Spoilers: everything up to the Celes arc
Warnings: deviates from canon. Future chapters may be rated M.
Notes: This is a continuation to 'the sword to my shield', in which Fai uses magic, and Kurogane finds out. More drama, more bittersweet, more family stuff. I'm writing the 4th chapter at the moment.
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and its characters do not belong to me.
when flight falls short
(Part 1)
Mokona's magic circle flared out wide around them, sudden and slowly spinning, intricate runes glowing beneath their feet. Winds whipped up along the edges of the circle; the last of their belongings scattered through the spartan room, too far out of their reach. Syaoran went immediately to the princess, put an arm around her shoulders to shelter her through the coming transportation.
Kurogane would have been an idiot to miss the relief that washed through the wizard's face.
"Time to go!" the pork bun cried miserably. "Mokona is sorry that not everything is back in storage!"
"Don't worry about that, Mokona," Fai called above the howling winds, his smile almost genuine, "You did your best."
Kurogane chose not to mention the way the idiot had been limping around the house hours ago, after he'd taken the shields down, and especially not the way he kept touching uneasy fingers to his trouser pocket. Had he more fluttering paper birds to unleash? What else was he hiding from them?
For all the suspicions and questions he harbored, there was no more time to brood upon them now, so he gripped Souhi's sheath and stood his ground—someone had to be ready for the next world they landed in.
Reality warped around them, a curious sensation of them being sucked headfirst into a gigantic vacuum, and then they were no longer in Nagare.
They landed on a piece of flying rock.
At least, that was what Kurogane saw of it, before three other bodies slammed him to the ground, and a ball of fluff bounced off his head.
"The hell?!" he thundered. On instinct, he swept his senses about them first—no threatening presences—before resuming his tirade. "Why can't you have them land somewhere other than on me, you useless pork bun?"
"Mokona tried her best!" the little creature squawked indignantly, hopping on his head. (Her inconsequential weight made the action a lot less painful (and a lot more humorous) than it would otherwise have been.) "Kuro-pon should be more grateful like Fai always tells him to!"
A light groan sounded above him before he could force a retort out; thin fingers patted their way up his mouth and nose. "Am I touching Kuro-puu's shouting face?" the too-familiar voice lilted above him. Scarred fingertips trailed softly along his jaw, and he found that he remembered that touch, only too well. "You don't have to yell, you know, we're all right here."
"Get your damn hand off me!" Kurogane snapped, unnerved. Anger rose high and indignant in his gut. This, he could control. It was something he chose to concentrate on, when Fai wriggled heavily on top of him. "Get your entire body off, you idiot!"
Above them, the children were stirring, and the wizard laughed lightly. "Well," he began in a tone too sultry for Kurogane's liking, "It seems that I'm trapped on top of you for the foreseeable future, Kuro-tan."
Rage bubbled in his middle. Syaoran choked above them; Sakura began to apologize. Mokona chirped and bounced further on Kurogane's head, and he wanted to kill something, right now.
"I'm really sorry, Syaoran-kun, Fai-san, Kurogane-san!" Sakura yelped. She was the first to scramble off their dog pile, wriggling to find footing on the uneven rock surface they'd landed on, and Kurogane clenched his jaw when Fai pushed his cheek into rough ground.
"Idiot!" he snapped.
The children scrambled away in a hurry; Fai took his time and stood, dusting himself off. Dirt particles landed on Kurogane's face like bits of powdery snow. He sneezed violently, eyes watering.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he snapped at Fai, who grinned brightly at him and sprung backwards (despite a sprained, heavily-bandaged ankle) to neatly avoid a purposeful swipe. With enviable finesse, the blond shifted his weight onto a sturdy wooden cane he'd brought with him from Nagare, shrugging like he didn't understand a word Kurogane was saying.
(The fear clinging to Fai's countenance in the previous world had mostly eased now that they were in this new place, something he didn't miss.)
"Kuro-pyon is very energetic," Fai sang, skip-limping towards the kids. "Don't you agree, Mokona?"
"Kuro-rin is a big fierce growly bear!" the pork bun crowed. She squealed when Fai snatched her up from Syaoran's head, and Kurogane charged at them both. "Or a horrible barky dog!"
He was going to pummel them into bits, he really was, but Kurogane was a ninja and had better things to be concerned about than two children who seemed to exist only to annoy him. With a great amount of self-restraint, he turned his back to them, surveying their surroundings.
