Pure Magic

Chapter 8 – Name Exchange


The aromatic scent of cooking rice stirred him from his state of unconsciousness. He blinked his eyes opened, letting the pupils dilate in adjustment to the bright lights glaring down at him from the ceiling above, before sitting up and examining his surroundings. His blue eyes darted from the left to the right, to the sky and to the ground before they settled in the direction where, from what he could see, was a kitchen. He couldn't see anyone, however, he could hear the clattering of pots and pans and could hear the rushed footfalls as the person waltzed around the kitchen.

He maneuvered himself, groaning as a slight bit of dizziness overtook him, before fixing himself on the edge of the green leather couch with his feet on the floor. He held his head in his hands until the wave of dizziness dissipated. He reached into his pockets, making sure he wasn't robbed of anything, before he stood up. The sudden movement caused him to stumbled forward and he narrowly managed to miss running into a very expensive looking black, glass vase with purple, cut-stemmed irises soaking inside. His feet seemed to move on their own, feeling like long sticks of jelly that wouldn't stop wobbling. He moved to the left until he was able to lean against the wall, trying to find a balance for himself.

From the other room, he could hear someone setting two plates on a wooden table along with other various items. Fai moved his legs quickly, knowing that whomever it was could come find him at any time. He managed to leave the room, finding himself in what looked to be an office. A brown desk sat in the corner of the room with a leather spin chair at its foot, a large, rather comfortable looking red couch sat in the center of the room, facing a wooden, old Victorian styled chair. Fai made his way through the room, finding everything suddenly flip-flopping in front of him until he could see two of everything. His stomach jumped and twisted in a way that made him want to puke whatever he had left in his gut from the night before. He saw two sets of Victorian chairs on either side of him and tried to avoid both of the moving images, but sadly, he failed.

"Ah!" He cried out.

Apparently the split chairs that were supposedly on either side of him was actually a single chair right in front of him and as soon as he bumped into it, he found his upper body falling forward, causing him to literally dive-bomb over the chair, slamming his forehead into the tatami matted floor beneath him. He heard the chair fall along with him and winced at the amount of sound he just made in that single moment.

The sound of quick footfalls entered the room and Fai, still lying on his stomach on the floor, lifted his head and looked behind him to see a familiar looking face. A man with black hair that spiked and...red eyes. Fai recognized the man immediately. Before he could move or speak or do anything, the other man rushed to his side, snatching his left arm, pulling it up to inspection, all the while pushing his sleeve up to his elbow. Fai just stared in confusion.

"You're bleeding."

I am? He wondered, but didn't give the other man a reply.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, you know that?" The man said, narrowing his eyes.

Fai looked at his arm, seeing a small gash leaking blood and looked to the floor to see a pair of opened scissors. Why hadn't he noticed those before?

"Come on." The man said, pulling him up, "I don't want you bleeding all over the place."

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Fai found himself sitting at a wooden, brown table with a white plate of rice and noodles that were a slight bit burnt at the edges. The other mans plate had the same, only, next to it, there was a clear glass of what looked to be beer.

He watched as the other man walked over to his white fridge,

"What do you drink?"

"Uh...water?"

"That a question or a statement?"

"Water." Fai replied, holding back a nasty comment.

He took a glass and took it to the faucet in the sink, filled it up with crystal clear water and dropped it onto the table in front of him. The red-eyed man took a seat across from him, picked up his chopsticks, split them, picked up bits of rice and shoved them into his mouth. Fai grabbed his own chopsticks and pulled at the two combined sticks; instead of pulling them apart, he broke them. He stared at them in his hands and looked up to the man with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that." He laughed nervously.

"Don't apologize."

Fai remained silent in response, not knowing what to say in return. The whole situation was awkward for him, he didn't know this man in yet the man was here feeding him a lovely home cooked meal that was burnt in bits and places, gave up his couch so he could rest peacefully during his unconsciousness and even wrapped his arm when it was bleeding. Fai shifted nervously in his seat, his foot kicked out at the other mans shin and Fai pulled back.

"I'm sorry."

"Quit apologizing, idiot!"

"Says the man who didn't even apologize for running into me the other day." Fai defended.

"You're the one who wasn't paying attention."

"And you were?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you move?"

"I did." The man growled.

"No you didn't, we crashed."

"I moved, but you decided to stick yourself back in front of me like an idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot, idiot!" Fai shot back.

