"Ouch!" Fai cried out from his chair as he put his hands to his mouth looking away from the man who's gaze instantly turned to look at him.

The ninja raised an eyebrow and pulled lightly at Fai's arm, trying to coax Fai into uncovering his mouth. "What happened?"

"Oi it moi mowf" Fai said through his hands.

"What?" Kurogane pulled harder at the arm, "I can't understand you."

From behind the fingers Fai gave out a sighing sound and moved his hands away. "I bit my mouth."

"How did you do that? You're not even eating anything." The children had eaten earlier, and Kurogane was eating things Fai would never touch, such as raw fish, but Fai didn't eat anything anymore...he didn't have to. He only drank from Kurogane.

"I don't know all I know is that now I have a small hole on the inside of my mouth, I'm going to go rinse my mouth out, my blood doesn't taste good..."

"You're bleeding? You must've bitten yourself pretty hard."

Fai glared back at the man as he stood up, "It's not like I was expecting it..."

Kurogane sighed and reached out, grabbing onto Fai's arm and pulling him back into his chair. His hand went to Fai's chin, "Let me see."

"What?" Fai gave out a short laugh, "No! Why would I let you look in my mouth? It's just a little blood..."

"Not what I'm curious about...open."

Fai gave Kurogane a 'You can't be serious' look and Kurogane gave Fai an 'I am very serious' look. In the end Kurogane won the staring contest and Fai reluctantly opened his mouth. Feeling pretty satisfied with getting Fai to do something he wanted Kurogane went to open it a little bit wider so that he could see the area Fai had evidently bitten...but Fai shut his mouth again.

"You are not sticking your fingers in my mouth, it's unsanitary..."

"Mage...breathing is unsanitary. I have to, or I can't see anything. The sooner you let me do this, the sooner I let you go and get the taste of blood out of your mouth."

Fai grumbled a bit but opened his mouth again, leaning slightly away from the black haired man as he felt the fingers go past his lips and pull and poke slightly. "What did you do? That's a deep bite." the ninja seemed almost shocked that anyone could bite themselves quite that hard.

"I it aiself?"

"You know what I meant Fai..." There was a short pause as Kurogane's face looked confused and he ran his fingers over the top row of Fai's teeth very lightly. "Open wider, so I can see the top."

Reluctantly Fai opened his mouth as wide as he could and Kurogane repeated the action of rubbing his thumb over the top row as he stared, "Fangs..."

"Ut?"

"Fangs. The entire top set of teeth seemed to have changed." He released Fai's allowing the mage to close his mouth and seem to adjust to the feeling of it being closed again before he spoke.

"I've never had fangs before."

"It fits and while you can't see it when your mouth is closed or when you're speaking if you look at it for a moment it becomes obvious. I'm surprised you didn't feel it happening." Perhaps the change had been too gradual for the mage to notice?

Fai frowned deeply and ran his own fingers over the teeth in question. They did feel different... "I never felt anything changing..." The taste of blood in his mouth now completely forgotten, Fai walked off in the direction of his room, Kurogane following close behind him.

Fai did indeed go into his room and pulled the mirror down off the wall and looked into it holding it at different lengths away from his body, examining the teeth. "How did I not notice? It's so obvious if I grin..."

"But you don't grin much anymore." Really Fai didn't grin at all, Yuui did, but a grin was a grin.

"True. I suppose it's not that big of a deal, my teeth changing shape is really the least of my worries..." The blond placed the mirror back on the wall. "It's not like I really need them I guess is the problem...you regulate when I'm 'fed.' As much as I may dislike it.."

"You dislike my regulating it? Or me being your food source?"

"You being my food source." Fai answered the question quickly, there was no hesitation to even think of the answer.

"Not much you can do about that, if it were the first one I would've said I'd let you drink from my neck anytime you wanted now that you've got those things."

Fai didn't seem to understand the comment for a couple seconds before his eye widened and he shook his head, taking a step back his arms lightly hugging himself. "No...No...I couldn't do that to you Kurogane. The very idea is totally ridiculous."

"Not really."

"Explain."

Kurogane sighed, "Consider this; We somehow got stranded in a place where neither of us had a blade, it's better for you to have sharp teeth to pierce with than for one of us having to bite down with dull teeth."

Fai looked away, "I suppose." He mumbled.

"Next time you need to drink I want you to try that."

