My apologies on the slow update.

If you read the first chapter from the initial posting, I have gone back edited a bit (mostly the end). Some things may be different now.

-o-o-o-o-

Past, Kamiki Village

He felt it before he saw it, the oppressive, evil weight of the curse.

Souma felt it, too, and she fell to her knees, gasping for breath and looking dazed. Her entire body shook, convulsing, and she reached a hand out meaning to grasp the hem of his hakama but she was already too weakened to even close her fist. Barely ten seconds had passed and already she was falling into an unconscious stupor.

"Souma!"

Kurogane grabbed his friend around the waist and pulled until she was back on her feet, but she couldn't hold her own weight and her head lolled on her shoulders. He knew the might of this curse was unusually intoxicating, drastically more so than anything he had felt before, but Souma was strong; how could she be crumbling so easily? He threw Souma over his shoulder and darted down the hall toward the princess's rooms. As he passed open doors, he could see attendants and his men all collapsed, some struggling to even stay awake.

"Princess!" Kurogane slid Tomoyo's door open with enough force that it crashed into the wall and cracked. Inside the room, Tomoyo stood near her window and when she turned shakily toward Kurogane, he saw that she had the sleeve of her kimono pulled over her face as though to keep out a bad stench.

"Kurogane, we must leave at once," she cried and took a step to him.

Before either of them could move any more, a roar like none other Kurogane had heard before broke through the silence of the halls, so loud and powerful that Kurogane dropped Souma in his instinctive attempt to cover his own ears, and it seem to echo off of every wall, shake every board. Tomoyo, too, tried to cover her ears and she cried out in pain when the roar sounded again. The latch holding open the thin board over her window fell loose under the shaking and the board slammed shut, its bang barely noticeable against the roars.

Tomoyo looked as though she were about to faint. "Kuro… gane…"

He was across the room in an instant and grabbed her before she could fall to the floor. Holding her closely to his chest, she gasped up at him with terrified eyes.

"W-we have to…" she began, but the air was growing thick as the full force curse began to filter into the room as a visible black cloud, making it difficult to breathe. "Sa… Sakura… G-go to…"

Kurogane understood immediately and dashed from the room, pausing only for a split second to grab Souma. The curse was starting to affect him as well, making his joints stiff and a haze settling in his mind that made it difficult to concentrate on holding both the princess and Souma at the same time as running in a determined direction. He was outside before he realized and the curse almost completely surrounded him. Inside the black cloud, the villagers that collapsed to the ground were unmoving; he couldn't even see them breathing.

"Sakura…" Tomoyo panted.

Kurogane turned to the mountainside that the great tree stood upon. He could see the branches of the tree, flowerless and leafless, being blown by a powerful wind.

The roar from before again cut through the silence of the village, shaking the very ground beneath Kurogane, and he fell to a knee, losing his grip on Souma as he did. Weakly, he made to grab her again, but the black cloud of the curse began to cover them and to his dismay Souma's body was turning to stone. Bewildered and angry, Kurogane still tried to pull her close protectively.

"No!" Tomoyo cried, stopping him. "Go t-to…!"

Hesitating for only a second at leaving Souma behind, Kurogane pushed to his feet and bolted through the village, trusting in Tomoyo. Tendrils of the curse seemed to wrap around his legs and he felt as though he were running through water but somehow he made it to the footpath that led up to the sakura tree. His lungs ached as he wheezed from the effort and his body was already soaked in sweat, but he continued up the path even as he felt his ears bust and bleed from another roar.

When he reached the stairs that led the rest of the way to the sakura, the wind that had blown the flowers from the tree hit him with such force that it knocked him off his feet and into the earthen wall of the mountainside. Even if the roaring hadn't busted his eardrums, he would have been deaf against the wind, the sound of which blocked out all else.

Choking and gasping for air, Kurogane fought against the wind to pick up Tomoyo, who was now unconscious and unmoving. The wind appeared to be keeping the cursed cloud from progressing up the mountain, so she had not yet turned to stone, but Kurogane knew he had to get her to the top soon. He practically crawled up the stairs, dragging Tomoyo with him.

Just as darkness blotted his vision, Kurogane arrived at the top of the stairs, and he fell, unconscious, through the torii, finally succumbing to the curse.

-o-o-o-o-

Present, Ryoshima Coast

…Youou…

Encased in warmth, he felt a thin hand tenderly slide over his forehead.

It is time, Youou.

