Hey! Thanks for reading this far^^ Just thought I'd say something.

After that, Mangetsu worked with Fai almost every day. When he needed a partner she insisted on calling Damien, who complained bitterly, argued constantly and never once asked to be transferred out side of the palace.

After a few months of combat and acrobatics, Mangetsu decided it was time for Fai to learn a weapon.

"Like what?"

"I don't know." She snapped like he'd asked her what her body mass index was. "I'd love to teach you swords-"

"NO."

"What?"

All three, Fai, Mangetsu and the reluctant Damien, were sitting in Mangetsu's main room.

"I don't like swords."

Mangetsu sighed.

"Of course not, I forgot you can't do anything remotely fun."

Fai snorted.

"Oh, I can see those lessons already. Sure they'd be fun for you, but chances are I'd get stabbed at least once."

"He's not nearly aggressive enough for a sword." Damien piped up, chuckling.

"Although, he'd probably be good with fighting fans…" (Fighting fans are traditionally an exclusively female weapon.)

"Shut your face Damien."

Fai laughed inwardly. Mangetsu took every opportunity to tease him, but as soon as anyone else tried it she got protective.

"You know what you'd be good at?" Damien and Fai looked at her.

"Bo staff." She stood and asked Sylvia to send for some other guards and a staff before turning back to Fai.

"Think about it Angel," Angel was her new pet name/insult for Fai born from his still somewhat timid fighting style. Unlike princess, it seemed to be sticking, even with Damien which, for whatever reason, set Fai on edge.

"A staff is blunt so no blood. You're just striking and blocking like it's part of your body. It's very delicate and defensive; it'll be right up your alley."

Sure enough, once he'd picked up some of the basic strikes and blocks, he felt comfortable with it, even good. Mangetsu had him spar with Damien and not only did he survive, he lost by a hair. Mangetsu applauded enthusiastically before twisting her mouth to the side, something familiar to Fai.

"What are you thinking?"

Her head snapped up, as if he'd just woken her up. She grinned.

"Stand back-to-back with me."

"Okay."

He stepped behind her and a circle of guard closed around them.

"You ready?"

"For what?"

He could hear the eye-roll in her voice.

"Guess."

He felt her nod behind him and froze as the guards jumped towards them. Just before the first guard reached him, he heard Mangetsu call out.

"Don't think, just react!"

Fai closed his eyes and stuck out, deflecting his opponent's sword. His eyes went wide, surprised. He pulled his staff back and thrust strait forward, knocking the soldier back. His face lit up and he turned.

"Mang-mang, I did it!"

Just then one of the soldiers placed the flat of his sword against Fai neck. Everyone stopped fighting and Mangetsu turned a glare on him.

"Great job, you're a moron."

Over the next year the lessons continued. Before long Fai could hold his own back-to-back with Mangetsu, although she did do most of the work. After that he got to the point where he could just barely handle two opponents at a time.

The two grew closer and spent almost all their time together. That could get a bit tricky, seeing as half the time he came to see her she was asleep and she had a habit of sending for him at the oddest hours. She didn't see anything strange about it though so he stopped asking.

He had made his peace with Natalia after Mangetsu convinced him to feed her a cupcake. Now he felt comfortable enough to sit up against her, although she still made him nervous when she moved quickly or unexpectedly.

Whenever they had a chance, Fai quizzed Mangetsu on runes, alchemical formulas, letter chains and various herbs. She was awful with all but the last.

Mangetsu was a good healer, but she'd never been taught any of the uses of herbs and plants. Fai on the other hand couldn't heal no matter how hard he tried, but he'd memorized hundreds of herbal remedies and cures. She didn't actually mind working these and every once in a while, she'd hijack the kitchen so they could practice.

On one such occasion, just after Fai's eighth and Mangetsu's tenth birthday, Mangetsu had sent the chef, whose name was Emiel, into the city in search of 'dark plum chocolate'. It was hard to make, obnoxiously expensive and extremely difficult to find. This was mostly due to the fact that she'd made it up. Seresu had so many different cultures and cuisines though, you could say practically anything was a food and it would be difficult to argue. Also, a specific flavor of chocolate was one of her more mundane choices (Do you think you could find…Melon cake, potato flavored candy, smoked lemons, etc.)

