Easy Journey

Disclaimer: Not Japanese, not affiliated to Clamp, not making money off of this, 'nough said.

Warnings: M mentions of homo-eroticism, lime flavours, not meant for the sensitive or homophobic.

Author's Notes: Alternate reality in no way connected to the Prince and the Pea. Not based on any fairytale, this is all out of my head using our favorite Tsubasa characters.

There is a lemon version of this story here:

evilrobyn. livejournal. com/ 2072.html

The court of Nihon was renown for its number of illustrious magicians. Princess Tomoyo managed to attract them to her court with the promise of comfort, amiability, and of course security. This reputation had most recently drawn the attention of a magician called Fai Fluorite. His kingdom was in ruins after its king, Ashura had gone truly, and completely mad. With the country in chaos, those with the means were looking for new homes, and where possible safe passage to said new land. To Fai's great fortune, Princess Tomoyo was a generous, young royal and so sent her favorite ninja, Kurogane to go and fetch the magician. To soothe her minion who was less than impressed about such a menial task, Tomoyo attempted to convince Kurogane that this mission would be like a vacation. It had been a long time since Kurogane had been sent on such an easy journey.

There was nothing terribly complicated about the assignment, Kurogane had to admit. All he had to do was journey to the city closest to the borders of Celes and retrieve the blond magician in the blue and white robes. Considering more or less everyone in Nihon had black hair, the blond magician should stand out like a sore thumb, a very tacky sore thumb.

Perhaps the least pleasant aspect of this mission was the weather. It was early spring in Nihon so the weather was not ideal for travel. It poured rain but Kurogane had traveled in far worse weather, thank the heavens the refugee magician had at least chosen the spring to seek asylum. The last thing Kurogane ever wanted to do was travel across the country in the winter. More likely that not the magician was totally unaware or unconcerned with the season. Magicians were flighty and usually very moronic, maybe that was why Kurogane was smoldering over the mission. If it was one sort of person he hated more than any else it would be magicians.

Kurogane had been made to fetch mages before. The last one, as he recalled had attempted to turn Kurogane's hair green just for the fun of it. Thankfully Kurogane had dodged. That mage had arrived at the court in Nihon hog tied and gagged. Princess Tomoyo had not been all that impressed, but she took pity on Kurogane. The dark ninja had very little in the world he cared about given that he was an orphan. Knowing this, Tomoyo tried to make his life as pleasant as possible. It wasn't a sense of pity that drove Tomoyo, it was a desire for Kurogane to find something he cared about, ninja's with nothing to ground them often became crazed. The young princess was sentimental and took personal interest in Kurogane finding his reason to live and fight, however in the mean time, the young man, who had actually not reached his 20th year, had to earn his keep. This Fai character was reputed to be a powerful magician; he would be a welcome addition to the court of Nihon, and no one was more capable of making sure he got through the treacherous countryside than Kurogane.

If he thought about it for more than a moment, Kurogane would come to the instant conclusion that he hated mountains. At the very least, the ninja hated traveling in the mountains. It was cold this high up, even though winter had unlocked its frozen grip and the wind was vicious. Kurogane wasn't actually suffering at all. He had dressed in enough layers to assure his comfort despite all weather possibilities. He wondered vaguely if the mage was prepared for the weather. If he was as flighty as the rest of his kin, Kurogane was certain that he would be buying clothes for the fool before they headed of the border city.

The journey was not a terribly long one, not even on foot as Kurogane generally traveled. Princess Tomoyo had arranged for a carriage to take them back once Kurogane had joined up with Fai. It was generally safe to say that most people weren't as adept at walking long distances in the rain, and wind as Kurogane. In any case this Fai fellow had also been forced to watch his country crumble around him, it was reasonable to assume that the poor man could use a break.

It was still raining when Kurogane arrived in the border city. He had been instructed to find the magician in the largest hotel in the city. Kurogane had arrived a day or so earlier than the magician so he was prepared for the magician to have wandered off and the ninja was prepared to wait a few days for the man to turn up. Kurogane was a bit wet from the rain and more than a little chilled and decided that the first thing he was going to do was check into a room and have a bath. Afterwards he might be bothered to check if the magician was actually here.

"Kuro-rin?" An unfamiliar voice called to Kurogane as he approached the clerk. Kurogane looked around and spotted a blond man in a blue robe waving at him. This was, of course, the magician. The bastard just couldn't have waited to turn up until after Kurogane had warmed back into a human again.

"Excuse me?" Kurogane asked with his eye twitching. Kuro-rin was just not what you called a complete stranger, it just wasn't."

