Holiday Drabbles Set 001 [Tokyo Babylon/Bleach, xxxHOLiC/Tokyo Babylon, xxxHOLiC/Prince of Tennis]
Title: til the judgment that you yourself arise
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Bleach, Tokyo Babylon/X
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Characters: Slight Byakuya/Subaru, Renji
Wordcount: 1,235
Disclaimer: Not mine. Tite Kubo and CLAMP own all. I don’t smoke enough crack to do what they do.
Author's Notes: Written for the wonderful kitsune_jade. I hope you enjoy, and that it’s all you hoped it would be. ♥ I tried my best to work in your prompts, as well as keep both characters as in character as possible. ^^;; [prompts: in a flickering world we see transient dreams, sakura, counting stars]
The afterlife is not what he had expected. He is in the first district of Rukongai, and people are milling about him as they did in life. A few have stopped to welcome him and then continued on with their business, but nothing seems they way that he had been taught.
It unnerves him. He is walking around, and he can still feel the heat beating on his face and the light caress of the wind on his arms. His gloves are gone, and he cannot see the pentagrams etched on the back of his hands. He wonders if it is because he is dead, because even after Seishirou-san had died, he could still see them - the faint lines aglow with a light of their own - even when others could not.
His stomach twists, and he recognizes the faint sensation as hunger. Yet another thing that he had not expected to feel once his mortality had vanished.
It takes some time to locate anyone who can even vaguely help him. Everyone he has asked has brushed off the question, telling him that he only thinks he is hungry.
The dead do not feel hunger, the old woman says. Only those with vast spiritual energy retain such trivial things.
He sighs and sits down, placing his hand gently on his stomach. The twisting sensation has evolved into a clenching pain.
You’re hungry, someone says, and he looks up to find two men standing before him.
The one who had spoken has shockingly bright red hair, and he feels a brief pang for Hokuto. Yes, he says, standing. Though I am told that I should not be.
You are Sumeragi Subaru, correct? the other man says. There is an air of regality around him, and Subaru fights the urge to bow. The Sakurazukamori defer to none but themselves.
Yes, Subaru replies, nodding his head.
Follow me, the other man says abruptly before he turns and walks away.
Don’t mind Kuchiki-taichou, the redhead tells him. We were sent to retrieve you.
Sent to retrieve me? Subaru repeats.
Oh, that reminds me, the redhead says. I’m Abarai Renji. Vice-captain of the Sixth Squad of the Gotei 13. Abarai motions for Subaru to follow.
Gotei 13? He feels he should know the name, yet he cannot place it.
Abarai laughs. I’ll explain on the way, he says, and Subaru follows.
+++
His zanpakuto is short, the blade thin and sharp. It whistles through the air when he slices through the wind. He is more adept at Kido, though no one is surprised by that, least of all himself. The fundamentals are similar to onmyojitsu, though there is quite a repertoire of spells to memorize.
You will be seated within my division, Kuchiki-san tells him upon his graduation.
Thank you, Subaru says quietly. He has been dead for several years, and studies have kept him occupied. He was told early on by Abarai that people rarely run into those whom they knew in life in Rukongai.
It would only be foolish to search for Seishirou-san and Hokuto, he knew, so he had thrown himself into his studies and graduated quickly.
Kuchiki-san had dropped by frequently to check on his progress and offer lessons, and now he is offering a seat in his squad. Subaru is unsure as to what has prompted Kuchiki-san’s generosity, though he is wise enough to stay under the older man’s tutelage.
They reach Seireitei quickly; Kuchiki-san is skilled at shunpo and Subaru has to struggle to keep up. The city is a picture of gleaming white walls that blind Subaru with their glare. There is a tall tower in the center of the city, which, from his studies, he knows is where criminals who are to be executed are kept.
Kuchiki-san shows him to his quarters and takes his leave, so Subaru is left to his own devices. There is a Gotei 13 issued shihakusho. The squad insignia is carved into the posts of his bed. Subaru traces the design with his hand, searching his memory for the meaning of the flower.
”Subaru, Subaru!” Hokuto calls, holding up a bunch of flowers for him to see. He picks one from her makeshift bouquet and sniffs. The smell is very sweet, and Subaru smiles.
