[FANFIC] [TRC] The Second (Chapter 2)
Fandom: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Title: The Second
Author: nyanja14 (aka: Miss Fish, the_myrah)
Summary: At the end of a war, hitzusen strikes as the most unlikely of meetings occurs. (kurofai)
Word Count: 2511
Rating: Teen
Warnings: some dark themes
Chapter 2: Calling Names
"Fai?"
Fai. Ni knew that name, though it had been many decades since he'd heard or spoken it. A feeling he couldn't identify welled up inside him, lodging in his throat. Fai. The colonel spoke the name with a familiarity that almost made Ni stand up and reach through the bars to grasp at the warrior and scream, How do you know that name?
Ni just shook his head.
At that, the colonel unclenched the bars as though just realizing he'd been clinging to them, the very picture of desperation. He took a step back, seeming to compose himself. When the man spoke again, the wild fear his eyes held earlier had been washed away. "What is your name?"
Ni shrugged, sending the colonel a smile, for lack of better explanation. One of the many things he had learned from the prison guards was that a man with a grin was more likely to be left alone. Though the colonel was clearly getting on in age, he looked like he could still pack a wallop. And the long sword at his hip looked equally dangerous.
The warrior seemed ready to growl in frustration, but then Yamazaki came to Ni's rescue.
"Excuse me, sir? He's called Ni around here."
"Ni? Two?" The colonel turned slightly towards Yamazaki, though Ni noticed the man kept him within his red gaze. "Is that his prisoner number?"
"We don't have numbers," Koryuu jumped in, eager to be a part of the conversation. "He's just always been called that."
The colonel apparently took that as a good enough answer and he returned his full attention to Ni, who was still crouched in the back of the cell. "Why don't you speak?" he asked. Something like realization went over his face, and he added, "You can understand me can't you?"
Ni didn't know how to explain, so he just continued to smile at the angry-looking man regretfully.
"Um, sir?" Yamazaki interjected again. "He can't talk. His throat..."
For the first time, the warrior seemed noticed the thick scar sweeping up and down the prisoner's neck. Ni was pale and the scar was an old one, making it harder to distinguish against the otherwise smooth skin of his neck in the dim cell. Regardless, the ancient wound made it quite obvious what had happened to his voice.
Ni saw the colonel take the most hesitant of steps forward, gloved right hand twitching at his side. As if he couldn't stand to look at him any longer, the colonel whipped around to face Yamazaki. "Why is he in here?"
The swindler raised up his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't know. I was only transferred here a few weeks ago."
"Pardon me, Colonel-san," Yuuto called from down the corridor. "I've been here for nearly sixty years, and Ni-kun has always been in that cell, since before I got here."
The red-eyed warrior regarded the prisoner. Ni knew he didn't look a day over twenty, if Yuuto's envious remarks were to be believed. "You have strong magic?" he inquired knowingly. (1)
Ni nodded, somewhat surprised at the colonel's insight. Though magic was not rare among the Clemites, the large dose he carried within him was stuff found only in legend. Even in Ni's homeland, magic-users of his calibre were uncommon. Perhaps great magic was more common in the southern islands.
The colonel turned back to the aged rapist. "Do you know what he's here for?" he demanded, repeating the earlier question.
Yuuto hummed thoughtfully. "The rumor that's been passed down among the guards is he was handed over during the war with Ressue (2) as some sort of peace offering." The old man tilted his head, grinning pleasantly. "Of course, whoever it was that put him here has probably died by now, so who knows?"
The man with red eyes looked over at Ni. "Is that true? Are you from Ressue?"
Ni thought about it carefully. If he said no, the colonel might decide that he'd been sentenced to prison for some actual crime. If he said yes, the colonel may think he was too dangerous a character, with his strong magic and history in warfare.
So Ni gave the larger man no answer whatsoever, a vague smile on his lips.
The colonel glared back at him, and then abruptly started walking to the door. "Mukofujiwara! (3)" he barked at the soldier who had remained. Like all the prisoners, he'd stayed rooted in place to watch the strange scene. "After you check the food situation, locate the keys and get this 'Ni' person out."
