Subaru was breathing heavily as he pushed himself up from the ground. *This is it, no backing out now. Can I-* He gathered his powers as he remembered what Duncan had said and smiled. *Use my own strength...* He held his hands out in a defensive position. "Seishirou-san... let's finish this."

Seishirou looked at the younger man's strangely exuberant expression before nodding. "Goodbye, Subaru-kun." Then, his hand came up quickly and a string of syllables were uttered. The wind stirred, almost imperceptible at first, but it picked up speed and strength and localized as a small hurricane centered around Subaru.

The wind started to whip him around, but Subaru shouted out a word that gave him an anchor to the ground. "Is that it, Seishirou-san?" Seishirou did not respond, and instead floated a few cherry blossoms toward him. As if attracted by those few, the wind started to pick up the piles of blossoms scattered on the ground. Soon, Subaru was surrounded by a whirlwind of blossoms that whipped around him too quickly for any shield to be effective.

Finally, one last incantation, and that was when Subaru started to visibly wilt. The soft, lovely blossoms turned deadly, each becoming a sharp blade which cut viciously into the skin of the person nearest to them. The pink stained to a crimson red that until it was as if Subaru was being painted by his own blood. Subaru's harsh breathing was all that could be heard as the wind died down. He fell to the ground onto his hands and knees, blood trickling from hundreds of shallow cuts all over his body.

Seishirou moved toward him slowly, his expression predatory and one of cruel anticipation. "Subaru-kun..." At the voice, the body on the ground tensed, and then sprang. Subaru moved without looking in what seemed to be a random direction, as if trying to get away from his hunter. "Subaru-kun, do you really think that I would let you get away?"

Suddenly, Seishirou gave a small laugh. "Subaru-kun. Did you really think that you could escape by running even closer to my partner? He is hungry..." Subaru disregarded his voice, half-crawling toward the tree, while Seishirou followed. When he deemed that Subaru was close enough, Seishirou moved and stood in front of him, barring his way.

"Sayonara, Subaru-kun." The quiet statement was followed by a small gasp from Subaru, as Seishirou pulled his body up from the ground to face him. Seishirou smiled at him, and then pushed his hand through Subaru's body. Subaru fell, his body arcing to the ground. "Sei...shi-" A sigh, and then his body went still.

Picking up the unnaturally light body, Seishirou concentrated.

/My ally, your meal comes.../

Using what was left of his energy -- for he had to admit that the fight had depleted much of his resources -- Seishirou used his power to disperse the body into the separate, small blossoms which would go to feed the tree. *What!?* There was unnatural resistance to the spell coming from the dead body.

Examining his burden, Seishirou saw that a ward was present around the body that prevented the dismemberment of his body, even after death. *A strange ward, that...* Still, he saw that the ward was going to dissipate soon, so he let it be, deciding to wait it out. Putting the body next to the tree, Seishirou decided that it was time to take care of the two -- no, four nuisances that had been floating around during the fight...

Duncan closed his eyes, and shook his head. "So, that's it? Now that crazy bastard is going to know about immortals, and-"

Nokoru gave him a helpless look. "MacLeod-san, I am sorry, but there truly is nothing we can do -- at least, not against Sakurazukamori-"

Seishirou walked at that moment into the little grove of trees and heard what Nokoru had just said. "So, there is even more reason for all of you to be eliminated..." Seishirou shook his head. "All of you seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time -- especially you, protector. You were not very successful in your attempt, sitting in the bushes while Subaru-kun tried in vain to-"

Duncan slowly stepped up to him, true rage in his eyes. "You- you were the reason for all of his hatred. I thought that it was just stupid revenge, that he should just walk away. But now I see exactly how impossible that was for him..." Duncan drew his sword and placed the tip at Seishirou's neck. "Can you defend against this?" Slowly, the blade started to dig in little by little...

"A sword? Do you really think that a sword is going to be what kills me?"

