A/N: Hmm, the votes for angst and crack in the new miniseries are pretty even. I was sure there would be more votes for crack. I was thinking maybe I'd try one ending with angst and then an alternate ending with crack. That way everyone would be happy, right? And it saves me the trouble of having to come up with so many different stories to fulfill my challenges. Yeah, I think I'll probably end up doing that. Well, while I'm working on that, have this bit of fluffy to tide you over. Douzo!

Quiet

Kurogane strained his ears, listening for any hint of sound. A glance at the digital clock on his nightstand revealed it to be past midnight and everyone had gone to bed at around ten. They should be asleep by now; it ought to be safe to make his rounds. Some might call the ninja paranoid for waiting a full two and a half hours to ensure that his companions were all truly asleep when he did this but Kurogane didn't want to take any chances of getting caught. That would just be way too embarrassing, especially if it was that stupid wizard who saw him. Kurogane got out of bed and slipped out of his room.

When they had first begun this journey, he hadn't really cared much about the other people who were accompanying him. His primary interest had been getting home. However, as time went by, they all slowly began to grow on him, despite his insistence to the contrary. Now he found himself unable to sleep peacefully unless he went around and checked on each of them every night before going to bed. It felt stupid to acknowledge this, but it was true. He really wasn't satisfied until he had made sure they were all in their proper places at night.

He crept down the hall towards the princess's room and eased open the door. Kurogane's heart nearly stopped when he saw that the bed was empty but then he noticed the girl's dark outline on the floor, stirring slightly. He sighed with relief and rolled his eyes. How could Sakura have rolled out of bed without even waking up? She did have a tendency to be a rather mobile sleeper but this was ridiculous. And even if Sakura had somehow managed to remain asleep when she fell, how had the manjuu, whom she was clutching tightly in her arms, done it? She had most likely fallen on top of it when she rolled off. Shaking his head in disbelief, Kurogane carefully scooped her up, placed her back in her bed and covered her up.

After he had helped her back to where she belonged, a slight smile spread across Sakura's sleeping face, as if she was subconsciously aware of what he had done for her. Kurogane really hoped that she was oblivious to it, because if she had noticed she would certainly mention it the next morning. Then Fai would tease him about what a nice daddy he was and he would have no choice but to kick the magician's ass. Not that he minded kicking Fai's ass, but he never had any shortage of reasons to do so and would rather avoid this particular one. Kurogane left the princess's room and made his way silently across the hall to Syaoran's.

Syaoran, unlike Sakura, didn't flop around like a fish out of water when he slept. But when Kurogane approached the kid's bedside, he saw that Syaoran had fallen asleep while reading a book and that it was open, facedown across his chest. The ninja plucked the book out of Syaoran's loose grip, closed it and set it on the bedside table. Then he picked it up again and examined the cover, curious as to what his adopted son-figure was reading.

He had to hold it up close to his face and squint in order to make out the title in such poor lighting but once he had managed to figure it out, he quickly set it back down, wishing he'd never looked. Ten Ways to Please Your Princess. Kurogane supposed on second thought that it could be full of innocent suggestions like being polite or coming to her rescue when she's in trouble, but those were not the first things that came to his mind. Besides, Syaoran already did those things so why would he feel the need to read a book telling him how to do them? Suppressing a shudder, Kurogane set the book down again and backed out of the room.

Only Fai was left to check on now. For some reason, this caused his heart to pound like it always did when he realized that this was the case. Trying to calm his throbbing heart, he slipped noiselessly into the sorcerer's room. To his relief, Fai was in his bed where he belonged and was sleeping peacefully, although Kurogane couldn't imagine how the blond could possibly be comfortable sleeping flat on his face like that. Wouldn't he be in danger of being suffocated by his pillow? Unless Fai was some kind of weird creature (possible) with an air hole on top of his head (less possible), Kurogane was sure that he must have trouble breathing properly when he lay like that. Maybe that was why Fai was such a moron: because he killed off a bunch of his brain cells every night by not being able to get enough oxygen.

His heart rate nearly doubling from its already elevated state, Kurogane inched a little closer to Fai and very carefully turned the blond's head so that his nose and mouth were unobstructed by fabric and stuffing. He held stock still then, lest the slightest sound wake Fai after this small disturbance. The mage sighed and shifted slightly but remained asleep. Kurogane echoed his sigh, relieved. Now that Fai's face wasn't buried in his pillow, Kurogane could see how perfect and beautiful it was and his hand drifted unconsciously to Fai's cheek. His fingers gently ran across the smooth, silken skin, noting its pleasant warmth.