Ni blinked, finally moving from his position at the rear of his cell to stare at the colonel's broad back. Was he serious? Apparently so, because the order was followed with another. "I want him brought straight to my tent and placed under guard, understand?"
"Yes sir," Mukofujiwara responded, though he looked just as confused as Ni felt. "But, sir-"
However, the colonel had already swept quietly out of the prison hall, leaving its inhabitants and the soldier to stare at Ni in wonder.
**********
As it turned out, none of them had eaten in two days, not since the battle had begun, so Mukofujiwara was forced to go out in search of the food storage. The second the door swung shut, Koryuu pounced on Ni.
"Ni, who was that? Do you know him?"
Ni shook his head, spreading his fingers to indicate he knew nothing. Much as he racked his many memories, never in his life could he recall meeting the tall, red-eyed man. Besides, he'd been in this prison since decades before the man could've even been born. How could he know him?
And yet, the colonel seemed to recognize him. Ni might've just thought the colonel had mistaken him for someone else. But--- Fai. He knew the name.
Ni could count on one hand how many people besides him knew that name, and all of them were dead.
Koryuu continued to badger him for information, stopping only when the soldier named Mukofujiwara returned with the ration packets. The food was handed out with stunning efficiency and the mystery of Ni and The Colonel was soon forgotten by the inmates as they dug in. But hungry as Ni was, he couldn't be bothered to even open the small package. Instead, he stuck it through the bars and into Yamazaki's cage.
The young man hesitated. "You sure?" Ni knew he was skinny, but he'd always been like that. Besides, as a new inhabitant of the fort prison, Yamazaki still hadn't quite gotten use to the meager meal sizes and he was looking on the sick side. Ni shook the package around a little, insistent, and Yamazaki accepted it with sincere thanks.
Mukofujiwara stared at him levelly. "If you're not eating, then I'm going to take you the colonel's tent now. Is that okay?" Ni nodded, so he produced to cell key he must have found along with the rations and unlocked the cell. The solider entered and held up a hand. "Don't stand up yet," he said sternly.
Ni waited patiently as Mukofujiwara bound his wrists together before getting to his feet. As he followed the soldier out of the cell, he was struck by just how long it'd been since he'd last left it. Just how long it'd been since he'd been outside.
Suddenly, Ni's knees felt weak.
Mukofujiwara prodded him-he hadn't realized he's stopped. Ni picked up the pace, turning his head and nodding to acknowledge his former fellow inmates as they called after him. Mukofujiwara navigated them through the fort with ease, occasionally pausing to speak with another solider or superior. Ni paid no mind as this happened, instead focusing on the thought that he was going to feel the wind and see grass for the first time in, well, over a century he supposed. Ni hadn't kept good track of time after the first twenty years went by. It was something better left unconsidered.
Finally, Mukofujiwara exchanged bows with the latest lieutenant he'd been stopped by, and they proceeded to the final exit and stepped outside.
Though he wasn't a native, Ni could see that the land of Clem had not changed much since he'd last fought on its grounds. The mountains to the west still had the same sharp peaks he remembered and the large lake a few miles from the fort still shone like a mirror under the rising sun. It was morning, and judging from the gold leaves scattered beneath the trees, it was autumn.
Ni shivered and discovered he was crying.
Mukofujiwara looked away politely as he led them towards his cream colored horse. By the time Ni was up on the saddle, there was no evidence of his recent tears.
**********
Ni couldn't talk, of course, and Mukofujiwara apparently wasn't much of a conversationalist, so the ride to the army's camp passed quickly in silence.
Eventually they arrived and dismounted. As Mukofujiwara tied up his horse with the others, Ni tried to ignore the stares he was receiving. He noticed that all of the men had black or dark hair with few exceptions-nothing close to Yuuto's light brunette or his own shade of fair blonde. None of the men were nearly as pale as Ni either. It didn't help that after the last war with Clem, the people of Ressue lost their territory and had been forced to migrated to far lands until the memory of them faded from general knowledge. Ni supposed he must look like some sort of otherworldly creature to them, and not a very majestic one, considering his dirty and famished state.
