Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is the intellectual property of CLAMP.
Author's Note: OMG! It's been so long! I'm getting close to finishing this fic, so I thought I'd start posting again. Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding. I'm sorry it's taken so long but on the plus side, this will turn out to be the longest fic I've ever written! I'm very happy with myself. Yay me! Of course, content is a thousand times more important than volume, so, here I'll stop waisting your time and hope that you enjoy the content.
~ All That I Am ~
Part 2, Chapter 1
Kurogane Suwa had never had a desire to travel. He was perfectly content in the rural areas of his native Japan, but when a letter left him by his late mother requests that he travel to New Chicago to retrieve an item left for him in the care of a pharmacist, Kurogane sets out on a journey he could never have foreseen.
When Kurogane arrived in New Chicago he learned that the Green Drugstore where he had been headed was, in fact, behind him, relocated to California, which he had passed on his way to New Chicago. This misdirection may truly have been his destiny, however, as it was in New Chicago that Kurogane met Fai, a prostitute desperate to find freedom far, far away.
Together, the two headed west by car, with each passing day and night coming closer to the truth of Fai's ultimate plan. On a stormy night in northern California, Kurogane discovered that Fai had used him all along in his quest to find a way to the cliffs where he meant to end his own life and heard the terrible story of Fai's not-so-distant past. Despite it all, Kurogane could not let Fai go, because Fai had become a person that mattered to him.
With keen but uncertain feelings, the two finally arrived at the Green Drugstore and Fai discovered something about Kurogane. Kurogane's given name is actually Youou and, according to Fai's late brother, he was the "one just for us", the hope that had kept Fai going for so many years as he prayed to be rescued until he finally gave up and joined Kurogane on his way west.
A hesitant, new resolve brought Fai to Neo Tokyo alongside Kurogane with the key left to Kurogane by his mother and entrusted to the Green Drugstore owner. There they visited the First National Bank of Neo Tokyo and discovered…
"What the hell?"
oo
There before them, illuminated by long rows of fluorescent lights far above were three tanks and encased within; a teenage boy, teenage girl, and a strange white creature.
"Your mother left us children, Kuro-tan!" Fai exclaimed, the awe evident in his voice.
Kurogane frowned. That couldn't be true…but he couldn't argue either, since he didn't have any idea what the hell was going on.
Fai crossed the room to the tanks, pressing his hands against the glass of first one tank, then the other. "Let's keep them, Kuro-daddy!" he pleaded.
"Get away from there!" Kurogane snapped. "Those things could be government experiments for all we know. They could be assassins!"
Fai looked back over his shoulder with a look that clearly said he was unimpressed. "Having never met Kuro-mamma, I can say with almost-certainty that anyone who raised you would never give you assassins in the bodies of little children, Kuro-puu."
Kurogane drifted into the room, closing the door but leaving it ajar behind him, afraid they might be trapped there forever if he closed it, and took a closer look at the teens in question.
The girl had soft features, a gently rounded face, and short-cut chestnut hair that floated around her. He had to admit, if he ever saw her kill anything, it would have been the shock of his life. The boy, on the other hand, looked as though he had had athletic training of some kind. His body was toned and slim. Kurogane could tell that it would have served him well in battle, not by strength, but by training. Despite this, the boy also wore a serene expression that seemed to match gentle features. The hair drifting out from his head was brown in color.
Behind him, Kurogane heard a static cackle and turned to watch as a full-body hologram activated; the image of a man facing the doorway. Kurogane wandered back around to face the hologram as it began to speak.
"You must have a lot of questions right now." the man said, his recorded voice sounding with the distance of age - the recording looked like it had been made decades ago. "My name is Sorata." Kurogane folded his arms as he gave his attention to the hologram of the man with short black hair. He looked to be somewhere in his thirties and wore an exuberant grin. "It is my pleasure to introduce these children to you." and he waved a hand outward in the direction of the tanks. "They are the young Princess Sakura, her companion Syaoran, and their travel guide Mokona. To make a long story short," Sorata gestured animatedly with his hands, holding them out and pushing them together "Princess Sakura has lost her memories. Each memory scattered to the wind in the form of a feather and now she spends her days traveling from one dimension to the next in search of them. Yes, I did say dimension. You see, our tiny world is only one in a billion piled one on top of the other on top of the other or maybe…"
"Back on topic." A female voice cut in from somewhere Kurogane couldn't see, interrupting Sorata's wild gestures and excited physics lecture. Kurogane was grateful for her, whoever she had been.
"Yes, honey!" Sorata thrilled, bending down with clasped hands in her obvious direction.
"Anyway," Sorata continued, addressing Kurogane once more…or whoever happened to be watching the recording "when Princess Sakura, Syaoran, and Mokona arrived in our world, they discovered that they had been separated from their remaining two travel companions. They decided to wait here for them, so honey and I invented these stasis chambers. Well, technically we had already invented them…"
"Back on topic." the woman repeated monotonously and Kurogane began to get bored.
