Part Nine
“Of course, there are conditions,” Seishirou said.
Fuuma sighed melodramatically. “There always are.”
“Numbers one and two ought to be obvious.”
Fuuma lifted his hand and counted off two fingers. “Johnny will be unharmed and I won’t expect you to fight Subaru. What else?”
“If you want me to take kekkai down, I reserve the right to do it my own way.”
Fuuma raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Fuuma considered this. “All right. Anything else?”
“I want to see Johnny so I can explain to him what’s going on.”
“He already knows.”
“Too bad, I want to see him anyway.”
“I’m sure he’ll be touched. I have a condition of my own, actually.”
“This I have to hear.” Seishirou finished the first cigarette and dropped it, crushing it under his heel and simultaneously taking out another and lighting it.
“Until this is over, you are not to see or speak to Subaru.”
Seishirou raised an eyebrow. “And what right do you have to set that condition? Any particular reason?”
“I don’t want you distracted and I don’t want him talking you out of it,” Fuuma said simply.
Seishirou finished the second cigarette in record time and stubbed it out. “I wasn’t planning on going home anyway. Now let me see Johnny.”
Fuuma smirked. “Follow me.”
The Government building was only a short walk away from Ueno Park. Fuuma led Seishirou down a long series of staircases and turns that Seishirou carefully memorized for future use, until they came out into a large, nearly empty room. The entire back corner was taken up by a huge computer. It was very quiet.
Johnny was still sitting next to the computer. He glanced up as they came in, and Seishirou, knowing what he knew of Johnny, was not particularly surprised to see the gag over the younger man’s mouth. “I see you’ve treated him kindly,” Seishirou said dryly.
“It’s not my fault he doesn’t know when to shut up,” Fuuma replied.
Seishirou rolled his eyes and walked over to Johnny, who eyed him distrustfully and flinched away when Seishirou reached out to him. “I’ll be careful,” Seishirou assured him, and managed to pull the gag off without touching him.
Johnny took a deep breath and spat in Fuuma’s general direction.
“You okay?” Seishirou asked.
“I’ve been better. I’ve also been worse. Is Subaru spitting flames yet?”
Seishirou pondered. “Not yet. He was too hysterical earlier. And he doesn’t know I’m here.”
“Oh,” Johnny said. “I’d expect to sleep on the sofa if I were you. Then again, knowing Subaru, he was probably torn between saving me and saving the world.”
“He was,” Seishirou replied. “I’m the one who decided to come here. And until all this is over . . . I won’t be seeing Subaru again.”
“Murphy’s Law. God forbid any of us be happy. Incidentally, why does Hitler Junior want you to not see Subaru?”
“He doesn’t want me distracted. But the separation was my own decision.”
“If I were you, I’d send him a letter or some flowers assuring him you still love him.”
Seishirou looked down at Johnny. “I was planning on it. I’m not a total idiot, you know.”
“Just checking.” Johnny paused. “And while I’m on the subject of idiocy - ”
Seishirou sighed and waited for the tirade.
“If Hitler boy wins this war on life, I’ll find you on the other side and kick your ass from there to Hell. Just keep that in mind.”
Seishirou sighed again. “What for this time?”
“What do you mean, what for?” Johnny asked.
“What have I done to incur your wrath this time?”
“Nothing yet. Just make sure this all turns out right in the end.”
“When did the fate of the earth become my responsibility?” Seishirou asked, eyebrows raised.
“Right now. If my life’s on the line, I want a chance at living. If Fuuma wins, I die.”
“Johnny, you’re dead either way,” Seishirou said flatly. “I’m just here to delay it for a little while.”
“Then I’d prefer my friends and Liam live. Think of it as my dying wish. Last will and testament, as it were.”
“In that case, I shouldn’t be here,” Seishirou stated.
“No, probably not. But I do appreciate the effort. Could you do me two favors before you go back to Subaru?”
“I thought I made it clear that I’m not going back to Subaru.”
“Why not?”
“I told you. I’m not allowed to see him.”
“I thought we had already gone over the very simple fact that there was no reason for you to be here. Come on, Sei-san, you always were one for logic. Listen to reason.”
“Johnny, I’m not going to leave you here to die.”
“So you’re going to work for that puss bucket so the rest of the world goes down with me? Stupid, Sei-san, stupid.”
