A/N.
The point of this fic is to fill in some of the gaps in the Tsubasa storyline (mostly characters thoughts and behind the scenes stuff), and to also add some more Kuro/Fai moments (including smut). It will cross over with a lot of Clamp's other manga, especially xxxHolic. In fact, there could be a few chapters that only deal with xxxHolic.
I've read/watched the following Clamp manga/anime so far: Card Captor Sakura, Angelic Layer, Chobits, X, Tokyo Babylon, Legal Drug, Wish, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, and obviously Tsubasa and XXX Holic. Expect crossovers from any of these series.
It is mostly going to be focusing on Kurogane and Fai's relationship and I might slip in some Doumeki and Watanuki smut as well. They are the only ones whose sex-lives that I'll be visiting in detail, but there will be mild, cute, Syaoran/Sakura moments as well as many other pairs (some canon and some not) from Clamp's other works. Such as, Seishiro/Subaru, Sorata/Arashi, Kazahaya/Rikuo, Tomoyo/Souma, Touya/Yukito and a few others.
There isn't going to be anything hardcore in this chapter, but I promise that it won't be long in coming.
I have read the Tsubasa manga and watched the anime; this fic will be following the plot of the manga rather than the anime, so if you've only seen the anime you won't be entirely lost but I would recommend picking up the manga.
I will be adding a few extra worlds in, just for the laugh, and there are a few worlds that appear only in the anime that don't directly conflict with the plot of the manga, so a few of them might slip in.
I have watched the xxxHolic anime but it deviates too much from the original storyline for my tastes. Therefore, any and all references to xxxHolic will be only relevant to the manga.
I'll probably be mostly writing from Kurogane's point of view, and sometimes Syaoran and Sakura's as well. I'm not sure if I can do much from Fai's point of view without spoiling later chapters of the manga and I'm just not touching Mokona's POV!
Of course if it's an xxxHolic chapter it will be done from the POV of one of the holic characters but we'll deal with that when we come to it, ne?
Expect spoilers I read Tsubasa and xxxHolic chapter by chapter as they come out in Japan, and right now I'm reading Volume 23 of TRC and Volume 13 of xxxHolic. Each chapter I release will have a spoiler warning at the start of it.
For example: This chapter has spoilers for any world before and including Outo. This includes any of the protagonists home worlds, Hanshin (the kudan place), Koryo (ChunHyang's world), Lake country (the place with the city under the lake), Jade Country (the one with princess Emeraude), and of course Outo (Land of the Oni/Kiji).
Chapter 1. Outo Country.
Kurogane had decided that he didn't like the country of Outo.
He didn't like how complacent the residents were; like livestock waiting dumbly for the slaughter. He didn't like the fact that the mage had turned their temporary home into a café that sold the most sickeningly sweet food possible and he didn't like that the magician had been forcing them to eat that ridiculously sweet crap for breakfast lunch and dinner. He didn't like his new "Big Doggie" name or the string of new, canine orientated, nicknames that had been derived from it.
The only saving grace had been his job as a kiji-hunter and even that had been tainted by the fact that he had to babysit the kid because he was blind in one eye. Even the magician, who could usually be counted on to hold his own in a fight had nearly gotten himself killed earlier tonight; getting blasted by a kiji and severely injuring his leg. Not to mention that seeing the other man's slight form crumpled against the wall had evoked an emotion in him that he really didn't want to think about.
No, Kurogane didn't like Outo at all.
And now, to add insult to injury, he was sitting in a bar with the idiotic mage and listening to some woman singing what could only be described as self-indulgent drivel.
"…take me someplace far away, to a true elsewhere…" her voice floated across the relative silence of the bar, permeating the ninja's thoughts and making him frown in disgust.
"If she wants to go somewhere, then she should just go. There's no need to ask someone else." The ninja grunted at the mage beside him. The wizard's smile changed imperceptibly and Kurogane knew from experience that he was about to be given a rare glimpse under that damn smiling mask.
"Not everyone can do that, Kuro-chan…" he paused, his blue eyes becoming distant. "How should I put it? I've been waiting too. For someone to stay by my side, someone to take me away…"
The smile brightened again, concealing all and any real emotion that may have been on the magician's face. "Ah! I said things that you don't like again didn't I?"
Kurogane was about to respond when he noticed (gladly) that the song had finally finished. The singer approached them, pulling up a stool beside them. He left her to the mage, knowing that people were, for some reason, more likely to give the blonde man information willingly than to him.
Instead he occupied himself perusing the liquor behind the bar and choosing several nice bottles of sake for when they got home. By the time he had finished bartering with the bartender the wizard was already done questioning the woman.
Kurogane watched her walk into the crowd before turning to the mage "Let's go."
