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Chapter Text

“You are what your deep, driving desire is.”

After Subaru's disappearance, Kamui often dreamed of finding him again.

They weren't pleasant dreams. In most of them, he ran for hours after Subaru's shadow, never reaching him. Sometimes, he caught up with him, only to find him grievously wounded. Only for him to die in Kamui's arms.

He never expected to find him at Fuuma's side. It's somehow even worse than the dreams to see him there, standing in the deserted remains of the Shinbashi district. On the other side of the battlefield.

Overwhelmed, he tries to focus on the relief that he's alive.

He can barely call out Subaru's name. It is him, and it isn't; a version of Subaru that Kamui doesn't know. Subaru's hand moves to adjust his cape, and Kamui notices he's wearing black gloves now. Then his gaze moves higher, and his voice catches as he tries to ask him what he's doing there.

Subaru's right eye isn't blind anymore.

A brown eye and a green eye stare back at him dispassionately. There's something in that brown eye, something hiding underneath, but Kamui's attention is distracted by Fuuma's next words.

"What do you think? That's the answer."

Fuuma's previous words echo in his head, when he was asking whether Kamui thought he had killed Hinoto. If that is the truth to you, that's your wish.

He knows that Fuuma is just trying to confuse him further. But when he thinks about it, the truth is that he has no idea what Subaru's motives are. He tried again and again to understand him, but he never could. He has never questioned him, either.

The only thing he is sure of is that most, if not all, of Subaru's actions are connected to the Sakurazukamori. But now that Subaru has killed him, who's to say what motivates him?

After all, he left the Dragons of Heaven.

He left Kamui.

The truth of the matter is that Kamui never got through to him at all. What do you think? That's the answer. And the answer is that Subaru joined Fuuma because Kamui let him down. Because he was too deeply hurt and Kamui went against his wish to die on Rainbow Bridge with the man he loved.

Because he failed him like he failed Kotori before him.

"Let me make your wish come true, Kamui," Fuuma says.

Kamui's frustration explodes between them as Fuuma summons a giant beast from the concrete blocks surrounding them and their waves of magic collide. Kamui's spell hits the concrete dragon-like creature straight on, obliterating its structure. It falls apart, bombarding them with a barrage of boulders.

Jumping back to the Dragons of Heaven, Kamui helps them shield against the blocks. They land with a deafening noise in a circle around them, raising clouds of dust.

In the distance, Kamui sees Fuuma and Subaru, standing still in the middle of the battlefield. His hand tightens around the Shinken as he charges forward, giving everything he has in a frontal attack against Fuuma.

He reaches him before he realizes that Fuuma isn't moving or doing anything to avoid his attack. But it's too late and Kamui's spell completes, the raw energy directed at Fuuma's chest.

The shockwaves shatter everything around them, sending them flying. Kamui catches Subaru's eye, far below, just before he lands again and raises the Shinken, finishing his spell with a well-rounded explosion, disintegrating what little was left standing in Shinbashi.

He is not even surprised to see Fuuma sitting on a broken pillar, waiting for him.

"Why…" Kamui says without finishing his thought aloud. Why did you not fight against me? Why did you only dodge my attack?

Fuuma answers anyway. "Even if you hurt me, you still want ‘Fuuma' back, right?"

Kamui remains silent. At the last second, he pushed the Shinken away from Fuuma, leaving only his spell to carry his attack. He knew that the sword would have pierced Fuuma's heart with ease if he had let it.

But he can only wound Fuuma, not kill him. Otherwise the real Fuuma, his Fuuma, can never return.

He can't win.

Fuuma stands up. "That's your wish, but…" In one swift movement, he holds his Shinken to Kamui's throat. "Your real wish is different."

"What?"

"I guess you won't realize your real wish until the final battle." Fuuma's face isn't triumphant or even satisfied. In fact, he looks almost pained.

Kamui feels his own sword react, burning in his hand. He follows the sword's movements more than he reacts to Fuuma's attack, reducing the large pillar they were standing on to rubble.

The shock sends him crashing to the ground. Fuuma is on top of him, the tip of his sword hovering above Kamui's heart. Kamui ignores it and stares back at Fuuma.

"My wish is to bring Fuuma back, even if I hurt Fuuma himself. That's my wish, there's no other wish!"

In the silence that follows his shout, he hears a soft voice from far above him. "There is one, Kamui. You don't realize it, but it's in there."

Subaru's name escapes Kamui's lips. His vision narrows to that silhouette standing above him, to those eyes now filled with emotion.

"If you don't realize it, nothing will change," Subaru presses on. Kamui doesn't think he's ever seen him look so… intense. As if there's something else he wanted to say, but couldn't. As if he was desperately trying to make Kamui understand something.

Fuuma's triumphant smile returns as he says, "That's why you can't beat me, ‘Kamui'." His left hand rests on the pommel of the Shinken, ready to push and pierce Kamui's heart.

Subaru's words are in his mind, but they don't make sense. Ever since he had to choose between Heaven and Earth, there has only been one wish in Kamui's heart. Ever since he lost Kotori—and Fuuma, too.

He has already decided… His hand tightens around the sword's grip, made slippery by his own blood.

He has decided that no matter what, to save Fuuma… for Fuuma…

The world around him slows down as a kind voice echoes in his head. Fuuma's words, repeated to him by Karen. "If we really wish to stop the killing of other people, then why do we lose sight of what is most important?"

He lost sight of Fuuma.

The realization stuns him. Karen told him that the more we care about someone, the more we forget we might hurt that person.

She was right.
He forgot the most important thing—he forgot Fuuma.

Because the man standing over him isn't Fuuma and has never been; he's the Kamui of the Dragons of Earth, inhabiting Fuuma's body.

Fuuma, as Kamui knew him, is gone. Even if he could free his body, Fuuma wouldn't want to come back, wouldn't want to live, not after killing his own beloved sister. Not after killing so many people. Even if Kamui took the blame for him.

The Fuuma he knows—the Fuuma he knew—would never want that.

Subaru had been right all along. He had shown him that in his dreamworld when he had rescued Kamui from his own mind, right after Kotori's death.

Subaru knew. He just never stopped Kamui from doing the wrong thing.

Simply because it was what Kamui wanted.
What he wished for, what he wanted reality to be.

The pain in those mismatched eyes… Once again, Subaru's name slips from his lips.

The world grinds to a halt. The other Kamui's eyes widen, the tip of the Shinken recoils just a fraction, as Kamui feels—as they all do—a new kekkai spreading over Tokyo.

Taking the opportunity, Kamui lets himself fall from the pile of rubble he's lying on, escaping the threat of the divine sword. He jumps out of his opponent's reach, but doesn't get very far, crouching down as his legs can't hold him up any longer. He holds his sword in a defensive stance, waiting for the other Kamui's next move.

A distant part of him recognizes the shape of this new kekkai. Not that he really needs to. After all, only Arashi and Sorata are missing.

The man who controls Fuuma's body speaks, but there's something of the original Fuuma that slips through his words. "You're getting closer. This should be interesting," he says with a smile, before disappearing.

Only then does Kamui realize that Subaru is gone, too.

Chapter Text

“As your desire is, so is your will.”

Karen is the first one at his side, worriedly looking him over. "Don't move!" she cries, but Kamui doesn't hear her. Seiichiro comes seconds later, followed by Yuzuriha. Kamui absently strokes Inuki, who has found his way to his lap.

Yuzuriha fumes, shouting at the empty space where Fuuma used to be. "I can't believe this! He's just playing with us! It's like he doesn't even care!"

Subaru's words come back to him, describing the Sakurazukamori when they first met. He said he didn't differentiate between people and things. He remembers the coldness of his illusions.

He's been blinded the whole time. Blinded by his memories of Fuuma, when almost nothing was left of the boy he knew and cared for.

Kamui shivers. Back then, he was alone. He had just lost his mother, and was surrounded by what he thought were only enemies. He only had Kotori and Fuuma, and he had tried to keep them away from trouble, without realizing that their lives were much more deeply connected than he had thought.

Kotori and Fuuma were all he had left. And once Kotori was gone…

Yuzuriha kneels before him, and their eyes meet. A warm and determined gaze that brings him back to the present, a reminder that he's not alone anymore. He has the Dragons of Heaven. He has friends.

And Sorata and Arashi need his help.

"Are you going to be alright? Sorata opened his kekkai at the Diet. Can you come with us?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Kamui says in a more confident tone than he feels. "Wait a second, though. I need to talk to you about something. Seiichiro?"

"Yes?"

"Can you create a wind shield around us? Something noisy to protect us from spies."

Seiichiro's eyebrows rise, but he nods and concentrates on his spell. Soon, a powerful wind rises from his hands and wraps around them. "This will do. What do you want to talk about?"

Kamui turns to Karen. "Remember when I asked you to describe the people who attacked my aunt? They looked exactly like the shikis who attacked me on my first day back in Tokyo. Then, while we were waiting in Ginza, Princess Hinoto appeared to send us a message, and she used a jufu amulet identical to the one the shikis left behind."

They all stare at him in shock. "I've discussed this with Sorata, because I've felt something was wrong with Princess Hinoto the last few times we spoke. There was the time when Inuki growled at her. Then when Subaru was attacked at Rainbow Bridge? She didn't see the attack coming and thought it would be at the Yasukuni Shrine instead. And now with her sister's death… we've been lied to."

Yuzuriha looks devastated. She pulls Inuki closer. "But then…"

"Sorata sent a goho spirit created from the jufu to the Diet building to spy on Princess Hinoto and see if our suspicions were correct. If he's there, I'm afraid he's going against her."

"Princess Hinoto cannot fight," says Karen. "She has Souhi and Hien guarding her, but neither of them is a match for Sorata. So…"

"Yes. If he drew a kekkai, he's probably up against someone more powerful. Perhaps someone who is manipulating Princess Hinoto. We have to be careful."

They all look back at him, a determined look on their faces. For a moment, Kamui feels like the leader they want him to be. The one he knows he isn't, but wishes he could be.

He can play that role for a little while longer.

"Let's go," Kamui says. The wind shield vanishes behind them as they hurry past Hibiya Park on their right and race towards the Diet building. They stop at the top of the Kasumigaseki building, right at the edge of Sorata's kekkai, to get their bearings.

"Chiyoda is still mostly standing," Yuzuriha says. "You could almost believe the government is still working."

It's true: most of the surrounding buildings are still in an overall good shape, even if they're deserted.

Seiichiro looks around, his expression thoughtful. "We still have three surviving kekkais around here. The Yasukuni Shrine, the Tokyo Tower and the Ginza 6 building.^[1] Maybe that's why?"

"No, there's something else," Kamui says. He closes his eyes and pushes his senses through Sorata's kekkai. It feels heavy, as if stuck to the ground. "There's something under his kekkai."

He frowns. "Do you know of a magical structure in the Diet building? We've been there many times, but I've never felt it before. It must not have been activated until now."

"I've never heard of it. And Daisuke mentioned nothing like that, either."

