This is me filling my "what if the feather is in an adult toy shop" prompt.
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and its characters do not belong to me.
when flight falls short
(Part 3)
They set off soon after breakfast, Fai and Sakura in his powder-blue, stretched-semicircle car, and Kurogane and Syaoran in the bulbous-nosed black racing thing (which rumbled so low when its ignition started that Fai confided it sounded exactly like Kuro-puu's growling. Sakura stifled a giggle; Kurogane cut a suspicious look towards them, and they snickered when he found no basis for accusation, muttering and looking away).
(Even without doing anything, Kurogane could make the princess smile so wide. Fai didn't think the ninja had his own list of secret talents.)
"Music?" he asked, hovered a finger over the radio button.
"Music!" Mokona cheered. The creature bounced between their shoulders. "Singing is something Mokona does best!"
Sakura beamed at him. "Yes, please!"
Drawling country music seeped into every crevice of the car—it had shut down tuned to that particular station—and like before, they hummed along to the songs until they caught on to the catchy choruses, singing noisily with the windows rolled down. It was even better than meowing while (pretending to be) drunk, Fai thought.
A quick look into the rear view mirror showed Kurogane frowning and Syaoran's face lit with adoration. Fai chose not to mention that to the princess, instead goading her on to sing louder as Mokona pointed out the direction they were to head in.
"He don't know what I'm feeling," Sakura warbled, swaying in her seat, enjoyment alight in her eyes. "Darling can't you see I love you so."
The sounds traveled well enough between their vehicles, it seemed, because Syaoran's face was now burning a bright red.
"He don't know what I'm thinking," Fai joined in. "Darling come follow me to paradise."
"I'll soothe your sorrows," the princess sang, Mokona echoing in a canon.
"I'll treat you like the king you're s'posed to be," Fai continued, sharing a grin with her.
It was cheesy, embarrassing, but he figured that since he was pretending to be so many other things, he could pretend to be having fun too. Except that this really was a lot of fun.
"Oi! Shut up and drive!" Kurogane shouted from behind, thumping a big palm on his black-painted door.
"Kuro-rin doesn't know how to have fun!" Fai called back, too drunk on glee to really care. "Let's show them, Sakura-chan!"
She grinned, and they yowled in the car like cats, singing so loud that their throats were hoarse by the time Mokona instructed them to land on the roof level of the multi-story parking lot attached to a tall, glittering, colorful building, with banners all over declaring, "Welcome to The Mall!"
"Idiot," the ninja groused from the car parked beside theirs.
"Wouldn't you like to be in paradise?" Fai shot back at him with an easy smile, relaxed enough that he could meet Kurogane's eyes again. "Or is Kuro-pon so grumpy because he doesn't know what paradise is?"
All he received for an answer was a snort. Fai grinned, locked his car, and wandered over to where Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona had their necks craned up at the towering building before them. Above, other cars flew by, like large bugs in an orchestrated dance.
"The feather is somewhere in the middle," Mokona proclaimed, pointing a stubby paw towards gleaming, reflective glass. "Mokona feels it clearly."
"Let's go, then," Kurogane grumbled. "What're we waiting for?"
The journey into the building wasn't much to speak of; no angry townsfolk came charging at them with pitchforks, no incensed wizard tried to set tornadoes upon them to impede their progress. They made their way along rows of parked cars to the palm-lined boulevard joining the parking lot roof to the mall, where shoppers streamed in and out of a set of huge glass doors.
Inside, brightly-lit storefronts lined the warm yellow walkways; mannequins posed in various tasteful outfits, pictures of giant watches were plastered across glass, and blue-white jewelry glittered from little windows.
"It reminds me of Hanshin Republic," Syaoran mused, eyes wide as he tried to catalog the things he was seeing. "There were malls like this there, but I wonder how different they are—over here, the people must pay a lot of attention to clothing..."
The large, open storefronts gave way to smaller shops and posh cafes the further up they went. Fai glanced around with wonder as they rode black moving stairs from floor to floor (escalators, they were called) up through the center hollow well of the building. There was little magic in this place, yet the people here had the access to technology to create behemoths of buildings and stairs that brought them upwards without any effort on their part. Shoppers flowed in and out of stores, carrying bags and babies and the occasional boxed electrical appliance.
