I'm sosososososoSO sorry for the last chapter! I knew it was short, but I lacked time to write it (psst due to my sis don't tell her that), so I had to continue in the little chappie! As I promised, explanations and KuroFai-ness! But I'm telling you, the explanations stop at a certain point, 'cause I want to leave ALL the big surprises for later chapters.

… What? I did promise a longer chapter!

Kurogane sat impatiently on the couch, obviously annoyed and confused at the whole situation. He just wanted to get home and take a shower after work but ended up seeing a wounded Fai running around the place, almost got shot by a gun by someone he knew from the past, being saved by that damn witch, and if that wasn't embarrassing enough, he had to pay the whole damn price for it!

… Something was definitely wrong about Fai. What was he doing there, anyway? A wounded man definitely doesn't walk around aimlessly; maybe he was searching for that man he protected… Subaru, was it? That name sounded very, very familiar… And that man too… but he just can't seem to remember who he is. Who exactly was Fai? What connection did he have with them in the past?

But anyway, he guessed quite some time ago that Subaru was probably Yuuko's so called 'friend' that wanted to meet Fai, and she had probably been pulling the strings all along. She was the real boss here, the one who knew about the actual situation, but most importantly, about Fai.

Even though Kurogane wasn't sure whether the witch really was a witch, he was disturbed about the relationship he developed throughout the days with Fai. They had only met each other for maximum about half a year but had already become close to lovers. Close. Somehow, a speck of Kurogane's pride wouldn't allow him to admit they were lovers; they were close to it though. Even after sharing a first kiss, Kurogane couldn't admit to himself that he had grown attached to somebody else other than his sword.

Why the hell did he even grew attached to him, anyway? He was annoying, noisy, loud, not to mention calling Kurogane nicknames and embarrassing him as much as possible, forcing him to hug or worse, kiss him. In public.

But now, with Fai asleep upstairs, Kurogane just couldn't stop worrying about him. He just hope that the blonde was okay. If Fai had met those people before, which meant that Fai's past wasn't as simple as he thought it was. Sure, Kurogane had asked Fai before of his past, but the man would always divert his attention towards something else and always avoided the question, even when pressed. So, Kurogane left him alone. It was his past, so Fai could deal with it on his own if he wanted to, since it had nothing to do with him anyway. Who was he to force it out of him? But now, he swore he had never been so willing to know more about the blonde man, and had come to terms in horror of how little he actually knew about him.

Yuuko shut the door of Fai's room and walked down the stairs. Immediately, Subaru ran towards the headmistress, grabbed her by the collar and yanked her down until their faces were merely inches away.

"What is this?" he hissed softly, anger radiating from his eyes. "What the hell is this man doing here?!" Subaru pointed at Kurogane, who blinked in surprise. "Are you telling me that Fai's 'guardian' is this crazy man? Do you know who the hell he is?!" Subaru almost yelled at the end, huffing in anger.

"What the hell is going on here, witch?" growled Kurogane, joining in the club of demanding-to-know-what-the-hell-is-going-on. He was still unable to remember who the other man was, but he was starting to guess that this man might be involved with the Mafia, just as Kyle was

"Calm down, Subaru-san. Sit down and behave or I'll just have to make you," said Yuuko with an evil glint in her eyes. Seeing this as a warning, Subaru sat down warily, a little afraid of what Yuuko might have in store for him. If it's about wearing dresses again…

"I assure you, Subaru-san. Fai-kun is safe with this man. He'll never hurt him," she assured him with a knowing smile, flashing a trusting look to Kurogane.

"But he's-"

"I'm aware of whom he is, Subaru-san, but like I said, he'll never hurt Fai-kun, just as Kamui wouldn't hurt you," she interrupted. "They both have a connection, just as you and Kamui have. He'll never hurt him, and if he does… I know the consequences myself, Subaru-san," she said, turning towards Kurogane.

"Kuro-sensei, this is Subaru-san, one of the men under Fei Wong Reed's gang in the Mafia. Do you remember?" Kurogane's scarlet eyes widened at the name. Fei Wong Reed. Yes, he remembered him. He remembered the time when he worked for him, causing so many misdeeds and deaths. "He is one of Fai's guardians when the child was in Mafia captivity and was one of the men who helped him escape." Yuuko coughed before continuing. "Something very important came up and Subaru-san here wished for me to arrange a secret meeting between the both of them."

"Wait a second!" yelled Kurogane. "What's this about Fai's captivity and Ashura and this guy as guardians and the Mafia? Why hadn't I heard of any of these?"

