I did the one thing I said I would never do for a fanfic. Research. Ugh, I forgot where Fai and Yuui were when they were locked up, and then I looked it up. Now, read, cause I stayed up past my bedtime to put this up for you guys.


Syaoran blinked, stumbling a bit as he pulled back from the attack. Had he just heard a scream?

His first thought was that Sakura was in trouble, so he was gone and running by the time Kurogane had even figured out that someone could actually be in trouble.

Kurogane quickly caught up with the kid. Syaoran pretty much broke the door of his hinges as he burst through the door.

"Princess Sakura! Are you alright?!" He hollered. Sakura came out of the kitchen

"Yeah, I'm fine, did you-" Syaoran nodded. Kurogane blinked.

Wait a minute; if the scream hadn't come from Sakura, it had to have come from Fai.

Kurogane felt his eye twitch slightly. Fai had such a girly scream. It was really disturbing.

"I'll go check on Fai" Sakura said, rushing up the stairs. "Watch the food" she hollered before turning to head into Fai's room.

Syaoran and Kurogane walked into the kitchen.

Kurogane seated himself at the table, leaning back in the chair.

Syaoran grabbed the fork from beside the stove and stared blankly at whatever Sakura was cooking.

"What'd she mean by watch it?" Syaoran asked, poking it cautiously, as though it might explode.

"Hn" Kurogane grunted. Syaoran just continued poking it, still looking afraid. Kurogane closed his eyes.

A part of him wanted to see if the mage was fine, the other wanted to stab himself with a fork for even wanting to. The ninja was pretty much spilt in two about everything that had to do with that damn mage.

There was his pride, the part of him that felt the consistent urge to kill the mage, and the manjuu, and Yuuko; and then there was the gentler side of him, the part that he rarely let show cause whenever it was about, his pride would shove it in a safe, lock it, then forget the combination.

Kurogane's pride won in most situations, this was just another one of those.

It wasn't like he encouraged his pride to win, it was just the fact that he had spent so long on his reputation and he wasn't about to let some perky blond who couldn't face his own issues ruin it. He cringed inwardly.

And this was exactly why he kept on hurting the mage's feelings.

Not like he cared, the mage was constantly on his nerves, and he hated that about him.

But hadn't someone once said the love was easy to mistake with- "Kuro-chan's sleeping" A loud voice cried out.

Kurogane's red eyes shot open as he felt something soft make contact with his forehead, causing the chair he was sitting in to tip over.

"IT'S KUROGANE" Kurogane snapped, now lying on the ground, leg draped over the chair, and a white manjuu bouncing on his head.

"Is Fai alright?" Syaoran asked, turning around from the stove.

There was food on his face. Kurogane smirked; the food had blown up, if only slightly. Mokona bounced on Kurogane's head one more time before flying over to Syaoran's side, leaving Kurogane to get up.

"Fai had a nightmare, and fell out of bed" Mokona explained.

Kurogane rolled his eyes, still not having moved from the floor. He should've known it would be a nightmare. And he had a feeling he knew whom it was about.

The need the make sure the mage was alright tugged at him, and in protest he decided he was going to stay on the floor.

"Doesn't Kuro-chii want to get up?" Mokona teased.

"Shut up" Kurogane snapped folding his arms.

Sakura stuck her head through the opening of the door. "Can-"She stopped short, looking in wonder from Syaoran to Kurogane.

It must've been quite a sight, seeing as how Kurogane was lying on a toppled over chair, and Syaoran was standing in front of the stove, remnants of whatever was cooking plastered to his face.

"What?" Kurogane grunted.

Sakura looked startled. "I, uh, can you go make sure Fai's okay Kurogane?" She stammered.

Kurogane rolled his eyes and awkwardly stood up. "Syaoran are you ok?" Sakura asked hurriedly, rushing over to help the kid.

Kurogane also had a feeling it was so she wouldn't have to deal with his irritable wrath as he left the room.

He stomped up the stairs, making sure that they knew he wasn't happy. Great, now he was acting like a child.

He opened the door to Fai's room slowly, bracing himself for the nicknames.

When none came, he was relieved, but also a bit worried. It was unlike Fai to be this silent.

