Hokuto sighed to herself as she floated in mid-air, turning the 
page of the book she was listlessly reading.  When she wasn't bothering 
Subaru and making sure her little brother didn't get too depressed, she 
often came to libraries, doing research on mythology or just reading a 
girls' magazine.  It amused her to "wear" new fashions before anyone else, 
often giving them her own twist.  At the moment her apparent clothing had a 
theme of strawberries.
        Hokuto floated down from the ceiling of the library and deposited 
the book on the return cart.  The convenient thing about being a ghost was 
that no one could see you unless you let them, so the librarians no longer 
hassled her about giggling during funny parts of a novel, let alone taking 
one of the books twenty feet up in the air to read it.  They'd have a 
hissyfit over that, she suspected, probably saying about how she'd drop it.
        Yawning in boredom, as she really hadn't been tired in the past 
five years, Hokuto made herself inconspicuously visible and sat down, 
paging through a newspaper to see if there were any good movies at the 
local theater.  That was another advantage of being dead: she could sneak 
in to see any film she liked without having to worry about paying.  She 
smiled as she saw that a romantic comedy movie, one she'd already seen 
three times, but still liked, was playing at a nearby movie house.  Losing 
herself in a movie sounded like an excellent way to kill time until Subaru 
woke up and she could check on him again.
        She checked the clock and got up, walking slowly towards the door 
to kill time.  The movie didn't start for half an hour, and wasting time 
buying popcorn and soda was out except when she managed to convince Subaru 
to come with her.  And now that he was in Tokyo again, finally having been 
able to trace Sakurazukamori here, he wouldn't be interested in a movie.
        Hokuto sighed, lacing her fingers behind her head as she looked up 
at the sky.  Her thoughts circled through the sixteen years of her life and 
five years of her death, seeking out the points relevant to her current 
existance and running through them.  It kept her busy, thinking of the 
novel she had always planned to write, but had never found time to while 
she was alive.  "But I bet I could make a wonderful ghost writer!" she 
teased herself as she faded from direct contact with the mortal world, 
walking invisibly into the theater.
        She faded back into sight once she had taken her seat, in the 
center of the auditorium, and looked around.  She smiled as she noticed 
that there were only five other people in the auditorium: an aged married 
couple busy talking to one another, a thirtyish woman interested in her 
popcorn, a punk girl with purple hair who was probably cutting school, and 
a boy, dressed in soft colors, with sandy hair and indeterminate eyes, who 
was looking interestedly at her.
        Hokuto returned her eyes to the blank screen in front of her, 
listening to the music that was being softly piped in to the room on the 
speakers.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy get up out of his 
seat and move towards her.  She wondered if he was going to try to ask her 
out, and if she should just say no or if she should go on a date with him.  
Subaru wouldn't mind covering for her and pretending she was alive, but 
where could any relationship where one person was a spirit and the other a 
living person go?  She continued steadily ignoring him as the boy sat down 
beside her, one seat between them.
        His first words startled her.  "You're dead too, aren't you?" he 
asked.
        Hokuto turned her head to look at him, eyes wide and staring into 
his blue-gray ones.  She said the first thing that tumbled into her head.  
"TOO?!" she recklessly demanded.
        He smiled at her, displaying even pearly teeth.  "I thought so," he 
said, extending a hand towards her.  "I'm Thomas Kazama.  It's nice to meet 
you."
        "I'm Hokuto Sumeragi," Hokuto replied, gathering her scattered wits 
back together.  "Pleased to meet you.  You startled me."
        Thomas smiled some more, which was nice to look at.  "If you don't 
mind my asking, how old are you?  I'm twenty-one, total, but I died when I 
was seventeen in a car wreck.  You're the first other ghost I've met.  I 
was beginning to think I might be the only one."
        Hokuto shook her head.  "You're not.  I was an onmyouji before I 
died.  There're lots of ghosts around, you just have to know where to 
look.  I'm sixteen in living years, and another five in dead years."  She 
smiled hesitantly at her new friend.  "Have you seen this movie before?"