The amused, contemptuous voice made Duncan's grip on the sword tighten, and start to lose what control he had left. "I don't see you getting away-" Suddenly, Seishirou blurred and disappeared from his vision. "What?!"

From behind him, the hated voice spoke to Duncan with condescension. "This was the extent of Subaru's protection... no wonder he made you hide. That was an amusing moment, but now, this little game is over." Seishirou drew on the small amount of power he had left, and beckoned to his main spirit-bird and fellow hunter from the mists of his mind. Whispering to it, Seishirou was about to let it loose on the gaijin when he saw the other three clustered together.

*Perhaps I should just kill those three first, so that this one can be mine last...* Allowing the bird to materialize, he instructed it to attack the one most vulnerable, and let the shikigami wing toward the three. Knowing that the bird could be counted upon for the smaller prey, Seishirou turned back to Duncan.

As he was about to engage in hand-to-sword -- for after all, Seishirou had to give himself some handicap -- the bird's angry cry made him turn. Somehow, the utterly ordinary three had not only managed to evade the bird, but one of them had actually managed to down it with a shiruken. *Ninja!* Looking at the blue-haired one who still had many left in his hand, Seishirou smiled. *This is going to be more interesting than I thought-*

Suddenly, something at the back of his mind awakened. Seishirou concentrated, ignoring the smaller prey as an impossibility asserted itself in his mind. *Subaru-kun?* Sakurazukamori always knew when one of the prey he had marked had died -- and he had felt Subaru die. Only now, he felt Subaru's presence again. Turning from his lesser prey, Seishirou rushed back toward the tree.

Nokoru watched him leave from behind both Suoh and Akira, who had pushed themselves in front of him to try to absorb any blow that Sakurazukamori may have thrown at him. "Now... now the true fight begins. He knows..." Duncan kept his sword drawn and followed the trio as they started to walk toward where Subaru was.

*Where-* Subaru shook his head as he opened his eyes. Looking down at himself, he saw that he had already healed, and was now very much alive. *Seishirou-san... he will be coming soon. I have to do this now!* A bit unsteady, he stood himself up and drew on the power that he had been conserving before. *Can I do this?*

Taking a deep breath, he smiled. It was an unusual smile for him, one without any trace of bitterness or anger. It was as if his younger self had returned, if only for a moment. *This is my strength- my power. Emotion, empathy... I'd forgotten, in my hunt.* He headed toward the nearby cherry tree, the symbol of Sakurazukamori's power. As Subaru got closer, he could feel the pain and suffering the tree thrived on.

As he gazed upon the innocuous looking tree, Subaru's smile turned into a hate-filled glare. "You -- you are my true enemy, not him. The power behind Sakurazukamori, the one that forced such a thing to exist. But now, you're going to help me free him." He winced a bit as he stepped to within touching distance of the tree and the raw emotions of fear and hatred started to penetrate his shields.

*Hokuto-chan... I'm sorry- I don't think I'll ever see you again...* Subaru took out his ceremonial knife and put it to his wrist. Slicing it quickly, he let the blood run out to touch the bark of the tree. The tree seemed to almost sigh in pleasure, and Subaru felt the tree actively start to pull at his life force. As he died again, Subaru knew that the ward for keeping his body together wasn't going to last this time. *I hope this works-*

"What?!" Seishirou stopped as he saw the strange image in front of him. Subaru, who he had just killed, was now hugging the tree, only he was dead again. Seishirou could feel the absence of his prey's presence, and saw the body starting to be assimilated into the tree.

/Good... Happy/

The tree seemed to be content, a sign that it had just fed -- but somehow, something was wrong. It was impossible... Seishirou frowned as he considered the mystery. He did not like being confused about anything, especially if it concerned his prey and even more so if it concerned his Subaru-kun. Walking toward the tree, he nearly became overwhelmed by the raw energy that was being absorbed and assimilated into his ally. *Subaru-kun had that much power left after the fight?*

Still, he could ignore that and- Seishirou winced as head began to pound. It was picking up something that felt like background noise, something that his shields and wards didn't label as a threat. As he got closer to the tree, the low, throbbing hum started to get more intense, and when he touched the tree, he couldn't help but drop to the ground.