Seishirou rubbed his temples. “I knew you wouldn’t like it. And I know it’s stupid. But I have my reasons.”
“Care to enlighten me?”
“Not particularly, no.”
“Tell me anyway. Make me feel better.”
Seishirou paused. “Subaru’s greatest fear . . . is being hurt by me again. Therefore I can’t allow him to be hurt because of me. And that’s what this would be.” He paused, then added sharply, “And I know you think it’s stupid and I don’t care.”
“Are you actually going to help the asshole here?”
“Yes. In return for the guarantee of yours and Subaru’s safety.”
“Um . . . flaw in the plan. We die. Did you forget about that? And do you really believe he isn’t lying to you?”
“Not really. But just because I help doesn’t guarantee that he’ll win.”
It was obvious that Johnny’s patience was wearing thin. “Will you just do me the two favors and then go home to Subaru?”
“Depends on what they are.”
“Knee Hitler in the balls and tell the sausage lady - believe me, you’ll know her when you see her, she’s stuffed into her clothes - that she should wear a bra.”
“Sure,” Seishirou said. “But I’m not going home to Subaru.” Then, without giving Johnny a chance to reply, he stood up and walked away.
****
The house was very quiet without Seishirou. Too quiet. Subaru made a vain attempt to distract himself with television for a while, then with a good book, but as the hours passed, it became evident that Seishirou was not coming home.
Subaru took a few steps to the window and stared out.
Seishirou-san . . . where are you? Why aren’t you coming home to me?
He shut his book and went into the bedroom he and Seishirou shared. He refused to do anything like a lovesick teenager such as sleep in one of Seishirou’s shirts, but he couldn’t help himself from curling up on Seishirou’s half of the bed. The pillow smelled like him; faded cigarette smoke, aftershave, with the faintest hint of blood. A scent that only Seishirou had.
Subaru flipped onto his back so his nose wasn’t near the pillow and attempted to relax. But he didn’t sleep, only stared at the ceiling all night long.
****
“How’s he doing?” Subaru asked, stopping outside Kamui’s door to talk to Sorata.
“He’s a lot better,” Sorata replied. Then he tilted his head and gave Subaru an odd look. “You okay? You look tired.”
“Just didn’t sleep well, that’s all,” Subaru lied smoothly.
“Oh, is that all?” Sorata sounded skeptical. “I thought it might have something to do with this.” He held up an envelope that had Subaru’s name on it.
Subaru stared blankly at him. “Why? What is that?”
“I don’t know,” Sorata replied. “It was sitting on Kamui’s bedside table this morning. Someone must have left it for you - ” He broke off as Subaru practically tore the envelope out of his hands, pulling out the letter that was inside. The Sumeragi’s green eyes moved quickly over the text; Sorata waited for a clue. “Well?” he asked, when Subaru didn’t say anything. “Who’s it from?”
“Seishirou,” Subaru replied absently.
Sorata blinked. “Ano, why’s he leaving you notes in Kamui’s room?”
“Because he knew I would be there first thing this morning,” Subaru replied.
“But you live together. Why notes at all?”
Subaru didn’t answer, still reading.
“You two didn’t have an argument, did you?” Sorata asked suspiciously.
“Not exactly.” Subaru folded up the letter and put it in his pocket. “He just thinks it’s best if he and I don’t see each other until all this is over.” His voice remained surprisingly steady through this statement.
Sorata frowned. “Why not? You’ve been doing fine so far, haven’t you?”
“Extenuating circumstances,” Subaru said, giving Sorata a look which made the teenager leery of asking for further clarification.
“Eheh . . .” Sorata said. “Well, I’m going to go see where Miss has gotten off to . . . tell Kamui I say hi.” He wandered off, a bemused look on his face.
Subaru shook his head and went into Kamui’s room. The teenager was awake, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Ohayo,” Subaru said, trying to sound as if nothing was wrong.
“Ohayo,” Kamui replied, with a distinct lack of enthusiasm in his voice.
“How are you feeling?” Subaru asked.
“Better. You look awful.”
Subaru blinked. “Thanks.”
“Sorry. But you have dark circles under your eyes. Didn’t you sleep?”
“No,” Subaru admitted. “I had a bad night.”
Kamui gave him a long, level stare. “Probably has something to do with that note Seishirou left you, huh?”