Solid rock stretched out beneath his feet, towards the backs of low, drab buildings not too far away. It appeared that they'd landed close to the deserted edge of the island (if you could call it that)—there was noise and a few people where the buildings were, and no one had noticed their arrival yet. Cerulean sky panned out above, odd for the absence of clouds, though there were other hovering rocks in the distance, and little dots flying between them.
Past the edge of the island... Kurogane had a bad feeling about it.
"Whoops!" Fai yelped behind him.
He turned back to look (probably some stupid antic again) and found the mage backing away from the boundary of the stone, bland surprise darting through his features. Mokona squealed. As if he'd noticed the attention, Fai turned back to him with a stupid smile.
"It's a long ways down, Kuro-pipi," he supplied helpfully.
This, he believed, but he stalked close to the edge of the floating rock anyway, to gauge for himself just how far of a drop it was.
Miles below, past the steep fall, deceptively small clouds drifted by, and beyond that, dark grey-green earth lurked ominously, lined with pepper-white mountain ridges and stretches of deep blue ocean. It was so far down that it looked like a painting almost, surreal and majestic and nothing like he'd ever seen.
"It's not an illusion," Fai said thoughtfully.
Kurogane backed away from the edge of the precipice, wondering if this floating island they were on would plummet suddenly to the earth below. There was no time for useless fear, though, so he glanced towards the children.
"Is there a feather in this world?" Syaoran was asking.
Mokona nodded, perched on his shoulder, pointing past the buildings shielding them from the population of the island. "Mokona feels a feather in that direction. But it's a very faint feeling."
Half an hour and a change of clothes later, they were gathered in front of the vehicle shop. Cars, the neon signboard above proclaimed. The shop itself was wide and open, like a garage, with metal sheets for siding and thin columns between lifted doors. Various machines were spread out in front of the shop, with spaces in between so potential customers could take closer looks at the car of their choice.
Kurogane noticed one thing immediately—
"These are so adorable!" Fai enthused beside him, a tiny smile tugging on his lips as he stroked his fingers along his chin. "They'd fit four children, easily, but I don't think there's space for both you and I in a car like that, Kuro-pon."
There really wasn't. They had seen metallic contraptions like these in previous worlds, ones that had wheels and rolled on streets, with glass windows and gleaming bodies, though they never had the occasion to ride in one before. In this world, however, their only means to reach the feather would be to use at least one of these flying machines, that every other person seemed to operate with ease.
"You don't know how to drive that," he muttered to the idiot.
Fai angled a sharp grin at him. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Or does Kuro-puu have learning difficulties?"
His banked temper snapped, and the blond twisted away from his punch with another inane smile. "Kuro-wan wants to hurt me!"
If hurting the man would get him to shut the hell up, Kurogane would definitely have considered it. But it was uncannily impossible to land a hit on Fai unless the idiot allowed it, and that little fact irked him to no end, like a buried splinter in his skin with no leverage protruding. He focused his attention on the various vehicles spread out in front of him, stalked down cramped paths and narrowed his eyes at the selection.
"Well, have you picked one out yet?" Fai sidled back to him a while later. The kids had opted to stay at the sidelines while the twit was getting in and out of his hair. "If you haven't, I'll choose a car for you."
"I'll do that myself," he snapped, pointed out a black automobile that seemed workable and not overly cramped.
The mage raked his eyes over the machine (it looked like a race car almost, low and sleek with two thick red stripes blazing up its bulbous hood, and large, round headlights on either side of a horizontal chrome grille). "Hyuu, Kuro-sama has good taste."
Kurogane clicked his tongue. "I'd rather not fall out of the air halfway through traveling."
Fai hummed at his response, turned to wave down a short, beady-eyed boy dressed in a shirt and greasy overalls. "Masayoshi-kun, was it?" he chirped brightly. "Please tell your boss that we're ready to make our purchase."
The boy nodded and disappeared back into the garage. Moments later, a wizened old man followed him out, stooping so low that his trailing mustache and eyebrows almost touched the ground.
The transaction took place quickly and smoothly. (Fai's attempt at bargaining fell flat, which wasn't surprising, considering how this was the only car dealer on the island.) The keys were handed over, and Fai opted to pay a little extra for Masayoshi to take the cars out of the crammed mess they were in (though this was mostly so they could observe how the boy handled the vehicles).