“That’s a Camellia flower, Subaru,” Hokuto informs him. “Grandmother says it means ‘noble reason,’ which is why they’re planted all over the estate.” She rolls her eyes. “I like this one better.” She holds up an odd looking flower. There are few petals and they stand locked in place on the stem. “It’s a Bird of Paradise. I don’t remember what it means, though.”
Noble reason. He smiles, thinking how fitting it was for the head of the Sumeragi Household be placed into the squad whose insignia represents his family.
+++
He dreams that night of Hokuto and Seishirou-san. They are at Ueno park, sitting under the trees. There is snow on the ground, yet the sakura are blooming, silken petals flittering through the air and landing in their hair, on their clothes, in the snow beside them.
Subaru shivers, and Seishirou-san wraps his arm around him. Hokuto rolls her eyes and tells them to get a room. Seishirou-san just laughs and pulls Subaru closer. Subaru closes his eyes against Seishirou-san’s warmth, and when he opens them to look up at the other man, it is Kuchiki-san sitting beside him.
He jerks awake.
+++
Kuchiki-san is watching him closely. The back of Subaru’s neck is itching from the sheer force of the Captain’s gaze. Abarai is walking next to him as they do their morning rounds.
Kuchiki-taichou is watching you like a hawk, Abarai comments. What did you do?
Subaru shakes his head. I am unaware of doing something that displeases him, he replies.
Abarai shrugs, and they continue their rounds.
+++
They are standing outside his quarters, looking at the sky. There have been rumblings of an attack for some time, and the only reasonable attempts would be coming over the walls or breaking through the shield and launching an aerial attack.
You have adjusted well, Kuchiki-san says.
Subaru nods. Thank you for all of your help. It’s a bit late; he’s been seated for three years.
They say nothing for a while longer, and then Kuchiki-san begins to point out constellations. Subaru counts the path in his mind, watching Kuchiki-san’s finger, rather than the stars in the sky, much like the way Hokuto did when they were younger.
Kuchiki-san points out the last constellation that they can see, and Subaru turns to him and bows. Is there anything else, Kuchiki-taichou?
His captain shakes his head, and Subaru turns to leave. He is stopped by the itching on his neck. When he turns back around, he finds Kuchiki-san staring at him.
He finds himself staring more and more as time goes on, and he knows that Seishirou-san must know by now. Especially when he turns around and Subaru quickly looks away, cheeks flaring from embarrassment.
Hokuto-chan says that he should take his time, figure out his feelings. There is no rush; they have forever.
Kuchiki-san is not turning away, and if there is any flush present on his cheeks, it is well hidden by the shadows. Kuchiki-san nods and enters his rooms, leaving Subaru with a mixture of emotions he hasn’t felt since Seishirou-san died on Rainbow Bridge all those years ago.
Title: without thy help, by me be born alone
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC, Tokyo Babylon
Rating: PG
Genre: Character Study
Characters: Ichihara Yuuko, Sumeragi Subaru, Lady Sumeragi
Wordcount: 972
Disclaimer: Not mine. CLAMP owns all. If I owned them, Clow would have more screentime and Subaru would live happily ever after with Seishirou and Hokuto.
Author's Notes: A gift for the lovely aishuu. Hope you enjoy it, darling. ♥ I tried to fit the prompts in as best as I could, so I hope this is at least a semblance of what you desired. Also, on Watanuki’s appearance, there is a section in the first or second volume - I don’t remember which - where she talks about Hokuto and Subaru, and Hokuto is still alive, so. [prompts: Sumeragi clan business, their true loves, an eye for an eye]
He is first introduced to her when he is five. He does not comprehend the implications of their meeting, nor does she intend to explain. He is there for a purpose, and Lady Sumeragi stands tall behind him.
I shall grant your wish, Sumeragi-dono, she says, but there is a price to be paid.
She nods grimly. Whatever you require, Ichihara-dono.
Very well, Yuuko replies. She pulls a pair of unremarkable black gloves from a drawer. They will only hide his presence so long as he wears them, she explains, handing them to Lady Sumeragi. The price will be that all clan business that you require my assistance with be done through your grandson. It is a simple price, and she knows Lady Sumeragi will understand the implications.
