How many days had it been? Kurogane was sure the mage had lost count already. But he hadn't, not at all. Since that night, Kurogane had been trying to face the mage again. But a day went by, then another. Then another and another. The mage had been behaving just as usual and it was irritating the ninja. Badly. It irked his mind to a point where he was no longer able to think about anything else.
No matter what he tried to do or what he tried to tell himself, Fai was stuck in his mind. Even his dreams had become exclusively made of Fai. In the morning, in the day, in his meals, in the cold showers he would have to take, Fai was all he could think of. It irritated him.
Last night he had woken from a dream before the break of day.
In it, the mage had been wearing a traditional yukata, like the ones Tomoyo would handpick for royalty.
Slowly, with a tiny grin on his face, the Fai in his dreams had untied it, letting it slide down all the way to the floor.
The moon shined over his silhouette, his golden hair fell on his shoulders and shined.
The mage's slim neck, his bare shoulders, his chest… Kurogane knew why he had woken up so suddenly. A part of him wished he had seen the rest of that dream. The other part was hoping Fai would say something. Address the previous incident in some way, do something about it, say something, anything. But all Kurogane had gotten was his usual, carefree, idiotic self. As if nothing had happened at all.
Except that it had, and Kurogane couldn't get it out of his head.
Today he was resolved to approach the damn mage. Not one night more, he couldn't bear it, it had to be today.
Body burning with rage and an inexplicable desperation, Kurogane aggressively interrupted Mokona. They were all lounging in the room they had rented for their stay, deciding what to do next in this calm world they were stuck at.
"Kid", he grunted.
Fai was sitting across the table, his loose clothings uncovering his shoulder as he rested his head in the palm of his hand, leaning to the side. His hair falling down so messily he might as well not have brushed it at all. His grin and his ridiculous voice. It drove Kurogane crazy. Everything about him.
"Y-yes?" Syaoran replied, a little startled with the sudden burst.
"The idiotic mage and I are going for a walk, there was something I wanted to look at and he owes me one." Kurogane tried his best to settle down and sound as relaxed as possible, however it all came out forced.
Fai revealed a shocked face only for the split of a second. He immediately replaced it with a big smile.
"Oh? Kuro-pon needs help from the poor magic-less mage?" he mocked.
"Shut up, you do owe me one" their eyes avoided each other.
"Ah, is that so? What did mommy do?" he teased.
Kurogane tsked and proceeded to stand up, going straight at Fai, pulling him up by his shirt.
"I don't want to be walking outside after dark, let's go."
"Kuro-rin is scared!" he chuckled.
Mokona quickly joined in, bouncing around and giggling, "Daddy is scared!"
"I'd rather avoid trouble, thank you" he groaned. He was not letting Fai escape this, not anymore. He couldn't wait a second more.
Finally, Fai accepted and, with smiles and apologies, they left the place and the kids behind.
Together they walked, Fai alongside Kurogane. Neither of them traded looks or spoke a word. They just walked, the sun setting behind their backs.
After a while they reached a place Kurogane judged to be good enough. Without any explanation, he pulled Fai by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to change direction and fall right into a lonely alley.
"Oi" the ninja grunted, "when will you stop avoiding me?"
His face was serious, almost desperate, searching for an answer in the mage's eyes.
Fai sighed, a long one. It was then that he let his body fall onto the floor, to sit against the wall.
"Doesn't the same go for you?" he replied, staring elsewhere.
Kurogane was frustrated, he didn't know how to go about this. With a hand covering his face, his body joined Fai's as he sat on the floor.
"I don't care what issues you may have, or not, with me, but I don't want to feel like you're going to disappear." He said after some time. Always that tone as if he was lecturing the mage.
"You think I could?"
"I don't think anything. Hell, I don't know anything. I can't tell what you're thinking anymore." He got irritated again as he realized this.
Neither stared at the other, they only sat there, next to each other, their shoulders an inch away from touching.
Fai placed his hand on Kurogane's. "I'm the same" he said.
Without a need of further words or questions, Kurogane almost instinctively pulled Fai's head onto his shoulder and threw his arm around, allowing the mage to rest his face on him.
Fai's hand stayed right where it was. Right over Kurogane's.
They would try again another day. Words didn't matter, as long as they had each other's presence. Kurogane's warm hand on Fai and Fai's soft breath falling on Kurogane, it was all they needed. To know they were there and so was the other one. To know that neither wanted to leave.