The warmth was moving into him and his body burned with a familiar yet mysterious strength.

We have waited for you, Youou, origin of all that is good and father to us all.

Kurogane's awareness of his surroundings was abrupt, the ethereal haze of his dream replaced by the smooth rhythm of the ocean with such swiftness that it took him a good minute to realize that he was awake, on his back, and staring at the underside of a raised dais. As he blinked in wonder at the wooden object, he could hear the cries of seagulls flying overhead and they sounded as though they were laughing. It took another minute before Kurogane realized that he did indeed hear laughter but that it was coming from a much closer source.

"My, my, Kurogane," a highly amused feminine voiced called to him, "that was quite the fall. How graceful."

Kurogane sat up with the intention of glaring Yuuko into silence but seeing her knowing smirk made him look away in frustrated embarrassment. He remembered now; he was at the witch's home on Ryoshima Coast, trying to master a new technique under her tutelage. Unfortunately, the technique involved magic – something he lacked the innate power for – and, well, it was under her tutelage. He was pretty much doomed to failure even before coming to the island.

Scowling, he shoved himself to his feet and turned his glare on the platform Yuuko had created to mimic the one he wanted to reach. He was beginning to think life would just be easier riding a lily pad out to the sunken ship.

"Try it again," Yuuko ordered, as if detecting his doubt. "Honestly, Kurogane, after your first jump, just feel for the peak of the magic and use it to jump again. It isn't difficult."

Kurogane ground his teeth together to keep from shouting at the witch. He didn't know what she meant by "peak of the magic" and she wasn't being forthcoming with the hints.

Several more unsuccessful attempts (and many cuts and bruises) later, Yuuko finally grew tired of laughing at him. With an exhausted sigh, as though she were the one exerting all the effort toward a seemingly unreachable goal, she disappeared into her home to escape the heat of the sun, leaving Kurogane to practice on his own. Even without the audience, he couldn't effectively apply and control the magic necessary to reach the high platform and his irritation rapidly grew with each continued failure.

When he was on the verge of chopping down the platform altogether, Yuuko popped back outside with a bag in hand, the contents of which clinked and rattled so that Kurogane knew it was money. She held the small bag out for him to take. "Make yourself useful and fetch me some more mermaid coins."

"I'm not a dog," Kurogane snapped. "If you want something, go fetch it yourself."

"As my student you don't get to complain." The cunning smirk returned. "Or do you think you could have gotten this far using those weak brush techniques alone?"

Kurogane snatched the bag from her with a growl. "Where do you expect me to find mermaid coins, anyway?"

Yuuko had already turned back to the house and said dismissively over her shoulder, "I believe there was a merchant near the shrine bell."

"Whaaat? That's a two days hike from here! I don't have time to waste running your errands!"

"There is no rush. You can bring me the coins the next time you pass through here, or if you happen to return to Shinshu Field, as my door opens there as well."

"The next time I pass through here? What's that supposed to mean? What about learning this technique?" Kurogane demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching it to me? Isn't that why you took all that gold from me – equal trade, was it?"

"By the time you pass in this direction again, Kurogane, you shouldn't need my help anymore – not with this, anyway." Yuuko paused in her doorway, grinning slyly. "You'll catch on soon enough."

"What? You–!"

"See you soon, Kurogane!"

With a wave, Yuuko again disappeared into her house, the door sliding shut behind her with a finality that made Kurogane's blood boil. The arrogance of that woman! He was half-tempted to throw the bag of coins at the closed door, but rather he spun on his heel and stomped to the edge of the island, seizing his own packed bag on the way.

"I should have left the moment I saw her," he fumed quietly, glaring at the water below. He removed the celestial brush from his bag and summoned a lily pad, his movement jerky due to his frustration. Once the plant fully formed, he slid down the muddy bank to where it floated, continuing to gripe, "Useless waste of my time. That evil witch doesn't eve– geeeeeh!"

Not having paid attention to his footing, Kurogane's forceful step onto the lily pad caused the giant leaf to skim across the water, away from him, and he fell with a great splash into the ocean. He kicked and thrashed his way back to the surface, coughing and choking on the salty water, and struggled to hold on to his belongings. With some difficulty, he managed to swim to the lily pad before the tide took it too far away and crawled, sputtering, onto its surface, half dragging it under water as he did so. He sat for a moment, huffing and soaked.

Then, "Daaaaammiiiiiit!"

Yuuko hoped he could hear her laughing.