"Feeling up to driving, Kuro-tan?" the idiot sang, limp-waltzing up to him when Masayoshi was out of earshot, and Mokona and the kids were the only ones with them. They were back where they'd initially landed—out of sight of most prying eyes to master the vehicles without incurring suspicion.
"Quit asking stupid questions," he snapped at the mage.
The car Fai had chosen was a flat pastel blue. It looked somewhat ridiculous (stupid like him), like a semicircle stretched reluctantly (asymmetrically) lengthwise, and there was hardly any space to fit anyone but him and the princess in it. Syaoran would, naturally, be riding along with Kurogane in the other machine.
"Stay here while we figure this out," Fai told the kids cheerfully.
"Oi," Kurogane began to say, but the idiot had slammed the door shut and started his engine, and whooshed off the edge of the island. Then he dropped out of sight.
"Fai-san!" the kids shouted in horror, stepping towards where the mage had gone down.
"Fucking idiot," Kurogane growled. He swung his door open and jammed his key in the ignition, turning it so the engine roared to life. There wasn't time to ask anyone for a quick lesson, and Fai's taunt about him having learning difficulties still rankled.
He could do this, help or no help.
The car rumbled around him, low and steady, solid in its build. Hesitation had flitted through the wizard's face when he glanced at the price tag, but he hadn't complained, and Kurogane wasn't going to shortchange himself on something as crucial to his life as a car—he was going to return to Tomoyo in one piece, damn it.
He stepped on the gas pedal. This was what he'd seen Masayoshi do—the car lurched upward, off the ground, and Kurogane stepped on the other pedal, to test it before he sped off the edge like the idiot did. At once, the car slowed down to a stop, and he lifted off his seat by an inch, before dropping back.
He grinned. This wasn't too bad.
In the next few seconds, he'd grasped the function of the steering wheel, jiggling it and hitting various buttons on the dashboard to figure how to move the vehicle forward and back. Learning difficulties, my ass.
The window panes had rolled down in the midst of his investigation, and he heard Sakura's gasp heartbeats before he decided he was ready to go save the stupid wizard. If the idiot hadn't already crashed somewhere.
"Fai-san!"
Powder blue streaked up through the air two yards away from him and braked to a stop; Kurogane snapped his gaze out to his left, glowering at the ridiculous grinning face through the driver's side window. "Do you need some driving lessons, Kuro-chi?" the blond called out.
"I don't need help!" he roared, shoving his foot down hard on the gas pedal. The car shot upwards—
"Seat belt!" Syaoran exclaimed urgently, waving a booklet above his head way down below. "Kurogane-san, you need to wear your seat belt—"
His voice petered out.
What was a "seat belt"? Kurogane stepped on the brake to slow down—he was going to lose sight of the island entirely otherwise—and felt momentum carry his body away from his seat. He gripped the steering wheel to anchor himself, braced an arm against the car roof (it wasn't enough) and the top of his head cracked against the velvet-lined roof. Stars danced in front of his eyes, sending pain through his skull while nausea crashed through his gut. He swore, shook his head hard to clear the dizziness, looked around himself.
The only thing approaching a belt in appearance hung from the walls of the car, and it extended as he grabbed it. Vaguely, he remembered watching other drivers slide this strap across themselves. He did the same, found that the gleaming metal piece fit into the slot next to a red button. It held him snug to the seat (would have been helpful to have before he hit his head) though he didn't really care about the details at this point.
"Kuro-rin?" The powder blue car flew up alongside his, pointed in the opposite direction like before, so they weren't talking over an empty seat. Fai leaned slightly out of the window, peering at him in concern. (He was wearing a seat belt, to Kurogane's aggravation.) "You stopped suddenly, and Syaoran-kun said you weren't wearing a seat belt—"
"I'm fine!" he snapped grouchily, grit his teeth so the pounding in his head would go away. "Let's get that feather already."
Fai wasn't smiling when he scrutinized Kurogane and his seat belt, flying a little higher so he could look into the car. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Kurogane bristled. It took him a little while to remember how to operate this thing, and he slowly guided it to where the children were waiting.
The mage had landed way before he did, and was chatting with Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona when he parked the car with an awkward bump. Fai slid a meaningful look at him, then returned to giving Syaoran instructions, a light (fake) smile hanging on his lips.
