Shadow: Longer chapter this time, explaining a little of why it took a little longer to update. That, and being sick is bad for happy-happy writing.

Ever After

Chapter VII: The Troublesome Fey

Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, a sweet girl discovered what it was not to be born, but made. Her name was Chii, and she simply blinked her brown eyes open one morning and came to be. She had had no childhood but in many ways was herself a child, created to be innocent, to be sweet and guileless. She had the ears of a white kitten and long, silky gold hair, a need to be held, to be petted, to be loved.

Fai gave her everything. Fai was her world, her beginning and her end. Fai had made Chii, and when Chii thought of that time before she'd first awoken she could think only of sunshine and blue skies, never-ending warmth. Fai had made her with love and Chii had felt it, nuzzling into the boy's chest as soon as she had first stood, feeling his arms around her, the gentle timbre of his voice. Chii loved him, simply and purely, as she'd loved him before she'd came to be.

Chii never asked complicated questions. Fai had created her in the image of what he'd lost, an eternal childhood he was just a few steps out of for forever. She was a beloved pet, a little sister, a charming smile and laughter as they played in-between the trees together, tumbling in the leaves and grass. She clutched to his arm and he conjured up tiny butterflies to make her smile, bright blue insects that fluttered around her delighted head before disappearing back into the breeze. When the seasons changed and the winter came they curled up together before the roaring fire, both breathing soft and sweet as they lay twined together, lost in dreams. They made a pretty sight, and Ashura-ou would often cover them with a blanket when the fire died down, letting them rest, letting them have peace.

Fai took her to see Yuui, the cursed twin fast asleep in the clearing in the forest. Chii thought that Yuui's bed looked very pretty, and went and picked the most perfect wildflowers she could find to lay upon the crystal case. Fai smiled at her when she did that, softly, softly, and Chii cuddled into his side and asked why it was that Yuui had been asleep for so long.

"He's very sick," Fai whispered to her hair, hands gentle and flat against Chii's back.

"And sleeping will make him feel better?" Chii tilted her head, naively assuming Yuui's sickness was very much like the colds she'd experienced before, her small nose having wrinkled rather cutely up each time she'd sneezed.

"No," Fai told her, and his voice was even softer, even sadder, and Chii made a distressed noise, pushing herself closer to her beloved Fai, nuzzling into the crook of the young man's neck, "but it will stop him getting worse."

Chii knew she wasn't 'real' – not the way Fai was, or Ashura-ou was. It didn't matter though, not in her small world. Chii knew sometimes Fai didn't really mean it when he smiled, but she did her best to make him smile anyway, because that meant he was at least a little bit happy. Fai deserved to be happy. Fai deserved to stop hurting. Chii couldn't do everything, couldn't do much- but…still. Chii did what she could. For Fai.

Fai broke the surface of the pool with a gasp, rising from the depths to send a flash-fountain of droplets into the sky, breathing the water-mist from the waterfall into his lungs alongside fresh air. He treaded water for a few seconds afterwards, careful to stay away from the strongest currents, before swimming strongly over to the bank where Kurogane was waiting, reading some book that didn't look like his mangayan for a change. (And the wolf would strongly deny the fact he was 'waiting' as well, making sure Fai didn't drown himself. If Fai passed comment he knew he'd get some response like Kurogane was 'basking in the sun' – even though there were, of course, plenty of other places that the sun shone down on, and Kurogane could easily go and bask there instead.)

"Kuro-chan~," none of Fai's lilting was lost from his exercise, the blond happily folding his arms on the bank of the pool near his fiancé and propping his chin up. This close he could see a little of the book that had Kurogane so absorbed, strange sigils on the page that shifted and changed – "that's one of my magic books." Fai was honestly surprised, especially when Kurogane looked up and met his gaze, refusing to deny it. "Why are you-?"

"I like to be informed." The wolf's eyes were really rather unsettling, fixed and forceful and pushing at Fai insistently without words. A gaze that truly was cutting, slicing a man down to his core, when the man himself would much rather the predator's eyes were occupied by how aesthetically pleasing he looked doused in water from the pool.

Fai looked away, smiling. "The water's lovely, Kuro-pii; why don't you come for a swim? You could do the doggy-paddle!"

Kurogane growled lowly, a quiet rumble of disapproval at the other's elusive nature in the back of his throat. "I'm not swimming."

"Aw," Fai's pout was just as fake as his smile, nothing reaching his eyes. "Kuro-tan doesn't know what he's missing! The water here is good for spiritual and magical energy – it's a side-property from being so close to the entrance to the spirit mountain where a lot of the pure fey live. Going for a swim would make you feel clean, inside and out!"

Kurogane considered the other's words. "…For a human, you know a lot about the fey."

"Yuuko-san knows a lot about the fey too." Fai refused to focus on himself. "The good water here is probably why Yuuko-san built her shop on that island; this pool connects to her lake by the river -"

"You have a fey title too – 'D', isn't it?"

"Kuro-wankoro has such a good memory!" Fai beamed, raising his head so he could clap his hands, still propped on the bank by his elbows. "Did he do special memory training before he went to Yuuko-san's? I bet he was top of his class!"

Kurogane ignored the blond's attempts at misdirecting the conversation. "Why did the fey give one of their highest titles to a human?"

"…Perhaps they felt I deserved it, Kuro-chan." Grudgingly, Fai was forced to admit his fiancé wasn't going to kindly give in like he wanted him to. "You don't really get the option of saying 'no' when a faerie offers you something; it's considered exceedingly bad manners."

"And what did they offer you?"

"Ah," Fai slammed his hands down on the bank suddenly, pushing himself up and out of the water in one smooth move, "I suppose that depends on the faerie we're talking about, doesn't it?" Kurogane slammed shut the book he'd been reading to avoid getting it wet, water flicking off of Fai's skin as the blond stretched up into the air before flopping in a languid, pale sprawl at the shinobi's side, the smile painted on his features decidedly catlike. "Does Kuro-tan know any? They can be a lot of…fun."

Kurogane glared. He'd been attached to an idiot with absolutely no morals, hadn't he? As soon as this year was done he was going back to throttle the damned witch bare-handed, and he'd grab Ginryuu whilst he was there. He altered the subject slightly, heading back to his original drive. "You were raised by faeries, weren't you?"

"By a faerie," Fai stressed the singular, wary of the wolf's generalisation. He was being unusually forthcoming for a change, resting after his swim, properly basking in the heat from the sun overhead.

Kurogane – mostly – ignored him, one eye on the bare leg stretching out beside him. He didn't trust the mage not to be up to some kind of mischief. "I always thought you weren't all there in the head."

"Saaaa," Fai poked him in the side, "Kuro-wanko's being rude again."

Kurogane snapped at the hand used to poke him with his teeth. "Stop poking me and giving me those stupid nicknames!"

Fai quickly pulled the offending limb out of biting distance - and then brought it back again, patting Kurogane on the snout and making the wolf go cross-eyed. "Kuro-pupu should know better than to sit next to me by now then, hm?"

