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Behind Bars	By : Meirav Category: +S to Z > X/1999 Views: 3356 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X/1999, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Behind Bars
- 2-Part 2
- 3-part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 4
- 5
- 6
Disclaimer: I do not own X. the Prison is mine
though and is based (in name only) on a prison over here. Pochi
Project was something I saw on Oz. the song belongs to The Cure.

Author�s notes: the ranks of wardens here
go by military ranks as it is over here anyways. Plus I�ve aged characters who
in X are too young to fill in the roles of this story.

Author�s Thanks:
To my beta, Kitsunia. To R chan from
AFF.net (oh yes they get dangerously close to each other and guess what, this
chapter you�ll finally see what happened in the basement all this time!), to
Nancy of AFF.net (thank you!!), Hikari Black from
FF.net (thank you! You�ll get some of the Hokuto-ness in this chapter), Stapler
of FF.net (ah the basement�.buhahahahaha) and to Elf Asato who commented on my Lj (Kamui�s not a bitch, he�s a slut, there�s a difference. Ah
what conversation you ask? Well, this chapter will answer that question ne?)

Author�s notes: ah, finally the S/S chapter
you�ve all been waiting for. Tee hee. DDR music rocks
my world, oh the shame, the shame. And this chapter�s S/S goodness is dedicated
to the lovely Whitesakura.

Warning: bad, bad, dirty language and mild
lime.

*******************************************************

Part 5

�Subaru�Subaru�Subaru�Subaru!�

Subaru
blinked the daydream away and looked up at his sister.

Hokuto
was already in her uniforms, house key in hand, hands on her hips and an
impatient foot tapping the floor rhythmically. �You aren�t even half ready for
work and we�ve only got ten more minutes before we need to leave�

�Ah�sorry,
I didn�t notice.� He shot to his feet, emptying his tea cup as he ran from the
kitchen to the bathroom and locking the door behind him as he prepared the
toothbrush.

Hokuto
sighed and picked up the cup from the shelf where her brother left it lodged.
If it weren�t for her Subaru would have probably forgotten himself in the
middle of a zebra crossing and would get himself killed by a car ages ago.

Seriously,
it felt like she was dragging her brother by the hand all her life instead of
growing besides him like twins should.

Since
they joined the warden police it had only gotten worse. Subaru used to be the
quiet type who would leap to action in the right moment, the guy with enough
brains but a stoic behaviour to keep it from bursting as arrogance, the
dreaming poet type.

And
he still is; only now he�s too quiet, too stoic, and too dreamy.

Hokuto
wondered what had happened to her brother that would make him slowly drown
himself in this dark depression.

No,
she knew what made him drown in the depression. Subaru was gay and he was
afraid of admitting it to anyone or showing it to a potential boyfriend.

She
tried telling him that it was okay by her and that if anyone so much as look at
him the wrong way he should ignore them. But Subaru didn�t listen, or listened
and forgot about it the next moment.

She
could see him scanning the handsome men walking past them with sad longing eyes
but never getting up to do anything about it.

She
dragged him to a gay club once but Subaru screamed the first time someone
touched him. He screamed. She heard him from across the room (where a
lovely witty woman made her doubt her own sexual tendencies) and couldn�t
believe it.

What
made him cringe from a loving touch? What made him fear the acceptance of the
one thing that could make him happy?

She
knew the answer to that too. He had the self-esteem of an abused wife. Why? She
never knew.

No,
she knew that as well. Late at night when she couldn�t sleep and the only thing
left for her brain to do was to dig deep into her soul, she knew. Whenever she
looked at old pictures of the two of them, she knew.

She
was the lively one, the one blooming with self-confidence, the active, and the
loud. He was the shy one, the stoic, and the gloomy one. They completed each
other, which was nice, like Ying and Yang.

That
would make sense if they were lovers but they weren�t. They were twins and if
she has all the energy and he lacks it then she stole it from him. She floated
by him in their mother�s womb and sucked all the life out of him like a
mosquito, like a vampire.

Was
that why she insisted upon making him live his life to the fullest? Because she
was trying to clear her conscience?

Subaru
emerged from the bathroom, uniforms on, hair brushed, shoes on.

�You
need to shave Subaru.�

He
ran his long delicate fingers on his cheek and winced. �It�s not that obvious
is it?�

�I
don�t know, I wouldn�t mind, Karen-chan is my commander.�

Subaru
shot back to the bathroom. Captain Aoki was not someone you can test the patience
of over such matters.

�Make
it snappy Subaru, we�re almost late.�

What
will it take to light a spark in her brother?

*****************

Of
course it wasn�t as bad as Hokuto imagined it.

Subaru
did not see himself as devoid of life, as too stoic or sad, or even miserable.
He saw himself as�well�

He
never bothered to think of himself that much really. He drifted wherever life
lead him and did what people told him. That�s it.

He
knew he was lonely whenever Hokuto said, �Goodbye! Don�t stay up waiting for
me, ohohohoho!� When she went out to a party at
Saturday night. He knew he was empty whenever she babbled about the latest
boyfriend and he could only listen instead of share.

He
drifted through life because he couldn�t find something to hold on to and
stable himself. Nothing was important enough to pay that kind of attention to.
Nothing was special.

Sure,
he liked the handsome boys walking past him, but he never found in himself the
will to get up and start a conversation because it didn�t seem worth the
bother.

He
was comfortable in his little bubble, untouched and undisturbed. He went to
sleep in his own time, he sat by the computer in his hours, watched whatever he
wanted on the television and that was quite enough for him.

The
man who touched him in that humiliating gay club only proved to him that his
bubble feels painful to burst.

To
walk over to someone and ask them out is a risk; what if they�ll say no? What
if they�ll take him on as a sex toy and nothing more? What if it�ll end in tears?

Subaru
dug himself so deep into his comfortable little den that it almost collapsed on
him, making it his tomb.

He
was like the famous hobbit that sat comfortably in his house refusing to get
out.

Like
that character, all Subaru need was a wizard to give him a slight nudge out of
the door, into adventure and finally into the dragon�s lair.

**********************

�Ne, Lt. Sumeragi, I need to talk to you about
something for a minute.�

He placed a cigarette between his lips and followed
Sgt. Sorata to the smoking corner where the underling would give him the
important message.

�Lt. Segawa came down with an awful flue and we ran
out of officers to watch the guy you know?�

Subaru nodded. He had to have his first shift in the
basement sometime didn�t he?

�I see, that�s fine. My shift starts now?�

�Yeah, Lt. Segawa tried to go down to the basement but
he fainted from the fever, you know how hardworking he is, he didn�t succumb to
the disease until it came and grabbed him real hard!�

�I see.�

�So, it should be real easy and you can smoke there
you know.�

�Very well. Goodbye then Sgt.� he said before he
walked down the steps to the basement.

Sorata gave him a lazy solute and scurried off to
whatever other business he had.

Subaru finished his cigarette, emptied his teacup and
left it on a random table he found on his way to the basement.

As he walked down the stairs to the underground ward
he noted the strange silence around him. Not just around him, in his head too.
The calm before the storm.

As he opened the door to the basement the sounds of
music broke the silence.

Pr. Saiki was a nervous young man, so constantly
agitated and neurotic that behind his back they called him Woody Allen. When he
was extremely nervous he�d fidget with the nearby radio, CD or MP3 player, and
shoot sounds into the air.

When there weren�t any of those around he�d hum, or
sing softly (and horribly; he was criminally tone-deaf) or tap a table (or wall
or chair or a nearby coworker�s shoulder) with his fingers. Anything for some
background noise.

