I have been thinking about writing an 'X' fic for a long time, and now I finally get round to it. Its not what I thought I would write, but after re-watching my second disc, I finally decided that, my first 'X' fic would not be an angsty Kamui one, or even my usual shounen-ai style for any character. I decided to write a Subaru-centric fic instead, about the death of Seishirou at Rainbow Bridge after I watched the scene again on my DVD. Hope you enjoy.

The blood pooled around us; a river of crimson. His own life. Running down his back, all down his coat, and spilling onto the ground. And staining my hands. He was kneeling in my arms, dying while I held him – his death. On my hands. And all I could do was stutter out one word.

"W-why?"

He smiled. He always smiled.

"The last spell..." he said, ... "cast by your sister... using her life."

I sought to explain. I have just ended his life. His blood... it is all over my hands. I need to explain.

"That day... Hokuto was the one who was stabbed in the heart like this. You killed my sister, and disappeared from my life."

He is silent. Smiling; always smiling.

"I tried to kill you from inside my heart. I thought of erasing your existence from inside me. But I couldn't do it. So then I thought..."

I pause to take a breath. Why is there a sudden wetness on my cheeks?

"...that I wanted to be killed by you. Even if you forgot that you killed me soon afterwards... even if I was one of the cherry tree's many victims... at least by your hands..."

So here it comes. The question that has haunted my dreams for so long. The question that now, finally, must be answered.

"If you knew of Hokuto's spell, why... why?"

He tilts his head slightly towards me as he speaks, his voice low. I have to strain to hear it.

"If you think about it, you could never commit to killing someone. You're... you truly are... a kind person."

He's looking at me. I stare.

"Subaru... you know... I..."

He half stands, whispering into my ear. The answer. Then he dies.

I crouch there, my arms around his body. It, like me, is now merely an empty shell.

"You... never say... what I expect you to say... do you?"

A single cherry blossom floats past.

The last cherry blossom.

Later, in my room, Kamui comes to see me. He is, perhaps, the only one other than me who understands it, this seemingly never-ending cycle of love, and then, death. My question has been answered, yet now a new on takes its place. I ask it, but I expect no answer, because Kamui cannot answer it. Now, nobody can.

"What people say before they are about to die... is it the truth?"

Kamui leaves soon after, and quiet fills the room. There is nothing left.

I avoid looking at my hands.

I say his name, softly, silently, within the confines of my mind.

As if that would bring him back.

Seishirou…