Yuuko just shook her head in sadness. "You wouldn't have known, Kurogane." The gym teacher flinched at the name void of all honorifics or nicknames. The witch was being serious this time. "You were the one who helped shape this whole story. About Fai, Ashura, Subaru, Kamui. You were the one who brought them together, the base of this whole rather new story in the Mafia."

"Year 1995 in Florence, Italy at 9:55pm at a narrow alley near the bridge," interrupted Subaru, eyes glaring.

With a sickening stab in his gut, Kurogane realized what they were talking about.

"But that's not the important part," said Yuuko, shifting slightly, as if pondering what to tell the tall man next. "Fai-kun was very important to Fei's team, earning almost easy money for them needed for smuggling, and when he escaped, Fei Wong knew he needed to get him back, so he established mini Mafia teams throughout the world just to search for Fai-kun, who escaped by Ashura, Subaru and Kamui's help. Recently, they captured Ashura and threatened to kill him if Fai-kun doesn't hand over himself." With that, Yuuko stood up. "Both of them will have to leave soon. Fai had set his mind to rescue Ashura and since they had been discovered, more search teams will arrive here in Japan to search for them, and soon, they probably won't be able to leave Japan anymore."

He turned to Subaru when he noticed that the man was watching him carefully.

"So, are you coming?"

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Running… running… panting… falling… running again…

"Hurry up, Yuui!" yelled a voice ahead of him. "Oh, Yuui dear, do hurry, please! Papa's probably coming now! We can't let him get to us! Oh, do hurry!" Yuui lifted his head and could barely see his mother through the sweat covering his eyes, glazed in exhaustion from running all day. Before the boy could even blink, his legs gave away underneath him and he collapsed, face first on the dirty ground.

"Yuui!" yelled another voice not far away from him. He heard skittering footsteps, the sound of shoes hitting the ground, and soon, the mirror image of him was helping him up. Fai, too, was covered in sweat and drew deep breathes, panting and on the verge of collapsing. "Yuui! We have to hurry! Papa probably got his mates chasing us now! C'mon! I'll carry you!" panted Fai, trying to heave the other onto his shoulder. But before he could, a piercing scream tore through the air.

"MAMA!" yelled the twins, turning towards their mother, who collapsed a few feet away from them, blood starting to pool around her dead body.

At that time, Yuui wasn't aware of Fai clutching onto his sleeve in fear, nor the fact that his mother was dead all of a sudden. Cold icicle of fear slipped into his heart and stomach, making him want to vomit all over, his attention focused only on the dark figure standing before his mother's bleeding body.

A figure taller than the both of them stood firmly on the ground, clutching his bloody blade, glistening in the moonlight. Judging from the figure, the man or whoever he was, the figure was merely a teenager, probably about a few years older than both he and Fai. The figure clutched his blade tighter around his palm and stepped forward.

A suppressed scream rose to his throat as he ran, dragging Fai along with him as the figure started chasing them. It's just that this time, the figure was the cat and they were the mouse, ready to be eaten.

They didn't run for long. The figure ran a lot faster than them, and soon he was above the children, raising his sword in the air.

Fai turned around and his eyes widened.

Yuui turned around.

The blade sliced downwards.

The sound of blade entering flesh.

A scream.

"Fai!"

The chemistry teacher sat up in bed, sweat rolling down his forehead, face drenched in tears. He panted, as if having just run a marathon, his chest rising and falling rapidly. After surveying the area to make sure he was safe, the man covered his eyes with his hand, trying to calm himself.

"Oi."

Fai jumped and would have fallen from the bed if Kurogane hadn't been there to support him. He blinked as he felt warm arms wrapping itself around his thin, shivering frame. The blonde turned around and saw Kurogane beside him, holding him, eyes shimmering with worry.

Before Fai could react, the taller of the two shifted Fai in his arms until the man was resting on his chest. The blonde quickly tried to wipe away his tears, but his hand was seized by the gym teacher. Fai bowed his head, not wanting to see red eyes that were so threatening yet mesmerizing at the same time.

"… A nightmare?" asked the gruff voice. Fai didn't reply. He just kept his head bowed, but the gruff man would have none of that. He cupped the blonde's face and forced him to look up into his (to Fai) terrifying red eyes. He had never been caught by Kurogane while having a nightmare, and he really didn't want that to happen, not when he was always so fragile after a nightmare.

"Answer me, damnit!"

"Please… just leave me alone…" he muttered, surprised to hear his own voice so… weak and broken, barely above a whisper. He rested his head on Kurogane's chest, closing his eyes. He was still tired, exhausted in fact. He was almost asleep when a voice interrupted him.