Ni hoped fervently that he'd be given the opportunity to clean up.
Mukofujiwara took him to what was apparently the colonel's tent, and after a moment's hesitation, he opened the flap to let them inside. "This is where you'll be staying, at least until the colonel decides what he's going to do with you." The soldier glared at him with surprising authority for someone of low rank. "Don't touch anything and don't move. I need to find someone to keep an eye on you."
Ni nodded in understanding, and tried to communicate with a smile that he didn't intend to run off. Where would he go? He didn't know anybody, he had no money, he had no voice, and he didn't blend well with the Clemites. What sense would there be in escape?
Mukofujiwara decided to trust him and exited the tent. Once he was gone Ni turned to examine the place, not that there was much to see, just a futon and other essentials. Ni frowned to himself-surely someone with the rank of colonel could afford to bring some personal effects with him for the long travel that war required. Sure, it was just a temporary shelter, but the bare tent seemed unflinchingly… lonely.
With nothing to do, Ni settled down on the hard ground to wait.
Before long, Mukofujiwara returned with a soldier who introduced himself cheerfully as Nayuki Satoru (4).
"Wow, Ni, you sure are pretty! I wish I had light hair like yours!" The small man beamed.
Ni made sure to smile widely back. A man like this was in the army? Though Nayuki didn't seem to have a bad side at all, if the solider wanted to make friends, Ni was more than happy to remain in his good books.
Mukofujiwara sighed in a long suffering manner. "You're supposed to guard him, not pay him compliments, Satoru."
"Oh, I know!" Nayuki turned toward the serious faced man. "You said the colonel just picked him up randomly at the prison, right? Well, with looks like that-" He waved a hand in Ni's general direction. "It's really no wonder, is it?" Nayuki paused, then added, "Though I didn't think the colonel was interested in men. But since Ni is so pretty, I can see why he was willing to make an exception!"
Ni felt his shy spirits sinking. Was that really why the colonel had ordered him released? Ni had been forced to endure that sort of thing before with some of the guards, so it wasn't anything new. But it wasn't something that anyone ever got used to, and he'd had a fledging hope that he had been taken out for less… illicit purposes.
Ni lowered himself again in a corner of the tent, pulling his knees close to his chest best he could with his hands tied.
The two soldiers lingered to chat a little more, Nayuki being warned multiple times to keep a good eye on the prisoner. Then Mukofujiwara left and Nayuki winked at him. "I trust you not to get up to anything. Being in the colonel's tent kind of gives me the creeps, so I'm just going to wait outside. Come and get me if you want anything."
With that, Ni was left alone.
**********
Hours past. At one point, the friendly soldier entered with a bowl of soup and rice in each hand for lunch. Ni accepted the food, but left it untouched on the ground. Nayuki tried to talk to him, but Ni couldn't really respond and wasn't being particularly receptive, so Nayuki just smiled and exited again.
Lunch had gone stone cold by the time the near-silent footsteps Ni recognized approached the tent.
Ni heard Nayuki greet his superior respectfully enough and attempt a conversation, but the colonel just dismissed him with a brief word. The tent flap was pushed aside and the colonel entered, his large frame seeming to fill the spacious tent. Ni sank back against the tent pole he was leaning against, trying to make himself smaller.
The colonel frowned at the untouched food, though he didn't seem surprised. He did not, however, seem to have anticipated Ni's bound hands.
"Why the hell did they tie you up?" he growled, kneeling and beginning to undue Mukofujiwara's tight knot. "You didn't fight, did you?"
Ni shook his head, staring at the canvas of the opposite tent wall rather than the warrior.
"Tch. Idiots." Knot completely dismantled, he flung the thin rope to the side. "Oi, look at me." Ni forced himself to turn his head, fingers gripping his knee caps. "You don't.... know me, do you?"
