Yay! Back with Chapter 2! Sorry if it took too long for some of you guys 'cause I'm sick and I can't write a lot. Still sick. Gah, but your reviews and favorites make me happy! Thanks a lot, everyone!

One more thing: Fai's past (yes, his past is here, but I'm not gonna dwell at it forever. The present is the important thing) is probably different from the real Horitsuba. So if anyone dislike it, feel free to stop reading. Sob.

… I don't own Tsubasa.

"… What the heck do you think you're doing? Stop that!"

"But why, Kuro-puu? This is so much fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

"STICKING YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CAR WINDOW AND DROOLING LIKE A DOG IS FUN?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU? A CHEMISTRY TEACHER OR A RETARD?!"

"Both!"

Kurogane hit his head repeatedly on the steering wheel at the answer. If there was a God out there, he certainly hates him. If it wasn't for Yuuko's evil smirk and threat that she'll deduct the rest of Kurogane's salary if he didn't take Fai out, he wouldn't be taking this crazy idiot out for dinner now.

The moment he took Fai to his car (the man took a bus to school, apparently), the man squealed and ran in circles, taking a hell lot of time to examine his car. After 7 minutes of chasing, grabbing and dumping the blonde on the front seat, he proceeded to drive him to a cheap café or restaurant.

And all along the way, Fai had been meddling with his mirrors, scrambling from the front seat to the backseat and to the front seat again repeatedly, messing with his stuff, and more importantly, opening the car window and popping his head out into the rushing wind and sticking his tongue out, drooling like a stupid dog in a car.

"Kuro-pii, you can't keep hitting your head like that on the steering wheel. The effects of one's head being hit on a steering wheel continuously can cause fatal hemorrhage, dysfunction of the neurons, inducing bodily functions to shut down," said Fai cheerily, popping his head back into the car, hair in a mess.

Kurogane looked at him, annoyed and confused.

"It means you'll die eventually," he explained, giving him his bright, dazzling smile.

The gym teacher really needed to buy sunglasses. Or duct tape. Or both. Finally sure that he was driving a crazy evil genius or retard that enjoyed psychologically harming him and his dignity, he sighed and drove on, trying to keep the last of his sanity and soul from drifting away.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

After the 10 longest minutes of Kurogane's life, they finally arrived at the restaurant. It was plain and simple, but the dishes were nice. Souma once took him here and he thought it was a rather pleasant place. … Or not if you're with a psychopath. They took a table at the corner, being sure not to draw any attention.

The both of them sat there in silence until a waitress came by and gave them the menu. Kurogane flipped through it and decided to order the same thing he did the last time he came. The waitress nodded and scribbled something on her notepad before turning to Fai. The blonde's brow was furrowed in concentration. The nurse glanced at the blonde in anticipation. Kurogane snorted, though secretly admitting that look Fai gave was cute.

It remained like that for 20 minutes.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" The Japanese man snapped and turned to the waitress. "We'll both have the chicken!"

"Yes sir," said the waitress as she scribbled something on her notepad again and bowed, smiling suspiciously, before running off and giggling all the way. Kurogane turned back to the blonde and glared at him.

"Was that so hard? And you're paying your meal for putting me through all that hell today," he shot dryly at his colleague. The pale man just smiled sheepishly then pouted in return. "Kuro-tan is so mean!"

"It's Kurogane!" he yelled, gaining some unwanted attention from a few customers and waiters.

"Calm down, Kuro-pyon. Your short temper won't help anything," said Fai.

Kurogane snorted and folded his arms. "So where the heck are you from? You don't seem to be Japanese," he said, reaching for his coffee.

"Well… I'm from Italy and moved to Japan a few weeks ago. Yuuko-san was kind enough to invite me to teach in her school, considering my previous records…" Fai trailed off towards the end of the sentence, not really wanting to let him know what happened before and was going to happen to the science lab in the school.

The gym teacher raised an eyebrow. Maybe he was dining with a deranged psychopath. "What previous records?" he asked carefully.

"Eheheh… You see, this isn't my first time teaching. You see, I love chemistry. Therefore, I like mixing things up. Therefore, I blow stuff up, and my last count was 80 times… or was it 81?" the chemistry teacher rubbed his chin thoughtfully, totally unaware of the other now flabbergasted teacher. He turned back to the other, smiling brightly. "That's why, I've got kicked out of various schools in Rome for my… er… dangerous acts." The blonde proceeded to take all packets of sugar on their table (say about… 20 packets?) and tore the covers, dumping the all the sugar into his coffee. Then, he grabbed the jug of milk and poured all of the white liquid into his drink and stirred.

Alright, Kurogane was sure of it. He was dining with a psychopath. If he checked the dictionary for words like 'crazy' or 'psycho' or 'mentally disturbed', he would see Fai's face printed next to the words.

