1I do not own any of CLAMP's characters. Please enjoy!
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Hokuto and Kamui both had their faces pressed against the front window when Subaru got through the door of the apartment. He knew better than to underestimate his twin sister's strength and barely had time to brace himself before he was hug tackled by her and slammed against the closed door.
"You better get explaining!" Hokuto ignored her twin's pained gasp and half glared at him, taking a step back but keeping a firm grasp on his shoulders. "How did walking Fuuma home turn into you staying out late and getting dropped off by someone who looks like THAT!"
"That?" Subaru blinked at her owlishly and his sister released him with an annoyed huff. She stomped back over to the window and resumed her previous position, leaning over Kamui and cupping her hands on either side of her eyes to block the lights from obscuring her view.
"Handsome Subaru! And look at the car he is driving! Where did you meet him?"
Subaru sat down to take off his shoes and smiled softly to himself as he mentally ran through the events of the evening. It had been such an unusual night… but not a bad one.
It almost felt like a dream.
"That's Fuuma's older brother." Setting his shoes neatly in their usual spot, Subaru took a moment to straighten Hokuto's and Kamui's shoes, so that they were lined up neatly next to his own before heading over to the window to join his siblings.
Seishiro was still there. He was leaning against the side of his car, smoking a cigarette while looking at his phone—thankfully unaware of how the three siblings were watching him from their apartment window. "I'm not sure why, but no one was home at Fuuma's house… so we waited around for a little bit before we decided to see if his brother was home."
Subaru leaned away from the window and glanced at the kitchen. Not surprisingly, Hokuto had left in an absolute mess…
"Does Fuuma's older brother have a name?" Hokuto peeled herself away from the window and followed her twin into the kitchen. She started packing up the leftovers to be taken to school for lunch tomorrow while Subaru got to working on the sink full of dishes.
"Seishiro."
Subaru found himself smiling again. Seishiro was a nice name…
He would have to see which characters he used to spell it, later… Lord knows Hokuto would be pestering him for it sooner rather than la—
"How does he spell it?" Hokuto chirped and Subaru glanced over his shoulder to see she had magically amassed a notepad and pen and was watching him with an expectant look.
"I'll have to ask." Subaru sighed and turned his attention back to the sink. Hopefully, he would get a chance to become closer to Seishiro…
That wasn't the sort of thing you normally asked an acquaintance.
"What about his birthday?"
"I only just met him…" Subaru smiled softly as he heard Hokuto's dramatic sigh.
Not surprisingly, she had given up on cleaning and Subaru didn't need to look back to know that she had hopped up onto the counter and was watching him. Not that he minded. Hokuto cooked and Subaru did the dishes on any normal night.
They were both disasters in the kitchen… Hokuto's food was usually pretty good but she couldn't step foot in the kitchen without making a huge mess—Subaru, on the other hand, was tidy as he worked but nothing he made ever turned out edible.
"So? I would have asked." There was no doubt in Subaru's mind that his twin would have asked—she was brave like that.
He was not.
Subaru was the quiet, polite one who kept his hyperactive and overly friendly sister out of trouble on most days.
"I was a little preoccupied with other things." Like the fact that Seishiro had answered the door only half-dressed… or the fact that he had, for whatever reason, seen a gun tucked into his waistband and Seishiro hadn't explained why. The details of Fuuma's family life had been distracting… but he would wait until Kamui was asleep before he delved into that with his twin.
"Details, details, details! I can't believe you are holding out on your dear sister!" Hokuto started to lay the dramatics on thicker and Subaru shook his head slowly back and forth.
No matter who he met, where he found himself, or what new experiences he had—Subaru could always count on Hokuto to be just the same as ever. Not a drop of patience since the day she was born.
"You put Kamui to sleep while I finish the dishes?" Subaru offered. No need to explain—She knew what he meant.
The suspicious look he got from her was not exactly what he was expecting, but Subaru didn't have time to dwell on it. They were both quickly distracted by Kamui's loud protest at the mention of bedtime.