        "No...."
        "You'll like it.  It's really funny...."


                               Crimson Variant
                                   Part Two
                             By Kristin Huntsman


        Yuzuriha sighed happily as the elevator doors closed behind the 
five of them, six if you counted Inuki, which she did.  It was hard for her 
not to be happy; it was in her nature to be so.  And now that they knew who 
all seven of the Heaven Dragons were, it was a cause for celebration.  All 
they had to do was figure out the membership of the Earth Dragons and beat 
them.  Given the talents arrayed on their side, that shouldn't be too hard, 
she thought.
        She looked around at the people in the elevator with her, all older 
and all taller.  But, should she survive the forthcoming battle, she 
intended to make up for herself on both counts as quickly as possible.  
Saiki-san was looking at Sumeragi-san with obvious awe that someone so 
young-looking could be head of the Sumeragi clan.  The Sumeragis, Yuzuriha 
knew, were an old and powerful clan, and not likely to misplace their 
trust, especially in choosing a leader.  Sumeragi-san's gaze, bright eyes 
like brilliant emeralds, was directed seemingly at the door but more inward 
than anything else.  Arashi-san was also watching Sumeragi-san, her dark 
eyes unreadable, and Sorata was looking at her, obviously jealous to 
trained eyes.  Yuzuriha made up her mind to do something about that last.
        "Sora-chan," she whispered, standing on her tiptoes to whisper into 
his ear, "I don't think you need to worry.  He's not interested in her, and 
I don't think she's really interested in him romantically either."
        Sorata looked at her, then bent over to whisper to her "How can you 
tell?"
        Yuzuriha shrugged.  "I go to a mixed school, Sora-chan.  I know how 
to read body language between boys and girls.  Besides, look at 
Sumeragi-san's right ear."  She'd noticed the soft, dull gleam of a gold 
earring there.  "Doesn't it mean you're supposedly taken when you only wear 
an earring on the right side?"
        "Maybe you're right, Yuzuriha-chan," Sorata said softly, and she 
saw some of the tension relax out of his body as they completed their 
conversation, held so quietly that no one else in the elevator could 
possibly have heard it.  She looked up as the elevator stopped moving at 
the lobby of the hotel and skipped out of the small box of a room as its 
doors opened.  It was already ten at night, and she hadn't had dinner yet.
        "I'm starved!" she announced.  "Are you sure the hotel restaurant 
is open at all hours, Arashi-san?"  She caught a small, genuine, smile 
flickering across Sumeragi-san's lips and pounced on it.  "What is it?" she 
asked him.
        "Nothing.  You just remind me very much of someone special to me, 
Nekoi-san," he replied softly.  "I didn't realize until right now that you 
resembled Hokuto-chan so much."
        "Who's Hokuto-san?" Yuzuriha asked, walking backwards in front of 
him.  Sumeragi-san had had an awful lot of guards up around himself until 
now, and she wanted to take advantage of the gap.
        "My sister," was all he answered, then the guards were back in 
place.  But Yuzuriha had seen the flash of pain in the split second before 
he had distanced herself again.  And it was somehow connected with this 
sister of his....
        "I'm sorry," she said softly, with genuine feeling.
        "So am I... infinitely sorry," he murmured, more to himself than to 
her.  Yuzuriha sensed she was going into deep waters, and backed away 
reluctantly.  Now was neither the time nor the place to be exploring the 
dark regrets that Subaru Sumeragi obviously felt.
        "Come on, Inuki, it's time to get dinner," she said to her 
companion quietly.  "Too bad you can't eat table scraps, huh?"  Her hand 
softly scratched behind his ear as she lost herself in thought.

