A/N: ...Ahem...No comment.

Ch. 3

Powerless

Fai saw promise in this world from the moment they arrived in it. The deep, endless darkness that surrounded them suggested that they had landed in a closet, but that theory was quickly disproved by the fact that he could feel grass beneath his fingers. If he had found himself alone in such darkness, Fai would have been considerably less joyous about it; however given the fact that he had landed sprawled on top of his favorite ninja who, along with Syaoran, was capable of sensing the auras of everything around them, he was perfectly content.

"Hyuu! It sure is dark here, isn't it?" Fai commented, hugging Kurogane as the ninja sat up. "I can't see anything! What about you, Sakura chan?"

"N-no…it's too dark," Sakura said from somewhere to his right.

"How about you, Syaoran kun?" Fai asked.

"No, nothing," Syaoran replied from the same general direction as Sakura, sounding just as nervous.

"Tch. Were you even listening to me back in Outo country, Kid?" Kurogane growled. "Don't tell me you forgot how to feel auras."

"Oh, that's right," the boy answered quickly. "Yeah, I can feel auras."

"Mokona can't see either," Mokona piped, as if anyone cared what it thought. Kurogane just barely suppressed a strong urge to kick it.

"So Kuromin and Syaoran kun are the only ones who can see, then, huh?" Fai mused, a sly grin spreading across his face that was concealed by darkness. "Syaoran kun will have to guide Sakura chan and Mokona and Kuropippi can guide me!"

"Aah?! Why do I have to guide a dumb bastard like you?!" Kurogane demanded.

"Well, I suppose Syaoran kun could guide both me and Sakura chan if you'd rather have Mokona, Kuropun," the magician smirked.

"…Just forget it," Kurogane grumbled, earning a cheer from Fai who then happily latched onto the ninja's arm.

"Hey! Mokona hears something!" the white creature shouted.

Indeed, there was a slightly hesitant sound of footsteps shuffling towards them.

"What is it, Syaoran kun?" Sakura whispered, clutching her guide's arm.

"Hmm…it seems to be a person," Syaoran answered slowly.

"A kid," the swordsman added. This put everyone else at ease.

"Who's there?" a timid young female voice called out.

"Could you mean us?" Fai asked amiably. "We're travelers. We seem to be a little lost in this darkness."

"Eh? Travelers?" the girl repeated curiously. "How did you get here if you can't see in the dark?"

"We just sort of wandered in," the blond lied with a smile.

"…Are…are you two holding hands?" the girl asked Kurogane, and he could tell that she had a huge grin on her face. Kurogane felt his face go scarlet and was highly thankful that no one could see. At least the darkness was good for that much.

"Tch! Like I have a choice! This dumb ass can't see in the dark!" he snapped.

"Yes, and Kuropopo doesn't want me to get hurt," Fai giggled.

"You think I care about that?!" the ninja roared.

"Ah, b-but…" Syaoran interrupted hurriedly, "if there's no light in this country, then how can you see where you're going? Has it always been like this?"

"No, it only happened about a week ago," the girl replied, becoming a bit more serious now. "We can't produce any kind of light at all. It's been a real hassle. The local government has issued two pairs of infrared goggles to each family but that still leaves a lot of people in the dark."

"Syaoran kun…" Sakura said slowly. "Do you think… that this could have been caused by my feather?"

"Can you sense one, Mokona?" Syaoran asked.

Mokona was silent for a moment. "Yes," it said finally. "Mokona can feel a feather. It's pretty close by, too."

"A feather?" the girl asked. "What do you need a feather for?"

"It's a long story," Syaoran replied. "Is there any way that we could get some of those infrared goggles?"

"I can take you to the city government building. You might be able to get some there," the girl said. "Come on, it's this way."

"But…" Mokona continued seriously. "That's not the only thing Mokona senses…"

"Eh? What else is there, Moko chan?" Sakura asked.

"Mokona senses…" it paused dramatically. "Kurogane and Fai's love-love!"

There was a chorus of delighted giggling from Fai and their young hostess.

