Erity watched him fly off with tears flowing down her cheeks. "Katsuki, no…" She went back to sit in her room, staring at the curtain which only billowed when people walked by. Minutes turned to hours. Erity climbed back onto the roof glancing at the sky.

Still waiting.

She heard the familiar noises of his quirk as he flew down and landed. He knew she was there, saw him gaze up at her briefly, but he went inside instead.

That hurt her deeply.

Yet she still waited, but as the hours turned into a whole day she realized he would never hold her in his arms again. Or even speak to her.

"It's time." Jordan said, cutting through the silence. "You have to go now, Aizawa has everything set up and ready to go."

Erity sighed and stood up. The tears would not stop flowing. They disappeared from the room in the blink of an eye.

Mokona woke from a sound sleep against Kurogane's neck. Feeling something was very off.

A shift in mood.

A very dark, angst vibe that Mokona had dealt with hours before was now in turmoil.

"Oh no…"

"Are you going after him?" Fai whispered. He could sense it too.

"Mokona has to."

"No cream puff you don't." Kurogane grabbed Mokona's ears. "Your job is to search for the feathers, not play as a psychiatrist."

"The feather doesn't want Mokona to find it right now." Mokona said. "I can't just sit here waiting when I know someone out there is hurting. A Lot more than before. Please Kurogane, let me go."

"Fine. Just don't forget about us."

"You know I won't." Mokona said hopping off.

"I didn't think you'd let Mokona go."

"I almost didn't. But saying my actual name instead of using one of yours gave me a moment to think."

"You big softie."

"Weirdo magician."

"So if the feather is hiding. I guess we can't do anything but wait for it to show up."

"Where are you off to?"

"Just as Mokona described, I sense a soul is in distress. A different one. It may not matter to you, but sometimes a listening ear can come in handy."

"Alright. I'll come with you."

"I don't know Kurgi, you might get bored."

"Anything's better than staring at a wall for who knows how long."

"And here I thought you were sleeping."

"No."

Fai used his senses to walk around until he found the beacon in distress sitting on top of the roof.

"You want to talk about it?" Fai asked coming down to sit beside Erity.

"What?"

"I sense something is amiss."

"Yeah."

"So what's the problem? Perhaps it's something that can be fixed."

"Not likely."

"Look, we came all the way up here to listen. The least you could do is tell us about it."

"My my Kurgi, where are your manners?"

"I spent this whole time trying to see if Katsuki would warm up to me. And when it finally happens…" She sighed.

"Go on…"

"Katsuki had this idea that maybe one of the teachers could help get me out of the situation I'm in. We pitch it to Jordan who then informs us that we are from different worlds." Kurogane and Fai glanced at each other. "But the me in his, no longer exists."

"I see."

"He's completely devastated. I tried to get through to him, but he pushed me away."

"You got any powers that could possibly help her, Fai?"

"I'm sorry this is happening. I really wish there was something I could do." Fai patted her shoulder.

Kurogane followed. "So you really can't help her?" Fai was about to climb down. He hesitated, glancing up and Kurogane had never seen Fai look so heartbroken before. "Fai?" He whispered. Fai shook his head. "Hey."

Kurogane jumped down the ladder but Fai was already gone around the corner. "Slow down Fai." He growled. "Hey!" He managed to grasp Fai's shoulder and turn him around. Noticing that Fai was crying.

It was nice to see Fai show some real emotions for a change.

"The world certainly likes to be cruel to the ones that don't deserve its punishments."

"Fai…"

"And don't tell me that bullcrap about balance and it's a part of life nonsense because I don't want to hear it."

"Okay, first you're crying and now you're angry? This is a rare sight that I've never seen before. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"Love."

"Come again."

"I'm stuck on the sidelines watching while everyone else has someone to hold onto. So when Erity expressed that they had fallen for one another only to be slapped in the face. I felt that."

"She never said-"

"She didn't have to. If you listened, you could tell."

"With your blotchy history it's not like you could keep them if you were to keep fleeing from whatever's got you scared. And it's not like you have a lot of options for romance anyway."

"I'm tired of running."

"What about the romance part of it?"

"I have you don't I?"

"Ha ha very funny." Kurogane turned to leave but Fai tugged on his kimono.