Yuzuriha shakes her head. Karen says, "The building was built before the war. It's not maintained by any major temple or family line that we know of, so the knowledge could have been lost over time."

Seiichiro nods. "That makes sense. Besides, no one is allowed in the roof tower. It would be easy to build something there and hide it."

Kamui's eyes go to the pyramid-shaped roof of the Diet building. There's definitely something there, but Sorata's kekkai is strong, and the magical interference around them makes it hard for him to tell what kind of magic could be working from there.

"Maybe we should start from there. Whoever is fighting in there is probably expecting us. I'd rather not fight in that cramped basement," Kamui says.

He didn't need to worry. Just as they enter the kekkai, the central entrance collapses. Through the wide gap in the walls of the central hall, they can see Sorata fighting Souhi and Hien. Both guards are struggling, and Sorata, who's still injured from his last fight, seems to have little trouble keeping them at bay.

But he's obviously not fighting at full strength either, his movements stiff from fatigue. Hinoto is nowhere to be seen. And above them…

Yuzuriha lets out a cry of shock as they all take in the sight.

Above them, Arashi is hanging from the ceiling. She appears to be unconscious, her arms and legs bound by black strips of a thin material that doesn't seem quite physical. She is unharmed, as far as they can see.

"Sorata!"

Sorata acknowledges them with a brief nod and a weak smile. It's a testament to how tired he must be that he doesn't greet them with a joke. He doesn't even bother to tell Kamui that his suspicions have been confirmed. Seiichiro and Yuzuriha jump to his side, but Karen stays behind with Kamui.

"You're looking for Hinoto too?" she asks.

"I can feel her, but I cannot see her. I wonder…" Kamui says, eyeing the black material that holds Arashi in place. The ribbons twist and turn on her limbs, looking soft like silk, and yet feeling insubstantial. A thread of bright green-blue, underlined with creamy white, flashes through it.

Colors he had seen before, when he had talked with Hinoto and for the first time got that strange impression that she felt more like fire than water. Colors that were reflected in the endless ocean of her dreamworld.

Kamui lifts his eyes. Above Arashi, he sees the black bands melting into the ceiling. They are underwater. They're under the water of Hinoto's dream.

Like the Sakurazukamori, Hinoto has the power to pull them all into her dream. Kamui wonders briefly if injuries suffered there will be felt similarly in real life, like in his illusions. Not that it matters; in Sorata's condition, he will collapse from exhaustion long before the fight is over.

In the ceiling, anguished red eyes open.

"Kamui! The star of Kouya wants to kill me! He won't listen to me. He must be under the influence of the Dragons of Earth. Please help me!"

"Really?" Kamui stretches out his right arm. His fingers reach into the air, searching for the fabric of the dream around them. Testing its resistance.

"Kamui?"

The electricity of Sorata's static power comes into contact with his hands, bouncing around them. He directs the electricity to form a protective barrier around the Dragons of Heaven and uses it to transfer some energy back to Sorata. At the same time, he uses the static electricity against the water of the dreamscape.

He feels more than he sees the knife that Souhi throws at him, but Inuki grabs it in mid-flight before he can react. The spirit wolf growls at his feet, ready to stop any further attack.

Kamui returns his full focus to the trap they're in and allows his consciousness to reach the limits of the dream. His body still hurts from the fight with Fuuma, but it feels unbelievably good to dig into his magical reserves, to push just a little.

Just a little, right where it's weakest. Kamui holds his breath for a second, searching Hinoto's eyes. At first, he sees incomprehension and fear, then when she understands what he's going to do, anger takes over—not completely, though, not enough to keep Kamui from seeing the hope underneath.

Kamui closes his eyes and pushes through. The dream shatters like glass around them, revealing an unconscious Hinoto on the ground behind Souhi and Hien… and another Hinoto hovering above them. Sorata screams as they realize Arashi is restrained by this Hinoto's long white hair.

Hinoto smiles, cold and cruel, and Kamui is reminded of the being that took over Fuuma's body.

"Looks like you finally caught up, huh? I'm sorry, Kamui, but I can't let you do this," Hinoto says as she calls Souhi and Hien forwards.

It is clear from their faces that the twins don't want to face the Dragons of Heaven, but their bodies are forced into a fighting position anyway.

"Let them go!" Yuzuriha cries. Hinoto doesn't react, focused on her next spell.

They all take a step back as shikigamis appear under her command, the same men in black costumes that Kamui had fought before. Definitely not the strongest, but in numbers… And Hinoto seems determined to summon as many as possible.

"She wants the kekkai under her to be destroyed," Sorata says, his voice coming out in rasps. Karen helps him sit down to catch his breath as Yuzuriha and Inuki take up a defensive position in front of them.

"Princess Hinoto has no summoning powers of her own. If she's able to conjure up so many spirits, she must be getting her energy from somewhere," Seiichiro says.

Their eyes meet as they come to the same conclusion: the Diet building itself must serve as an energy container.

A choked cry breaks their silent communication. Focused on her summoning, Hinoto has lost control of the spell binding Arashi, and she wakes up.

"Arashi!" Sorata yells, jumping to his feet despite Karen's protests. "Arashi, are you alright?"

Her face turns to him, but there's no recognition in her dark violet eyes. "What did you do to her?" Sorata asks with a growl.

"I granted her wish," Hinoto replies with a deadly smile. "She came to me because she was suffering. Because she had lost her power. Because of you… So I helped her. I gave her a new beginning."

"No… No! You're lying!"

Hinoto's voice rises as her shadow grows to fill the hall. Her hair tightens even more against Arashi's body. "Am I? Can you still feel her magic? She sacrificed everything for you and you took her, you took her soul."

Sorata flinches. Hinoto's smile widens. "Without powers, she can't be a dragon of Heaven anymore. Without powers, she's useless. She knows that without my help, the only future that awaits her is the same as her mother—to die alone in a forgotten back alley. That's what you condemned her to, and that's what I'm saving her from. Do you really think you mean anything to her anymore?"

Sorata lets out an inarticulate cry of rage. "Liar!" The burst of his magical energy startles the shikigamis around them and makes Arashi focus on him again. Even though it's not an active focus, Sorata holds on to it.

"Arashi, listen to me. She's lying. You're not powerless and even if you were, I would never leave you alone. I don't care if you are still a dragon of Heaven or not. I would have given my life for you even when we first met and you didn't care for me, and I'm ready to do it now. You know I'm telling the truth. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

Arashi's eyes widen, conflicting emotions swirling in them. Sorata can feel her resisting the spell, but Hinoto's voice cuts through his efforts.

"By her side, really? Let's see." With a flick of her hand, she takes control of Arashi again, and forces her body to turn towards Kamui. The Shinken vibrates in his hand as a sword appears in Arashi's hand—long and thin, a pale copy of her priestess weapon.

Tears gather in the corners of Arashi's eyes as her body lunges at Kamui, who dodges the attack. They engage in a fight of sorts, Arashi delivering blows that come closer and closer to Kamui each time, while he tries not to touch her.

He knows that a direct attack would mean losing her completely. If anyone can reach her and free her, it's Sorata. The young priest is caught between two loyalties; between Kamui, to whom he swore his life, and Arashi, for whom he wants to die. Kamui can feel his hesitation.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine! Focus on her!"

Hinoto frowns, and Arashi's moves become more aggressive, grazing him. Blood spills into the air, adding to the ambient energy.

Out of the corner of Kamui's eyes, he sees Yuzuriha, Seiichiro and Karen holding hands, forming a circle with wind and flames swirling fast around them.

Sorata moves in front of Kamui and opens his wounded hands to Arashi. The young woman stares back at him and raises her sword.

"Come back to us," Sorata says in a whisper. He doesn't even shudder when Arashi's sword plunges straight into his chest. "Come back to me."

Before he even thinks about it, magic bursts into Kamui's hands and he pushes it through Sorata's body, catching the blade and paralyzing it.

I don't want to see anyone else die.

Yuzuriha's words in his head, and the power he can feel through the room is hers too, mixed with Seiichiro and Karen's. Their fierce determination explodes into three kekkais, stacked on top of each other as Sorata's own dissolves. The kekkais split the reality around them, isolating Hinoto from the Dragons of Heaven.

"Sorataaa!" Arashi cries as she collapses to her knees, coming back to her senses at the horrifying sight of her lover stabbed through the chest by her own sword.

"I love you," Sorata whispers. She takes him in her trembling arms, tears running down her cheeks.

Kamui feels the pressure of Hinoto and her shikigamis trying to break through the kekkais, but they hold strong, and he continues to maintain the fragile spell that trapped Arashi's sword.

"Karen, I'm going to need your help," he says between clenched teeth, motioning for her to come closer. Sorata is still breathing, thanks to his last-second spell, but it won't last long.

"Arashi, you have to pull out the sword. Do it straight and don't hesitate. I'll hold him," he explains as Karen crouches next to them. "Karen, you need to cauterize the wounds as soon as the sword is out. I think I managed to protect the organs inside by making the sword slip into a pocket dimension instead, but once it's out, it's going to bleed. Sorata…"

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Sorata says with a breathless laugh.

"No," Kamui says. He looks up at Arashi and is relieved to find determination and trust in her eyes. He doesn't have to say a word. Arashi puts her hand on the hilt and pulls out the sword. She throws it away, the metallic sound of the blade resonating against the high pillars of the hall behind them. Kamui's spell fizzles out, and Karen's fire is immediately on Sorata's skin. The silence is shattered by his scream as he writhes in pain in Arashi's arms.

Acting on instinct, Kamui reaches out for any available energy source in the room, and finds Seiichiro already channeling his power to him. He uses it to put Sorata to sleep as gently as he can. He's never been good with this kind of magic, but there's no choice here. Sorata has already gone far beyond what most people would tolerate. He needs to heal.

As Kamui finishes the spell, the wounds from his fight with Fuuma reopen. He falls to the ground, desperately trying to catch his breath. Above him, the three kekkais spin in protection. Hinoto screams in frustrated rage, but that's not what gets Kamui's attention.

Behind her, behind the shikigamis' small army, behind Souhi and Hien, the other Hinoto has awakened.

Their eyes meet. He reads quiet determination, backed by endless sorrow. She mouths sorry at him as Arashi's sword appears in her hand. Her fingers tighten around the hilt as she raises it to her face.

Kamui yells at her to stop, but it's too late. The blade, still covered in Sorata's blood, slashes through Princess Hinoto's weak neck. She falls backwards. The other Hinoto runs to her side, screaming and shaking the unconscious body, but she's already fading, turning to silvery tears on the ground, mixing with Hinoto's blood. She throws her last strength against the kekkais in vain, and disappears.

The shikigamis disappear one by one, held by magical remnants. Souhi and Hien faint, holding onto each other. Above them, gently caressing them with a ghostly hand, Kamui can see Hinoto.