"I was here first!"

"My," Fai breathed out with a laugh, "Kuro-tan is so possessive! Perhaps he should learn to share?"

Kurogane jolted to his – four – feet, stalking away as Fai continued to laugh at him. "I'm going to go kill something. Stay the hell out of my way, idiot mage, or you'll be missing a head."

"But Kuro-pon~!" The blond's mirth was undying. "There's nothing you'd be allowed to kill in this forest!"

Kurogane turned on him. "What about the oni?"

"…Oni?" Fai's laughter trickled away, blue eyes widening as he looked at the wolf in mild confusion. "What oni?"

"The oni that live in this forest!" Kurogane had no patience when the idiot before him stalled.

"Kuro-piiiii," Fai pushed himself up from his sprawl, his expression for once serious as he looked at the other, "there aren't any oni in the forest – there haven't been for over three hundred years."

The wolf frowned at him, claws suddenly digging into the dirt beneath his feet. "…You're lying." His parents had been killed by – they'd come from the forest. Everyone in Nihon said so!

"No." Fai's voice was firm, his eyes for once unwavering, fixed on Kurogane's. "There are no oni in this forest. There haven't been any oni here for over three hundred years." Everyone in the forest knew so – Ashura-ou had had them all killed, flying into a rage when Fai had received a scratch from an encounter with one and ordering his Court to slaughter every oni left under the trees.

Kurogane met the other's solemn expression and, despite himself, believing the mage. There were no oni in the forest; there hadn't been any oni for a long time. As for what had attacked Suwa, then –

Fai rose to his feet when he saw Kurogane sit down, the wolf's expression twisted into a look of thought. A thinking Kurogane, the blond had already learned, boded ill for anyone close enough to be asked questions. "…I'm going to go change."

Kurogane didn't hear him, too lost for that short while in his past. Too many mysteries had been swept under the carpet already – this thing couldn't stay hidden any longer.

The sun bled to a violent death in the sky, crimson clashing with encroaching violet and the scarlet-tipped black of the clouds being pushed in by the late evening breeze. The gusts swept down from the ether, skimming the lake's surface and chasing up a flurry of ripples, twining through the trees in Yuuko's garden and lifting the gossamer-fine strands of the witch's dark hair as she sat on her house's porch, gazing up at the scene. She idly swilled the sake she held for a few seconds before downing it in one, setting the empty container down beside her as she savoured the quick burning taste.

"Yuuko, Yuuko!" The black Mokona bounded around the edge of the porch, leaping into the witch's lap from quite a way away and snuggling down immediately into soft purple folds. Yuuko's kimono was the same colour as the softer evening sky, the quiet brushing the edges of the dying day.

"Mokona," the witch smiled down at the happy creature, "I thought you were with the other Mokona and Watanuki?" That had been where most of the yelling in the house had come from when she'd last been inside.

"Other Mokona and Watanuki were playing 'catch'!" Mokona brightly reported. (Meaning: both Mokona had actually managed to infuriate Watanuki enough – again – to get the boy to chase them around the kitchen, most likely waving either a spoon or a broomstick.)

Yuuko petted the creature in her lap, letting Mokona snuggle up to her hand. "Didn't you want to play as well?"

"Mokona wanted to come see Yuuko!" Mokona piped, looking up very seriously. "Watanuki and other Mokona were together and Yuuko was alone – Mokona didn't think it was very fair! Why was Yuuko alone on the porch? Mokona is Yuuko's drinking buddy!"

"I wanted to come see the sunset." Yuuko was quietly touched by the sentiment, "before it rains."

Mokona still looked solemn. "Yuuko can see the rain coming?"

One pale finger stroked along Mokona's rabbit-like long ears. "It's coming."

The creature pressed closer to her, seeking warmth. "Mokona doesn't want that time to ever come - it'll be sad, and Mokona is unhappy when everyone is sad."

Yuuko petted the little creature, offering what little comfort she could. "The time must come…all things have their beginning, and all things must have their end."

The black Mokona was silent for a few minutes, watching the last of the sun drop away below the horizon. "Mokona…doesn't remember what it was like before Watanuki came; Mokona and the other Mokona were asleep. Was it very quiet, Yuuko? Mokona can only think of quiet when Mokona thinks of sleeping."

Yuuko continued to pet the Mokona in her lap, stroking dark fur as she looked at the sky. Mokona huddled in her kimono, unusually morose. "It was quiet for a very long time."

The rain plipped and dripped as it fell from the clouds above, a steady drumming on the ground as it tinkled and splashed in the pool, Nature's own special music. It was a melodic, soothing sound, steady as the clouds swirling in the sky above, the measured rate with which Fai downed the drink he had in his hand – the third bottle of sake that evening.

"Going to stand there all night, Kuro-wanko?" Fai spoke to the man behind him, practice having taught him not to bother turning around to glance at the figure he could feel standing there. Sitting on the actual window-ledge with the pane pushed open was the only way Fai could see anything in the house at night – looking anywhere else would only show darkness. Kurogane could be a dreadful inconvenience to have around.

"That depends," Fai heard the other's footfalls approaching him, the clink as Kurogane disturbed the still-full bottles Fai had brought to the window with him, cracking one open to gulp some of it down. There were plenty left for the long night ahead; he had to do something to occupy himself, and walking was out of the question due to the inconsiderate weather. "Will you continue to drink yourself to death if I let you be, idiot mage?"

"Kuro-tan has no faith~," the words were gurgling, their tail-end drowned by the last of the alcohol in Fai's hand. He dropped the bottle to the carpet inside the window, glass hitting the floor with a dull thud as he bent to pick up another.

"I'm not the faithless one."

The laughter was shocked out of Fai by the cutting remark, and he lowered the bottle he'd been about to drink from, feeling cold glass press hard through the material of his trousers, smiling into the rain. "…I personify everything Kuro-chan hates the most, don't I?"

Kurogane shifted again, standing directly behind the blond – Fai could feel the other's body heat behind his back, hear Kurogane's breathing over the rain. "And then some." Let no one ever say the shinobi couldn't be blunt. "In my country it is the practice to honour the vows you make, no matter how insincerely they were made."

"How loyal, Kuro-pup – just like a good doggy!" Fai leaned a little more firmly against the window ledge, the edge digging into the crown of his head. "Fai-kitty would've taken you walkies tonight, but kitties hate the rain."

"You went swimming easily enough."

"But ah, Kuro-pon," Fai held up one finger as if imparting some great knowledge, "don't you know getting wetter when wet and soggy when dry are two entirely different things? The latter is a great inconvenience, but the first is no trouble at all!"

There was a measured silence for a few moments. "…You're an idiot."

Fai's smile was back. "So Kuro-tan tells me."

Again, there was more silence. Fai raised his bottle from his lap, cracking it open and taking a drink, feeling Kurogane mimic the motions behind him with his own sake. The rain continued to patter down, dripping along the edges of their house, a quiet static in the background that made the dead conversation between the reluctant couple slightly more acceptable.

