X/1999 Fan Fiction ❯ Dusk an' Dawn ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Genre: Drama/Romance

Author: Kemis

Rating: R for adult themes as prostitution, rape, beating, suicide, drugs -'kay, I'm not /sure/ that there will be all of this stuff, 'cause the story isn't finished yet - and yaoi lemon scene (male/male sex).

Pairing: Many. SubaruxKamui (the main one - or so I hope), SeishiroxSubaru, FumaxKamui, maybe others, I dunno yet.

Disclaimers: The characters belong to the Clamp. I only play with them, but I'll render them, I promise. Maybe not quite whole (physically as well as psycologically), but I'll render them. And Hiromi belong to Tsukasa Hojo. No, this isn't a crossover. I simply needed an entreneuse. What can I say, maybe lately I'm too lazy to invent a character myself.

~*Dusk an' Dawn*~

Presented by Kemis

Chapter 1

Subaru Sumeragi was angrily walking in Tokyo's night streets, without even knowign where his feet were carrying him. He had left home after another fight with Seishiro and he didn't want to return, at least not anytime soon.

For some weeks things between them hadn't been so good. Seishiro had begun to come home later and later in the evening. They had discussed more than once about it but Seishiro kept on saying that it was only work. Subaru, even if doubtful, believed him, but then the calls began. At least three times in less than two days Seishiro had been called at the phone and if it was Subaru who answered they hung up without a word.

After the forth call Subaru grew tired of it and that evening he waited for his lover to return. When Seishiro came home, at 2 am, he was half drunk and he had somebody else's scent on himself, almost a woman's scent. Without waiting for an explanation, he slapped him and fled.

He felt his eyes sting because of the tears at the thought, but he dried them angrily, mentally kicking himself. Suddenly he noticed that he was in the red district. Normally he would have gone away as soon as possible, but that evening was different and it made him different. He wanted to drink until he was under the table and forgot Seishiro and his face. He resumed his walk, trying to decide what night club he would choose. There were so many lights and so many sign-boards.

One sign caught his attenion. In front of the entrance there were two powerful white headlights that turned toward the nightly sky, so they could be seen by everyone who looked up at the stars. The sign itself was written in big blue and purple letters, and over them there was a symbol which rapresented a black sun with purple rays. The club was called "Dusk an' Dawn".

He entered.

The place was tolerably furnished. Around the low and large tables there were boards and comfortable couches. The slightly yellow light was soffused and creating a sensual atmosphere, partially revived by the mirror ball which reflected the night club's symbol (the two-colored sun) on the walls and the floor. The volume was high enough to the music to be heard without disturbing the conversation.

The club was nearly full, nevetherless Subaru managed to find a table in one of the lonely corners of the big hall. He sat down on one of the couches - it was even more comfortable than what he originally had thought - and he had to wait only a few minutes for a waiter. The man gave him the drinks menu. Subaru read through it and ordered a Tequile Sunrise.

Three drinks and nearly an hour later he noted that the more he drank the more he thought about his fight with Seishiro and the words that had been said. His mood was as bad as ever, but he didn't stop drinking.

«Hey, guy, I'm going to sit at your table. Do you mind?»

Subaru raised his eyes and glared at the tall and blonde man who had spoken. «Yes, I mind.» he answered. When the man sat down all the same, he had to restrain the urge to strangle him.

«Don't worry, I'll stay here until they free a barstool at the counter.» the stranger tried to calm him down, seeing his glare. «This is the first time you come here, isnt' it? I'm Yuuto Kigai. And you?»

Subaru finished his drink and ordered another one, totally overriding the question.

«Judging from the way you're trying to drown yourself into a sea of tequila, I believe you've got a problem. What is it? Your girlfriend cheated on you?»

Subaru slammed the glass on the table, his fingers gripping it tightly. «It's none of your business.»

Yuto smiled. «But talking about a problem is the best way to find a solution. Maybe it's me that you don't trust.» Without waiting for an answer he turned around, searching for somebody. «Hey, Hiro-limbo, there's a terminal patient who needs your care!» he cried out, gesturing.

