Sitting up, Aoi looked around for her watch, found it on
the chair next to the bed. She stretched over, and grabbed
it, bringing it up close to her puffy, sleep-filled eyes.
The light coming into the room was enough for her to see
that the hands on the time piece had stopped. She shook it,
banged it against the head of her bed. Nothing. It was
dead.
<Damn! Subaru's magic must have done something to it.
This watch was a present from mother, too! Now I'll have to
get a new one.>
She sighed, as she sat up, and realized she had slept in
her pants and shirt. Every muscle protested her forced
movements, and she groaned each time she moved too quickly.
The hike up to this place had really been a challenge,
despite being in pretty good physical shape.
Despite his own heavy breathing, Subaru had not complained
once. Aoi was determined not to whine in front of him, and
had toughed it out as they had spoken to the resort's
kanri-nin.
Subaru had managed to negotiate two rooms and food for
them, for a week, in exchange for using his special
"talents" to exorcise a pestering obakegaki, which had
haunted the place for the past few years. The whole time,
Aoi stood by silently, despite the protests of her sore and
tired body. Once she got into the room, however, she had
felt the weight of the last couple of days overwhelm her,
and barely remembered to take off her watch and remove her
shoes and socks before falling into bed, succumbing to
sleep's call. The horrors of what she had seen, coupled
with the exhilarating pace of their hunt, was washed away
when her eyelids shut, and calm, healing rest claimed her.
Looking in the small mirror now, which adorned a small
make-up table in the corner of the room, Aoi stared back at
a face she almost didn't recognized. The hair was
disheveled, the eyes tired, the face pale. She sighed, and
made up her mind. The kanri-nin had mentioned some natural
hot springs nearby, and so she collected a towel from the
small bathroom's rack, put her hair into a bun and pinned it
secure, put on the resort's complimentary slippers and went
down to the front desk to ask directions.
It turned out that the springs were just down a small path
to the right of the resort, maybe seventy feet from the
front lobby. Being a natural part of the mountainside, the
owners decided not to change the landscape surrounding the
small pool too drastically. Only a simple bamboo wall
separated the front and the two sides of the pool, and a
small sign hung from a post, indicating which direction the
lady's and men's sides were on.
Aoi stripped down out of her clothes, placed her towel on
the side of the pool and lay back into the water, enjoying
the warmth seeping into her bones. Staring up into the
starlit sky, the night seemed perfect. Aoi began to quietly
sing a song, one her mother had used to sing to her when she
needed reassurance before bedtime. It was believed to have
been an ancient chant which was used by mountain villagers
to keep the evil spirits away when darkness came.
Sleep child, sleep spirits,
Silence your words
For another day.
Silence your thoughts
For another night.
Sleep child, sleep spirits,
Listen no more
For another day.
Close your eyes
For another night.
Sleep child, sleep.
Aoi lost herself in memories of her own mother's elegant
voice, soothing and sweet to the ears of a frightened ten
year old.
"You have a beautiful voice," said the man, from the
other side of the bamboo wall. Aoi was startled into
silence. Who was that? The man's voice seemed vaguely
familiar, and yet...she could not place it. The wind picked
up in the few seconds of quiet, and in that time, the faint
scent of tainted cherry blossoms came to her. Aoi's blood
suddenly ran like ice through her.
"Come now, Aoi-chan. Don't stop on my account,"
Seishirou Sakurazuka whispered in her ear, his breath warm
upon her bare neck. A warm hand touched her shoulder, a
naked body pressed close against her back. Sudden fear
enveloped her soul, freezing her like a doe in headlights.
Her mind swam, her heart pounded loudly in her ears, her
breath quickened.
<Kami-sama, help me!> she silently prayed, her mind beyond
the ability to quell the terror which had suddenly gripped
her.
"What...what do you want?" she managed to say, her voice
barely audible above the wind which had picked up.
Sakurazukamori chuckled, wrapped his right arm around her
waist, bringing her closer to him, delicately, yet
insistently; almost like a lover in his gentle embrace, yet
unlike in that his touch repelled her.
"I want your soul, little blue hawk," he said, his
fingers lightly tracing up and down her spinal column,
giving her chills in the cool night air. "I want your
fear." Aoi's body shook, as a dark dread filled her.
<Subaru, please....I'm in trouble!> she begged telepathically,
hoping against all hope that he would somehow hear her.
Seishirou seemed to have read her thoughts.
"He won't come for you, just as he didn't for his
sister." His words pierced through her; she gasped in
surprise. Aoi had felt Hokuto die through her connection
with Subaru. She had known of his terrible anguish and
guilt at his twin's death. Everything that Subaru had
become was because of this murderer, who had robbed her
beloved of his innocence, of his dreams. It was all
Sakurazukamori's fault.
