'Til Death Do Us Part

Credits: This story stems directly from the first scene in Yume, the pretty little ficcy by Flamebyrd. ::huggles Flamebyrd:: Much thankage for letting me play around with this idea. It's another Tokyo Babylon 'what if' story.

Warnings: Do I *need* to say it? Yaoi. Subaru + Seishirou. Also straight relationships. (Gasp.) Hokuto+Kakyou, and Subaru+OC. Angst, but when isn't there angst in an X fanfic? No other warnings yet. Spoilers for all of TB, except the very end, because I'm pretending the end went *very* differently. None for X, as this takes place before the X timeline, because I'm a wuss and didn't feel like getting that complicated. It's going to be pretty light-hearted, on the whole, despite the title.

Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned them, Tokyo Babylon would've ended *so* differently.

Prologue

Seishirou had the vaguest idea that he was spending too much time in the office. Even the secretaries were starting to give him sympathetic looks. And his head ached, almost all the time now. He frowned, rubbed his temples, and attempted to concentrate on the file in front of him. Too bad the words wouldn't stop moving. He frowned harder and forced the words to still. Too many late nights recently. Odd, though, that the job that was only a cover for his relationship with Subaru was becoming so much to him. Maybe because it reminded him of the Sumeragi . . .

He broke off that train of thought before it could proceed to its inevitable 'how stupid could I possibly have been' conclusion.

"Sei-chan?" Hokuto stuck her head inside the office. She grinned widely to see him look up. "Konnichi wa!"

"Konnichi wa, Hokuto-chan." Seishirou forced his normal warm smile to come to his lips.

"I brought you some lunch," Hokuto said, bouncing into the room. "The secretary said you've been holed up in here all day without a break, so I figured you'd appreciate it. It's the good Chinese stuff."

Seishirou breathed a sigh of relief - not for the first time - that Hokuto had stood by him after the whole mess with Subaru. Interesting that she had turned out to be the more forgiving between the twins; he would have expected it to be Subaru.

Then again, Subaru had been hurt by it far more. He had been the one in love. Hokuto was merely his friend.

No 'merely' about it, though, Seishirou reflected as he dug into his lunch. If it wasn't for her, he'd probably never even see daylight. Or eat. Or hear anything about his Subaru-kun.

Hokuto chattered away amiably while he ate his lunch, gesturing wildly with her hands and looking around at the various animals that were in cages and inquiring after them. She came to visit almost every day, still.

"So, tell me, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said, finishing his lunch. "What's the price for this lovely meal?"

Hokuto blinked at him. "Sei-chan," she said disapprovingly. "I would never - "

Seishirou smiled and cut her off. "You would never make me pay you back, but whenever you treat me like this, it's always because you either want a favor or have bad news. Which is it?"

"Eheh, the latter," Hokuto said, looking at her shoes.

Seishirou sighed. "I should have expected as much. Well, come on, out with it. I only have so long on my lunch break, you know."

"Yes, well, Subaru-chan's mmph . . ." Hokuto trailed into mumbles.

"What?"

"Subaru is getting mmmrrd."

"Hokuto-chan, kindly enunciate your words."

"Subaru's getting married," Hokuto blurted out.

Seishirou blinked. "I still think I heard you wrong."

Hokuto shook her head miserably. "Don't kill the messenger."

"You know I promised Subaru I wouldn't kill you," Seishirou said absently. "He's getting married? He's only eighteen."

"I know . . . it's kind of a long story."

Seishirou sighed again. "Well, you'd better tell me."

Hokuto started waving her arms around. "Well, obaasama was getting all flustered because . . . well, because she knew Subaru didn't want to have kids, and it's way more likely that he'd have a future Clan head for a kid than I would. And she wanted kids sooner rather than later, in case something happens to Subaru in 1999 . . . you know about the mess with what may happen in 1999 . . . she wanted someone ready to step up. Which means Subaru has to have a kid awful soon, but he has to be married before he has a kid. So he's getting married."

"I see," Seishirou said gravely. "To whom?"

"His friend Mitsuki-chan . . ." Hokuto trailed off again, then came back strong. "She was a friend of mine, to begin with, but after he started moping around two years ago after the whole mess with . . . with you . . . I decided to introduce them. They hit it off really well, for friends, I mean, and she kinda fell in love with him. He knew about it, but he never said anything, because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So when obaasama started pressuring him, he asked her to marry him. And she said yes."

