Disclaimer: No works of CLAMP are mine, including Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHolic, and/or Magic Knight Rayearth.
Pairings: Not a focal point, but Syaoran/Sakura. No Kurogane/Fai slash.
(divider)
"ARGH!"
Strangled, the yell bounced forward from where Fai and Kurogane were walking to Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona (tucked inside Sakura's dress) were walking. The trio turning to stare back at the two of them, looks of puzzlement passing across the two children's faces.
"Um, Kurogane-san? Why are you yelling?" Sakura asked softly, blinking up at the taller man sleepily.
"Yes Kuro-rin, why ARE you yelling?" His golden-haired companion chimed in cheerily, his black eyes shining with glee. "Is something wrong?"
"NO! And shut the heck up with those stupid names! It's YOU who bothers me!" The ninja yelled, glaring at Fai and stalking ahead, passing the two children on the way, a small puff of sand whirling in his footsteps. Fai looked after him, then ran with long, unworried strides to catch up, Sakura and Syaoran close behind.
"Kuro-chaaan, I'm so hurt! What did I ever do to displease you?" Fai mock-whimpered, still beaming in typical Fai fashion, hair brushing around his smiling face. Kurogane paused, staring at him for a moment then looked over at Syaoran.
"Kid. Does the psycho look... strange to you?"
Syaoran cast his gaze over at Fai as if he were monitoring for bombs, noting the former magician's unconcerned expression and casual stance. Then again, there was never any tenseness in Fai, he just sort of... hung. Like lazy laundry in a hot summer afternoon, out to dry in the sun. Fai looked over at Kurogane, blinking lazily.
"Are we done Kuro-chi--"
"Don't even think about calling me another girly name." The ninja warned, glaring. "I don't want to hear it."
Fai shrugged lazily.
"What is this all about anyway?" He questioned, smiling helplessly at Syaoran, who looked back to Kurogane for an answer.
"Your stupid freaking SMILES!" Kurogane ranted, his harsh voice rising to it's usual yell on the last word.
"Not three days ago you and I had ACID. RAIN. Moxibustion! Whatever you call it, it was being dumped over us like a new year shower, and all you said in complaint was "this rain hurts". And you grinned like a moron, just like you're doing now, as you said it! You're always happy! ALWAYS!" Kurogane pointed at Fai accusingly. "There is something very wrong with you Fai D. Flowright."
"You can't judge him for being who he is!" Sakura protested, shaking her head wildly. "Fai-kun is just naturally that way!" Her commonly sleepy eyes wide, she stared up at Kurogane with shimmers of fiery determination shining through, setting a bit more of the girl Syaoran had once known free.
"Fai!" Came a familiar excited voice from a pocket of her dress. It bounced out of the pocket, landing on the blonde in question's shoulder.
"I'm perfectly fine Mokona!" Fai reassured, smiling easily. "See?"
"Fai looks fine!" Mokona buzzed, nuzzling into Fai's fluffy hood contentedly.
"Oh yeah, trust what the manjuu bun says. That's an original idea. The only thing that thing does is make us all hungry!"
"NOT TRUE! Mokona helps Kuro-pii all the time and brings to other worlds! Mokona special!" The "manjuu bun" protested loudly. Fai beamed, pulling it out of his hood and glomping it happily.
"That you do! And you do it so well... Kuro-rin shouldn't be so mean! Mokona only helps us and you know so much!"
"Mokona knows more..." It chirped softly inside Fai's glomp in a more serious tone but Fai just stroked its head, playing with its ears as if he hadn't heard.
"Of course! Mokona is so cute and knows so much. Shouldn't pay attention to Kuro-mii."
"Why do you HAVE to call me stupid nicknames?!!" The ninja in question roared, glaring at the two of them. "Can't you just leave my name alone??"
"Mokona is afraid that's impossible Kuro-Kuro!"
"Don't DO that you-you scary... little... thing!"
Fai looked over at Kurogane, shaking his head. "Kuro-rin, you know I can be quite serious! Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" As he was saying this, he grinned at Mokona, murmuring something about not listening to Kuro-tte, and wasn't he just jealous of Fai's happiness anyway? Finally Kurogane looked over at the boy walking beside him.