The older woman’s face tightens, but she agrees, and quickly ushers her grandson from the shop.
Yuuko watches them take their leave.
+++
He returns to her shop on the eve of his sixteenth birthday. She senses another presence outside of the kekkai; the presence of one who cannot enter.
I am Sumeragi Subaru, he says formally, bowing at the waist and practically folding himself in half. I come on behalf of the Sumeragi family with a request.
She beckons him to sit in the chair across from her, and Maru brings an additional cup. Moro pours him tea. He looks at it uneasily, and Yuuko wonders what Lady Sumeragi has been telling her precious grandchild.
You understand that I will require payment for my services, she says, and it is not a question; his grandmother would never allow him to enter this domain unprepared.
Subaru nods.
Very well, what is your Wish?
The word seems to strike a chord within him. He sits up painfully straight and looks her in the eye. We seek a way to determine the identity of the Sakurazukamori, he reveals.
Yuuko laughs. I cannot grant that, she tells him. The price would not be one that your grandmother would agree to. She leans over and gently touches the gloves. There is an additional web of magick woven over the fabric, but the initial spell is wearing thin.
It won’t be much longer until it completely comes undone.
Subaru is looking at her, confusion clouding his eyes. I was told to grant you any price you deem worthy, he says, though there is a seed of uncertainty coloring his voice.
To grant that Wish, she explains, would be to make null the spell I granted for her a decade ago.
He still does not look as though he understands, but he stands and thanks her, regardless.
She walks him to the door and looks out. There is a child waiting impatiently at the gate. She will worry if you stay much longer, she tells him, eyes on the girl. For she cannot enter.
Subaru nods and leaves quickly. She can hear the girl’s voice clearly as she berates him for leaving her sight.
+++
On the eve of his seventeenth birthday, he arrives in the midst of a rainstorm. He is soaked when he enters the parlor, Watanuki trailing after him with towels, mopping up the puddles Subaru is trailing behind him.
Leave us, Watanuki, she tells him, and, before he can protest that he had just cleaned the parlor, Maru and Moro appear and drag him from the room. You have a Wish, she says, turning her attention to the rainsoaked child before her.
His eyes are empty, lifeless. She stands and comes to him, taking his hands in hers. The concealment spell has been destroyed, and the web of incantations Lady Sumeragi wove have been ripped apart. The red string on his left hand has been severed, and the one on his right hand is frayed.
She has the urge to wrap her arms around him, but she stands and distances herself. She clenches her right hand, feeling the mystical string around her own pinky brush her wrist. You have a Wish, she says again, and he looks up. You have a Wish I cannot grant. He hangs his head and clenches his hands. The dead cannot rise, Subaru-san, she continues softly. And I cannot turn the pages of time to open your eyes sooner.
The bet, he says brokenly. It’s not over. I have to find him.
Yuuko looks at him somberly. I can grant you that Wish, but there will be a price, she tells him.
Anything, he says, nodding. I have to find Seishirou-san.
She turns away, averting her gaze. And what will you do once you find him?
I’ll kill him.
The lie in his words wraps itself around him - a thin black chain tying his arms to his sides. The price is never returning to the Sumeragi estate, she intones.
She sees him falter at her words, but he agrees.
Very well, she says. Take your gloves off, and never put them back on so long as the Sakurazukamori lives. The pentagram engraved on the back of your hands will flare whenever he is near; there is no magick that can cover it in this plane.
Subaru quickly takes off the gloves and shoves them in his pockets before staring at the back of his hands. There is a faint blue glow leaking from the mark. He’s near, he says quietly.
Yuuko nods. Do not throw your life away chasing shadows, Subaru-san, she warns. You still have a duty to your name; you do not bear his. She sacrificed her life for you, and you have that debt to repay. You must live for her.
He nods distractedly and stands. Thank you, he says quietly before hurrying out of the shop.
She watches him go, knowing that there are two futures that are possible, and fearing the one he will choose.
Title: her audit, though delay’d, answer’d must be
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Prince of Tennis, xxxHOLiC
Rating: G
Genre: Character Study
Characters: Ichihara Yuuko, Fuji Yumiko
Wordcount: 800
Disclaimer: Not mine. Konomi Takeshi and CLAMP own all. I don’t smoke enough crack to do what they do.
