Will be out of the country for the next 3 weeks or so - if something happens to me, the next 5 chapters will be posted on Tumblr March 7 onwards. Apologies if replies are late!
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and its characters do not belong to me.
the sands of Harasa
Chapter 5: A Discovery
The first dry wash they came across wasn't inaccessible at all.
A dry wash, Syaoran had explained, was land that water flowed over when it rained in the desert. When the boy cautioned him that the area coming up might be steep, Kurogane had gone slow, expecting to see a sharp drop right in front of them. Instead, all they encountered was a gentle hill leading into flat land. Low shrub covered the landscape, interspersed by river rock of all sizes. The rocks made the drive bumpy; he had to get out of the car to cut another path through the landscape.
By the time they got to the other side of the wash, the suns were high in the sky, and Fai was passing around bottles of water more frequently than before. They had discovered, early on, that keeping the windows completely rolled up wasn't an option at all. It was far more tolerable to endure the moving, dry air from the outside, than try and trap cool air within the car—the roof of the car would heat whatever air they had until it was past toleration.
Kurogane steered the car up the slope. It put a great amount of strain on the car, until Syaoran noticed that they had been driving with two wheels all this time. He shifted a lever on the center console. Immediately, the humming of the engine increased beneath them, and it took far less effort for the car to climb the hill than before.
"Not all cars have this function," the boy was saying. "When we drive with all four wheels, there's greater traction with the ground."
"Then we should've been driving that way from the start." Kurogane frowned.
"It uses more fuel," Syaoran answered. "It's also more difficult to steer unless we're going in a straight line."
He went on to explain the workings of the car in greater detail, but words like "drive train" and "torque" didn't make a lot of sense when Kurogane didn't have a working model of the vehicle to tinker around with.
The landscape was much the same when they rolled out of the dry wash, and it was another stretch of time before they approached the next shallow valley. Sakura fidgeted in the back seat, squirming on occasion, a tiny crease between her brows. Fai had noticed, it seemed, because he was chattering nonstop to her, asking her question after question, complimenting her when it seemed as though she'd run out of words to say.
"Maybe we should all nap," he announced cheerfully.
Kurogane glanced at the pair through the rear view mirror. Were it any other situation, he would have snapped at Fai for lazing around. Right now, however, the princess's discomfort was showing in the firm press of her lips. He'd seen her attempting to soothe her itch discreetly (that was whenever Fai glanced deliberately out of the window), and true to Fai's prediction, her infection seemed only to get worse as the day dragged on.
"But I shouldn't sleep when we're all still traveling," the princess protested, bitten lips pulling into a pout.
"Nonsense," Fai chided gently. He reached over to her, gathered her in his arms. "We should all take turns to rest, don't you think? I'll even let you use my lap as a pillow."
It wasn't as if his bony legs were much good as a cushion, but Kurogane kept his opinions to himself. He watched as Sakura unbuckled her seat belt and yawned. Driving seemed to have that effect on passengers—he'd caught Syaoran nodding off into his seat, only for his head to bump noisily into the window. More often than not, the boy would wake up after, snuffling and looking blearily around.
Right now, Syaoran's chin was tucked into his chest, and he was kept upright by his seat belt. Mokona was curled up in his lap, snoring gently.
"I'll even sing you a song while you fall asleep," Fai said, waiting while the princess squirmed into a comfortable position. She had to have smiled at him, because his eyes were soft when he next looked up at Kurogane. "What about 'Star Light, Star Bright'?"
"I've never heard that one," she answered quietly.
"I'll sing that one, then. First, you have to close your eyes."
Kurogane looked between the wizard and the road he'd carved through the terrain, and something in his chest fluttered when Fai dipped his head and smiled at the princess.
"Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
Fai's voice was soft around the edges when he sang, not unlike the times he'd hummed to Kurogane on those nights in Yama. This was a tune Kurogane had never heard, though. It might have been something from Fai's past.