        Sorata let the advice Yuzuriha-chan had given him tumble over and 
over itself in his head like it was laundry in a washing machine.  She was 
right, of course, and he was acting like a jealous fool over Arashi's 
attentions when she was only being as interested in Sumeragi as she would 
be in any of the other Seals.  And Sumeragi had certainly shown no interest 
in a romantic relationship with Arashi.  In fact, he didn't seem the type 
to be involved with anyone.  Saiki appreciated, and even Kamui had seemed 
aware of, the fact that Arashi was an extremely beautiful young woman, but 
Sumeragi hadn't even appeared to notice that she was female, which was 
odd.  Sorata had yet to meet anyone who seemed so oblivious to genders as 
this guy....
        Weird, Sorata decided, looking at Sumeragi from the corner of his 
eye.  Definitely weird.  More so'n me, even....
        He watched as the thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan drew back a 
chair for Yuzuriha-chan at the table the waiter indicated, even as Sorata 
pulled one out for Arashi.  He moved with the grace of a cat, Sorata 
noticed, having careful control over his body, like he had studied martial 
arts for many years.  But he didn't seem like the type to ever start that 
on his own, and the peace of spirit that an advanced martial artist would 
possess eluded him.  There were too many shadows in his eyes for any such 
conclusion to be logical.
        "You don't get out in the sun much, do you?" Sorata asked 
conversationally as he sat down and opened his menu, commenting on the pale 
condition of Sumeragi's skin.
        "I have an extreme allergy to sunlight," Sumeragi replied, eyes 
moving from a seemingly-casual examination of the dining room to land on 
Sorata's face as he spoke.  "It pretty much limits me to the night, not 
that I was ever really much of a day person before I developed the allergy, 
anyway."
        "That limits you in fighting against our opponents, doesn't it?" 
Arashi asked.
        "Seven Seals to seven Minions," Sumeragi said softly.  "That would 
indicate that we each have our own opponent.  Sakurazukamori is mine... he 
has been for many years.  He shares an avoidance of sunlight with me.  I am 
not limited by it in a match against him."
        "What is it that happened between you and Sakurazukamori that you 
are already claiming him as your own?" Saiki asked curiously.  "There are 
rumors, but nothing...."
        The look in Sumeragi's eyes stopped Saiki in mid-sentence.  "Don't 
ask, please," Subaru Sumeragi said softly.  "It's personal... highly 
personal.  I would prefer not to speak of that, if you do not mind."  His 
eyes dropped to the menu and his voice became even softer, until it was 
barely audible.  "It hurts too much for me to easily speak of it."

        Subaru left the hotel slightly after one in the morning with a 
sense that following Kishuu-san's mental trail to its origin had been worth 
it.  Meeting three of the others who were destined to fight for the Earth 
had had a calming effect on his sense of self-worth.  He was perhaps strong 
enough to fight for his destined purpose after all.  When he had found 
within himself powers that had nothing to do with onmyouji or his changed, 
inhuman nature, Subaru had taken a long time to study and practice them, 
trying to figure out what they were.  It had been his grandmother who had 
told him of the destined, forthcoming battle for the end of the world, a 
battle between the mythic seven who would represent Earth and the mythic 
seven who would represent Heaven, and whose fates would determine that of 
the world.
        It had scared the hell out of him when he figured out that he was 
one of the fourteen Chosen.  That sort of responsibility was beyond him, 
and he knew he couldn't stand to let the people of his world die; the death 
of his sister, who had only been one person among billions, was already 
killing him.  But he was no great warrior, no magician to defeat those who 
would want to destroy the people of Tokyo, Japan, and the rest of the 
world.  He was a simple onmyouji, a diviner and an exorcist....
        And a vampire who kept refusing to cross over, his conscience 
kicked him.
        All it would take was one heartbeat, he knew.  In addition to 
eating real food, he had to consume human blood to survive now, being 
three-quarters of the way to complete vampirism.  All it would take was 
drinking past the last living beat of a human heart, and he would cross 
over and be damned forever.  He refused to let that happen.  That was what 
Sakurazukamori wanted.
