"Fai-san, is something wrong?" Sakura asked worriedly, looking straight into Fai's eyes. He awerted the gaze by clising his eyes and tilting his head to the side, causing his hair to fall down and cover half of his face, and smiled.
"No Sakura-chan. I'm just a tad tired, that's all"
"Um, about that, where were you and what exactly happened?" Syaoran inquired, looking concerned. Fai's eyes snapped open and he glanced at Syaoran.
"I'd rather not talk about it. What happened, happened and it's already history, and one really smart and cool person told me that past doesn't matter" Fai smiled, looking a bit contemplating.
"But if they didn't get caught, we need to catch them so they won't threat us again. And for that, you need to tell all you can about them. What they said, did and planned to do" Syaoran kept pressing. He was worried that they might do something to Sakura-hime. If they could beat someone as skilled as Fai, what they could do to to helpless girl? While Syaoran was deep in thought, Fai paled and clenched tighter at Mokona. His eyes got glazed over and his jawline tensed. What they did...images flashed in his head and once again he felt nausea.
Kurogane rushed out of the kitchen with plate of toast and a glass of orange juice in his hands, when he heard Sakura calling Fai's name with fear in her voice. When he got to the living room, Fai sat frozen on sofa, clearly not seeing the girl who was crouching in front of him, trying to get a connection to him. Kurogane placed the food on the coffee table and told Sakura to step aside. Carefully Kurogane removed Mokona from the surprisingly strong hold, and put the pork-bun down. Then he knelt down and even more carefully reached out and wiped the soft bangs of hair away from Fai's face. To this, Fai shivered, but that was all. Knowing that Fai needed to be treated gently now, the tears he had shed when Kurogane found him speaking volumes, he took a deep breath, calming himself, letting the frown go. Then softly he touched Fai's cheek with his fingers. He nearly forgot his mission when the softness and warmness of Fai's skin overtook his senses. Luckily, the fact that his hand caressed Fai's cheek seemed to bring the blond back to the present , so instead of stopping, he continued to softly brush Fai's cheek, careful not to touch any of the bruises. After a while, Fai seemed to come around. He blinked and Kurogane nearly smiled when he saw the spark of life returning to the wonderful blue eyes.
Fai blinked, and to his utter surprise he saw Kurogane kneeling in front of him, face strangely gentle and caring. At first he could only stare and then he realized that Kurogane's hand was on his cheek. Fai felt his cheeks burning up as he saw a faint tint of pink shading Kurogane's cheeks.
"What..?" Fai muttered, transfixed in staring Kurogane.
"Your concussion is just playing tricks with you, that's all." Kurogane stated, taking away his hand and standing up. "Now eat up so you can get some rest" Fai was stunned. Not only had Kurogane's hand been really gentle he had also nearly blushed and now he seemed to have covered up for him, so he didn't need to try to make and excuse for the kids. So, when the ninja sat next to him, having reached for the plate and glass and hold them for him, he smiled for real, although not sure what was going on in ninja's head, or even in his own, and said
"Thank you Kuro-ne", taking a slice of bread, not to hit his broken and bandaged finger onto anything and started eating. Half way through the slice, the dry bread got caught in his throat and he started coughing. Which hurt like hell. Fai bent down, trying to get control of his lungs. The bread was taken from his hand and a glass of orange juice appeared in front of him. He grabbed the glass and drank a little between the coughs. It removed the breadcrumb and Fai sighed, turning to Kurogane with a tired smile
"Thanks again" then they both looked down and noticed that their hands held the glass together, so in a way they held hands. This time Kurogane's ears reddened while Fai's blushed. Seeing Fai's red face, the ninja looked away.
"You were meant to eat" Fai let go of the glass, taking the toast that was held out to him. Quietly Fai ate, thinking that this would be really pleasant if he wouldn't feel so filthy, disgusting and so not worth Kurogane's presence.
Kurogane watched Fai's eating, worried about the fact that Fai seemed so lost in his thoughts and the quite apparent sorrow that radiated form the beaten up blonde. It wasn't like Fai to be so ungraceful as to choke while eating. Kurogane's frown deepened when he considered that maybe Fai nearly choke because he had made the toast too dry and crispy. Looking at Fai's pale, bandaged, he felt even more guilty. He should have prevented all this. While he thought this, an image pushed through. It was fresh and very clear. It was of Fai, who was blushing. Absentmindedly he rubbed his fingers that had touched Fai. The pale skin had been soft, smooth and just so touchable. Although he wanted to, he couldn't say that he hadn't liked it. He actually wouldn't mind touching Fai again. Especially the skin on Fai's cheek had been so pleasant...with a shake of his head, he abandoned these thoughts. It wasn't his place to think about these things. Definitely not about Fai.
"Kuro-ne, what's the matter?" he heard Fai asking.
