Genere: Romance, Angst
Couple: KuroFai
Rating: T (might change later)
WARNINGS: Spoilers for chapters up to 132 and shounen-ai. boy on boy stuff. Don't like don't read.
This started out as a sexy daydream of sexy vampire Fai defending his sexy prey from hard. Sexily. It grew into a nice story, with some angst (you all love it) and fai-pinned-to-the-wall action. (you all love it even more)
Flashing Lights
Crazy.
That's what Kurogane called this world. Crazy, with its odd ways, its nightly parties, its odd superstitions. Crazy, with the people who had way too much alcohol, and an endless supply of food, and not to mention, energy. They were just all too happy, too carefree. And there were millions of them in this town – of that he was sure. He didn't bother to count – he preferred staying indoors after his first trip to the market. But it was plainly crazy. There was no other way to say it.
Fun.
Exciting.
Different.
That's what Fai called this world. Fun, with its many people, smiling, friendly faces, genuinely happy to have someone new in their city. Exciting, with its nightly parties, which included orbs of glowing colors that hung along the thin streets and came to life whenever the sun set, plunging the country into darkness. Different, because here, there seemed to be no turmoil. People helped each other, everyone had food, and nothing seemed to go wrong. Parties, parties, parties. Food, music, dancing. Lovers on every corner, only adding to the overall bright affect. There was no other way to put it, and it was quite distracting, so distracting in fact, that Fai sometimes found himself forgetting about the fact that he only had one eye. And that he was still alive, still running, still struggling against the life that he was leading. And that his only hope of ever continuing to live was right next to him, an oddly tense but protective aura that drew everyone in the group to the tall man.
"Hm, Sakura-chan and Syoran-kun are late." Fai mumbled, looking at the clock that hung from their living-room wall. There were no windows, and so they couldn't see what was going on outside. Kurogane liked it this way. At the sound of the man's voice he glanced up from his book and glared at the clock, finally grunting in affirmation of the mage's words.
"I wonder if they got lost." The blonde continued, seeming to be talking to himself. It was almost impossible that they might be in trouble. The only option for their late arrival that was logically possible to this town was the endless traffic of people. "They should have been here by now. They better hurry, or we're going to be late to the party."
"What party?" Kurogane snapped irritably, suddenly willing to listen.
"The Southdown party, of course." Fai picked up four ticket-like papers from the table, waving them around. "We got invited. It's quite an honor, I must say. To be invited to any of the four town parties."
"What's so special about them?" Kurogane mumbled, his eyes lowering to the odd scribbles in the book again.
"They serve better food, I suppose. And better drinks. Anyways, only the special people can come." Fai grinned.
"Well I'm not going." Kurogane scowled.
"Of course you are. Someone has to protect the innocent little Sakura-chan while we're there." Fai insisted, turning around and strolling back into the kitchen. "Besides, since many knowledgeable people will be there, we might get a hint about the feather, too."
Kurogane didn't even bother glaring. He hated how the wizard knew all of the things to say to make him agree. It was that stupid cold logic that the man possessed. The only logic that moved Kurogane from his stubborn spot.
The door suddenly burst open, and Syoran, Sakura and Mokona all literarily fell through, one landing on top of another. Sakura instantly jumped off, apologizing to Syoran who'd softened her fall. The boy smiled and got up, assuring her that he was fine. Mokona pounced over to Fai.
"We bought pretty clothes for the party!" it announced, pointing to the four stuffed shopping bags.
"That's… a lot…" Fai commented, a smile still playing over his lips. "Did Sakura-chan buy herself some things, too?" he asked the girl, who smiled shyly in return.
"Yes! Sakura looks very pretty!" the white thing supplied before beginning to jump around, trying to convince the princess to show off her new things right now. The three of them chattered aimlessly among themselves, and Kurogane took this time to glance over at the boy who was standing by the door, a slightly distant look of loneliness in his gaze as it locked on the princess.
"Oi, kid." He called over, making the brunette snap back to attention. "Are you coming to the party tonight?"
The real Syoran nodded. "Hai."
Kurogane sighed. "Then I think it'll be fine if you'll protect your princess by yourse--"
"That's great, Syoran, because Kurogane is coming, too!" Fai grinned, interpolating in their conversation.
"Shut up, I said I'm not!" Kurogane yelled, but somehow, he felt slightly odd. As if the true origin of his anger was not the idea itself, but the name Fai had used. But realizing this just made him more frustrated.
"Of course you are." Fai pranced away as Kurogane swung his hand at him at a half-hearted attempt of hitting the mage. "Look, Sakura-chan and Syoran-kun even bought you a nice costume." He pulled out something black that looked like the things they wore in Jade country.