-o-o-o-o-

The gentle sound of ocean water brushing against the shore would have been peaceful and relaxing if not for the pain-filled moans of trapped demons calling into the night. Kurogane watched apathetically as one such demon desperately tried to get its scroll closer to him but was unable to pull away from the scroll's barrier ring. It repeatedly paced in a circle and then lunged at Kurogane with a deep, growl-like moan before being pulled back by the curse, the green glow of the curse flaring.

With a disinterested snort, Kurogane stabbed at the dying embers of his campfire, pushing them into the deeper wet sand so that they hissed. His mood hadn't changed much from that afternoon and having to sleep on the open shoreline made him wary. He thought about how his men were doing, if they had made it to Sei'an City already; if they had, it would be an exciting return for them.

The group was a small force, mostly trained guards and some untrained but enthusiastic farmers. Before Orochi's revival at the Moon Cave in the ocean beyond Shinshu Field – and subsequent awakening of the demon scrolls – their only job was to watch Princess Tomoyo. Unlike Kurogane, Kamiki was not Tomoyo's native home; her dream-seeing led her to the village. Amaterasu, the Empress, remained in Sei'an City with her husband. Tomoyo would, no doubt, be happy to see her dear sister.

Kurogane remembered when Tomoyo first arrived in Kamiki, claiming that she was needed by the small village. He wondered if she already knew then of Orochi's coming rebirth, of his own bratty younger brother's role in the monster's fairy tale – of Kurogane's role, for that matter – or if she merely had a vague inkling of dread. Tomoyo hadn't seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of the red patterns along his arms when they both awoke, healed, at the base of the sakura tree.

Godly markings, the tree's spirit told him.

Kurogane lied back in the sand to stare at the cloudy sky above the beach and ocean. The gods were hidden in the stars and he speculated on how many of them were left. It was the gods who taught him the secrets to his celestial brush; it was the gods who called him Youou.

Kurogane's senses prickled and he sighed in annoyance. "I know you're there. Stop trying to sneak up on me, idiot."

He couldn't hear the footsteps in the sand, but he knew the mage was coming closer. There was a soft jingle of bells and then,

"Hyuu~! Kuropii caught me!"

Sitting up, Kurogane glared at the smiling blonde standing across the fire pit from him. The clouds blocked most of the moon and star light, but the mage glowed anyway: the metal bracelets around his wrists, the bell chains around his ankles, the small-jeweled rings on his fingers, and the thin necklaces tight around his neck all reflected light from an imperceptible source. Even his hair, eyes, and skin shimmered in the dark night.

Magic, Kurogane realized. Fai practically hummed with its power.

Kurogane pushed to his feet, absently brushing off sticky sand as he eyed Fai warily. "What do you want?"

Fai's smile didn't falter at his gruff tone. "Kurochi looked terrified, being all by himself in the dark. I'm your company!"

"What? Who's terrified?" Kurogane lunged at the mage, but was easily dodged. "That witch sent you, didn't she?"

Fai laughed and again slipped out of Kurogane's reach, his bells chiming mockingly. "Kurowanko is mistaken! Yuuko-sensei and I have never formally met." Fai's smiled turned secretive. "I've only heard about her."

"Bullshit," Kurogane countered, but then conceded, "If you weren't sent here by her, then I repeat my earlier question, what do you want?"

"And I repeat my earlier answer–"

"I'm not afraid of the dark!"

"–I'm here as Kurotan's company."

Kurogane quit his chase and glared silently at the smiling mage. Then, with a, annoyed, "Che," he turned his back on the other to face the ocean. "I don't need or want company, idiot."

"Kurosama is so manly!"

Kurogane ground his teeth at the taunt but didn't respond.

"Kurobun, Sei'an City is in the other direction. Why are you going this way?" Fai asked, and the bells chimed with each step closer to the irate warrior. "Are you going back to the coast by the shrine? You know the magic you want now?"

Growling, Kurogane's eyes narrowed at nothing in particular. "That witch didn't teach me a damn thing."

"Then why did you leave?"

"What's with all the questions? Are you planning something?"

"Hmm, I wonder~!" Fai chirped. "If I was, would Kurotango– eep!"

Having been listening to the bells, Kurogane knew when the mage was standing close behind him and spun quickly, managing to seize the other around the waist with one arm before an escape could be made. He pulled until the mage's back was flush against his chest and wrapped his free arm around the smaller body to secure a grip.