What he had to distract himself from with sounds, no
one ever knew, and he refused to tell.

Maybe Kotori would manage to coax it out of him. There
was a rumor that he is her biggest project. But rumors are only rumors.

Saiki turned the music so loud Subaru had to shout at
him to silence it. Not because he was angry with the private but because it was
the only way to be heard over the loud music. It wasn�t even music really; the
reception in the basement was so bad that half of the sounds were static white
noise.

Subaru cringed at the sound of his own voice as Saiki
finally turned the radio off and his shouts were heard clearly.

�Sorry sir.� The private saluted. �He�s all yours.�
Saiki leaped to his feet from his chair (which he placed with his back to Sakurazuka�s cell) and retreated from his stand.

�Pr. Saiki.�

��Y-yes sir?�

�Next time you�re in a shift here you will not turn
your back to the prisoner, you will keep your eye on him; that is your role in
this sort of shifts.�

�But sir I was only here for the few minutes until
they�ll find a replacement for Keiichi�oh�they did find a replacement right?
You didn�t come down here to tell me to stay here right?�

Saiki was sweating, his fingers fidgeting in the air
madly.

Subaru�s voice was cold as ice, calm, monotonous and
emotionless. �It doesn�t matter how long you are to stay here, you will do your
duty on its best side. Is that clear?�

�Yes sir.�

�Very well. Now go upstairs, I will take over for
now.�

�Yes sir, thank you sir.� As he climbed up the stairs
Subaru could still hear him mutter to himself of how this place gave him the
creeps and that damned wizard made his stomach turn. On and on he went until
the door was shut.

Subaru would have recommended Cp. Aoki to send pr.
Saiki to a paid leave for a few days or months or years due to his slight
mental incapability if he wasn�t so uncertain of his own normality.

Then the basement around him sunk in and the thoughts
disappeared.

�When you enter a shift with Sakurazuka you have to
bear in mind that he is something completely different then anything you�ve
ever known. Treat him with respect and he will treat you with respect.�

Subaru shuddered.

He could feel the man�s eyes on him.

Slowly, reluctantly, he turned his head to return the
look.

The tall dark man stood in his cell to his right,
hands in his pants� pockets, a slackened stance, empty expression. Eyes
fiercely locked on him.

Subaru tore his gaze off of the prisoner. He walked
over to his cubicle and sat down. Brewing himself a cup of coffee, he lit a
cigarette. He smoked it while drinking his coffee.

He smoked another cigarette two hours later.

He flipped through some of the magazines scattered on
the table. He fumbled with the radio until he found a stable station that
played decent music.

He smoked another cigarette two hours later.

The radio began playing sunset time music, which was
pleasant, and Subaru�s eyes started slipping to the ceiling to find something
to occupy his mind.

He smoked his last cigarette for that shift two hours
later.

Second Lt. Magami, the only woman in the men�s ward,
who came to man the next shift complained about the thick smoke in the basement
as she entered the large hall.

All those cigarettes and Subaru forgot to open the
window.

He apologized and got up to leave.

This wasn�t so bad you know, this whole guarding �the
Sakurazuka beast�. It was a piece of cake in fact. He didn�t know why so many
people get agitated from the thought of doing that shift. Maybe they�re afraid
of him because of what he�s done to get himself in a cell. Nonsense.

Subaru walked past the work chart and stopped. He
turned to the wall and the large chart hung on it, thoughts slowly stirring in
his mind.

If it were so easy, why wouldn�t he do it more?

He stared at the names under the shifts at the
basement. Saiki and Segawa.

Saiki was nuts. He�ll talk to his commander and give
the poor boy a few leaves. That�ll make room in the chart.

Segawa was ill; he needed a good rest. That�d make
more room.

Taking the eraser in his hand, Subaru began clearing
out the black marker kanji from the white plastic board. He switched the names
around a bit so that no one will end up in the basement after a whole shift
upstairs and no one will have that shift before going home.

He left four holes unmanned in the chart. He would
write his name in those, as soon as the flashes would stop dancing before his
eyes. Flashes of the shift he just had.

His�eyes�were�on�him�non-stop.

They never left him. They never moved. He never
moved. He just stood there and stared at him without moving for eight straight
hours.

And when Subaru turned around a little to shoot a last
glance at the prisoner he caught the sight of a tiny amused grin on Sakurazuka�s face.

Or was it a predatory snarl?

Maybe an affectionate warm smile?

It could have easily been a canceling, mocking smirk.

What was up with that? His heart is beating in his
chest wildly.

He took the black marker and wrote his name in the
four empty boxes.

Those eyes haunted him in his dreams for the first
time that night.

***********************

If there�s one thing Subaru hated more then anything,
shopping was it.

The thing he hated the most after that is when his
sister nagged him not to smoke.

He�d let her have her way with him in the shops but
when it was time to pay he left his credit card with her and fled out to try
and get a few drafts of nicotine.

Hokuto always spotted him and finished the paying and
packing as quickly as possible.

By the end of the shopping spree Subaru had such a
headache he thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

�Ah! Shall we check out that shop?�

�No Hokuto-chan, please no.�

�Aw, but there are really nice things there��

�I said no, please Hokuto-chan.�

�But we only got you five pairs of pants and ten
shirts.�

�And that�s not enough?�

�Hell no Subaru! You�re forgetting that�.�

�That I have to be back at Sharonza in three more
hours?�

��Three more hours Subaru�?�

�One hour of driving, one hour for the making and
eating of lunch.�

�Ah, that leaves you with an extra hour, no excuse for
you now, eh?�

Subaru took a deep breath and tried to calm the
buzzing between his ears.

�Hokuto-chan, I might have some paper work in the
office��

�Do it during your shift. You�re in the basement today
aren�t you?�

�I�m not supposed to be distracted by anything during
my shifts Hokuto-chan! Especially not during the basement ones!�

�Subaruuuuu.�

�Hokuto-chan, enough!�

His sister blinked at him. He never yelled at her, not
since they were children anyway and even then it was only playfully.

�What the�?�

�That�s what you get when you deprive a man of his
precious cigarettes okay?� He tore the shopping bags from her hand and began
stomping his way back to their home.

�Well you shouldn�t smoke anyway! You aught to thank
me for helping you kick the habit,� she screamed after him, enraged.

Just as angry, he spun around and barked; �When
I�ll want to quit the cigarettes, Hokuto, I�ll quit by myself, in my own
time!�

He left her dumbstruck in the street, people passing
by her shooting short glances at the tiny soap opera for free.

She wanted to be mad at him but she couldn�t help
feeling a little happy that he showed enough emotion and care to do what he just
did. Then again, if only it was for anything but those damn cigarettes.

She huffed and stomped her way back home, hoping to
catch a hold of him there and nag him some more.

He burned his food and had to remake it while watching
it carefully, which forced him to be inside the house where he couldn�t smoke.
When he finished making the food and eating it he only had time to dress and
get out of the house if he�s going to have an extra paperwork�s hour.

Then there was a traffic jam on the way to Sharonza
and Subaru had to waste his precious extra time on the road. He couldn�t smoke
in the car because it belonged to both him and Hokuto and she�d wring his neck
if he smoked in it.

And so he arrived to his basement shift after almost
nine hours of no smoking.

As soon as he entered the basement and discharged Sc.
Lt. Magami from her shift, Subaru lit a cigarette and took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head backwards,
taking another draft. And another. The sudden nicotine doze made his head dizzy
like his first days of smoking. A pleasant smile spread lazily on his lips.

�May I have one?�

The deep, rich, velvety voice cut through Subaru�s
calm like a blade in the night.

He flinched and whipped his head to the glass cage.