For all the wealthiness the mall seemed to ooze, the maze of shops that were tucked away behind the gleaming facades facing the center well were a little less glamorous. Here, the corridors were a little more narrow, the floor tiles less glossy, and the lighting a cool shade of ice, rather than warm honey. Clothing shops were crammed with racks, unlike the open displays on the first floor, and accessory shops blared a cacophony of prerecorded tones and flashed blues, greens and pinks on repeat through clear crystal figurines.
Mokona led them to what appeared to be a lingerie shop at first glance. It was all the way at the end of a corridor and closed in with glass walls, like those the mall prided itself on down below. This store, however, had mannequins out front, dressed in sheer, lacy underwear that made both Sakura and Syaoran falter and stammer, their faces ablaze.
"Hyuu, what pretty clothes," Fai commented, sweeping his gaze past the display to the shop beyond. Rows of clothes hung from racks, though the feather was not in sight. "It's here, Mokona?"
The furry creature nodded, and hopped from Syaoran's head onto Fai's shoulder. "Mokona thinks it's in this shop."
"No point standing out here," Kurogane said, stepping forward.
Fai followed him into the store, all senses on alert for any threats. The children trailed behind, door swinging shut, and Syaoran adopted a determined look about his face, looking at anything but lacy feminine underwear.
"Welcome," called a lanky, familiar man from behind the cashier's counter, long, grey-brown hair swept back from his face. (Goggles were pushed back on his head; they didn't have to look at his badge to know his name was Shougo.) "Welcome to Primera's Intimates."
"It's certainly a beautiful store," Fai volunteered, when Syaoran seemed too embarrassed to speak, and none of the rest knew what to say. He cast his gaze around—there were more scantily-clad mannequins (these were torso-only) standing on tables laid out with stacks of frilly underpants, and racks full of negligees, bras, corsets, and various other undergarments lined either side of the store. On closer observation, this shop was shallower than its neighbors looked; Fai found his attention drifting to the dark curtain that hung next to the counter—was there another room behind?
"It's behind that wall," Mokona said quietly from her perch on his shoulder. Fai sensed as much.
"I see you're not here for the standard fare." Shougo smirked, almost smug, and sauntered out from behind the counter, heading over to the curtain.
"You'd be right about that," Fai answered, stretching the smile he'd walked in with. "We're here for... something very specific."
Syaoran made to step forward; the shop assistant held a hand up. "Sorry, kid, this room is only for people above eighteen."
Ah.
"Stay here with Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan, Mokona," Fai said quietly to their furred companion. She nodded; he handed her over to the boy, who was still gaping in horror at Shougo. "Kuro-pon and I will go in."
"This better be good," Kurogane muttered. His fingers twitched.
"Why? Is Kuro-daddy afraid of things for big men?" he taunted in return, grinned as he skipped forward to avoid a crimson glower.
Kurogane clicked his tongue; Shougo fiddled with a clasp on the curtain, and pulled it back to reveal a narrow corridor plastered with magazines of half-naked women. Past the low entryway and the shop assistant, the light was a deep, sultry pink.
Fai couldn't say he was surprised. He dipped his head to clear the low, plain lintel, feeling all eyes on his back as he moved further into the room, Kurogane following close behind.
He paused at the threshold of the adults-only room, stared in shock.
A pause later, the ninja muttered an expletive. "What the hell is this?"
What the children couldn't see (and for good reason), was a startling array of the most obscene objects Fai had ever come across. In a corner, there was a wall with shelves full of colorful phallic objects, from glass to metal to colorful rubber. On an adjacent wall hung plastic boxes of replicas of a certain part of the male anatomy, in various sizes and shapes and all possessing fine, veined detail. There were racks of little novelty toys, ropes, handcuffs, thick dark cylinders and fake breasts and boxes that screamed "pleasure" and "hair-raising times", and costumes and erotic books and even leather whips.
Fai swallowed dryly; warmth prickled up his neck. This wasn't exactly a place he wanted to be visiting with Kurogane. Especially not with the larger man standing so close behind him.
"If you're interested in things for couples," Shougo said from the doorway, "They're on your right, just behind the wall."
All the tension from the previous night, that had eased away through the morning, came slamming back between them in full force. He could feel Kurogane's eyes drilling holes through the back of his head, could remember the heavy grip of large fingers in the darkness (no no no) and the lung-clenching horror that he'd done such... unspeakable things with someone he was not supposed to get involved with at all—
Fai jerked himself out of his thoughts, stepped further into the room to better look for Sakura's feather. He'd sensed it right above himself walking into this place. "Well, that's not how it is," he said lightly over his shoulder, turned to glance at the wall that apparently contained things for couples.