Similar to before, he could both feel the man in his arms and somehow also feel as though he were holding onto nothing at all. The hot, summer breeze coming off of the ocean hit his back, contrasting with the cool body held pressed to his front, and when Fai's hands settled on his own, skin touching skin, they were icy cold like before. Kurogane, despite himself, again shivered at the touch.

"Kuropip tricked me," Fai said quietly.

Feeling, but not giving in to, an odd urge to roll his eyes, Kurogane merely replied, "Only a fool would get caught so easily."

"And what are you going to do now that you have me?"

Kurogane didn't respond at first, considering the unusually sober tone in the mage's voice, but then simply responded, "Nothing," and loosened his grip, not fully letting go of the mage but allowing Fai the option of an effortless escape.

Instead of getting away, Fai only turned sideways, placing a cold hand on Kurogane's chest and leaning back so that he could look up at the warrior. His expression was unusually blank, almost serious.

"Why are you so cold?" Kurogane asked before he could stop himself.

Fai merely continued to stare at him. Then Fai turned fully and Kurogane gasped as the other icy hand slipped inside his kimono front and wrapped around to press against his back as Fai pushed up against him, hooking the previous hand under his arm and holding tightly to his shoulder. The mage nuzzled his face into Kurogane's shoulder.

Every hair on Kurogane's body stood on end.

"I'm not cold," Fai murmured, his breath like winter air against Kurogane's skin. He hugged Kurogane tighter. "Kuromyuu is just so warm."

Kurogane could feel the chill down to his toes; he was beyond uncomfortable with the embrace. As soon as his mind cleared from utter shock he instantly began backing away from the mage, trying to remove icy hands from his person. Fai moved with him, though, and clung like a barnacle. "Geeeh! Let go!"

"Kuromii went through all that trouble to catch me and now he's trying to get away?" Fai teased, tone now laughing rather than empty. It amazed Kurogane how fast he could change.

"You–!" Kurogane growled. "Let go already!"

"Okay!" To his surprise, Fai released him then, even dancing a few steps back. Fai smiled widely. "Good luck, Kuropan!"

Kurogane didn't have time to demand what the mage meant. A barrier wall was rapidly growing between them and Kurogane whipped around to see that he had stepped within the cursed ring of the demon scroll he'd been watching earlier that night. The curse unfurled and the demon trapped within the scroll began to take shape.

"Why you–!" Kurogane started to shout at the smiling mage, but was interrupted as the demon took its first swing at him. He ducked and rolled out of the way, reaching for his sword as he righted before angrily remembering that it was still resting by his pack, along with the celestial brush.

The demon fully solidified at last in the center of the ring and its figure towered over Kurogane like a mountain, letting out what could have been a growl or very sadistic chuckle.

Kurogane's eye twitched in annoyance.

Evading another attack, Kurogane attempted to maneuver behind the creature, but it was faster than he expected and it kept it distance from him, swinging its long leg in a wide kick. Kurogane had to kiss the sand to keep from being hit and barely managed to roll away before being stomped.

Dammit, I can't get close. It wasn't that he had no experience fighting a weaponless battle against demons, but that had been a long time ago and only against the weak demons that inhabited Shinshu Field and Hana Valley before the beast Orochi awoke. Oddly enough, the farther he traveled away from the Moon Cave, the stronger were the demons.

"Kuropuff!" Fai called from safety outside the ring. "If you jumped high enough, you could just hit it in the head!"

Kurogane fell back to avoid another kick. "As if I could jump that high, idiot!"

"But Kuropon can jump that high," Fai insisted, "if he uses his ma~gic!"

"I –ugh!"

Kurogane failed to completely avoid an attack and the tip of the demon's foot caught him across the side. He slammed into the barrier wall, feeling the heat of the curse push at him. The demon leapt, both arms over its head for its finishing attack, but Kurogane dived underneath it just before it crashed to the ground. They whirled to face one another from opposite sides of the cursed ring, regarding the other carefully.

His side would bruise from the kick, no doubt, but it wasn't a debilitating injury. He was more aggravated that he had allowed himself to be distracted by that magical idiot. However, as much as he hated to admit it, Fai was right. The demon's head was certainly its most exposed weak point and the only way he was going to get that high was if he used magic.

Of course, he still hadn't mastered the particular technique needed.

As he continued to dodge the attacks, Kurogane tried to remember Yuuko's only advice: first, gather the magic under foot for the initial jump; then, feel for the peak of the magic and jump again. The first part Kurogane had more or less figured out, but he still had no idea what she meant by "peak of the magic." With a frustrated shout, he applied himself to the first half of the equation and gathered the strange warmth he had come to recognize as his own magic in preparation for the first leap.

