A/N: Have I mentioned recently how much I loooooooove Christmas break? Love love love love!
Of course I wouldn't leave you guys hanging with the mini-series! Come on! You know me better than that, right? Well, maybe you don't. But for future reference, I'm not gonna leave you hanging with the mini-series. By that I mean, it won't be over until all the major questions have been answered. So I present to you the next chapter of the mini-series, as well as the definition of the word "arcane" as it is given in the usual source (though this one will be from memory since I forgot to bring my dictionary home with me over break). Arcane (adj.)- hidden, secret. That's the gist of it. Now, on with the story!
Arcane
He hadn't been sleeping, really. After all, how could he when he was forced to do so with his back against a hard brick wall and a suspicious, loud-mouthed lunatic snuggled in his arms? He looked down at the suspicious lunatic in question to find that he was having no such problems with insomnia and was peacefully snoozing away, his blond head resting comfortably against his roommate's shoulder, his soft, perfect lips touching Kurogane's neck in a way he just knew was deliberate and teasing. Basically, he was in the exact same position that he had been in five seconds ago when Kurogane had last checked on him.
Kurogane huffed and turned his head, tearing his eyes away from the unnaturally slender and warm body curled against him. He told himself for about the thousandth time that the only reason he kept checking on Fai was because he had to make sure that the idiot wasn't drooling on him. It obviously had nothing to do with him having any kind of weakness for the beautiful expression of relaxed innocence on Fai's face and he certainly wasn't the least bit worried that the blond's abnormal warmth might be caused by a fever. In spite of his complete indifference toward his current situation, Kurogane felt himself blush when Fai shifted a little in his sleep, his hand moving to clutch loosely at the dark-haired boy's shirt.
Dear lord, if anyone found them together like this, the badass reputation that he had been so carefully crafting for himself since he came to this college would be irrevocably flushed down the toilet. Not that he would be outraged by the injustice of that. If he found some supposed tough guy hiding in the bushes and cuddling with a sissy blond like Fai, he'd instantly lose all respect for him, too. Even if they got lucky and weren't discovered in this ridiculous position, his self-image was going to be damaged for quite a while. After all, he had been quite tired from his previous sleepless night and knew that he had drifted off for a short while at least twice with his face buried in Fai's silky hair. Not only that but he had actually found himself to be glad of Fai's warmth several times during the night. Was he turning into a pansy or what? Jeez… the next thing he knew, he'd probably be coming to class in a frilly dress or something.
Against his own will, he drifted into another sort of stupor (one that definitely was not haunted by thoughts of Fai and himself skipping off to class, hand in hand, wearing matching frilly pink dresses) his head nodding in his exhaustion until it came to rest on top of Fai's again. He wasn't sure how long this lasted but the next time he became aware of his surroundings, the sun had risen and he could hear the voices of passing students on their way to class. Kurogane groaned and rotated his head, wincing as his neck made a series of nasty cracking noises. He longed to get up and stretch but if he did that he would wake Fai. Not that he cared, of course, but Fai did a lot less yacking when he was asleep.
"Ioryogi san!" a girl's distressed voice cried out from nearby. "Please, give me my book back! I need it!"
"If you need it so bad, then why don't you go get it, Dobato?" a boy laughed.
The girl squealed indignantly, and the next thing Kurogane knew, a textbook came flying over the hedge and clonked him on the head.
"Ouch! What the hell…?!"
While he was still busy with the inevitable feelings of surprise and pain that followed, a girl with extremely long pink hair, presumably the owner of the offending book, poked her head into the bushes. Kurogane stopped rubbing the bump on his head, frozen in horror as the girl jumped in surprise at finding someone sitting in the bushes. Her eyes widened and Kurogane's brain scrambled frantically to find a logical excuse that he could give for being hidden in the bushes, his hair and clothes noticeably damp from the previous night's rain, with his arms wrapped around another man. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to think of a damn thing.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the girl squeaked, clapping a hand to her mouth. "Did my book hit you when Ioryogi san threw it just now? It didn't leave a bump, did it?"