"Does she know about his . . ." Seishirou cleared his throat. "Preferences?"

Hokuto saw no need to be delicate. "Oh, she knows he's homosexual. She knows about you, too, pretty much all there is to know."

"Wonderful," Seishirou said.

"Well, Mitsuki-chan is really nice," Hokuto said. "She's his best friend; she knows him even better than I do, at this point. And Subaru said - this is a direct quote, by the way - 'She's nice, she understands me, she won't ask for more than I can give her, she doesn't mind being married to me, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather marry, and if obaasama doesn't shut up soon, I'm going to have to kill her.'"

Seishirou couldn't help but laugh at that. "When is this happening?"

"Uhm . . . Saturday."

Seishirou raised an eyebrow. "Not one for long engagements, are they."

"Actually they've been engaged for a couple weeks now." Hokuto turned red. "I just didn't know how to tell you."

Seishirou sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'll assume I'm not invited."

"I tried to get Subaru to invite you, I really did," Hokuto said. "He said if you came as my date that was one thing and he couldn't stop me, but otherwise you weren't invited. And I wanted to bring Kakyou . . ."

"Go ahead," Seishirou said. "I suppose it's none of my business. I haven't even seen him in two years. How are things with Kakyou, anyway? Any hints of marriage there?"

Hokuto laughed. "Yeah, right. For one thing, it wouldn't really be proper if I were to propose to him, and for another, he doesn't care what my obaasama thinks about whether or not we're married. So maybe someday, but not for a few years at least. I don't want to be married any more than Subaru did."

"Can't picture him as a father," Seishirou said. "Especially not so young."

"Mitsuki is nineteen, so it's not like she's much older," Hokuto said. "But they'll be okay. There's lots of uncles and aunts and cousins who can help raise the kids. And I guess obaasama has a point . . . sort of."

Seishirou nodded slightly, tapping at the file he was supposed to be reading. He had a feeling he wasn't going to be doing much more work today.

"Sei-chan . . . you're not angry at him, are you?" Hokuto asked anxiously. "He really can't help it. I mean, he's the Clan head. He's got to have an heir."

Seishirou forced a smile. "No, Hokuto-chan, I don't mind. It's not as if I have any claim to Subaru-kun any longer. If I ever did to begin with."

"He loves you," Hokuto said fiercely.

"No, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said quietly. "He loved me. I don't think such is the case any longer."

"I think you're wrong," Hokuto said.

"What's it matter?" Seishirou asked peaceably. "He's getting married in less than a week; there's nothing I can do now. If I could go back and fix my mistakes . . . but I can't. So tell Subaru that I wish him happiness - never mind; I'll send a card."

Hokuto raised an eyebrow. "Rub it in his face, why don't you."

Seishirou shrugged. "I have a right to be bitter."

"I suppose," Hokuto said. "Just don't make him mad at me for telling you."

Seishirou half-smiled. "I won't make him angry. Or at least, I'll try not to."

Hokuto sighed. "I guess that'll have to do."

****

Part One

Six years later....

Hokuto was late.

Not that this was anything unusual, but Seishirou did have things to do, and . . .

Oh, who the hell are you kidding? he wondered absently, sipping his tea. If you weren't sitting here waiting for her, you'd either be out on a job or sitting at home trying to read.

He still, at times - most of the time, in fact - found it rather difficult to believe that Hokuto was still his friend. As she'd gotten older, she'd started to have a little less time for him - but it was less time for everybody, not just for him. Helping Subaru out with his duties after their grandmother had started to go a bit senile, helping Subaru raise his children . . .

But that was something Seishirou was not particularly fond of thinking about.

In the end, Hokuto had been so flustered by trying to do too many things at once, that Seishirou himself was the one who had called a halt to their daily lunch 'dates.' They had been replaced with weekend meetings over coffee or tea; these 'dates' (as only Hokuto would call them) lasted longer than the lunches, but were less frequent.

Of course, this was a rather special weekend, so Seishirou was not surprised that she was late. In two days, Subaru would no longer be the only married Sumeragi sibling.

Seishirou was happy for her; and surprised, as he had not known he could be happy for other people. He was not - and never really had been - emotionless. He looked upon them as more of a nuisance than anything else.

Especially after what had happened with Subaru.

Sometimes it was really impossible to be as cold and unfeeling as he wanted to be. Subaru had somehow, without Seishirou even noticing at first, managed to melt the ice that Seishirou had built up around his heart.

