"Hi guys! Em here, along with Kazahaya! Kaza, say hi!"

"No! Why can't this be an Alice in Wonderland story? That way I could at least be a hero and fight the evil red queen!"

*sighing* "We've been over this before, it's because if I did that I wouldn't have anywhere to put Rikuo, 'cause Yûko would have to be the red queen."

"Then Why do I have to be Cinderella?!"

*straightforward* "Because Rikuo makes a better prince and I can put you in a dress."

*Mouth opens, huts, then opens again* ". . ."

"All arguments are rendered invalid, because I can put Kazahaya in a dress. I hope you enjoy this next installment of FIW!"

Warning: Swearing and gay vibes, but other than that you're good. . . for now.

Disclaimer: The plot is mine, the characters are CLAMPS, I really want to update with Drug & Drop, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary.

Kazahaya's POV

"Kakei-san!" I yell tromping down the stairs- missing my shirt and my hair mussed on one side from where my siblings had made a grab for it when trying to force me into one of their new dress creations.

"Yes, Kazahaya-kun? And I'd really prefer that you call me mother." Kakei calls from the kitchen and I stomp into there. Running into Saiga as I went. He snickered at me and then passed by. I scowl and cross into the room.

"They've tried to dress me up again!" I complain.

Kakei looks at me, "Yes. Yes they did."

"You told me that you'd make them stop!"

"Did I?" Kakei tilts his head in mock confusion, "Well even if I did it doesn't matter."

"It does to me!" I growl and then flinch as one of my siblings seemingly falls on me- arms going around my neck from my back in a lazy manour.

"Come'on Kazhaya-kun." Himawari-chan says.

"We were just having some fun! And you're much more fun to dress up than I am- I only look good in furisodes." Fai-kun says coming up behind her.

"I seriously doubt that," I mutter, losing any ground that I might have on them by the second.

Now I should probably explain, shouldn't I?

My name is Kazahaya Kudo. I was born to my parents along with my twin sister, but soon after our fifth birthday our mother died. When we were eight our father discovered that he was interested in the same sex and got married to Kakei-san, who in turn had two adopted children- Himawari-chan and Fai-kun. Then, when we were eleven our father died and we continued to live with Kakei-san. Then when we were thirteen Kakei-san got re-married to Saiga-san and he's lived with us here. So now I have a step'mother', stepfather, and two step siblings that insist on dressing me up!

I open my mouth to say more when a knock at the door distracts me.

"Himawari, could you please fetch the door and let poor Watanuki-kun in?" Kakei asks.

"Yes, of course." Himwari smiles and disappears. Fai gives a happy yelp and flies upstairs where- no doubt- he's grabbing a letter for Watanuki-kun to deliver.

I don't question Kakei's guess of 'Watanuki' because I've long since found out that he's always, by some magic, right.

"Thank you Himawari-chan~!" Watanuki's dopey voice comes floating into the kitchen as Himawari leads him back. Not that I dislike Watanuki-kun, in fact, we get along quite well, it's just that every time that he see's Himawari-chan his head floats into the clouds.

"Hello Watanuki-kun," Kakei says cheerfully, "Any news for us this evening?"

Watanuki takes a seat knowing the drill, "Yeah," he says, "Yûko ALWAYS wants me to pass info, honestly I work for King Clow- not her. If she wants a servant for all her witchcraft she could just use that pet of hers, it certainly talks enough. . ." Watanuki groans.

Watanuki is the all around handyman to the King but had somehow got saddled to be the indentured servant to Yûko, the lazy ass 'Fairy Godmother' of the kingdom, and the kicker is that none of us, not even Watanuki-kun, knows how he got indentured in the first place.

Kakei smiles and waits patiently for him to continue. Kakei-san and Yûko are old friends and he knew that she was a challenge to deal with day in and day out. So he figured that Watanuki could use this time to blow off some steam. After another minute of grumbles Watanuki finally continues, "Anyway she thought it right to inform all of you that there is some serious crap going on at the castle like-"

"Like what?" Fai asks jumping down the last of the stairs and coming to a halt beside the table and throwing me my t-shirt, which I thankfully put on.

"Like the Prince- Rikuo, is going to be turning eighteen soon, and Kurogane's cousin, Tomoyo, is pressuring him to get married because she wants to make the suit and wedding dress."

"How's this new?" I ask confused. News of Tomoyo's pressuring had been circling for several years now.