Kurogane opened his mouth, and then shut it again, realizing it was useless to protest. Everything he said seemed to go into one ear and out the other in Fai's case. The best he could do for himself right now was agree.
"Fine, but I'm coming just to insure you won't get drunk again." He grunted. The world around him burst into bright cheers, and Kurogane slightly began to suspect that Fai and Mokona were actually not two people but about ten, for all of the noise they could make went off of the charts of laws of physics.
XxX
"Oh, look over there; I think they're selling fruit pancakes!"
"I see a hot-dog stand!"
"Aren't these called onigiri?"
"Look, you can catch turtles in a pond!"
"Do they sell earplugs anywhere?"
Fai chuckled at the face Kurogane was making. The old-styled costume he was wearing only added to his gruff look. Fai himself sported an elegant coat, in colors of bright blue and silver. He even wore a different eye patch to match it.
"Don't be so mean." He vampire said, glancing around. He was quite uncomfortable, and showing his face to Kurogane at this point wouldn't be a good idea, because the man would know something was up. There were too many bodies, and it seemed to Fai that he could hear every one of their hearts, beating relentlessly.
"Why do they party every night, anyways?" the samurai growled.
"The librarian told me why." Syoran fell in step with the man, eager to show what he'd learned. "Many years ago, these people thought that the countryside was plagued by demons. Since they have no moon, it's a lot darker than back in the other world's we've been to. They thought that demons could only exist in darkness and silence so they warded both off by partying through the night, every night. After a while, it turned into a habit, I suppose. So now, every day after their workday is finished they rush to open the little shops they run, light the lamps that line the streets, and turn on the music."
"Do they ever sleep?" the ninja asked.
Syoran laughed. "Yes. They go to bed at dawn and sleep until noon."
This only extracted a frustrated groan. "Crazy."
The night continued, with lights flashing, music blasting, people spinning in a crazy frenzy of a dance. Food was being passed around, thrown, eaten, used as a ball for a game. Cups of alcohol were clinked together and poured down throats, bottles fell empty to the ground, shattering on impact, where the people proceeded to stamp them out to microscopic bits that glowed prettily in the light of the lamps.
"Kuro-pipi!" sang a voice, drawing Kurogane's attention to the figure that stumbled gracefully toward him.
"You're drunk." He sighed, looking into Fai's single, heavy-lidded eye. He knew this now, because Fai would have to have lost his clear-headedness to actually resume the nicknames which he'd dropped.
"Of course! This is some wonderful champagne!" Fai waved a glass in front of the ninja's face, spilling some red liquid around. "They even have the sake you will like! C'mon, I'll show you where!" he grabbed Kurogane's wrist, trying to pull him away into the crowd of people that Kurogane had identified as 'instant death'.
"I'm not drinking!" he protested, but felt the grip on his hand tighten, and impossibly, his balance was shifted. Damn, that vampire was strong. "Let go of me, bastard!"
"No. Not until you try a sip." He shoved the champagne glass in Kurogane's face.
"If I do, then will you let go?" he asked, glaring at the mage, and receiving an eager nod. He sighed and did as asked, tasting the liquid and finding it quite good, despite his outer protests. "There. Now let me go." But of course, Fai did no such thing. Instead, he used the moment of Kurogane's relaxing of his muscles to focus on taking a sip to drag his into the crowd of people.
"Damn you!" he yelled angrily.
"Look, I see a sake stand! Let's go!" he yelled, pushing Kurogane towards yet another bar and making him sit on a chair. "Aw, don't pout." He added, ordering two bottles right away and popping the tops on them.
"I don't pout." Kurogane insisted, not noticing as Fai shoved one of the bottles into his hand. "And I'm not drinking, either." He added.
"Sure you are. This is a party. You're supposed to drink." Fai stared at Kurogane lazily, leaning on the counter. The samurai sighed, taking a sip. Maybe all of his stupid noise would go away if he drank enough. As a reward, Fai gave him one of the ever-so-shining-ever-so-fake smiles and popped open the second bottle for himself.
The first one went down quickly. The second one was taken slowly, as if enjoying it. The third one was just for kicks, because they had nothing better to do. The fourth bottle was entertainment for them both, a happy time filled with songs and curses and pointless conversations that made no since.
The fifth bottle… was where the troubles began.
Kurogane didn't hear Fai's ramble. The mage sat on his high stool, leaning on the samurai's shoulder, talking in a cheery tone about elephants and giraffes. What did it matter to the ninja what the blonde said? He took another swig from his bottle, looking out into the colorful crowd of people underneath the dark night sky, suddenly finding everything simple and perfectly fine. As if he really couldn't care less about the craziness. And really, who cared? He was probably already crazy anyways.
