Hey, valued readers,

Andrix here. Thanks for sticking with me this far. I noticed that my readership dropped a lot between chapter one and chapter two. If you're still with me, then drop me a comment in the reviews! It's nice to know what people think, and knowing people actually appreciate my work and are willing to take a bit of time out of their lives to read my stuff really helps to motivate my writing. I appreciate anything you have to say, flames, praise, whatever. Everything is welcomed. I'd prefer you comment on this chapter, so I know at least someone is still here. I'd also like to thank all my friends. If it wasn't for you guys reading through this (even though you know next to nothing about the story or characters), I probably would have given up by now.

Read, share, and enjoy,
- Andrix

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I don't know reasons why you cry,
I don't know reasons why you hide,


We don't need to escape,
We all need the sunshine to believe

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Syaoran looked up at the beast that was now in front of him. Only a moment ago, he and Sorata had been pulling weeds, now Sorata was dangling 10 feet in the air by his ankle.

He snapped out of his trance as the monster swung one of its massive vines in his direction. He leapt out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding the flailing appendage.

Kurogane stared up at the beast as well.

"What the hell is THAT?" he said, blinking in disbelief.

"A Kyabetsu!" came Arashi's voice from behind him.

Fay turned around to look at her. "Kyabetsu?" he said, blinking, "You've seen one before?"

"They live all over this country," she said, staring at it wide-eyed, "They're normally a lot smaller than that, though!"

Sakura and Mokona were with her. "It has the feather!" the puffball exclaimed, pointing.

"My katana!" Kurogane exclaimed, "Give me my katana!"

With a 'pakuu', the Manjuu spat out a ball of light, which floated over to Kurogane and formed into Souhi. Kurogane was off in an instant. The monster proved to be smarter than it looked, however, and attempted to bring one of its vines right down onto Kurogane's spiky head.

"Kuro-sama!" Fay shouted to warn him of the impending danger.

Kurogane blinked, looking up just in time to see the vine. With a flash of light, the Kyabetsu's vine was dismembered and flailing about on the ground like a snake before laying still. Kurogane was standing there, Souhi drawn and dripping with a pale red sap-like substance. He smirked as the creature left out a howl of pain and dropped Sorata. Syaoran was there to catch him. As soon as both were out of the way, Kurogane leapt to attack the Kyabetsu again. Once again, the monster proved to be smarter than it looked. It turned its massive form just enough to let a thunderous roar in Kurogane's direction. A strange gas escaped with the noise. Kurogane fell back to the ground, coughing and sputtering. He covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, glaring up at the beast.

"Damn… what was that?" he hissed.

"Kurogane-san!" Syaoran called.

"Stay back, kid!" Kurogane shouted back.

He was once again overcome with coughing, leaning on Souhi for support. The monster seemed to smirk as it raised a vine to crush Kurogane. At the very moment the appendage began to plummet towards him, Kurogane regained his composure.

"Hakama – Ryuujin!"

A bright flash of light, and the Kyabetsu was gone, completely destroyed by the attack. Sakura's feather was floating in the midst of everything. Kurogane looked up at it for a moment before he was, once again, overcome by a fit of coughing. The others ran over, but by the time they reached him, Kurogane had lost consciousness.

"Kurorin!" Fay and Mokona exclaimed. Fay dropped to his knees next to their fallen friend. Arashi was next to him.

"It's the poison," she said.

"Poison?" Mokona squeaked.

"Don't worry, we have an antidote. But we need to hurry and get him inside!" she said urgently.

"I'll get it ready!" Sorata said, running inside.

Fay helped Arashi get Kurogane into the house. Mokona grabbed the feather before he, Syaoran and Sakura followed them.

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It was hours later when Kurogane stirred awake. His head was pounding, as if some tiny marching band had taken up residence and did not want to leave. He turned his gaze to his left, seeing Fay sitting there with a washcloth clasped in his hand. He must have dozed off.

With a groan, Kurogane pushed himself to rest on his elbows. He felt as though there was a lump of rock in his throat. It made swallowing and breathing somewhat difficult. He started coughing hoarsely.

"Augh…" he gasped, holding his throat.

Fay stirred. "Kuro-pon… you're awake…"

"Yeah, what the hell happened?" he asked.

"You were poisoned," he said, "You need to lie down and rest."

"I'm fine," Kurogane argued.

"No, you're not," Fay insisted, placing a hand on his shoulder to push him back down. "Arashi-san said it would take a few days before the poison got out of your system completely."

"I'm fine, you idiot!" Kurogane hissed.

"No," Fay said, "Kuro-puu is not fine."

"Yes, I am! Get off me!" Kurogane said again.

Fay frowned. "Kuro-wanko, I'll sit on you if I have to."

"I'd like to see you – oof!!"

Kurogane's sentence was interrupted as the magician plopped down on his chest, forcing him back down to the pallet on which he was laying.

"What the hell?!" Kurogane snarled, "Get off me!"

"No," Fay said stubbornly. "You need to lie down and rest, and if this is the only way to make you do that, then fine."