Subaru blinked again. “How did you know it was from Seishirou?”
Kamui blushed a little. “I-I didn’t see your name on the envelope . . .”
“And you read it.” Subaru ran his hands through his hair.
“G-Gomen,” Kamui stammered. “I didn’t realize . . . that it was personal.”
“And once you started reading you figured that it was too late, so you might as well satisfy your curiosity?” Subaru surmised.
Kamui nodded, still pink.
“I don’t really care,” Subaru said, voice dull. “It’s certainly not as if it matters.”
“Why did he leave you, Subaru?” Kamui asked softly.
“To protect me,” Subaru replied. “To protect us. He’s right; if we stay together now, we’ll lose. If we separate, we still have the option of getting back together after it’s all over. But for now, the two of us together is blatant stupidity. It’s asking for trouble.”
“But is he working for the . . .” Kamui’s voice trailed off.
“I don’t know.” Subaru ignored the hospital’s policy and pulled out a cigarette. “I’m assuming so. He probably got some guarantee of my safety or something.” He paused. “Chivalrous, maybe, but still stupid. I’d give him a talking to . . . if I could find him.”
“He can’t have gone far,” Kamui began uncertainly, but Subaru was already shaking his head.
“When Seishirou wants to disappear, he disappears. It took me two months to find him the first time he did it. In the end I had to go to the Sakurazuka and wait for him.”
“So why don’t you do that this time?” Kamui asked.
“Because he’s right.” Subaru drooped. “We’ll never make it through this together. I was stupid to hope. I should be glad we were able to have the time we did. But for now - ”
“That’s not true!” Kamui protested, and Subaru looked up, startled. “Subaru, I know you and Seishirou can make it through this. You . . . you love each other so much . . .”
“Love doesn’t fix the fact that Fuuma is threatening to kill my best friend if Seishirou doesn’t work for him,” Subaru snapped, then flinched at the shocked look on Kamui’s face. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to tell you that.”
Kamui sighed, then said, “After what happened the other day, nothing about Fuuma can surprise me.”
Subaru wanted to say something, anything, to find some words of comfort, but there were none. Truthfully, he would have liked to tell Kamui not to put so much faith in love, that when it came down to it, love was just another emotion. Just as easily destroyed, and even more easily manipulated. Our love just makes us that much easier to control, Subaru thought dismally. He can use us against each other. Maybe I ought to just . . . try to . . . stop caring.
He couldn’t say that to Kamui, however. Kamui had lost enough faith; he didn’t need one of the few people he looked up to telling him that what he looked up to was a lie. Not a lie, not really, just frail and weak like everything else.
Kamui was watching the Sumeragi’s eyes, seemingly seeing the paths they followed. “Subaru . . . what’s it like, to be in love?”
Subaru looked down at him, his eyes sad. “It’s the best feeling in the world,” he said softly. “And it’s the worst feeling in the world. Being in love . . . makes you easier to hurt. Easier to control. More likely to feel pain, regret, and fear. But at the same time, it makes you happy, because you know someone cares about you.”
“Only Fuuma could take such a good thing and twist it this way,” Kamui said bitterly.
“No,” Subaru said softly. “Really, anyone can do it. Seishirou used the fact that I loved him to hurt me. Then I used the fact that he loved me to hurt him. Really . . . it’s not very difficult.”
“But why?” Kamui asked, voice rising. “Why do people destroy or spoil everything that’s good?”
“People fear what they don’t understand,” Subaru replied. “Love is one of the great mysteries. Especially love like Seishirou’s and mine. People like my grandmother despise us, because they don’t understand how we can love each other. For a long, long time, Johnny and Hokuto were the only people who knew. I didn’t dare tell anyone else.”
“So being in love hurts?” Kamui asked softly.
Subaru looked down at him, and the answer slipped out before he could stop it. “You already know that.”
Kamui looked away.
“I’m sorry,” Subaru said.
“For saying that?” Kamui whispered.
“For everything,” Subaru replied.
“I’m just starting to wonder . . .” Kamui’s voice cracked, “if anything is really worth saving.”
Subaru rubbed his palms over his face. “Sometimes I wonder that too.”
“What do you do, when you think that?” Kamui asked.
Subaru half-smiled. “It’s usually something I start to wonder in the dead of the night, and I roll over and poke Seishirou in the ribs until he wakes up, and we have a midnight snack and he reminds me . . . how lucky I am. And how good life really can be.”