"Kuro-sama…"

"Hn?" The slosh of liquid as a bottle was tilted away from a mouth, expectant silence.

"Do you like the rain?" Fai stretched his free hand out of the window; feeling droplets of water hit his skin immediately. "It's such an aggressive, destructive thing – giving life and taking it away in the same shower burst."

Kurogane moved to lean against the wall, giving his fiancé breathing room – Fai heard the quiet sound of the other's back hit the stone. "Rain is a necessary. Whether I like it or not is completely irrelevant."

Fai's lips quirked; he'd thought Kurogane would say something like that. "…There are over a thousand different worlds inside every raindrop – all of them vanish the moment the droplet smashes itself to death on the ground." He brought his hand back to his person, studying the roll of a bead of water down one pale finger thoughtfully, before shaking it away, expression strange. "We're watching the death of endless worlds."

"Are you afraid that that makes you a murderer?" Fai jolted at the question, surprised at Kurogane's sudden keen insight – the changed-wolf wouldn't have had to see his face to realise he'd hit a nerve of some sort. "…Hn." A clink of glass, Kurogane setting his then-empty bottle down with the other discards. "I'm going to bed. Do as you like as usual, idiot mage, but I doubt I'll be hearing from you again until your obnoxious attempts at whistling over breakfast."

Fai didn't reply, remaining frozen in place until he heard the other tread away, the click of the door to the room opening and closing as Kurogane made his way out. Then, and only then, did Fai relax, pressing back into the window ledge, blank gaze following the rain.

Inwardly, he thought Kurogane would probably make a good seer. The wolf's predictions about him certainly seemed to be right most of the time, anyway.

"…Yuuko-san's making you make hishimoshi for the girl's festival."

"Yes," terse sounds of stirring, a bowl being beaten into submission.

"…When it isn't time for the festival for almost another year."

"That's right."

Syaoran watched Watanuki continued to vengefully stir…whatever he was stirring; the white Mokona perched on his brown hair peering curiously over at the muttering black-haired youth. "Does Yuuko-san do this sort of thing very often?"

"Yes!" Watanuki's prompt yell of a reply made Syaoran immediately regret asking the question, the more exuberant of the two teens launching into a long-winded rant against the evil that was Ichihara Yuuko. (The witch had a last name?)

Mokona chose that moment to hop from the brunet's head to his shoulder, imparting an important secret in a stage-whisper directly into Syaoran's ear. "Mokona thinks Watanuki had too much sugar this morning."

"And you can pipe down as well!" Watanuki swung around in Mokona's direction, still very much worked-up, but the little creature's placement on Syaoran's shoulder meant that the brunet himself came under attack, looking down, slightly bewildered, at the wrong end of a gooey spoon that had all but been shoved in front of his innocent nose. "Er -" awkward silence.

Syaoran opted to be the better man – of sorts -, and generously pretended he wasn't being held at spoon-point, carrying on with the conversation they'd been attempting to have before Watanuki's outburst. "…Yuuko-san gave me a job to do tomorrow," it was his second 'quest', in fact, "and she told me to take you with me. That is…if Watanuki-kun wouldn't mind?" Yuuko had strongly suggested Watanuki be taken with him – she'd refused to say why, and only commented that the time Watanuki was gone from the shop Syaoran would make up for -, but Syaoran still couldn't help but feel he was imposing his wish upon the other boy.

Watanuki hastily lowered his spoon and hid it behind his back. "…It's important, isn't it?" His actions were just a shade off of ludicrous, but his strange blue eyes were serious. "This job…it's important to Syaoran-kun, isn't it?" Because Yuuko was 'suggesting' he go along.

Syaoran met his gaze squarely – honestly. "Yes." This job was necessary.

"Then I'll go," Syaoran felt a flush of gratitude at Watanuki's instant response.

"You're sure?" Watanuki had no obligation to help him.

"I'll go." The spoon-waving chef/slave to Yuuko nodded again, resolute.

Syaoran smiled – his expression small, but real, grateful for the other boy's kindness. "Thank you."

Yuui's blue eyes were warm and forgiving, gentle as the fingers he ran through his brother's hair, smoothing out the golden threads fanned out across his lap. He smiled down at Fai and his twin drowsily returned the expression, mind lost in the yellow haze of the forest in summer, soft and lazy and languid. It was peaceful there, a late afternoon lull, the warmth that had existed between them since the womb, the glimmering echo of a stray leaf fluttering down from one of the many trees.

Somewhere there was a bee, its happy buzz a comforting background drone, and Fai smiled a little more at the thought of such an industrial little worker in the middle of paradise, the insect's glowing fur brushing up against the many flowers, continuing the circle of rightness, of wholeness, of life eternal. Yuui's fingers continued to move through his hair, soothing, his twin's lap welcoming to Fai's head. There was something that should've been troubling him, something about this scene, this warmth, this arcadia, but –

'Don't you think it's time to wake up?'

Fai glanced upwards at the sound of his brother's voice, Yuui's smile just as gentle as before. "You don't want me here?" A pang of sorrow struck his heart then, that his other half would push him away.

'I want you to be happy.'

Fai's slight grief eased, and he closed his eyes once more, settling comfortably again. "I'm happy here."

Yuui's fingers had stilled in his hair. 'There are different kinds of happiness.'

Fai's smile dropped away and he sat up, looking at his brother. "…Can't you be mine?"

'Fai…' Fai consented to be held, his head drawn into the crook of Yuui's neck, breathing in the comforting scent of the trees, of old parchment lovingly kept, of the first drifts of falling snow. Yuui – his brother, his twin, his better half. 'Wake up now, please. Dreams are a refuge for the troubled, not their domain.'

So Fai obliged the wishes of his twin, and woke up. To the morning, to the house he shared with the enchanted Kurogane, to find himself not face-down on the couch where he'd fallen asleep the night before, but flat on his back on the floor, the couch some way away, staring up into the face of an exceedingly irate wolf.

"Kuro-wanko," the blond said rather conversationally by means of a greeting, even as his mind scrambled to work out just why it was his placement in the room had changed, "do you know you have awfully bad morning breath? Fai-kitty will see if he can get you some mints or something, because seriously, Kuro-pon, it smells like something just died in here."

The wolf slammed a paw down on his stomach rather vindictively.

"Owww~!" The blow had hurt, but not so much that Fai had to yelp so loudly. "Kuro-tan, that was mean!"

"When I came down this morning you," the wolf growled, unmindful of the sulky pout being aimed his way, "were face-down on the couch, and you weren't breathing."

Fai defended his injured pride – and abdomen. "I usually sleep that way."

"Dead?!" Kurogane removed his paw, stepping back from the mage's person.

"Admittedly, that bit may be a bit new…" Fai propped himself up on his elbows, eyeing the wolf. "Kuro-chi didn't give me mouth-to-mouth did he?"