He timed his jump to when the demon swung one of its wide kicks, and the push of the magic beneath him was powerful, so much so that it felt as though it were burning into the soles of his feet. Like his attempts at Yuuko's island, he leapt much higher than he would have without the assistance of magic, but the demon, drawn up to its full height, was still too tall for him to land a good blow. Then the heat was gone and Kurogane lost momentum. The demon, not having expected his sudden change in tactic, backed off briefly.

"Kuronip's getting better!"

"Shut up!" Kurogane glared over his shoulder. "You're distracting me! Unless you want to help, go away!"

"But Kurorin doesn't need my help," Fai stated confidently.

The demon resumed the attack and Kurogane dodged until he could find another opening to try the magic-jump again. Though he should have been focused on the fight in front of him, he couldn't help vaguely wondering if he'd eventually be able to move through the air like the mage did or if their magic was too different. He didn't even know what kind of magic the mage was using, but he could instinctively feel that it was different from his own and from that of the witch's magic. When Yuuko used spells, the feeling Kurogane got was fluttery, like having the only flame in a cave full of moths. Fai's magic was like his skin: cold, but somehow soft and not entirely tangible.

Belatedly, Kurogane realized why Yuuko couldn't give him more than "peak of the magic." What he felt in his magic would be different from what she or Fai would feel in their magic.

Kuromyuu is just so warm.

Kurogane again pushed off the ground with the magic beneath him. Like all the times before, he felt the heat like hanging above a fire, but this time, instead of waiting for the heat to leave, he pushed back against it once he was in the air. To his surprise, he could feel a solid presence under his feet, as though he were still standing on the earth below. As soon as he pushed off the solid magic, it exploded with power, even materialized as deep red flames below him, and it was one magic-assisted jump on top of another.

"Hyuu~! So high!" Fai cheered from below. "Now hit it in the head, Kuropop!"

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Kurogane yelled back, but twisted in the air and brought the heel of his foot down in a heavy strike on the demon's head all the same.

The seal of the demon's strength broke instantly and the beast staggered to the ground. The barrier ring created by the cursed scroll wavered with the loss of the cursed power and then began to disappear as though evaporating. Flowers sprouted from the demon, turning it back into the soil that had been spelled into its body. Kurogane, having landed safely on the ground nearby, watched the scene in arrogant satisfaction.

Fai suddenly appeared at his side and latched onto one arm like a child. "Kuromon did so well!"

"Hey–!" Kurogane swung a clenched fist at the mage, but Fai slipped easily behind him and hung on the other arm, laughing all the while. Kurogane didn't feel the icy chill from Fai like before and wondered if it was because his own magic was still burning through him.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Fai leaned into him and murmured, "Mmm, so warm…"

"Stop it," Kurogane grumbled, shaking the mage away. The anger he felt at having been tricked into a fight with the demon quickly turned into uneasiness at both the mage's strange affections and how nice the cool body felt against his hot and sweaty one.

Fai backed off slightly, but still kept one hand on Kurogane's arm.

"Now you can see the ship!" he said with a bright smile. "That's where you were going, right?"

"Why even bother asking questions when you already know the answer?" Kurogane muttered petulantly.

"I have to return to Sei'An City now, but if Kurosnap needs me again, he can just call for me."

"I never needed you to begin with!" As an afterthought, "What do you mean, 'return to Sei'An City?'"

Fai lifted onto his toes and pressed his cold lips against Kurogane's cheek, laughing when the warrior jolted and dancing out of arm's reach when the retaliatory swing came. "If all goes well under the ocean, come see me when you get to Sei'An City."

Kurogane rubbed at his cheek where the light kiss lingered. "Stop doing as you like! Why did you even bother coming here?"

Magic was starting to swirl around Fai like a trapped wind. Just as he started to disappear within the magic's breath, he winked at Kurogane and encouraged, "Be careful, Kuropeep! Swimming at night can be dangerous. You don't want to drown!"

"Is that supposed to be another one of your stupid predictions?" Kurogane yelled back, but Fai had already disappeared, leaving him alone with ocean once more.

-o-o-o-o-

Aaaand, I'm cutting it off there. Not a good place to quit, but the next bit will fit better with the next chapter – which will come out sooner than this one did! (…I hope…)