Author Notes:

Kurogane get's a little experimental in this chapter *Evil smile*. I hope it's not too short...I really want to keep the amazing readers I have and my reveiwers. Remember, comment on what I mentioned in the intro of the first chapter!

P.S - OMFG I didn't babble! Round of applause please!

*___________________________________________________________*

Chapter Two: New Tactics

Fai yawned, looking around the room with bleary vision, searching for the face he knew so well. It was around seven o'clock and he'd only gotten two hour's sleep, but he wanted some time with that big brute. "Kuro?" he called in a voice only a bit louder than a murmur. The room would have been bright had the blinds been shading out the light, like sunglasses.

"What, idiot?" came a small grunt far away. Only Kurogane would hear someone speaking from the bathroom when the voice had been so low. Then again, it was very quiet out.

"Oh, good morning," Fai said, having moved to the doorway. He streatched energectically.

"Why do you get up so early?" Kurogane said, side tracked as he poured a couple asprin into his hand and put them in his pocket for later, just in case, because if Taco Bell didn't give him a headache usually the yelling at the garage did.

"Because living with someone feels weird if we only see each other when we're sleeping," Fai said. "And because we ran out of alcahol."

Kurogane, toothbrush now in hand, said, "You know I'm always up for liquor, but this month we're cutting it tight." Truth was, he'd put away a bit more this month for the iPod since he was going to get promoted at the auto shop. Now he regretted doing it before he actually got payed for the promotion. "Probably because you bought that stand."

"Hey, we're not dying on the streets," Fai pointed out. "If we have a house, I want to use it. And that was a good deal, too! Anyway, once I get to be a cook and you get to be a mechanic, we can pay for more things. The boss said I have a lot of promise and I might become a manager."

Glad you're doing so well, thought Kurogane, scrubbing his teeth harshly. "Bottom line, you can go a week without alcahol if you want to go to that damned Lala."

It was the truth. Fai wanted to go to the carneval they were going to have at a Portuguese bar down the street, in the huge lot surrounding it. The white-washed, old, multi-story building was behind a gas station and a liquor store with a big sign holding light bulbs pointing toward the shop, an outdated cousin of neon. Fai amused himself with the fact that only a few houses away from the alcahol store in the direction of Phenix Square, across the opening to Wakefield Street, was a tiny little one-truck one-ambulance fire station, painted white just like the bar. Actually, if you were traveling toward Phenix on Main Street, the line-up was the gas station, the brick liquor store, the opening to the lot of the club, a couple houses, the shop Kurogane trained/worked at, the opening to Wakefield Street, and then the firestation. All the buildings were old, like most of the area. Actually, the surroundings didn't get nice until you go onto Wakefield, with it's golf courses and big houses. It was a whole different world.

Anyway, the Portuguese Feast, also known as the Portuguese Lala or just the Lala, was a carneval put on by the club. They had, mabe, ten rides all together, a bunch of games, food, singers, and raffles for members of the bar. Many people in Pheonix and Artic (another "villiage" that was bit nicer) were Portuguese, since West Warwick had cut off from Warwick because of the fact that the western part was mostly mills settled on the river. With the mills came jobs, and it just so happened that many Portuguese people settled there, enough to create a Portuguese church and at least three Portuguese bars and clubs. Kelsy said that in early September they hung Portuguese and American flags from the electric poles. Fai really wanted to try out the rides, even though Kelsy said that it was a rip-off compared to the carneval at "Oakland Beach".

Fai had to give up. He had always loved liquor more than food, because when he was full he always thought back to the days where he had almost starved and froze in the snow, the only thing keeping him alive being a spell on him making it so. On the other hand, alcahol put him in a place where he didn't feel excess pain or suffering and couldn't think of the past, though over time he had noticed the fact that on every occasion he drank, the better he kept it down, to his dismay. He wanted to get as drunk has he had as a young teenager, giggly and unable to think clearly. Yeah, I'm an alcaholic, he thought. But so what? I have my reasons.

"Whatever. But promise me you'll take me to Six Flags someday. Kelsy says that it's a big theme park with huge roller coasters. There's also Lake Compounce Conobie Lake Park. She said that a long time ago there was Rocky Point, but they closed down after over a hundred years of business."

"You think about the past too much," the ninja answered, his voice muffled by the action of brushing his teeth.

Fai chuckled. "Well I guess I do," he answered, giving a quick, sharp look down at his tatoo, the one Kurogane had been adverting his eyes too, since it made it even harder to ignore the lithe man. Even though Fai had a fairly delecate figure he was still all man, and Kuro knew this better than anyone having shared a house with him alone. Of course somewhere along the lines he'd glimpsed Fai naked, not that it had been some sort of great show...much. Now he looked down at the black marks curling around his ribs, his eyes slipping up to Fai's face, which was questioning him.

