Halloween
"On what kind of stupid holiday do idiots earn themselves food by banging on your door and shouting nonsense like trick or treat while wearing strange clothes?" Kurogane had argued as he sat at the table with Fai a few nights ago. He was, of course, referring to the fast-approaching, very popular (in the world they were in at least) holiday of Halloween.
Fai just glanced back at him and gave him a slight smile which made him uneasy. "But Kuro-sama," he objected, "that's just the kiddy part of the holiday; adults can have fun with Halloween too."
"I'm surprised you won't be going with them," Kurogane stated flatly. "I mean, it's something stupid so of course you're probably dying to do it. Not to mention it's for sweets."
"Don't remind me," Fai pouted, laying his head on the table. "Trick-or-treating is only for kids, they tell me. Oh well." He lifted his head again and gave Kurogane another smile, which was at once both supremely innocent and devious beyond description; Kurogane shivered at the sight of it. "I guess you and I will be spending the night home alone, ne, Kuro-wan?"
Kurogane twitched at this, probably because he hadn't previously thought about this fact. If Mokona, Syaoran, and Sakura were going to search for the feather in this world under the guise of trick or treating, then that did leave him alone with the mage for a good chunk of the night! God dammit!
"Something wrong, Kuro-chu? You seem… pale all of a sudden," Fai leaned forward to look Kurogane in the eye from barely an inch away.
"It's nothing," Kurogane said, settling back in his chair to increase the distance between them.
A final wave of uneasiness washed over poor Kurogane as Fai concluded the conversation with the reiteration of a previous thought, "Well, if I can't go trick-or-treating, then I may as well spend the night showing you how adults can have fun with Halloween, ne, Kuro-rin?"
The days came and went quickly and Halloween soon fell upon the group. Kurogane sat on the couch that night, waiting for the kids to leave. After a while, Syaoran and Sakura came down the steps wearing strange costumes and toting rather large, empty bags; Mokona quickly came bouncing down after them.
"What the hell are you kids supposed to be?" Kurogane raised an eyebrow.
"In this world, Sakura and I are apparently characters on a very popular children's show; we figured the simplest course of action would be to dress up as the characters," Syaoran explained.
As Mokona hopped onto Sakura's shoulder, he added cheerfully, "And Mokona is a Clow Card!" though that meant absolutely nothing to Kurogane.
"We should get going now, Syaoran-kun," Sakura suggested.
"Oh right. Well, we'll be going now, Kurogane-san. We'll see you later," Syaoran started making his way toward the door with Sakura and Mokona.
"Alright. Stay safe," Kurogane uttered the stereotypical words of a concerned father.
"Okay Daddy, Mokona will!" Mokona shouted back.
"Oh, Kurogane-san, before we leave," Syaoran stopped in the doorway, "I almost forgot to tell you; Fai-san asked me to tell you that he wants you to come upstairs to see something." A quick shiver ran down Kurogane's spine but Syaoran failed to notice that the ninja was unnerved in the slightest. "We'll be back around midnight," Syaoran called as he shut the door behind himself, leaving Kurogane alone in the house with Fai.
"God damn it…" Kurogane sighed to himself. He considered staying where he was in an attempt to avoid the mage but he knew better. Even if what the mage wanted him to see was the floor upstairs, he'd somehow find a way to bring it down to Kurogane if he didn't go up to see it. Kurogane sat there for a couple of minutes, avoiding the inevitable insanity that surely awaited him upstairs for as long as he felt he possibly could, and then started up the stairs.
As his hand rested on the doorknob to the mage's room, he silently asked himself one last time if he really wanted to do this. Once again coming to the conclusion that he really had absolutely no choice in the matter, Kurogane sighed and opened the door.
"Oh, Kuro-chan, I hadn't honestly expected you to come up so soon," Fai turned to face him with a look of feigned surprise.
The sapphire silk, gold trim, and transparent aquamarine fabric caught Kurogane's eye instantly. "What the hell are you wearing?" he growled.
