By Your Side
Sumeragi Sui
Warnings: None... I think.
Disclaimer: Hokuto-chan, Kakyou, X, TB, etc., etc., etc. All belong to CLAMP, not me.
Notes: As was the Setsuka/Seishirou fic, I'm not 100 sure about what goes beyond Kakyou and Hokuto's relationship other than the hints and character files and stuff in X and TB. So don't kill me if something is slightly off kilter. And, for once, it's not a POV fic! Rejoice! Enjoy.
Kakyou sat silently in the gloomy, almost pathetic atmosphere of his dwellings. He could not see where he was, but he had a vague sense given to his dreamseeing. After all... he was a yumemi.
Being a yumemi didn't have its advantages, though. Not being able to see the outside world, forever trapped, kept alive by machines, sightless, speechless, an invalid. Useless, except for the sole fact that he possessed the curse (some called it a gift) of seeing the future in dreams...
Watching people die, watching things get destroyed, watching the world's destruction... those who dubbed it a gift were certainly misled, Kakyou mused with a forced amusement. He once thought he'd go insane merely because of forced, false claustrophobia. The agony of it all was enough to bear. He was stuck in a somber house that was heavily guarded. The agony.
Loneliness.
That was something he experienced daily. He had no connections to the real world, he was stuck forever in his own mind, dreaming and dreaming and dreaming... and nothing else. There was a sort of bitter pleasure to be derived from this-- but he was not antisocial in the first place. He wanted to see the sea, the real sea, for once... once, in his miserable, cold life, cursed to live the role of a dreamseer.
He often felt too many feelings at once. Resentment, anger, depression, worthlessness, solitude, neediness, disgust, bitterness, and sometimes he felt sickened too, sickened by his own existence. This mixture of feelings was all at once everything, yet at the same time absolutely nothing, just evidence of how hollow he'd become.
He wanted to smell fresh air.
But he couldn't, that was the point, the problem. Doomed to lie in a bed, unable to see his surroundings, kept alive by machines, and there were... no windows. None at all.
There was no solution to the problem.
He sighed. He wanted to see someone... anyone... just someone who could describe to him the wonders of the "real" world. For the only ones he had conversed with in his life... one included Princess Hinoto, the "dreaming princess under the Diet building"... But... she had not realized... Kakyou had stronger powers than she. He could slip into her dreams unnoticeably and silently watch the princess frantically wish for a different future. This held its consequences, however... it was because of this that he was in a worst state than the princess, not even being able to get out of bed, barely able to move, not acquiring the princess' ability to speak into other's minds... only dreams. He could only exist in dreams.
He still craved outside contact. Someone else to talk to, someone not a dreamseer, someone normal...
But perhaps it wasn't even possible.
He exhaled again, sharply this time. The heart monitor beside his bed beeped continuously, but he could not hear it, only sense it in a sort of desperate longing for something more.
Sumeragi Hokuto grinned at her "adorable little brother", Subaru. He was not younger than her by much; only a few moments or so, as they were twins. They frequently stayed at Subaru's apartment, eating Hokuto's exemplary cooking with the comforting company of Sakurazuka Seishirou, a veterinarian whom Hokuto was keen on pairing with her brother. Some jokes of marriage and a few cookies later, Hokuto announced that, for once, she had tired quicker than her brother.
"Is it even possible?" Seishirou joked with a poorly concealed smirk.
"Ohohohohoho!" Hokuto laughed. She smiled slightly at Subaru, who blushed at the prospect of being alone with Seishirou-san, what with Hokuto "sleeping". "Subaru, now you can bond with Sei-chan without my interference! Future brother-in-law, use this as a wonderful opportunity!" she "ohohoho"-ed suddenly, grinning at Seishirou. He winked knowingly in return, causing Subaru's face to flush bright crimson.
"Well, I best be off! Don't do anything naughty when I'm gone!" Hokuto laughed wildly again, returning the wink to Seishirou and hopping off to her room.
