Well, chapter two. …thank you to my four reviewers… cries in a corner I'm a failure!

Chapter 2: Getting Further Away

"Kyaa! Kurotan is so scary!"

"Would you stop?"

The travelers sat in a small parlor connected to the kitchen where their gracious hosts, Zazu and Geo, were ordering food. Not at all surprisingly, Fai had taken the time to talk about Kurogane by first commenting on how he and Syaoran were so similar.

"You both are so loyal to your princesses as well, though Kuropuu enjoys violence much more," Fai happily said. The two youngsters smiled bashfully from the couch, but Kurogane was gripping his sword. His muscles were waiting for the snap of his last nerve to move. Bouncing around in excitement (or mischief, no one could really tell), Mokona added, "Kurodaddy is such a loyal puppy!"

"And so obedient!"

"Obedient Kuropuppy!"

Kurogane got out of his chair to yell, "Stop it! I'm not a puppy, and I'm certainly not her dog! Stop talking about things you don't understand!" The way Fai smiled his reply made the ninja feel like a mouse being pawed at by a kitten. He didn't like that feeling at all.

"Kurodaddy is being so touchy today," the pork-bun whispered loudly to Fai, who giggled. Very softly, the mage insisted, "Don't worry, Kurodaddy is just sexually frustrated."

Bright red struck the faces of the princess, the guard, and the ninja. "Wh-where the hell does that come from?"

"Aw, Kuropuppy is so shy and don't worry, I understand your predicament completely. You miss your world and your princess so much, even though she sent you away in the first place and doesn't want big, mean Kuropii around!"

Suddenly, shock hit everyone in the room when Kurogane growled out, "At least I didn't run away." The ninja had had enough – the comments now were to blatantly personal. If Fai wanted to talk about private lives, so be it. It was he who had opened the door in the first place. But Fai kept his smile strong, for he was sure that Kurogane wasn't mad enough to send the conversation in that direction.

"Ooo not very nice today! Awfully defensive of your little princess," Fai called, poking his fingers in the ninja's cheeks. Being undaunted by the violent look he received, Fai continued. "Aw, Kurodaddy's such a softy. Maybe someday he'll even like me, but never as much as he loves his princess!" Suddenly, two hands reached up, gripping Fai's wrists and throwing them off. Fai stumbled back a few steps, still giggling, until Kurogane spoke in a tone as hard and cold as steel.

"Who would ever like a pitiful, weak coward like you."

Syaoran stiffened, shocked by the outburst. The look on Fai's face was almost indescribable, a mix of his usual smile in shock, and something like denial and fear in his eyes. "Aw, Kuropii doesn't mean that," the mage gently stumbled out. "You're just being grumpy, and let's stop practicing those scary faces now."

"You're one to know about faces, aren't you? You practice that same smile every day, and it's still obvious. It's so fake I wait for it to fall off. But no one can get any true emotions out of you, can they?"

"O-okay, Kuropuppy, I think you're done. We all know you miss your world. Perhaps you should keep your voice down, hm?"

"Or what, someone might find out you aren't who you say you are? Everyone else has explained themselves, why don't you? Tell us why you left your world."

Uneasy, tense silence wrapped around the ninja and mage like a sudden fog. Sakura, Syaoran, and Mokona stared in amazement at the disaster. No longer smiling, Fai just kept his mouth closed, looking away from Kurogane, pleading with him not to do this.

"Funny, you seem talkative when it's everyone else." It should've ended there, while the flames were still low. It was enough to get the point across, but Kurogane continued, still fiercely glaring at the mage. "What, you don't feel like talking about your home, or Ashura?" Color washed out from Fai's face at the name, and he looked up with a start. "So what was it he did to you? Rape you?"

"Kuro-"

"It's not that hard to see how he victimized you – anyone with two eyes can see that, even if you think that you're fooling the world. That's why you want to travel anywhere but back, isn't it? But when this quest is over, we all have places to go back to, and then what will you do?" Something was making the tough voice grow darker and angrier, but no one spoke up. Fai didn't answer, and instead let his eyes fall to the floor. "That's what I thought. You'll just keep running, too afraid to do anything. You won't face your problems or fight, you just run. While you're here, you put us in danger; just by being here you're a nuisance. What do you expect will happen? He'll find you with us and we'll have to fight, instead of you dealing with it alone. You're just a coward, waiting for other people to help you. They can't, because you don't let them inside or let them know how you feel! You make it impossible for someone to help you! You don't tell us anything! You taunt and tease for what! Just as a distraction! You'll always be a victim and die running!"

Once again, silence followed the room. Anxious anger arose in Kurogane's face as he waited for the mage to say something. The other three stayed silent, and Mokona sat on the ground, looking sadly up at the blond, who didn't move.
Then, the anger quickly faded, chased away by reluctant concern gripping his gut. He wanted Fai to respond, just do anything to prove he was hearing, to prove he was human.

Finally, Fai lifted his head, lips turned upwards in the fakest smile Kurogane had ever seen, that was slipping off his face. In the blue eyes was a broken shine, a shine that the ninja had broken, a shine that he wasn't supposed to have broken.

"E-excuse me, everyone…. I think I…." the tiny, soft voice didn't finish, and Fai quickly exited the room. No one moved, except Mokona, who jumped up and yelled, "KURODADDY IS A BAD PUPPY!"