Kurogane groaned as her heard knocking on his door.
" Go away!" he grumbled. He heard who it was, even though he knew right away who it was.
" Kuro-woof, You can't stay in bed all day! You've got to eat!" Fay yelled through the door. He was acting like what happened last night never happened.
" FINE!" He yelled at the door. But he never moved. He lay down and heard the mage wasn't banging on the door no more. He thought he could finally get more sleep when the door opened.
" KURO-PI!" Fay wined!
" YOU BIG FAT LI-" He was cut off when a pillow went sailing through the air and hit him in the face. Kurogane smirked and planted his face in the pillow.
" -AR!" Fay finished when he took the pillow off his face.
" LEAVE ME ALONE!" The ninja yelled in his pillow.
" No one normal wakes up in the crack of dawn unless they are training for battle!" Kurogane complained.
" It isn't the crack of dawn, the sun is up and shinning brightly!" Fay said happily now jumped on top of Kurogane.
" WAKE UP!"
" If you want you life to be a happy LONG life I suggest you get off me." Kurogane growled.
" Big puppy is so grumpy!"
Fay quickly jumped up and ran out of his room laughing.
"Stupid mage." Kurogane mumbled now angered so much that he couldn't get back to sleep. He got up and walked out of his room and down the hallway. He could hear Fay in the kitchen. Kurogane sat down in the living room in his favourite chair. He hoped that the feather was something easy to find. When they actually tried to find it.
The raven hair man rubbed his eyes in sleep. When he opened his eyes and saw Fay only two inches away from his face.
" Here's your breakfast!" He said cheerfully with a tray of food in his hands.
Kurogane was so shocked he almost fell backwards in his chair.
" WHAT'S YOUR PORBLEM!" he yelled at him.
Fay smiled. My problem is you aren't eating." Fay said.
The ninja clutched his hands trying not to hit him but it was so tempting.
" By the way, last night. I'm sorry if I scared you and Thanks for that hug." Fay said and put the tray of food on a table by the chair and walked back to the kitchen to help Calleigh and Sakura.
Kurogane started to give a rare smile. He was glad his hug helped. Then the smile left as fast as it came.
' WHAT WAS I JUST THINKING!' he groaned and picked up the food. It was pancakes and there was a happy face in his pancake that looked a lot like a dog.
Kurogane got up with the plate of dog pancakes and went to Fay.
" What … is ... this?" He said trying not to yell since Calleigh and Sakura were in the room. He didn't care if Sakura was in the room. She was use to his yelling from previous worlds, but Calleigh hated it.
Fay smiled. " It's a happy dog face! It was to thank you!" Fay said happily.
Kurogane growled and walked back to his chair and ate it. He felt happy the Fay actually did that, but he didn't want them to know that their tough ninja has gone soft so he pretended that he only ate it because he was hungry and didn't want to waste food.
Syaoran came into the living room.
" Kurogane, I was wondering, that if we could train?" He asked hopefully.
" I thought you were making something for the girl?" He grumbled while he as still eating.
" Yeah, but She will think something's up if I don't train. So can we?"
" Sure, It's not like I have anything planed." Kurogane mumbled. " Just be at the park in twenty minutes. I need to finish this and get dressed." Kurogane said.
Syaoran then went to his room to prepare. Kurogane slowly got up and went to his room. He heard Syaoran already leaving for the park with his sword. Kuogane put on black jeans and a black t-shirt. He grabbed his sword from his closet. The ninja walked over to the door and opened it to leave his room and once again Fay was right there in his face once he opened the door.
" HI! So I'm guessing your going to train with Syaoran?"
" DON'T DO THAT!" He yelled at Fay as she pushed hi way through and and went to the front door." And yes, I'm training the kid."
" Bye Kuro-muu!" he called as Kurogane left. Kurogane ignored him and left down the road.
He made a different route to the park. He wanted to attack Syaoran by surprise to see if he will be on guard. He was thinking about Fay the whole walk. He got to the gate in what seemed like seconds and came out from his thoughts. He saw the kid swinging his sword around, trying to get use to the sword.
Kurogane, using his ninja training, sunk up behind the kid and swung his leg t trip him. Syaoran sensed it and jumped and swung the sword at Kurogane.