Kurogane looked dour. "You came around on your own." Thankfully. Irritating as the blond was, Kurogane needed him to break the curse – if it had actually come to resuscitating the idiot…

"Kuro-chan's sure?" Fai looked deliberately doubtful. "For all I know Kuro-myu could secretly be a pervert! Ee," the prince leapt to his feet suddenly, pointing an accusing finger down at his fiancé, "I've been molested by Kuro-pon the pervert!!"

"What?!"

"Pervert, pervert~! Kuro-pi's a pervert~!"

"Why couldn't you have stayed dead?!!"

"There's one!" The sound of feet racing through shallow water.

"Where?" Slightly deeper water, hands flailing about under the surface

"There, right by your feet!"

"I don't see a – agh!" There was a tremendous splash.

The neko musume - the faerie and cat girl - pouted as she saw her two current trading partners take yet another tumble in the pool they were so merrily splashing about in, both boys landing squarely on their behinds in the wet.

"I'm hungry," she made sure to make her complaint audible to the two humans, sitting up from where she'd been sprawled on the grass beside the pool.

"You've had four fish already!" Watanuki scrambled up from where he'd been sitting in the water, soaking wet.

"The deal was for six." The neko musume was a cat, and she wasn't being cheated out of her dinner. "I want six fish, or I shan't tell you anything."

Syaoran looked at her, serious. "You'll get your six fish."

Their faerie companion couldn't do anything but listen to the boy – he had too honest a gaze. Grumbling, she lay back down again. "I should hope so." The kudakitsune, curled up beside her on the bank, nodded in agreement. Dinner was a very important thing.

Watanuki and Syaoran went back to fishing – that is, they went back to scrambling around in the water in the vain attempt at catching a fish with their bare hands. It was tiring, boring work, the whole process made inevitably harder by the fact the kudakitsune, waiting on the bank, would often get just as bored watching, and randomly attack Watanuki with kisses at sporadic intervals. This inevitably made the dark-haired boy flail and dance, kicking up a great deal of water and scaring all of the fish Syaoran had been painstakingly luring closer away.

They were on Syaoran's 'quest', Yuuko having whispered the next item she wanted into the brunet's ear the night before. It belonged to the Zashiki-warashi apparently, the virginal sprite that hardly ever left the spirit mountain. (She was a very shy faerie.) And since the Ame-warashi had sealed off the entrance to the spirit mountain that was just above the waterfall near Fai and Kurogane's home –

"Here's another one." Syaoran tossed the fifth fish they'd managed to catch to the neko musume, the cat-girl snatching it out of the air and gulping it down still-wriggling. "One more to go!!"

They'd made a deal with the faerie, when they'd found her. Six fish – the neko musume was hungry – for the directions on how to get to another entrance to the spirit fountain, and instructions on how to get inside. Finding the Zashiki-warashi after that would be their problem.

"Last one!" It was Watanuki who actually managed to catch the sixth and final fish, holding the wriggling thing up and managing to get slapped in the face by an indignant fin before he passed the doomed lunch across to the eagerly waiting neko musume.

The faerie gulped it down just like she'd done the other five, licking her fingers and her lips before fixing the two human boys before her with a lazy smile. "…The directions then." She pointed to her left with one hand. "If you continue straight on that way, you'll pass by an old house built into a tree on your left. When you see it look to your right – there'll be a massive wall of blackberry thorns. The entrance to the spirit mountain is on the other side of the brambles, a tunnel set into a rock wall. The tunnel's only visible to you if you successfully make your way through the thorn-wall without spilling any blood whatsoever - the plants are hungry there; some kind of weird magic got into their stems long ago and made them go bad. They'll tear apart anyone who attempts to go through and sheds blood on them."

"…Killer plants." Watanuki's token look of horror was almost amusing, especially since the kudakitsune had resumed its loveheart emissions from around the boy's neck.

"Yep~!" The neko-musume looked far too cheerful at the prospect.

"And that's really the nearest entrance to the spirit mountain?" Watanuki was not looking forward to facing killer plants.

"The nearest one humans can get through, mm-hm." The neko-musume nodded, still proverbially bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "The others are a few days hike away."

Syaoran glanced at Watanuki, seeing the other boy's obvious reluctance to tackle homicidal thorns. "Are they protected as well?"

"Oh yes!" Happy nodding from the faerie. "One of them's guarded by a kelpie who puts you to sleep and drowns you in his pond, and the other one's really old and full of traps. Even the fey don't use that entrance."

So they had the choice of death by plants, water-horses, or booby traps. Watanuki was not impressed. "…The fey in the spirit mountain don't really like visitors, do they?"

Syaoran and Watanuki (and the kudakitsune) went on their way, waved after rather cheerily by the neko musume. They walked for a while and eventually spotted the tree-house the faerie had told them about, a hollowed out, dark looking place, the air around it almost sour. It left a bad taste in both boys' mouths and they immediately switched their attention to the wall of blackberry brambles opposite it – an impressive, daunting tangle, thorns long and razor-sharp.

It took two hours to get through the thorns. Syaoran pulled out his sword, hacking away the stems of the plant, politely requesting Watanuki stay firmly back until he'd cleared an adequate enough path for them to traverse without scratching themselves and bleeding. Watanuki kept back as asked, though he spent all the time casting somewhat nervous glances at the abandoned tree-house behind him, disliking the poisonous atmosphere that seemed to seep out of the place. When Syaoran had cleared a path he was up on his feet immediately, Syaoran himself refusing a rest as they pressed on for the tunnel the neko musume had spoken about – Syaoran didn't speak aloud, but the house troubled him with the feeling hanging around it as well.

"This is the way to the spirit mountain?" Watanuki stopped before a rock-face on the other side of the now very shorn brambles. A dark tunnel was set into the face, easily wide enough for two people to enter into side-by-side, stretching off into the unknown.

"Yes." Syaoran looked ahead, "that's what the neko musume said." And faeries didn't lie. They could tell some misleading half-truths, but they didn't lie. Syaoran wasn't sure if it was an innate law of the race or not, but it was something that had never been proven wrong.

They went into the tunnel together, side-by-side. Barely a few paces in and they couldn't see anything at all, only aware of each other's presence by the sound of soft breathing, the occasional bump of hands.

"…Does Syaoran-kun have many more of these missions to do for Yuuko-san?" Watanuki's voice echoed through the black as they kept walking. "Your work for her seems a lot more…specific than mine, so…you have a set contract as a price for your wish?"

"Yes, that's right." Syaoran answered in the direction the other was. "I have one more big job for Yuuko-san after this, and then she said she will grant me my wish."

"Syaoran-kun is very lucky then." The brunet could hear Watanuki drooping. "Yuuko-san still hasn't said when my price will be paid sufficiently enough for her to grant me my wish."

Syaoran pitied the other boy; he really did. "I'm sure your wish will be granted someday soon." There was no reply. "Watanuki-kun?"

Again, no answer.

"Watanuki-kun?!" Syaoran stretched out a hand in the darkness, meeting nothing but air. The other boy had been right beside him. Where had Watanuki gone?

