He saw the instrument while shopping alone that evening. It was a rare occasion that Fai was alone, but Sakura was still sleeping off the feather from the previous world, Mokona was watching over her, and Syaoran and Kurogane were training. Fai had nothing better to do, and dinner wasn't going to appear from thin air.
He'd gathered enough food for both dinner and breakfast, and made his way back to the house they were currently borrowing. The owners weren't around and Sakura hadn't been awake to protest Fai's less-than-moral plan. He stopped in his tracks, however, at a small pawn shop. It was still fairly early, and Fai had some time to waste, so he meandered through the doorway, wondering what manner of interesting curios he might find.
It didn't take long for something to catch Fai's eye. It was a flute of some sort, very similar to one Fai had seen before. In fact, it was similar to one Fai had played before. Back in Celes. It wasn't a terrible memory, and he decided to purchase the flute on a whim.
By the time he made it back to the house, Sakura was awake and under the impression that they had rented the house with legitimate means. She and Mokona were sweeping the kitchen, Syaoran was washing off the dirt from that day's training, and Kurogane was inspecting a painting in the living room.
"Fai-san you're back!" said Sakura, making her way to the door and taking a bag from his arms.
Kurogane looked away from the painting for a moment. "You find decent food for dinner?" The last few worlds hadn't had any food familiar to Kurogane, and Fai suspected that he was missing those chopsticks and raw fish of his.
"Does Kuro-tan not like the food I make for him?" Fai teased. He had, in fact, found some ingredients Kurogane would appreciate.
Kurogane just huffed.
"Kuro-rin doesn't appreciate all I do for him," Fai said with a pout. "Even when I was planing on making that… What was it? Shu-shu?" He forgot the word intentionally.
Both Kurogane and Mokona perked up.
"Sushi? Does Fai even know how to make that?" asked Mokona
Fai smiled. "No! But Mokona does. Why don't you and Sakura-chan help me in the kitchen?"
"Yes, I would love that!" said Sakura, rushing to the kitchen with her bag.
Kurogane just huffed again, and presumably went to find Syaoran.
Sushi was not his preferred dish, Fai decided after eating one. Kurogane (and everyone else) seemed to enjoy it though, so Fai was happy at that.
After dinner, Fai gathered everyone up and sat them in the living room, promising a good surprise.
"Fai-san, what did you want to show us?" asked Sakura, her bright eyes completely focused on Fai.
"Well, I bought a little something at the market today and I wanted to show you all!" Fai pulled the flute out of his pocket and held it up.
Kurogane's attention shifted from the wall behind Fai, to the flute in his hand. "That's a ryuteki," he said, fascinated.
Fai looked up at Kurogane. "So Kuro-chan has these on his world too?" he asked excitedly.
"More or less."
"Then Kuro-nyan is in for a treat!"
Syaoran spoke then. "Oh wow, that looks like something my father had in his study! It was old so he never used it. But the carvings on it were…" He stopped. "Sorry."
Fai laughed. "That's alright, I'm sure it was very special."
Mokona spoke up too. "Yuko's shop has one too. It's a pretty instrument. Will Fai play it for us?"
Sakura clapped her hands together. "Oh please, Fai-san!"
Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona looked at Fai expectantly. Kurogane crossed his arms and scowled, despite his obvious curiosity.
"Of course!" Fai silently prayed to whomever was listening that he would remember how to play it.
He held the flute, or rather ryuteki up to his face, but stopped just before he brought the instrument to his lips. He looked down at his hands, which seemed to be in the wrong spot. Frowning, he adjusted them, but it still looked wrong. He flipped the ryuteki around, and that looked better, but not quite what he remembered. It was close enough though, and Fai assumed he could figure it out from there. He licked his lips and hoped for the best.
Finally, he blew into the flute, but what came out was a screech.
Sakura twitched, Syaoran's eyes widened, Mokona frowned, and Kurogane's scowl deepened.
Another try, another fail.
Fai just laughed. "Well, it seems I'm a bit rusty."
After one more attempt (which, of course, resulted in another high-pitched failure), Kurogane growled and stood up.
"That's not how you play it," he mumbled. "Give it to me." Kurogane held his hand out expectantly.
Fai placed the instrument in Kurogane's hand with a smile. "Gather round, children. It looks like Kuro-daddy is going to play us a song!" He clapped his hands and crouched on his chair, glad that at least someone would make use of his little trinket.
"Shut up and listen, mage."
Attention shifted to Kurogane, who gingerly placed his fingers in all the right places, and gently brought the flute to his lips.
Fai was briefly embarrassed that he hadn't wiped the ryuteki off before letting Kurogane take it from him.
After a moment's hesitation, Kurogane started playing. The instrument that had been clumsy, unrefined, and, quite frankly, ear-shattering in Fai's hands came alive in Kurogane's.
Fai lost himself in the music. The melody was simple, yet spoke emotion as clearly as words or pictures might. Never had Fai heard something as beautiful as this. The music in Celes (and Valeria as well) was complex and had at least twenty different instruments overlapping with different melodies, but somehow Kurogane managed to move Fai more with that one small flute than any orchestra could ever hope.
"And that's how you play a ryuteki," Kurogane said, far too gruffly for someone who had just graced them with such a beautiful musical number.
Fai returned to himself quickly, plastering a smile to his face and clapping. "Hyuuu! Who knew Kuro-sama had so many talents!"
Sakura and Mokona clapped too, and Syaoran's eyes were wider than Fai had ever seen them.
"Shut up," was all Kurogane said, turning away and handing the ryuteki back to Fai.
"No, no, you keep it," insisted Fai, refusing to take the instrument away from the hands of someone who could actually use it. "I insist."
"Fine. But don't expect any concerts," Kurogane huffed.
They kept the flute throughout their travels. Always poking out of the side of Kurogane's bag. It caught Fai's eye every time.
A/N: Alright so I dove back into Tsubasa after YEARS and actually finished it this time. Fai and Kurogane are so great don't even get me started.
Anyways, there ya go! Love it? Hate it? Apathetic? Let me know in a review!