Seishiro stood there just like he did yesterday and
smirked pleasantly at him. In the time since yesterday�s shift Subaru managed
to forget just how handsome the prisoner was. And how striking were his eyes,
for good and for bad.

Subaru caught himself and stiffened his stance. �You
are not allowed to have anything burning in your cell, and that includes
cigarettes.�

Seishiro�s face
darkened.

It wasn�t the �you bastard� kind of darkening, it was
the �oh�damn�aw man� kind of darkening and it caught Subaru off guard.

�I-I�m very sorry.� Subaru hurried to hide behind his
cubicle�s table and pretended his heart didn�t skip a beat when he saw those
sad eyes.

He didn�t smoke for the rest of the shift, out of
kindness.

Seishiro did not remove his eyes from him. He sat to
read a book while shooting long glances at Subaru, he combed his hair and
shaved, press-ironed his jackets and shirts (with a special heat-less roll
using some complicated chemical process Aoki was thankful to get and shut
Seishiro up with), folded his laundry, all while staring at Subaru every few
minutes with a small amused smile.

Subaru did not tare his eyes off the man. The tiny
chores he occupied himself with in his cage fascinated him to no end. He never
thought the proud and threatening hidden dark wizard in their basement could be
so�human.

In his dreams that night he woke up in a clear sunny
Sunday morning and found Seishiro doing their laundry in the kitchen. The air
smelled of warm fabric and laundry softener. There was a tray covered by sweet
little cupcakes on the table. Seishiro wore a loose t-shirt and a pair of worn
sports pants.

When Subaru woke up he had a sweet smile on his lips;
he still had the picture of Seishiro in fuzzy crocodile slippers of the
dreamscape flickering before his eyes.

The next shift Seishiro asked for a cigarette again.
Subaru refused him again with the same speech.

�Ah, I see� was all the assassin said and turned his
back to his warden. He leaned on the glass wall and placed a palm on his
forehead.

Subaru caught the sight of his face reflecting off the
bathroom mirror in the cage. He took an involuntary step forward, his cigarette
hand reaching out to the cage. He snapped out of it almost immediately and
retreated to his cubicle where he finished his cigarette and pretended to do
his paperwork.

It was an evening shift and Seishiro was organizing
himself for bath time.

Subaru followed him eagerly as he prepared his towel,
soap and a mysterious white and mauve bottle (a moisturizing lotion actually,
Seishiro liked his skin pampered and soft), all neatly folded with his pajamas.

Subaru buried his eyes in the neglected paperwork as
Seishiro drew the darkened shower room� door to a close.

His face was afire, his heart raced madly, but he
chose to see it as the result of awkwardness at this forced intimacy.

His eyes shot to the shower door every five seconds.

Seishiro turned the little light bulb above his
bathroom mirror on and the shadow of his naked figure became clear to his
warden�s hungry eyes.

Breathing was difficult for Subaru, his head was
dizzy, and his crotch ached longingly. He was sweating and trembling.

He was never this close to another man before, not
with such tension in the air, not such a handsome man.

When he walked out of the shower Seishiro could
practically read Subaru�s thoughts word by word from the almost painful look in
his beautiful large green eyes. He bit down of a smirk and walked out wearing
nothing but his pajama boxers while lazily dabbing his hair from the last drops
of water.

There were drops of water all down his broad muscular
torso, gathering to tiny rivulets on his carved abdomen.

Subaru�s breath hitched. He only blinked when his eyes
met Seishiro�s teasing ones. The playful smirk on the
prisoner�s lips made him angry with himself as well as excited as a little boy.

That night as he closed his eyes and saw Seishiro he
was not asleep. He was wide-awake, attending to his needs while constantly
bashing himself for doing it.

When he played that memory too much he thought about
the sight of Seishiro doing his little weightlifting and how his t-shirt clung
to his sweaty body.

*********************

The next shift was an evening one as well. Subaru
found that the idea made him dizzy, as he caught the sight of his name
on the work chart.

�Is everything alright St. Subaru?� Aoki�s voice was
soft and worried.

Subaru was so surprised by the man�s sudden appearance
while he�s in such a delicate state that he nearly jumped out of his skin.

�Ah, sorry to have frightened you Subaru-san.� Aoki�s
glasses were dusty again, which only served to make him more pathetic to look
at with his shiny ranks and well-ironed uniforms.

�I-I�m fine, thank you sir.�

�Uh-huh�� Aoki scanned the work chart quickly. �My, it
seems you�ve been stationed in the basement a lot this week.�

�Oh, that�s alright, really it is sir.�

Aoki gave him a surprised look. �Are you sure
lieutenant? The basement shifts can be quite grinding.�

�I�m fine sir, thank you for your concern.�

It only served to make his commander even more
worried.

Subaru forced a smile and shrugged. �It gives me time
to run over paperwork that doesn�t need too much concentration and that way
when I�m done I can really sit to work on the heavy stuff without trifles
getting in my way.�

�Ah, well, that�s good spirit then.� The captain
patted Subaru on the shoulder friendly and walked into his office.

Subaru sighed deeply. He needed a cigarette.

When he opened the door to the basement he could hear
loud banging noises from the inside. It sounded like gunshots.

Storming into the ward, he pulled his stunt gun and
club and hid behind a corner just before the greater hall. By then another
three bangs shot into the air.

As he shot a glace behind the corner he almost cried
out at the sight of the bang�s reason.

Pr. Shiro was rocking back and forth on the cubicle�s
chair, which he poised rather dangerously on it�s rear legs, and was hurling a
bouncy plastic ball at Seishiro�s cage wall. Quite
powerfully too.

Seishiro, on his behalf, sat to his little coffee
table and pretended to be reading a book while slowly stroking his temples with
his hand, who�s arm he leaned on the table as if to create a barrier between
him and the banging wall.

�Private Shiro Kamui, what are you doing?�
Subaru stormed into the room, sheathing his club and stun gun.

The ball bounced back from the glass wall one last
time. It flew right back towards Kamui who did not catch it this time only
moved sideways to avoid it. It bounced on the ground behind the cubicle�s
table, bounced off the wall, then at the desk, then finally lost its energy and
rolled on the floor until it came to a stop.

Subaru stood before the private, shaking with anger,
trying to burn holes into the young man�s forehead with his glare.

�He mentioned something particularly nasty about my
ass,� Kamui spat venomously, more at the prisoner then at his superior.

�That, in no way, is an excuse for such
behavior!� Subaru was almost shouting, enraged more then he cared to admit.

�But he made a nasty comment,� Kamui fired back,
sounding like the child he appeared to be. �It was sexual harassment sir!�

�Sexual harassment no less.� Subaru threw his
hands in the air hopelessly. �And what exactly makes you think that you�re�� he
stopped before he�ll make an even bigger mess of it then it already is.

�That I�m his type,� Kamui chirped, a sneaky, bitchy
glint in his eyes.

Subaru tore his gaze away from the intense mauve fire,
choosing to storm over to the cubical and get the boy out of there as quickly
as possible. �I will report this to our commander, there�s no way in hell this
is slipping from your record private.�

�Fine!� Kamui shot to his feet and, making a show of
walking out of the basement proudly while waggling the aforementioned part of
him as much as he could.

Subaru took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly.

�That damned little brat!� Seishiro sounded angrier
then Subaru thought he might. He slammed the book on his table as well.

�I�m really very sorry for his behavior. He is young and
beautiful and I�m afraid that he heard one too many praises for those two
traits to allow him proper judgment in certain situations.�

Seishiro stared at his warden for a while, a smile
sneaking across his face. �That�was actually very witty and clever of you to
say.� He sounded more surprised then Subaru wanted him to sound.

