A/N : We've finally reached 2000 Tsubasa fanfictions! I pat the fandom on the back and dedicate this to all Tsubasa authors, artists and readers. Lets make the next thousand a good run too
That said, I'm not sure about the ending of this fic. Let me know what you think as I might be compelled to change it.
Disclaimer: Tsubasa (c) CLAMP.
Acquired Taste
"And what's your name, then?" the old woman croaked, nudging Fai with her wooden cane.
"Me?" Fai pointed a finger to himself, "I'm Fai! And over there is Kurogane!"
Fai turned round in his seat and pointed to the back of the bus, waving at Kurogane, who, in return, gave Fai a dissatisfied glare.
"Funny looking fellow, isn't he?" the old woman twittered in Fai's ear, looking through her thick-rimmed spectacles.
"That is so true!" Fai giggled, the two of them still staring like wide-eyed cats at Kurogane's twitching frown.
"Rather like a discontented wolf, wouldn't you say?" the lady observed.
Kurogane stood up in rage from his bus seat, but then stopped, the lady hadn't called him a dog, but a wolf. "A wolf, eh?" Kurogane said, leaning a hand against the pole.
"No, no, no," Fai said, "He may look like a big wolf, but he's really as harmless and gentle as a tiny puppy,"
"I am not!" Kurogane shouted, raising and pointing his finger at Fai.
Fai chuckled and sunk back down into his seat as the old lady and the rest of the bus riders stared at Kurogane as if he were a madman. The old lady raised her thin grey eyebrows above her green-rimmed glasses and pursed her wrinkled lips.
"You're a loon!" she muttered.
Kurogane stomped back to his seat practically growling and started grumbling to himself. The rest of the bus looked at him warily as Fai shook with silent laughter.
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"Kuro-muu!" Fai shouted gleefully, "It's our stop!"
"It's about time!" Kurogane muttered, "All this way for an ice cream parlour?"
Fai pouted and then grinned, tugging at Kurogane's arm, "Of course, when I'm in the mood for ice cream, I have to do it properly,"
"I really, really wish I hadn't left the house with you," Kurogane said darkly, stomping down the bus aisle.
"Thank you, bus-driver-kun!" Fai chirped, saluting the startled man behind the wheel, "You did such a wonderful, wonderful job of driving us!"
"Bye-Bye," Fai waved to the entire bus party, who simply looked somewhere between confused and amused.
"Will you hurry up and get your ass off this bus?!" Kurogane yelled from the pavement.
"But it was my first bus ride, Kuro-tan!" Fai whined, "And I made so many good friends,"
"Yeah, a crazy lady with a cane and a scared bus driver?" Kurogane snorted.
Fai hopped off the step as the bus began to drive away. "You should be thankful I brought you along Kuro-chi, you could be home doing washing up with Mokona! Or worse! You could be made to go along to school with Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun! I can just imagine, mini Kuro-chan in his unifor-"
"Do you ever shut the hell up?" Kurogane snapped, "I'd rather be somewhere, anywhere than here with you!"
Fai tilted his head and then smiled, "But we're going for ice cream, Kuro-pi! Your favourite!"
Kurogane crossed his arms and began to walk quickly up the street.
"Wait up, Kuro-rin! You don't even know where you're going!" Fai said, trying to catch up with his companion.
"I do," Kurogane shouted, "I'm getting away from you,"
Fai sighed, "Then you'll have to get lost then! Oh dear, poor Kuro-pon, all alone in the rainy street, whatever will happen to you? While I am enjoying a triple deluxe ice cream sundae at the Glowing Star parlour! Kuro-ki will be shivering in an alley! Perhaps beaten up by bandits! Or worse-"
Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm sure this parlour will be extremely hard to find," he snorted, surveying an arm to the building in front.
Fai's eyes widened, "La!" he gasped, "It's beautiful!"
The parlour was a large, circular building surrounded by a cobblestone path, ribbon-pink, shiny walls and candy-apple red decorations twirling around the curved edges, above the windows were glittering stars and a looping sign that read 'Glowing Star Ice Cream Parlour'.
Fai clapped his hands together and then latched onto Kurogane's arm, "Let's go, Kuro-wan!"
Kurogane raised an eyebrow and allowed himself to be dragged himself inside.
To tell the truth, he hadn't even wanted to come in the first place. He only agreed because Fai was whining about eating alone and Mokona was pestering him to do a few chores while Sakura and Syaoran were temporarily enrolled in the country's school. He would have rather took a walk by himself, but Fai was so determined to have a bowl of ice cream or two and to have someone to share it with, that Kurogane found himself being dragged along. He had thought it would have just been round the corner from their house, but Fai had made sure things would be as complicated and difficult as ever and persisted on forcing Kuorgane onto a bus, where he had had the nerve to go and sit next to some resident crazy woman and then make Kurogane out to look like a madman. Sometimes things just weren't simple. But then again, neither was Fai.