“If you’re not alone,” Kamui added quietly.
“Yes,” Subaru said. “If you’re not alone.”
“So is that why you were awake so late last night? Because Seishirou wasn’t there?”
Subaru shrugged. “I think it makes me kind of pathetic that I can’t sleep without him.”
“I don’t think so,” Kamui replied. “I wish someone felt that way about me.”
“You know,” Subaru said thoughtfully, “if Seishirou and I can manage to find each other, I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”
Kamui managed a small smile. “Thank you, Subaru.”
****
Subaru-kun,
I know you’re probably worried since I never came home last night, so I thought I would leave this note here for you to read, where I knew you’d find it. As you read this, I’m probably back at the apartment getting some things. For now, I really think we had better not see each other. I know it won’t be easy for either of us, but I’ll try to be strong for you if you’ll be strong for me. If we stay together now, Fuuma will keep at us until he’s broken us apart. You were right about that, and I realized it after some thinking. If we split up now, maybe after this is over we’ll still have a chance.
We have to sacrifice the one for the good of the many.
We are the sacrifice.
I promise I won’t let Fuuma hurt anyone, or make me hurt anyone.
Please don’t think this means I love you any less. It means I love you more.
Your Seishirou
****
Seishirou dropped a bag on the floor next to Johnny and leaned down to take the gag off the younger man. “Promise to be nice?” he asked.
“No,” Johnny said.
Seishirou considered. Before Johnny could comment further, he said, “Promise not to give me another lecture and I’ll untie you.”
Johnny blinked, then nodded. “I suppose that’s acceptable.”
Seishirou pulled out a knife and cut through the bonds that held Johnny’s hands. “I brought you some dinner,” he said. “And I’m not about to feed you.”
Johnny stretched and accepted the fast food bag that Seishirou held out to him, trying not to look as hungry as he was.
“Has Fuuma been giving you food at all?” Seishirou asked, watching Johnny practically tear the bag open in his haste.
Johnny looked blank for a second, then asked, “Oh, is that Hitler Junior’s real name? I refused to call him Kamui.”
“Yes, his name is Fuuma,” Seishirou said.
“Then no, he hasn’t been giving me food.” Johnny proceeded to devour what Seishirou had brought him, then grudgingly said, “Thanks, Sei-san.”
Seishirou ignored the nickname. “I sent Subaru a note telling him that I loved him.”
“Good.”
“But I don’t think there’s any way I can get you out of here.” Seishirou took off his sunglasses and gave Johnny a piercing stare. “That was my goal. You know that, right? I wasn’t being entirely stupid. I just wasn’t about to tell you that with Fuuma standing ten feet away.”
Johnny considered this. Rather than commenting on his opinion of Seishirou’s intelligence, he simply said, “But there is no way?”
“Not with the super computer watching,” Seishirou said. “I’ve been doing research. Would you like to hear it?”
“Sure, I always like to hear stories about my captors over dinner.”
Seishirou ignored the blatant sarcasm. “Part of the reason Fuuma was after me was because he, Satsuki, and Nataku are the only three actively destroying the kekkai. Yuuto hasn’t done anything yet other than defend his fellow Angels, Kusanagi is avoiding them like the plague, and Kakyou’s been dead for nine years. I’m waiting for Fuuma to ask me to summon him up, but so far he hasn’t.” Seishirou went on to describe each of the Angels, while Johnny listened in interest, storing up the information to use as ammunition the next time he got a shot at Fuuma.
“But it did make sense to leave Subaru,” he said at the end, ignoring Johnny’s glare. “He’s safer without me. Fuuma wouldn’t have given up until he’d found some way to win. After all this is over, then we can be together.”
“As long as you don’t help Fuuma win.”
“Trust me.” Seishirou’s eyes were cold. “I have no plans of that.”
“Good.” Johnny nodded decisively.
“I have to go, then. No offense, but I’d better tie you up again.”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “Like I could get away anyway.” He let Seishirou resecure the bonds, trying not to squirm as Seishirou’s fingers brushed against his wrists. His empathic sensors were still overloaded from Fuuma.
“Sorry,” Seishirou said as he pulled back.
Johnny shrugged as best he could.
“What does Fuuma feel like to you?” Seishirou asked curiously.