"Moon shine, stars divine, hearts of gold and tears of wine.
Your thoughts are mine, our hearts aligned, close our fingers as they entwine."
For a long moment, there was silence after Fai stopped singing. It wasn't a long lullaby, by any means, but it was pure and sweet and its melody stayed in Kurogane's ears even through the rumble of the car on rough dirt.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
"Sakura-chan's asleep," Fai said after a while. "She must have been uncomfortable."
Kurogane looked up to meet blue eyes in the mirror. "She's holding up well," he pointed out. "Kid's asleep too. So's the white thing."
The wizard glanced at the boy and smiled. His arm shifted; Kurogane guessed that he was stroking Sakura's hair. "It's good that they're bearing with this awful heat."
"You're the one coping worst," he retorted. Fai was still flushed. If it wasn't so dry here, the wizard would have been drenched in his own sweat a long time ago. "You need more water than you're drinking."
Fai blinked in surprise, amused smile playing on his lips. "I didn't think Kuro-sama was still looking."
"It's your responsibility to take care of yourself, idiot," Kurogane scoffed.
"And I don't need all that much water, really."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"I'm not sure where I should be looking. Do you?" Fai examined his outstretched arms. Kurogane rolled his eyes.
"Tch. Just drink that damn water, damn it. Your mouth is peeling." He huffed, shifted into a better position in his seat. Fai's song still lingered in his mind. There was something about it—its simplicity, and its words. Wishes. Fai wanted things, didn't he. He'd wanted someone to take him away. At least, that had been what he'd blabbed about in Outo. Kurogane wanted to think he was being honest then, but he hadn't known Fai as well as he did now. "Do you believe in wishes?"
Fai frowned. "Where did that come from?"
He shrugged. "You said you wanted someone to take you away."
The wizard blinked rapidly, forehead creasing. "That was... That was something from a long time ago."
"Do you still want to be taken away?" Kurogane watched the other closely, between steering the car around large rocks in their path.
"Does it matter?" Fai glanced off, and back down at the princess, thin lips pressed together. "It doesn't matter what I want."
"Does to me."
The wizard swallowed, licked his lips. "You're a silly man, Kuro-pon."
"Maybe. Where do you want to be taken?"
Fai twitched his shoulders. Something changed on his face then, as if he'd decided to humor Kurogane. The corners of his mouth quirked up. "Where would you take me?"
He hadn't the luxury to consider that question until now. Fai was always on the run, and he hadn't thought about the wizard willingly going anywhere with him. Kurogane remained quiet for a minute, leading them up the slope of the second wash, switching between wheels so the car handled their climb better. When they were on level ground again and the engine noise had died down, he answered. "Home."
He felt embarrassed, after that. It was as good as a confession.
The wizard blinked; his mouth fell open. He looked away. "Forget I asked."
Kurogane expected the twinge in his chest. And he shouldn't be saying this to a liar of a man, but. "You're worth it."
Fai's throat worked; he was blinking hard, and the laugh that emerged from his throat was strangled. "You don't know what you're saying."
"I know very well—"
"Shut up, Kuro-sama. Just shut up." Fai had his head turned entirely away now. He clawed at his seat belt, glanced at the doors, but there was nowhere he could run, not in this car.
Kurogane knew that the wizard would bolt from him the moment they stopped for a break. It was his fault, and it shouldn't make him angry, but it did. He kept messing up where Fai was concerned. "Look, damn it," he said, watching the idiot through the mirror. "I don't care about your past. I don't care if it hurts me."
"I will not hurt you," Fai hissed. His gaze snapped back, charged with angry heat. "I'm not who you think I am."
"I know enough about you," Kurogane shot back. His knuckles were white around the steering wheel. "If you let me—"
"Syaoran-kun," Fai all but shouted, and the boy jerked awake with a huge gasp, whipping his head around to gather his bearings. "Where should we go next?"