�Are you surprised that I can be witty and clever?�

Seishiro laughed lightly. �No, it�s just that so far
the only thing I ever heard from you was �thou shall not�s.�

�Yes�well�I�m not that bitchy.�

Seishiro�s eyes were
so warm and deep it made Subaru�s heart race, his smile made his head dizzy
even more. �That�s very good to know. I never thought you would go as low as to
bitch.�

Subaru was unable to find a witty comeback to that.
All he could do was to stare at the man and kick himself mentally for still
standing there like an idiot.

The prisoner ran his fingers through his hair, taking
a deep audible sigh. �My god that boy gave me a headache��

�I�m really, very sorry for that.�

His hearts skipped another beat when he saw the man
smiled under his nerve-wrecked behavior.

His own nerves were pretty wrecked too, Subaru noted,
and a cigarette would do him wonders. He lit one to himself. Then looked at the
glass cell where the tiger was still licking his wounds.

Hesitatively, wishing someone would walk in and stop
him from doing what he�s about to do with every step he took, Subaru approached
the cage.

With shaking, sweaty hands, he turned the cigarette
over and stuck its filter end through the little slit through which Seishiro
receives his mail.

Seishiro was still at the table, unaware (or
pretending to be unaware) of Subaru.

Subaru coughed politely.

Seishiro remained where he was.

�Uh�Sakurazuka-san��

Seishiro�s eyes were
tired and surprised when the turned to Subaru. How could someone who committed
such horrible acts appear so human? It wrecked Subaru from the inside.

The prisoner got up and, not without an almost
childish excitement, walked up to the mail slit. He crouched to the floor and
tried to yank the cigarette away with his lips.

�No, you�re not allowed to have it inside the
ca�cell.� Subaru yanked the cigarette away before Seishiro could even have a
draft.

Then he realized what he was doing; he was abusing the
poor man, wasn�t he? What kind of a sadist is he?

He wiggled his cigarette fingers through the slit and
held the cylinder tightly between them.

It only made matters worse; to take a draft from the
cigarette Seishiro had to glue his lips to the fingers.

The sensation made Subaru start. He was sweating
again, blinking uncontrollably and fighting to calm his breath.

Seishiro pretended he was concentrating on the
cigarette.

After three drafts Subaru�s nerves had had quite
enough. �Fine�uh�here� he dropped a new cigarette into the large glass box
through which Seishiro receives his meals and bags of laundry.

Seishiro drew the box in and placed the cylinder
hurriedly between his lips. He poked its end through the mail slit for Subaru
to light.

Already regretting it, Subaru switched weight from one
foot to another awkwardly as he lit the cigarette. �Ash into your toilet and
give me the cigarette butt when you�re done.�

Too busy sucking on his cigarette, Seishiro could only
nod and hum.

He wobbled over to his bed and crushed on it, placing
his right arm on his forehead while taking sweet slow drafts off his cigarette.

Subaru sucked on his half used cigarette nervously,
eyeing the prisoner as if expecting him to use the gift to set fire to his cubical.

Surely that was a ridiculous idea, wasn�t it? If
Seishiro set fire to anything in his cell who would suffer but himself? He�d
choke himself to death on the smoke or trap himself in the fire. Fear of that
possibility was unreasonable, wasn�t it?

He lit another nervous cigarette anyway. Seishiro
threw him soft thankful glances. When the cigarette was over he handed the
lieutenant his butt and bowed politely as thanks.

Subaru blushed and spent the rest of the shift hiding
behind his table. His paperwork didn�t get quite as far as it should have been.

It didn�t even stand a chance when Seishiro took a
shower and, casting a teasing meaningful glace at Subaru, kept the shower room
door open.

Subaru choked on his attempt to tell Seishiro to close
the door as soon as the man took off his shirt and pants. By the time Seishiro
dropped his boxers Subaru was beyond coherent thought. His fingertips itched to
relieve himself.

He didn�t have to, it came naturally somewhere around Seishiro�s rinsing.

When he was finished with his shower Seishiro covered
himself with his boxers and walked over to his bed, collapsing on it softly.

Just before he turned off his little bedside lamp he
cast a soft glance at Subaru and smiled. �Thank you for the cigarette today, Lieutenant
Sumeragi.�

Subaru wasn�t in his right mind enough to answer, not
even with a hum.

Seishiro turned the light off.

And in the darkness he said, �I won�t mention it to
anyone, I promise.�

It crashed on Subaru like the room exploded and the
ceiling dropped down on his head.

What had he done?

Later that night, as he tossed and turned on his bed,
too nervous to sleep, his thoughts tormented him.

�How could you do that?! You lonely, foolish, lustful
idiot! �

�You are the second in command of your ward; you have
people looking up to you, people looking down on you. And what do you do? You
go and you break the rules like that.�

�All for a piece of naked ass, you absolute idiot!�

�What if someone walked in? What if Cp. Aoki had one
of his surprise visits on you? What if a messenger warden caught you?�

�What if that Shiro guy walked in? Surely your little
exchange made him bear a resentment to you, you think he wouldn�t use something
like that against you?!�

Subaru burst into tears, tearing at his hair.

�You won�t be doing that anymore, no, never!�

He spent the rest of the night curled up under his
blanket, crying and whimpering miserably.

And still the memory of that beautiful man would not
leave him. It stayed there, red and hot and stinging like a branding�s burn.

***************

He wrote himself under five more shifts the next week,
bent on passing them without a single slip or felony on his behalf.

He walked into the next shift exhausted and edgy, but
calm and collected on the outside.

He dismissed pr. Kamui from his shift and was
beginning to prepare himself for a quiet, eventless afternoon shift behind the
cubicle�s desk.

�Hou nouue
bdrowen couuew.�

Subaru blinked and scanned the two cells before him.

Monou Fuma was dozing off, sprawled on the floor of
his detention cell like a dead man, mouth open and drooling freely. Subaru
winced in disgust.

Seishiro was sitting at his coffee table with a book
in hand, elegant silver rimmed glasses lodged on the bridge of his nose. He was
consumed by the book and was reciting from it as he went along.

�Hhouww nnnouuw,
bdrrrrowen cuooow.�

�What on�w-what are you doing Sakurazuka-san?�

Seishiro tore his gaze from the book and, glancing
above the rims of his glasses, sent an erudite look at Subaru. �I�m teaching
myself English lieutenant Sumeragi-san.�

Subaru mouthed. Well, at least learning English meant
there wouldn�t be enough sexual tension in the air to choke a grown elephant.

�Ah, I see��

�How am I doing? �houuuw nooeeww, broueewn couuew�?�

Subaru couldn�t stifle the giggle �Your accent is a
headache.�

�I see�I apologize then. I�ve only just begun to study
this and I�m still at much fault.�

Subaru chuckled again. �That�s okay; I�m probably just
as horrible.�

Seishiro�s smile dripped
with sugar and flattery. �Never my dear Lieutenant Subaru-san�never.�

Said lieutenant forgot he was just called by his first
name, proper honorific or no proper honorific. When he would remember it, it�d
be too late.

�I-I never knew you needed glasses.� He hurried to
find a reason to get that smirk away from his eyes.

Seishiro removed the spectacles and examined them
carefully, turning them around with his long strong fingers. �Ah, they�re only
reading glasses and no-� he cast a slightly annoyed look at Subaru �-I�m
not old enough to need them naturally.�

Subaru smiled. �How old are you then?�

�Why won�t you check my records and find out?�

�Because I want to hear it from you. The truth that
is, what is your real age.�

The prisoner pretended to be insulted. �Ah, but you
never ask a lady for her true age.�

Subaru giggled again (he was completely incapable of
controlling it, it just rolled out of him naturally) �But you are not a lady
Seishiro-san.� (he forgot about that change of naming until too late as well).