"When it comes to matters of the heart I don't mess around. I thought my feelings towards you at first were nothing more than camaraderie. But then it turned into something different. I smile when you say my name, I talk the way I do so I can hear your voice and your eyes…." Kurogane turned to him. Letting Fai touch his cheek while he himself put a hand on Fai's wrist. "I could get lost in them."

"Fai."

"I know what you're going to say. But just this once, let me give in to my desire."

Time seemed to slow down, as the both of them leaned in together, parting their lips, letting their eyes close before impact, of breath in their face.

"About bloody time."

"Akutagawa hush!"

"It appears we have an audience." Fai said blushing.

"What do you mean 'About time?'"Kurogane asked.

"Well he's not the only one who noticed the two of you were into each other." Ed said. "I could see it from a mile away.

"It was obvious." Jakken agreed.

"I'm just glad you two finally expressed your feelings." Sakura said.

"Didn't get to express much with you nosy bunch creeping around." Kurogane huffed. "

"Anyway you better not let Zak catch you smiling like that."

"Heh. I'll take his head off before he even gets a chance to move."

"Oh really? Are you sure about that?" Zack said coming around the corner.

"You know normally I'd walk the other way, but seeing as we are stuck here until the meat bun finds the feather I'll be more than happy to take you on."

"Yap yap yap. Man, do you ever stop talking?"

"Why don't we go to the bottom level and find out?"

"After you."

"Well, a battle between normal human beings for once. This ought to be interesting."

"With the exception of the Nourasian Prince we're all human here, so what's your point?" Akutagawa asked.

"Fighting without powers. A test of raw skill."

"Question is, who would win?" Rachel asked. "You still haven't fulfilled your duty to me yet, remember?"

Zack smirked, glancing behind him as he and Kurogane walked towards the field. "Calm down there Rai, I'll kill ya just like I promised, but you gotta smile for me first."

She smiled at him.

Zak stopped, turned around and patted her on the head. "That was pitiful Rai, try harder."

He was met with a kiss on the lips.

"Whatever, just don't die on me before you get the chance to do so."

"Oh don't you worry your pretty face there Rai." He smiled at her. "I ain't dying just yet."

"Don't tell me you actually want him to kill you." Envy cackled. "I could do it right now if you wanted. Or Scar perhaps."

"I want Zack to do it. No one else." Rachel said. Causing Envy to go into stunned silence and Zack to go into a fist of hysterics.

"The difference between you and me is that I don't harm the innocent." Scar said. "I go after tainted Alchemists, homunculi like yourself, but not innocent little girls."

"Yeah? What about Shou Tucker's daughter?" Ed asked peeved.

"Fullmetal, he fused his child and his dog together to make a chimera, is that anyway for a child to live? As a test subject for military studies. As there was no way to revert them back I did the poor thing a favor and put it out of its misery."

"I'd have done the same thing." Akutagawa said.

"When you put it that way I guess I can understand why you did it." Ed sighed. "Still though."

—--

'This kid is crazy strong.' Kurogane thought trying to parry the blade of the scythe with his sword. 'I keep dodging to try and get some distance between us, but he keeps right on coming.'

"You ain't getting away from me that easily." Zack yelled, maniacally laughing. Blood dripping down his arm and shoulder.

Similarly, Kurogane already had wounds of his own. A gash across his back and stomach.

"You gotta get tired at some point." Kurogane bellowed.

During all this, Fai saw a familiar set of explosions go off overhead and into their tower above. "Hi Mokona." He said when Mokona plopped down right next to him. "Everything okay?"

"Not really."

"Come here." Fai said, Mokona cuddled Fai's chest. "Sometimes we can't save everyone, but that's okay."

"Maybe Yuko could help them."

"What would they be giving up I wonder? In exchange for their happiness. It's not worth it if you think about the end results."

"Yeah I guess."

"And boom goes the dynamite." Zack told Kurogane who had been forced to the ground with a scythe on his forehead. He moved it aside and held his hand out, Kurogane took it. "We should get patched up."

"Yeah." He walked over to Fai. "Fuzzball."

"Kuropoo." Mokona mumbled.

"What's the matter?"

"Too many sad feelings. Mokona doesn't want to be cheerful."

"Talk to the witch, or better yet the Princess." Mokona left, leaving him alone with Fai who proceeded to bandage him up. "I've got my own desires, too, you know. And they all end the same way." Fai glanced up just in time to see him lean down. Sharing in their first kiss.