Chapter 9: Waltz
People had often criticized Kurogane for being too brash with his attacks, even at a young age. His form had always been aggressive and intimidating, and he never showed any mercy. While this would ordinarily be a positive thing for a fighter, Kurogane often left his opponents in bloodied pieces, whether it was a training session or not. It was quickly decided that he would not be allowed practice with the other boys training to fight by the princess' side.
The parents would talk behind his back when they thought he couldn't hear them. They would speak of his violent tendencies and the bad blood of his late parents. Sometimes, they would even say how glad they were that his mother and father were dead, because otherwise they would have to deal with the three of them together, instead of one annoying child.
Back then he didn't care, or so he said. It didn't matter to him what anyone said about him, or what anyone did to him. It didn't matter how furious they made him. One day, he would be strong enough to rise above them. One day, he would be strong enough to kill them all if he wanted to. He would beat any opponent; he would rise to any challenge. It didn't matter who it was; if anyone challenged him they would die.
If this were true, then Kurogane's feet wouldn't have been stuck to the ground when Fai was ready to attack. Why was it that Kurogane couldn't raise Souhi and strike? It shouldn't have mattered that it was Fai's fair skin that he had to slice, that it was Fai's blood he was spilling. That shouldn't have mattered at all, right?
Unfortunately, there was no time for contemplation. Fai was walking over to him once again and his magic flowed around him in white and blue waves. Kurogane had never fully realized just how much power Fai held within him, and he still wasn't sure if there was even more hidden beneath his porcelain skin. The heat of his magic combined with the falling rain made hot steam rise. Kurogane was forced to stand upright in a ready stance, with no plans of attack.
Ashura merely stood yards away, a look of satisfaction on his face. Kurogane couldn't help but scowl when their eyes met. Fai had obviously become Ashura's shield. There was no way to get around it; if he wanted to defeat Ashura, then he would have to defeat Fai. Still his arms stayed put. He refused to draw his sword.
This mistake allowed Fai to step just too close to him. Before Kurogane could even blink, his wrist was burning from Fai's touch. Their faces were inches apart and Kurogane found that Fai's eyes were devoid of emotion. His face wasn't twisted into a smile this time. Instead, someone had uncurled it and let it fall, leaving nothing behind. There was a warmth in front of Kurogane's chest, and when Kurogane looked down, he saw Fai's hand there, palm out, and ready to strike.
Growling, Kurogane twisted himself away from Fai, jumping back several feet. Fai was unfazed; nothing would faze him now. It had really become a battle and it was time for Kurogane to recognize it as such. Still, he didn't know how he could win without causing Fai any harm. He knew that if he were to hurt Fai, or even go so far as to kill him, the stains would never wash from his hands. Kurogane wasn't sure if he would ever forgive himself. It was a strange thought, because Kurogane had killed hundreds of men before. What made Fai different from any of them?
Kurogane found himself jumping and dodging constantly as Fai suddenly barraged him with attacks. He supposed that Ashura was growing impatient and wanted him to die already. Kurogane had never been easy to kill however. Not one of Fai's blasts of magic had so much as grazed him.
For a moment though, all of Fai's attacks stopped. He had disappeared completely, just for a moment or two. Kurogane struggled to find him, to sense him somehow, but it was as though Fai had vanished into thin air. Fai or not, invisible enemies were never a good thing. This was proven to be true when Fai reappeared, knocking Kurogane to the ground with a blow from a large stick.
Kurogane scrambled to his feet, unsheathing Souhi at last. He turned to Fai with a scowl on his face, but Fai was emotionless. His hands were wrapped around a stick almost as tall as he was. Fai seemed to be channeling his fierce blue and white magic into the stick, using it as a powerful weapon.
Instead of wasting his words on someone who wouldn't hear him, Kurogane shouted over to Ashura, who was keeping a safe distance.
" Do you honestly think I would loose in my own element?" he asked gruffly, raising his sword for emphasis.
" Perhaps, but now it should be a more interesting and even fight," Ashura said, in a tone that showed that he didn't care at all whether the fight was even.