"You missed our discussion," the blond chided, looking at him reprovingly when he finally stumbled out of the car. (Solid ground was very nice to have right now.) "I was thinking, maybe you should let Syaoran drive instead."
"What?" Kurogane yelped. He stared accusingly between the boy and the twit; Syaoran looked uncertain, even more so when Kurogane bared his teeth. "I didn't hit my head that hard!"
"The fact remains, Kuro-pon, that you hit your head," the mage announced knowingly. "Besides, we'll need to give Syaoran-kun a chance to learn to drive, too."
"What about me?" Sakura piped up next to him, bright-eyed.
Fai smiled kindly at her. "Not yet, Sakura-chan. But perhaps soon!"
Her shoulders sagged in disappointment. Kurogane could see why Fai had chosen to hold back on that, though—the girl was a klutz, a fact they had all witnessed back in Outo. He sat with the princess in reproachful silence when Fai took Syaoran into his stupid-looking car and showed him the controls. They went for a couple of rides—first it was Fai driving, then Syaoran, and by the time they got back, the yellow-orange sun was slowly creeping towards the horizon, casting shadows from beneath the rocky islands.
Kurogane was feeling much better by this point (as much as he hated to admit it).
"Let's start heading over, shall we?" Fai announced, when he finally landed with Syaoran. Kurogane grunted his agreement, and they began moving.
"What kind of music do you like, Sakura-chan?" Fai asked, smiling brightly at the girl beside him. Syaoran had pointed out the radio console earlier; he had not thought about tuning in to a broadcast until the princess was in here with him, and they'd gained momentum enough to focus on things other than flying. A circle of orange light had appeared on the dashboard next to a gauge; he wasn't entirely sure what that was about, though. There were way too many gauges on this thing.
"Um, I don't know," the redhead fumbled. She watched when he twisted the knob to turn the radio on. Scratchy music pushed out of worn speakers—it wasn't a brand-new car. "What kind of music do you like, Fai-san?"
"All sorts," he answered honestly. (Because the princess deserved the truth when he could afford it—she was the sweetest, kindest, warmest person he'd ever met. It wasn't difficult to see why Syaoran loved this girl so.) "Did you like the music we played in the Cat's Eye Cafe?"
"Yes!" she said emphatically, her face glowing in the apricot shades of sunset. Below them, the clouds were painted pink and gold, and the mountains and flatlands beyond that reflected the colors of the darkening sky.
"Mokona liked it too!" the little creature chirped from Sakura's lap.
Fai watched the princess from the corner of his eye and felt himself melt a little. His grin mellowed; warmth kindled somewhere in his chest, giving life to his dulled, murderous heart. Even his ankle didn't seem to hurt as much anymore. "Why don't you turn the dial—that's how you change the channels on the radio."
"Okay!" With a smile, the princess leaned closer towards the console, delicate fingers grasping and turning the flat knob.
It was somehow gratifying to watch as the princess trudged her way through the various stations, then learned to adjust the radio frequency so the country music sharpened and background noise fell away. Fai raised the volume, lowered the window panes so the wind rushed through their hair as they picked up on the chorus and sang along.
"He was only seventeen," Sakura sang, grinning from ear to ear as she exchanged a look with Fai and Mokona, "But when I saw him I couldn't look away."
It was cozy in the little car. Perhaps it was the sheer slightness of her frame, or perhaps it was because Sakura herself was sitting next to him—Fai didn't mind the cramped space at all. Were the ninja here instead...
Fai glanced at the black vehicle in his rear view mirror. The puppy team seemed to be holding up fine. He'd declared Kurogane fit to drive—no unevenly-sized pupils and no more dizzy spells, though his irritable nature meant Fai couldn't read that as a lingering symptom of a concussion.
Despite the head injury (or perhaps because of it), Kurogane had been watching him all day. Fai wasn't sure what to think about it. They were already too involved with each other. Last night— (No, don't think about that.) Kurogane saw through too much of him, and... He was probably the only one to do so in a long time, since Ashura-ou.
"He stared at me and asked me to dance," Fai added his voice to Sakura's and Mokona's, still grinning at the princess. "And I said, no, no, no, no..."
The vocals faded into instrumentals, so he took the opportunity to ask, "Would you dance? If Syaoran-kun asked you to?"
Crimson swelled into her cheeks; she looked away, into the fiery sky. "Um, I... Maybe?"
"Syaoran wants to dance with Sakura," Mokona piped up.
