Title: Solemnitas
Pairing: Kurogane x Fai
Fandom: Tsubasa RESERVoir Chronicles
Theme: 19. red
Notes: Late in the coming, but better late than never. This challenge is now of my own free will. Hooray. Enjoy, even though I'm not sure if it's as good as the others.

(x)(X)(x)

It was purely by chance that the group happened upon a world that was just preparing to celebrate Christmas, of all things. They had secured some accommodation in a merry little lodge in the small city, which looked almost picturesque, snow piling up the sides of the building and the windows covered with just the smallest hint of frost.

It was from the innkeeper that they found there would be a small gathering in the place that night, and that they were certainly welcome to attend, should they wish.

Kurogane was skeptical of this 'christmas' thing.

"Just what is this 'gathering' going to entail?" He questioned the small, chubby man in front of him, arms crossed.

"Oh, it'll be fun! Eating, drinking, presents..." The man gestured to the little tree in the corner, decked out in tinsel and lights. Kurogane averted his eyes from the gaily dressed fauna. "Dancing. All that."

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Drinking?" He asked blandly, vaguely recalled the last time the rest of the group had gotten their hands on a drop of alcohol.

Just a sip of wine could floor both Fai and Sakura without trouble.

"Eggnog, of course!"

"Eggnog."

"... yes!"

That, Kurogane thought to himself, has to be the stupidest name for a drink man has ever conceived.

"I... see. And, will this 'eggnog' be freely available?"

"Of course!"

Kurogane sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't really feel like dealing with any drunks at the moment, acquaintance or no. "Look, can you do me a favour?"

"What is it?" The innkeeper asked, his red cheeks glistening in the light of the room making him look like a slightly underweight Santa Claus.

"If you see a short brown haired girl, or a tall blonde haired man go for it- please, please stop them. You're permitted to use force." Kurogane explained, gesturing their height to the man.

He slowly nodded at the strange request, much to the ninja's relief, and he took his leave, going back over to the sitting area where Sakura, Syaoran and Fai were currently engrossed in a book about the history of Christmas.

"Apparently," Fai said, reading down the page. "It's customary to exchange gifts at Christmas. Sounds like fun, Kuro-pii!"

"... how did you even see me? I came from behind."

Fai turned around and grinned. "I have a sixth sense. Didn't you know?"

Kurogane facepalmed. "Oh, I did. It's stupidity."

The blonde just pouted and went back to his book. "That was harsh, Kuro-chan. Anyway, presents... and here, it shows some sort of plant..."

Keeping one eye on the 'children' and one eye on the book, Kurogane watched from afar with a slight interest about the customs of this holiday, listening to Fai's inane banter as he leafed through the book.

It was only when night started to break the group went their separate ways to their bedrooms and bid goodnight, except for Kurogane, who stayed sitting stoically in an armchair in the sitting room.

(x)(X)(x)

Christmas Day was fast in it's coming, indeed, only 2 days after they had arrived in the current world. Kurogane had been rudely woken to the screaming of elated children in the street, and was calmly considering throwing his katana at them to quieten them a little, before Fai burst in the door.

Kurogane stared.

"My door was locked."

"Kuroooo-muuuu! The party is starting!"

"Fai, it's 10 in the morning."

The wizard grinned and shook his head. "It's time to open presents. Now, get out of bed, Kuro-pii..."

To enforce his point, he strode over to Kurogane's bed and attempted to drag the ninja out of it, which was no mean task.

"Hey, goddammit, stop pulling on me, you idiot!" Kurogane shouted, shaking Fai off of his arm. "I'll be down in a minute."

Fai shrugged and gave him his silly smile before turning around and leaving the door open, humming as he skipped down the corridor.

Kurogane made a mental note never to do anything incriminating in his room again. Fai seemed to have an innate ability to pick locks.

(x)(X)(x)

After finally donning some clothes, Kurogane made his way down the stairs once more to be encountered with a veritable cyclone of wrapping paper. There was at least 20 people in the room, all ripping paper off of boxes and making happy exclamations that almost made him want to commit sepukku, but he managed to calm down.

A day of celebration and happiness. He had to.

His thought train crashed at a high velocity when Sakura ran up to him and smiled happily.

"Good morning, Kurogane-san!"

"Aa... good morning, Sakura-hime."

Unexpectedly, Sakura wrapped her arms around the tall man in a tight hug briefly, and beamed at him as Syaoran and Fai looked on.

"Thank you for the necklace! It's beautiful!" She said, proudly pointing at her neck where the golden chain now clung.

"Oh... it was nothing."

"I love it, really!"

Giving him one last smile, she went back to sitting with Syaoran, whom was currently inspecting a long, messily wrapped gift he had found for him under the tree.

Presently, Fai left the two and moved over to Kurogane, a knowing smile on his face.

"So, you did join in on the fun after all."

Kurogane frowned. He didn't want to disappoint Sakura and Syaoran- their journey had seemed so, well... serious, that they needed to have some fun. They were kids, after all.

"..."

"Oh, come on, Kuro-pii! I love that red scarf you got me, it's so warm and cuddly."

The ninja hadn't noticed that Fai had been wearing the gift he had gotten him, wrapped tightly around his neck.

He swore that that damn stupid wizard was the hardest person to buy anything for, ever.

He had slipped out the previous night when Fai had been engrossed with the other two in hanging tinsel and streamers in preparation for the party, and giving the odd hand with the cooking, and bought some random gifts for the rest of the group.

It wasn't something did often. Or, ever. Therefore, it made the task very difficult.

In most cases, he had just ended up saying 'oh, it's for a girl' or 'it's for a... idi- uh, a friend' to the shopkeepers, and hoped for the best.

"That's good." He finally replied gruffly, looking over at Sakura as she laughed brightly when Syaoran pulled a scabbard out of the gaudily-coloured wrapping, taking it in her hands and inspecting it.

"Saa, Kuro-chan, look over here." Fai said solemnly, in such a tone that Kurogane immediately thought that something was wrong. Turning around in surprise, he suddenly found himself drug down by the collar of his jacket and his lips pressed firmly against Fai's.

Oh, what the hell?

Wasn't I upright just before?

As fast as the wizard had initiated it, it ended, and Kurogane was left frozen in a half-hunch, completely shell-shocked.

Fai just grinned and poked him on the nose.

"Look upwards."

Craning his neck from his ice-statue, the ninja could make out some sort of twig hanging from the roof of the establishment, and failed to see how it answered anything.

Christ, the man had just kissed him, for gods' sake.

"Mistletoe. It's a Christmas tradition, Kuro-chan!" The wizard chirped merrily, completely oblivious to the bush fire he had started in the other's mind with such flamboyant actions.

Suddenly, though, his expression changed to something Kurogane had never seen on him before. It seemed more serious, and sort of... seductive.

"Though, if you liked it... it doesn't have to be a tradition."

Kurogane was absolutely lost for words. For all he knew, the world had just ended.

Armageddon.

The whole lot.

And Fai just left him standing there, gaping in his hunch, and staring at the red scarf that now hung proudly off of the blonde's shoulder.