Tokyo Babylon: Song
Part 7: Don't Turn Around


        Subaru had never known a cold fury like that which he felt now.  
Toyuuki was Sakurazukamori's sister.  How utterly convenient for her to never 
have mentioned that, to make him believe that she wanted to destroy her 
brother.  He kept his non-physical senses trained on her, tracking her.  It 
wasn't that hard to do; he could sense her blazing energy from miles away.  
Leaving the Tower, he caught a cab and directed the man carefully, following 
the woman until she stopped moving.  It was time they had a little 
confrontation, Toyuuki and he.

        Midori sat on the sand in front of her car, staring at the waves.  The 
hot day was starting to vanish into a hot night.  She slipped her gloves off 
and unwound the gauze that guarded her hands, staring morosely at the burns.  
"A sign of my own sin," she murmured.  "The evil of my own blood, cursing me... 
no, that's not true."  Midori sighed and drew her legs up to her chest, resting 
her chin on her knees.  "Sakurazuka is not evil... just a broken mentality 
passed from generation to generation.  I must detach.  I must remain 
objective.  I must never become involved in the killings or the blessings.  I 
must remain balanced between Sakurazuka and Sumeragi...."
        "To hell with your teachings, Ojiisan," she whispered to herself.  
"You had no idea how hard it would be for a Toyuuki who is half Sakurazuka, 
whose _elder brother_ is Sakurazukamori."
        Midori stared at her hands again, and knew she was not worthy of the 
responsibility that had been given to her.  Furious at herself, and at her own 
shortcomings, she buried her hands in the burning sand, whimpering at the wave 
of pain that the movement and the grating sand induced.  She then took the 
heat that burned at her from the sand, and channeled its warmth into her body, 
into her hands, feeling them heal of their own accord.  She was too sensible 
not to heal herself, not when so much of her power was activated by a dance of 
her hands.
        "I'm not in the mood for a lecture, Sumeragi-san," she said quietly 
when she heard a footstep behind her.  It was him; who else would have bothered 
following her out of Tokyo to this deserted beach?  "And I don't really want 
to talk to you, so you can go shove it."
        "You don't have a choice, Sakurazuka Midori," he replied.  "You'll be 
lucky if I don't kill you."
        "My name is _Toyuuki_ Midori," Midori said quietly.  "And what would 
your sister think if you killed me?"  She twisted to look up at Sumeragi.  "I 
am not who you would make me out to be.  I do want to end Sakurazukamori's 
line of destruction.  I have not lied to you in that respect."
        Sumeragi grabbed her shoulders and roughly hauled her to her feet, 
turning her to face him.  "His _sister_," he hissed angrily.  "Kimi wa 
Seishirou-san no imouto desu...."
        "Yes," Midori said softly, her anger gone, absorbed into Sumeragi's.  
"I am his sister.  This is something I can neither change nor deny."
        Sumeragi stared darkly into her eyes, then violently shoved her away 
from him.  Midori stumbled back slightly and braced herself against her car.  
"I accused you once of being like him.  I now see that that isn't so, could 
never be so.  You have far more anger and hatred burning through you than 
Sakurazukamori is capable of.  You are far more volatile, and more likely to 
destroy yourself and everyone around you."
        "I don't care," he replied, his eyes hard.
        "Then what do you care about?!" Midori demanded.  "Not yourself - you 
want to die.  Not your blood kin - you no longer care about being head of your 
clan.  So _what_ do you care for?!"  He didn't answer, so she drew breath and 
continued, gathering strength from his silence.  "You are even more filled with 
hatred and resentment than I ever was, and believe me, I had a lot.  I'd almost 
think that you should be a Minion more than a Seal, but then you'd be on the 
same side as him."
        At that, Sumeragi's eyes flared, then died down to a dull smoky look 
that Midori found impossible to read.  "Sakurazukamori's death is the one 
thing I care about," he finally said.
        Midori considered her options carefully.  "... Why?" she finally asked.
        Sumeragi began to answer, but Midori was far more intent upon actions 
than words, and moved swiftly to find out what she wanted to know.