He shifted his attention back to Fai as the hologram droned on in the background. Fai seemed to be inspecting the chambers, circling them and knocking on them.
"Right," Sorata continued "so anyway, while these guys sleep, we'll be looking for the feather for them. That way, when their friends show up, the story can have a happy ending!"
Sorata's hologram fizzled out, replaced with the much newer image of a younger man with smooth black hair and an air of wealth, manners, and kindness in his posture and smile, distracting Kurogane from Fai again.
"I'm sure that must have sounded like a fairy story to you but I have to assure you that all of it's true. In his search for the feather, Sorata founded the society of the feather, sometimes referred to as penna, of which I am now head. To which you are now inducted. My name is Subaru."
Kurogane's eyes darted back to Fai, who seemed to be ignoring all of this as he backed up to the control panel in front of the chambers, one hand on his chin thoughtfully, head cocked to the side.
"I cannot go into great detail regarding the feather. To learn more, you must meet me in person and whoever led you here can lead you to me."
"Kuro-rin,"
"Two things are of the utmost importance now…"
Fai jumped up onto the console to sit. "Come over here and help me."
And suddenly the room filled with the noise of draining fluids as the levels of clear fluid in the tanks suddenly began to plummet. Kurogane started, wide-eyed as it began to pool on the surrounding floor, having nowhere else to go.
"Don't repeat any of this outside of our circle; the very world may depend on it…" Subaru continued.
All three containment doors slid open simultaneously, releasing their captives harshly to the floor below.
"and don't awaken them." Subaru finished, his hologram vanishing cleanly seconds later.
"Kuro-pi!" Fai rushed to the floor where the three had begun coughing and hacking to expel the fluid from their lungs.
"What the hell did you do?" Kurogane sputtered, finally willing his feet to move in the direction of the disaster.
"Kuro-ta," Fai returned, scoldingly "don't shout in front of the children."
"Are you completely deaf!" Kurogane screamed, hauling Fai up from the floor by his shirt front. "We weren't supposed to wake them up! You see crazy shit like this and your first idea is to wake them up!"
"They were lonely!" Fai whined. "And anyway, I didn't mean to!"
"You meant to!" Kurogane snarled but before he could do anything further to the idiot, the white creature gave a startling shout and flew through the air, slamming into his face with a wet smack.
"Fai-Fai! Kuro-puuuu!" it cried, holding on tight and it was all Kurogane could do to pry it off without screaming. The shout he unintentionally let out was bad enough.
"I'm soooo sorry!" it wailed, swaying by its ears in Kurogane's grip. "Mokona hiccupped! I'm so happy to see you!" It wiggled its tiny arms, reaching for Kurogane's face.
"What the hell are you?" Kurogane yelled. If he was freaking out, he had just cause. He had just learned that there were other dimensions out there and an alien creature had just attached itself to his face!
"Kuro-puu doesn't remember Mokona?" the creature asked, despairingly.
Behind them, the children got shakily to their feet, the boy supporting the girl, one hand wrapped around her waist, the other steadying him against the side of the girl's tank.
"Mokona, I'm afraid there may have been a mistake." the boy spoke up.
"Fai-Fai?" Mokona pleaded, desperately, turning as much as it could to peer at Fai behind it.
"Well…that is my name," the blonde admitted, "in a manner of speaking." he added, smiling.
The little white creature threw its head back and wailed. "WAH! Mokona didn't make this mistake!" it cried.
Kurogane held the thing away from him and, on second thought, gave it a toss in the boy's direction.
"Now what are you going to do with them?" he demanded of Fai as the boy, Syaoran, caught the creature in the arm that had been resting against the tank.
Fai smiled, kneeling in front of the children and patting the girl's wet hair gently. "Don't mind daddy." he said, speaking gently. "Just because you weren't planned, doesn't mean you won't be loved."
"Don't ignore me, idiot!" Kurogane yelled. "That guy specifically said "don't wake them up". Now we're responsible for shooting this set-up all to hell and on top of it, we have to answer to some secret society!"
"Please," the girl said, speaking up for the first time, stretching a hand out weakly "please don't fight. I'm sure it'll be ok."
Mokona nodded vigorously. "Mokona will call Yuuko."
Kurogane was about to ask who this "Yuuko" person was, when the creature suddenly hopped to the floor and the jewel on its forehead began to glow.
A hologram appeared, showing a shapely, dark-haired woman but unlike the previous holograms, this one didn't appear to be a recording. The woman was sitting at a table, eating. She appeared to be extremely pleased with the flavor and looked up, blinking in surprise as she swallowed.
"Mokona!" she exclaimed with a smile. "Why it's been nearly three days since I last heard from you. Tell me, how long has it been there?"
"Mokona doesn't know." the creature answered.
"I see you've met some new friends." the woman said, smiling sweetly at Kurogane and Fai over Mokona's head.