Kurogane glared at the nitwit through the mirror; Fai refused to meet his gaze.
Tick, tick, tick, tick.
"Um." Syaoran leaned over to search for his map. It had slipped into the crevice between his seat and the door when he fell asleep. "I'm sorry. Um. Where are we?"
"Past the second wash." Kurogane reached over, jabbing a finger into paper. "About here."
"Oh. Um, let's see." The boy consulted his compass, looking out of the window like it would really help. "We should head for the third wash. Mokona-chan will tell us if it's any closer than that."
"Right." Kurogane scowled, kept on driving. The princess had stirred awake by now; Fai had pulled that unpleasant smile back on his face.
"How are you feeling, Sakura-chan?" the wizard asked, bending over her in concern. "Do you need a break outside the car?"
It was really so he could get out himself. Kurogane's suspicions were affirmed when the princess answered in the negative. "No, Fai-san. I'm fine."
Fai's shoulders fell. "But don't you need to stretch your legs? Breathe some fresh air?"
"Don't worry about me, really. I'm feeling better now." Sakura sat up, swiped her hair out of her face. "Why don't you nap yourself, Fai-san? Or Kurogane-san? Surely you need to rest—you've been driving for hours!"
"I'm fine," he said. Driving was draining and sitting in the same position made him stiff, but he wasn't going to admit to any of that. He was a ninja. He was better than this. "But you can hit the idiot on the head for me."
Sakura frowned at him. Fai's reply came late. "Driving so much makes Kuro-daddy grumpy. He should take a break. Go out and shout at animals or something."
He rolled his eyes. There was no way Fai was chasing him out of the car. Besides, the stabbing pain of cactus spines wasn't going to go away just by stretching his legs. He'd much rather they head on to the next world and be done with this place. "Tch. I can go on for longer."
They ended up staying in the car. When they crested the slope just before the third wash, Kurogane swore.
Past the jagged rock edge was a steep fall, roughly ten feet or so. Large stone boulders waited below, smooth and pale grey, with spiky shrubs jutting up around them. Kurogane scanned both sides of the cliff—it was all a sharp drop stretching both ways into the horizon, nothing sloping he could attempt to drive down from. Beyond that, the other edge of the wash was just as harsh—once they made it inside, they would be hard pressed trying to get out.
"Right or left?" he asked the boy. "Is there a way to get around this?"
"The wash appears to stretch across half the desert. We can't drive all the way around." Syaoran frowned at the map. He studied it for a few moments in the silent car while the turn signal clicked away, finally looking to his right. "We head that way. The wash broadens out to the east. Maybe the slopes will be gentler there."
Kurogane grunted an acknowledgement, backing the car away from the edge to steer them in that direction. It wouldn't help even if he were to carve a way down—there were plenty of boulders at the foot of the cliff, large enough that there was no way the car would be able to drive around them.
His passengers were quiet while he drove. Mokona had maintained that the feather was beyond this wash. Fai pursed his lips, looking sullenly out of the window. Sakura squirmed more, brow furrowed, and Syaoran peered along the wash for a path they could drive down.
When they finally found a slope, it was one that dipped steeply down into a small patch of shrub. Boulders stood around that patch, tall and imposing and something they'd crash into if they didn't stop in time. Kurogane had not thought he'd be glad to be driving over low bushes. On either side of the slope was steep, overhanging rock stretching on for miles. They'd been driving for half an hour; there wasn't much point in trying to search for an alternate path.
"I'm heading us down," he said. "Make sure you have your seat belts on."
It was a bumpy ride anyway. The vehicle tipped forward nauseatingly the moment he steered them off the cliff. The rocky slope yawned ahead of them, far below, and Kurogane stepped hard on the brakes so they wouldn't go into an uncontrolled dive. The car inched forward slowly, tipping sideways on one rock, then another. It felt as if everyone in the car was holding their breath.