"He would be very happy if he gets the chance to dance with you, you know," Fai told the princess lightly. "Like I said, your smile gives him energy."
She flushed to the roots of her hair, and he glanced away to give her some privacy.
There was a huge island looming up ahead, the angular tops of its tallest buildings lit by the glow of sunset, whereas the lower reaches had already been cast in shadow. In this light, they could see the crags along the underside of the floating rock, thrown into sharp relief by the evening sun. Specks of light glinted in the shadowy lee of buildings; cars swarmed around the bottom levels of the island.
Fai estimated it would take another half an hour for them to reach it.
"What about you, Fai-san?" Sakura inquired with the most guileless smile, "Who would you dance with?"
He blinked at the question, smile fixed on his lips. (Black hair, dusky skin, scarlet eyes that glowed in the dark. Hungry, wet heat and—) "Why, I think I would want to dance with you too, princess!"
A surprised giggle left her throat. "Me? But I'm not—"
"You're still a princess, Sakura-chan," he assured her with a wide grin. "It should be me who—"
The car lurched forward with a sputter; they jerked hard against their seat belts. For one dragging moment, they hung suspended in the air. Then they were hurtling downwards, hood tipped forward so they could see the blood-pink clouds rushing up at them.
Sakura shrieked next to him, Mokona clutched tight to her chest. Fai swore, stomped on both the gas and brake pedals; neither worked. He really should have anticipated that something would go wrong sooner or later.
Freefalling through the sky wasn't a sensation he appreciated. Not when he didn't have wings, couldn't fly, was weighed down by a lump of metal with the princess in danger right beside him.
"I guess that was why the light lit up on the dashboard," he tried to say, but his hands were slick with sweat and his heart was thundering hard enough to break his ribs.
(Was this what Fai felt when he fell from so high—)
(Did you— It hurt, didn't it, Fai, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—)
"Fai-san," Sakura gasped. He turned jerkily to look at her, and saw thick fear in her eyes, her chest heaving with panic.
(She didn't deserve to die, but he did, he was a murderer—)
His first impulse was to free both Sakura and Mokona and send them towards the black car with his magic. But they were falling fast—too fast—and the projectile spell would not be accurate the further he dropped away from Kurogane and Syaoran.
Fai clenched his jaw, tugged one hand away from the steering wheel and began to scrawl runes in the air (this was two worlds in a row, now), a levitation spell that would overcome gravity—
The car was heavy. It didn't take much of his energy to slow the vehicle down, however, magic blazing through his veins into his fingertip and out into the air, bright violet shapes that trailed out the window and wrapped around the machine, slowing its descent until his heart was no longer in his throat, and Sakura wasn't gripping on to her seat with bone-white knuckles. The scent of hot metal filled his nose.
"I'm bringing us back up," he gasped, still tracing runes in the air.
"I'm sorry," the princess mumbled miserably. "I should have learned more about the car from Syaoran-kun. I'm sorry, Fai-san, for making you use magic again—"
"Hush," he whispered, sweating not with the strain of regaining the lost altitude, but from the memories of screams and falling bodies. If he had to do this for half an hour, for an entire week until the princess reached safety, he would. "It'll be fine, Sakura-chan."
"But—"
The girl's protest was cut off by a roar. A black streak flew towards their windshield, and for a stomach-twisting heartbeat, Fai was afraid that Kurogane was going to crash into them (he had to hurry, to create a barrier and another levitation spell—)
But the black car swerved to the side, and Kurogane stuck his head out of his window, glowering at him. "What the hell were you doing, you idiot?"
He made damn sure not to look at the ninja in the eye (Kurogane was only this angry when he was worried, and Fai didn't want to think about why), focusing instead on the bright, trailing spells he continued to wrap around the car. "Which direction, Mokona?"
"That way," the creature began to say, pointing to his right.
The other car dropped out of sight suddenly, and they were bumped upwards.
"Pork bun, get down here," Kurogane hollered, "I'll do the steering."
Mokona looked between Fai and Sakura with indecision; Fai spared her a glance and a weak smile. (Why did the ninja have to be so bone-headed?) "Go, Mokona. We'll be fine."
"Okay," she whimpered, patted Fai's sweat-slicked forehead before hopping onto the car door, and down.
It was in painful, trying silence that they resumed their journey towards the great floating island. Fai did not release the levitation spell—couldn't afford to, not when he didn't know how much fuel Kurogane had remaining. Sakura rode next to him, shoulders and fists tight with tension, and Fai sent her a reassuring beam whenever he could.
