Chapter Ten
Fuuma felt he was having a rather strange day. The oddity of it stemmed pretty much directly from the dream he’d had the night before -- a dream he most sincerely hoped Kakyou had not been watching, seeing as it involved the Dreamgazer on a rather intimate level. Not to even mention the whipped cream that had also been involved.
Still, Fuuma was shameless for the most part, and the best way to gain information was to ask. So he strolled into Kakyou’s room after a late breakfast to find the yumemi again in a chair, perusing one of the books Fuuma had bought for him. Fuuma plunked down on the side of the bed. “Ohayo, Kyou. How’s it going?”
“I live in a basement,” Kakyou stated, just in case Fuuma hadn’t noticed this fact. He looked rather like he was pouting. “There’s no sunlight.”
“I’ll take you outside for a bit later, if you want,” Fuuma said absently.
“That’d be nice,” Kakyou agreed graciously. “Thank you.” He set the book aside and gave Fuuma a close look, still being rather concerned about him. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” Fuuma said. “I, uh, sorta had a question for you, though.”
Kakyou blinked at him and folded his hands in his lap. “Oh?”
“Uh.” Fuuma looked slightly embarrassed, though he was admirably managing not to blush. “You said you watched my dreams, right?”
Kakyou nodded, and his lips twitched in a tiny smile as he managed to stifle the giggle he felt coming on.
Fuuma gave him a suspicious look. “Exactly how often do you watch my dreams?”
“As often as I think it’s necessary,” Kakyou said, keeping a perfectly straight face.
The suspicious look remained. “You’re laughing at me, aren’t you.”
“Maybe,” Kakyou said, smiling. “Just a little.”
Fuuma groaned. “You watched it, didn’t you.”
Kakyou giggled. “No, I didn’t watch it.”
Fuuma practically radiated suspicion. “Then why are you giggling?”
“Because you’re blushing,” Kakyou replied, with all due dignity.
Fuuma sighed, but didn’t deny it. He could feel the heat in his cheeks, and knew they had to be at least slightly pink. He forgave himself; it wasn’t often that one had to ask the question ‘hey, were you spying on me when I had that wet dream about you?’, even in such a roundabout fashion. “As long as you weren’t watching,” he finally said. “And if you’re lying and you were, pretend it never happened.”
“I really didn’t, I promise,” Kakyou said, still amused. If nothing else, he had obviously at least surmised what the contents of the dream had been. Fuuma wasn’t particularly surprised; he didn’t remember much in the way of setup. As far as he recalled, the Kakyou-in-the-dream had been naked from the beginning. “It would have been unforgivably rude,” Kakyou added, wrenching Fuuma out of his fantasies. “I don’t watch to invade your privacy.”
“Then why do you watch?” Fuuma asked curiously. “Not people in general. I mean me specifically.”
“Because you’re my ‘Kamui’,” Kakyou answered, automatically, then shook his head slightly, realizing that it was not really the truth. “Because I’m interested in how you are, as a person.” He looked down at his lap, his hands picking at the kimono. “It’s easy to get to know someone from their dreams.”
“So, you leave if I start dreaming about you?” Fuuma surmised. Kakyou nodded without looking up. “Well, hey, that’s pretty cool of you.”
Kakyou blinked at him, his wide golden eyes confused. “Er?”
“I mean that you don’t hang around watching whatever you feel like,” Fuuma clarified. “You know, abusing the power that you have.”
“Oh.” Kakyou looked up again, the barest hint of a blush on his cheeks. “I’d never really thought about it like that.”
Fuuma noted idly that Kakyou was quite cute when he blushed, and quickly tried to banish the thoughts to the back of his mind. He really needed to get laid. “Probably because you’ve had it your whole life,” he said, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation at hand. “Things like that don’t occur to you when you’ve grown up with.”
“I suppose,” Kakyou said, oddly uncomfortable for no reason he could name. Of course, it probably didn’t help that Fuuma was pretty much blatantly staring at him, without seeming to realize it. Before he could think of anything else to say, there was a knock on the door. A faint smile touched Kakyou’s lips; he had seen this coming. Still, had to obey the rules of formality. “Who is it?”
“It’s Seishirou. I need to speak to Fuuma.”
Kakyou observed absently that the assassin didn’t call him ‘Kamui’ the way most of the other Angels did. Just another way of removing himself from the battle, which he obviously had no intent of taking part in, Kakyou assumed. He didn’t care; it made things easier for Fuuma if he had less people to attempt to control. Satsuki and Kanoe were enough as it was. “Just a second.”