Kurogane blinked as he felt her fingers slip into his damp hair and feel the sore area gently for a bump.
"There is a little one…" she said apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that!"
"…Aren't you even gonna…" he broke off awkwardly, though he wondered why in the world she still hadn't said anything about Fai. Was she pointedly ignoring the obvious fact that she had just interrupted what appeared to be (but most certainly was not) a cornucopia of gay love or had she, by some amazing stroke of luck, simply mistaken Fai for a girl? It must be the former because otherwise she would certainly be asking whether Fai had been hit by the book as well.
"Hmm?" The girl stared at him questioningly, then she gasped and put her hand to her mouth again. "Oh dear… if you're sitting like that, then perhaps you were meditating when my book hit you? I'm so, so sorry! I hope I'm not slowing down your quest for enlightenment or anything!"
Kurogane stared at her some more, unsure about how he should respond. She put him at ease by straightening up.
"Well…if you're alright, then I really need to be going to class. But I'm very sorry about the book! I hope your bump doesn't hurt too badly!"
With that, she scurried away, leaving Kurogane to his bewilderment. He didn't have too long to dwell on it though because apparently his conversation with the girl had awoken Fai. The blond sat up, yawned and stretched his arms above his head.
"Good morning, Kurotan," he said cheerfully. "Do you know what time it is?"
Kurogane hurriedly shoved Fai off of him. "Don't know, don't care," he growled.
"You don't have class this morning, Kurowanwan?" Fai asked, standing up and brushing off his pants.
Kurogane followed suit, noting that his back, shoulders and neck were extremely stiff and sore from sitting against that stupid wall all night. "Yeah but I'm not going."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Well, thanks to you, I got maybe one hour of sleep last night and my back and shoulders hurt like a bitch," Kurogane grumbled, stretching gingerly. "Plus some stupid girl threw a book at my head just now… I'm going back to our room and going to bed, and if you bother me, I'll kick your ass."
Apparently, Fai got the message that Kurogane was not in the mood to joke around because he simply followed him back to their room without a word. After they got the RA to unlock their door for them, Kurogane changed into some dry clothes and collapsed face-down on his bed. There was a moment's silence before Kurogane felt the bed sink ever so slightly as Fai sat down on the edge of it. Kurogane said nothing, hoping that if he just ignored his roommate, he would go away. Fai, however, did not go away. Instead, he placed his warm hands on the dark-haired boy's back and began to rub while applying gentle pressure. Kurogane was about to snap at him to screw off but then he realized how good it felt. Fai worked his way down his back slowly, lovingly massaging each sore muscle and joint. Kurogane's eyes slid closed and he allowed himself to relax as Fai worked. Such was his relaxation that he didn't even care when he felt the blond put one leg over his back to straddle him so that he could get better maneuverability as he massaged.
"How does that feel, Kurochan?" Fai whispered.
"…Hmph…" was about the best that Kurogane could manage. He was too tired and too deep into ecstasy to say anything else. As he fell asleep, he thought he felt Fai's lips touch the back of his neck several times, as softly as a sigh of wind. Then again, perhaps he had only imagined it.
He heard the door open, a brief pause, and then heard it close again, almost silently. The bed sank slightly as someone sat down on it next to him. His face was buried in his pillow, but he knew who it was. He was too deep in despair to lift his head and face him and he didn't really want him to see his face anyway. If he saw him crying, he would probably just make a big deal about it like he always did. His fingers were running through his hair soothingly, and even in his state of depression, he managed to feel a twinge of bitterness. He had made it painfully clear that he didn't love him so why was he toying with him like this?
"What's wrong, Fai?" he whispered. "Are you alright?"
"He…he's dead…" Fai croaked. "It's all… all my f-fault… If I hadn't…if I had t-taken better care of him… If I… had never been b-born… My…fault…"
He was silent but continued to stroke his hair.
"I… should have been the one to die… I was the one who…"
"You didn't plan for this to happen. There's no way you could have known. It's not your fault."
"If it wasn't f-for me…he never would h-have had to… It…it should have been me that died… He… he died to s-save me…"
"Would it help if you had someone to love you?" he asked, almost inaudibly.
