A/N: What's this? An omake chapter? No way! Yeah, this chapter is shorter than the rest and it doesn't contain any hints as to what Fai's next wish will be. So sorry. But I really wanted to add this in here and it didn't seem to fit anywhere else so I just gave it its own chapter. How clever (and annoying, I'm sure) of me.

Eyes Wide Shut

He lie in bed, eyes clamped shut, blankets pulled up over his head, trying his best to fall asleep. But it was useless; he had been lying like this for over an hour and still he felt restless. It was his mind that kept him awake. His thoughts were racing and spinning and becoming muddled and confused inside his head, and try as he might to push the multitude of unwanted notions away, they just kept crashing over him like ocean waves.

No, comparing the thoughts to ocean waves just didn't do the feeling justice. It was more like…swimming in a pool of piss; harmful? Not really. Strange? Kind of. Disgusting? Definitely. Not only that, but it was one of those things that others could smell on you, even after you've crawled out of the nastiness. When you've been swimming in a pool of piss, everybody knows it and they're going to start wondering all sorts of things and making endless amounts of nasty assumptions. Kurogane sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position on the edge of his bed. Obviously, his ceaseless musings would not allow him to sleep anytime soon so he figured he might as well make himself some tea to help clear his head.

After a few moments of sitting in silence, the ninja got to his feet and quietly eased his bedroom door open, not wanting to wake any of his fellow travelers. The last thing he needed was one of them asking him what was wrong and trying to pry their way into his personal matters to "help" him solve his predicament. Fai would be the worst of all; his sharp cerulean eyes would sense Kurogane's inner turmoil right away and he would interrogate him relentlessly until he got some answers. Damn it! Here he had been trying extra hard not to let a single thought of Fai enter his head for just a few moments and one had sneaked in anyway.

Kurogane put some water on the stove to boil and dug through the cabinets until he found the teabags. While he was waiting for the water to heat up, he took a seat at the table, resting his chin on his fist. His mind continued to race with worrying, confusing thoughts which rendered him completely unaware of the approaching presence. It wasn't until his visitor spoke his name, jerking him out of his reverie rather harshly, that he realized that someone had joined him.

"Kurogane san?" Princess Sakura said tentatively. "What are you doing up at this hour? You look a little pale… Is something wrong?"

"No. It's nothing," he growled. Obviously, she had smelled the mental piss he'd been swimming in. Kurogane gritted his teeth as he prepared himself to deal with the unwanted side effects. This whole time, he made sure to avoid her eyes. Maybe if he didn't look at it, it would go away. Sakura sat down in the chair across the table from him. Damn.

"Are you sure? You seem worried… I know I'm not much help to anyone on this journey, but if something's bothering you, I'd be more than happy to listen to your problems and do what I can to help you solve them…"

Double damn; just what he had been hoping to avoid.

"I said there's nothing wrong," Kurogane insisted. "Nothing's bothering me."

The two of them sat in awkward silence for a few moments, the ninja glaring at the wall and Sakura watching him timidly.

"Ah, um… I think your water is boiling, Kurogane san," the princess squeaked finally. Glad for an excuse to break the awkward moment, Kurogane got up from the table and removed his water from the burner, pouring a portion into a mug for himself. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder at Sakura. "You want some?"

"Oh! Yes, please!" she replied quickly.

He took a second mug from one of the cabinets and poured the remaining hot water into it. Then he let out an irritated sigh.

"I bet you'll be wanting some of this fancy crap in it too, huh?"

He gestured towards the cream and sugar.

"I-if you don't mind…" Sakura replied shakily.

Shaking his head slightly in disgust, he added both to her cup and all but slammed it on the table in front of her, though he still managed not to let any splash over the rim; it always annoyed him when people were wasteful like that. Sakura picked up her cup and took a careful sip. Kurogane glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he too took a drink.

"What are you doing up?" he demanded. The tone of voice he used hinted at his actual thoughts, which were "why the hell are you here bothering me?"

"Well, I just had a feeling that something wasn't… quite right," she finished uncertainly. The princess was watching him with those quizzical emerald eyes of hers and Kurogane felt as though she were somehow x-raying his brain.

"Damn…" he sighed eventually. "I guess there's just no hiding anything from you when it comes to… things like this."

He had almost said "matters of the heart" but just letting that phrase cross his mind made him want to vomit. What a disgusting phrase. Whoever had thought of it should be hunted down and shot.

Sakura chanced a sheepish grin. "That's what Oniisan used to say, too. But he also used to say that, once he had told me what was on his mind and let me help him come to a decision, he felt much better."

Kurogane set his mug down on the table and looked her straight in the eye for the first time since she had entered the kitchen. "If I tell you, you're not to repeat it to anyone. Got it? Especially not to that damn mage."

Sakura nodded fervently. "Of course not! I promise!"

The ninja stared into his cup as he tried to think of a way to voice his problem without sounding like a total pansy. He ran over a dozen possible conversations in his head but they all sounded so flamingly retarded that he actually considered sticking his head in the garbage disposal. "When I think about that wizard…", "There's something about that tall skinny guy that makes me feel…", "It's about that magician… I think I might be…" Oh just fucking shoot me.