Author's Notes: A gift for the sadistic measuringlife. Clearly, you are overconfident in my ability to write crack. ♥ I’m not quite sure whether you’ll like how this turned out, but I hope you do. Enjoy! [prompts: fate is not set in stone, even inevitabilities have their limits, looking in from the outside]
They meet for tea once a year on the night of the first snowfall. Yumiko loves the way the lights play on the snowflakes as they fall from the sky, dancing and spinning in a quiet ballet that only those who can perceive are privy to.
The first fall is early this year, but she does not mind. She has taken a table outside on the sidewalk despite the pleading of the shop girl for her to pick a table inside. She isn’t cold - the scarf that Syuusuke gave her for her birthday is soft around her neck, and the boots that Yuuta gave her are keeping her legs warm.
Yuuko-san arrives a bit late, and there is a boy trailing her. Yumiko watches in amusement as she sends the boy off with more packages than he can carry. She can hear his screeching protests, but Yuuko-san just waves and makes her way to the table.
Yumiko nods in greeting and hands her a cup of tea. Yuuko-san takes it and sits down across from her. Neither of them say anything, preferring to sit and sip at their tea. Yumiko looks up into the sky, feeling the cold sting of the wind on her cheeks; Syuusuke will be upset when she returns - he does not approve of these teas with Yuuko-san, not after knowing how powerful the woman is what she can do.
“You seem troubled, Yumiko-chan,” Yuuko-san says, eyeing her over the rim of her teacup. “Is something on your mind?”
Yumiko smiles. “Syuusuke is worried about his relationship with Tezuka-kun,” she reveals, stirring more sugar into her tea. The bitterness of the cranberry is a bit strong. “Perhaps that’s what you sense?”
Yuuko-san smiles in approval. “Perhaps,” she concedes.
The conversation meanders into meaningless small talk. They do not discuss things of immediate significance, only things of relative importance. There are times when Yumiko is tempted to break the rules - to ask about the future of her younger brothers, to ensure that their dreams will be realized - but she doesn’t. The price is too heavy, and neither of them would approve of her decision.
Chatter begins to ebb, and Yumiko looks at the sky. The snow is falling faster, and there is at least an inch covering the sidewalk by their table. People are hurrying past, trying to make it home before it develops into something more serious.
“We have an hour or so before we should be leaving,” Yuuko-san informs her, though Yumiko is not worried.
“That is good,” she says.
There is silence again. Yuuko-san refills her cup and adds sugar, while Yumiko looks out over the city blanketed in white.
“What do you think of fate, Yuuko-san?”
Yuuko smiles. “Fate is what you make of it. If you believe that your fate is set, then it is. If you believe that nothing is certain, then it isn’t.”
“You believe we can change our fates?”
“No,” the older woman says quietly. “The end is inevitable; nothing can stop what is to come, but the choices you make can influence it.”
“It sounds as though you’re trying to convince yourself of that more than me,” Yumiko comments lightly. “I believe that even inevitability has its limits; things that it cannot allow to happen, despite what fate dictates.”
Yuuko-san shrugs. “The decisions of fate are not my business. I merely assist and grant wishes to those who do not have the willpower to do so themselves.”
The chill from the air is sharper now, as if warning them that, soon, it will destroy the semblance of comfort that they have.
“Perhaps next time we can meet at your shop, Yuuko-san,” Yumiko suggests again. It is a game that they play, even though Yumiko always loses.
“Perhaps, though I do not think you will be able to see the shop,” Yuuko-san rejoins.
“I’m beginning to wonder if your shop even exists,” Yumiko jokes, though she knows it does. Syuusuke has been there, has had a wish granted, and regrets it every day.
“Only those who are in need of it can see it,” she says, just as she has for the past five years that they have known each other.
Yumiko places a few bills on the table and stands. “Perhaps I’ll need it.”
Yuuko-san says nothing. She stands and walks away, leaving Yumiko to watch her back in a flurry of dancing ice, though they do not seem to touch her.
She used to wonder if it was because Yuuko-san looks at everything from a distance, as though there are consequences for being apart of a world where she doesn’t belong. She still does not know, but decides that, maybe, she’ll receive the answer next year.