"Syaoran, you're slightly saner then the rest of them--"
"Oooh, did Mokona just hear Kuro-ou give a compliment?"
"Yes Mokona, you did! Wheet-whoo!"
"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP! Look, it's not POSSIBLE you can be that happy all the time. What do you have to be happy about?!"
"The non-depletion of the ozone layer on this world, no nuclear war, no one has died yet, Kuro-chan is irritated with me..."
And if this keeps up, I'll never have to go home, Syaoran is in love with Sakura and someday she'll remember it, Ashura hasn't appeared yet, Chii once told me she loved me even though she shouldn't be capable of love, we keep meeting so many nice people who've never heard of us, we're all still alive... Funny, there's more happy things I can't say then the ones I can. Fai mused, staring at the cracked and dry desert ground.
"Well..." Syaoran interrupted Fai's track of silent thoughts, looking over at the blonde man. "Fai can be happy if he feels like it. Nothing really -wrong- with him, he's just not outwardly concerned about things."
"That's because all of you are serious and concerned outwardly enough for everyone!"
"Fai..." Sakura tugged on the older man's sleeve shyly, her eyes tired again as the conversation went over her head.
"Carry me?" She asked, knowing a little bit that she was helping the man out of his awkward predicament. Fai smiled and nodded, kneeling down to let the princess clamber onto his back.
"Of course your highness."
Kurogane watched with narrowed eyes. "Don't think I'm gonna ignore you being so weird."
"Fweet fweet fweet fweet fweeeet..." Fai "whistled" innocently and Kurogane clapped his hands over his ears.
"I TOLD you not to say the sound!"
"Aw, but it's fun!"
"Why didn't someone just TEACH you how to whistle?!"
"Are YOU going to, Kuro-fuu? Yay!"
"NO!!"
Sakura looked back at the sighing Syaoran, smiling at him as if they shared a secret. Her hair brushed cutely about her face and the boy ducked his head to avoid his blush being seen. Sakura's smiles... were so little like Fai's. Somehow, there were oceans and oceans between the two, even though they all traveled together, and why should one smile be so different?
Maybe Kurogane had a point after all.
(divider)
A storm was brewing overhead, had been for the past few hours in the rumblings and groanings of the sky over the desert. On this world, rainstorms over the desert were common and often lethal if one couldn't find refuge in the rocks scattered around the face of the desert quickly enough. In addition to the clouds, the wind had picked up as well. It caught with nimble fingers at the travellers' clothes and dragged them backwards in their path, throwing sand into their faces. Sakura early on had been ushered into the hiding fluff of Fai's coat, staying close to him beneath the warming fabric. Syaoran had, after being sternly told to, ducked under Kurogane's coat, using the wind-resistant cloth to shield himself. Mokona frantically searched for a feather, a town or a rock outcropping.
"WELL?" Kurogane hollered over the roar of the wind, clenching his teeth to keep the sand from getting inside his mouth despite his scarf. "HAS THAT THING FOUND ANYTHING YET?"
Fai hesitated, then nodded excitedly. "THERE!" He yelled back, pointing at a dark spot almost 20 meters away. Kurogane squinted at it skeptically.
"You think that'll hold all of us?" He muttered, more to himself then Fai. Syaoran poked his head out of the cape.
"Find something?" He yelled, though it seemed like hardly a whisper to Kurogane through the wind whipping. He nodded, pointing to where Fai had specified. Syaoran nodded, then suddenly threw the cape off from around himself, bolting towards the spot.
"SYAORAN!!" Kurogane hollered - and instantly regretted it, spitting sand disgustedly. Fai started after him, partially tugged along by Sakura, who was panicked for her 'rescuer's' well-being. Kurogane straightened and stalked after the group, cape flaring out dramatically behind him in a wave of black.
(divider)
The cave was three by five inches.
Or at least that's how it seemed to Kurogane.
"Couldn't we have found something a little BIGGER?"
"Do you want to go search then?" Fai inquired calmly, looking over at the cramped ninja. Kurogane growled and flopped back into a crouched position in the corner; his way of conveying that the sandstorm was not preferable to the small cave.
