X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Après ❯ Ayame ( Chapter 1 )

*Disclaimer* Subaru, Seishirou and any other X characters in this fic are ©CLAMP. I do not own them. I DO, however, own Ayame Sakurazuka. Oh, and fuck the canon, Seishirou's still alive in this.

I had just finished my first lemon fic, when Aquaria (my muse) gave me this idea. I thought it was okay and decided to write it. Unlike my `Finding Myself Here', which is the prequel to this story, this is NOT in first person perspective. Mostly because this is going to be LONG!!

Part One

It had been a year since the Promised Day. Subaru opened his eyes and smiled to see Seishirou still asleep next to him. He brushed some loose strands of hair from his lover's face. The older man moaned and rolled over in his sleep. Subaru laughed lightly.

Subaru loved Sundays. It was the one day of the week that he got to spend the entire day with Seishirou. Every other day, Seishirou spend the majority of the day working. And when they did see each other during the week, it was only for a short time.

Ever since after the Promised Day, the two of them had begun living together. Subaru could no longer deny the love he had for the Sakurazukamori, and he was beginning to forgive Seishirou for what had happened now ten years ago.

The phone rang and Subaru got out of bed to answer it. Pulling a robe on over his boxers and T-shirt, he walked into the sitting room and picked the phone up from the cradle.

"Sumeragi desu."

"Ano...Is Sakurazuka Seishirou there?" a voice asked.

Subaru was a bit taken aback. The voice belonged to a girl who sounded as though she was no more than a teenager. What would a teenage girl want with Seishirou?

"Hai," Subaru answered. "Just a moment."

"Arigatou."

Subaru walked back into the bedroom and gently shook Seishirou awake. Seishirou moaned and kept his eyes closed.

"Seishirou-san," Subaru said. "There's a phone call for you."

"Who is it?" Seishirou asked, his eyes still shut.

"I don't know. She didn't tell me her name."

Seishirou groaned and got up. Subaru followed him back into the sitting room, then headed into the kitchen to start breakfast. As he cooked, he listened as Seishirou talked to the girl on the phone.

"Sakurazuka desu...............Who?...Ayame?......Yes, that's what my mother told me my father's name was.....No, I don't think I have......."

Seishirou suddenly coughed, as though he was choking on air. "Excuse me?!...My NIECE?!"

Subaru was surprised. Seishirou had a niece? This was very unexpected.

"No, no...I'll be there. ......2:00? Yeah, I can make it then..." Seishirou continued. "Hai...Very well then...Jaa."

Subaru quickly went back to making breakfast as Seishirou hung up the phone. Seishirou came into the kitchen, pulling a cigarette out of the pack they kept on the counter and lighting it.

"What was that about, Seishirou-san?" Subaru asked.

"My niece, apparently."

"You have a niece?"

"I guess so," Seishirou said, taking a long drag on the cigarette. "I'm surprised. I didn't know I even had siblings."

"It would come to a surprise, then, wouldn't it?"

Seishirou took another long drag on the cigarette, trying to calm his nerves. He didn't think it was possible for him to have a niece. Even if he did, how the hell had she found a way to contact him? He wasn't listed, so how would she have known who to call?

Seishirou stubbed out the cigarette when Subaru placed some breakfast in front of him. He picked up his chopsticks and poked at his rice.

"So," Subaru said. "What did she want?"

"She wanted to meet me at Tokyo Tower today at 2:00."

Subaru nodded. That would mean cutting their plans a bit short, but not by much. And he didn't really mind, if it meant that Seishirou would finally get the chance to meet a part of his family.

"So, you're going?"

"I told her I would," Seishirou said, taking a bite of the rice Subaru had fixed. "And I don't go back on my word."

"I know that, Seishirou-san."

"So, I guess we'll be cutting our date a bit short," Seishirou said. "I hope that doesn't offend you."

"I see you enough to make me happy, Seishirou," Subaru smiled. "I don't need to hoard you from your family."

Seishirou gave an involuntary twitch at the word family. Subaru chose to ignore it.

* * *

That afternoon, Seishirou headed for Tokyo Tower. Subaru had taken a taxi back to the apartment, leaving the Sakurazukamori to fulfill his promise to meet his niece. He had to admit, he was a bit nervous about meeting someone from his family. Not that he was going to let this show.

Taking the elevator up to the viewing platform, Seishirou prepared himself for the change that was about to occur in his life. A change named Sakurazuka Ayame.

The doors to the elevator opened and Seishirou stepped out. He looked around for the girl who had described herself as an average-height, teenager with mid-back length, raven hair kept in a neat braid.

Seishirou spotted the girl and walked over to her. She was looking out the window through a telescope and didn't notice him at first. She wore black denim shorts and a black tanktop. Her black boots had slight heels and reached to her knees. To top off the ensemble, she wore a trenchcoat made completely out of mesh.

"Ano...Sakurazuka Ayame?" Seishirou asked.

The girl turned. Her midnight blue eyes met his mismatched gold and white ones. She was a pretty young girl, about eighteen years of age. A silver inverted pentacle hung from a chain around her neck.

"That's me," the girl said. "You're Sakurazuka Seishirou, then?"

"Hai."

Ayame smiled. "Hi, Uncle Seishirou."

Seishirou gave the girl a small smile.