"No way!" Kamui had still been looking out the window and his head snapped around to shoot his older siblings an angry glare.
For a 5-year-old—Kamui could be downright terrifying when he wanted to be…
"If you take a bath without putting up a fight, I'll let you play your Gameboy in bed." Hokuto jumped off the counter and strategically placed herself between their little brother and his only escape route.
"With the charger?" Blue eyes narrowed and Kamui looked between his older siblings with a raised eyebrow.
"You know if I let you have the charger, you're going to stay up all night again and fall asleep in class." Hokuto had the sweetest smile on her face as she answered, but Kamui was too smart to fall for her sugar and spice act.
"Charger or no deal." Kamui crossed his arms over his chest and Subaru and Hokuto exchanged glances.
Dealing with Kamui was a balancing act. Their little brother was far too smart for his own good and he knew it. He was getting harder and harder to trick into good behavior and his negotiating skills were getting better by the day.
"We'll see…Come on now, bath time!" Hokuto held out a hand for her little brother to take but the child didn't budge.
"No way! That always means no." Kamui took a step back and Hokuto smiled a little brighter.
Subaru only hoped they didn't end up with another noise complaint if those two went at it again…
"No, it doesn't. How about we talk about it after you have a bath?" Kamui was back to death glaring and Subaru turned his attention back to the dishes.
Kamui hated rules and bedtime and baths most of all. Even with a 10 year age gap between the twins and their brother—Kamui just could never understand why little boys had more rules. Subaru couldn't say no to his sister's puppy dog eyes—he sure as heck couldn't say no to Kamui's accusing death stare…
Thankfully, Hokuto and Kamui were immune to each other. And Subaru did his best not to take sides and stay as far away from their bickering as possible.
Negotiations, not surprisingly, broke down within minutes and Subaru jumped at the loud crash of one of the kitchen chairs getting knocked over when Hokuto tried to catch Kamui as he slipped past her. Part of him was convinced that Hokuto actually enjoyed chasing their little brother through the small apartment every night—and Kamui very obviously enjoyed his nightly freedom dash… Subaru wouldn't mind the nightly game of tag if his siblings could be quiet while they played it.
Such was never the case.
It was a small apartment and though Kamui came up with new creative ways to avoid getting caught—it wasn't 45 seconds before high pitched giggles rang out from one of the bedrooms signifying that Hokuto had caught Kamui and was tickling the last of his energy out.
While bathtime, storytime and game boy negotiations finished up, Subaru finished the dishes, finished packing up leftovers, straightened up the dining table and living room and laid out everyone's clothes for tomorrow.
Hokuto emerged from the hallway after closing Kamui's door and headed straight for the freezer to snag the ice cream and a pair of spoons. The twins settled at the table and happily dug into their favorite late-night treat.
"So—" Hokuto popped a bite into her mouth and waggled her eyebrows at her twin expectantly and Subaru rolled his eyes.
"So I walked Fuuma home like I said I would and his mother didn't answer the door. Her car was in the driveway, but… well, we waited around for a while and he started to get really worried about why she wasn't answering the door and he couldn't find his key." Subaru hadn't felt good about leaving a little kid home alone even if he could find his key.
Given what Seishiro had told him… well, it was probably a good idea he hadn't.
They knew Fuuma didn't have a perfect family life… Subaru had to walk him home on more than one occasion but his mother had always answered the door and apologized to him profusely.
She had seemed frazzled and tired any time he had seen her—but Subaru never thought she had seemed as though she were under the influence of something.
"I asked him if he maybe knew his dad's or another family member's phone number and offered to bring him over here to wait until we could get ahold of someone and he told me that his brother didn't live too far. Fuuma knew the name of the complex… so off we went—hoping he would be home." Given how unreliable Fuuma's mother was—you would think the rest of the family would have at least made sure the poor kid knew who to call when this happened.