She smiles at them. Sorry, she whispers into their heads. I was so afraid… All my life, all my dreams came true. I could never escape fate. That's why she… That's why I became her, too. Because maybe she could escape. I—I saw you killing me, Kamui. But, you see, I didn't want to die. Even though I was supposed to help the Dragons of Heaven, I didn't want to die. I wanted the power to change the future, I wanted to choose my own fate. To be free. When I realized what she was doing—what I was doing, I asked Kanoe for help. I asked her to kill me, but… You saw what happened.

So Fuuma really was for nothing in Kanoe's death. He just didn't even care about defending himself or explain what was going on.

I can't live with the fact that I killed my own sister, Hinoto says, and for a moment Kamui isn't sure if she's really saying those words or if it's the Fuuma in his head. I hope you'll forgive me for what I've done. I hope you'll find a way to save humanity.

Hinoto's form becomes translucent. Just before she vanishes completely, she says, Kamui, I don't know if fate can be changed. In the end, did you still kill me, just in a different way? Or did I break free? I can't tell anymore…

Hinoto disappears. On the ground, washed in scarlet red and silver, shines the intricate pattern of a kekkai. Kamui stares at it for a few seconds.

"Is it going to crumble?" he asks, more to himself than to anyone else, but Seiichiro hears him.

"No, it's still anchored. But it won't survive a direct attack, now that Hinoto is gone."

"Anchored?"

Seiichiro opens his mouth as if he wants to start explaining, then his gaze moves from Kamui to the others. Kamui follows his eyes and finds Arashi, who holds Sorata in her arms, his chest barely moving with each breath.

"We'll take them back home while you finish here," Karen says with a kind smile, an answer to the silent request in Seiichiro's eyes.

They nod, and Kamui follows Seiichiro to the roof of the Diet Building. Their footsteps echo in the deserted corridors, making the structure of the magical protection even more evident to Kamui's eyes, as if the entire building was just a pyramid of wires.

Soaking up all the energy he can find, he uses it to soothe his abused muscles and stop the superficial bleeding from his battle wounds. He's still limping, but it'll do.

Seiichiro begins his explanation as they trudge up the stairs. "When you draw a kekkai for temporary use, you don't need to anchor it. Well, it's more like it's anchored to you, to your energy, to your desire to protect the ones that you care about. But the people who built the kekkais for Tokyo needed them to last for centuries. So they built according to the energies of the place and the energies of the people. Take the Yamanote line, for example."

"That was Karen's kekkai, right?"

"Yes. The line is more than a hundred years old—she didn't draw it, but she improved it. An admirable work," he says with a gentle smile. "It doesn't have to be perfectly geometrical. It's a simple pattern, each station on the line reinforcing the others. Each time a train runs on the track, it transfers a little of its kinetic energy to the kekkai, stabilizing it. As long as the trains are running, the kekkai is self-sustaining."

Unfortunately, it also means destroying one of its stations weakens the entire line.

"What about the static kekkais?"

"They need to be anchored in a solid structure, something that attracts energy. That's why skyscrapers are great targets: magical energy accumulates near them, like they do around mountains or islands. If you have something that attracts spiritual energy, like a temple, that's even better. That's why we also have a lot of high shrines that act like kekkais. Finally, if you have many people moving around the structure, that creates a channel for energy that is very powerful. Until the sixties, the Diet building was the highest building in Tokyo. With the sheer political activity of the neighborhood, everything converged…" he points to the roof access above their head, "... there."

The walls are cracked, and the access door that ought to be locked opens without resistance when they push it. They walk up the final stairs in silence. Here, the magical energy is so thick that it's almost visible to the naked eye: a blue-green shimmer in the air.

At the top of the tower, they enter a small room. The tiny windows have been blown away by the battle, and the wind greets them. Seiichiro's eyes sparkle as he uses it to clear the dust..

The walls of the room are a huge map of Tokyo. It's the Tokyo of the thirties, when the Diet was built, unfamiliar to both Kamui and Seiichiro. But they recognize some landmarks, and more importantly, the kekkai network is clearly marked. Kamui traces the Yamanote line, noting the almost complete outline—only the most recent station at Nishi-Nippori is missing.

His fingers stop south of Shibuya. "That's where the Yebisu Garden kekkai was?"

"Yes, but it didn't exist yet. Back then, it was the Sapporo breweries. Largest factory in Tokyo, a natural cluster of energies. I think whoever was involved simply transferred the kekkai from the brewery to the skyscraper complex. Just like the Tokyo Tower."

Kamui's eyes snap to where the Tokyo Tower would be on a modern map. Instead, he finds the maze of buildings of Zoujou-ji Temple. "It doesn't look at all like it does today."

"No, most of it was destroyed in the war. Only the main gate remained. They rebuilt the rest and some of the land was sold to build the Tokyo Tower. I'd bet that parts of the Tokyo Tower kekkai are anchored to that old gate. But that's something only Subaru could tell you about."

Kamui freezes. "Subaru?"

Seiichiro frowns. "Just as the Yamanote line was the responsibility of Karen's church, Tokyo Tower is the responsibility of the Sumeragi Onmyouji line. Of course, now that he is no longer a Dragon of Heaven…"

"Subaru is still an Onmyouji," Kamui says, cutting him off. He's still the Subaru I know.

Seiichiro looks at him doubtfully. "Kamui, you saw him at Fuuma's side. He didn't move when you were under his blade."

The words feel like icy water dripping down Kamui's neck. You didn't hear him, he wants to say. You didn't see his eyes. You can't understand.

"He did it for a reason." Kamui only wishes he knew what the reason was. Or why he disappeared for so long.

The silence stretches between them, until Seiichiro says quietly, "You know him best."

And isn't that the worst? Kamui, who feels like he doesn't know Subaru at all, still knows him best.

Subaru had tried to keep as far away as possible from the other Dragons of Heaven. He didn't let anyone get close to him. Just like he only enrolled in school because it was convenient. Because it helped him track down the Sakurazukamori.

And yet, he had reached out to Kamui—brought him out of the coma he had fallen into, risked his life for him, lost his eye in the fight against Fuuma. Kamui had thought Subaru wouldn't want him around, after that, but he had stayed. Always supportive and kind.

Too kind, Kamui thinks, not for the first time. But he can't find it in himself to see this as a fault, not when this kindness brought Kamui back to life.

Just like he can't blame Subaru for joining the Dragons of Earth after losing everything he had. After losing the only person who still tied him to this world. The one he could draw a kekkai for, the one he could protect the world for.

It hurt to find him at Fuuma's side. But not because Kamui thought Subaru had betrayed him; because that's how he knew he had failed him.

"It was my fault," Kamui says, more to himself than to Seiichiro. The older man looks at him, no doubt expecting a follow-up comment.

I thought I was doing the right thing, but I shouldn't have left him alone, Kamui thinks. He can't quite bring himself to say the words out loud, though.

"We should investigate the Tower anyway," Seiichiro says, "There aren't many kekkais still left."

Kamui nods, thankful for the distraction from his thoughts. "In the visions I got from Princess Hinoto, and also from the dreamseer of the Dragons of Earth, the Tower of Tokyo seemed to symbolize one of the possible futures. The one where we won."

"What was the other?"

"The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Flooded, but still standing."

"Hmm. It's just north of the Shinjuku kekkai, and west of the Shinjuku station on the Yamanote line. I'd be surprised if it was still in one piece. We haven't been this far west in weeks. Have you been having these dreams recently?"

Kamui nods, looking out the window. In the evening light, Tokyo's skyline looks even more devastated, but some buildings are still visible in the distance. He can't quite make out the silhouette of the Metropolitan Government building, though.

Seems that no matter what he's after, it's always out of reach.

Seiichiro quickly sketches the maps on a piece of paper. "Alright, let's take this back to the campus and give it to the directors. Then we can compare it with our modern data."

"Yes. And tomorrow… Tomorrow we'll go to the Tokyo Tower."

Chapter Text

“As your will is, so is your deed.”

Night is falling as they make their way back to the campus in silence, lost in their thoughts. Kamui's body still aches from the battle, his fingers tingling with nervous tension.

"You should rest a bit," Seiichiro says after they leave the maps to Nokoru, who immediately goes to work on them.

Kamui agrees absently, but he doesn't move. He stands on the top of the stairs that lead to the main hall of the campus, watching the sunset illuminate the gardens.

Seiichiro wishes him a good night, and he watches him leave, trying to get rid of his restless feelings. He starts walking, with no destination in mind. His steps take him to the gazebo where he used to study with Subaru. He approaches quietly, letting his hands caress the stone pillars.

So far, the campus has suffered little damage from the earthquakes. Even the graceful gazebo held up. For a second, sitting there, Kamui can close his eyes and pretend that everything is back to the way it was in the summer. That Subaru will appear and they'll be able to talk again.

In fact, it's a bit too easy to pretend. With his sharpened senses, Kamui studies the pavilion, looking beneath the surface of reality. Thin strands of residual magic appear under his eyes. Subtly intertwined spells, cast with a consummate art that he recognizes with a twinge in his heart.

Subaru has left protective fudas behind.

He reaches for the nearest one, shifting the layers of magic until his fingers touch the sacred paper. For a second, a vision overcomes him. Subaru's back, disappearing in the darkness of a back alley.

Kamui stumbles back. This wasn't a memory, but it didn't seem like a dream either. Could it be that the fudas are still somehow connected to Subaru?

The Onmyouji left ten fudas, one for each pillar of the gazebo. Kamui tries them all, eager for any kind of information about Subaru. He never gets more than a glimpse of him, but each pillar is one more clue. The smell of a river and of camellias flowers; the sound of rain falling on steel roofs and running down stone steps. Exotic trees bending over high residential walls, dogs playing outside ornate metal doors. A large avenue flanked by tall ginkgo trees. Church bells and white walls stretching gracefully up to the sky.

"Kamui?"

The voice snaps him out of his thoughts. He looks up, surprised to see Keiichi looking at him with amusement.

"What are you doing here?" Kamui asks.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you this? It's past dinnertime and you look like you've been through hell."

"I… needed to think alone for a while." It's the closest to the truth he can share.

Keiichi tilts his head to the side. "Am I disturbing you?"

"No," Kamui says. The pictures he got from the fudas aren't precise enough. He's almost sure that they are leading him to where Subaru is, but he has no idea where to start looking. Better to leave himself some time to think about it.

He turns his attention fully to Keiichi. "Why did you stay in Tokyo? The city is almost completely evacuated."

Keiichi sits down and invites him to do the same. "I have no family left. All my friends are here, and at least here I can be useful. Like, there's this old lady who lives in Shinonome. She says she was born in Tokyo and survived the war, and she doesn't care about the earthquakes, she's not leaving. That she's old and doesn't care for dying somewhere else other than her home. So I bring her food and we talk. There are a lot of students who are in the same situation as me, too. Where would we go? Here, we help each other out. The campus has been preserved so far. I hope it will continue."

Kamui nods. His throat tightens. It's his fault if Keiichi's parents are dead. Because he wasn't able to fight Fuuma and stop him before he started to destroy large parts of Tokyo.

He flinches when Keiichi squeezes his shoulder. "Kamui? You don't look well. Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No, I'll be fine. Keiichi, you…"

"I?"

