Alright! This one I started writing WAY back in February during a really bad snowstorm. I really wanted to finish writng this before it got too warm outside for me to be inspired. Fortunately (in this case) I have the pleasure of living in Wisconsin and therefore...we have not broken 50 degrees yet. So here it is! The last winter fic of the season!
This does cross over with Kobato but you don't have to know ANYTHING about Kobato in order to understand this and also there are no spoilers for Kobato in here either.
My first K+ fic hmmm...let's see how this goes ^^
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but the Plot ^^ All characters belong to CLAMP
Yomogi Nursery was a small pre-school owned by a woman who was friends with his mother. It was his first day here in this new school…new house, new city.
Kurogane had not been adapting well to moving away. His father's work had called for their entire family to move from Japan's countryside, to the city. He didn't like the place. He didn't like the smell of the air, he didn't like the look of the people, and he didn't like the coldness of the weather. They moved to a city farther north where the temperature was tens of degrees colder, and in the middle of winter too…cold was not something that Kurogane looked forward to.
His mother was excited for the move; for it meant that she could visit her friend Sayaka-san much more often. Sayaka-san was the woman that ran the pre-school that Kurogane was currently being taken to.
He didn't want to go.
He kicked and fussed his way out the door but once his mother had a hold of his hand, he stuck remarkably close if, for any reason, to help block the harsh wind and icy snow.
"Kurogane." his mother said. The small 5 year-old lifted his head from the confines of his scarf to look up to her. She smiled softly. "You'll make lots of new friends at this school…I know It." she said. Kurogane grumbled something incoherent. His mother's gut instincts and predictions were almost never wrong. It was like she could see the future.
Kurogane held onto his mother's hand tighter as they approached the door of Yomogi Nursery. Being as young as he was, he never had a chance to make real friends back in the countryside, so it was only natural that he was nervous at meeting other kids his age he may very well know for years to come. He held on tighter. His mother chuckled.
"There's no reason to be afraid Kurogane." she comforted as she led them both through the glass doors. She knelt down to unbutton his coat and remove his scarf.
"I don't know anyone here though." he complained. "Mother, can't I just come to work with you?" he begged. His mother held onto his hands softly.
"I'm afraid not. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun here. You'll just have to come out of your shell a little more." she said. Kurogane frowned.
"I was fine when we were home." he sulked. She looked at her son, smiling sadly. He never was like that back home. He was always loud, cheerful; energetic…he'd receded into himself once they'd moved. Though it still hurt to se her son like this she couldn't say she was surprised.
"I know. I'm sorry we had to move so suddenly. It's going to be a little tricky, but we can get through it okay?" she assured, hugging her son. Kurogane returned the hug, not wanting to be left alone by her.
"Ah! Is this Kurogane-kun?" a voice called. Kurogane turned towards the voice to see a girl several years older than him in an orange dress with long auburn colored hair. She smiled at them both.
"You must be his mother too right?" she asked, addressing the woman in question. She stood up, smiling softly.
"Why yes. And you are?" she asked. The girl blushed and bowed her head suddenly.
"S-Sorry! I should have introduced myself first! My name is Hanato Kobato! I-I'm working here with Sayaka-san and Fujimoto-san." she exclaimed. Kurogane raised his eyebrow. What a weird girl.
"Hey, hey. Stop being so apologetic, she just asked your name." a male voice said. A man that seemed to be around the same age as the girl appeared. He wore a white apron and glasses with long brownish hair he kept tied back. He held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Fujimoto." he introduced. Kurogane's mother shook his hand.
"It's nice to meet you too." she replied. He nodded.
"Sayaka-san mentioned you'd be coming. I can take you to her for a minute if you'd like." he said. She thought about it.
"Well maybe for just a minute." she said. Kobato walked up and held her hand to Kurogane.
"Here, I can take you to meet everyone while your Mom talks to Sayaka-sensei." she offered. With some difficulty, Kurogane let go of his mother's hand to follow Kobato to where the other children were. He took his hand away from hers and huffed.
"I can follow on my own." he said. Kobato, taken aback by his attitude, forced a smile.
"O-okay then. Follow me. I'm sure you'll come to enjoy Yomogi Nursery. I've only been here several months but everyone's been so nice to me! You'll enjoy yourself! Definitely!" she exclaimed as she led him through the hallway. Kurogane raised his eyebrow again.
"Attention Everyone! We have a new friend here!" Kobato shouted to the room of kids. Kurogane flushed. Could she have been more obvious? All the other kids stopped what they were doing out of curiosity for the newcomer. Kurogane hid himself behind Kobato a bit.