Watanuki was busy staring up at amazingly blue sky, wondering just how it was he'd been whisked out of the tunnel he'd been in and flat onto his back in a field of long grass within half a step. The kudakitsune was still twined around his neck, its little head butting his cheek repeatedly, checking he was alright. (At least, that was what Watanuki thought it was doing.)

"Aieeeeeeeee!" The shriek coming from a little way away made Watanuki bolt into an upright seating position, immediately alert. That had sounded like a child –

Something small, red-purple and vaguely child-sized burst through the long grass on Watanuki's left side, its eyes widening in horror when it saw someone in front of it but unable to stop, tripping over Watanuki's still-laid-out form in a tangle of limbs and tail.

Wait – tail?!

Watanuki had barely a few milliseconds to gawk at the little yukata-wearing fox he had sprawled over him before something else burst out through the long grass, large and dark and looming over them in a sinister miasma. A spirit – and a malicious one at that.

The kudakitsune slid away from Watanuki's person immediately, the boy himself instinctively rolling away and shielding the child-sized fox in his arms as the pipe-fox suddenly transformed into a much larger creature – ears pointed, eyes slitted, and nine tails lashing the ground, absolutely indignant that something would dare to threaten its human. Fire appeared in its mouth, blasted at the sinister spirit that had been chasing the little fox, the searing heat making the spirit recoil, thrashing in pain, fleeing for its life.

The kudakitsune watched the spirit go, making a very much put-upon 'huff' noise before padding back to Watanuki's side, peering over at the other fox in the boy's arms, who was looking up at Watanuki wide-eyed, shyly, just a few steps off of 'adoring'. Rather jealously the kudakitsune transformed back into its smaller form, curling around Watanuki's neck and glaring at the now-larger fox still being cradled in his human's arms.

The glare seemed to bring the little fox back to his senses, and he pulled away from Watanuki, all but trembling in gratitude. "T-thank you so much!"

Watanuki shook his head. "I didn't really do anything -"

"Thank you!" The little fox spirit was having none of Watanuki's protests, paws clasped and eyes looking suspiciously watery. "You – you saved my life!"

Watanuki rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Well -"

"Please come with me!" The spirit caught hold of Watanuki's hand, tugging on it, the fur around his face pinkening slightly in embarrassment. "Please. Come and meet my otou-san."

Watanuki consented to be pulled to his feet, petting the rather envious kudakitsune coiled around his throat (and still glaring). "…Could you at least tell me where I am first, please?" Standing up Watanuki could see the long expanse of the sloping field he stood in, surrounded on all sides by dense trees. Not that Watanuki didn't have his – strong – suspicions as to the location, but a little confirmation would be greatly appreciated.

The little fox beamed at him, glad to be able to repay him a little by answering his question. "The spirit mountain, of course!"

Of course.

Watanuki continued to allow himself to be dragged along.

Syaoran emerged from the tunnel into light, still without Watanuki. He'd checked the whole tunnel – twice – and even went back to the brambles to look for the boy, to no avail. It was as if the black-haired youth had walked straight off the edge of the earth, swallowed up by a magical hole that had opened up beneath his feet and vanished a few seconds later.

Eventually, accepting the other boy was nowhere to be found; Syaoran emerged onto the side of the tunnel that could only be the spirit mountain, taking in the complete change of scenery. The ground sloped upwards – leading to the mountain's peak, Syaoran could only assume -, covered in rolling fields of long grass and dense patches of whispering trees. The air was purer than it had been back in the 'ordinary' forest, the scent of magic a tingling presence in the air.

Syaoran walked for a long while, having no real idea of where he was going. The Zashiki-warashi could be anywhere in this place, and as for Watanuki… (How much would Yuuko charge for a new assistant?)

"I would not recommend continuing on that way if I were you, child," a stranger's voice spoke when Syaoran set foot under a copse of trees. Looking around for its source he spotted a dark, curly-haired woman reclining against a tree, clad in all black. There was the tattoo of a clover just below her collarbone, attentive green eyes fixed on Syaoran's movements. "Unless you are looking for the Faerie Court?"

…The woman was a faerie? There was definitely a presence around her – Syaoran approached her, on his guard. "Could I find the Zashiki-warashi there?"

"There?" The woman before him laughed, a rich sound. "Anywhere but there, child. The Court intrigue is poisonous to one as innocent as her."

"Could you tell me where it is I could find her?" Then, remembering his manners, "please?"

"Since you asked so nicely…" the faerie's head rolled back, her curls tumbling over her pale shoulder as she raised one hand, pointing in the opposite direction to which Syaoran was facing, "if you continue directly that way, you should eventually come to a large lake in the middle of some trees. The virginal sprite likes to play her flute there, away from everyone else. It's quite a walk though, child…"

"Thank you for your aid." The distance didn't matter. Hopefully, the long walk would give him time to bump into Watanuki if Watanuki had somehow ended up elsewhere in this strange place.

Syaoran set off in the direction the faerie had given him, keeping to as straight a path as possible, heading up the slope. It was hard, with the uncertain terrain, but his progress was pretty good – if a little slow. He went through three sets of trees and quite a few fields before he felt a new moisture in the air, hearing the sound of moving water and the lilt of a flute. The melody came to him on the breeze, soothing, and Syaoran smiled slightly –

Only to find himself batted – hard - on the back of the head with a paper fan.

"What do you think you're doing here?!" An irate little…thing was riding a red board in mid-air, glowering at him over his sunglasses, a paper fan held aggressively in hand.

"Yeah!"

"You human, you!"

"Trying to sneak into seeing the Zashiki-warashi, are you?"

"You'd make her cry!"

There were five of them, all scowling down from various points in the air from their boards, decked out in blue and red. None of them looked happy to see Syaoran, the one nearest to him giving him another hearty thwack with his fan again.

Syaoran attempted to defend himself. "I'm not here to make the Zashiki-warashi cry -"

"He'll do worse!" The little thing Syaoran had decided had to be the 'leader' of the tiny mob overrode the brunet's words, ignoring them completely.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"We can't allow that!"

"No, we can't!"

"Get him!"

The five things swooped in at Syaoran from different directions, swallow dives from the air. Syaoran ducked their blows out of instinct, dodging under their boards and taking off at a sprint in the direction the flute-playing was coming from.

The things, realising their prey was heading for their beloved mistress, were immediately up-in-arms.

"AFTER HIM!"

"This is delicious~!" Watanuki was all sparkles as he tucked into the oden the father of the little fox he'd helped before had made. The kudakitsune settled beside Watanuki's bowl nodded its agreement, helping itself to a chunk of tofu.

"Thank you," the father fox kept cooking, topping up Watanuki's bowl. His son peered from around the older fox's yakuta, having resumed his original shyness. "But it's little in way of repayment – you saved my son from the evil spirit that was attacking him. A human helping a fox…how can I ever repay you?"

"It was nothing!" Watanuki flailed, dropping his chopsticks and blushing at the praise. "The kudakitsune did the real work, not me!"