Kurogane hurriedly dropped Fai's hand, his cheeks glowing like the setting sun. "DON'T SAY DISGUSTING THINGS, DAMN MANJUU!!"

"Kyaaa! There's a mean doggy chasing me!" Mokona squealed, scampering away as Kurogane drew his sword with a sinister "shing".

Fai, still laughing, followed behind with the younger travelers.

"Ah, Fai san--!" Syaoran gasped.

Fai was just about to answer but was cut short when he tripped over a rock. "Ouchyyyy!"

"Never mind," Syaoran muttered.

"Fai san! Are you alright?!" Sakura cried, hurrying to his side.

"Aha… I seem to have hurt my ankle," Fai said with a weak, apologetic laugh.

"K-Kurogane san…" Syaoran called meekly, "we need your help…"

"Ha?!" Kurogane growled, stomping over.

"Kuropin abandoned me and I got hurt!" Fai said tearfully, clutching his injured ankle.

"NOT AGAIN!!" the ninja howled. Snarling in protest, he scooped Fai up and prepared to drape him over his shoulder and carry him as he had back in Outo when he had gotten himself injured.

"Ahh…Not over the shoulder please, Kurowanwan," Fai panted. "I think I may have bruised my ribs a little, too."

"WELL HOW THE HELL DO YOU EXPECET ME TO CARRY YOU THEN, YOU BASTARD?!!" Kurogane snapped.

Fai smiled coyly up at him. "Gently, please."

"Asshole…" he grumbled as he shifted Fai in his arms to cradle him like a baby. He could tell by the way the mage was cuddling up against him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his ribs. But he had no intention of letting on that he was aware of this.

"Um, excuse me," Syaoran called to the girl. "Which way did you say it was to the government building?"

"One second!" she shouted back, now from several yards away. Then she began talking again, though by the secrecy of her tone, it was clear that it was to someone other than one of their group. "Yeah, I'm sure. They keep on making excuses to touch each other, and you should've seen the tall one blush when I pointed it out…Right…You read my mind. That's exactly what I was planning…Yep, I'll be there in like twenty minutes. I have to show the younger two to the government building first…Ooh, great idea…Mm hmm, I can't stick around, though so make sure you guys take some for me, too…Yup. Can you call the others, too, then and let them know? Ok, good… Uh huh, bye."

There was a beep and the girl then turned her attention back to the travelers. "Ok, I can show you the way now!"

Syaoran and his group followed their new guide who skipped as she led them. Kurogane narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He wasn't sure exactly what that girl was so happy about but for some reason, it gave him a bad feeling.

"That sure was nice of Shimizu chan to show us to this hotel, wasn't it?" Fai pointed out cheerfully from his perch in Kurogane's arms.

"Hmph," Kurogane grunted. "She brought us to this place on purpose!"

"Mm? What do you mean, Kuropiko?"

"There's something weird about this building… for some reason, the auras in here are really weak. I can hardly feel them at all."

Fai laughed weakly again. "So it really is the blind leading the blind, eh?"

"And since the brats took both pairs of those infrared things, there's no way for us to find our room!"

"Well, you can hardly blame them, Kuropu! They needed them much more than we do since they went to find the feather and we're just hanging around here!"

"They could have at least helped us find the room first! And why is it so deadly silent in here?! It's freaking creepy!"

"Aww, come on, Kuronta! Lighten up! You're so grumpy!" Fai drawled lightheartedly, patting the swordsman's cheek. "Daddy should try being happy once in a while!"

"What's there to be happy about?!" Kurogane growled. "I'm in some hellhole of a world in pitch darkness, wandering around in this damn hotel where I can't see a single freaking thing with this dumb ass magician in my arms who's making me carry him because he's too freaking lazy to walk on his own and has the nerve to tell me to be happy! I have every right to be pissed off! Ouch!"

Kurogane's rant was interrupted when he ran into a wall. Hissing in pain, he backed away and gingerly rubbed at his wrist where it had scraped against the hard, rough surface.

"What happened, Kurorin?" Fai asked.

"Hit a wall," he replied through gritted teeth.

"Well that was silly, Daddy! What did you do that for?" the magician asked brightly.

