I think this is one of the longest chapters so far.

So, anyone who is reading, who is your favorite Tsubasa character? And why?

Ha, I'm just kidding, nobody's reading this.

For the few that are though, mine is either Fai or CSyaoran. It flip flops. Probably it's Fai, but if he's number one, CSyaoran is like, number one and a half. I love all the characters though.

Chapter 6

Now that Yuui knew everything, (mostly) it was like a switch had been flipped. Kurogane found himself in the middle of two laughing blondes almost twenty-four seven, and while Yuui was calmer, that didn't mean he wasn't a handful too.

"Wow, they really like you." Syaoran said that night at dinner, and Kurogane just shrugged. Both guards suddenly tuned in to the conversation that was happening at the dinner table, when Sakura asked, "So, Fai-lee, have you had any marriage proposals yet?"

Kurogane looked up. It was a logical question. Everyone in the whole world thought Fai was a girl, and eventually, Prince's would start to send over invitations. How would Fai avoid those forever?

"I have no interest in marriage right now." Fai replied easily, taking a drink of his tea. They moved on quickly, with help from Yuui, but now that the subject had been brought up, it was stuck firmly in Kurogane's mind. So, when they were alone in the room again that night, he brought it back up.

"How do you plan on fending them off?" he asked, and Fai shrugged,like it was no big deal.

"I'll just tell them I'm not interested in men." he jokes, and Kurogane lets out a small chuckle. Fai watches him, then starts fiddling with his long hair, hair used to make him look like a girl. For the first time, it makes Kurogane wonder something.

"Hey, is that your real hair?"

Fai stops twirling the hair in his fingers, and shakes his head. "It's a wig."

"Why don't you just grow it long? Wouldn't it be easier?"

It's silent for a couple seconds while Fai thinks it over, before answering, "I like to take it off sometimes, when I'm alone."

Kurogane didn't say anything, because he understood why that might be a desirable thing, when you'd spent your whole life looking like someone you weren't.

Fai watched him think, then cocked his head, his usual smile a little smaller, with a flirtatious tinge that was impossible to miss. Kurogane raised an eyebrow, waiting to see where this went.

"Do you want to see me with it off?"

Kurogane thought it over, picturing it, but not wanting to the blonde to know he was picturing it. But Fai seemed to know, and jumped up, running over to the darker male and poking him on the chest. "Come on, you want to, right?"

Kurogane pushed his prodding hand away. "Why would I want to see that?"

"Come on, you can't fool me! I know you do!"

There was a gust of wind outside that was strong enough to rattle the windows, momentarily distracting Fai. The window burst open, and Kurogane pushed past him to go and close it. But just before he reached it, a hand reached out and stopped him. Fai poked his head out the open window, the wind blowing it wildly around.

"The wind picked up fast!" Fai shouted, looking back at motioning for Kurogane to look.

"I can see from here."

"You're no fun."

"Get your head in here before something flies into it."

Fai didn't listen, and Kurogane tried to hide his smug smirk when about five leaves suddenly blew into his face all at once, leaving Fai to pull back into the room in surprise.

"Kuro-tan! Leaves!" he said simply, as if he were shocked at the sight of them. He went up the other man, and shook his hair around. Getting the memo, Kurogane picked the leaves out, feeling the wig underneath his fingers. It was soft, and felt real, which was probably in case someone ever got close enough to Fai to touch his hair. It would be pointless to the whole charade if the wig felt fake underneath fingertips.

Fai waited for him to finish, suddenly quiet. His eyes began to dim, until they were dark, like he was thinking of something dismal. It wasn't as nice as when his eyes smiled, and Kurogane, to try and draw his attention away from whatever unhappy thoughts that were plaguing him, lightly pulled on the fake hair. Fai looked up, into his eyes, and they were silent, taking each other in. The air felt alive around them, like it was waiting for them to do something.

"You're even more handsome up close, Kuro-rin." Fai finally said, and Kurogane huffed, dropping his hand, from where he'd unintentionally kept it by Fai's face.

"Don't call me that."

Mokona, who had mostly been forgotten, meowed from a corner of the room. The two men looked over, but the kitten seemed to be sleep meowing, making Fai let out of quick breath of laughter. When they looked back at each other, Fai nodded, like he'd been asked a question, then put his hand on his now askew hair. "Well, since it's already messed up." he said, and gently, he pulled the wig off, shaking out his real hair. It was the same color as the wig, (which was probably on purpose) but it looked softer, and even though it was shorter than the tumbling locks of the wig, it was still longer than the hair of most men.

