What You Wish For (Chapter Four)
Title: What You Wish For
Author: alliterationhor
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers: mentions/flashbacks of Yama.
Rating: PG-ish
Status: looks like 12 chapters.
Author's note: yet more flashbacks!
Fanfic archive here.
Comments/concrit appreciated.
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
What You Wish For
If this serenade (repeat after me) (just a little bit closer)
Is not what you want (and do what I say) (caught up in a lie)
It's just how it is (it won't change a thing) (got a little bit colder)
It keeps goin' on and on (it keeps going on and on)
-Guster, What You Wish For
Chapter Four
Kurogane opened his eyes in the darkness. Something had woken him up. He stayed-silent and still-listening with his entire body.
There. A noise.
Almost inaudible, almost more of a flicker of air than a sound, but there.
He rose as slowly as possible, every muscle attuned to match the silence as he moved.
Kurogane picked up Souhi from her place beside his bed. He slid his door open without displacing the heavy velvet cover of silence.
The wizard’s door was closed, but Kurogane knew he was not in his room.
Down the hall. Silent feet, silent breath.
Moving inside the shadows. Being nothing more than a deeper shadow.
Invisible.
Following the sense.
No. Not coming from the direction of Tomoyo’s bedroom.
The kitchen?
The kitchen door was open, a single lamp lit. There was no noise from inside.
Kurogane moved with the silent stealth of a predator, muscles flowing like water as he curled himself around the doorway, inside-
“Kuro-roo.” the mage greeted him.
There was a mixing bowl in front of him, flour on his hands, and ingredients on the counter around him.
Kurogane blinked.
“What are you doing?” Kurogane asked, coming a few steps inside the room.
“I am making brownies.”
“At ... whatever the hell time it is at night?”
“I am hungry.” Fai reached behind him to the knife block. “And-”
Kurogane sensed it, but Fai was quicker. A knife whizzed by him in the darkness and landed with a dull thunk in the wall behind him, pinning the intruder’s arm to the wall.
The man gave a sharp, muffled grunt of pain and his blade rattled on the floor.
“I thought I heard someone sneaking,” Fai said cheerfully, still mixing ingredients in the bowl.
The assassin ripped the knife out of the wall (and his arm) and lunged after Kurogane.
“You can handle it from here, right, Kuro-pu?”
“My name is Kurogane!”
Kurogane dodged, broke the man’s other arm, and rammed his head into the wall with an impressive ‘BANG!’ The assassin slid to the floor, unconscious.
Kurogane looked up at Fai. “Thanks.”
“You are welcome. Hand me the butter?”
* * *
“Have you ever used one of these before?”
Fai took the weapon slowly. “One of these ...?”
“It’s a longbow.”
“Longbow.” Fai echoed. “Show me-how?”
Kurogane demonstrated. “You hold it, like this. One hand here. With the other, you pull the arrow, sight it, and release.”
“I-try?”
Kurogane sighed. “No. You’re holding it wrong.”
“How?”
“Your hand is in the wrong place and you’re holding the arrow-really weird.”
“You show.”
“Alright.”
Kurogane tried to take the longbow back from Fai, but Fai did not let go.
“No.” Fai turned to face the target, gesturing for Kurogane to come up behind him. He held up the longbow. “You show.”
Kurogane sighed. He came up behind the wizard and tapped his shoulder. “First of all,” he said, placing a hand under Fai’s slim arm and raising it. “You’ve got to keep your arm straight, and level with your shoulder.”
“Arm straight, shoulder level,” Fai repeated, as if he was actually learning.
“Your grip is wrong.”
Kurogane stepped closer, his chest not quite touching Fai’s back, as he corrected the other man’s hold on the longbow.
“Like this.”
As Kurogane spoke, he realized was speaking almost into the mage’s ear. A head of tousled blond hair nodded in front of him.
“Like this. And?”
Kurogane noticed his hand was still on top of Fai’s, both gripping the longbow. There was something suddenly erotic about the sight of their hands together; slender, pale fingers under larger, tanned fingers. His thumb moved of its own accord, stroking.
Fai did not seem to notice, but Kurogane was certain he had noticed.
“And?” Fai prompted.
“And you hold the arrow like this,” Kurogane instructed, as his other arm came up around the wizard, his hand adjusting Fai’s on the arrow.
Fai leaned farther back, closer to him. “Hm.”
“Now you sight the arrow and release.”
Kurogane was pretty sure Fai was not paying attention to the lesson anymore. Strangely, Kurogane did not mind.
Then Fai released the arrow, and it hit dead center of the target.
Fai’s shoulders tensed a fraction. “Lucky shot?” he tried, after a moment.
Kurogane dropped his arms. He knew skill when he saw it.
“You liar.”
“Kuro ...”
Kurogane stomped away and refused to speak to Fai for the rest of the day.
* * *
“Fai-san.” Tomoyo said, as he sat down across from her the next morning. “I heard you had an eventful night.”
Fai held up a covered plate, grinning. “I made brownies.”
“And you caught an assassin, did you not?”
Fai nodded, taking a brownie out for himself before passing it to Tomoyo. “He was somewhere he did not belong, wanting to do bad things.”
“Thank you, Fai-san.”
“It was not much, Tomoyo-chan. I do not let people assassinate my friends.”
Tomoyo smiled, wide and charming. “Friends.”