"But it is your guardian, is it not? It would not have stepped in unless you had."

"The praise isn't really necessary." Watanuki looked to the little fox. "I'm just glad he's alright – I know what it's like to be chased by those things."

"Yes…" The elder fox seemed to take in the aura around the human, "you would, wouldn't you?"

The rest of the meal was conducted in relative silence, Watanuki and the kudakitsune eating their fill. When they were done Watanuki insisted on washing up, carrying his bowl and chopsticks over to the nearest sink. "…I don't suppose you know where I could find the Zashiki-warashi?" Finding the faerie would hit two birds with one stone – Syaoran would probably be making his way towards her as well, and they could be united again.

"I do, actually – she usually sits in the middle of a lake not far from here, guarded by the tengu-karasu while she plays her flute." The older fox brought more plates across, helped by his son.

"Could you point me that way?" Watanuki set about drying the bowls he'd already washed. He tried to start washing some more but the older fox stopped him, placing a paw on his hand.

"Please, let me."

"But I -"

"This i-is…for you." The little fox tugged on the end of Watanuki's shirt, stretching up to offer the human a little bag. "Imagawayaki. With red bean paste."

Watanuki smiled again, crouching down to accept the gift. "Thank you very much."

The little fox coloured again, fur darkening as he dropped the bag in Watanuki's hold and went to hide behind his father again.

Watanuki left the home of the foxes a little while later with the kudakitsune firmly attached to him once more, pointed in the direction of the Zashiki-warashi's usual haunt. He found himself under some trees in no time at all, hearing flute music on the wind. Making his way towards the source he quickly happened upon the lake the foxes had told him about, easily catching sight of the rather pretty girl he could see floating in a kneeling position above the water, playing on her instrument.

Hesitantly, he called out to her. "…Hello?"

The playing stopped abruptly, the flute yanked away from the Zashiki-warashi's lips as her blue eyes flared wide and she scrambled to move, only to fall out of mid-air and land in the pool below her with a splash. Watanuki immediately waded in to help her, both of them blushing and stuttering and apologising and absolutely drenched, stumbling a little as their soggy clothes hung heavy around their rather waifish frames.

The Zashiki-warashi kept a cave near the little lake, a rather simple place where she kept a change of clothes for herself, the case for her flute. Watanuki waited outside for her whilst she changed, his own clothes drying so quickly he could scarcely believe he'd just emerged from a large body of water. It had to be an enchantment of some sort –

The Zashiki-warashi came out, dressed in a new kimono, and Watanuki leapt to his feet. "I'm sorry that I startled you."

"Y-you," the virgin sprite wrung her hands together, head bowed low, "you're the witch's apprentice, aren't you? Who lives in the forest?"

"Er -" well, 'apprentice' sounded a lot better than 'slave', "you could call me that, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you." Watanuki extended a hand to the faerie, only to realise that was the hand he was holding the bag the little fox had given him with. On a whim he opened it, offering it to his companion. "Would you like one?"

Shyly, the girl looked up. "You're…offering one…to me?" Watanuki nodded and, just as timidly, the Zashiki-warashi reached in to pluck an imagawayaki from the bag, her whole face going pink with her blush. "Th-thank you."

Watanuki rubbed the back of his head with his hand, a little embarrassed. "It's nothing big – it's only some imagawayaki, which I didn't even make. I'm sorry it's not more -"

"No!" The Zashiki-warashi only turned a darker colour when Watanuki stared at her for her little outburst, clutching the imagawayaki more closely to her chest. "This – this i-is lovely. Thank you." She seemed truly sincere, bowing her head again.

Watanuki continued to stew in his own embarrassment, the feeling only increasing when he realised that the Zashiki-warashi's shoulders were shaking and she was sniffing – "Please don't cry!" Watanuki flailed in the face of crying girls.

The Zashiki-warashi looked up at him, still sniffling, wiping her eyes with one pale finger –

And then Syaoran burst through the trees at their side in a dead sprint, running between the two with five little goblin-things in hot pursuit.

"He's after the Zashiki-warashi!"

"He'll make her cry!"

"The rotten human!"

"Foul thing!"

"Get him!!"

Watanuki stepped back when the five…they had to be the tengu-karasu swooshed past in their fit of righteous fury, waving their paper fans menacingly at the still-sprinting Syaoran.

Surprised, Watanuki stared after the fleeing brunet. "Syaoran-kun!"

"Watanuki-kun?!" Syaoran's call flew back over his shoulder at Watanuki, brown eyes wide and suddenly grateful that he'd found the other boy again. He turned around to face Watanuki and the Zashiki-warashi, ducking down as the tengu-karasu flew over his head, and then took off at a run for his friend and the faerie again.

The tengu-karasu were quick to wheel around once they realised they'd sailed straight over the prey, making quick u-turns in the air as they put on speed, trying to catch hold of the one that was threatening their beloved mistress.

Syaoran dived past Watanuki.

Watanuki felt the kudakitsune slip from around his neck, and transform into its larger self once more, taking up a defensive position.

The Zashiki-warashi darted in front of the two humans, standing before the approaching spirits with her arms outstretched. "Please stop!"

The tengu-karusu attempted to grind to a halt mid-air to avoid hitting the girl, but momentum sent the ones at the back of the group colliding rather painfully with the ones at the front, the whole lot of them shrieking and falling out of the sky to land in a groaning heap on the ground.

Watanuki stared at them, wondering why someone as sweet as the Zashiki-warashi had such stupid spirits following her. Syaoran panted, bent double as he clutched his knees for support and tried to get his breath back. The Zashiki-warashi turned around to look at the brunet, and looked apologetic. The tengu-karasu continued to groan.

Afterwards, they sat and ate the imagawayaki together, enjoying the good food. The Zashiki-warashi kept blushing at Watanuki, Watanuki kept scolding the kudakitsune for attempting to eat the rest of the treats, Syaoran kept edging away from the still-suspicious tengu-karasu and the tengu-karasu continued to glare – although they did appreciate the food.

"You wanted something from me?" The Zashiki-warashi almost seemed to be attempting to hide behind her food as she looked at Syaoran, the story having slipped out over the imagawayaki.

"Yes…" Syaoran nodded, resuming his earnest expression once more. "It's an egg, Yuuko-san said. A very special egg."

"Oh…" the Zashiki-warashi clasped her hands, fireflies suddenly sweeping in from the lake and clustering together in her palms, glowing a beautiful, brilliant blue. When they departed again a smooth egg remained behind, glowing softly. "This is it." She stretched her hands out, offering the egg to Syaoran with a blush. "You may have it."

Syaoran looked at her. "…I haven't paid for it."

"You…you helped my friend find a song for her present to me, didn't you?" The Zashiki-warashi continued to hold the egg out, bowing her head and letting her dark hair hide a little of the flush on her face. "Please take it. I'm sorry I've been such a trouble to you today."

"You haven't -"

"Please take it." If the Zashiki-warashi got any redder she was going to burst into flames.