Fai twiddled with the pink cardboard menu and let his finger loop down the page until it settled on something that activated a child-like glint in his sharp blue eyes. Kurogane rubbed his temple and stared around at the happy, sparkling atmosphere of the parlour.
"Okay," Fai said to the waiter, "Please keep up!"
The waiter looked a little frightened and raised his pen to paper, "Yes?"
"Okay! I want two large scoops of strawberry ice cream, one scoop of chocolate-caramel and a few tiny scoops of marshmallow-vanilla. Then I want extra, extra bubble gum sauce, a little fudge sauce and then sugar drops sprinkled on top," Fai stopped to breathe, "Maybe a few chocolate buttons too?"
The waiter nodded, seemly astonished, "And you, sir?"
Kurogane rolled his eyes, "I'll have vanilla with a little chocolate mint."
The waiter nodded and turned away.
"Vanilla?" Fai repeated, "But that's so bland!"
"Well, your choice was plain crazy! You'll never eat that! What an idiotic choice, I bet you're sick and whine all the way home," Kurogane objected.
Fai laughed lightly and shook his head, "You're hopeless, Kuro-di-loopedy-pon."
Kurogane slammed his hand down on the table.
"My name," he growled, "Is Kurogane. Be respectful to use it,"
Fai almost looked surprised at Kurogane's sudden infuriation and then paused, letting out a lighthearted sigh.
"Kuu rohr-" he started, saying each syllable with awkwardness and confusion, "Gargh Nay."
Kurogane's lip twitched for a breif second, "You should really, really learn how to say it properly,"
"But Kuro-mew is so much easier to say! Plus it's fun and it's cute!" Fai chirped.
"Listen," Kurogane said gruffly, "I'm neither fun or cute, therefore, it is a sign of utter stupidity to call me such names,"
Fai leant back in his seat and smiled coldly, a sudden icy glint in his smirking eyes.
"On the contrary," he said, "You are quite fun and rather cute. And I can say your name as easily as the next person. Kurogane. Kurogane. Kurogane. See?"
Kurogane looked at Fai curiously, "Say it again."
"Kurogane," Fai smirked as he said it. Making sure each little syllable rolled of his tongue smoothly and meaningful.
Kurogane stared at Fai as if he were some sort of rare found treasure. He was silent a second and then swallowed, "Uh-"
Fai leant forward again, "That's not all," he said cheerfully, "I can spell it too. See? K-U-R-O-G-A-N-E."
Kurogane tilted his head as Fai held up his hands, counting the letters on his fingers as he spelt Kurogane's name.
"That's right, hmm?" Fai smiled childishly, cupping his chin in his hands.
Kurogane simply nodded.
"K for kiss, U for understood, R for romance, O for-" Fai was cut off as the waiter hurried over to the table carrying two bowls full of ice cream.
"Ah! Ice cream is here! Ice cream is here!" Fai said in singsong, hurriedly digging his spoon into his sticky mess of ice cream and syrup and then smiling with joy.
"Eat up!" he said, pushing a spoon into Kurogane's hands, "Eat up!"
Kurogane took a bite of his vanilla ice cream and then stared at Fai.
"Y'know," he stated, "Sometimes I just think you love to mess with me,"
Fai stopped eating a second to look at Kurogane and then gave a small laugh. "Ooh, but Kuro-chu, you're so fun to play with,"
Kurogane narrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not your freaking toy,"
Fai nodded, "You're right, you're right, I'm sorry, but you know, you're just as bad as I am sometimes,"
Kurogane stared at Fai, looking bemused, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You don't use my name either," Fai pointed his spoon towards Kurogane.
Kurogane contemplated this. Had he never called Fai by his name? He was sure he had, but, thinking back, he couldn't think of a time when he had. It had always been 'You' or 'Idiot' or 'Mage'. Kurogane narrowed his eyebrows.
"See," Fai said quietly, "We're in the same boat."
"Whatever," Kurogane grumbled angrily, to which Fai gave a little chuckle.
"Would you like to try some, Kuro-ton?" Fai grinned, holding out his ice cream bowl.
Kurogane examined the contents with a disgusted grimace. The ice cream scoops had melted in together, creating a swirl of different colours and blobs, and the syrup was practically everywhere, running down the sides of the bowl, splashed messily onto the table and over Fai's lean hands.
"No thanks," Kurogane said darkly, raising an eyebrow.
"But it's so nice, Kuro-nyu!" Fai smiled, trying to wipe the syrup from his cheek and lips with his sleeve.
"I don't like sweet crap like that," Kurogane grumbled.
Fai shrugged his shoulders, "More for me then," he chimed, and began digging in once again.