While Kurogane was still kneeling down on the ground from trying to trip the kid, he grabbed his sword quickly and blocked the shot. His hand was still in ain from last night, but he never showed what he really felt.
" Good you're finally trying." The ninja said standing up. He sensed the boy was never trying. That he wasn't giving it all tat he could be. But when he thought it was someone else he accurately hit Kurogane's sword as if to hurt him.
Syaoran dropped his sword to his side. He didn't know what to say. He was shocked that he was meaning to hurt him, thinking it was someone else, And the fact that Kurogane didn't get mad, as if he was glad he was trying.
" Ok, So what do you want to learn?"
Syaoran thought about it.
" Anything that will help me save the princess when she is in trouble, and that will help me get the feathers from foes." He explained.
" It's a good enough start, you just need to know the weak spots on someone. You need to when fighting to block the shots. Don't try to attack until you know your opponents moves. Give it about eight to ten moves until you attack. That's your best bet. " Kurogane explained, " Ok, That dead tree over there, try and think it is someone attacking the girl. What would you do in the situation?"
Syaoran listened to all what he said.
" I would let him attack me first, try and figure out his moves then attack, If I still don't understand his moves in ten moves, I will keep on blocking shots until I understand. " Syaoran said. " That's only If he was attacking me, if he was attacking the princess I would attack him. Try to take his arms off so he can't do anything. Maybe just make it quick and take his head off." He suggested.
" That's one way, but that's acting to rash. Can you attack him in another way without killing him?"
" Well, I can just stand in the way of the princess and him and stop him."
" That's better. I only recently learned that killing someone isn't the answer for everything." Kurogane said.
For the rest of the time, Kurogane got the kid to attack the dead tree to get the feeling of his sword.
On their way back from the park, they saw all the people getting ready for Christmas, even though it felt like the middle of summer.
Kurogane looked down at the boy. He wanted to ask the boy if he sensed the girl with weird powers, and seemed like she knew a lot about them, but he didn't know how to word it, or even say it. He just gave up with that thought and decided to ask Mokona when they were alone.
The four of them decided to pretend the manjuu was really a stuffed animal. But Kurogane thought she knew that it wasn't.
They kept walking in peace when Sakura came running up to them.
" What it is Princess?" Syaoran asked.
" Nothing, I just saw you guys. I was wondering I you want to help me pick out a present for Fay, Mokona, and Calleigh. I couldn't make anything that would be them. I tried making Fay a scarf, but that didn't work out, so I tried making drawings. Nothing worked. So I came down here to see if I can get anything for them want to help?" Sakura said hurriedly.
" I want to go back to the house, you two can go." Kurogane said grumpily and walked off towards the house.
He put his hands in his pockets leisurely and watched the people. He decided that it was Christmas he might as well get something fro everyone.
He had some money from helping around the house. Calleigh worked and he paid him money from house work, Sakura for helping her with the groceries and cleaning the things that Kurogane didn't, she paid Fay for the cooking and Syaoran for the yard work. Kurogane did the most house and yard work so he got most money. He went to a store and bought a box of chocolates for Sakura, a big cat chocolate for Fay, a sheath for Syaoran, (his was starting to rip), small stuffy for Mokona and some books for Calleigh. He saw that she loved to read so he got her a few books that he thought would keep her occupied for a bit. The ninja bought a lot of rapping paper and bags to put it all in because he didn't want to bother anyone to get him the stuff. He put it all in a bag big enough so that Fay would think that it was nothing important.
He got to the door and opened it. He threw his shoes off and went down the hallway to his room.
Kurogane growled at the nickname and walked out.
Fay heard him come in and saw him walking down the hallway.
" What did kuro-pu buy today?" Fay exclaimed rather happily.
" Stuff, nothing important." He grumbled. He kept face away from the other man so he could hide his smirk.
" Oh, Why? Is it presents?"
" No, I hate Christmas, I think it is just a stupid holiday they made for greedy kids to get presents that they really don't need. It's suppose to be a holiday where family and friends get together to have a good time!" Kurogane growled and walked in his room. He closed the door with a lot of force and if he slammed it any harder, he probably would have broken it.