Syaoran was staying close as glue to Sakura, who was still wrapped in Fai's cloak which he had removed for her comfort. While Fai could wear it and she could use it at the same time, he wouldn't 'submit a princess to that indignity'.
Unfortunately, while this thinking working well in theory, it didn't warm the male blonde any.
"Think of yourself once in a while why don't you?" Kurogane demanded abruptly, folding his arms across his chest sulkily and looking over at the quiet Fai.
Fai pointed to his nose innocently, blinking in total surprise.
"Me?"
"Yes, you!"
"Maybe I think of myself all the time. Maybe you just don't see it." Fai replied, smiling enigmatically. Kurogane hadn't brought up the subject of Fai's smiles, or general manner at all for almost two days now, so the blonde was prepared for any probing questions that might be asked.
But the demand that came was not an expected one.
"Go tell Sakura you're going to wear your coat and she can curl up in it then."
"Ehhh? I can't do that, she's a princess Kuro-chan, I can't--"
"And I'm a ninja and I say go."
That was always a perfect ultimatum.
Fai pouted grandly, then smiled again at Kurogane, moving towards the two children. He glanced back at the ninja, smirking faintly as he started to say something but Kurogane cut him off before he could get the words out.
"I don't want to hear it."
"But Kuro-pii is being such a caring friend!" Mokona chirped in Fai's voice, causing both the adults to stare at it oddly as it poked its head out of the hood where it had taken permanent residence.
"Mokona heard the whole thing!"
"You sneaking manjuu bun! Use your own voice and stop messing with people's heads!"
"Mokona was NOT sneaking! Meanie!"
Ahem. On the other side of the cave, about three feet away in actuality, reality continued while Mokona made faces at Kurogane:
"I'm sorry Sakura-hime, but the great demon Kurogane demands that I put on my cloak again, and then you can sleep on the cloth. I deeply regret this intrusion, your highness." Fai swept her a low, dramatic bow - and promptly whacked his head on the low ceiling as he rose again.
Kurogane smirked inwardly. That's what you get for calling me a demon, clown!
"Fai-san! Are you all right?" Sakura asked hurriedly, eyes wide. Fai, being the excellent actor he was, smiled disarmingly, flashing a peace sign as he put his other hand behind his head sheepishly. His joyful mask didn't slip for an instant even as he felt droplets of blood brush his fingers. Pointy ceilings they grew on this world... the "injury" wasn't enough to tell the rest of the group however, so he wasn't about to inform them.
"Of course!" He replied cheerfully, keeping the red-tinted hand inconspicuously from the princess' gaze. She handed over the coat and Fai pulled it on, pulling the hood around his head closely.
"Why is no one looking at Mokona?!" The white animal demanded peevishly and obediently, the entire group turned to stare at him, giving Fai the chance to rid himself of the blood on his hand, hiding it inside the sleeves of his garment.
Mokona had it's face contorted into the "feather face"; eyes wide as saucers.
"Feather!" It yelled, in case they hadn't already figured it out, and then started making that ever-so-familiar 'mekyo' sound.
"Where?" Syaoran demanded and Mokona nodded thoughtfully, closing its enormous eyes.
"Very close..." It hemmed and hawwed, trying to pace the exact location of the feather. Fai inconspicuously reached back to touch his "injury" and, to his relief, realized it had stopped bleeding, and allowed himself relax back against the wall. Good. One less thing to worry about.
"Mokona lost it..." The white creature whimpered, its ears flopping unhappily. Fai smiled at it sympathetically.
"You'll find it again!"
"Not like we haven't had to wander around before." Kurogane mumbled, poking at the wall boredly and blinking as a crack appeared with the force of his poke. The thunder was rolling in full earnest now as Sakura curled up next to Fai. Syaoran was next to her as well, at a modest distance.
"I suppose this means I'm taking first watch?" Kurogane asked dully and Fai nodded, stating, "I'll take second, though not much is likely to attack us here."