Not noticing the boy's shyness, she excitedly took his hand and led him to the front of the room to introduce himself. She smiled obliviously at him as he glared.
"M-My name is K-Kurogane…Nice to meet you." he said, bowing to the other students. Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Ne, ne Kurogane-kun? Where do you live?"
"What's your favorite color?
"Do you want to play a game?" all the children began to ask. Kurogane backed up against the wall in surprise. Kobato merely smiled that all the kids were excited to meet him. Kurogane on the other hand…was literally cornered by all the students and their silly questions.
"K-KNOCK IT OFF!" he shouted "G-GET AWAY FROM ME!"
All the students stopped and were quiet again. Some of them were afraid and some were offended. Several backed away from him while others just left entirely.
"B-but…we just want to know you Kurogane-kun." a small girl with sandy colored hair protested. She clung to her white rabbit looking stuffed doll as she tried to approach him again. The result was an intense glare from Kurogane that cause the girl to shriek out of fright.
"S-Sakura-chan?" Kobato said worriedly, running to hug the little girl who began crying out of fear. Kurogane clenched his teeth.
He hadn't meant to do that. He didn't want to yell at everyone, but they were surrounding him! He felt like a caged animal. He was scared…so he lashed out at them. He hadn't meant to frighten them, or offend them or make them cry. He…didn't.
"I…didn't mean it." he mumbled. Sakura looked up at him, sniffling. Before she could say anything the boy strode past her to find a place where he could sit in solitude. It was certain. He wouldn't make any friends in this city. He had made sure of that.
"Hey." someone said. Not thinking they were referring to him, Kurogane kept walking, aiming for the window at the back of the room where there was a cushioned ledge to sit on.
"Hey!" they called again. Kurogane ignored them as he sat down, leaning his forehead on the glass.
"Hey!" they said again. It was more of a whine now, an annoying sound in Kurogane's opinion. He looked at the window and could see the reflection of someone standing right behind him wearing a light blue turtleneck, though the glare on the glass blocked out the person's face.
He turned around to see a boy about his age but a little shorter, with thick wispy blonde hair and blue eyes. He was pouting at Kurogane as if he took something and wanted it back.
"You're sitting in my seat." he said. Kurogane turned his eyes to the floor embarrassedly.
"S-sorry." he apologized. He was about to get out of the windowsill when the boy next to him suddenly smiled.
"Apology accepted. Now we can share the seat Kuro-tan." he said, hopping onto the other side and bending his legs comfortably. Kurogane's jaw dropped and his brows furrowed.
"Kuro-tan!" he exclaimed. The boy nodded. Kurogane's outburst drew attention from several other students who began weeping out of fear again. Kurogane tried not to notice.
"You're name is Kurogena…Kuroganna…Kurogeanne…"
"Kurogane." the tan boy corrected. The blonde in front of him smiled.
"I can't say that." he replied simply. Kurogane bristled.
"Then why talk to me!" he complained. 'No! That's not what he meant to say!'
"Why not?" the blonde countered. Kurogane paused. He could think of several reasons, but just like any other person, he didn't want to say them out loud.
"What's your name?" he asked instead. The boy brightened.
"Fai Flourite. Nice to meet you!" he said happily. Kurogane nodded.
"N-Nice to meet you." he said quietly. Fai chuckled.
"You're so cute Kuro-kun! Like a puppy! Maybe I should call you Kuro-wan." Fai said. The taller boy turned to him sharply, suddenly glaring.
"I'm NOT a dog!" he nearly shouted. Fai laughed.
"Wah! What a scary look!" he teased. Kurogane gritted his teeth. This idiot was annoying. "Well what about Kuro-run then?" Fai asked.
"NO! My name is Kurogane! If you can't say it then don't bother!" the boy admonished. Fai frowned.
"But 'Kurogane' is sooo boring!" he whined. Kurogane's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"So you CAN say my name!" he seethed. Fai grinned.
"Oops, I've been found out." he laughed. "Kuro-rin's so smart!"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Kurogane shouted the last of his nerves breaking lose.
"Make me." Fai mocked, sticking his tongue out at the other boy. The result was a very amusing game of tag between the two. Kobato watched frantically as Kurogane chased Fai around the room, the latter seemingly to be enjoying himself.
"I've never seen Fai-kun so…happy." a little girl with long black hair said. Sakura nodded.
"He does Tomoyo-chan. He…looks like he's having fun." she said. A boy with dark brown hair sat next to the two girls.
"Ever since he moved from America, he doesn't really play a lot. He just sits by the window all day." he remarked. Tomoyo nodded.
"Well…at least he's made friends with Kurogane-kun. Right Syaoran-kun?" she asked. Syaoran smiled as well and nodded.
