Now things will get interesting~ I hope

"Fai."

I turned to the voice. Of course it was Ashura-O.

He knelt down in front of me, and in turn I glared at him. My bangs fell over my eyes, and I batted them away irritably. "Want to explain yourself?" I growled.

He smiled at me sweetly. "Whatever could you mean, child?"

"You know what. The 'rescue team'," I reminded him snidely. He clapped his hands together, with a look like he'd forgotten it already. It pissed me off even further. "Surely you had an incredibly good reason," I added quietly, hinting at threats.

"Of course I do," he purred. "Haven't I told you? If my men receive wounds that would deem fatal, they'll go into a magic-induced coma instead. It shuts down their vital systems so they can get medical treatment later, even if they're not found for months. You can go see him in a few hours, if you'd like."

I had frozen while he was speaking. Then, with an even quieter voice, I whispered, "really?" with a weight lifting from my shoulders. One less death.

Ashura-O patted my head, fluffing up my hair. "Truly," he answered. "Even the horses still live."

Three prevented deaths. My mouth parted slightly. "And Kuro-san…?" I wondered.

The king's lips tipped up into a smile. "Yes, your 'important thing' is still alive, also. Though I would say he's a bit… what's the word? Pissed at you."

"He'll survive." I bit my lip, suddenly unsure. "How upset?"

"So much that he was fantasizing fleeing thousands of times before he collapsed out of exhaustion," he murmured. My king raised his hand with a "don't ask me how I know" when I opened my mouth to speak. I snapped my mouth shut, frowning.

My eyes travelled to the tiled floor, thinking. What was so important about Kuro-san? Why would my king make me be dragged for thousands of miles by my staff just to reach him, a bloodied-up boy? Ashura-O once again patted my head.

I looked up, confused.

"Do you want to see him? He's bound to wake up any moment now," Ashura-O suggested.

I shook my head. "Kuro-san's bound to be grumpy at me still. I made him thoroughly pissed."

"Indeed," my king agreed, smirking at my emphasis at pissed. "What will you do, then? Avoid him?"

"That's also a lost cause, isn't it?" I sighed.

Ashura-O's smile became one of pity.

A silence stretched out awkwardly between us, until we began to walk in some general direction that I wasn't paying attention to. Ashura-O was leading me somewhere.

I kept my eyes on the floor as I wandered after him. I guessed he was taking me to where my staff was, wherever it was in the castle.

'What if he's taking me to see Kuro-san?' my conscience suddenly asked me. My head snapped up, scanning the hall we were in… Blue tiles swirled with red rubies. The sign of…

I stopped where I was, refusing to go any farther.

And Ashura-O kept walking off.

"My king?" I asked anxiously. He didn't stop. Soon he was out of my sight.

He left me alone in the medical hallway.

My muscles were bunched up, soon resulting in my entire frame quaking. Ashura-O never left me alone in the castle. Either he was here or he assigned a guard to escort me to the place I was seeking. But I was entirely alone now. The shadows stretched out everywhere. I felt a chill run along my back. I was very, utterly, alone.

Suddenly: "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

I let loose a large yelp. It leapt from wall to wall, bouncing back at me tenfold.

Trembling, I looked around to where the voice had come from. Since it had been slightly muffled, I guessed at the room directly to my right. One of the patients? My mind told me the voice of the person had been Kuro-san's. 'How did I understand him?' a faraway voice asked me.

I didn't hesitate for a second when I jumped to the door where his voice had come from. I opened it swiftly, revealing a milky blue room, with a thin, but fairly wide bed with pillows white like snow. The walls were rimmed with gold, and a single small window hung to the left of the bed. Trays of medical equipment sat to the right.

On the bed… I gasped. Kuro-san was there, yes. But who was…?

"Fai?" my voice croaked, sounding far away, as if my hearing was tunneling. The boy on Kuro-san's chest sat up, turning his head to me. His mouth curled lightly into a smile.

"Yui," he answered, his hair—healthy like mine—fell against his thin cheekbones. He wasn't like he was before, that corpse. He was like a mirror of me now.

I stepped forward, quivering. "Brother?" Tears brimmed.

Fai shrugged, his mischievous smile not fading.

Even when Kuro-san growled something like "What the hell," I couldn't remove my eyes from Fai, even as my brother turned away from me to him, shifting his weight gracefully.

"Kuro—" Fai whispered, saying something after it that I couldn't understand. Kuro-san grumbled.

My eyes followed him as he leaned forward against the black-haired boy, and my eyes met Fai's when he glanced back. An odd look was about his eyes.

Kuro-san seemed frozen in place, just like I was as my brother slowly, deliberately turned back to the boy. Fai placed his palms on Kuro-san's chest, curling his fingers so that he had fistfuls of his shirt in his hands. "Kuro—" he purred seductively, leaning even closer.

My hands clenched subconsciously into fists.

The pain that blossomed in my chest was partly, and oddly, because of what my brother was trying with Kuro-san, but another was because of the wisps of spirit that rose off of Fai. He was dispersing quickly. He would be gone soon, and we never even spoke more than three words to each other.