“Oh-”
“No.” Tomoyo put her hand on top of his, lightly. “I am glad to hear that word. We are friends.”
Fai smiled in return. “I am glad too.”
“They are having a practice this afternoon, Kurogane and the Guard.” Tomoyo said as she took a sip of her tea. “If you would perhaps like to ... take Kurogane a message from me?”
“Yes, Tomoyo-chan. I would like that.” he answered, and took a bite of his brownie.
“Mm. These brownies are really good.” Tomoyo said.
* * *
So now you're headed to your car
You say it's dinner with your sister, sweetie
But darling look at how you're dressed
Your best suggests another kind of guest
You don't love me at all
But don't think that it bothers me at all
You're a bad-hearted boy-trap, babydoll
But you're ...
You're so damn hot!
This was worse than the club Fai had forced them to go to.
They were playing the same damn song over and over and over.
And over. And over.
And it did not seem like they would stop playing it anytime soon.
Kurogane was worried their neighbors might get upset over the noise. Actually, Kurogane was hoping their neighbors would get upset over the noise and ask them to turn it down. Sakura would, at least, because Sakura had a conscience. Even if the stupid wizard did not.
The four of them were oblivious to his annoyance. (Kurogane preferred to think “oblivious” rather than “ignoring”.) They were dancing-what they called dancing in this world, which was not what he would call dancing-and trying copy the moves of the people they had seen in the club.
Kurogane wanted to remind them that when they had gone inside the club, Syaoran and Sakura had almost fainted in shock at the sight of people “dancing”.
And now they were forcing him to watch them “dancing”. Although he was not really watching, he was tactfully averting his eyes. But he knew they were dancing, and that was annoying enough.
At least, Syaoran and Sakura were not dancing exactly like the people in the club had been dancing. Their dancing was more of a fun kind of bumping their hips and waving their arms in the air than the overtly sexual grinding of the “dancing” in the club.
Fai was a different story. Fai was wearing very tight trousers he had called “jeans” and a shirt that revealed a sliver of his pale stomach even with his arms down. At the moment, Fai had his arms up and was twirling in a circle and rocking his hips to the music, moving much more gracefully-and sexually-than the other two.
Syaoran and Sakura were not paying attention to Fai.
Kurogane was trying not to pay attention to Fai. He knew Fai was teasing him. He would not let Fai know that it was working.
* * *
Kurogane stopped beneath the tree, not looking up into the thick leafy branches. “Hey. You. In the tree.”
“Yes?”
“Come down here.”
Fai dropped down out of the tree, landing with ease.
None of the other ninjas looked surprised to see that there had been someone hiding in the tree.
“What are you doing here?” Kurogane questioned.
“Tomoyo-chan told me to ask you to dinner.”
“Tomoyo-chan-I mean, Tomoyo-hime-you mean a date?”
Fai titled his head in confusion. “You are dating Tomoyo-chan?”
“What? No. Oh. Okay. Yes.”
Fai looked very lost. “What?”
“Never mind. Why were you in the tree?”
Fai leaned back against the tree trunk. “Observational purposes.”
“Right.”
Kurogane walked back over to Gareth.
“That’s the guy that caught the assassin last night?” Gareth asked.
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t look like much, does he?”
“Maybe not. But he caught something ten of our ninjas didn’t.”
And appearances could be deceiving, Kurogane knew.
“Throw this at him.” Kurogane instructed Gareth, handing him a small rock.
“Aim to hit?”
“Yeah.”
Gareth walked over to two of the other ninjas and began talking to them casually. Kurogane went over to the other group, and started to discuss next week’s schedule with them.
Fai could feel Kurogane’s eyes on him; weighing, not judging.
A few minutes later, the rock flew.
Fai caught it without opening his eyes. The throw had been a little off to the left, above his shoulder and beside his head. “Bad aim.” he commented, crossing his arms again.
“Guard. Apprehend that man. No weapons.”
The Guard obeyed immediately, charging at Fai.
Fai leapt nimbly back up into the tree branches. One of the ninjas jumped up into the tree close to him and Fai twisted out of his reach, climbing higher. Another ninja joined the first; Fai dropped and swung from a branch and knocked them both out of the tree with his feet. He dropped again and caught himself on a lower branch, swung forward once (the Guard expected this and none of them were hit) then twisted at the apex of his swing, changing direction and knocking three of them off their feet. He swung once more, gaining momentum, then vaulted over the rest of the ninjas, rolling away from the ones who had predicted his move and his point of touchdown.
Fai sprang to his feet, then ducked into a crouch when one ninja aimed a kick at his chest, and the kick hit the ninja behind him. Fai swept a leg under the ninja that had tried to kick him and another beside him, knocking them down. He rolled again, got his feet under him, and did a back flip away from three more ninjas, catching one of them with a kick.
He flipped again, and dodged and twisted and dropped, and none of the Guard managed to lay a hand on him.
Fai noticed he was closer to Kurogane now. He ran the few steps toward him and leapt onto the rock wall behind Kurogane, crouching with one hand on the wall and still ready.
“Not very nice, Kuro-sama. If you wanted to play, you should have come after me yourself.”
The Guard was advancing toward them, still following orders.
“Enough.”
Fai breathed hard once, grinning as he stood. “I would have done better with a staff.” he commented as he dropped down lightly from the wall.
Smiling, he held out his hand to Kurogane, the rock in his palm. “I believe this was yours?”
