Title: Conflicts of Interest: chapter 1 (teaser)
Series: Tokyo Babylon/X 1999 
Pairings: Seishirou + Subaru/Subaru x Seishirou
Rating: NC-17 for offensive language, extreme violence and blood, 
NCS and other assorted adult situations.
Setting: 7 years after the end of the Tokyo Babylon timeline

Summary: A mysterious entity grants Subaru possession of the 
ultimate gift of understanding; however, the consequences of 
misusing it are potentially catastrophic... and under the young 
Sumeragi's inexperienced hand, the power turns deadly. Now Seishirou 
will be forced to take a journey of self-discovery as what was once 
an entertaining game of cat-and-mouse blossoms into a desperate 
fight for survival--for him.

******************************
"I found your empty eternity
all your eyes ever promised me
I'm tryin' so hard to love you
but all your heart will give
is this bleak infinity...
a cold forever

still searchin' (searchin' for a way inside)
never could (never could find)
a way to help you see me
(you didn't want to be helped)
you made yourself blind "
--Frostbitten Love
Lyrics copyrighted property; Daitenshi Raphael--2001/12
******************************


Chapter 1: Mirror, Mirror 


Sakurazuka Seishirou smiled to himself idly as he walked along the 
crowded city streets, casually observing this particular night's 
flavor of the neon-decked lines of Downtown Tokyo. All around him, 
people were milling, carelessly jostling each other in their tunnel-
visioned journies toward their own private destinations--looking, 
but not seeing; listening, but not hearing; talking, but not saying 
anything worth the breath they put out. All around him swam the 
visions of skintight leather, jagged silver, and death-pale faces; 
the air stifling--almost cloying--with the mingling scents of sex, 
corrupted youth, and of fear.

This was the heartline of the city, and it pulsed beautifully in its 
wretchedness. So many pathetically open faces, so many vulnerable 
hearts... so many willing victims...

But that is not what drew the hunter out tonight.

Oh, no... The Sakurazukamori had a much more interesting pursuit in 
mind this evening. It was all a matter of finding him now.

'He's out tonight, I can feel it.'

Closing his eyes, Seishirou cleared his mind and let his feet take 
him where they would, mindless of those around him or who he might 
walk into. They didn't matter though. All that mattered was that he 
find his target.

'Subaru.'

Locating Subaru's lifeforce was fairly easy. After all, he'd gotten 
quite familiar with it in the past several years since 
they'd "parted ways" and he had come into the habit of "watching" 
his prey from a distance. Because really, it would be such a waste 
to kill the young Sumeragi so quickly when he was turning out to be 
such an amusing plaything.

And Seishirou so did hate the idea of growing bored.

Ducking through a darkened alley, the Sakurazukamori followed the 
faint tingling that he recongnized to be Subaru, gratified that he 
found the signal growing stronger. However, as it grew stronger, 
something in the way the aura pulsed struck Seishirou as peculiar.

It was strangely... empty. Strong, but oddly--for lack of better 
terms--vacant. It was so unlike the vibrant awareness that he had 
become accustomed to--the burning elixer of flaring emotions that he 
had come to expect in his prized possession.

Frowning, the assassin quickened his pace, amber eyes sweeping the 
darkness searchingly for the younger man. Images of that last night 
he'd seen the other onmiyouji--had he truly been there and had not 
been dreaming--filling his head. An uneasy feeling fluttered on the 
edges of his mind as he recalled how he had abruptly lost control of 
his senses and the pain-wracked scream that had followed him into 
oblivion. 

Now that he thought about it, that scream hadn't been his own.

[Seishirou-san, wait!]

[What is this, Subaru-kun?]

[It's--no! Wait, Seishirou-san! Don't open--]

[Ah! What's this? Nothing... how disappointing. Here, Subaru-kun, 
take this and clean it up, would you? It's rather filthy.]

[Oof! Ah, Sei--]

[Suba...ru...ku...]

[UUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Pain.

Whatever had happened had hurt. And to add insult to injury, he 
hadn't a clue as to the culprit. That in itself was as unsettling as 
it was upsetting. Secondly, had he and Subaru been attacked by 
someone that night, he should not have come to in his own apartment.

So what had happened?

Something HAD happened to him, he was sure of that much. But what of 
Subaru? What had happened to him?