"Oi, are you alright?" The amount concern in the other's voice made the chemistry teacher jump again. Since when did Kurogane sound so concern about him? Even they were in love, Kurogane had never been one to voice out his concerns and fears. He always hid it, thinking it would ruin his tough image.

"Please… I'm tired… Just let me sleep…" He felt the back of Kurogane's hand touching his forehead. "You don't have a fever…" he said, frowning. "Are you okay? You were crying and screaming in your sleep."

His words struck a cord inside of Fai and he snapped. He remembered his dead mother, his brother, Ashura, Subaru, Kamui, Fei Wong Reed, Kyle and all the others. He thought about the Mafia. He thought about what they did to him. Memories and flashbacks sliced into his consciousness, forcing him to experience all the pain, the despair, the anguish, the anger, all of it at once. It welled up in his chest until the only thing he could feel was hopelessness. Weakly, he pushed Kurogane away, but the man's grip was tight. Tears blurred his vision.

"We… we can't keep this going anymore, Kurogane…" The gruff man flinched at the absence of the nickname. He looked down at the smaller man. He was crying again. What the hell was going on?

"What do you mean?"

"We… we can't keep this going, I mean, I… I have to go."

"I know that."

The blonde looked up in surprise. He… knew? But who…

"That Subaru guy and the witch filled me in, and I don't care what you're thinking, but I'm going," he said firmly, holding Fai tighter in his arms. "I'm going with you."

"But why?! Why can't you just let go? It was a mistake from me to fall in love with you! I'll be nothing but a burden to you in the future!" he almost yelled before lying limp in Kurogane's chest, tears still flowing down his porcelain cheeks as he sobbed. The gym teacher was shocked to silence, and wrapped his arms tighter around the other and stroked his hair, trying to offer some form of comfort through the other's fear. "All I want is a normal life, to fall in love, to be happy…" muttered Fai to himself. "…Is that so hard?"

Kurogane knew he had to do something. That dream must have been really scary to drive Fai into this state of fear. He grabbed Fai's shoulders and shook him, hard.

"Damnit, wake up!" he yelled in his face, causing the blonde to recoil, eyes wide with fear. But the Kurogane's grip was strong. "You idiot," he hissed "You're such an idiot!"

"Wh-what?" asked Fai, confused.

"Look, I don't care what happened to you in the past, what your connection with the Mafia is or whatever you're hiding from me. I don't fucking care. You are not a burden and never will be, and are you such an idiot to think that I'll let you go that easily? I love you, and I'll always protect you. That's why I'll come with you, got it? The witch is out to buy the flight tickets, and it's already too late to make me stay.

Fai was speechless, shocked to have received such an answer from Kurogane. He never expected an answer like this from him, considering he was so mean and heartless most of the time around everybody but him. Maybe… beneath all those hard faces and cold steel, there was still a soft, kind heart?

… Does that mean, underneath all of his masks and broken shards of glass, there was still a heart?

There was still a real him? A part of Yuui left?

There… there was still… light?

Hope?

"… Kuro-daddy must be lying when he said he hated mushy stuff, because he's a mushy guy himself." Fai laughed, chuckling weakly.

"Shut up," Kurogane snapped, though his lips came to rest on the other's forehead, showering him with kisses. "Just go to sleep."

Fai closed his eyes again, resting in this strong and warm embrace, knowing that for the first time in his life, he knew he was safe and happy.

Hope.

OH LORDS THIS BLOODY CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE!!

Notice 1 : First, I would like to tell all of you that it will be INCREASINGLY hard for me to update until probably 17th of October. I have a trial coming up and a very, very, VERY important government exam coming up the next month and on October and considering the fact that I live with my mum and sis, well, it'll be hard to update. If I'm unlucky, there will probably be at least two chapters up until that time. If lucky, well, there will be more. So, I'm afraid no updates next week. Only God will know when I get the chance to.

Notice 2: Since this is my first attempt in REAL romance, I am, as you all know, an amateur of it, so I need advice. I noticed I've been speeding up things a little to fast and that means not enough character and relationship development, so I need HALP! Advice on how-to-write-KuroFai-fics-or-romance-fics and of course, any ways to improve their relationship and develop their character in a non-boring way, and how long should I keep it up, or any other need to know facts about writing KuroFai fics. Your helps will be greatly, greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

So, that's all I have to say. If any of you can help or drop a review by, I'll really appreciate it. (And the more reviews, the faster I'll update, seriously. I'm motivated by reviews!)