The snowflakes stick to her as she makes her way home.
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Bleach, Tokyo Babylon/X
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Characters: Slight Byakuya/Subaru, Renji
Wordcount: 1,235
Disclaimer: Not mine. Tite Kubo and CLAMP own all. I don’t smoke enough crack to do what they do.
Author's Notes: Written for the wonderful kitsune_jade. I hope you enjoy, and that it’s all you hoped it would be. ♥ I tried my best to work in your prompts, as well as keep both characters as in character as possible. ^^;; [prompts: in a flickering world we see transient dreams, sakura, counting stars]
The afterlife is not what he had expected. He is in the first district of Rukongai, and people are milling about him as they did in life. A few have stopped to welcome him and then continued on with their business, but nothing seems they way that he had been taught.
It unnerves him. He is walking around, and he can still feel the heat beating on his face and the light caress of the wind on his arms. His gloves are gone, and he cannot see the pentagrams etched on the back of his hands. He wonders if it is because he is dead, because even after Seishirou-san had died, he could still see them - the faint lines aglow with a light of their own - even when others could not.
His stomach twists, and he recognizes the faint sensation as hunger. Yet another thing that he had not expected to feel once his mortality had vanished.
It takes some time to locate anyone who can even vaguely help him. Everyone he has asked has brushed off the question, telling him that he only thinks he is hungry.
The dead do not feel hunger, the old woman says. Only those with vast spiritual energy retain such trivial things.
He sighs and sits down, placing his hand gently on his stomach. The twisting sensation has evolved into a clenching pain.
You’re hungry, someone says, and he looks up to find two men standing before him.
The one who had spoken has shockingly bright red hair, and he feels a brief pang for Hokuto. Yes, he says, standing. Though I am told that I should not be.
You are Sumeragi Subaru, correct? the other man says. There is an air of regality around him, and Subaru fights the urge to bow. The Sakurazukamori defer to none but themselves.
Yes, Subaru replies, nodding his head.
Follow me, the other man says abruptly before he turns and walks away.
Don’t mind Kuchiki-taichou, the redhead tells him. We were sent to retrieve you.
Sent to retrieve me? Subaru repeats.
Oh, that reminds me, the redhead says. I’m Abarai Renji. Vice-captain of the Sixth Squad of the Gotei 13. Abarai motions for Subaru to follow.
Gotei 13? He feels he should know the name, yet he cannot place it.
Abarai laughs. I’ll explain on the way, he says, and Subaru follows.
+++
His zanpakuto is short, the blade thin and sharp. It whistles through the air when he slices through the wind. He is more adept at Kido, though no one is surprised by that, least of all himself. The fundamentals are similar to onmyojitsu, though there is quite a repertoire of spells to memorize.
You will be seated within my division, Kuchiki-san tells him upon his graduation.
Thank you, Subaru says quietly. He has been dead for several years, and studies have kept him occupied. He was told early on by Abarai that people rarely run into those whom they knew in life in Rukongai.
It would only be foolish to search for Seishirou-san and Hokuto, he knew, so he had thrown himself into his studies and graduated quickly.
Kuchiki-san had dropped by frequently to check on his progress and offer lessons, and now he is offering a seat in his squad. Subaru is unsure as to what has prompted Kuchiki-san’s generosity, though he is wise enough to stay under the older man’s tutelage.
They reach Seireitei quickly; Kuchiki-san is skilled at shunpo and Subaru has to struggle to keep up. The city is a picture of gleaming white walls that blind Subaru with their glare. There is a tall tower in the center of the city, which, from his studies, he knows is where criminals who are to be executed are kept.
Kuchiki-san shows him to his quarters and takes his leave, so Subaru is left to his own devices. There is a Gotei 13 issued shihakusho. The squad insignia is carved into the posts of his bed. Subaru traces the design with his hand, searching his memory for the meaning of the flower.
”Subaru, Subaru!” Hokuto calls, holding up a bunch of flowers for him to see. He picks one from her makeshift bouquet and sniffs. The smell is very sweet, and Subaru smiles.
