Disclaimer; If I were CLAMP, Kurogane would have killed Syaoran-clone after he ate Fai's eye. And any pride I have as a writer comes from my reviewers. And the brief break from OOCness we experienced at the end of last chapter is over. Fear it.

The Ninja's Pain

Time stopped as the mage was pulled closer. He was losing himself, he knew, in the smell of sweat and leather he'd come to associate with the ninja. He was losing himself in the ninja's scent, the taste of his lips as the swordsman explored deeper into his mouth with his tongue… and it scared him.

He tried to push the ninja away, but his arms were still hanging limp at his sides, unresponsive. The mage panicked. He did the most childish thing he could have imagined possible.

He bit his tongue.

The ninja pulled away, swearing, and Fai fell back onto his pillows, taking deep breaths to calm himself and glaring at Kurogane.

"What… are you doing… Kurogane?" he snapped, voice shaking. The ninja glared at him a moment before turning and opening the door.

"Nothing," he muttered, slamming the door behind him. The magician bit his tongue to avoid the insane laughter rising in his throat as his eyes filled with tears.

God… I am an idiot.

He couldn't keep it back any more - he laughed, tears streaming down his cheeks.

I'm an idiot.

--

Kurogane had the uncontrollable urge to hit something. Balling his right hand into a fist, he buried it in the wall nearby, relishing in the destruction it brought. There was a hole there now, and you could see the pipes that brought water and power into the ICU. He grinned in satisfaction. It hadn't helped much, but it felt better than anything else he could've done.

"What the hell's your problem?"

Kurogane whirled to face the speaker, a blonde haired man in his teens with red eyes. He grinned.

"Girlfriend dump you?" he continued, an emotionless look on his face. "It doesn't matter. I doubt you'd like it if I found your home and punched a hole in your wall, would you?"

The ninja growled at the stranger, his own red eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Who the hell are you?" he snapped. The boy ignored him.

"You're the one that attacked my sister, aren't you?" he demanded. "All because she was worried about you."

The swordsman growled louder and took a threatening step forward.

"You don't scare me, Kuro-bozu," the child muttered, glaring at him. "My father was just like you - an overgrown bullying ass."

"EVRON!!"

The ninja and teen both turned toward the source of the voice to see Makayla and Sakura standing there, Sakura carrying Seth. The writer was shaking as she approached her brother and slapped him.

"Don't you ever talk about our father like that," she growled, fury emanating from her like in a wave. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

The teenager - Evron - scowled.

"I came to see Dad," he muttered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going."

He took off down the hall, running past Sakura, who narrowly avoided him.

"What the hell was that about?" Kurogane muttered, frowning. Makayla smiled sadly up at him as Sakura came over to them.

"I see you've met my brother," she commented dryly, taking her son from the shaking princess. "Pleasant, isn't he?"

"No," the swordsman growled instantly. "What the fu-"

"He wasn't exactly… well liked…in our family," the author interrupted, cutting him off. "He was always getting in fights with our father about the way he treated his mother. Apparently he never realized that that was just how he was to everyone. Even now…"

She let the sentence hang unfinished in the air.

"But anyway, I heard Fai woke up!" she said cheerfully. The ninja tensed, remembering what had happened.

"Yeah," he muttered, turning to leave. "Have fun."

"Didn't you want to talk to him?" the writer asked, surprised.

"I did," he snapped. "And now I'm going home."

The twenty-one year old stared at him a moment before shaking her head.

"Fine," she mumbled. "I'll call the apartment later. There's saké in the fridge if you want any."

"Fine," the swordsman growled, turning to leave.

"Um… Kurogane-san?" Sakura's nervous voice came from behind him. Kurogane turned to face her, still scowling, to have a bowl of ice cream thrust at him.

"Um… they had sugar free vanilla ice cream at the store we went to…." she mumbled. The ninja shut his eyes and took the bowl from her.

"Thanks, princess," he muttered, turning and leaving.

"Bye bye, Kurogane!" he heard Seth call after him. "Get better soon!"