"Moron! Idiot! Bastard!" Kurogane ranted.

"You need to come up with better names, Kuro-pii," Fay said, not budging.

"Get the hell off me!" he said again, trying to push the slender, blonde fool off his chest.

Fay moved so he could pin Kurogane's arms. "Stay, Kuro-wanko." He said seriously, "You'll make the children and Mokona worry."

Kurogane gave a deep-throated growl before snorting and laying still.

"Fine," he muttered.

Fay grinned and patted his head.

"Good boy," he said, standing and turning to flop down on the floor next to Kurogane's pallet.

"Why?" Kurogane groaned.

"Hm?" said Fay, looking up at him.

"Why are you tending to me?" he asked.

"Because Syaoran-kun and Mokona are with Sakura-chan, Arashi-san is busy with dinner, and Sorata-san is recovering from his ordeal," he said, ticking names off on his fingers, "So that leaves ookinayanko to look after ookiwanko"

"Don't use those names. They're annoying," Kurogane grumbled, "Stupid magician."

"Kuro-tan is still a meanie," Fay said, pouting.

"Don't start that again," he hissed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared up at the ceiling.

"How is Kuro-sama feeling anyway?" Fay asked, neatly folding the cloth.

"Like I tried to swallow a rock and it got stuck halfway down," he said, reaching up to rub his throat.

"It's the poison," Fay explained, "Arashi-san said it attacks the airways and makes them close, to suffocate a person."

"Wonderful," said Kurogane sarcastically.

"Don't be so negative, Kuro-pon" Fay said, "It's only a few days."

"Tch. That means a few days of putting up with you," the ninja grumbled.

"Aw, am I really that bad?" the magician asked.

"Well, n—Yes! Yes, you really are that bad!" Kurogane hissed.

"What was Kurorin going to say before his pride kicked in?" Fay asked teasingly.

"Shut up, stupid magician," he grumbled.

"Tell meee" Fay whined.

"If you tell me why it is you're constantly running away," Kurogane countered.

Fay went quiet. There was no smile on his face as he stood and turned towards the door.

"I'm going to go see how Arashi-san is doing with dinner," he mumbled.

Kurogane did not say a word as the magician walked out the door. However, he could not help but feel a little bad about exploiting Fay's weakness like that. He let out a little huff and forced that little bit of emotion away. It would not let him go that easy, however, and came back to give him a good, hard kick in the pants. He tried to force it away again, but again it came back, this time kicking even harder. He sighed and gazed at the door, waiting for Fay to come back in.

The magician entered the room a few minutes later, two steaming bowls of rice and two sets of chopsticks in his hands. Kurogane turned his gaze back to the ceiling.

"Sorry," he grumbled.

"Hm?" was Fay's reply.

"I said I was sorry," he said again.

"Its okay, Kuro-pon," he said, sitting down, "Can you sit up?"

Kurogane carefully pushed himself to a sitting position. "Yeah," he said, coughing a bit, "I can sit up just fine."

"Alright," Fay replied, handing Kurogane one of the bowls and a pair of chopsticks. He then picked up his own bowl. They ate in silence… until a grain of rice hit Kurogane in the side of his head. He blinked, but thought nothing of it, returning to his own rice. Then it happened again. And again. And a fourth time.

Kurogane turned towards Fay, intent on giving the fool a piece of his mind. What he saw made him stop short. Fay was sitting there, a look of deep concentration on his features. He was trying valiantly to get the rice from the bowl to his mouth with the strange utensils. Kurogane had to fight to keep a smile off his face.

"Like this," he said, demonstrating how to properly use the chopsticks.

Fay blinked and tried to mimic him, but failed and sent rice flying everywhere.

"Hyuu…" he mumbled, "This is hard…"

"It's not really," Kurogane said, "It just takes practice."

He showed Fay how to do it again. Once again, Fay tried and failed. He scowled slightly at the sticks in his hand. Kurogane sighed and set his down. He took a hold of Fay's hand. He shifted the chopsticks and repositioned Fay's fingers a bit.

"Now try." He said, letting go.

Fay blinked and tried again. This time, he succeeded. The rice made it all the way from the bowl to his mouth. He chewed happily then swallowed.

"Hyuu!" he exclaimed, "Thank you, Kuro-sama."

Once again, Kurogane found himself fighting a smile.

"Stupid magician, you probably would have gotten it on your own eventually," he said, "I was just tired of watching you flick rice all over the room."

He paused to pluck a grain of rice out of his hair.

"Especially since half of it was hitting me in the side of the head."

Fay grinned. "Kuro-puu is such a fake."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane asked, shooting him a glare.

The magician just shook his head, and continued eating his rice.

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Hey again,

Thanks for reading. The lyrics are from Supercollider by Beat Crusaders. Remember to please, please, PLEASE leave a comment in the reviews if you read this all the way through. And even if you didn't, leave a comment to let me know why.

See you next time, and remember:

Read, review, and love,
- Andrix