A/N: Woot! Last chapter!

I really hope it turned out. I can't tell for sure.

But I'm so glad to be finished! I have so many more ideas that I can't wait to get started on! EEEEEEK! Those'll be up pretty soon.

Alright now, read. If you don't, bad things will happen. I might even sic Culver's Man on you.

Chapter 8

Plot Exposed

It was Sakura who moved forward first. She looked absolutely terrified as she drew back her staff and Kurogane felt a twinge of pity for her… until she swung it at his head. After that point, he rather lost all sympathy for her.

Sakura clamped her eyes shut as she swung again. The ninja easily ducked her attack and dashed forward to dispatch the princess. He might have been able to take her out right then if he hadn't caught sight of her face at that moment; her cheeks were pale and tears were streaming down them. Kurogane stopped, confused.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

The ninja stared at her. What was going on here? His distraction cost him that time; taking advantage of his momentary stupidity, Sakura smacked him over the head with her staff. He swore under his breath, wiping blood from his lip before grabbing her staff and prying it out of her fingers.

Sakura looked down at her now empty hands, which were shaking. Kurogane moved forward and applied pressure to her temples with his fingers. Her eyelids fluttered and she collapsed into his arms. He moved her off to the side of the road and gently laid her in the grass.

Then the ninja stood and brushed himself off, looking expectantly between his remaining traveling companions and his double. Syaoran stepped forward, holding Hien defensively in front of him. A bolt of lighting cracked across the sky and it began to rain, softly at first, but quickly crescendoing into a downpour.

Syaoran lunged, swinging his blade. Kurogane blocked it with ease, though the contact made a shower of sparks. The younger boy jumped backwards, landing on all fours, and darted forward to make another frontal attack. Kurogane opted to land his next blow with his fist rather than his sword, not wanting to permanently or fatally injure the boy.

Syaoran's eyes widened as the warrior's fist connected with his ribs, knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying. He landed in the grass next to his princess, a few yards away from where he had started, his back making a nasty hollow sound as he hit.

There was only one traveling companion left. Kurogane looked Fai straight in the eye, daring him to throw one of his darts.

Fai took that dare. The ninja hissed in pain as the sharp projectile grazed his cheek, just beneath his eye. Kurogane stared at Fai, the pain in his eyes becoming more pronounced than ever but the sorcerer just grinned maliciously back at him. Then he threw another dart. The warrior rolled out of the way and threw himself at the wizard's feet, knocking him to the ground.

Kurogane had Fai pinned, rain dripping down from his hair and splashing on the mage's face.

"What will you do, Kuro chan?" he whispered. "Will you kill me?"

The ninja was silent for a moment, just letting the rain wash over him, bathing him in disappointment.

"No," he said finally, then he put his hands around Fai's throat, holding them there until the sorcerer passed out.

Once the wizard was cold and still beneath his fingers, Kurogane stayed by his side for a moment. It was taking all his self control to keep from scooping Fai up in his arms and holding him close. His wet black hair hung in front of his face, obscuring his expression. Kurotwo watched him thoughtfully.

Then Kurogane stood up and took out his sword once more. It was just him and the impostor now and the ninja had no intention of letting the other live. He would kill him if it was the last thing he ever did. Kurogane slashed at the fake, who jumped out of the way just as he had back in the clock tower.

The ninja's attacks became faster and more violent, his rage increasing to a level he had never reached before. Kurotwo was doing an amazing job dodging attack but he still got a nice-sized portion of cuts and scrapes. Even being the great dodger, he was unable to avoid a few hacks that Kurogane delivered him.

The ground became slick in the rain. Kurotwo jumped to miss another attack. He lost his balance and fell flat on his back. Kurogane put a foot on his stomach, holding him down, and glared at the figure beneath his foot.

"And now," Kurogane whispered evilly, "it's time for you to die, bastard."

The ninja brought back the blade behind his head, aiming for the imposter's stomach. There was a weak moan from somewhere off to the side but Kurogane couldn't be bothered to focus his attention on it.

He brought his sword down at Kurotwo's stomach. He had almost managed to land the final blow when something horrible happened.

Fai, sacrificing himself in an attempt to save the fake ninja, dove in front of the blade.

The sword went right through both Fai and Kurotwo, pinning them both down in a most grueling manner.

"NO!" Kurogane screamed, dropping his sword and falling to his knees. He looked down at Fai, at the blade that passed through his vital organs, and knew that the wizard was done for. There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he would make it.

Fai looked up at him from his position on top of the impostor, smiling unseeingly.

"That… that hurt… Kurowanko," the wizard gasped. "I… I don't think…I can get… get up… help me…"

His face ghastly pale, Kurogane took Fai's hand between his and squeezed it.

"You're… crushing my…fingers," the sorcerer moaned in agony as his eyes rolled back into his head. Then they closed and he became very still and very quiet.

"NOOO!" Kurogane screamed. He ripped his blade out of the wizard, tossing it carelessly to the side, and dragged him off of Kurotwo.

"GET UP! GET UP, YOU USELESS BASTARD!"

The ninja shook Fai violently, causing the wizard's head to loll from side to side. There was no doubt about it; the sorcerer was dead.