Fai's fists clenched on top of his sheets; as much as he loved him, he wanted so badly to just punch him right in the face. What he needed right now was comfort and understanding, not someone to rub salt in his wounds. Then another possibility came to mind and he turned his face so that he could look at his dark-haired roommate.
"Do you mean you…?"
His face betrayed nothing; no hint of regret, no shred of pity. "No, not me…I'm sorry Fai, but we're not meant for each other."
Fai's fists clenched his sheets even harder, his knuckles turning white with the effort, and he buried his face in his damp pillow again.
"No one… could love me… I am…disgusting… I've killed…"
"Someone who didn't know… I know it sounds impossible but it's not. You're not a bad person, Fai."
Fai was silent for a long time. "…Even…if s-such a person did exist… I don't know if I can forgive m-myself long enough… t-to allow such a thing…"
"It will take time, that's true… How long it takes is entirely up to you."
"An eternity… How can I ever forgive myself…for something like this…?"
"An eternity is a long time… But if that's how long it takes, even then there is a way."
"I'm n-not in the mood… for solving riddles…"
"I can do it for you. I can ensure you that amount of time. You will be ageless, preserved forever in your current state until that person finds you."
Fai turned his face again to look at him, though he could hardly see him because of the tears in his eyes. "It's not…possible."
He finally smiled. "It is possible. It will hurt at first but after that, I promise you won't feel a thing. Nothing will ever hurt you again."
Fai sat up and wiped his eyes. "…If you say you can do it… then I… I t-trust you… Ashura…"
Blood. There was so much blood. Both of them had their hands drenched with it. And such a horrible pain in his chest…
Kurogane's eyes snapped open, his heart beating fast, his breathing quickened. The room was cold, though not as unbearable as it sometimes was. Fai returned hurriedly to his side when he saw that the other boy was awake, sat down on the edge of his bed, and began running his fingers absentmindedly through Kurogane's hair. When he saw that Kurogane was looking up at him, he quickly smiled.
"Ah, Kurochii woke up!" His smile lessened a bit. "You're shaking a little bit, Kuropuu… are you ok?"
Kurogane hurriedly sat up and looked around. There was no sign of blood anywhere, but that dream had been so vivid that he had a hard time believing that it was only a dream. When he realized that Fai was still waiting concernedly for a response, he shook his head slightly.
"It's cold in here," he said shortly, not looking at the blond.
Fai was silent for a moment. "Was it a bad dream?" he asked quietly. The room grew a bit chillier. "What was it about?"
Kurogane hesitated. "Ashura," he said finally, deliberately not mentioning that Fai had been part of his dream as well. "Some guy named Ashura."
Now the room was absolutely frigid. Kurogane's breath was clouding before his eyes but he could still see the shock and horror on his roommate's face when he mentioned the name. It only made him more curious when Fai quickly and determinedly looked away.
"Is he someone you know, Kurosama?" he asked somberly.
"No," Kurogane admitted. "But it looks to me like he's someone you know."
"Don't be silly, Kurorun. How could I know someone who's in your dream?"
Kurogane hesitated again. "You were there too, in my dream. The two of you were talking. Someone had—"
"Kuropiko was dreaming about me?" Fai chirped, suddenly happy again. But the room was still freezing and Kurogane could see the strain in Fai's smile. For some stupid reason, though, he blushed.
"Q-quit trying to change the subject!" he snapped. "You were the one who asked in the first place!"
"Ooh, Kuropopo is getting embarrassed now!" Fai giggled. "Was I kissing you in your dream, Kurowanta? Was I lying on top of you, like this?"
He pushed Kurogane down on his back and sprawled out on top of him.
"Was I…naked?" he breathed, letting his lips brush his roommate's neck teasingly.
"D-don't be stupid!" Kurogane sputtered. "Why the hell would I have a dream like that about a bastard like you?!"
"But you're blushing, Kuropin," the blond pointed out. "And you're stuttering all of a sudden. Why else would you be doing that unless I guessed correctly, hmm?"