He had business with Seishirou, after all.
Kakyou pried himself out of his chair, much to Fuuma’s great surprise, and wobbled his way over to the door. Fuuma blinked at him, but said nothing; more because he felt it wasn’t his business to interfere than out of any concern on his part. Kakyou opened the door, hanging onto it to keep his balance. “Hello,” he said with a smile, then let go of the door and punched Seishirou hard across the face.
Seishirou stumbled back a step as Kakyou grabbed hold of the door again before he could fall. Then he regained his balance and rubbed his cheek, blinking at the younger man. “I’m sure I’ve done something to deserve that, but do you mind informing me of what?”
“Sure,” Kakyou said, still leaning on the door. “You murdered Hokuto. I’ve been waiting to do that for nine years.”
“Oh, I see,” Seishirou said. His voice was pleasant, but there was murder in the tone. He also wasn’t wearing his sunglasses. Kakyou could tell with relatively little effort that Seishirou was Not Happy, and it probably wouldn’t be good for his health to get in his way any further. “Can I talk to Fuuma now?”
“By all means,” Kakyou said, sweeping his hand graciously to allow Seishirou entrance, then sitting down on the floor before he fell.
Seishirou walked in, stopping a few steps away from Fuuma. “Mind telling me what the hell you thought you were doing?”
Fuuma coughed slightly. “I take it you mean the eye thing?”
“Of course,” Seishirou said coldly, hiding his anger as best he could.
“In that case, I was poking out Subaru’s eye.”
Seishirou twtiched slightly. “You can stay the hell away from him.”
Kakyou thudded his head against the wall, making a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. Oddly enough, he was the resident expert on the situation; Fuuma only knew the sketchy details that Kakyou had related to him and Seishirou was almost as ignorant of his own part in the whole mess as Subaru’s. Kakyou, on the other hand, had spent years watching both their dreams. He knew all there was to know.
Fuuma glanced at Kakyou, a bit amused, but said nothing to him. “You don’t really have any claim on him,” he pointed out. “And in any case, he didn’t really want that eye anyway.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Seishirou asked angrily.
“He means,” Kakyou said, looking up, “that Subaru has issues the size of this island, and he thought losing the eye was some sort of divine justice.”
Seishirou listened to this statement and apparently gave it due thought, but did not reply to it. “You had no right,” he snapped at Fuuma.
“Fuck off, Seishirou,” Fuuma said, starting to get irritated. “It’s not like you give a damn about him. At least, not a damn that you’ll admit to.”
Seishirou grabbed Fuuma by the shirt and slammed him up against the wall. “I don’t care about this stupid battle, you know,” he snarled. “I don’t care that you’re the Kamui. I would kill you in a second.”
“Do you care about anything?” Kakyou interrupted from his place on the floor. He was feeling distinctly cranky, and it wasn’t just because Fuuma was being manhandled. Though that did irritate him. “And kindly let him go.”
“Fine.” Seishirou released Fuuma and marched over to Kakyou, grabbing him under the chin and hauling him off the floor effortlessly, leaving his feet dangling a few inches above the ground. Fuuma made a move as if to intervene, then did not, waiting to see what Kakyou would do before swooping to his rescue. “Mind telling me who the hell you are?” Seishirou asked.
Kakyou felt surprisingly calm, either from the lingering death wish or the fact that he knew he was better armed in this battle. “Don’t you every pay attention to anyone besides yourself?” he asked coolly, ignoring the fact that his feet couldn’t reach the ground and his throat was starting to ache from Seishirou’s tight hold.
“No,” Seishirou replied. “And do you know why? Because I keep meeting people like you.” He dropped Kakyou uncerimoniously and stepped over him, leaving him as a puddle on the floor. “You ought to keep a leash on your pet Dreamgazer, ‘Kamui’, or he’ll get into trouble.”
Fuuma smiled at him pleasantly. “You’d know all about keeping people as pets, now wouldn’t you, Sakurazukamori.”
Seishirou didn’t flinch. “At least I treat Subaru better than you treat Kamui.”
“At least Fuuma has a valid reason,” Kakyou spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse. “And he isn’t suffering from a case of denial.”