"None of your business" he answered, looking away and fighting against blushing "Just eat up so you can go to rest already". A strange surge of pain soared through him when he noticed that Fai had slumped a bit at the respond. But he didn't know what to do, and neither could he ask what he could do to help Fai. Either his pride wouldn't allow it, or Fai wouldn't answer. Before he had determined which one was more likely, Fai had finished.
"Okay Kuro-ne , I'm done. Thanks a lot for your help." Fai said and so clearly a fake smile on his face that even Sakura could see it. He grunted, took the dishes and went to kitchen.
Fai couldn't hold his composure when Kurogane had snapped at him. Why had he thought for a moment that the dark man liked him. When Kurogane left he sighed. Clearly his head was out of order.
"Um, Fai-san, are you alright? In addition to your obvious wounds?" Fai looked at Sakura who had talked to him. How come he had totally forgot that children were here? After a short moment of surprise, he pulled himself together once more and smiled at her.
"Surely I'm fine. Honestly, no need to worry. We are all together again and there is no severe injuries. All in all, everything is fine" Fai stated, tilting his head in order to appear cuter and happier. A shiver run through his spine when he thought how much Kurogane would loath this act. Lucky for him, Sakura was easy to convince. She clapped her hands together, smiling warmly and telling excitedly
"Then we shall celebrate! After all you taught me in Oto country, and knowing your love for sweets, I think I'll be able to bake a chocolate cake."
"Oh, no, you don't need to do that just for my sake" he said, feeling his heart starting to beat faster and his hands twitched.
"But I want to! After all the pain, you deserve it. And I really am happy that you are safe and okay, and I don't know what else to do to help you!"Sakura exclaimed.
"I don't know about deserving..."Fai mumbled very quietly. Then he sat up straight and looked directly at Sakura "If that's the case, then I would love to have some of your cake. And it's more than enough for me to get better, so you need not worry about it." Sakura nearly glowed when she smiled at him, before taking Syaoran with her to the kitchen. Kurogane had been standing in the doorway, but stepped aside to let the kids pass. Mokona looked at the two men, then followed the kids. When Mokona came to the ninja, Mokona jumped to his shoulder and whispered to his ears
"Please be careful with Fai. Mokona senses even more sadness from him than before. But when you are close to him, it eases a bit. It gets worse when you go away though...so daddy, you better take good care of mommy" and before Kurogane had time to realize the jab in the last sentence, Mokona had jumped down and hurried to children's aid. But Mokona was still close enough to hear to hear his muttering about how he wanted to, if he only knew how. Mokona turned around to see the ninja walking to the coach where Fai sat. When the ninja lifted Fai up and headed towards the bedrooms, Mokona was wearing an all-knowing grin. Humming quietly something that sounded like 'lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey' Mokona joined the cake baking crew.
Fai felt awkward when Kurogane hoisted him up but small part of him enjoyed it far too much. When they entered their bedroom and he saw the bed, he had slight flashback to the other bed he had occupied lately and stiffened.
"Oi, calm down now" Kurogane's lovely voice smoothed him, and he sighed.
"Sorry Kuro-ne" he said, turning his head to look at the man who carried him.
"No need for that. Or the constant 'thank you's. Just relax since I'm not going to let them touch you again" Kurogane said while he lowered Fai down next to his bed. He couldn't believe his ears. Was it just coincidence that Kurogane used those words, or did he know what had been going on? Then he realized the true meaning of Kurogane's words and he felt warm. If Kurogane said something like that, there were no way he could have been behind the whole thing. The next moment he felt very ashamed. How could he even for a moment think that Kurogane would do something like that. Mentally slapping himself he lowered his head, hiding his face behind soft curtain of blond hair. He didn't feel like looking at Kurogane, hos inferiority complex would surely just boost up. To his surprise, he felt fingers on his chin, lifting his head gently up. In total astonishment, he looked wide eyed and directly into Kurogane's red eyes. He couldn't even think of looking away, he was mesmerized by the ruby eyes,. He felt so happy, light, warm and surprised when Kurogane reached his other hand out and moved the blond hair off of Fai's face.
"Oi, there is no need to be like that" Kurogane said, his face softening.
"But.." he tried to look away, but the ninja held his head still.
"No buts. You got beaten, but believe me, those who did it will suffer, I'll make sure of it. Now all you have to do is get better and move on". When Kurogane finished talking, looking sternly into his eyes, he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth a few times but then gave up and just smiled softly at the ninja. When Kurogane saw the real smile, he nodded slightly and let go.
"Now you better have your nap. I'll come wake you up when the cake is done" Kurogane said while heading for the door. Fortunately for Fai, Kurogane's back faced him when he shivered at the word cake. But there were no reason to think about it now, so he crawled into the bed, taking comfort in the fact that Kurogane was close. Then he sighed and fell asleep.
