Tokyo Babylon: Song Part 6: Hide Your Love Away Sakurazuka Seishirou frowned. He did not like having his prey escape from him. The possibilities of attacking them at Tokyo Tower and winning at this time were zero, however, for they were within its guardian kekkai. So... if they would not come to him, he would go to them. Midori rested her head on her hands, watching the glass of water before her with dull eyes. Arisugawa and Sumeragi sat across from her, and the three of them waited for the waitress to return with their orders. "So, Miss, do you start all of your days like this?" the Osaka boy asked her. "Not if I can help it," Midori replied. She'd managed to clean the blood off of herself, and her skin wasn't broken in most places. It was only her hands, as the focal point of her power, that showed physical damage under the blood. There were blisters and cuts all over her raw hands. So they were lightly bandaged and hidden under a pair of white gloves. "Driving through a Dragon of Earth before even having breakfast isn't the best morning activity I can imagine, _especially_ when it makes me break one of the spells on my car. It's going to be nearly impossible to reconfigure the magical system so that it's balanced like before!" That did make Midori angry, and the anger woke her up; she'd spent the better part of her free time for a whole year working on her car to get it right. "What kind of magic do you use?" Arisugawa asked her. "It's nothing I've ever seen before, and I've seen plenty." "My own," Midori replied, raising a hand and letting a white-hot flame dance on her palm. "I never _learned_ magic; it's completely instinctual. My grandpa said that that was how it was for those of our bloodline who became members of our clan - the magic was natural." "And Sakurazukamori killed your parents," Sumeragi said, contributing to the conversation. "You said your car was a gift from your elder brother. Does he know of your quest for vengance?" "My brother doesn't even know the Clan of the Balancers exists," Midori replied, choosing her words carefully. "It is like Sakurazukamori; only passed to one within each generation, sometimes every other generation. Oniisan does not know of my intentions." The waitress arrived with their orders then, and there was no more conversation for a while. Seishirou could sense the location of the car that had confronted his dragon and won. Odd... it looked very much like Midori's. It was impossible, however, that his young sister be involved with all of this. She hadn't even the faintest concept that her brother was one of the Seven Minions, much less a notion that the End of the World was about to come. The two Seals and the third person were in a cafe at the base of the Tower; Seishirou could sense them, though he hid his own presence from them. There was time enough for a confrontation without having to be so crude as to interrupt his opponents during a meal. During his wait, Seishirou decided to go up to the observation deck. It had been a while since he saw the view from there. Sorata enjoyed the view from the base of the Tower. He hadn't thought that it would look so high. Toyuuki-san finished sipping down her miso soup, and looked at him. "Want to go up to the observation deck after breakfast?" she asked the two of them, correctly interpreting the look on Sorata's face. "I haven't been up there in years." "You're acting like this is a field trip," Sumeragi criticized. "Why not?" she retorted. "We're not under attack at the moment, and there doesn't appear to be a whole lot for us to do at the moment. Therefore, since we're at the Tower, why not go up to the observation deck?" "Yeah!" Sorata agreed. "Don't you know how to relax?" "... No," Sumeragi replied shortly. "... Besides, I have a feeling that we'll meet someone up there," Toyuuki-san said, tracing a figure eight on the table. "It might prove worthwhile to indulge the two of us and make a short trip, Sumeragi-san." "Really? Who?" Sorata asked, trying to sense anyone in or near the Tower who might have business with any of them. "Dunno," she replied, shrugging. "I just get these kicks of prescience sometimes, and they're seldom wrong." "If there is someone, they're cloaking themselves," Sorata said. "That makes it more interesting...." "Or there's no one at all, and she's imagining it," Sumeragi said. "No, I _can_ sense a cloak," Sorata said. "Dunno whose it is, though. I can't break through it." "Well, then, as we're all finished with breakfast, shall we go?" Toyuuki asked, lifting her napkin from her lap and re-folding it on the table. "Suits me fine," Sorata replied. Sumeragi followed them, silent and perhaps... pensive? Midori knew the instant she stepped off the elevator that she had made a mistake to come with the two Seals. Even though his back was to them, she knew her brother immediately. Her instincts screamed at her to run back into the elevator and get out of there, not to let him know that she was against him. The side of her that was the Balancer, though, stiffened her backbone and told her she had to confront him. She knew all his faults, and all that he was, but he was still her older brother... and Midori loved him. To hurt him like this, to betray him.... she whispered in her mind, to herself and him. She bit her lip hard to force back the tears. She was going to lose her last family now, through her own actions. Subaru watched Sakurazukamori as he turned towards them. "Seishirou-san," he greeted evenly. He wouldn't let his pain show through. He wouldn't let Seishirou know how much he hurt. "Subaru-kun," the Minion greeted calmly in reply, nodding to him. His gaze then shifted over to Arisugawa, recognizing him as another Seal. "I believe we've met." "Arisugawa Sorata," the Osaka youth replied, introducing himself. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it's not." "The same." Seishirou's gaze drifted over to the girl who stood behind them. "Mi- Midori?!" Subaru had never seen such an expression of shock cross Seishirou-san's face as he did now. Toyuuki pushed forward between the two of them. "Oniisan," she said simply. "_He's_ your older brother?!" Arisugawa demanded, expressing vocally that sudden shock which Subaru felt internally. "What are you doing with them, Midori?" Sakurazukamori asked, now completely ignoring the two Seals. "Do not take me as a child now, Oniisan," she replied. "I know everything. You are Sakurazukamori, one of the seven Minions, Dragon of Earth, and emotionless assassin." "I do not know what lies they have been filling your head with, Midori..." Seishirou started. "They have told me _nothing_, Oniisan," Toyuuki said, cutting him off. "Do not underestimate me. I have known for many years that it was you who killed both our parents. I am a part of all that happens between you and Sumeragi-san. I am Midori of the Toyuuki clan. I am the Balancer." "You are delusional," Seishirou said, obviously fighting what he knew to be true. "I am sorry," she replied. "I wish I did not have to know who and what you are. I would like to simply be your sister, but it is not fated. It was I who escaped you this morning, Oniisan. I am not against you; never think that - we are of the same blood, and some small part of you is Toyuuki, just as some part of me is Sakurazuka. But neither can I be for you. I am the balance, and I am sorry." "I need no one to be for me," Sakurazukamori replied, his heart hardening to the girl who had previously been his sister. "I no longer acknowledge you as my kin." "Then that is that," Midori replied, stepping closer to him. "Know now, and remember always, that I forgive thee." Her hand brushed against his cheek as she spoke in an archaic style that had always meant a sort of affection in their family. "Cold anger will not last forever, Seishirou-niisama. Thou wilt have always been my brother, when this is over." She paused, then said one last thing before turning and walking away. "Farewell, my brother." Sakurazukamori watched as she stepped into the elevator, and the doors closed behind her. Inside, he took the parts of his life that had been with her and locked them away in a little box marked "Midori". He set it next to the one marked "Subaru", and no longer bothered to feel anything for her.