"Was it really not that far?" Hokuto popped another bite in her mouth and Subaru shrugged.
No.
It had been far.
Almost on the other side of the city, actually…
"Well—it was a bit of a hike… but Fuuma was crying and I felt so bad! It isn't like we have any way of letting his family know we have him and it was too late to tell the school in case they called looking for him and—"
"How far?" Hokuto said in a teasing tone, looking a little more than slightly amused as her twin rubbed at the back of his neck and glanced away.
"Ginza..." Subaru didn't have to look back to know she had pulled a face with the dramatic sigh that sounded.
"Subaruuuuu— you could have just left a note on the door… You really went all the way over there without even knowing for sure that was where he lived? Or if he was home?" Subaru shrugged again and Hokuto shook her head. "That was dangerous, you know? For all you know, the brother could have been an ugly molester instead of a handsome prince!"
Subaru was glad he had snuck in a bite of ice cream and didn't have to respond to that right away.
While he didn't know if he would classify Seishiro as a prince… he was more than handsome enough to be one… and he did seem very kind… but Subaru wasn't so sure about him.
He appreciated that the older man had happily taken Fuuma in.
Hokuto was right, though… that hadn't been his smartest move… But Fuuma had started crying and was getting louder—so off they went.
"I was actually really surprised because I had a complex name, the floor he lived on, and that was it." Thankfully the doorman at the building told them the actual apartment number when Subaru explained what was going on. Else they might have had to just start trying doors… which would have been an experience.
"With a little help, we found it without much trouble and knocked on the door... I was about to give up because no one was answering, Fuuma was two seconds from sobbing and I really didn't want to make a scene." Subaru took a break to have a bite of ice cream—if he didn't, Hokuto was going to eat it all and they had stopped carrying the chocolate peppermint flavor now that the holidays were over.
He also wanted to choose his words carefully for the next part of the story…
There were a few details he was going to leave out.
"You're not usually that brave. I'm impressed." Hokuto was the braver of the two—Subaru was painfully shy and not very adventurous…
"Well, I wasn't going to just abandon him." He hadn't been thrilled about going to a side of town her rarely visited, but what could he do? Fuuma had been so upset! "Anyway! I knock one more time and the door flies open and I almost have a heart attack…"
Hokuto chuckled and Subaru looked away to hide the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks at remembering how Seishiro had looked… The blush didn't go unnoticed but Hokuto knew better than to interrupt him in the middle of a story to tease.
"I think we might have woken him up… but he was really thankful that I brought Fuuma over and insisted on giving me a ride home and invited me in to wait while he got dressed—"
"Got dressed?" Hokuto had a spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth and paused to stare at her twin with an accusing look. "What was he wearing?"
Subaru blinked at Hokuto a few times and had to wonder why she was smirking at him like that…
"Um… pants…?" He wasn't sure what kind of pants they were per se—he had noticed how nicely muscular he was and how very very shirtless those pecs and abs had been—and then he had focused on Seishiro's socks because he didn't want to stare…
He would have mentioned that Seishiro's socks had been black and looked very cozy—but that seemed odd and he knew as soon as he started rambling, Hokuto was going to think that there was something he wasn't telling her and—
Well, there was.
He was not going to mention the gun to her…
It was not easy to lie to Hokuto. No matter how carefully he rehearsed the fib or how little the lie… The second she caught wind of it, she would bully it out of him, and Subaru was still making up his mind about whether or not Seishiro was…
Safe?
Subaru really hadn't had time to process any of it.
Finding himself on the other side of Tokyo with a crying 7-year-old was already out of his element. Throw in the unusual encounter with Seishiro as well as the information about their family life…
It was a lot to process. Subaru would come to Hokuto and tell her about the gun after he had a chance to think through everything that had happened… Poor Fuuma and his troubles with his mother were the priority now.
"Just pants?" Hokuto's smirk turned into a grin and Subaru took another bite of their icy treat and hoped that the chill might keep him from blushing more than he already was.