Ni stared at the utterly unfamiliar face. Logically, there was no way for him to have met this forty-something year old man. There was simply no way, because all the people he'd met in the last four decades were guards and inmates, and this man wasn't even from Clem.
But the depth of the brief sadness that crossed the colonel face as he shook his head almost convinced Ni that he had to be mistaken.
The colonel grunted and stood, the instance of melancholy over. "Did either of those two tell you my name?" Ni answered no, and so the tall man continued. "My name is Kurogane. Ku-ro-ga-ne," he emphasized. "I'm a colonel in the Shirasagi army, but you probably figured that out already."
At Ni's silence, the col-Kurogane looked away and sighed, before facing the prisoner again with an unreadable expression.
"Your name… is it Yuui?"
NOTES:
1 - It is mentioned in "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle", (and implied in "xxxHolic" and "Cardcaptor Sakura"), that people with great magic age very slowly. Yuuko says just before Fai is turned into a vamp that he has already lived Kurogane's age by many times. This brings up to me one of the mysteries of TRC that has always bothered me the most-just how old is Fai anyways?
2 - Ressue-again, a made up race/nation. Note that "Ressue" is an anagram of "Seresu", which is the Del Ray spelling/translation of the universe in which Fai lived with Ashura. I prefer "Celes", but "Seresu" worked better for anagram purposely. I got lots of good anagrams, but I picked Ressue because it vaguely sounds like Russia.
3 - Mukofujiwara, (try saying that three times fast), is from "Legal Drug". He is the class president of the all-boys school that the main characters attend for a job. He has a stern face, but is far from uncompassionate. (I cannot recall his full name and am too lazy to look it up, if he even has one.)
4 - Nayuki Satoru is also from "Legal Drug", though he is the class vice president. A sunny disposition, but horribly blunt, he is probably my favorite character from the series. (Seeing him explain why boys at all-boys schools inevitably turn to gay sex is a highlight of the series for me.)
~~FANFICTION MASTERLIST~~
Title: The Second
Author: nyanja14 (aka: Miss Fish, the_myrah)
Summary: At the end of a war, hitzusen strikes as the most unlikely of meetings occurs. (kurofai)
Word Count: 2511
Rating: Teen
Warnings: some dark themes
Chapter 2: Calling Names
"Fai?"
Fai. Ni knew that name, though it had been many decades since he'd heard or spoken it. A feeling he couldn't identify welled up inside him, lodging in his throat. Fai. The colonel spoke the name with a familiarity that almost made Ni stand up and reach through the bars to grasp at the warrior and scream, How do you know that name?
Ni just shook his head.
At that, the colonel unclenched the bars as though just realizing he'd been clinging to them, the very picture of desperation. He took a step back, seeming to compose himself. When the man spoke again, the wild fear his eyes held earlier had been washed away. "What is your name?"
Ni shrugged, sending the colonel a smile, for lack of better explanation. One of the many things he had learned from the prison guards was that a man with a grin was more likely to be left alone. Though the colonel was clearly getting on in age, he looked like he could still pack a wallop. And the long sword at his hip looked equally dangerous.
The warrior seemed ready to growl in frustration, but then Yamazaki came to Ni's rescue.
"Excuse me, sir? He's called Ni around here."
"Ni? Two?" The colonel turned slightly towards Yamazaki, though Ni noticed the man kept him within his red gaze. "Is that his prisoner number?"
"We don't have numbers," Koryuu jumped in, eager to be a part of the conversation. "He's just always been called that."
The colonel apparently took that as a good enough answer and he returned his full attention to Ni, who was still crouched in the back of the cell. "Why don't you speak?" he asked. Something like realization went over his face, and he added, "You can understand me can't you?"
Ni didn't know how to explain, so he just continued to smile at the angry-looking man regretfully.
"Um, sir?" Yamazaki interjected again. "He can't talk. His throat..."
