Disclaimer; I don't own Tsubasa. And I still don't own my writer's pride. Just a reminder…
The Swordsman's Laughter
It hurts. Why? I… I was eating ice cream with Seth… and then Evron showed up…
Seth.
Oh god, what happened to Seth? Please, I don't care what happened to me, but please let him be okay. Please.
Light? No… it hurts so much… why? I was protecting Seth… and Evron kicked me…
"He ripped his stitches! Move outta the way!"
Who… are you? Where am I? What happened to Evron? Is Seth okay?
"Dammit, idiot mage! You better get through this!"
Kuro…sama? I'm sorry… you're… right… I'm an idiot…
"Fai-san!"
Sakura-chan? Hehe… I guess I'm in trouble… huh? God… it hurts… so much…
"FAI!"
"Kuro…gane…"
--
Kurogane held his head in his hands. He called me Kurogane… God, I'm such an idiot… I know that! I know I'm an idiot… so please, just let him be okay…
"Kurogane?" The ninja looked up at Seth, who was staring at the floor.
"What?" he asked, voice as empty as he was. Seth glanced up at him and started to cry.
"I- I'm sorry…" he sobbed. "I… I tried to help him… but I couldn't… I'm sorry!"
The swordsman smiled sadly, unable to summon the emotion required to do anything else. He drew the four year old into a tight hug.
"You did a great job, Seth," he muttered as the boy buried his face into the ninja's shirt. "I… thanks, for protecting him."
The four year old just sobbed harder.
"He got hurt because of me," he whimpered. "I tried to s-stop U-uncle E-evron… but I was scared… and he said mean things to him… and hurt him…"
"It's not your fault," the swordsman said forcefully, holding the child at arms length. "You did a great job, so stop crying. I sure as hell don't blame you, and I'm sure Fai doesn't either."
The boy sniffed one more time before rubbing his eyes furiously.
"O-okay," he said, smiling. "If… if I smile, that's okay, right? Grandpa… he always yelled at Mommy when she smiled even when she was sad…"
"Are you happy?"
"No."
"Then don't smile. It would be better to cry, just not because you think it's your fault."
Seth smiled for a moment more before his face fell again and he looked as if he were fighting back tears. The swordsman hugged him again.
"Don't worry, kid, that damn mage won't die."
"Kurogane-sama, I need to talk to you."
The swordsman glanced at Makayla over Seth's head and released him.
"I'll see you later," he muttered, standing and following the writer out of the waiting room. She stopped in front of a vending machine in the lobby.
"You look like shit," she commented, depositing the money needed for her purchases. "How do you feel?"
The swordsman accepted the drink she handed him and stared at the floor.
"I don't know," he said finally. "Empty."
The writer stared at him for a moment. He thought he saw something resembling guilt pass through her eyes before she chuckled dryly and gulped down her drink.
"That bad, huh?" she muttered, turning away. "You hungry?"
He was startled by the question. Fai could die… and she wants to know if I'm hungry?
"No," he muttered after a moment. Somehow he couldn't even summon any anger to put force behind this statement. He couldn't find enough of anything to put much force behind it. Makayla sighed.
"I'll bring you something later," she promised, finishing her drink and taking Kurogane's from him. "In the meantime, try to get some sleep. You look dead on your feet."
He nodded numbly and headed back toward the waiting room, before deciding against it. They'd probably return the mage to his room in the ICU when they were finished, so it was there that the swordsman directed his march.
Sleep… sounds good right now.
He sighed as he opened the door to Fai's room. It was dark, and he didn't bother to turn the lights on, instead collapsing on the first bed he ran into, which, coincidentally, turned out to be Fai's.
The ninja buried his face in the sorcerer's pillow. It smells like that damn magician…
Fai… what'd that ass do to you? How could I have been so late? Why the hell did I leave a kid to serve as your protection, when I knew that maniac was out there?!
The ninja laughed. He wasn't sure why, but he just laughed. He laughed until the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach was gone, and then he laughed some more, until he felt scalding liquid build up in his eyes and spill over. And then he laughed some more.
By the end of his insane laughter, he was asleep.
A/N; Okay. This was a really short chapter, but I didn't want to add anything else… so I'll leave the rest for chapter 15. The OOCness wasn't too bad, was it? And one thing before the question I have no right to ask; In Chapter 11, the song Seth is singing is "Good Time" by Alan Jackson. Fear the Internet and Kfrog!
Reviews? Please?