A/N: Hurray for Christmas break! Here is the next chapter in the mini-series. Enjoy!


Insolence

Kurogane's brow furrowed in his sleep; he really really didn't feel like waking up yet but he got the sickening feeling that he was extremely hot, pissed off and being watched. He kicked off all his blankets, hoping that this would solve at least one of his three problems. This did nothing for him, although he thought he might have heard the person who was watching him give a little squeal of delight and that only pissed him off more. When it became apparent that none of his problems involved solutions that he could perform with very little effort while still remaining mostly asleep, Kurogane grudgingly opened his eyes.

"Good morning, Kurochuu," the person who had been watching him cooed. "Has anyone ever told you that you're especially handsome when you're sleeping? I wanted to give you a kiss, but I didn't want to risk waking you."

"What the hell are you doing in my bed again, you bastard?" Kurogane growled savagely, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Don't you remember, Kuropon?" Fai asked innocently. "You invited me here last night."

Kurogane was about to snap back that he would never in a million years do such a stupid and disgusting thing, but then the events from last night rolled over on him like a boulder and he realized that Fai was, in fact, telling the truth and he really had invited his roommate into his bed. He gritted his teeth in frustration at himself.

"Well, you're uninvited, now get the hell away from me," he grumbled, flopping back onto his pillow. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Ah, ah, Mr. Grumpy Pants," Fai scolded playfully. "You can't go back to sleep now! You have to go to class!"

"Shut up; there is no class today! It's a Sunday!" Kurogane snarled.

"Ooh, so Kurochii really is smart, after all," the blond marveled. "How unexpected!"

"Yeah, surprise, surprise," the Kurogane muttered darkly. "So, you gonna screw off, or what?"

"No," Fai purred. "If Kurowanwan is going to insist on going back to sleep, then I insist on getting to lie next to him and watch him."

The dark-haired boy let out a long, irritated sigh as he realized that he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep for now and rolled out of bed.

"Dammit," he spat, running a hand backwards through his unruly black hair. "Why the hell is it so freaking hot in here?! It was freezing last night!"

"No idea, Kurorun," Fai chirped happily. "So, what kind of fun are we going to have together today?"

"Tch! I'm not your babysitter, you ass!" Kurogane snapped. "Find your own damn fun and leave me out of it!"

"Hmm? But I wanted to spend the day with my new best friend Kuronta…" Fai pouted cutely.

"Tell it to someone who cares," Kurogane retaliated as he dug some jeans and a black t-shirt out of his closet. "I'm gonna take a shower."

A mischievous grin curled its way around Fai's lips at that comment. Kurogane was just about to step out into the hallway, but then he turned around to glare at his new roommate. "And if you even think about trying to follow me into the shower, I'll kick your scrawny little ass. I'm serious, you bastard."

"Nyaaa, Kurokuro caught me…" Fai said mournfully, turning his back on the taller boy in disappointment. Then he spun back around, smiling brightly once more as another thought occurred to him. "But you know, Kuropyon, if you kick my butt that means you'll have to touch it! Tee hee!"

Kurogane slammed the door in response and stomped off down the hallway. He just hoped Fai hadn't caught the slight blush on his cheeks before the door had closed between them. Not that Fai had caused it (it was because their room had been so hot, that was all…) but he wouldn't want that jerk to get the wrong idea. It would only encourage him.


Kurogane returned to his room still feeling irritated. He was pretty sure when he had entered the shower that his threat had done the trick, but Fai hadn't seemed as intimidated by him as most people were and that made him nervous. That meant he had to keep looking over his shoulder to make sure the blond didn't try to sneak in and try anything. As someone who had spent most of his life in the role of intimidator, he was extra unenthusiastic about finding himself in the position of the victim, especially when it was someone as scrawny and seemingly harmless as Fai that he was up against.

He pushed open the door to his dorm. Fai was lounging on his own bed for once, presumably waiting for Kurogane's return. The blond sat up interestedly when he saw that his roommate was back. Kurogane did his best to ignore him but he could feel Fai's gaze burning into his back and his cheeks getting a little bit hot again. Once again, Kurogane managed to mostly convince himself that the only reason that his face was going red was because it was still so damn hot in this stupid room, but honestly he wasn't so sure that was true.

