Oh yeah, the new chapter's up! Finally! But before it starts, I wanna thank Ominous Shadow, Inuyasha SIT and Chibi Moko-chan for all advises and suggestions they gave. It really, really helped me a lot.
And to the people is reading this fic, I'm really very grateful to all of to have the patience to wait so long for this update. I'm really very sorry for the late update and thank you so much for waiting.
I DO NOT OWN TSUBASA! (Yes, have you read that? That's the proof that I don't own it! Hah!)
Yuuko booked flight tickets for them that were due to Rome the following morning, so they only had a night to pack their things. With Fai being injured and tired, Subaru and Kurogane had to do all the packing for him as well as theirs and only managed to sleep for a few hours due to the fact that Fai's house was completely messy and they had a hard time finding his belongings in his house, especially his shoes: they found a few pairs in the fridge.
What kind of person would put their own shoes in the damn fridge?!
But besides the fact that the blonde had been chirping nonsense all the way to Rome, he was pretty content with their journey for the day. After reaching their destination, they got a map and rented a car and Fai still remembered where his old house was. Everything was going smoothly.
That is, until Subaru volunteered to drive.
What happened after that, Kurogane wasn't sure.
Fai grabbed for the paper bag handed out by Kurogane and puked.
Kurogane yelled over the screaming engines.
Subaru was totally oblivious to the fact that he was driving at precisely 110km/h down the road.
"Subaru-san?" asked Fai in a feeble voice after just having to vomit. "Can you please drive a little slower?" The blonde never knew that one of his guardians' had the bravery to speed down the street so quickly, especially not the one who was always so kind and withdrawn. "Please?" he tried begging again.
There was no reaction. Damn the screaming engines.
"WILL YOU JUST STOP THE BLOODY DRIVING AND STOP RUNNING OVER A RED LIGHT FOR ONCE YOU CRAZY BASTARD!"
Still no reaction.
Just when the gruff man decided to yell again, the car took a sharp turn and skidded to a halt. All three of them was forced forwards then backwards violently, a pale Fai on the verge of puking again, Kurogane on the verge of screaming as Subaru remain unperturbed. Fai poked his head out of the window to take a look. Yes, this was definitely his house. It was small compared to the surrounding houses it was definitely dirtier than before, but yes, it was definitely his house. The little toy kitty still hung in front of the door.
"Is this it?"
Fai nodded. "There's a garage around here, but it's on the other side of the house. I'll show you." Secretly groaning inside, the blonde could only wish that he wouldn't puke again, and the burns on his skin are starting to hurt again under the white bandages. He let out a soft whimper, hoping no one would notice.
Kurogane spared a side glance at the chemistry teacher while he guided them to his garage. Apparently the blonde would need more rest and medication than they first thought. Maybe it's best for them to lay low for the moment and let Fai rest before searching for that Ashura guy.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
The house was in a mess.
Well, considering that it had been raided once, Fai wasn't really surprised. In fact, if he was, he probably wouldn't have the energy to be so. Puking had seeped all his energy away, and despite the fact that he could still stand, the blonde was swaying slightly.
The gym teacher eyed him carefully and sighed. "You," he pointed towards Fai. "Bed," he said sternly.
Fai jerked with surprise at the voice and nodded, not bothering to look behind him. He dropped his bags and walked slowly towards one of the rooms like a zombie, closing the door behind him. The man dropped onto his bed and was asleep instantly.
The moment the door clicked, Subaru glared at the taller man. "Right. So you hurt him first and now you're order him to do things against his own will." The man rolled his eyes. Great. Since when was he becoming like Kamui? Now he understood his annoyance towards some of the men in the Mafia. You just hate them from the first time you ever set eyes upon them.
Kurogane returned a darker glare. "You've been with him for such a long time, so don't tell me you never knew that idiot doesn't know how to take care of himself." At that point, Subaru closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes, that child has always driven himself to the edge just to do his best for others, never for himself," he said, smiling. "He's such a good child," he continued, glancing at the closed door, a sad smile on his face. "It's so sad that he has to take up so many burdens at such a young age."
The gym teacher looked at the door, a wave of guilt rushing through him. It was his fault that Fai was in the state he is now.
"Yeah."
They stood like that for a while, sadness washing and freezing their hearts, filling the dreadful silence. It wasn't until a bird's chirping did they wake from their state. Subaru proceeded to tidy up the room, ignoring the other man. Kurogane frowned, remembering the question he wanted to ask.
"Why does he keep his shoes in the fridge?" he turned to Subaru. The man smiled sadly, silent for a moment before answering.