"ANYONE WOULD GET FREAKED OUT IF SOME ASSHOLE SAID GROSS THINGS LIKE THAT TO THEM!!" he raged. Still, for some reason he could feel his heart beating faster and he couldn't make himself push Fai off of him.
"Whatever you say, Kurochii," Fai grinned. "Whatever you say…"
The two of them lapsed into silence then, Fai still lying comfortably on top of Kurogane, tracing circles on his chest with his finger, while Kurogane tried valiantly to tell himself that he had forgotten that Fai was there. Then something occurred to him.
"Hey…how long was I…" he trailed off awkwardly, hoping that Fai would figure out what the rest of his sentence was because he was too sheepish to say it himself.
"How long were you asleep?" Fai guessed correctly. "Hmm… well, I wasn't watching the clock but I'd say about five or six hours maybe."
Kurogane frowned. "Were you here the whole time?"
Fai smiled softly. "Well, I did get up once, just for a little bit near the end. Otherwise, yes… I sat right beside you and held your hand the entire time. I guess it wasn't until I let go that you had your bad dream."
Kurogane snorted doubtfully. As if Fai could have that kind of power over him. "So you don't have class today then? Or are you just skipping?"
Fai blinked. "I don't have class. But even if I did, I would happily skip for you, Kurowanko!"
The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. "What's the point of spending all this money on going to college if you're just gonna skip class so you can sit around here doing something stupid like holding my hand? It's not doing either of us a damn bit of good."
The smile on Fai's lips faltered only briefly before he hitched it back into place.
"On the contrary, Kuromu," he smiled sadly. "When I hold your hand, I feel a little bit happier…and… I swear sometimes I can almost feel it."
Kurogane wasn't really sure what Fai meant by that but he wasn't going to turn into some mushy idiot so he just let it drop. That topic had "sappy" written all over so he every intention of not touching it. Ever. He hoped Fai didn't think he was being clever just because Kurogane had allowed him to change the subject when he had been asking about Ashura. That had only happened because he had realized that it was really none of his business and that he didn't know Fai well enough to demand information that was apparently so personal. Even though he didn't have the right to be poking around in Fai's past, it irritated him a little because he could tell that his roommate was hiding something big from him. Besides… as much as he hated to admit it, he found that when Fai was touching him, for some odd reason he felt a little happier, too.
Although Kurogane had gotten a little bit excited after that somewhat revealing dream he had had about Fai, the next few days and nights were disappointingly uninformative. Though he tried several sneaky tactics in an attempt to trick Fai into letting something else of interest slip, the blond danced around his verbal attacks with a dexterity that, while it pissed him off a lot, Kurogane couldn't help but admire. Tomoyo wasn't being at all helpful in relieving his frustration; she kept asking him if he had figured out what was up with Fai yet. Whenever he grudgingly admitted that he had been, so far, unsuccessful, she would do that stupid, infuriating little girly laugh of hers and prance away, looking far too smug for his liking. Today, he feared, would be no different. In fact, she was already wearing that damn smirk as if she was anticipating reports of his continued failure.
"Have you figured it out yet?" Tomoyo asked in a deceptively sweet voice.
"No, dammit. But you can wipe that stupid smirk off your face. It really makes me want to hurt you," Kurogane snarled, cracking his knuckles threateningly.
It was an empty threat, however, and both of them knew it. Regardless of how much a she irritated him, Kurogane would never hurt a girl. It went against his code of honor. And Tomoyo, though it may not seem so to the casual observer, was in even less danger than any other girl. She might be a smug little bitch sometimes but she was his smug little bitch, and he'd be damned if he let anyone, himself included, lay so much as a finger on her; whether this was because he was "adorable" (as Tomoyo suggested) or "chivalrous" (as he insisted) was still a topic of debate.
Tomoyo let out a heavy sigh. "You're really starting to disappoint me, Kurogane… Here I was thinking that you were intelligent but you can't even figure out this one simple little thing about your own roommate…"
"Shut up, you," he retorted through gritted teeth. "If it matters to you so much, why don't you give me a hint or something?!"