He didn't even know why he was blushing like this—or why he had been so embarrassed around Seishiro to begin with. He had been perfectly kind and hadn't done anything to warrant shyness form Subaru—if anything he had gone out of his way to put the younger boy at ease.
Well… after the whole half-naked introduction.
"And socks—" Subaru mentally kicked himself—he should have left that detail out—he could see the gears turning behind his sisters green eyes. "But he's a boy, so—well, it's not so weird—like I said, I thought we had woken him up." he looked away from Hokuto and sighed.
It wasn't that odd or uncommon for boys to sleep shirtless…Subaru and Kamui both slept shirtless on hot summer nights, after all—So why was she looking at him like that?
If would be very different if Hokuto had been the one in Subaru's shoes—but Subaru was a boy.
It was totally appropriate.
"So the shirtless man who is gorgeous enough to be a model… invites my shy introverted brother into his house, and you gladly accept, because..?" Hokuto was still smiling that I-know-something-you-don't-know smile and Subaru was pointedly ignoring it.
"He insisted?" When he thought about it—he didn't have a good answer for that?
He could have turned the offer down and left. After all, it could have been dangerous if Seishiro hadn't turned out to be such a nice person…
"No other reason?"
"Maybe to make sure Fuuma was ok?" The way Hokuto's brows furrowed at that statement had Subaru mentally kicking himself again.
He could not mention the gun…
That would not go over well.
Seishiro never really explained why he had a gun—and he had confirmed that he most definitely was not a police officer—but he must have had a good reason.
Probably.
"Why wouldn't he be ok?" Hokuto's tone wiped the blush off Subaru's face and he told as much of the truth as he could.
"He seemed to calm down a lot when his brother opened the door… but Fuuma had been so upset that I just wanted to stay with him and make sure he was feeling ok being left with his brother." That part wasn't a lie—that was the only reason he had gone in after he had seen the gun.
He hadn't known exactly how he would have helped Fuuma if he wasn't safe with Seishiro—but something in him wouldn't just let him leave without making sure. Subaru was glad he had. The conversation on the balcony as well as Seishiro's easy smiles at dinner, had totally put his mind at ease.
"—anyway—" Subaru continued before she could ask any more questions and Hokuto didn't protest. "—I helped him with his homework for a bit and when his brother came back out, we talked on the balcony…"
He didn't bother to hide his frown from his twin as he mentally replayed the bulk of the balcony conversation. About Fuuma's mother and Seishiro's lack of a mother…
Subaru had suspected that Fuuma didn't have a perfect home life, but it was obviously far worse than he had first guessed. He hadn't wanted to talk about Fuuma's home life in front of Kamui—but Hokuto needed to know. Who knew when the next time Fuuma would be forgotten by his mother would be, and Subaru might very well be home sick or busy.
"Did something bad happen?" Hokuto's scowl screamed currently-plotting-murder, and Subaru had no clue what she was assuming.
He was pretty sure he didn't want to know and Subaru shook his head quickly back and forth.
"No—But Seishiro filled me in on a little bit about Fuuma's home life… It's not good." People might argue that Subaru, Hokuto and Kamui had a questionable home life themselves—which they did—but they had a happy and safe home to return to.
"Seishiro is a very sweet big brother… but I think I might have been worrying again unnecessarily?" Subaru sighed and Hokuto continued to silently wait for him to continue.
While normally, that was something he would have appreciated… his mind was stuck on why Seishiro would possibly have a gun.
That wasn't the issue right now, though.
"He wasn't—it's not that he did anything wrong—" Hokuto still didn't make a peep and Subaru turned back to face her after he made up his mind on how to address it.
"I offered to take Fuuma home with me in case it was too much of an imposition." He would skip mentions of the gun—the reason for his initial unease that led to Seishiro telling him about their family was unimportant. "To just leave a note for his mother so she would know where he was at and Seishiro told me she wouldn't notice… that she forgot about Fuuma a lot… because she is always getting high...