“Oh?” Seishirou asked, voice pleasant but cool. “A valid reason? Enlighten me. Because I don’t call this a valid reason. He doesn’t have to torture Kamui. That’s not part of the ‘end of humanity’ deal. He should be out there destroying kekkai, not torturing his former best friend. He doesn’t do it because he has to. He does it because he likes it.” Seishirou held an even gaze with Fuuma while he said this, but Fuuma didn’t flinch underneath it, or even under his ending jibe.
“You’re insane,” Kakyou said sharply, still not making any move to get up. “Do you want the world to end? Because that’s what’s going to happen if Fuuma treats Kamui like peaches and light.” Seishirou made a derisive noise, but Kakyou kept going before he could interrupt. “And where do you get off on assuming you know anything about him?”
“Presumably for the same reason you get off on assuming you know anything about me,” Seishirou retorted. Fuuma let out a low laugh, and Seishirou gave him a sharp glare, wondering what could possibly have been funny about what he said.
“Presume all you like,” Kakyou said, smiling slightly. “But I can categorically assure you that you’re wrong.”
“So tell me, genius,” Seishirou said dryly. “What do you know about me?”
“I know you’re in love with Subaru,” Kakyou replied. “I know you have been for the last nine and a half years at a minimum. I know that you can’t let him go and that you’re too self-delusional to try and set things right or at least pick up and move on.”
“Ah, yes, the power of Dreamgazing,” Seishirou said calmly, seemingly unfazed by these statements. “Because, after all, people always dream the truth. Offhand I would’ve said you had morals and wouldn’t spy, but it seems I was mistaken.”
“My morals are flexible,” Kakyou stated. “And people do dream the truth. At least, they never lie about how they feel.”
“Why are you spying on me?” Seishirou asked, a note of curiosity in his voice. “Until today, I barely even knew you existed.”
“But I knew about you,” Kakyou stated. “And I have a tendency to watch anyone who has an impact on my life.”
“Ah yes. Because I killed your precious Hokuto-chan. You can’t have been that precious to her, Kakyou, or I would’ve known you existed.”
“Very true,” Kakyou replied evenly. If Seishirou had been hoping to hurt him with the words, he had failed. He said nothing that Kakyou had not already known.
He tried again. “I wouldn’t have killed her if she hadn’t ask me to.”
“You also let her assume that she was trading her life for Subaru’s,” Kakyou pointed out. “You let her assume that you would leave Subaru alone and her death would actually mean something.”
“I have left Subaru alone, for the most part,” Seishirou replied. “I haven’t hurt him once since that day. Where, exactly, is your complaint?”
“My complaint at the moment is that you just said you were leaving Subaru alone, so what business is it of yours what Fuuma does to him?”
“Yes,” Seishirou replied, seeming to think that this answer made sense. “I’m leaving him alone, so Fuuma damn well can too.” He shot a sharp glare at Fuuma, who just glared, either unremorseful or not showing his remorse.
“I’m still missing the part where you think you have the right to stick your nose in,” Kakyou pointed out.
“You seem to be operating under the delusion that I love him, so why are you questioning my motives?” Seishirou asked.
“Because you’re questioning Fuuma’s.”
“I don’t see how stabbing Subaru in the eye furthers his cause any,” Seishirou said dryly.
“That’s because I’m just that cool,” Fuuma replied, and upon Seishirou’s fierce glare, added, “And he really didn’t want that eye.”
“Why the hell not?” Seishirou snapped.
“Kakyou said already,” Fuuma pointed out patiently. “Divine justice. He’s the reason you lost yours, after all. He’s also completely deranged and still head over heels in love with you.”
“So you did it just for the hell of it?” Seishirou asked.
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Fine,” Seishirou said through clenched teeth. “Don’t touch him again.”
Fuuma rolled his eyes, shifting slightly so he was lounging against the wall. “I wasn’t planning on it, Einstein.”
“And as for you,” Seishirou said abruptly, turning to Kakyou, “I find it rather hypocritical of you to interfere in my love life when your own is such a disaster.”
Kakyou gave him an incredulous look. “I have no love life, you lunatic.”
“Yes,” Seishirou said, “because you’re too much of a coward to admit to Fuuma that you’re in love with him.”
Fuuma blinked at him, astonished; not at the revelation of Kakyou’s feelings, which he knew all too well, but Seishirou’s amazing perception. It seemed extremely bizarre that the man who couldn’t discover his own motivation to save his life could watch their behavior for fifteen minutes and have both of them pegged.
