"You're still injured, can't have you collapsing on the street."
Fai rolled his eyes once he heard this poor excuse for an excuse. "In Outo when I injured my leg you didn't do this. In fact you said you hated my kind, 'those who no longer try to live.' Why change that now?"
"You know my reasons."
The mage sighed, turning and going into a small shoppe. A man stood behind the counter and Fai kindly handed him the coat that had been damaged in the earlier chess match. "I seem to have made a rather large hole in my jacket." He explained this as the mender behind the counter ran his expert fingers over the gash. "I was hoping that you could fix it, rather than me going out and buying a whole new one."
"Something like this is going to take a while, and cost you a pretty penny, it might be cheaper to buy a new one, but if you insist I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you." Knowing that his jacket was in good enough hands the blond made his way out of the shoppe. He noted that Kurogane stood waiting at the foot of the stairs for him. "Where are you going now?"
"Syaoran asked me to stop and pick up a couple things at the store if I felt up to it."
"Do you feel up to it?"
"I wouldn't be going if I didn't."
They continued to walk down the street one in front of the other, the gap between them not closing in the slightest. Kurogane noticed how Fai seemed to become more and more tired as he walked, although his pace didn't let up.
The magic wielder visited various specialty stores looking at a small piece of paper that Syaoran had given him. He bought various items that were written down on the page, including food, spare clothes, blankets, and other essential items that they would need for the remainder of their stay.
"You're tiring." Kurogane said at the grocery store, as Fai reached up to get something off a high shelf.
"I'm fine," even though the man was tall, even on his tip toes Fai couldn't reach the thing he wanted and after a moment Kurogane reached up and got it for him.
Fai glanced at the thing Kurogane held out to him and snatched it out of his outstretched hand, putting it into the basket, "I don't need help Kurogane."
"It's not help Mage, it's logic. You're too short to get it, I'm taller than you, I get it for you. It's simple. And besides if I hadn't done it for you a person who works here would have done it anyway."
A sigh could be heard as Fai turned away heading to another isle. "I guess you're right." these words could hardly be heard as he walked away they were mumbled so softly.
The swordsman smiled as he continued to follow the magician, it wasn't much but it was a very small step towards what he wanted. A very small step was better than nothing.
"You, come here." Kurogane's red eyes looked over to the person who had summoned him. It was the woman who ran the antique shop Fai was currently in.
"What do you want?"
"You look like you have something on your mind," the woman behind the desk said smiling.
"Everyone has something on their minds." A small laugh was heard and the woman handed the ninja a small mirror.
"You seem to be concerned about someone other than yourself."
Kurogane looked the mirror over, turning it around and around in his hands. Unlike everything else in the antique shop the mirror looked brand new. "Yeah, so?"
"Turn on the switch on the back of the mirror and recite your wish to it. It will help you achieve your wish as best as it can until you turn the mirror off again. However it only works if you use your wish to help someone else."
"Wishes aren't free lady." Even though he knew this to be true Kurogane couldn't help but glance back to where the mage leafed through various books trying to find information on legends.
"No. True, wishes aren't free, but this mirror will only help you achieve your wish so that the price isn't so high and you probably won't even notice that the price is being paid. It will be paid in full by the time you turn the mirror off."
"The wish is temporary?"
The woman nodded, "You may end it at any time if it goes wrong."
"It sounds too good."
"It depends on how the wish plays out. It all depends."
"How much?"
"Free from me as long as you bring it back when you're done."
"And you're giving me this why?"
The woman's smile never seemed to fade, if anything it brightened. "Call it fate."
He opened his mouth to argue more, but just at that moment Fai closed the book he'd been looking at and began to walk out of the door. "All right, but this better work!" the swordsman didn't wait for her response as he bounded out the door to make sure nothing happened to the blond.
The mirror was set securely on a nightstand as everything that had been bought that was being put away.
"Mage." Kurogane used a commanding voice was the red eyes watched Fai run back and forth across the kitchen. "Rest. You've been up on your feet since breakfast."
The magician shook his head, "Don't be ridiculous. I'm fine. Besides, there's only a little bit--" Fai stopped walking mid-step and fell to the ground. "More."
As soon as Kurogane realized what had happened he dashed to Fai's side to help him up. This caused Fai to slap his hand away as he tried to pull himself to his feet. "Don't! I'm fine. I can do it myself. I just tripped." As he said this his arms gave out causing the blond to crumple to a small pile on the floor.
Kurogane raised his eyebrows, "You can do it yourself? If you ask me it looks like you can barely breathe by yourself." The black haired man reached down ignoring the weak complaints thrown at him as he picked Fai up into his arms as if he were a child. Fai felt like a child. Sure he was too tall for a child, but he didn't weigh much and he felt so fragile, as if he'd shatter at any moment.
"Fai." Kurogane growled when the mage continued to complain. "There is such a thing as independence, but there is also such a thing as idiocy. You can't even gather the energy to walk right now. Stop being idiotic and depend on me for a minute here."
The mage seemed to throw the idea around in his head a bit before he relaxed in the ninjas arms, folding his arms and not looking at Kurogane. "Take me to my room so I can rest."
Kurogane sighed in relief before obediently walking off to Fai's room and setting him down on his bed.
As soon as the first blond hair hit the pillow Fai was fast asleep. Kurogane stepped back and smirked a bit, no matter how troubled he looked while he was awake Fai always looked peaceful when he was truly asleep.
The door clicked shut as he left the room and went into his own room. His hand slid across the top of the dresser and grabbed the mirror before the man plopped down on the bed.
He began to turn the mirror around in his hands again, like he had in the shop. It looked like the Hijutsu mirror Chun'nyan had possessed, but it had a switch on it. Even though Kurogane didn't have a magical sense like Fai seemed to have the man would have to guess that the mirror wasn't really magical at all, it was just some machine Infinity had come up with.
He stopped turning the mirror in his hands and looked into it. Surprise came over his face as he did not see himself, but Fai himself was smiling back at him. The left eye was still missing from the face, but he was smiling just like he used to.
What could it hurt to wish to help Fai? Especially with the condolence that if the wish went bad that he could just turn the mirror off?
Kurogane's fingers went to the switch and turned the mirror on. "I want to learn how to help Fai."
Nothing seemed to happen and Kurogane frowned a bit wondering if something was wrong until he heard a crash and thoughts of the mirror left his mind as he ran to Fai's room.
Once the door was opened Kurogane could see Fai standing up by what he had heard break. "Ohhh...Fai-chan isn't going to like that..." Not only did Kurogane notice that Fai was speaking in third person he noticed that his voice was different. It was quieter, younger if that was possible.
"Mage? What are you doing up?" Just a half hour ago Fai hadn't even been able to move almost, now he was up and about as if nothing had happened.
"Ah?" Fai looked up from the broken glass on the floor and grinned widely at Kurogane. He ran forward hugging the man tightly and nuzzling his face in the ninja's chest. "Kuro-san! I'm so happy to see you!"
A/N: Yes I am one of those evil people who will leave you there until I post next time...Review if you want to find out.
If you've been confused by the grammar or anything tell me. My writing system was being weird and for evey bit of grammar I'd uploaded the system made into a strange symbol and I had to spend a couple hours changing it all. I think I got it all, but I can't be sure.
Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next chapter.