"B-Brother—" I stuttered, taking a step forward and reaching out. "Please!" A shock forced my arms to my sides, and my feet stuck to the floor. A touch of blue filtered the air.

Brother had used magic to stop me.

"Why?" I choked, straining to even breathe.

Fai ignored me, but shifted so I could see Kuro-san's face. Our eyes met—red and blue. Alarm came off of him just like it was from me, but he wasn't shivering like I was. Fai bent just slightly enough to block our eye contact.

"Protect him," he seemed to whisper to Kuro-san.

Then Fai's mouth, curled still ever-so-slightly in a smile, enveloped Kuro-san's.

Just as abruptly, he disappeared like the wind, breaking off the magic like it had never been there in the first place. We collapsed where we were, gasping at air.

My body shivered twice as violently as before. 'What the hell?' was my only thought, my mind couldn't form another coherent one. My hands curled around my throat as I panted. Sweat trickled chillingly under my clothes.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to puke. Why was my brother here? Why was he acting that way with the boy?

Someone touched my shoulder, guiding me up to my feet. I swayed unsteadily, forcing myself to keep my eyes closed. Please, just kill me quick! The person guided me forward, and sat me down on the bed. It was softer than it looked.

I groaned, hugging myself.

"At least you're not wearing that freaking mask…" a voice muttered.

Slowly, my eyes opened. "Kuro…?"

"Oh, don't you start!" he growled, and then sighed. "What am I doing? You can't understand what I'm saying… Why do I even try?"

"Um, Kuro-kun…"

"What? Are you going to start calling me Kuro-what like he had? Who was he, anyway?"

"He was calling you Kuro-what?" I whispered, a nauseous feeling swirling in my gut. "So what he said was 'what'?"

"Of course—" he froze. "Are you f*cking kidding me?"

I twitched. "Kidding what? You're the one that has suddenly started talking in my language! Don't curse at me!"

"Oh? And what can possibly explain that?"

"I don't know!" I cried, leaning forward with a burst of anger. "Maybe it was that apparition of my brother that did it! How should I know?"

"Your brother?" he asked, suddenly calculating. He leaned forward also. "But you called him 'Fai' didn't you? That's your name, right?"

I swallowed, abruptly seeing my mistake. Now I had two choices: tell him the truth or lie.

'You could always choose the third choice,' my conscience told me, but I quickly shied it away. I didn't want any other deaths caused by my existence.

While I was thinking, I unknowingly let Kuro-san walk up to me. His footsteps were quiet on the tiled floor, and I didn't realize he was in front of me until I felt his hands touch my throat. My head snapped up at him.

"If you lie to me…" he began threateningly, staring at me intently.

"What could you do?" I asked back, smiling devilishly, much like my brother had. "Kill me? Go ahead. I'd love to join my brother. Why bother with reviving him when I can join him in death?"

Slowly, Kuro-san removed his hands from my neck. I watched him do this silently, putting on my disinterested mask. 'He can't do anything to stop me!' I realized, relaxing eternally. 'This should be easy as anything. Just leave and tell Ashura-O that the boy's well… and then send him off on his merry way! This is too simple!'

Kuro-san slapped me across the face. Hard.

I fell off the bed with the force of the blow, falling on my side. I cried out. Tears threatened to brim.

I reached up and cupped the cheek that he'd struck. "What the hell?!" angrily I shouted, those traitor tears falling over my cheeks, stinging over my forming bruise.

Kuro-san walked up to my hunched form, and hurriedly I scrambled away. He sat on his heels and pointed right at my face. "That's how it should be."

"Excuse me?" I quipped.

"You should stay freaking true to yourself! Put on that f*cking mask of yours again, or even try to lie to me, and I'll beat you senseless. You got that, b*tch?"

I growled. "Like mud." 'And I'm nobody's dog,' I added to myself.

Kuro-san stood and turned away. "Good, now you'd better lead me to where the food is, because I'm f*c—"

I don't know how or why, but suddenly I shot out at him, tackling the backs of his knees. Kuro-san crumpled forward, and I made it my goal to stay ahead of his fall, crawling up his back. His nose cracked solidly against the ground.

"I. Am. Not. Your. Dog," I insisted in a hiss, grabbing his throat.

He had been stunned by the sudden drop, but Kuro-san was recovering a lot faster than any other at his age. He groaned, shifting slightly. I saw blood pooling on the floor. But I didn't seem alarmed by the sight of someone else's blood—in fact I enjoyed it. Let more blood flow!

"B…*tch," the boy grunted. I squeezed my tiny hands tighter around his throat, lifting it and slamming him back against the floor. Something audibly crunched this time.

"Call me that again, and I'll do it harder," I purred impishly. Slyly, I added: "Kuro-puppy."

"What… the…" Kuro snorted blood out his nose, and then groaned again. "…mn you…"

I laughed at that. "What's wrong, Kuro-puppy? Do you hate your new nickname? Or is it that you don't like me being myself?"