"It's my Halloween costume," Fai insisted. He stood up and walked over to Kurogane. "Do you like it?"
"Are you wearing a bra?" Kurogane stared.
"How does Kuro-pi know what a bra is? I figured they weren't something that existed in your world," Fai mused. His smile widened; Kurogane just blushed. "So, do you know what I am?"
"An idiot?" Kurogane suggested.
"No," Fai shook his head. "Guess again."
"A cross-dressing freak?" Kurogane offered.
"Well that wasn't actually my intent," Fai pouted. "So you really don't know what I am?"
"Besides an idiot and a cross-dressing freak? No," Kurogane stated bluntly.
"I'm a genie," Fai whined.
"What the hell is that?" Kurogane asked.
"A genie is a magical person in this world's mythology. You see… if you rub a special lamp…" Fai picked something up but Kurogane hadn't gotten a good look at it, "then the genie grants you three wishes." He winked and placed the object in Kurogane's hands. "Want to give it a shot?"
Kurogane blinked at the golden vessel in his hand. It did sort of resemble a certain type of lamp he'd seen in previous worlds but was this really a lamp? His thumb rubbed over it as he studied it; apparently, the slight soft gesture was enough to count as "rubbing the lamp."
"Well, Master Kuro-rin, what do you wish of me?" Fai leaned forward with an innocent look. "You have three wishes; anything you want."
Kurogane, at first, couldn't get over the sheer idiocy of this pointless role-play Fai was staging but he finally decided it was better to just play along and come up with three wishes to ask of Fai, since it was the quickest – and possibly only – way to shut him up. It only took a couple of minutes to pick out his first wish… and surprisingly the idea of eliminating the nicknames never occurred to him. "Three wishes, huh?"
"Yes, Master Kuro-chi, three wishes," Fai nodded softly. "Do you have your first wish yet?"
"Yeah," Kurogane responded.
"Oh? Well what is it, Master Kuro-rune?" Fai blinked.
"I want you to stay alive; stop senselessly risking your life," Kurogane ordered.
Fai frowned slightly, "I'll… do the best I can, Master Kuro-san. I can't promise that I won't risk my life… and I really can't promise that I'll stay alive either… but I'll try my best, I swear."
"Good enough," Kurogane shrugged.
"So wish two?" Fai raised an eyebrow.
"Stay with me," he responded automatically.
"What?" Fai's eyes widened in surprise.
"If you stay with me, I can protect you. You won't have to take stupid risks if I'm there to look out for you," Kurogane explained. "So my second wish is that you'll stay with me."
"Alright. That's simple enough," Fai said. "So your third wish, Master Kuro-wan?"
Kurogane paused for a moment to think but he rather quickly decided on his third and final wish. "You're wearing a strapless bra with gold fringe and very low riding pants, you're calling me Master, you're telling me I can have anything I want – you're a complete idiot if you can't figure out my third wish for yourself," Kurogane stated.
"Hmm…" Fai ran a finger up and down the center of Kurogane's shirt. "That's a fine third wish…"
"Let's go," Kurogane said simply as he pushed Fai lightly. The push knocked Fai off his feet and he fell gently onto the bed. Kurogane crawled onto the bed with Fai and kissed him.
It was a very good night… to say the least…
The next morning, Kurogane awoke to a pleasant smell. He wasn't quite sure what the smell was but he was pretty sure it was the smell of some kind of food. He sat up in bed and took a look around, slowly remembering why he was in Fai's room instead of his own and wondering where Fai had gone.
"Good morning, Kuro-min!" Fai cheered as he threw open the bedroom door. He shut it again and walked over to Kurogane in the bed. "I made you breakfast," he handed him a plate. "Go ahead and eat up."
"Thanks. So how are you feeling?" Kurogane took the plate and started to eat.
"Really good," Fai responded cheerfully. "And you?"
"Same," Kurogane answered bluntly.
"Then you understand now, don't you?" Fai gave him a sly feline smile and a wink. "Halloween is a fun holiday for adults too, ne?"
Kurogane chuckled, "Yeah."