"Okay, Kuro-chi. I would have preferred to stay a little longer…" the blonde started but broke off in a sudden hiss of pain as he unwittingly put weight on his injured leg. The ninja sighed and shoved the bag of liquor into the other man's hand before hoisting the magician over his shoulder.
"Wai! Kuro-sama is so strong!" the blonde cried as he wriggled into a more comfortable position on the ninja's shoulder.
Kurogane just grunted in response as he headed out the door, ignoring the strange looks they received from the remaining patrons in the bar.
-oOo-
The journey home was surprisingly uneventful, they didn't run into anymore kiji and the wizard over his shoulder was only mildly annoying. Kurogane approached the gate of the café in high spirits, looking forward to a peaceful night and a warm glass of sake. As he walked into the yard he only dimly registered the kid's greeting and the magician's explanation of why they were late, he was too distracted by the fact that there had obviously been a battle, that the kid was in bad shape and that there were several extra people here in addition to the kids.
It was when he noticed the woman with the dark skin, raven hair and a face that he knew just as well as his own, that he froze and his hands went slack at his sides. He barely noticed the dull thud when the mage fell from his shoulder to the ground as he rushed toward the woman.
"Souma?" he blurted out hopefully, not noticing the utter confusion on the woman's face. "What are you doing here? Is Princess Tomoyo with you?!"
The woman with Souma's face blinked up at him for a moment before clearing her throat. "My name is indeed Souma. But I believe that this is the first time that we've met, and I know no 'Princess Tomoyo'…"
Kurogane could swear that he could feel the cogs turning in his head as realisation dawned upon him. He felt his cheeks burn when he realised that he had made this particular mistake again. Ignoring the confused audience and the giggling mage he stormed into the café.
It wasn't long until the kids came back into the café, the injured wizard propped up between them. Kurogane watched out of the corner of his eye as the princess set about making tea, the kid rooted out some bandages for the magician's leg and the Manjuu bounced around uselessly.
He looked up as the princess approached him, tea in hand. "Does Souma-san really look just like the Souma from Kurogane-san's country?" she asked with a smile.
He was just about to answer when the Manjuu-bun cried out "Kurogane was so surprised that he dropped Fai!"
"SHUT UP, YOU!" the ninja shouted, the fact that the mage was laughing his ass off did not go unnoticed and Kurogane was about to express his displeasure at this when the magician's expression turned serious.
"People that we meet in different worlds might look the same, but they really are different… just like the Witch of Dimensions said. Maybe we'll meet more people like that in the future…" he trailed off then, and Kurogane wondered if he was the only one who knew why the magician was so worried about meeting different versions of people from their native worlds.
"That should do" the kid said softly, dispelling the tension in the air, as he tied the bandage off.
Kurogane watched with trepidation as the magician poured alcohol for everyone, including the Manjuu. He didn't think that it really seemed like a good idea for them to all be getting drunk…
He didn't have to wait long to be proven right. He retreated to the step on the back porch, enjoying the night air and trying to block out the sound of the idiot, the manjuu and the princess pretending to be cats.
There was a particularly loud crash from inside the house, followed by the wizard's tinkling laughter. Kurogane winced internally, staring up at the stars and wondering if the man had been specifically designed by the gods to torture him.
The magician frustrated Kurogane in every imaginable way possible, with that stupid fake smile and even more fake cheerful demeanour. The singing, the teasing, the fake whistling, the way he wouldn't sit still when Kurogane was trying his hardest to slice the bastard in two, the way he would gang up against him with the white-manjuu… and the nicknames, gods the nicknames! That twisted mage had found hundreds of ways to butcher his title; he couldn't remember a single time when the man had actually called him Kurogane.
Then there was the flirting… which had recently reached the top of his list of annoyances. The magician seemed to flirt with anything with a heartbeat, including himself, for no discernable reason other than the bastard's own perverse amusement. Kurogane did not like to be played with, and that was all the damned mage seemed to do!
He knew why it was irritating him so much more than all of the other crap…
He would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't wish that there was some kind of truth behind the winks and suggestive looks he received from the blonde occasionally… there was no denying that he thought that the mage was attractive and he was sure that the little bastard knew it.
The ninja's train of thought was interrupted by the kid's sudden appearance, sitting down beside Kurogane with a drink in his hand and a grim look on his face.
"Are you drunk too?" he asked the kid suspiciously.
"Kurogane-san…" the boy began. His serious tone reassuring Kurogane that the kid wouldn't start barking or meowing anytime soon.
"What is it?"
"There are Kiji that can't be defeated without a weapon… Can you teach me how to use a sword?"
The request took the ninja by surprise and he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. This could be the perfect solution to the problem with the kid's eye. He just had to be sure of something first… "Are you doing this so that you can stay alive?"