But still, it made sense. Kakyou’s constant defense of him in front of Seishirou hinted at more than friendship, yet Fuuma had made no move to defend Kakyou at all, even when Seishirou had tried to physically harm him. Seishirou was a remarkably perceptive man, apparently, in everything except matters that concerned himself.
Fuuma groaned inwardly and waited for the fallout to ensue. He’d been aware of Kakyou’s feelings for him, as aware of them as Kakyou surely was, but both of them had simply been ignoring them in favor of the friendship they had.
“I’m not a coward,” Kakyou replied sharply, “but it won’t help to put him in an uncomfortable position when he doesn’t love me in return.” His eyes widened slightly as he realized what he’d just said, and one hand went up to cover his mouth.
Seishirou smirked, obviously enjoying Kakyou’s discomfiture. “Of course, because the great Kakyou knows all and sees all. You know what, Kakyou-kun? You’re not as smart as you think you are.”
And he walked out before either of them could reply.
Fuuma stared after him, wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean. Seishirou was obviously perceptive, this much was true; Fuuma wondered if there was something in his own behavior that pointed to a returned affection. Or maybe Seishirou had just wanted to get in a parting shot; that seemed like him.
“Well, that went well,” Kakyou muttered, steadfastly looking away from Fuuma.
Fuuma sighed softly and walked over to where Kakyou was still huddled on the floor. He picked him up carefully and put him back on his bed, laying him down carefully and moving his hair out of his face. “That was . . . unexpected,” he finally managed to say, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Kakyou rolled over so he wasn’t looking at Fuuma. “Do you mean the lunatic’s untimely arrival, departure, or my blatant idiocy?”
“I meant the lunatic in general,” Fuuma explained. “How do you consider yourself an idiot?”
Kakyou gave him a look. “Now you’re just trying to spare my feelings.”
Fuuma raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, are you an idiot for being in love with me, admitting it, or saying that I don’t love you?”
“Admitting it,” Kakyou replied.
“Hate to burst your bubble here,” Fuuma said regretfully, “but I already knew. I see Wishes, remember?”
Kakyou rolled back to face Fuuma. “But if I had never said anything, you never would have had to deal with it. I know who you love and it isn’t me, but I had to open my mouth and neither of us can pretend it isn’t an issue.”
“Do you wish you didn’t love me?” Fuuma asked quietly.
“No,” Kakyou replied. “I just wish I hadn’t said it.”
Fuuma was quiet for a long minute, reaching out and playing with Kakyou’s hair while he considered all this. “I’m glad. That you love me.”
“Why?” Kakyou asked, trying to look at Fuuma but his eyes sliding off as if he were unable to keep Fuuma’s gaze.
Fuuma took Kakyou’s chin in his fingers and made Kakyou look at him. “Because . . . that makes all this hurt less. Enough to be bearable.”
“I’m glad I could at least give you that,” Kakyou said quietly.
“I’m sorry that I don’t love you,” Fuuma said, letting him go. “I really am.”
“It’s okay, really,” Kakyou said with a sigh. “I wasn’t expecting you to.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like that necessarily helps, but . . . never mind. I can’t think of anything else to say anyway.” He lifted Kakyou up slightly and gave him a hug, which Kakyou shamelessly snuggled into.
And Fuuma was glad, because for the briefest of moments, he felt human again.
~~~~
“So, technically, I guess the case is over,” Hisoka concluded, after giving Tatsumi an almost hour long dissertation on what they’d found out. “We found out who killed Kotori and it was a human, sort of, so it’s not really in our domain. And her spirit is probably still hanging around because, well, it’s sort of a big event.” He folded his hands in his lap and looked askance at Tatsumi.
“That’s nominally true,” Tatsumi said thoughtfully. “The case of Monou Kotori, at least, is closed.”
Hisoka raised an eyebrow at him. “I’ve got this vague feeling that you’re not telling me something, Tatsumi-san . . .”
Tsuzuki looked up from where he was eating chocolate cake with a blissful expression. (Tatsumi had bought it for him as a welcome back present.) He noted that they were still talking and went back to his cake.
“Unfortunately,” Tatsumi said, “one might consider the end of humanity a rather . . . unsettling set of circumstances.”
“You’re so delicate, Tatsumi,” Tsuzuki said cheerfully.
Tatsumi rolled his eyes. “In brief, you two are being assigned to go keep an eye on the situation.”
