A/N: This one takes place in Yama, so spoilers up until then, but there are also some non-explicit references to later parts.
Written for day 2 of KuroFai Week.
Warning for violence and injury.
...
Looking back, Fai blames it all on Yama.
Yama was when he was forced to learn how to communicate without words.
Yama was when he had no lies to hide behind when Kurogane gave him that look—the one that said he could see right through him.
Yama was when they battled side by side and learned to move and watch out for each other like they were two halves of a whole.
Yama was when he was so exhausted that, for a short time at least, he forgot to keep his guard up and protect both himself and Kurogane with his walls.
Yama didn't mean much to him, aside from danger as he was forced to stay in one world for far too long.
But it meant something to Kurogane, because Fai is fairly certain that Yama was when Kurogane fell for him. At the very least, it was when Fai figured it out.
Yes, it all started in Yama.
In fact, he could narrow it down even further than that. He could narrow it down to a single day, perhaps even a single moment.
...
Fai didn't pay much attention when one of the soldiers came to their tent to speak to Kurogane. It wouldn't do him much good anyways, since he could only understand about five words of their language. Even those five had taken a while for Kurogane to teach him, since even the individual sounds of their languages were so different.
When Kurogane came back in, though, he did tilt his head and shoot him a questioning look. "Hmm, Kuro-rin?" he asked, just to irritate the other man.
Kurogane gave a half-hearted glare before gesturing to his sword in explanation. There would be a battle tonight.
Of course there would be. There had been a battle every night since they'd arrived. Fai rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his drawing, complicated swirls and letters that were close enough to magic to feel like home, but not enough to actually do anything. Kurogane paused to stare at it as he walked by, and Fai froze. He didn't bother hiding it; it was already too late, and he couldn't make any excuses even if he wanted to.
After a moment, Kurogane just grumbled something he couldn't understand and continued on. Fai hesitated for a moment before continuing the design. He could feel the ninja's eyes on him from where he sat on his cot, but what did it really matter at this point? Fai kept drawing.
...
The battle was the hardest yet, and Fai cursed himself for not taking drills more seriously that day. He didn't know what Ashura had said or done to motivate his men, but whatever it was, it had worked wonders. They were fiercer and more coordinated than ever before.
He could sense Kurogane not far behind him, no doubt facing the opposite direction so they would have no blind spots between the two of them. They'd abandoned the height advantage of their steeds in favor of stability, and honestly, Fai was thankful for it. He didn't want to see the creatures get hurt. Nor did he want to be stabbed from behind because he and the only person he trusted here couldn't watch each other's backs.
Fai shot arrow after arrow at the approaching men, watching them fall one by one. He tried to aim for non-lethal targets, but if he missed and someone died... Well, that was just what happened in war.
In a sick way, it was almost funny that Kurogane was the one who went to all lengths to not kill anyone, while he was the one who brushed it off with the ease of someone who had already seen far too much death.
Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Fai whipped around and shot the soldier who was charging at Kurogane. He fell mere feet away and Fai felt nauseous with the sudden rush of nearly simultaneous fear and relief. He did his best to ignore it and reached back into his quiver. His hand came back empty, his panic redoubling.
How? He'd never run out of arrows before, and there were still so many of Ashura's men left. Had he doubled his army in a single day?
A quick look around gave Fai his answer: it wasn't that Ashura's army had doubled, it was that Yasha's had been halved. It was sad, but there wasn't time to think about it too much, so Fai tossed his bow aside, said a silent apology, and grabbed a sword from the nearest corpse. Swordplay wasn't exactly his specialty, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Kurogane shouted something in his direction. The lilt in his voice told Fai that it was a question, but the only word he could understand was "mage"... It hadn't taken long to learn that one. In response, Fai gestured at the empty quiver on the ground before spinning to strike another soldier down. Kurogane nodded and turned away again.
