Chapter 1

A Special Occasion

Golden sunlight streamed through Syaoran's bedroom window that morning (as he had forgotten to close the shutters the night before), awaking him a bit earlier than usual. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table and sighed. Six o'clock. Way too early to be up already.

Syaoran dragged his tired carcass out of bed and closed the shutters with every intention of going back to sleep. He flopped back down on his bed, burying himself in the blankets when a few things came to his attention: one was a faint, faraway sound. It was melodic, rising and falling gracefully. What could it be? It sounded a bit like someone singing but as Syaoran searched his memory, he couldn't think of anyone who might be up at this hour singing. The second thing that he noticed was a ménage of scents, wafting up the steps and slithering through the crack under his door to greet him. Someone, presumably the same someone who was singing, was also cooking something. And it smelled good. And Syaoran wanted it, whatever it was.

Abandoning all thoughts of sleep, Syaoran got out of bed, got dressed, and crept curiously down the stairs, into the café that he and his group operated below their temporary home. As he approached the kitchen, the singing got louder and the scents more powerful and irresistible. He pushed open the kitchen door and found himself looking at… Fai san. Syaoran blinked. He hadn't expected to find the wizard up so early and certainly hadn't recognized the voice as his. Fai didn't seem to mind that Syaoran had walked in on his little performance and continued his song to the end, busily throwing ingredients together, frying, boiling, baking and sautéing things with a speed and accuracy that could have shamed… something speedy and accurate.

"Good moooorning, Syaoran kun!" Fai said cheerfully once he had finished his song, greeting the younger boy with his usual charming smile.

"Good morning, Fai san," Syaoran said with a slight nod, returning the smile. "You're up early this morning."

Fai just continued to smile, not saying anything in response to Syaoran's observation. Syaoran got out the Outo Country map that he and Kurogane had picked up from the Government Office the previous day and spread it out on the counter so that he could study it.

It wasn't long before they were joined by Kurogane who said nothing but made a beeline for the coffee and silently took a seat at Syaoran's side to examine the map over his fellow oni hunter's shoulder. Eventually, Sakura and Mokona came down as well. They both greeted everyone cheerfully and occupied the seat on Syaoran's other side. Sakura had just asked Syaoran about his plans for the day when Fai brushed his hands off on his apron.

"Done!" he said triumphantly, a grin of victory spread across his face.

Spread out on the table before them was the largest, most elaborate meal that Syaoran had ever seen, though it consisted of many things that he couldn't identify and he decided that they must be foreign dishes native to Fai's country.

"Wow, Fai san! That looks amazing!" Sakura exclaimed, clapping her hands.

"Wah! Mokona wants some, too!" the white creature said excitedly.

"Dig in everyone!" Fai sang.

Syaoran, Sakura, Mokona and Fai all helped themselves to a portion of everything though Kurogane was careful to avoid anything that looked like it might contain sugar. The ninja felt it was an insult to his pride to eat sweet things.

"Ahh, oishii!" Sakura sighed blissfully. "You're such a good cook, Fai san!"

"Thank you, Sakura chan," the wizard said with a slight bow.

"How come you made so much yummy food today?" Mokona asked. "Is it a special occasion?"

"Weeell…" Fai said slowly. "Actually…it's my birthday."

"Eh!" Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona said simultaneously, though Kurogane said nothing and looked indifferent.

"Really! It's your birthday, Fai san!" Sakura asked. "Then you shouldn't be making us all this food! We should be doing it for you!"

The blond shrugged, taking another bite of some kind of pastry. "I wanted to do it. I thought as long as it's my birthday, I should make something special for everyone!"

"How come you didn't tell us sooner!" Sakura demanded. "We didn't even have time to get you a present!"

"It's fine, Sakura chan!" Fai insisted. "I don't need anything. I've got Little Kitty chan, Mokona and the Wanko team. That's enough for me." He leaned over, resting his head against Kurogane's shoulder. "Right, Big Puppy?"

"Get off of me!" Kurogane growled, pushing Fai upright once more.

"Ah ah ah!" Fai scolded, wagging his finger. "Since it's my birthday, I get to do what ever I want! And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Like hell, there's not," the ninja muttered, one hand drifting menacingly to the hilt of his sword.

"Wrong!" Mokona shouted, head butting Kurogane hard in the shoulder.

The ninja busied himself with grabbing the irritating white creature's cheeks and stretching them.

Once everyone had eaten as much as they could, Fai leaned back in his chair.

"Ahh, if I had only been able to find some kolachies," he sighed wistfully, "then that would have been perfect."

"Uh…some…what?" Kurogane asked, one eyebrow raised quizzically at the wizard.

"Kolachy," Fai repeated. "It's this way awesome dessert we used to eat in my country. It was so sweet, and round, and fluffy…"

"Ugh, how do you stand so much sweet stuff?" the ninja groaned, shaking his head in disbelief. "Besides, men shouldn't eat sweet things."

"But why not, Kuro wankooooo?" the blond whined, clutching at Kurogane's yukata. "If it tastes good, you should eat it. Right Mokona?"

"Right!" Mokona replied with an enthusiastic nod.

"Is there anything special you want to do today, Fai san?" Sakura interrupted.

The wizard fell silent as he pondered her question. "Well…" he said slowly. "I think we should explore this world a little more. Maybe we'll be able to find something fun to do."

Syaoran folded up the map and stuffed it in his pocket and the princess began to head for the door. Fai started to follow but stopped when Kurogane didn't move.

"Aren't you coming, Kuronya?" the wizard asked hopefully.

Kurogane glared at him. "No."

"Awwwwww, pleeeeeeeease!" Fai begged.

"No, dammit! I'm not freaking coming so just SHUT UP!" the ninja roared, plucking Fai off of him and quickly moving out of his reach.

Fai looked at him pleadingly for a moment before Sakura gently took the wizard's hand.

"Come on, Fai san. We can still have fun, even if Kurogane san doesn't want to come," she urged.

Fai hung his head and was silent for a few moments. Kurogane was observing him out of the corner of his eye and thought he saw the mage's shoulders shaking slightly. His blond hair was in his face, obscuring much of his expression. The ninja wondered if he was crying; for some reason, the thought caused him a great deal of guilt.

"Fai san?" Sakura said tentatively.

Fai came out of his reverie, and looked at her, his usual grin back in place. "Alright, let's go then!"

Kurogane silently watched them leave, glaring at their backs as they went.