"You are Kuro-roo!" Fai squealed with delight and jumped onto Kurogane, wrapping his arms around Kurogane's neck and hugged him fiercely.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Kurogane growled as he disengaged Fai's arms from around his neck.

"Aw, Kuro-po is cold and wet, time for a bath," Fai cooed, wholly ignoring the question. He took Kurogane's arm and clung to it as he dragged the taller, darker, angrier man up to the room he had already reserved. Fai unlocked a door on the second floor of the hotel and led Kurogane inside. There were two decent sized beds in the moderate sized room. Off of the right wall there was another door. The magician had specifically requested a room with an en suite bathroom.

"You can have a bath in there," Fai explained with a smile.

Given that a bath was exactly what he wanted, Kurogane simply grunted and put down his bag. He had another pair of pants and another sleeveless shirt so Kurogane took them out of his back before discarding his jacket on a chair and heading into the bathroom. Fai watched Kurogane silently and hummed to himself when the man disappeared into the bathroom. Princess Tomoyo had sent messages to Fai to familiarize him with Kurogane so he knew that the taller, darker man was only nineteen years, not that Fai was particularly much older but Kurogane simply did not look it. The ninja looked closer to his mid-twenties than his teens. Perhaps that was a consequence of being a ninja. If it had not been for Kurogane's clothes, Fai would not have recognized him. Older than his years or not Kuro-pu was certainly an attractive fellow. Actually Fai thought Kurogane would be well classed as hot. Given what information Tomoyo had given him about Kurogane's fierce determination and loyalty, Fai had a feeling that Kuro was likely terribly inexperienced and probably this side of naive when it came to the department Fai was thinking about.

The mage had several days alone with Kurogane to look forward to. Fai grinned like a maniac and considered how hard it might be to get Kurogane into bed. Traveling alone had been depressing, traveling with company was at least pleasant. Traveling with a lover was very pleasant indeed. It would be ill advised for Fai to make any moves on Kurogane at this point however. The mage figured that his best hope for success in that area would likely be when they were on the road. If nothing else, although there was a vast wilderness to hide in, with this weather the ninja would be far less likely to try and hide in the woods if it was pouring rain.

Kurogane left the bathroom with only damp hair, and looking terribly appetizing with just the shirt and pants, lacking that awful jacket, could you call the tent a jacket? Fai stood up and hug Kurogane's arm again and started dragging the ninja towards the door. Kurogane gave Fai a weird look and tried to pull away. Fai persisted and explained: "Kuro-pu has had a long journey, we must feed him now."

"My name is Kurogane, not Kuro-pu or whatever other stupid names you can come up with"

"Don't be silly Kuro-pu," Fai teased and continued to drag Kurogane to the restaurant off the lobby.

Fai was insane. Even by the standards of every other magician he had ever encounter, it was clear to Kurogane that Fai was totally and undeniably insane. The blond fool would not stop calling him by stupid nicknames and clinging all over him. This was absolutely ridiculous and to the think that Kurogane had to sit in a carriage with the psychopath was pretty much unbearable.

He thankfully disengaged himself when it was time to sleep. Kurogane had no intention of sharing his blankets with the blond. He was just the type of person to hog them. The ninja couldn't sleep immediately. It was not in a ninja's training to sleep until everyone around him was a sleep. Fai took his time sleeping actually, surprising Kurogane. The blond's breathing had been even the entire time but it had been obvious to Kurogane that the magician had been awake.

The one in question stayed awake for at least an hour before finally drifting off. Fai had been thinking about Celes for a while, the thoughts of his devastated homeland had been heartbreaking. To prevent from breaking down or embarrassing himself in any way, Fai had forced himself to switch his thoughts to Kurogane. The ninja was quite a picture. With the dark hair and, handsome face, Kurogane made for quite a lovely image, if a little bit of a jumpy one. When Fai thought of a ninja, he thought of someone in absolute control of himself, he was pleasantly surprised that this was certainly not the case with Kuro-pu. Yes, his ninja was certainly high strung, Fai smiled a little to himself. Images of Kurogane in his arms in the throes of rapture banished all nightmares of Celes from Fai's thoughts, and from that point sleep came easily.

Kurogane could barely tell when the Sun rose. The sky's stormed viciously above the hotel, for a moment he was grateful for the coach that would be taking them back to the capital. That gratitude disappeared when Fai, who must have realized that Kurogane was awake, leapt onto the ninja, almost knocking the wind out of him.

"What the Hell is your problem, crazy idiot?" Kurogane yelled at Fai.

"Kuro-ruu," Fai whined, ignoring the outburst. "It's time for breakfast."

