Dear lordy it's been forever! X'C
Well, hmn, I should start by saying how sorry I am. I know this chappy will do none of you followers and reviewers justice for such a long wait, but here you are. Just so you know, also: I am willing to take on requests. I'm not too sure where I was going with this story, anyways. Any little tidbit would help.
Also, looking back at my story made me realize several things. For one: what was up with Tomoyo and Fai not knowing each other when I obviously had them connected through dreams the freaking day before? Two: heck, this story isn't so bad thus far. Three: why are Fai and Kuro acting like teenagers when I intentionally made them ten-year-olds?! And four: TOO SOON! They got together frickin' TOO SOON—I mean, I'll admit that it's adorable, but STILL! TWO WEEKS. They haven't known each other two weeks!
I hope you enjoy and forgive me for abandoning you guys. I'll do my best to never do so again.
~ΨΩΨ~
TWO MOONS LATER
"KURO-WAN~! Dinner's ready!" A hearty call pierced the calm woodlands where a certain warrior-in-training was busy meditating on a trunk. His head twitched—an awful habit he had gained whenever the mage would speak to him while he was distracted with something else—like training. He had nearly beheaded several ninjas with that tic. And severely wounded several others as well.
Kurogane's eyes opened slowly, and turned in the direction of Fai's voice. He remained silent.
Not five moments later, his blonde continued his call with: "If you don't hurry, Kuro-Kuro, I'll have Ginryu and Chi eat your portion~!"
"I'm coming, idiot mage!" Kurogane snapped, leaping up and stomping down the trail.
He found the blonde just around the corner, grinning widely outside their personal cabin built specially by the people of Nihon per Tomoyo's request. Fai adored it the moment they came to see it almost two months ago—even though he hadn't been able to see it well with the loss of one of his eyes, he could still feel the emotions put into building it. Kurogane had to listen to the idiot's sobs of joy for hours.
But it wasn't as though Kurogane hadn't felt likewise. Far from it, in fact. He was even more touched than Fai had been, since he actually was slightly more acquainted with the princess than the mage. He was just better at controlling his emotions.
Kurogane walked up to Fai and held his gaze with a half-irritated, half-amused glare. The blonde continued to smile cheerfully, his eye brightening as he grabbed the ninja's hand and began to drag him inside. His hair shifted around his other eye, slightly revealing the sagging skin of his empty eyelid.
"I'll have to go to town soon," Kurogane said as Fai towed him into the kitchen and sat him down in his chair. The small table before him was handcrafted from wood and had a cute baby blue tablecloth that Fai had picked up the last time they had gone into town together. He had cooed at it and rubbed it against his wounded cheek, mewling to Kuro about how it was just so soft and that the ninja had to get it for him.
Kurogane eventually succumbed to that look in the blonde's eye. He always did.
On the bright side, at least the cloth wasn't some obnoxious color. Like pink.
Fai hummed to let Kurogane know that he had heard. "We're running low on sugar and flour," he informed the black-haired ninja. He went over to the counter and retrieved the food he had prepared prior to calling for Kurogane. The pasta in the bowls steamed appealingly.
Kurogane rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Again? Just what have you been making with all of that sugar? Or don't tell me you're eating it all by its lonesome like last month?"
"Hmph," Fai huffed, setting the bowls down on the table and waltzing back to the counter to get the prepared deer meat for the hounds' meals. "I've been making cookies for the neighbor's children who come to play every so often. And I like tea. Silly Kuro-tan, thinking I eat sugar raw."
"You do, though," Kurogane said. He jabbed his noodles with chopsticks offered earlier with the bowl, and plucked out a vegetable. "All the time. It's amazing you can sleep at all, with all of that nasty sweet stuff replacing the blood in your body." He shoved a bite of the noodles in his mouth, and chewed as though it were heaven compared to the very thought of sugar.
It was Fai's turn to roll his eye. He sat down across from the ninja and waved a chopstick in the air. "Now, now, Kuro-tan. It isn't my fault you don't like sweets. Other than me, of course~!"
Kurogane snorted. "Idiot."
Fai giggled. He fumbled with his chopsticks and sloppily ate in silence with Kurogane, every so often stopping to jab at the ninja with words that were returned with a snap or growl. Always the fierce doggy, his Kuro-pup. It made him smile no matter how down he was at the time.
By the time they finished their meals, the sun had gone down and Fai was forced to light a candle so they could see. No need to go bumping and crashing to their room, after all. Fai had learned that the hard way not a week of living in the beautiful cabin.
With a promise from Kurogane that they'd go to the hot springs when they went to town, they stripped their dirty clothes and laid together in their undergarments. The blanket around them was not too thick and not too thin, a nice change for the coming fall, and they were warm in each other's arms. The hounds claimed their usual spots at the foot of the bed.
It was a nice feeling for Fai. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so…secure. And Kurogane made him feel that way. The strong, sure way his arms held him at night, and the silent but ever-present body that stood beside him in the day always made sure that the blonde knew he wasn't alone. It made him feel needed.
In that embrace, Fai could let go of the life he left behind and just relish being in the other's company. He could forget Ashura-O and his home world. He could forget his pain in losing his brother. And most importantly, he could forget the most essential point to their being in that world.
All that mattered was the ninja lying beside him, and the heartbeat thundering soothingly under Fai's ear.
Everything else, no matter how important, could wait.
~ΨΩΨ~
It's short, it's sweet, it gets things rolling again.
SO! I know that I have no right whatsoever to receive any sort of response after what I did to you, but I have some questions for you guys!
1=Should Kuro and Fai be older? If so, what age? (I have a way to do that without too much hassle, just a little changing in one of the chapters. I'll keep them 10-12 in the beginning, though)
2=Do you like their personalities? I know they're OOC, but they came out that way when I started writing about them. Should they change as they mature? How so?
3=What sort of animal should the Mokonas be when they move to the next world?
4=Should there be an extra world or two before they reach Clow Country? Which one(s)?
5=Should Kuro lose his arm, just as Fai already lost his eye? How?
6=Should I bring in the clones?
7=Link the dimensions of the actual TRC characters with the ones I've created, sort of like with Vampire-Go?
8=How can they have fun every once in a while? Birthdays? Holidays? Parties? Quiet times together?
9=Angst, anyone?
10=Crossover with some other book/manga/movie?
It's all for you to decide~! Whatever you choose, I'll do it! Even if it's stupid! (Not too stupid, I hope. Or steamy. I can't write sexy.)
I hope you'll forgive me someday! D'X
Happy 2015!