Kurogane dropped heavily onto the pavement with a splash. He looked down at Fai's body, limp and cold, in his arms, his eyes wide with horror.

"You left, too…" he breathed. "They all leave…Mother, Father, Tomoyo hime…now you…"

The ninja buried his face in Fai's injured chest, not caring in the least that he was now covered in blood. He held the sorcerer as tightly as he could, rocking back and forth in the downpour. There was a feeling as if someone was squeezing his throat and refused to let go. Why did they all have to end up leaving him? Everyone he had ever really cared about always ended up letting him down so badly that he thought he would never recover. Why did he even allow himself to care about anyone when he knew that this was how it would end?

He brushed Fai's soaked bangs out of his face, taking one last look at the beautiful mage. Without realizing what he was doing, Kurogane lowered his lips to Fai's very slowly.

"Fai," he whispered, their lips only centimeters apart now. "I…"

Kurogane couldn't make himself say another word. Even though he knew Fai couldn't hear him, he just couldn't bring himself to speak his mind. The ninja sighed, hating himself. Why couldn't he just say it? He buried his face in Fai's chest once more.

Suddenly, a slender arm snaked its way around Kurogane's waist.

"It's ok, Kuronyan," a voice cooed. "Don't cry."

The ninja was so shocked, he felt as if he were having a heart attack. What the hell was going on here! Slim fingers were running backwards through his hair and he could feel warmth in the body in his arms again.

Hardly daring to believe what he was experiencing, Kurogane slowly lifted his head.

It was no longer raining. They were sitting on the bare wooden floor of the ninja's room in Outo Country. The room was bathed in sunlight and birds were singing just outside the window. Fai was watching him, a soft smile on his fair-skinned face.

"But—but you… I thought…" Kurogane stammered stupidly, looking around again.

They were all there; him, Fai, Syaoran, Sakura, and, where Kurotwo had been, Mokona.

"It was all a joke, Kuromin," the wizard grinned. "In honor of a holiday they celebrate in this country called 'April Fool's Day'."

"A… A joke?" the warrior repeated.

"That's right," Fai nodded, his smile widening. "The whole thing was an illusion. Mokona and I planned it and Syaoran and Sakura agreed to help us out."

"The whole time…?" Kurogane stared at the sorcerer, whom he was still holding in his arms, unable to believe what he was hearing. Sure, the thought that there was some sort of conspiracy going on had crossed his mind a few times but he hadn't considered that this could actually be the case. "The…the whole time…?"

Fai laughed, nodding.

"Mokona used one of his 108 secret talents so that he could look just like Kurogane!" the white creature squeaked joyfully. "You fell for it, big time!"

The ninja blinked again. Then he looked over at Sakura and Syaoran, who were huddled together, their heads bowed in guilt, blushing furiously.

"We're sorry Kurogane san," Syaoran muttered. "Fai san needed help, so…"

"Y-yeah…he wanted to cheer you up…s-so we both agreed to help," Sakura stuttered nervously, looking up at him with puppy eyes. "I-I mean…you just looked so sad…It h-hurt me to see you… in so much p-pain, Kurogane san."

"Eh? Cheer me up?" Kurogane said, his scowl deepening. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"After you saw Tomoyo chan in the marketplace a few days ago, you got so depressed, Kuro chan," Fai replied. "I just wanted to see you smile again."

"So you played a prank on me?" the warrior repeated, still incredulous.

"Yep. None of it was real, so you don't need to worry," the wizard said softly. "I'm not really dead."

He reached up and gently wiped the tears from the ninja's face. "You were really worried about me…that's so sweet!"

Kurogane sat there for a few more moments, stupefied, heat rising in his face. Then came the explosion.

"I WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT YOU, YOU SCRAWNY BASTARD!" he roared, jumping to his feet and throwing Fai off of him. "AND I SURE AS HELL WASN'T CRYING!"

The wizard's face broke into a wide smile. "But Kurorin, your eyes are red."

"THEY ARE NOT!" Kurogane shouted, hastily wiping his face on his sleeve, his cheeks becoming even redder. "YOU'RE GONNA DIE REAL SOON!"

"Kyaaaa!" Fai squealed gleefully. "Kurowanko is angry!"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU DUMB ASS! I'M GONNA CUT YOU IN HALF!"

"There's that 'cut you in half' thing again. You need to get some new threats, Kuropon!"

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other nervously.

"Should we tell them that we really did get your feather back?" the boy asked.

"No… I think that would kind of ruin the point of the joke," Sakura answered.

Syaoran nodded and returned to watching the ninja chase the wizard around the room. As much as it disturbed him to say so, those two were quite a pair.

A/N: YEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAA! ALL DONE! ALL DONE! WOOT! WOOT!

Phew… yeah. That feels good. So, you likes? Yay? Nay? Review onegai shimasu!

Oh, here; let me part with words of wisdom. Guriguri kudasai! (That's Japanese for "give me a noogie please!") Ha! I learned that this weekend while reading ch. 93 of Tsubasa, which, by the way, KICKS ASS! I shan't spill any details… wouldn't want to spoil it for y'all…