Hokuto's expression softened and she scooted her chair closer and reached out to give her twin a quick hug. She was more aware than anyone how sensitive Subaru could be… He really couldn't help the terrible feeling he got when he heard sad things like that—especially when it came to people close to him.
Fuuma was a little odd—but Kamui loved his best friend, so Subaru cared deeply for the goofy little boy. To think he was holding so much stress and worry about if his mother was going to remember to pick him up from school…
Was she feeding him? Did he have to fend for himself? Who was looking out for him?
Tears prickled at his eyes and he took a deep breath.
Subaru hated that he was a cry baby…
He was getting better at controlling his tears, but just the thought of what it would be like to have an absentee mother when you were as sweet and desperate for attention as little Fuuma…
"It's good that he has a brother like Seishiro, then, Subaru. He's gonna be ok." Hokuto released him and flashed him her Everything-is-going-to-be-ok smile and he nodded his head. "Don't forget that he has us, too! Did you make sure to tell Seishiro that Fuuma is always welcome to hang out with us?"
"Yes… I asked for his number just in case I ever needed to let someone know we have him." Seishiro had thankfully already been planning to give it to him…
Though Subaru was still unsure as to how he wanted to take the meaning of the reason as to why Seishiro had already planned to ask him for it…
"Well, that's all you can really do." Hokuto offered and Subaru nodded again, his gaze falling down to his lap.
He wished there was more he could do, but that was something. Between Seishiro and them—Fuuma would have two places to go if he needed it.
"Fuuma looked really happy to be with his brother. Seishiro insisted on taking us to get dinner before he dropped me off and Fuuma had a blast telling us all about Kamui and his class. I don't think the two of them spend much time together." That, too, was a sad fact.
Subaru couldn't imagine not being tied at the hip with his brother and sister. They were his best friends, after all—he had no idea what he would do without them. Even if Fuuma and Seishiro didn't spend much time together… he was glad they had each other.
But at least some time was better than no time.
"Well, I'm glad you made a new friend, Subaru." Hokuto took another bite of ice cream and Subaru felt his cheeks flush again.
That was a bit of a stretch…
He and Seishiro had obviously gotten along, but he wouldn't go so far as to say they had become friends. Subaru hoped that he never needed to see Seishiro again because he hoped that Fuuma's mother started to straighten up and there was no need for unplanned trips across Tokyo to his brother's high rise apartment.
Though… maybe it wasn't silly to assume that Seishiro might want to hang out again sometime? He was anything but easy to read, but the older man did seem to be enjoying himself. His soft smile and gentle prodding questions were engaging and his interest seemed genuine.
There was still a slight ache of disappointment, knowing that that wasn't likely. Subaru hadn't thought it polite to ask how old Seishiro was—but given his car, apartment and independent lifestyle—he was old enough to have no interest in childish friendships.
Hokuto, of course, noticed his mood but she must have chalked it up to feelings over the truth about Fuuma's home life because she didn't press Subaru. Which—that was bothering him, too.
The rest was just...confusing, at the moment.
Normally, Subaru had very little interest in making new friends and the classmates he considered good friends he had met through Hokuto. Wanting to get to know Seishiro better as well as spending more time with him were not usually how he felt about new acquaintances.
Hokuto headed to bed as soon as they had finished off their ice cream and Subaru hurried through his homework while yawning and checking his phone almost obsessively. Why he thought Seishiro might be texting him after just dropping him off just over an hour ago, he couldn't tell you…
Why he got more and more disappointed every time he checked his phone was also a mystery to him. Subaru very obviously wanted Seishiro to text him—to confirm that the older man was just as interested in getting to know him—but he didn't end up texting him and Subaru had no idea what to say to initiate a conversation.