“Acid,” Johnny answered quietly. “Acid and ice.”
****
“Let me get this straight,” Kamui said, blinking at Sorata skeptically. “Another kekkai was destroyed how?”
Sorata raised his hands helplessly. “I’m telling you, we looked everywhere and we couldn’t find who was doing it!”
Subaru walked into the room. “What’s going on?”
“Another kekkai was destroyed,” Sorata informed him. “But get this - there were three hours of tremors before it actually collapsed. Almost like whoever was doing it was warning everyone who lived there to get out in time.”
Subaru stiffened. “Any casualties?”
“Hardly,” Sorata said. “Everyone knew there was an earthquake coming. But Miss and I looked all over the place, trying to find who was doing it before he could finish and collapse the kekkai, but I swear, there was nobody there!”
Subaru pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “How very strange.”
Sorata gave him a look. “You know something about this, don’t you?”
Subaru shrugged.
“You do, you know what happened and you won’t tell me!”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Subaru said. “I doubt it’ll happen again.”
Sorata made a face and left the room, muttering, “I didn’t even know you could erode a kekkai that slowly.”
Kamui looked at Subaru. “How did he do it?”
Subaru shrugged. “Eroding a kekkai slowly isn’t that difficult if you have a great deal of magic and self-control.”
“Not that part,” Kamui said. “The other part.”
“Why couldn’t they find him?” Subaru asked. “He was hiding in one of his illusions. That’s his specialty, after all.”
Kamui nodded slowly. “And he did it that way . . .”
“So nobody would be hurt,” Subaru said. “Clever of him, really.” His voice was a bit distant. “Don’t imagine Fuuma will like it, though.”
Kamui shrugged. “Too bad for him.”
Subaru took a thoughtful drag on his cigarette. “Exactly.”
****
Three days later . . .
“Are you all right?” Subaru asked, gazing at Kamui in concern as the young man finished buttoning up his school uniform.
“I can’t sleep forever,” Kamui said, the unspoken words, as tempting as it is hanging in the silence. He reached up to tie his uniform tie and cursed as his arms throbbed. Subaru took a few steps over and took the tie out of Kamui’s hands, knotting it quickly and efficiently.
Kamui looked up at him, holding his eyes for a minute. “Thank you.”
Subaru dropped the tie as if it had burned him and backed away. It wasn’t fair for Kamui to give him a look like that, so full of pain and longing. Not while he was so frustrated and lonely himself.
“First we have to look for Yuzuriha,” Kamui said, changing the subject deftly.
“That’s right,” Subaru mused, “he doesn’t have to worry anymore.”
“He?” Kamui asked.
“Segawa-kun,” Subaru replied. “He remembered meeting me. Whenever he saw me in the past few days, he asked about you, since you were still out of school. I told him you were fine, but he seemed to be quite worried.” Subaru smiled at Kamui.
“That’s because . . . he’s a friend,” Kamui said slowly.
“I’m glad that you’ve made a good friend,” Subaru said, nodding, silently urging the boy to go on, get past his pain, make connections, make friends.
“Yeah,” Kamui said.
And that was all.
****
“I have another job for you,” Fuuma said, walking over and looking disdainfully down at where Johnny was munching on his French fries. Seishirou was sitting next to him, and he glanced up at Fuuma’s words.
“What now?” he asked.
“As you may have noticed,” Fuuma said, “we seem to be missing the seventh Angel, Kakyou.”
“I had noticed that, yes,” Seishirou said calmly.
“Out of curiosity, why did Subaru kill him?” Fuuma asked.
Seishirou blinked, confused; he hadn’t been aware that Fuuma knew that choice bit of information. “Because Kakyou wanted to die. I’m assuming your job for me is to summon his spirit so he can Dreamgaze for you?”
“Got it in one,” Fuuma said with a smile.
“I don’t think it’s worth the bother,” Seishirou said. “Trust me, he won’t do it.”
“Oh, and you’re personally acquainted with him, are you?” Fuuma asked, eyebrows raised.
“Yes,” Seishirou replied. “He’s quite content being dead, and I’m sure he won’t want to destroy the world. His girlfriend would be very displeased.”
Fuuma attempted to not look confused. “Girlfriend?”
“Oh, sure,” Seishirou replied. “You seemed so knowledgeable about Kakyou, I assumed you knew all about it.”
