Augh… I'm back with another chapter~! Not much to gloat about, to be honest, but at least there's some opening in the chapter (even though it's a VERY lame one).

Disclaimer: The title says it all.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Wh- where am I?

The sky was red. The ocean was red. The ground was red.

Red, the color of blood. The smell of death crept among the mist, the echoes of screams filled his head. Fai just wanted to puke and run, away from these horrifying truths. No, not again, never again. He just couldn't handle this anymore. The sexual and physical abuse he had endured during his childhood, both from his father and the Mafia, was finally taking its toll.

Please, if there was someone out there, please… help me… kill me…

"Fai…"

The blonde turned around upon hearing his name, and froze.

Kurogane lay on the ground, crawling towards him. It took Fai a while to realize that the lower-half part of the man's body was severed from him. He let his shaking hands clap around his mouth as he stared in horror into those now hollow eyes. Someone… someone had pulled Kurogane's eyes from his sockets. Empty.

The flame had diminished. Fai had never seen the normally silent and strong man so helpless before. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

"K-Kuro…" he croaked, tears filling his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. Suddenly, as if a fire lit inside of him, the blonde rushed towards the other and pulled him into a strong, tight embrace. He squeezed his eyes shut, praying, praying that is was all an illusion, a dream.

He felt a cold hand on his damp cheek, stroking him gently. Fai refused to open his eyes, refused to meet those used-to-be-crimson eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks faster than he had ever remembered. He could feel Kurogane's shallow breaths and chokes against his skin.

With each and every second, as the man slipped slowly into death, Fai held him tighter. Every time he felt those breaths getting more and more insignificant, the tighter he held Kurogane. 'Please don't go…' He couldn't afford losing him, no, not another person who meant the world to him… Someone who could save him…

'Just do something, Kurogane. Hug me, kiss me, torture me, just don't leave…'

Those words went unheeded. Slowly, those breaths became nothing, and the figure he held slumped into him, and Fai broke down, clutching the tight body close.

There were voices now. Fai turned around and saw shadows emerging from the darkness away.

Fei Wong.

Kyle.

Wicked faces he didn't remember remembering but had somehow remembered and with the reason how he doesn't remember.

In a blink of an eye, Fai felt those men pushing him onto the ground as his back met the hard ground, his clothes now soaking in blood that wasn't his. Bodies pressing on him, hands touching every inch of his skin, hands grabbing his pants pulling it down, ripping away his undergarments, something shoving itself into him, and pain that would never stop.

Fai screamed as thrust after thrust drew waves of unbearable pain into him. He couldn't see, couldn't hear, drowning in the pain and the laughter and his own blood and screams…

"Wake him up! Try waking him up, Syaoran!"

"A-Ashura-san, it's not working!" The teenager managed before the man let out yet another scream. The boy flinched backwards, terrified at the sudden reaction of the blonde man. Fai… his name, was it?

In an instant, Ashura rushed past Syaoran and stretched his hand out, gently stroking Fai's soft, blonde hair, muttering comforts in a soothing voice Syaoran had never heard from him all this while being locked up with him. When Fai showed no action of calming down from his nightmare, Ashura began shaking him, gently at first, but the action soon got rougher and rougher. Finally, when Fai didn't seemed to be showing signs of waking up, he decided it was time to get desperate.

"YUUI! WAKE UP!" he yelled, and as soon as it began, Fai's eyes snapped open, his breathing quick and shallow and uneven, his heart thumping painfully inside him. For a long moment, the blonde darted his eyes around wildly, as if not knowing where he was. Sweat rolled down his forehead, and Ashura's kind face entered his vision.

"It's alright," he whispered. "No one's going to hurt you here." The scene seemed familiar, he thought bemusedly. He knew all too well about Fai's nightmares: it was terrifying to the point that sometimes they had to pour a bucket of ice and hit him hard on the head at the same time for him to wake up. He had hoped such nightmares had ceased to be the moment he was free from the organization's hold.

Apparently not. He inwardly curses at what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder does to people.

Fai's eyes lingered from panic to confusion, as he continued staring at Ashura blankly. Slowly, as the words sank in, his face contorted in what seemed to be a mixture of distress, anguish and despair.

"Ashura…" he whispered, voice breaking as tears slowly filled those large, blue eyes.

"Shh…" Hushing, Ashura pulled the shivering blonde into his arms gently, making sure to ease his grip a little to quell his fears and haunting memories. Fai squeezed his eyes shut, tears threatening to pour despite his eyes being clenched shut. He let out a choked sob, pressing himself further into the embrace, longing for the love and care and warmth and comfort of Ashura to chase away those horrible memories that plagued him day and night, leaving him empty and vulnerable. Ashura hushed him yet again and lifted his hand to pat the top of Fai's head.

"It's okay. I'm here. Just go back to sleep. I'll be here, promise," reassured Ashura. Fai lifted his head and glanced around weakly.

"Where…"

"You're in the Mafia headquarter and hideout in Florence. They're keeping us captivity. Apparently, the team that sent you here have had their fun…" he said, frowning darkly. Fai continued gazing at Ashura dumbly, utterly confused.