"So, did you think of anything fun for us to do today, Kuropiko?" he asked serenely.

"I already told you, you bastard, that you're not hanging out with me," Kurogane growled. "Isn't there someone else you can annoy?"

"Probably," Fai smiled, "but no one who would be as fun as you, Kuropii. Anyway, you can say that you don't like me all you want, but you're wearing the friendship bracelet I gave you, so I know how you really feel!"

"Tch! Don't get the wrong idea," Kurogane warned, rubbing the bracelet absentmindedly. "I'm just wearing it because it suits me. This doesn't mean that I want to skip around campus holding hands with you or anything."

"Whatever you say, Kuromin," Fai smirked knowingly. "You're so cute and shy!"

"DAMMIT!! I'M NOT CUTE AND I SURE AS HELL AM NOT SHY!! TRY SAYING THAT AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!!" he raged.

Fai wasn't paying attention to his rant, however; he sniffed at the air curiously, glanced over at Kurogane and then pounced on him suddenly, burying his face in the dark-haired boy's shirt.

"Wh-What the hell are you d-doing?!" he sputtered indignantly.

Fai inhaled deeply and then let out his breath in a contented sigh. "Your soap smells so nice… I could lie here and cuddle you and breathe it in all day long…"

"Well, you're not going to," Kurogane assured him, plucking him off. "I've got stuff to do and none of it has anything to do with you."


Kurogane stomped along the sidewalk, wondering how in the hell he got himself into these things. He knew he never should have invited Fai into his bed last night. Now here he was, walking around the mostly empty campus, holding Fai's hand, and at least one of them was skipping (and it wasn't Kurogane). He was so glad that there was almost no one else out here at this hour. Kurogane tried one more time, in vain, to extract his hand from Fai's but that only made the blond hold on tighter.

"So where are we going, Kuronpyu?" he asked joyfully.

Kurogane wiped the sweat off his forehead. Even though they were out of their oven of a room, it was still almost unbearably hot, and that did nothing to help his mood.

"Tomoyo wanted to go shopping or something," he grumbled.

"Hmm? So Kurowankoro is letting Tomoyo chan drag him along on a shopping trip?" Fai giggled. "That doesn't sound like something you would do, Kuronpu!"

"Well, I was hoping that if I went I could avoid having to look at your stupid face all day," Kurogane sighed. "But I guess that's not gonna happen."

"Nope," Fai agreed, snuggling his cheek against the taller boy's arm. "I wish I could meet Tomoyo chan! I'm curious to see what kind of person would stick around with a meanie like Kurochuu for so long."

"If you don't like the way I treat you, then you can leave!" Kurogane snapped. "No one's stopping you!"

"Well, even though Kurobun isn't very nice he's still wearing my friendship bracelet so I know that means he really likes me," Fai trilled.

Kurogane opened his mouth to protest but he was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He dug his phone impatiently out of his pocket and flicked it open.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, Kurogane," Tomoyo's voice said. "I hope you're not waiting for us."

"Of course I am! You told me to be here at nine thirty, right?" he growled.

"Well, I'm afraid there's been a change in plans; we're going to have to cancel our shopping trip for today," Tomoyo told him mournfully.

"Huh?! You mean you made me get up early for nothing?!" he spat.

"I'm sorry, Kurogane," she sighed. "I completely forgot that the meeting for all freshman who want to be in the choir is being held today. I guess we'll just have to reschedule."

"Forget it; I really didn't want to go anyway," Kurogane said.

"Oh, don't be silly, Kurogane," Tomoyo scolded playfully. "Of course you wanted to go. And I wanted so badly to meet Fai san… Maybe next weekend, hmm?"

"Hmph. Whatever," Kurogane grumbled. "Bye."

"Was that Tomoyo chan?" Fai asked as Kurogane hung up. "What did she say?"

"She said we're not doing anything… Something about a meeting for freshmen or whatever," Kurogane answered irritably, stuffing the phone back into his pocket.