For the first time, the warrior seemed noticed the thick scar sweeping up and down the prisoner's neck. Ni was pale and the scar was an old one, making it harder to distinguish against the otherwise smooth skin of his neck in the dim cell. Regardless, the ancient wound made it quite obvious what had happened to his voice.
Ni saw the colonel take the most hesitant of steps forward, gloved right hand twitching at his side. As if he couldn't stand to look at him any longer, the colonel whipped around to face Yamazaki. "Why is he in here?"
The swindler raised up his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't know. I was only transferred here a few weeks ago."
"Pardon me, Colonel-san," Yuuto called from down the corridor. "I've been here for nearly sixty years, and Ni-kun has always been in that cell, since before I got here."
The red-eyed warrior regarded the prisoner. Ni knew he didn't look a day over twenty, if Yuuto's envious remarks were to be believed. "You have strong magic?" he inquired knowingly. (1)
Ni nodded, somewhat surprised at the colonel's insight. Though magic was not rare among the Clemites, the large dose he carried within him was stuff found only in legend. Even in Ni's homeland, magic-users of his calibre were uncommon. Perhaps great magic was more common in the southern islands.
The colonel turned back to the aged rapist. "Do you know what he's here for?" he demanded, repeating the earlier question.
Yuuto hummed thoughtfully. "The rumor that's been passed down among the guards is he was handed over during the war with Ressue (2) as some sort of peace offering." The old man tilted his head, grinning pleasantly. "Of course, whoever it was that put him here has probably died by now, so who knows?"
The man with red eyes looked over at Ni. "Is that true? Are you from Ressue?"
Ni thought about it carefully. If he said no, the colonel might decide that he'd been sentenced to prison for some actual crime. If he said yes, the colonel may think he was too dangerous a character, with his strong magic and history in warfare.
So Ni gave the larger man no answer whatsoever, a vague smile on his lips.
The colonel glared back at him, and then abruptly started walking to the door. "Mukofujiwara! (3)" he barked at the soldier who had remained. Like all the prisoners, he'd stayed rooted in place to watch the strange scene. "After you check the food situation, locate the keys and get this 'Ni' person out."
Ni blinked, finally moving from his position at the rear of his cell to stare at the colonel's broad back. Was he serious? Apparently so, because the order was followed with another. "I want him brought straight to my tent and placed under guard, understand?"
"Yes sir," Mukofujiwara responded, though he looked just as confused as Ni felt. "But, sir-"
However, the colonel had already swept quietly out of the prison hall, leaving its inhabitants and the soldier to stare at Ni in wonder.
**********
As it turned out, none of them had eaten in two days, not since the battle had begun, so Mukofujiwara was forced to go out in search of the food storage. The second the door swung shut, Koryuu pounced on Ni.
"Ni, who was that? Do you know him?"
Ni shook his head, spreading his fingers to indicate he knew nothing. Much as he racked his many memories, never in his life could he recall meeting the tall, red-eyed man. Besides, he'd been in this prison since decades before the man could've even been born. How could he know him?
And yet, the colonel seemed to recognize him. Ni might've just thought the colonel had mistaken him for someone else. But--- Fai. He knew the name.
Ni could count on one hand how many people besides him knew that name, and all of them were dead.
Koryuu continued to badger him for information, stopping only when the soldier named Mukofujiwara returned with the ration packets. The food was handed out with stunning efficiency and the mystery of Ni and The Colonel was soon forgotten by the inmates as they dug in. But hungry as Ni was, he couldn't be bothered to even open the small package. Instead, he stuck it through the bars and into Yamazaki's cage.
The young man hesitated. "You sure?" Ni knew he was skinny, but he'd always been like that. Besides, as a new inhabitant of the fort prison, Yamazaki still hadn't quite gotten use to the meager meal sizes and he was looking on the sick side. Ni shook the package around a little, insistent, and Yamazaki accepted it with sincere thanks.
Mukofujiwara stared at him levelly. "If you're not eating, then I'm going to take you the colonel's tent now. Is that okay?" Ni nodded, so he produced to cell key he must have found along with the rations and unlocked the cell. The solider entered and held up a hand. "Don't stand up yet," he said sternly.