Something under a wheel gave out. The car lurched a few feet forward; seat belts jerked. It didn't stop there—they were sliding forward on that momentum, stomachs dropping as Kurogane swerved them past a pointed boulder. There was no way he could prevent the car from stopping. Instead, he stepped on the gas pedal so the wheels turned, and used their momentum to better control the car.
He saw the protruding ledge too late. The car rolled onto that and tilted sharply sideways, so Syaoran was dangling over him, kept from tumbling onto Kurogane by his seat belt. Sakura yelped behind them. The car lurched; Kurogane swore, stamping down hard on the gas pedal. With a great growl, the car surged forward. It landed heavily on its other wheels, bounced once, and they rolled forward again, skidding down the rocky slope, rocks flying past them.
They crashed across low shrub at the bottom, bumping roughly over cacti and low stones alike. Kurogane grit his teeth, slammed his foot onto the brakes.
The car screeched to a stop inches from a boulder. They were hurled forward; the seat belts threw them back into their seats. Pain shot through Kurogane's foot from the lingering cactus spines, and he grimaced. He glanced around the car. "Anyone hurt?"
Syaoran shook his head; so did Sakura. Fai stretched his mouth into a thin smile. "We're all fine, Kuro-pi. Keep driving."
He rolled his eyes, let the car idle while he retrieved his bearings. Dust floated through the open windows. Kurogane backed them a short way up the slope so he could steer to the left, where there was a narrow gap between two boulders. He'd seen a way through the towering rocks when they were on higher ground. The rest of the wash was otherwise flat, with smaller rocks that would not prove as difficult to navigate through. All they had to do was get past the boulders.
Fai began talking to the kids again. He asked about the food in Shara this time, though it was mostly Syaoran who answered. Now that they weren't careening down a hill, Sakura seemed to remember her own discomfort; her eyes were dull, and there were lines around her mouth. She hadn't had a break since they'd fixed the flat tire.
Kurogane was familiar with the inconveniences that came with a woman's monthly bleeding. Tomoyo-hime required more toilet breaks when she bled; she said it helped keep infections and odors at bay. And they hadn't had an attack since this morning, when they'd had to scramble off the hill.
"Don't hold back just because you don't want to cause us trouble," he said over his shoulder. "I'll deal with those worms."
She blinked at him in surprise, gave a watery smile. Fai stared at them both. He opened his mouth, bit his lip. Kurogane waited all of two seconds before driving towards the boulders.
It was a tight squeeze. Wiry shrubs were mowed down in the face of their progress; Kurogane could spare no sympathy for them, princess or no. They'd gone a few feet in before the side view mirrors began scraping against smooth rock. He tucked his mirror against the door frame, bade the kid do the same on his side. The narrower width worked for all of a handful of turns, before they eased between two rock faces that ground against the fenders and the rock guard. Metal squeaked against boulder; the mirrors bent at the base and snapped off, clanging against the doors as they fell into the space just outside the car.
"We should keep those," Fai said. "Mirrors are worth a lot in some places."
"Tch. Could've said that before they broke." Kurogane frowned, looked out of the window. The mirror on his side had slipped through a gap in the boulder and fallen right next to his tire; it would be crushed once they drove through. "We'll just get more on another world."
"But what if we need them here?" the wizard protested. "For signaling, or reading something, or reflecting light somewhere."
"Why don't you get them, then," Kurogane shot back.
"I'm not thin enough to get out of the car, Kuro-pon. In case you haven't looked closely."
He hadn't any idea to how to respond to that. Kurogane turned away, studied the gap between the rock and the car door.
"Mokona can do it!" The white lump hopped onto Kurogane's shoulder. He felt a bit guilty for forgetting about her. Just this once, it seemed that she'd be good for something.
"That's right, Mokona is the only one of us who can," Fai cheered, his chipper tone vastly lighter than moments ago. "We're counting on you!"
"Thank you, Moko-chan," Sakura added, smiling for the first time in a long while.