After fighting so many demons in his own world and after many battles in different worlds, Kurogane was confident in his ability to fight against magic. Kurogane suspected that Ashura was making Fai go into combat with a rod so that he would be forced to defend himself with Souhi, and even attack back. In Kurogane's mind, Ashura was just enough of a bastard to pull something like that.
When Fai finally rushed at him with the stick, Kurogane struck back with Souhi, blocking. Strike after strike, this went on. They battled fiercely in circles, waltzing in the rain. Kurogane hissed when the hot stick smacked his arm and burned through his clothing again, scorching his arm. It was pure instinct that made him retaliate and strike against Fai.
Kurogane had expected something once he realized what he had done. He expected Fai to stop and grip his arm; even a wince would have satisfied him. Fai had truly become Ashura's puppet. He was Ashura's emotionless, faceless puppet. Kurogane decided that he needed to find some way to end this battle right then and there.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kurogane spotted Syaoran running across the now slippery field with Mokona on his shoulder. He wanted to shout and tell the kid to get out of there, because he knew that Syaoran wouldn't have been able to take on either Ashura or Fai with his mediocre sword skills. Fai's constant attacks kept him from doing so though, unless he wanted to get an arm chopped off in the process.
The way Fai fought him was strange. He was as swift as he had always been, but his strikes were harder and more brutal than any Kurogane had ever seen him use. Fai moved with a different kind of grace as well. He normally moved in a way that had him nearly floating off the ground in battle, but now his movements were fiercer and more like he were in a stampede. His moves were foreign to him, and Kurogane suspected why.
Kurogane saw the jewel embedded in Fai's forehead, and noticed that it glistened brightly. It was identical to the jewels that Ashura wore on his own head, and those jewels glowed the same way. Ashura had been watching the whole battle, intently focused. Kurogane quickly realized that that was how Fai was being controlled. His urge to see Ashura's blood spilled on the grass was stronger than ever. His grip on Souhi tightened, and he knew exactly what he needed to do.
Just as Kurogane was about to strike though, Fai stopped in his tracks. Knowing there would be no answers from Fai, he looked over to Ashura. What he found there was a certain white manjyu hopping around on a furious Ashura, who was trying to throw it off of him. The Tier seemed to have snuck out there as well, and had begun to gnaw on Ashura's ankle while he was distracted.
" Bet you can't catch me!" it teased cutely as it jumped out of Ashura's grasp. The Tier merely growled and Ashura roughly kicked it several yards away.
Syaoran was a safe distance away, shouting something to the princess. Kurogane couldn't quite hear what it was though. He just knew that his would be his only chance to do what needed to be done, and that Syaoran and Mokona had served as a nice distraction.
When Kurogane turned back to Fai, he was still standing motionlessly. By the time Ashura was able to focus properly on him again, it was too late. Even though Fai had already raised his weapon again, Kurogane had already found an opening and was charging. Instead of striking to kill, he jumped up and struck down hard on the jewel in Fai's forehead. The world slowed to a stop as the gem shattered into dozens of pieces that flew everywhere.
They were both still for several moments. Everything seemed to crash in time to the thunder and no one seemed to know what was going on. Fai seemed frozen in place, his eyes wide in shock. Kurogane sheathed Souhi once again when he saw Fai begin to stumble. Instead of allowing him to crash into the wet grass and mud, Kurogane caught him in a graceful, agile sweep.
Fai's body was stiff and tense and he was clutching his temples with shaky hands, fingers entwined in his hair. His eyes were shut and he was muttering something that Kurogane couldn't quite hear, over and over. Blood dripped from his forehead from the impact of the strike, and possibly having a jewel torn from his face in the first place. The blood swirled with salty tears and Fai's voice became just barely audible.
" Get out, " he hissed softly. Kurogane wondered if it was from the pain or the struggle. " Get out of my head. Get out, get out, get out, get out."
Fai had begun to choke on his words it seemed. Kurogane was mesmerized by what he was seeing. His anger flared when he realized Ashura hadn't disappeared completely from Fai's mind. He wanted to drop Fai on the ground and slice at Ashura until there was nothing left, until he was merely little slivers of skin and bone in a pool of blood.