Kurogane cursed himself inside, though he remained stoic. Why was he feeling attracted to this man? Why? His whole self was supposed to be devoted to Tomoyo, and it was his responisbility to make sure this didn't happen....Yet he might not ever see Tomoyo again, with the way things were going. And then, suddenly, his mindset went into the "Fuck it" mode, where he did not give a damn anymore.

Replacing his toothbrush into the cabinate after rinsing it, he said, "You listened in on my vows in Nihon."

Fai tensed, expecially since what Kurogane said had not even been a question, but a statement without room for negotiaton. He looked at the ninja with a sirous look and said, "Yes. So?"

The truth was, he had been going to visit Kuro when he had heard the man's voice, and he leaned against the thin wall to listen in, even though he knew it was wrong, wondering if they'd bring him up. And then the conversation turned into a shinobi oath and Fai had suddenly felt like a trustpasser, knealing against the wall, letting such a private conversation pass through his ears. Yet, at the exact same time, he could not leave, for with every syllable, every world, every vow tethering the ninja to his master, his heart broke a little more, bit by bit. Then they had come here, because Kurgane had sacrificed a free ride home, and they were nice and alone, and being a selfish person, he could not give it up, though he dare not lie to his best friend. In truth, he was afraid of what would happen should he use his magic extensively. He did not want to die and leave Kurogane.

"You know my secret name."

Fai brushed it off with "So?", though he noticed the lower note in the other's voice. It was turning...seductive?

Kurgane stepped forward, making Fai want to back away, but he couldn't for some odd reason. They were so close the blonde could feel the body heat that was Kurogane, because Kuro was so unlike his name; he was a warm, safe place. Strong and silently caring. He could feel his face becoming a bit warmer, though some blood rushed to places he'd rather leave unmentioned as the shinobi placed a hand against the doorframe and leaned in to whisper "Say it."

The wizard's lips hardly moved when he murmured "Why?", his heart skipping.

"Because."

Fai couldn't bring himself to do it, because of the closeness of the situation and the fact that he wasn't ready to handle it. He loved Kurogane dearly, though he knew no one could love him the same way, but a new fear arose that asked: Did Kurogane just want sex? Did the ninja just want an object to get his tension out on before moving on, like a free hooker?

The man in question saw the fear deep in the crystal blue orbs that were Fai D. Flourite's eyes, but still he want to do this, just to see if it felt right, and if it didn't then he would leave the subject all together with a clear concience. Only the wizard was making it so hard.

He ran a tanned, rough textured hand over Fai's cheek and into his silky yellow hair, the feeling of it only heightening his eagerness, pullling his face in closer. In low, seductive growl and said, "Say it." The wizard never knew such a callused hand could be so gentle, how a murmur could be so seductive.

Fai couldn't move in fright, for the situation was so new he had no mask ready for it, and because, around Kurogane, he could hold no mask tightly and he knew it. He was shaking slightly, his heart feeling constricted in his chest, as if the neighbor's boa had excaped and had slithered into his chest to kill him from the inside out. He could almost hear his pulse in his ears, his stomach turning with each throb. He didn't know if he wanted it or not. He couldn't think enough for that. He was drowning in the crimson hanging above him, like a sea of molten rock, just as warm and ten times as more inviting. The same heat was under the large, protective hand caressing the side of his head.

Kurogane's lips sent a searing hot warmth into Fai, while his own were cool, sending shivers down Kurogane's spine, shivers he (somehow) neighther liked nor hated. Part of Fai, the part that loved the jumping of his heart and the heat turning his pale skin slightly pink, wanted to drown himself in the sweet, comfortable warmth that was the other, to let himself go and to show Kurogane how much he loved him, to release all of his stress and fear, but then there were the scars. The permanent marks seared, sending shooting pain into his mind and telling him no, this was wrong. No. No. No.

Kurogane groaned a bit and Fai's mind screamed STOP! and came to a screeching halt. He didn't even notice that his voice had repeated his thoughts until he had shoved the other away, stumbling back against the frame as his whole body shook, his knees threatening to break away, prompting him to hold onto the frame behind him for dear life. Kurogane, caught off guard, stumbled backwards and looked up only to wish he hadn't dared to take the glance.

Fai looked horrible, his eyes wide, like crystal-blue lakes being taken over by a Tsuname of fear, standing out in the dimly lit room like reflective diamonds. He was in a cold sweat, all heat gone form his body, his legs looking as if they'd buckle any moment, his fingernails clawing into the wood behind him. Had it not been for the wall, the mage would have been on the floor. Kurogane, though his face stayed stoic and too-calm, cursed once under his breathe only to continue in his head, swearing at himself and his stupidity and how gross it was he'd kissed another man...and yet, he had never felt anything so amazing.

Somehow, Fai's voice came out loud and strong. His face was toward the floor, his long hair covering his eyes with a shadow. "I'm not a prostitute, nor am I a doll you can just mess around with whenever it's convenient!"