Seishiro laughed back, making Subaru laugh even
harder.

They spent a nice shift, talking lightly and sharing
mutual complaints about English�s strange grammar and difficulties to pronounce
its letters.

They woke Fuma up with their mutual practices of the
letter �L�

��rllllllllllllll��

��rrrrrrrrr��

�No, �rllllllllll�!�

�I apologize sensei, �rlllrrrrrr.��

Subaru burst into another fit of giggles. ��Rlrlrlrlrlrl� oh shit.� he collapsed on the table, burying
his face in his arm to stifle his laughter.

Fuma swore with such foul language he silenced the two
for the rest of the shift.

From time to time they�d throw childish playful
glances at each other and stifle their resulting giggles.

*******************

When he returned home Subaru was in such a good mood
that he dragged his sister to the movies.

They watched a brainless, wit-less, American movie
full of toilet humor and bad sexual jokes. Subaru laughed through almost every
joke, breaking into giggles between funny scenes and having a general blast.

Hokuto spent the movie giggling and weeping randomly.
She never saw her brother in such a good mood since they were little children.
She gave her twin a tight hug in the break and bought them another huge popcorn
bucket (which Subaru ate almost completely by himself, which was also very
uncharacteristic of him because most of the time he wouldn�t eat unless she
reminded him to do it).

She knew why her brother was so happy all of a sudden.
The light shining from his face and the glitters in his eyes were unmistakable;
He was in love and love was returned to him.

Hokuto guessed that he was not telling her about it
yet because he had the ridiculous notion that she might shun his homosexuality.
She had patience though and she waited for him to gather enough courage to tell
her. For now she enjoyed her brother�s amazing recovery from the black cloud
that seemed to be hovering over his life for so long.

Subaru ate more now, talked more, smiled more, laughed
more (and louder too), and he even giggled!

Too bad he didn�t seem like quitting the cigarettes
anytime soon, but she was willing to ignore that while he bloomed so
wonderfully before her eyes.

Nagging her commander, Hokuto snooped through Karen,
who snooped through Sorata, for this mystery lover of her brother�s.

By the time an evidence came back to her it was three
months later and the result was this: Subaru was spotted with Kamui, in his
office, holding the lower-ranked youth.

After considering this thoroughly, Hokuto shared her
conclusions with Karen.

�I don�t know�� She swirled her teacup thoughtfully,
staring down at her reflection in the bright yellow liquid.

�Why does it seem so unlikely to you that Pr. Kamui�s his lover? I mean he broke up with poor Keiichi
long ago, didn�t he?� Cp. Kasumi prodded, leaning forward to place herself in Hokuto�s vision and grab her drifting attention.

�I don�t know but�Kamui-kun seems like the kind that
would�well�how can I put it? Oh, how can I say it on my own brother?�

Karen leaned back, still ridden with curiosity.

�Kamui-kun seemed like that kind to�well�be
submissive.�

Karen burst into laughter and covered her mouth to
stifle it immediately.

Sgt. Sorata was on his knees in the dirt around his
little bed of sunflowers and was definitely within earshot of the conversation.

�Oh that�s okay ladies, never mind how much you�ll try
to hide things from me I can still hear you.� He beamed at them. �And, though I
am just surprised as much as his sister, I must admit that amongst the two of
them, Shiro-kun would be the woman of the couple.�

�It�s �submissive� sergeant and while you�re
eavesdropping at least don�t barge into the conversation,� the lieutenant burst
at the man on the other end of the fence.

�Hokuto-chan, �submissive� sounds even worse�I prefer
�uke�,� Karen commented, still giggling shamefully.

�Oh? And why is that?�

�Because it�s a term taken from martial arts and it�I
don�t know, that fact gives it a much more�masculine feeling.�

Hokuto and Sorata burst into laughter unanimously.
�Masculine?! �Uke�,� they said at the same time.

Karen nodded, folding her arms persistently.

�Well however you call it, I mostly expected that
Subaru would�err�take that role.�

�Me too,� Sorata nodded.

�Be quiet now sergeant, you�ve already butted in
enough.�

�Sorry ma�am.�

�Subaru seems like the effeminate sort, doesn�t he?�

Karen thought it over before answering her second in
command. �Well yes but there�s no reason why he shouldn�t be the masculine one
either, now is there?�

�Shiro-kun is shorter then Sumeragi-san too, I heard
it set the roles in those things,� Sorata butted in once more.

�You just don�t know when to shut up, don�t you
sergeant,� Karen snapped at him half comically.

�How do you know about those things Sorata-kun?�
Hokuto giggled at him.

�Ah, I have a niece who�s simply crazy about that
stuff. Mind you, she�s fourteen and she shouldn�t be reading�no, seeing
half of the things she does.�

The women burst into wild laughter.

Sorata brushed it off with a pout. �I don�t get you
girl, why do you find it so fascinating anyway? It�s not so great anyways,
right? I mean its kind of disgusting, ne?�

As soon as she calmed herself again Karen wrapped her
arms tightly around Hokuto and gave the sergeant a seductive look. �Sorata-kun,
wouldn�t you like to see me and Hokuto-chan here get down and dirty?�

Sorata gaped at them longer then he intended, longer
then he should.

�Sgt. Arisugawa? You answer please.�

�Ah! Uh, of course I�d like to, I�d love to actually!�

�You keep that mouth shut or I�ll tell your angel
about that,� Hokuto barked at him, half enraged.

�Now, now Hokuto-chan�� Karen soothed her happily.
�Sgt, just like you�d like to see us at it, we�d like to see you and�say, corp.
Saiki (he was a corporal by then) going at it.�

Saiki, who was just descending the stairs to his
ward�s garden, nearly tripped and fell flat on his face. �W-what?�

�It�s nothing serious dear.� Karen waved at him
happily. �We�re just explaining the sergeant here about the origins of homoeroticism�s
attraction.�

Saiki blinked, baffled. �I didn�t know it had an
attraction�ugh��

�I think we made our point Sorata-kun.� Karen turned
to her second in command. �And as for you, stop worrying about silly things
like that and just be happy that your brother�s out of the dark cloud.�

�Oh I am,� Hokuto chirped and rose to walk back to her
ward, along with her commander.

Saiki and Sorata were left behind to exchange startled
looks.

*****************

Subaru walked into the basement for another shift and
found the basement quite occupied.

Cp. Aoki and three other wardens, Sgt. Sorata amongst
them, were opening Seishiro�s cell.

Sorata, who was now busy applying handcuffs to the
prisoner, held a garment quite similar to a straitjacket.

�Good morning lieutenant,� Aoki beamed at the startled
Sumeragi.

�Good morning sir.� He saluted his commander. �What�s
going on?�

�Ah, didn�t you get my memo? Sakurazuka-san is having
a haircut today.�

And indeed, standing at a safe distance from a chair
placed on a large towel, the men� ward� barber stood with his small bag of
equipment.

Subaru turned his eyes to the cell. Sorata, with stern
tentative moves, slowly guided the now cuffed Seishiro backwards from his cell.

Seishiro, whose back was to the staff, had a blank
expression besides a slight glitter of cynic amusement in his eyes. He did not
move as the handcuffs were removed and the straitjacket applied to him. Once
the straitjacket was locked and secured he was handcuffed again, along with
foot-cuffs.