"Don't call me that!" Kurogane asked angrily as he shoved Fai off and got up. "And you couldn't just tell me you were hungry?"

"This way is more fun," Fai explained and cheered. "Breakfast, breakfast!"

'I must have done something truly horrible in a past life to deserve this,' Kurogane thought with exasperation.

As per usual Fai clung to Kurogane, periodically swinging off of the ninja as they walked down to the restaurant. Breakfast didn't improve anything. Fai had decided it was a fun game to steal food from Kurogane's plate. It was especially fun to steal it almost right out of Kurogane's mouth.

"Stop that you, God damn idiot!" Kurogane yelled, practically panting in anger.

"Silly Kuro-pu" Fai laughed as he dodged Kurogane's attempts to beat him senseless.

No one in the restaurant commented on Kurogane's outbursts or Fai's childish games. Kurogane wore a medallion with the royal crest. Everyone in Nihon knew that crest. They knew that this ninja was a vassal to the crown and thus not to be medaled with. The citizen's and restaurateur were all equally happy, nonetheless when Kurogane and Fai paid there bill and left the restaurant in peace. Kurogane's soiled clothes were already packed, and apparently Fai had not unpacked anything, so shortly after breakfast was over, a coach with a hastily painted royal emblem arrived at the hotel. Kurogane was disgusted to realize that there really was no space outside the coach, other than for the driver. He would have to travel the entire way back to the capital inside the coach with that blithering idiot.

Must to Kurogane's displeasure, Fai insisted on pretty much cuddling with Kurogane in the coach. The ninja liked his personal space, dealing with someone this clingy was taxing. Privately, Fai was in hysterics. He could hardly believe that Kurogane was really so thick. How on Earth could the ninja not notice that Fai's behaviours were more than a little flirtatious, and wholly inappropriate. The ninja did blush, he didn't tell Fai to stay away in the tone that defines rejection. No, Kurogane growled and struggled but it was out of irritation at the contact, the gesture, the young ninja really could not see the reason behind it.

The coach only stopped occasionally to rest the horses and for bathroom breaks. For hours and hours Kurogane was subjected to mindless chatter and cuddles where Fai fell asleep against him with his fluffy clothed arms wrapped around Kurogane's waist. Kurogane drifted off occasionally himself. More than once the ninja beseeched the gods to explain what he had done to deserve this constant harassment and what he could do to atone for his sins.

Each day of the journey passed like this. Each night passed in a different hotel room with Fai lying awake fantasizing about Kurogane, and Kurogane oblivious, only grumbling about the lack of personal space. The mornings passed with Fai jumping on Kurogane to wake him up in the morning, knowing full well that the ninja was already awake.

It rained constantly. There was no trouble on the road other than the weather, and everything went smoothly until the fourth evening. A fair distance from the next village, one of the horse pulled free injuring itself and damaging the harness. Neither rider nor the driver were harmed.

"I'll take Steel here and head to the village ahead and see about another horse and a new harness," the driver explained. "The coach is comfortable and warm enough, it should do well enough if I don't get back before nightfall. If it gets dark too soon I'll wait till morning to head back here."

Kurogane incline his head in agreement. There was no logic in he himself going instead of the driver, after all Kurogane didn't know a damn thing about horses, or coaches, or anything relating to either. Fai could hardly contain his excitement. The rain was still pouring, and Kurogane was all his for the night.

The ninja brought out some dried meat and preserves for supper, he had been careful to pack enough for a few days extra, just in case. Fai stole a piece of jerky from Kurogane just as the other man was about to take a bite. The magician quickly ate it earning him a cushion to his head from Kurogane.

"Quit stealing my food you..." Kurogane stopped mid shout. He listen carefully. Outside he could hear something, perhaps an animal, perhaps the driver. But something was rustling in the woods next to the coach. "Stay here."

Fai watched through the window as Kurogane investigated the sound. The ninja was out of sight for a few minutes before he reopened the coach door and came inside. Despite his jacket, which he know discarded on the floor of the coach, he was still quite wet. The magician's eyes glinted with mischief. He reached over to the taller man and grabbed his belt, undoing it and untucking Kurogane's shirt. Kurogane looked down at Fai, completely perplexed.

"What are you doing?" Kurogane asked as he was pulled down and Fai removed the ninja's shirt.

"Kuro-po is wet," Fai explained while pulling off Kurogane's pants. "So I'm undressing him."

"I'm not that wet," Kurogane argued. Fai tried hard not to laugh at Kurogane's response. He looked carefully up at the ninja and debated his options. After a brief pause, Fai pushed Kurogane down on the plush bench of the carriage pinning the ninja down by keeping his hands of the ninja's lap.