I wonder, Seishirou thought absently, stirring his tea, which one of us came out of that hurt more?

The answer, most probably, was Subaru. He, at least, had done nothing wrong. Then again, that meant that he didn't have to live with guilt as well as heartbreak.

"This is stupid," Seishirou muttered. "Eight years and I'm still acting like a lovesick teenager. Why can't I just forget about him?"

It really couldn't have helped to continue being friends with Hokuto; seeing her always made him think of Subaru. But her forgiveness, given when even Subaru couldn't forgive, had always made him feel a tiny bit better.

"Sei-chaaan . . . I'm twenty minutes late and all you can do is mope? Sheesh!" Hokuto plopped into the chair across from him, a stunning difference from her twin, who would have been falling over himself apologizing.

Seishirou smiled at her. "Gomen, Hokuto-chan. I'll try to do better."

Eight years. Eight years and he hadn't seen hide or hair of Subaru, or even heard his voice. Seishirou had to admit he'd been tempted on occasion - very tempted - to look for the Sumeragi. Or perhaps do something that would make Subaru look for him. But the situation was really better left alone. Subaru was not going to forgive him, and Seishirou couldn't even really blame him.

And now, in a matter of mere days, he would finally get to see Subaru again. He didn't know whether he wanted to avoid the Sumeragi or actively seek him out.

Hokuto was chattering again, and Seishirou, not for the first time, marveled at her ability to pretend nothing was wrong. It had come in handy on many an occasion. Like the day after he'd last seen Subaru. He somehow hadn't expected things to go as terribly wrong as they did. It had been a simple enough plan; explain the truth to Subaru, promise not to harm either him or his sister, confess true feelings, and beg forgiveness.

This sounds, Seishirou decided in retrospect, like a Harlequin romance. A bad Harlequin romance. 'Confess true feelings.' What is my problem?

The explanation had been heard, the promise accepted, the confession listened to . . .

And the forgiveness withheld.

Subaru hadn't stated it outright. He had simply looked at Seishirou for a very long moment, pain and indecision in his huge green eyes, then said he thought it was best if they didn't see each other for a while.

Seishirou had accepted that. The Sumeragi needed time to think.

Hokuto had simply bounced into his office for lunch the next day as if absolutely nothing was wrong. Seishirou went along with her little game of pretend, pretending that he was fine, that Subaru's rejection hadn't hurt him a bit. Weeks passed before Seishirou realized that something was wrong.

It was six months after that day, during one his lunch meetings with Hokuto and an uncomfortable silence, that Seishirou asked out of the blue, "Hokuto-chan . . . he's not going to forgive me, is he. He's not coming back."

Hokuto had looked away, and that had been answer enough.

She apologized, of course; God only knew she'd been trying to talk some sense into her twin. But Subaru could be very stubborn when he put his mind to it, and that was one of those times. So Seishirou had simply attempted to put it aside and get on with his life; a task he had failed miserably at.

Hokuto continued to chatter about how excited she was, and how much she thought she was going to enjoy being married, and how Kakyou had better not expect kids for at least a year or two. Seishirou wondered idly if she knew the Dreamgazer was a Dragon of Earth, then shrugged the thought off. Hokuto was not prone to missing large facts such as this.

"Sei-chan, are you going to be okay?" Hokuto finally asked, watching the older man sip his tea. "He'll be there, you know."

Of course he knew. It was his own sister's wedding, for crying out loud. "I'll be fine, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He looked at Hokuto, admiring the slender young woman she'd become; her taste had refined somewhat and her outfits were not given to such outrageous flights of fancy. He wondered vaguely if Subaru had become as handsome as Hokuto had beautiful. She had tried to show him photos once or twice, of Subaru and his wife and children, but Seishirou had never wanted to see them. He had never even asked what the children's names were; he simply knew that they existed, and there were two of them. Twins, like Subaru and Hokuto were.

"I just worry about you, Sei-chan," Hokuto said earnestly. "These days you always look tired."

"I'll be fine," Seishirou repeated. He didn't understand why she worried about him anyway, an 'unfeeling' assassin like him. "Your natural exuberance wears off on me." He gave her a sunny smile that had nothing to do with how he actually felt.