Kurogane tried valiantly to ward of wonderings about what that skin would feel like pressed against his lips but was having very little success. His hand had strayed from Fai's face and was now tangled in his blond hair. As his fingers disturbed it, Kurogane could catch faint hints of the scent of shampoo from the magician's evening bath. Absentmindedly, Kurogane traced a loose strand down to where it fell across Fai's slightly parted lips. When he touched them, he quickly drew his hand away in horror. What the hell was he doing, touching Fai like this?! Was he trying to get himself caught?! But somehow, the swordsman just couldn't pull himself away from the wizard's side. Some strange, twisted part of him wanted to stay and continue to explore Fai's delicate features a while longer.

"Are you going to kiss me, Kurochuu, or are you going to just stand there and think about doing it?" Fai asked sleepily without even opening his eyes.

Kurogane nearly had a heart attack when Fai spoke suddenly.

The magician giggled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Goodness, Kuropin is jumpy! I didn't know that ninjas scared so easily!"

"Shut up! I wasn't expecting you to say anything, that's all!" Kurogane growled, clutching his heart. "…Were you awake the whole time?"

"No, I only woke up when I felt Kurotan start petting my hair," he grinned. "You were so sweet and gentle, I almost couldn't believe it was you for a moment!"

Kurogane opened his mouth to retaliate but no words would come. He simply couldn't come up with any logical reason why he would be touching Fai like that while the blond was asleep.

Fai smiled up at him. "I can pretend to be asleep again, if you'd like, Kuropon."

"Tch, like that's gonna help anything," Kurogane grumbled, folding his arms sullenly and looking away so that Fai wouldn't see him blushing.

When he felt Fai's warm, delicate hands on his arms, he looked back down in spite of himself. The blond's face wore a serene expression, his sapphire eyes half-closed and glimmering enchantingly in the dim light as he presented his pale pink lips hopefully. Kurogane considered him for a moment, weighing his pride against his desires. Before he could come to a decision, Fai became impatient and gave the ninja's shirt a good, hard tug, catching him by surprise and causing him to lose his balance and fall on top of Fai, pinning him to the bed. Fai didn't seem to mind this, however; he merely laughed softly as he looped his arms around Kurogane's broad shoulders.

Kurogane knew what was coming and he found himself, to his horror, completely unwilling to fight it. But, he told himself sternly as Fai's eyes slid closed, I sure as hell am not gonna enjoy it. All vestiges of rational thought vanished from Kurogane's mind when Fai pressed his lips softly against his; the only things he was aware of were the sweetness of Fai's mouth, the silken perfection of his lips and the feeling of their hearts pounding in unison like frightened birds within their chests. Eventually, though it was much too soon for Kurogane's liking, the magician began to pull away.

For some reason, which the swordsman insisted to himself was because he only wanted to remind himself of how disgusting this whole situation was so that he would never even think about trying it again, Kurogane pursued him, locking their lips together once more. He allowed Fai's tongue to shyly peer into his mouth, telling himself that he had every intention of biting it off except that it would only make Fai's ensuing whining less intelligible than usual and therefore even more annoying. His companion's lips curved into a small smile against Kurogane's and he pulled away again, slowly, teasingly.

"That was lovely, Kurochuu," Fai breathed against Kurogane's neck, touching his lips lightly a few times to the underside of the other man's chin. "If I'd known that Daddy was such a good kisser, I wouldn't have waited so long to do that."

"Hmph," Kurogane replied, doing his best to appear apathetic in spite of his soaring heart and burning cheeks which suggested otherwise. It didn't help at all when Fai pressed a few more soft kisses along his throat.

"Stay here and snuggle with me tonight?" Fai whispered as he crawled back under his covers and patted the spot beside him in invitation. Kurogane sighed in false reluctance and joined the wizard beneath the blankets, rolling his eyes as he heard Fai purring joyfully in approval. He wondered as he lie there with the sorcerer held close and happily falling asleep in his arms when he had become such a freaking pushover.

"Goodnight, Kurochan," Fai mumbled against his chest.

Kurogane didn't reply with words but instead placed another affectionate kiss on top of Fai's head. He supposed maybe Fai wasn't so horrendously annoying when he was quiet.