There!
It was in a little box on the shelf edging the walkway he'd just stepped out of, stacked with a handful of other boxes that contained glowing feathers of different sizes and colors. They hadn't seen it before because it was right above their heads, and in his momentary excitement, he brought his gaze down to meet Kurogane's.
Fierce red eyes held his across a distance of mere feet, in a room that throbbed with the potential of sex, and Fai felt an answering frisson of heat sizzle down his spine.
He worked his throat, trying to speak, only managing to long seconds after he'd scraped his nerves back together, yanked his stare away from Kurogane (whose face was distinctly pink). It figured that he was unlucky enough to land in this mess. He forced his mouth into a huge grin. Kurogane narrowed his eyes, still simmering with promise.
"If you need any help with our products," Shougo offered with every bit of cunning, "Just say the word, and I'll be right there."
Fai thought he might very much like to kill someone right now.
"The— The feather," he croaked, and repeated himself with his voice raised. "I don't see a price on this feather here," he tried to chirp, though the words came out sounding strangely mangled. "Do you know how much it costs, by any chance?"
The sales assistant pushed his way forward, through the narrow passageway and past the ninja, coming to stand beside Fai. "Ah, those." He paused here, angled a sly smile at Fai. "Those come with a minimum purchase in this restricted section."
He had expected that the feather wouldn't come easy, so Fai managed a smile at him, pointing towards the only one they had their eye on. Kurogane stepped away from the wall and turned to follow his gaze. "We'd like the white one, the one with the dark red markings."
Shougo gave a low whistle. "That one. Our most expensive. Minimum purchase is six thousand minbi, and then it comes free."
Fai hid his wince (the cars had cost five thousand in total—they would probably sell for less in the city) and smiled anyway. "Will five thousand be enough?"
"No." The shop assistant gave him a flat look. "Six grand, or you can have the blue feather with the white markings for five."
"Well." Fai exchanged a look with Kurogane (this time it was more business than personal) and decided, "Could you hold the white feather for us while we get our funds together?"
Shougo pursed his lips in consideration, rubbed his chin. "I'm not the boss of this place," he began slowly, looking between Kurogane and Fai, "But since I like you guys, I'll hold it for you for two weeks. I'll need a deposit though. Just to make sure that you're coming back."
Fai brightened. "I'll consult with the children on that. We should be responsible parents, you know."
Both Kurogane and the shop assistant snorted; Fai hobbled past them (being very careful not to touch the ninja in the process).
A quick discussion later, they left two pieces of jewelry and a lump of ore at the shop, and walked away with a written acknowledgement of the feather reservation.
"I hope they're trustworthy," Kurogane groused as they headed back towards the escalators. He had returned to glancing occasionally at Fai, and Fai stubbornly refused to think about what that meant.
"We met him in Hanshin Republic," Syaoran pointed out, "He was a good man there."
"He's selling fucking se— fucking things here," the ninja bristled; another surge of red threatened to douse his face. Both kids flushed.
"Don't talk about things like that, Kuro-daddy," Fai lilted, standing a step away from the larger man on the escalator. Sakura was on the same level as him and peering down the hollow well of the mall, both hands clutching at the shiny black railing, that moved at the same speed as they did. "Careful now, Sakura-chan!"
"I won't fall," she promised with a bright smile.
"I'm not a daddy!" Kurogane snapped at the same time, glaring over his shoulder.
"But you're old enough to look at naughty things," Fai countered with a sharp grin. He regretted it immediately, because it reminded him of other things that were far too adult(don't go there), and that was something he didn't need to think about. Syaoran made a little strangled sound.
Kurogane's thoughts could have drifted the same direction, because he was sputtering and ruddy to his hairline. "I'm not some—"
"Anyway," Fai interrupted, before things could get any more awkward between the four of them, "We'll need to find work. It's very unlikely that we'll be able to earn the full sum in two weeks, so we'll see how much the cars sell for here, and earn the remainder."
"I want to be a mechanic!" Sakura said suddenly, looking up. Her eyes were dancing with excitement, and she was grinning wide. "If I learn more about cars, then we won't run into the same trouble again!"