"That's the problem!" Mokona exclaimed. "While Mokona and Sakura and Syaoran were asleep, waiting for Fai and Kuro-puu, this world's Fai and Kuro-puu came and this world's Kuro-puu isn't any nicer than our Kuro-puu."
"Aww." the woman cooed consolingly. "Why that's just terrible. I suppose you really haven't traveled far enough to find a sweet, gentle Kurogane who would hug you and cuddle you at night, and feed you sweet things."
"Listen up, lady; you'd better quit talking about me like I'm not even here!" Kurogane argued, pointing menacingly at the hologram. "I don't care if you've got some other version of me on your creepy alien world but there isn't a me in the entire universe who would ever do those things!"
"Oh my!" Yuuko covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed at him. "Are you certain you'd like to wait for your Kurogane? I'm sure if you replaced him with this one you'd hardly be able to tell the difference."
"Yuuko-san…" Sakura pleaded and her tone was almost gently admonishing.
"When Sorata sealed us in his containment units, he said that, because of their nature, it wouldn't be healthy to return to stasis after awakening." Syaoran explained, picking up the conversation. "But our Kurogane-san and Fai-san haven't arrived yet. Has anything changed since we last spoke to you? Is there anything you or we can do?"
The woman in the hologram had gone back to eating. She seemed to have lost interest in the exchange.
"If I were in your place," she said, taking a drink of sake from a small ceramic cup "I think that I would take a little time to enjoy the benefits of such a meeting as you three have found yourselves in. After all," she added, grinning in a way that sent chills down Kurogane's spine, your Fai and Kurogane aren't going anywhere."
The children paled at her apparent lack of concern for their situation.
"I do, however, have two pieces of advice."
At this, the children perked up, as if this was finally the information they had been waiting for and was of the utmost importance.
"First, buy a camera." the woman said, clapping her hands together excitedly. "I want pictures! Lots of pictures! And second,…" and here she paused for dramatic effect. "All is hitsuzen."
And the hologram image disappeared, leaving them in silence.
"What the hell!" Kurogane yelled to which Syaoran cringed…maybe just a second before he had actually exploded…
Fai smiled widely as he knelt before Mokona, placing a hand atop its head happily. "And here I thought our adventure was over."
"Fai-san, would it be possible for you to take us to see Sorata-san and Arashi-san?" Sakura asked politely.
Fai, in turn, looked up at Kurogane who growled to himself and looked away. "Look, kid…truth is…I think you've been locked away for a bit longer than you think. I don't think that Sorata guy is around anymore. There's some guy called Subaru in charge now."
"So we'll take you to Subaru, then." Fai interjected.
"That's easier said than done." Kurogane growled to Fai. "They aren't from this time period. They don't have passports or ids. As far as the rest of the world's concerned, they don't even exist!" He flung an arm out, pointing at the trio as he addressed the blonde. "On top of that, your passport is gonna run out soon."
"We'll think of something." Fai insisted. His voice didn't quite have the confidence his words suggested.
"Yeah, well, first we've got to get them out of the bank." Kurogane sounded about as convinced as he felt. "Got any suggestions on that?"
"Oh!" Syaoran exclaimed suddenly. "Sorata-san gave us some of this world's clothing." And he turned to the white creature. "Mokona."
"Mokona remembers!" It answered and jumped into the air, opening its mouth wide. A small ball of light emerged and took form, becoming a suitcase that floated to Syaoran's waiting hands.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Fai exclaimed.
Mokona puffed up its chest proudly. "That's one of Mokona's 108 secret techniques!" it declared.
"108!" Fai marveled. "I'll bet you can do anything!"
The creature nodded in agreement. "Yup! Mokona can travel between dimensions and store things and sing and dance! Mokona is amazing!"
"Hey, amazing." Kurogane called gruffly. "Can you make us a couple of ids and travel passes for these guys?"
Mokona shook its head remorsefully. "Mokona can't do that."
"Then you're useless." Kurogane declared with finality, turning away from the thing to see what the kids were pulling from their suitcase.
"Will these do?" Syaoran asked, holding up his outfit for Kurogane's inspection. Sakura did the same.
He wanted to say that Sorata had horrible taste and that even in the past he couldn't imagine anyone wearing anything so gaudy, but he refrained.
"For now, I guess."
The girl's dress was pink with dark orange flowers and a petal shaped collar and Syaoran's shirt was green with blue pineapples. Kurogane wondered what it was they would normally have worn. Unless it was something like caveman furs or Victorian royalty attire, they might have wanted to wear that instead.
Sakura crossed the room and the others dutifully turned their backs while both changed. Kurogane almost cringed at the sight of the shirt actually on the boy. He felt terribly sorry for the kid.
"Where are we going to go?" Sakura asked when she rejoined them.
The only good thing about those outfits, Kurogane thought, was that at least they matched.
"That guy told you, didn't he?" Kurogane answered her, heading for the room's door. "To that Subaru guy."
