tampered | Log; Ongoing

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Log; Ongoing

When; Saturday Evening
Rating; G?
Characters; Kamui

nikorin
Summary; A half frozen and slightly confused Keiichi finally shows up at Kamui's apartment
Log;

Keiichi absently brushed snow from his hair as he pulled open the door to the apartment bulding. After taking a moment to warm his hands, Keiichi glanced around for the entrance to the stairs. Even if there was an elevator, a quick trip up stairs would be a good way to warm himself up. So, with a cheerful grin, Keiichi jogged up the steps and out into a hallway lined with doors. Keiichi walked rather quickly down the hall, glancing at the numbers on the doors as he passed by. Eventually, he spotted number 9 , Kamui's apartment.

Not hesitating for a second, Keiichi knocked and then stepped back to wait for an answer. He couldn't believe his luck, ending up in the same place that Kamui did. It seems all his searching had finally paid off after all.

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Kamui was in the middle of making some hot chocolate (and not that "just add hot water" type crap he saw in the grocery) when he heard the knock on the door. "Umm..." he looked from the cooking drink, to the door, and back, unsure if he should answer it; after all, he didn't want to overheat the hot chocolate. "Um... come in!" he said loudly, hoping he could be heard through the door. Hopefully Keiichi wouldn't be too offended by being asked to let himself in.

Keiichi beamed when he was asked to come in and he did just that. Making a point of locking the door behind himself. He toed off his snowy shoes and then followed the hall into the kitchen.

He came up behind Kamui and wrapped his arms around his shoulders in a quick hug, grinning. "You're really okay! I'm so happy to see you again, Shirou-kun!"

He stepped back and leaned against a counter, head tilted to the side.

Kamui flinched when he was hugged, but not because of the hug itself (he'd gotten used to touch enough by living with the other Seals for so long), but because... "Segawa-kun, you're freezing." He was sort of wet too, which only made it worse. If only Kamui had known before hand that the other was coming over coatless, he would have asked him to stay put.

Without second thought, he was shoving a mug of hot chocolate into the other's hands, and then running down the hall to grab a few blankets. He didn't want his friend to get sick, after all. After a moment of rummaging, he found blankets he deemed suitable (and clean), and returned, offering them up to Keiichi with a sheepish smile. "Oh, and, um... I'm glad to see you too."

Keiichi laughed when Kamui mentioned he was freezing, but he happily accepted the cup of hot chocolate. He took a few sips while Kamui ran off, but when he returned Keiichi put the cup down an accepted the blankets.

"Thanks! Haha, sorry for hugging you while I'm so cold," he chimed as he unfolded a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders. After a moment, he managed to pick his hot chocolate up and he took another sip.

"So...how did you end up here, Shirou-kun~?"

Kamui blinked, trying to think of a way to explain this without even hinting to the other that he wasn't... normal. "I..." he hesitated, "woke up here." That wasn't a lie, really: he HAD awoken in this city. He was just... leaving out the part about a possibly homicidal dreamseering being the one to send him here on the also-possibly false hopes of saving the world AND his best friend. Kamui wasn't sure if he was ready to let Keiichi know about all that; nor did he know if he'd EVER tell Keiichi. He would probably be better off not knowing...

"Oh, just like me, then," Keiichi replied with a nod, humming thoughtfully to himself. He knew there was something different about Kamui, but he had never been able to place what it was. Most of the time, Keiichi didn't try to think about that. If Kamui wanted him to know, he would have said something by now.

He took another sip of his hot chocolate. "Are any of your other friends here? It seems like people have been showing up one after another in this weird city."

Kamui nodded and hopped up on the counter, next to Keiichi. "Well, one named Karen-san is here. And Subaru... san... too..." He figured he might as well start using an honorific for the older man, since he seemed set on using one for Kamui. Besides, maybe he could use that to differentiate between the two Subarus. "And, well... there is a younger version of Subaru here too that I've been spending most of my time with. His sister as well."

"And then, of course, you're here now." Kamui smiled at Keiichi, and then lightly touched his cheek to see if his skin was still freezing. "Ah~ You're feeling much warmer now..."

Keiichi looked puzzled when Kamui mentioned that there were two Subaru's, but it didn't bother him overmuch. This city seemed to be sucking people from everywhere, maybe it could even choose a specific point in time?