He looked at the mage closely. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall. His was flushed feverishly, his expression was that of fear; not the 'jumping out and saying boo' thing, it was more of a 'Visiting a place I've always feared' expression. His eye reflected his expression, but they were distant to, almost like he wasn't really there. His blond hair was a mess; it wasn't tied into its usual ponytail and hung loose, casting a semi-dramatic shadow over his face.

Kurogane walked into the room, his foot-steps still had a semi-irritated sound to them.

"Is the wall really that interesting?" Kurogane asked gruffly.

No response from the mage.

Kurogane raised an eyebrow in surprise.

It was unlike him to not say anything.

Although, his eyes still had that distance look to them, almost like he was…."Mage!" Kurogane snapped, wanting to get this over with.

Still no response. Kurogane crossed his arms, debating about the possibilities.

Eventually he decided on which course of action he would take. He raised his fist and brought it down upon the mage's head.

Now, don't fret, he didn't hit him that hard, only hard enough that he knew the mage would feel it, and that he could take a bit of stress out upon him.

Fai blinked and recoiled in surprise.

"Kuro-pyon" Fai gasped, holding his head.

"The hell's wrong with you?" Kurogane asked.

"What'd'ya mean, Kuro-chii?" Fai grinned.

"Well, aside from the fact you didn't respond when I was talking to you, you haven't said anything since I walked in" Kurogane stated.

"Was Kuro-wan worried?" Fai taunted, plastering a fake smile over his face.

"You know that smile doesn't fool me, what are you hiding today." Kurogane tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the magician to snap.

Fai clasped his hands together and began staring at them intently, as if he was waiting for them to start talking and explain.

"I thought I was there again" he murmured softly. "

Where?" Kurogane asked, a little perturbed by Fai's seriousness, normally these moments only last around a minute.

"There" Fai repeated, as if he expected to instantly know where he was talking about.

"Mage, I have no idea where 'there' is" Kurogane snapped.

"There" he said again, adding a certain tone that Kurogane had a fairly good idea where he was talking about. That stupid pit his family had stuck him and his brother in.

"Why would you think you were back there?" Kurogane asked.

Fai shrugged. "I dunno, but it was so real, like I was" Fai stopped, hanging his head.

Kurogane didn't expect him to say more, he had said to much.

"Better question" Kurogane said, seating himself next to Fai. "Why would you think that we'd let you go back there?" Fai shrugged again, but looked up after he fully comprehended what the ninja had just said.

"We?" he asked.

"There is not a chance in hell any of us would force you to go back there, and, if for some odd reason, you were there, Mokona and the kids would never leave me alone until I saved your sorry ass" Kurogane explained, before quietly adding: "Again."

"Thanks, Kuro-myu" Fai said, somewhat relieved by that. He was still shaken by what he had seen. It had looked so…real. Almost like he was back there, but, at the same time, Kurogane's words, gruff as they were, were reassuring.

"Shut up" The ninja snapped, embarrassed by his sudden display of kindness.

Kurogane stood up. "I'm going to go make sure the kitchen hasn't exploded" he said, heading for the door.

"What?" Fai asked.

Kurogane turned around, "Syaoran was cooking" he explained.

Fai chuckled, "Can I see?"

"No, you need sleep, I can handle it."

"Aww, Kuro-daddy cares" Fai said sleepily.

"Tch." Kurogane grunted before he left the room.

Kurogane was bombarded with questions the moment he got off the stairs.

"Is Fai-mommy ok?!"

"Are you hungry"

"What happened?"

Ok, maybe not so much bombarded as asked at the same time.

"The bastard was seeing things" was all Kurogane offered. "Now, if you'll excuse, I'm going to bed."

"Kuro-pon is tired, Kuro-pon is tired" Mokona sang. Her voice echoing throughout the house as the tired ninja made his way to his room.

Mokona continued singing until she heard the muffled screaming off: "IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP I WILL PERSONALLY RIP YOU TO SHREADS!"


I dunno, was that a little OOC? Maybe it was, but oh well. I'm going crazy. I was re-reading an old part, and instead of reading: "None of your annoying attitude" I read: "None of your manly sass."

Hah, I am such a moment killer, I bet you thought something was going to happen right away, but somehow, I liked it this way better.

R&R, and farewell, for now (Manical laughter as I run off into the distance)