The fall had dragged out long-buried memories of his brother (Fai, Fai, Fai). Despite his attempts to avoid them, he couldn't stop seeing the wet drip of dark blood, the thin, shriveled face that had been his own mirror-image. His arms ached, empty, and he trembled.
Only after they crossed the boundary of the great island did Fai and Sakura allow themselves to relax. The sun had set fully by now, leaving them in the half-glow of twilight, and the huge rock city was lit by bright white-blue spotlights from above and little orange lamps on street-level. Lofty buildings crowded each other towards the middle of the island, decreasing in height closer to the edges of the near-vertical rock face.
There was still work to be done, though, so Fai kept the levitation spell, weaving between shadowy buildings until Kurogane guided them to a quiet filling station. (Curiously enough, no strange looks were sent their way—was running out of fuel a common mistake here?)
He set the car in front of a gas pump (other cars were parked before similar thick columns with fat hoses pushed into them) and collapsed against the steering wheel, sweating and shaking, pulling the spell back into himself. Right now, he didn't really care if anyone saw evidence of magic. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and go to sleep, hide himself somewhere away from Fai's accusatory voice telling him he was a murderer (like he didn't already fucking know).
The engine of the car behind cut off, and soft footfalls trailed over to his window.
"Mage." Kurogane's voice was low, maybe concerned, and Fai really did not want to look at him right now. "Hand the money over, the kid says he knows how to fill these things up."
Faint surprise flickered at the edges of his mind (now's not the time to think about Fai); he forced a smile onto his face and cheer into his body, and pushed himself upright, grinning sunnily at Sakura instead. Her worry eased when she saw him, and he patted her hand before she could open her mouth to apologize again. "I'm glad you're fine, Sakura-chan," he told her honestly.
He wanted to see her safe. That much, he could admit to. He could even tell himself that it fell in line with his task, because she wasn't someone he had been ordered to kill.
"I'm glad you're fine as well, Fai-san," she replied gratefully, green eyes alight with relief. "I promise that I'll be more helpful from now on!"
"Don't worry about it," he told her wanly, "It wasn't your fault."
"But—" Sakura protested.
"Oi, the money." Kurogane rapped rudely on the driver side door, and Fai slowly dragged his attention back to the ninja. Syaoran had hurried over to the princess, bending towards her at the other window to ask anxiously about her.
"So impatient, Kuro-rin," he chirped, even though his voice was a little hoarse. But the other man wasn't going to go unless he received the money, so Fai pulled the pouch from his pocket and dropped it into the large, outstretched hand, careful not to make contact with (warm, comforting) skin. Kurogane tossed the pouch to Syaoran over the roof of the car, and the boy hurried away. Sakura left the car to follow him—presumably to learn what she could about these flying machines.
"What happened back there?" the ninja pressed, fixing Fai with a scarlet gaze. His strong, solid jaw was set, and his broad shoulders loomed over Fai, casting him in partial shadow.
"Well, it appears that the extra lessons with Syaoran-kun used up some of the fuel we had," he answered sheepishly, still smiling. "But you saved the day, Kuro-pon! What a hero!"
Kurogane glowered at him. "Cut the crap, idiot. You didn't have to use magic back there. I had enough fuel to get us here."
He blinked at the larger man, stunned. "What?"
All of those magical trails he'd left behind— And Kurogane telling him not to use magic—
"I'm not repeating that." The other man clicked his tongue, looked away. "But you shouldn't drive right now. You don't look so good."
Fai glanced at his quivering hands resting in his lap, knew that the ninja had seen them too. "But I—"
"Give the kid a chance. You taught him yourself." With that, the other man stalked away, and Fai was left staring out the open window, blinking when low grinding noises sounded towards the back of the car—Syaoran was showing Sakura how to refill the fuel tank, and was getting better at it, it seemed.
He pulled himself out of the vehicle, limping over to where the kids and Mokona stood, watching a meter on the pump tick away. "Hyuu, Syaoran-kun, you sure know a lot more about this than grownups like Kuro-rin and I!"
The boy flushed. He waved towards the white booklet from before, rolled up in his trouser pocket. "Well, mostly it's just from reading, Fai-san," he said modestly.
