Set post the infamous "lend me your shoulder" scene. Combines the anime show with AU theories concerning the eventual outcome of the (un-translated) manga. Failing that, just think of it as a pointless, short piece of fluff and be on your ways. Standard disclaimers apply.

No End in Light.

Scarab Dynasty.

'…I'm getting a cramp in my shoulder, you know.

'Yeah, that's kinda all your fault. Just like all the other messes you get the pair of us into. Not that I'm complaining.

'…Are you still asleep? Oh. You are. Okay, then… I guess I can stay still a little while longer.

'Ow.

'Ayumu…

'You know, you scared me today. You do that a lot, though so… just not the way you did today. It's like even though I know you're always trying to do what's best and you won't get it wrong… at least you don't usually…

'Why does it always still frighten me?

'Never mind.

'Okay shoulder really hurting now. I kind of need you to move which you're obviously not going to. Okay, fine. Stay there. I guess you earned it.

'…This is the kind of thing that belongs in my little book, you know. Because if this isn't a once in a lifetime occurrence then I don't know what is. You know how many people have ever been privileged enough to be allowed the use of this shoulder as a pillow? I'll tell you, Ayumu – no one. Except for you. I'm sure you'll be grateful for that when you wake up. Which I hope happens soon, by the way. A girl's shoulder can only take concentrated pressure in one position for a certain amount of time and mine is reaching its limits.

'Oh…

'Oh, damn it, there's a bee. Or possibly a wasp, I'm not all that sure from this distance and it's moving around really, really quickly and…

'I've changed my mind, Ayumu, don't wake up. Don't move so much as an inch, okay? Seriously I like you better when you're crushing my shoulder than when you're hiding behind me. And even more than when you're not suffocating…

'Urgh.

'Okay that's just plain ridiculous.

'You realise, of course, that I am now likely to flinch in the presence of hornets? And bees. And wasps, and nettles and Poison Ivy and… and anything else likely to bring on an anaphylactic shock? Even when you're not actually with me. It's quite simply ridiculous but I just can't help it. I even look around to check you're not about to walk around the corner whenever I pass a hornet's nest.

'Which is just crazy. Because you've been saving everyone you come across and… and finding killers and preventing all out chaos ever since the day I went to meet… the day I met you. It's just so very unlikely that the bees are going to be your downfall, anaphylactic or not.

'You're brave and smart… possibly a little too much of that second one, but then that's good, right? It's what you always expect of yourself, and what other people expected, too. Some of them more than others. And there's really so many good reasons for you comparing yourself to him, only they still aren't good reasons at all, and… and you don't need looking after, obviously, and I wouldn't want you to act like you do. That's quite frankly not the reason you make such an interetsing addition to my notebook and believe me, it may be the source of all important events that take place on the school premises, but I put a great deal of emphasis on important. You have three whole pages, you know and…

'…And now I sound kind of stalkerish… wow. I really get into this whole thing, don't I? Well still. It's not stalking. Its journalistic interest, that's what I'm supposed to show, right? We're paid to pay close attention to the minor details and then run them up for the world to see, you know.

'Anyhow, if it makes you feel any better there are other people who have a lot more than three pages. That girl, Sayoko, from the Manor of Death? She's got three, too, and we hardy even know anything about her, Rio's got six, Kousuke's pushing my usual limit with seven…Don't feel jealous, though, it's not that they're more interesting than you, it's just that... Well. You know it's strange, Ayumu, but the more likely it is that people are going to try and kill you, me or anyone in our immediate vicinity, the more pages they seem to have in here.

'Hm. That's funny. I didn't even realise I'd given your sister eight… Only joking. Heh. You can laugh any time now.

…

'No, I thought you wouldn't. You probably wouldn't have even if you were actually awake. You don't laugh very much, Ayumu. And you don't smile all that much either. Which is kind of a shame. It's a nice smile when it's your real smile. Not just that one you use whenever you outsmart one of the Blade Children. That's not you. That's the smile you use when you're trying not to look like Kiyotaka.

'Kiyotaka. Hm.

'I wish…

'I wish things weren't as complicated as they are, Ayumu. But they are complicated. Who I am is complicated. Who you are is… actually that's pretty simple to explain, but the rest of it is still complicated anyway.

'Still, I'm sure you'll work it all out in the end. I wonder… will you want to use my shoulder, after that?

'I need you to know one thing, though, and that's that… I'm not lying.

'Not really.

'Not that much. What's in a name, after all? "A rose by any other would…" wait, what's the line, again?'

'Damn it. I know everything about everyone but I can't remember a few words written by some random English Playwrite. Some journalist I am, huh? Some Hiyomo Yuizaki.

'I am Hiyomo Yuizaki, now. I have to think that way. I have to think exactly how I'm expected to and not leave room for anything else.

'I think… I think I almost want to be. It's funny, that. Don't usually get so attached. It's hard. Pretending. At least I think I'm pretending.

'Maybe…

'Maybe not. That's the thing about people like me, you see. We have to tred this nicely thin little line between who we think we are and who we have to be at the time and…

'…You probably wouldn't understand a word I'm saying if you were awake. Oh well. Maybe it's better than you don't know. Not yet, anyway. One day, though. One day we'll find Kiyotaka and… and things will all become a lot clearer then. The whole tale comes to an end in light. Or dark. I guess in the end, Ayumu, that'll depend on you…

'…And you're still hurting my shoulder.

'Anyway… at least the bee's gone. Or the hornet. Whichever it was. Good. I won't have to start Hiyono punching after all, then.

'Plus, you'll have to wake up sooner or later, Ayumu. And I'm not just talking about that literally…'

Fin.

This fic is set in the anime universe, which ended on episode twenty five and failed to continue and reveal the exact circumstances of the story that were laid down by the manga. It may (or may not) be an AU to the manga, but I'm not entirely sure. Ayumu appears to have a different personality in both, though, so I would assume so.

Since the manga hasn't been translated into English yet my primary information for this fic has come from various online resources. At the moment I am thinking of the anime-verse as a universe which would have continued on into the manga, to reveal the "truth" about Hiyono and Ayumu's identities, amongst all the others. If you want more information, check out the wikipedia entry on spiral or some other online resource relating to the manga. Then this fic should make sense. Unless of course you are lucky enough to be bilingual and read the manga, then with any luck, this should make sense anyway. Or if you want, you can just look at it as a shameless piece of fluff and leave it at that.