Ni waited patiently as Mukofujiwara bound his wrists together before getting to his feet. As he followed the soldier out of the cell, he was struck by just how long it'd been since he'd last left it. Just how long it'd been since he'd been outside.
Suddenly, Ni's knees felt weak.
Mukofujiwara prodded him-he hadn't realized he's stopped. Ni picked up the pace, turning his head and nodding to acknowledge his former fellow inmates as they called after him. Mukofujiwara navigated them through the fort with ease, occasionally pausing to speak with another solider or superior. Ni paid no mind as this happened, instead focusing on the thought that he was going to feel the wind and see grass for the first time in, well, over a century he supposed. Ni hadn't kept good track of time after the first twenty years went by. It was something better left unconsidered.
Finally, Mukofujiwara exchanged bows with the latest lieutenant he'd been stopped by, and they proceeded to the final exit and stepped outside.
Though he wasn't a native, Ni could see that the land of Clem had not changed much since he'd last fought on its grounds. The mountains to the west still had the same sharp peaks he remembered and the large lake a few miles from the fort still shone like a mirror under the rising sun. It was morning, and judging from the gold leaves scattered beneath the trees, it was autumn.
Ni shivered and discovered he was crying.
Mukofujiwara looked away politely as he led them towards his cream colored horse. By the time Ni was up on the saddle, there was no evidence of his recent tears.
**********
Ni couldn't talk, of course, and Mukofujiwara apparently wasn't much of a conversationalist, so the ride to the army's camp passed quickly in silence.
Eventually they arrived and dismounted. As Mukofujiwara tied up his horse with the others, Ni tried to ignore the stares he was receiving. He noticed that all of the men had black or dark hair with few exceptions-nothing close to Yuuto's light brunette or his own shade of fair blonde. None of the men were nearly as pale as Ni either. It didn't help that after the last war with Clem, the people of Ressue lost their territory and had been forced to migrated to far lands until the memory of them faded from general knowledge. Ni supposed he must look like some sort of otherworldly creature to them, and not a very majestic one, considering his dirty and famished state.
Ni hoped fervently that he'd be given the opportunity to clean up.
Mukofujiwara took him to what was apparently the colonel's tent, and after a moment's hesitation, he opened the flap to let them inside. "This is where you'll be staying, at least until the colonel decides what he's going to do with you." The soldier glared at him with surprising authority for someone of low rank. "Don't touch anything and don't move. I need to find someone to keep an eye on you."
Ni nodded in understanding, and tried to communicate with a smile that he didn't intend to run off. Where would he go? He didn't know anybody, he had no money, he had no voice, and he didn't blend well with the Clemites. What sense would there be in escape?
Mukofujiwara decided to trust him and exited the tent. Once he was gone Ni turned to examine the place, not that there was much to see, just a futon and other essentials. Ni frowned to himself-surely someone with the rank of colonel could afford to bring some personal effects with him for the long travel that war required. Sure, it was just a temporary shelter, but the bare tent seemed unflinchingly… lonely.
With nothing to do, Ni settled down on the hard ground to wait.
Before long, Mukofujiwara returned with a soldier who introduced himself cheerfully as Nayuki Satoru (4).
"Wow, Ni, you sure are pretty! I wish I had light hair like yours!" The small man beamed.
Ni made sure to smile widely back. A man like this was in the army? Though Nayuki didn't seem to have a bad side at all, if the solider wanted to make friends, Ni was more than happy to remain in his good books.
Mukofujiwara sighed in a long suffering manner. "You're supposed to guard him, not pay him compliments, Satoru."
"Oh, I know!" Nayuki turned toward the serious faced man. "You said the colonel just picked him up randomly at the prison, right? Well, with looks like that-" He waved a hand in Ni's general direction. "It's really no wonder, is it?" Nayuki paused, then added, "Though I didn't think the colonel was interested in men. But since Ni is so pretty, I can see why he was willing to make an exception!"
