Summary: Sakura wants to go out shopping in a world in which our traveling heroes land.

Warnings: No title (since I suck at it; I do take suggestions though). No spoilers. KuroxFai and SakuraxSyaoran, though both are excessively mild. A personal character, but she only exists so that I can do what I want with the important characters. I also apologize if anything's out of character, or if something's really stupid. This story is a mere whimsy that I enjoyed writing.

Disclaimers: CLAMP is god.

Untitled

The new place Mokona dropped the traveling four was unlike any place they had been previously. The Hanshin Republic came close, but fell short of the obscurity of this place. The streets were wider and in them large mechanical things on anywhere from four to eighteen wheels zipped back and forth in a synchronized pattern. There were bicycles there, much like Hanshin and also 'police officers' going about the streets on horseback.

Their host was an old lady, Mrs. Wood, living on her own. She chortled, almost evilly, when Fai had asked if Yuuko had granted her a wish. Apparently the woman had sold her family's secret recipe for banana bread in order to make her husband 'disappear.' He had gone missing shortly thereafter and when he was finally proclaimed dead after seven years of no one seeing him, Mrs. Wood had come into a fabulous inheritance. She grinned at them all after this story.

"But you have nothing to fear from me, my dears," she said. "I don't make a habit of wishing disappearance on people. My husband was, how should I say it? A difficult man with which to get along. And unfortunately he would not take the hint that I had no interest in dealing with his incivilities any longer. I had to take desperate measures."

Kurogane smirked. He liked this lady. She seemed to at least have a good and rational head on her shoulders. Sakura and Syaoran were doing their best not to stare at her in shock and Fai had just laughed it off. She had sent Syaoran, Fai, and Mokona out to the market for her then, claiming that if an old lady has young men to help her, then they should be the ones to fetch her groceries. Sakura, she had said, could not go out simply because she had to have a word with her. Syaoran was quite hesitant in leaving Sakura alone with no one but a virtual stranger, so Kurogane had volunteered to stay behind to keep an eye on her.

Mrs. Wood sat Sakura down at the small table in what the woman called the 'living room' and fetched tea for them. Kurogane had turned down the offer and chose instead to stand by the front bay of windows, watching the passersby.

"So, Sakura," Mrs. Wood began. "May I call you Sakura?" Sakura nodded. "Excellent," she said. "I don't suppose you know what day it is today."

Sakura shook her head.

Mrs. Wood nodded, smiling craftily. "Then I shall tell you."

-

"Um…Kurogane-san?"

Kurogane glanced away from the window to Sakura, standing timidly to his side. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Uh…would…would you be…willing to take me out shopping?" She asked.

"What the hell for?"

"Well, you see, Mrs. Wood told me that today is a special day here in this country," Sakura explained. "And…I want to get Syaoran-kun a present for it. He's doing so much for me, and I…I want to do this."

Kurogane rolled his eyes and sighed. He was not sure what exactly this 'shopping' entailed, but he was more than positive that it would involve mingling with the inhabitants of this country. And that made him quite wary. He looked back at the princess, standing so uncertainly beside him, looking as if everything rested upon his answer. And he could not let her down. "All right, princess."

Her eyes lit up hugely. "Really, Kurogane-san?" He nodded grudgingly. "Yay! Thank you!" She leaped forward and took hold of his arm, clinging happily as she thanked him some more.

The ninja looked down at her, almost embarrassed. This was definitely something new for him. Only Fai had ever clung to him like this before. And that had pissed him off. But the princess, he supposed, he could let pass. Then there was a sudden flash of light and Kurogane turned his body, instinctively bringing Sakura behind him and his free hand going to the sword at his hip. He looked from where it had come and saw their hostess, chuckling.

"What the hell was that?" Kurogane demanded, allowing Sakura to peek out from behind him.

Mrs. Wood clucked her tongue at him. "Shame, shame. Such language in front of ladies."

Kurogane glared at her skeptically. "Whatever. What was that?"

Sakura released Kurogane's arm and went over to peer at the small gray box the woman held in her hands. Upon seeing one side of it she smiled delightfully. "Oh, Kurogane-san! It's us!"

"Us? What the hell does that mean?" Kurogane asked.

Sakura took the box from Mrs. Wood and brought it over to him, showing him the side at which she had looked. On it was a small picture of Sakura, grinning and clinging to Kurogane's arm, and Kurogane smiling reluctantly down at her. Kurogane raised an eyebrow. How embarrassing. He did not believe he looked that sappy.

"I'm going to print this out and frame it," Mrs. Wood said gleefully, taking the box back from Sakura.

Kurogane growled at her. "I don't know what that is, but you'd better not."

"Oh yes, this is getting saved for posterity," she continued. "Maybe Yuuko might want a copy."

"No!" Kurogane all but roared. "I don't want that bitch to have anything that's of me!"

Mrs. Wood grinned at him over her shoulder. "Why don't you two run along now? I gave Sakura money, so you can do whatever you like with it." She waved, disappearing into the kitchen. "Change into some normal clothes before you go. They're in your rooms. And leave that sword here otherwise you'll be arrested."

There was that word 'arrested' again, Kurogane thought. He still did not understand that concept, but it sounded like he would be in trouble. And if he had to help the princess shop, then he did not want trouble. He sighed bitterly and followed Sakura to the bedrooms. Once changed into what Mrs. Wood had called 'street clothes,' they left.