Kurogane opened his hand and Fai dropped the rock into it.
“Can you use a sword?”
“Not as well as you.”
“How would you know?”
Fai laughed, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. “I am not very good,” he confessed.
“We’ll find out.”
“We will?”
“Yeah.” Kurogane smiled a wolfish smile, unsheathing Souhi. “Now it’s my turn to play with you.”
Fai grinned even more.
* * *
Out of all the things Ashura had requested that Fai learn (archery, gymnastics, how to throw knives and use a staff, and hand-to-hand defense for his physical health; music and magic and languages for mental stimulation) Fai had only ever refused to learn swordplay.
It was not that he had anything against swords or the people who used them, in general. It was that something felt vaguely not right about having a sword in his hand.
But in Yama, Kurogane had insisted that Fai learn swordplay, on the grounds that his “stupid bow” could be broken in battle and Fai would need some other method of defense if Kurogane was not near him at the time.
Fai had wanted to point out that he had been doing pretty well so far on his own without Kurogane to ride to his rescue (barring that one time when he kind of “died”), but he had not been quite that fluent at the time, so he had only smirked in response.
But Fai discovered that he did not mind the lessons. Kurogane was right, it was a useful skill to have. The practice kept his muscles strong and his reflexes sharp and his mind clear of any thoughts except the moment he was in.
When they were practicing, the language was simple; attack, counter, dodge, defend, push, pull.
At the end of a long day of swordplay practice, both Kurogane and Fai slept well and heavily, and did not have time to worry about being trapped in this world forever or how things would change between them when the others found them again.
Fai’s longbow had never been broken.
* * *
Kurogane slid Souhi into her sheath and nodded to Fai. “That wasn’t bad.”
Fai nodded and dropped his arm, holding his practice sword a bit awkwardly. He turned to take a flask of water one of the other ninjas offered him.
“Thank you.” As he drank, Fai noticed a bruise blossoming on the man’s cheek. “I am sorry about that,” he said, pointing to it.
The man laughed. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got some impressive moves.”
Kurogane stood next to Gareth again.
“You saw that, didn’t you.”
“Yeah.” Gareth answered, glancing at him.
“It was weird.”
“Yeah.” Gareth shrugged. “I suppose whoever taught him had a style similar to yours.”
“That must be it.” Kurogane agreed. What else could it be?
Kurogane walked back over to Fai. “You don’t like using a sword, do you?”
“It is not my ... preference.”
“You have a weapon of choice?”
Fai pointed out toward the targets set up on the field. “Longbow.”
“Nozumi, get a longbow from the weapons box.”
Nozumi returned a moment later with an elegant but simply carved longbow, made of a light maple coloured wood.
Fai took the longbow, turning it over in his hands and testing the weight.
“Does it feel right?”
Fai cast three arrows, almost quicker than the eye could follow. Each landed at the center of the three targets on the field.
Fai smiled, lazy and confident. “It will do.”
Kurogane nodded, impressed.
* * *
“Come on, Kuro-sama! Dance with me!”
Fai tried to tug Kurogane up from the chair, but Kurogane would not budge.
“That is not dancing. That is ... vertical sex.”
“You’re such a prude!” Fai laughed. He leaned down to whisper into Kurogane’s ear. “I don’t recall you having a problem with vertical sex last night.”
“That was in our room. With the door closed.” Kurogane cut his eyes over to Syaoran and Sakura. “And ...”
“Not in front of the children?” Fai questioned with a knowing smile.
“Do you even know what this song is about?”
“Of course I do. It’s about fun!” Fai declared as he stood up straight again, throwing his arms wide.
Kurogane glared at him.
“It’s just a song, Kuro-ri.”
* * *
Kurogane had made a decision.
Fai had helped catch an assassin last night. After seeing the strange man in action with the Guards, he knew that Fai was very skilled. He also knew that Fai was very strong, and very stealthy, much more than he let on.
Kurogane knew that if Fai was a threat, he would have tried something by now. He was still curious about the strange man, but no longer suspicious about his motives.
“Hey. You.”
“Me.”
“You’re not a ninja.” Kurogane stated.
“No.”
“You’re decent with a sword. You could be better.”
Fai nodded, a little bit unnerved. He could almost swear Kurogane was complimenting him.
“You’re skilled at hand-to-hand. And you’ve got good instincts.”
Fai was more unnerved, that was definitely a compliment. “Thank you.”
“Would you like to join the Guard?”
Fai blinked, blue eyes startled. “The ... Guard ...?” he said slowly, pointing at the other ninjas around him.
“Yes.”
“I ...” Fai started to smile. “Yes.”
“We’ll have to work on your swordplay.”
Kurogane tossed him a sword and Fai caught it with ease.
* * *
Fai draped himself over Kurogane’s lap. “I’ll put out if you dance with me.”
“You’ll do that anyway.”
“True.” Then Fai grinned evilly. “But I’ll do that thing you like. With my tongue.”
“You’re gonna be passed out in about five minutes.” Kurogane muttered. “I hope.”
“Plenty of time for a dance!” Fai exclaimed, jumping up and tugging on the ninja’s arm again.
“No.”
Fai squinted at him thoughtfully, obviously trying to figure out what he had to do to get Kurogane to dance with him.
“No.”
Fai rolled his eyes and turned quickly on his heel. “Kuro-rin is no fun!” he declared. “Sakura-chan, dance with me!”