As if reading his mind, Fai tilted his head towards Kurogane. "Is it as soft as the wig?"

Kurogane dropped his hand on the bright hair without further prompt, and lightly stroked it, feeling it slide through his rough fingertips. "Softer." he answered honestly. "Must be a pain to wash your hair and that stupid wig."

"Yeah." His roommate dropped the wig onto a nearby table, as if suddenly uncaring if it got dirty. "I look just like Yuui, don't I?" he asked, and even though he was smiling, Kurogane could tell it was fake. He was much more sad and torn then he was currently letting on, and this question held more weight than Fai had asked it with.

Red eyes scanned him one more time. Of course he looked like Yuui, that was inevitable, them being identical twins and all. But there were differences in their faces, the shape of their eyes, and their posture. Yuui stood like he was carrying the future of a kingdom with him, but Fai stood like he was always relaxing against invisible walls. Invisible walls that he was afraid would crumble behind him at any moment.

Without the long hair Fai looked much more like a boy, though still feminine. Honestly, Kurogane liked him better this way. Blue eyes were still watching him, waiting for the answer to the question.

"You look like you. And not like anyone else."

Fai's eyes widened, and his lip trembled for a second, before he offered a shaky smile. "Thank you, Kurogane." he whispered, and, a second later, Fai was moving forward, and hugging him. And even though it was childish, and stupid, and not befitting of the captain of the guard, Kurogane's heart jumped in his chest a few times before returning to its normal rate. He wrapped his arms around Fai too, holding him closely. In the silence and stillness, he could feel Fai's heart too, and like his, the blonde's was pumping fast, only it wasn't slowing down.

"Kuro-sama…" Fai whispered, lowly enough that Kurogane had to lean down another inch to make sure he'd hear whatever was coming out of Fai's mouth next. "Do you like me?"

And he could have said, "Sure," and pretended like he hadn't known what Fai had meant, like he'd thought he was only asking as a friend. But he wasn't stupid, and Fai knew he wasn't stupid, and besides, that would be heartless of him. Besides, what was the point in that?

When he got no answer right away, Fai pulled back from the hug, looking up at him worriedly, probably afraid he was going to punch him and then storm off. But Kurogane was still just considering his answer, even though he knew it. How could he deny it? Every day since they'd met, his thoughts had been filled with Fai, and every moment was charged with something between them. He'd never felt this way about anyone before.

"Yeah." he said, just as Fai looked like he was going to start backing away. "I do."

Fai froze, looking up at him in shock. "Really?"

"Do you really think I would have said I did if I didn't?" asked Kurogane, sounding slightly annoyed, and Fai thought it over for only a quick moment before shaking his head.

"No. But...did you like me better when you thought I was a girl?"

Kurogane rolled his eyes, and scoffed. "What a stupid question. I fell in love with you, not your gender."

"Fell in love?" Fai repeated in a gasp, and, never one to take back what he'd said, Kurogane nodded. "Got a problem with that?"

The blonde shook his head, his real hair swishing back and forth. "No. I love you too. I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

Ah. So Tomoyo was right. It had been love at first sight. For Fai at least. And probably for Kurogane too.

"Besides," he said with a small smirk. "I always kind of suspected."

Fai laughed, and nodded. "Yeah, I saw that."

He reached out, and took Kurogane's hands in both of his, squeezing them gently. His pale ones fit nicely into Kurogane's darker one.

"What am I going to do, Kurogane?" he asked, speaking to the floor. "I love you. But...if I stayed...I don't know if…"

Kurogane understood without it being clearly said. He didn't know if he could leave. And even if he could, did that mean Fai could live his life as a boy? Or would they have to keep this facade going forever?

"Think about it later." Kurogane offered. "Take some time to think about it."

Fai nodded. "Okay."

"Now get to bed. It's late."

"Come with me."

And Kurogane did, catching his breath as Fai, without his overflowing nightgown, still in his natural hair, snuggled into him, putting his head on Kurogane's chest, shutting his eyes. He was, in Kurogane's opinion, beautiful either way, but this sight was better, because it was real, and when he was being real, Fai glowed, like he hid himself all the time, and just let his light burst whenever he had the chance.