"It's a pity I can't read that," Fai told him, smiling. (No, he didn't need to use magic to do something so unnecessary as read.) "Why don't you teach Sakura-chan the things you learn? I think she'd like that."
The princess gasped and turned wide emerald eyes on Fai, and he grinned at her. "I— I would appreciate it!" she stuttered.
She smiled at Syaoran, and Fai decided to edge away while the children lost themselves in each others' eyes.
He turned to look when the passenger side door on the black car swung open.
"Get in," Kurogane said from within.
Why, in the name of sanity, would anyone do so?
"You must be joking, Kuro-tan, there's no space in here for both of us," Fai hedged. There was no way, absolutely no way, he was sharing such a cramped space with the other man. It was far too intimate.
"You aren't driving. I told the kid he could," came the blunt reply. Kurogane was now voluntarily sharing a space with him? Someone he professed to hate? (But then again, last night had happened—)
"What?" he whined, pretended to be offended. "How could you, Kuro-myuu, Syaoran-kun—"
"Is capable of driving."
Fai frowned, bent down to send the ninja a reproachful look—
But the heat in those wine-red eyes sent the bottom of his stomach swooping down to his feet. He swallowed, straightened when the boy and his princess trooped up to him.
"I'm glad you trust me to drive, Fai-san," he said with utmost solemnity. "I won't disappoint you and Sakura-hime."
That was what did him in, thoroughly, and the damn bastard in the car knew it. "Well," he began, smiling to cover up his irritation, "I have faith in you, Syaoran-kun."
The children beamed at him, bright and excitedly, and he couldn't help but watch as they piled into the powder-blue car ahead once the refueling for both vehicles was complete.
"You're more cunning than I gave you credit for, Kuro-tan," Fai muttered reproachfully when he squeezed into what little space there was left in Kurogane's car. The other's shoulder pushed across the space above the center console, and Fai took particular care to avoid that contact.
Kurogane merely smirked, a sharp smile that he felt, more than saw. It was the same self-assuredness from last night, and it sent a coil of heat winding through his middle. Don't think about it. "That's payback for earlier."
They began to drive off first. In the side view mirror, Fai watched as Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona followed in his car.
"You smell like magic," Kurogane said after a moment of silence. Fai flinched.
He'd put off thinking about Ashura-ou and everything to do with his magic while they were trying to get to this place in once piece, but now that Sakura was safe...
"You're going to run off tonight again, aren't you."
It wasn't a question, and Fai wasn't answering to anything.
"Idiot," Kurogane mumbled.
The bulky concrete buildings rolled by them. Fai remained staring out of the window, resolutely ignoring his unwelcome companion. That had been a lot of magic, released over a great distance, and he was going to need way more than five little birds to cover that entire stretch. How much time would that take to create? To recapture his magic? Did they even have enough money to spend on that additional fuel?
All that, provided that Ashura-ou didn't wake and transport himself here in the next few hours.
Fai winced. Could he really have avoided using his magic? He would have needed it anyway, to cushion the fall, but to make the rest of the trip to this island without it...
He worried at his lip, tried to forget the roiling in his stomach. Since when was Kurogane this confusing to be around?
"It's none of your business," he yielded quietly in the end.
Kurogane snorted. More silence stretched between them; he wasn't even sure where they were going, so he finally asked.
"It looks like there're some cheap places over on this side of the city," the larger man pointed out, checked in his rear view mirror. He shook his head a little, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Kids are still right behind us."
"That concussion is not still bothering you, is it?" Fai guessed. Really, the ninja should be the one resting instead. "There's no need to exert yourself, Kuro-pon, you're enough of a hero already—"
"Shut up," Kurogane snapped, red eyes flickering momentarily towards Fai. "It's not like you're in a state to drive yourself."
"I am," he protested indignantly. His hands weren't shaking anymore, and besides, he wasn't the one who sustained a head injury. He stretched his fingers out in his lap. "Unlike you, I'm fully capable of thinking clearly—"
"Don't be stupid. You're the one with the busted ankle," the other man interjected. "'Sides, I've fought with worse injuries than a bumped head. It doesn't affect my thinking."
It was amusing how this surly man, who probably wasn't older than twenty-five, talked to him like he was an idiot. (Well, Fai every right to pretend to be one, even if he was far older than twenty-five and most definitely not an idiot.)
Multi-storied buildings rose up around them, lined with dark windows, some with garish neon signboards advertising their prices, and Fai weighted the costs with the relative appearance of safety each building possessed.