“That’s a Camellia flower, Subaru,” Hokuto informs him. “Grandmother says it means ‘noble reason,’ which is why they’re planted all over the estate.” She rolls her eyes. “I like this one better.” She holds up an odd looking flower. There are few petals and they stand locked in place on the stem. “It’s a Bird of Paradise. I don’t remember what it means, though.”
Noble reason. He smiles, thinking how fitting it was for the head of the Sumeragi Household be placed into the squad whose insignia represents his family.
+++
He dreams that night of Hokuto and Seishirou-san. They are at Ueno park, sitting under the trees. There is snow on the ground, yet the sakura are blooming, silken petals flittering through the air and landing in their hair, on their clothes, in the snow beside them.
Subaru shivers, and Seishirou-san wraps his arm around him. Hokuto rolls her eyes and tells them to get a room. Seishirou-san just laughs and pulls Subaru closer. Subaru closes his eyes against Seishirou-san’s warmth, and when he opens them to look up at the other man, it is Kuchiki-san sitting beside him.
He jerks awake.
+++
Kuchiki-san is watching him closely. The back of Subaru’s neck is itching from the sheer force of the Captain’s gaze. Abarai is walking next to him as they do their morning rounds.
Kuchiki-taichou is watching you like a hawk, Abarai comments. What did you do?
Subaru shakes his head. I am unaware of doing something that displeases him, he replies.
Abarai shrugs, and they continue their rounds.
+++
They are standing outside his quarters, looking at the sky. There have been rumblings of an attack for some time, and the only reasonable attempts would be coming over the walls or breaking through the shield and launching an aerial attack.
You have adjusted well, Kuchiki-san says.
Subaru nods. Thank you for all of your help. It’s a bit late; he’s been seated for three years.
They say nothing for a while longer, and then Kuchiki-san begins to point out constellations. Subaru counts the path in his mind, watching Kuchiki-san’s finger, rather than the stars in the sky, much like the way Hokuto did when they were younger.
Kuchiki-san points out the last constellation that they can see, and Subaru turns to him and bows. Is there anything else, Kuchiki-taichou?
His captain shakes his head, and Subaru turns to leave. He is stopped by the itching on his neck. When he turns back around, he finds Kuchiki-san staring at him.
He finds himself staring more and more as time goes on, and he knows that Seishirou-san must know by now. Especially when he turns around and Subaru quickly looks away, cheeks flaring from embarrassment.
Hokuto-chan says that he should take his time, figure out his feelings. There is no rush; they have forever.
Kuchiki-san is not turning away, and if there is any flush present on his cheeks, it is well hidden by the shadows. Kuchiki-san nods and enters his rooms, leaving Subaru with a mixture of emotions he hasn’t felt since Seishirou-san died on Rainbow Bridge all those years ago.
Title: without thy help, by me be born alone
Author: doumeki
Fandom: xxxHOLiC, Tokyo Babylon
Rating: PG
Genre: Character Study
Characters: Ichihara Yuuko, Sumeragi Subaru, Lady Sumeragi
Wordcount: 972
Disclaimer: Not mine. CLAMP owns all. If I owned them, Clow would have more screentime and Subaru would live happily ever after with Seishirou and Hokuto.
Author's Notes: A gift for the lovely aishuu. Hope you enjoy it, darling. ♥ I tried to fit the prompts in as best as I could, so I hope this is at least a semblance of what you desired. Also, on Watanuki’s appearance, there is a section in the first or second volume - I don’t remember which - where she talks about Hokuto and Subaru, and Hokuto is still alive, so. [prompts: Sumeragi clan business, their true loves, an eye for an eye]
He is first introduced to her when he is five. He does not comprehend the implications of their meeting, nor does she intend to explain. He is there for a purpose, and Lady Sumeragi stands tall behind him.
I shall grant your wish, Sumeragi-dono, she says, but there is a price to be paid.
She nods grimly. Whatever you require, Ichihara-dono.
Very well, Yuuko replies. She pulls a pair of unremarkable black gloves from a drawer. They will only hide his presence so long as he wears them, she explains, handing them to Lady Sumeragi. The price will be that all clan business that you require my assistance with be done through your grandson. It is a simple price, and she knows Lady Sumeragi will understand the implications.
The older woman’s face tightens, but she agrees, and quickly ushers her grandson from the shop.
Yuuko watches them take their leave.
