History Fanfic / NukumeDori

The year is 1999. On the Final Day, Subaru Sumeragi confronts his opposite star and both ended up dying in each others' arms. Then, the last one left standing made a Wish.

** An interesting contrast to the above two scenes occurs in the Consequence arc [[spoiler: as a deliberate contrast to Seishirou saying he feels nothing for Subaru in direct opposition to his actions, we see what happens when he's with a partner he really does not care about beyond sex. Seishirou is picked up by a young man in Tokyo and the results turn ugly during their sexual encounter. So much so that the aftermath of the sex scene reads more like rape, with the original character reflecting on feeling like they've been used for sex and nothing more.]]

* AttemptedRape:[[spoiler:Seishirou is 0-3 on this one, but it's still a reoccurring part of his power dynamic with Subaru. The first time we see this in action is during the construction site fight scene, repeated as a possible intention later on in the flashback where Seishirou mentions is as one of many expectations he was willing to explore when breaking into the Seal's mansion, and again in the Sakurazuka mansion after dinner when he grabs Subaru with the intent of forcibly stripping him despite the younger man's obvious terror.:]]

* BeakAttack: Turns out one of the many defences of the [[spoiler:the Sakurazuka mansion:]] is a flock of spirit crows.

* BlitheSpirit: Hokuto is a highly modern and independent girl born in the traditionalist and highly constrictive Sumeragi family. And it's safe to say that her grandmother disapproves of her [[spoiler:match-making her brother with a Sakurazuka, and a man at that.]]

** After "Fractures" comes "Children", an annex chapter that just has Okada (the Tokyo police's Director-General) being informed by Seishirou about taking a break from "job", and a group of children playing hide-and-seek.
** "Withing (Part I)" comes after Subaru's [[spoiler:failed escape attempt, his almost freezing and his ikiryo almost manifesting in the middle of the city.]] The chapter is mostly Subaru and Seishirou talking about their childhoods, training, past jobs and dining together, and for the first time being civil to each other.

* DidYouJustHaveSex: Hokuto quickly picks up that Subaru is no longer a virgin as soon as she sees him after returning from her ski trip, despite Subaru saying nothing. She says it's a "special twin power [[spoiler: in truth, she recognized the smell of blood she would usually sense on Seishirou.]]

* EtherialWhiteDress: [[spoiler:The Sakura Tree]] takes the form of [[spoiler:Setsuka Sakurazuka]] to talk with Subaru, and she's wearing a white furisode.

** Just like Hokuto and Subaru are PolarOppositeTwins, their boyfriends are a complete opposite between each other. The only thing in common they've is that both are older than their partners and used to be Dragons of Earth. Seishiro is prideful, dominating, very recluctant to talk about his feelings, not very tactful and an all-around DomesticAbuser. Kakyou is humble, waifish, supporting, shyly affectionate and an UnderstandingBoyfriend.

** "Consequences" reveals that Lady Sumeragi and Shouhei's meddling with [[spoiler:Subaru's mind]] has left him numb of emotions, and uncapable of dealing with complex thoughts, so they manage his life without he giving much resistance. In chapter 7, spoiler:when Subaru finds himself with Seishirou, he comments how long it was the last time he had to ''think'' that much. [[spoiler: The Sakura tortures him by reminding him that not choosing at all it's a choice in itself, as he didn't fought nor resisted his grandmother's actions despite knowing they're making him unwell.]]

* HallOfMirrors: In ''Consequences'', Subaru's mental space is a maze of (mostly) fractured mirrors; these represent the seals keeping him from remembering Seishirou: they show how Subaru was forced to be a blank slate reflecting the image his family want to see in him, but they're fragile and hide the true darkness inside him, allowing it to fester.

** Played with in "Within". [[spoiler: Subaru uses the power of his super powerful ikiryou, the manifestation of the harm his grandmother did to him, in order to destroy the spell ''causing'' him and heal himself.]]

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The main onmyouji ability used in the story is going "Within", separete one's consciousness to dive into another person's Mind.

** The first chapter of ''Convergence'', Seishirou goes Within Subaru and sees ''everything'', from Subaru's memories to the boy's [[CovertPervert risky sexual fantasies]].

* LivingEmotionalCrutch: As always, Hokuto is Subaru's support; but her role becomes significantly important when [[spoiler:Subaru's memories are messed-up by their grandmother and cousin.]] Subaru comments how Hokuto is the only person that feels real to him. And when [[spoiler:Seishirou abduces Subaru]], it's Hokuto telling him that she's conscious and consents on it for Subaru's wellbeing and her asking him to trust her judgement on Seishirou that Subaru (recluctanly) gives Seishirou a chance.
* LivingIsMoreThanSurviving: A recurring theme in ''Consequence'' is that surviving means going through life avoiding dangerous things that can actually improve life out of fear of being hurt in the process. [[spoiler:Subaru is kept safe from the Sakurazukamori by his grandmother, but he's completely isolated and detached from the world and has become a mere shadow that just exist. Seishirou on the other hand was so terrified of the idea of falling in love to then be killed that he stubbornly denied his feelings for a long time, and was only able to turn around thanks to the memories of a past life where he admitted to himself he loved Subaru ''at the last moment before the end of the world'' when he had nothing to lose.]]