"But—" Syaoran protested, "Sakura-hime, you're a princess!"
"Doesn't that mean I can do what I want?" she asked sweetly, clasped her hands before her chest. "I want to help contribute to our journey."
"But being a mechanic isn't an easy job," the boy pointed out, his young brow creased in worry. "Please reconsider, princess!"
"Let the princess do what she wants," Kurogane said, with no room in his tone for argument. "If you're so concerned about her, work the same job."
Syaoran's hazel eyes grew wide with understanding, and Fai smiled to see how Kurogane's logic filtered so easily through the boy. "Yes, Kurogane-san."
"What about you?" Kurogane turned to look at Fai from the corner of his vision.
Fai shrugged, pulled the usual inane grin onto his face and waved his hand about. "Oh, I don't know, I'll look for something that isn't too difficult, you know. Maybe work at a cafe again."
The ninja huffed in irritation, turned away. "Fine, whatever."
He continued to smile, patted Kurogane lightly on the shoulder. "Big Doggy is going to do his best for us, isn't he?" he asked, saccharine sweet. "He works so hard to feed his family!"
Before the other man could growl, Sakura gave a little gasp, pointing to the space far below. "Look!"
There came the sound of water, fat dollops splashing on a hard surface in quick succession. A pause, then the splashes beat again in a different rhythm. Curiosity ate away at Fai's reluctance to look down (because this place reminded him too much of a hollow tower), and when even Kurogane looked over the moving railings, he curled his fingers warily around them, peering over the edge.
Neat square tables and chairs surrounded a round, black-tiled fountain several stories down on the ground floor, crowded with people and plates and food. Colored lights shone along the inner edge of the fountain, and water ebbed towards them, seconds before large shimmering projectiles of the same water shot upwards from holes in the flat center platform to different heights, hovered in the air for a full second, and plummeted back down to create a cadence of sharp pattering that echoed through the escalator well.
What caught Fai's attention, though, was a white grand piano off to the side of the fountain, that sat still and empty and quiet. A piano like that had stood silent in the Cat's Eye Cafe in Outo—he had not been able to resist putting down money for it, only to regret the purchase when it had called to him so. (But Sakura and Syaoran and Kurogane had always been around, and he hadn't wanted to disclose his affinity for music, not when it was related so closely to his magic.)
If he could play the piano again— No.
Fai pulled away from the escalator railing, turning back to watch his companions as they admired the peace in this world. It was nice when they didn't have to fight for the feather. He wanted to savor this.
Two hours later, they had arrived at the highest offer on both cars—four thousand minbi. The sum was lower than they'd anticipated; it meant that all of them had to work, starting as soon as they possibly could. (Failing that, they could always resort to stealing. Kurogane mentioned it briefly; Sakura had looked crestfallen at the suggestion, and Fai firmly told her that they wouldn't do such a thing.)
(Kurogane had looked at him and all but called him on his lies.)
As it was, the children had found themselves jobs at a vehicle repair shop, like Sakura wanted. It seemed that Sakura's lucky streak came in all forms—in this world, they had encountered Touya and Yukito working in one of the first workshops they scouted. There had only been an opening for one assistant, though Yukito had convinced Touya that they were in desperate need of two helpers. (Or so Syaoran recounted.)
"So I'll see you here in a few hours, Kuro-tan!" Fai called cheerfully, waving from his window. "Don't get too lost without me!"
"As if I'll get lost," the larger man snarled. He started his car engine (which growled in all resemblance to a dog), raised the vehicle a few feet into the air.
Fai cast a last look at Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona—the three were being shown around the cluttered repair shop by a smiling Yukito—and turned the key in his ignition. They would be safe with Touya and Yukito. Of that, he was sure.
Kurogane was still hovering a few feet above him. Fai blinked in surprise, guided his car up to the ninja's level. "Afraid you'll miss me?" he angled slyly, fluttered his lashes.
The other man choked. "Hell no! I'm just making sure you aren't slacking off, is all."
"Me?" He pointed innocently at himself, widened his eyes in the most innocent of expressions. "Come on, Kuro-puu, you know me."
"I know enough to make sure you find a job," Kurogane groused, brows drawn low on his forehead. "Else you'll just sit around while I work my ass off."
Fai laughed. "Why would I do that?"
Before Kurogane could answer, he stepped on the gas pedal and sped off.