* * *
It was the four of them again at dinner that night.
“So I hear you have a new member of your Guard.” Souma commented.
Souma did not comment on the fact that it usually took a month of tests for ninjas to be accepted into the Guard. She did not comment on how impressed Kurogane must be to offer someone who was not a ninja a place in the Guard at all.
“Yes.” Kurogane answered. “I should have consulted you first, Tomoyo-hime-”
“Nonsense. I trust your judgment, Kurogane.” Tomoyo turned to Fai and smiled. “Congratulations, Fai-san. It seems you have found a job that will keep you in the palace.”
“Yes.” Fai smiled, almost shyly. “Thank you.”
Souma grinned at Fai. “I’d like to see you in action sometime, Fai-san.” She held up a chopstick between two fingers like a sword. “We could cross swords.”
Fai held up one of his chopsticks and crossed it against hers. “That would be fun, Souma-chan.”
Souma laughed.
* * *
Fai’s arms slid over the back of the armchair, over Kurogane’s shoulders, and wrapped around him. He smacked a loud kiss onto the ninja’s cheek. “Hi.”
Kurogane grumbled, not opening his eyes.
“Guess what.”
“It’s quiet.”
“The kids are asleep.” Fai held out something that was called a ‘remote’ and music filled the room again. He continued, his voice soft and serious, “The music is slow. And I want you to dance with me. Please.”
Kurogane appreciated the straightforward request. Fai could get him do almost (almost) anything if he would just ask. Kurogane would not tell him that; Fai would use it as an unfair advantage. But he was pretty sure that Fai would figure it out sooner or later.
Kurogane stood up and a wide grin brightened Fai’s face.
Fai skipped happily into his arms, and took the ninja’s hands and placed them both on his waist. Then he pressed himself against Kurogane’s body and twined his long arms around Kurogane’s neck.
“Now you move your feet a little.”
“I know how to dance.”
Fai giggled, looking up at him. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
Is this how the story goes?
When rubber meets the road ...
Waving goodbye is so hard
Without hello ...
“This is more your style, hm?” Fai asked quietly, snuggling closer to him.
“It’s better, anyway.” Kurogane admitted gruffly. One of his hands found the back of Fai’s neck and rubbed there gently.
“Yes.” Fai closed his eyes and listened to Kurogane’s heartbeat. “It’s not bad.”
But I’ll be home soon ...
* * *
Later in the evening, after the meal was finished, the four of them were still engaged in amiable conversation. Or, the three of them were. And Kurogane, who was not one for much talk, was listening.
After Fai mentioned that Jalen was helping him figure out the ingredients that were different in this world than the other worlds he had made desserts in, the topic came around to languages.
“You are learning our language very quickly, Fai-san.” Tomoyo remarked. “Is your language similar to ours at all?”
“No. My language is very different from yours.”
“Could you say something in your language, Fai-san?” Souma requested.
“What would you like me to say?” Fai said.
The syllables seemed to trip off his tongue like musical notes.
“It sounds very beautiful, almost like music.” Tomoyo commented to Fai. “Do you sing?”
Fai tried to hide his discomfort. “I used to.”
“Do you know any songs in your language?” Souma questioned.
Fai looked down at the table, blond hair falling over his eyes. “I used to compose music, in my world. Music was very closely related to magic, there.”
Kurogane’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Fai, thoughtfully. Musical talent was something Kurogane thought someone would be proud of, but Fai seemed anything but proud.
“Would you sing us one of your songs?” Tomoyo requested.
“No. Not one of my songs.” Fai said, in a voice that would not be argued with.
Fai had composed hundreds of pieces of music for Ashura, beautiful songs that he had been proud to play for Ashura at the few banquets he held, proud to sing for his armies in celebration. Until he had realized that Ashura was using his music, his magic, to control the minds of those he sang to.
Fai had not sung in a very long time.
“Of course.” Tomoyo said quietly. “It was not a order.”
Fai did miss music. He knew that it was not the music’s fault that Ashura had used it-and him-to wage his war. Music was only music, the same as magic was only magic; it all depended on how you used it.
“It is only that I am not sure if I can sing without using magic. But I will never know until I try.”
Fai took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Fai’s voice was soft, but the melody seemed to fill their ears intimately. The words were slow and beautiful and enchanting. Even though the other three in the room did not understand the words they knew the song was sad.
Stay away from me
I'll be gone soon
It's just so hard to let go
Once we've grabbed hold
It's nothing that you've done
You're not the only one
I'm just learning to be
In twenty-three places
Cause I'm falling off the face of the earth
Crashing into bridges I burn
I'm falling off the face of the earth
But I'll be home soon
Fai opened his eyes and looked directly into Kurogane’s eyes.
And I keep forgetting
To keep you an arm's length
Away
And I'm falling off the face of the earth
Crashing into bridges I burn
And I'm falling off the face of the earth
But I'll be home soon
I'll be home soon ...
Fai might not have used magic, but when he sang that song it felt like a spell.
Tomoyo was the first to break the silence that followed. “That was ...” Her voice was a little breathless, “beautiful, Fai-san.”
“Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.”
Kurogane did not know why, but that song made him sad.
* * * * *
song credits:
Ok Go - You're So Damn Hot
Matt Wertz - Falling Off the Face of the Earth
Bonus! Daisuke Namikawa (Fai) - Smile
Author: alliterationhor
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers: mentions/flashbacks of Yama.