"It's so I can keep my promise"
"You want to be strong to get to the next world more quickly, to help the princess…" he paused, deciding that protecting the princess was a noble enough cause. "I don't have much to teach, but I do know a thing or two."
Even the ninja had to admit that he joy on the kid's face was heart-warming. The boy reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger… when he had been happy.
He was jerked from his reverie when the boy stood up and saying 'Thank you' and bowing reverently… to the white Manjuu…
"What the…?" Kurogane stared in confusion for a second before he realised what was going on. "You're drunk too!"
"And you!" he cried, whirling on the magician and princess, who were still meowing away, "No more alcohol for you!"
He was about to reach for one of them, intent on getting them upstairs, into their beds and out of trouble when he caught some movement from the corner of his eye. He turned just in time to see the boy brandishing a ladle as if it was a sword.
"What the hell?!" Kurogane yelled, surveying the scene with annoyance. The kid was slashing at imaginary enemies with his ladle and the magician seemed to have magicked up some cardboard cat ears for himself and the princess and now they were practically yowling…
"GO TO BED NOW! ALL OF YOU!"
-oOo-
It had taken Kurogane almost an hour to herd the children upstairs and get them into their respective beds. The kid had been especially difficult, swinging his ladle/sword around wildly and nearly falling down the stairs. The princess had been a hell of a lot easier, falling asleep almost immediately when her head hit the pillow. One last meow escaping her lips before her eyes slipped shut.
He closed the door to the princess's room, leaning back against it and sighing wearily. Getting the kids upstairs and tucked in had been hard enough, but the ninja knew that a far greater challenge was waiting for him downstairs.
As he descended down the stairway he couldn't help but notice how eerily silent the house had become. Earlier, when he had started up the stairs with the kids, the mage had still been rolling around on the floor mewing ridiculously. He looked around the room suspiciously, wondering where exactly the other man could be hiding. He searched the entire room but to no avail, there was no magician behind the couch, under the café tables, in the broom cupboard or behind the counter.
The quiet was overbearing and almost ominous as he padded carefully into the kitchen, he found himself actually feeling a little nervous and he wondered absently if he should have brought his sword. He shook his head and scowled, he was a ninja of Shirasagi castle, he had fought demons, monsters and much worse in his time, he was not afraid of some lanky lunatic. He gave the room a quick scan and reached to check behind the door, his hand froze in mid air when he heard a faint scuffling sound from under the table.
A victorious grin spread across his face as he turned toward the kitchen table, walking forward casually before bending down and yanking up the tablecloth. It took Kurogane a few seconds to comprehend that he was not looking at a thin blonde hiding under the table but a much smaller, rounder, whiter form. The damn Manjuu-bun smiled up at him, opening its mouth and meowing once.
By the time he had realised his mistake it was too late.
The door behind him creaked, so the bastard had been behind there after all, and something landed on his back; purring into his ear. The sudden weight threw him off balance and he teetered forward dangerously for a few seconds, seemingly frozen in time, before they both crashed to the ground. Face down on the floor he felt the other man wiggle into a more comfortable position on top of him, warm breath tickling his ear.
"Meow! Kuro-puppy fell down!"
The ninja was back on his feet in seconds, the magician yelping and trying to hang on before falling to the floor with a thud.
Kurogane glared down at the other man. "What do you think you're doing?! Jumping on people like that!" The mage didn't respond, he just pouted up at Kurogane and rubbed his bruised tailbone with one hand and his injured leg with the other. The ninja winced internally, he had forgotten all about the wound the blonde had obtained while fighting the kiji earlier.
The Manjuu was bouncing around him, squealing "Kuro-puppy is mean! Kuro-puppy is mean!"
The ninja exhaled deeply, resisting the urge to grab the white meat bun and throttle it. He tried to calm himself; this would go more smoothly if he didn't give the Manjuu or the mage the pleasure of getting a rise out of him, and he really didn't want to wake either of the children considering how long it had taken him to get them to bed in the first place.
"You're drunk." He started, leaning down a little so he could check the bandages on the blonde's leg. "and it's late, you should go to bed."
The magician's pout became more exaggerated, "I don't want to go to bed, I want to stay up and play with you, Kuro-wan wan." He whined, peering at Kurogane from under his lashes, obviously trying to seem as cute as possible.
The ninja, however, was not one to be swayed by such tactics. He scooped the blonde up unceremoniously, throwing him over his shoulder and headed for the stairs. The mage wriggled in protest for a few seconds before slumping against his back, probably trying to formulate an escape plan the ninja thought to himself with a frown.