"Oh… I guess that means Kurosama and I have no choice but to do something by ourselves," Fai grinned.

"Huh?" Kurogane said in disgust as he looked down at the blond who was clinging to his arm.

"It'll be like a date!" Fai laughed, clapping his hands.

"Are you stupid or something?" Kurogane growled. "For one thing, I don't wanna do anything with you and for another thing, it wouldn't be anything like a date, you dumb ass!"

"I know what we can do!" Fai gasped excitedly. "We can go shopping anyway! It'll be so much fun!"

"Tch. Forget it," he replied. "I'm not interested."

"Aw, you're no fun, Kurochin!" Fai whined.

"I guess as long as we're out here already, we might as well have something to eat…"

"Hmm? Are you hungry, Kuropun?" the blond asked.

"Yeah," Kurogane admitted.

"Well, I guess I'll come too then," Fai decided. He hugged Kurogane's arm again and the two of them started off toward the dining hall.


Kurogane shivered as he sat down with his food. Apparently it wasn't just their room whose temperature controls were a little messed up; it seemed that they weren't working right here, either. After all, it hadn't been cold like this when they had entered the building. Fai was already waiting for him at the table but it seemed that he wasn't hungry because he hadn't gotten any food.

"Aren't you eating?" Kurogane asked, taking a bite of his rice.

Fai shrugged. "I'm not really hungry."

"Tch. You should eat something anyway," Kurogane mumbled. "You look like you'll disappear if you skip any more meals."

"Hmm…" his roommate replied noncommittally. Kurogane rubbed his hands on his arms as the temperature seemed to decrease even further. "Could Kurowanko be worried about me, I wonder?"

"Don't be an idiot," he growled. "Why the hell would I care if you disappeared?"

An awkward silence descended over them as Kurogane continued to eat and Fai watched him almost longingly. Once again, Kurogane got the overpowering feeling that something about Fai wasn't right but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He decided he would just have to watch the blond closely and try to figure it out for himself.

"Ah, Kurogane san!" someone said from somewhere nearby. Kurogane looked around curiously and his eyes fell on a girl that he recognized as Tomoyo's roommate, even though the two of them had only met once. He was pretty sure that her name was Sakura. She approached his table somewhat timidly. "Good morning. Is…is it ok if I sit with you?"

Kurogane's breath was clouding in front of his face now, it was so cold. He raised an eyebrow at Fai but Fai wasn't looking at him. His usually sparkling blue eyes were hidden behind a curtain of blond hair so that Kurogane couldn't see them. There were only two chairs at their table and really not much room for a third person but he couldn't just send Sakura away.

"Fine," Kurogane agreed when it became clear that Fai wasn't going to say anything.

Sakura smiled brightly and set her tray of food down on the table and grabbed an extra chair from one of the neighboring tables. She too shivered as she sat down and rubbed her hands on her arms.

"Goodness, why is it so cold over here?" she asked.

As soon as she sat, Fai's head jerked to look at her in surprise.

"Hello," she said to Fai brightly. "I don't think we've been introduced yet. I'm Sakura. Are you Kurogane san's roommate Fai san?"

Fai just gaped at her. "You…you can…?"

Kurogane and Sakura looked at each other in puzzlement, each wondering what in the world Fai was so surprised about. When Fai realized that he was staring, he shook his head and smiled at Sakura.

"Sorry, I was just surprised that you were able to… remember my name even though we've never met before…" he explained hesitantly. Kurogane frowned suspiciously. Sakura remembering his name even though they had never met before was slightly remarkable but not enough to illicit such surprise as Fai had just displayed. That guy was hiding something again.

"Well, Kurogane san told us all about you," Sakura explained sweetly. "And by 'us' I mean my roommate Tomoyo chan and I."

Fai glanced mischievously in Kurogane's direction but Kurogane was looking determinedly the other way. "Oh, so Daddy's been talking about me, hmm? How cute!"

Kurogane unfolded his arms as the temperature rose considerably to something more normal, but again was feeling too indignant to really notice. "Only so I could tell them what a freak you are!" he insisted, blushing slightly. "It's not like I had anything good to say about you!"