After staying up far later than he should have, waiting to see if he would get a text message—then trying and failing to come up with something to send Seishiro that wouldn't seem weird, Subaru settled on maybe asking Fuuma tomorrow to see what his brother was like.
When Fuuma didn't show up for school the next day—or the day after—Hokuto helped Subaru draft a simple message to Seishiro to check in and see if everything was ok.
Seishiro never responded.
Subaru made himself sick with worry when Fuuma missed the rest of the week. His mind ran wild with thoughts of Seishiro using that gun on his poor brother… of Fuuma crying for help and no one being there to save him.
It wasn't until the following Monday that he would see Fuuma again.
Kamui had been sour all week over his friend's absence from school. Being not only the smallest but also the youngest in his class due to skipping a grade meant that poor Kamui dealt with more than his fair share of bullies. Fuuma was Kamui's only friend and his absence from school left the little boy surprisingly clingy.
Subaru had sent Hokuto on ahead to their school. She had to get to the student council room to set up for the meeting before the upperclassmen arrived. They were supposed to do it together, but given how hard Kamui had tried to convince his older siblings he was deathly ill and therefore needed to stay home from school, Subaru had decided to walk him to his classroom and see if he could get any information from the boy's teacher.
Not only to make sure she was aware of the bullying—but also to see if perhaps she knew why Fuuma was absent from school in the first place.
Kamui tugged hard on Subaru's hand as soon as he got through the front door of the classroom. He let go as soon as he was through the threshold and his eyes settled on the person causing his little brother's excitement.
Fuuma was back—and so was Seishiro.
The Sakurazuka brothers were standing in front of the classroom. Seishiro was dressed in a black suit, maroon shirt, and black tie. He had a hand resting on Fuuma's shoulder as he spoke quietly to the teacher who was nodding compassionately at whatever he was saying.
As curious as Subaru had been about Seishiro—after a quick glance he turned his attention to the younger brother. Fuuma didn't look anywhere near as put together as his brother. While there was no contact aside from the hand on his shoulder, Fuuma might as well be hanging off his brother, given how close he was standing to him. His uniform might be clean and wrinkle-free, but pale skin and dark circles under his eyes were dead giveaways that not all was well.
Something was wrong.
Subaru called after Kamui when his little brother pulled free of his hold, but there wasn't anything he could do to stop the boy from jumping his friend. Normally, he would let the boys do as they pleased—but Kamui knocking into Fuuma like that caused him to fall against Seishiro and interrupted the adults' conversation.
As if that wasn't bad enough, after Kamui's little stunt had pulled in the entire room's attention, he decided now was the perfect time to 'lecture' Fuuma about 'ditching' him with 'these idiots' and that the older boy better had a good excuse.
"Kamui!" Subaru hurried across the room and pulled his little brother off of Fuuma. "That is not nice. Apologize."
"He's the one that should be apologizing for abandoning me!" his little brother answered a bit too loudly but didn't otherwise struggle as he was hoisted up and set back on his feet a polite distance away.
Subaru tried to ignore the looks of everyone in the room as he turned Kamui by his shoulders to look at him. Crouching down, he spoke quietly to the boy whose eyes were shining with tears that were threatening to fall. "Fuuma didn't abandon you and you cannot call your classmates names, Kamui. You not only knocked your friend over but you interrupted an adult conversation in the process."
Kamui scowled at Subaru for a moment. He knew his little brother had had a rough couple of days and as much as he hated to scold him in front of his classmates—he needed to apologize.
"So this little spitfire is Kamui?" Seishiro flashed a kind smile their way and Subaru straightened immediately. Keeping his hands on his little brother's shoulders, he positioned the boy in front of him and when Subaru bowed and offered an apology for the interruption—Kamui had no choice but to do the same.
"Little boys often get overly excited. No harm done." Seishiro dismissed their apology and Kamui wiggled away from him and grumbled an apology to the teacher before jumping Fuuma again, who was actually paying attention this time.