“Enlighten me,” Fuuma said dryly.
“Well, that’s why he killed himself,” Seishirou said. “Because his girlfriend died.” He paused for emphasis. “Sumeragi Hokuto. Subaru’s sister.”
Fuuma twitched slightly. “Is that wretched onmyouji going to destroy my forces single-handedly?” he asked, sounding a little amused, a little annoyed.
Seishirou smirked. “If you give him the chance.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, call up Kakyou so I can ask him myself.”
Seishirou shrugged. “Sure. But it’s a waste of time.” He closed his eyes and began the summoning spell.
It didn’t take very long; Kakyou was apparently waiting for it. The dreamgazer had to enter in style, however. Rather than just appearing, the entire world faded into one of his Dreamscapes. “Hello, Seishirou-san,” Kakyou said. “Did you need something?” There was a slight twinkle in his eyes that let Seishirou knew he was aware of why he’d been summoned.
Seishirou shrugged. “Not my deal. Talk to Fuuma.”
Kakyou’s gaze flickered over to the younger man. “Who are you?”
“I’m ‘Kamui,’” Fuuma said with an arrogant smirk.
“Oh,” Kakyou said politely. “How interesting.”
Seishirou stifled a snicker.
“I need your help if I’m to win this battle,” Fuuma told him.
Kakyou looked at him. “And why should I care about that in the slightest?”
“You’re one of my Angels,” Fuuma said coldly. “And you will work for me.”
“Sorry, I’ll have to pass,” Kakyou said. “Tell Subaru I said hello, Seishirou-san.” With that, the Dreamscape abruptly faded out. Fuuma was left sputtering with rage.
“Told you so,” Seishirou couldn’t resist saying.
Fuuma gave him a cool glare. “You’ll simply have to work overtime.”
“Not hardly,” Seishirou said with a laugh. “You can’t get any of us to work for you. This just isn’t your lucky day.”
Johnny started laughing. “You really are a pathetic excuse for a world conquerer.”
Fuuma turned to glare at him. “You stay out of this.”
“Honey, you’re the one that dragged me into this,” Johnny said, with an innocent expression.
Seishirou had to bury his face in his sleeve to keep from laughing.
“That doesn’t give you right to make snide comments,” Fuuma said icily.
“I’ll take any damned right I please,” Johnny said. “You’re so damned pathetic that all you can to work for you are: an overgrown tree hugger who pets cats. Bet he just loves mass carnage. A spineless puppet you’ve wrapped around your finger like the abusive asshole that you are. An electric slut computer geek. Miss ‘I can’t make friends so let’s kill everyone.’ That’s real good. Grade A material there. And what’s his name . . . Yuuto. He’s just here to pick up women. Destroying the world must make you popular with the ladies. Kakyou, who thought you sucked so badly that he died before you ever showed up and is now spending his afterlife with a Seal’s sister. Let’s not forget the Sausage Lady who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word ‘bra.’ That just leaves Sei-san, who, being one of your most powerful people, had to be blackmailed into working for you and would far rather be off somewhere nice, fucking Subaru. A Seal, I might add.”
Seishirou winced. “You do know how to put things delicately, Johnny.”
“You really are,” Fuuma stated, “an insolent little brat.” With that, he lifted one hand. Before either of the others had a chance to react, there was a large explosion. Johnny went flying backwards, into the wall. Fuuma raised his hand again, then found himself face to face with Seishirou.
“I wouldn’t,” the older man advised. “Remember our agreement. Unless you want to lose one of your pitiful lot of minions, Johnny remains unharmed.”
Fuuma scowled at him for a long minute, then dropped his hand. “If he keeps insulting me, I claim no responsibility for my actions.”
Seishirou thought of his first reaction to Johnny and reflected that he really couldn’t blame Fuuma. But still, Subaru would be upset. “No. Johnny remains unharmed. End of story.”
“Then I suggest you tell him to watch his mouth.”
Seishirou laughed as Fuuma turned to walk away. “As if Johnny listens to me.” He walked over to where the younger man was lying a in heap. “You okay?”
“Pitiful lot of minions,” Johnny said dazedly. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Seishirou sighed. “You’re lucky. He could have killed you.”
Johnny grinned. “It was worth it . . . for the chance to piss him off.”
Seishirou shook his head. “Only you, Johnny.”
****