"Your Father tells me you haven't visited him in a while…" Tsubame commented casually, as she helped prepare food for the evening meal.

"Yeah… I've been busy. Besides, I don't want company when I go …"

"Well he can stay here with me while you go visit," Tsubame offered.

"Shall I bring Father flowers from you too?" Kurogane asked.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

Kurogane nodded. "Ah. If it's for Mother, then it's no trouble at all."

Tsubame gently cupped Kurogane's cheek, "you're such a good son. Thank you."

"Then I'll be off. I will see you all later," Kurogane murmured, making a quick stop to his room to change into something more appropriate for his visit, and leaving his primary Slayer sword there. He wouldn't be needing it where he was going.

It took a moment before Fai realized Kurogane had been talking about leaving him behind, and he got up from where he'd been painting to ask him why he couldn't come with so Tsubame gently set her palm down on his shoulder, "maybe another time, Fai-chan."

Fai looked at Tsubame and back towards where Kurogane had gone to get ready for his visit.

"Do you want to finish your painting? I'm sure he can use all the cheering up when he returns," Tsubame mentioned.

Fai nodded before returning to his artwork.

Visiting a flower shop in town, he picked up flowers, and incense to bring to his Father. He's gentle with the flowers as he carried them, shielded them from a gust of wind that picked up as he traveled to where he knew his Father would be. Unlike his mother, he could not commune with his departed Father's spirit through dreams. As far as he knew, he lacked all potential to be a dream walker.

It's a familiar stretch of land. He'd been to it so many times before. It's where his Grandparents and great grandparents were buried, and the son that never made it. It was where uncles and aunts and other distant, dead, relatives rested when there was no more life in their bodies. Some exemplary members of the household even had a burial here - that one eyed retainer who was always there for his father, always there for his family as far as he'd known him was also buried here.

It's the same plot of land where his father was buried, an empty placeholder to keep him company in the earth where one day his mother would be buried on one side of him. He anticipated one day, he too would join them in the earth, but he would do what he could so that was a distant day in the future and his mother wouldn't have to worry about burying her child.

He remembered he used to visit a lot more often, at least every month, and it seemed like it was usually once a week, sometimes more when he wanted to share something. Even if he couldn't see him, he was sure the little boy that had died so early still hung around, and he liked to talk to his marker -sometimes he thought he felt the boy's ghost, but he could never be certain because that's one of the details that his own Sight was never very good at seeing.

It was usually his marker he kneeled at, left a small offering. Sometimes, he visited his grandparents, every few months it seemed like, as he had met them when he was younger but he didn't know them well. But ever since they'd taken in Fai, he hadn't been here once, and now it was almost time for the Annual Festival. In just a couple of weeks, he would be spending more time at the Shrine, helping his mother and the mikos prepare for Kunchi, and with his usual companion these days, he wasn't sure when next he'd come back. So that day, he visited with all the markers, even the ones he didn't really talk to much, saving the markers for the young boy and his father for last.

Resting on his knees before the child's grave, he set the piece of incense in the small incense holder, where offerings were laid for the young boy, not far from the statue of Jizo, the Guardian who was supposed to protect children who died before their parents and who no longer could cross the Sanzu River. He spent a while telling the grave marker stories he thought the boy would enjoy before getting up and going over to where his father's marker stood.

Kurogane set the flowers in front of his father's grave, a lily from both him and his mother, as well as a lavender flower. Lavender wasn't really a graveyard flower, but it was his mother's flower. Kurogane was quiet as he kneeled down beside those delicate offerings and set a piece of incense in the small holder, lighting it for his father. He bowed his head as he murmured familiar words, a prayer to the dead.

"I feel like I should apologize to you, Father. You two died fighting off a powerful demon and yet I brought one home to the Shrine. He's a rather friendly one for a bakeneko, always wants to hang around me and he likes sweets, just like you, and sometimes he likes to surprise me … I think you two could have been friends had you two met.

Mother and even Tomoyo seemed to know he would be coming. Well - they're both dream walkers so they probably did. For a demon, he acts more like an affectionate, somewhat mischievous housecat - he was probably the same way before he turned into a demon. If only there were more demons that were more like him, thoughtful and peaceful, then maybe we could live with more harmony between us. If only that one demon had been a kinder demon and didn't eat you, maybe you could have seen a better world.

I know Mother misses you a lot. Sometimes, she still waits for you to come home."

He grew quiet as it felt like a lump was growing in his throat.

"I miss you too, Father. Even if you tussled my hair too hard or enjoyed teasing me, you were still Father and you always looked out for all of us … I always did my best never to cry in front of you, to only let Mother see me then. Now that you have passed away, is it okay if I cry now?"

He grew silent as tears slowly dripped down his face, and more soon followed in the trails made by the first two.

Kurogane eventually wiped the tear trails away from his face before realizing how late it was. He slowly walked back home, feeling exhausted from his trip to the cemetery. As he got to the gate, he saw a picture taped over the keyhole. Removing it from the gate, careful not to tear the paper, he unlocked the gate and locked back up. With the gate secure again, he took the time to look at the painting, recognizing the handiwork.