Rating: PG-ish
Status: looks like 12 chapters.
Author's note: yet more flashbacks!
Fanfic archive here.
Comments/concrit appreciated.
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
What You Wish For
If this serenade (repeat after me) (just a little bit closer)
Is not what you want (and do what I say) (caught up in a lie)
It's just how it is (it won't change a thing) (got a little bit colder)
It keeps goin' on and on (it keeps going on and on)
-Guster, What You Wish For
Chapter Four
Kurogane opened his eyes in the darkness. Something had woken him up. He stayed-silent and still-listening with his entire body.
There. A noise.
Almost inaudible, almost more of a flicker of air than a sound, but there.
He rose as slowly as possible, every muscle attuned to match the silence as he moved.
Kurogane picked up Souhi from her place beside his bed. He slid his door open without displacing the heavy velvet cover of silence.
The wizard’s door was closed, but Kurogane knew he was not in his room.
Down the hall. Silent feet, silent breath.
Moving inside the shadows. Being nothing more than a deeper shadow.
Invisible.
Following the sense.
No. Not coming from the direction of Tomoyo’s bedroom.
The kitchen?
The kitchen door was open, a single lamp lit. There was no noise from inside.
Kurogane moved with the silent stealth of a predator, muscles flowing like water as he curled himself around the doorway, inside-
“Kuro-roo.” the mage greeted him.
There was a mixing bowl in front of him, flour on his hands, and ingredients on the counter around him.
Kurogane blinked.
“What are you doing?” Kurogane asked, coming a few steps inside the room.
“I am making brownies.”
“At ... whatever the hell time it is at night?”
“I am hungry.” Fai reached behind him to the knife block. “And-”
Kurogane sensed it, but Fai was quicker. A knife whizzed by him in the darkness and landed with a dull thunk in the wall behind him, pinning the intruder’s arm to the wall.
The man gave a sharp, muffled grunt of pain and his blade rattled on the floor.
“I thought I heard someone sneaking,” Fai said cheerfully, still mixing ingredients in the bowl.
The assassin ripped the knife out of the wall (and his arm) and lunged after Kurogane.
“You can handle it from here, right, Kuro-pu?”
“My name is Kurogane!”
Kurogane dodged, broke the man’s other arm, and rammed his head into the wall with an impressive ‘BANG!’ The assassin slid to the floor, unconscious.
Kurogane looked up at Fai. “Thanks.”
“You are welcome. Hand me the butter?”
* * *
“Have you ever used one of these before?”
Fai took the weapon slowly. “One of these ...?”
“It’s a longbow.”
“Longbow.” Fai echoed. “Show me-how?”
Kurogane demonstrated. “You hold it, like this. One hand here. With the other, you pull the arrow, sight it, and release.”
“I-try?”
Kurogane sighed. “No. You’re holding it wrong.”
“How?”
“Your hand is in the wrong place and you’re holding the arrow-really weird.”
“You show.”
“Alright.”
Kurogane tried to take the longbow back from Fai, but Fai did not let go.
“No.” Fai turned to face the target, gesturing for Kurogane to come up behind him. He held up the longbow. “You show.”
Kurogane sighed. He came up behind the wizard and tapped his shoulder. “First of all,” he said, placing a hand under Fai’s slim arm and raising it. “You’ve got to keep your arm straight, and level with your shoulder.”
“Arm straight, shoulder level,” Fai repeated, as if he was actually learning.
“Your grip is wrong.”
Kurogane stepped closer, his chest not quite touching Fai’s back, as he corrected the other man’s hold on the longbow.
“Like this.”
As Kurogane spoke, he realized was speaking almost into the mage’s ear. A head of tousled blond hair nodded in front of him.
“Like this. And?”
Kurogane noticed his hand was still on top of Fai’s, both gripping the longbow. There was something suddenly erotic about the sight of their hands together; slender, pale fingers under larger, tanned fingers. His thumb moved of its own accord, stroking.
Fai did not seem to notice, but Kurogane was certain he had noticed.
“And?” Fai prompted.
“And you hold the arrow like this,” Kurogane instructed, as his other arm came up around the wizard, his hand adjusting Fai’s on the arrow.
Fai leaned farther back, closer to him. “Hm.”
“Now you sight the arrow and release.”
Kurogane was pretty sure Fai was not paying attention to the lesson anymore. Strangely, Kurogane did not mind.
Then Fai released the arrow, and it hit dead center of the target.
Fai’s shoulders tensed a fraction. “Lucky shot?” he tried, after a moment.
Kurogane dropped his arms. He knew skill when he saw it.
“You liar.”
“Kuro ...”
Kurogane stomped away and refused to speak to Fai for the rest of the day.
* * *
“Fai-san.” Tomoyo said, as he sat down across from her the next morning. “I heard you had an eventful night.”
Fai held up a covered plate, grinning. “I made brownies.”
“And you caught an assassin, did you not?”
Fai nodded, taking a brownie out for himself before passing it to Tomoyo. “He was somewhere he did not belong, wanting to do bad things.”
“Thank you, Fai-san.”
“It was not much, Tomoyo-chan. I do not let people assassinate my friends.”
Tomoyo smiled, wide and charming. “Friends.”
“Oh-”
“No.” Tomoyo put her hand on top of his, lightly. “I am glad to hear that word. We are friends.”