"Can't even think of a good comeback, eh, foreigner?"

"You--," Fai began.

"Are you the one Yuki Kano hired?"

Well, that was random, Fai thought.

"Who?"

"Did Yuki Kano hire you?"

"Hire me for what? Who's this Yuki person, a boy or a girl?"

"Never mind."

There was an awkward silence and Fai decided to fill up the time by shoving as many noodles into his mouth as possible, filling his cheeks to the brim like a chipmunks.

"Why are you here?" The man asked.

Fai swallowed his mouthful of noodles, quickly, surprising himself when he didn't choke.

"My, my, we're full of questions aren't we, Mr. Black?"

"Don't you dare call me that."

"Aw, but then what am I supposed to call you? You haven't even told me your name yet, silly puppy."

"Excuse me?"

Fai watched in amusement as the mans black brow twitched in agitation.

"You remind me of a big puppy, Mr. Black."

"Kurogane."

"Eh?"

"My name is Kurogane."

"I see..." Fai replied, finishing up his rice, dropping his broken chopsticks onto the plate, "Well, thanks for everything Kuro-chan, but I've got to run."

"You're not going anywhere." Kurogane said.

"I'm not?" Fai asked, coyly.

"No, you're not. I've still got questions."

"Well, sorry Kuro-chu, but your questions will have to wait for another time."

As Fai stood up he felt lightheaded and found his vision blurring into darkness, and felt himself reeling backward and into the chair. He shook his head and blinked his eyes a couple times before the black that blurred his vision vanished. Looking up, he noticed that Kurogane was smirking at him in barely contained amusement.

"You can't even stand up without falling down." The other man said, standing from his seat, "You're staying here for the night."

"I am NOT staying here the night."

Kurogane lifted a brow, "And how do you plan to get out of here if you can't even stand up?"

"I...uh..." Fai closed his mouth and resorted to glaring at the man in front of him.

"Your name."

"What?" Fai asked.

"What's your name?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Fai."

"Fai?"

"Yep. Won't do you any good though, knowing my name."

"Why's that?" Kurogane questioned.

"I'm not staying in Japan much longer. I was only here for a business trip."

"For what company?"

"You know, you ask a lot of questions for having just met me."

Kurogane remained silent before gathering the plates from the table and disposing of them into the large sink that seemed to swallow everything up. He walked back over to Fai and gripped his arm, pulling him up to his feet.

"What are you--," Fai started.

"I'm tired and there's no way in hell that I'm going to let you be by yourself in my house."

"Aw, Kuro-chu doesn't trust me?" Fai grinned.

"Not with that smile, no."

The smile remained, albeit, faltering for a mere second.

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"FAI!"

Fai pulled his cell phone away from his ear the instant the concerned cry came through. Apparently someone was worried for him and with that thought in mind he felt a pang of guilt creep in.

"Hello to you too, Chi."

"Are you alright? Ms. Ichihara told me that she'd been trying to call you all day long and you hadn't picked up once."

Fai watched as Kurogane rolled out a rather large, fluffy blue sleeping bag across the floor.

"I'm perfectly fine!" He replied.

"Liar." Kurogane whispered to himself, before covering it up with a cough.

Fai shot a glare at the man when he wasn't looking, before placing a carefully constructed smile onto his face. It seems Kurogane could understand English, Fai briefly wondered if the man could speak it as well as understand it. He'd have to find out another time...actually, he'd never find out. He wasn't planning on ever seeing the man again after tonight.

"Is someone there, Fai?" Chi asked, obviously hearing the cough.

"Uh, no, that's just the television." Fai covered.

"Oh? What are you watching!? I was just watching some cartoons."

Fai couldn't help but chuckle a bit, Chi was just so innocent, even at the age of 16. She still loved cartoons, stuffed animals, dolls, and the like. She'd make Fai watch some of her favorite cartoons whenever he had the time and he'd go and pretend to enjoy them with her.

"I'm just watching the news."

"That's boring." Chi giggled.

"Very boring, but at this hotel there's nothing to watch! It's a horrible dilemma." Fai dramatized.

She laughed, "Oh, that's not good."

"No it's not, but I'll get to watch many cartoons with you when I return."

"I can't wait!" There was a pause, "Fai? I'm sorry, I've got to go, my mom is calling me."

"Alright Chi. Take care."

