The Game of You Chapter 3 Sometimes Subaru really couldn’t stand his sister. He pulled his lighter out of its drawer and lit the cigarette he had pulled out in frustration. Of all thing, an aphrodisiac! If they didn’t look so much alike, he would have thought his twin had been switched at brith. Seishirou-san must think I’m some kind of freak, he mused, blowing out smoke thoughtfully. And as for Fuuma and Kamui, he didn’t even know where to begin making amends with them. Perhaps Hokuto’s book would have some advice for apologizing. Now where had he hidden that away? Wincing, he slid off the kitchen stool he had perched on. His hip still stung quite a bit after Seishirou’s hasty leap the night before. If he hadn’t gotten hurt, what could have happened? Perhaps Seishirou would have kissed his hip, to make it better, sliding his hands teasingly about Subaru’s waist, maybe dipping beneath the band of Subaru’s pants, their skin meeting with an electric tingle… The cigarette falling out of his salivating mouth caught Subaru’s attention. He grabbed it before it could burn his apartment and killed it in a nearby ashtray. Boy if he didn’t get married and laid soon, he’d explode. To distract himself from these thoughts, he pulled out the book from beneath the couch cushions and flipped to the fifth rule. “Ladies, never ever say you’re sorry. Always expect gifts and apologies from the man. After all, if he doesn’t know what he did wrong, he doesn’t deserve for you to explain it to him. This will keep up the feminine mystique and ensure that he is always on his toes.” Subaru frowned, this sounded more and more like some really bad advice. Someone gently thumped at his door, “Come in!” Subaru called, he was really in too much pain to actually get up and answer the door. A head of mussed dark hair poked itself in, then twisted to find Subaru on the couch. “Subaru!” “Hi Kamui,” he smiled at the young man, “Come on in. Is Fuuma still mad at me?” The teenager slid into the apartment, sliding the door closed with a gentle click. “I think so. He can hold a bit of a grudge.” “I see. Where he and Seishirou-san dating?” he asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer. For the Sakurazukamori to be corrupting and sleeping with teenage boys seemed much too much even for the lusty assassin. “Oh no,” Kamui straightened his school uniform, crossing the room to sit beside Subaru. “I just think he had a terrible crush on him. Subaru, could I ask you some questions?” “Sure, Kamui, we’ve been neighbors for a year now, I’d like to think we’re friends.” The Sumeragi said in his soft gentle voice. “Um, ok.” The boy looked embarrassed and a cute blush appeared on his cheeks. “Well, you know I don’t have a father I can go too, I never knew mine…” Subaru nodded sympathetically, encouraging the boy to go on. “And I’m fifteen now, so, like would youtellmeaboutsexandstuff?” Subaru could feel his face burning. Of all things, why did Kamui have to come to him about the subject which he knew the least about? He cleared his throat and opened his mouth. Then closed it again. He had no idea what to say. Fortunately the phone rang. “I’ve got the get that!” he squawked, ignoring the pain in his side as he leapt up and ran to the phone, slamming into the countertop as he did so. “Yes!” he said breathlessly into the phone. “Ah, Subaru-kun, so please to hear from me?” A deep manly voice murmured huskily from the other side of the line. “S-Seishirou-san!” Subaru exclaimed. “Um, hello.” He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and hoped he didn’t sound desperate. “What did you want?” he asked, hoping to sound aloof and as if he had nothing to apologize for. “I would like to see you again. Perhaps we should go out for some ice cream.” “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” There you go Subaru, he cheered himself, get a backbone! The voice on the other end paused, “Are you sure you really want to reject me, Subaru?” Seishirou continued. “Um, no!” Subaru cried before he could stop himself, “I mean, that is…” Seishirou chuckled, “I’ll meet you at Ueno Park in an hour. Near the ice cream vendor. “ Subaru hung up the phone, feeling disturbed and out of sorts. Had Seishirou guessed that Subaru was attempting to subdue him by marriage? Or was he upset about the whole aphrodisiac thing? He mentally cursed his sister again and turned to nearly run over Kamui, who had entered the kitchen. “Oh, sorry Kamui, I really have to go. Maybe we could continue this discussion some other time?” Kamui’s gorgeous violet eyes began to gleam, “Oh, ok Subaru.” Sniff. “I’ll see you later then.” Subaru let Kamui out, wondering if