Meeting the Mirror Card

[spacetime_witch]

Who: Ichihara Yuuko, Mono Fuuma
What: Yuuko is shopping.  And by shopping, I mean checking store windows and breaking into them if they have good things inside.  She wasn't expecting to run into Fuuma.
Where: On the streets by the shops.
When: A day or so after the masquerade.
Rating: PG right now.
Open: No

It was a pleasant day.  Or rather, pleasant in

Comments

[dark_twin_star]

Fuuma noted the tone in her voice as she belittled him for trying to fool her. He remained unphazed by her reaction and corrected, "Do not misunderstand. I have no control over who it is I seem to resemble, I am merely aware of the fact that I appear to be others who the heart longs to see. I am not trying to impersonate or deceive you with this image. It is in your power to see me for who I am, but your heart must stop wanting to see the man you have spoken of."

The boy looked down at her, with an almost sympathetic face. His hand reached for a strand of her long hair, and let it slide down to the tips as he spoke, "I am Kamui, of the dragons of Earth. You will soon be very familiar with the term."

Not in a painful manner, he clutched her ends tightly in her hand, "You should watch the boy that works for you. His destiny is calling to him, and if he answers it..."

Fuuma let the hair slide from his fingers, then shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, "Not that he has a choice. But I have seen what happens when two...friends are on opposites sides of this battle." The look that crossed his face looked a mix between forlorn and reminiscent, but closer to the latter. He was referring to Watanuki and Himawari, though whether Yuuko knew that he was uncertain. Not that it really mattered.

"When two hearts have an unyielding wish for the same thing, but use opposite means to attain it...it can only result in tragedy. Your collegue is unaware of the power of his wish...though you must be able to sense the fate that is attached to the boy."

Any charm Fuuma had earlier in the conversation had seemed to vanish, "He will not be spared if he does answer what his heart desires."

[spacetime_witch]

Yuuko's eyes followed his hands as Fuuma slid them along her hair. It was rather odd that here, Clow's doppelganger and a man that she was completely certain she did not like, was making the same gesture he used to.

Kamui? "Is that your real name?" she asked. "Because if you are a Dragon of Earth, then you are from the same world as that nice medium and his sister. And you don't look like Kamui to me."

Her eyes narrowed at the mention of Watanuki and Himawari. Watanuki had been so ill as of late, and that spell that seemed to be on Himawari.

"Sooooo. The Dragons of Earth. So you are part of that group of poor unfortunate, foolish children who believe it is their destiny and their right to destroy the world." It wasn't a question. And the disdain in her voice was as apparent as the oil she had heard in his voice moments before.

[dark_twin_star]

"I am Kamui, the Gemini." Fuuma said nonchalantly, still studying the witch. It was obvious that her dislike for him was growing with each passing moment that he spoke. Not that it mattered.

With her eyes narrowing, he looked down to her, almost appearing sad at the fact she was concerned for the boy.

Her wish...the boy she cared for would be the one to prevent it from being granted. How ironic. But her other wish...

Fuuma chuckled lightly at her comment, "I assure you, foolish might very well be a good word for both sides...since everyone seems to lose sight of their goals."

He took a step closer to her,

"But as for belief in destiny, there is no question of its validity. For I have seen it through the eyes of Yumeimi...and there is only one path that can be followed."

Looking over his glasses at her, he added,

"One that you will try to get in the way of."

[spacetime_witch]

Such cheek.

"I am 'getting in the way' of your plans? I would love to meet this Yumeimi of yours. One path? One destiny? Is your world so tiny, so insignificant, that there is merely one path for the future that only fourteen people can be involved in? Or is it maybe your view of the world that is so narrow, to think that such a pitiful prophecy can be carried over elsewhere?"

Yuuko frowned. This was disgusting. Humans who thought they could change things...rather, who believed they had the right to change things just like that.

"Foolish indeed are the people who are in this petty war of yours that you are trying to recruit soldiers for. Your vision of the world is very small, Kamui Gemini. Humans do not have the right to destroy the world, no more than they have the right to keep it as it is. Things will change, and they will change at their own pace. Do you really believe that you will bring about anything by recruiting your dragons?"

[dark_twin_star]

He could feel the anger inside her, yet he showed no expression that her words had made an impact at all. Fuuma didn't really get angry. It was almost as if being Kamui made him forget how. But to imply that a yumeimi's prophecy was pitiful or...wrong...?

It almost struck a nerve. But then, how many had shouted at him that they were in control of their future? Kamui of the dragons of earth knew the true result all too well.

His hand reached out and grabbed Yuuko by the throat as he said calmly but darkly, "You may think what you want, but when the cry calls, I have no choice but to answer. I have seen your part in this, and for the earth to have its revolution..."

There was a swift motion as Fuuma ran his hand entirely through Yuuko, as if it were some sort of blade. The warm blood beat around his forearm, and it splattered across their chests, tinges of red touching their cheeks. His arm remained there, violating her body in a whole different meaning, as the liquid from inside soaked through his sleeve. Pulling Yuuko closer by her throat he spoke into her face, "you need to be removed."

Ripping his hand out of her, he pulled away, leaving no one there to support her.

"This is only the beginning of a very long battle between us."

[spacetime_witch]

Yuuko had barely enough time for a sharp intake of breath before his hand was inside her. She was painfully aware of the hand, of her body, her organs, and she was pretty sure his fingertips may have found their way out of her back. He was speaking to her...her mind was oddly hazy at this particular moment, but she supposed that being half choked and having her blood pooling to the ground below her while someone's fist was in her stomach could do that.

She needed to be removed? Like some mild irritation in his way?