Tsuzuki dropped his fork. “Oh,” he finally said, after there was a rather long moment of silence in which Tatsumi and Hisoka stared at him.
“What do you mean, keep an eye on the situation?” Hisoka asked suspiciously.
“And does keep an eye mean only watching, or are we able to interfere as well?” Tsuzuki asked.
“You shouldn’t interfere unless absolutely necessary,” Tatsumi said smoothly. “You shouldn’t get involved in any of the battles themselves, but you’re certainly allowed to try to steer things onto, shall we say, the more promising outcome.”
“That sounds much better,” Tsuzuki said, and went back to his cake.
“So basically we’re supposed to go save humanity?” Hisoka asked skeptically.
“Not technically,” Tatsumi said. “You’re supposed to go help Kamui save humanity.”
Hisoka regarded him for a long minute. “Tatsumi-san, you’ve never heard of the words ‘easy’ and ‘assignment’ being used in conjunction with one another, have you.”
Tatsumi smiled beatifically. “Yes. But never in conjunction with you two.”
“It’s nice to know you have so much faith in us,” Hisoka said, standing up. “C’mon, Tsuzuki.”
“Don’t worry, we can do this!” Tsuzuki picked up his cake, sprouted puppy dog ears and tail, and bounded out of the room.
Hisoka watched him go. “One more thing,” he said, turning to Tatsumi. “I ran into Muraki the other day.”
Tatsumi raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yeah, on the street. He . . . inquired after Tsuzuki. I’m not backing out, but I’d like . . .” He blushed slightly. “I guess I’d like to be sure that you’ll be able to rescue us if we need it.”
Tatsumi smiled slightly; Hisoka asking for help was a rare occasion indeed. “Of course I’ll be available. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks.” Hisoka followed Tsuzuki out the door, leaving Tatsumi to his thoughts.
~~~~
::I don’t see why you’re in such a bad mood,:: the Tree commented, as Seishirou walked around Ueno Park, kicking anything that got in his way, starting with stones and moving up to small children if any should be so unlucky as to cross his path. ::It’s not like Kakyou said anything untrue.::
“Shut the hell up,” Seishirou muttered. He was looking for someone to kill, and was in one of his rare moods when he felt anyone would do. He had stopped taking all but government contracts in the year after he met Subaru. He only really wanted to kill people when he was in a bad mood.
::Just because he knows more than you do about your own twisted psyche is no reason to murder random innocents,:: the Tree replied, sounding a bit irritable. There was a brief pause. ::Not that I’m not hungry, understand.::
Seishirou rolled his eyes, but didn’t reply.
::It’s not like I pretend to have morals,:: the Tree continued, seeing that Seishirou was too busy moping to answer. ::But whenever you get in a bad mood and kill someone who doesn’t deserve it, you always end up moping the next day. One would think you’d lost your touch.::
“I have not -- ” Seishirou began loudly, and then realized that people were staring at him. “Lost my touch,” he mumbled under his breath, kicking a trash can as he walked past it.
::You could fix this, you know.::
Seishirou continued to walk, glaring at random passersby with such malevolence that they backed away. ::I can’t,:: he said, choosing to answer mentally rather than gather more stares. ::And you know why. It’s not like we haven’t discussed this eighty thousand times.::
::And each time makes more sense than the last,:: the Tree replied, a hint of disgust in his ‘voice.’ ::Besides, I discussed. You denied. There was never any discussion on your end.::
::Look, this is all very simple,:: Seishirou said. The corner of his eye spotted a young man following a woman who looked like she was carrying a very heavy purse, and he began to tail him automatically. Might as well kill a criminal, if no other options presented themselves. ::Subaru deserves better than me, seeing as I’m not in love with him, and I’m just going to leave him alone. All right?::
::I refuse to answer those statements,:: the Tree replied. ::On the grounds that you’re an idiot, the first statement is irrelevant, and the second two are lies.::
“Irrelevant?” Seishirou asked, startled into speaking and nearly giving himself away to the man he was tailing. “What the hell do you mean, irrelevant?”
::If somebody else should become interested enough to love the Sumeragi at this point, they wouldn’t be able to put up with his lunacy. The man is totally insane, Seishirou. Not necessarily in a nonfunctional way, but certainly enough that he’s never going to love anyone other than you.::
Seishirou snarled out a wordless denial, walking out of the park, still following the possible pursesnatcher.