This time Subaru felt to have reached the edge. «Look, you stupid meddler, what...»

«Yuto-kun! What a pleasure to see you again so soon!» a young woman spoke, approaching them. The blond man kissed her hand.

«Your beauty is like a headlight in the night for me.» he said with a seductive smile, but the woman sighed with an half-smile.

«You'll never change, always a playboy. Like if I didn't know your purpose for comign back here every week!» Then she sat next to him and gazed at Subaru. «A newbie. Is he the terminal patient you were talking about?»

After observing her closely, Subaru noticed that she was not a woman. The make-up and the clothes were so accurate that probably only a trained eye like Subaru's would have noticed. He had worked for years in the world of haute couture.

«In person. Typical case of a broken heart to be drowned in alcohol.» Yuto's words reminded him that the two were speaking about him.

«Unfaithfulness?» the 'woman' asked.

«Mind your own buisness, understand? Both of you.» Subaru replied, enraged, but his answer was totally ignored.

«Do you want forget or to seek revenge?» the entreneuse tried again, but Yuto answered instead of Subaru.

«If he's here at the "Dusk an' Dawn", I think he wants revenge, Hiro-limbo.»

The drag-queen sighed pretending to be upset. «As usual, everybody run after the most brillant light, ignoring us poor entreneuses.» Then she smiled again. «But this is true, after all. None of us workers, male or female, entertainers or whores, can compare with Lucifer.»

«Lucifer?» Subaru asked surprised. «The christian fallen angel?» Both Yuto and Hiromi looked at him startled.

«You mean that you don't know anything about Lucifer?» Hiromi asked, her mouth hanging open.

«But then why are you here?»

«I want to drink.» Subaru answered matter-of-factly.

«Surprise, surprise, there's someone left who doesn't know a thing about our dear Lucifer.» Yuto commented, finishing his cocktail.

«Venus is both the first star to appears after the sunset and the last one to desappear in the morning. But in ancient times when it flared at dawn it was called Lucifer, like the biblical angel who in fact bore, before the Fall, the title of "Morning Star".» Hiromi explained.

«Wow, Hiro-limbo, I didn't know you're so smart.» Yuto noted.

«Working as an assistant of a famous mangaka teaches a lot of things.» she chuckled. Then she spoke again to Subaru. «To honor this ancient tradition, the first and most important star of our night club "Dusk an' Dawn" is called Lucifer.»

«And who would this famous 'first star' be?»

«He's a youth, a boy of such exquisite beauty.» Hiromi said. «He is the most precious and sought-after rarity of the "Dusk an' Dawn". Everybody who comes here wants him.»

«And the most treasured too.» Yuto added with a grimace. «Unfortunately he doesn't show himself frequently. He's the owner's lover, too, who obviously is not so happy to share him.»

Hiromi nodded. «Yes. Fuuma-kun is quite possessive. He keeps him segregated the whole day and only one other person besides himself can see him.» She sighed, with a sad expression. «It's really a pity. Lucifer is the kindest person I've ever met.»

«You never told me you know him.» Yuto exclaimed surprised.

«Of course, because I don't truly know him; I don't even know his real name. I only spoke with him once.» She stood silently while the waiter served her vodka. «One of the girls had set some drawing pins in my shoes and I put them on without noticing them. My feet were full of bloody cuts.» She gulped down some liquor. «I was trying to take out those pins, when he saw me. He went to fetch a first-aid kit and nursed me. He found me a taxi too.»

«Very kind of him, but what's your point?» Yuto asked.

«My point is that he had a client waiting for him upstairs!» Hiromi said, annoyed. She emptied the glass. «I don't know exactly how much, but I'm sure he paid dearly for helping me.»

«It's understandable.» Yuto mused. «Everybody knows - exept our friend here, as it seems - that you get only one shot with Lucifer. Who out of those that manage to have him for a night would want to waist time?»

His comment made Hitomi angry; she slammed the glass on the table almost breaking it. «You men are all the same! You're all selfish gits! You always take and never give anything!»