Sudden purpose began to clear the fog of fear away from
her. This was her chance to end it, and give Subaru back
his life. She took a few seconds to try to calm herself, to
put focus back on the situation, and not let panic rule her.
The only way to get out of this alive was to think, and stay
calm.
Sakurazukamori's lips bent to her ear again, but this time
he did not speak. Instead, he lightly began nibbling on
her, drawing her closer to him once more, until their bodies
were pressed together intimately. She rebelled, pushed
against him, but his grip was strong. His hand came up,
feeling her body as she struggled. She heard him chuckle
again, this time at the seeming futility of her efforts.
"When I'm done with you, Subaru will fall easily at my
feet," he sneered, laughing cruelly, pinning her arms behind
her back. There was pain flashing in her head, but after
the initial shock, Aoi used it as a focus. She felt
something just beyond her reach, and tried for it again and
again, using the bursting pain behind her eyes to keep her
energies centered.
Suddenly, something within Aoi snapped.
"What?" Sakurazukamori cried out in surprise. Aoi
unleashed a torrent of energy at him, fueled by her pent up
anger and hostility. It took on the form of a blue hawk,
and attacked him mercilessly. Sakurazukamori jumped out of
the way, and leapt into the shadows of the nearby trees.
The hawk dissipated as it reached the line of foliage.
Seishirou was no where to be seen, but she could feel him.
He was still here.
"Very interesting, Aoi-chan. It seems you've discovered
your latent powers," he said, his voice echoing from all
places at once. "You're still not strong enough to defeat
me, however."
"I won't let you hurt Subaru anymore, Sei-chan," she
said, mocking his former nickname. There was silence for a
moment, and then, Sakurazukamori spoke again, his voice cold.
"Next time, Aoi, we will finish this."
The darkness which seemed to overwhelm the forest around
her suddenly lifted, and she knew Seishirou was gone. A
sudden weakness caused her knees to give out, and she
slipped until only her head and neck remained above the
spring's water. Heat returned to her chilled flesh, her
breathing evened, and her heart slowed until it returned to
a normal pace.
"Aoi-chan! Where are you?"
It was Subaru! He had heard her, and come to help.
"I'm here, Subaru!" she called to him. The sound of
swift moving footsteps approached, and then Subaru, dressed
in his crisp, white robes, rounded the corner. He had been
running, and stopped to catch his breath, leaning over the
spring's water.
"Are you..." he asked, concern crossing his face. It
was the first time he had shown any emotion to her since
that day in the alley.
She smiled, relieved to see him. "I'm fine, really.
Sakurazukamori was here, but he's gone now." She turned to
face the line of trees behind her. "I...I drove him away."
"Drove him away?" Subaru seemed clearly shocked. She
turned to face him, and their gazes locked. He seemed to
consider her for a moment in silence, then nodded once.
"There's some things we need to talk about later, I see,"
was all he said. Aoi nodded.
"Yea, I think you're right," she said, suddenly feeling
much better. Subaru was offering to help her! She could
learn about her powers, how to control them. It would bring
them closer. Strength suddenly filled her heart. "Hey, I
bet Seishirou will think twice about coming after us again,
now that he's got two onmyoujis to deal with!"
He nodded once, and smirked. Suddenly, a slow blush
crept up his face, as he seemed to notice, for the first
time, her state of undress. Try though he might to compose
himself, before turning around, Aoi caught the truth of what
he was thinking in his eyes. She grinned.
"Ne, Subaru," she said, as she stepped out of the water,
dried off and dressed again.
"Yes?" he said, without turning around. She approached
him from behind, resisting an urge to touch his shoulder.
Instead, she walked next to him as they headed back for the
resort. The frozen, controlled composure was back in place
on his face. "My name represents my spirit bird, did you
know that?" Subaru stopped walking, looked intently at her.
His eyes were back to being unfathomable.
"I figured something like that," he said with his usual
shrug, and kept walking. It was Aoi's turn to be surprised.
She ran to catch up with Subaru's quickly moving form.
"Hey, when did you know?" she asked, excited at learning
more.
He didn't stop walking, nor turned to face her.
"Stop being impatient," he chided. "I said we'd talk about
it later. Right now, I'm tired and want to get some sleep.
It's past midnight you know." They were nearing the front
lobby entrance to the resort.
"Oh, come on, Subaru! I want to know now. You promised
to teach me." Aoi knew she was sounding like a demanding,
spoiled child, but it was fun to try to goad Subaru. She
giggled. Subaru was great to tease.
