Tokyo Babylon: Song
Part 1: Hit Me With Your Best Shot


        Seishirou looked up at the door of his apartment as a key sounded in 
the lock.  Who had a key?  No one except himself.  He stood easily, waiting to 
see who was picking the lock.
        As the door opened, the last thing Sakurazuka Seishirou expected was 
the ball of energy that happily flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around 
his neck and tumbling them both to the floor with her momentum.
        "Mi- Midori?!" Seishirou asked, genuinely surprised.
        "Surprise, Seishirou-niisama!" the dark-haired girl said, hugging him 
tightly.  "You didn't expect to see me, did you?"
        "What are you doing here, Midori?" Seishirou asked.  "You're at 
school, aren't you?"
        "No, I'm here!" she said, hugging him again.  "I'm on break, and I 
wanted to see you again!  It's only been years since we saw each other!"  Her 
silver eyes looked happily into his, and Seishirou sighed.  "You sent me to 
the best boarding school money can buy, but it's not family.  I miss you, you 
know."
        <She has wonderful timing,> Seishirou thought to himself.  <Heaven and 
Earth are about to come together, and Subaru-kun has found me again.  The last 
thing I need is for my younger sister to show up to visit.>
        "I assume you're planning on staying with me?" he asked, with a sigh 
in his voice, already partially resigned to the fact.
        "Well, where else would I go?" she asked.  "It's not that easy to find 
a decent apartment for rent in Tokyo!"
        <Bloody hell.>

        Midori hung the last jacket in the closet of her brother's guest room 
and sighed, looking around the small room.  It was a LOT smaller than her room 
at school, but that couldn't be helped.  Besides, now that 'Kamui' had appeared 
and the Seals and Minions were beginning to gather in Tokyo, she had only one 
shot to do what she needed to do.
        Midori smiled to herself; thank goodness her brother's talents didn't 
extend to telepathy the way hers did.  He would have killed her as coldly as 
he had killed their parents, had he known that she knew everything.  Because 
what use was a sister innocent in Onmyoujutsu to Sakurazukamori?  Especially 
when her goals were almost in complete opposition to his....
        Midori's silver eyes looked around the room, and she unzipped the last 
compartment on her travelling bag, pulling out the few items she used to 
practice her personal brand of sorcery.  They were conveniently disguised; a 
seeing mirror hidden in a compact, a pair of divining sticks that doubled as 
hair ornaments, a few sacred sticks of incense that she could explain away as 
sacrifices to the kami....
        Smiling, she set up her small personal shrine on a low table pushed 
against the wall.  She set a stick of regular incense in it, and lit it, 
clapping her hands together and bowing her head in a momentary prayer before 
unrolling her futon and preparing to go to sleep.

        "Tokyo is a dangerous place, Midori," Seishirou cautioned his sister.  
"There have been massive fires and earthquakes within the past few weeks, 
explosions with no source....  I really would feel much more comfortable if 
you would agree to go back to school and let me visit you in a few months, 
when I've found someone to take over for me at the clinic for a while...."
        "Can't," she replied blithely, taking a sip of her miso soup.  "They 
shut school down for a while, due to extensive repairs.  Everyone's gone home, 
and we'll all have a session that extends into summer to make up for it.  
You're stuck with me for a while, Oniisan.  I'll try not to be too much of a 
bother."
        Seishirou sighed and finished off his own soup.  There was probably no 
way he was going to be able to get rid of his sister while he finished his 
business in Tokyo with the Minions.  <That which cannot be eliminated must be 
endured, like Subaru-kun... and Midori,> he mused to himself.  <Yare yare.>
        <I suppose I shall encounter Subaru-kun again,> he thought, his mind 
turning to his opponent.  <He appears to be fixated on this silly quest for 
revenge.  Really, I was only fulfilling the bet that he and I entered into.  
Why should he hate me for that?  His emotions are getting in the way of his 
wish to destroy me... Subaru-kun could never be a successful assassin.  
Foolish boy.  He simply doesn't have the ability to kill me.>
        "Oniisan?"  Midori's voice broke into his thoughts.
        "Mmm?"
        "More rice?" she asked, offering to ladle it into his bowl if he 
accepted.
        Seishirou glanced quickly at the clock and shook his head.  "No thank 
you, Midori.  I have to get going to the clinic soon.  I'll be back this 
evening... can you find something to do to amuse yourself?"
        "My professors assigned a ton of homework over the break," Midori 
replied, nodding.  "If I get it done fast, I can enjoy the rest of the 
vacation.  If I take a break from studying, I'll go shopping or something, or 
maybe come visit you at the clinic, okay?"
        "Please call and let me know if you're going out," Seishirou 
requested.  "The number of the clinic is by the telephone."
        "'K," Midori replied, standing up and following Seishirou to the door.  
She helped him into his coat and brushed lint off his right shoulder, smiling 
at him as she also straightened his tie.  "Have a good day, Oniisan!"  She 
stood up on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.  The thought occured to 
Seishirou that he could very easily adjust to having someone at his home who 
cooked for him and smiled at him when he came home.
        <Maybe I should get married...> he thought as he walked down the hall.

        <Hmmm.  Well, schoolwork is secondary,> Midori decided.  <Let's see 
what trouble I can stir up for Oniisan today....>
        She knelt down on the floor and lit one of her sticks of sacred 
incense, murmuring a chant as the weird smoky scent helped her to lift her 
mind and widen her inner vision to include all of Tokyo.  There was one here 
who was the key to the destiny she sought to alter, and she knew she had to, 
and would, find him.
        She ignored the pulsings of bright power in so many of the Tokyo area 
buildings; Tokyo Tower, the Diet Building, the various shrines... they glowed 
brightly to her inner sight, but the light of stone and wood was not what she 
sought.  Rather, the living glow of a single human, one among millions....
        He was ridiculously easy to find.
        <Sumeragi Subaru... you are mine,> Toyuuki Midori thought, opening her 
eyes.  <Forgive me for what I must do, but it is for the ultimate destiny of 
all our clans that I must interfere.>

*********
"Onmyoujutsu" is the type of sorcery that Seishirou and Subaru practice.  They, 
as practicioners, are "onmyouji."  It is a traditional Japanese magic, and can 
be translated as "yin-yang sorcery"... which is highly appropriate, if you 
think of Subaru and Seishirou as each other's yin and yang.