They watched as she hopped out of the window and disappeared under the car for half a minute. When she emerged, it was from beneath the hood of the car. She bounced between the car and the boulder, perched on Fai's window, rubbing her belly. "Mokona has the two mirrors safely in storage."
"That's good! Thank you!" Fai gave the white thing a hug, handed her over to Sakura, who smiled again.
"Wait." Kurogane stopped the car, looked at the rest of his traveling group. "If the white thing can swallow this car, then we could've just descended the slope without any problems. Why the hell didn't we do that earlier?"
"Because it's too big for Mokona's storage," the white thing answered, ears drooping. "Everything Mokona stores goes into a room in Yuuko's shop, remember? There's things everywhere. If Mokona stores the car, lots of things will be smashed."
The turn signal clicked softly while they thought about it.
"Fine," Kurogane grumbled. All it meant was that they hadn't an easy way out of the wash.
The car squeezed between more boulders yet. In the time it took to ease through most of it, Fai had gone over Mokona's inventory. They hadn't much food there, and most of the fluids stored turned out to be alcohol or soda—not something they could rely on too much in the desert.
They rounded the next corner; Kurogane sighed with relief at the sight of green shrub and open valley. The car could do with far less damage at this point—it was badly scratched, and they had plenty of distance to go yet.
Except the last gap was narrower than he'd expected it to be.
The car hit the last two rocks and stopped, metal scraping against rock. There was no way he'd have them stop here, when they were so close to open land. Kurogane switched them to four-wheel drive, and had the car push its way forward.
Sparks flew; the metal fenders bent and buckled, and rock scraped past their doors, sending showers of sand into the car.
When they finally lurched past the rocks, everyone heaved a sigh. Kurogane had them picking up speed again, driving over uneven terrain that was far more tolerable, now that they'd bumped their heads on the windows and scratched their way between tight rocks. Mokona pointed them to the west again, towards where they'd been heading for before this detour.
A quick visual sweep revealed no slopes within sight. Kurogane wove them between larger rocks, cutting diagonally across the wash so they'd have a greater field of vision. He remembered seeing something resembling a slope on the way here.
They drove for a half hour or so, and by the time they closed in on where they'd initially been, there was still no way out in sight. He frowned. "I thought I saw a slope around here," he muttered.
Syaoran pursed his lips. "It could be a trick of the light, Kurogane-san. Uneven rocks tend to cast misleading shadows."
"I know that." It frustrated him to think he'd been deceived. For one, it messed with his estimates. They were running low on fuel; all they had was one extra tank of gas. Would it be enough to get them to the feather?
Wispy clouds stretched across the skies overhead. Kurogane glanced up, noted that the suns were drawing closer to the horizon. He hadn't realized that the days were shorter in this world; he'd been unconscious for a stretch the previous afternoon. The brakes squealed quietly when he pulled the car to a stop on a patch of empty ground. "We'll take a break here," he said. "No point trying to get up there without resting."
Fai was the first one out of the vehicle. Kurogane watched as the wizard made his excuses and slipped out, heading to the back so none of them could see the expression on his face. Syaoran folded the map and exited next, Mokona riding on his shoulder. When the princess didn't move, Kurogane turned to look at her. She was frowning, lips bitten red.
"Look, you need to pee," he said. "I learned about these things—the bleeding—from my princess. It's going to come back and bite you if you don't go."
Sakura shook her head. "Well, I haven't been drinking all that much," she admitted. "So I don't really need to."
He muttered a curse. "It's the desert, kid. You're just as bad as the idiot if you think you can get away with this."
Green eyes grew wide. "Fai-san— He hasn't been drinking water either?"
"No, he—" Kurogane paused, blinking. Could that be the reason why Fai was drinking less than his share? "That idiot," he breathed, turned to wrench his door open. He paused, gave the princess his most threatening stare. "Look, I can't make it hurt any less. But I don't want it to get worse for you. Just go and pee. I'll be right there if the worms come. Okay?"