There was silence after that, Kurogane sitting silently in the cave mouth while Sakura and Fai slept peacefully, even though Fai's smile seemed to fade while he slept, replaced with a look of sadness. However, it was too dark in the cave to really tell.
And Kurogane knew Fai would deny furiously any hint of sadness in himself. The blonde was a liar, actor, and aspiring psychiatric patient.
Lightning crackled suddenly, distracting Kurogane from his thoughts, and causing Sakura to tackle Syaoran in terror, encompassing the space between them in less then a second, clinging to the now-very-awake boy tightly, shivering.
"I-I..." She started, feeling tears rise in her throat. "I'm sorry! I never liked lightning..." Syaoran, blushing like a maniac, shook his head.
"I-it's all right." He whispered, stroking her hair tentatively. Sakura leaned into his hand as she calmed down, the lightning fading in her mind until she drifted off into sleep. Syaoran sat, smiling in the darkness, quietly stroking his princess' hair while the night crept on.
(divider)
Dreams were a fickle business, and ostensibly differed from person to person.
Chii...
Tomoyo...
Princess Sakura...
That empty chair... the missing person... I love them so much...
Who's in the forest strolllling, the birds and the bees sing Mo-ko-na!
(divider)
"Good morning!" A bright and rosy voice called. To a non-morning person, it would more then likely sound astonishingly like fingernails screeching down a chalkboard, with a few sirens thrown in for good measure, and a bagpipe. Which, coincidentally it did to Kurogane.
"And the storm last night burnt away so now all that's left are blue skies all around, a perfect day to look for Sakura-hime's memories!"
"Fai?"
"Yes Kuro-chan?"
"Shut up."
"But how can you waste the beauti--!" Fai was cut off as Kurogane booted the over-happy blonde and the excitedly-agreeing Mokona outside the cave, then the ninja stalked back inside, burrowing into his black coat to try and sleep again. The blonde moron hadn't woken him up for third watch. He thought they'd decided that each having half the night was too long. Three hour shifts... and Fai hadn't woken him up. If anyone had the right to be exhausted, Fai did!
Oh well. If he didn't want it, Kurogane would take it. Sleeep...
"Hee hee..." Sakura giggled softly. "Fai-san is a morning person, ne Syaoran?"
"It appears so." Syaoran replied, smiling faintly. Kurogane had noticed the boy had been happier a lot lately. Then again, with Sakura practically sitting in his lap, who wouldn't smile? He groaned and rolled over, coming face to face with the unforgiving wall.
Growl.
"Kuro-pii, there's something you should see!" Came a sudden call from outside the cave. Kurogane groaned, standing slowly. And what did the clown want THIS time?
"What is it?" He muttered loudly.
"I'm not sure." Fai gestured off into the desert vaguely. "It's that way. Looks almost like a man, doesn't it?"
"That" was a graceful silhouette, tall and thin on the horizon, it's slow gait moving it closer and closer. Kurogane leaned back, closing his fingers around the grip of a spear, the silver glinting in the sunshine. Spears had been the only weapon they'd been given for this world; primitive and yet to be proven effective.
"You think it's looking for a fight?"
"I don't think so."
The figure, revealing itself to be male as it drew ever closer, started to smile as he advanced. Finally, he called out.
"Travelers! I bid you welcome to the city of Hikatsu." He introduced grandly, sweeping a low bow. His hood slipped off as he did so, revealing a shock of bright green hair and the glistening of a golden earring. "My name's Ferio, and I'll be your guide to the city. Are there others with you?"
"Two others, a boy and a girl." Fai supplied quickly, making up their new identities. "We're searching for their parents you see, this man here is their bodyguard, and I am the one who--"
"--Sings songs and tells tales like a priceless fool. We keep him for entertainment." Kurogane interrupted sulkily. Ferio blinked at the duo and Fai beamed unashamedly.
"It is as Kuro-rin says!"
"And he calls people stupid names."
"Not true! It suits you!"
"WHAT?!!"
(divider)
After explaining everything to the two teens and gathering whatever supplies they had brought, the group moved out, Fai staying close to Ferio and learning more about the city.