"Now where would be the fun in that?" she smiled. "I would have thought that you'd be watching his every move and hanging on to his every word…"
"Why the heck would I do that?!" Kurogane sputtered indignantly.
"Because…" Tomoyo paused for dramatic effect, then giggled maliciously. "You have a crush on him!"
Kurogane's face instantly went scarlet. "N-no I don't! Where do you get a stupid idea like that?!"
"It's written all over your face, Kurogane! I'd have to be blind to miss it!" she chirped. "Not that I object, of course. I'm sure you and Fai san would make an absolutely adorable couple!"
Kurogane winced and hurriedly looked around to make sure that they weren't being eavesdropped on. "Look…" he hissed, "if you're gonna say stupid crap like that, at least keep your voice down! The last thing I need is for rumors to get out that I'm interested in that stupid blond pansy guy!"
"Oh, you wanted to keep that a secret?" Tomoyo asked, looking mildly surprised and a smile that was tinged with just the slightest hint of guilt played across her lips. "You should have told me that sooner, Kurogane! I just got done telling Kizaki chan that you two were an item! And you know she can't keep a secret…"
Kurogane froze, mid-stride, and stared at Tomoyo in horror. The two of them had been going to school with Tamayo Kizaki since their elementary years, so he was well aware that she was absolutely useless at secret-keeping.
"Don't look so surprised, Kurogane," Tomoyo said cheerfully, waving his worry aside. "Even if I hadn't told her, she would have come to that conclusion herself. You and Fai san are practically joined at the hip!"
"Not because I want to be!" he seethed, his face still a brilliant shade of red. "That idiot just keeps following me all the time! I can't get rid of him!"
"I think you probably could do it if you really wanted to. I've seen you do it to other people a thousand times," she giggled. "Really, Kurogane, I don't understand why you still try to feed me those silly excuses of yours. You know I've known you far too long to be fooled by them! And I don't understand why you seem so bothered that Fai san follows you around all the time when you obviously like him."
Kurogane huffed and folded his arms sullenly. "Well, even if I did, that stupid guy doesn't trust me…" he said eventually.
Tomoyo looked up at him, slightly surprised when she saw a subtle but definite hint of bitterness on his face. "What do you mean?"
"He's hiding something. I don't know what it is, but…" Kurogane sighed and ran a hand backwards through his hair. "It's something big."
Tomoyo took his hand and smiled sympathetically up at him. "Then you'll just have to prove to Fai san that you're worthy of his trust."
Kurogane was silent as he mulled over this suggestion. His concentration was broken when Tomoyo laughed again.
"By the way, Kurogane… I didn't really tell Kizaki chan that you two were dating," she said. "I just wanted to shake you up a little."
Kurogane growled, clenching his hands into fists. "You…!"
"Well, my next class is in this building here," Tomoyo chirped, heading for the door of the nearest hall. "See you later, ok?"
She went inside, but paused to watch him through the glass doors as he stomped away angrily. "I can't exactly tell people that you're going out with someone that most of them can't even see…" Tomoyo sighed to herself. "But you'll change that, Kurogane. I have faith in you."
Kurogane returned to his room that afternoon to find Fai lounging on his bed again. The dark-haired boy sighed as he dropped his backpack on the floor.
"Don't you ever have class?" he growled.
"Of course I do, silly," Fai answered without opening his eyes. "Why would I be here if I didn't have any classes?"
"Probably just to piss me off," Kurogane grumbled as he sat down at his desk and opened his laptop. "Anyway, every time I come in here you're just lying around and doing nothing. What am I supposed to think?"
"I'm not doing nothing, Kuropyon," Fai pouted. "Actually, I'm working on something very important."
Kurogane looked over his shoulder at the blond. "What, now?"
"Yep." Fai still hadn't opened his eyes and his hands were folded behind his head. As far as Kurogane could see, he was just lying there.
"You're just lying there! And in my bed, I might add!" he snapped.
"Ah, it only looks that way to the untrained eye," Fai smiled. "In reality, I'm working very, very hard."
