So, this is my first KuroFai story and to be perfectly honest I actually hate it xD It's pretty much all over the place and most of the things in it don't make sense, but I'd rather have people read it and maybe get some tips on how to write them better (pretty please? XD) than have it rot in a random corner in my computer.

I'm really sorry for any typos, grammatical errors, or sentences that don't make sense since I finished this at around 12 AM and I didn't feel like re-reading it again and again so I just left it at that xD

Oh and it might be slight OOC, so again, sorry!

Thanks for actually bothering to click on the story link! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp does. I wish I did though

'Whether you like it or not, we're stuck together' (Episode 16, Japanese dub)

I always knew that stupid mage was out to get me. Ever since we'd set eyes on each other at that evil witch's shop, that bastard has done nothing but aggravate me with his stupid antics and nicknames.

I hated having to travel with that little group. I was a trained ninja, deadly and independent. I was the most feared man in Japan for God's sake! And now, I'm stuck traveling with a bunch of misfits. The princess was far too delicate to be left alone for a few minutes and the kid had this creepy paranoid obsession over her, but he was honest and determined, which are qualities that I admire. The idiotic mage, however, was the plain exhibit of everything I despised.

He was a coward, a liar, and he chose to run away rather than fight for himself. I hated him with every fiber of my being, but for some messed up reason, I paid more attention to him than I'd care to admit. His reason behind his wish was unclear, and even though he tried to hide himself from the group, I was (unconsciously) determined to figure him out.

Traveling dimensions to look for feathers turned out to take much longer than I wanted, and during that course of time I'd gotten used to their company, even the stupid mage and the annoying white manju bun, however, I couldn't help noticing that the wizard and I were somehow always "paired" together, I guess you can say. I never gave it much thought, as it presented me opportunities to study the insufferable man and, I would stab myself first before I say this out loud, he was a good fighter and quite helpful in the battlefield.

That certain occurrence did get more prominent throughout our journey though. I mean, what were the chances of the two of us getting separated from the kids at the country of Shura? Six months of waiting with an illiterate mage who used his dopey smile as his way of communicating with me was not my idea of a vacation. It was like being transported to hell. Although, I am painfully admitting that it did lead me to become closer "allies" with him which somehow strengthened our bizarre relationship.

I didn't know how long our journey was, but we were all changed throughout its course. The mage was changed both physically and mentally. His eye gouged out, and his life barely hanging on a thread, there was only one way to save him. Vampire blood now ran through his veins because of my wish. I wanted him to live, but he himself had wanted to die. I know that he detests me for it, but I don't regret it and I won't ever feel sorry for it.

And it certainly won't stop me from yelling at his idiocy.

We were camping outside of town in a country called Chugoku, trying to track down the 'other' Syaoran. The princess had decided that we continue looking for him, even if it meant doing exactly what that Fei Wong bastard wanted us to do.

The boy (who is actually the real Syaoran) was keeping watch in front of the tent while the princess slept.

The mage and I set off to look for food. Normally he would have used this opportunity to tease me and provoke me to lose my temper, but he's changed now. He didn't even bother to put up a show like he used to, except to the princess to stop her from worrying.

The tension was so thick it was like walking through a wall of jello. No doubt the pork bun would enjoy that, but it stayed with Syaoran to keep him company.

I glanced sideways to keep an eye on the mage, not that I'm worried about him, but I didn't waste a damn wish on some guy who'd be dead a couple of weeks later. The people of the country that we landed on weren't very accepting of magic and if they catch us, we'd probably be sent to be burned alive. It's the wizard who was in real trouble since, besides Mokona, he was the only one who can perform strong magic. Again, I didn't practically beg the witch to save his life so that he can be killed in a hot second.

"Keep watch. We could be being followed right now." I warned.

He gave me a cold look, probably just to spite me, and replied, "Of course, Kurogane."

I returned his stare, hoping to seem unnerved by his reply and ignored the sudden pain I felt in my chest. The air must be freakishly dirty in this country and it's giving me heart burn. Oh and, damn that idiot.

We set off once more. I was getting annoyed at the eerie silence and had half a mind to start yelling at the mage when I heard a rustle from a thicket of bushes a couple of feet away from where we were standing.

I stopped instinctively and listened. The mage, however, kept walking along seemingly unaware of his surroundings. I frowned at how out of character that was. I couldn't yell at him to stop or whoever was hiding would be alerted, and since the idiotic mage won't even look at me there was no way I could warn him. I did the only thing I could think of. I slit a wound on my wrist and let the blood flow down to the ground. As the first drop touched the earth, the mage stopped and turned to look at me, his eye turning yellow and staring hungrily at me.

I glared at him and turned my gaze at the bushes. He turned to look and understood. Just as we were about to turn back to our campsite, an arrow whizzed dangerously past near the mage's head. No sooner than that, we were surrounded by soldiers suited in armor, with swords and bows and arrows aimed to pierce our chests. I backed up right into the wizard and surveyed our situation. We could probably fight our way through, but none of us would be able to warn the kid and princess in time.

"Go." the mage ordered. He was staring at the warriors with hard, determined eyes. "Get Sakura-hime and Syaoran-kun out of here."

I growled at him and unsheathed my sword, "In your dreams."

He made an annoyed sound and said, "I can fight them off. I'm not helpless you know."

"No," I agreed mockingly. "You're just hopelessly stupid with an idiotic death wish. Now, shut up and concentrate."