::Besides, you’ve been saying you’re going to leave him alone for years, but you always keep spying on him. Honestly, Seishirou, most people don’t rub salt into their own wounds like that.::
“Can we not have this conversation right now?” Seishirou asked, seeing the pursesnatcher starting to run, obviously planning on grabbing the purse without even slowing down.
::I’ll give you five minutes.::
Seishirou put on a burst of speed as the man grabbed the purse and darted ahead. There was a general outcry which he slid through easily, unnoticed, following the man into a nearby alley.
He came out feeling much better, carrying the woman’s purse. Unfortunately, due to the conspicuous nature of blood on one’s hands, he’d been forced to kill him in a much less satisfactory manner. But hey, he’d take what he could get. Which seemed to be, in this case, the profuse thanks of the woman who he was now returning the purse to.
“Never pictured you for a vigilante,” Fuuma said cheerfully, falling into step beside him as he walked away.
Seishirou glared at him, and was rather disconcerted to hear the Tree laughing as if the whole thing were hilarious. “Don’t worry, you’re still high up on my list,” he said coolly, pulling out his sunglasses and putting them on.
“Aww, Seishirou, don’t be that way. I’ll think you don’t like me.”
“All due to your stunning intellectual capacity, I’m sure. Was there a reason for this visit?”
“No. I just felt like pissing you off. Oh, and Kakyou says that Subaru is wondering why you haven’t called him yet. Just like a woman, ne?”
Seishirou shot Fuuma with a glare that would have withered pretty much anything on earth. Fuuma didn’t even flinch.
“Man, you really should see his dreams these days,” Fuuma went on cheerfully, either oblivious to or ignoring the imminent danger of his messy death. “Kakyou’s told me about a few of them.” Kakyou had, in fact, described only one, and in rather sketchy detail, but Fuuma was having a grand time and not about to put off by such minor obstacles as the truth. “He actually started to think you gave a shit about him. Good thing you decided to disillusion him, right?”
Seishirou wanted to hit him, badly, but as the Tree so astutely pointed out, that would only be proving him right. Of course, the Tree then went on to encourage him to punch all he wanted, but the Tree was rather fickle at times, and definitely getting a kick out of the whole mess.
“Now, I’m not one to meddle in people’s personal affairs -- ” Fuuma began, at which point Seishirou let out a loud, disbelieving laugh -- “but this seems to be a bit out of hand. As I said, or maybe Kyou said it, I don’t remember, you two are obviously head over heels for each other and this is ridiculous.”
“Kakyou may think he knows all about this,” Seishirou said, keeping his voice calm with great effort, “but I’m afraid he’s mistaken. Seeing as I don’t love Subaru.”
Fuuma sighed slightly. “You asked me how I knew Subaru didn’t want his eye; it’s because I can see what people want most. So how about you quit lying to me?”
::He’s got you there,:: the Tree remarked.
Seishirou ignored the Tree. “You mean Subaru’s greatest desire was to have you poke his eye out?”
“Not me precisely,” Fuuma said. “He would’ve taken any method that came to hand. He’s a total loony, so we can forgive small things like that.”
As far as Seishirou was concerned, Fuuma and the Tree were sounding far too much alike. “Can you just finish torturing me and then go blow something up, maybe? I’m sure there’s a kekkai or two waiting for you.”
“I filled my quota for the week,” Fuuma said. “Don’t get me wrong, I far prefer Kakyou’s company to yours. And Nataku’s, for that matter. Though you’re above Satsuki and Kanoe, if only because needling you is so much fun.”
Seishirou let out an explosive sigh. “Do you ever get tired of this?”
“Nope, never,” Fuuma said cheerfully. “Give me a break, I’m a bored teenager. I’ve spent all of Kanoe’s money, Nataku’s regenerating in his tube, and Kakyou was asleep when I last left. I’ve got nothing to do but annoy you.”
“Find a hobby,” Seishirou snapped.
“This is my hobby,” Fuuma replied.
Seishirou gave him a cold look. “I could just kill you, you know.”
“No you couldn’t. I wouldn’t let you. I am a Kamui, for all that’s worth, and in spite of ruining my life, it also gave me the wonderful power to kick your ass.”
Seishirou had had enough. He gave Fuuma one last glare, before exercising his special little trick of disappearing in a burst of sakura petals. He was very fond of that trick, especially when dealing with annoying people like Fuuma. It was all just an illusion, so he was still standing there when Fuuma accused the seemingly empty air of ‘pussying out’, but it didn’t bother him.