"I guess you're wondering why I wanted to meet you, huh?" Ayame asked, turning back to the telescope to find that her time had run out. "Damn. I like the view here, but it's so much trouble to keep adding yen to the machine. I should just bring my own pair of binoculars."

"Actually, I was wondering," Seishirou said. "Care to explain yourself?"

"Yeah, sure," Ayame replied. "But first, I want to get out of here. There are a lot of people coming in."

Seishirou looked around and saw that she was right. He turned back to her and nodded in agreement. The two of them left the tower and headed towards Ueno Park. It was a bit of a walk, but it gave Ayame time to tell Seishirou the purpose of their meeting.

"So, you see, Uncle Seishirou," Ayame said. "Technically, you're the Clan Head. But, you need an heir. Otherwise I become Clan Head. And I don't want that responsibility."

"I see."

"Grandfather asked me to talk to you about this, because he can't leave the house."

"And why can't he?" Seishirou asked.

"He's too ill," Ayame said, simply. "If he could leave the house, he would have been the one to meet you. He really wants to meet you, Uncle Seishirou. You are his son, after all."

"I was kicked out of the Clan with my mother. Why should he care?"

"You weren't kicked out," Ayame told him. "You're mistaken about that. Your mother left the Clan and took you with her."

"What are you saying?"

"Setsuka was bi-polar. And the Clan didn't think she was fit to take care of you. They were planning to have another of the women in the family, but Setsuka found out and left, taking you with her."

"You're telling me my mother was crazy?" Seishirou asked, a bit irritated at the girl's words. "Why should I believe you, when my mother told me otherwise?"

"You can believe what Grandmother Setsuka said, or you can take the word of the entire Clan, Uncle Seishirou."

Seishirou remained quiet for a second.

"Anyway," Ayame continued. "Back to the present situation, Uncle Seishirou. You need an heir. Because I don't want the responsibility of running a clan. I don't do responsibility well."

"You seem to be doing fine with the responsibility of telling me all this."

"Well, I did want the chance to meet my uncle."

"Uh, huh."

Ayame sighed. "Okay, fine. Leave me with a responsibility I can't handle. I'm sure you don't care. Unless Sumeragi-san can talk you into this."

"Subaru-kun can talk me into most things," Seishirou said. "But I think this is out of his league."

Ayame hung her head. "Fine."

"Out of curiosity," Seishirou began. "How did you know who to call to find me?"

"I know that you're living with the Sumeragi. I've seen you two together. And before you ask if that makes me upset that my uncle is living with the head of the Sumeragi's, it doesn't. I don't care."

"You seriously don't mind?"

"Not at all, Uncle Seishirou."

"That's good."

"My father, on the other hand, is extremely pissed off that his older brother is betraying the Clan," Ayame added.

"Then that's too bad for him," Seishirou told his niece. "He can kiss my ass."

Ayame laughed. "Yeah, I don't really appreciate Dad's opinion on most things, either. But then again, he's my father, so I can't argue."

The watch on Ayame's wrist beeped. She glanced at it then turned to her uncle.

"I have to go," she said. "I'm supposed to meet my mom back at Dad's place so she can take me home."

"Well, then you'd best go," Seishirou said. "Nice meeting you, Ayame-chan."

"Nice meeting you too, Uncle Seishirou."

* * *

Back at the Sakurazuka estate, Hiroshi Sakurazuka waited with his ex-wife, Mitsuko, for his daughter to return home. A few minutes passed, then a taxi pulled up outside the estate, and Ayame got out. The teenager walked over to her parents.

"Hi, Mom," she said.

"Hello, Ayame," Mitsuko replied. "I've got your stuff in the car. So tell your father good-bye and we can go."

Ayame did so, then went to get into her mother's car.

"Do you think she managed to talk her uncle into coming back into the Clan?" Mitsuko asked her former husband.

"Frankly, I don't give a damn about whether he comes back or not. He's a traitor," Hiroshi replied.

"Hiroshi, he's your brother," Mitsuko said. "Why can't you extend a loving hand to him?"

"I have no brother."

There was a honk of a horn. Mitsuko turned to see her daughter leaning over to reach the car horn.

"COME ON, MOM!!" Ayame called, impatiently. "I WANT TO GET HOME!"

"Coming, dear," Mitsuko called back. She turned to her ex-husband. "Well, I'll see you in a couple of weeks when I bring her back here."

"Hai."

With that, Mitsuko got in the car, started it, and drove off.

* * *

"How was it?" Subaru asked when Seishirou came in.

"Ayame's a nice girl," Seishirou replied.

"Really? What did she want?"

"She told me that I'm technically the Clan Head and need an heir, otherwise she becomes the next Clan Head, which is a responsibility she doesn't want."

"I see," Subaru said. "And how do they expect you to have an heir?"

"I don't know," Seishirou replied, sitting on the sofa next to Subaru.

Subaru snuggled closer to him, leaning his head on Seishirou's shoulder. Seishirou slipped his arm around his younger lover. The two sat there for a moment.

"Ayame says that my brother, her father, thinks I'm a traitor for loving you," Seishirou said, suddenly.

"Then that's too bad for him."

Seishirou laughed. "That's what I said."

"Seishirou?"

"Hai?"

"I love you."

Seishirou pulled Subaru closer. "I know."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well, that was the first installment. What did you think? I'm working on the next part right now, and it's well under way. Look forward to reading the next part.