"...Is it really what you want?" Kamui asks, his voice barely audible.

Keiichi still looks at him like he's worried he might collapse at any moment, but he eventually says, "Yes. I know it might look stupid to other people, but it's what I want to do. I want to honor my parents and the way they lived, and I want to be useful. I told you before, when this started, how useless I felt. Now I don't feel that way anymore and that's all that matters to me."

Keiichi pauses for a moment before smiling at him. "Don't worry about me. I know I could die. But there's no point in running away, is there? I couldn't save my parents. That was never in my power. The only thing I can do for them is honor them by looking forward. I have to take the steps myself, or I'll get stuck. And nothing will ever change."

If you don't realize it, nothing will change.

Those were Subaru's words, too. Is it all about change, in the end? The dragons of Heaven fight to preserve humanity as it is, while the dragons of Earth fight to get rid of humanity. To change the world.

Subaru never criticized his wish until he joined Fuuma's side. From the very beginning, he had been supportive. But now, after losing everything he had like Keiichi did, he was talking about his other wish.

Keiichi's voice jolts him out of his thoughts. "Do you miss him?"

"Who?"

"The college student you used to study with here. Do you miss him?"

Kamui stares at him for a moment. Is he that obvious? "... Yes."

"Is he…" Keiichi's voice trails off, and Kamui guesses what he's trying to ask.

"No, he's… He's alive," he says, because he's fine doesn't fit at all, and even he's alright seems a bit too optimistic.

But Subaru is alive.

"Is he staying in his house like the old lady?"

"I don't know. I don't know where he is," Kamui admits. He only has hints and none of them make sense to him. Subaru remains his elusive self. "I don't even know if he'd want me to look for him."

"I'm sure he would," Keiichi says with a smile, and only then does Kamui realize he said the last part of his thoughts out loud. "Even if you two had a fight, I'm sure he would want to see you."

Kamui only wishes he could have had a fight with Subaru. It would be so much simpler.

"I failed him." The words are bitter on his tongue, but no less true.

Keiichi stares at him, but Kamui can't bring himself to look him in the eye. Of all the things he has done since his return to Tokyo, his failure with Subaru hurts him the most. Kotori's death had broken him, because all he ever wanted was to protect her. He had wanted to disappear from the world, but Subaru had given him a reason to live again. Risked his life for him.

And Kamui didn't do anything in return.

Keiichi leans back, looking up at the stars appearing one by one in the night sky. "Sometimes I feel like I failed my parents in a similar way. Like, I think I should have told them to move out as soon as the earthquakes started. But that's wishful thinking, you know? Because they would never have done it, even if I had insisted. I know the guilt I feel isn't rational. Yours isn't, either."

Kamui opens his mouth to argue, but Keiichi cuts him off. "I think you should look for him, anyway. I mean, I wish you'd stay here so you can be safe, but I know you won't do that. So you should do what makes you happy. And it's obvious that you miss him a lot." His voice takes on a softer tone. "There could be another earthquake tonight, and he could be gone. Go to him and apologize. You're a great person, and he seems like one, too. I don't think he would hold a grudge against you, even if you think he should. And if he doesn't want you back, at least you'll have no regrets."

Kamui studies Keiichi's face in the moonlight. His words are sincere, and Kamui wants to believe them, but Keiichi has no idea what is really going on in between them. "You don't know… What kind of relationship do you think we had?"

"Wasn't he your lover?"

Kamui's train of thought abruptly derails. Speechless, he stares at Keiichi, who bursts into laughter.

"Your face right now is adorable, Kamui. I can't tell if I hit too close to home or if I'm comically off the mark, though."

"No, no, he wasn't—it wasn't like…" Kamui tries to find the words, but fails. Keiichi laughs again.

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't tease you like that. But think about what I told you, hm? I'm sure he wants to see you."

Kamui wants to ask, how do you know that? You barely know me. You don't know him at all. But Keiichi is right. Subaru never seemed to be angry at him. Even when Kamui took him out of the collapsing Rainbow Bridge, even when all Subaru obviously wanted to do was to die by the Sakurazukamori's side, and Kamui had stopped him from doing so.

Even when Kamui had done the worst thing he could have done to him.

Kamui closes his eyes and tries to focus on the impressions he got from Subaru's fudas. Even if he doesn't know where to go yet, he can always create a shikigami guided by them. He'll find Subaru one way or another. When he opens his eyes again, Keiichi is smiling at him.

"You're going?" he asks. Kamui nods and Keiichi's smile widens.

Keiichi stands up. "Take something to eat before you leave," he says. "I know that now that you're decided, you won't wait until sunrise, but don't go on the streets without something in your stomach, okay?"

Kamui smiles. "Thank you, Keiichi." The words come out short to express his gratitude to the young man.

"Come back with him, Kamui. Both of you in one piece," Keiichi replies, winking before he waves goodbye and walks to his dormitory.

Kamui goes back to the apartment the younger Seals share. He expects to find everyone asleep, but the light in the kitchen is on. Arashi is cooking.

"Kamui!" she says with relief when she sees him come in. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. I just came to get something to eat."

"You're going out tonight? Alone?" At Kamui's nod, she just sighs and asks, looking at the stove, "I can't stop you. But… please let me cook for you before you leave, instead of just taking energy bars?"

For a second, she looks so small in the pale light of the kitchen that Kamui feels his heart tear. "Sure," he hears himself say. The relief on Arashi's face is obvious.

Arashi's knife falls rhythmically onto the wooden board, and soon the smell of green onions browning in the pan fills the room.

"How is he?" Kamui asks. The knife barely stops.

"He's sleeping. The painkillers are working." She puts down the knife and opens the fridge to get eggs, which she mixes in a small bowl. "The doctors said it was a miracle he was still alive. They don't understand how he managed to walk on his broken leg, and his arm seems to work again. I—" Her voice trails off.

The fork clangs in the metal bowl. She pours soy sauce in.

"How are you?"

Arashi doesn't answer at first, focusing on pouring the omelet mixture into a pan. "I'll be fine. I came to Princess Hinoto because I thought it was the end for me. I had no more powers. I couldn't be anything but a hindrance to you."

She looks up at Kamui and smiles, although her smile is strained. "I was wrong."

She finishes cooking the omelet in silence, the mouth-watering smell making Kamui realize he's actually hungry. She serves him the omelet, accompanied by fried rice and fresh carrot slices. "Eat before you leave. You're going after Subaru, right?"

Kamui looks up at her, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. "How do you know?"

"The others told me you found him again, but that he left with Fuuma. It seemed obvious to me that you would want to go after him. You two have always been close."

Have we? He returns to his food, aware of Arashi's eyes on him.

"Princess Hinoto said she would erase my memories. That since I couldn't be a Dragon of Heaven anymore, I would forget everyone I loved and wanted to protect. And that I'd become a Dragon of Earth. I couldn't bear the thought, but she was too strong for me and I fell into her dream."

"But you didn't forget us."

"No. I held on to the people I loved. That's why I'm not stopping you from going after him. I would do the same."

"Subaru hasn't lost his memory either." Not when memories are all he has anymore, a small voice in his head reminds him. "But he isn't a Dragon of Heaven anymore."

"Neither am I. I don't think he's lost, Kamui. He brought you back when you met, and I think you can bring him back, too. Just like Sorata did for me."

Kamui looks at her. Even though the light of the kitchen is too bright and exhaustion marks her face, she stands upright in front of him.

"I don't think I'll ever understand the way he thinks. And I'll probably have nightmares about stabbing him until the day I die. But he was happy to sacrifice himself like that. And I'm happy to take care of him now that he needs me. To take care of you, too. I may no longer be worthy of the Priestess of Ise title, but I'm still one of us. I don't know Subaru very well, but I know that he's still one of us as well."

Kamui looks down at his plate, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. He shouldn't be so touched by Arashi's unwavering trust, but he is.

Arashi leaves him alone for a few seconds, perhaps sensing his discomfort. When he finishes his meal, she returns with a big brown coat.

"Here. It's one of Sorata's, but he shouldn't be allowed outside for a while. It will be a little big for you, but at least you'll be warm. Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet. Subaru left fudas on the campus and I got glimpses of him through them, but the pictures were imprecise."

He describes them to Arashi, who writes them down. "Can you draw what those white walls looked like?"

Kamui complies, drawing a figure vaguely resembling a butterfly, with two wings, one lower than the other, and a straight line between them.

"Mmm… Could it be St Mary's Cathedral?" Arashi asks.

"It could be!" he says, getting excited. "That would explain the bells. There's a residential area behind it that would match the streets I saw. And gardens below. Maybe there's a perfume factory around? Or preserved flowers? I smelled camellias, but it's October."

Arashi looks pensive. "I think the cathedral is a good place to start looking. It's too much of a coincidence."

"Huh?"

"Seiichiro mentioned that the dreamseers showed you the Tokyo metropolitan government building. Well, the last time the Great Temple of Ise was restored, it was by Kenzo Tange, a prominent architect. Sometimes, at the temple, we would get architecture students wanting to visit, so priestesses had to learn about him. Tange also designed the metropolitan government building and the cathedral. Maybe even other landmarks I don't know about."

"Do you think he might have known about the kekkais?"

"Maybe, maybe not. But the CLAMP campus was designed and built to hold the divine sword, so it might not be too much of a stretch. I think Karen would have known if the cathedral itself was a kekkai, but since the area is isolated from the rest of what's left of Tokyo, we didn't notice it."

"Alright. I'm on my way," Kamui says. He puts on the coat, feeling better already. He has a plan.

"I have to look after Sorata. Are you sure you don't want me to call Karen or Seiichiro or Yuzuriha to search with you? You're going farther north than any of us has in a while."

"No, thank you. If Fuuma wants to fight me on the way, I'd rather know that you're out of it. You'll feel it if something happens, anyway, but it's better if you're not directly involved."

"Alright. Just, Kamui…"

"Yeah?"

"Remember you have people here who care about you," Arashi says, her eyes avoiding him, a slight blush on her cheeks.

"I won't forget, Arashi. Thank you."

Kamui barely crosses the Kanda river before the ground gives way under his feet. He jumps to a preserved section of the Edogawa Bridge and tries to find out where the attack is coming from. Whoever his opponent is, they seem to be staying only on the north bank of the river. Looks like they're blocked by the flowing water. The pillars of the elevated roads fall one by one, forcing him to move west, and he decides to enter the nearby park, hiding in a tall maple tree.

The method of attack reminds him of what happened to Yuzuriha. She had faced the young female Dragon of Earth, who could control electric wires. If he's right, then the park should hinder her attacks.

"Well played, Kamui, well played, but not well played enough," a voice he doesn't recognize says behind him.

He turns slowly. Negligently balancing his leg on a branch, a young man with short blond hair smiles brightly at him.

"I don't think we've been introduced yet? I'm Yuuto Kigai. Pleasure to meet you."

"I've heard about you."

"Only good things, I hope," Yuuto says, his unnerving smile not moving an iota.

