-- Subaru had figured things out, and as usual, the young onmyouji couldn't wait. And as usual, he was thinking of fixing things by himself.

Seishirou's lips turned up in a thin smile. He was sure this evening was going to prove amusing.

As he hurried through the hallways of the resort, Subaru's thoughts flew at top speed as he did his best to process all the bits of information that he had. The Sumeragi had never encountered someone possessing such magic before and he was very curious of how it could work. He was so preoccupied that he remained blissfully unaware of the dark shape shadowing him, moving swiftly from vantage point to vantage point in total silence.

It wasn't long before he was back at the front door to Ajibana Naosuke's house. Pulling his coat tighter around him as he shivered in the freezing night air, he knocked on the door.

He was surprised when a fully dressed Ajibana answered the door. He'd been worried the man was already in bed

"I'm so sorry to bother you at this hour, but I feel I must talk to you," Subaru said, bowing with profuse apology. "May I come in please?"

Ajibana eyed the young man carefully. Of the trio that he'd encountered today, Sumeragi Subaru was the last one that he would expect to show up at his front door. Thinking quickly, the artist reached a decision. Nodding, he stepped back and allowed the unassuming young onmyouji in.

He could tell by the cool, professional look in Subaru's eyes that he'd underestimated him by assuming that his older friend would be the one to confront him. It had been an understandable guess. In Ajibana's opinion, that Sakurazuka-san was obviously very protective of his teenaged friend, and also very smart. He had probably seen through what Ajibana had been doing.

Now the artist was forced to revised his assessment of Subaru. The Sumeragi was clearly not lacking in intelligence either.

The artist inclined his head and waved at Subaru to help himself to a chair. "I won't insult your intelligence by asking why you're here tonight, Sumeragi-san. I think we are both well aware of the reason."

Subaru's eyes widened slightly. He was surprised that Ajibana was so direct about the situation. He had been expecting, considering the artist's methods, at least some denial. Since he wasn't denying anything, Subaru launched into the question on his mind.

"Why are you doing this, Ajibana-san? Don't you realize that with what you're doing-you could kill someone!"

"It's unlikely that it would come to that, Sumeragi-san; I've been very careful." He turned and stared out the large picture window. The moon was full, and the snow on the slopes sparkled in the light, while the ski lift cast a shadow across the mountainside. "But even if it had caused the death of someone, it would have been a necessary sacrifice.

"I think that the destruction of something so beautiful for the sake of humans is wrong."

Subaru considered Ajibana's words carefully before he replied. "That's true, that the destruction of nature is a tragedy, Ajibana-san, but don't you think that the destruction of humans for the sake of that nature is equally tragic? Besides," he noted as he came to stand beside the misguided artist. "Don't you think the mountain is still beautiful now?"

"It's not the same," said Ajibana Naosuke flatly.

"No," said Subaru softly. "But nothing ever remains the same." It was the truth as he saw it. Nature was ever changing and adapting, even if it was a process humans couldn't comprehend because it took far too much time for it to be obvious.

Naosuke stood silently for a moment, and then snorted softly, obviously disbelieving Subaru's words. His mouth curved into a bitter, angry smile.

"I don't know that you want to stand there, Sumeragi-san."

"What do you mean, Ajibana-san?" The artist's tone alarmed Subaru

The artist shrugged. "I finished one last canvas after you and your friends left earlier tonight." He smiled at Subaru, and it was a smile that was disturbingly happy. "It's the one leaning against the wall."

Subaru turned to look, and froze.

It was a painting of violent natural beauty, painted with Ajibana's customary bold strokes and colors, and it depicted destruction in motion in a way Subaru wouldn't have thought a two-dimensional piece of art would have been able to.

It was a painting of an avalanche, and Ajibana's cottage lay directly in its path.

Subaru did a double take. No, not only was the cottage in the path of the avalanche, the entire ski resort was depicted as being swept away in the masses of falling snow and ice. It was a horrific scene, strangely captured in frozen stillness, like a photograph for its realism but all the more frightening for the fact that Ajibana didn't paint any people into it.

The gasp from the Sumeragi rang eerily loud through the room. "No, you can't do this! An avalanche on the ski resort will kill hundreds of people, no thousands!"

Ajibana shrugged. "That's a risk they took when they came here. The mountain is a wild place. It shouldn't be harnessed for man's enjoyment. This way, everything will be clean again when it's over."

Subaru reached out an unsteady hand as if to stop him, although he couldn't think of an immediate way to impede Ajibana from triggering his magic. "But you'll die!"

Ajibana smiled at him bitterly, his lips a thin line pressed tightly together. "That's my sacrifice for mankind defiling this place. I am but one person with some small ability. My loss shall be of no import," he said fatalistically.

Subaru was too horrified to reply, and simply stared as Ajibana advanced on the painting. The magic was in the artist's hands-Subaru could see the power gathering between the man's fingertips.

"I suppose," Ajibana said with a bright smile on his face, "that you'd like to know how this works. Intellectually speaking, of course."

Subaru remained silent, too shocked by Ajibana's strange devotion.

"I first noticed it when I was a little boy," the artist continued, "when I had first begun to draw.

"In those days, I was drawing portraits of my stuffed animals. My favorite was a stuffed dog named Izumi."

Ajibana cast an amused glance at the green-eyed teenager standing stock-still beside the painting. He was just so young. "Did you have any stuffed animals, Sumeragi-san? Of course you did, everyone did.

"It was a long time ago, but I remember that I wished that Izumi was alive, and I remember brushing my fingers across his picture. And then he was alive."

Ajibana stared fondly off into the distance. "I miss Izumi. Would you like to meet him?"