"Well, if you say so," Hokuto said dubiously, obviously not buying it for a second. She had a feeling that Seishirou was always fine, until, of course, he wasn't. Everything's always okay, 'til it's not, she reflected with a sigh. Then she started to chatter again. Had to keep Seishirou occupied somehow.

****

Seishirou was torn. He knew, in a purely intellectual sense, that going over to say hello to Subaru was an extremely bad idea. He also knew that his feet were carrying him closer to the Sumeragi every time he got up from his table. For some reason, he hadn't expected this. That Subaru would've matured, he expected. That Subaru would have gone from being a childish beauty to being . . . well, the only words Seishirou could come up with were 'adult perfection' . . .

That was unexpected.

He'd gotten taller; he was almost Seishirou's height, but he was still just as thin. His dark hair had been cut, while Hokuto had grown hers out to her shoulders (she said she couldn't marry someone with longer hair than her), but the short style suited him. He was wearing an all-white tuxedo that fit him perfectly and made him look somewhat like an ice statuette.

How appropriate, Seishirou thought dryly. He's certainly being cold enough.

Hokuto had, fortunately for him, not gotten any ideas in her head like putting them at the same table at the reception. Seishirou was sitting with four or five people whom he barely knew, and was extremely uncomfortable. If Hokuto hadn't specifically asked him to come, he would have simply sent a card. Weddings simply weren't his idea of a good time.

At least Hokuto was having fun. She was snuggling up to Kakyou every chance she got. Seishirou smiled at them; they really were a cute couple. The cake was good, the music was passable, the sake was flowing pretty freely. Seishirou resisted the urge to get drunk; it would only make things worse.

Subaru was sitting at what Seishirou assumed was the Clan Table. Seishirou didn't see his wife or either of his children there; he assumed they must be at a different table since they weren't officially of the Clan. The only non-Clan-member at that table was Kakyou; they couldn't exactly separate the married couple during the reception.

Hokuto and Kakyou got up to dance; Seishirou watched them, amused. He looked over at the Clan table and was somewhat startled - and taken aback - to see Subaru staring at him. He quickly looked away, before Subaru could get the impression that he'd been watching him. Which he had been, but that wasn't the point.

The married couple got the first dance alone, then, after a round of good-natured applause, other couples got up to join them. Seishirou watched them all with a strange ache in his heart.

Emotions really are annoying, he reflected.

Then he saw Subaru heading toward him, and steeled his nerves. Hokuto had probably made him promise to be civil or something. "Konnichi wa, Subaru-kun," Seishirou said warmly, hoping against hope that Subaru would be a little more friendly than 'civil' entailed.

Subaru gave him a look that implied he didn't appreciate the familiarity. "Konnichi wa, Sakurazuka-san."

Seishirou flinched. Subaru had always been polite, but his tone was cold enough to freeze over Japan. And he had never, not since they'd known each other for a week, called him 'Sakurazuka-san.'

All right, if Subaru was intent on making him feel uncomfortable, he'd return the favor. "Would you like to dance?"

Subaru gave him an astonished look. "Dance?"

"Yes." Seishirou smiled.

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Subaru said frostily.

"Why not?" Seishirou asked, still smiling. He'd be damned if he let Subaru know that this was bothering him in the slightest.

Subaru opened his mouth to say something, then shut it, looking annoyed. Seishirou was a friend of the family; no one knew his true identity except Hokuto and Mitsuki. (Their grandmother, wisely enough, had never been told. Come to think of it, Subaru decided that Hokuto had probably told Kakyou at some point.) Almost everyone there knew about Subaru's preferences, so the sight of him dancing with a man would surprise few and shock no one. And he couldn't even use being married as an excuse, because it was hardly required to dance with your own spouse, and even if Subaru had hauled Mitsuki over and asked her, he expected she would've given him a 'what's-wrong-with-you' look and told him he could dance with whomever he pleased. "Oh, all right," Subaru finally said.

Seishirou took it as a victory, albeit a small one. He led Subaru onto the floor and did his best to pretend he was dancing with a person, not a board or an icicle, both of which Subaru seemed determined to impersonate. A very beautiful icicle, though . . . Seishirou thought, then shook his head at where his mind kept wandering. Subaru-kun was right; this is a bad idea.

The dance was short, however; Seishirou gave Subaru a charming smile and released him. "How's your wife?"

"Fine, thank you." Subaru was bound and determined to be polite.

Seishirou had a million questions to ask him, and he knew he couldn't ask any of them.