It looked awful; the chained and bound man was led,
walking backwards, to the chair and turned around again for him to sit on it as
comfortably as he could in his condition. Subaru winced as soon as his eyes met
the prisoner�s.

Cp. Aoki was surveying everything sternly, heavily
equipped with every restraint utilities possible (including a bulletproof
jacket, which was ridiculous in this situation but tough-looking nonetheless).
Besides him Sorata was also heavily equipped and the two other wardens carried the
basement�s special clubs, helmets and shields.

It looked awfully ridiculous; Seishiro was behaving
himself wonderfully besides that slight amusement in his eyes. He did nothing
to harm anyone; it seemed like extra precautions unnecessary.

�houw nouw
bdrouwn couw.� Seishiro
smiled as soon as he noted the barber behind him was getting too relaxed as he
unfurled his equipment.

The barber jumped a bit and sent a stern frightened
glance at the prisoner, then resumed what he was doing.

�And those are the last words you�re going to utter
during this session Sakurazuka-san,� Aoki informed him with a calm, warm but
strict tone.

Smirking, Seishiro returned his strict gaze. �Yes
sir.�

The barbet finished his preparations. �How would you
like to have your hair done today Sakurazuka-san?�

Seishiro remained quiet.

The air tensed.

�Answer his question.� Aoki�s tone said nothing of any
irritation or impatient. It sounded more like he was talking to a pupil rather
then the highly dangerous man he considered Seishiro as.

�I�d like a Mohawk please.� Seishiro�s
smile broadened, he shot happy glances at Subaru like a naughty child.

The barber blinked helplessly at the captain.

�Don�t try to be smart please, we all have far better
things to do then to be here doing this.� Aoki folded his arms on his chest,
but besides that he showed absolutely no change in his mood.

Seishiro caught Subaru�s gaze and broadened his smile,
defusing it from bitter venom to sheer humor.

�Very well, I�d like the usual haircut and please mind
the fringe; you didn�t do quite your best with it last time.�

The barber mouthed a bit, trying to gather the courage
to shoot something back at the man but giving up finally.

Subaru knew this man; he �inherited� this job from his
brother and was not at all happy with some of its clients. In the meantime he
knew that with his relatively poor skills he could find no other occupations in
the trade.

He was always rambling about he has his wife and kids
and how everyday he fears for their change of status to �widow and orphans�.

His hands trembled at first as he began running his
small silver scissors through Seishiro�s raven locks
but as the man�s calm behavior continued he gradually calmed down.

As the haircut ended Seishiro was returned to his
cell, after a sweetened �thank you� to the agitated barber, and the party of
guards retreated. They left Subaru alone with his guilt and embarrassment.

He was far too kind and polite to ever witness a man,
any man, go through such maneuvers without feeling guilty for it.

He followed the barbered Seishiro as the prisoner
scrutinized himself in his bathroom mirror and wiped the fallen hair bits off
his nape with a wet towel.

Seishiro�s eyes shot
to his food and laundry drawer as he heard it click shut. Two cigarettes lay in
the plastic cradle. He cracked a warm bright smile and walked over to the box.

Subaru stood silently by the wall, his eyes soft and
warm, slightly wet with pity and guilt�s tears.

�Thank you Subaru-kun, you made me feel ever so much
better.� His voice was sweet and deep, velvety and calm.

Subaru smiled back, grateful.

They stared deep into each other�s eyes through the
thick glass for what seemed like forever, their expressions soon fading under
their buzzing thoughts.

Seishiro placed his right palm on the glass.

Contemplating, but not for too long, Subaru did the
same with his left hand over the prisoner�s. The glass was far too thick to
allow them to feel each other�s body warmth, but they could feel it anyway.

Shyly, his face burning red, Subaru placed his right
palm on the glass. Seishiro did the same, crouching a little to level himself
with Subaru�s head.

They stared directly into each other�s eyes.

Seishiro�s eyes
swallowed Subaru�s vision; they blurred everything else around them, gaping at
him so enchantingly until he couldn�t think about anything else.

His mind was a blank as he drew his face closer and
closer to the glass, noting vaguely that Seishiro was doing the same thing on
his side.

The glass fogged as their breaths covered the surface
with white vapor circles spreading and shrinking as they drew breath and
exhaled.

The glass felt cold as Subaru placed his lips on it.
He registered only that, for he closed his eyes and forgot about anything else.

He didn�t have to take a peek to know Seishiro did the
same.

The glass didn�t taste of anything as he ran his
tongue gently on the surface, drawing tiny circles between his lips.

His heart was beating madly, his head was lost in a
hurricane, his body felt light and numb, and his thoughts were completely gone.
He soon glued himself completely to the glass, hardly registering the press of
his ward� pin into his chest� flesh.

Sensing something, he opened his eyes and saw that
Seishiro removed his face from the glass and was smiling at him. His eyes were
still penetrating and warm but there was an unidentified quality to his smirk
that disturbed Subaru.

He scanned the mirroring blotches of saliva and the
opposite clouds of dissolving vapor and felt his face re-flushing. He was
embarrassed to no end.

Seishiro took one of the cigarettes in the box and
lodged it between his smirking lips, grabbing the other cylinder and hiding it
securely in his jacket�s inner pocket.

Subaru frowned, fighting to find something to distract
his buzzing mind as he lit his own cigarette. �Why do you always wear a three
piece Seishiro-san?�

The prisoner chuckled, relishing the childish
bashfulness in the other man�s eyes. �Because I feel the need to be treated
with respect and these clothes earn me just that.�

�I think that�s people�s fear of you that gives you
some respect.�

�And I think that my suits only add to my image which,
along with the fear, gives me the kind of respect I wish for.�

Subaru blinked and turned his head away, about to walk
to his cubicle and pretend that he did not have that bizarre version of the
first kiss of his life.

�Subaru-kun, why weren�t you here yesterday?� Seishiro
sounded painful just enough to grab Subaru away from the pit of self blame and
guilt he was about to hurl himself into.

�Ah, it was my birthday yesterday.�

�Really? And you didn�t tell me? I�m offended you
think so lowly of me.�

�A�N-no! S-Seishiro-san, I never think lowly of you!�

�Then why didn�t you tell me? Do you think I think so
little of you?� Seishiro�s eyes were grave and
offended.

Subaru mouthed, then gave up and pouted a bit,
blushing again.

�I would have bought you a birthday present.�

��.�

�So, February the nineteenth is your birthday.�
Seishiro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. �I�ll write it in my calendar for next
year. And the year after that.� He sighed and walked over to his coffee table,
crushing into the nearby little sofa. �And the one the next year, and the year
after that and the year after that as well��

Subaru was still at a loss of replies. His heart was
resuming its wild beating, his face refused to recover from the wild blush.

�Where were you born Subaru-kun?�

�Kyoto.�

Seishiro lodged his chin on his palm and leaned on the
table, crossing his legs elegantly. �Oh? I�ve been to Kyoto once; it�s a very
nice place. You come from a traditional family Subaru-kun?�

�Well, my grandmother is very traditional and she
raised us after our parents died. But me and my sister kind of grew out of it
when we moved to police academy�actually I think we grew out of it as soon as
we could think for ourselves.�

�You have a sister Subaru-kun? You never told me.�

Seishiro�s surprised
tone made Subaru remember their earlier kiss and how they did it while knowing
so little of each other. He was just calming himself but now the blush
returned.