"Bah, another one of your 'help' lessons..."

Kurogane nodded, he wouldn't deny that it was just another way to help Fai. "In a different way than usual though...this is to possibly help keep you alive later on. Practice for if something like that ever happened."

Fai rubbed his arm and sighed, falling back on his personalities. He smiled brightly and held out his arms to Kurogane, "You're ridiculous Kurogane, but then again we both are, now aren't we?"

"Yes, we are." He took Fai's wrists and pulled the mage into a hug. "In more ways than one." Fai nodded into the ninja's chest a nice calm smile on his face.

"How's your arm? Hm?" Fai's happy personality pulled away from the embrace he had asked for and traced Kurogane's lips with his fingers.

Kurogane frowned, "Almost healed. Your side?"

"Healed." Fai took his fingers away and tilted his head. "This displeases you doesn't it? I can see it on your face, you're hate."

"Yes. You're not happy. You're rather pissed off at me for suggesting your drinking methods."

"Yes, you're good at this game Kurogane." He walked away from the ninja, "But I will never act angry with you again. It doesn't work. I can't stay angry at you anyway, my love. Even though you don't love me back."

"Who says I don't?"

"Your actions. Your replies to my wishes." Fai's smile faded, "There is no room for love for me..."

"You're wrong."

Fai shook his head and waved his hand as if brushing the topic away from him the smile coming back almost instantly, "Anyway, just because it's you I will do as you say. Next time I drink, I'll take from your neck, but only that once. Understand?" The blond waited for the black haired man to nod and he then smile even more widely. "Good. I ask that you leave me alone for a while. Please?"

"Because you were...not as difficult as you usually are, I'll give you time to yourself."

"Thank you Kurogane."

Kurogane turned around and went to the door, he paused at it, turning around, he toyed with the thought in his mind before deciding to go through with it. "Mage?"

"Hm?"

"I'm going to say something that sounds very random, but I've been meaning to say it for a while now."

"Go ahead."

Kurogane looked directly at Fai's face for a moment so he could see the reaction. "Whatever it is...it's not your fault." He got a good reaction that told him Fai was still broken. Fai's eye almost lost it's pupil for a moment and he seemed to gasp for air on his next intake of air. This satisfied him and he opened the door and left the room, getting the feeling Fai would cry, and knowing Fai didn't want Kurogane to see him cry again.

"It's time to turn the mirror off." A soft voice spoke out, bringing Kurogane out from the world of his dreams and nightmares. The voice was all too familiar and was not to be ignored, so Kurogane opened his eyes.

"Mmk..." Kurogane yawned and turned over trying to wake up so that he could deal with the child that was Yuui. "What?"

"It's time to turn the mirror off."

Kurogane slowly sat up and rubbed his head, "But I haven't gotten my wish yet..."

"It doesn't matter. It's to the point where you'll get it if you try on your own just a little bit more. Time runs short Kuro-san. Fai-chan slowly is fixing himself, but you still manage to keep him open. For now. Soon someone other than you will shatter him, soon he will be outside of your touch, soon you will leave this world. I can no longer help you. You have everything you need to heal Fai-chan." Yuui tilted his head, the inner child of Fai no longer looked at all like a child. He looked older than even Fai did these days. The voice was just as quiet, but mature, as if in just a single moment he had grown a thousand years.

At first the eyes were blank, the tone of voice almost emotionless, but then it wavered. Slightly and slowly the face shifted, the eyes became sad and the child bit his lip. At last he looked to the ground.

"Kuro-san!" Yuui gasped reaching out and gripping to Kurogane's collar, "Please! Help Fai-chan! Please! Don't let him suffer anymore! You're right! It's not his fault!" Tears ran down Yuui's face, he shook Kurogane, "I may just be a figment in Fai-chan's mind, but his pain! It's too much for him to bare much longer!" The boy sobbed, "Don't let him go! Don't hurt him! Play the game Kuro-san! Play it well! Make him see he's worth it! Love him! Please...love him! Hold him, kiss him, speak pretty words to him, just don't hurt him!" Yuui buried his face into the man's chest, his sobs were louder than Fai's real ones, but quieter than Fai's fake ones. They came steadily from the boy that lived within Fai.

"I'm not planning on harming him..." Kurogane was actually very surprised by the outburst, Yuui had seemed more genuine in his happiness than Fai...maybe it had just been that Yuui had been better at pretending, but why? "Yuui?"