"Fai had always been running from his problems every since he was a kid. He doesn't run away from it directly, but would try to avoid such situations as soon as he could and sometimes being unable to accept a situation. He wished that by frequently putting his shoes inside a fridge and then wearing it, the shoes will eventually freeze his legs with the coldness and eventually stops him from running anymore."
Kurogane didn't know what to say, so he just kept quiet. That was the craziest idea he had ever heard of.
"You know, this was where my brother Kamui and Fai lived after they first escaped from the Mafia. They stayed here for quite a few years before the Mafia found out the location and raided it. Thank God they anticipated it and were gone when they arrived."
"So where's your brother now?"
Subaru was silent. "I don't know," he said, his eyes downcast. He was worried. Where is Kamui? Why hasn't he contact him in such a long time? Is he dead? Is he alive? He didn't have the answers. What brother wouldn't know about his other's whereabouts and situation?
Knowing he had hit a nerve, Kurogane grunted and continued helping Subaru tidy up the living room. They're probably going to stay here for a long time anyway.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Fai woke up with a start. Sitting up in bed, the blonde looked out of the window. It was dark, and the room looked tidier when he first arrived. Apparently, someone has been busy cleaning up while he was sleeping. The blonde cursed inwardly. They should have waited for him to help them clean up the place. Sighing, he stood up and twisted the door knob, surprised that the pain from the burns was gone. Apparently, someone had tended to him while he was asleep either.
The first thing the blonde heard after opening the door was yelling and the smell of soot. He panicked and quickly dashed towards the living room and noticed that the smoke was coming from the kitchen.
"Put out that fire! Damnit! Where's the fire extinguisher?!"
"I've got it! I've got it!"
"Hurry!"
There was the sound of someone running towards the other end of the kitchen and Fai sweatdropped. Already he knew what was going on here. He didn't know about Kurogane, but Subaru was really bad at cooking. He could even burn span. I mean, who could actually burn span? He never thought it was possible at first. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of foam from the fire extinguisher spraying out from the tank itself.
"Gah! Don't spray at me, you idiot! It's the stove that's on fire, not me!"
"Well, I wouldn't be spraying at you if you hadn't set the stove on fire in the first place! So just shut the hell up and let me do the job!"
"Who are you calling a useless freak?!"
"I didn't even say that!"
Fai continued to stare dumbly at the smoke and tried to ignore the spraying and yelling and crashing from the kitchen. After a while, when the smoke finally cleared, the lithe blonde was greeted by the sight of Subaru and Kurogane covered in foam, trying to snatch the fire extinguisher from each other's hands, growling at each other. The stove was covered in foams as well, and cutlery and dishes and bowls as well as newly bought ingredients were lying everywhere.
The kitchen was in a mess.
Both men continued fighting.
Fai continued staring.
But the moment Kurogane and Subaru noticed the blonde, their fight halted abruptly. All three of them stared at each other dumbly, blinking occasionally with their wide and confused eyes.
Kurogane was the first the react in this situation. Instantly, his face blushed into a bright shade of red. Trying to cover his embarrassment of being caught in such childish acts, the gruff man dropped the fire extinguisher. "I'll go get something to clean this up," he muttered under his breath before leaving.
Fai and Subaru continued to stare at each other for a moment before sighing, a soft smile plastered on the blonde's face while he shook his head though Subaru sighed in disapproval.
"Did you burn the stove again?"
"… Yeah."
Fai giggled and settled on the couch, unable to stop smiling. Strange, every day since his childhood he had been dreaming to smile a real smile and was never able to, and now he just couldn't stop smiling. Maybe… things would get better? Perhaps it was really possible to have a happy ending?
Subaru noticed the smile his face showed his surprise before it was replaced by a soft smile. Seeing Fai smiling like that instantly calmed his mood.
"I can't believe you actually like someone like that crazy guy like him," he huffed, looking at the blonde with slight amusement. "What exactly do you see in him?"
Fai thought about it for a while, frowning in deep concentration. He had never thought about that before, but all of a sudden, his face broke into a wide, mischievous smile as the conclusion came to him.
"Actually, I don't see anything in him. All I need is for Kuro-pii to be himself."
Yes, an absolutely random and crappy chapter. Please don't complain, I'm just following my instinct. And yes, I'm taking things a little slower for a few chapters to balance out the speed of the story.
Notice: I'm not sure if I'll be able to update next week, but if I can I definitely will. For the week after next week, there is a high possibility of me being able to update either. Unfortunately, from the 28th September to the 17th of October, I won't be able to update 'cause my government exam is coming, BUT from the 23rd of October onwards, the story will be able to resume back to its original updating speed (one chapter per week).
Reviews would DEFINITELY help me update a little faster.