"No, remember, Kurogane san? You said that Fai san was kind of pretty," Sakura reminded him unhelpfully.

"Hmm? Kurotan thinks I'm pretty?" Fai squealed happily.

"Big deal! That doesn't mean anything!" Kurogane snapped. "Even rocks can be pretty!"

"Kuromin gave me a compliment!" he sang. "And now he's getting all blushy about it! Hyuu hyuu!"

"I'M NOT BLUSHING!!" he roared, only causing his face to burn even more.

"What else did he say about me, Sakura chan?" Fai asked eagerly.

"Umm, well… the rest of the stuff wasn't very nice," she admitted sheepishly.

"Damn right it wasn't!" Kurogane growled, avoiding both of their sets of eyes carefully. "Why the hell would I have anything nice to say about a dumb bastard like you? Jeez."

Before anyone could contradict him, Kurogane hurriedly got up from the table to put away his breakfast dishes.


By the time that they had returned to their rooms, Kurogane had made an important deduction; something about Fai was definitely fishy. Before he hadn't been quite sure that there was really something strange about him but now he was positive. He was even beginning to think that maybe Fai had something to do with the weird fluctuations in temperature, though he couldn't imagine how.

Then there was the matter of that tattered black duffle bag. So far, Kurogane hadn't seen Fai take anything out or put anything into it but the blond seemingly made it a point to keep it close by whenever they were in the room. Whenever Kurogane went near it, he noticed a strange smell coming from inside. He felt silly that wanting to know what was inside it was bothering him so much but he just couldn't help himself; it was the only belonging that Fai seemed to have aside from the clothes on his back and the way he kept it so close to himself all the time told Kurogane that it probably contained something of great importance to the blond.

His chance to do a bit of exploring in the black bag department arose later that afternoon when he came back from setting up his bank account. Kurogane opened the door and found, to his surprise, that Fai was nowhere to be seen. His black duffle bag, however, was sitting right there in plain view on top of Fai's bed. It must not be anything really personal or he probably would have at least tried to hide it, Kurogane figured. With a final cautious look around the room, Kurogane moved closer to the bed where the duffle bag sat luring him closer. He could smell the contents as he approached; whatever it was, it smelled a little like rotting meat.

Kurogane paused, eyeing the bag warily. He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to open something that smelled like that. Plus it had a strange sort of aura about it that made Kurogane very uneasy. But he was already almost there and who knew when he would get another chance to look. Now that he was a mere foot and a half away from it, Kurogane thought he might be able to see the bag moving ever so slightly. It wasn't the fitful motion of a trapped animal; this movement was even and rhythmical. That only served to confuse him farther. What the hell? Just as he was extending a slightly trembling hand toward it, the door to his room suddenly swung open causing him to jump guiltily. There in the doorway stood Fai and his eyes were wide with shock or horror or maybe anger (Kurogane couldn't tell which) when his gaze fell on his roommate with his hand outstretched towards his bag.

"What are you doing, Kurosama?" Fai asked seriously. There was no longer any hint of a smile on his face. "Were you going to look in my bag?"

Kurogane was momentarily speechless from being caught red-handed. Eventually, he managed to say something like "it smells disgusting… I just wanted to know what was making that smell…"

"Please don't touch my things, Kurosama," he said somberly. "It's not polite. And that bag holds something…extremely personal…"

"Well, can't you do something about the smell?" Kurogane asked, his eyes averted in guilt. "It's making me sick…"

The dark-haired boy shivered and returned to the laptop on his desk awkwardly as Fai gathered up his small black duffle bag, put it very carefully into the closet and shut the door.


Kurogane moaned and buried his head under his pillow when he heard his alarm clock going off. Today was his first day of classes and he was so totally not looking forward to it. He reached up and blindly felt around for his clock so that he could turn off the alarm. Who needed communications class anyway? Not him. He was a master of communication; all he had to do say whatever he wanted and beat the crap out of whoever disagreed. It wasn't that difficult. Eventually, he managed to locate his alarm clock, turned it off, and rolled over with the intention to go back to sleep. Unfortunately it seemed that Fai had other plans.