"I thought you said that would be too difficult." Syaoran returned, curiosity evident in his voice, as though he knew that Kurogane had come up with some solution.
"That's why instead, we'll make him come to us." Kurogane answered.
-ooo-
"Hey!" Kurogane called at the bank's service counter. They had made two wrong turns just trying to get back there and Kurogane was not in a mood to wait patiently. "Get me that bank manager."
A young male teller scurried to comply with his demand and soon, the stony faced man appeared from an office nearby.
"Yes?" the man asked. "How may I help you?"
"You ever seen what was in that room you just took us to?" Kurogane asked, getting right to the point.
The man seemed offended. "Certainly not. That room has been rented since before I was born and its holders have always paid for the highest degree of privacy and security."
"Yeah, well the shit inside's broken. So call up the holder so I can work it out with him."
At the news that the contents of the room had been damaged, all blood drained from the man's face, leaving him a sickly ashen white and he gaped at Kurogane in shock and disbelief.
"That…that certainly isn't…there has never been an incident in that room since the day it was rented. Surely you must be mistaken." the man stuttered, wringing his hands in despair.
"It would be terrible if you didn't call him and he found out anyway, wouldn't it?" Fai suggested. "Or we could leave and blame you instead…"
"I'll get him on the phone right away." the man decided, turning quickly toward his office. "Come with me."
They all filed into the office and the man pulled the shades over the large glass windows tight shut and locked the door. Then he turned to the video screen on his wall and dialed the number from a keypad on his desk with shaking hands.
A maid answered. She smiled politely at the group. "How may I help you?" she asked. Kurogane noted that she had not bothered to confirm her employer's identity. This must have been a little-used line.
The bank manager looked sick. "Ah, S-S-Subaru, please."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, giving them a sympathetic look. "Master Subaru has just left to attend a very important meeting. I won't be able to contact him until tomorrow morning. May I take a message for you?"
The bank manager visibly relaxed with a small sigh and Syaoran took that moment to step forward from behind the two older men.
"Please tell Subaru-san that Syaoran and Sakura-hime would like to speak with him as soon as possible."
"I see." the woman answered with a soft smile. "That's wonderful. Please remain where you are for now. In the morning, I will give Subaru your message. If you call again tomorrow, he will be glad to hear the details of your situation."
"Thank you." Syaoran said, bowing respectfully.
The maid bowed in return and the screen snapped back to black as the call was disconnected.
-ooo-
Kurogane didn't know what he was supposed to do. He'd gone to the bank this morning with Fai and the mysterious key his mother had left to him and left with Fai and two children and their talking pet rabbit.
"Look Syaoran!" The girl was pointing excitedly at every other building they passed as they walked down the sidewalk in amazement, carrying around the talking rabbit like a stuffed animal.
The boy was awed too. "Kurogane-san, are you from Tokyo? Is that style of building new or has it been around for a while?"
Kurogane followed the boy's pointing finger to an unusually shaped skyscraper and shrugged. "I'm not a city person. I wouldn't know."
"Kuro-ru is a country boy." Fai declared. "Hey! You know different versions of us, right?"
Syaoran nodded. "Yes, that's right."
"Tell me all about Kuro-tan and me!" Fai exclaimed, walking backwards to face Syaoran behind him and pointing at himself.
Kurogane tuned into the conversation, but kept his gaze ahead of them, trying not to show too much interest.
"Ah, well, our Kurogane-san is a ninja from a country with the same name as this one."
"A ninja?" Kurogane asked, blowing his attempt to appear indifferent.
"Yes," Syaoran affirmed with a nod. "He's a very skilled warrior who battles with a long blade. He's teaching me to fight with a sword, too. In Kurogane-san's country, he serves the princess Tomoyo."
"Is there a Tomoyo in this world too?" Sakura asked.
Kurogane shook his head. "Never heard of her."
"Now about me!" Fai declared, excitedly. "Is your me as charming as me?" he asked, giving them a huge grin.
Kurogane rolled his eyes.
"Our Fai-san is always smiling." Sakura said with a fond smile of her own. "He's a very good cook and can draw well, too. He's always kind to everyone. He comes from a very cold place where he was a sorcerer but he doesn't do magic anymore."
"Magic!" Fai exclaimed. "Do you hear that, Kuro-pon! I'm a magician!"
"And I'm a frickin' ninja." Kurogane replied, dismissing the subject altogether. "Who cares about those guys. They aren't here. We are."
"Kuro-tan has no sense of wonder and excitement." Fai pouted. "Or maybe…" Fai said, his eyes widening with sudden realization "Is Kuro-chan jealous of the other Kuro-puu because he has a big sword and fights bad guys and serves a princess?"
"He's jealous!" Mokona echoed in agreement.
"I am not jealous!" Kurogane roared. "Why would I be jealous of some guy from another dimension; especially some guy who has to deal with some magical pixy you and that talking rabbit? I pity the guy!"
"Mokona is not a rabbit!" the creature declared indignantly. "Mokona is Mokona!"
