Quiet.

DISCLAIMER: Are these necessary any longer? My not Clamp.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That last chapter was extremely popular! I'm surprised, and gratified. Keep reading, and I'll keep writing! Also, a little warning, angst ahead! I mean Fai's past is coming up, for those who didn't guess. In T-1 chapter.

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In the week following the mysterious phone call, Fai got quite a few more calls from "old friends", and "nobody". And no matter how many calls Kurogane walked in on, Fai still denied their existence and importance.

And Fai was acting… different. Kurogane couldn't help but notice, after all, he lived with the guy. I mean, this was happy-go-lucky 'nothing ever bothers me' Fai. But happy-go-lucky Fai seemed to be taking a leave of absence. True, Fai pretended that he was fine; but Kurogane was no more fooled by that than he was by Fai's smiles.

Fai had gotten quiet, an alarming kind of quiet. Kurogane had longed for silent Fai so long that he was amazed by how unsettling it actually was. This was Fai! Fai was supposed to barge into rooms, and declare at the top of his lungs: 'Martinis all around!' He was supposed to get so drunk that he passed out singing Britney Spears songs. He absolutely was not supposed to be quiet! Fai was bright and happy and dynamic; he was loud and cheerful, and he was Fai, god damn it!

It was in that week that Kurogane discovered a disturbing fact about himself. As much as he hated, absolutely hated Fai for being so noisy and annoying, he liked him for it. (He might have said loved, if he were ready to confess that to himself.)

That was not the only change. Along with his new silence, Fai got very clingy. Fai had always been clingy, but that was in an 'I'm hanging on to your arm because I know that it's irritating, and infuriating you is my favorite hobby!' kind of way. This was much more desperate, like he was afraid of what would happen if he let go.

Then there was that morning. The day Kurogane woke up, to find Fai wide-awake himself and simply hugging him as tightly as he could.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Nothing, Kuro-min." Fai lied for the hundredth time.

Kurogane bit his lip. A substantial part of him wanted to press Fai for more information. But he had already tried that, and all it had resulted in was more vehement denial, a small shouting match, and Fai actually crying. And hell, he did not want to repeat that.

"I have to get up now." He said instead. "Work."

"No!" Fai said with a surprising amount of force. He regained his composure, and looked up at Kurogane, head still resting on his chest. The fake smile was back, brighter and more fragile than ever. "Stay with me, just a little while."

Kurogane obliged him as long as he could, his fragile state overriding the dark man's rough nature. Until he really was going to be late if he stayed any longer. After that, he still stayed a few minutes, till he was sure there was no way he was getting in on time. And then still a bit longer.

"I have to go now… Fai." He said, using his name to emphasize how serious he was. Reluctantly, Fai released him.

Kurogane showered and dressed; sighing at the thought of the triad he was likely to get from the head of security. Whatever, it was a matter of what was more important, and he had decided that Fai was more important. Fai was more important, and whatever the hell the infuriating blond was trying and failing so hard to hide.

When he went into the kitchen, he discovered the usual. His breakfast was waiting, and a cheerful blond was there to eat it with him. Except that the blond wasn't truly cheerful. And when they ate, the silence wasn't filled with his usual prattle.

And then Fai did something distinctly unusual. When Kurogane rose to leave, he swiftly rounded the table and kissed him. A full passionate kiss, and it was far more desperate than any of Fai's previous actions.

When Fai pulled away, he looked up into Kurogane's red eyes. "Goodbye, Kuro-sama." He said.

Kurogane froze; there was something about the way he said that. Like he didn't mean goodbye for work. Almost like he meant…

"What the hell do you mean 'goodbye'?" He demanded.

"Well, Kuro-pipi, people usually say that when others leave." And cue empty, insincere laughter…now.

This was clearly going nowhere. Kurogane mentally cursed Fai for being so enigmatic. Why couldn't he just say what he meant, and save everyone some trouble of decoding his stupidity?

Kurogane started for the door, but was struck by a sudden thought. He looked back at Fai.

"Don't… Don't do anything stupid…all right?" he said, with astounding eloquence.

"Of course not, Kuro-kins!" And once more that hundred-watt smile graced Fai's features.

Why was Kurogane not reassured?

--

"Kurogane, if you're just going to stare of at nothing all day and worry about Fai, you should go."

Kurogane turned sharply on Souma.