A nearby brick wall collapses. A fountain behind it empties into the ground. "Ah, and here is my companion's faithful Beast. Much more efficient than I'll ever be, I'm afraid. But Beast has a little trouble with water, you see, so we work very well in tandem." He waves his fingers as he speaks, causing the water from the fountain to spring up and float in the air above them.

"So, Kamui." Yuuto's voice turns to ice. "Tell me exactly what happened to Kanoe."

"Hinoto's sister? She was killed. Why—"

"Strangled to death, to be exact. Who did it?"

Kamui doesn't see any point in lying. "Hinoto."

Yuuto stares at him for a second. The next second, Kamui is hit by a deluge of electric cables, knocking him to the ground. He rolls out of range and runs out of the park and up the hill behind it, jumping left and right to avoid the coming attacks and using his Shinken to slice through the cables.

"She told me herself!" he yells.

"Liar," Yuuto's voice answers, much closer than Kamui had hoped. A wave that comes from nowhere slams him against a wall. The back of his head hits the stone, and for a moment, his vision turns black. When it comes back, there's something sharp at his throat, and Yuuto's face is right above him.

Behind him, barely visible in the night of a barren Tokyo, he can see the wings of St Mary.

"Let's try this again. Who killed Kanoe?" Yuuto says. "Or do I have to ask Beast to try out his circular saws? It's terribly messy. I'd rather avoid it."

"I'd rather avoid the mess on my doorstep too, thank you," says a voice he can't place at first, until it hits him.

Subaru.

Yuuto looks up, presumably to where Subaru is, and it's all Kamui can do not to move as well, remembering that any wrong move would probably end up in a slit throat.

"Sakurazukamori," Yuuto says in greeting. Kamui's blood freezes in his veins. What the hell?

"Let him go. This place is mine, and he's a guest here."

"We want answers."

"He gave them to you."

"Hinoto didn't kill her own sister!"

"She wasn't herself when she did it," Kamui says.

Yuuto looks back down at him, seemingly unsure of what to do with the information. To their left, an ad screen flickers back to life, revealing a young woman wearing a helmet. She says, "Yuuto, there's no one left in the Diet building."

"Where is Hinoto?" Yuuto asks Kamui. The blade scrapes his throat.

"She died. We—she died."

"You killed your own dreamseer?" Yuuto says in disbelief. "Are you so desperate to lose?"

Kamui doesn't answer. So the dragons of Earth didn't know about Hinoto's alter ego, or what she was trying to do, even though she was working for them in the end. Even though she tried to turn Arashi.

"Let's finish this, Yuuto. They have no dreamseer anymore. They're blind, like newborn puppies."

Yuuto's eyes harden, and he stands up. "Indeed. We're not waiting for Fuuma. Satsuki, I leave you the honor of killing the Kamui of the Dragons of Heaven."

The circular saw under Kamui's jaw comes to life just as a blast of pure energy shatters everything around him. Kamui feels Subaru's legs behind his back as the young man projects a powerful spell to protect them both. At the center of the energy shield he's building, Kamui recognizes a fuda, similar to the one he found at the gazebo.

But out of this one come cherry blossom petals, which quickly flood the scene. Reality shifts around them, and Kamui recognizes the illusion that Subaru is wielding.

The power of the Sakurazukamori.

Kamui is too late. Just like he was on Rainbow Bridge. He didn't want to believe that Subaru really became a Dragon of Earth, but the magic that surrounds them, the magic that protects him, is proof enough.

He ran after Subaru, and came up too late, too late to stop him from being eaten alive by his pain.

But he doesn't have time to wonder if there's anything left of the Subaru he knew. The ground beneath him explodes and he falls into a ditch. Above him, he sees electric cables come to life, coiling around anything they can find and throwing it at Subaru, who dodges them effortlessly.

Subaru has always been graceful; with the gravity of the Sakurazukamori's illusion working for him, he looks like he's flying.

The ground around him shakes as Kamui tries to climb out of the ditch. He feels the pressure coming and flattens against the nearby water pipe, just as said water pipe releases everything he has in a powerful jet of water. Yuuto's smile, as he stands on the giant pipe, quickly fades as he realizes he's been caught in the illusion. Instead of Subaru, the jet hits straight in the middle of Beast, projecting electric arcs everywhere.

On the screen, Satsuki screams in pain. Yuuto jumps in and tries to get the water away from Beast, but it's too late. Beast retaliates, going haywire and charging Yuuto.

Satsuki's cries for Beast to stop are drowned out by the deafening noise of ten tons of concrete crashing down where Yuuto used to be, only saved by his quick reflexes. Pieces of concrete fall everywhere, making the trench where Kamui is even more unstable. Immediately after this attack, Beast plunges its cables into the ground, determined to electrocute every living thing in the vicinity.

Subaru jumps on Beast, placing fudas on everything he can reach. Kamui finally comes out of the trench to face Yuuto, just as Beast finds them both. A scream rings out, then the noise of a microphone saturated to the point of deafness.

The next thing he knows, Beast is attacking Yuuto and not him. On the screen, Satsuki is spitting blood, one of Beast's charging cables pushed right through her lungs. Yuuto freezes, staring at the screen, one leg crushed under concrete.

Subaru pulls out Beast's main connection cable, and Beast ceases to exist as the fuda trap activates. The surrounding illusion disappears at the same time, leaving only Yuuto bleeding on the ground, still staring at the screen; which is only displaying static.

He stares at Subaru for half a second, then jumps away as fast as he can and runs to the west.

Kamui hears Subaru's footsteps behind him. He turns and sees the young man looking at him. Subaru's coat is torn apart and covered in blood below his right shoulder. Underneath, he can see a gash on his biceps and bruises on his chest.

"Are you okay?" Subaru asks with a worried frown on his face, and Kamui wants to laugh.

"I'll be fine. How are you?"

"Me?" Subaru blinks, then looks back at himself. Only then does he seem to notice his wounds, but he promptly dismisses them. "Oh. Oh, it's nothing. Got hit a few times, I guess. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you."

Kamui sees Subaru tense up, but he doesn't move away from him, which counts as a victory in Kamui's book. "Why?"

"Because of what you said."

Subaru sighs. "Kamui, I left so you could be free to focus on what you wanted."

"This is what I want," Kamui says.

Subaru gives him a weary look, but sighs and turns towards the hill. "Alright. Follow me."

They walk up a couple of small streets. Kamui hears yapping in the distance, getting louder as they go. Suddenly, as they pass a brazier, dogs flood the street, joyfully greeting Subaru. Kamui watches him pet the dogs with a gentle smile on his face. Subaru catches his eyes and straightens up. The light from the brazier shows a blush on his cheeks, and Kamui feels his heart warm up at the sight.

"When the neighborhood was flooded, a few dogs came here. They can feel spirits, and there are a lot of them around here… I gave them food and now they're all flocking here," Subaru explains, looking embarrassed.

It's the cutest thing Kamui has ever seen Subaru do. And the first time he saw him looking genuinely happy, even if only for a moment.

He can't help but wonder if this is what Subaru was like, before his sister was killed.

"That's very kind of you," he says.

Subaru doesn't comment. He slides open the door to the house they've just reached. The dogs yap a little, but stay outside. Kamui hadn't expected Subaru to live in a traditional house, but it doesn't feel like his, either.

It also feels barely lived in. The room they enter has almost no furniture, beside a low table with an empty flower vase. Kamui can see a bedroom that looks similarly empty, with only a futon on the floor and a chest of drawers.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll go change," Subaru says.

"Wait. I'll help you with those wounds."

"Kamui, I'm fine."

"Your back is hurt. You can't reach it easily."

Please let me do something for you for once, Kamui implores silently. Not long ago, Subaru would have understood right away, he's sure of it.

But tonight, Subaru doesn't. "I'm used to taking care of my own wounds. I don't need any help."

Right. He doesn't need help. Because Subaru lived nine years all alone, after his sister died. "I know," Kamui says. "That's not—"

Subaru reaches out, cupping his cheek, and Kamui immediately leans into the familiar contact.

"You don't have to do anything. It's not your fault. It was my choice to fight there."

Because you're always so willing to get hurt for others. Even if we're not even on the same side anymore.

Kamui's hand closes around Subaru's arm, preventing him from moving away. "I know. I don't want to help you because I feel guilty. I want to help you because I care about you."

Subaru's eyes widen. "Why? I'm not—I'm no longer…"

"I don't care if you're a Dragon of Heaven or not!" The words are out of his mouth before he can fully think about them, and even though he sees Subaru wince, he doesn't regret them. "I care about you," he continues, his voice softer. "You left without saying a word, in the middle of the night. I knew how heartbroken you were and all of a sudden you were gone. I didn't even know if you were still alive. And when you came back, you… you…"

Kamui's hand moves to Subaru's face, to the corner of his right eye.

"...I had changed," Subaru finishes for him.

"But you're still you," Kamui says. It comes out as a whisper, perhaps more like a prayer than an affirmation.

In the silence that follows his words, Kamui focuses on Subaru's soft skin under his fingertips. He tries to commit the feeling to his memory.

Subaru avoids his eyes. "The Kamui of the Dragons of Earth gave me the eye. It's Seishirou's."

Kamui's fingers freeze on Subaru's face. "He said it was Sei's last wish. To erase the mark Fuuma left on me." Subaru's eyes close. "And I accepted the Sakurazukamori's powers with it."

To anyone else, Subaru would sound as if there were no emotions involved at all, but Kamui can hear the tension running beneath the words, the uncertainty.

He wants to comfort Subaru, but he has no idea what to say. His heart in his throat, he lets his body speak for him, lets his hands hold Subaru's face, lets his fingers caress his skin. Gently, he brings Subaru's head down, until his forehead rests on Kamui's shoulder. The tension in Subaru's body ebbs away.

"Alright," he whispers, stroking the short hair at the back of Subaru's neck.

"Alright?"

"Alright." And that's really all he wants to say about it.

It's strange how much calmer Kamui feels. He's not any closer to understanding Subaru than he ever was, but here, holding Subaru like he is, it feels like it doesn't matter so much. He wonders if this is how Arashi feels around Sorata—not understanding, but accepting.

After a while, Subaru pulls away gently. His mismatched eyes are warm, filled with an emotion Kamui can't identify. Subaru leaves the room, coming back minutes later with a large bowl of water and towels. He takes off his coat and his gloves and sits down on the futon in the bedroom without saying a word.

Kamui crouches next to him and carefully removes the torn clothes. The wound on Subaru's back is no longer bleeding, but the one on his arm still is. Kamui starts by making a tight bandage around the arm, to put pressure on the gash. Then he takes a towel and washes his back.

There are scars on Subaru's back. Many of them. Kamui doesn't want to think about how he got them, or how he treated them—most of them are irregular and wild. Subaru sits up straight, doesn't flinch when Kamui cleans up his wound with the cold water and bandages it.

At least this one will heal properly. It's superficial and the bandages will hold it tight.