"This isn't… you…"

My eyebrows raised in false pity. "Are you sure? Maybe I was lying to you about myself from the start… you can never know someone's true personality just by being with them for hardly a day." 'See how you like that,' I smiled.

He shifted again, making slow, deliberate breaths.

"Aw~ don't pass out on me now, Kuro~ maybe you can help me with some new nickn—"

And suddenly I was underneath him.

"Wha—" I started, trying to squirm away from him, but he blocked me by pinning my arms above my head and by bracing a knee over my thighs. No matter how hard I struggled, he was too strong for me. 'Wasn't he about to pass out?'

Apparently not, because his grip only got stronger as I writhed under him. He glared down at me with eyes the same shade of red as the blood gushing from his broken nose. Something warm soaked through my hair under my head, and even fresher blood spattered my eyes and cheeks straight from his face.

"What's wrong?" he panted, only slightly struggling to keep me in place. "Where'd your earlier attitude go?"

I glared up at him.

He smirked down at me.

"I'm guessing under a rock, Fai's personality is just like that: off and on."

We both froze, and then looked over toward the suddenly open doorway to the medical hallway. Ashura-O leaned in casually, and just behind him were some giggling nurses.

Fai blinked some of Kuro-san's blood from his eyes. "How long have you… been there?"

Ashura-O smiled sweetly. "That's irrelevant."

"Hardly irrelevant," Kuro-san snarled, still pissed. He got off of me swiftly, and I sat up, wiping his blood off of me with my sleeves.

"My king," I huffed, unsteadily rising to my feet and bowing to him. "Forgive me for my retched behavior before you. I will not try it again." Kuro-san glared at me, which I only saw from the corner of my eye. I focus wholly on my king.

"Rise, child. You are my equal, and don't you mean by 'I will not try it again' as 'oh, I'll be sure you don't see this next time!'?"

I stared down at the floor.

Kuro-san snickered, swiping blood off of his chin. Ashura-O seemed to notice him finally. "Ah, you are the child from Nihon, named Kurogane, correct? I have waited a long time for your arrival… though I apologize if this child from (where was he born again?) didn't anticipate your arrival as well."

"You never told me," I muttered under my breath, looking at a wall opposite of the two.

"Wait…" Kurogane-san said, lacking his usual growl. He was startled. "How do you know who I am?"

"You are very important to the future of this child, whose name is Fai. Even if you two don't like it, you are already involved in each other's lives. And this is only the beginning," he gestured all around us for emphasis. We stared back at him, both unhappy and untrusting.

"Why the hell did I get transported here for, then? I have to find someone!" Kurogane shouted angrily. "Did you bring me here?"

Ashura-O shook his head. "I did not bring you here. If I had wanted to, I would have had to go after you and collect you personally. No, this was the work of a greater magic than I. Only, I don't know who it was that brought you here."

"Helpful," he muttered, shooting a glance at me. I had looked over to watch Ashura-O speak, but I immediately looked away as Kurogane-san's eyes sought mine. What I had been trying earlier finally became clear to my own eyes, and I was nervous at how he would react if we ended up alone again.

"Okay, then," Ashura-O clapped his hands together, smiling largely. "How about we have some dinner, then? And then we can take a nice little stroll to show Kurogane around the palace. I'm sure the horses and men that saved you two would be gladdened to see you again."

My shoulders slumped. "Fine."

My king nodded. "But first, ladies, will some of you treat any wounds these two dealt each other? I see an obvious broken nose, but there may be more. Have them ready in an hour."

"Yes, my king," they all said in unison, obvious delight in their voices as they bowed.

"Have at it then," the king commanded, turning with a twirl of his cloak and gracefully walking down the hall, back to the main section.

When he was gone, the women looked at each other cheerfully. "Separate or together?" one of them called out energetically.

"Together!" the rest of them squealed, all of about twenty women rushing into the room instantaneously and crowding around Kurogane-san and me.

Both of us exchanged looks of horror at the women, and then our own eyes met in dismay. Only in this sort of situation can two boys that had just ended a fight between each other finally feel at ease with each other again. And backing up, we ended up bumping into the other, with women surrounding us in every space available in the crowded little room. Some even perched on the bed.

Frightened like a child, my hand reached unconsciously behind me and gripped the back of the other boy's shirt. I shivered involuntarily.

With a glance at me, Kurogane-san balled up his fists threateningly at the women.

We wouldn't get out without a fight, would we?

PLEASE READ!

I sincerely hoped that you enjoyed reading this! This is the most fun I've had since starting this fan-fiction, which is within a few weeks, maybe. Please leave a comment in the review box on whether you liked this, hated it, or if you have a suggestion to make it better.

For the few that read this far, thank you for being patient with my crappy intro and any other crap that you might not have enjoyed here I feel that I terribly suck at writing, and truthfully I am only getting started in the writing world, and I have a long way to go.

Have a look at my newest fan-fiction 'Vampire-Go' if you liked what I wrote in this part, because I wrote the beginning of that one at the same time I did this Chapter 6, and honestly it's the best intro I've had thus far.

Thank you for your support! See you at Chapter 7!