Aftermath
By Karasu Yurei and Kouri Arashi
Part Seven
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Kamui looked around somewhat nervously as he went into Kakyou’s room. He was attempting to use crutches, which wasn’t going well since he had a sprained wrist along with the broken ankle. He hobbled into the room, propped his crutches against the wall, and eased himself into a chair.
“Hi,” he said, feeling dumb. “I suppose ‘how are you’ would be a stupid question.”
Kakyou didn’t twitch.
“Right,” Kamui said. He reached out and took one of Kakyou’s hands. “Want to let me in a little here, Kakyou?”
No response.
“Come on, I’m sure your scenery is much more interesting than this room,” Kamui said. “I just want to talk to you. Okay?”
The room around him began to fade into something else. Dizzy, Kamui closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was inside Kakyou’s Dreamscape. Kakyou was sitting on the edge of the bed, his legs dangling over the side. “Thank you for the compliment,” he said.
“No problem,” Kamui replied.
“What did you want?”
“Just to talk to you.”
Kakyou looked skeptical.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” Kamui said. “No one’s going to kill you, so you’re going to sit here and rot in this hospital room if you don’t do something useful soon.
“What else am I supposed to do?”
“You could try joining the rest of the living world.”
“The living world doesn’t interest me.”
“Why not?”
Kakyou considered. “There’s no one to talk to.”
“You’re talking to me, aren’t you? Is there any reason I have to go through all this whenever I want to have a conversation with you?”
“I can’t even sit up by myself,” Kakyou replied. “I’ve been like this too long.”
“So we’ll get you physical therapy. Stop making up excuses.”
“Where am I going to live?”
“With Nokoru, like the rest of us. He’s the richest man in Japan; I’m sure he can get you a physical therapist. He has his own zoo and his own hospital, for crying out loud.”
Kakyou hesitated. “Well . . .”
“You’re out of excuses, Kakyou.”
“Who says I need to justify it?”
Kamui sighed. “Okay, so we’ll come to visit you, and you’ll have to let us into your Dreamscape, or maybe we won’t come if you don’t want us to. Or maybe you could come with us, put a little effort into opening your eyes on occasion, and we’ll help you from there.”
Kakyou looked down and made himself admit it. “I’m not sure I can.”
“I know that feeling,” Kamui said. “If I can do this, so can you.”
Kakyou sighed. “Do I have to come back all at once, or can I do it a few hours a day for a while?”
Kamui grinned. “That’s reasonable.”
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“Thanks.” Subaru accepted the mug of tea Seishirou handed him. He was still poring over his books.
“It’s getting late,” Seishirou said. “Aren’t you tired?”
Subaru yawned and stretched, then glanced at the clock. It was just past midnight. “Yes, but this seems to require immediate attention.” He took a sip of the tea and looked down at the book again.
“Why don’t we go to bed?”
Subaru glanced up. “We?”
Seishirou sighed. “You’re welcome to the sofa if you really would rather.”
Subaru shrugged and turned a page, ducking the question. “Go to bed if you want. I want to finish this up. I’m almost at the end of this book.”
Seishirou looked at the pile of books Subaru hadn’t gone through yet. “And you will go to bed when you’re finished with this book, correct?”
Subaru glanced over at the same pile. “There’s a lot left,” was all he said.
Seishirou reached over and took the book out of Subaru’s hand. He glanced at it and said, “You’re on page one hundred thirty-four,” then shut it, and put it on a shelf.
“Hey!” Subaru protested.
“Subaru-kun, do you think I didn’t notice the fact that your eyes kept closing while you were trying to read?”
Subaru looked guilty. “I was hoping you hadn’t.”
“I refuse to let you kill yourself over this. You’re going to bed.”
“Seishirou-san, I was busy,” Subaru said.
“You’re not busy anymore.” Seishirou got one arm around Subaru’s waist and hauled him upwards. “You can finish tomorrow,” he said as Subaru struggled vaguely. “We just won’t go near Ueno Park until you’re done.”
Subaru gave up on struggling and let Seishirou drag him into the bedroom. At that point, he decided it was time to start needling back. He looked up at Seishirou and smirked. “I know why you want to go to bed . . .”
To his surprise, Seishirou blushed. “Subaru-kun, that’s hardly fair. We decided you have to remain innocent, remember?”
“Why, because I’m cuter this way?”
“Of course.”
“You hardly get the full effect of my charm if you leave me this way,” Subaru said with a smile.
Seishirou raised an eyebrow. “Subaru-kun, are you suggesting we do something tonight?”
At that, Subaru cringed a little. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
Seishirou blinked. “You don’t know.”
“Yes. I don’t know. I’m going to go put my pajamas on now.”
“You still sleep in pajamas?”
“Well, T-shirts and shorts,” Subaru said.
Seishirou smirked. “Oh, I get to see Subaru-kun’s legs?”
Subaru turned crimson. “Seishirou-san, do you want to sleep on the sofa?”
“This is my apartment. I don’t have to.”
“Fine. Do you want me to sleep on the sofa?”
“Well, no, I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
Subaru poked him in the arm. “Then quit with the commentary. I’m going to go change. Unless you plan on sleeping in your suit, I suggest you do the same.”
Seishirou smirked. “You didn’t ask what I sleep in.”
Subaru paled. “I’m not sure I want to know. Even if you sleep naked, there’ll still be one layer of clothing between us.” He turned and left the room. Seishirou couldn’t help but grin, looking around for something to wear so he wouldn’t frighten Subaru too much. After a minute’s search, he found an old pair of pants and changed into them.