"Grrrr…THAT'S IT!!" Kurogane roared, promptly dropping Fai on the marble floor. "YOU'RE WALKING ON YOUR OWN NOW!!"

"Ouchyyyy! Kuromun! That hurt!" Fai cried. "I think my ankle is broken!"

"Serves you right, you—Look out!!" Kurogane shouted, diving at Fai and pushing him out of the way as something zoomed by them with an ominous clattering sound before crashing explosively into the wall.

"What the hell was that?" the warrior panted.

"I don't know…" Fai said slowly. "But it's a good thing Kurowanta pushed me out of the way or I would have been flattened like a pancake! …Tee hee!"

"Aah? What was that weird laugh for?" Kurogane asked suspiciously.

"Well, just now…Kurokuro was really worried about me! It was really sweet!" he giggled. "Thank you!"

"Tch! Don't flatter yourself!" the ninja sneered. "What makes you think I would ever be worried about you?!"

"I'm not sure… perhaps it has to do with the way you're clutching me so protectively, even now that the danger has passed," Fai suggested brightly.

Kurogane tried to think of a retort but his mind just remained blank when he realized that one of his hands was supporting his companion's head and the other was clamped firmly to Fai's buttocks. The refrain of poorly stifled giggles of delight that came at them from every angle only added to his dismay.

"D-did you hear that just now?" he hissed.

"Mm? Hear what, Kurochii?" Fai asked.

Kurogane frowned, listening hard, before shaking his head, deciding that he had just been hearing things. "Huh… Never mind…"

Just finding the stairwell was an absolute nightmare. The lobby of the hotel was so huge and mysterious things kept being hurled in their direction, forcing Kurogane to save Fai over and over again. And after each rescue, he would hear that freakish laughter which Fai claimed to be oblivious of.

Even once they managed to locate the stairs, their troubles still weren't over. Not only did the stairs seem to be all different sizes so that they would sometimes go to climb to the next one only to find that the step they were aiming for was a whole foot ahead of where they had expected it to be but someone at the top kept throwing things at them, which, of course, Fai needed protection from. More than once, Kurogane found himself…accidentally grabbing the wizard's ass after a rescue. Fai was having a field day.

"My my, Kurotan sure does like to grab me, huh?" he would giggle.

"SOMEONE IS SCREWING WITH US!!" Kurogane raged. He had every right to be annoyed since this was about the tenth time this had happened and they had only managed to climb twenty stairs total.

"Poor Kurochan is so embarrassed!" Fai gushed, his attempt at sympathy undermined by the obvious delight in his voice. "All this blushing might give him the appearance of a permanent sunburn once the lights come back!"

"Who said I was blushing?!"

Fai gave Kurogane an experimental kiss on the cheek, feeling its intense heat beneath his lips. "Well, it's either that, or Kuronpyu has a fever. If that's the case, I'll have to make him take a warm bath, drink some hot tea and take a nap once we get to our room. Take your pick," he said happily.

Although Fai couldn't see the ninja's face, he could practically feel it going pale at the thought of the things he had just suggested. Extremely pleased by the complete power he currently had over Kurogane, he decided to press the matter.

"Hmm? Which is it?"

Something else was hurtled down the stairs at them, which Kurogane heard and grabbed Fai's shoulder's, forcing him to duck just in the nick of time. "I'm not sick!" he snarled.

"So you are blushing, then?" Fai giggled, his voice slightly muffled because Kurogane was holding him protectively to his chest.

"Look, it's hot in here, ok?! That's all!" Kurogane insisted.

"That wasn't one of the choices!" he sang gleefully.

Kurogane gritted his teeth, jerked Fai to his feet and continued to climb, in silence.

The ninja felt highly relieved when they finally reached the top of the perilous staircase. Both of them, surprisingly, were still intact, despite the efforts of those unseen forces to ensure otherwise. Naively, they sat down on the top step for a rest. Kurogane was feeling a little sheepish; he had never imagined that it could be so difficult for him to climb thirty-five stairs. Even with his current handicaps, he expected better of himself. Fai was slumped over, his head in Kurogane's lap, his breathing exaggeratedly laborious.

