Tokyo Babylon: Song
Part 10: Kiss From A Rose


        Subaru's heartbeat was slow and steady, a comforting sound to Midori's 
ears.  Her fingers whispered on his bare skin, touching.  This was so sweet, 
the feeling of just lying next to him, being next to someone in the middle of 
the night.  This was wonderful, this feeling of peace.
        Midori looked at Subaru's peaceful, sleeping, face.  She gently 
reached out with her mind and brushed his dreams lightly, feeling his 
murmurings of colors and drifting sensations of touch.  Sighing softly, so as 
not to wake him, Midori touched her fingers to his hair.
        "I could almost fall in love with you," Midori whispered.
        She slid out from under the covers and found one of Subaru's robes 
lying on a chair.  She slipped it on, feeling the soft silk caress her bare 
skin, and walked to the balcony, looking out on the midnight city below her 
feet.  "Midori... what are you doing?" she asked herself.  "Sleeping with 
Subaru... becoming involved with Seals and Minions and the End of the 
World...."
        She sighed and cinched the belt of the robe tighter.  "I'm going 
crazy," she announced to herself.  "And if I'm not, then I should be."
        There was another pause, and Midori listened to the city humming 
below her feet.
        "I'm doing the best I can," she said softly, answering her own 
question.  "I'm not a hero; I'm human.  I make mistakes.  I don't think that 
making love with Subaru was a mistake, but I'm not sure it's what I need to be 
doing."  Midori waited, listening within herself to see if the part that made 
her the Balancer would answer and help her like it did sometimes.  It remained 
silent.
        Midori sighed and rested her hand on her palm.  "Leaving me to deal 
with this all on my own, huh?" she asked.  She didn't get an answer, which 
hardly surprised her.  "But I'm in too deep now to get out.  I have to see 
this through to the end...."
        Midori sighed again.  "Damn destiny.  Damn Sakurazukamori.  Damn 
Toyuuki.  Damn Sumeragi.  I wasn't _made_ to die this soon!"  A cold tear 
rolled down her cheek, curved around under her chin, and dropped off into 
space.  "I should never have been the Chosen One.  I'm not strong enough for 
it; I'm barely strong enough to live, let alone to be brave enough to die.  
All that damage I managed to work though, and it turns out to be the future, 
not the past, which threatens my sanity."
        She reflected for a moment, then laughed.  "I don't think I've cried 
as much in the past fifteen years as I have in the past day.  And I suppose... 
I'll do what I have to."  Midori shook her head.  "I can't think too much, or 
I'll just jump off this balcony to avoid having to face it."  She turned, 
after one last look at the beautiful Tokyo skyline, and went back to bed.

        Subaru opened his eyes as the pre-dawn light slowly brightened the 
room.  He felt incredibly relaxed, somehow.  His dreams had been silent of 
voices and void of memories for the first time in years.  The washes of colors 
and sound that had replaced them were cool and soothing to his mind.  A gentle 
weight shifted in the hollow of his shoulder, and he curled his arm around the 
female figure that nestled up to his side.  Somehow she had brought him this 
peace.
        Subaru shifted his head to the side to look at her.  In her sleep, 
Midori looked far younger than her actual years.  She seemed as delicate as a 
child as she slept trustingly next to him.  But that had been no child, last 
night....
        Midori breathed softly as he eased her down onto a pillow, turning 
over on his side to study her closer.  Her black hair shimmered over the white 
fabric below her, as smooth and silky as Subaru remembered his own being, when 
he and his sister had made a point of being identical to each other.  How long 
was her hair, anyway?  He'd slept with her, and he couldn't even remember.  He 
remembered her eyes, though, pale silver, paler even in the moonlight, shining 
as tears nearly spilled over.
        He smiled softly, and was surprised to find out that he still could.  
Midori had said the night before that she could heal anyone; she had obviously 
done something for him, possibly without even realizing it.  "Midori..." 
Subaru murmured softly, touching her cheek.  "Thank you."
        Subaru slipped out from under the covers and looked out the window.  
There was at least another half hour before the sun rose... the sun that Midori 
had compared herself to.  He pulled on a robe and wandered into the other room, 
picking up the phone as a thought occured to him.  "Hello, Room Service," 
someone on the other end answered.  "How may I help you?"
        "... Breakfast for two, please," Subaru asked.  "Can you deliver it to 
room 3108 in about a half hour?"