"Ah, ah, ah, Kurokuro!" he scolded playfully. "You didn't set the alarm so that you'd know when it was time to turn it off and go back to sleep! You set it so that you'd know when it was time to wake up!"

"What the hell…?" Kurogane grumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. "What are you, my mother? Get the hell away from me!"

"Here, put this on," Fai ordered, pushing something into his hands.

Kurogane pulled the thing under the blankets with him so that he could see what it was without being blinded as Fai jerked open the curtains. It was the spiked bracelet that Fai had given him the other day.

"If I put it on will you let me go back to sleep?" he growled.

"Hmm," Fai said cheerfully.

Sighing reluctantly, Kurogane slipped the bracelet on. As soon as he had gotten it onto his wrist, Fai pounced on him.

"WHAT THE HELL?! YOU SAID YOU'D LET ME GO BACK TO SLEEP, YOU LYING PIECE OF CRAP!!" the dark-haired boy roared.

"No I didn't, silly!" Fai giggled, lifting up the covers so that he could get under them next to his roommate. "I just said 'hmm'. That doesn't mean yes. You need to work on listening, Kurowanta!"

"H-hey! What the hell are you—" Kurogane stammered as he felt his shirt being lifted up and Fai's cool, slender fingers running across his abs. "QUIT MOLESTING ME, YOU CREEPY BASTARD!!"

"Ooh, Kurochan," Fai breathed against his neck. "You have such nice muscles…Do you work out?"

"Fine!" Kurogane snapped. "I'll go to my damn class! There, you happy?!"

"Good boy, Kurotan," the blond chirped as he flopped back down on his bed. "Take lots of notes! Work hard!"

Kurogane just snarled at him as he snatched his clothes from the closet and stomped off down the hall to take a shower.


Kurogane yawned as he turned the page of his chemistry textbook. He knew it was stupid, but he had stayed up half the night wondering about that retarded duffle bag of Fai's. Maybe he had simply imagined it but he could have sworn that he could hear its contents' rhythmic movement in the closet. He was highly tempted to climb out of his bed in the middle of night, see what was in the bag and then club the damn thing until it stopped making noise. Unfortunately, he could sense that even though Fai was lying motionless in his bed and appeared to be sleeping, he was in fact wide awake.

When he remembered the look on Fai's face when he had caught Kurogane trying to have a peek inside the bag before, the dark-haired boy had to suppress a shiver. Not that he was afraid of what Fai might do to him if he tried it again but seeing that expression on the blond's face when he was usually giggling and smiling like a love-struck little girl all hopped up on caffeine was creepy. Kurogane was now paying the price for his late-night curiosity. He had heard from people who had taken chemistry before him that you'd be screwed if you didn't do the reading, but he was so sleepy… It didn't help that the book was boring as hell.

"Working hard, Kurogane?"

Kurogane was startled out of his deepening stupor by the voice of his unexpected visitor. Tomoyo and Sakura sat down across the table from him.

"Hmph… what are you doing here?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm surprised at you, Kurogane," Tomoyo said with a long-suffering sigh. "That's no way to greet your friends! Besides, you looked like you were falling asleep when you were supposed to be doing your reading, so we're doing you a favor."

Kurogane folded his arms and glared at her sullenly.

"You really do look tired…Are you alright, Kurogane san?" Sakura asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"It's nothing," he said, trying to sound off-hand even though he could feel himself blushing slightly at her heartfelt worry. "My idiot roommate was… being loud last night."

Although Kurogane was usually opposed to lying, he consoled himself by reminding himself that this was not entirely untrue. After all, it was the contents of Fai's duffle bag that had been making the noise. Anyway, he could hardly tell her that it was actually Fai's luggage that had been making noise last night and that he suspected that there might be something living in there. She'd probably think he was nuts, even if she was too polite to say so to his face.

"Really?" Sakura said, looking mildly surprised. "Fai san seemed like such a sweet person; I can't believe that he would do something so inconsiderate."

"That guy? Sweet? Yeah right," Kurogane snorted. "There's nothing sweet about him! He's a jerk!"