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: In ''Convergence'', Subaru replicates the same events that made him realize he loved Seishirou: [[spoiler:He deliberately ''throws himself'' at the scalpel Yuuya's unstable mom has in hand in order to make Seishirou worried about him.]] Also, [[spoiler:the Sakura Tree]] describes the Sakurazukamori in love as mad as a deaf person suddenly thrown into chaos.

* NotHimself: In ''Conflict'', Subaru growing snippy, more bold and secretive and keeping Seishirou at arms' length causes concern on Seishirou and especially Hokuto. By the final chapters, Seishirou just takes it at a sign that Subaru is growing up, which is not far from the truth.

** Hokuto lampshades how Seishirou isn't acting as different as Lady Sumeragi: both are attempting to hammer their will upon Subaru, saying it's for his own good.

* OutOfCharacterIsSeriousBusiness: Knowing how Seishirou is a man of his word, Subaru can spot the great contradiction of [[spoiler:him finishing the Bet three days earlier than the accorded date. Subaru ''knows'' Seishirou is getting scared of the conclusion and he's trying to cheat.]]

* RelationshipUpgrade: In the final chapters of ''Conflict'', Subaru tells Seishirou the whole truth about their past life, including that Subaru is aware of the Bet and that Seishirou is the Sakurazukamori. Oh, and that Subaru loves him, that bit too. So Subaru demands that Seishirou at least ''try'' to feel something for him and make this thing fair for Subaru. Which means they'll be officially lovers.

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Shouhei feels conflicted over [[spoiler:sealing Subaru's memories of Seishirou.]] He wishes to do the Good thing and stop with it, because it's clearly destroying him, but he remains doing it out of dutifulness towards Lady Sumeragi and because he believes Subaru close to the Sakurazukamori is fundamentally wrong.

* TooKinkyToTorture: Subaru's pentagram marks glow and feel like burning whenever Seishirou reinforces the fact that he possesses Subaru, and since Seishirou does this more often than not [[spoiler:during sex]], Subaru has learned to associate that specific pain with pleasure.
** Although, to be fair, Subaru does this [[spoiler:even before they start having sex.]] In the Kyoto chapter, Subaru deliberately causes himself pain by holding his star marks under hot water in the bath as a way of feeling closer to Seishirou when they are separated. Pain, in one way or another, remains a bonding element for the entirety of their courtship.

* UncannyValleyGirl: [[spoiler:Subaru]] after becoming an EmptyShell, a young member of the Sumeragi clan observes that although he is always kind to her, there's something broken about him.

* IGaveMyWord: [[EvilVirtues One good thing]] you can give the Sakurazukamori is that, since he doesn't acknowledge any rules but his own, once he says he'll do something you can [[JustForPun bet]] he'll do it. Thanks to this, those who contract the Sakurazuakmori for jobs hold him in very high respect, and Subaru is able to trust that Seishirou will fulfill his DeclarationOfProtection until the end of the Bet.

** Just like Hokuto and Subaru are PolarOppositeTwins, their boyfriends are a complete opposite between each other. The only thing in common they've is that both are older than their partners and used to be Dragons of Earth. Seishiro is prideful, dominating, very recluctant to talk about his feelings, not very tactful and an all-around BastardBoyfriend. Kakyou is humble, waifish, supporting, shyly affectionate and an UnderstandingBoyfriend.

* NotSoDifferent:

* {{Adorkable}}: While Subaru still conserves some aspects of innocence, it's Kakyou who takes the mantle. His interactions with Hokuto, especially in ''Consequence'', are just so blatant of a guy in love that it's both hilarious and endearing.

-->''Last time it took me so long to understand what I felt for you, Seishirou-san, and by that time, it was too late. But here, in this time, with this second chance … I already know what I feel. I do love you. I don't have to hide from that anymore. And I know, that last time, that last day... You did feel something for me.''

-->''I will play the game again. And this time, I play to win.''

* AmIJustAToyToYou: One of Subaru’s many, many hang ups surrounding the idea of any possible intimacy between him and Seishirou. Seishirou is not amused.
-->"This, this is serious for me," he continued defensively. "And I can't do anything unless it means something. To you, I mean."
-->Seishirou laughed. "In other words you won't put out unless you win? I'm not sure whether you're being hopelessly romantic or amazingly calculative; either way, you have a real talent for repression."

