[ Watashi ]

[ Tomodachi ]

[ Saint Seiya ]

[ Clamp ]

[ Fanfiction ]

I looked at the list of books I had already inspected and sighed, despairing of ever finding what I was looking for. This part of the huge library was dedicated to philosophy, history, mythology and religion. There was almost never anyone here but me. The keeper knew me now, I had come every day during two weeks, all for nothing. There was no reference to Onmyoujutsu, the Sumeragi or Sakurazukamori clans anywhere. I had no idea if this was the result of careful censorship in the authors' minds or if the books on the subject were not for public consumption.

I put the last of my books back on its shelf, and closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on the smell of all the books that were kept here. I liked this peaceful place. It was as if time slowed when I came here. Eventually, I turned around to leave, wondering where I would look tomorrow.

"Excuse me..."

I gave a start, surprised. A young woman was standing right in front of me.

"Are you Kido Shun ?"

Completely taken aback, I said nothing at first, and then shrugged.

"What if I was ?"

She smiled and bowed.

"I am Sumeragi Asako, and I have been looking for you."

Sumeragi... I felt a cold fear in the pit of my stomach. Why would they seek me out now ? Did they know of my encounter with Sakurazukamori ? I sighed and asked her :

"It would seem you managed to find me. Now, perhaps you can tell me what this is all about ?"

She nodded towards the table at which I had sat during the whole morning. I decided to indulge her, and went quietly sit on my familiar chair. She sat in front of me and said :

"Yes, we can talk here. this place is quiet, no one will listen and I'm sure you wouldn't come to our house..."

She smiled pleasantly as she said that, and I chose to ignore her. I was no child she could lecture. I was free to do what I wished. She looked outside for a while, then faced me.

"You have come here every day to find out things we could tell you ourselves, things we offered to tell you..."

She waited for a few seconds, perhaps hoping I would react, but I had no intention of doing so. If she had information to give, I'd be glad to have it, but I wouldn't offer her excuses on my behaviour.

"You will find no books on Onmyoujutsu or our clans here, or anywhere else for that matter..."

She closed her eyes, then locked her gaze on mine, in deadly earnest.

"We know you have decided to fight Sakurazukamori. You will die at his hands if you know nothing about us. I have come to give you the knowledge you seek."

She looked out the window and smiled a bit sadly.

"We, the Sumeragi, use what is called Onmyoujutsu in the service of others. Onmyoujutsu is the Yin-Yang magic. Its characteristics are the use of chanted spells and also the possibility to communicate and project oneself in the world of the spirit. Our projection is called a Shikigami, it is an animal reflecting our personality..."

She looked at me.

"You saw Subaru's Shikigami when he called you..."

Yes... An image formed before my eyes. A white form shimmering in the darkness. A bird and then not a bird...

"It was beautiful..."

She nodded, saying softly :

"I know... You do not have this form of Power, so I don't need to explain much further, but you must know that the spells can be lethal curses. You can be destroyed utterly. A master of Onmyoujutsu wields a considerable power... There is something very imporant about the spells : to use them has its price. Even if you master them, if you know them perfectly, you must always use protections, for sooner or later, even when cast correctly, they will come back at you... The more so when you use evil curses... This side effect is called Sakanagi. Every Onmyoujutsu must find a way of protecting himself against that. The form of this protection will vary according to the wielder's personality..."

She tensed.

"Just as we used this kind of power to help, our opposite, Sakurazukamori, uses it to kill. We do not know how he chooses his victim, or the spells he uses, but... You must understand that there has always been a Balance between our clans. Good and Evil, Night and Day must exist together, one cannot be without the other..."

I looked at her curiously.

"Are you saying that this assassin should be left alone to kill innocents as he wishes ?"

She bowed her head.

"No... But direct confrontation is not what should be. We balance one another. This is important. Subaru had started a mad quest for revenge... And the other killed him. If you challenge him, he will kill you too... But I suppose this warning comes too late..."

I sighed heavily.

"It does, since both you and he seem to think that trying to save a child's life constitutes a grieveous offense..."

She bit her lower lip.

"I am sorry..."

She looked at me.

"Our clan must have a head selected by the former leader. Subaru didn't name anyone, he died alone except for you... Oba-sama says he named you his successor, but you must realise this is nonsense. You are not and never can be one of us. Won't you name a successor ? Please ?"

I felt a slight smile coming to my lips. This at least I understood.

"You expect me to die. You think Sakurazukamori will kill me."

She looked away.

"And you know... You know who he is, don't you ? The whole lot of you, the Lady Sumeragi herself included know..."

She sighed.