+++
He returns to her shop on the eve of his sixteenth birthday. She senses another presence outside of the kekkai; the presence of one who cannot enter.
I am Sumeragi Subaru, he says formally, bowing at the waist and practically folding himself in half. I come on behalf of the Sumeragi family with a request.
She beckons him to sit in the chair across from her, and Maru brings an additional cup. Moro pours him tea. He looks at it uneasily, and Yuuko wonders what Lady Sumeragi has been telling her precious grandchild.
You understand that I will require payment for my services, she says, and it is not a question; his grandmother would never allow him to enter this domain unprepared.
Subaru nods.
Very well, what is your Wish?
The word seems to strike a chord within him. He sits up painfully straight and looks her in the eye. We seek a way to determine the identity of the Sakurazukamori, he reveals.
Yuuko laughs. I cannot grant that, she tells him. The price would not be one that your grandmother would agree to. She leans over and gently touches the gloves. There is an additional web of magick woven over the fabric, but the initial spell is wearing thin.
It won’t be much longer until it completely comes undone.
Subaru is looking at her, confusion clouding his eyes. I was told to grant you any price you deem worthy, he says, though there is a seed of uncertainty coloring his voice.
To grant that Wish, she explains, would be to make null the spell I granted for her a decade ago.
He still does not look as though he understands, but he stands and thanks her, regardless.
She walks him to the door and looks out. There is a child waiting impatiently at the gate. She will worry if you stay much longer, she tells him, eyes on the girl. For she cannot enter.
Subaru nods and leaves quickly. She can hear the girl’s voice clearly as she berates him for leaving her sight.
+++
On the eve of his seventeenth birthday, he arrives in the midst of a rainstorm. He is soaked when he enters the parlor, Watanuki trailing after him with towels, mopping up the puddles Subaru is trailing behind him.
Leave us, Watanuki, she tells him, and, before he can protest that he had just cleaned the parlor, Maru and Moro appear and drag him from the room. You have a Wish, she says, turning her attention to the rainsoaked child before her.
His eyes are empty, lifeless. She stands and comes to him, taking his hands in hers. The concealment spell has been destroyed, and the web of incantations Lady Sumeragi wove have been ripped apart. The red string on his left hand has been severed, and the one on his right hand is frayed.
She has the urge to wrap her arms around him, but she stands and distances herself. She clenches her right hand, feeling the mystical string around her own pinky brush her wrist. You have a Wish, she says again, and he looks up. You have a Wish I cannot grant. He hangs his head and clenches his hands. The dead cannot rise, Subaru-san, she continues softly. And I cannot turn the pages of time to open your eyes sooner.
The bet, he says brokenly. It’s not over. I have to find him.
Yuuko looks at him somberly. I can grant you that Wish, but there will be a price, she tells him.
Anything, he says, nodding. I have to find Seishirou-san.
She turns away, averting her gaze. And what will you do once you find him?
I’ll kill him.
The lie in his words wraps itself around him - a thin black chain tying his arms to his sides. The price is never returning to the Sumeragi estate, she intones.
She sees him falter at her words, but he agrees.
Very well, she says. Take your gloves off, and never put them back on so long as the Sakurazukamori lives. The pentagram engraved on the back of your hands will flare whenever he is near; there is no magick that can cover it in this plane.
Subaru quickly takes off the gloves and shoves them in his pockets before staring at the back of his hands. There is a faint blue glow leaking from the mark. He’s near, he says quietly.
Yuuko nods. Do not throw your life away chasing shadows, Subaru-san, she warns. You still have a duty to your name; you do not bear his. She sacrificed her life for you, and you have that debt to repay. You must live for her.
He nods distractedly and stands. Thank you, he says quietly before hurrying out of the shop.
She watches him go, knowing that there are two futures that are possible, and fearing the one he will choose.
Title: her audit, though delay’d, answer’d must be
Author: doumeki
Fandom: Prince of Tennis, xxxHOLiC
Rating: G
Genre: Character Study
Characters: Ichihara Yuuko, Fuji Yumiko
Wordcount: 800
Disclaimer: Not mine. Konomi Takeshi and CLAMP own all. I don’t smoke enough crack to do what they do.