"What the hell are you acting so worn out for?" the swordsman growled. "I was the one doing all the work!"

"Having Kuropon grab me so many times got me all excited," Fai puffed. "Now even my face is hot! Here, feel…"

Kurogane allowed Fai to guide his hand to his cheek which burned with passion beneath his fingers.

But before he could truly begin to enjoy the softness of Fai's skin against his, there was a loud, disconcerting grating sound.

"Ok, you must have heard that," Kurogane breathed, not wanting to make too much noise in case it set off something.

"Yeah..." Fai admitted. "What was that?"

Before Kurogane could answer, he felt the stairs beneath him suddenly meld smoothly into a single entity, forming a long, slick ramp. He knew superficially what was happening but his brain couldn't seem to grasp it, even as the two of them slid helplessly down the ramp to land sprawled on top of each other at the bottom. No. Freaking. Way.

There was a brief pause; a short "calm before the storm", and then Kurogane flew into a rage, spitting out words so vulgar that they even made Fai cringe. But the basic idea of his tirade was that they had worked so hard to get to the top of those damn stairs and now that they had managed to somehow end up at the bottom again, Kurogane was pissed. Fai interrupted somewhat timidly when the smell of something burning piqued his attention.

"Kurosama… do you smell that? Like something is burning?"

Kurogane yelped in surprise and pain when his hand received an unexpected burn as it brushed over the hem of his apparently burning cloak. Unfortunately, the fact that everything, including the flame itself, was completely dark and therefore invisible, mixed with his efforts not to let the burning garment touch Fai rather hindered his efforts to remove it and thus allowed the fire to catch onto his shirt as well. Then his pants. If Kurogane had been more of an optimist, he would have found comfort that while, yes, he was almost completely naked and in close proximity to a (very good looking) wizard who had, mere seconds ago, admitted to being quite horny, he had managed to receive only the single minor burn to his hand.

"Are you ok, Kurowanta?" Fai asked seriously.

Kurogane was not an optimist. "Y-you stay the hell away from me!"

Taking that as a "yes", Fai's grin returned. "Eh? What's wrong, Big Puppy? Are you hurt? Here, let me see…"

"You can't see! Get away!" he insisted, scuttling away like a crab. Somehow, Kurogane managed to find his back pressed up a wall very quickly. He gasped and recoiled at the feeling of the cold surface touched his skin. And Fai, despite his mutual inability to see, somehow managed to appear at his side again within seconds. Kurogane could feel the magician's warm hands exploring his ill-clothed body with false surprise and far too much enjoyment. Although he was disturbed by this, he, for some reason, couldn't seem to make himself pull away from the gentle touch.

"Kurochuu's skin sure is soft," Fai breathed, touching his lips softly to Kurogane's collarbone, which sent shivers through the ninja's whole body. There was another, odd, collective noise rose from their surroundings again, but this time, it sounded more like a large-scale hyperventilation than laughter. It was followed by a tumult of very strange clicking noises.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Kurogane howled, quickly pushing Fai off of him. "I know someone is screwing with us so just come out and face me like a man!"

There was that stupid laughter again.

"Are you really sure you want them to come out and face you, Kurorun?" Fai asked amusedly. "After all, you're not exactly…decent right now."

"I DON'T CARE!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!!"

Before Fai could give any sort of response, he found himself suddenly being pushed to the ground and mauled by what seemed to be several of their mysterious visitors.

"Waah!" he shouted, more out of surprise than anything else.

"What?! What's going on?!" Kurogane was at the blond's side almost instantly but even by then, the damage had already been done. "What happened?! Did they hurt you?! …Huh?"

He had made a grab for Fai's shoulders but to his bewilderment, they were bare when his hands reached them.

"Well, I'm not hurt, but…"

"Where the hell are your clothes?!" Kurogane's fingers skimmed over Fai's exposed chest and stomach but sighed with relief when they finally reached an intact waistband (of course it was relief. What else would it have been? Disappointment? Pfft. Right.).