"Kurogane san…" Sakura breathed, looking way too excited, "are you… in love!"

Kurogane jumped out of his chair as though he had been electrocuted. "What the…! Who said…! How could you…!" Then he stopped, realizing how stupid he sounded, babbling like this. He took a deep breath to compose himself and tried again. "What gives you a stupid idea like that?"

Sakura giggled, leaning forward eagerly and resting her chin on her fist. "When you were trying to decide how to tell me what the problem was, you kept blushing!"

Of course, the princess pointing this out only made him blush harder which, in turn, caused her start giggling again.

"Who is it!" she whispered excitedly. "Is it anyone I know!"

"Damn it! You're laughing!" he snarled. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you!"

"I'm sorry," she said, taking a breath to calm herself. "It's just… I'm so happy for you!"

Kurogane stared at her, bewildered. "Happy…?"

"Yes!" she gushed. "Love really is a wonderful thing. I believe everyone should get to experience it at least once in their lifetime. A life without it… would be so sad."

For a moment, Sakura had a distant look in her eyes but then it disappeared and Kurogane wasn't sure if he had actually seen it or not.

Her face grew eager again. "So, who is it?"

The swordsman stared into his cup again, swilling its contents uncomfortably. "You know, this is stupid. Just forget I said anything."

There was a moment's silence before he felt her hand touch his lightly and it caused him to jump and look up at her in surprise.

"Is it Fai san?" Sakura asked seriously.

Kurogane paused. "…I don't know…" he replied honestly.

"Well, whether it is or it isn't, you should decide soon. A wise person once told me 'If you truly want something, you have to reach out and grab it. If you wait too long, it might disappear.' If Fai san really is the one you love, you have to tell him soon. Who knows how much longer we'll be together."

He stared at her, his eyes round with surprise. The princess had always seemed like a class A airhead but now here she was, spouting out words of wisdom. Although he realized that she was right about his situation, he decided that he would have preferred her to just keep being the same ditzy fourteen-year-old that he was used to. Things were always so much simpler when people didn't go around defying his expectations. He hated it when they did that, the rebellious bastards.

Sakura finished off the last of her tea in silence before standing up rather abruptly and bringing her cup to the sink. She paused in the doorway of the kitchen but didn't turn around to face him.

"Good night, Kurogane san. I hope you're able to figure everything out in time…"

With that, the princess left the room, vanishing down the dark hallway. Kurogane stared after her, an irritated, uneasy feeling stirring in his stomach. He wasn't sure why but he was experiencing a surge of annoyance towards Sakura.

"Good night, princess,"Kurogane muttered to himself in a mocking voice. "I hope your brain doesn't explode while you're sleeping."

The ninja rinsed out his cup and set it on the counter before heading back to his room. He thought the tea would have helped make him tired but he still felt restless. His eyes moved restlessly around the room, looking for something with which to entertain himself. A small copper coin that someone had dropped on his carpet caught his eye and he crawled over and picked it up.

Kurogane had never really been the superstitious sort, but as he turned the coin between his fingers, the desire to play a little game of chance popped into his head. Heads, I love him, tails, I don't. Best out of three. He took a deep breath and flipped the coin into the air and watched fixedly as it fell to the ground, seemingly experiencing it in slow motion.

It landed on the floor and he leaned forward to read his result. To his disgust, it was a heads. It's ok, no problem, he told himself. There are still two more chances to get a different result. His stomach fluttering nervously, Kurogane tossed the coin again, watching its progress fixedly. He felt his heart sink as he looked at the result: heads again.

Snarling angrily, he picked up the coin once more, tossing it and watching it fall. Heads. What the bloody hell? Was this thing rigged?

He tried again. Heads. And again. Heads. And again. Yet another heads.

Finally, he got so angry that he threw the coin across the room and climbed back into bed, fuming. What did that stupid coin know anyway? Absolutely nothing. The idiotic thing probably didn't even know it was a coin so how could it possibly be an accurate indicator of his feelings? There must be something wrong with it that caused it to land on heads every time. Even as he thought that, Kurogane knew it wasn't true. But he rolled over stubbornly and closed his eyes, refusing to think about it any more.

The coin remained on the floor where it had landed after Kurogane had thrown it, glinting innocently in the moonlight. Incidentally, there was nothing wrong with the way it had been made and it was perfectly aware of the fact that it was a coin. Kurogane didn't give in to his curiosity and go over to check what side it had landed on. If he had, he probably would have been quite frustrated, seeing as how it was, once again, heads.

A/N: In case you were wondering, no, I wasn't trying to drop any Kuro/Sakura hints. Ugh. The thought makes me shudder. Ugggggggh. Ugh. But as I was reading this over, it kind of sounded like I was trying to suggest it so I just had to clear that up for y'all. It's not there so you can relax now… and review, of course. Don't forget to review.