"Eh?! Sakura chan got to meet Fai san?!" Tomoyo gasped, looking at Sakura with wide eyes. "I'm so jealous! When do I get to meet him?"

Kurogane shrugged, looking completely uninterested. "Just come by our room sometime. He's always just hanging around and being lazy so it's not like it'll be hard to find him…As long as he's not too busy trying to annoy me, that idiot…"

The older boy narrowed his eyes suspiciously when he noticed the smile that was spreading across Tomoyo's lips. "What are you smiling at?"

"Oh, nothing," she sighed dreamily, playing with a strand of her long dark hair. "I just noticed that your voice is so much softer whenever you talk about Fai san…"

Kurogane stared at her in disbelief, though for some stupid reason he could feel his face getting hot again. "What are you getting at?" he demanded.

Tomoyo brought a hand to her mouth in a weak attempt to hide a giggle of delight. "I was just thinking that perhaps you don't hate Fai san as much as you'd like everyone to believe."

"Tch," Kurogane sneered, though he couldn't seem to make himself meet her eyes. "Don't say disgusting things like that; you're making me sick. It's only because we're in the library and it'd be a pain if we got kicked out for being too loud."

"Oh ho ho ho!" Tomoyo giggled again. "You should know better than to try those weak excuses on me, Kurogane! I've known you far too long to fall for a story like that!" Even Sakura looked amused, though she seemed to be trying to suppress it for fear of making him angry.

"It's not an excuse!" he snarled. "It's the truth! Anyway, it's got nothing to do with you so just butt out!"

Tomoyo's grin was becoming smugger and more infuriating by the second. If she wasn't a girl, Kurogane probably would have punched her. He became even more irritated when he felt his face reddening further under her knowing gaze.

"Looks like someone's got a little crush on his roommate," she purred.

Kurogane turned his narrowed eyes on Sakura, who seemed to be trying very hard to stay out of this. "You don't believe that, do you?" he growled.

Sakura looked embarrassed by the question. "W-well, Tomoyo chan knows you a lot better than I do, so… Not that I would blame you if you did! Fai san is very pretty! I'm sure lots of people would…"

"I can't believe this!" Kurogane hissed. "Look, if you two just came here to make jokes, then you can leave!"

"Hmm? Are these lovely young ladies giving you a hard time, Kuromin?"

Kurogane closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. There was only one person who would dare mutilate his name like that and this was a rather inconvenient time for him to be showing up.

"What are you doing here, you bastard?!" Kurogane snapped, turning to look at Fai who was approaching from behind.

"I got the feeling that Kurochii was being bullied and might need my help," the blond replied cheerfully.

"What the hell do you people think this is, a freaking tea party?! I'm trying to work here so if you all are just gonna screw around then you can leave!"

"Hello again, Sakura chan," Fai trilled, ignoring his roommate. "And who might this be?"

"Hello Fai san!" Sakura replied. "This is my roommate, Tomoyo chan!"

Tomoyo looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled in Fai's direction. "It's very nice to finally meet you, Fai san! Kurogane has told us all about you. We were just talking about you, in fact…"

Fai was so busy looking stunned that he completely missed Tomoyo's mischievous smile at Kurogane and Kurogane's sullen blush in response to it.

"…Y-yes…It's nice to meet you too, Tomoyo chan…" he said finally.

Kurogane frowned as he looked between Fai and Tomoyo, trying to figure out what they were both looking so stupefied about. There was a brief awkward silence before Fai turned his attention to Kurogane.

"Actually Kuropuu, the reason I'm here is because I need a little favor."

"No," Kurogane said flatly.

"But I'm locked out of our room, Kuropiko!" Fai pouted. "I need to borrow your keys!"df

"Where are yours?" he asked irritably.

"Sitting on my desk," the blond answered sheepishly.

Kurogane heaved a sigh and ran a hand backward through his hair. Eventually he reached into his pocket and dug out his keys and shoved them into his roommate's hand.

"If you're not there when I get back, I'm kicking your ass straight out the window the next time I see you," he warned. "Got it?"