Subaru knocked once before walking back in, obviously not wanting to see anything he shouldn’t. He stopped dead after taking two steps into the room. He heard himself say, “You’re not wearing a shirt.” Oh, God, did I just say that?
Seishirou looked at him, amused. “Subaru-kun is very observant tonight.”
Subaru attempted not to stare. This was difficult, as his eyes seemed to have become glued to Seishirou’s chest. He felt himself turning scarlet.
“Subaru-kun, you’re staring,” Seishirou said. He walked over to Subaru, tilted the younger man’s chin up, and kissed him before Subaru even realized what was going on.
Subaru’s entire thought process consisted of something like, Oh . . . wow . . . His hands, entirely of their own volition, were going around Seishirou’s waist and running up his bare back.
Seishirou moved him over to the bed and sat down, pulling Subaru onto his lap. A vague corner of his mind wondered how far Subaru was going to let this go before he freaked out. From the interesting things Subaru was doing with his tongue, probably a good deal further. Seishirou shrugged inwardly; it was certainly fine with him. He slid his hands under Subaru’s shirt and pushed it over his head. It fell to the floor, unnoticed. Subaru twisted around, putting his hands on Seishirou’s shoulders, and pushed him back into the bed. Seishirou frowned a little. Hey, wait . . . why does he get to be on top? I’m the one with the experience, here. He rolled over and pinned Subaru to the bed, scooting forward so their legs weren’t hanging off the bed anymore. Subaru let out a surprised moan.
At that, Seishirou realized that one of them had better start exerting some self-control, or Subaru would be awfully sorry in the morning. He pulled away, giving both of them a few seconds to catch their breath, and said, “Maybe . . . we should slow down.”
“Uhh . . .?” Subaru looked a little dazed.
“Really,” Seishirou said. He leaned down and kissed him again, much less forcefully. “You’d be sorry later. You’re not ready for this.”
Subaru managed to find words. “Okay. If . . . you think . . . I trust you.”
“I’m glad,” Seishirou whispered. He leaned down and kissed Subaru’s forehead.
Subaru closed his eyes. “Seishirou-san . . .”
“Come on, let’s get some sleep.”
Subaru realized he was entirely worn out. He let Seishirou pull the covers over him, curling up on his side.
“Move over a little, you can’t have the middle of the bed,” Seishirou said.
“Huh? Oh.” Subaru moved over a little. Seishirou lay down next to him, putting an arm around Subaru’s waist and pulling him closer. “Arigatou,” Subaru murmured sleepily.
“For what?” Seishirou asked.
“For . . . thinking of me,” Subaru replied, then his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep. Seishirou followed suit a few minutes later, a smile still hovering on his lips.
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Kamui looked around his new room. As promised, Nokoru had arrived to move him to CLAMP campus. Fuuma and Kakyou had both come with him, and been moved into rooms of their own. Nataku was staying with Yuuto. Fuuma was still feeling pretty bad. Kamui went to visit Kakyou, and even got him to open his eyes for a while.
Around lunchtime, Kamui decided he was bored and made his way downstairs.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Sorata asked. He hurriedly got Kamui a chair and shepherded him into it.
“Bed is boring. And I’m hungry.”
“Akira said he’d bring us some lunch,” Sorata told him.
“Good,” Kamui said. Before he could comment further, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” he called.
The door opened and Subaru came in, with Seishirou behind him as always. “Konnichi wa,” Subaru said, sounding much more cheerful than usual.
“Hello everybody,” Seishirou said.
Sorata eyed him skeptically. “Are the two of you . . . no, I’m not going to ask.”
Kamui was grinning. “I’ve never seen you this cheerful before, Subaru.”
Sorata blinked. “So they are an item.”
“Staid affection,” Kamui supplied.
Sorata grinned wickedly. “If that’s staid affection, I’d hate to see open affection. They’d probably have to get a hotel room.”
“There’s nothing wrong with his apartment,” Subaru said calmly.
Seishirou smiled. “My Subaru-kun is loosening up.”
“Quite a bit, from the looks of it,” Kamui said.
“Yeah,” Sorata added. “I’ve never seen him smile this much.” He pointed at the two of them. “Admit it, you got some!”
“I most certainly did not,” Subaru said.
“We have more self-control than that,” Seishirou said, in as dignified a manner as possible, which, for him, was quite dignified.
Or at least you do, Subaru thought, blushing. He recalled Seishirou’s words from that morning, when he’d stumblingly tried to apologize for being so . . . forward the night before. “Subaru-kun. Eleven years of repressed libido is a lot to deal with. Give yourself a break for once.”
“I didn’t feel repressed,” Subaru had responded.
“You certainly felt it last night.”
“Okay, you have a point there.”
Subaru returned to the present as Kamui said, “So I’ve convinced Kakyou to come out, at least for a little while.”
“That’s good,” Seishirou said. “Maybe I’ll go by and visit him for a while. If I could find him in this place.”
Arashi walked in on this comment. “You’re looking for Kakyou? It’s not that difficult.” She proceeded to give a huge string of directions while Seishirou stood there and blinked. Subaru began to snicker at the lost look on the older man’s face.
“Maybe someone could show me,” Seishirou finally said, when Arashi wound down.
Arashi sighed, as if to imply that Seishirou and all his ancestors had the combined IQ of a banana slug.
“Someone or other will be in with lunch soon,” Kamui said. “They can show you.”
“Thank you,” Seishirou said. He walked back over to Subaru and wrapped his arms around the younger man from behind. Subaru was startled at first, then leaned back into it.
Kamui snickered.
Arashi blinked, as if to ask, ‘am I seeing this?’
“Yes, Arashi, my sweet,” Sorata said. “There is far more between them than we originally guessed.”
“So I see,” Arashi answered.
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