I never, in my wildest dreams, would have expected the stupid motherfucker to do what he did next. He attacked me. Out of anger I'm assuming, but the soldiers had thought that he was going attack them instead and had shot their arrows at the exact place we were just standing.

"Are you insane?" I heard myself bellow, but the soldiers have attacked and we couldn't carry a conversation any longer. I got up fast and blocked the first attack and then another. I slammed the flat of my blade on the bastards' heads to knock them out. I wasn't taking any chances. Who knows how much strength I would lose if I killed someone? The wizard dodged every single blow aimed at him and used his vampire claws to attack.

The soldiers seemed to find the mage more alarming with his… different fighting methods, so they proceeded to overwhelm him with attacks. He skillfully dodged all of them and I decided that he'll be fine and concentrated on my own problems.

I couldn't help but feel a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, as if something bad was going to happen, and as I looked around, I noticed one of the soldiers sneaking behind the mage with his sword raised, preparing to strike. I was too far to kill the bastard myself and the mage was preoccupied by two persistent idiots to notice the dirty trick.

"FAI! Look out behind you!" I cried out in a rather desperate tone. I winced. What was happening to me? Since when have I ever sounded desperate? I shook the thoughts out of my head and ran forward to try and intercept the attack.

The wizard turned around in shock and managed to move, but he was still slashed by the sword, leaving a deep gash by his ribs.

The stupid soldier was too busy being proud of himself to notice my sword smashing into his skull. I aimed a swift kick at his stomach for good measure, and decided to end the fight.

"HAMA RYÛ-Ô JIN!"

The force of my attack was enough to knock most of the soldiers unconscious and the bastards who were lucky enough to avoid it ran away in fright.

I scrutinized the area, just in case, but found no pursuers. I crouched down by the wizard's side and studied his wound. Despite having vampire blood, the wound was too deep to heal quickly and he was losing blood fast. I remembered the cut on my wrist and placed it near the magician's mouth.

"Drink." I ordered. His eyes were closed and he was gasping in pain, but despite that, he shook his head stubbornly.

"Look you idiot, if you don't drink then-" I began angrily.

"You said my name." He interrupted.

I stared at him. What the hell did that have to do with anything?

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" I demanded. "Damn it, will you just drink?"

He ignored me yet again (If he wasn't injured, I would have threatened to maim him with my sword) and said, "You've never called me by my name before."

I considered what he was talking about.

"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" I challenged him. He opened his eye and stared up at me. I held his gaze.

"Why?"

I could feel my temper rising at his stupid questions. Is he really expecting me to just watch him lying there bleeding?

"What the hell are you on about? Stop being so damn vague! Get to the fucking point already before you bleed to death, you idiot!"

He winced at the tone of my voice, but replied, "Why do you keep risking your life…for me?"

I looked at him and replied, "Because I want to."

He managed a weak laugh and said, "And you're calling me vague?"

"You never told me to explain it," I growled.

The mage was turning paler the longer our conversation was getting and he obviously wanted an answer to his stupid question, so I gritted my teeth and decided to tell him the truth.

"'Whether you like it or not, we're stuck together'," I said, repeating the same words the mage had uttered to me a long time ago. I was furious when he told me that, but deep down (way deep) I secretly agreed to it.

The mage fell silent, suddenly remembering that conversation.

"You may think that you're not worthy enough to live because of something that involves your past, but as I said before, I don't care what happened to you." I continued. He looked away and I knew at once that he didn't believe me.

"I honestly don't give a fuck. What matters is what you're doing now. Forget the damn past, and live damn it! Stop thinking about yourself for once and think about those around you! Do you honestly think the princess could take it if she found out that you died because of what that kid did? Did you not see the manju pork bun in hysterics when it saw you laying there barely alive?" I nearly yelled. "What about this Syaoran? We might not have known him for a long time, but he still cares about what happens to you! They want you to stay alive because they care. And you act like none of that matters and you wallow in your damn self-pity because you can't move on from past! You're just willing to leave those who care about you without a second thought! Don't you care about them?"

I hadn't realized how mad I was. Everything that happened in that country was coming back to me. How I'd seen the kid swallow the mage's eye, how he begged for death…

"And what about me, Fai?" I growled at him. His gaze snapped back towards me and his eye widened in confusion.

"What…?" He whispered.

I glared at him and nearly shoved my wrist on his face.

"Drink." I ordered again. He finally obeyed and I helped him sit up to be able to drink the blood flowing from my wrist properly. Once he had enough, he pushed my arm away and looked up at me expectantly.

"Let's get back to the kids." I said firmly. He stood up shakily and began to walk back to our campsite. I fell in step beside him, ready to catch him if he fell.

"You didn't answer my question." He said, breaking the silence.

"Eh?"

"Why did you save me…Kurogane? I asked for your reason, not theirs." He repeated.

I raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of what to say. I knew what the answer was, but now was not the time to say it. Not after everything that just happened.

A void has been created between us, and I wasn't willing to bet anything else on that already fragile bridge. I won't let it break. Not when there's still a chance to fix it.

I stalked on ahead and said, "Maybe if you live long enough, I'll tell you. Now, shut the fuck up before we get ambushed again."

He gave a small chuckle and followed.

I won't let him break. Not when there's still a chance to fix him.

Thanks for reading it! Comments/Reviews are appreciated! :]