*What the-* Seishirou shut his eyes as the hum started to resolve itself into something -- a moan, a scream that modulated itself into a never ending cycle of pain. Seishirou opened his eyes, and scrabbled away from the tree, hoping that it would make the noise fade away, but it didn't... it stayed.

Seishirou looked at where Subaru's body had been, before it had been absorbed into the tree. "Subaru-kun... what did you do?" Closing his eyes, Seishirou took a deep breath, and then stepped deep into his own mind. Gazing with inner senses, he tried to find the source of the strange noise. He found that the connection between him and the one he had carved his sign upon was still open. *Subaru-kun? How is this-*

Seishirou decided to find out later and started to sever the link between the two of them. After all, he was dead. Cutting off what was surely only a ghost of Subaru made Seishirou feel almost... almost sad in a way. After all, it truly meant that this -- his greatest hunt -- was truly over. That was all it meant...

Seishirou relaxed as the mental tie faded away, and assumed that the headache would soon dissipate as well. Looking toward the tree, he could hear the normal 'noise' of the tree as well, and opened his link to it. After all, he should see how his ally was doing-

"AH!" Seishirou fell as the link that was opened between him and the tree blasted his mind with pure noise -- a scream that cycled, that died away only to return a few moments later. *What is this?* Seishirou ignored the steadily mounting pain that came from keeping the link open, and went fully into his ally's consciousness. It was something that was seldom done, for who went voluntarily into a being who ate pain and souls?

In it, he found the usual 'scenery' of red and pink overtones, with hints of victims who had been absorbed by the tree before at the edges of the scene before him. At the center... at the center was Subaru, his appearance more solid than it should have been for this version of the Dreamscape. He was the one screaming, Seishirou realized, as his life force was being drained away.

*Of course. I should have expected an extreme reaction from one gifted as he, but I didn't realize that it would be so long...* Seishirou's stiff posture relaxed a bit as he saw what had been his enemy fold up onto the ground. The screams ceased as Subaru's life faded away.

*Well, that's that... What!?* Seishirou looked on in amazement as the clearly dead body somehow revived, and started to scream again, as the tree had its fill once again. Seishirou realized in shock that the tree's murmurs and constant reminders of its hunger had ceased.

"How did you do this, Subaru-kun?"

As if he somehow heard, Subaru's head came up amidst the screams. Looking at him, the crazed green eyes seemed to recognize him for a moment. Hoarse from screaming, the fatigued voice barely managed to whisper out, "Sakurazukamori is no more..." before it gave out on him, forcing his screams to ring silently in Seishirou's mind.

Chapter 12

Duncan and the trio stopped in shock as they saw something truly unexpected. Sakurazukamori on his knees, staring up at his tree in shock. Duncan looked at the man, with his vacant eyes, and asked, "What the hell is he doing?" Nokoru examined Seishirou closely, and then answered, "I think he is walking the mindways- his consciousness is not where his body is, but somewhere else..."

Looking at the helpless body, Duncan raised his sword. "Good- that means that I can take care of him without having to die to do it. This is for Subaru, you bastard-" As the blade came down, Duncan noticed something that shocked him even more. The killer seemed to be crying unconsciously, with a few tears trickling from his eyes.

"What the-" Duncan could remember Subaru telling him of Sakurazukamori, of Seishirou's inability to feel, and stopped the blade before it decapitated the man. Knowing that it was stupid, Duncan decided to wait until the assassin regained his own mind- after all, he still had a blade near enough so any move that the killer may make would be easily stopped.

Finally, the dully staring eyes become self aware as his mind returned to reality. Duncan knew that his face is the first thing that the assassin saw, along with his sword, so he readied himself for an attack. An attack that never came, as Seishirou stayed on his knees, and looked frantically at the tree.