Before Kurogane could even give Fai a weird look or ask anything Fai captured Kurogane's mouth in a demanding kiss. Kurogane squirmed back, unconsciously pinning himself in the corner of the coach. He glowered at Fai and demanded: "What the fuck was that."

"A kiss," Fai laughed as he slunk over, crouching above the other man.

"Why..." Kurogane began to ask again but was stopped by Fai stealing another kiss. This time Fai's hands teased across Kurogane's chest.

"Stop," Kurogane yelped as he tried to wriggle his way, not with enough force to succeed but enough to dislodge Fai for a moment. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Kuro-pu is so cute, and naive," Fai teased.

"What the Hell does that mean?" Kurogane demanded while backed into the corner again, now he was blushing.

"You are so cute when you blush," Fai smiled and leaned in close. "I'm kissing you because I want you, Kuro-ruu."

For the first time Kurogane was speechless. He stared at Fai in horror and shock. As the realization hit him, Fai interrupted his surprise by trapping him against the coach and claiming his mouth again. Fai kissed him persistently. He teased Kurogane's mouth until the larger man opened up to him, and was manipulated into active involvement in the kiss. Kurogane was lost under Fai experienced touch and mouth. The dark man gasped and turned his head as Fai teased his nipples with one hand and took his manhood in the other.

"St...Wha..." Kurogane mumbled and complained, struggling weakly. Fai ignored his struggles. He kissed, nipped and sucked his was along Kurogane's neck and down his chest. Kurogane moaned, truly lost under these foreign sensations. Fai nipped Kurogane's nipple as he fondled Kurogane's waking erection.

"Gods," Kurogane groaned. Fai pleasured Kurogane with his mouth as he undressed himself and found a bottle of lotion in his coat. He reached a slicked up hand behind Kurogane's back and between his cheeks. Fai massaged Kurogane's puckered anus slowly, teasingly preparing him for that on digit.

"Fai..." Kurogane warned. He had only barely heard about this sort of thing. What happened in the bedroom was not discussed in the court of Nihon.

"Shh," Fai cooed and gripped Kurogane with his other hand. "I won't hurt you, this'll feel good soon."

Fai panted against Kurogane's neck, Kurogane's legs laying limp on either side of Fai. Whether Kurogane would have preferred it or not, he felt too boneless to move, and soon both men were asleep. Kurogane woke shortly after the sun rose. He was a complete mess and Fai was still laying on top of him. He nudged Fai off with a groan, nearly every muscle in his body groaned with over use.

"Get up, Fai," Kurogane ordered as he gave Fai a shove.

"Don't wanna," Fai whined and tried to cuddle back into Kurogane.

"Too bad, thanks to you we're a mess and we're going to get clean," Kurogane explained without sympathy. Thankfully it was still raining.

By the time the coach driver came back with a new horse and harness Kurogane and Fai looked as though nothing had gone on. Expect perhaps that although Fai was still cuddling Kurogane as usual, Kurogane was blushing redder than a ripe tomato.

That night as Kurogane prepared for bed he found himself tackled, stripped and groped in very short order. Fai went to work quickly, sucking on Kurogane's neck, shoulders, and touching everything he could reach. Kurogane arched his head back and gaped: "You mean that wasn't a one time thing?"

"Kuro-nin what sort of man do you take me for? " Fai asked and returned to his ministrations. "Don't worry Kuro-ru, I know you're still a little sore, I'll be gentle."

A few days later the pair finally arrived at court, they were greeted upon their arrival by Princess Tomoyo herself. Kurogane knelt, a little stiffly and Fai bowed. Tomoyo happily made Fai's acquaintance. After a short talk with Fai, Tomoyo glanced towards Kurogane and notice he was rubbing his lower back.

"Was the journey easy?" Tomoyo asked a little uncertain.

"No," Kurogane grumbled sharply, and quickly.

"What went wrong?" Tomoyo asked with concern. "Were you attacked?"

"No, uh..." Kurogane stuttered and turned away to hide his blush. "Never mind."

Kurogane hurried off leaving Tomoyo alone, she looked after him and with a little smile on her face she laughed: "Ho, ho,ho."

Fin

Well there you go. I told you it would be Fai/ Kurogane and I wasn't joking, I hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. Don't complain about my spelling of colour, neighbour, etc. I'm Canadian, this is what we call English. (Previous story I got a private message about it, yes, I known, weird). Please, other criticisms, like general spelling, grammar are welcome. My story is unBeta, as are all of them. Though my roommate did proof read this one.