He walked back towards the Tree, feeling even more dejected than when he’d started.
::You know -- ::
“If you tell me he was right, I will find an axe and personally chop you down.”
::I see. Never mind then.:: The Tree, unlike Fuuma, knew when it had pushed enough, and for today it had. It would be back to its old tricks the next, once Seishirou had calmed down slightly, but for now it had to behave, or else forfeit a week’s worth of dinner.
~~~~
Hisoka had gone with Seimei after school, ostensibly to try to pump Seishirou for more information on where Fuuma might be, though neither of them held up much hope. Tsuzuki secretly thought that Hisoka had simply made a friend, but whenever he brought that up, he received Hisoka’s fiercest glare. This was never a good thing, as it tended to make Tsuzuki giggle.
It had been what seemed like ages since the disastrous field trip, a little less than week since the incident at Sunshine 60, and three days since Tatsumi had assigned them to this new case, and Tsuzuki felt they had learned so little that they might as well be walking backwards. They had no idea how to find Fuuma and no number of tracker spirits could hunt him down.
He had never met Fuuma, and thus couldn’t search for him that way; the aura of a Dark Kamui was too different from the Kamui to track it that way. He had no other magic that Tsuzuki knew of, and thus could only be traced when in action. But since Sunshine 60, Fuuma had gone suspiciously quiet. Tsuzuki didn’t know if he was planning something big, or simply waiting until the impulse hit him to destroy something else.
He had been watching Kamui rather idly, but he seemed to be recovering, as was Subaru; Tsuzuki was not spending an overly large amount of time on any of the Seals. He had to find Fuuma; if for no other reason, to get a vague idea of his personality.
“Konnichi wa, Tsuzuki-san.”
Tsuzuki whirled around so quickly that he nearly fell over, his day taking a sudden turn to the awful. He made a mental note to never walk home from school -- or for that matter, from anywhere -- by himself again. “Muraki,” he said coldly, with a slight nod. This really wasn’t what he needed.
Muraki saw his surprise and smiled. “Your partner didn’t tell you I was in the neighborhood?” he asked innocently.
“Apparently not,” Tsuzuki said, reflecting that Hisoka had probably neglected to mention it because Tsuzuki had only just stopped having nightmares and he probably didn’t want to call them back up to the surface.
“That’s a shame.” Muraki took a step forward. “Might I inquire as to why you’re here?”
“You can inquire if you don’t come any closer,” Tsuzuki said.
Muraki stopped, a small smile still lingering on his face. “All right.”
“We’re looking for a young man named Monou Fuuma.”
“Ah,” Muraki said, smirking. “The Dark Kamui.”
Tsuzuki blinked. “I see you’re knowledgeable in the situation,” he said grudgingly. He wondered where the hell Muraki got his information, anyway. There never seemed to be anything that he didn’t know. Then again, up until this point, the events he’d had knowledge of had mostly been caused by him.
“More than you know,” Muraki said, still smiling. “You see, I know where the Dark Kamui is.”
“Are you going to tell me?” Tsuzuki asked coolly. “Or just taunt me with it?”
Muraki took a few steps forward. “I’ll tell you, on one condition.”
Tsuzuki stood his ground. “And what would that be?”
Muraki smiled charmingly. “Have dinner with me tomorrow. Just the two of us.”
Tsuzuki considered it for a long minute, not at all surprised by this request. “If it’s an even trade,” he finally said. “You tell me what you know of the situation, including where Monou Fuuma is, and I will eat dinner with you.” He paused, then added, “In a public setting.”
Muraki smiled. “Tsuzuki-san, you seem to think I’m going to try something.” He seemed deeply wounded by this revelation.
“You always try something,” Tsuzuki stated.
Muraki nodded slightly. “I suppose I do. I’ll pick you up tomorrow. Shall we say seven o’clock?”
“I suppose that’s acceptable,” Tsuzuki said, resisting the urge to add ‘I could just try to kill you now.’ He doubted it would work in any case.
Muraki was still smiling. “Until tomorrow, then.”
Tsuzuki nodded slightly, and Muraki turned to walk away. Tsuzuki turned in the other direction, and then suddenly frowned. “Wait,” he called, turning back, “How do you know where we’re -- ”
The street was empty.
“Staying,” Tsuzuki finished.
~~~~
Chapter Eleven
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