"We don't have any Mokona on this world." Fai said, changing the subject. "Are they common on your world, Syaoran and Sakura?"
Sakura shook her head. "Oh, no. We got Mokona from Yuuko-san."
"There are only two Mokona." the creature answered. "Mokona white and Mokona black who lives with Yuuko."
"So you're not a species?" Fai asked and Mokona shook its head no. "Wow. What about you two?" he said, looking to the two teens. "Do you know magic too?"
Syaoran blushed and shook his head. "No. Nothing like that, for me anyway. Sakura-hime can sometimes talk to spirits, though, and…her luck is very strong…"
Fai laughed. "Kuro-bu's seen my luck first hand. I'm about as lucky as a black cat…except that I met Kuro-sama." he added, smiling back at Kurogane.
"Hmph." Kurogane looked away pointedly, shoving his hands further into his pockets.
"Have you ever met Kuro-chi and I in other dimensions?" Fai asked, getting back on his original topic.
"No." Syaoran answered. "We haven't met with any other versions of ourselves before now. I mean, well, our Fai-san and Kurogane-san aren't here right now, but we've never seen them anywhere else before."
Fai nodded in understanding and smiled. "It sounds like you're all very close."
"Well, we live together and fight together." Syaoran answered "…I suppose we are close…in a way… But the Kurogane-san and Fai-san that we travel with each have their own lives and…I'm sure those lives will continue when we're done collecting the princess's feathers."
"Oh?" Fai seemed a little depressed to hear that.
"Look, we've got an entire day to kill before we have to find a hotel for the night." Kurogane said.
He'd heard enough of magical people and ninjas. At the end of the day, none of that really mattered to he or Fai. Whatever those other versions of he and Fai were going to do when they were done traveling had nothing to do with what he was going to do, or what theFai he knew was going to do. And anyway, was their Fai really his Fai, or was it the brother that Fai had lost? Kurogane was sure that if Fai thought about it he would ignore it altogether and he didn't want to think about it either.
"If there's anything you want to do you'd better say so now."
"Really!" Fai exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "I've always wanted to ride in a Japanese ferris wheel! They always look so fun and romantic in old movies and anime! Take us to a ferris wheel, Kuro-tan! The children want to go too, right?" Fai asked, turning back to them for support.
Syaoran looked slightly embarrassed at being put in the spotlight but Sakura lit up.
"Could we?" she asked, hopefully.
Kurogane found it difficult to argue with her like he would with Fai. "I was actually referring to food or maybe clothing. You guys have been asleep for quite a while."
"Well, we…" Syaoran seemed ready to agree with him so Fai interrupted.
"Kuro-daddy, you said anything!" he whined. "How can you possibly deprive us of such a rich cultural experience as riding a Japanese ferris wheel when we have all day and nothing else to do? And the children may not be in this dimension for much longer. They may never see a ferris wheel again! It's horrible! Don't you want to ride on a ferris wheel with me!" the blonde wailed, clinging onto Kurogane's arm dramatically.
"Don't make a show of begging for those kids when you're really begging for yourself!" Kurogane shouted back.
"Is that a yes?" Fai prompted.
"Look, if you can find the thing, we'll go," Kurogane relented "otherwise, we're going to pick up a change of clothes. I don't know about you but I'm not looking forward to wearing the same shirt and pants three days in a row."
"Yay!" Fai shouted, releasing Kurogane as he threw his arms out happily and turned to hail a cab.
Almost immediately, a taxi pulled to the side of the road for them and Fai climbed into the back seat. The children slowly filed in behind him leaving Kurogane to take the passenger's seat.
"Take us to the nearest ferris wheel!" Fai declared and the driver nodded, smiling in the rearview.
"Yes, sir!"
Unbelievable, Kurogane thought. Why hadn't he just said no?
oo
The ferris wheel that the cabbie took them to was not part of an amusement park. Rather, it was nestled amongst the city's buildings and climbing highways, perched atop a skyscraper to overlook the metropolis around and below it.
They all marveled at the sight.
"Oh wow!" Mokona exclaimed as they stood on the roof of the building where a line of people were gathered to ride.
"Is it really ok?" Syaoran asked, trying to be discrete so as to give Kurogane a way out if he wanted.
Kurogane looked down at the boy for a moment but then turned away, looking back at the ferris wheel. "We're already here."
Kurogane could remember one time he had ridden a ferris wheel when his mother had taken him to a local carnival. He'd only been a child and he looked at Fai and wondered if he had any happy memories from his life.
Fai was marveling at the ferris wheel but caught sight of him staring and grinned widely, lunging toward him to wrap his arms around Kurogane's arm, pressing himself against the limb in his grasp happily.
"Let's get in line, Kuro-sama!"
"Yeah, yeah." Kurogane muttered, digging out his wallet. "Come on," he said to the others, not quite sure himself how he should address them "get in front."