Kurogane felt Fai's body growing warmer as every second went by. By the time Kurogane looked down, Fai had begun to glow a soft, light blue color. He was shaking a little more now and Kurogane wasn't entirely sure if Fai or Ashura had cast some kind of spell, because he was rather clueless when it came to magic anyway. His princess practiced it, but he had never had any kind of magical ability at all. It might as well have been a different language to him.
Fai chanting had gotten louder, and it didn't sound like any particular incantation. It was the same as it was before --"Get out, get out". Finally though, Kurogane was forced to drop him when the heat became too much for his bare hands. Fai made some kind of sound, for it couldn't rightfully be called a word. It was more of a tortured cry, and with that cry the world became blinding light blue for what seemed like an eternity.
When the world came crashing back, Kurogane found Fai lying on the ground, looking broken, beaten, and half-dead. In a flash Kurogane was there, kneeling on the ground, pulling Fai up to his knees and shaking him for all he was worth.
" Hey!" Kurogane shook Fai vigorously by the shoulders. " Hey, come on! Wake up!"
Kurogane found that he was supporting Fai completely by his shoulders. His eyes were shut lightly, as though he were sleeping. Kurogane turned his head away, shutting his own eyes and gritting his teeth in frustration.
There was no way. There was no way that this idiot was going to pass out on him after all the crap he put Kurogane through. Not after searching all afternoon, not after worrying so much, not after all of he grief that he put Kurogane through. Kurogane became to shake Fai again, harder this time.
" Wake up, damn it!" Kurogane said, realizing he sounded desperate. " You have to wake up. You can't-"
Kurogane's words die there as Fai began to sway on his own, obviously a little disoriented from awakening in a sitting position. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at Kurogane with a tired, weary look.
" Kuro…" he said softly. " …Kurogane? But…what are you...?"
" Doing here?" Kurogane finished rougher than he had meant to. " What the hell do you think I'm doing here?"
Kurogane felt Fai stiffen in his grasp again. He seemed to be remembering everything that had progressed there that day, bit by bit. Fai's sleepy gaze had slowly transformed into a look of horror. He looked over at Kurogane's arm, seeing the damage he had caused.
" Y-your arm…" he said soft as a whisper. " I…I did…"
Neither of them could finish his sentence. Kurogane couldn't say he was happy that he had been hurt, but he certainly didn't blame Fai for it. Fai though, Fai was shaking again and he looked as though he might actually cry. He was fighting back tears, a needless battle. Kurogane had to admit that it seemed odd that a grown man would cry; he had certainly never seen that before. It had always been a sign of weakness to him.
" I'm…Kurogane, I-" Kurogane peered at Fai curiously, wondering what it was he was trying to say through unshed tears.
Looking at Fai though, he didn't see someone weak. He didn't see a mess of dirt and blood either. Kurogane saw something beautiful getting soaked in the heavy rain. He saw the real Fai, the one who was always hidden away from the world. He saw the one filled with real emotions and pain.
Kurogane wished he could have stayed there and let Fai cry on his shoulder. Even if he didn't understand these feelings, he wished that he could have at least stayed by Fai's side. This was something he could not do now though. Carefully, as though Fai might fall over again, he let go of Fai's shoulders.
" Stay here," Kurogane ordered.
Fai's teary eyes widened as Kurogane stood. He wore an expression that Kurogane couldn't read. He had certainly never seen it on Fai before though.
" Where are you-?" he began, but Kurogane had already begun to walk off.
" Just stay there," Kurogane said.
Fai watched him walk away, with a confused stare. It wasn't until he had reached his destination that Fai gasped in horrible realization. He couldn't. He wouldn't!Yet he was. Kurogane had left to challenge Ashura. For the first time in a long time, Fai openly wept with the rain.
(A/N: Ah, this chapter took a bit longer than expected. Thank you for the reviews everyone! I swear, the Tier will be a lot more important, really. I remember that a couple of you were wondering that in your reviews. Again, thank you so much for all of your reviews! I really appreciate them all. : ) Please R&R and the next chapter will be up soon.)