006.
After the early lunch, Kurogane escorted the two girls back into the room, while Fai was quick to get his hand treated. The four then spent the next few hours chatting and hanging out in Chi's inpatient room. The conversations were mostly focused between the like parties, with Tomoyo and Chi chatting about anything and everything, and Kurogane and Fai exchanging stories, mostly about food and sports and hobbies, intermingling occasionally between all four of them, sometimes a comment that led to inquiring and teasing, denial and agreeing.
It was getting late, and visitation hours would be over in the next hour or so, when a nurse came by to check on Chi, and Kurogane declared they needed to go soon. After all, he still had to get Tomoyo home and do other needed things. Tomoyo turned her attention to her older cousin, "Alright." She then turned back to Chi, promising to return and see her soon.
Fai smiled and kissed his sister's head. "I will see you tomorrow, Chi," he promised. "But before I go, is there anything else you need? Anything else you want me to bring tomorrow?"
"Just you and your smile," Chi said with a smile.
Fai smiled at her, tenderly brushing bangs out of her face, "I'll certainly provide that for you."
Gathering their things, mostly Fai's things, the three left Chi so she could rest before making their way to the elevators, and having to wait a few moments for it to arrive. Once on, it was a simple ride to the ground floor where they disembarked. Fai stretched a little as Kurogane moved to sign them out, and getting Fai while he was at it, before they made their way to the doors.
The December air held a certain chill to it, and Fai looked up to the cloudy sky. It was a somber shade of gray, as the wind picked up in a small gust. Kurogane cast a sidelong glance at Fai.
"Do you have a ride home?" Kurogane asked him.
"Oh don't you worry about me; I can always catch the bus; no big deal," Fai replied, mentally debating which bus he wanted.
Tomoyo turned her gaze on her older cousin, and he turned lightly to meet her gaze and could see the silent question in those eyes. He let out a sigh. "Hey."
Fai turned to regard the other, making a small noise of inquisition.
Kurogane made a not-so-subtle gesture towards the lot. "Want a ride home? I mean, have to drop off Tomoyo first and all, but I'm heading that way anyway."
"Well, if you don't mind, then, yes please."
"Tomoyo, back seat."
Tomoyo smiled before walking over to the car.
…
"Today was fun. We should do this more often. Except, maybe with less injuries," Fai declared once Tomoyo was inside her house, waving back at her as she waved out at them from the window, not long before Souma came into view next to her and the Christmas tree in their living room, and Kurogane began to drive off. "So…do you have any other plans for today?"
"Have to do grocery shopping," muttered Kurogane.
"What a coincidence; so do I. I ran out of a couple baking ingredients. Say, what kind of cookies do you like?"
"I'm not a real sweets fan."
"I know, but there must be some kind of dessert that you enjoy. Peanut butter cookies are usually one of the mellower cookies," Fai said trying to think of some other cookies he knew of that were mellow even bland. "Let's see…sugar cookies despite the name…some of them are actually pretty bland…it's the frosting them that makes them sweet, there's tarts… Hmm…"
"Well, there's … dark chocolate, I suppose…it's usually not too sweet."
"Ah! Excellent, then I will definitely find a good recipe and bake you something with dark chocolate for the holidays."
Kurogane decided to just let Fai do as he wanted. If Fai wanted to cook so much, who we he to deny him? However, he was still concerned about the burns on Fai's hands. Kurogane was already a small ways from Tomoyo's house, and out on a main street, when he asked about them. "Will you still be able to practice tomorrow with those burns?"
Fai smiled, "Injuries have never stopped me in the past. You work past them, but make sure to take care of them."
Kurogane stared at the other's reflection in the rear-view mirror briefly before focusing on the road, "You said you needed to go shopping. What store do you go to?"
"Mm, well the King Soopers and Safeway are near home, and it's just a couple of small items this time, but when I need to buy in bulk, then I usually prefer Walmart and Sam's."
"…right."
Getting back into the neighborhood, Kurogane pulled into the Safeway parking lot, finding a parking space halfway down the row. After Kurogane parked, the two men made their way into the store, Fai disappearing off onto the baking aisle. Kurogane grabbed a shopping cart. As Fai said, his demands were simple. All he went there for was a bottle of Pure Vanilla Extract, box of Bittersweet cooking cocoa powder, a bag of mini marshmallows, and a box of Vanilla Pudding and Pie filling. Once he had the four things he was after, he went about finding Kurogane to see if he could help out with his shopping.
Setting his things into the small upper basket, Fai helped Kurogane gather the cans and frozen boxes of groceries he would be needing, taking small note in the back of his mind of Kurogane's preferences, and the lactose-free Almond 'milk' he used and that he just grabbed the cheapest loaf of bread
Once he was stocked back up, he pushed the cart up to the register, and began placing all the goods on the conveyor belt. Fai was about to grab his, when Kurogane grabbed them instead and just set them down with his, idly commenting, "You're making sandwiches tomorrow. I got this."
"Er, that's…" Fai began, before letting out a breath and a small smile, "Thanks Kurogane."
He then smiled a little more playfully, but being a bit serious, "Maybe I'll have to continue cooking up more food for you if you keep this up."
Although Kurogane said nothing, he was not entirely opposed to the proposition.
Kurogane made sure that Fai's were separate, and paid for everything with his card. After, the two helped load the shopping cart with the bags; they were quickly pushed out and placed into the back seat. After the groceries were all loaded up, Fi pushed the cart into a nearby cart corral, while Kurogane revved the engine to life. Kurogane waited until Fai was back inside and buckled before he pulled out and drove the couple blocks back towards home.
Kurogane paused his car in Fai's driveway, allowing Fai to get out and gather his things. Once he had all his bags, Fai walked over to the driver's window, and smiled at Kurogane. "Thanks for today, Kuro. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow." Fai then walked over to his door, pulled out his own house key and let himself in. The door remained closed after he entered and Kurogane pulled out of the driveway and drove into his. Parking, he climbed out and locked up before heading inside. He brought in his groceries, before making a quick meal. After cleaning up, he followed his usual evening routine before he went to sleep. He wasn't sure what to expect from tomorrow's outing, but what he did know, it would surely not be the last.