He waited until Sakura gave him a reluctant nod, before barreling out of the car.
The wizard was nowhere in sight when he stepped out. Kurogane cursed him beneath his breath, stretched his senses out. If Fai wanted to hide behind some rocks, so be it. But he'd be damned if he didn't make sure the idiot wasn't suffering from some sort of sickness or other.
Kurogane stormed through the low shrub, rounding the set of boulders where Fai had tucked himself into. He didn't bother silencing his footsteps; Fai would have been able to sense his presence regardless. So, he stepped into the narrow space between two tall boulders, picked a path when he came to a fork, and found the wizard tucked into the shadow of a boulder, hooded face turned away.
Quietly, "I thought it's plenty clear that I want to be alone, Kuro-wan."
He stepped in close, sealing in the other's escape routes. He couldn't feel Fai's heat through the simmering air around himself. "This isn't about what you want," he growled. "You haven't been drinking enough. Or eating enough."
Fai chuckled. "We've talked about that."
"Tch. Are you sick?" He turned Fai around by the shoulder, slipped a palm beneath the thick fabric of his hood. Fai's forehead was warm. Then again, the temperatures here made it hard for him to use that as a gauge. Fai jerked his head away.
"I'm fine. Go away."
"I don't believe you. Idiot." He ignored Fai's mirthless huff, lifting the hood to look him in the face. Blue eyes glittered back at him. Fai's pupils weren't dilated, but his lips were red, and his cheeks were flushed.
"You need to stop caring so much—"
"Are you not drinking because it'll hurt to piss? Like the princess?"
Fai stared at him. Blinked several times. He laughed again, brittle and sad and vaguely amused. "You're an idiot, Kuro-rin. No. I don't have an infection."
But he still didn't want to believe the idiot, even though that face was honest. He reached down, found the narrow, bony jut of Fai's hip through his cloak, and followed the familiar dip down. He cupped Fai lightly between the legs, watching his face closely; Fai's nostrils flared.
It could have been a sign of pain or anticipation, but it wasn't enough to indicate either. He stroked a finger along limp flesh, pressing firmly down on it. Fai's throat worked; his tongue darted out to wet his lips, and his breath hitched. He turned away.
There had been no wince of pain, only the flickering of desire on that (cherished) face. Kurogane pulled back, heard the other's low whimper.
Fai had been speaking the truth. Kurogane almost regretted doubting him, but maybe he needed the reminder that Fai didn't lie when he looked like that, open eyes and sad smile. His chest hurt.
"Later," he promised again, heard the slow intake of breath beneath Fai's hood.
When he emerged from the cluster of boulders, the princess was just stepping out of the car. He waited until she'd found some privacy behind a thicket of taller bushes before approaching, stretching his senses out for the worms. None came.
It was strange. The wind picked up slightly, smelling like dust. Puzzled, Kurogane waited until she stood up and caught sight of him, relief in her eyes and a blush on her cheeks. He shrugged, waited for longer, and finally walked away to relieve himself.
When he returned to the car, Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona were gathered at the back where their supplies were, nibbling on some food. Kurogane accepted the roll of flatbread and meat that the princess handed him. "There weren't any worms," she said, forehead crinkled. Even so, she looked better than before; the lines around her mouth had eased. There was an almost-empty bottle of water between herself and Syaoran. "I don't know why they didn't attack."
"Did you sense anything?" Kurogane asked the boy. Syaoran shook his head, chewing on a mouthful of food. "I didn't either."
They stood around for a while, eating, until the princess broke the silence, turning to Kurogane. "Is Fai-san okay?"
He snorted. "Yeah, he is."
Sakura peered around him. "Should I prepare some food for him? He's always the one doing that for us."
Kurogane was about to tell her that the idiot could do that on his own, when he realized that whatever the princess made would have more food in it than Fai fed himself. He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Yeah. Fill one up. He'll be happy if you handed it to him yourself."