�Yes. A twin sister, Hokuto-chan. She�s a lieutenant
like me in the woman�s ward here.�

�Oh how nice, you must be very happy to be so similar
to each other��

Subaru frowned. �Happy to be similar? Actually we�re
very different from one another. I mean, besides the fact that I�m a boy and
she�s a girl, we�re very different in character. Hokuto-chan is�the livelier
one, the noisy and happy one�I�I like to keep to myself�

�Why would you say we must be happy to be so similar?
Most of the people who knew I had a twin mostly said that it must be a pity for
me to have someone just like me around all the time.�

Seishiro contemplated for a while before returning his
gaze, thoughtful and soft, to Subaru

�Because�because I�m jealous of you. I was always the
lonely boy who kept seeing his age group�s interests and joys as boring and
meaningless. I always hoped to find the someone who will understand me, the
someone to whom I can talk about anything I want.� And with that he set his
eyes so forcefully on Subaru, so powerfully and deeply digging into his
warden�s orbs that Subaru found himself immobile under their gaze.

�� See�well�um��

�Ah, but I�m rambling and I�m keeping you off that
paperwork you set out to go over today.� Seishiro grabbed for his book and
began flipping it to find the page where he last stopped reading. �Please, go
on with your business, don�t let me disturb you.�

��You�re�very kind, Seishiro-san.�

�Thank you but I believe that you are the kind one,
Subaru-kun.�

Subaru reviewed his paperwork with enthusiasm that
shifts, making out for lost months and shifts he wasted all this time by
staring at things and talking to Seishiro.

When he raised his eyes to the prisoner from time to
time he�d find that Seishiro also raised his eyes from his book and was sending
him cheerful, encouraging glances.

They�d smile at each other and resume their former
occupations.

Only Subaru�s aforementioned grandmother knew of the
rather dangerous fact that you should never tell a wizard your real birthday
and birthplace.

But that fact went ignored by her grandchild because
he grew out of her believes.

Looking back on it Subaru did not regret the kiss. Not
even after he came to realize what it was exactly that he was making himself a
part of.

*******************

Fuma�s escape scheme, so
delicately plotted, almost came to a shattering end as one day, as Subaru
walked down to another basement shift.

Subaru caught pr. Kamui sharing a hot, deep kiss with
Fuma who was in detention again at the time.

Subaru stopped before the second glass cell and
gawked, snapping almost immediately out of his shock and using his club to
knock on the wall and yank Kamui out of Fuma�s
passionate embrace.

Kamui straightened his uniforms, buttoned up his shirt
and walked out of the cell gracefully.

�What on earth were you doing pr. Shiro?�
Subaru huffed at him as soon as the boy was stood securely before him.

Kamui flipped an unruly cruel away from his sight and
shrugged lightly. �Just playing a little.�

�Playing? That is an inmate you
were playing with and you�re a warden, in case you�ve forgotten private!�

Kamui glared mauve fire at him scornfully. �Alright,
alright, don�t get your frilly panties in a knot.�

�Do NOT talk to your commander like that
private! I suggest you reconsider your status here and the punishment for
both your misbehaviors here in case word of them gets to Cp. Aoki!�

�You�ll never dare,� Kamui hissed back.

�WHAT?� Subaru was about to really lose
his patience over this horribly rude behavior from an underling. He knew Kamui
could be a snappy bitch, only he never imagined he�d get to such extremes.

�I know you�re doing the same�� Fuma punching his
cell�s glass, sending a fiery glare at the young man on its other side,
interrupted his words.

Huffing and puffing, struggling not to panic and go on
a rampage, Subaru darted frightened angry looks from Kamui to Fuma to Seishiro
who stood agitatedly at the nearest corner to the second cell, his fists
clenched.

�I�d like to have a word in this here, if you don�t
mind you little brat,� Seishiro called out, turning his words to Fuma by their
end. His voice was loud, almost shouting, to snap Subaru out of the storm of
his emotions, yet it was unbelievably calm.

�Lieutenant Sumeragi, I would like to say that Monou
here, during a light conversation about this ward�s staff, heard me comment
that I think you are the only sane and capable warden amongst the staff and
from this he drew his perverse, petty conclusions.�

Subaru glared at him hard enough to melt his glass
cell�s walls.

The next moment he snapped his eyes to Kamui and
hissed. �Get back to your ward private, I�ll talk to you as soon as my shift�s
over.�

Kamui huffed.

�Get out, now! That�s an order private!�

Kamui spun on his heels and stomped his way out,
throwing a venomous �Bitch� across his shoulder as soon as he was by the door.

�I heard that.�

�Good!�

Subaru took a deep breath and turned his back to the
two cells.

�That snippy little bitch,� Seishiro spat towards the
door.

�Shut the fuck up you!� Subaru roared at
him, his eyes afire.

Seishiro opened his mouth, and then closed it.

But Subaru was not over his tantrum. �And you, Monou,
your detention record says you�re out of here in two days. I�ll personally make
sure it�ll say �two weeks� when I�m finished here!�

Fuma leaped to his feet, throwing his fists at the
glass wall and kicking it as hard as he could. �Fine then motherfucker, it�ll
just give me more time to gossip!� With this he grabbed his cell�s toilet seat
and, ripping it off the basin, hurled it at the glass that bounced it back
unharmed.

Subaru remained frozen and furious. �Do not
make me come in there with my tear gas and tranquilizer Monou!�

Fuma spat at the wall and stormed off (as much as he
could) to the other end of his cell where he crouched and hissed various other
unrepeatable phrases at Subaru for the rest of the lieutenant�s shift.

Seishiro remained on his spot, unmoving and silent,
fighting to reorganize and recalculate his future moves.

When the shift was over Subaru grabbed Kamui and
dragged him to his office with hisses and darting glares.

�What the fuck, Shiro?! What the fucking fuck,�
he cried as soon as they were behind closed doors

Kamui straightened his gaze at his commander; much
calmer and better calculated now then he was at the time.

He removed his eyes from Subaru�s after a while and
bowed his head, smiling softly to himself.

�Me and Fuma�we grew up in the same neighborhood, we
were childhood friends. My parents moved out when I was fourteen and our ways
separated. He walked the path to crime and I walked to police academy.

�I mean�there was sexual tension just before I moved
out and I was always in doubt about it ever since�� He met Subaru�s gaze again
(which was much softer now, less frantic) and smiled more pitifully,
youthfully, wishing for mercy �This�little dominance thing of our new
positions�it kind of fired everything up, the sexy way��

Subaru straightened his back and drew his palms to his
temples, rubbing the headache away. �Why didn�t you inform me or cp. Aoki of
this information?�

�Because I thought I could control it�sir, I only did
it once and you stopped us in the middle of it.�

Subaru gave him a harsh glare and cocked his head
sideways.

�Fine�twice��

Subaru did not remove or alter his glare.

�It�s true!�

His commander sighed �Fine then�but you will not do it
again, am I making myself clear?�

Kamui shook his head.

�Pr. Shiro!�

�It�s stronger then me sir!�

Subaru launched forward, grabbing Kamui by the
shoulders and shaking him �Pr. Shiro, we�re playing with fire here, I don�t
think you�re aware of it! We�re doing something forbidden! We�re��

He exhaled audibly and paled as he noted Sgt. Sorata,
who was just peeking into the room, leaning on the door handle and stared at
them in awe.

�Get-out-of-here-sergeant, NOW!�

�Yes sir.� The door was shut. The �Oh my god, they�re together!�
failed to be muffled by the door. It served to calm Subaru of the fear that the
real conversation�s topic was discovered.

Sorata scurried off to tell Hokuto immediately. That
is when they had their little talk in the garden.

Meanwhile, in the office, Kamui sharpened his glare to
new bitching levels as he followed the now pacing Subaru.

�You said �we�,� he smirked.