"How... how? How could he do such a thing?" Seishirou's confused, almost plaintive question rang through the now-quiet location. "How is he still alive?" Duncan looked at him questioningly, wondering what had happened, before he realized what Seishirou had just said.

Duncan pulled Seishirou up by the collar of his shirt. "What?! What did you just say?" Seishirou gave him a distracted look, as if his mind was still wandering the mental pathways, as he replied in a faint voice, "He's still alive... in the tree... he dies, but then he's back, and he's screaming..."

Duncan gave Nokoru a horrified look, to which Nokoru just nodded. In an appalled voice, Nokoru said what had been in everyone's mind. "It appears that Immortality is possible when one's head has not been truly cut off- especially if that Immortal has powers that lets him preserve his life force in such a way."

Nokoru's overly convoluted language couldn't hide the fact that he had paled terribly as he looked at the tree with too-wide eyes. Akira's horrified whisper made everyone look at the younger man. "You mean that he's still alive in there? That he's being brought back to life, only-" Suoh's controlled voice finished Akira's sentence. "Only to die again after he's been drained by the tree..."

Duncan gave Seishirou a look full of wrath as he slowly put the sword to the unresisting assassin's throat. "Kill that thing- do it! Or else I swear that I'll kill you-" Seishirou ignored him as his mind assimilated what the others had said with the facts that he had so arrogantly discarded before. *Subaru-kun... Immortal? How? That means...*

"That means that he'll be like that for as long as the tree exists?" Seishirou pulled himself away and looked at the cherry tree, whose blossoms had turned even redder as it fed. "That he'll be connected to me, and will be screaming like this..." Seishirou could feel something crack- something inside him shatter, break into so many small pieces that it could never be fixed...

"Subaru... kun... you. You did this on purpose... how could you? You knew that this was going to happen, but-" Seishirou gave a grim smile, and kept on talking to nothingness, as all the rest stayed silent, not sure what to do with the rambling onmyouji. "So, that was your plan, ne? To kill off Sakuruzukamori by making it so that there is no need for a hunt- not anymore..."

Seishirou stopped as he tried to search for the voice that compelled him to kill, but couldn't hear it over the barely muffled screams that penetrated every shield that he had. Shaking his head, he went over to the tree, and put his hands onto the bark. "What am I supposed to do now? If I'm not Sakurazukamori... if you've made me able to feel..."

Looking into his heart, Seishirou realized that the barrier that had existed over his feelings- a natural consequence of being Sakurazukamori- had splintered, allowing the forbidden feelings to exist, emerge... the feelings that he had disguised as possessiveness for a certain prey- those became what would have been if Seishirou hadn't been the assassin. "You idiot... Subaru-kun- do you really think I can allow this to go on? For you to exist in this manner?"

Seishirou grimaced a bit, and then lifted his hands from the tree. "You win... you've won, Subaru-kun." The man who could not be Sakurazukamori anymore commanded what was left of his power, and then struck out at the tree. Against any ordinary opponent, the tree would have won easily- it was a reservoir of pain and power, and could defend itself against any who dared to go against it.

But against Seishirou, it was vulnerable, susceptible to any attack that he may throw against it. Seishirou knew where all its defenses were, and where it was most assailable, and he exploited this weakness mercilessly. One quick spell destroyed the symbol and power behind Sakurazukamori in a blaze of energy that blinded all who had been watching for several seconds... and also inflicted a backlash that fatally wound the caster.

When the light-daze cleared from Duncan's eyes, he saw that Seishirou had collapsed after destroying the tree. A figure lay sprawled next to him in the tree's wreckage, and Duncan realized that it was Subaru, albeit bloodied and battered. Subaru stood up shakily, sobbing uncontrollably as he tried to speak with his wearied voice. "Duncan-san... I did what you said... I used my strong point and won..."