"What… what about Kuro-chi? A-and Subaru-san? What happened to them? And- and what do you mean by 'have had their fun'?" he asked, unable to summon his usually alert mind back into his head. His thoughts seemed to move sluggishly and he couldn't remember anything. Ashura sighed and gazed sternly at the blonde.

"Sleep. You'll need it."

Unable to resist the urge any longer, Fai fell into a dreamless sleep.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"So, what are we supposed to do about the girl then?" Kurogane snarled, crossing his hands together.

"We can't just leave her here!" protested Subaru, his hand never leaving the sleeping girl, gently pressing her down as she slept in bliss.

"What if she's one of the enemies, or maybe a spy? How many beggar-like teenage girls go around being stuck in a hotel room without any of the staff knowing that she's here?" Kurogane roared in retaliation.

"Point is," Subaru continued in a calmer tone. "We can't let her wander around on her own, which she'll probably do if we don't lock her in. And if we locked her in, she'll probably think we've got her as hostage and with a phone or not, tell the police on us. We'll probably have to… drag her along somehow."

Kurogane looked as if he was about to burst. It was hard enough as it is searching for Fai. Now they were supposed to drag a stupid girl like that into it? That was probably beyond what the gruff man didn't want. If they were found and captured, it would bring danger to this girl not only during captivity but also in the future. And yet, she might even drag them down the drain into trouble. No, Kurogane did not like this. He did not like it at all.

"Can't we just dump her somewhere on the streets?" he muttered.

"Kurogane!" Subaru looked at him as though it was the craziest or most evil thing to do in the world. "What if the reason's she's like that is because someone was chasing her? If we dump her into the streets then she might be in danger again! Who knows, she might be another victim of the Mafia! And the name she said… Syaoran, was it? He might also be in the Mafia, maybe in captive! And this girl might actually know where their hideout is!"

Subaru's words seemed to sink in the gym teacher. He blinked stupidly, staring at the other for a long moment. "… Hn," he said finally, turning away in defeat.

"Anyway," this time, Subaru's voice came in a soft whisper. "When we were in that ride yesterday, I saw a few groups of men lurking in between the streets. Apparently, they have the whole state under surveillance, or at least a large part of it. Luckily, this hotel we're staying is under the hands of one of Yuuko's friend, and that friend - Watanuki, was it? - made sure there were no strange people lurking around this area. But if we are to leave this place, we have to at least disguise ourselves." He then reached towards his small luggage and began drawing out a few items and clothing.

"I've brought a whole set of make-up kit and a whole lot of clothes with me when I came here." He sent a warning glare towards Kurogane who was starting to gape at him and the beauty products and how un-manly it seemed. "Trust me, it's useful. Disguising yourself is far better than getting into a fight, no matter how much you like them." Kurogane gave him a dirty look at this. Did he not understand the art of violence? The beauty of it?

"And…" Subaru continued, ignoring the other's face. "With this girl with us, after we make sure she's not some sort of spy or anything, she'll be able to fit in perfectly to keep ourselves clear of suspicion. We weren't travelling with a girl before, and people have a tendency to think of us more of a family than a real threat. Kids have a really good effect on lowering people's barriers." He picked out a bra from his luggage, and almost unconsciously, dismissed it and threw it into a corner on the floor.

Something hit Kurogane really hard. "Wh-what?!" he spluttered. "Wait a sec, what the hell doing you think your-" No, no, Subaru can't be saying that. No… anything but-

"Yes, I think I'll dress up as a woman. Kamui always said it looked good on me, and it acts as one hell of a disguise either…" he continued, this time, completely ignoring the gruff man sitting opposite of him, who looked like Christmas had been cancelled. The revelation just confirmed Kurogane's worst fears. Thank God he wasn't doing it with Fai… "But you… you're eyes will probably give you away, I mean, how many people walk around with red eyes?" Now, it seemed that Subaru was speaking to himself rather than Kurogane. "You'll definitely need to wear contact lens, and maybe dye your skin a little or something: you stick out very much as a foreigner. Too bad you're too tall to dress up as a woman though…"

"WHAT?!" Kurogane roared. "You… Am I working for a pervert?!"

"Unfortunately no. You're height and body weight will give you away as a man. Pity, maybe Fai will cheer up seeing you like that. We'll have to do something about your hair too, by the way. You can be my husband or something, or this girl's uncle. Yeah, that'll do well. Italians aren't usually seen married to Japanese. Yeah, you'll be her uncle. I'll be the girl's mother. Yeah, that's it…" He continued muttering to himself almost unconsciously, throwing Kurogane some clothes and dumping everything from his luggage out to the floor.

Kurogane lifted his head and sighed. This was one hell of a job…

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

I'm surprisingly rather content with this chapter. Anyway, sorry for the... er... boring-ness of the previous chapter, so this time I rounded up something a little more interesting here. Now: I need your opinions. I can't let Kurogane act out as a woman (he's too MANLY for that), but I hope some of you can come up with ideas of dressing Kurogane up ridiculously, or maybe a job that forces people to wear ridiculous outfits. The funnier the better! Too bad I can't make Fai dress as a woman though… (I'll have to find a way to make him dress like that…)

Opinions? Reviews? Comments? Just click the button and fire away!