Kurogane stared at him a moment longer in disbelief before snorting doubtfully and returning his attention to his computer. "What is it, then?" he asked, doing his best to sound disinterested.
"Hmm?"
"What are you working on?"
"…Tee hee! It's a secret," Fai replied enigmatically.
"Tch. You won't tell me because it's nothing," Kurogane sulked.
"This is really bothering you, isn't it, Kurosama?" the blond said amusedly.
"…No. I don't care at all," he lied.
"If you say so, Kuronpyu," Fai said.
For a long time, neither of them said anything. Kurogane would glance at his roommate from time to time, in spite of himself. Not that he was interested in what Fai was doing. He was just… looking. Because he felt like it. It was Fai, however, who really didn't seem interested. In fact, Kurogane was pretty sure he had fallen asleep. How irritating. That bastard had a lot of nerve, falling asleep in his bed. He turned back to his computer, trying to focus on something that he told himself was far more interesting.
Yet somehow, as uninteresting as Fai was, Kurogane kept finding his eyes inexplicably drawn to him. He was all curled up on top of the blankets, looking so insubstantial that Kurogane wondered if he might suddenly disappear. He also, Kurogane thought, looked cold and… he struggled to find the right word to describe how else Fai appeared to him. Finally he settled on "lost". Fai looked lost. Suddenly, Kurogane found himself getting up from his desk, taking a blanket off of Fai's bed and spreading it over the slender blond form. His hand drifted up to Fai's hair and brushed a few strands away from his face.
He looked just as sweet and beautiful as the first time Kurogane had laid eyes on him. Kurogane told himself forcefully that he hadn't thought the words "sweet" and "beautiful" about Fai in an affectionate way. He had chosen "sweet" because he had always hated sweet things, and "beautiful" because he had no interest in pretty stuff. His arguments were abruptly halted when he suddenly noticed that his hand had strayed from Fai's hair and was now gently tracing his roommate's smooth jaw line. Kurogane quickly pulled his hand away and forced himself to return to his desk.
"Hey…" he said to no one in particular, "if you ever feel like talking… I'll listen."
Kurogane glanced over at Fai one last time, checking to see if there was any sign of comprehension on his sleeping face. There was a small smile.
Kurogane looked up from his computer when he heard a knock at the door. He looked quickly over at Fai. The blond was still sleeping. Kurogane heaved a sigh and got up to answer the knock. There were two girls standing there. He recognized them as his neighbors from a few doors down, though he didn't know them by name. One of them was holding a plate with little clear bags on it. Each bag contained two cookies and was tied shut with a red ribbon.
"Ah, hello!" the dark-haired girl said. "Are you Kurogane san?"
"Yeah," he replied curiously.
"I'm Himawari, and this is Chii chan. We made cookies for everyone!" the one called Himawari said with a friendly smile. "Please, take one!"
Kurogane automatically obeyed, letting the door swing open a little as he did so. Himawari peeked around his shoulder.
"Oh, I hope I'm not disturbing your roommate," she said in a whisper. "Perhaps you should take one for him too, for when he wakes up."
"Tch. Don't worry about waking up that lazy guy," Kurogane grumbled. "All he ever does is lie around."
"Well, he's very pretty," Himawari noted.
The other girl, Chii, who hadn't said anything yet, looked puzzled. "Chii thought Kurogane san had his own room… That's what Hideki said."
"Well, obviously not," Kurogane said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in Fai's direction. "He's right there."
Chii peeked curiously around his shoulder at the place that he had indicated. "Chii doesn't see anyone…"
"What are you talking about?" Kurogane stepped aside to let her have a better look. "How can you miss him?"
Chii stared blankly at Kurogane's bed where Fai was sleeping. After a moment, Himawari broke the awkward silence.
"Well, enjoy the cookies, Kurogane san."
The two of them headed for the next room and Kurogane shut the door, wondering if Chii was blind and why he had taken the cookies when he didn't even like sweets. He heard the bed creaking slightly as Fai sat up.
"Who was at the door, Kurochan?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.