«Calm down, Hiro-limbo, calm down!» he said. «I meant that his beauty makesit very difficult to think coerently. A guy should be a corpse to not want him. I'm straight, but after I saw him, I can't help coming back and hoping to be chosen.»

«You mean that it's Lucifer who chooses his... clients and not viceversa?» Subaru asked, raising his eyes from his glass for the first time.

«Otherwhise there would be horrible brawls for him. And he has the first pick. If he chooses a man that already is with an entreneuse, she'll have to let him have his way.»

«I suppose he doesn't have many friends among his collegues.» Subaru noted, but Hiromi shoke her head.

«It's an honor to have been with a chosen.» the entreneuse said. «Besides, nobody here would dream of doing or saying something against him.»

«Fuuma Monou does not forgive.» Yuto chuckled.

«It's not for fear of Fuuma-kun!» she replied, giving him a glare. «It's Lucifer. When you look at him, you can't even think of harmign him whatsoever.»

«It's impossible not to fall at his feet.» Yuto whispered, with a vacuous stare. «When you look into his eyes you become his slave and you have no choice, you have to return to him, nothing exists anymore besides him.»

Subaru stared again at his glass. <They talk like I'm interested!> The only thing he could think of was to finish his fourth glass. He wanted to drink until he couldn't take any more.

He ignored Yuto and Hiromi's conversation, who seemed to have decided to stay at his table. Annoyed, he was beginning to think that he could move at the counter, when all the lights in the room went off as well as the music. <A blackout?>

«Lucifer is arriving.» Yuto's excited voice told him what was happening.

Three little searchlights turned on, enlightening a door closed by heavy blue velvet curtains. The entire room full of people was dead silent. The drapes were budged off and the golden-eyed man whom Subaru had identified as the owner of the night club entered. For some long moments he stood still, glaring around.

Totally uninterested, Subaru returned to his drink.

Finally the owner of the "Dusk an' Dawn" shifted aside, showing the lithe form that until that moment he had covered behind his shoulders from the crowd's hungry stares. Lucifer made some steps forwards, letting the searchlight entirely lighten him. Admired whispers rose everywhere in the club.

«Let's go, Hiro-limbo.» Yuto murmured. «We're too far.» Without any more words the two left. Subaru sighed in relief, glad to be finally left alone.

Suddenly more silence, when Lucifer began to walk among the tables, searching for a partner for the evening. The crowd parted before him like in front of a god, while everyone held their breath hoping to be the chosen one. The seconds seemed to last hours as hundred pairs of eyes watched the youth's every move.

«May I sit here with you?» The gentle voice which asked that question made Subaru rise his head and his eyes locked with big and intense purple-colored ones.

The man needed some time to understand that the famous Lucifer was before him and that he was the lucky - or so it seemed - chosen one. Not only. He noted that everyone were staring at him waiting for his answer.

His first urge was to say no because he wanted to be alone, but the more he looked in those purple eyes and the more that impulse faded away.

He nodded.

Instantly the searchlights turned off replaced by the ordinary lighting and the music resumed. The boy smiled slightly and sat on the other couch in front of Subaru.

At times, in the most improbabile moments, you have an epiphany and you suddenly feel like your deed, whatever it may be, will define your existence.

Subaru, staring at the youth, felt that sensation. He suddely was sure that when he had accepted that implicit invitation his future would have changed irreparably.

Destiny, unsparing, soon would prove that his foreboding was right.

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Yay! I've finished with the first chapter! And now I want to thank someone. First of all, my beta-reader: what would I have done without you, Roxanne? Probably, only a lot of mistakes. Grazie!^^ And last but not least my dearest nee-san Sori. When my life sucks and I'm falling to pieces, she's there to put me together. Thanks, sis, I love you! ^_^

And please, PLEASE, give me some review! I need to know if I should translate the following chapters - I've written only four parts of this story and I'm not even near the end, *sigh* - or if I shouldn't bother. So, R&R. Please?