She brightened; he watched as she layered meat and fruit so thickly onto the flatbread that she had trouble rolling it up. Syaoran pressed close to hold his hands beneath the roll, to catch any stray bits of food that fell.
Kurogane had walked off and was practicing his kata when Fai finally stepped out from the cluster of boulders. The wizard picked his way over to the kids, bright smile on his face. Kurogane kept his back to them.
"Fai-san! We were worried about you."
"Oh! Well, I had some things to see to." A short laugh. (Kurogane rolled his eyes.)
"Syaoran-kun, Moko-chan and I made this for you. Won't you eat it?"
Silence. "Oh. You didn't really have to, all of you."
"Do you like it? Um, I'm sorry if it's too dry. Here, some water—"
"Thank you, Sakura-chan. This is too much for me, you know."
Disappointedly, "oh."
"No, don't be sorry!" Fai's voice grew a little strained. "I'll finish it all. I promise."
"Really?"
"Mhmm. I really like it. Won't you have more?"
"We've already eaten. Kurogane-san as well."
He felt their stares on his back then, and imagined Fai's annoyance at having been bested. Kurogane grinned. There wasn't anyone to see him from this angle, anyway.
The kids talked with Fai for longer. It had been roughly half an hour since they'd stopped for a break, and more clouds were drifting over the desert, thicker and lower than before. The two suns inched towards the horizon, chased away by a deeper blue on the far edge of the sky. Kurogane sheathed his sword when he was done.
"I thought there's no water in a desert," he said to the kids, who were sitting sideways in their seats, feet dangling past the dusty rock guard. "But it looks like rain."
Syaoran shrugged. "Clouds come and go," he explained. "They don't always rain though."
"But sunsets with clouds are the prettiest. They turn really red right as the sun goes down," Sakura added, her eyes bright with excitement. "I hope these stay for the sunset."
He glanced up at the clouds again. Nihon had plenty of cloudy skies—they clouded over the sunset sometimes, but when they didn't, the entire heavens turned a warm pinkish-orange. He'd seen his fill of red-streaked sunsets. "Let's go. We'll stop for sunset."
It was easy enough to herd the kids into the car. Fai, not so much. He found the wizard tucked behind another rock, painstakingly etching his way through another spell.
Fai looked up from his notebook when Kurogane stopped a few yards away from him. "If it isn't Big Doggy come to bark at me again."
"We're making a move. Come on."
The wizard heaved a sigh and stood, tucked his notebook back into his robes. They were cast in the shadow of the cliff now; the suns were low enough that half the wash was covered in bluish shadow. Fai's hair stirred lightly in the breeze. "Kuro-wan is bossy."
"And you're an idiot." He huffed, turned to walk away. When he sensed Fai trailing behind him, he turned and asked, "why haven't you got a weapon on you?"
The idiot blinked at him. "Why should I?"
"Because then you can fight without using your magic, you idiot. Tch."
"But Kuro-rin is the one who fights. He needs more ninja training."
Kurogane frowned at him. "Don't be stupid. You saw how the worms were yesterday. You were involved."
"And your sword wasn't very good against them, was it?"
"Doesn't mean you can't try."
Fai shrugged, looked away. "You're the grumbling, fighting one. Don't push that responsibility onto me, Kuro-daddy."
He rolled his eyes. "You're blind if you think you aren't responsible for the kids. I've seen the way you try to protect them."
"Only when you fail to."
Kurogane shut his mouth, glared. He was saved from having to answer when they approached the car; the kids were waiting for them inside. Fai flounced into his seat and slammed the door.
He sighed, climbed into the car. At the least, Kurogane hoped to talk to the witch tonight, about a charm for Fai. The idiot seemed to need all the protection he could get.
As it turned out, things tended to fall short of where he'd pegged his hopes.
A/N: If anyone is out of character or anything, please tell me!