The older man watched him do so with apparent amusement rather than annoyance and Subaru relaxed, knowing that no offense had been taken. Seishiro focused his attention solely on Subaru for a moment before glancing back at the teacher. "Just let me know if he's having any issues today."
"Of course Mr. Sakurazuka. I am sure being around his friends will help Fuuma start to get back to a feeling of normalcy." She offered a reserved smile and Seishiro gave a single nod before he refocused on Subaru.
"Did you need to speak with the teacher as well?"
Subaru blinked dumbly a few times before his eyes shot down to look at his feet. "Ah—yes please excuse me."
Seishiro squeezed his shoulder as he turned and left the classroom and Subaru apologized to the teacher one more time over Kamui's poor manners. She assured him that she would keep an eye out for any bullying and confirmed that his brother had been just as difficult at school as he had been at home.
All in all, he was running late for school by the time he managed to excuse himself. He had to jog up the street to his own school in order not to be late for his first class and the look Hokuto gave him as he slipped into his seat a few seconds after the bell rang was met with an apologetic smile.
He hoped Fuuma was ok.
Subaru didn't know what Seishiro might have needed to stop in… but he hoped that nothing major had gone wrong.
He stuck close to his twin for the rest of the day and tried to focus on classes and social obligations rather than worry. Hokuto reassured him that Fuuma would more than likely tell Kamui—and if he was in one piece, that was all that mattered.
For all they knew, he had just gotten a bad bout of the flu and Seishiro had been in to hand in a doctor's note…
Hokuto skipped shopping with a few of her girlfriends to go with Subaru to pick up Kamui. They found their little brother near their usual meeting spot behind the school next to the swings—and rather than playing with the rest of the kids in their class—he and Fuuma were just sitting on the swings.
Hokuto and Subaru greeted the boys in unison and while Fuuma managed a smile—Kamui simply jumped off the swing and ran up to Subaru—throwing his arms around his brother's waist and hiding his face.
Okay…
"Bad day?" Subaru hugged him back nice and tight—letting go when his little brother wiggled.
Kamui shook his head back and forth quickly and gave both his siblings an impressive frown before peeking back over at his best friend. "Can Fuuma come to our house today?"
Hokuto shrugged after they caught each other's eye—it wouldn't be a problem—they were just going to do homework and cook, anyways.
"Sure." Kamui sagged in relief and rewrapped himself around Subaru. Looking over at Fuuma, he smiled softly and chose his words carefully. "Do you need me to call your mother and let her know where you're going to be?"
Kamui squeezed him a little tighter and Fuuma shook his head back and forth. "No. Mom died, so she can't answer the phone anymore."
She.
She what?
"Can you call Seishiro instead?"
Subaru blinked dumbly a few times and Kamui pulled away and tugged at his hand. "His brother is going to put him in daycare if he can't stay with us…"
Subaru felt tears sting in his eyes, nodded his head and dug out his phone. Hokuto was nowhere near as sensitive as her brother and stepped in to peel Kamui off of him and answer poor Fuuma on his behalf.
He wasn't sure what she told him—he was to focused on trying to get his hands to stop shaking at what that meant.
Had she not come to pick him up the other day because she had… she had died?
0o0o0
Hey lovelies!
I hope you enjoyed and would love to hear what you say! The main fic in this series is also looking to get an update in a day or two so please keep an eye out!
I usually have a lot to say by the end of a chapter but noooot so much today. I am just really happy to be getting back on track when it comes to working my creative outlets and writing my fics. Life has just been insane lately but this is truly what I love to do and I missed it!
As for notes on the story itself... I think I just need to let a lot of the details slowly reveal themselves and hope that things fall into place as planned? I have gotten good and bad feedback as to the characterization of Seishiro so I would love to see what everyone thinks about him, as well as Fuuma, Hokuto, Subaru, and Kamui as the nuances and differences from cannon start to reveal themselves? I don't want to give anything away so that is all I will say.
As always I would love to hear what you think! Good or bad! Until next time!