Kamui moves to Subaru's arm. The piece of cloth is soaked with blood, but when Kamui removes it, the wound doesn't start bleeding again. Kamui sighs in relief as he washes the skin. He makes a thick bandage over it, his fingers lingering on Subaru's arm as he finishes.

A shiver runs down Subaru's skin. Without thinking, Kamui takes off his coat and puts it over Subaru's shoulders, his hands stroking the warm wool.

There are a lot of things Kamui wants to say, many questions he wants to ask. But in this peaceful silence, he doesn't dare open his mouth. They have been physically close before; Subaru had helped him to get dressed when he was injured. But it didn't feel as intimate as it does now, just the two of them in a desolate room, big enough to swallow them both.

Subaru's head moves back just enough to look at him for a second. Kamui expects him to move away, but he doesn't. Instead, Subaru's voice breaks the silence.

"When they asked you about Kanoe, you said Princess Hinoto wasn't herself. What happened?"

Kamui is a little confused by the question, but answers as best as he can. "She saw a future in which I killed her and tried to free herself from it. In the process, she created an alter ego that took over her. She has been trying to attack me ever since I came back to Tokyo, and also she's the one who killed my aunt. That's also why we were always one step behind the Dragons of Earth," Kamui says, as if Subaru wasn't a Dragon of Earth himself.

"When she… when she sent me to Rainbow Bridge, was she…"

Kamui swallows. So that was why he asked. "She sent the rest of us in random directions, so we'd be too late and you'd be alone."

Subaru doesn't answer. Kamui wishes he could see his face, but he can't move without breaking this peace between them.

In the end, Subaru decides for him and lies down on his uninjured side on the futon. "You should get some sleep, Kamui. The sun will be up soon and you're exhausted."

His eyes close. Kamui watches as his breathing gets deeper and deeper. In a matter of minutes, Subaru is fully asleep at his side.

He remembers how Subaru acted after he lost his eye. Back then, too, he wanted Kamui to rest, even though Kamui wanted nothing more than to stay by his side. Even though Subaru was the one who needed rest and care.

Sometimes it feels as if they're doomed to retrace the same steps endlessly. As if he's cursed to run after Subaru without ever reaching him.

The more he thinks about it, the more he's terrified that the dreamseers are right. That they're all acting out a theatrical scene, following a preordained plan. The pieces are falling into place, one by one. Despite their best efforts, everything has progressed to reach the state both Hinoto and Kakyou had shown him right at the beginning.

He lies down in front of Subaru and watches his face. His hand hesitates for a few seconds over Subaru's palm before he slides his fingers in between Subaru's, and gets a slight pressure in return.

For a while, Kamui forgets about the fate of the world, and focuses on Subaru's regular breathing.

When he finally falls asleep, Kakyou is waiting for him.

Chapter Text

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

"Princess Hinoto broke free," Kakyou says, in lieu of greetings. They're both sitting on a wooden terrace. Maple leaves are falling. Kamui absently notices the red ones gathered around him, while golden leaves surround Kakyou.

"Did you talk to her?"

Kakyou shakes his head. "No, but I felt it. We were connected by the threads of fate. Bound by them. Today, the threads are lighter."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you much more. But I came to you to say this: the future I see in my dreams hasn't changed, but it has stopped."

Kamui picks up a red leaf. It feels heavy in his hands. "Stopped?"

"I can't see beyond tonight. The future has stopped progressing as it did before. I don't know what it means, but it's never happened before."

"I see. Does Fuuma know this, too?"

A strange look crosses Kakyou's face, but vanishes before Kamui can pick up on it. "Yes."

In the dream, the sun rises, shades of pink and clear blue painting the sky. The wind makes the leaves fly. Kamui shivers and looks for his coat. He finds it behind him, covered with scarlet leaves.

It doesn't feel right. The red leaves look too much like blood on the dark wool.

"Your thoughts dwell on someone else," Kakyou eventually remarks. "The Onmyouji."

Kamui looks up sharply. "You don't call him the Sakurazukamori like the others did," he says.

"He is, too."

At Kamui's pointed look, he elaborates. "He is both. Whether he is conscious of it is another matter. But he is both the Onmyouji, last of the Sumeragi line, and the Sakurazukamori."

Kakyou picks up a yellow leaf. In his hands, the leaf shatters in golden flakes, dancing in the wind around the dreamseer. "Do you know how a Sakurazukamori dies, Kamui?"

It's said in a toneless voice, as if the question didn't carry any weight. Kamui's fingers twitch in repressed anger, searching for the Shinken that isn't with him.

Kakyou continues as if he hadn't noticed anything. "They are killed by the ones they love."

Magic tickles Kamui's fingers. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because the current Sakurazukamori is also a Sumeragi, and both lines exist to balance each other. Whatever wins in Subaru's heart will decide his fate."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Kakyou raises an eyebrow. "Don't you want to help him?"

Of course he wants to. But… "I—It's his decision, isn't it? What right do I have to interfere?"

"You still don't know?" Kakyou asks, genuine wonder in his voice.

In the pond in front of them, five red maple leaves dance, forming a star shape on the surface of the water for a second.

The answer should be obvious. But like a reflection in the water, it disappears when Kamui tries to catch it.

He remains silent as the scenery around them blurs, red and gold mixing into blue and white. Kamui closes his eyes. When he opens them again, he's standing on a beach. Kakyou is sitting on a rock next to him. A silhouette runs towards them, waving wildly.

"Kakyou! Hiii!"

Kamui's eyes widen when he recognizes who is coming towards them. He had only seen her once, and not directly. Back then, she was wearing ceremonial clothes, in stark contrast to her current bright green and pink bikini.

But he can't mistake her face. "Hokuto."

Subaru's sister turns her face to him, smiling brightly. "Hii! Kakyou, you should have told me you were bringing cute friends along! What's your name?"

"I'm Kamui Shirou."

"He's a friend of your brother," Kakyou says.

Hokuto's eyes sparkle. "Oh, really? Amazing. I wish he'd make more friends."

"Can you please take him to Subaru?"

Confused, Hokuto looks at Kakyou before smiling again. "Sure! I'll come back right after, is that alright?"

Kakyou's thin smile disappears, and he doesn't look at her when he nods.

"I'll be right back, don't worry. Come on, Kamui."

Kamui thanks Kakyou, who doesn't acknowledge him, and follows Hokuto down the beach. They walk in between the pines for a while, going up a gentle slope.

"Do you often meet Kakyou here?" he asks, thinking that the subject should be safe enough to start a conversation with.

"He always wanted to see the beach," Hokuto says. "He can't move, you know. I met him in a dream. So I promised that when we'd finally meet for real, we would spend some time at the beach."

Kamui ponders if this means Hokuto was a dreamseer too, or if Kakyou just met her like he met Kotori. Before he can ask, Hokuto says, "So, how did you meet my brother?"

"I—uh… he saved my life." There really ought to be a better way to phrase that.

Hokuto isn't even phased. She laughs, bright and carefree, and for a second Kamui wonders if Subaru used to laugh this freely. "That would be him," she says. Her tone becomes more serious, but doesn't lose its lightness. "And he told you about me, huh? That's new."

Kamui nods, hoping that Hokuto won't ask exactly how he knows her, even though he knows this Hokuto isn't real—but whether she's a memory or a dream figment is impossible to know.

"Do you know where our names come from?" Hokuto asks, out of the blue.

"No."

"Subaru was named after the Pleiades. It's a cluster of stars in the sign of the bull. And I was named after the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper."

As she says this, the sky above them lights up with stars. Kamui easily finds the Dipper. The other group of stars, set in a tight group, must be the Pleiades.

There's an obvious connection between the two. "Seven stars," Kamui says.

"Yes, they both have seven stars. In the West, they call the Pleiades the seven sisters. As twins, we got matching names for the cuteness factor," she says with a wink.

In the dreamseers' visions, the dragons of Heaven were represented by the Northern Dipper. Seven stars for seven seals.

Subaru was fated to be a dragon of Heaven, just like everyone else in Kamui's life ends up linked to the promised day in one way or another. But Hokuto, who had the dragons of Heaven's symbol as her name, died nine years ago.

As they reach the top of the hill, Kamui asks, "Do you have powers, too?"

Hokuto pauses. Her short hair flies wildly in the wind. She looks at him and says, "I have enough." She isn't smiling, but her eyes glow with determination. "This isn't about me. What you should know is this: the Northern Dipper actually has eight stars. Up there, Alcor hides behind Mizar. Down there, there is an eighth star hidden, too."

She touches his chest with her fingertips, just above his heart.

"Take care of my brother," she says, before vanishing with the rest of the world.

When Kamui opens his eyes for the third time, he thinks he just woke up. His bruises feel quite real, and he's lying down on a futon on the floor of an unfamiliar house. He is alone. He gets up and slides open the door.

The door opens in complete darkness. He tries a simple spell to create light, but like he expected, it doesn't work. Neither reality nor his dream, then. Hokuto pulled him into someone else's dream. He takes a few hesitant steps outside and realizes that the ground he's walking on is actually water, rippling with every step he makes. He crouches down and touches the water. In the absence of light, his reflection isn't visible.

Kamui dives headfirst. The surface of the water breaks and he falls further down. He's not surprised to find that he can breathe freely and that he isn't wet. Above him, the water ceiling closes up. In the darkness below, he makes out pale blue lights and approaches them. As he gets closer, he sees a dark silhouette amongst the lights, hidden behind a waterfall.

There's no mistaking who it is. But just as he's about to cross the waterfall, he stops.

What if this is Subaru's private place? What if he doesn't want to see him here?

His hand reaches for the waterfall. The water curls around his fingers as he comes closer. Kakyou's words echo in his mind. You still don't know?

A drop of water falls to his palm and floats, never touching his skin, held by an invisible force.

And Kamui knows.

Subaru had always been willing to talk to him, always kept his door open. He kept his distance from him—from everyone—but never shut him out. Even at his worst, he had let Kamui reach out to him and taken the time to explain how he felt and why he did the things he did.

In the end, would Kamui be here at all if Subaru's mind didn't welcome him?

Kamui steps under the waterfall. The curtain of water splits above his head. Subaru's silhouette becomes more precise and Kamui sees him reach out a hand to him through the waterfall. Kamui takes it and lets Subaru pull him to his side.

"What are you doing here?" Subaru asks, without letting go of his hand.

Kamui takes a second to look at him before answering. Subaru looks much like he does in reality, although to Kamui's relief, without his most recent wounds. He doesn't wear gloves either.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"In a dream?"

Of course an Onmyouji can tell what part of a dream is a dream and what part is real. Before he can explain, Subaru asks, "Who brought you here?"

"Hokuto. And before that, Kakyou."

Subaru stares at him, his face unreadable. He releases Kamui's hand, and for a moment Kamui fears that he has revealed too much. He wants to be truthful, but Subaru's sister is an intensely private matter.

Then Subaru's features soften, and Kamui feels like he can breathe again.

"Ah. What did you want to tell me?"

Back to a safer topic, it seems.

