Xandra (xandrabelle@hotmail.com) and Midorino Mizu (midorinomizu@yahoo.com) present:
Subaru, Seishirou and the Hokkaido Getaway
Disclaimer: Subaru, Seishirou and Hokuto are all the property of CLAMP, which was a sad fate for them, because they suffered a lot. But we don’t own them and we’re not profiting from them, so please, direct all praise to CLAMP for creating such wonderful characters.
Summary: Sumeragi Subaru's work takes him to the far northern island of Hokkaido. Naturally, Hokuto and Seishirou insist on accompanying him. The resulting high jinks are typical of any Tokyo Babylon story.
Chapter 1
Sumeragi Subaru loved the quiet days. He just didn’t get them very often. And today was no exception.
The day had begun peacefully for one reason only-- Hokuto had overslept. So Subaru woke up, quietly dressed in one of his favorite winter-weather outfits, and made his own breakfast. Then he got his twin up so she could rush to her classes at CLAMP Campus.
He skipped again, because he had a job.
It was fairly straightforward, and no problems arose with it, so by lunchtime he was done and headed back to CLAMP Campus to pick Hokuto up for lunch. His grandmother had left him a message on his pager, but Subaru figured he could easily return the call when they got to Seishirou-san's office for their lunch.
That was a mistake.
“Yes, Grandmother." That was what he found himself saying over and over when he found the time to call her.
Hokuto scowled at the corner where Subaru was bowing to thin air, and then sighed and continued to set the plates. She rarely overslept, preferring instead to greet life with as much energy as possible, but this morning she had slept in, and it meant she'd had no time to make breakfast...or find the time to force her brother back into his bedroom to change into a far more fashionable outfit (or so she considered). Fortunately, she'd made lunch for three the night before, and packed it neatly into a huge bento box, which Subaru had obligingly picked up from their apartment before he met her.
Now her younger brother was standing in a corner of the room, talking with their grandmother for the past half hour, and virtually ignoring poor Sei-chan.
Really, did she have to do all the work?
However, just as she turned to berate her brother for spending excessive time on his Clan duties, and not telling their Grandmother that enough was enough and he needed to eat lunch, four words tumbled out of Subaru’s mouth that made her green eyes widen and gleam.
"The job's in Hokkaido?!"
The young thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan had no idea his twin had perked up or he would have been alarmed. He was listening far too intently to the details his grandmother was giving him. A job to Japan’s northern island was unusual and would require him to be absent from Tokyo for a while. That meant that either it was very important, or the people requesting his aid were well connected and powerful. It was how things usually worked.
“Yes, of course,” he said, “I understand, Grandmother,” he continued, bowing to her non-existent form one last time before bidding her goodbye and hanging up.
After scribbling all the details down, Subaru tore the uppermost sheet of paper from the borrowed notepad and turned around. Two pairs of expectant eyes forced him to take a step back. There was something in their expression that was so similar—almost as if they were plotting identical mischief. He’d believe it of his sister, but not of Seishirou-san…
“I have a new job,” he explained lamely.
The reply from his sister made him cringe further back, from the sheer volume of her excitement.
“What is this about Hokkaido?” Hokuto exclaimed as she bounced up and down with impatience.
Sakurazuka Seishirou smiled warmly, showing his interest. “Yes, tell us about it, Subaru-kun. I hope you’re not going to leave us?” he asked smoothly, his voice full of concern.
Subaru gulped. “U-uh, well, Seishirou-san,” Oh, this was going to be difficult. Not only did Hokuto have that frighteningly recognizable gleam in her eye, but Seishirou was now looking at him in that particular way... the way that made his heart flutter just a tiny bit.
They were not going to let him alone until he told them everything.
With a deep sigh, Subaru dropped down in a chair and stared at the onigiri packed into a star shape in Hokuto’s lunch box. “I have a job,” he repeated listlessly. “It’s in the Mt. Asahi region of Hokkaido.” Desperately he tried to think of ways to forestall Hokuto’s inevitable insistence that she should go along.
“They’ve claimed some kind of spiritual phenomena at a resort area, but grandmother believes that foul play is involved.” He pinned his sister and Seishirou-san with a desperately sincere look and tried to pre-empt them. “It’s really too dangerous a situation for me to bring you along.”
He should have known it was no use. The gleam in Hokuto’s eyes only increased. “I’m certain that you can solve it, Subaru. After all,” she said, with an appropriately dramatic pause. “You are Japan’s Most Powerful Onmyouji!
“I’ll have to come along, of course,” she continued quickly. “You forget to eat during the best of circumstances; I can only imagine what this would do to you.” She smiled slyly at Seishirou, who winked surreptitiously back at her. “Sei-chan, you can come along, right? I’d be so lonely if I had to wait for Subaru all day long by myself. And I’m sure my little brother would be so depressed if you were far away from each other.”