Fai smiled in return. “I am glad too.”
“They are having a practice this afternoon, Kurogane and the Guard.” Tomoyo said as she took a sip of her tea. “If you would perhaps like to ... take Kurogane a message from me?”
“Yes, Tomoyo-chan. I would like that.” he answered, and took a bite of his brownie.
“Mm. These brownies are really good.” Tomoyo said.
* * *
So now you're headed to your car
You say it's dinner with your sister, sweetie
But darling look at how you're dressed
Your best suggests another kind of guest
You don't love me at all
But don't think that it bothers me at all
You're a bad-hearted boy-trap, babydoll
But you're ...
You're so damn hot!
This was worse than the club Fai had forced them to go to.
They were playing the same damn song over and over and over.
And over. And over.
And it did not seem like they would stop playing it anytime soon.
Kurogane was worried their neighbors might get upset over the noise. Actually, Kurogane was hoping their neighbors would get upset over the noise and ask them to turn it down. Sakura would, at least, because Sakura had a conscience. Even if the stupid wizard did not.
The four of them were oblivious to his annoyance. (Kurogane preferred to think “oblivious” rather than “ignoring”.) They were dancing-what they called dancing in this world, which was not what he would call dancing-and trying copy the moves of the people they had seen in the club.
Kurogane wanted to remind them that when they had gone inside the club, Syaoran and Sakura had almost fainted in shock at the sight of people “dancing”.
And now they were forcing him to watch them “dancing”. Although he was not really watching, he was tactfully averting his eyes. But he knew they were dancing, and that was annoying enough.
At least, Syaoran and Sakura were not dancing exactly like the people in the club had been dancing. Their dancing was more of a fun kind of bumping their hips and waving their arms in the air than the overtly sexual grinding of the “dancing” in the club.
Fai was a different story. Fai was wearing very tight trousers he had called “jeans” and a shirt that revealed a sliver of his pale stomach even with his arms down. At the moment, Fai had his arms up and was twirling in a circle and rocking his hips to the music, moving much more gracefully-and sexually-than the other two.
Syaoran and Sakura were not paying attention to Fai.
Kurogane was trying not to pay attention to Fai. He knew Fai was teasing him. He would not let Fai know that it was working.
* * *
Kurogane stopped beneath the tree, not looking up into the thick leafy branches. “Hey. You. In the tree.”
“Yes?”
“Come down here.”
Fai dropped down out of the tree, landing with ease.
None of the other ninjas looked surprised to see that there had been someone hiding in the tree.
“What are you doing here?” Kurogane questioned.
“Tomoyo-chan told me to ask you to dinner.”
“Tomoyo-chan-I mean, Tomoyo-hime-you mean a date?”
Fai titled his head in confusion. “You are dating Tomoyo-chan?”
“What? No. Oh. Okay. Yes.”
Fai looked very lost. “What?”
“Never mind. Why were you in the tree?”
Fai leaned back against the tree trunk. “Observational purposes.”
“Right.”
Kurogane walked back over to Gareth.
“That’s the guy that caught the assassin last night?” Gareth asked.
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t look like much, does he?”
“Maybe not. But he caught something ten of our ninjas didn’t.”
And appearances could be deceiving, Kurogane knew.
“Throw this at him.” Kurogane instructed Gareth, handing him a small rock.
“Aim to hit?”
“Yeah.”
Gareth walked over to two of the other ninjas and began talking to them casually. Kurogane went over to the other group, and started to discuss next week’s schedule with them.
Fai could feel Kurogane’s eyes on him; weighing, not judging.
A few minutes later, the rock flew.
Fai caught it without opening his eyes. The throw had been a little off to the left, above his shoulder and beside his head. “Bad aim.” he commented, crossing his arms again.
“Guard. Apprehend that man. No weapons.”
The Guard obeyed immediately, charging at Fai.
Fai leapt nimbly back up into the tree branches. One of the ninjas jumped up into the tree close to him and Fai twisted out of his reach, climbing higher. Another ninja joined the first; Fai dropped and swung from a branch and knocked them both out of the tree with his feet. He dropped again and caught himself on a lower branch, swung forward once (the Guard expected this and none of them were hit) then twisted at the apex of his swing, changing direction and knocking three of them off their feet. He swung once more, gaining momentum, then vaulted over the rest of the ninjas, rolling away from the ones who had predicted his move and his point of touchdown.
Fai sprang to his feet, then ducked into a crouch when one ninja aimed a kick at his chest, and the kick hit the ninja behind him. Fai swept a leg under the ninja that had tried to kick him and another beside him, knocking them down. He rolled again, got his feet under him, and did a back flip away from three more ninjas, catching one of them with a kick.
He flipped again, and dodged and twisted and dropped, and none of the Guard managed to lay a hand on him.
Fai noticed he was closer to Kurogane now. He ran the few steps toward him and leapt onto the rock wall behind Kurogane, crouching with one hand on the wall and still ready.
“Not very nice, Kuro-sama. If you wanted to play, you should have come after me yourself.”
The Guard was advancing toward them, still following orders.
“Enough.”
Fai breathed hard once, grinning as he stood. “I would have done better with a staff.” he commented as he dropped down lightly from the wall.
Smiling, he held out his hand to Kurogane, the rock in his palm. “I believe this was yours?”
Kurogane opened his hand and Fai dropped the rock into it.