"Well what if I told you that he's about to cave in?" Watanuki says, and Himawari-chan, Fai-kun, and I all gasp.

"Really?" Himawari-chan asks.

"Yep- he's finally at his wits end, so rumour has it that he'll be hosting a series of three balls. Two before and one on the day of his birthday and that everyone in the kingdom is invited to attend. It's said that he'll pick his spouse from that way." Watanuki said 'spouse' because the prince- although he appeared in public often- had never actually dated anyone from either sex, and therefore no one knew his preferences.

"So she finally got to him, did she?" Fai grins, "Kuro-pon's been saying that she's been wearing him down, but I didn't believe him. I guess it's because those two are the same in a way- tall, dark, handsome, and they don't speak much. . ." Fai starts to tap his chin in thought, "they'd be perfect for each other in that sense. . . but. . ." firm resolve touches his eyes, "I'm not gonna' let the prince take my Kuro-strong. I saw and claimed him first- whether he agrees or not." suddenly he goes cheery again- just how it always is with him, "Oh! Speaking of Kuro-kuro, here!" Fai thrusts an envelope at Watanuki, "Take this to him, please~!"

Watanuki scowls and avoids the parcel, "I told you last time I was here- take it to him yourself."

"Awwww, please. . . I'd do it myself but he won't take it from meeeeee! You alllllllllllllways manage to get it to him, Watanuki-kun!"

"I said NO!"

Fai's eyes steel, just as they always do when he wants something to do with his long time crush Kurogane Suwa and isn't going to take 'no' for an answer, "Take it or I'll go find Domeki-kun."

Watanuki- who was starting to turn away, freezes in his movements, then whips back around to stare at Fai, "And why do you need that jerk?!".

"Because he'll agree to take it for me, and he'll probably do a better job of it too. Then I'll start circulating that Domeki-kun is much better at your only remaining occupation set to you by the king, and all you'll have left to do is work for Yûko-san."

Watanuki is quiet for a minute- assessing Fai's threat, which by his standards is genuine.

"Fine." He seethes and snatches the letter from Fai, and sticks it in his pocket.

"Really~?" Fai brightens and you can almost see cat ears pop on his head, "Thank you, Watanuki-kun~!" he grins and gives the bespectacled boy a hug.

"Yeah, yeah." Watanuki wrenches himself away and stalks back to the front door, "I'll be back soon with more details!" he shouts as he exits the building, almost slamming the door behind him.

We're all quiet for a minute as we watch him leave.

"Well that was a pleasant visit." Kakei smiles happily, as if Fai hadn't just threatened Watanuki with utter humiliation.

I shake my head and slink back up the stairs to my room. The news of the prince was interesting to say the least. I'd never met Rikuo in person but I'd seen him from afar and heard him speak over the radio. Kakei, Saiga, and Fai were the only ones that had ever met him in person- Kakei and Saiga because of their connection with Yûko and King Clow, and Fai because he happened to be bugging Kurogane-san when he was at the castle and Rikuo walked by.

I have always wanted to meet him- what self respecting person didn't want to meet the future ruler of their country, but I have a different reason. I want to know if his attitude matches his good looks.

Kakei-san figured it out long before I did- what kind of person that I went for, and sadly (?) I turned out more like my father in that respect.

Yep, I'm gay.

Though I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but I do know that being in a house surrounded by mostly homosexual people was not going to help me (if at all possible) change my ways.

But if Fai says that Rikuo and Kurogane Suwa are alike in most ways I wasn't getting my hopes up about his attitude being pleasant. Which was disappointment, but not really surprising- I mean, how often are princes the kind, loving, gentle people they are in the fairy tales that you read when you're young? It's like finding a needle in a stack of needles, or person in a busy grocery store- whatever that is. They play kind, but they're all self serving bastards that only care about politics- well, at least that's what Saiga's told me.

So there is no way in hell that Prince Rikuo would ever even take notice of a commoner like me.

Collapsing on my bed I groan into the pillows. There is no way that I'm attending those balls. Not even if Kakei-san makes me!

"Now Kazahaya, we all know what's going to happen now, right?"

*glumly replies because he's figured out that he's not getting out of this role* "I'm gonna' be forced to go to that party?"

*evil grin* "You'll find out next time! I can't give plot spoilers before the chapters come out. But please review and tell me how I'm doing so far- and whether this is worthwhile to continue!"

Til next time!

I'll start uploading pictures soon!