"I'm glad you've got other friends who were here before me. It would have been terrible if you'd been here alone," He returned Kamui's smile and reached up and put his hand over Kamui's fingers, "Yep! I'm here and warm. Both of those seem like great things right now," He laughed," Especially after being out in all that crazy snow!"

Kamui couldn't help the slight blush that rose to his face when the other put his hand over his. Stupid blush reflex. Still, he managed to will it away enough to give Keiichi a serious look. "I wish you had told me that you didn't have a coat available. I would have told you to stay there until it was warmer, or..." okay, that suggestion wasn't practical, "or at least until I could find you and bring you a coat or something. Now I'll have to watch you carefully to make sure you don't get sick."

Keiichi beamed and shook his head, finally pulling his hand away from Kamui's. He hadn't really noticed Kamui's blush, just attributing his faint flush to the weather.

"You don't need to worry about me! I have a tough immune system and it wasn't that long of a walk. I didn't want to wait; I was worried it might snow even more!"

Kamui blinked. "Ah~ That makes sense, I guess. Still, the moment you sneeze, I'll start making you rest, eat soup, and take medicine." Keiichi had helped him through lots of stuff, after all, whether or not he knew it. If Keiichi got sick, Kamui would try his best to be a good friend and take care of him.

He hopped off the counter and walked to the nearest window, looking out at the still-heavy snow. "It's still pretty..." he said quietly, then started to ponder more things he couldn't share; like wondering how this would effect his wings if he tried to fly out in it. Perhaps he would get too cold too fast. He probably shouldn't try it.

"Okay, okay," Keiichi replied, lifting his hands in defeat. His eyes followed Kamui as he walked over to the window. Keiichi sighed and followed after him, bringing his hot chocolate with him.

He came up beside Kamui and leaned forward, looking out the window. "Yeah," he nodded, "It's definately pretty. We don't get snow like this back--" He cut himself off and glanced down at Kamui.

"Are you...worried about what's happening at home?"

Kamui looked down. "I... ever since Subaru-san showed up and told me how things were, I have been... worried almost non-stop." He pressed his forehead to the glass. "The Sumeragi twins have provided some support and distraction, but I still... I'm afraid for those that I left behind." This time, he left out the part of feeling resposible for their deaths, should they die. He hoped they wouldn't, but if what Subaru had said was true... then it was very possible.

He closed his eyes and sighed. It was his fault. If only he had listened to his own intuition...

Keiichi's brow furrowed and he lifted a hand, placing it between Kamui's shoulder blades. "Don't feel responsible, Shirou-kun. Just because you left them, that doesn't mean you abandoned them." He stroked Kamui's back reassuringly. "I know you. I know you'd do anything you could to protect your friends."

His smile was pained as he tilted his head towards Kamui, "At least you're trying..."

"But trying... it isn't enough" He stood up straight and burrowed his hands into his hands. "I can't do anything, even when I want to, I..." There wasn't really much else he could say without letting to much information slip. This... this would always be one block between him and Keiichi: Keiichi could never understand the scope of what he was going through. It wasn't just his friends on the line... it was the world.

Keiichi sighed and and lifted his hand to squeeze Kamui's shoulder. There it was again, that secret Kamui had. Keiichi knew that was the source of trouble, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was be here as support.

"It'll be okay, Shirou-kun. It will." he whispered, falling silent for a moment, just letting his arm drape across Kamui's shoulders.

"I... but I..." Damn it. How long could Kamui keep this up? How long could he keep this a secret from Keiichi? It was easier when they were in school and he only saw him a few hours a day, but now... they would be living together for a while. This was bound to come up over and over again.

"Segawa-kun..." He sighed loudly. He kind of wanted to tell Keiichi, but... surely the other teenanger would hate him. Kamui would risk losing his only friend outside of the Seals. Not to mention he could possibly be putting him in danger. Everyone who touched his fate got burned.

"Shirou-kun," Keiichi replied as he pulled his arm away, focusing his attention on the snow outside, "I know you have a secret."

He rubbed the back of his own head and grinned as he forced himself to look down at Kamui. "You don't have to tell me. It's okay. I know you have your reasons."

Kamui visibly started when Keiichi said he knew he had a secret. Kamui... hadn't expected that. He didn't know he was that easy to read. "I... I want to tell you, but... I'm afraid." He walked over and sat his couch, pulling his knees to his chest. "I'm afraid that you won't want to be my friend anymore. Or that... you will get hurt. I'm not exactly the best person to get involved with." Yet, Kamui found himself getting involved with people anyway; the Sumeragi twins being the most current example. But... nothing bad had happened to them yet. Maybe his luck was changing? He certainly hoped so.