Down the block, Sakura decided that they should go to a store called Hallmark. Apparently it had many gifts for today's occasion and she would be able to find a gift for Syaoran there. Kurogane did not like the look of the place. It seemed much too frilly for him to be there. It was where Sakura wanted to go, however, so he dutifully followed her inside. Rows of cards expanded in front of them. Plush animals and knick-knacks lined the walls. And pink was everywhere.

Kurogane bit back his distaste of the place when he saw how delighted the princess was. She left him standing by the entrance to delve into the larger section of glass ornaments and crystal figures. He thought about going after her, but he felt rather out of place and noticed that since there was only one door and the store was on the small side, he would not have to worry about her wandering off in a daze so long as he stayed by the entrance. A shelf to his left caught his eye and he turned to it. Among the other plush animals there, a small kitten stood out.

Its coat was cream colored and its eyes were a deep brown. Kurogane picked it up gently, turning it over in his hands. There was a dark blue ribbon around its neck that held a tag with writing on it. He squinted at it in hopes that it might help him understand what it said. 'Chii' was scripted on it, but he had no idea how to read it or what it meant.

"Oh, that's so cute, Kurogane-san." The man looked over to Sakura who had appeared at his side holding a brown plush dog with a green ribbon and a card with flowing lettering on it. "You should get it."

"Why the hell would I get this thing?" Kurogane made to put it back on the shelf, but Sakura pulled it from his hand.

"Because I think Fai-san would like it," she said, adding it to her collection.

Kurogane hid his exasperation, but snorted. "And I care about what he'd like?"

Sakura beamed at him. "Yes!"

"Whatever," Kurogane muttered. "Can we go?"

"I just have to pay for these and we can leave," she said. She skipped to the desk and handed the things to the young woman behind it. Kurogane did not like the shy look the woman had as she glanced back and forth between himself and Sakura, but gritted his teeth and never uttered a word. Sakura collected the bag that contained their things and turned to him. "We can go now…Kurogane-sa…an…" She wobbled uncertainly on her feet.

"Princess," Kurogane moved forward immediately, catching her just before she fell asleep. He sighed heavily and scooped her sleeping form into his arms, ignoring the wistful sighs and whispers from the people around them. Had his arms not been full of princess he would have had a word with them about at whom they were cooing. But he shouldered past them all and made his way back onto the street.

The store had not been far from where they were staying and Kurogane made it back in short time. Mrs. Wood clucked her tongue at him some more for keeping Sakura out so long. She took Sakura's bundle and instructed Kurogane to take her immediately to bed. Kurogane rolled his eyes; he did not need to be told that, as it was his intention all along. He heard Syaoran and Fai come in as he came back from the rooms.

"Is Sakura-hime all right?" Syaoran asked him.

"She's in her room, kid," Kurogane grunted as he entered the kitchen. "She fell asleep."

Syaoran had the plush dog and card that Sakura had bought in his arms and nodded at Kurogane as he rushed to the rooms. Kurogane noticed that Mrs. Wood and Mokona were conspicuously missing. Fai was holding the plush kitten in his hands, fingering the nametag. He looked up at Kurogane, his eyes clouded with emotion.

"Kuro-tan," he started. "I don't know what to say."

Kurogane eyed him cautiously. "Say about what?"

Fai held up the plush kitten. "This."

Kurogane scoffed. "I don't care what you say."

And then, for the second time that day, Kurogane found himself with an attachment. Fai had thrown his arms around his shoulders and was hugging him with all the strength in him.

"What the hell is this?" Kurogane growled.

"Thank you, Kuro-min!" Fai said, grinning widely, still hanging onto him. "I never knew you cared."

"Cared?" Kurogane asked incredulously.

"Mrs. Wood didn't tell you about Valentine's Day?" Fai asked.

"No…" Kurogane said hesitantly.

"It's a day when people get presents for those they care about," Fai said. "And she said that you bought this for me."

Kurogane twitched slightly as he heard the old woman chuckling softly from the adjoining room. But it was wrong to threaten elders. So he found himself standing there as Fai grinned again and squeezed his shoulders harder. He sighed. Well, it was too late to convince Fai that he really had no intentions of getting him that stuffed cat. But it got the wizard to really smile, so he supposed it was a fair trade. If that was the outcome, maybe this Valentine's Day thing was not such a bad occasion.

And then there was that flash of light again. Mrs. Wood stood before them with that damned gray box, Mokona sitting happily on her shoulder, grinning. "This one will definitely be going to Yuuko."

Valentine's Day might not be so bad, but that little gray box had to go.

-

A/N: So this was a little break from Legend that I took when L-chan and I were talking about Valentine's Day cards. I had complained that since I wasn't artistic I had nothing to offer but fanfic. But she said that it was okay to write fanfic as presents. So I did. And here it is. I didn't have it beta-ed and spent a whole hour on it, so I apologize for any bad story/character stuff. The ending Fai glomps Kuro part goes along swimmingly with L-chan's picture of a similar scene (the clothes would be different and that's about it). And I still can't get links to work here, so if you'd like to see the picture, visit my LJ (homepage) and find the entry about the V-day fic posted on the 11th. I'd provide a link, but again...can't get links to work. Either way, hope everyone enjoyed my interlude. I'm still working on Legend ch. 5, so hopefully that'll be up within the next couple weeks. Thanks for reading!