In all honesty, he hadn't meant for it to turn into a game of chase. But as he began to increase his speed, and as Kurogane doggedly followed him past sharp turns and over billboards, all the while avoiding collisions with other flying cars and somehow still managing to keep up, Fai realized that the man was a natural at manipulating his vehicle. (It didn't make him any less attractive.)
So he steered them further upwards, to the tops of buildings where there were fewer cars zooming around, and made faces at the man he would one day need to see as his enemy.
Kurogane continued his pursuit.
He was enjoying it, in fact, by the smirk Fai caught in his rear view mirror. It was a confident smirk, almost lazy, one that made his stomach squeeze tight, and he felt the inexplicable urge to preen, if just a little.
He did a vertical loop in the air; Kurogane followed. He circled the gleaming, rod-like spires of skyscrapers, drawing so close he could touch smooth metal, and laughed when the ninja did the same. He swooped, plunged down in between buildings, Kurogane hot on his tail—
Sirens wailed, flashing red and yellow; he exchanged a look with the other man through his mirror. They'd had enough experience with authority to know when they'd crossed a line mucking around. And this was one of those times.
Kurogane jerked his chin due west; Fai grinned, and they split.
Fai's experience with dodging authority had largely been in the heavily-guarded palace of Celes—the basics of slipping away, though, still remained with him. He turned away from the cars with their blinking red-yellow lights, dipped into streams of traffic and edged into quieter alleys, slowly heading west the entire time. Briefly, he wondered how Kurogane was faring. (Judging from their earlier game, probably just as well as he was.)
It couldn't be more than a quarter hour later when he dropped below the western edge of the island, full of good cheer.
Kurogane descended a few minutes later in his squashed-nosed car. As he drew closer, Fai could see the triumph in his features, his mouth pulled in a shark-like, open-lipped grin that bared his teeth.
"You're late," Fai sang, slinging an arm over the window sill of his vehicle. The wind whispered through his hair, cooling adrenaline-pumped sweat. "I didn't think Kuro-chan had that much trouble dodging those... police?"
"You started it, idiot," the other man scoffed, driving right up to Fai's car so there was barely a foot between their doors, cars pointed in opposite directions. "They had more men on my tail than yours."
"That's because you're such a sight—not too many of the cars here are black for some reason," he piped up helpfully. "Kuro-pipi needs to realize that ninja-black is not the best color scheme in all the worlds."
Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You look stupid sitting in that tiny car."
"So do you." Fai grinned. With Kurogane's broad shoulders and height, he looked all but crammed into the driver's seat—yet he had driven so smoothly without any hint of discomfort. Steering any means of transport required a connection with the vehicle, a sense of being one with it, and thinking of Kurogane with such prowess—
"Hey," the ninja muttered. Fai hadn't realized that they'd fallen silent. "You drive well."
That Kurogane was dispensing compliments probably meant the world was ending—but all Fai could do was stare (and remember Cinnamon suits you) while the other man eased his car over so they bumped sides with a metallic grind, strained at his seat belt and leaned in close, grabbing the collar of Fai's button-up shirt before yanking him a little ways out of the window.
Fai wasn't thinking, not at all, when their lips mashed together, until there was a sweep of warm tongue against his lips. He snuffled, scrambled backwards with a yelp, and Kurogane retreated just as hurriedly, easing his car away. He snapped his seat belt back with an audible click.
"I'm going to go find a job," Kurogane muttered, a light flush crawling up his cheeks. They were most definitely not looking at each other. "See you in a few hours."
He drove off.
Fai sat in his car for a few minutes, stunned and uneasy. What in all hell did Kurogane mean by that? Surely he wasn't feeling romantic (grumpy, growling ninja did not do that). And surely kissing someone meant nothing (Fai didn't want to consider the possibility that it did). Right?
In the end, he convinced himself that Kurogane was playing some sort of cruel joke on him (but Fai was the cruel one, not Kurogane, and Kurogane did not joke). Either that, or Kurogane thought they could somehow have sex in midair. (He knew the man wasn't stupid, but—) Yes, that was it.
Fai shook his head to clear his thoughts, and pulled his car back up to the surface of the flying island.
He drifted around the city, spotting the repair shop that Sakura and Syaoran were at (and most certainly not looking out for a black car with red stripes). Restaurant work would be something he could do—maybe even baking, or waiting on tables. Maybe he could paint, or draw...