Wow. Keiichi hadn't been expecting something like that. Just what was Kamui involved in? If it was dangerous for Keiichi to KNOW about it then how dangerous was it for Kamui?

"Shirou-kun...I'll always be your friend, even if it's dangerous," he replied with a smile as he sat down beside Kamui, "I thought I was protecting you all this time, but it looks like you've been protecting me, huh?"

"You... have done a lot for me, Segawa-kun. You have made me feel stronger when I needed it. Thank you." He hid his face in his knees for a few minutes, mulling over his options, before reemerging. "I... I will tell you what's been going on, but... if any of it comes to this world, you have to stay out of it. I don't want you involved. O-okay?"

Keiichi stared at Kamui for a moment, seeming as if he was about to protest, but he never voiced his objection. Instead, he nodded.

"Okay. I want to prot...Well, alright, I promise to stay out of it."

Keiichi still wasn't sure he would recognize whatever 'it' was even if 'it' did show up.

Kamui nodded, accepting Keiichi's promise. "Okay..." God, how did he even start? "I... am not normal. I was kinda born to be humanity's savior for 1999." And I suck at it, Kamui thought. "But, before I became that, I was faced with a choice. I could either become a Chi no Ryuu and destroy humanity, or I could become a Ten no Ryuu and save it. I... chose to be a Ten no Ryuu, but in doing so lost the two people I cared about most. My best friend, Fuuma, who changed personalities and became the Chi no Ryuu 'kamui'; and his sister, Kotori, who he killed. And I was right there, but... I couldn't do anything." He held up his hands, staring at his scars. "I was pinned to a slab of concrete with glass and a metal pole, but... I still should have done something."

Once again, he burrowed into his legs. This... this would be the hard part. "Now Fuuma and the other Chi no Ryuu go around destroying Tokyo's kekkai. Those are what cause the earthquakes. Segawa-kun... your parents..." To his surprise, he found himself crying. He felt so bad for not being able to do anything when those kekkai fell. "The kekkai that fell and killed your father, I... that was before my choice. If only I'd made it soon, I... I don't know. But your mother... I was right there. I was right there on Sunshine 60 and couldn't do anything to protect it. I couldn't form a kekkai of my own and I couldn't fight back against Fuuma. Subaru tried to save me, but... his eye! He lost his eye because I couldn't protect him, either!"

Kamui curled up a bit more. Why... why was this so hard? Admitting all of this to Keiichi? Was it because he was afraid of being blamed and hated? That reaction wouldn't surprise him, after all... "I'm sorry Segawa-kun... I'm so sorry!"

Keiichi was dumbfounded. The earthquakes that killed his parents weren't natural? Someone caused them.

He shook his head and looked away, staring wide-eye'd at a spot on the floor. Finally, he forced himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath as he tried to absorb everything Kamui had told him.

His parents...

Keiichi ground his teeth as he tried to keep his breath from shuddering. He had to reply, he knew he had to.

"Shirou-kun," he murmured, "It's not...your fault. You're not the one who made those earthquakes happen. It wasn't you."

He brought a hand up and covered his face for a second before sighing and looking back over at Kamui. Nearly crying himself, he wrapped an arm around Kamui and pressed his forehead against his shoulders.

"I can't believe you'd had to suffer through his much...I had no idea."

"But if... if I hadn't become a Ten no Ryuu, then..." Then he would have been the one directly responsible. Either way, he would always believe it was his fault. "But that's not Fuuma! It's... it's my fault he became that way... so it's my fault that your parents..."

Kamui suddenly turned and hugged Keiichi, sobbing into his shoulder, his hands fisting in the back of his shirt. "I'm sorry, Segawa-kun! I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Kamui was on a roll now. "If I hadn't... If I'd been able to..."

Keiichi returned Kamui's hug and rubbed his back. "Kamui. I already told you. I don't blame you for what happened and if you have wrong me in anyway...I forgive you, okay?"

He tightened the hug, wishing desperately that he could do more to help Kamui.