A few moments later, Subaru decided he'd had enough, excused himself, and walked off.

Seishirou flopped into his chair. I shouldn't have even come, he thought. Hokuto would have understood if I didn't want to see him. But I did want to see him. I wanted to ask his forgiveness again. He sighed. Like it would help. He's married. He's got a life now, and it has nothing to do with me.

He supposed it was about time for him to be thinking of his own future. He needed an Heir as much as Subaru did, after all. He was not, however, sure of how to go about getting one. It was likely that any child of his would have the necessary magic; however, it always helped to have magic on both sides of the family. He wasn't certain of this, but he guessed that Subaru's wife was at least a low-level onmyouji herself.

"Mister, you look sad," a voice said. Seishirou looked down to see a small girl tugging at his pant leg. "Daddy said weddings are happy things, but he's been sad all day too. Why are you sad?"

Seishirou blinked at her for a minute; her huge green eyes were enough to give away that she was Subaru's daughter. Her hair, however, was dark brown; lighter than Subaru's by a good few shades. Her presence gave her away, too, she had 'Sumeragi' written all over her in terms of magical aura. "I'm sad because your Daddy doesn't like me," he said after a moment.

"But Daddy likes everybody!" the girl protested. "Even when Tsuki and I draw on the walls with crayons and Mom gets mad, Daddy just laughs and says 'kids will be kids.' Then Mom gets mad at him, too." The girl giggled, as if this was some secret joke between them.

"Is Tsuki your brother?" Seishirou asked.

"Hai! He's . . ." The girl scanned the room. "Tsuki-chaaaaaan, where are yoooouuuuu?"

Amazing, Seishirou thought. Somehow, Subaru's daughter managed to take after Hokuto.

A nearly identical boy popped out from under the table. "I'm right here!"

The girl jumped. "You were hiding . . . no fair!"

Then again, maybe having an Heir wasn't such a good idea. Seishirou didn't think he'd be very good with children.

"Are you two bothering someone again?" an exasperated voice asked. Seishirou blinked upwards to see a statuesque woman standing with her hands on her hips. Her hair was the same dark brown as the children's; her eyes a plain blue. She was striking without being particularly beautiful.

"No, Mommy, he likes us!" the girl declared, tugging on Seishirou's hand.

"It's okay, really." Seishirou smiled up at the woman. "They were helping relieve my boredom."

"Yes, they're very good at that," she said dryly. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Sumeragi Mitsuki."

"Subaru's wife," Seishirou said gravely.

"Oh, you know him?" Mitsuki asked.

"Very well," Seishirou said. "I believe you've heard of me. Sakurazuka Seishirou, at your service." He extended his hand.

"Oh, you're the famous Seishirou!" Mitsuki laughed, shook his hand, and appropriated the chair next to him. "I should have realized; I saw the two of you dancing earlier. Subaru was doing a very good impression of a piece of plywood, from what I saw. I wondered who he was dancing with."

Seishirou decided that he liked Mitsuki. "I shouldn't have asked. Then again, he probably shouldn't have come over to talk to me if he was that uncomfortable."

"That's my fault." Mitsuki shrugged. "I told him if he didn't at least say hello to you, he'd be watching the kids by himself for a week. Don't get me wrong; Subaru adores the little monsters, but he doesn't have to deal with them all day, every day. He'd go crazy if he did."

Seishirou frowned. "Why did you tell him to say hello to me?"

"Because it was cruel of him to ignore you for eight years and I told him that," Mitsuki said bluntly.

Seishirou paused. "Oh."

"We understand each other, right?" Mitsuki smiled at him. "We both love Subaru." She gave him a look. "You do love Subaru, right?"

Seishirou shrugged. "As much as I can still love someone after what happened between us."

"Now, see, I have problems here." Mitsuki frowned. "Because I see both of your sides. Believe me, you don't listen to one of Subaru's rants about you without at least seeing why he did what he did. But I do think he was a bit cruel about it."

"If you understand it, can you explain it to me?" Seishirou asked dryly.

"Not as well as he could, but I can sum up," Mitsuki said. "He was young, he had never been in love before. And he really did love you, Seishirou, with all his heart and soul. When he found out you'd been lying . . . well, first heartbreak is always the worst. And more than that, he decided he couldn't trust you anymore. So while he may have been able to forgive you, he didn't think anything between you could ever work, and it would be easier to simply not try."

Seishirou considered this. "I suppose that does sort of make sense."