“Neesan!” squeaked Subaru in protest. “I’m sure Seishirou-san’s much too busy…”
“Oh, on the contrary,” drawled Seishirou with a bright smile. “I’ve been meaning to take a vacation and Hokkaido in winter sounds ideal.”
Subaru sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He could never prevail against the two of them. The strange thing was that he didn’t mind. He was too fond of both his sister and his friend to deny them anything. Besides, he was secretly glad they were coming. By nature, he was a quiet teenager, and he’d been unable to stop his heart from thumping nervously when his grandmother told him about this job. It was always good to go to a faraway place with people he could count on.
“Yo-You really want to come with me? It might not be safe,” Subaru stammered, trying to discourage them one last time.
Hokuto waved the concern off, making a scoffing noise.
Seishirou though, stood up and walked over to Subaru. Laying a hand on his shoulder, he smiled benignly at him, saying, “If it’s not safe, then I definitely will have to come with you. Otherwise I’d never forgive myself if the love of my life needed me and I wasn’t there!”
The young onmyouji was unable to find an appropriate answer to that. He blushed crimson and stammered. “I-I-I…” Seishirou couldn’t possibly be referring to him as the love of his life--it was impossible! Subaru firmly convinced himself that his friend had a strange sense of humor and merely enjoyed teasing him far too much.
Seishirou took that as consent. “Then it’s settled. Tell us
more about what the situation is about? Why do they need you in Hokkaido?” he asked,
while giving Subaru a mug of tea with his free hand.
“Yeah, Subaru!” cheered Hokuto. “It wouldn’t do for Sei-chan and I to be left
in the dark!”
She loaded a plate full of food and shoved it at her brother. Hokuto was always concerned for her brother’s health, even in her most excited moments. “Eat. And explain.”
To pacify his sister, Subaru took a large bite out of one of the rice balls, chewed and swallowed, and then slowly started to speak.
“In the Mt. Asahi area, there are several onsen, but only one modern ski resort. It’s fairly new, only open a couple of seasons, but it’s been immensely popular so far.
“However, when it opened for the winter season last month, it started experiencing… problems.”
“What kind of problems?” Seishirou interjected smoothly. “You’re obviously not talking about the financial sort.”
“N-no. The problems have been rather varied, actually. Some of the employees and guests have claimed to see ghosts, and there have been several near accidents on the ski slopes.”
“So why,” piped Hokuto as she sipped her tea, “does Grandmother think that there’s foul play involved? It sounds a lot like a regular haunting situation and a simple exorcism that you’ve done lots of times before.”
“Well, Hokuto-chan,” explained Seishirou. “The key is in the variety. Spirits tend to haunt one rather contained space, or if they move around, they’re keyed to an object. It’s very unusual that a genuine phenomenon would act widely around a resort and mountain area like this.
“Particularly,” he added, “Since the resort opened over some rather vehement protests. But I’m sure that Subaru-kun will be able to get to the bottom of this. He’s so talented, after all.” That last was said with a genuine appreciative smile.
“Yes,” added Hokuto. “He is. But don’t worry, Sei-chan, I’m sure that he loves you anyway, even if you are a normal veterinarian.”
“Do you think so?” asked Seishirou, his face a cast of hope.
“Oh, yes. I’m definitely sure that he’ll make you a wonderful wife.”
Subaru ducked his head over his plate to hide his bright red cheeks. He’d failed to dissuade them from coming, but he wasn’t entirely surprised. Hokuto rarely let go once she got an idea in her head.
Still, Seishirou would be there, so maybe she wouldn’t get in too much trouble, trying to keep on eye on him.
Then again, he thought as they started debating on what color kimono he should wear to his eventual wedding, Seishirou-san’s presence might end up making things more difficult.
The young onmyouji turned his attention to his lunch, eating with a fierce concentration. Sometimes he wanted to tell them that he was right there, when they were discussing him, but he was afraid that it would only make things worse. Besides, it looked like they were having far too much fun to stop, even if he asked it of them—not that he would of course. Deny it though he might, deep inside, he loved the camaraderie that they’d fallen into. So he stayed silent and let their happy chatter warm his heart.
Notes:
An onsen is a hot springs spa. We’re not sure if there’s really a ski resort at Mt Asahi, but well tourist websites of the area recommending skiing activities, so its very likely there’s one.
Subaru is being unmercifully teased in this fic, but it’s exactly how we love Tokyo Babylon, so we’re not sorry at all. ^__^
Oh yes, this story should be set in the early tankubons of Tokyo Babylon, probably as early as just after Babel, although the season doesn’t quite fit, but we’re taking some creative license here.
Xandra’s fics can be found at Butterfly Dreams (http://www.midnightrevolution.org/xandra)
And Mizu’s fics can be found at shadow-truths
(http://www.emphatic-meow.com/fiction.html)
Chapter 2