Disclaimer: x/1999 isn't mine, it belongs to clamp, but if you're reading this, I guess that you already know that.:) Just don't sue me, k?

Author's Note: I would be the first to say that some of the scenes in this seem very…shonen-aish, but said scenes were written to keep the characters in character, the way that clamp wrote them, not to offend. And if keeping people in character means writing a Fuuma and a Seishirou that seem to be tailing Kamui and Subaru for more…selfish…reasons, so be it.

Secondly, this fic could go both ways. I would be perfectly happy leaving it as a one-shot, and think that it has the right feel about it for a one shot, but I also thought out a story that could happen after this, and if I get enough requests, I might elaborate on them and write a few more chapters. But I am working on a Lord of the Rings fic, a Xenosaga fic, and a crossover fic at the moment, only one of which is posted, and I really need to get cracking on those other fics, get them out before school starts and all, so it's gonna take some strong encouragement to keep this going.

Embrace the Darkness, the Stars Aren't Waiting:

Kamui walked down the dark street, casually, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. The majority of his attention was really focused above him, on the lone figure moving stealthily along the rooftops. Foolish Fuuma, not even bothering to cloak his presence. Kamui couldn't believe that Fuuma actually thought he was so oblivious that he wouldn't notice a completely uncloaked harbinger that wasn't even a hundred feet away from him.

Kamui snorted. Everyone always took him for granted. It annoyed him, but it often gave him the upper hand, especially in situations like this. Unfortunately, both the dragons of earth and the dragons of heaven underestimated him. This made it easier to win in battle against the dragons of earth, but it made it harder to be around the dragons of heaven, who doted on him, thinking that he needed protecting. Even Yuzuhira, who was two years younger than him, shorter than him, and far weaker than him tried to "protect" him.

Kamui jolted out of his musings with a start. "Damn!" he cursed. Fuuma was gone. "Well, maybe that's why I need looking after" he muttered angrily, propelling himself onto the rooftop with one swift leap. Well, Fuuma was either very far away by now, or he was cloaking himself. The latter was much more likely; Fuuma never missed a chance to play with Kamui. Kamui walked along the rooftop cautiously, he knew that Fuuma would be close.

Personally, Kamui didn't feel like getting involved in a fight tonight, if he got hurt the other seals would be unwilling to let him go out on his own again. As it was, he had had to argue with Karen and Sorata to keep them from sending Subaru with him tonight. If Kamui hadn't been so sure that Fuuma was going to try to do some major damage tonight, he probably would have gone home hours ago.

Kamui had reached the edge of this apartment building, and he crouched down, peering at the roof of the factory below him. He thought that he felt a flicker of presence, as if maybe Fuuma had let his cloak down for a moment. It quickly vanished, however, but not before Kamui pinpointed Fuuma's location. He was standing in the shadows next to one of the larger chimneys. Fuuma also seemed to realize that Kamui had detected his presence, because he stepped out of the shadows, grinning sadistically. Kamui launched himself onto the next rooftop, sprinting at Fuuma, planning to knock his friend to the ground and perhaps pin him, or at least find some way to immobilize him so that they could talk. Kamui was so intent on reaching Fuuma that he didn't even notice the dark form that came hurtling out of the shadow of the second chimney, until it collided with him.

Kamui gasped in surprise as the breath was knocked from his lungs. He fell to the hard concrete, momentarily stunned, but he jumped to his feet only a few seconds later, as soon as he was able to draw a breath. He looked around for the second attacker. It was Seishirou, the Sakurazukamori. Well that explained it. The Sakurazukamori was constantly cloaked, that was the only thing that kept Subaru from tracking him down. He had strolled over to where Fuuma was standing, and they were now conversing in light tones. Kamui grew angry. Seishirou's presence completely ruined his chance to try and draw the real Fuuma out of his twin star. Seishirou finished what he was saying to Fuuma, and turned to Kamui.

"So, where is Subaru-kun?" he queried. "I didn't think that they'd let the most valuable, and also most breakable, seal out without an escort"

Kamui made a face. So Seishirou hadn't come to fight him. He didn't think that Fuuma would have brought someone along to fight with him. He had never allowed anyone else to fight Kamui; he had always seemed to take pleasure in wearing him down by himself. Seishirou interrupted his thoughts.

"Not going to answer, huh? Well, you're almost as good. This'll be fun. And I know that our little Subaru-kun just loves seeing you hurt." He said coolly. Kamui started. So he was going to have to fight both men. He didn't think that he could handle that. They were both taller than him, outweighed him, and they were double-teaming. Ohhh, this was going to hurt.