"You've always been a silly girl, Aoi-chan," he said, as
he reached the door to open it. Aoi put her hand against
the wood and kept it shut. He seemed to grow impatient, yet
his eyes remained impassive. Aoi was determined to break
that cold facade for good -- someday.
Of course, tonight was as good a time as any to start.
"Am not!" she said, and stuck her tongue out at him.
That didn't get the reaction she hoped for. Subaru merely
looked at her with his mysterious green eyes and did
something unexpected -- he winked.
"Miichan-ha chan!"
He walked past a stunned Aoi, through the door and up the
stairs. She followed him with her eyes for a few seconds,
and then chased after him.
From his chair behind the front desk, Makoto, the resort's
kanrin-nin, watched the pretty, young girl chase after the
handsome, young priest, and shook his head in knowing, a
smile on his old, wisened face.
<Love may not be dumb, but it's definately blind at
times.> Makoto knew the signs all too well, having worked
behind the desk of a hot springs resort, made specifically
for ii-hito, for so many years.
Needless to say, he was quite stunned when, five seconds
later, he heard the girl yell at the top of her lungs.
"Subaru no baka!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
ALL FOREIGN WORDS ARE IN JAPANESE.
The term, "chan" is used as endearment, normally for girls.
Closest meanings are, "beloved," or "dear".
"Miichan-ha chan" means "silly girl" in an affectionate
manner.
"Subaru no baka" means "Subaru is foolish / stupid".
"kanri-nin" is the term for a "rental manager."
"obakegaki" is a "hungry ghost."
"Kami-sama" is the term for "God"
"Aoi Taka" translates to "blue hawk," literally.
An "Onmyouji" is a "yin-yang sorcerer".
To get someone's attention, you can simply say, "Ne". It
serves a similar purpose as, "Hey!" in English.
"Makoto" translates to "sincere", and is a name given to
both girls and boys.
"ii-hito" are lovers or sweethearts.
The song,
"Midnight" is from the English-dubbed anime, Bubble Gum
Crisis #5: Moonlight Rambler, AnimEigo, 1995.
The song, "Sleep Child" is the property of this writer,
1996.
The characters Subaru Sumeragi and Seishiro Sakurazuka
(Sakurazukamori) are the property of CLAMP, 1993-96.
All other characters and situations are the property of
this writer, 1996.
_______________________________________________________
Additional notes from the author:
I hope you gained a little more insight into Aoi & Subaru's
pasts, both together and apart. At this point in the story,
they had been traveling together for many months, following
Sakurazukamori's bloody trails, and trying to catch up with
him before he could strike again. The night before, they had
found one of his victims several miles away from the
mountain resort (it eludes to this early on in the story,
when Aoi thinks back on the "horrors" she had witnessed).
Perhaps this drove them towards the resort, for hopes of
catching him this time. Or perhaps it was a need simply for
rest. You make up your own mind.
Making Aoi an onmyouji is understandable. She has a power
(which bonds her to Subaru), & can tap into it to use it, but
isn't nearly as strong as Subaru or Sakurazukamori is,
simply because she doesn't have the family karma going with
her. She's sort of one of those freaks of nature that
shouldn't have power, but does. I think her mother had
known of her daughter's potential (I've eluded that her
mother could see the future, but didn't necessarily
have the same power as Aoi), and so aptly named her "Blue
Hawk" after her guardian spirit bird.
I also hope you see a new side to Seishirou that you never
imagined before. I personally picture him as the type who
uses people's fears to test his own limits. Is is possible
to feel something for a terrified victim? So far, Sei-chan
hasn't been able to, but I think he believes that if he
keeps doing it, eventually he'll have to feel something. I
also think it's possible that Seishirou and Sakurazukamori
are seperate entities within the same body, and
Sakurazukamori is in control of the soul at the moment,
keeping Seishirou a prisoner within himself. Sort of like
the evil twin brother theory. At least, this is how I'd
like to see Sei-chan. I'm always the optimist -- hoping
there's a way to save Seishirou before Sakurazukamori
destroys the last bit of humanity within him.
However, I think Subaru knows that the only way to save
Seishirou is to kill Sakurazukamori -- which will kill
Seishirou as well, since they share a body. I think
Seishirou doesn't mind dying however, if it means stopping
Sakurazukamori.
At least, I'd like to think this way...so don't shatter my
illusions. : )
With Aoi not appearing in the "X-1999" story line, that
means I'll have to somehow take her out of the picture.
I've already decided how this was going to happen, after
much pondering on the subject. Don't ask me now, just read
the other installments to find out. Part 3 should be coming
soon.
I hope you enjoy the stories so far. Let me know what you
think. Constructive critisim and compliments always welcome!
: )
- Rena (jmondazzi@mail.arc.nasa.gov)