“Can you use a sword?”
“Not as well as you.”
“How would you know?”
Fai laughed, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. “I am not very good,” he confessed.
“We’ll find out.”
“We will?”
“Yeah.” Kurogane smiled a wolfish smile, unsheathing Souhi. “Now it’s my turn to play with you.”
Fai grinned even more.
* * *
Out of all the things Ashura had requested that Fai learn (archery, gymnastics, how to throw knives and use a staff, and hand-to-hand defense for his physical health; music and magic and languages for mental stimulation) Fai had only ever refused to learn swordplay.
It was not that he had anything against swords or the people who used them, in general. It was that something felt vaguely not right about having a sword in his hand.
But in Yama, Kurogane had insisted that Fai learn swordplay, on the grounds that his “stupid bow” could be broken in battle and Fai would need some other method of defense if Kurogane was not near him at the time.
Fai had wanted to point out that he had been doing pretty well so far on his own without Kurogane to ride to his rescue (barring that one time when he kind of “died”), but he had not been quite that fluent at the time, so he had only smirked in response.
But Fai discovered that he did not mind the lessons. Kurogane was right, it was a useful skill to have. The practice kept his muscles strong and his reflexes sharp and his mind clear of any thoughts except the moment he was in.
When they were practicing, the language was simple; attack, counter, dodge, defend, push, pull.
At the end of a long day of swordplay practice, both Kurogane and Fai slept well and heavily, and did not have time to worry about being trapped in this world forever or how things would change between them when the others found them again.
Fai’s longbow had never been broken.
* * *
Kurogane slid Souhi into her sheath and nodded to Fai. “That wasn’t bad.”
Fai nodded and dropped his arm, holding his practice sword a bit awkwardly. He turned to take a flask of water one of the other ninjas offered him.
“Thank you.” As he drank, Fai noticed a bruise blossoming on the man’s cheek. “I am sorry about that,” he said, pointing to it.
The man laughed. “Don’t worry about it. You’ve got some impressive moves.”
Kurogane stood next to Gareth again.
“You saw that, didn’t you.”
“Yeah.” Gareth answered, glancing at him.
“It was weird.”
“Yeah.” Gareth shrugged. “I suppose whoever taught him had a style similar to yours.”
“That must be it.” Kurogane agreed. What else could it be?
Kurogane walked back over to Fai. “You don’t like using a sword, do you?”
“It is not my ... preference.”
“You have a weapon of choice?”
Fai pointed out toward the targets set up on the field. “Longbow.”
“Nozumi, get a longbow from the weapons box.”
Nozumi returned a moment later with an elegant but simply carved longbow, made of a light maple coloured wood.
Fai took the longbow, turning it over in his hands and testing the weight.
“Does it feel right?”
Fai cast three arrows, almost quicker than the eye could follow. Each landed at the center of the three targets on the field.
Fai smiled, lazy and confident. “It will do.”
Kurogane nodded, impressed.
* * *
“Come on, Kuro-sama! Dance with me!”
Fai tried to tug Kurogane up from the chair, but Kurogane would not budge.
“That is not dancing. That is ... vertical sex.”
“You’re such a prude!” Fai laughed. He leaned down to whisper into Kurogane’s ear. “I don’t recall you having a problem with vertical sex last night.”
“That was in our room. With the door closed.” Kurogane cut his eyes over to Syaoran and Sakura. “And ...”
“Not in front of the children?” Fai questioned with a knowing smile.
“Do you even know what this song is about?”
“Of course I do. It’s about fun!” Fai declared as he stood up straight again, throwing his arms wide.
Kurogane glared at him.
“It’s just a song, Kuro-ri.”
* * *
Kurogane had made a decision.
Fai had helped catch an assassin last night. After seeing the strange man in action with the Guards, he knew that Fai was very skilled. He also knew that Fai was very strong, and very stealthy, much more than he let on.
Kurogane knew that if Fai was a threat, he would have tried something by now. He was still curious about the strange man, but no longer suspicious about his motives.
“Hey. You.”
“Me.”
“You’re not a ninja.” Kurogane stated.
“No.”
“You’re decent with a sword. You could be better.”
Fai nodded, a little bit unnerved. He could almost swear Kurogane was complimenting him.
“You’re skilled at hand-to-hand. And you’ve got good instincts.”
Fai was more unnerved, that was definitely a compliment. “Thank you.”
“Would you like to join the Guard?”
Fai blinked, blue eyes startled. “The ... Guard ...?” he said slowly, pointing at the other ninjas around him.
“Yes.”
“I ...” Fai started to smile. “Yes.”
“We’ll have to work on your swordplay.”
Kurogane tossed him a sword and Fai caught it with ease.
* * *
Fai draped himself over Kurogane’s lap. “I’ll put out if you dance with me.”
“You’ll do that anyway.”
“True.” Then Fai grinned evilly. “But I’ll do that thing you like. With my tongue.”
“You’re gonna be passed out in about five minutes.” Kurogane muttered. “I hope.”
“Plenty of time for a dance!” Fai exclaimed, jumping up and tugging on the ninja’s arm again.
“No.”
Fai squinted at him thoughtfully, obviously trying to figure out what he had to do to get Kurogane to dance with him.
“No.”
Fai rolled his eyes and turned quickly on his heel. “Kuro-rin is no fun!” he declared. “Sakura-chan, dance with me!”