        Subaru looked around himself to make sure no one was watching, then 
rose into the air silently, with no effort whatsoever.  It was an ability 
that came from being half spirit.  He could fly as easily as a ghost, his 
"self" phased out of the Earth's gravity.  He would've traded the ability 
in an instant to be able to walk in sunshine again.  Once he had changed, 
however, there had been no going back.  He knew that truth with every fiber 
of his being.  It was something Sakurazukamori had never told him.  He 
hadn't needed to.
        If Arisugawa-san had been right, Subaru thought to himself, looking 
down at the softly-lit night side of Tokyo, and Sakurazukamori was one of 
the Seven Minions of Earth, then a time of reckoning would come soon.

        Seishirou Sakurazuka, better and also known as Sakurazukamori, 
stood motionless on the top of one of Tokyo's skyscrapers.  On the 
gravelled pavement behind him spilled a few unconsumed drops of blood from 
the torn throat of the salaryman who had been unfortunate enough to stay to 
work late.  The brown eyes of the corpse stared glassily at the night sky, 
merely lying there, waiting for rigor mortis to start setting in.  There 
wasn't much else a dead body could do.
        Small flecks of blood dotted the white handkerchief Sakurazukamori 
held in his hand as he examined the skyscape of Tokyo.  He waited with the 
patience of over a thousand years as he searched the skies with 
preternaturally sharp sight.  He could sense, almost feel, that the one he 
had changed, the one he had made into his own image and kind, was there.  
But it was only the faintest tugging on his mind, made noticible by his 
recent dining, that alerted him to the presence of the boy-child he had 
loved and challenged with death and change.  There was no sense of 
direction, of height, of anything.  Still, he was used to hunting for his 
amusements.  This should be no different than any other prey.  It was 
enough to know that his echo was in Tokyo.
        Sakurazukamori's lips curved slightly, and he softly spoke one word 
before vanishing into mist and the hunt and the night.  "Subaru-kun."

        Hokuto materialized into Subaru's hotel room with a somersault, 
phasing through the guardian kekkai he had set up in the room without a 
blink, as it had been crafted to allow her, and only her, in and out.  
"Hello!" she sang brightly, in an extremely good mood, dancing over to give 
her twin a kiss on the cheek.  "You'll never guess where I've been!"
        "It obviously agreed with you, wherever it was," Subaru observed 
softly from where he was sitting on the bed, reading a book about 
onmyouji.  He slipped a piece of paper into it to mark his page and set the 
book aside.  "Where?" he asked.
        "I was on a *date*!" Hokuto announced, feeling pleased with 
herself.  "I met him in the theater today at a movie, Subaru.  He's so fun, 
and he's nice and polite and cute... kind of like you!" she said with a 
giggle.  "We're going to meet tomorrow and go to a park with a 
merry-go-round...."  She smiled, feeling pleased that her afternoon and 
evening with Thomas had gone so well.  Five years ago she might have 
refused to go out with anyone like him, but spending so much time dead and 
alone had made her a little looser about who she kept company with... "less 
of a snob," as Subaru might put it.  It was hard to find someone who was 
nice, extremely cute, and dead as well these days, which were her three 
main criteria.  She had spent most of the day with Thomas, and they had 
spent the time talking.  They had gotten along so great together....
        "Hokuto-chan, you shouldn't be leading someone on like this, not 
when you're dead and he's not..." her little brother cautioned.
        "Did I forget to mention the best part?" Hokuto asked, wrapping her 
arms around herself and falling backwards onto the bed so that her head 
ended up on Subaru's lap.  "He's a ghost too!"
        Subaru paused and blinked, his pale green eyes shading to blue for 
a moment as he smiled at her.  "Then I'm glad for you, Hokuto-chan," he 
murmured, stroking her hair from her eyes.  "I'd like to meet him sometime."
        "You will!" Hokuto decided.  "And how has your evening been, 
Subaru?"
        Her brother sighed softly, one of those looks of semi-depression 
creeping into his eyes as he exhaled.  "Interesting," he said softly.  
"Remember how I told you that I'm one of the fourteen Chosen?"
        Hokuto nodded, wondering where he was leading.
        "Well, I met three of the others who will fight for the Earth...."