It took them a while to get back home, it was already afternoon when they reached the front door. Kurogane put Fai down and opened the door
"We are home!" Fai called and hopped in. Kurogane walked in after him and closed the door. He made this just in time to catch Sakura before she jumped on Fai
"Watch it. He has a bad leg and broken ribs" he snapped. People really should have bit more brains so they could be a bit more considerate, he thought. Sakura blushed and step back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize" she stuttered looking at the floor. Fai smiled one of his 1000 wats smile
"It's okay. If you want to give someone like me a hug, I won't complain" Sakura beamed at him and carefully wrapped her arms around Fai's delicate form. Kurogane looked at Fai in deep thought. Why did Fai think so lowly of himself? Even now Kurogane could sense the sadness and disregard that emitted from the pale man. The quiet, tender moment was shattered when Mokona entered bouncing onto Sakura's head, calling
"Fai! Mokona was so worried! Mokona is so happy Fai is back!" with this Mokona stood on his tiptoes and gave Fai a kiss on the cheek. But this made Fai shake loose from the embrace and hurriedly step back, eyes wide and color escaping his face. Fai would have fallen if Kurogane hadn't caught him just before he hit the floor. Fai tried to break loose from Kurogane's grip, but he didn't let go.
Fai got so scared. The touch of lips on his cheek reminded him of Papa. He tried to escape, but again he was caught and even if he tried, he couldn't free himself from the clutch. Soon they would touch him, dirty him more. Fai shivered and coughed, he nearly felt the tongue in his mouth.
"Oi, Fai, snap out of it" Fai heard a voice he knew calling him. He opened his eyes and saw worried Sakura and Mokona on the background, but in the front, there was Kurogane who looked a tad bewildered. The sight made him giggle, and that made Kurogane look even more freaked out. Fai burst into laughter, waved his hand and said to them
"I'm sorry Mokona you startled me, I didn't mean to do that" Everybody looked confused, even Syaoran who had joined them at some point. Fai smiled "Oh, come on, I have a concussion, you can't expect me to behave normally". Fai reached out a hand and Mokona jumped on it. Fai tried all his might to act normal when he pressed a quick kiss on Mokona's forehead. Fai swallowed and smiled "It's so nice to see you too Mokona!"
"You always seem like you have a freaking concussion, you are never normal " Fai could hear Kurogane mutter when he helped Fai up again. This made Fai's heart grow a little colder, little less alive, but in the surface, he just smiled to the ninja. So, even if Kurogane didn't hate him, he didn't like him either. Fai held in a sigh, which wasn't good idea, since it made him wince, since his ribs didn't like the effort, especially after the laugh.
"Oi, what's wrong?" Kurogane whispered, so the kids and the pork-bun couldn't hear. He felt disappointed when Fai just smiled at him stating
"It's just my ribs, nothing to worry about." This didn't reassure Kurogane at all. Normally there would have been serious teasing and a nickname. But there wasn't any. He half carried Fai to the living room and placed him on the sofa.
"I'll fix you something to eat. Any wishes?" he asked while already going towards the kitchen. When there was no reply, he turned to look. To his annoyance, the three person looked back at him with dumbstruck expressions. Mokona was stunned too but was the first to recover
"Kyaa! Daddy takes care of Mommy! Daddy is so sweet!" Mokona exclaimed, jumping around. Kurogane growled, partly because of pork-bun's stupid nickname and partly because he had been caught caring about Fai. He darted at the pork-bun, wanting to stretch that too talkative mouth into a new shape. Mokona kyaaed again, running around for a while and then took a shelter in Fai's lap. Fai was startled but gave a little chuckle and lifted Mokona level with his face. Kurogane froze when hearing Fai's words
"Come no Moko-chan. Kuro-ne really doesn't like the nicknames and you don't want him to hate you, do you?" For a while Fai's smile had very sad edge on it, but in a blink of an eye it was replaced with even brighter smile.
"No, Mokona doesn't want that! But we have called him nicknames all the time, why not continue?" Fai shook his head
"Even if something is done for a long time, it doesn't mean it's right."
"Tch" Kurogane said, going again towards the kitchen "I'll just make you toast". When he was in the kitchen, he smashed his fist onto the kitchen wall, but only with a little strength so he wouldn't break the wall, or cause sound that would tell the others he was upset. Really, what was wrong with Fai? He really seemed like a whole new person and even as troublesome Fai used to be, this was worse. Now Fai seemed so very distant and Kurogane didn't know how to reach him, how to get him back. Because he was sure he wanted Fai back to him. With a deep sigh he started making some toast. Hopefully, with time, Fai would come back and return to normal.
When Kurogane stormed into kitchen, Fai flinched inwardly. No matter what he did, it seemed to annoy the ninja. What should he do now? It felt like all lights were shutting down and he was left there, standing alone in pitch-black darkness without any idea when it would be bright again. Maybe never. Perhaps Fai was meant to be in the darkness his whole life.