Kurogane was so fixated on banging Fai's head against the ground, that he hadn't noticed his mother walk out of the front gates of Yomogi Nursery, nor the fact that she had watched as he conversed with Fai at the window.
Most of all however…no one noticed the calm winter weather, begin to escalate in wind power and snowfall.
"What do you have for lunch Kuro-run?" Fai asked, leaning over the other boy's lunch even though they sat right next to each other.
"It's Kurogane." he said monotonously, pushing aside the boy's face so he could eat. Despite his efforts, he found the blonde idiot to be paying no heed to his threats and outbursts. He'd practically given up, but it's not like he'd accept the names so easily. He munched on his rice while Fai leaned over his bento once again to look what was inside of it. Kurogane scoffed.
"What?" he demanded. Fai looked up at him and smiled.
"Your lunch looks yummy Kuro-rin. Did you make it?" he asked. Kurogane shook his head.
"No, my mom did." he said. He looked over to the brown paper bag that Fai had his lunch in. "Did you make yours?" he asked. Fai nodded.
"Yep!" he replied. He turned the bag upside down to empty it of its contents. Various packaged cookies and snacks fell out from it.
"You idiot! You didn't make any of that!" Kurogane chided. Fai shrugged.
"I put it in the bag though." he said. Kurogane sighed harshly.
"That's not the same as making it stupid." he said. He eyed the contents of Fai's lunch and made a face.
"Are you really gonna eat all that? It's all sugary." he remarked, teeth aching just from looking at the stuff. Fai looked at him oddly.
"Of course. It's delicious! Unless…" Fai gasped "Do you not like sweets Kuro-nyan?" he asked, shocked.
'What I'm a cat now?' Kurogane thought in response to the new nickname.
"Not really." he replied. Fai gasped even more.
"How can you not like sweets Kuro-tan!" he exclaimed melodramatically. Kurogane sighed.
"They're sugary and they hurt my teeth." he replied. Fai shook his head.
"Not if you brush your teeth like you're supposed to." he protested. Fai poked the side of the tan boy's cheek. "Do you not do that Kuro-chan?"
"Of course I do! I just don't like sweets. Is that bad?" Kurogane replied defensively. Fai pouted and sighed.
"No it's not bad. But it's sad." he said. Kurogane quirked his eyebrow at him oddly.
"Why?"
Fai looked at him, lips pursed with disappointment. "I was going to share my cookies with you. It's more fun when you share a good thing with people." he said. Kurogane shrugged, about to continue eating his rice and octopus hot dogs. The look on Fai's face however clued him in that the blonde wanted something. He grumbled and held out his hand.
"I'll eat one, but don't expect me to like It." he said, blushing slightly. Fai's eyes widened, not expecting the boy to actually accept his offer. He was happy though and handed him one of his biggest cookies.
Kurogane eyed the thing with suspicion. Fai expected to watch him eat it and gauge his reaction. Embarrassed at being supervised while eating, he took off a mouthful and set the rest on the table. Fai waited patiently for him to stop chewing. Kurogane refused to make eye contact.
"It's not totally disgusting." he finally said. Fai grinned, satisfied.
After lunch, Kobato and Fujimoto began to pull out mats for the kids to sleep on for naptime. Fai and Fujimoto were able to help Kurogane get his mattress and blanket set up. As much as Kurogane protested against it, Fai insisted that he sleep next to him.
While the two college age teens were preparing the blankets, Sayaka was busy pulling closed the drapes for the windows. She paused at the last window and gazed outside for a minute. The snow was really beginning to pile up fast. The wind was throwing about the tree branches violently and the sky began to darken the thicker the clouds were.
"Sayaka-sensei?" Tomoyo called, tugging on her apron. "Is there something wrong?" she asked. She hugged her Keroberos* stuffed doll close as she yawned. Sayaka smiled and picked her up.
"Don't worry little one. I was just thinking about the snow." she said, pulling the curtain closed before the girl could see outside. She yawned again.
"Snow's pretty right?" she asked. Sayaka smiled.
"Yes, it is." she said as she lay Tomoyo on her mattress and pulled the blanket over her. "Although, I hope that it stops before everyone has to go home." she said to herself.
Kobato followed Fujimoto and Sayaka out the door and closed it silently so as not to disturb the sleeping children. Kurogane yawned as he began to fall asleep. He remembered facing Fai, who had his face covered by his blanket and a blue sweater clad pale arm reaching out to hold Kurogane's hand. He didn't notice that he'd returned the pressure Fai exerted on his hand to link them together.
And end chapter 1!
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