The two teens hurried to comply but he saw that they'd been staring at him and wondered momentarily what kind of a person it was that they traveled with; the man who shared his face.
Fai dragged him into the gondola and settled on the bench at the far end laying a hand on the window as he watched them begin to move skyward.
There was a moment of silence as they both looked out at the incredible view and then, as they had crested the top for the first time, Fai spoke.
"I want to do these things with you…always."
He turned to look at Kurogane and his hair seemed lighter to Kurogane in the surrounding sunlight, his eyes a warmer shade of blue, his smile, barely there, was sincerely happy. Kurogane remembered a Fai standing in the pouring rain with downcast eyes and heavy hair, dark with rain, he remembered a dance on a stage where eyes had followed his every movement, and a broken man struggling weakly against him, screaming and crying.
Kurogane held this moment in reverence. Fai's statement had been honest and sincere and Kurogane did not want to hear any more, did not want to try to plan or think about the future; just this, he thought. This moment did not need all that other shit.
The ferris wheel came to a stop and Fai and Kurogane looked out to find themselves staring out over the city, the third gondola from the very top. Fai moved closer to him and Kurogane turned back in time. And they kissed. A warm and tender gesture, a slow movement of lips that allowed Kurogane time to explore the taste that was Fai in simplicity, without the thought of anything more, without hesitant feelings or words and he wondered when it was that he had fallen in love.
"Soooomebody was getting lovey-dovey up there." Mokona stated, waving back and forth on Syaoran's head when Kurogane and Fai met up with them after they got off the ride. Syaoran and Sakura were both blushing profusely, so it was safe to assume the little pastry was talking about them, but just in case, Kurogane grabbed it by the ears and tossed it back into the boy's arms.
"Mind your own business."
"Hey!" the creature protested. "Mokona's delicate!"
"Pft." Kurogane returned, ignoring the thing.
Angry at the treatment, Mokona leapt onto Kurogane's shoulder instead and before the man could throw him off, whispered "I know your secret!"
Kurogane blushed and shoved it away. "Save it for that other guy!" he said, referring to his other self that belonged with the group.
Mokona landed in Fai's accommodating arms. "Kuro-rin is Kuro-rin." it stated with a despairing sigh.
"Look, I didn't expect to be stuck here for another day and night." Kurogane said. "And thanks to that idiot in Survivor's City, we forgot our all our clothes so I'm going shopping. If any of you want something, now's the time to get it. Otherwise, I don't care what you do."
With no more said, Kurogane turned and made his way to the exit.
Fai extended his free hand to the teens and Sakura placed her small hand in his. Fai grinned. "Let's go shopping!"
-ooo-
Kurogane was defeated the moment they stepped into the mall. While Syaoran seemed reluctant to so much as breathe without approval, Sakura was quickly won over by Fai and followed his every direction like a duckling, getting excited on the blonde's every cue.
"Does this one look better, Syaoran-kun?" she asked, coming out of the changing room for the third time.
Unfortunately for Kurogane, while Sakura was being led by Fai, she in turn had Syaoran wrapped around her little finger; meaning that Fai was in complete control here.
"It…it's lovely, princess." the boy stuttered. "They all look…beautiful…on you…"
Kurogane groaned.
Meanwhile, Fai emerged from the neighboring stall, throwing his arms out in a flourish. "Well? What do you think?"
He'd gone back to the rainbow look, with a retro-style Lucky Charms t-shirt and a pair of rainbow colored jeans, a purple scarf with white flowers tied about his waist, knotted at his left hip.
"That you better not have any intention of walking next to me wearing that." Kurogane mumbled but he was drowned out by Sakura's delighted squeal and the clap of her hands.
"How pretty!" she exclaimed.
"Syaoran?" Fai asked, turning to the boy.
Put in the spotlight, Syaoran smiled nervously. "It's very colorful."
"Kuro-pu?" Fai turned to him finally and Kurogane growled.
"If I tell you it looks good, can we go now?"
Fai considered that for a second. "Only if you prove it with a kiss." he replied, grinning and pointing to his cheek.
Kurogane huffed and got up to leave.
"Nooo!" Fai cried. "We're good. We can go now."
-ooo-
"Thank you for the clothes, Kurogane-san." Syaoran said. He was wearing a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a green t-shirt.
Kurogane frowned privately. "You don't have to be so formal."
"I've been meaning to ask about that." Fai interrupted, falling into step with them. "How is it that you can speak such good English if you're from another dimension? Did the people who found you teach it to you?"
Kurogane gave him a strange look. "English? They've been speaking Japanese the whole time."
Fai stopped walking. Kurogane wasn't about to let him argue, he knew Japanese when he heard it. Just as he was about to say so, Mokona hopped up from Sakura's arms.
"That's Mokona!" it declared. "Mokona translates other languages so people can understand each other!"
Fai's eyes widened. "So that's why everyone we pass has been speaking English lately. You're pretty handy, Moko-chan! It's really too bad you aren't a species."