The swordsman smiled ruefully. Damn observant kid.

--

Makayla smiled at Fai as they entered the room, putting down Seth, who immediately climbed onto the magician's bed and hugged him.

"Hiya, Mister!" he greeted. "My name's Seth. We got you some ice cream!"

The author grinned at the surprise that stole its way into the mage's features as the boy thrust a bowl of mint and chocolate ice cream topped with whipped cream, chocolate chips, fudge sauce, sprinkles, and strawberries at him, a spoon sticking out one side. Then he smiled at the child.

"Thank you, Seth," he said weakly. "My name's Fai."

Seth beamed.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fai!" he said loudly. "Mommy says that you shouldn't be able to move your arms yet 'cause you just woke up. Is that true?"

The mage laughed.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so," he smiled apologetically. Seth gazed at him thoughtfully for a moment before smiling brightly again.

"Okay then, I'll help you!" Without waiting for the wizard to reply, he scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and shoved it into his mouth.

Makayla had to resist the urge to laugh as the cold treat hit the mage's throat and he shivered, his face contorting with surprise and pain. It was a moment before he managed to force the snack down and he smiled at Seth.

"Thank you, Seth," he said, voice stronger than it had been earlier. Sakura managed to catch the bowl as the child knocked I over when he went to give the mage another scoop of ice cream.

"Honey, let's give him smaller bites, okay?" the twenty-one year old suggested to her son. He nodded enthusiastically and knocked the bowl over again as he tried to put half of the spoon's contents back. Makayla chuckled as she caught it and took his hand gently

"Here, like this," she instructed, guiding his hands toward the edge of the bowl and gently scraping some of the ice cream off the top. Fai and Sakura watched them closely, Sakura to make sure the bowl didn't fall again, and Fai because of how happy she looked with her son.

After he'd gotten the hang of it, Seth continued to feed the mage until the bowl was half empty and Fai grinned at him.

"I'm done, thank you," he said cheerfully, smiling brightly.

His eyes screamed.

--

Sweet, sweet escape.

Kurogane grinned into the bottle of saké he was busy emptying. He was going over board, he knew, but right then, he wanted nothing more than to go overboard, to forget everything in the sweet taste of alcohol.

Still grinning, the swordsman struggled to his feet and grabbed a fresh bottle of saké before heading into the living room and picking up the bowl of ice cream Sakura had given him. It was almost completely melted, so the ninja put the bowl to his lips and let the liquid run down his throat.

It tasted like shit.

--

"Kurogane!"

The ninja came awake instantly, eyes flying open and then shutting again when the light hit them. His head throbbed, causing him to growl softly.

"Hung over much?" Makayla's voice came from the doorway, sending shivers down his spine and a jolt of pain through his head. Kurogane groaned as he opened his eyes again to glare at her.

"What do you want?" he snapped at her.

"Fai was asking about you yesterday," she growled. The ninja's heart skipped a beat as he narrowed his eyes in an attempt to block out the sun's light.

"Yeah? What'd the dumbass want?" he asked, trying his best to sound uncaring. Makayla glared at him.

"He wanted to know why you cared."

The ninja was silent. Why he cared…? That was a good question. He'd told himself over and over again that Fai meant nothing to him, he was only an irritating distraction from reality. And yet here he was, drinking himself into oblivion.

"Kurogane-sama…" the writer said softly, sitting beside him and staring off into space. "Go see him later."

The swordsman didn't answer her. After a moment the twenty-one year old got up to leave, hesitating for a moment at the door.

"I think he wants to see you."

She vanished as the ninja rolled over onto his stomach.

If he doesn't mean anything… then why does it hurt?

A/N; I'm so sorry! I meant to include Makayla's past… but the OOCness totally took over. And I doubt anyone'll care anyway… actually, they might… you decide. Anyway, from now on the OOCness will get better, I promise.

Review and Kurogane-sama will stop acting like an insane masochistic moron, and you can see more(or less?) of Evron.