Author's Note: Here's the new chapter! Please enjoy. In case you've forgotten, none of these characters belong to me. They're all CLAMP's. Except that person Fai nearly ran over in Chapter 5, who is my intellectual property. For all that's worth.

Chapitre 7: Fan

Silence followed Chu'nyan's plea.

After a few minutes, Kurogane spoke. "And what's that got to do with us?"

Chu'nyan glowered at him. "What do you think? I want you to save Lotus!"

"And why should we?" Kurogane asked.

"Because-"

A loud crash startled them all. One of the walls of the shack had completely collapsed, nearly on top of them.

"Chu'nyan!" a voice yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

Chu'nyan cursed. "We have get out of here. Now!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you aren't making much sense…" Fai said.

A large man stomped into the shack. He had black hair, which was up in a number of small topknots. His most noticeable feature was his gigantic, broad nose. The floorboards shook.

"How dare you defy my father?" he asked.

"Your father was no one until two years ago," Chu'nyan countered. "And you're still no one. Idiot!"

"You'll pay for that!" the man yelled. He pulled out a large fan.

Chu'nyan paled. "We have to get out of here! Now! That's my mother's fan!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kurogane asked.

The man opened the fan, and waved it, sending a wave of dust toward the group. Six knights in full armor emerged from the dust.

"My mother was a magician!" Chu'nyan said.

One of the warriors rushed at Fai, who effortlessly jumped out of the way. Kurogane unsheathed his sword and ran at the other two.

Sakura felt useless. She had no fighting abilities, or, really, any abilities at all. She looked over at Chu'nyan, who was seething.

"Stay back," Sakura said. "Kurogane and Fai will protect us."

Sakura was actually shocked by how adept they were at that particular task. Fai's fighting style reminded her of a dance. He leapt and dodged so smoothly she couldn't help but think his movements were rehearsed. It occurred to her that she knew very little about Fai. One thing was sure, though. He must have fought before.

Kurogane's sword had become an extension of his arm. Even against the preternaturally fast warriors the fan had conjured, he didn't seem to be having any difficulty.

The man brought down the fan again, and more warriors appeared. One ran toward Chu'nyan, sword drawn.

Sakura, panicking, did the only thing she could think of, throwing herself between the warrior and Chu'nyan. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact of the sword.

Metal clashed against metal. Sakura's eyes flew open. Kurogane was there, on one knee, his sword parrying the warrior's. He turned toward Sakura, and their eyes met. He looked furious, and Sakura wondered why.

"Get the girl out of here," he said through clenched teeth.

Sakura nodded quickly and took Chu'nyan's hand. The girls ran out of the shack through a hole in the back wall.

"Hurry," Sakura urged. They ran until they couldn't hear the sounds of the battle anymore. Sakura slumped to the ground against the wall of a nearby building.

"Are you all right?" Chu'nyan asked.

Sakura struggled to find words. How could she explain it? She was scared that someone would come after them. She was relieved that they had gotten away safely. She was ashamed that she had panicked when the warrior had attacked them. She was worried about Fai and Kurogane.

"I'm just a little tired," she finally said.

Kurogane parried another of the warrior's swords. He was beginning to feel the effects of the battle. His muscles were burning, and his sword felt heavier than it had five minutes ago.

Kurogane watched as Fai dodged one warrior by a hair's breadth, then jumped into the air and kicked another in the head. A third and forth swung swords at him, but Fai somersaulted out of the way, and the two ended up slicing into one another. He landed in a crouch and kicked the legs out from another warrior without a single pause. All of this took him less than a minute.

Kurogane himself parried one warrior's sword, then knocked another's out of his hand. He slashed at a third, then blocked a fourth who had been attempting to sneak up on him.

"These things are artifices, right?" Kurogane asked, jabbing the handle of his sword into a warrior. The warrior doubled over, and Kurogane sliced through him. He disappeared in a puff of dust.

"That's right," Fai said, narrowly dodging a spear. "The fan creates them."