"Whatever you say, Daddy," Fai grinned, taking his keys. "Good luck in the rest of your classes! I'm cheering for you!"

Kurogane glared after him as he left. As soon as he was gone, he turned his frown on Tomoyo. "Hey, what were you looking so surprised about just now?"

Tomoyo blinked at him, nonplused. "…You mean you really don't know?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurogane growled. "How could I possibly know?"

His friend smiled mysteriously at him. "If you haven't figured it out, then I'm not going to tell you."

"Huh? Why not?!" he demanded.

"If Fai san hasn't told you himself, then I assume he has a good reason," Tomoyo replied serenely.

When Kurogane continued to look irritated and confused, she reached across the table to put her hand on his reassuringly. "Don't worry, Kurogane; you're intelligent. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."


Although Kurogane did attend the rest of his classes that day, his mind was occupied with other things. It seemed silly to for him to get so caught up in a minute thing like wondering why Tomoyo and Fai had been looking so weirded out when they had met each other that day but Kurogane got the distinct feeling that the reason was something significant. And there was still the matter of Fai's duffle bag bothering him. It frustrated him that he was so fixated on these two things. Normally when he encountered some mysterious detail about someone else he would just shrug his shoulders and ignore it because it was none of his business anyway. Why couldn't he seem to do the same with matters that concerned Fai?

When his last class was finally over, he decided to return to his room for lack of anything better to do. He was annoyed to find that the door was unlocked but the room was empty. That had to be Fai's doing, the careless bastard. Kurogane wondered fleetingly if Fai was consciously pulling out all the stops in order to piss him off or if it just came to him naturally. Not only that, but the idiot had failed to return his keys. The next time he saw that airhead blond, he was going to do something really vicious to him, like pull his hair. That would teach him.

Speaking of teaching, Kurogane suddenly remembered all the reading he had been assigned. He had counted up the number of pages during his previous class and it had ended up being around fifty or sixty pages. Considering how boring the material was, Kurogane was pretty sure it would take him all night to finish even if he started right now. Even though the thought of spending his entire evening on useless reading made him cringe, he figured he'd only be digging himself into a hole if he got behind on it so early in the semester. What was the point of spending all this money on a college education if he wasn't even going to put any effort into it? With a sigh of resignation, Kurogane pulled out one of his textbooks, plopped down at his desk and began reading.


It was past midnight when Kurogane finally snapped his last book shut. The room was disturbingly silent. Fai still hadn't returned and Kurogane could make out the distant rumblings of thunder announcing the approach of a storm. He hated to admit it but he was a little bit worried. What if something had happened to him? Then again, what if he had just decided to go out and party or something? Kurogane would feel stupid getting himself all worked up with worry over Fai only to find him out drinking somewhere. He sat there and brooded on it for another ten minutes or so…until he realized how utterly and sickeningly stupid he was being. Fai was always finding some way to get under his skin, so why did it matter to him if the moron wasn't around? He didn't like Fai at all, much less care about him. Why should it bother him if Fai got lost or beat up or had his leg chewed off by an army of disgruntled squirrels? It certainly didn't. That's what he told himself as he slipped on his jacket and headed outside.


Kurogane squinted through the sudden downpour using his arm to shield his eyes from the rain that was being hurled at him from above. Honestly, he had only come out here to see how bad the storm was. He just wanted to make sure that if Fai was out here then he was really getting soaked. Kurogane was most definitely not out here to look for that stupid blond. And he sure as hell wasn't worried about him. But still, he couldn't help wondering where Fai could be so late on a school night…

"Kuropun? What are you doing out here in the rain?" a voice from behind him shouted over the roar of the storm.

The dark-haired boy whipped around and found himself face-to-face with a rather wet and pathetic-looking blond. He felt his face coloring as he searched his brain for a logical reason for his being here. "I…uh…"

Fai grinned. "Were you worried about me, Kuromyuu?"

Kurogane snorted derisively. "Tch. Yeah right. Don't be so damn full of yourself. I was just… well, it's none of your damn business what I'm doing out here so just shut up!"