* * *
It was the four of them again at dinner that night.
“So I hear you have a new member of your Guard.” Souma commented.
Souma did not comment on the fact that it usually took a month of tests for ninjas to be accepted into the Guard. She did not comment on how impressed Kurogane must be to offer someone who was not a ninja a place in the Guard at all.
“Yes.” Kurogane answered. “I should have consulted you first, Tomoyo-hime-”
“Nonsense. I trust your judgment, Kurogane.” Tomoyo turned to Fai and smiled. “Congratulations, Fai-san. It seems you have found a job that will keep you in the palace.”
“Yes.” Fai smiled, almost shyly. “Thank you.”
Souma grinned at Fai. “I’d like to see you in action sometime, Fai-san.” She held up a chopstick between two fingers like a sword. “We could cross swords.”
Fai held up one of his chopsticks and crossed it against hers. “That would be fun, Souma-chan.”
Souma laughed.
* * *
Fai’s arms slid over the back of the armchair, over Kurogane’s shoulders, and wrapped around him. He smacked a loud kiss onto the ninja’s cheek. “Hi.”
Kurogane grumbled, not opening his eyes.
“Guess what.”
“It’s quiet.”
“The kids are asleep.” Fai held out something that was called a ‘remote’ and music filled the room again. He continued, his voice soft and serious, “The music is slow. And I want you to dance with me. Please.”
Kurogane appreciated the straightforward request. Fai could get him do almost (almost) anything if he would just ask. Kurogane would not tell him that; Fai would use it as an unfair advantage. But he was pretty sure that Fai would figure it out sooner or later.
Kurogane stood up and a wide grin brightened Fai’s face.
Fai skipped happily into his arms, and took the ninja’s hands and placed them both on his waist. Then he pressed himself against Kurogane’s body and twined his long arms around Kurogane’s neck.
“Now you move your feet a little.”
“I know how to dance.”
Fai giggled, looking up at him. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
Is this how the story goes?
When rubber meets the road ...
Waving goodbye is so hard
Without hello ...
“This is more your style, hm?” Fai asked quietly, snuggling closer to him.
“It’s better, anyway.” Kurogane admitted gruffly. One of his hands found the back of Fai’s neck and rubbed there gently.
“Yes.” Fai closed his eyes and listened to Kurogane’s heartbeat. “It’s not bad.”
But I’ll be home soon ...
* * *
Later in the evening, after the meal was finished, the four of them were still engaged in amiable conversation. Or, the three of them were. And Kurogane, who was not one for much talk, was listening.
After Fai mentioned that Jalen was helping him figure out the ingredients that were different in this world than the other worlds he had made desserts in, the topic came around to languages.
“You are learning our language very quickly, Fai-san.” Tomoyo remarked. “Is your language similar to ours at all?”
“No. My language is very different from yours.”
“Could you say something in your language, Fai-san?” Souma requested.
“What would you like me to say?” Fai said.
The syllables seemed to trip off his tongue like musical notes.
“It sounds very beautiful, almost like music.” Tomoyo commented to Fai. “Do you sing?”
Fai tried to hide his discomfort. “I used to.”
“Do you know any songs in your language?” Souma questioned.
Fai looked down at the table, blond hair falling over his eyes. “I used to compose music, in my world. Music was very closely related to magic, there.”
Kurogane’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Fai, thoughtfully. Musical talent was something Kurogane thought someone would be proud of, but Fai seemed anything but proud.
“Would you sing us one of your songs?” Tomoyo requested.
“No. Not one of my songs.” Fai said, in a voice that would not be argued with.
Fai had composed hundreds of pieces of music for Ashura, beautiful songs that he had been proud to play for Ashura at the few banquets he held, proud to sing for his armies in celebration. Until he had realized that Ashura was using his music, his magic, to control the minds of those he sang to.
Fai had not sung in a very long time.
“Of course.” Tomoyo said quietly. “It was not a order.”
Fai did miss music. He knew that it was not the music’s fault that Ashura had used it-and him-to wage his war. Music was only music, the same as magic was only magic; it all depended on how you used it.
“It is only that I am not sure if I can sing without using magic. But I will never know until I try.”
Fai took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Fai’s voice was soft, but the melody seemed to fill their ears intimately. The words were slow and beautiful and enchanting. Even though the other three in the room did not understand the words they knew the song was sad.
Stay away from me
I'll be gone soon
It's just so hard to let go
Once we've grabbed hold
It's nothing that you've done
You're not the only one
I'm just learning to be
In twenty-three places
Cause I'm falling off the face of the earth
Crashing into bridges I burn
I'm falling off the face of the earth
But I'll be home soon
Fai opened his eyes and looked directly into Kurogane’s eyes.
And I keep forgetting
To keep you an arm's length
Away
And I'm falling off the face of the earth
Crashing into bridges I burn
And I'm falling off the face of the earth
But I'll be home soon
I'll be home soon ...
Fai might not have used magic, but when he sang that song it felt like a spell.
Tomoyo was the first to break the silence that followed. “That was ...” Her voice was a little breathless, “beautiful, Fai-san.”
“Thank you, Tomoyo-chan.”
Kurogane did not know why, but that song made him sad.
* * * * *
song credits:
Ok Go - You're So Damn Hot
Matt Wertz - Falling Off the Face of the Earth
Bonus! Daisuke Namikawa (Fai) - Smile