"You to Fai! ...and I'm glad you're alright." She hung up.

Fai closed his phone and turned it off for the night, pocketing it, before looking over and admiring Kurogane's work on his 'bed'. The sleeping bag was splayed out with a small, red blanket over the top and a white pillow at the head.

"Aw, Kuro-chu made it look so comfy!"

"Shut up and get to sleep." The man huffed before adding, "You need it."

I do? Fai looked over at the man as he climbed into his own bed, covering himself up with thick, warm sheets that seemed to swallow him up, and clicked off the lamp that sat next to the bed. With the room dark, Fai was able to let the smile fall from his face, crawling into the sleeping bag that was set out for him and sinking into its depths, cocooning himself until he felt safe.

He fell asleep minutes later.

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"So, what were you doing out in Kyoto?" The man asked.

"Oh, uh..." Fai struggled for a lie, "I got drunk and woke up in a pile of bushes."

The man gave a nod, "I hate when that happens."

"Yeah..." He sighed, "Me too..."

The man slammed on his brakes suddenly, causing Fai to jerk forward, nearly hitting the dashboard with his face if it weren't for his seatbelt. The man cursed the motorist that pulled in front of him without a signal, honking his horn in disapproval. Fai crouched low into his seat, covering his face with his hand a slight, not wanting to attract unwanted attention because of the man next to him who had obvious road-rage issues.

Fai, at the moment, was hitchhiking. A sad reality, it was. Apparently his rental car was still back in Osaka, which was where Kurogane had abducted him and he didn't have any way to get back to his hotel, unless he walked, which would've taken him half the day or more. So, despite all the dangers of getting into a car with a stranger, Fai had hopped into the first car that pulled up to him.

He had been so desperate to get out of Kyoto, the place of Kurogane's residence, because he wanted to leave without Kurogane knowing, meaning, he wanted to leave early while the man was still snoozing in bed.

He rubbed his left arm, feeling the bandages that wrapped around his wound and remembered how gentle Kurogane was when he was tending to the wound. He felt himself blushing, shaking his head to erase all thoughts on the subject. How could he think like that? He didn't even know the man in yet he already found himself with an attraction? Not good.

"Something the matter?"

Fai looked over, "Nope!"

"Your face got red. Having one of them nasty hangovers?"

"I guess."

"You should drink some coffee when you get home. Cures the ache." The man said.

Fai nodded, "I'll do that".

The car pulled up into a parking lot before coming to a complete stop. Fai unbuckled himself from the seat, reaching for the door handle and pulling the door opened, turning back to the man. He gave a small smile, noticing the driver had a rather large, golden nose ring with a dragon skull at the end, he had to wonder if the man had ever had the misfortune of having snot stick to it.

"This the hotel?"

"Yes, thank you for the ride." Fai grinned, pulling out a wad of cash as he hopped out of the car.

"You don't have to pay me."

"Oh, but-,"

"No buts, you keep that money." The man smiled, "You paid me enough by having a chat with me. It's not everyday an old guy like me can talk with a pretty little thing like you."

Pretty...little...thing? Did the man think he was a girl?

"Uh...sir? I'm a man."

"I know that."

"Oh..." Fai was speechless, "Okay then..."

A minute of silence passed and Fai found it to be quite unnerving and awkward. He was very thankful when the man finally spoke up.

"Well, I should be heading off. It was a pleasure speaking with you." The man smiled, "Take care now."

"You too. Thanks again."

Fai just stood for a minute, watching after the rusty truck as it sped away, before he composed himself and waltzed down to the entrance of the hotel, entering the lobby. The women working at the front desk waved at him, giggling a slight bit and Fai waved back at them, causing all of them to blush. He made his way to the finger-marked, silver doors of the elevator and made his way up to the second floor, where he got off and sped through the hallways paved with red carpet until he reached his door.

"Finally..." He sighed, pleased.

He reached into his the right pocket of his coat and froze.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening." He panicked.

He reached into his other pockets, pulling out everything he had stashed away. His money, wallet, cell phone, car keys, and a candy wrapper lay on the floor, all his pockets were emptied. His hotel keys were missing...and along with that...his identification. He knew he should have stuck it into his wallet.

"Where...what..." Trying to find a way to rationalize their disappearance.

Then it clicked.

"Kurogane."


I hope you've enjoyed Chapter 8!

R&R Please!