A/N-This story is AU, and for my nefarious purposes, I've kept Yuui alive…I've also drawn some inspiration (only a tiny bit) from the Marked series (the tattoos). Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Summary: Fai is a "Unique," a special type of human with magical powers, easily identified by the thematic tattoos that adorn their bodies. The Uniques are generally shunned by regular society and live on the streets, trying to avoid trouble. Fai devises a plan to break into Tomoyo's building and steal the golden feather, thus ending a life of poverty for him and his friends. What happens when he chooses the wrong building?
Fai leaned casually against the wall, ratty blue cap pulled low, as the guards ran past; no one paid any attention whatsoever to him, even as he slid through a discreet hole in the bottom of the otherwise flamboyant fence. The hole was quite cleverly disguised as the bottom petal of one of the many intricate flowers that composed the wrought iron fence, and was just the right size for a man of small build to squeeze through. Fai darted behind a potted palm, then through a door set in the side of the building. The inside passage was cool and dry; it was comprised of several different kinds of stone, and was rounded along g the top and sides. At rough intervals of ten feet, lanterns swung to-and-fro with the occasional passing of an earth tremor, which Fai felt throughout his whole body. He pressed on, moving quickly down the familiar route, even after he had passed the last lantern, and was forced to go on in the dark.
Despite the lack of light, Fai found the door with little difficulty. Almost without conscious thought, he picked the lock and slid through the opening, arriving in the back of an old storeroom, the door ingeniously concealed by being comprised of the same colour and material as the walls surrounding it, and being conveniently placed behind several stacks of wooden crates, which formed a niche near the door. Located within this space were an old mattress and the accompanying bedding, along with a small crate being employed as a makeshift table of sorts, and two oil lamps, one with a faint green tint to the glass, which, when lit, provided a faint, eerie quality of light. Fai carelessly tossed his cap on a crate, flopped on the mattress, and reached into one of the many pockets attached to his faded jacket. His jacket, although faded colourless by wear, was large and comfortable. It was also unusual; it was rather long, reaching roughly mid-calf, and instead of the large breast buttons that were so common, there were two small buttons sewn on to the right hip, the design enabling the wearer to pull the left side of the jacket almost fully across the body to the other side. Fai's jacket was something of an anomaly among the others, who called it a "trencher." He carefully drew out a package wrapped in grease-paper and unwrapped it. Inside was a makeshift sandwich, comprised of slightly burnt bread, leftover cuts of meat, and some cucumbers that Viiné had "harvested" from one of the public gardens the previous week. Fai stared at the sandwich for quite awhile before breaking it in half and re-wrapping the rest, stuffing it back in his jacket for the next day; food was scarce on the streets, and he needed to be sure that he had something to eat tomorrow.
He ate slowly, savoring each bite. Yuui and Sakura would be livid with him (not that there was much that didn't infuriate them when it came to Fai—He was too smart, too mouthy, too willing to resort to unethical solutions if his survival was threatened). He was too conspicuous. Once he'd followed through, someone would surely realize that Tomoyo's building was being infiltrated (Infiltrated! How he hated that word! It made it sound as though Fai was a criminal or a spy), and then, if the guards were not already attempting to tear him slowly apart, limb by limb, then they'd set the dogs on him, and that was, Fai thought ruefully, the absolute last thing that he needed.
His thoughts turned toward the prize. Slowly, he considered all of his options. A slow grin broke across his face; he would follow through.