        Yuuto watched as Satsuki 'made love' to her machines.  For such a cold 
girl, it was a remarkably sensual act.  But then, Kanoe-san had once remarked 
that the only thing Satsuki-chan truly loved was her machines.
        "Find anything?" he asked her.
        "The vehicle is registered to one Toyuuki Midori," Satsuki replied 
calmly.  "It was purchased for her, however, by one Sakurazuka Seishirou, her 
elder brother by nine years.  Interestingly enough, there is no trace of anyone 
having seen her driving skills yesterday."
        "'Sakurazuka'?" Yuuto asked, resting his head on one hand.  "As in, 
'Sakurazukamori'?"
        "In all likelihood," Satsuki agreed, detatching herself from 'The 
Beast'.
        "It might not pay to chase her, then, Satsuki-chan," Yuuto commented.  
"Crossing Sakurazukamori might not be worth it."
        "Have you found another of the Seven Minions, Satsuki?" a smooth voice 
asked from the doorway to the chamber.  Kanoe entered, looking, as always, 
Yuuto thought, like she had either just left or was getting ready to tumble 
into someone's bed.  Fortunately, she held no attraction for him.  Minion 
though he might be, a viper was still a viper, and he had no wish to mix his 
business with his pleasure.
        "Sakurazuka Seishirou," Satsuki began, repeating her information for 
Kanoe's benefit.  "Registered veterinarian, Tokyo native for most of his life.  
His parents were both murdered seventeen years ago, and his sole surviving 
relative is his younger sister, Toyuuki Midori, who managed to escape the 
Dragon of Earth that Yuuto-san, Sakurazukamori, one other, and I managed to 
create yesterday.  She had two of the Seals with her at the time."
        "It might be worthwhile to keep an eye on this 'Midori', then," Kanoe 
said thoughtfully.  "Do you know where she is now, Satsuki?"
        "There has been nothing to lead me to her," Satsuki dutifully 
reported.  "If she's aware that I'm tracking her, she'll avoid being noticed.  
However, she has registered credit cards, and she'll use them sooner or later."
        "You've done an excellent job, Satsuki," Kanoe complimented.  "Perhaps 
she may be of use to us, who knows?"

        Midori opened her eyes as a weight settled on her lap.  "Breakfast," 
explained Subaru, looking at her from the other side of the lap tray.  Midori 
considered this for a second, then carefully scooted back until she was sitting 
up, her breasts covered for modesty's sake by the sheet.
        "Did you... sleep well?" she asked cautiously, not quite sure of how 
to approach someone in whose arms she had spent the night, crying out in 
passion.
        "Very well," he replied softly, sitting by her feet.  "And you?"
        "I dreamt," Midori answered.  "I think I saw 'Kamui,' but I can't 
remember what he looked like."
        "You believe that the End of the World is coming?" Subaru asked her, 
buttering a piece of toast and handing it to her.
        Midori accepted the cooked bread and considered her answer.  
"Historically and mythologically, changes of centuries and millenia have been 
feared.  Many 'true' prophets have foreseen great disaster as the world nears 
the twenty-first century, and many great structures of the ancient world hint 
that the Earth will End soon.  However, I do not want to believe this.  I want 
to believe that it is only a possibility that they see.  I think," she said 
carefully, "that it is a Choice to be made, not only by 'Kamui', but by the 
Minions and Seals, and those around them."
        "And what part do you play in it?" he questioned.
        His eyes asked Midori an honest question, and it almost seemed that he 
had forgotten about Sakurazuka, Sumeragi, and Toyuuki for once.
        "I balance the forces of emotion and emptiness," she replied quietly, 
speaking to him the words which had never been spoken to his clan.  "I keep 
Sakurazukamori and Sumeragi equal, as my predecessors have always done.  You 
are, or should be, perfect emotion, and my brother should be perfectly empty.  
What he did to you damaged that, made you block part of what you feel.  You 
and my brother are both parts of the Choice which will decide the Fate of this 
world, and all things must be kept even between you, now more than ever.  You 
need to care again, Subaru."
        "Are you only with me because of this balance?"
        "No," Midori answered instantly.  "That I am not."  She set the toast 
down on the mini-table and leaned towards Subaru, looking intently into his 
eyes.  "I am here now, and I spent last night with you, not because the Balance 
is owed to you but because _I_ wanted to be here with you.  Subaru... I can 
understand what I have to on an intellectual level, and I _know_ it is true, 
but I live in this world, in this reality...."  Midori reached out and touched 
the back of his hand.  "What I do is my choice, and choosing to spend the 
night with you was no part of the Balance.  It was something both of us needed, 
and that was why I made the choice... _not_ because of the Balance."

        Subaru waited a moment before speaking, analyzing what Midori had 
said.  "I felt calmer waking up this morning than I remember being during any 
time in the past six years," he started slowly.  "Your brother has ruined my 
life... I think you are giving it back to me."
        Midori shook her head softly.  "Ojiisan said that I healed just by 
existing, and he wasn't lying.  It's nothing that I deserve thanks for."  She 
hesitated, then asked, "Will you say my name?"
        "Midori," Subaru answered, wondering why she asked.
        She smiled.  "I thought you'd decide to call me by that name now."
        Subaru shook his head in amused disbelief.  "Names are that important 
to you?"
        "What you name a thing, it is," Midori replied, completely serious.  A 
golden star slowly lit in her palm as it touched the back of Subaru's hand.  
His own star markings flared in response.  "He's looking for us," she said in 
a soft whisper as she looked at their hands.  "I don't want him to find us, not 
yet..." she continued, looking up at him.
        "Then we won't let him," Subaru assured her.