He lay the presents on his bed and started wrapping the presents. Since Christmas eve was only 2 days away. He picked out a bag that had a cat on it and shoved the chocolate in the bag and wrote
" To Fay
From: Kurogane"
He wrapped the booked neatly and wrote
" To: Calleigh
From: Kurogane"
He did this to everyone's presents. He hid it all in his closet and decided to give Mokona's gift to him on the day when he could be alone with the white manjuu.
There was a knock on his door and Kurogane stuffed all the left over wrapping paper and bows under his bed and walked over to the door.
He opened it and who other then Fay was at the door.
" What do you want?"
" Can you help me set up the tree? I meant to ask you when you came in but I forgot."
Kurogane rolled his eyes and walked out of his room. He followed the blonde man. He had his usual skip in his step.
" Why are you in such a good mood?"
" Nothing, I'm always happy!" He said mater-of-factly.
He sighed heavily and kept following the mage. They went out side and there was a small Christmas tree.
Kurogane easily picked it up and carried it into the house. Fay showed him the stand that was supposed to be put in. He put it carefully in the stand and let Fay adjust the setting so the tree wouldn't fall to the side.
Once it was done Kurogane could let go.
" Now for the decorations!"
" Have you never had Christmas?"
"Well yeah, but I never got to decorate the trees." Fay said.
" Oh. Well I'll let you do it. I've done it many times when I was little." Kurogane said. It was just an excuse to go do something else.
" OK!" He exclaimed rather happily to know he could decorate the tree.
" Just to point out, but on the lights before you put the decorations on. It just makes it a lot easier." Kurogane added before he left.
He sat in his room and heard the mage sing Christmas carol's.
He went to Fay's room and saw Mokona on Fay's bed.
" Hi Kuro-woof."
" Why do you too like to give me silly nicknames?
" Because it is a lot easier to remember then Kurogane." He explained.
" Whatever, I'm not here for that. I was wondering, you know that girl, do you sense like this magic, it's way different from normal magic. And it seems like she knows about us. Have you noticed that or is it just me?"
" No, I sense it too. But I think everyone but Sakura can sense it. I have that question asked by Syaoran as well, but I know Fay knows since he is a magician he can sense magic. But it is not like the dark kind, it is just a different type of magic and he wont tell me what it is." Mokona complained.
" I can probably get it out of him. I'll find out. Thanks, I just wanted to know."
The white manjuu smiled brightly.
" Bye, bye Kuro-tan!"
He went to check on the others. He got into the living room and Fay was tangled in the lights.
Kurogane went over and helped untangle him. It took about twenty minutes before he could actually get him out of the lights.
" Thanks Kuro-muu." He said gleefully.
"Your welcome." He said and helped put the lights on so he wouldn't get tangled again.
Fay clapped when Kurogane turned on the lights.
" Now all you got to do is put the decorations on. It's not that hard. Do you want me to help you?"
Kurogane was shocked at what he just said to the magician.
Fay too was shocked. He never had seen the ninja act this way towards him. He mostly wanted to kill him or ignore him. It was a shocker for anyone.
" Are, you feeling ok?" He asked hesitantly.
" I'm fine. Can't I be nice for once?" He asked.
" Well, it just doesn't suit you? Why are you being nice all of a sudden?"
" Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know." Kurogane said.
He looked into Fay's eyes and was staring into them.
" Ok then." Fay said and grabbed a box, " here you put this up, and I'll but these up." He said opening the box of decorations and started putting them up.
Kurogane stopped stare at Fay and started putting up decorations.
He wanted to tell Fay what he was thinking right now, but he thought it was awkward. He looked away when he was thinking that he actually loved the man that he used to hate.
They finished putting the decorations up.
" Something missing." Fay said. Looking at it thoughtfully.
Kurogane slipped away and grabbed all the wrapped presents (except Mokona's) and put it all under the tree.
" PERFECT!" Fay exclaimed. He ran into his room and put down all of his presents he got.
" Dinner!" Calleigh said from the kitchen.
"Wow times sure flies by." The ninja said, and realised how hungry he was when she said dinner. All he had all day was the stupid pancakes that he loved.They sat down in their usual spots.
That's when Kurogane realised that the kids came back from the store.