Ni felt his shy spirits sinking. Was that really why the colonel had ordered him released? Ni had been forced to endure that sort of thing before with some of the guards, so it wasn't anything new. But it wasn't something that anyone ever got used to, and he'd had a fledging hope that he had been taken out for less… illicit purposes.
Ni lowered himself again in a corner of the tent, pulling his knees close to his chest best he could with his hands tied.
The two soldiers lingered to chat a little more, Nayuki being warned multiple times to keep a good eye on the prisoner. Then Mukofujiwara left and Nayuki winked at him. "I trust you not to get up to anything. Being in the colonel's tent kind of gives me the creeps, so I'm just going to wait outside. Come and get me if you want anything."
With that, Ni was left alone.
**********
Hours past. At one point, the friendly soldier entered with a bowl of soup and rice in each hand for lunch. Ni accepted the food, but left it untouched on the ground. Nayuki tried to talk to him, but Ni couldn't really respond and wasn't being particularly receptive, so Nayuki just smiled and exited again.
Lunch had gone stone cold by the time the near-silent footsteps Ni recognized approached the tent.
Ni heard Nayuki greet his superior respectfully enough and attempt a conversation, but the colonel just dismissed him with a brief word. The tent flap was pushed aside and the colonel entered, his large frame seeming to fill the spacious tent. Ni sank back against the tent pole he was leaning against, trying to make himself smaller.
The colonel frowned at the untouched food, though he didn't seem surprised. He did not, however, seem to have anticipated Ni's bound hands.
"Why the hell did they tie you up?" he growled, kneeling and beginning to undue Mukofujiwara's tight knot. "You didn't fight, did you?"
Ni shook his head, staring at the canvas of the opposite tent wall rather than the warrior.
"Tch. Idiots." Knot completely dismantled, he flung the thin rope to the side. "Oi, look at me." Ni forced himself to turn his head, fingers gripping his knee caps. "You don't.... know me, do you?"
Ni stared at the utterly unfamiliar face. Logically, there was no way for him to have met this forty-something year old man. There was simply no way, because all the people he'd met in the last four decades were guards and inmates, and this man wasn't even from Clem.
But the depth of the brief sadness that crossed the colonel face as he shook his head almost convinced Ni that he had to be mistaken.
The colonel grunted and stood, the instance of melancholy over. "Did either of those two tell you my name?" Ni answered no, and so the tall man continued. "My name is Kurogane. Ku-ro-ga-ne," he emphasized. "I'm a colonel in the Shirasagi army, but you probably figured that out already."
At Ni's silence, the col-Kurogane looked away and sighed, before facing the prisoner again with an unreadable expression.
"Your name… is it Yuui?"
NOTES:
1 - It is mentioned in "Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle", (and implied in "xxxHolic" and "Cardcaptor Sakura"), that people with great magic age very slowly. Yuuko says just before Fai is turned into a vamp that he has already lived Kurogane's age by many times. This brings up to me one of the mysteries of TRC that has always bothered me the most-just how old is Fai anyways?
2 - Ressue-again, a made up race/nation. Note that "Ressue" is an anagram of "Seresu", which is the Del Ray spelling/translation of the universe in which Fai lived with Ashura. I prefer "Celes", but "Seresu" worked better for anagram purposely. I got lots of good anagrams, but I picked Ressue because it vaguely sounds like Russia.
3 - Mukofujiwara, (try saying that three times fast), is from "Legal Drug". He is the class president of the all-boys school that the main characters attend for a job. He has a stern face, but is far from uncompassionate. (I cannot recall his full name and am too lazy to look it up, if he even has one.)
4 - Nayuki Satoru is also from "Legal Drug", though he is the class vice president. A sunny disposition, but horribly blunt, he is probably my favorite character from the series. (Seeing him explain why boys at all-boys schools inevitably turn to gay sex is a highlight of the series for me.)
~~FANFICTION MASTERLIST~~