"It would make more sense if he was explaining it," Mitsuki said, scooping one of the children up and bouncing him on her knee. "Tsuki-chan, where'd your sister go?"

"She went over to talk to Daddy," Tsuki answered.

"And here I told you two not to pester Daddy." Mitsuki sighed. "If you'll excuse me, Seishirou, I think I'd better go rescue Sakura-chan."

Seishirou blinked. "Your daughter's name is Sakura?"

Mitsuki smirked. "Subaru picked the name. He said something about how he liked sakura blossoms or some nonsense like that. I knew why he picked it, but I let him have his little delusions. Anyway, it was nice meeting you. Hopefully I'll be able to knock some sense into my husband and I'll see you again sometime."

Seishirou nodded and waved goodbye, looking thoughtfully into the distance.

****

Seishirou knew from the moment that he stepped into his office that it was going to be a very long week. The cages in back were practically empty and there were only two appointments scheduled for the day. That meant that he had nothing to distract himself with. To make matters even worse, both of the appointments were in the morning, which meant, barring emergencies, he had from eleven o'clock on with nothing to do but paperwork. And, naturally, contemplation of his weekend.

By one, he was done the paperwork and had decided that he hated his life. He certainly hadn't been expecting anything good from Subaru at the wedding . . . but he also hadn't expected to be shot down so quickly and efficiently.

Subaru-kun . . . did I hurt you that much?

"Sakurazuka-san? You have a patient." The secretary looked into his office.

Seishirou's head snapped upwards. "Hai, send them in, please, I'm not doing anything."

The secretary nodded and left the room. A few minutes later, the door opened and a familiar young woman walked in, carrying a cat. "Konnichi wa, Sakurazuka-san. I'm sorry to come on such short notice."

"Mitsuki-san." Seishirou stood up. "What brings you to my office?"

"Kuroneko got hit by a car," Mitsuki said. "And she doesn't seem badly hurt, but she's limping a little." She half-smiled. "And, after all, as a veteranarian you come highly recommended."

Seishirou laughed a little and accepted the cat from her arms. A quick examination revealed that there was a gash in her back leg, hidden by the fur. Seishirou cleaned it and bandaged it, then handed the cat back. "That should be fine," he said. "Bring her back in two days so I can check it, okay? You can make an appointment with Akia-san, my secretary."

"Arigatou," Mitsuki said with a cheerful smile. "How much do I owe you?"

"Akia-san usually takes care of that, but, it's on the house. I'm sure Subaru-kun would be greatly saddened if anything happened to his cat." Seishirou reached out and smoothed the cat's fur.

"Subaru-chan has been moping all day," Mitsuki said, looking severe. It was a kind of look that made Seishirou want to apologize, even though he couldn't think of anything he'd done wrong. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh, I have a good idea! Would you like to come for dinner tomorrow, Sakurazuka-san?"

"It's just Seishirou," he said absently, then frowned. "Dinner?"

"Of course," Mitsuki said with a smile. "The children have taken quite a shine to you, and I have to pay you back for helping Kuroneko-chan, don't I?"

Seishirou raised an eyebrow. "Will Subaru-kun be there?"

Mitsuki smiled innocently. "Well, it's his house."

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to decline. Thank you for the kind offer."

Mitsuki folded her arms and gave Seishirou a Look. "Why must you decline, just because Subaru will be there?"

"Because I don't want to make him uncomfortable in his own house," Seishirou replied. "That's hardly polite of me."

Mitsuki glared at him. "You know, it's a wife's job to make her husband happy. Right?"

Seishirou blinked. "Yes . . ."

"My husband will be happy if you come to dinner, if I have to paint a smile on his face!" Mitsuki said, in a threatening tone. "So I'll see you at seven, okay?"

Seishirou sighed. "This is a bad idea."

"But you want to see him." Mitsuki's voice went from threatening to gentle. "Don't you?"

"Yes," Seishirou admitted. "I do want to see him. I want to make things right between us."

"Well, you're not going to do that by avoiding him!" Mitsuki gave him their address and directions. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Hai," Seishirou said. "I'll be sure to come. Now tell me . . . what kind of flowers does Subaru-kun like?"

****

Okay, yeah, I named the cat after the one in Trigun. ::shrugs:: And I know this has been pretty Sei-san-centric so far, but Subaru will have a bigger role in the next part.

Feedback? Please?