Subaru was quite certain now that the events of the evening had sent Ajibana Naosuke completely over the edge. "Meet him?" he squeaked, his eyes darting wildly around the room as if expecting a stuff toy to come bouncing out.

"Of course," smiled Ajibana. His gaze skimmed about the room, finally lighting upon a small scrap of sketch paper. He snatched it up. "Now let's see," he murmured to himself. "Izumi had floppy ears and curly fur, and his nose was a little short…it's pretty rough, but that's what he looked like." The artist poked the pencil back in his ponytail, and arched his fingers, brushing them lightly across the paper, and muttering under his breath.

Before Subaru could blink, he heard barking from behind him, and a ball of golden fur launched itself at Ajibana.

"Izumi-chan!" proclaimed the artist. "Oh, I missed you, too." He smiled over the puppy's head at Subaru. "But why don't you keep Sumeragi-san company?"

On cue, the dog ran over to Subaru, who absently patted him on the head. Subaru could feel the rough strands of the dog's fur beneath his silk gloves and the warmth of its body's heat. It was entirely life-like.

"Good boy. Nao-kun has work to do now." The artist straightened away from his sketchpad.

"No!" said Subaru, jumping in front of the painting and blocking Ajibana's path. "I can't let you do this."

"Sumeragi-san," began the artist sadly. "This is what I have to do. Can't you understand that?"

Subaru's eyes narrowed and darkened, and he shook his head. "No."

"That's a shame," said Ajibana in reply, his brown eyes freezing over. "Now you're in my way.

"If you're not going to move, then I'll have to resort to more drastic measures." As fast as lightning, he grabbed a small statue from a stand and clubbed Subaru on the side of the head. The young man, caught off guard, fell to the floor, where his skull slammed against the tatami. "I really didn't want to do that, you know, Sumeragi-san," he noted sadly. The young onmyouji lay unmoving.

"And it was certainly a resounding mistake on your part," said a deep and familiar voice from behind him.

Ajibana whirled to hear the voice. "You! How did you get in?" he demanded in alarm of the dark form before him.

The Sakurazukamori stepped forward into the light. He looked like a salaryman in his dark suit and long black coat. But no salaryman had that dangerous aura about him or that expression on his face. It was the implacable expression of a hunter confronting his quarry. There was no mercy in his eyes. He was quite different from the alert but mild mannered man who had visited earlier this evening.

"I'm afraid I can't let you complete your plans," Seishirou said and casually waved a hand.

Ajibana lurched at his painting but before his fingertips could come into contact with it, the canvas sparked and exploded in a ball of fire. The young artist screamed and stumbled back in horror, watching his beautiful creation rapidly reduce to ashes.

"That's what Subaru-kun should have done," Seishirou said, almost to himself. "He's really too kind-hearted."

"You! You're not normal," Ajibana gasped, seeing the stranger in a whole new light. Watching Seishirou closely, he came to a sudden conclusion. "Why are you doing this? You don't care about what happens to people at all!"

The Sakurazukamori nodded. "That's right. I don't. But I couldn't have you hurting Subaru-kun." He bent down and gathered the young Sumeragi into his arms, cradling him almost tenderly.

"You could have destroyed the resort and I wouldn't have stopped you. But Subaru-kun had to get himself involved. And now that you've seen me, you can't be allowed to continue," Seishirou informed him, without the slightest trace of emotion. It was as if pronouncing the death sentence on the artist was the same as telling him that the sun would rise tomorrow.

"Who are you?" asked the artist, his growing terror showing clearly on his face as he attempted to back away.

"I am the Sakurazukamori," Seishirou said, still wearing the same amused smile. "Would it comfort you to know that one day, the earth itself will rise up and call for her defenders who will destroy all of humanity? It's just not the right time yet." Seishirou's smile twisted ironically.

Ajibana's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? Such a thing is impossible." He snorted. "I am the only one who cares enough about the Earth to make this kind of sacrifice."

"One thing you should remember," said Seishirou as he carefully set his charge down in a convenient easy chair, "is that there are always more people who are exactly like you, and they all think they are different." He smiled as he raised his arm, dark power crackling between his fingertips. "Aren't you glad you learned the truth before you die?"

Ajibana said nothing in reply. But then, he didn't get another opportunity to speak. His body slumped and he fell bonelessly backwards into a heap.

Seishirou smiled down at his handiwork, reveling in a brief moment of job satisfaction, before turning back towards the still-unconscious Sumeragi.

"I should take you home, Subaru-kun, before your sister awakes and finds us both missing," he murmured. "She would probably come to quite a misleading conclusion." The smirk spread on Seishirou's face.

He trailed a gloved fingertip down Subaru's pale face, leaving a streak of bright red blood in its wake. The contrast was amazing.

"You always do look so beautiful in red, Subaru-kun," he said as he picked up the unconscious teenager and walked out of the cottage. He sent a flicker of his magic behind him and the house promptly burst into a flaming inferno. Seishirou didn't even bother to look back as he strolled down the driveway. He was too preoccupied with the body in his arms.

"You should wear red all the time. But you know," the Sakurazukamori continued conversationally to his unconscious opposing star, "you really must learn to use all that power you have seething inside you.

"You're cute, Subaru-kun, but you'll never win this bet unless you start doing something a little more interesting."

Notes:

Ajibana's magic ability is somewhat along the lines of what Watari (from Yami no Matsuei) has - that is to draw a picture and give life to it. Hope it wasn't too strange a concept for anyone to believe.

Xan: This really was my favorite part with Sei-chan being all Sakurazukamori and killing anyone who dares harm his Subaru-kun. And needless to say, it wouldn't be a Tokyo Babylon fic to me without some blood smearing done on Subaru's face by Seishirou. ^__^