Fai suddenly mumbled something, something Kurogane didn't catch. He tilted his head closer.

"What?"

"Didn't kiss me." Fai said, louder this time, then opened his eyes, looking at Kurogane seriously, so he could see that he wasn't joking. Kurogane took a quick second to think this over. Fai was a prince. And he still was just a guard. But…

He leaned down, and Fai scooted up quietly, until their lips were pressed together gently. Fai pulled the blanket up and over their heads, blocking them from the outside world, hiding them from anyone who might have walked in. Kurogane didn't really care if anyone did, but it wasn't his secret on the line, so he didn't complain. Why complain at all, when he had Fai there, holding him as they kissed? It was like they were in their own little world, for just a brief moment.

It was possible that Fai would decide he couldn't do this, and go home, with Yuui, once the party was over. He might decide that being with Kurogane wasn't worth the secret he'd spent his whole life hiding.

Kurogane wanted their to be more nights like this. More kisses. More than kisses.

But for now, he was just going to have to take what he could get.

*(*)

Luckily, they weren't woken up by someone barging in this time, and for once, Fai managed to get up early. He got into his many robes, put back on the wig, and turned to look at Kurogane.

"Would you kiss me even when I look like a girl?"

And Kurogane did.

They were first to the table, so Kurogane sat down at it, and they talked lowly, heads together. They weren't really talking about anything important, but suddenly, it was as if they didn't want the world hearing them together. Like their words were more private than that.

"Kurogane-san, Fai-lee-chan, good morning." a girlish voice yawned, and they looked up to see Sakura. She was too tired still to notice how close they were sitting, but Syaoran wasn't, and he smiled and waved at them from across the room.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan." Fai said, waving back to Syaoran.

"Have you been sleeping well?" Sakura asked Fai a few minutes later, just as Tomoyo and Yuui both walked in, Kotetsu trailing close by. "You look tired."

They had stayed up kind of late, talking, Fai delibrately teasing him until he kissed him to get him to shut up. They'd wrestled, because Fai had insisted he could beat Kurogane in a wrestling match. He hadn't, obviously.

"You do look tired." Tomoyo seconded, and Yuui looked at them quietly, back and forth between them, studying. Under his brother's observation, Fai cracked a little, looking away with a red tinge on his face. Yuui saw it, and leaned back in his seat, sighing, and then looking at Kurogane in a way that was easy to understand. We need to talk.

So, about two hours later, which was about how long Kurogane had managed to put him off, and how long Fai could find other things to talk about and do, Yuui came and found him, cornering him while he was alone outside.

"You and Fai did something." he said, not a question. It wasn't an accusation either though, which was a good sign. And since the brother seemed to be good at knowing when people were lying too, Kurogane told the truth.

"Yeah."

Yuui nodded, and sighed, dropping his head for a moment. Kurogane waited for him to start in with the warnings. But when Yuui finally raised his head again, he was smiling, the happiest smile Kurogane had seen from him yet. There were even a few tears in his eyes, which he wiped away.

"Thank you, Kurogane." he said softly, and hugged him fiercly, much stronger than Fai had last night.

"For what?" asked Kurogane, a little confused, but accepting the hug. These brothers were really touch feely.

"For letting Fai be himself. You've given him something to hope for."

"What do you mean?"

"In our castle, Fai is happy. I know he is. But he's also trapped, and we both know it. But he never did anything against it, never said anything. He's never hoped for anything more in life." Yuui said, stepping back a few steps again. "But now that he's met you...he'll have to make a choice. And I know he'll make the right one."

In the distance, they could hear Tomoyo, Sakura, and Syaoran all laughing and shouting, but there were no sounds from Fai, wherever he was.

"And what's the right choice?"

"The one that will make him happiest."

"Yuui." a voice said gently, and Fai emerged from the bushes, dressed as a girl, and holding his kitten in his arms. The two brothers looked at each other, then hugged without a word, the kitten hopping onto Fai's shoulders.

"Whichever you choose," Yuui whispered. "I'll support you."

Fai nodded, burying his face into Yuui's shoulder. Kurogane heard him sniffle.

"Thank you."

Yuui is the best brother one could ever want. Or so I imagine. And the more I write him, the more I seriously want to do a story about him.

Yuui needs a fandom.

I will be the fandom.