He wasn't about to give them the advantage of the first move, however, and he flung himself towards the pair, pretending to be going for Fuuma, but turning his energy-filled punch on Seishirou at the last moment. Seishirou was ready to fight, but he wasn't ready for that attack, and the blow struck him full force in the chest. Kamui had no qualms about hurting Seishirou, unlike he did for hurting Fuuma, and he didn't soften the blow at all. He would try not to kill the man; he felt that that was Subaru's right.

Seishirou staggered backwards, taken by surprise, but Kamui didn't have a chance to press his advantage, because Fuuma wasted no time laying into him. Fighting Fuuma was a tricky affair. While Fuuma had no qualms about hurting, or even killing the young seal, Kamui still saw his friends face, and could not bring himself to truly harm him. This made Kamui's battle almost entirely defensive, and it drained his energy to dodge Fuuma's attacks, yet Kamui's punches were halfhearted, and gave Fuuma openings, rather than staving him off. Kamui was handling himself okay, until he backed straight into Seishirou, who had recovered quickly. Startled, Kamui whipped his head around, losing his concentration. Then Kamui's body swung around completely, as Fuuma landed a crushing blow on his shoulder. Something cracked. Kamui cried out in pain, leaping into the air, and gracefully landing on one of the chimneys.

This was definitely not good. Kamui couldn't hold his ground, he was already tiring, and now his left arm was useless. Kamui probed the area, biting back a cry. His shoulder was dislocated. He bit his lip, and popped it back into place, his head reeling with the pain. This whole process took only a few seconds, but Fuuma was already tensing to launch himself into the air. Kamui lost his balance, and toppled from the chimney. He shifted around, so that he was facing the ground, preparing to land in a crouch and spring back into action. Fuuma was waiting for him. Kamui tried to get in a better position to defend himself from the mid-air attack, but he wasn't fast enough, and Fuuma's leg connected with Kamui's stomach. Hard. The wind was driven from his body for the second time tonight. Kamui landed on his hands and Knees, gasping for breath, but Seishirou wasn't about to give him time to recover. He also landed a powerful kick to Kamui's stomach, in exactly the same spot that Fuuma had. Kamui gasped and fell on his side, struggling to breath, and trying to get back on his feet before Seishirou could land another blow. However, Instead of attacking him again, Seishirou reached down and grabbed Kamui's arms, tugging them behind his back, and holding him captive, as Fuuma approached them.

"Ah, yes, I rather like having an accomplice, it makes this part so much easier," he stated, emphasizing his last word with another blow to Kamui's stomach. Kamui doubled over as much as he could, gasping in pain, his hair falling forward over his face. Fuuma leaned forward, grinning sickly as he listened to Kamui's quickened breathing. Then he brushed Kamui's hair aside gently, placing his lips next to his twin star's ear. "Do you enjoy this, Kamui? Is it your wish? Do you like being played with?" He whispered, tracing Kamui's cheekbone with a finger.

Kamui raised his head until his eyes, glittering with hatred, locked on Fuuma's. "No!" he spat, twisting one of his legs behind Seishirou's knee, tripping him, and forcing him to release his grip. Kamui lunged forward, smashing his whole weight into Fuuma's stomach. Kamui landed on top of Fuuma, pinning his shoulders to the ground, livid with rage. Unfortunately for Kamui, Fuuma outweighed him by a good thirty pounds, at the least, and he easily flipped Kamui over, reversing their positions. Fuuma also found a much more successful way to pin Kamui. Placing his knee on Kamui's sternum, he shifted enough of his weight onto that leg to effectively hinder Kamui's breathing.

"So Kamui, I'm sure that your friends will be deeply worried about you when you don't turn up in a couple hours, don't you think?" Fuuma mocked, applying more pressure to Kamui's chest, his breath now came in shallow gasps. Kamui fought to remove the pressure, but Fuuma was too strong and heavy. With a wicked smile, Fuuma shifted almost all of his weight to his knee. Kamui gasped for air, but it would not come. He couldn't breathe, but even as he realized this, he accepted it. So Fuuma was going to kill him now. He had expected it to happen eventually, he would never have been able to kill his best friends, and yet one of them had to kill the other. Kamui stopped fighting and stared into the starry sky silently ad the world darkened around him. He hoped his friends would not grieve too much, and that Subaru wouldn't rush into anything stupid out of anger. "I'm sorry…" he whispered to the stars, as they too faded and disappeared, leaving him cloaked in darkness.