[A/N] RxR: Two whole chapters in one day! Maddie, come look at our little ficlet!

**Silence**

Hatter?

**More silence**

Mad? Hattie? Mad-Hattie? Hat-Maddie? MADDIE-HAT!

**No response**

Oh, she's sulking about the reviews thing. Reveiw! REVIEW!

[Two days later]

[Sakura] Fai-san had changed. He didn't want us to notice, but he did. I did what little I could, cooking and making tea for him, even though I don't think he's eating. His smile was forced, and he couldn't keep it up all the time either. Seeing Kurogane-san get worse every day, with nothing he could do to help- it was killing him. He thought it was all his fault, even though none of us blamed him and I felt Kurogane-san wouldn't have either if he had been awake. He probably would have called Fai-san an idiot like he always does when he wants Fai to stop being sad.

"Sakura-chan! Where's the extra bedding?" asked Syaoran, walking into the kitchen, where I was cooking.

"The little closet between your room and Fai-san's room. Why?" I asked him curiously, putting the food aside.

"I'm putting a futon in the room."

I turned around, pulling off my apron. "Kurogane-san's room? Why?"

"For Fai." He said.

"But he should be sleeping in his own bed, shouldn't he?" I said, stopping what I'd been doing- putting out plates, and doling out pork buns.

"He'll want to stay with Kurogane. He's been sleeping on that chair in there anyway, the least I can do is make sure he can at least be comfortable. " Syaoran said, before turning away and beginning to walk down the hall. Almost too quiet for me to hear, he added, "I know how he feels."

I glanced after him, almost forgetting the pan of half-cooked eggs I was holding. Syaoran-kun had finally stopped looking sad like that, I thought. I want back to frying the eggs, the way Fai-san had taught me, and I had to make sure to put on a smile before I brought the breakfast tray.

[Fai] Sakura, as always brought breakfast in about an hour after sunrise. Today, as always, there were two cups of tea and a bowl of soup for Kuro. For me, there were two steaming pork buns that someone had bought at a bakery, a fried egg and a bowl of miso soup. Sakura had prepared them exactly the way I taught her, and on another day, any other day I would have been proud of her, pleased for her small success. I probably would have praised her.

It was work for me to glance up and give her a tired smile that was worn around the edges from over use. It was the only thing I had left. Sakura smiled back, bright and cheerful as ever, reached out and paused. Her hand wavered, extended there and I could see the conflict in her features- touch or don't touch? I poured the smile on a little harder, hoping she would think I was alright. Her hand stopped shaking and she squeezed my shoulder, her small hand gentle, but still comforting. I froze, stiff and unmoving, my lips pinched. She left and I couldn't move. I couldn't stand her sympathy- didn't she understand that this was my fault? Innocent, clueless Sakura felt bad for me. Was probably worrying her pure heart sick over Kurogane and I. She should have shunned me, should have abandoned me. Hated me. I was a coward, letting her care for me like that.

I laughed, a foreign, high and brittle sound that was wild, and a little crazy bubbling up from somewhere between my chest and the pit of my stomach. It didn't stop. By the time Syaoran came in to see if I needed anything, right on schedule, I had almost returned my breathing to the proper rate, holding myself back until he passed by.

The minute his footsteps turned the corner, another laugh escaped me. Then, I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. My stomach ached, and I braced my elbows on the bed so I could laugh into my hands, my shoulders shaking with the strength of it until I was just sitting there, panting. It took a while to catch my breath, but I managed.

I pushed back my hair, slightly oily from lack of washing, straightened my shirt a little and used a towel to drip water drop by drop between Kuro's lips.

There was a sound from the door, and I saw Syaoran out of the corner of my eye. As I turned to look, he and Sakura came in, arms full. She carried a tray of breakfast laden with dishes of breakfast food, him the tea tray. I tilted my head, momentarily confused. I already had the food I wouldn't eat for this meal. Then, they set down the trays at the foot of the bed and sat, one on either side of it. Syaoran poured the tea, and Sakura put two eggs, two pork buns, and a bowl of the miso soup on each of their plates, neither so much as glancing in my direction. I stared.

Then, I wet the towel, which had dripped all its water onto my leg and went back to work.

[A/N] THM: *To Rika* I'm not talking to them until they review. I don't feel like it. Just like they don't feel like reviewing. **Walks away**

RxR: Oh-kay then.