"Kuro-rin?" Fai's voice suddenly sounded sane. Well, as sane as it could be.
"Hn?" Kurogane mumbled sleepily.
"Those men are looking at us." Fai pointed over into the crowd, where some happy-looking guys stood, chuckling among themselves. Seeing that Kurogane had noticed them, they strode over, smiling cheerily, waving their alcohol around. Fai pulled away from Kurogane's shoulder, and the man felt a cold gust of wind hit the warm spot where Fai had made physical contact with him. He rubbed his shoulder blankly, and watched the men came near.
"What?" he asked, automatically putting on his menacing face, though he just looked annoyed, as if someone had woken him up in the middle of the night.
"Having fun? Are you new?" the leader asked. Kurogane noted to himself that he matched him in height and growled.
"What do you care?"
"How 'bout that one?" the leader nodded over to Fai, who was too engrossed in talking to the bartender girl to notice.
"What about him?" Kurogane blinked angrily at the gang, who exchanged knowing glances and chuckled again, taking sips from their bottles. This only angered the tall dark-haired man. What did they want already?
"Are you using him?" came the question. Kurogane's eyebrows rose, but his glare remained.
"Sorry?" he asked coldly.
"Tonight."
All he got in return was a blank deadly glare. Kurogane felt himself grow angrier by the second as his mind slowly sobered and began to work out the real reason the men had come over to them. Amber eyes glanced over to Fai's slender form, leaning over the counter as he made the girl blush in a simple Fai-like way. His only eye was heavy-lidded. Maybe the gang had considered it a seductive stare, but Kurogane could see the slight pain.
"Beat it." He snarled at the men after a short silence. They didn't move, and the leader stepped forward.
"Why should we?" he grabbed the front of Kurogane's collar. That was mistake number one. Before the offender had gotten a good look at Kurogane's actions, he found himself pinned to the ground casually by the ninja's foot.
"Don't touch me. Now beat it." Kurogane repeated.
He'd thought it would be enough to just scare them away by taking down the leader. He was wrong. What he didn't anticipate was that they had swords hidden under their clothes, and that their movements were fast and swift, not effected by the drinking at all. A blade shot out, heading for his chest. Kurogane reacted as smoothly as ever, pulling back enough and raising his hands to catch it in between his palms, but he'd never made it.
Instead, Fai had suddenly made an appearance, slipping in between the weapon and Kurogane, grabbing the metal with his bare hand and jerking it upward and out of the hands of the one who attacked.
A shocked silence fell over everyone who'd seen what happened. The blonde was casually holding the sword by it's sharp blade, seemingly unaware of the blood as it ran down the metal. Kurogane's eyes were wide; he had trouble grasping the full situation.
"I don't think that was a good idea." Fai's voice was smooth and Kurogane felt a shudder run up his spine. Even if the mage was facing away from him he could imagine the pure blue eye with the thin cat-like pupil that the men were now staring at. They had angered the vampire by threatening his prey. Fai was quite capable of murder at the moment.
"Y-you're…" the offenders backed away slowly.
"Leave." Fai commanded coldly and they scattered away into the crowd.
It took a moment for the music to stop sounding like it was so far away, and for the odd stares from the people to disappear as they lost interest. The sword fell to the ground, useless. Fai sat down, staring tiredly at his bleeding hand. A large cut stretched from his thumb to the pinky. Kurogane watched him in silence for a while before sighing.
"Let me see that." He ordered, forcing Fai to glance up, seeming slightly confused. "Your hand, idiot."
The blonde carefully stretched out his palm and Kurogane took it, inspecting the cut. Then, he pulled out his bottom shirt and tore off a large long piece, beginning to bandage Fai's hand.
"Wait." Fai said suddenly. Kurogane looked up, glowering. Fai's mask had dropped again. Where did all of those bottles of sake disappear to? "You don't have to. It'll heal soon anyways."
Kurogane continued bandaging; now glaring at the hand instead. Seeing that no amount of reason would stop the ninja, Fai fell silent, his eye following the movements of Kurogane's hand. When the samurai had finished his job, Fai took his hand back, rubbing it slightly. They spent the next few minutes in an awkward silence, no longer willing to drink or goof off.
"Let's go back home." Kurogane said decisively, stepping back onto the ground and waiting until Fai did the same.
"What about Syoran and Sakura-chan?" the wizard asked quietly as they began walking away from the excited crowd of dancers.
"The kid will take care of his princess." Kurogane merely responded. Fai blinked and ran to catch up and fall in step with the man's long stride.
Soon, the noises of the party died away and became a dull cheering behind their backs. Fai sensed the atmosphere tense.
"This…" he said suddenly, holding his bandaged palm. Kurogane glanced down at it and turned his eyes back to the road ahead.