He found himself meandering back to the mall. There were plenty of food outlets in it, he thought, surely there would be a place with an opening. He needed the cash to pay for fuel (thoughts of his magic lingering about still made his gut clench), and he needed to help Sakura with her feather.
Once in the mall, though, Fai headed down instead of up. The fountain below had stopped splashing. He held on to the escalator railing and looked over—and the piano caught his eye, tugged at his stomach. Fai swallowed; his fingers twitched. The piano was still unoccupied, and it wasn't really cordoned off... If it wasn't barricaded from the public, then surely he could play it? Just for a while.
(It really helped to act a fool.)
Feeling somewhat better about his plans, Fai stepped lightly off the last of the escalators, tugging on his shirt to make himself look presentable. He checked his appearance once in reflective glass, then sauntered up to the piano as if he had every right to be there, his heart thudding skittishly the entire time.
No one protested; he lifted the heavy, polished lid, lips twitching when he found the strings in decent condition. No one said anything, either, when he propped the lid open fully with a metal stick, painted white to match the rest of the piano. His pulse quickened with a sweet mix of nerves and anticipation; he sat carefully on the stool, lifted the keyboard cover, and touched his fingers to smooth ivory keys.
He didn't want to start off with his favorite song, no. If someone came up to him right now, he would rather be interrupted in the midst of a song to warm up. (But the music was swelling in his heart, pushing loudly in the tips of his fingers, and he couldn't deny it any longer.)
The first few keys were lush purrs in his ears; a shiver traced his spine at each strike of hammer upon string, sending vibrations through his nerves. No one had come up to him, so he picked his pace up, very carefully holding his magic back so it didn't suffuse the trembling air.
Fai played one song, then another, relaxing into the music even as he kept his senses out for hostile magics and presences.
He wished he could play this for Sakura—she would be so delighted to hear this. (He almost wished he could play for Kurogane, but what did ninja know about music?)
At some point, his eyes slipped shut, and he saw green meadows and flowing rivers and twittering birds in his mind. He saw Sakura's laugh, and Syaoran's hesitant delight when he looked at his princess. He saw Mokona gulping down an entire bottle of wine, and Kurogane with his dangerous smirk, that sent a thrill through his veins by memory alone.
Someone tapped on his shoulder, coughed politely.
Fai froze mid-song, turned around, huge grin pasted on his face.
A short, tubby man stood in a dark, well-fitted suit with a crisp white shirt and ochre cummerbund, watching him with beady black eyes. "Good afternoon, Mr...?" he trailed off, extended his olive-skinned hand.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, forgive me," Fai gushed smoothly, schooling his countenance into one of abject contrition. He jumped up from the piano stool, clasped the other's hand. "I have forgotten my manners—my name is Fai. Fai Flowright."
"I do not recognize you," said the man, whose short dark hair and curled mustache Fai found familiar—he was the waiter who had told them about Emeraude's ghost in Jade Country. He had a heavy accent here. "I am Taran, owner of this food court."
Taran waved a hand towards the eateries surrounding the fountain. Fai hid a grimace. The piano probably belonged to him, then. But perhaps this was a chance to land a job amongst the wait staff?
"Mr Taran," he enthused, stepping away from the piano. "My sincere apologies about the piano—I had forgotten myself..."
"Actually," the other man interrupted, waving dismissively, "I enjoyed your playing. Right now, I only have a pianist for the dinner crowd. Should you be interested in playing for the rest of the day, I have a position open."
Fai tried not to gape. On one hand, it required constant concentration to separate his magic from the music he played (it had always been a combination of both before). On the other hand... he loved the piano, and this was the one chance he had to play it without an audience who recognized him.
And then there was something about the food court owner that had the hair on his nape prickling.
As long as he didn't know anything about Fai, though...
"I'll take it," Fai said brightly. He had come closer to danger on far more occasions. "When do I start?"
A/N: Kuro-tan does things he shouldn't, and Fai hides even more. (I named that Jade waiter Taran as a bit of an irony - it's a Sikh name meaning "Freedom from bondage".)
I'm currently having an "everything I write sucks" crisis and it's severely limiting my productivity. I barely wrote at all this week; this chapter was written way before this week. :( This is very annoying because I can't just quit writing in the middle of something. If you have suggestions for improvement, please do share them!