His roommate slipped his arm into Kurogane's and hugged it affectionately. "That's so nice of you, Daddy! I'm sorry if I made you wait too long."

Kurogane huffed sullenly and looked away, deciding it was useless to contradict someone who was clearly so bent on ignoring him.

"Why don't we go inside now, ok? I'm sure Kurowanwan must be chilly," Fai suggested happily.

Kurogane rolled his eyes and pulled away from the blond, leading the way to the main entrance to the residence hall. He gave the handle an impatient tug. It didn't open. He tried again but it still remained stubbornly shut. Kurogane ground his teeth in annoyance and turned to Fai.

"It's locked. Where are my keys?"

"…Didn't you see them on my desk when you came in?" Fai asked, his eyes widening.

Kurogane stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU PUT THEM THERE, YOU STUPID BASTARD?!!"

"I don't know…I guess I wasn't really thinking straight," Fai said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He turned his back on the seething Kurogane and cupped his hands around his eyes as he looked through the glass door, trying to see if there was anyone in the lobby who could let them in but the front desk was unattended.

"We seem to be in a bit of a pinch, hmm?"

Kurogane grabbed him by his lapels and shoved his back roughly against the wall. "THAT'S JUST GREAT!! WE'RE GONNA BE STUCK OUT HERE ALL NIGHT LONG AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FUCKING FAULT!! WHAT THE HELL ARE WE GONNA DO NOW?!!"

"Well…" Fai mused calmly. "I think we should find somewhere out of the rain where we can spend the night. I would hate for Kurochan to catch a cold on top of it all."

Kurogane's grip on him loosened and he looked away, blushing. "I don't need you worrying about me… Just worry about yourself."

"There's a little pavilion right across the street. That might be a good place," Fai suggested, ignoring him.

"Hmph…Whatever," the dark-haired boy grumbled, letting go of his roommate and following him across the street to the pavilion that Fai had indicated. He dropped down onto the picnic table seat and Fai sat down next to him so that the two were shoulder to shoulder.

"Oh, you're shivering Kurorun…" Fai breathed, running delicate fingers down his trembling arm.

"Tch. And whose fault do you think that is, bastard?" Kurogane growled.

"Hmm… if you're cold, Kurochuu, then maybe we should snuggle. That will help keep us warm."

Kurogane was silent. He knew that what Fai was saying was true but he was reluctant to try it. It would just be way too awkward. How in the world would he face Fai the next day if the two of them were forced to spend the night cuddling in order to keep warm? On the other hand, he was pretty cold…

"What do you say, Kurowanta?" Fai grinned, poking his shoulder playfully. "Wanna give it a try?"

He sighed and ran a hand backwards through his hair. "…Fine, but if we're gonna do this… I don't want anyone to catch us. Who knows what kind of disgusting rumors would start…"

"You want to hide in those bushes, then?" he asked unabashedly.

"Of course I don't want to!" Kurogane snapped. "But we really don't have a choice, thanks to you!"

Fai giggled excitedly and took his hand, pulling him over to the clump of bushes that surrounded the perimeter of a nearby building. Kurogane made a show of being reluctant as he sat down on the wet ground and let the blond curl up in his lap, but honestly his heart wasn't in his display; it was too busy pounding nervously against his ribcage. Absentmindedly, he curled his arms around Fai's slender body and felt him sigh contentedly against his cheek. He suddenly frowned down at his roommate who was busy cuddling his cheek into the crook of Kurogane's neck and purring happily.

"Hey… you feel… really hot," Kurogane noted. "Are you sick or something?"

Fai slipped his own arms around Kurogane's shoulders and laughed softly. "No… I'm just…so happy."

Kurogane was silent as he tried to figure out what being happy had to do with Fai's body feeling so warm but the blond brought his wonderings to an abrupt halt when he sweetly stroked Kurogane's cheek and lightly brushed his lips against his collarbone.

"Goodnight, Big Puppy. Have sweet dreams."

"Tch. Like hell I will," Kurogane mumbled, though he had the sinking feeling that, in spite of their situation, he might do just that.


A/N: I had a rather difficult time with the ending… I hope it turned out alright. Reviews are greatly appreciated!