Disclaimer: CLAMP owns this not me
Pairings: Slight KuroxFai

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Three months had passed in record time this new world was literally all a giant game. A battle of wills now meant life or death, in this new world. The twisted game of chess seemed to consume all personal lives that once were.

In those 3 months many things had changed…

The group arrived to a destroyed world, rubble laying everywhere and smoke filling the air. One could barely call it a world it was more like a doomed planet that had lost all life. Sakura was the first to notice the motion of people under the cement.

"Guys, there's someone over there." The young girl made her way over the rubble to find a small girl weeping.

"Why? If only that feather…if only it wasn't here! If it wasn't…he never would have come!" An older woman walked over to almost drag the girl away from the strange group.

"The feather…" Sakura gasped as she slowly sat down on one of the nearby rocks.

"…my clone…" The brunette boy added placing a hand on the princesses' shoulder. "…it's my fault…"

Fai and Kurogane watched from a distance with Mokona who was being rather quiet.

"Hurt…" The white creature muttered as it watched the two teens that had fallen into silence. "Everyone…hurts…" Fai let the small being drop onto the floor and bounce over to the two teens.

"Kurogane…we need to talk." Fai kept his face out of view as he turned to walk away.

The ninja grunted as he followed the mage.

"Don't tell me. You're angry at me." Kurogane rested against a standing slab of cement as he watched the magician sit on a pile of bricks.

"Why would you think that?" Fai muttered.

"You've been that way since I saved your life, why not now?" The ninja shrugged slightly.

"You should have let me die. I've already said that many times. Is it so wrong to want to die in your eyes?" Fai paused as he bowed his head slightly, "Is it so wrong to want to disappear. You know as well as I do that as soon as we part ways I'll find a way."

"I'm trying to show you something. Show you how to live, for you, not for someone else." Kurogane let his eyes trail away from the mage to find a point on an old building. "If you want to die I'll do it."

"You won't. I know you won't. You won't kill me just like I won't hurt you in front of the kids." Fai spoke coldly.

"I promised I'd do it and I don't intend to break a promise." The raven haired man turned to glance back at the blonde. "I won't break a promise to you."

"Yeah right…" Fai muttered bitterly thinking about how many promises had been broken to him. "That's what everyone says. That's what I used to say. It never happens."

"Is it so hard for you to trust me?" Kurogane asked, " I'll do it…"

"Then why haven't you done it yet? Why are you keeping me alive?" Fai leapt from his seat glaring at his companion, "I want to die! I want to…"

"Fai-san…?" Sakura stood nervously peering around one of the pillars.

"I-I…" The mage slowly backed away and sat down again, resting his hand over his eyes.

"Fai-san…please…we don't want you to go…we need you…" The princess sat next to the blonde, "I need you to help me…please…"

"Sakura-chan…I can't…I've done so much wrong in my life…I shouldn't still be alive…" The mage was trembling slightly as he spoke, trying to fight back the tears. He refused to break down, not now.

"Fai-san…" Sakura wrapped her arms around the magician and laid her head on his shoulder gently. "Your past doesn't matter to me. I just want to help make things right."

"Kid you find something out?" The ninja glanced at the silent boy who nodded in return. "What did you find?"

"There's a tournament here. It involves using will power to control other people." Syaoran explained while keeping his gaze on the princess. "Sakura…-hime…decided she'd be the master."

"Master?" Kurogane raised an eyebrow at the younger male.

"She has a strong will power. A master needs a strong will to let the 'pieces' use all their power and ability." The brunette paused to think something over, "It involves a lot of physical fighting as well as mental power."

"What's the prize?" The dark haired man stretched slightly.

"We're not sure yet. No one would tell us. We found a place to stay and train for this contest." Syaoran motioned to a building in the distance. "The owner said he'd be able to teach us a few things."

Kurogane nodded slightly.

"All for one and one for all!" Mokona exclaimed as it jumped around on the stone. It came to rest on Fai's knee rocking from side to side humming a tune.

Sakura scooped up the white fluff ball as she walked over to her new Syaoran. They started walking ahead talking about small things.

Kurogane caught Fai's arm as he walked past.

"Do you hate us that much?" The dark haired man asked quietly making sure the others couldn't hear.

"No…I care about you so much…I just don't want to cause you harm." Fai wriggled his arm free. "I told you what happened to my old friend…she ended up dead because of me…"

"You'll hurt us more if you break away and distance yourself." Kurogane almost whispered.

"I'm already broken into a thousand pieces Kurogane…I can't afford to lose a piece another part of me…" Fai muttered as a single tear fell down his pale face.

Kurogane stayed back a little bit to stay out of earshot before he muttered to himself, "Your not the only one who's broken into pieces." He glanced up at the blonde walking in front, "If you go…I'll lose the only part of me still intact."