A/N: Whoo-hooo! A new chapter that's up quickly! I think I'm on a roll! So, we get more of a grasp on Fai this chapter; not much, sort of a teaser for what's to come? Any guesses on who's the guy in part two? (Can you now see the ending beginning to form?)

The song at the beginning is "Ice Queen" by Within Temptation, last chapter was "In Pieces" by Linkin' Park. Read and review!

Chapter Four: Do Not Die

Come on! Just feel it!

Don't you see it?! You'd better believe!

Whenever she is raging, she takes life away;

Haven't you seen?

Haven't you seen the ruins of our world?!

"Hey, hey, hey…"

Kurogane grunted, turning his face away from the soft touch that was pervading his sleep.

"Kuro-sama, wake up… Please?" Fai urged, laying his head against his roommate's chest. "I can hear your heart beating… So don't play dead."

"If I didn't punch you off of me, I wouldn't have to play," Kurogane growled, moving to push Fai away.

The smaller man grabbed the swordsman's hands, tightly entwining his fingers with Kurogane's. "Kuro-sama, please, listen to me," Fai said softly. "May I please explain?"

Kurogane shifted himself into a sitting position, and Fai quickly snuggled into his roommate's lap. "Hey! You! Get off!"

The blonde tipped his head up so he could see the swordsman-in-training, grinning blithely. "I'm sorry," he chimed.

"For what? Almost killing me, or cutting of the circulation in my legs?"

Fai laughed quietly at the snappish response. "I'm sorry that I can't move," he replied, dropping his head. There was a long pause; "But I am sorry about this morning… I've never had a good… grasp… on anything, you see…"

"You've a wonderful grasp on annoying the crap outta me," Kurogane grunted.

Sadly, Fai smiled, shaking his head. "Nothing like that," he said quietly, "… I can't… I'm not…"

Kurogane heard Fai trail off, and started to tell the magician to get on with it, but then he heard it. The utter despair that was shading his roommate's speech. It was so unlike the blonde that it shocked Kurogane and made him listen.

"I'm sorry I couldn't control myself this morning," Fai muttered resignedly. "If Kuro-sama doesn't want to be roommates anymore, if he doesn't want to see me anymore, it would be fine. It would be best, because… next time, I might," he said, voice cracking as tears fell from his eyes, "I might actually kill you… just like him… you'll be gone… And it will be my fault!"

The inside of the room was completely black; there was no light that night. Outside, the midnight was inky, and the stars were shrouded by the heavy clouds. There was no moon.

But they both knew; they knew that door was there. The dark wood was scarred with deep gouges that were stained with blood. One pair of the two hands that inhabited that room were skinned to the bone, with long splinters trapped deep inside his flesh from clawing at the door.

They knew; they knew the window was there. It was barred with steel and iron, and it was inescapable. The same pair of hands knew that: wounds embedded with glass festered and burned.

One slept. One stared blankly at the direction of the door, unable to do anything but dream of escape. They leaned against each other, basking in each other's warmth, and took comfort in the other's life.

And the door opened. A glint of metal shone in the hand of the one who opened the door.

The wounded one ran, slipped past the man with the gun, and escaped. He kept running, even when he heard the gun being fired.

Eventually he came back, and he found his brother dead.

He could've taken him with him; the man couldn't see both of them in the dark. But now…

"FAI!"

Kurogane stopped; it seemed like his heart stopped beating, and his lungs stopped working for a split second. In that second, he wondered what he should say, what he should do.

And then that second was over.

He wrapped his arms around Fai's waist. "Idiot. I can't change my room," he muttered, "Besides, this morning…"

Fai stiffened against Kurogane's touch; "This morning," the raven-haired man continued, "Was a mistake in itself."

"You'll stay with me, then?" The blonde asked tentatively.

Kurogane felt one of Fai's tears drip onto his arm, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried, the answer could never change. It was simply fate, and he couldn't run from it. "I could never leave you," he answered, brutally honest.

"I'll kill you one day," Fai choked, shaking his head, "Get away from me when you still can."

"I won't die."

Fai gasped, like he'd been punched in the stomach. Kurogane's words touched a part of his heart that he'd tried so hard to deny all this time. With shaking hands, he grabbed the other man's arms, sobbing. "You can't say that!" he cried, "You can't!"

Kurogane didn't indulge the blonde to an answer.

The two stayed like that for a long time, and they both knew the exact same thing:

In the few months that they'd known each other, something had happened. They'd fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with one another, and nothing could now pull them apart.

They'd also changed by meeting the other; things from the past were being dredged from memories, and the masks the men hid behind were crumbling to dust.

Only time could tell, however, whether these changes were for the better…

Or worse.

Chapter Four, Part Two: Do Not Forget

Events outside the world of the Tokyo university were slowly beginning to change as well…

"Well," the lawyer began, studying the file that lay in front of him. "My first question is, why did you wait so long to appeal to your confinement?"

The man smiled softly at the lawyer, "I honestly can't tell you," he said lightly. "I suddenly realized, I suppose, that twenty years of prison time was worth my misdemeanor. It may've took me five years to realize this, but better late than never."

"Sir, you sexually and physically abused a minor," the lawyer said, blinking.

The man grinned chillily, his long bangs falling into his face; "He was sixteen at the time, and perfectly consenting up until the point he called the police. I just suspect he wanted attention. He was always such a lonely boy… "

"His testimony against you was rather unsettling. He said you practiced magic on him?"

"I have no idea where that silly boy drew that from; see, it says in the case then that I objected to that."

"Why?"

"I was my own council at the time."

"No, why did you object?"

"Because I practice herbal remedies. Occasionally, when he was sick, I would administer herbs to him. Nothing magical about it; though it could be construed as magic."

"His bruises? He had a broken arm when he testified."

"He was suicidal at points," the man whispered sadly, shaking his head.

The lawyer frowned. "Well, other than this, your record was impeccable, and your behavior since is perfect. I'll see what I can do. Shall I meet you again in a week?"

The man grinned, standing to shake the lawyer's hand. "Alright."

As the lawyer exited, the man's grin spread across his face, and a sadistic gleam entered his eyes. "I will get out, and then you'll get it… I'll kill you for ruining me, Fai," he hissed, before the guards entered the room to cuff and escort him out.