The blond looked to Kurogane and bit his lip reaching up and brushing the tears away from his face. "Yes?"

The ninja paused, thinking of the right way to go about this, after a minute he thought of it. The only way someone could possibly know or care, Yuui was right, he was just a being created to help Kurogane help Fai, but if that was truly the case, why would he cry for Fai? For that matter why would he have a name? Or a purpose? "Who is Yuui? Why that name? In fact why do you have a name? Like you're a real person? Are you someone Fai once knew and loved? Someone he hated? There has to be a reason for that name..." There had to be a reason.

Yuui slowly shook his head, "I can't exactly tell you, but it's not what you think. Yuui is only a person inside Fai-chan. Yuui sees all Fai-chan sees, feels all Fai-chan feels, knows all Fai-chan knows and even sometimes knows things Fai-chan locks away. Yuui is just Fai-chan's inner child. That's all I am. That is all Yuui is." Yuui let go of Kurogane and stood to his feet his hands closing in loose fists and resting at Fai's chest, as if he held a precious object that needed to be protected in his hands.

Kurogane gave a quick nod, "I see...So...I have to turn the mirror off and return it tomorrow..."

Yuui slowly nodded, the single eye closed. "Yes."

"All right. I hope I can grant your wish Yuui. It's my wish as well. It wasn't in the beginning...I just wanted the mage to be real...but now it's more, I can't precisely explain it, but it's not the same now. I don't just want to make him realize he's not alone, I want to be the one to take his pain away, I want to be the one there for him."

"You already are." A kind smile same to Yuui's sad face, "Just a little further Kuro-san. Push a bit further. I'm sure you'll get it."

"Right," Kurogane waved the matter off, "Go back to bed Yuui, 'person who knows all the Mage knows.' I'll return you tomorrow."

"All right." Yuui hesitated for a moment before hugging Kurogane tightly and then leaving the room, "You sleep well." Kurogane barely heard this as the door clicked shut.

"Where are we going?"

"To the antique shoppe."

"Why?" Fai closed the front door of their current home and ran down the steps after Kurogane, "We have no reason. We don't need anything and I didn't buy anything the only time either of us were there..."

"I did." Kurogane held up the mirror.

Fai gave the object a curious look, "I think I remember seeing that in your room once...why are you returning it?"

"I don't need it anymore."

"You needed a mirror?" The pair glanced at each other, the exact same look on both of their faces.

"Don't argue." Kurogane sighed and flipped the mirror over, turning off the switch on the back, the mirror's front seemed to flash and then Fai fell to the ground face first. "Mage?"

Fai made a muffled sound from where he lay and waved his hand a bit to say that he was okay before pushing himself to his feet, "That was really weird..." He rubbed his nose, which was now a bit red from falling on it.

"What happened?"

Fai shook his head slightly, knitting his eyebrows. "I don't really know, I just fell, my legs gave out as if my brain stopped working for about three seconds."

Kurogane looked at the mirror and somehow knew that his turning it off had caused that little incident. "Don't worry about it...I don't think it'll happen again." The ninja sighed and tucked the mirror under his arm and used the other hand to brush dirt and gravel off Fai's sleeve. "Moving on, there's something else I want to tell you."

"Yes Kurogane?"

"I'm not going to be 'playing the game' for the rest of the time we're in this world."

Fai looked at him a bit shocked, "Really?"

He nodded, "Yes, there's no point right now. Our stress is getting higher and higher as we get to the end of this chess tournament. I do however want you to still lean on me. Anytime you need it. Also, once we get to the next world I will start 'the game' at anytime I please. One more thing, don't do anything idiotic like you normally do, I'll hit you if you do."

Fai opened his mouth to either agree or to complain, but either way he stopped as a drop of water landed on his forehead. The pair looked to the sky as many droplets of rain began to fall. "I guess we better hurry." Fai said laughing a bit as he still stared at the sky.

The two began to run down the street toward the end of the arc of the relationship that involved the mirror. Even though Kurogane had currently cut off the game they had been playing, it had only just begun.

A//N: No. The story isn't over yet...we have four or five chapters left to go. Which is a good thing for people who enjoy the story...

Warning though, the next couple of chapters will be in first person POV, but I have a reason, you'll find out why next chapter.

Anyway, review for your authoress please, and I'll see you next time.