"Still, I..." Kamui took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Keiichi wasn't blaming him; no matter how much he explained, he wasn't blaming him. "But I never do anything. Even all those times he's hurt me, I've never..." Maybe he shouldn't have said that. Er... best to change the topic back entirely to himself? "I... I think I fail... in my destiny. Maybe my destiny really is to die..." That probably wasn't the best thing to say, either. Damn it, Kamui sucked at this.

"Shirou-kun...You have to have faith in yourself. You're doing what you can," Keiichi firmly replied, "Your destiny can't be to die. It just isn't, you know that."

By this point, Keiichi was nearly squashing Kamui against his chest.

Kamui wanted to say more; to say that just doing what he can wasn't enough. That he had to do better or the world would end, but... Keiichi was squeezing him too hard. "Se-Segawa-kun... you're... suffocating me..." Kamui whimpered out, blushing at how lame he sounded.

Keiichi pulled his arms away and grinned down at Kamui, shrugging apologetically. "Sorry, sorry..."

He stared down at Kamui thoughtfully, then glanced back towards the kitchen. "Why don't we have some more hot chocolate and cheer ourselves up a little~?"

Kamui looked to the kitchen for a moment and nodded. "Y-yeah. That might be good. I'm not sure how hot it will still be, though." Oh well, he'd just have to reheat it. He got up walked to the kitchen, turning the burner back on and bending over the counter next to the stove slightly. "Hey, you want me to make brownies? Those help too, I've found."

Keiichi followed Kamui into the kitchen and put his mug down on the counter. He was glad that Kamui was at least willing to try cheering himself up.

"Brownies sound great! Do you want me to give you a hand? I've never made brownies before, but it can't be that hard," he said with a bright smile.

Really, he hadn't fully absorbed what Kamui had told him yet, but he needed to think about that on his own time.

Kamui served some more hot chocolate to the other, drinking what was left over himself before starting on the brownies. “Oh, no, no. You’re my guest, Segawa-kun.” He flitted around the kitchen gathering ingredients. “I can handle this myself.” He nodded surely and began to mix things up, finishing the batter quickly and pouring it into a greased pan.

After the pan was in the oven, he held out the batter-covered bowl to Keiichi to take some on his finger, opting to keep the spoon for himself. With a small, pleased hum Kamui licked at the spoon, staring off, eyes half-lidded, into space. He’d found that brownie batter was an indulgence that really did seem to make him feel a little better.

Keiichi happily sipped his hot chocolate while he waited for Kamui to finish making the brownies. Although helping would have been fun, it was clear that Kamui was having a good time, so Keiichi decided just to lean against the counter and watch.

Grinning, Keiichi accepted the bowl and dipped a finger in. "Yum, reminds me of cookie dough." With that, Keiichi sucked the batter off of his finger, before dipping it in a second time. "How long will the brownies take?"

"Twenty, twenty-five minutes?" Kamui once again hoped up on the counter, next to Keiichi. He... he felt much calmer now, just hanging out like this. Things hadn't changed between them, it seemed; even though the truth was out. That made him feel so much better.

He managed to smile at the other as he took a glob of batter onto his own finger, sucking it off, "I'm really glad you're here, Segawa-kun." Keiichi was safe now, right?

Keiichi's expression softened and he turned his head to glance at Kamui. "I'm happy to be here, Shirou-kun," Keiichi replied as he watched Kamui suck the batter off his finger.

He laughed a little before scooping a little batter out of the bowl and eating it. They were acting like children. It was wonderful.

"We definitely should try to do as much fun stuff here as we can, okay?" After all, this was sort of a second chance for both of them: Kamui no longer had to worry about fate as much, and Keiichi no longer had to worry about earthquakes. They could act like somewhat normal teenagers; something that Kamui had never been able to do. "And best of all, we don't have school or homework anymore." The prospect of no more math or history pleased Kamui greatly.

"Oh yeah! That's true! No more school...wow," Keiichi shook his head in disbelief, "We'll have so much free time. I guess we don't even have to work, since the rent is free..."

Humming while he thought, Keiichi zoned out for a second. Finally, he shrugged and beamed. "I guess we can do all that usual teenage stuff, huh?"

Kamui blushed. "Um... Segawa-kun... what is usual teenage stuff?" The only shred of normalcy Kamui had had was hanging out with Keiichi and going to school. Even at home with the other Seals, their fates had almost always loomed over them, and somehow managed to interupt their 'normal' moments.

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Log; Ongoing

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[OOC: This will be LONG]

Re: [OOC: This will be LONG]

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