"We can guess... We do not truly know, Subaru never told us. But we think you will die at Sakurazukamori's hands, yes. You cannot even begin to imagine what he is. I do not understand why Oba-sama let Subaru fight the other during so many years... It was a mistake. He must be left alone. You may think he is an evil to be stopped, but he is not evil, not truly. He is part of the Balance. Sakurazukamori's destiny is to kill, there is nothing anyone can do about it. You can think him heartless, but he can't feel. He cannot be allowed to."

I got up. I had heard enough.

"Wait !"

I shook my head.

"I have no intention of listening to you any longer. If you are too cowardly to take risks to defend those who are helpless, I guess it is your right, but that doesn't give you the right to call those who are willing to give their lives fools... But since you want so much a successor, then I name you Asako-san. Congratulations, you must be happy. I imagine that this was the only goal of your pretty little speech."

As I neared the entrance of the library, her voice came to me.

"Believe what you wish, but I will pray for you."

I sighed, looking at my watch. It was late : my little talk with Sumeragi Asako had delayed me more than I had thought, and there had been a lot of work at the restaurant. I shrugged helplessly and went into the clinic, hoping Seishirou-san wouldn't mind my coming so late in the day.

I hadn't found anything about the Kido's numerous companies at the library. I doubted there would be anything else to find on "Internet", but I would be glad to see Seishirou-san. I smiled at no one in particular. I had come to realise that I liked him a lot. His presence helped my solitude, in a way his strength reminded me of my brother... And then I owed him, he had helped me beyond what would have been considered enough. I came to the reception desk and asked :

"I would like to see the doctor Sakurazuka..."

The woman looked at her screen and shook her head.

"I am sorry, he was called for an emergency a few hours ago and still hasn't come back... Was he expecting you ?"

I shrugged.

"Well, he asked me to come when I could... We are friends you see..."

She smiled.

"If you wish, you can wait for him in his office... He shouldn't be too long anyway."

I nodded.

"Okay. I can't stay too long, but maybe he'll be back before I have to leave."

She accompanied me to Seishirou's office and let me in.

I went to the window and looked at the park outside, admiring the colours of the sunset. Suddenly, I heard a strange noise and turned to the left. One of the side doors of his office was opened. Intrigued, I opened it and entered.

There were a dozen of animals, each housed in a big cage with food and drink. Some of the animals seemed quite in good shape, and others were clearly very sick. I guessed that this was where the clinic kept some of the animals left in its care. I went to a cat's cage, and called it. It came to me and I began to stroke its fur. As soon as I touched it, it purred and I smiled. The cage was big, there were a few toys inside, and a very comfortable looking blanket. They really cared for the animals here...

The cat stiffened all of a sudden. A dog barked. The cats' ears were flat on its skull. It spit, terrified. Then, I felt it too.

I got up and looked around, tense. There was something very wrong coming this way. Something... alien... Power... Suddenly, I saw like ripples of light in the air, going right for the cages, as if directed by a will. As it touched them, two cats and a dog howled. There was a sickening noise and at the same moment the wrongness diappeared.

I went slowly to the small cat's cage and looked at the pool of blood, helpless. There hadn't been any feeling of threat, this... thing had come here as if coming back home, taking the lives of those poor animals. It had been directed to the cages, but who would want to kill helpless animals, who...

Sakanagi. The protection against the spells coming back to the one who had cast them... And those poor helpless creatures were it, substitutes.

I shuddered, remembering Sumeragi Asako's words. But why take these very animals, how could Sakurazukamori even know of their existence, he...

I fell on my knees on the ground. No. No... Tremors ran through me. It could not be, it could not ! Tears soaking my face, I looked around. Seihsirou-san couldn't... "Seishirou-san, I love you..." Subaru's last words... It felt as if my heart was being ripped to pieces by a vulture. Subaru... Sobs shook me. Subaru had known his enemy... He had given me his name and I hadn't listened. When Seishirou had given me his name, I had chased away my doubts. How could I have been foolish enough to believe an assassin would give his true name ?

I bowed my head and wished I could die.

"Why, Seishirou-san ? Why ?"

My whisper was the only thing disturbing the deep silence. Numbly, I got up, dried my tears and went away.

I stopped at the reception desk and said :

"I'm sorry but I have to go now. Don't bother doctor Sakurazuka with this, I don't want him to worry about having missed me today. I'll come back tomorrow."

I looked at the number on the door. There was no light, he wasn't back yet. I sank down against the wall and brought my legs against my chest, leaning my head on my knees, refusing to see what was around me, refusing to think.

"Shun-san..."

I slowly looked up.

He was looking at me with a soft smile on his lips. I shuddered inwardly, hating myself for my stupidity, and hating him, for knowing so well how to wound my heart.

"What is going on ?"

He offered me his hand and I took it. As he helped me getting up, I told him :

"I need a friend Seishirou-san... I really need a friend right now..."

End of part 7.

On to Next Part.
Or back to Previous Part.

Back to my Fanfic page.