Her mind grew a tad more clear when he pulled away and there was no longer a foreign object in her midsection. The force with which he yanked his arm out jarred her hair clip from its place, and it clattered to the ground as she fell, only throwing out her hands at the last minute to keep herself half-sitting, half kneeling in her own blood on the pavement, her long hair pooling around her.

Thoughts. Right...think coherently. Her first thought was that she was going to have an ugly bruise around her throat, followed by the minor mental threat that this had better not leave a scar. Alright. And her soul, where was that. The witch closed her eyes and focused on her own ragged breathing. He had probably grazed a lung on the way in or out, it was hard to breathe...

There was her soul, still firmly attached to her body. She wasn't going to allow herself to die from something like this, but her eyes were still unfocused and she was having a hard time thinking, and breathing was so irritating. Breathing. Keep breathing. It sounds ragged and ugly, but keep breathing.

Yuuko managed to clear her head long enough to observe the hole in her midsection. Once she had the idea of the wound fixed firmly in her mind, she reached down with one hand, supporting most of her weight on the other, and began methodically pulling shredded pieces of silk from her kimono out of the wound and way from it.

"So..." she managed, between gasps. "A clean cut. That's nice. Messy ones hurt more..." She coughed. More blood. Great. "Do you...often kill people?"

[dark_twin_star]

Fuuma watched her fall, but had no look on his face that gave a strong reaction. He looked rather neutral for having just plowed his arm through the witch's body and covering them both in blood.

He brought his stained hand up and studied it briefly before bringing it to his lips and lightly licking the very tip of his forefinger. This brought to mind that he needed to meet Kamui soon. Fuuma could sense that there were dragons of heaven that were on the brink of awakening as well. It seemed as though the boy he had warned the witch of losing would be following his ordained path. Pity.

Looking down at her, he replied softly, "My hands are unclean, you are not the first." The dark haired boy offered a soft smile before putting his hands in his trenchcoat pockets. As if nothing had happened.

"There is no possibility for your wish to be granted. Either one of them, for that matter." Peering over his glasses, Fumma added, "Yours are more complex than most. As would be expected."

He turned to begin to walk away.

[spacetime_witch]

Yuuko smiled. "As I thought," she replied, to his comment about his unclean hands. "I can see them," she paused to breathe, "And the weight that crushes you. Murder...is such a heavy weight. There will come a time...when you won't be...able to bear it." She paused, breathing heavily, and examined her wound. It was clear of silk fragments. How irritating too. She had liked this kimono.

The witch was still sitting on the ground of course, but she managed to heave herself off her second hand so she could use both for her next task. To the untrained eye, it looked as though she was merely rubbing the wound. Slow circles, start in the middle and rub the damage off of the inside, then move slowly outwards. She paused occasionally to make sure the skin was even and unmarked, until she was finished.

It took all of about sixty seconds to wipe the damage away, and when she looked up, already feeling a little better, Fuuma had his back to her and was walking away.

Yuuko used one hand to help herself get up, and when she managed it, she stood tall. The witch was absolutely covered in blood, but underneath the gaping hole in the front of her kimono, her abdomen was completely unmarked. The treatment her neck had received was going to bruise, but she didn't have the time or the energy to bother with that now.

"You know nothing of wishes," she told him, smiling. "I am aware of how complex mine is, but it is not impossible while I am still living. And my apologies, but you seemed quite unable to solve that problem." Yuuko laughed lightly. She was feeling a tad light-headed, and she was going to have to treat herself properly when she got back to the teahouse, but there was no danger here.

[dark_twin_star]

"It was their wish to die. I merely aided them in achieving it." Fuuma said calmly. Like the boy that wanted to die protecting the dreaming princess. He had aided him and gave him his heart's greatest desire. There was nothing wrong with that. At her comment, he offered a very sad smile, "I'd rather be the one bearing it than..."

He closed his eyes, "When that time comes...only then is when Kamui can grant my wish."

When he turned to walk away, the rustling behind him caused Fuuma to stop and turn back to who he thought had been his first victim in this world. Hm, this certainly made things interesting. She stood before him, unscathed physically, as if the injury had never occured. Well, despite the obviously large bloodstain on and the tattered section of the kimono that she was wearing. Very, very, interesting. He retained his smile, it being light and airy, in contrast to the darker one from earlier.

"You are quite the formidable enemy."

As he watched her, he could sense that she was not as well as she made herself out to be. Perhaps next time he would have to actually rip out her heart.

"In your eyes, I may not." He mused, looking off to the side. "But you have something that is about to complicate it further." His eyes trailed back to her and he added, "The visions will start to come. Perhaps it would have been easier if you didn't have to watch him die..." The tall boy truly looked sympathetic at that moment.

[spacetime_witch]

"You may call it what you will," she said coolly, referring to his admittance of being a murderer.

Wait. He said Kamui. Yuuko's memory darted back to the Masquerade, and a dance with a sulking young man who didn't know how to waltz, but tried to anyway for the sake of being a gentleman.

Dragons of Earth. Mirror Card. Kamui, only this was the Gemini of Kamui.

"I appreciate that you consider me formidable. It appears to be quite the compliment. And there is no need to worry about me. Visions are simple things. They appear complex, but are really quite simple to understand. I have been a prophet before. I believe I am still worshiped as a goddess on one small desert world."

She gathered up her basket and prepared to leave. Yuuko was looking forward to a nice hot bath at her teahouse.

"I hope your wish is granted. And how difficult for you if it ends up being granted by me."

As she walked out, she was thinking, Gemini, Kamui, Mirror... when it clicked in to place. So simply she was surprised it didn't make an audible sound.

"Good luck in your endeavors then..." she called over her shoulder.

"...Fuuma-kun."