In reality, Hokuto had actually felt more exhausted than she'd ever felt in years. She wondered about the cause of this; was it possible she was sick? No, impossible, she thought to herself. She had been invincible all these years, she had never caught a cold, she was strong, she was fine. She tried hard to believe it herself as she collapsed on her bed, fever overcoming her.
Kakyou sighed deeply to himself. He knew he was powerful enough. He had decided he would attempt to communicate... with someone else. All he wanted, all he needed was a simple, single glimpse, a single word, a single discourse, of another person, and he would be at rest.
Without even realizing, he had conjured someone else to appear, land, in his own dreamscape. A slender female figure of average height was walking slowly towards him in the bleak darkness.
"What is this place... Where am I?" The girl looked interested, yet she showed no sign of apprehension whatsoever. "This isn't my dreamscape..." the girl said in a cheerful voice, looking around curiously. She grinned and chirped happily, "That must mean that this is your dreamscape!" She paused for a second, thoughtfully placing her index finger on her cheek, pondering. "But... how is it that I was able to enter your dreamscape, then? Doushite?" Why?
Kakyou looked melancholically hopeless, and muttered sadly, "Because... I wanted to see someone..." He exhaled slowly, seeming depressed. He paused for a moment, looking down. "Because I have... always been by myself, living in solitude. So I wanted to see others... anyone... anyone would do."
Teasingly taking Kakyou's cheeks lightly with her hands, she grinned and said, "Anyone would do? How could you say that just anyone would do to such a cute girl?" Smiling again, she added questioningly, "Doesn't it make you a little happier to see me? Hrm?"
Kakyou smiled slightly, his spirits raised a little. "I am... very happy," he replied softly, gently touching Hokuto's cheek.
"I'm Hokuto! Sumeragi Hokuto." She offered her hand very willingly for Kakyou to shake. He did so, and in a small, quiet voice, he answered, "Kakyou. Kuzuki... Kakyou."
"Well, calling you Kuzuki-san would be a bit too polite... may I call you Kakyou?" She smiled, tilting her head slightly to one side. He nodded slowly.
"Why have you been alone all this time? Haven't you ever been outside? ...Was this your own choice?" Sighing, Kakyou shook his head sadly.
Hokuto appeared thoughtful, and then asked cheerfully, "Then, the answer's simple! I'll take you somewhere... So, then... where would you like to go?"
A trace of a desperate smile appeared on Kakyou's face. "As long as it is with Hokuto... anywhere... would do..."
Hokuto's bore a grin masked by a jokingly reproaching look. "You can't just say anywhere will do!" she scolded. "After all, this is sort of like a first date, you know!"
Longingly, Kakyou eventually managed to answer, "I want to see... the sea."
"The sea?" Hokuto looked pensive, and then changed the scene to one of her favorite beaches. "Well, how about something like this...?" She smiled at the flying seagulls hovering over her head. "The sea in the real world is much more spectacular than this, though," she mused, pondering.
With something somewhat similar to relief, Kakyou sighed contently. Hokuto turned away from the seagulls to face him. "Now that we've gotten to know one another, I'd like to see you! And not just in dreamscapes... in the real world."
At this, Kakyou seemed saddened at the prospect. Hokuto looked at him with a curious expression. "No... that's not possible. I can never... go outside. Never... ever."
Hokuto just smiled knowingly at him. "Nothing's certain in this world! After all, you have Sumeragi Hokuto-chan by your side! Now, let's go!" She offered her hand to Kakyou, grinning almost mysteriously.
Weakly, Kakyou attempted to take her hand. But as he did, the dreamscape vanished. Where... was Hokuto? Had she awoken, temporarily erased from the dream world...? He focused on the scene in the distance. Two figures... one female, one male... under a massive sakura tree. For some reason, the girl was asking the man to kill her... Kakyou tried to make out her words... so she could... so she could bring her brother back to reality. The girl... she seemed familiar... she almost seemed like...
"Hokuto! HOKUTO! HOKUTO!"
> acquaintance / e n d ;