Disclaimer; I do not own Tsubasa. And my pride belongs to my reviewers. Still. And in this chapter we'll be learning a little more about Makayla and Evron, if anyone cares.

Truth And Lies

Kurogane went to see the mage a few days later.

He had no real reason why he'd put it off so long, but he had somehow found a way to put it off until Makayla and a sobbing Seth had shown up after visiting a withdrawn Fai, and the writer had with held the saké he'd been drinking until he promised to go and see him. Even then he was considering staying home, not wishing to see the idiot so soon, but Makayla had shown up at three and dragged him out of the house, talking all the way there about her newest story. So not only was he awake and outside the mage's room, he was awake, outside the magician's room, and he could have recited stupid story from beginning to end if he wanted to. Which he didn't.

"Kurogane-sama!"

The ninja glared at the writer.

"What?" he snapped, wishing he could be back at the apartment with a bottle of saké, playing Fable and ignoring the mage's existence.

"Hurt him and you'll regret it," she warned, smiling briefly before getting in an elevator nearby and waving as the doors closed. For moment the swordsman considered leaving, but he discarded the thought quickly. If he left he'd be running away, and ninja didn't run away from sick men.

Sighing, he walked into the ICU and shivered. Gods, it was freezing in there. Apparently all the new patients didn't help much with the temperature. At least it wasn't silent anymore, though. That was something to be grateful for.

He was about to open the door to Fai's room when it was pulled open from inside, revealing the blonde haired kid he'd had a run-in with in the hospital - Evron, Makayla had called him. He was smiling cheerfully, but there was something about that smile that put the ninja on edge. "What are you doing here?" he snapped, glaring viciously at the child, who looked up at him, that same smile on his face.

"Hello, Kuro-bozu," he greeted calmly, as if people who were twice his size glared daggers at him often. Which isn't unlikely, for this ass, the swordsman realized.

"What are you doing here?" he repeated, wishing he had Sohi with him. But Makayla had dragged him out of the house before he had a chance to grab the sword, leaving him weaponless yet again.

"I was just having a chat with your friend," he replied pleasantly, sill smiling. "He's a very… interesting man. It's too bad he's stuck with someone like you."

The ninja pinned him against the wall by his throat, a look of murderous rage settling in his crimson eyes.

"Leave him alone, bastard," he hissed, Evron just smiled at him some more.

"Now you look exactly like him," he whispered. "I wonder how long it'll be before you snap, too."

The swordsman growled dangerously, clenching his fist.

"Kurogane, leave him alone," Fai's said suddenly. "He didn't do anything wrong."

The ninja growled at him one last time before dropping him and entering the room, shutting the door behind him. The for the first time since he had arrived, he looked at the mage.

His heart stopped. The magician was dead white, his usual smile gone from his face. His blue eyes were downcast, staring at his sheets in an effort to avoid the ninja's gaze.

"What happened?" he asked, walking closer to the magician. "What did that bastard do to you?!"

The mage shook his head and smiled up at the concerned ninja.

"Nothing," he replied, grinning. "Was Kuro-woof worried about me?"

"Lies." The ninja spoke without thinking, anger tearing at him - anger at that bastard for hurting the mage, his mage, and anger at the mage for hiding it from him. Fai's smile faltered slightly.

"I'm fine, Kuro-tan," he insisted, picking up a napkin and folding it into an airplane that he sent soaring around the swordsman's head. Kurogane growled and snatched the plane from the air, tossing it back at him.

"Whatever," he muttered, turning to leave. "If you want to be an idiot, that's your problem. Just don't drag others down with you."

He could see the surprise and hurt that crossed the magician's face in he window's reflection as he left.

His heart ached.

--

Makayla grinned at the woman she was helping.

"It's nice to see you again," she said conversationally. "I'm sorry I haven't been here lately, I'm taking care of few lost birds for a while. Two of them are such a hassle, too. Always making the stupidest mistakes and not even realizing it. It makes me wonder if Dad had the same problems with Father, both of them acting like fools only to go back and regret it later."

The women smiled at her as the writer brushed her black hair out of her face.

"Did they have the same problems?" Makayla continued, brushing her audience's hair. "I can't be sure. Maybe. I wonder, though, if maybe they had even more problems, what with Raisu's policy on gay couples back then. It was lucky for them that the laws changed before I was born, or they might have gotten into some real trouble. It makes me wonder, sometimes. What if the laws had remained the same? How would our lives be any different?"

"Don't worry about what could have been, Kayla," the black haired woman said calmly, smiling up at her helper. "You should always be grateful for what you have."

The twenty-one year old grinned at her in return.

"It occurs to me," she said suddenly, helping her into the kitchen for breakfast, "I never thanked you for being the surrogate, Daidoji-san."

--

Evron growled as he spotted his sister leaving Tomoyo's room. She always insisted on visiting her every day in the hopes hat she could help, and for a while it had been working, until they decided to let him in to see her. He laughed bitterly at the memory. His own mother, relapsing at the sight of him. It wasn't fair. He was always the one thrown out in the cold, the one rejected by everything.

"Makayla!" he called after her. She froze, and he could tell she was trying to force a smile as he drew ever closer, smiling to himself. The author finally turned toward him, beaming brightly.

"Hello, Evron!" she greeted with that fake cheerfulness she'd inherited from their father. He growled at her. She had no right to act cheerful, especially not in front of him. Very well. He knew how to hurt her just like he'd hurt that idiot mage who had the nerve to wear his father's face. He grinned at her.

"I met Fai today," he said conversationally. "He was a very interesting plaything, I must admit. It took a while for even me to finish with him."

His sister paled.

"What did you say to him?" she snarled, clenching her fists. The teenager smiled triumphantly. She was much easier than the magician.

"I didn't say anything to him," he replied. "Not that he didn't already know, at least."

Her eyes narrowed.

"What did you say to him?" she repeated, voice shaking with barely contained anger. Evron drew a sick satisfaction from her hatred, he used it to strengthen himself. Smiling, he walked over to his sister and ran one hand along her cheek, sending shivers of repulsion down her spine.

"I only told him the truth," he whispered, smiling evilly. "I simply reminded him that he was a murderer unworthy and incapable of being loved, and that he only presented s burden to those he cares about."

The writer jerked away from him, eyes wide with horror.

"Why?" she snapped. He ignored her.

"That ninja was there, too," he continued. "He's so like your father, isn't he, Makayla? So much like the bastard who drove my mother into insanity."

The author growled threateningly.

"You don't know anything, you sick freak," she hissed. Without another word she turned nd ran down the hall toward the elevator. Behind her, Evron wiped his eyes quickly and turned back the way he came.

A/N; A short chapter, I know, but I didn't want to give too much information out about Evron and Makayla's family… so I stopped with Evron's POV. Pity him. Actually, don't. He'll use that against you.
There'll be more about their family, next chapter, I promise! And more KuroFai, too, cuz I feel really guilty with how I left them.

Reviews nourish me.