"80 times?! Are you freakin' mad?!" he yelled. "You might get yourself killed!" Then he stared in horror at Fai's sugary coffee. "You might get yourself killed with that too!" he almost yelled, pointing at the now light brown colored coffee.

"Don't worry! I'm sure sugar wouldn't kill me! I'm a sweet tooth!" Then something struck Fai. Hard. "… Are you… worried about me?" he asked warily.

Kurogane's eyes widened. No fucking way. He snorted and folded his arms. "Like hell I would be worried over a dumb blonde like you! All I know now is that you're an fucking asshole and I don't want to have anything to do with you in my life!"

Fai's eyes stared at him dumbly for a moment before looking hurt as he quickly shielded his face with his blonde bangs, focusing his attention on stirring his coffee. Great, he just arrived in Japan and now someone already hates him.

Despite the quick reaction of his colleague, Kurogane caught the other's look, and quickly looked down as well, a pit of guilt forming in his gut. Great, he just met Fai and he already insulted him. Not good.

Neither spoke until the food arrived. The both of them ate in an uncomfortable and stressful silence as well. Kurogane could feel the pit growing larger and larger and the urge to speak grew stronger as well, but he didn't want to open his mouth. Kurogane never apologized to anyone but his mother and father. Fai, on the other hand, could feel a pit of awkwardness filling his heart. He wanted to get out of here. Now.

As soon as they finished, Fai stood up and turned to pay for his meal, but Kurogane instantly grabbed his wrist, earning a jump from the other. Fai looked back in both fear and surprise.

"I'm paying," was all he said before walking past Fai to the counter. The blonde blinked dumbly at his colleague's words before falling into another gloomy depression. He's probably doing it because he's sorry for saying that out loud. That doesn't mean he doesn't hate me. The blonde sighed before wondering how it was like to be loved.

After Kurogane paid, the both of them walked out of the restaurant. It was already dark, around 8pm, and the streets were dark and gloomy, shielding dangers from view.

"I think I'll just walk home."

Kurogane turned around and faced Fai, who was smiling sadly. "What?" he asked, not sure if he had heard it right.

"I think I'll just walk home," Fai said, lifting his head to stare at the sky. "I mean, it's late, and you probably have to go home soon." He turned his head back to Kurogane. "So I'll just walk. It's probably not very far away anyway, and-"

"Are you nuts?!" A loud voice interrupted him and he gazed at that now angry man, confused. "Do you have any idea what lurks in the darkness?! If you go out there alone, you might get hurt, or worse, killed. You think I'm just gonna let you run off like that?!" Fai opened his mouth to interrupt but was cut off when Kurogane grabbed his wrist and dragged him along to his car. "I don't care what you're gonna say. You are not walking home in the dark. It's dangerous, damnit! Don't you have any sense of security in you?!" Kurogane shouted, the strict tone of his voice stopped Fai from insisting any further. Unknown to the gym teacher, Fai was smiling softly.

The drive back home was quiet. Nobody spoke. Nothing needed to be spoken. It was a long, comfortable and comforting silence on the way to Fai's home, each other knew the other's feelings and the unspoken words. After knowing Fai's address, Kurogane's heart almost stopped back then. To his shock, dismay and somehow pleasure (Kurogane was not satisfied with that feeling), Fai was his new neighbor. He remembered someone moving in a few weeks ago but as usual, Kurogane ignored the existence of that person. He wasn't a friendly neighbor, but now, with Fai living nearby…

… Why is there this little spark of happiness in his heart?

... Greeeeeeeeeat.

Kurogane didn't tell Fai about them being neighbors, nor did he want to tell him about it, at least not now. With his personality, the gym teacher was sure Fai would find out soon. He stopped when they reached the blonde's house.

"Here. I'm sure this is the address," he muttered, not bothering to look at the man beside him.

"Kuro-pii?"

"What?" His eyes widened in shock when a pair of arms wrapped itself around Kurogane's neck. Fai hugged the gym teacher and nuzzled him shortly before looking at the other, a soft smile dancing at his lips.

"Thanks for caring."

In an instant after the hug, Fai unwrapped his arms around the now blushing man and hopped down the car, grabbing the keys from his pocket to open his front door, oblivious to the yell of "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?!" from behind him and shut the door. The chemistry teacher smiled warmly and danced and twirled into his bedroom before flopping down on his bed, the warm feeling of being cared for blossoming in his heart.

Yes, Fai certainly enjoyed his first day at the Horitsuba Academy.

That, was the longest chapter I've ever wrote. Exhausted…. Reviews make me happy? And once again, feel free to tell me any mistakes I made or any advices. Just don't flame, you won't make me angry. Once again, I apologize for any grammar errors. Just so you know, I checked this chapter 7 times, so if there's still any, please don't be mad.