He was looking at the lines and different colors Fai had used, that it wasn't until he was almost upon him that he noticed the demon coming towards him. He jerked the arm away, exactly as Fai wanted as he ran the last distance and hopped onto Kurogane, wrapping his arms around his neck, happy to see him. "Kuro Kuro~!"

"Energetic as usual, I see," Kurogane murmured the arm with the painting slowly coming back around.

Fai smiled before it fell to something curiously sad, and he leaned in to lick Kurogane's cheeks, where remnants of his earlier crying still remained.

Kurogane silently shook some, trying not to cry anymore.."Why are you so sweet to me?"

Rather than answer the question, Fai looked back enough to look at Kurogane's eyes before resuming licking his face and making purring sounds.

Kurogane didn't want to cry anymore, but a few tears still found themselves falling. Fai licked at those tears, washing them away. Kurogane had the distinct impression Fai was treating him like a kitten, or something, but right then, didn't care to stop him or complain.

When Fai stopped to inspect his work, Kurogane blinked before squinting as Fai licked around his nose.

He jerked back a little, startled when Fai got the corner of his lip. Fai said a soft "come on" at him before slowly sliding his arms down from around Kurogane's neck to around his arm and gently tugged on it to lead him back to the shrine. Even though he knew the way by heart, he let Fai spoil him.

Fai led Kurogane inside, stopping to switch their shoes and encouragingly pulled him along to the bathroom.

Once inside, Fai nuzzled up close to Kurogane and pawed at his yukata to open it, getting a surprised jolt from the Slayer. Kurogane took a step back and went to fix his clothes, and Fai tucked himself behind him as he attempted to nudge the yukata off Kurogane's shoulders. "Clothes off. You get bath."

"Alright, alright already…" Kurogane huffed. He slowly got undressed and set his clothes to the side before he sat down, not long before chilly waters were being poured on top of him.

"What the hell!?" Kurogane yelped. Not only was the water more frigid than usual, but until now, Fai hadn't shown he could even lift the water basin much less dump it full of water on top of him. When he wiped water from near his eyes and looked, he was a bit surprised the basin was floating and covered in the extension of a presence. It reminded him of something between Fai's ghost fire and the demon's own aura.

Fai made a little chirping sound, similar to what a cat might as it watched birds from behind ar window, before cheekily commenting, "It's not that cold, Kuro Kuro."

Kurogane tched at him and Fai smiled at him before he went to grab the soap, picking it up with his teeth to wrap his hands around it and came back, pressing the soap into Kurogane's back side and lathering him up with slow strokes.

It was quiet for the most part as Fai did his best to give Kurogane a bath. Kurogane focused on the movement, that he hadn't noticed himself slowly slouching. Not until Fai was curled in a lithe twist beneath him and yoohooing at him.

"What?" Kurogane asked reflexively.

Fai nuzzled Kurogane lightly, pushing him back into a more upright sitting position before continuing to scrub at his body.

It grew quiet again as the only sound was Fai rubbing the soap against Kurogane.

Kurogane's mind drifted off that it was the cold splash on his head that pulled him out and he looked at Fai.

"Hide your eyes," he said mimicking what Kurogane had done for him those many months ago. When Kurogane did so, he continued to slowly pour the refilled basin over him. When Fai refilled it, he wasn't positive as he hadn't been paying much attention.

With the soap washed off, Fai lifted at Kurogane's arm, helping him to his feet, before going to the tub and using his palms to push the lid away. "Soak up, Kuro Kuro."

Kurogane made a quiet noise before getting into the tub and leaning his arms on the edge and his head on his arms as he let the hot water surround the rest of him.

Fai lightly nuzzled into him, "feel better, okay, Kuro Kuro?"

Kurogane moved an arm to lightly ruffle Fai's hair. "Not sure why you picked me to cling to, leech… but... you're a good leech."

Fai beamed at Kurogane at that and tried ruffling his hair too. "You're good too."

That evening, Kurogane was hardly hungry but Fai 'threatening' to eat his sour things made him snort because he didn't really believe Fai would, before eating them himself. He ate more than he thought he would before going to do his chores. Fai helped him out as much as he could before following him when he went to bed.

They set his bed down and Fai slowly slid it closer to Kurogane's bed, waiting for him to say something about that's too close. What he ended up getting was "how am I supposed to get out of bed with your bed that close?"

Fai let out a chirpy noise, "you could always let me sleep in your bed with you and then Kuro Kuro won't worry about stepping on me."

Kurogane was a bit surprised by those words before murmuring, "maybe another time."

"Okay Kuro Kuro." While Kurogane changed into his pajamas, Fai then voluntarily moved his bed a little bit away so Kurogane could get in and out without stepping on his bed.

It caught his attention when he turned around and there was space between their beds. As he climbed into his, he looked over towards Fai.

"Sleep well, okay?"

"Yeah, you too Kuro Kuro."