        Toyuuki flowed towards him so quickly that Subaru barely had time to 
blink before her lips covered his.  Her hand braced the back of his head so 
that he couldn't jerk away.  Her lips were warm and soft against his open 
mouth, and her tongue ran delicately over his lips, tasting.  Caught off-guard, 
Subaru tensed, then found himself inexplicably relaxing into her kiss.  Like 
she was safe....
        Toyuuki's eyes looked darkly into his as she drew away.  "I see," she 
said ominously.  "So, I'm not the only one who hasn't been telling the whole 
truth."
        Subaru, still dazed by the firm kiss, answered her by asking "What?"
        "You taste of him," Toyuuki replied.  "Your lips taste of his, and 
don't tell me it's because you smoke the same brand of cigarettes.  How close 
_were_ you to my brother, Sumeragi Subaru?"
        Subaru felt a flash of dislike for this girl burn through him again.  
"None of your business," he replied.
        "I think it is," she said, eyes narrow.  "You were his lover, weren't 
you?"
        Subaru refused to answer.
        She frowned, then reached forward with a hand that showed none of the 
injuries Subaru had seen earlier.  It moved gently into Subaru's chest.  He 
felt only a slight numbing of the area, and wondered what she was doing that 
her hand and his flesh occupied the same space.  Didn't that disobey some law 
of physics or other?

        Midori reached into Subaru's chest, her power flexing automatically 
into form and shape, letting her touch the connection that existed between 
conciousness and the mortal figure.  She did not wish to sever the connection; 
that was fatal, irreversible.  Instead, she watched, seeking, sifting through 
his memories until she found what she wished to find.
        Memories of sweet passion.
        "I am sorry," Midori said quietly, withdrawing her hand from his body.  
It felt like taking her hand out of a pool of tepid water.  "For your pain, I 
am sorry."
        A wall of energy slammed into her, and Midori fell back against her 
car.  "_That_ is none of your concern," Sumeragi hissed.  "Stay out of my way, 
and stay out of my life!"
        "_Fuck_ your feelings of betrayal!" Midori retorted angrily, slamming 
her hand down onto the hood of her car.  "Do you even _know_ anything about 
either him or me?!  Do you have any _idea_ what it means to be raised as a 
Sakurazuka?!  I was trained for the first seven years of my life to feel 
_nothing_!  And I was the second child!  I wasn't even expected to take the 
clan title - I don't want to know what it was like for Oniisan."  She watched 
Sumeragi through narrowed eyes.  "I remember my mother coming into my room 
late at night," she hissed venemously, "I remember what happened.  I was 
molested and raped by my own mother for _years_.  I have spent most of my life 
in counseling.  My brother never got help: he's so screwed up that he has no 
_choice_ but to be Sakurazukamori!"
        "You are a first-class liar," Sumeragi said, having moved closer while 
she spoke.  His face was millimeters from hers, and very nearly a complete 
mask of hostile disbelief.  "I won't believe a word you say."
        Furious, Midori raised her right hand to slap him.  He caught it easily 
with his left.  Her other hand flew up as well, and he caught that too.  
Midori's eyes narrowed.  "You leave yourself open," she informed him coldly, 
one knee drifting up to rest between his legs.  "One move, and you'll be on 
the ground.  I'm told it's a very unique pain... would you prefer to experience 
it, or to release me?"
        "You wouldn't."
        "I am half Sakurazuka," Midori reminded him coldly.  "I can do anything 
I damn well please.  Make your choice, Sumeragi," she dared him.  "See if I'll 
go through with it."

        Subaru watched the woman for a second, then decided that she would 
carry through on her threat if he didn't let her go.  He slowly released her 
wrists.
        "Thank you," Toyuuki said politely, her leg drifting down from its 
threatening position.  "Now, shall we discuss this like rational people or 
not?"
        "You're his sister," Subaru replied shortly.
        "Which gives me a motive, and a dual advantage-disadvantage," she said 
with an exasperated sigh.  "Sumeragi-san, is it even possible for you to 
conceive that I might be telling you the truth?  _I'm not him_."
        Could he believe her, when she'd already proven herself to be expert 
at concealing truths?  Subaru didn't know.  He just didn't know....
        She watched him carefully.  "I have seen the remnants within you, 
within your memories, of the boy my brother destroyed," she said quietly.  "I 
was not there to hold the balance in check, so I owe you.  _I will repay that 
balance, Sumeragi-san... if it is the last thing I do_."

*********
Ojiisan: grandfather.  Oniisan: elder brother.  Imouto: younger sister.  As 
for the child molestation idea in this chapter... this story told itself to 
me.  And from what I learned in my Advanced Human Sexuality class, some of 
Sei-chan's personality traits do very much fit the results of molestation....