** This comes back into play [[spoiler:at the bet’s conclusion when Seishirou exploits this fear as a way of twisting the knife a little further. ]]
** An interesting contrast to the above two scenes occurs in the Consequence arc [[spoiler: as a deliberate contrast to Seishirou saying he feels nothing for Subaru in direct opposition to his actions, we see what happens when he’s with a partner he really does not care about beyond sex. Seishirou is picked up by a young man in Tokyo and the results turn ugly during their sexual encounter. So much so that the aftermath of the sex scene reads more like rape, with the original character reflecting on feeling like they’ve been used for sex and nothing more.]]

** There's also Seishirou [[spoiler:tying up Subaru, much to his delight, during the Rebirth chapter, along with Subaru specifically thinking that being given verbal instruction in bed is a relief. Also, as disturbing and violent as Seishirou’s attempted rape is in Hunted, Subaru is still sufficiently aroused enough afterwards to masturbate.]] This isn’t so surprising given what we know of the fantasies he harbored in the alternate time line, where Seishirou’s actions are described as ‘overwhelming’ and ‘rough’.

* WindowsOfTheSoul: Seishirou's face is perpetually frozen into a friendly smile, to the point that one would believe he never gets angry...until they look at his eyes.

** "Withing (Part I)" comes after Subaru's [[spoiler:failed escape attempt, his almost freezing and his ikiryo almost manifesting in the middle of the city.]] The chapter is mostly Subaru and Seishirou taking about their childhoods, training, past jobs and dining together, and for the first time being civil to each other.

* EverythingIsBetterWithDragons: [[spoiler:Subaru's ikiryou takes the form of a dragon. More specifically, the dragon he takes form at the beginning of the X movie.]]

** "Consequences" reveals that Lady Sumeragi and Shouhei's meddling with [[spoiler:Subaru's mind]] has left him numb of emotions, and uncapable of dealing with complex thoughts, so they manage his life without he giving much resistance. In chapter 7, [[spoiler:when Subaru finds himself with Seishirou, he comments how long it was the last time he had to ''think'' that much.]]

* WomanInWhite: [[spoiler:The Sakura Tree]] takes the form of [[spoiler:Setsuka Sakurazuka]] to talk with Subaru, and she's wearing a white kimono.

* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: The first of Subaru's jobs after returning to the past is the "Dream" case from Volume 2. And in the first chapter of ''Convergence'', [[spoiler:Seishirou goes Within Subaru and sees ''everything'', from Subaru's memories to the boy's [[CovertPervert risky sexual fantasies]].]]

* NotSoDifferent: Hokuto lampshades how Seishirou isn't acting as different as Lady Sumeragi: both are attempting to hammer their will upon Subaru, saying it's for his own good.

** Subaru wants to be special for Seishirou.

** Yoshirou has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex and is willing to do everything to be special.

* BreatherEpisode:
** After the tension heavy chapter "Fractures" comes "Children", an annex chapter that just has Okada (the Tokyo police's Director-General) being informed by Seishirou about taking a break from "job", and a group of children playing hide-and-seek.

* CoolVersusAwesome: The fights between Subaru and Seishirou in ''Conflict'' chapter 13 and ''Convergence'' chapter 16, and Seishirou against [[spoiler:the Sumeragi clan]].

* HallOfMirrors: In ''Consequences'', Subaru's mental space is a maze of (mostly) fractured mirrors; these represent the seals keeping him from remembering Seishirou: they rrpresent how Subaru was forced to be a blank slate, reflecting the image his family want to see in him, but they're fragile and hide the true darkness inside him, allowing it to fester.

* CrazyJealousGuy: In ''Convergence'', Seishirou [[TranquilFury practically flips out]] when Subaru prioritizes the old man's life over spending time with him. [[spoiler:He chases Subaru down and nearly rapes him on a construction work site for ''daring'' to take Seishirou for granted.]]

* DidYouJustHaveSex: Hokuto quickly picks up that Subaru is no longer a virgin as soon as she sees him after returning from her ski trip, despite Subaru saying nothing. She just knows him that well.

* BreatherEpisode: After the tension heavy chapter "Fractures" comes "Children", an annex chapter that just has Okada (the Tokyo police's Director-General) being informed by Seishirou about taking a break from "job", and a group of children playing hide-and-seek.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrate: [[spoiler:Turns out the Sumeragi and Sakurazukamori go long before the Heian era, and were actually equally respected coworkers, but the Sumeragi's ancestors grew prideful and ascended in power, leaving behind his still loyal but humbler counterpart. The Sakurazukamori became Japan's shadow protector after a series of mistreads, betrayals and rightful wraith only as a last effort to retain a sense of purpose, yet the Sumeragi painted themselves the morally superior ones and demonized all their contributions and services.]]