Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Whew! So, haven't updated this for a very very very long time and I really must apologize for that. This chapter is a bit short because I wanted to update as soon as possible. You can definitely expect the next one soon.
Also, I want to honestly say that I'm not very happy with the previous chapters. My skill level has evolved, so I think that, at some point, I will be making some minimal changes to the first four chapters until I'm happy with them. The storyline itself, obviously, will remain exactly the same, so there'll be no need to re-read anything. I just need to change some things, grammatically, rhetorically, etc. I honestly cringed a bit while rereading this.
There were swirls, a vortex, every shade of pink, blue, purple, red, green.
Traveling between worlds had never been a pleasant experience for Kurogane. The princess had always been mesmerized by the colors; the kid liked to watch her face light up. Fai - Fai had enjoyed the feeling. He'd often said that he'd like to fly, if only once; for real, without any help, just him soaring through the sky.
But Kurogane didn't care about the colors, felt no need to fly. He hated the dizzy, stumbling sensation that always came with inter-world travel. He was a ninja; he needed to be aware of his surroundings, alert at all times.
But he was never alert when landing in a new world, as if he were half-asleep.
When he arrived in Nihon, he was even more detached than usual. Perhaps it was because Yuuko's way of sending him had been a bit rougher than the pork bun's. Perhaps it was just the circumstances. Either way, everything was suddenly all too surreal.
Hands, touching his own. Tiny hands, smooth and caring. Tomoyo.
Voices. What happened? Is it all done? Is your journey over? Different voices; different faces, surrounding him, suffocating him. They didn't know, then. Amaterasu, Souma. Some names he couldn't remember; some he didn't care to. Faces as new to him as this vertigo.
It was all so overwhelming.
Kurogane shoved his way through the group that had gathered around him. He ignored the questions. He pushed away the hands.
"Later," he growled, clutching the three objects, Fai's objects, to his chest.
Here was Shirasaki Castle, nearly exactly how he'd left it. The sun was setting in shades of violet and rose; the cherry blossoms were still in full bloom.
Somehow, his feet found their own way to his chambers.
Slide door open, enter. Slide door closed.
But even alone he found no peace.
He sighed, in neither content nor distress, and looked around for a moment. The room was fairly bare, with a window opposite the door and some shelves opposite the bed. Those shelves were nearly empty; they held some of his mother's belongings, some of his father's; whatever had survived the attack, so long ago.
Kurogane took a deep breath. And another. Simple exercises, the kind he learned as a child, the kind that allowed him to focus his power, both mental and physical. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in.
The bed, piled high with crisp white blankets and pillows, suddenly looked so inviting.
Carefully, as if they might shatter into a millions pieces at the slightest tremor, he set Fai's belongings in the nearest corner. He'd take care of them later, perhaps arrange them on those shelves; but, then again, the thought of Fai's things sitting among those of his long-deceased parents made his ribs feel far too tight, as if his heart and lungs were being constricted.
He collapsed onto the bed - Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out... - and he slept.
Kurogane wasn't much of a dreamer. He hadn't been, not for a long time. When he slept, it was deep and dark. As a young boy, he'd often dreamt of sparring or swimming in the ocean. He'd always liked the ocean; he saw it little.
After that fateful day that took his parents from him, he dreamt no more and supposed he would never dream again. He told himself that it was because he had grown up; he now understood how foolish it was to dream, to hope, to wish. Why not take the initiative and make your own hopes and desires come true? It was just stupid, spending all your time dreaming of what you wish to happen rather than pursuing it and making sure it happens.
That night, Kurogane dreamt.