Anger flared in the pit of the shinobi's stomach, making him say loudly, "I was sirious, moron!" He almost wanted to take it back, catching the fact that he had just confessed to another man, until he felt how right it felt. He couldn't imagine him saying something like that to anyone else under any circumstances.

Fai's head snapped up, and before he could look away again Kurogane cought a look that made him stop short. Something had flared in the blue of those eyes, like a sudden gust of wind in the arctic, kicking up snow and blowing it with great vigor, but with a whole different range of emotions including surprize, hope, and hapiness? But then again, Fai was Fai was Fai, and he could never break out of his stupid habits.

"Stop it!" said the mage loudly. "See? Even when I tell the truth you-"

"Do you really think I'd do that?" the ninja shot, angry yet again."Think about it for a second. Me. Lie. To you. For sex."

Fai's grip on the doorframe faultered, and he slipped almost half a foot before he cought himself again, but he never raised his head once. When he spoke, it came out a soft whisper this time as he took in a deep, shuddering breath. "I-I'm sorry Kurogane....But I can't trust you with that kind of power."

The man in question stumbled back and gaped at the blonde as if slapped, eyes wide, though they quickly returned to normal. Of course he should have expected this much. The mage thought it was a lie and would soon become another addition to the shelf of misery and deciet, shimmering with a new coat of pain and hurt, sculpted by the best in the business, Betrayal A. Lies. Also, he was probably trying to recover from the shock of being locked in a kiss with another man, trying to recollect his thoughts and figure out what had just happened.

Kurogane knew Fai needed some emotional tender loving care, something which Kuro wasn't good at in the least. He knew that this ment being slow, patient, quiet, and understanding, which ment slowing himself down, thinking about Fai's situation, and lowering his voice. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Was it that gross?"

Fai looked up, his eyes masked by a numb cold that made Kurogane cringe inside, though he snapped his crimson orbs onto the ice and tried to melt them with a deep, silent stare. Finally the wizard replied, his voice soft but monotone. "Of course not."

Suddenly Kurogane felt very uncomfortable, and before he could think of what to do he was walking out, grabbing his wallet and his keys and leaving for work, letting the door close at it's own pace behind him.

Fai stood there, feeling abandoned and confused and hurt. His stomached ached terribly and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep. And so he did, just so he wouldn't have to think about it, until it was time for that dastardly thing called the memories flooded back so violently he was ready to walk to the toilet just in case, his head throbbing. He couldn't go to work like that.

He had kissed Kurogane. He had kissed him. Kissed him. Kissed. Kiss. It had been amazing, brilliant, and undecribable, but didn't know what to think, and the words of "I was sirious, moron!" played over and over in his head as he contemplated their cryptic meaning. He trusted Kurogane more than anyone, but he still could not give himself to any one person just yet. He had to give it some room in case the curse of his birth decided to come creeping back from the depths of hell and turn his life into the apitomy of misery. The prospect of that happening made the blonde curse for letting it go this far, because he knew if Kurogane ever left him in any form now, wheather it be death or hate, he would commit suicide once and for all and just end his miserable life, because what would there be to live for?

After calling into sick to work, Fai couldn't stand to think anymore, and so he crawled back into bed, gripping the sheets tight in anguish.

"Oh God," muttered Kurogane when he found Fai curled up in bed, knees to his chest, every inch of him covered with their comforter, his body slowly rising and falling. "What did I do?" He knew he had to get the magician to snap out of it, and the only way to do that was to brush it off a bit, but not completely, because then it'd seem as if he was messing around. So he snatched the blankets out from over and under Fai, tearing them away to reveal the man who was still shirtless. Fai jumped ten feet high and scrambled to sit up, his eyes going wide at the site of Kurogane.

"What the hell are you doing?" asked Kurogane a bit loudly. "If you're going to stay out of work, at least get dressed so we can do something interesting, idiot. Don't just lay around on your day off!" Along with staying away from the topic of the kiss, Kuro aslo knew he had to reasure Fai if he ever wanted to get anywhere. He had had the afternoon to think it over and had come to the conclusion that yes, he did love Fai, and no, he didn't give a damn. He'd try to make it back to Nihon, and if he was exicuted he was. If he wasn't, he was going to try and bring that law to a standstill. Gruffly, he added "I want to spend some time with you, dumbass."

**********************************************************************************************

I really hate the way I ranted in some spots on this chapter and didn't describe things in other parts...My mind's drawing a blank when it comes to fixing them. .:( New chapters should be up soon, expecially since I'll be writing a lot on Saturday. I just decided to go to my friend's house on a whim, and when he was grabbing a new backpack because his broke, his upstairs neighbor came home and asked me to watch her baby while he slept so she could go out with her boyfriend/hubby. But they don't have internet, so I'll be writing a lot. Sweet job, huh? :D