Duncan started to approach him, but stopped as he saw Subaru look down at his rival. "Seishirou-san..." Seishirou looked up at him, his eyes truly seeing. "Subaru-kun- you won... I destroyed the tree... I am not Sakurazukamori- not anymore. But it appears that I will not live for very long, either. It was a good hunt..."

Subaru knelt next to him, and took his hand. "Is that all you can say? I was there, present in your mind, though I wasn't noticing much... being digested by a tree will do that to you..." Seishirou couldn't help but smile at the way Subaru said that particular gem, and then sighed. "All right- you won the bet also... is that what you want me to say?"

Subaru shook his head. "How about 'I love you'? If it's true..." Seishirou looked up at him, his breath becoming shallower. "I... love..." Then the tree's vengeance ran its full course, and he fell silent. Quietly, Subaru let go of his hand, and watched as Seishirou Sakurazuka, no longer Sakurazukamori, still vanished as his victims had done- in a shower of blossoms that flew to the sky.

"Subaru, are you-" Duncan stopped as he saw the look in Subaru's eyes. "Duncan-san, you were right to try to stop me from my revenge... I realize that now. If only because..." There, he stopped and sighed. "It is ironic, you see- I never thought about what would happen if he were gone, and I was still left..."

Duncan took his arm and pulled him to his feet. "Subaru! You're an immortal now- loved ones dying, for whatever reason, happens to us all the time- No one likes it, but it happens. You have to start dealing with it now, or else-" Subaru shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Duncan-san. But it seems that you've lost another student to revenge... or it's aftereffects. At least you won't have to kill me..."

Taking his arm away from Duncan, Subaru gave him a sad smile. "Ironically enough, the tree was the only thing that could have kept my consciousness alive the way it did... it trapped my soul, and intertwined my mind within it's own. Now that it's gone, only my ward is keeping my body from disintegrating- and the ward's effectiveness will last for only a few more moments.

Looking at the sky, Subaru's voice grew almost happy. "At least he will not have to wait long with Hokuto-chan... Sayonara, Duncan-san... Duncan." Then, a muted flash of light burst from Subaru's body, and he scattered into pure white blossoms, whirling into the sky after the red. Duncan felt a power stir around him, and knew that he was receiving the Quickening. It was a surprisingly gentle one that merely burned the remains of the tree to the ground.

Duncan stared long into the sky, as Nokoru, Suoh and Akira clung to each other for support. Akira started to cry, and the other two supported him the best they could, trying not to show their own shock. Finally, Nokoru pulled himself together. "MacLeod-san... I believe that your friend Richie-san will be wondering what happened to you... if you like, the Imonoyama car that's coming for us can drop you off also."

Looking at the sky, Duncan nodded slowly. "Thank you..." As Duncan walked away from the smoking remains of the tree, he smiled viciously. That vengeful smile disappeared as his couldn't help but feel burdened by this loss that should not have been. *Subaru, you idiot! How could you just...* Then, he shook his head.

"I realize that I can't fault him." This quiet statement made Nokoru and his friends turn toward Duncan. "He knew what he was doing, what was going to happen... How can I be angry at him for doing what he felt was right?" Nokoru nodded. "But I think that you many grieve, even for a righteous thing that has inflicted pain..."

Looking at the clear blue sky, Nokoru smiled. "They are happy, I think. And we are now in a world where there are no predictions, no written fate... perhaps the seven will merely become six, or a certain young man will never find out what his name means... but they have given the world choice. Even if they did so unwittingly, it is still something beautiful that came out of the pain..."

Gazing out at the beauty of the world, something that even he could never tire of, Duncan saluted silently with his sword. "Be content, Subaru. Be that, if nothing else..." As he walked out of the death-filled place, Duncan tried to think of any who should know so they may mourn. He asked Nokoru, "What are you going to tell Subaru's grandmother?"

Nokoru answered, "She already knows, I think... She knew when he killed Subaru's sister that it was almost inevitable, no matter what the prophecies may have said. He was too strong for a fate not of his own choosing... and that may be the truest thing, for all the power Sakurazukamori had over him."

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