"So if we destroy that fan…"

"Kuro-rin, I don't know if that's-"

Kurogane ignored him, and charged the large man. The man threw the fan up as a shield, just as Kurogane had expected. Kurogane put all of his energy into swinging the sword.

The top part of the fan fell, cleanly separated from the bottom part. Immediately, all of the warriors were replaced by small puffs of dust.

The man's face turned red with rage. "My father will make you pay!" he yelled as he ran way.

"Well, Kuro-pon, that really was something," Fai said.

Kurogane studied the lanky, blond man before him. The guy was built like a scarecrow. But he was an unbelievable fighter. Kurogane would never admit it, but he wasn't sure if even he would be able to win against someone like Fai.

At first, he had thought Fai's acrobatics were all show. After watching him for a while, though, he had realized that Fai's way was also the most efficient way for him to take on multiple opponents without a weapon. In order to do what he did, he had to be calculating eight different moves at once. Either that, or he had instincts beyond those of anyone Kurogane had ever seen. There was definitely more to the magician than he let on.

Sakura was still slumped against the house wall. Chu'nyan was looking at her with concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked again.

"I'm fine," Sakura said. She wasn't so sure, though. The seal on her back, which she hadn't felt at all since she passed out in Fai's shop, was throbbing. Her chest hurt, and she felt dizzy. She was beginning to worry. The seal had taken away her memories, but it wasn't actually going to hurt her- was it?

NinthFeather: Yeah, I know, cliffhanger. For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, the man with Chu'nyan's mother's fan is the Ryanban's son from Koryo Country. Anyway, I would like you all to meet my friend KuroNekoShoujo, who is here because she dragged me into the character interactions in her Saint Beast fanfic. *whispers* In other words, this is revenge.

KuroNekoShoujo: I heard that. Now, where's Kuro-puu?

Kurogane: Why does everyone call me these names?

Fai: Because it's fun!

Kurogane: Shut up!

KuroNekoShoujo: *suddenly draws extremely sharp katana, charges Kurogane* You're going down!

Kurogane: Wait, what!

KuroNekoShoujo: NinthFeather promised me a fight with you! *swings at him* Now draw!

Kurogane: As if you could take me! *draws sword and runs at her*

*They fight for a while. KuroNekoShoujo manages to give Kurogane a buzz cut. Fortunately, this is a fanfic, so his hair grows right back*

Kurogane: That's it! *raises sword* Hama-Ryuu-Ou-Jin!

KuroNekoShoujo: *raises sword* Borderline Insane Fangirl Attack!

*The two attacks clash in midair. After a few seconds, KuroNekoShoujo's attack overwhelms Kurogane's and he is thrown backward.*

Kurogane: !$

KuroNekoShoujo: Hmph. That's what you get for taking on a yakuza.

NinthFeather: Borderline Insane Fangirl Attack?

KuroNekoShoujo: And you aren't?

NinthFeather: I never said that. So did you have fun beating on Kuro-rinta?

KuroNekoShoujo: Of course. Don't you think you should be shamelessly begging for reviews about now?

NinthFeather: Probably, yeah. Okay, not to be loud or anything, but I NEED REVIEWS. Otherwise it feels like KuroNekoShoujo is the only reading my fic.

KuroNekoShoujo: And what's wrong with that?

NintheFeather: You're my best friend. You'd tell me you liked it even if it was a technical manual on the operation of toaster ovens.

KuroNekoShoujo: Okay, probably… but still!

NinthFeather: Oh, by the way, KuroNekoShoujo has some pretty good stories herself. I am not a shounen-ai person myself, but if you are into that, she's got a Gravitation oneshot, a Yami no Matsuei/Gakuen Heaven crossover, and two Saint Beast fanfics. I make an unwilling guest appearance in the second, as I mentioned earlier.

KuroNekoShoujo: So your homework is to review her fic and read mine.

NinthFeather: Stop ordering the readers around.

KuroNekoShoujo: *sticks out tongue* Stop being a funsucker.

NinthFeather: Believe it or not, this is how most of our conversations go. I'll try and finish the next chapter soon.

Fai: Bye!