They were in the kitchen, working on a salve for burns.

"Okay," Fai started, scooping shaved ice into a bowl, "You have to add honey to the ice so…?"

"The bandages stick." Mangetsu finished, pouring honey into the bowl.

"You add ground marigold to…?"

"Fight infection." Fai dumped a bowl of orange paste into the mixture.

"Aloe to…?"

"Help with scaring."

She expertly sliced down the center of a spike of aloe and let the gel slide into the bowl with a plop.

"And then we-"

"What are you two doing?"

Fai froze and looked up at Emiel, who was standing in the doorway.

Without missing a beat, Mangetsu, who was a flawless liar, responded.

"Hi Emiel! Well, Fai enjoys and admires your cooking so much that he thought he'd give it a try. I thought I'd come watch."

Emiel smiled; once again paying far more attention to Fai even Mangetsu was talking. He felt frozen to the spot. Why did the chef make him so uncomfortable? He-"

"Oww!"

There was a sharp pinch on the side of his arm from Mangetsu. She didn't pinch like a normal person with the tips of her thumb and index finger; oh no, she used the tips of her nails, catching just a little bit of skin and practically going through it.

"Y-yeah. Cooking. I'd love to cook." He rubbed his arm.

"Oh!" Emiel set a bag down on the counter. "I'd be happy to teach you."

"N-no, that's-"

"He'd love that!" Mangetsu cut him off with a beaming smile. Emiel chuckled.

"Let's see what you made."

"Actu-" Mangetsu slapped a hand over his mouth.

The chef dipped his finger into the icy gel and tasted it. His eyebrows went up.

"This is actually very nice, what did you put into it?"

Fai inwardly shuttered, He wasn't looking forward to telling him he'd just eaten marigold, which was a natural laxative. He decided to save that one for last.

"Umm…ice, honey, aloe and-"

"That's it!"

They both stared at Mangetsu who smiled sweetly.

That's all he put in, I watched him. Why don't you have a little more? We've already had a ton."

"Alright." He grabbed a dish and spooned some in.

"Oh, Maitresse Seether? I found your chocolate, it's in the bag."

She made a face.

"How? It's fake…I mean, unreal. It's unreal how good that stuff is."

He nodded slowly.

"Right… Can I do anything else for you two?"

They watched as he took a bite. Fai cringed and Mangetsu bit her lip to keep from grinning.

"No, you've done a lot actually."

In the hallway, Mangetsu fell into the wall, laughing. Fai felt horrible, but her humor was contagious and soon he was, smiling just a little.

"Why did you do that?"

She sniffed and shoved open the door to her room. Sylvia, the only occupant, stood, bowed and went back to her reading, effectively tuning them out.

"Well, he was bothering you, wasn't he?

"How could you tell?"

She laughed.

"You kept backing up. I thought you were gonna end up behind me. Anyway, he creeps me out too, the way he just stares at you. It bothers me."

"Really? Then why exactly was I volunteered for cooking lessons?"

"'Cause it was funny."

"Mang-mang!"

"Oh relax! Think of it this way, if you learned to cook, I could make Sylvia get rid of him. Besides, I'm always gonna be there, I have nothing better to do."

"True."

They sat down.

"I'm telling you Angel, It's a gift. I don't even think I just lie. It's like I just know what people want to hear. Sometimes," She shook her head in amazement at herself, "I have to remind myself that that's not really what's going on, or what happened. I'm gifted."

"Mang-mang, you're confusing 'gift' with 'disorder'. You're a pathological liar."

She stuck her tongue out and he laughed. He couldn't help teasing her.

They were waiting for their math tutor and trying to be quiet in case he came in. Neither was having much luck though and eventually Mangetsu burst out laughing.

"He's gonna have the shits for a week!"

Thanks for reading^^ Make sure you review and tell me what you think. No picture for Emiel yet, sorry.

ありがとう

ShingetsuXMangetsu