"If you were, I wouldn't have to buy lunch." Kurogane added, grinning at the creature.
Mokona puffed out its chest in protest. "Kuro-puu better watch it!" it declared. "I'll send you to Yuuko to work for her like Watanuki and wear aprons and serve sake!"
"About the time you do that is when you find yourself stewed, meat bun!" Kurogane shouted back, halting their progress when he turned back to yell in Sakura's unfortunate direction.
She closed her eyes to the onslaught and smiled a little nervously.
"Come on, Kuro-ta," Fai urged, taking Kurogane's arm and leading him along the sidewalk "hunger must be making you cranky."
"I'm not cranky!" Kurogane yelled down at him.
-ooo-
Kurogane took them all to a traditional Japanese restaurant for lunch. The food was grilled in front of them and regardless of whether or not he'd possibly been hungry or irritable, he felt a great deal better watching his fish sizzling just the way he liked it. He closed his eyes and inhaled the smells around him. If only American restaurants could be this good. He'd been far too long without a good meal.
Kurogane opened his eyes and frowned at the blonde sitting across from him. Fai's eyes were squinted and he was covering his nose as though trying to protect it from something offensive.
"Stop that." Kurogane complained. "It's embarrassing. If you don't like it just wait outside."
"But Kuro-sama!" Fai whined. He made the mistake of uncovering his nose to do so and when the smell hit him full force he winced, his face contorting in a look of disgust.
"I don't think our Fai-san likes fish much either." Sakura said, patting Fai gently on the shoulder.
"Figures." Kurogane muttered. "Your poor taste transcends to other lives."
"Mean!" Fai cried, kicking Kurogane lightly under the table.
"Quit complaining!" Kurogane snapped, kicking his shoe in retaliation.
Kurogane separated a piece of the fish with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth. He hadn't tasted anything so perfect since his mother had cooked for him. He was thoroughly enjoying himself…until he felt a certain foot underneath the table slide up his calf and promptly choked.
Syaoran immediately reached over and began patting his back. Kurogane glared daggers across the table but Fai was ignoring him, eating from his own bowl of chicken and noodles with a fork he'd specifically asked for.
Things settled down again as the four silently ate their meals but a few minutes later, Kurogane felt Fai's foot again, bare this time. It seemed to be resting on the small space of booth between his knees and proceeded to slowly stroke his inner thigh. Kurogane turned red as he stared across the table at Fai who seemed to be ignoring him, his innocent act cemented by his light conversation with Sakura regarding weather patterns in New Chicago.
"Fai."
At the sound of his name, Fai diverted his attention to Kurogane, smiling sweetly across the table.
"Yes, Kuro-puu?"
"How do you feel about sleeping on the floor tonight?" Kurogane asked, trying…trying…to keep his voice level.
Fai's toes curled around a bit of the material of his pants and tugged, effectively causing it to move slightly over his crotch. Kurogane could feel his face burning.
"How do you feel about me sleeping on the floor tonight?" he asked, smiling slyly.
Kurogane wasn't sure he could reply anymore without raising suspicion.
Syaoran was looking back and forth between them, trying to follow the conversation but failing. "I…If you can't afford an extra room, Sakura-hime and I can sleep on the floor." he offered. "We generally do sleep on futons or even on the ground in our travels."
Kurogane and Fai both stared back at him, Fai smiling softly. Kurogane was relieved when the foot retreated.
"Does that mean that Kuro-rin normally sleeps with Fai-Fai?" Mokona asked slyly.
Kurogane looked down to find the creature seated next to his plate, snatching the last bite of his fish and popping it into its mouth with a satisfying "mmm-mm".
"Hey!" he shouted, forgetting all about Fai and his wandering foot. "Get your own fish! Don't just steal mine!"
Sakura smiled behind her hand.
-ooo-
Kurogane had had no idea that cab fare cost so much. He took them all to a city park to spend the afternoon. He was beginning to feel a bit awkward, leading the group around like a game of follow the leader. Fai seemed content to follow him wherever he had a whim to go, be it the park or a restaurant he didn't like or the gates of hell… Syaoran and Sakura kept mostly quiet. They didn't appear to want to question him, not wanting to sound too familiar where familiarity was uncalled for.
This left Kurogane meandering along at the head of the group, hands shoved in his pockets, Mokona perched stubbornly on his shoulder. He'd been so preoccupied feeling uncomfortable that he hadn't realized that Fai might feel uncomfortable until he noticed a bend in the path they were walking and was reminded of the story Fai had told him of his past. He could almost imagine two identical blonde haired children running ahead of them, laughing as they rounded the bend and disappeared.
He looked over to find Fai walking beside him, staring off into the distance.
"Is this alright?" he asked, keeping his voice low so as not to attract the attention of the teens walking behind them.
Fai looked back at him, a strange ghost of a smile on his face. "The park, you mean?"
Kurogane nodded as he turned his gaze back to the path ahead. "We can go somewhere else if you want."