"What makes you think I'm worried about him?" he snapped.

"How long have I known you?"

She had a point he hated to concede.

When he said nothing, she spoke again. "Go home. I'll cover for you." she insisted.

Kurogane did not require much more prompting before he was in his car on the highway.

--

It's four-thirty. I'm just imagining things. When I open this door, Fai's going to glomp me, and I'm going to hate it, because it's four-thirty, so he isn't at work yet. And he'll insist that we spend 'quality time' cuddling on the couch, and I'll hate it. And when he finally does leave, he'll tell me to be sure to wait up for him, and wink at me, and giggle like a lovesick teenage girl. And I'll hate it.

You got that, brain?

He'll be there, and I'll hate every second of it.

Thus totally unconvinced, Kurogane opened his apartment door.

And the lights were off.

Click.

As the room brightened, Kurogane noticed many things:

The frilly throw pillows were not on his couch.

The floral curtains were gone.

He no longer had a copy of "The Works Of Georgia O'Keeffe" on his coffee table.

And most notably, he remained un-glomped.

Shit!

He might have been wrong about a few things.

In the kitchen, the fridge was no longer covered in magnets shaped like characters from various Pixar movies. The little blue note pad Fai kept by the phone to write notes, addresses, and grocery lists was missing.

Kurogane continued going though the house, and finding all traces of Fai missing. No pictures from Yuko's New Year's party. No random little post-its telling 'Kuro-pin' to 'be a good little puppy' till Fai got back. (And damn it, he had been hoping for one of those. For once in his life, he wanted to find one.)

And finally…their own room…

He had left it for last, since it was the thing that would definitively prove whether Fai was there.

He pulled open the closet.

And not one of Fai's ridiculously girly shirts he so despised hung there.

--

Damn it!

Fucking Fai!

Fucking dumb ass idiot!

Always the center of attention, but no close friends!

Damn him!

Kurogane's mind continued on this tyriad for some time, as he drove rather aimlessly around, trying to think of where Fai might go. Of who might know were he was.

But, of course, Fai didn't get close to people. And Kurogane could not ever think of having been introduced to one friend of his. He simply did not have any.

There were only two people in the whole city that Fai was close to, at all.

One was driving this car, and the other…

He really did not want to end up asking.

However, with no other options, he was forced to start driving toward Yuko's house.

When he arrived, Yuko was lounging on her fount porch, taking slow drags from the cigarette in her hand. She wore an airy, royal blue summer dress, and held a glass of what looked like iced-tea, but probably contained at least one shot of alcohol. As Kurogane's car slowly pulled into her driveway, she fixed her eyes on the tall man. They did not leave him, as he stepped out and walked towards her.

One of the toy poodles at Yuko's feet began yapping.

"Quiet, Maro." She stared at the man before her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she enquired.

Kurogane was not about to mince words.

"Where is he, bitch!" he snarled.

"So he did it today?" she muttered.

"You knew! What the hell, you knew he was going to do this? Why didn't you say anything? Oh, by the way, Fai's planning on running away, or did it just slip…"

"You want to be quiet now…" she cut through his rant, "if you want to know were he is."

She gave him a harsh glare before continuing. "I know were he is, and you do not have a lot of time. Now, he made me promise him that I wouldn't tell you where he was going. And I feel slightly guilty at the thought of breaking that promise."

Kurogane scoffed, as if that woman felt guilt.

"However, I am not going to break it, only bend it…and first, I want something from you."

Of all times! God, she had no sense of propriety. Whatever, he was not about to be picky, Fai was god knew where, and there was evidently a time sensitive element to the situation. Any help was better than none.

"What do you want?"

"Not much…" he'd heard that before, "a promise."

Kurogane was taken aback by that…a promise?

"I do not think you realize how deeply I care for that man. When you hear a bit more of his story, I think you'll understand." She paused again, as if for effect, "Promise me, that you won't let him go, and that you'll make him tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Yuko's glared at him again. "You know perfectly well what. Make him tell you his story, if you care for him at all. Because he won't tell you of his own will and you need to hear it."

"Fine I promise, where the hell is he?"

When Yuko answered, he suddenly understood why he was running out of time. Because it was already six o'clock, were he needed to be was a forty-five minute drive. And he had to be there by six-twenty.

END NOTE: READ ME: "The Execution of All Things".This fic is really original; do not shy away because it's character death! It's under my favorites.