X from Asuka 12, 2000
Color page: Evil Hinoto draped in a sexy red and white kimono.
Kamui and Arashi are leaping frantically from building to building (and car to car) as Subaru's kekkai dissolves entirely from the sky.
At last they reach the bridge and run through the rubble and smoke, searching.
Kamui: SUBARU! SUBARU-------!!
Arashi: SUBARU-SAN!!
Amid the billowing clouds, a hunched figure becomes visible. They run toward it.
Kamui: SUBARU----------------!!!
Blood spatters on a white coat.
There stands Subaru, his coat billowing, his left hand plunged through Seishirou's chest. Seishirou has collapsed against him, clutching Subaru's shoulder.
Nothing in Subaru's eyes but shock. He looks down and sees his own hand, slick with blood, emerging from Seishirou's back, and Seishirou's head bent against him.
With a sickening noise, he pulls his hand free, and Seishirou sinks. Subaru's eyes are still empty of understanding, but before Seishirou can fall to the ground he grabs and holds him up, hands gripping the black trenchcoat.
He stares down.
Subaru: ...Wh...y......
Slowly, slowly, Seishirou lifts his head. On his lips is a very small smile. He speaks breathlessly, in broken phrases.
Seishirou: This is... the final spell... your sister gave her life... ...to cast...
We see Hokuto-chan fall, and a sphere of power rising from her bloodied body; in Subaru's blank white eye we see the glow of that power reflected.
Seishiou: Your sister wished that... when the time came that I tried to kill you in the same way that I killed her...
He reaches up with one hand to cover the hole in his chest.
Seishirou: ...It would turn back upon me instead...
His head falls again. Subaru can only stare. Above the two of them, an image of Hokuto, her eyes closed in prayer, holds the Sumeragi shikifuku in her hands.
Seishirou's eyes close.
Seishirou: The two of us now... are like a mirror image of those figures in the past, aren't we?
They open again; he is still smiling.
Seishirou: That day... the one with her heart pierced like this was Hokuto-chan...
Blood gushes from his wound.
As if in a trance, his eyes still frighteningly wide, Subaru begins to speak.
Subaru: When you... killed Hokuto-chan... when you vanished from before my eyes... I intended to kill you.
His hand, covered with Seishirou's blood.
Subaru: I tried... to erase your presence from inside me, from inside my heart, and live on...
The skyline of Tokyo rises from behind the bridge.
Subaru: But I couldn't do it...
His hands clutch harder at Seishirou's coat.
Subaru: Even if you thought of me as nothing but a pebble, even if you felt me less than a twig being crushed under your foot... still...
He lowers his head, bending it over Seishirou's shoulder.
Subaru: And so... I thought that I wanted you to kill me.
His tears begin to fall.
Subaru: Even if you soon forgot about killing me... even if I was nothing more than one of countless offerings to the sakura...
His face streaked with blood and tears, he looks down at Seishirou with eyes that might have belonged to his younger self, wide and full of animal pain.
Subaru: At least... it would have been you.......
With his bloody hand, Seishirou reaches up to touch Subaru's cheek.
Seishirou: ...Now that I think about it... you... never have been able to prepare yourself to kill anyone...
His smile turns a little wry.
Seishirou: Because... you're kind...
His head lowers once more, and he smiles, this time with no wryness at all. With all the strength left in him, he draws himself upward and looks into Subaru's eyes.
Seishirou: ...Subaru-kun... I...
He leans in.
Subaru stares straight ahead, eyes fixed wide, unable to move.
Seishirou's lips brush his ear.
The wind and the sounds of falling debris obscure his final breath.
He falls.
Subaru shuts his eyes tightly as tears stream from them. He crumples over Seishirou's limp form, clutching him close.
Subaru: ...You... never... say the words... I'm expecting to hear... do you.
There is no answer.
A short distance away, Kamui and Arashi stand, frozen in their tracks, watching. Kamui sees the tears on Subaru's cheeks, sees the bloody hands clinging to the dark coat, and the hand he has lifted toward Subaru slowly falls back to his side. He bows his head. A moment later, he looks up again, his eyes filling with inexpressible sadness.
There is a crash as concrete breaks and tumbles. Arashi whirls.
Arashi: The bridge is falling!!
Fissures form all around them, and the ground tilts wildly. Reaching out toward where Subaru still kneels, Kamui screams.
Kamui: SUBARU!!!
Pieces of the road go plunging into the river below.
To be continued.
A romaji version of the original text is here for those who want to read. I'm going back to praying for another month.
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