Author's Notes: A gift for the sadistic measuringlife. Clearly, you are overconfident in my ability to write crack. ♥ I’m not quite sure whether you’ll like how this turned out, but I hope you do. Enjoy! [prompts: fate is not set in stone, even inevitabilities have their limits, looking in from the outside]
They meet for tea once a year on the night of the first snowfall. Yumiko loves the way the lights play on the snowflakes as they fall from the sky, dancing and spinning in a quiet ballet that only those who can perceive are privy to.
The first fall is early this year, but she does not mind. She has taken a table outside on the sidewalk despite the pleading of the shop girl for her to pick a table inside. She isn’t cold - the scarf that Syuusuke gave her for her birthday is soft around her neck, and the boots that Yuuta gave her are keeping her legs warm.
Yuuko-san arrives a bit late, and there is a boy trailing her. Yumiko watches in amusement as she sends the boy off with more packages than he can carry. She can hear his screeching protests, but Yuuko-san just waves and makes her way to the table.
Yumiko nods in greeting and hands her a cup of tea. Yuuko-san takes it and sits down across from her. Neither of them say anything, preferring to sit and sip at their tea. Yumiko looks up into the sky, feeling the cold sting of the wind on her cheeks; Syuusuke will be upset when she returns - he does not approve of these teas with Yuuko-san, not after knowing how powerful the woman is what she can do.
“You seem troubled, Yumiko-chan,” Yuuko-san says, eyeing her over the rim of her teacup. “Is something on your mind?”
Yumiko smiles. “Syuusuke is worried about his relationship with Tezuka-kun,” she reveals, stirring more sugar into her tea. The bitterness of the cranberry is a bit strong. “Perhaps that’s what you sense?”
Yuuko-san smiles in approval. “Perhaps,” she concedes.
The conversation meanders into meaningless small talk. They do not discuss things of immediate significance, only things of relative importance. There are times when Yumiko is tempted to break the rules - to ask about the future of her younger brothers, to ensure that their dreams will be realized - but she doesn’t. The price is too heavy, and neither of them would approve of her decision.
Chatter begins to ebb, and Yumiko looks at the sky. The snow is falling faster, and there is at least an inch covering the sidewalk by their table. People are hurrying past, trying to make it home before it develops into something more serious.
“We have an hour or so before we should be leaving,” Yuuko-san informs her, though Yumiko is not worried.
“That is good,” she says.
There is silence again. Yuuko-san refills her cup and adds sugar, while Yumiko looks out over the city blanketed in white.
“What do you think of fate, Yuuko-san?”
Yuuko smiles. “Fate is what you make of it. If you believe that your fate is set, then it is. If you believe that nothing is certain, then it isn’t.”
“You believe we can change our fates?”
“No,” the older woman says quietly. “The end is inevitable; nothing can stop what is to come, but the choices you make can influence it.”
“It sounds as though you’re trying to convince yourself of that more than me,” Yumiko comments lightly. “I believe that even inevitability has its limits; things that it cannot allow to happen, despite what fate dictates.”
Yuuko-san shrugs. “The decisions of fate are not my business. I merely assist and grant wishes to those who do not have the willpower to do so themselves.”
The chill from the air is sharper now, as if warning them that, soon, it will destroy the semblance of comfort that they have.
“Perhaps next time we can meet at your shop, Yuuko-san,” Yumiko suggests again. It is a game that they play, even though Yumiko always loses.
“Perhaps, though I do not think you will be able to see the shop,” Yuuko-san rejoins.
“I’m beginning to wonder if your shop even exists,” Yumiko jokes, though she knows it does. Syuusuke has been there, has had a wish granted, and regrets it every day.
“Only those who are in need of it can see it,” she says, just as she has for the past five years that they have known each other.
Yumiko places a few bills on the table and stands. “Perhaps I’ll need it.”
Yuuko-san says nothing. She stands and walks away, leaving Yumiko to watch her back in a flurry of dancing ice, though they do not seem to touch her.
She used to wonder if it was because Yuuko-san looks at everything from a distance, as though there are consequences for being apart of a world where she doesn’t belong. She still does not know, but decides that, maybe, she’ll receive the answer next year.
The snowflakes stick to her as she makes her way home.