Kamui takes a deep breath before taking the plunge. "You knew. When you saved me, when you went into my mind. You saw what my other wish was, but you didn't tell me."

He didn't mean for it to sound so accusatory, but Subaru doesn't seem to be offended in the least.

"No. I didn't know what it was."

"But you said—"

"I saw that there was another wish in your heart, that's all. Back then, your mind was so close to breaking. You didn't want to come back to reality at all. Yes, I saw the shape of another wish, hidden deep inside. But I couldn't reach it without hurting you, without losing you. So instead I helped you hold on to your other wish."

Subaru's mismatched eyes avoid him, but his words are sincere.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Subaru's gaze returns to Kamui's face. "It's your wish. It's not for anyone else to know. I was just a stranger who already saw you at your lowest point. It would have been prying into your heart." He pauses before he says in a low voice, "I told you before, happiness looks different for everyone."

Kamui wishes he could hate Subaru for the guilt it feels underneath his words. For how reasonable he tries to sound. It must show on his face, because Subaru frowns. "You figured it out," he says.

"Yes." Kamui breaks their eye contact. "When I came back to Tokyo, I had just lost my mother. Everyone I met was an enemy. And I was determined to fight everyone and win; and that Kotori and Fuuma would be kept away from it all. But that is not what happened." He swallows. "When I had to choose between the dragons of Heaven and Earth…"

He risks a furtive glance at Subaru, who is watching him with attention, no trace of judgment on his face. "... I wanted to pick Earth. Hinoto and Kakyou showed me both futures, and the future of the dragons of Earth seemed better. It looked… beautiful. But I had Kotori and Fuuma in my life again. I couldn't lose them, so I chose Heaven." He folds his arms. "And then I lost them both."

Subaru's hands find their way to Kamui's arms, caressing his skin in a comforting gesture. It's his gentleness that breaks Kamui, as it always does. He’s just not ready to deal with it.

He shivers and Subaru holds him close. "Did you know, Subaru? When you came for me, did you know I was fighting a losing battle? Fuuma died that day, too. He died when he killed Kotori. I—I just couldn't accept it. I thought I could bring him back, but Fuuma never wanted to come back. You asked me if I was willing to shoulder the blame for Kotori's murder, and I would have done so without hesitation. But Fuuma couldn't bear it. The Fuuma I tried to save doesn't exist anymore."

He takes a shaky breath, and leans into Subaru's embrace, burying his face in the hollow of his neck. "I didn't want to be alone," Kamui whispers against Subaru's skin. "I had lost everyone. I clung to Fuuma even though he was already dead. I just didn't want to be alone with the future of the world to decide."

"You weren't," Subaru says just as quietly.

Kamui feels the corner of his eyes itching and blinks quickly. "No. I had friends I could trust. But I couldn't see it."

In the brief silence that follows, Kamui lets Subaru's warmth comfort him. "Why did you leave?"

Subaru's grip tightens a fraction. "It was the end for me. I had no interest in the future of Earth, and I couldn't be useful anymore. I wanted you to focus on what you wanted, and having me around would distract you."

Such cold words, said in such a flat voice. In complete opposition to Subaru's behavior. But then again, they always communicated more with gestures than with words.

"You only became a dragon of Earth because of the eye."

Kamui sighs at Subaru's affirmative nod. "Arashi thought the same. She thought she'd be a hindrance and left and Sorata nearly died saving her from Hinoto. You… You always tried to keep away from us. From me. You thought you knew better. You never considered the fact that I wanted you around, did you?"

Subaru tenses up. "I didn't want you to get attached. My wish meant I could only hurt you."

Kamui's fingers run over Subaru's chest and stop over his heart. Even in the dream, the steady beat calms him down. "Maybe you're not the only one with a selfish wish," he says softly.

"Kamui?"

"I want you," Kamui says. He can feel Subaru stiffen, but he doesn't stop. He'll only get this one chance to say it. "I know it's not what you want. I know your heart belongs to someone else, and there's no place in it for anyone else. And I know that even though I tried, I can't truly understand you. But I… I still want you by my side. Not as a dragon of Heaven. Just you. I want you to be there with me. I—" His voice breaks. "I want to be important enough to you that you’ll stay."

This is a dream; Kamui knows Subaru could disappear in a thought if he wanted to. He doesn't. Subaru still holds him, but says nothing, and Kamui feels all the words he still wants to say lump in his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Then the colors of the world around them blur, and he closes his eyes, trying to fight the tears that are falling anyway. Just as the world disappears, he hears Subaru say a word in his ear.

"Alright."

Kamui wakes up still holding Subaru's hand. He's sleeping peacefully, his features relaxed and soft. Kamui contemplates waiting until he wakes up, just appreciating the moment, when his senses alert him to the presence of a magic user nearby. This is without a doubt what woke him up.

He doesn't recognize who it is, but it's not a dragon of Heaven.

Subaru needs all the rest he can get. Gently, Kamui removes his hand from his hold and stands up. Outside, the dogs are yapping happily. Whoever it is, their presence doesn’t seem to be aggressive, but Kamui still gets his hands on the Shinken before he opens the door.

Outside, he finds an athletic man in military fatigues petting the dogs in the yard. A few birds perch on his shoulders. The man looks up at his arrival and raises an eyebrow, but says nothing.

"Who are you?" Kamui asks.

"Kusanagi Shiyu. Who are you?"

The name rings a bell in Kamui's mind, but he can't put his finger on it. "Kamui Shirou."

Both eyebrows rise. "You're the Kamui of the dragons of Heaven! Never expected to meet you here."

Kamui doesn't comment, waiting for an explanation for Kusanagi's presence—that is clearly not coming. He's about to ask when he suddenly remembers where he first heard the name.

"Wait. You're a friend of Yuzuriha, right? The one who brought her to the hospital."

Kusanagi's stern face lights up as he nods. "Is she alright?"

"Yes. She's fully healed."

"I'm glad." He is sincere, which only confuses Kamui further. What is he doing there?

Kusanagi smiles, lopsided, when he notices Kamui's frown. "I am a dragon of Earth, but I haven’t been involved in the battle so far. I am connected to the Earth, to the plants and animals. I can hear them and communicate with them. When the Earth is hurt, I feel their pain. This fight has only brought more pain so far, and I didn't want to be part of it.” He pauses, his eyes leaving Kamui’s to focus on the red dog he’s petting. “But even before it started, I met Yuzuriha, without knowing who she was. Now I'm just like you, caring for someone on the other side."

Kamui doesn't bother asking how he knows. For someone who can talk to Subaru's dogs, it must be pretty obvious.

"Kamui—our Kamui—is waiting for you at the Tokyo Tower," Kusanagi says.

"He sent you as a messenger?"

Kusanagi snorts. "No. He just likes to make sure we know where he is at all times."

Kamui looks behind him, where Subaru lies sleeping. The morning sun is heavy on his shoulders. The promised day has risen.

"I'll stay here. He'll be safe, don't worry."

It feels weird to leave a weakened Subaru under the watch of a stranger. But Kamui trusts the dogs. He remembers how passionate Yuzuriha was when she talked about Kusanagi, that he was the first person to see Inuki. That Inuki liked him. And Inuki saw the falsehood of Hinoto before any of them did.

He also wonders if Kusanagi is a shadow of the Earth, like his mother was. But these questions will have to wait.

Leaving the Sakurazukamori's house behind him, he heads south. Just as Kusanagi said, he finds Fuuma—or more accurately, the thing that took control of Fuuma—waiting for him at the bottom of the Tokyo Tower.

He's drinking from a can of peach soda and waves at Kamui when he arrives.

Kamui raises his sword in reply. The Shinken is eager to strike, just like it was during the last fight. It tickles the back of Kamui’s mind, a reminder that he can't trust the sword entirely. But the Shinken calls to the other Shinken, just as the Kamui calls to the other Kamui.

"I expected you earlier, Kamui. But I feel that you have made valuable progress since the last time we met," Fuuma says with a derisive smile. "How about we settle this at the top of the tower? I'm sure you'll enjoy the view."

Kamui runs up to Fuuma, half-heartedly hoping to take him by surprise even though he knows it won’t work. As expected, Fuuma easily dodges his attack, laughing as he jumps back to one of the pillars of the tower.

They race to the top, Fuuma leading but staying just close enough for the Shinken to hit each other before they separate again. On the last level, they run on the steel beams, striking at each other.

Kamui knows Fuuma is toying with him, but it doesn't really matter. For the first time since his return to Tokyo, he's sure of what he wants.

When they reach the top, Fuuma stops. "Why don't you take one last look at the landscape, Kamui? We're on the last strong kekkai of Tokyo, and it's ready to blow up. When it goes down, the small ones will dissolve into oblivion. We'll have front row seats to watch Tokyo sink into the sea. And then the rest of the world."

"No," Kamui says as he puts down the Shinken. In the distance, behind the ruins of Minato City, the rising sun illuminates two pillars of concrete rising out of the bay. The only remains of the Rainbow Bridge.

Fuuma raises an eyebrow. "No?"

Kamui closes his eyes and focuses his energy. He has never raised a kekkai before, but the memory of Subaru doing so comes easily to his mind. His hands follow the flow of energy around him, drawing directly from the kekkai itself. This is Subaru’s work, and his presence is everywhere in the graceful steel tower. Magic coils around him, slowly at first, then faster as a decagon appears before him, then expands swiftly. He feels the kekkai breathing through him, growing until it covers the entire tower.

"No," he repeats, breathless. He did it.

Fuuma's mocking smile is gone, but not his arrogant pose. "I'm impressed. You know it's just wasting time, though. You still can't win against me."

"I know," Kamui says, and this time, Fuuma narrows his eyes at him. Then grabs his sword and lunges at him.

They fight in earnest, something Fuuma has never done before. Kamui lets the Shinken fight, following its moves. This is not his part. His part comes a few seconds later, when Fuuma slips along a crossbeam and opens his pose just a fraction, allowing Kamui to strike.

They both freeze, the tip of Kamui's Shinken on Fuuma's heart.

"Sorry," Kamui whispers, but just as he is about to strike, Fuuma drops to his feet and rolls out of reach. The sword grazes his torso, spilling blood onto the white beams. Losing his balance, Kamui takes a few steps back, and Fuuma is immediately back on the offensive, harassing him. The other's Shinken gets closer and closer, drawing blood each time Kamui has to block.

"You should have taken some rest, Kamui. You're not up to this fight."

Fuuma might be right. None of his wounds are serious, but they are accumulating. Kamui's limbs feel heavy and his vision blurs as more blood falls. He makes the mistake of trying another frontal attack. As Kamui springs forward, Fuuma dodges the blade and grabs him. The momentum makes them both fall from the tower.

Kamui desperately tries to disentangle himself from Fuuma as the ground closes in. The wind screams in his ears. Fuuma chokes him with one hand and raises his Shinken with the other, a demented smile on his lips, ready to strike.

Kamui closes his eyes, but Death does not come.

