X/1999 fanfiction. My standard disclaimers apply. Silliness and general OOC warnings.

Yuzuriha's Box

by Lady Aria (writersblock@edsamail.com.ph)

Kamui stared darkly at the package resting on his bed as though it was a poisonous snake waiting to strike. Yuzuriha had come in earlier and had given it to him after he'd stormed out of the Diet Building, his patience having once again worn thin from Sorata's antics.

"Just a little something that perks me up when I'm down," she'd said meaningfully as she plopped the box onto its present location. "Gets me out of my bad mood in a flash."

Somehow the words bad mood and Yuzuriha just refused to equate.

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Kamui got up and took hold of the package, all the while wondering what he was going to do with it. He couldn't very well throw it away. That would hurt Yuzuriha's feelings. Giving it to Arashi would bring about an all-too-cute, all-too-pouty Sorata upon him. Not exactly something he was up to at the moment. The thought of presenting it to Karen seemed to be a good idea but then again, she might take it the wrong way and bring with it a fatherly lecture from Aoki.

The many considerations of a person named Kamui had to make... plus the fact that he had a conscience.

<Why can't they just leave me alone?> He thought as he began tearing open the box, unleashing his frustrations upon the helpless packaging. He might as well find out what it was before deciding on what to do with it. As he managed to pull free the last of the wrapping, he was more than a little surprised to find....

Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

The box itself was one cubic foot in size and it was stuffed with chocolates of every imaginable kind - from the most humble milk chocolate bars to delicate pralines, to chocolate-covered malted milk balls to, <ick,> Kamui thought, what looked like chocolate covered ants. Just looking at the now-opened box was enough to give him a toothache.

<Does she actually think that I can finish all of this,> Kamui asked himself as he picked up and studied a chocolate covered hazelnut. After heaving a long-suffering sigh, he popped it into his mouth and began chewing. A second later....

"This is actually good!" He said as he swallowed. But still, it was way too much chocolate for him to finish. So....

"Hi. It's me.... No, it's not that. Look, could we, uhm, meet? ... Why? ... Uhm... it's a little hard to explain.... Where? ... How about Ueno? ... No, not THERE. Someplace where we can be alone.... Yes, you heard me correctly. ALONE.... Stop laughing! It's not funny! ... Yes, and you'd better not bring anyone with you.... Same here. See you."

A few hours later....

"This is a first."

"I know."

"I have to hand it to you, this has got to be the last thing I'd expect."

Kamui blushed a bit as he clutched the large wicker picnic basket tightly and regarded the smiling figure before him. "Fuuma, can we just go?"

"Alright," Fuuma replied with a smile as he snatched the basket from Kamui's grasp, just like a gentleman would should the lady he was accompanying be carrying something that looked cumbersome. His smile widened almost to Cheshire Cat proportions as Kamui blushed even deeper. It just served to make him even more tempting than he already was.

The two of them walked past happy couples, families, even lovers just out to enjoy an afternoon in the park. Eventually, they strayed off the cement pathways and turned to the direction of the trees. Kamui felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising as they neared the Sakurazukamori's Tree. Fuuma noticed his twin star heave a very much audible sigh of relief as they passed the footpath to the Tree and continued deeper into the forest. After what seemed like hours, Fuuma stopped under a sprawling oak with a small brook trickling lazily a few feet behind it.

"Is this place private enough for you?" Fuuma asked Kamui with more than a little amusement.

"Are you sure no one would 'accidentally' find their way here?" Kamui replied, a little suspicious.

Fuuma rolled his eyes, dropped the basket on the ground and pinned Kamui where he stood by placing his hands heavily on his shoulders. He leaned over and glared into Kamui's now-panicky violet eyes. "Tell me, could you find your way out of this place should I be generous enough to let you go right now?" A rapid side-to-side shake of Kamui's head was his answer. "Then there is absolutely no way anyone could just 'wander' here."

"Okay," Kamui replied meekly as Fuuma let him go. He watched as the taller boy pulled out the red and white checkered picnic blanket and start looking for a place to spread it beneath the tree. Gathering enough of his wits, Kamui picked up the basket and trotted after Fuuma, who was smoothing out the cloth over a flat space of ground between the brook and the tree.

"Now that we're finally settled," Fuuma said after Kamui plopped down beside him on the blanket. "What's this all about?"

"I, uh," Kamui stuttered, "I, uh, just needed some time away from the other Seals.... They could be so annoying at times...."

"Ugh, I know what you mean," Fuuma said with more than a little disgust. "I got the same problem...."

"...Always telling me what to do...."

"...Annoying me with their stupid antics...."

"...Giving me advice when I don't need it...."

"...Hitting on every woman in sight...."

The two of them looked at each other in astonishment.

"You too?" They said in unison and laughed.

A genuine smile lit up Kamui's features. "I guess our camps aren't that much different, huh?"

"I guess not," Fuuma agreed. "Anyway, what's in the basket? All I saw when I took out the blanket was a box of some sort."

"Oh, right," Kamui remembered and pulled out the box, "it's something one of the Ten no Ryuu gave me. She said that it's something that she indulges in when she's in a bad mood. Since I was in a pretty bad one, I figured that I might as well share it with someone whom I thought could use an attitude adjustment."