They ate happily and had their dessert that Fay made. Once dinner was done, Kurogane left the table to his room. He was tired but he didn't know exactly why. So he opened the door closed it and fell on his bed in exhaustion. He didn't put on his nightgown. His face was in his pillows and he sighed heavily. He heard a knock on his door.
" You can come in if you want." He said through the pillow. He was too tired to even move.
" I can see you are trying to sleep, I can go." He said about to leave.
" No, you don't have too." He sat up in his bed and looked at Fay.
" I just wanted to thank you again about last night. And how is your hand?" Kurogane looked down at it.
"It's fine." He lied. It still hurt and it still felt fractured, but he didn't want to make the magician worry over it.
" Ok." He said, " Tell me if you need anything for it. Ice or anything, just tell me ok." Fay said worriedly.
"It's fine. You look like you haven't sleep. You should go to sleep and we can talk about this tomorrow." Kurogane said.
Fay looked at him with a look of ' who are you and what have you done with Kurogane?' kind of look.
" Can I ask you something before you go to bed?" Kurogane asked.
Fay nodded as he stayed by the door.
" Why do you care about me? Why do you make little nicknames?" The ninja asked.
" Well, I care because I've gotten to know you and you are one of my friends." Fay said, " And the nicknames I thought were cute" Fay looked down at his feet. He was thankful that the lights were off because he started to blush as well as Kurogane.
" Well, the only question left is, even after I threaten to kill you, hurt you, you still do it, you still care. Why?"
" Like I said before you are my friend and I know you wouldn't actually hurt me. Because I think you like me!" Fay said jokingly.
Kurogane growled at that, even though he was totally right.
Fay laughed slightly. " Anything else Kuro-wan?"
" No, Not right now." He said. He wanted to figure out his feelings before he said anything to the magician so he wouldn't make a fool of himself. He wasn't sure if he really did like the mage, he just had feelings for him.
" Ok. Good-night Kuro-pipi." He said and left the room.
When the door was closed. Kurogane stared at the door.
" Good night, you stupid mage." He smiled and lay down and fells asleep as soon as he hit the pillows.
Fay was outside his door. " I want to tell you how much I like you, but only when I know how you feel. I don't want to ruin a friendship because of my feelings." He explained outside the door. He too had feelings for the ninja. Only he knew his feelings. He just didn't want to make it awkward between them. Fay walked to his room and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, Kurogane woke up. He went to the window in his room and say that Fay was in the backyard. Kurogane went out of his room and went to the backyard.
" Why are you here?" Kurogane asked when he got beside Fay. He saw that he was looking up at the sky.
" Haven't you ever wondered what someone you love is thinking right now?" Fay asked.
" Yeah." It was only recent for Kurogane to know what he was just talking about.
" Well, that's what I'm doing, I'm trying to think what that person is thinking about." Fay explained. He lay down in the grass and went stargazing.
Kurogane did the same thing and lay beside him and stared up in the sky.
" So this is why you look tired all the time." Kurogane said.
" Yeah, I can never sleep. So I come here and think about that person." Fay said. Talking about the ninja.
" Well, can't the manjuu send a message to that person?"
" That would be pointless to get him to send it to that person." Fay said dully.
They were silent for a while.
" What if you like someone and you don't think they like you? What if you do tell them what they think and they don't want to know you, or even be around you no more if you told that person?"
" I don't know. Just give it a chance. You'll never know." Kurogane said. He was completely clueless whom he was talking about. He thought that it was someone in his home world.
" Well…um." Fay was trying to tell him something but he didn't know how to say it. " What if it is… you?" He said.
Kurogane was now getting what he was talking about.
" You love me?" Kurogane asked.
Fay nodded. His face was beat red.
" Well, I don't hate you because of it." Kurogane said.
"I'll tell you something on Christmas eve." Kurogane said. He was blushing too. He knew his feelings and now he wanted to tell the mage them. But he thought in two days he could think of something special he could do and tell him then."
Fay no wished he never said that because he wasn't sure if he was going to feel the same way.
Kurogane couldn't see what his expressions was, but he could sense he was awkward." Don't worry, it will be good trust me." Kurogane said.
Fay was sort of relived. " Well, I'm going back to bed." He said and rushed inside.
Kurogane stayed like that for a bit. He smiled the biggest smile in years. He walked inside after and fell asleep again. For tomorrow he had to plan something big.