His eyes stared ahead widely, but everything still seemed to grow darker. Slow and unrelenting, a shadow began to eat away at the edges of his vision, an eagerly gobbling night, and for a moment, the world went black.

A hot stab of pain trickled down his back and involuntarily he let out a low groan. Not good to use oneself as a last resort shield, but what choice did a one-second defense have? He should have gotten there sooner...

Something behind him moved, probably Sakura. His eyes, though, remained fixed on the sky above, watching its instant transformation from high noon to dead of night. What was up with this place?

And why did everything have to go wrong when he had her with him?

Whirling, he saw the oni standing dangerously close to them. He firmly resolved that today was simply going to suck no matter what action he chose to take, and thus decided to hastily hide his charge before any more harm could come to her or, in turn, she could draw to him.

"Sakura."

Kurogane's eyes remained riveted on the oncoming attackers. Beside him, he could feel the princess start. She didn't seem to be hurt, just a little shocked. He unsheathed Sohi.

"Find cover." Sensing an objection, he raised a hand, ushering her not to argue. "Over to your left behind that blue box looks good. Stay there and don't move."

She either nodded or said something in affirmation, for the next time he checked the periphery of his vision, she was gone.

The sword swept up in front of him in a gentle but deadly arc.

"Alright, then," his tongue could taste the darkness on it, the shade had grown so palpable, "I don't mind a good game of hide and seek, especially one where I take you all down and hang your sorry asses out to dry."

The ninja smiled grimly. And that was only the beginning.

Quickly dispatching three to his immediate right that had tried to sneak up on him, he turned his attention to those ganging up in front.

"Bring it on, bastards."

Another four down and he wasn't quite so cocky. The dark spots from before had started to take out valuable chunks of his vision again, fading in and out as he struck. His last blow had cleaved an oni clean in half and at the same time caused a white streak of pain to bolt through his back and arms.

He shook his head to try to cure it of the ailment. As suspected, it didn't work. The dark blotches did dance around for a while, though, dizzyingly.

Gritting his teeth, he continued the onslaught. Ahead, he caught sight of an oni with a scrap of black fabric trapped tightly in its claws. His back prickled. Alright, payback time.

Once everything was taken care of, Kurogane was out of breath and struggling not to let any sign of his injury show. The cherry wallet in his pocket whirred merrily, informing him when he took a moment to check it, pasuing before returning to the princess, that he had made quite the tidy sum for the afternoon's--or evening's, or whatever it had become now's--work.

Sakura came out from behind the box, eyes darting to and fro before completely abandoning shelter. Elsewhere in the dark, Kurogane almost scoffed. The girl had no experience fighting: if there was anything coming up behind them, he would be the one to sense it, not her.

Then again, these oni didn't give off any aura, so...

He hastily, albeit furtively, double-checked as well.

"C'mon, then. We'd better get to some place that's well-lit."

A few blocks later, they came across an inn that had a seating area with private booths. The sign outside the door had read something along the lines of "The Dancing Rice Cake", which sounded like a safe enough name, and Kurogane ignored the stare he received from the waitress when he asked for a private table for two. Syaoran had explained this entire complicated process of going to restaurants to him before-- maybe it had been in Hanshin? -- and couldn't fathom why she would be so interested if he'd asked just like any other customer.

He was perfectly within his bounds to do this. Was it so abnormal to see two people going to a restaurant together?

Still mulling this over, he slid into a booth opposite Sakura and peered through the menu handed to him.

"Kurogane-san?"

His eyes were having trouble adjusting to the light. He squinted through a fog of grey at the girl. He'd never let her know about any of this. Guardians aren't supposed to falter. Protectors don't reveal their weaknesses to those whom they protect.

"What is it?"

The princess scanned the list of entrees. "I'm not all that hungry, I guess...oh, I don't know..." She trailed off.

"Just say it, kid."

She looked up at him abruptly, bitting her lip in consternation. "I'm not really that much of a help to you, am I?"

Damn straight, he wanted to say, and had he not caught himself, the words would have rolled right off his tongue. Instead, he forced himself to take a deep breath, and, eyes closed, he responded calmly and in a level tone.

"Answer me this. Have you ever had any weaponry training or seen any battles before today?"

"Well, no..."

"Then it's not your fault that that oni--"

"It's just that it got so dark so quick!" She balled up a hand into a fist, a look of determination spread across her features. "If it had been lighter, I'm sure I could have done something more! Sorry for interrupting you, Kurogane-san, but I really do wish I could make this job easier for you. You're always working so hard off by yourself, and it just seems like there's nothing anyone can do sometimes."

A spasm of pain dashed criss-cross over his back. He withheld a twitch, but only just. Seeing her here...was making it awfully hard to concentrate.

"Look, it's not your fault. The greatest thing you can do--"

Sakura leaned forward, so eager to hear his next words that the sudden appearance of the waitress nearly caused her to topple out of her booth.

"So, what'll it be?"

A plate of mozzarella sticks later, Kurogane excused himself and ventured to the bathroom to inspect the damage the oni had done in the light. It was about as bad as he had suspected. Dark blots snatched away swatches of valuable sight as he attempted to bandage the wound with the torn fabric of his shirt, and he reeled after touching a particularly sore portion of his flesh. One thing was certain: he had to get back to the Cat's Eye immediately.

But...Sakura.

He didn't want to alarm her; this was the last thing he was prepared to handle. To be in debilitating pain with a teenage girl fretting and worrying herself into a frenzy around him was not high on his list of "Fun Activities with Sakura". In fact, the top item on that list currently was something along the lines of being locked in separate rooms with no means of reaching each other.

Paying their bill, the cherry wallet emitted a happy beep! before falling silent. Sakura followed him out the door, oddly quiet.

All the way back, she said nothing, brow furrowed until they reached the Cat's Eye's now deserted dinning area. The pain in Kurogane's back had intensified from sharp throbs to a constant, seizing ache, making it difficult to inhale normally.

"Kurogane-san?"

"What?" His voice was a rasp.

"What was it you were going to say to me beforehand? About the greatest thing I could do for you?"

He maintained silence, trudging up a few stairs before pausing.

"Just... be there."

He managed another few stairs before collapsing.

Just before unconsciousness settled in, Kurogane had time to suppose that his remark had been a bit cryptic. It wasn't what he'd intended to say, at least, it wasn't what he'd been on the verge of saying back at the restaurant. Pain can make a person say strange things. This he knew from experience. He fumbled wearily at grasping a stair on his way down before giving it up for a lost cause and letting the darkness overtake him at last.

Some things were better left unsaid.


Reviews!

xXTomokoXx :: See? I got it right this time! Hope you like this chapter, too!

Crusader Ari :: yay! Thanks for that! Kuro-pon is very fun to write from, just 'cause he's so pessimistic and snarky about everything. Oh, snark ninja, how we love thee.

venG :: Kuro-run definitely doesn't get off easy in this story. Then again, I sort of have more fun putting characters through hilariously difficult situations than easy plots. I get to explore their characters more and that's always entertaining.

Chess Piece :: Glad to hear it! As a writer, I like writing fics about challenging pairs, couples that make me think "how on earth could these two like each other?" It's a neat creative exercise for me as well.

Terrific Tina :: Whoops, guess I did it again. Oh, those cliffhangers...

I really have to apologize for the long wait for an update, guys. Recently, my family moved and I started college (which has been awesome! totally looking forward to taking a creative writing class soon!) so there hasn't been much time for writing. I'll do my best to get a few chapters out for everyone who's been so patient over the break, though.

Enjoy the holiday and merry Christmas!

--cy.