"Touché," Fuuma replied as he watched Kamui open the box. "Chocolates?"

"Uh-huh. Bad mood medicine according to Yuzuriha."

"Which one is she?"

"The one with the inugami."

Fuuma raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Somehow, I find it hard to imagine her in a bad mood."

"Same here," Kamui replied. "Anyway, you should try this one...."

The next hour was spent on trying out the different kinds of chocolate treats in the box and Fuuma spent a good portion of that time trying to convince Kamui to try the chocolate covered ants, for indeed, they were exactly what Kamui thought they were.

"Fuuma?" Kamui said hesitantly.

"Hai?" Fuuma muttered just before he popped a chocolate-covered raisin into his mouth.

"I... like what you did to your hair."

Now, that, Fuuma was not prepared for and ended up choking on the raisin.

"Fuuma! Daijoubu?"

Fuuma nodded his head as he managed to guide the raisin down the proper pipe. "Daijoubu, daijoubu." He continued as soon as he managed to regain his composure. "You owe me for that."

"Gomen," Kamui said sheepishly, "but I DO like what you did with your hair. Actually, I like the entire image overhaul...."

"Even my attempts at violent intimacy?" Fuuma interjected with a less than subtle leer.

"Uh, well...."

"Like I said, you owe me for almost choking me with that raisin." Fuuma's eyes glinted evilly as he continued, "close your eyes."

Kamui just blinked and blushed.

"Come on, we're on neutral ground here. I'm not going to hurt you...."

<Why does that statement fail to reassure me?> Kamui thought. He didn't like the way Fuuma'd been eyeing him when he'd said that, but ended up closing his eyes anyway.

"Now open your mouth."

Kamui's eyes popped back open at that. "Closing my eyes is one thing, but opening my mouth while doing so is another. How can I be sure that you won't place a chocolate termite in my mouth?"

"I promise I won't pop any chocolate covered insects in your mouth, so could you now please close your eyes and open your mouth?!"

By this time, Fuuma was giving Kamui a dark look that promised a lot of pain if he should fail to comply. With a resigned sigh, Kamui did as he was told. Almost immediately, he felt something shaped like a pencil touch his lips.

"Now chew and don't drop it."

And he did. It was one of those chocolate covered potchi sticks that Yuzuriha loved. Just as Kamui was finally feeling reassured that Fuuma wouldn't try anything, his lips reached something that was DEFINITELY not a part of a potchi stick, knocking him off balance, onto his back, and taking his breath away at the same time.

"Hmmphhh, hmphh, hmmmppphh!!... Hmmm...."

Fuuma pulled away from the surprise kiss he'd sprung on Kamui, leaving the latter gasping for air. "I'm sorry," he said with a widening smile, "but what were you trying to tell me?"

Kamui blinked confusedly back at him, gathering his wits. Taking a shaky breath, he repeated himself... without a set of lips blocking his words.

"Where'd you learn to kiss like that?"

"I take it you'd like some more?" Fuuma asked as he slithered up beside Kamui on the blanket. "Because there's definitely more where that came from."

Kamui was once again stunned speechless as Fuuma's face was barely two inches away from his. Finally, he pushed him aside, or at least tried to, so that he could arrange himself in a more dignified manner. No such luck.

"As much as I'd like to take you up on that offer, I must remind you of our supposed destinies." Now this, Kamui said with genuine regret. "To fight each other to decide the fate of the world."

"So...?"

"This is really unbecoming of us," Kamui replied. He knew it was a lame answer. "This is just a respite at best." He was fast failing to make a point, especially since the one he was talking to was looming above him like a dark cloud.

"The Ten no Ryuu are supposed to save the world, right?"

"Yes."

"And the Chi no Ryuu are supposed to destroy it, right?"

"Yes...?"

"You care about saving the world?"

"Actually," Kamui replied thoughtfully, "the only reason why I'm fighting is to get you back." Though he surprised himself with that answer, it was the truth.

"And so you did," Fuuma said, making Kamui all the more confused. "And I couldn't care less whether or not this world this world is destroyed."

"But the destinies...."

Fuuma heaved a sigh of annoyance. "To hell with the destinies! We're the twin Kamui, remember? We decide our destinies!" He lowered himself until their noses practically touched. "They need us in order to decide whether the world ends or not, right?" He watched Kamui nod as far as his awkward position allowed. "What do you think will happen if we were to disappear right about now?"

A smile of understanding crept over Kamui's features. "Give me one good reason why I should do what I think you're not-so-outrightly asking me to do."

"Gladly," Fuuma replied and lowered himself the rest of the way.

Needless to say, both Kamui and Fuuma were never seen again after that day. Seeing that there was no longer any point in fighting, the Seals and the Angels decided to kiss and make up... well, some of them anyway. But sometimes, they do report hearing some rather unwholesome sounds in the dead of night, which further cements their belief that the twin stars are together somewhere having the time of their lives.

All thanks to a box of chocolates.

********** And They All Lived Happily Ever After **********

original © August 2001 by Lady Aria