"Yeah?" he challenged Fai to continue.
"Did you mean it as a 'thank-you'?" he looked up at Kurogane. Everyone knew he'd never apologized for anything. So was this small token – a show of the fact that he did care after all – a silent thanks from the dark and cold Mr.Black?
"As if." Kurogane growled his eyebrows growing together.
"Then you did it because you cared." Fai smiled mischievously, falling back into the rhythm of teasing that they'd grown to know.
"No." Kurogane snapped, obviously irritated. But at least this was better than the awkward silence. Somewhat.
"Then is was a thank you." Fai smiled, turning away. Kurogane remained silent, also aware of the fact that Fai had almost began to tease again. He didn't know what to do anymore. Fai had always teased him before and he had grown annoyed every time. It never got old. But suddenly now, when the vampire decided against any sort of a relationship with his traveling companions, Kurogane began to feel a tug inside of himself, a silent wish for Fai to continue being his old self. Things had gotten too complicated, and Kurogane had become confused. Why couldn't it be like before, when Fai was just another idiot with a fake smile, when Sakura was nothing more than a princess in need, when Syoran was only a boy trying to do what he'd set out to do?
"But I only did it because you'd defended me first." Kurogane looked down at Fai, but was unable to see the blue eye. The damn mage had hidden it behind his long blonde locks. How sneaky of him.
"Why, should I have let them carry you off and rape you?" Kurogane growled angrily. Fai remained silent, his smile still as sad as ever. "Maybe that's what I should have done. After all, you didn't take too well when I saved your life. I guess I was stupid, eh? Risking the fact that you might just hate me more." Kurogane spat angrily. They'd stopped in the middle of the empty street, in front of their house. Fai didn't answer. His smile had slipped off.
"Would you do that?" he asked quietly.
With a frustrated snarl, he grabbed Fai by his shoulders and pinned him to the nearest wall, glaring the mage in the eye that stared back at him sadly.
"Is that what you think?" he growled. He couldn't make out the man's face very well anymore because there weren't as many lights here as there were at the parties. Plus, Fai had lowered his head again, casting his long bangs over his single blue orb. "Quit hiding!"
"I don't know, Kurogane." He said at last, his tone emotionless. The taller man felt himself being thrown into a rage again. It took over his senses, clouded his mind.
"Don't call me that!" he yelled. Fai's mouth opened again but before he had the time to make a sound, the samurai shut him up by crushing their lips together forcefully. Fai made a small sound of surprise, but a second later he relaxed, as if he was enjoying Kurogane's unexpected kiss. The slim hands came up to grip the front of the ninja's outfit. After a time, Kurogane pulled away, panting lightly and red in the face. They were silent, each staring at each other for the longest time, each wondering where the angry aura had disappeared to. Each wondering how they'd suddenly gone from being distant and keeping away from each other to telling each other their true intentions in a matter of seconds.
"What that my thank you?" Fai finally asked, the tips of his mouth twitching into a smile.
"No, that was my way to shut you up." He huffed back angrily, still glaring. Then again, Kurogane always glared, so maybe he wasn't angry at all. Conveniently, both forgot how close they were, with Fai trapped between the wall and Kurogane.
"Then can I get a thank you?" Fai asked. Kurogane paused, as if unsure that he'd heard the request correctly. Hesitantly, he leaned in and brushed his lips over Fai's. The blonde pulled forward with encouragement, locking their lips together. From Fai's shoulders, powerful hands slid to wrap around him in a gentle hug. The kiss slowly deepened, Kurogane's tongue eagerly exploring the warmth that was inside of Fai's mouth, tasting alcohol lightly and something else that was simply Fai. Eventually, though, they had to stop, breathing heavily, and not only from lack of oxygen.
"Well, that was long enough to give me time to think and…" Fai chuckled, leaning his head on the ninja's shoulder. "…I've decided if you really hate 'Kurogane' that much, then I can come up with something else to call you." His smile grew wider as Kurogane grunted with mild curiosity. "Would that be alright…" he nuzzled Kurogane's neck playfully. "… Kuro-koi?"
Kurogane gave a small growl, burying his nose in Fai's hair, which made the wizard giggle. "Not in front of the kid and the princess it won't be." He said, a threat just below the surface.
"Well…" Fai traced swift patterns on the exposed skin at Kurogane's collarbone. "The kids won't be home tonight. I hope they're having a fun time." He waited until Kurogane hummed in approval and they slid into the darkness of their house that was barely a few steps away.
I hope they're having a fun time…
…Because we sure will be.
evil laugh that's right! No sexy kurofai action for you! Use your imaginations. Though, if you beg me enough, I might write it out later and add it on as a second chapter.