From the corner of his eye, Kurogane saw the smile brighten as Fai sidled closer, twining his fingers with Kurogane's between them.
"I'm happy."
Mokona leaned over to look down at their hands and squealed happily. "Look, look!" it cried, pointing. "They're in love!"
Kurogane reached over and grabbed the creature by the ears, tossing it over his shoulder, stubbornly ignoring the comment, though his face did heat as he blushed.
oo
Eventually, they came to a pond and stopped to sit at the water's edge.
"Kurogane-san," Syaoran asked "how was it that you and Fai-san came to find us?"
Kurogane rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully, trying to decide how much of the tale to relate.
"My mother passed away recently." he said. "I guess she was a member of that society of yours and she left me a key to your vault."
"Kuro-tan and I met along the way." Fai added.
Syaoran nodded. "Mokona, I don't suppose you feel the feather anywhere nearby?"
Mokona raised its ears and concentrated for a minute, then lowered them sadly. "No. Mokona feels the feather in this world but it's very far away."
"It's alright." Sakura spoke up. "Yuuko says that these things are hitsuzen. I'm sure we'll find it soon."
"What will you do if you find the feather but not your friends?" Fai asked. "How long will you wait now that you're awake?"
Kurogane noticed a look of guilt pass the boy's face. "We waited for six months when we first arrived on this world." he said. "But…the princess needs her feathers… We don't want to leave without them…But we will…if we really have to."
Sakura didn't seem to like that bit of information, but neither did she object.
"I'm sorry." Fai apologized. "It's my fault since I woke you up."
Sakura shook her head. "No. I believe that we'll meet up with them before it comes to that. Things will all work themselves out. I know that we're meant to travel together."
Mokona waddled over to Sakura, placing its tiny paws comfortingly on her knees. "Sakura's right." it declared. "Kurogane and Fai will catch up."
oo
They spent the rest of their afternoon in the park. Syaoran tried not to let it show, Kurogane could tell, but he was getting antsy, unused to doing nothing for long periods of time. When the sun sat, they made their way out of the park and hailed a taxi to take them to the hotel Kurogane and Fai had spent their previous night in. This time, Kurogane asked for two rooms but they all gathered in one and ordered out for pizza.
Kurogane's life seemed to be flying by in a haze of hotel rooms and restaurant food. He wondered what his life would be like when this crazy trip was over. Would Fai live with him in Japan? He would have to learn Japanese. Kurogane didn't even know what would happen tomorrow. For all he knew, the situation would be out of his hands when they handed Syaoran and Sakura over to Subaru in the morning. What would he do if that were the case?
"Kuro-tan," Fai announced, interrupting Kurogane's train of thought "I was thinking. We need children."
Kurogane promptly choked on the drink he'd been swallowing. Fai's timing would never cease to amaze him.
"I think I would allow you to use a surrogate bank so we could have a few little Kuro-rii's running around." he continued. Fai was lying on his stomach next to Sakura, his feet kicking lazily in the air behind him as he regarded Kurogane.
"Who the hell said I wanted a kid?" Kurogane shouted back. "And if I did, I wouldn't need your permission."
"What's a… "surrogate bank"?" Syaoran asked curiously and Fai turned to answer him.
"It's a place for couples who can't give birth to children to find someone else who can carry the baby for them."
"Does that mean that Kurogane-san would…" he seemed reluctant to say it and it took Kurogane a moment to understand what he was asking.
"Of course not!" Kurogane yelled, horrified and embarrassed.
Fai laughed nervously.
"I don't understand." Sakura said innocently and this time it was Syaoran's face that lit up, as if his quest for knowledge had made him forget she was there for a moment - or at least forget that he might not want to discuss such things in front of her.
"N…nothing, princess." he stammered. "About Subaru-san." he said, changing the subject with record speed. "Will you be going with us to meet him?"
"Of course." Fai answered, jumping in before Kurogane could even consider the option. "We'll make sure you find your memory-feather, too."
"Hey now." Kurogane wasn't sure he wanted to disagree, per se. But he was pretty sure he didn't want the decision made for him.
"Hush." Fai threw at him and Kurogane narrowed his eyes, grabbing the nearest available pillow to shove into the blonde's face, squishing it there with satisfaction.
"Shut up."
Unfortunately for Kurogane, when the pillow fell away, he found a malicious grin covering Fai's face and had only seconds to lunge away from the bed before his previous spot was assaulted with another pillow.
Fai continued to chase him around the room, Kurogane yelling at him to stop in no polite language, until Fai accidentally missed and smacked Mokona onto the floor with his ammunition.
Syaoran and Sakura sat back to watch the pillow war as Mokona retaliated, chasing Fai with a maniacal battle cry until Sakura chuckled and Syaoran turned only to find a pillow covering his face.
Post whatevers: It's not an AU! Shock! And with that, the cast expands. Next time, we get to meet Subaru and company and...and...something wonderful will happen! As always, if you liked, please review. Ja!