Kurogane stared at him in disbelief. "You're getting it everywhere," he stated, "How much of a messy eater can you get?"
Fai gave Kurogane his best, lopsided Cheshire cat grin, and subsequently went on to licking the bowl.
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"I promise I'll sit next to you on the bus ride home, Kuro-chan," Fai said, running a thin finger along the ridge of the bowl.
Kurogane shrugged weakly and handed Fai some paper napkins, "Clean yourself up," he muttered.
Fai laughed and tried to look at his reflection in his spoon. He then changed his cheerful tune when he noticed he had clumps of syrup stuck in his hair.
"You're so hopeless," Kurogane rolled his eyes, and then added, after a little hesitation, "Fai,"
He flickered his eyes towards Fai to see his reaction, but Fai was still concentrating on pulling ice cream from his hair, when he all of a sudden stopped and broadened his eyes, he stared at Kurogane hollowly for a second and then started to beam, looking as if he would throw his arms around Kurogane at any moment.
"Kuro-chan called me by name!" Fai exclaimed, "He called me by my actual name!"
Kurogane felt slightly amused by Fai's reaction and then shrugged his shoulders, "Don't get used to it!"
"What?" Fai whined, "That's so mean! You're so cruel, Kuro-bully!"
Kurogane lurched forwards at his new nickname, "What did you call me?" he seethed.
"Kuro-bully," Fai cried, almost comically, pointing a finger at Kurogane's chest, "You do nothing but toy with me!"
Kurogane opened his mouth a little, feeling angry and slightly amused, "What the hell! You're the last person that should say that to people!"
"But it is true," Fai sighed in mock drama, "You call me by my name and then take it away as if it means nothing,"
"It does mean nothing, idiot mage!" Kurogane snapped loudly, severely annoyed by Fai's antics, "Just like your whole, stupid existence means nothing,"
Fai's hand slightly jerked at this and he slowly withdrew his finger from Kurogane's chest.
Kurogane crossed his arms, knowing he had gone a little too far. But, the guy deserved it right? He was bugging him and bugging him all day and forced him to come to some stupid frilly ice cream place. He deserved to be told off.
"Right then," Fai said quietly, standing up from his seat, "If I don't exist, then you may as well be here alone."
Kurogane rolled his eyes, "I didn't mean it, just sit back down,"
Fai gave Kurogane a such a look of discontentment that it made Kurogane laugh. How intimidating could you find a glare from a guy with ice cream and bubble gum sauce smeared across his cheeks and lips?
"Look, I'm sorry," Kurogane said, trying his best to sound apologetic.
Fai sat back down with a look of justice and acheivment. "I win," he said with a trickling of mischief in his voice.
"Kuron-pi says my name and apologizes to me in the same hour?" Fai leaned forward, looking more pleased with himself than ever, "I can't think of anything better! I should make up a song,"
Kurogane watched in horror as Fai began to make up silly little rhymes about the whole, stupid situation.
Kurogane could feel himself becoming very, very, extremely angry. Fai had to shut up. But how are you meant to shut up such an annoying guy?
Kurogane picked up his bowl and forced a spoonful of vanilla and mint ice cream into Fai's mouth. Fai looked surprised but continued to hum until he swallowed the bite. He smirked and went on with his annoying ramblings, missing Kurogane's sharp hits to get him to be quiet.
Kurogane could feel his eyebrow begin to twitch and cracked his knuckles fiercely. As soon as Fai stopped swaying, he violently thrust out his hands and cupped them over Fai's mouth.
Fai's blue eyes widened in shock a moment and Kurogane grinned in his victory. That was, until, he felt something moist and spongy tickle across his palm.
"What the hell?" Kurogane shouted, "Did you just lick me?"
Fai smirked and nodded, before persisting with continuing his toying with Kurogane.
"And my silly little Kuro-chan has now lost our game,
It's strange how red and ruffled he is, when I call his full name,"
Kurogane was positively fuming by now. There had to be some way, somehow to get this stupid magician to stop talking!
Kurogane felt a glimmer of wickedness flick through his mind as he watched Fai's syrup-covered lips taunt him so. In one quick movement, he lunged across the table, knocking the bowls and the spoons to the floor and grabbed Fai by the collar of his shirt, pulling the bewildered mage close to him, and he kissed him with as much force as he could provide.
Fai had most definitely shut up by now, and began responding to Kurogane's spontaneous kiss across the parlour table. Kurogane didn't even notice Fai had stopped talking. It was one of the most true things he had known about himself. He completely hated anything that was sweet or sugary.But there was something about the sweet, bubble gum taste of Fai's lips that made him want to keep kissing him, and there was something about the sugary flavor that made him feel so light inside.
All his life he had hated such sweet and sickly tastes, but this was definitely a flavor he could get used to.