Syaoran took the egg, feeling the smooth shell in his hands, warm and fragile. "Thank you very much."

"Thank you," Watanuki echoed, smiling brightly at the Zashiki-warashi.

The poor girl flushed all the way down her neck, and buried her head in her hands.

Kurogane waited in the late afternoon for Fai to come back to the house, restraining the urge – somehow – to pace impatiently around the garden. The idiot mage had vanished for a few days again to return to his home – six days this time, almost a whole week. Kurogane didn't know what effect the blond's absence had on his breaking of the wolf's curse, brooding over Fai's stupid ways whilst the idiot was gone.

At least, he supposed, the idiot had told him to his face (or snout) that he was going this time, a little braver than leaving a letter on his pillow. He'd mentioned it over dinner, almost daring Kurogane to try and disagree with him, and Kurogane had brushed it off with his usual eloquence, a dismissive 'tch'.

"Kuro-chaaaaannnn~!" Kurogane heard the idiot before he saw him, and when he saw him, he wished he hadn't. Fai was waving madly, beaming his usual idiotic grin, taking up the distance between them at a run. Kurogane tried to get up from where he'd been sitting but Fai had already accosted him, leaping upon the wolf, looping his arms around the wolf's neck and completely ignoring all immediate attempts on Kurogane's behalf to get away. "Did Kuro-wanko miss me whilst I was gone?"
"Like hell I did!"

Fai snuzzled against the wolf's side, digging pale fingers into dark fur and making the shinobi yelp. "Kuro-pii is always so cute when he's shy!"
"I am not shy!" Kurogane finally wriggled free of the blond menace, rounding on the idiot with the full intention of giving him a verbal tongue-lashing with accompanying teeth –

Only to get a brightly - and badly - wrapped present shoved in his face.
" - The hell?" The wolf managed. Where had that come from?
Fai beamed at him. "I brought you a souvenir!"

"I don't want your souvenir!"

"Kuro-tan should at least open it first!" Fai all but bounced in his seat, clapping his hands together and all but sparkling.

Kurogane growled at him. "My name is Kurogane. Not 'Kuro-pii', not 'Kuro-chan', not 'Kuro-tan' – Kurogane."

"Yes, yes," Fai flapped his hands, brushing the comment off. "Is Kuro-chii going to open his present now?"

"It's Kurogane, damn you!"

"Present, Kuro-wankoro!" Fai put his hand over the other's snout, holding the wolf's mouth shut. "After I went to such great lengths to bring it back for you-!!" He assumed an expression of woe. "Kuro-chan is so cruel!"

This close…Fai smelled clean. It wasn't as if…it didn't smell like he'd just been washed or anything, but that musk that had hung around him the last time he'd come back from visiting his home wasn't present, although a slight bitterness still clung to him. Fai had been with someone – but not with them, a passing brush of arms, a brief kiss to that pale forehead.

Kurogane wriggled free of the other's hold again, reluctantly turning towards the 'souvenir' Fai had brought him. It was a long thing, wrapped up in cloth and string which Fai, seeing he finally had the wolf's attention where he wanted it, unwound, revealing the beautifully-decorated sheath inside.

A sword.

Fai pulled it free from its sheath to show him it – it was a fine piece of work, the metal folded and folded and folded to purity, the colour of moonlight on ice.

"It's a fey blade," the blond said a little unnecessarily from the side, after a few moments of silence. "One of the best to have come out of the workshops in years, leagues above their other work."

"And you're giving it to me." Kurogane looked at the mage, suspicious. It was a beautiful, well-crafted sword – many warriors would kill to possess such a weapon.

Fai nodded. "As…an engagement gift." 'And an apology,' hung in the air unsaid. "It's called Souhi."

"'Blue Ice'," Kurogane translated, and the name seemed a good one to him. "Appropriate…but I can't accept it." He raised one paw at the mage rather dispiritedly. "No hands."

"A warrior must have his blade," Fai insisted. "And you have your hands at night, don't you? You could do your training exercises then, in the space beside the house. The area's already charmed – it would take little to wake up the magic there, and shield you from the sight of others that might attempt to watch."

"…You don't do magic." Kurogane had never seen the mage work any actual magic, anyway.

"I wouldn't need to do any." Fai busied himself with sheathing the sword again, not meeting the shinobi's gaze. "It would just be a case of poking what's already there."

Kurogane still didn't trust him. "And why would you do that?"

Fai laughed at the question, finishing his task and raising his hands to the sky in a lazy stretch. "Kuro-pii is such a grouchy housemate – I thought attacking something cute and fluffy with his shiny new sword might help cheer him up!"

Kurogane studied his companion thoughtfully, for once overlooking the stupid pet name. "What makes you think that?"

Fai's smile was softer as he lowered his hands to his lap again, not looking at the wolf, gaze distant. "Kuro-chan…just seemed like that sort of guy." Kurogane snorted, and looked aside once more.

They sat in the quiet together, until evening began to fall.

The air felt thick and hazy when Watanuki awoke, sitting up from where he'd been lying on his futon for some reason and looking to his side, seeing the sliding door to the porch open. Smoke drifted in, a different sort to the type Yuuko usually brought with her, a bitter ash – cigarettes? It came to him lazily, musingly, tendrils of grey curling around his limbs as he approached the porch, pushing back the door and seeing another boy sitting outside, broad-shouldered, dark-haired. It was he who was smoking, the fireflies of the night fluttering around him, bright in the sky empty of moon and stars.

Watanuki didn't know the boy – didn't know this place either, even though it seemed so familiar. It was Yuuko's shop, and yet it wasn't.

A firefly came to him, and Watanuki smiled at the bright glow as it landed on his finger. "…Is this a dream?"

The stranger spoke. "How can you say this is not reality, and all else a dream?"

Watanuki let the firefly on his finger go, and moved to kneel at the other's boy's side. "You speak like Yuuko-san."

"The forest witch…" Smoke continued to drift up into the air, thoughtful. "The butterfly is a sign of change, slipping from dream to dream. What changes has she wrought for you, I wonder?"

"The ability to teeter on the edge of a nervous breakdown indefinitely," Watanuki promptly replied. When his companion only raised an eyebrow he went on. "She's lazy. She asks for too much. She drinks excessively, eats even more, and makes fun of me constantly." The other youth continued to look at him. "…And somehow, even though she's evil, I'm glad to have met her."

There was a rather dry laugh, and Watanuki looked up to meet the stranger's gaze – it was older than the rest of his appearance, wiser. This was a man, not a boy.

The stranger took another drag of his cigarette, holding it for a few seconds before blowing out another stream of smoke. "…I hope my grandson hasn't been troubling you too much?"

"Your grandson?"

"Shizuka." Serenity, echoed in the peace of the dream, of the starless night, "Doumeki Shizuka."

"Doumeki?!" Watanuki flailed, scrambling away from the stranger before him in shock. "You're that bird's grandfather?!" Watanuki did not want to know how someone's grandchild hatched from an egg. Really, he didn't.