As Fai pivoted to clash swords with yet another of the seemingly endless soldiers, he felt a sudden unbelievable pain in his side. In his mind, he was screaming as he fell; all that left his lips was a breathless gasp. Reflexively, he dropped his sword to press his hands to the wound as tightly as he could. When he raised his eyes, the man who had stabbed him was poised above him, ready to deliver the killing blow. Fai rolled out of the way with a moan. He could feel his muscles growing weaker and his vision getting hazy from the pain. The man growled in frustration and moved towards him again.
"FAI!" Kurogane yelled, and that was what convinced him more than anything.
Ah, Fai thought, strangely calm. Kuro-tan used my real name. I must be dying.
His eyes drifted closed, and he felt the warm splatter of blood across his skin and a large hand pressed painfully to his side.
Then there was nothing.
...
When he woke up, it was with short, gasping breaths, tears in his eyes, and a hand pressed to his shoulder.
"No," came the low voice to his side, and Fai realized that he had been trying to sit up and curl around the wound. He slowly laid back down and forced himself to relax as much as possible before looking up to the owner of the voice. Kurogane nodded and pulled his hand away.
"I thought I was going to die," Fai said with a weak grin. His own voice surprised him with how gravelly it was. He couldn't remember the last time he had said a full sentence aloud.
Kurogane babbled something back, a scowl on his face, and Fai let his smile fall away.
Just for a while.
He had a decent excuse, after all. Even the happiest person probably wouldn't be smiling in this situation.
"You know I can't understand you, Kuro-pii," he said. Kurogane responded in his own language, and Fai would have laughed if he wasn't sure it would hurt like hell. Why were they even bothering with this ridiculous conversation? They might as well have each been talking to a wall.
Kurogane mumbled something, softer, and then he was gently tugging the blanket down. Fai let it go without complaint and watched as the other man pulled his shirt up a bit to look at the wound. It was bandaged, but blood was starting to seep through. Kurogane cursed and stood up, moving to talk to one of the nurses.
Fai looked around and finally realized that they were in the medical tent. With that realization came another: Kurogane must have protected and taken care of him until they could be warped back here, and then carried him into the tent.
He couldn't decide whether to be angry or grateful.
Kurogane returned with the nurse in tow a moment later, arms crossed as he watched silently over her shoulder. He sat back down as soon as she was gone and stared at Fai for a long moment. "You—" he eventually started, then grit his teeth. For once, Fai was glad for the language barrier. He probably didn't want to hear whatever Kurogane had to say.
"I'm tired again, Kuro-tan," Fai said futilely. It wasn't even an excuse. He could feel himself drifting off even as he said the words. He yawned and let his eyes flutter closed again. The last thing he felt was a barely-there pressure against his palm.
...
The second time he awoke, Fai managed to catch the look of worry on Kurogane's face for just a moment before it was covered by his usual scowl. His hand was still wrapped around Fai's own. Fai stared for a moment, hesitating and feeling his walls crumbling just a bit more.
Why did this man have to be so determined to tear them all down?
Why did it have to be him of all people?
Why did he have to make this so much more difficult than it should have been?
As Fai remembered what he would eventually have to do, he swallowed anxiously and finally pulled his hand out of Kurogane's grasp. He couldn't quite school his expression before the ninja noticed it, though.
Kurogane placed his hand over Fai's again, staring him in the eyes as he spoke. Although Fai couldn't understand the words, the intention was clear enough. His determined tone and expression spoke to some sort of promise.
Fai plastered on a grin and nodded along, pulling his hand away again and folding his arms. He pretended not to notice the irritation in Kurogane's eyes and started rambling to dispel some of the tension in the air.
...
A few weeks later, they spotted Syaoran on the battlefield.
Fai went along with Kurogane's plan, partially to help with Syaoran's training, but that wasn't the only reason. Though his wound was mostly healed, he wanted to make sure that it wasn't giving him any trouble at all by the time they left this world. It wouldn't do to worry the children, after all.
...
When they moved on to the next world, they explained what had happened to Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona.
They never spoke about Yama again after that, but Fai could always feel Kurogane watching him a little bit closer, protecting him a little bit more, and chipping away at his defenses a little bit faster.