"And you exist all the way out in the desert? Isn't that difficult?" Mokona had already informed them privately that some of the world was forest and they could claim to be from that area, explaining their lack of knowledge for the desert area.
"Yeah, but we still pull in our fair share." Ferio replied easily. After gathering them, he'd lost the 'formal streak' he'd started out using. "The only thing we really have trouble with is sand monsters."
"'Sand monsters'?" Kurogane asked incredulously. Ferio nodded.
"They're rather like long, well..." He stopped and drew a slug-shaped figure in the sand. "Only a lot bigger. They come up when it rains, for moisture I guess. That's when they begin ravenging. They wreck water mains, towers, anything containing water in large amounts- and anyone who gets in their way. They have teeth like knives too, since they eat rookos for protein. Rookos are brown, four-footed cats. You have cats in the forest right?"
"Yeah, we have 'em." Kurogane grumbled, remembering the felines from his world. Fai had never seen one, so he just smiled and shrugged.
"Anyway, you can stay at my place more then likely. To get information about the kids' parents, you'll have to check at the palace." Ferio said off-handedly, trying to bring the group back on topic.
"Yes, thank you! We'll try that." Fai said cheerily, then looked back in surprise as something rumbled loudly. Hadn't all the thunder died last night? There wasn't a cloud in the sky!
But evidently the rumble hadn't come from the sky, but from Syaoran, as Sakura stared in shock at her companion.
"Syaoran, are you okay?"
"Um... yes." The boy looked away quickly, blushing. "I'm fine."
"Ya hungry?" Ferio asked, turning around and waiting for the two to catch up. "I've got some food in my pack, ya can have that. It shouldn't be much longer from here anyway."
As Syaoran took some of the odd-shaped food from Ferio's pack, he decided to ask their guide something that had been bothering him.
"How did you know we were out here?"
"Oh, our princess sent me." Ferio replied quickly. "Her name is Fuu. I can guarantee you'll like her. I sure do." He grinned cheekily, playing with his golden earring.
"But don't upset Umi!" He said suddenly, hitting one fist into his open palm with a soft 'pamf' to emphasize his point.
"You see, she's the other princess here. A little... prissy, even though Ascot's quite good at calming her down."
"'Ascot'?" Fai inquired and visions of a) big frilly hats and b) horse races went dancing through Kurogane's head.
"Yeah, her closest friend. And, sort of boyfriend, though neither of them likes to admit it. But offend her and you'll find yourself fighting an extensive duel. It's just the way she is." Ferio finished his explanation and leaned back on his hands, spotting a white sphere which had shivered into being like a mirage, just a few hundred yards away.
"There we are! We keep it hidden so it's harder for the sand monsters to get in. They're surprisingly lucid in a rage..."
"Wow..." Sakura mouthed, the only thing any of them could manage. White crystals of buildings, shimmering in the sun like diamonds. The tallest one must have been over two hundred feet, it's glistening peak reaching into the sky. It struck Fai suddenly that the cities in his homeworld had looked like this, beautiful and frigid and fragile... white as falling snow.
But this city had nothing to do with that. It was merely beautiful.
"You coming clown?" Kurogane called back, looking over his shoulder at the awed blonde. Fai blinked in surprise, confused that the city had really left him dazed for a moment.
"Coming Kuro-wan!" He called, running after the ninja in a swirl of fluffy coat. Kurogane just glared.
" 'Kuro-wan'. There's a new one."
"Oh! Do you like it? I'll call you it always Kuro-wan!"
"NO! Cut it out with the stupid names!"
(divider)
This drabble is to satisfy my own desire for plot and character development in fanfiction. And for my liking of the Kurogane and Fai dynamic (but I don't write yaoi, and so we come to an impasse...)
This fic may not be completed; I feel it's fair to warn you of that (sorry, should have put this at the top I suppose). The writing style is also a bit dated because I wrote it a couple years ago. The fic takes place around ACIDTOKYO in the series, so waaay back there, for both the series and for me. For more recent writing, please check my profile.
Thank you very much for reading by the way! =) I hope you enjoyed it, or it at least entertained you for a little while. Second chapter will be up, um, at some point. After I edit it. ^^