The stranger – Doumeki's grandfather – smiled at him. "I see you know him well."

"I – you – but he -" Watanuki was at a loss. "His name's Shizuka?" Wasn't that a girl's name? Just wait until he confronted that feathery idiot with the fact that he, Watanuki Kimihiro, knew his great and terrible secret-!! Ah, that would teach the idiot to stay away from his darling Himawari!

"Doumeki Shizuka," the stranger confirmed, still smiling rather amusedly.

"Ha-!" was Watanuki's grand response, punching the air –

Only to find himself lying on his back, very much horizontal, with his pillow under his head and his hand sticking up in the air rather oddly. He was back on his futon and, looking to his side, he could see that the sliding door in his room leading to the porch was completely closed. Pushing back his blankets and going to open it Watanuki could see the stars in the night sky outside, the fireflies – and Doumeki's grandfather – absent from both the porch and the garden.

It had been a dream then. A really vivid, surprisingly coherent dream.

Did that mean it wasn't true…?

The sound of metal hitting deadwood was a surprisingly dull sound, but one that Fai had heard a few times in his much, much younger youth. The fey forgeries had tested their blades by driving them through deadwood – each blade gave a different response depending on type, on quality.

Kurogane liked his sword, handled it well. Inside the house Fai could hear the deadly swish of Souhi through the air, imagining the arc of the silver blade in the moonlight, beneath the stars, gripped by the mysterious Kurogane, the not-wolf.

He'd lied that afternoon. It wasn't anything new – he lied quite a lot, always had, especially to Kurogane. The magic around the house was there, true, but it wasn't the sort of magic that could be 'tapped into' to make a shield to hide people from watchful eyes. Fai had created the shield himself, whistled up the barrier low and sweet, under his breath when Kurogane had hopefully been far, far out of hearing –

Magic was magic, but he'd used a different sort of magic creating the barrier, hopefully lowered the damage done. He didn't quite know why he'dsaid the place would be safe for Kurogane, words tumbling from his lips before he'd truly thought about them, but – but –

Kurogane was such a problem, in so many, many ways. He was irritatingly perceptive at times; blunt, rude, uncivilised, unappreciative, and he drank Fai's sake.

Fai wanted to move away from the wall he was pressed against, look out of the nearest window, and see him. See what Kurogane looked like. In general. As he was supposed to be. Practicing with the sword Fai had given him.

Curiosity burned inside of Fai, low in his stomach, high in his heart. Was Kurogane human? A faerie? Handsome? Scary? So many questions caught in his throat, heavy on his tongue every day. Fai wanted to know about the enchanted Kurogane, about the ridiculously perceptive wolf, but he didn't dare to ask, to open up the can of worms. Kurogane had no obligation to tell him anything, anyway.

When Kurogane came in later – it felt like hours later – Fai had lost count of the bottles of alcohol he'd gotten through. He heard the clink as one of Kurogane's feet touched one of the discards on the floor, setting the thing rolling, lazy circles of thought and intoxication.

Kurogane's exasperation was tangible. "Idiot mage -"

"Meow," Fai cut him off with the sound, the word rolling off his tongue in lazy, languid drips of dark amusement, self-satisfaction, hot spatters against the patience of the big scary Kurogane in the big scary dark.

"…What?" The wonderful pause as Kurogane actually questioned his hearing – or perhaps just Fai's sanity.

"Me-ow," his companion enunciated clearly for his benefit, Fai stretching out in his sprawl on the couch, luxuriating in the feeling, "meow."

Souhi thudded when Kurogane dropped it, sheathed, on the ground. "Idiot mage, how much have you had to drink?"

"Mmm, Kuro-wan-wan, that would be telling…" and it would've been counting too, something which Fai hadn't really been doing.

"Stop it with the ridiculous names, already!" Wolf or otherwise, Kurogane had a rather impressive growl. "My name is Kurogane!" The shinobi moved forwards towards the couch, snatching Fai's arm and pulling the bottle the blond held out of his hand.

Fai made a faintly distressed noise – Kurogane could see in the dark? That really wasn't fair. "Kuro-pup doesn't want to play with Fai-kitty? For shame – after Fai-kitty stayed up, too!" Fai moved in the other's grasp, pushing himself up to his feet. "Was Kuro-kun-kun too busy howling at the moon? Meow, Kuro-wanko's so very mean!"

"Stop meowing!" Kurogane's grip tightened on the mage's arm. It was as stupid as it was annoying.

"Meow," Fai said by means of a reply, dark humour still present, "meow, meow, meeeeowwww."

Kurogane couldn't tell whether the idiot was actually drunk or not – sadly, Fai was nearly always this hopeless. "If you 'meow' one more goddamn time -"

Fai stretched up on tip-toes, hand gripping the shirt the other wore as he pressed himself firmly against Kurogane for balance, mouth at the shinobi's ear in a breathless murmur. "Meow."

Kurogane felt the other's smile on his skin, the press of Fai's frame against his, soft hair tickling his cheek. He could smell the sake the other had been drinking too, the forest the other roamed in, the sweetness time had taught Kurogane was the scent of vanilla and sugar from when Fai baked (or just exploded) things in the kitchen. Fa – the idiot.

Kurogane bent down low in the same instant he hoisted his burden up, lifting the ridiculously light mage and setting his skinny frame on one shoulder, ignoring the surprised eep he managed to withdraw from the mage at the sudden shift in position and height.

He carried Fai up to their bedroom – not that Fai had ever slept in it -, time and practice letting him move easily through the dark house. He dumped Fai down on the bed there; revelling in the oof the idiot gave out as he hit the mattress.

"Kuro-tan -"

"Sleep." Kurogane could hear the other shifting, sitting up, and he grabbed hold of one slender shoulder, pushing the mage back down. "Now."

"…I'm still dressed." Fai's voice was a little quieter then, sounding just a shade more sober, unusually still as he lay back under the other's firm hold.

Kurogane – slowly – let the blond go. Fai didn't move. "Then get changed." The shinobi rose from the bed. "And go to sleep."

The blankets shifted, a soft sound as the other hesitantly sat up again. "Kuro-sama -"

Kurogane slammed the door on his way out, cutting short whatever it was the mage had to say, and went downstairs. He only hoped the idiot had left some sake still in the house – he needed some. Badly.

A/N: Oh, the drama of it all. Did some more shifting about of various scenes, swapping them between this chapter and the next. Some of it was to do with story flow, and some of it was to do with the fact that I'm really too blah-y to do them justice right now – fancy words fly straight out of the window when you get ill, really. *pulls blanket over her head*

So much love to SJ this chapter. She was my fifth limb for this chapter, offering me information on Japanese foods and festivals, and just generally being a friendly face whilst I flailed in my little pit of self-pity and woe. That, and she started me on CLAMP's Wish – that series is so cute, it nearly killed me. *finished it pretty quickly*

(A giant cookie to anyone who guesses what the third 'item' is that Syaoran's going to have to go retrieve in the near future.)