"This place up here," he said suddenly, leaning against his seat belt and looking up through the windshield. "It looks like it'll hold us for the night."
Droopy, dull flowers lined the border of the property and edged a path all the way up to a little office, which had a warm orange glow spewing from grimy windows. Eight floors of neat square windows pressed on top of the lobby, most lit with yellow light peeking through curtains, while others lay dim.
Kurogane flipped a turn signal on and guided them past the flashing pink "Vacancy" sign, below which lay angular black characters that he said promised hot baths and a free breakfast. It sounded pretty decent, all things considered.
They parked and got out of the car, waiting around long enough for the kids to climb out of Fai's vehicle with no issues, before heading into the lobby—Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona would catch up on their own time.
Bells chimed against the glass door when they entered; a cheerful young woman looked up behind the worn wooden counter, gaze leaping between the two of them. "Good evening!" she chirped, twin braids swaying behind her shoulders. "Rooms by the hour, or by the day?"
Fai's bright grin froze; he knew what rooms by the hour implied, and to be asked that with Kurogane next to him tautened the air around them so much so his skin prickled. The ninja tensed. "Well—"
"It isn't just us," Kurogane blurted, the tips of his ears turning red. The receptionist raised her eyebrows, and he bristled. "We have a couple of kids with us. One room, for the night at least."
The door chimed again, and the other half of their group filed into the little lobby. Relief washed through his limbs; the ninja glowered at the uniformed lady.
"Well, these are our children," Fai explained easily, stepping forward with a casual wave. (Behind, Kurogane stifled a choke, and the kids remained wisely silent.) "We'd all really prefer to share a room, you see."
"That will be possible," the young woman replied, looking back down and typing into her computer. "However, there'll be an additional charge for two extra heads."
"Sure," he answered with an inward wince. "We have the cash for it."
It was the last of their dwindling funds, though, and unless they could find jobs or sell more of their trinkets (the cars had taken out a significant portion of their hoard), they would be sleeping in the vehicles or on the streets this time tomorrow. This meant that they wouldn't be able to spare the fuel for him to fly out tonight, to reabsorb his traces of magic.
Fai tried not to think about the sinking feeling in his gut.
The transaction was handled and closed soon enough, and they piled into a little room on the fifth floor of the building... After which all hell broke loose.
"We're children!" Mokona squealed, leaping from Syaoran's head to Kurogane's. "Fai and Kurogane are Mommy and Daddy and Syaoran and Sakura and Mokona are children!"
Terrible murderous intent coalesced around the ninja. For the most part, Fai thought, Kurogane's anger was something more easily swallowed than the idea of them sleeping together (what an appalling suggestion, really!), or even the thought of his magic lingering someplace out where he couldn't reach, so he chose to exacerbate it.
"Yes, Kuro-daddy should go out and make us some money, shouldn't he?" Fai asked the too-crowded room. Kurogane rounded on him and growled, and he grinned stupidly at the larger man when the latter stepped forward. With the help of his sturdy cane, Fai leaped lightly over the twin beds in the room, towards the little table and chairs by the window while Kurogane chased him down, teeth bared and fists raised. "Daddy shouldn't be so fierce, you know!"
"Daddy is being violent to Mommy!" Mokona trilled from the top of Syaoran's head.
Kurogane snapped his glower onto the furry creature, and Syaoran gulped, backed away from his ominous stare. Fai took the chance to hobble back to the kids, narrowly avoiding a ferocious lunge. (Kuro-pon sure didn't like having tongues stuck out at him.) "Well, Daddy should really set a good example," he admonished, wagging a finger at the larger man. "The children are very impressionable, you know."
A low growl rumbled from where Kurogane was striding towards him. "Damn mage—"
"You know you shouldn't swear in front of the kids, Kuro-daddy," Fai blathered, ducking behind the children so the ninja couldn't swipe at him. "Why don't you be useful and find us something to eat?"
Kurogane seethed, and Fai dodged his violent attacks once more.
A/N: Fai's car is a Volkswagen Beetle (as inspired by FarenMaddox's Freefall) and Kurogane gets a Mini Cooper, because I have one (with turbo), they rock, and I consider it a tiny car. ;) This also explains Fai and Kurogane's aptitude for driving in Piffle. :)
Always open to constructive criticism. Thank you for taking the time to read/review! :)