the boy was catching a cold. Teenagers, he thought, they don’t take care of themselves. *** Subaru waited on a bench, a little out of the way of the Ice Cream vendor. He wanted to watch Seishirou enter the park, and had set his shinigami out for this purpose. The entire situation seemed to be falling apart, and that bad feeling he had earlier had not gone away, in fact, it seemed to be worse. And to top it off, his hip hurt even worse now than it had that morning. “I believe this was yours.” Subaru whirled around, Seishirou was behind him, holding a white slip of paper, one of Subaru’s ofuda. One of his shinigami ofuda. “You seem to have dropped it.” Seishirou’s amber eyes glittered dangerously. /He knows who I am./ Subaru thought helplessly, as he looked up mesmerized by that handsome face. /But does he know that I know what he is? Or does his think that I know, but if I pretend I don’t know will he think I don’t?/ “Um, thank you.” He said, taking the ofuda from the older man’s hand, feeling his skin tingle as his fingers brushed against Seishirou. Seishirou sat next to Subaru, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his suit jacket. He lit one, then offered the pack to Subaru, who accepted. Subaru sighed and decided to ignore the book’s advice for once, “I’m sorry about last night. My sister gave me that recipe and I had no idea that it would, I mean, exactly what was in it.” “Perhaps we could try our date again.” The elder mused, “This time, at my place.” Subaru shivered at the sound of Seishirou’s voice. The man exuded sex. “That’s, well, I mean, you’re very um attractive Seishirou-san, but, ah, I’m saving myself for….ah!” he exhaled as his hip began to throb sharply. “Subaru-kun?” Subaru curled into himself, trying to hold back the pain. Perhaps walking all the way to the park had made it worse. It was so sharp, he couldn’t breathe, though he attempted to gulp down some air. He supposed he was hyperventilating, he thought disjointedly as dark spots began to appear before his eyes. “Subaru-kun!” He heard before he keeled over and passed out. *** Seishirou blinked as his arms were suddenly filled with the dead weight the young man had suddenly become. Well, this certainly wasn’t good and while he didn’t mind Subaru fainting into his arms, he would rather it hadn’t happened because the boy was in severe pain. Carefully, he lifted the young man and carried him to his car, settling him into the passenger seat. Under his breath, Subaru began to mumble as Seishirou drove to the nearest hospital. “What’s that Subaru-kun?” he asked gently, hoping to get a repeat. “Wanna marry you.” Well, now that was certainly an interesting thing to say while delirious. Perhaps the young Sumeragi head didn’t know his identity. After last night’s fiasco, he had been certain the young man had drugged his food on purpose, so he did some digging. To his surprise, his Subaru wasn’t just /a/ Sumeragi, he was /the/ Sumeragi. The only conclusion he could come to was that the omnyouji had set him up. However, recent events supported the conclusion that Subaru didn’t know he was the Sakurazukamori. That would make things interesting indeed. *** Seishirou climbed up the steps to Subaru’s apartment, careful to avoid Fuuma and Kamui’s doorway. He had dropped Subaru off at the hospital, and the staff had asked him to pick up some clothing and toiletries for the young man. This would be the perfect opportunity to scope out the Sumeragi’s place. The door opened easily to his experienced touch, some things about being an assassin definitely came in handy. The door wasn’t warded at all, and he couldn’t find any other wards as he entered. Curious. Perhaps the boy only put them up as he slept? It would be foolish to have no protection at all. He scoured the bedroom, taking a pair of Subaru’s pajamas (cute things they were too, covered with little brown bears.) and ransacking the closet. There was nothing suspicious here, other than the overwhelming ratio of black and gray clothes. He pulled several necessities out of the bathroom, deciding that perhaps Subaru wasn’t necessarily going to have his plans laid out on paper for him. That’s when he nearly tripped over something in the living room. “What is this?” he murmured, picking up the tiny book. "’How to get a man, 7 surefire rules to your heart's desire.’ Interesting.” He began to flip through the book, then paled considerably. “No sex until marriage? How horrible!” He placed the book where he had found it, before leaving Subaru’s apartment. /Well, Subaru, if you really want me so terribly, you might get more than you bargained for. After all, two can play at that game.”