'No one intrudes on my territory.' he thought acidly as he rounded 
another corner, almost on top of the signal now, his mouth twisting 
in the faintest semblance of what could have been a scowl as he 
skimmed over the idea that someone had had the audacity to move in 
on what belonged to him.

'Only I am allowed to...kill...'

"...Subaru-kun?"

Seishirou came to an abrupt stop as a slight, shadowy figure emerged 
from the surrounding blackness, blocking his path.

"Seishirou," came the absent reply.

The taller man suppressed a start at being addressed so informally, 
and instead took a moment to compose himself, pushing his sunglasses 
up the bridge of his nose casually as he sized up his opponent. 

"May I ask what you are doing out so late at night all by yourself?"

"I could ask you the same," a flat voice spoke, totally devoid of 
inflection, "then again, you and I both know why you come out to 
play at night. Don't we, Sakurazukamori?"

The voice was too detached for his comfort. The words too uncaring.

"Perhaps. That all depends on you."

The other seemed to smile into the darkness, he knew a challenge 
when he heard one. But he answered slowly, as though he'd been 
intentionally seeking one.. but of someone that he'd (quite 
mistakingly) deemed as being inferior to himself.

"Indeed."

Then the figure stepped out of the shadows and into the dim 
moonlight that had spilled through the narrow break in the buildings 
overhead, affording Seishirou with a better view of the other.

And had he not realized that it would not help him see any better, 
Seishirou's eyes might've widened at the vision standing before him.

"Su...baru-kun?"

The Sumeragi smiled at him purposely, his expression otherwise 
hidden behind the mirrored sunglasses that covered the youthful 
gleam of his emerald eyes. His usual white trenchcoat and gym shirt 
were gone, replaced now by a shocking, tailored ensemble of various 
shades of gray and black reminiscent of a time log since forgotten--
only far more tasteful than anything he'd EVER seen Hokuto dress her 
younger brother in.

"Surprised, are we?"

"Perhaps."

Subaru continued to smile the smile of one who knew a cruel secret 
and was prepared to turn it loose. Had it not looked so out of place 
on his face, Seishirou might've been tempted to think that it was a 
rather becoming, almost seductive, look on the younger man.

"I see that you have taken up some rather unusual dress habits..." 
he said smoothly, tapping the frame of his own glasses for emphasis.

"Unusual, perhaps, for you..." was the enigmatic response.

"Oh? And how do you figure that?"

"Well, for one who has absolutely nothing to hide, one would wonder 
why you have come into the habit of hiding your eyes?" a small, smug 
smile, and then, "But for someone like myself, one finds it 
necessary in order to stay some of the more shameless busybodies..."

"Busybodies?"

"Since when were you deaf, Seishirou? Yes, I did say busybodies."

The Sakurazukamori gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing in irritation. 
He didn't like the way Subaru was talking to him. He didn't like 
being handled,

He didn't like how wrong this all felt.

"I'm sorry," he said anyway, not really meaning it.

Subaru didn't appear to think he did either.

"I just fail to see the connection. How does dressing strangely 
detract attention from oneself?"

Subaru was quiet for a moment, but the smile did not disappear, "Do 
you really want to know?"

Seishirou fought the urge to smack that smile away, "Would I ask you 
otherwise?"

"I suppose not," and with that, Subaru removed his shades and folded 
them neatly away. He did not say anything right away, but settled 
instead to look at his former friend head on. It was in that instant 
that Seishirou realized that there was something immensely 
disturbing about Subaru's left eye...

...it was white.

"And now, Seishirou... we begin..."

And in the next instant, the Sakurazuka also found just how quickly 
he could floored by the other if he really meant business.



(end teaser)



***

*Sniffles* That so majorly sucked. But in any case, I haven't posted 
in forever and I found it better to throw out a draft (for once) and 
let everyone see what I was up to rather than letting rumors start 
up that I was dead. ^^;;; MD is coming up on her own graduation and 
has been VERY busy of late, so this was the best I could do for now. 
This is completely un-beta'ed and typed up on a processor that has 
absolutely no spell-check. All other mistakes are of my own 
stupidity and all constructive criticisms are welcomed.

It is also noted that Subaru is way OOC in this passage. That was 
intentional and will be worked out in future chapters. There's 
actually a really good reason for it. Don't kill me yet.