Subaru sighed, hanging tired eyes at the private
�What?�

�You said �we�re playing with fire� not �you�re
playing with fire�, lieutenant.�

Subaru mouthed, paling again.

Kamui smiled softly and walked over to his commander,
wrapping his arms around the man. �Don�t worry sir, I�ll keep my mouth shut
tight if you keep yours.�

Subaru almost kicked the boy off of him. �Is that a
threat private?�

Kamui�s eyes were huge and
innocent, his tone so very clean and neutral. �No sir! Never! If your ass goes
down so does mine.� He chuckled, shrugging lightly. �We�re partners in crime.
In a good way.� He walked out of the office, sending some more unarming sweet
friendly smiles at his commander.

Subaru crushed into his office chair and fought the
tears of panic.

******************

He didn�t go to a single basement shift for two weeks.

Two weeks of sheer agony.

The dark cloud was back, bearing heavy misery more
powerful then loneliness� bitter numbness.

When he closed his eyes he couldn�t stop seeing Seishiro�s eyes staring at him.

At night when he tried to wind down to sleep he�d see Seishiro�s showering form before him and sleep became
impossible.

He didn�t notice he asked his barber for Seishiro�s hairdo until it was too late.

He stared at himself in the mirror for hours after
that, wondering what on earth became of his life since he first walked into
that basement.

He loved Seishiro, he knew that, and could only guess
the other man�s emotions reflected his from Seishiro�s
acts and words.

But Seishiro was a murderer, a sociopath, psychopath
and a bloodthirsty, coldhearted killer�who knows what his behavior might hide.

All his life Subaru was so depressed, so frustrated
and needy and attention deprived�so lonely�

He got a glimpse of light and became dizzy.

He was still dizzy. Still in love.

Hokuto walked into her and her brother�s apartment one
evening to find her brother sitting in the living room, surrounded by darkness,
listening to a foreign song on replay.
```
�Whenever I'm alone with you
```
```
You make me feel like I am home again
```
```
Whenever I'm alone with you
```
```
You make me feel like I am whole again�
```
�Subaru?�

��.�

�Is everything alright?�

�Y-yes ne-chan�Just musing a little that�s all.�

�Ah, I see. That�s a nice song, who�s it by?�

�The Cure.�

�I see. It�s very�smooth.� She walked towards the
light switch, placing her bad by the door sloppily.

�Whenever I listen to The Cure it makes me think of
Tim Burton movies.�

�Uh�okay�� Hokuto concentrated on trying to make sense
of her brother�s mumbles. �Ah yes, all gothic and dark, right?� It fitted the
tune, it really did.

�Yeah.� Light spilt all over around him; making him
wince, his little comfortable musing bubble was burst.

�Subaru, you cut your hair�differently I mean.� Hokuto
walked over to her twin, running her fingers quickly through his hairs to get a
better assessment of the change.

He raised a pair of tired eyes to his sister and
smiled wanly. Then he hugged her tightly to him, resting his head on her
abdomen. She returned the hug immediately.

�Hokuto-chan�you�ll always be with me right? You�ll
never�be angry at me enough to not talk to me ever again, right?�

He was talking about his homosexual lover, wasn�t he?

Hokuto stifled a giggle and bit down on her growing
smile. �No Subaru, I�ll always be here for you. Never mind what you�ll tell me.
And I�ll be damned if I�ll let anyone talk badly of you too.�

She felt Subaru nod and lean deeper into her. She
tightened her hug.

He thought of Seishiro and of resuming his basement
shifts.
```
�However far away
```
```
I will always love you
```
```
However long I stay
```
```
I will always love you
```
```
Whatever words I say
```
```
I will always love you
```
```
I will always love you�
```
```
 
```
*********************
```
He booked himself to a night shift as soon as he arrived at Sharonza the next morning. 
```
```
 
```
```
Cp. Aoki found him by the work chart, making alterations and completely sunk in it. 
```
```
 
```
```
�Good morning Lt. Subaru! My you�ve booked yourself a lot in that hole lately eh?� He gave the slim man a friendly pat to the back.
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru nodded gravely. �I reached the conclusion that it�s better to put people with more experience and/or of higher rank at that particular shift, for precaution that is.�
```
```
 
```
```
�That is a wise decision lieutenant; I only wonder why you didn�t inform me of it earlier.�
```
```
 
```
```
�I was about to sir, as soon as I finished making these alterations.�
```
```
 
```
```
�That�s a decision I�m proud to have an underling of mine take Subaru-san.� He gave Subaru another pat. �Keep at it and soon you�ll find yourself in my office eh?� He winked and turned to leave.
```
```
 
```
```
He was back by the work chart almost immediately, his eyes sharp instead of dimmed and childish as they were earlier. �You said �with more experience and/or of higher rank� Sumeragi-san but I see here that you�ve also placed private Shiro in many shifts, he�s only been here for five months.�
```
```
 
```
```
�I�ve been looking at his records and his behavior in the ward and decided to give him this chance to prove himself as officer material by dealing with a task like the basement shifts��
```
```
 
```
```
A sneaky smile curled on the captain� lips, his eyes were harmless again. �Trying to promote Shiro-san are you Subaru-kun?� 
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru blinked at the sudden use of that honorific by the man. Then he remembered the conclusions Sorata drew and realized what Aoki was sniggering about.
```
```
 
```
```
�It�s anything but that sir, never sir��
```
```
 
```
```
Aoki chuckled and began walking towards his office. �That�s alright lieutenant.�
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru chased him down the hall �No sir it�s not, I have absolutely no such thoughts sir��
```
```
 
```
```
�I said it�s alright!�
```
```
 
```
```
�Honestly, there are no other fitting men in our ward sir.�
```
```
 
```
```
�I know.�
```
```
 
```
```
�I�d do the same to Arisugawa-san if he wouldn�t keep declining our offers.�
```
```
 
```
```
�I know Subaru-san, please, carry on. Ignore the lewd giggles of an old man.� And with that Aoki waved his goodbyes and disappeared into his office, leaving Subaru to wonder if Aoki even had the proper brain cells to allow him lewd thoughts.  
```
```
 
```
```
He returned to the work chart and realized he wrote �Lt. Sumeragi Subaru-kun� in every empty box. Shuddering, he corrected his mistake. 
```
```
 
```
```
That evening, as he released Saiki of his shift, he walked straight to Seishiro�s cell door and unlocked it.
```
```
 
```
```
Seishiro was on the sofa and completely submerged in his English book (now a grammar studying one, which he was filling out like a good enthusiastic pupil). 
```
```
 
```
```
His eyes were surprised and clear when he suddenly saw the lieutenant in his cell. They soon softened into warmth, and then heated into fire.
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru stood frozen, staring at the man who got up and walked over to him, to grab him by the shoulders and sink him in a deep kiss, a real one.
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru stopped him before things got too far. He stopped him the next time too. And in the time after that as well.
```
```
 
```
******************
```
 
```
```
The first time he didn�t stop Seishiro happened on the evening before the first strike of rebellion hit Sharonza Heights. 
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru sat on the bed besides Seishiro, both undressed and sweaty, smoking their cigarettes in silence.
```
```
 
```
```
Subaru hated himself so much for what he just did. He also loved Seishiro for doing that to him. He hated the prison and his status in it for making it a crime. 
```
```
 
```
```
His thoughts drifted to Hokuto and suddenly she felt far, far away, never to be reached again.
```
```
 
```
```
He never knew quite how unreachable she would soon become.
```
```
 
```
```
 
```
```
 
```
```
(tbc)
```
```
 
```
```
 
```
- 4
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Behind Bars