"Whoever that was who just attacked me, er… seems to have taken them," he finished, his voice tinted with apology and amusement at the same time.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! WHEN I FIND OUT WHO'S BEHIND THIS, THEY ARE DEAD!! START MAKING OUT YOUR WILLS, YOU BASTARDS!!"

"Ha haa… Kurowanko, I don't think the ones behind this are…" Fai trailed off, then shook his head, deciding not to continue.

"What was that?! You know something that you're not telling me?!" Kurogane snarled dangerously.

"Hmm…no, it's nothing," the wizard said lightly. "Nothing at all…"

The ninja squinted suspiciously through the darkness in Fai's general direction, knowing that he knew more than he was letting on. His suspicion was only increased when he heard the excited whispering. It was coming from very close by.

"Is there someone else with us right now?!" he demanded. "Hey! Answer me!"

There was another moment of whispering and then the magician finally replied.

"Nope…it's just us! Tee hee!"

"…Hmph!" Kurogane grunted doubtfully. "Well, what are we gonna do now? I guess we could try to find some other way to get upstairs… Let's try over here."

He gingerly reached out and, once he was certain that it was really Fai's hand that he had located, took the mage by the hand and began to lead him. They had hardly taken two steps when he heard a dull thud and a sharp gasp of pain from Fai.

"What is it?!"

"Ahhh…that really…really hurt…" he choked, dropping to his hands and knees. "I scraped my side… against a table…or something…I-I think my ribs are broken…"

Kurogane hurriedly dropped to the floor beside his companion, his fingers gently exploring Fai's rib area as he searched for a break.

"Doesn't feel like anything's broken," the swordsman said eventually. "I think you're…what the hell…?"

He suddenly noticed an odd floral scent coming from somewhere close by. Hesitantly, he brought his nose a little closer to Fai's skin, lingering there perhaps a little longer than was absolutely necessary. He was so preoccupied by his search for truth that he hardly noticed a virtual roar of clicking.

"Are…are you…wearing perfume…?" Kurogane asked slowly, an overwhelming sense of dread filling his stomach as he awaited the answer.

The room suddenly burst out with laughter, all of which was distinctly female. Startled, Kurogane's head snapped upwards. That was when the light suddenly returned, blinding the ninja momentarily. It took several seconds but eventually, Kurogane's sight began to return to him. What he saw then suddenly made everything clear, including the fact that the impending doom he had been sensing all along was not just a figment of his imagination. First of all, the lobby was not empty as they had first guessed but was full of teenaged girls, each armed with a camera and a pair of infrared goggles, all of whom had brilliantly pink faces and looked way too pleased with the way things were going right now.

And then there were the wizard and ninja themselves; both wearing only their boxer shorts, Kurogane crouched down over Fai's body, a leg on either side of his hips, a hand still resting on his chest from when he had been checking for broken ribs. Speaking of which, Fai's side, which he had allegedly injured, was as smooth and perfect as it always had been. Obviously, he had only pretended to be hurt. The girl closest to them was holding a small bottle of perfume. As far as Kurogane could figure, she had convinced Fai to fake an injury to his chest, hence the whispering he had heard shortly before it had happened, to get the warrior to touch him and had given him a little bit of the perfume to then trick him into bringing his face closer to Fai's bare skin. And the clicking noises that had followed had been made by all the girls' cameras as they snapped picture after picture of the two of them in these poses.

Fai was the first to speak. "I guess Syaoran kun and Sakura chan managed to get the feather already then, hmm? That sure was quick!"

Kurogane was too mortified to say a word.

"And what convenient timing, eh?" Fai continued, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Y-you…you were….!!" Kurogane sputtered.

"Oh no, I wasn't in on it the whole time," the blond said smoothly. "Not until the very end when I pretended to hurt my ribs.

The ninja stared at him with wide accusing eyes, still incapable of speech.

"Oh, don't look at me like that Kuropippi! I did it for a good cause!" he assured him, stroking his cheek comfortingly.

"WHAT CAUSE WOULD THAT BE?!!"

One of the girls came running over and handed Fai a picture she had just finished printing off of her camera. Kurogane barely, just barely, refrained from punching his face in.