Instead, he is brutally projected up in the air, free of the pressure on his throat. Struggling to regain control of his fall, he lands on his knees near the entrance to the tower. He watches as Fuuma rises to his feet, glaring nastily at a point above Kamui's head.

"I don't like this new wish of yours much," Fuuma snarls.

"I don't care much," a deadpan voice says. A voice that is near to Kamui’s heart. In a flash, he realizes what saved him at the last second—Subaru's kekkai, the five-pointed star, shining bright around them.

Subaru can draw a kekkai again. The elation that fills him at this simple fact almost makes him forget the situation they're in.

He stares at him in amazement, as Subaru offers him his hand to get back up. Kamui scrambles back to his feet. Subaru takes the time to give him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before countering another of Fuuma's attacks.

This time, he uses a shield made of cherry blossoms to protect them. Kamui feels his heart warm up at the sight.

He's both. Subaru is both Onmyouji and Sakurazukamori.

Fuuma doesn't look like he planned this. His movements are tainted with anger, becoming more and more desperate.

Kamui remembers that Subaru once trapped Fuuma in his kekkai. A glance at Subaru confirms he remembers as well.

It's so easy to fight when together like this, even though they're both injured. Their powers balance each other. Subaru takes advantage of Kamui’s raw power for complex spells, while Kamui can increase his power through Subaru's magical scaffolding.

Fuuma begins to lose ground, and jumps back up to the Tokyo Tower, trying to lure them in a secluded space where Subaru can't place fudas and Kamui can't fight as easily.

For the second time, Kamui finds a weakness in Fuuma's stand. Without missing a beat, Subaru creates flower vines that wrap around his limbs, blocking any movement. Kamui goes over to Fuuma. Something passes in his eyes, something that makes Kamui recoil for a second. Then it's gone, and Kamui's fingers tighten around the handle of his sword.

"Sorry," he says again. "I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'll set you free."

Fuuma's true smile returns. The Fuuma Kamui knew. The one who died in the spring, holding his sister’s body in his arms.

Kamui holds his gaze as the Shinken pierces Fuuma’s heart, sinking through his chest and lodging into the steel beam underneath.

Blood spurting from his mouth, Fuuma whispers, "You were the only one who could see me… could make my wish come true. Thank you, Kamui."

Dark smoke rises from Fuuma's body, revealing a face. Kamui is not surprised to recognize his own. He already knew why there were two Shinken and two Kamuis.

The fight had always been within himself, too.

The smoke fills the air, making it impossible to see. In the darkness, Kamui reaches for his Shinken, and calls out for the other one. The two swords jump into his hands. He brings them close together, pushing with his power to unite the swords. The swords resist, the metal rises in temperature, but Kamui persists.

"This is the end. The day that was promised has come, the battle is over. The dragons of Heaven, the dragons of Earth. My mother, my aunt, Fuuma and Kotori's mother. They all gave their lives so that I could come and decide the fate of Earth. How absurd is that? How many people died for this, as if I was the only one who could decide?"

In his hands, the magical swords twist and turn, ripping off his skin. Blood runs freely on the smoldering steel, its smell as it burns becoming suffocating. But Kamui holds on despite the excruciating pain.

"Since I am the Kamui, this is what I decide. The future of Earth belongs to those who live on Earth. It belongs to everyone who can influence it, in small or big ways. It's not for anyone to decide alone, because we're all part of this world."

The creature in the smoke that wears his face appears again. Its hands touch Kamui's hands, over the partially melted Shinkens, and relief instantly courses Kamui's body. With his last strength, he presses the swords together again.

"And there will be… no more lives… sacrificed to fate," he says, wheezing, as the Shinkens finally merge.

Light floods the darkness as the unified sword stands before Kamui, creating a halo around him. His bloodied fingers close around the hilt. The other Kamui waits in front of him.

He pushes the sword into the hands of the other Kamui. "Go. Hide it back in the CLAMP campus. Merge with it. This sword must be forgotten until humanity needs to be reminded again that too many tears have already been shed. In the meantime, the dragons of Heaven will be there to protect people from themselves, and the dragons of Earth will be there to protect our planet."

The spirit wraps itself around the sword and disappears with it. Worn out, Kamui falls into the darkness that dissipates around him.

Just as he falls below the top deck of the tower, Subaru catches him in his arms. "Kamui!"

"I'm alright," Kamui says, his voice hoarse. The blood from his wounds soaks Subaru's clothes. "Or I will be, anyway."

"What happened there?"

Kamui considers explaining, but he doesn't have the strength left in him. He just says, "It's over."

Subaru moves to find a more comfortable position on the steel beams, still holding him tight. "I thought—I saw you disappear in that smoke and—"

Kamui touches his cheek, delighted to feel Subaru lean into his touch. "It's over”. Or almost over, as the slight shaking of the Tower reminds him. There's still one thing he needs to do.

"I need your help. To draw a kekkai."

"Here?"

"One big enough to cover Tokyo. So we can rebuild in peace."

"Alright," Subaru says, his eyes warm with understanding. He moves until Kamui is leaning comfortably against his shoulder, their fingers intertwined. "Lead the way."

Kamui focuses on Subaru's heartbeat, only slightly faster than normal. Magic returns to him, pulsing through his bones, and he draws another kekkai. His decagon grows slowly, pushed by the five-pointed star of Subaru growing inside, pushing Kamui’s kekkai a little farther away.

Drawing on their reserves, they stabilize both of them, anchoring them on a few of the kekkais still standing—the CLAMP campus monorail, the Senso-ji shrine, the old Iwabuchi water gate, the Omiya Hachiman shrine and the Komazawa Olympic park’s control tower.

When the magic is released, the double kekkai shines brightly in the sky for a few seconds before sinking into the ground. The dome on top of Kamui’s decagon disappears last.

Exhausted, they collapse in each other’s arms. As they catch their breath, Subaru’s fingers play with Kamui’s hair. He leans in to whisper in his ear. "Your kekkai has an interesting shape.”

Kamui makes a noncommittal noise and buries his face in Subaru's neck in the vain hope of concealing his blush. He can feel Subaru's smile on his skin.

In the distance, he can hear the cries of joy of the dragons of Heaven. They’ll join them soon. There’ll be time to celebrate, and then they’ll work together to rebuild Tokyo.

For now, though, Kamui decides to stay a little longer in Subaru's arms, and watch the sun rise over the world they have saved.

Chapter Text

Subaru doesn't bring up the subject of his sister until a week later.

The dragons of Heaven had spent the week running around Tokyo, using the maps they saved for the Diet building and the technology available on the CLAMP campus to check on all kekkais, past and present. The double kekkai that Kamui and Subaru drew is still in place, used as a global protection while they rebuild the network.

Karen, who has been the most enthusiastic about this work, is also the one who decides that they all deserve to take a break. A break that takes the form of a day at the beach, even though it's October.

Kamui takes the opportunity to spend some time alone with Subaru, something he hasn't been able to do much of in the past week.

Subaru stays around and helps everyone, but even though Kamui insists that his place is with the other dragons of Heaven, he stays at the Sakurazukamori's house. And Kamui hasn't dared come back there yet.

All of Kamui's thoughts about talking to him about it disappear when Subaru arrives on the morning of the beach party, carrying a backpack and asking if he can stay over.

"Of course," he says. As long as you want to.

Small steps.

On the beach, they meet Kakyou, whom Kamui had insisted on bringing along. He doesn't explain why, as his encounter with Kakyou and Hokuto is rather private, but the dragons of Heaven understand that it's important to him.

He's still weak and can't walk at all, but Sorata carries him on his back while talking with Arashi, intent on showing him as many things as he can. Kakyou smiles when he sees Kamui. His smile turns a little wistful when his gaze moves to Subaru, but he wishes them a good day all the same.

Subaru says nothing as he and Kamui walk hand in hand down the beach. They walk past Yuzuriha and Kusanagi who are playing beach volleyball with the dogs.

They only sit down when they reach a secluded spot near the mouth of the Arakawa river, away from everyone else. They watch the sea for a moment before Subaru tells him what's on his mind."When you saw my sister in Kakyou's dream… did she look happy?"

"Yes. She was smiling. Playful. Serene, in a way."

Subaru keeps his eyes on the sea."I never saw her in my dreams. Not even once in nine years. Only in my memories. I thought maybe… Maybe she resented me for causing her death."

Kamui squeezes Subaru's fingers."She loved you. She never stopped loving you. In the dream, she asked me to take care of you."

Subaru lets out a shaky breath."Did she? How typical of her."

"Yeah, that's what she said about you saving my life, too."

This time, Subaru actually laughs. Kamui watches him with delight. It's not as free as Hokuto's laugh, but it warms his heart like nothing else can.

"Thank you," Subaru says."For bringing her back to me."

"Huh?"

"I dreamed of her, the night you came to me. Briefly. I only saw her in the distance. But I was really glad."

Kamui smiles and leans against his shoulder."I'm glad, too."

Subaru puts an arm around Kamui, and Kamui snuggles up to him.

"The kekkais will be up and running soon. People are starting to come back to the city. Do you know what you will do? Do you want to go back to Kyoto, to your grandmother?"

Subaru's back stiffen."I… Do you remember the dogs at the house?"

Kamui notes that he didn't say my house."Yes."

"They're attracted to spirits and ghosts. Every time a shrine or a temple is destroyed, the spirits trapped inside are released. Which means that there are a lot of ghosts in Tokyo right now. I want to help them."

It seems like a good idea. Why would Subaru get upset over telling him this?

Subaru takes a deep breath."I'd like it if you could help me with it. We work well together."

Kamui smiles fondly. He has no experience with exorcisms. It's Subaru's way of telling him that he, too, would like to spend more time with him."I'd love to," Kamui says.

Subaru lies down on the sand, pulling Kamui with him."Maybe, after this, if the directors allow… I could go back to college. Actually attend some classes this time around. I don't know."

"You helped me out with my classes. I'm sure you'll do well."

Subaru glances at him."You think very highly of me."

"How could I not?"

There's a moment of silence between them. It's not uncomfortable, and Kamui wishes he could stay in Subaru's arms like this forever.

"What you said in the dream…" Subaru says.

"I meant every word."

"... You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"I meant every word," Kamui repeats."I'll say it again, if you want me to."

Subaru seems to consider the offer for a while, then shakes his head. His voice is low when he says,"You were always there, Kamui. You always had a place in my heart, even when I couldn't see it."

Kamui's heart feels like it's going to burst. He moves until he's kneeling over Subaru. He watches his eyes darken as his gaze moves to Kamui's face, to his mouth, then away.

Kamui smiles. Seems like he'll have to make the first move.

He leans down to kiss Subaru's lips, just a feather-light touch. To his surprise, Subaru meets him halfway. They're both inexperienced. It's awkward at first, but genuine, and soon they find their rhythm.

Kamui pulls back to catch his breath, his lips tingling with the ghost of Subaru's tongue on them. A green eye and a brown eye look back at him, joy swirling in their depths.

They have so much to discover together, it’s almost overwhelming.

Small steps, he reminds himself, and leans down to kiss Subaru again.