Kurogane caught me crying today. I thought that he would get mad at me, but surprisingly he sat down next to me on the bed we were forced to share while I cried. A part of me wanted him to leave; I didn't want to show weakness in front of Kurogane. Yet another part of me wanted to reach out to him and find comfort in his strong arms. Unfortunately, this side won.

I pulled on the black collar of Kurogane's fighting jacket from this world and dropped my head onto his broad chest, sobbing. I think it stunned him a little, but after a while I felt his warm arms around me and his chin resting on my mop of blonde hair.

"It's alright, Mage."

Was this Kurogane? The Kurogane I knew would insult me, not comfort me. Something was definitely wrong. I pushed him away quickly and tried to run out the door, but I was too weak from depression and lack of sleep. Kurogane easily stopped me and literally threw me back onto the fancy queen-sized bed. I was going to fight back, but something in his fiery red eyes made me stay put.

"It's not your fault that she died," Kurogane said with a hint of anger or frustration in his deep voice. "Stop blaming yourself."

"If I were a stronger person than I w-wouldn't have killed…" I couldn't finish the sentence because I broke into more violent sobs. I curled up into a ball and forced myself to breathe. I felt his hand on my shoulder and I brushed it off, but it all changed with a simple word and what came after it.

"No."

No? What kind of answer is that? I was pondering this but was snapped back into reality by a rough hand on my cheek. I looked up and saw that Kurogane also had tears in his eyes. This shocked me so much that I didn't see his face turn to my ear.

"Don't cry." These words were whispered so quietly and sadly in my ear that I shivered and could not help but obey. I guess this was the first time I saw any emotion from the ninja. I looked straight into his face and looked quickly away when I noticed that he was staring at me too. My heart was freaking out in my chest and I was having a lot of trouble breathing. He was so intimidating.

By the time my tears stopped falling I was so tired that my head fell onto the fluffy pillow and my puffy eyes closed. I tried not to fall asleep, but I must have because when I finally pried my eyes open Kurogane was staring at me with a worried look on his face. He still had his signature scowl on, but something in his face had softened. I wearily sat up, holding my throbbing head.

"Are you alright? You were asleep for almost five hours."

"What?! I have to go cook dinner then! Thanks for, um, taking care of me." I stood up to leave. Unfortunately I did so so fast that my vision went blurry and my knees buckled. I saved myself from falling at the last moment by holding tightly onto the bedpost.

"You're not going anywhere." Kurogane growled at me.

Then the most unexpected thing happened. He smiled. In all of the time that I have known the ninja I have never seen him smile. I began to wonder if he was possessed by demons or that I was still sleeping.

"You have a fever too," Kurogane stated. He touched the back of his hand to my sweaty forehead, pushing my bangs back. "You look kind of surprised too." How can I not look surprised when the grumpy guy that hates me starts nursing me back to health? I mean, I always thought he hated me. He wouldn't even call me Fai. I suppose that all of my doubts about Kurogane liking me left within the next few seconds.

Totally out of character, Kurogane stared intensely into my eyes; I could feel the fire in his eyes melting the blue ice in mine. That was all he did before jumping on top of me on the bed and pushing his mouth roughly against mine.

Cliff-hanger ending! Yay! I will write the next chapter, but only if I get reviews.