But the magician didn't make even a peep while Kurogane carried him upstairs to his room, nor when the ninja deposited him onto his bed (gently so as not to hurt his leg). He realised then why the mage had been so quiet, he was out cold. The ninja sighed and lifted the man up again so he could get him under the blankets, not bothering to put him face down in the weirdo's usual sleeping position.
He took one last look at the magician's (unusually untroubled) sleeping face before leaving for his own room. Once inside, he glared at the bed, give me a futon any day he thought glumly before he untied his hakama, slipping out of it and crawling into bed.
He relished the feeling of the sheets against his skin, he was usually forced to share a room with the blonde maniac and therefore usually stayed in his clothes while sleeping. Knowing that in the next world they would probably all have to sleep together again he was taking advantage of his solitude.
He lay back, hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. Sure that sleep would be a long time coming he let his mind drift, he wondered what Tomoyo and Souma were doing right now. How long had he been gone from his world? They had been travelling for a few months now but time passed differently between worlds, he had no idea how long he had been gone from Nihon. It could be years, days or only hours.
What if someone attacked the castle while he was away? Souma was usually too busy fondling the princess to actually protect her, he thought with a disapproving grunt.
He froze mid-thought when he heard a thump from one of the other bedrooms. He listened intently in the following silence waiting for the noise to repeat itself. He cursed his nakedness, he wouldn't be able get dressed again without making enough noise to draw the attention of any intruder and he was not willing to rush out and potentially embarrass himself until it was likely that there was any real danger.
Another sound disrupted the silence, this time it was footsteps, and the ninja tensed; about to jump out of bed when he realised that they were footsteps that he recognised. He grimaced in irritation, the mage obviously hadn't been as out of it as he had thought and was now out of bed for some reason. The idiot really shouldn't have been walking on that leg but he was probably just going to the bathroom or going back downstairs to get something to eat. As long as the lunatic stayed out of his and the kids rooms it didn't really matter.
The sound of soft footfalls came steadily closer as the mage walked down the hallway, the ninja almost swore out loud when they stopped outside his door. He turned onto his side, away from the door and feigned sleep, hoping that the bastard would take the hint and go back to his own room.
He heard the door creak open and footsteps approach the bed. Creepily, the weirdo just stood there for a few moments, breathing softly. Kurogane fought to keep his expression relatively neutral, not letting the scowl that wanted to form appear and waited for him to either leave or do something.
"Kuro-chi?" a small whisper. "Are you awake?"
Despite the sudden the urge to shout DO I LOOK LIKE I'M AWAKE ?! the ninja remained calm. That is, until the blanket lifted a little behind him and the bed was suddenly a whole lot more crowded. When a hand landed on his bare side he decided that it might be a good time to "wake up" and get this idiot out of his bed before the mage realised just how naked he was.
"What are you doing?" he growled.
"Oh! Kuro-pii did I wake you?" was the chirpy reply.
He growled again and turned over so he was face to face with the other man. He could just barely make out the guy's expression in the darkness, the meagre moonlight reflecting blue light off his eyes and not much else. "What are you doing in my bed, idiot?"
"I woke up because I was sleeping the wrong way… and I was lonely." He whispered, edging closer to the ninja, a cool hand sliding along his side and coming to rest on his hip. Kurogane bristled but was at a loss of what to say, such a simple touch sending all of his blood rushing downward.
The wizard's hand froze, pausing for a second before running an experimental finger down his thigh. The ninja could almost hear his heart pounding.
"Kuro-myuu?" the mage began; his voice full of false innocence. "Why are you naked?"
Kurogane opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. The best he managed was a grunt when the blonde pressed himself up against him, something hard brushing against his own erection. The mage chuckled, a low and husky sound that he had never heard the other man make before.
"I don't think that you really want me to leave…" the magician whispered as a hand snaked around the ninja's erection and squeezed gently, making him gasp. "…do you? Kuro-chan?"
Kurogane's head was spinning, he jerked forward when the other man began to stroke him slowly and the magician took the opportunity to press their mouths together. The ninja groaned into the wizard's mouth. Fai tasted like chocolate and alcohol…
The ninja pulled away quickly, prying the blonde's hand off his arousal.
"Kuro-tan?" the mage questioned, all of the smug confidence was gone from his voice now, replaced with something much more fragile.
"You're drunk." Kurogane said, trying to get his breathing under control. "If you still want to do this when you're sober then that's fine. But I'm not going to take advantage of you when you're like this."
The blonde was silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke his voice was unsteady and watery. "Can I still stay with you?" he whispered, sounding like a lost child.
The ninja frowned and pulled the other man closer, resting his chin on top of the mage's head. Blonde hair tickled his nose and slim arms wrapped tightly around his waist as he tried to will away his arousal. He mulled over everything that had just happened and he allowed himself a small smile.
Maybe Outo wasn't so bad after all.