"Some girls from down the hall made cookies for everyone," Kurogane answered, tossing both bags to Fai. "You can have mine, too. I don't like sweets."
Fai looked sadly down at the cookies in his lap. "I… can't eat them, either."
Kurogane noticed the room getting chilly again as he looked at Fai, frowning slightly.
"What, you diabetic or something."
Fai just smiled at him apologetically. "…I'm sorry."
Kurogane blushed. "What are you apologizing to me for?"
When Fai continued to look upset, Kurogane heaved another sigh and snatched the cookies back. Fai watched him in surprise as his dark-haired roommate ripped one of the bags open and took a bite of a cookie, looking rather irritated as he chewed it.
"I thought you didn't like sweets," Fai said.
"I don't," Kurogane agreed, gingerly taking another bite. "But I hate being wasteful even more. Besides…you were making that stupid face…"
Fai's eyes widened. "So… Kuronpu is eating the cookies… to make me feel better…?"
"Hmph," Kurogane said evasively, finishing off the first bag and picking up the second. He jumped when he heard Fai laugh. "What the hell is so funny?"
"You're such a nice guy but you're all shy about it…It's really sweet," Fai grinned.
Kurogane blushed again and quickly looked away. "…Shut up! Who's shy?!"
"You covered me up before, too, and told me you would listen if I had anything to say," the blond pointed out, his smile widening. "No one's ever done that for me before…So thank you. It means a lot to me."
"Y-you heard that?!" Kurogane stammered. "You were supposed to be asleep!"
"Maybe… I've finally found you…" Fai muttered, mostly to himself.
"Huh?" Kurogane said. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Fai continued to look thoughtful, but eventually shook his head. "…But I still can't be sure… Just wait a little longer, ok, Kuromin?"
"Tch. I don't even know what you're talking about," the dark-haired boy growled. But he couldn't honestly say that he didn't want to find out.
Kurogane returned to their room after eating dinner with Tomoyo and Sakura and was surprised to find it empty. Fai had declined Sakura's invitation to join them, saying that he had something he had to get done but Kurogane still thought it was strange to find him gone. He crouched down near his closet where he had dropped his backpack earlier that day to get out his textbooks. Stupid professors; the reason they probably assigned so much reading was because they were too lazy to cover all that stuff in class.
Kurogane paused in his digging when a strange, rhythmic sound reached his ears. It sounded a bit like a drum, but not quite. Whatever it was, he was pretty sure it was coming from Fai's closet. Kurogane dropped his backpack again and moved a bit closer to his roommate's side of the room. Fai's mysterious little black duffle bag was shoved between the side wall and the dresser, sticking out noticeably, and it was pulsating in time with the noise. He looked around the room guiltily, just to make sure that Fai was really gone, before reaching into the closet and pulling the bag out.
Carefully, Kurogane unzipped it and reached inside. His hand came in contact with something cold and slimy, causing him to gasp in surprise and pull it out again. There was blood on his fingers. He examined his own hand in morbid fascination; he hadn't experienced any pain and as far as he could see, his fingers were uninjured. So it wasn't his own blood, at least. This realization calmed one fear and gave birth to another; if it wasn't his blood on his hands, then whose was it?
Kurogane brought the bag out into the light and held it open so that he could see its contents without having to touch them again. When he saw what it was, his breath caught in his chest and he felt dizzy with disgust and disbelief. He jumped badly when the door suddenly opened and Fai stepped inside. When the blond saw what Kurogane was doing, he froze, a look of horror and shock on his face. Kurogane swallowed and tilted the open bag towards Fai.
"You…you'd better have a good explanation for this," he hissed.
Inside the bag was a human heart. It was still beating.
A/N: Oh ho ho! Cliff hanger! Though I'm fairly certain I've already given away who it belongs to. I know I've at least narrowed it down quite a bit. But anyway… I'm having mixed feelings about the way this chapter turned out. Then again, when do I not? Hey, I just noticed, I'm 1/5th of the way done! Yay! Reviews are deeply appreciated!
The next prompt will be "hollow". Stay tuned!