Chapter 15

(A.N: You people are spoiled wrotten. I have a question for my readers! Where are you guys from? Canada? America? I'm interested to know. Now, I'm not asking for exact cities, or anything…But if you're Canadian, which province? And if you're American, which state? PM me, if you're uncomfortable with leaving it in the reviews. I'm going to a con this Saturday…WOO! TT means time passing, or scene changes. R&R? I love you guys for it).

TT

"You're going, right?"

Fuuma's questioned had erupted out of no where. They were sitting in a fast food restaurant, along with Kamui, and Sakura. Kurogane and Syaoran had stayed behind to collect the trays – Fuuma had offered to go with them, but Kurogane had determined that he'd be more of a pain than he would be an assitance.

The male hadn't argued.

"Going? Going where?" The blonde felt as though he was missing something big.

"To the summer house. Kurogane said he was taking the whole gang…Hasn't he mentioned any of this to you yet?"

"…Summer house?" Fai turned his questioning eyes to Sakura – his usual source of information.

"It's this big cottage…Built right in near the mountains. There's some cliffs nearby…And our boyfriends get a little reckless." She rolled her eyes.

"I haven't heard about this until just now…"

"Heard about what?" Kurogane's voice brought the blonde out of his thoughts, as the raven set a couple of trays down on the table.

"I was asking if Fai was coming to the summer cottage," Fuuma answered for the male, as he helped them to sort out whose meal was whose.

"Why wouldn't he be coming? I said the whole gang didn't I? He's a part of that." The raven picked up his drink.

"…I haven't heard about this until just now, though…"

"I thought I mentioned it already," Kurogane looked thoughtful for a moment,

"I'm so used to you reading my mind."

"He reads minds?" Fuuma's voice cut in, and there was a teasing edge to his words. Fai didn't answer as he picked up his cup and took a drink through the straw.

"He might as well. Knows what I'm thinking half the time," the ravens voice sounded once again.

"I didn't know anything about this though…When were we supposed to go?"

TT

It was Sunday. Fai had had only a couple of days to pack up his bags, before they were to head off. He'd made sure to pack his essentials, and they'd gone out to collect Sakura, Syaoran, and Tomoyo. The others were driving themselves in.

Fai was sitting up front, with his boyfriend. The three they'd rounded up to bring with them, were in the back, with Sakura situated in the middle.

The scenery was spectacular. It got more beautiful as they went along, and the blonde grew more and more anxious as the time passed, and as the scenery flew by.

However, as the large cottage appeared in the distance, he felt his stomach knot. There was a sign before them, telling them that they weren't allowed to trespass.

But Kurogane continued to drive.

"…Are we allowed out here? I mean…The sign…"

Tomoyo giggled from the backseat,

"You don't tell him anything, do you?" Her question was clearly aimed at her cousin. Fai was intrigued by what exactly it was that he was missing, so he turned himself around in his seat.

"Tell me what?"

Tomoyo grinned as she set her attention on the male,

"We're technically not trespassing – which is why Kurogane ignored the sign back there."

"…I don't follow…" He was genuinely confused. Technically? What did she mean?

"…Kurogane owns the land."

For a few seconds, Fai couldn't even breathe. He didn't blink, he didn't move. He just sat there, awestruck.

Tomoyo continued, hesitantly,

"He owns this whole bit of land…The cottage…The lake…He owns all of that. It's his property – left to him in his parents will…"

As she spoke, Fai found his body once more, and began breathing again. He turned himself back around, to look out the windshield. This place was too beautiful for words.

The cottage itself was huge – but that wasn't new. It was built right alongside the lake. The beach sand shone in the afternoon sun, and the water sparkled in a way that was blinding if you tried to focus on it too closely. It was the clearest water he'd ever seen.

"…You own this…?" It was bewildering.

"…Yeah." The raven pulled up into a place that he deemed worthy of parking in, and turned off the ignition.

"Hey Kurogane, are we going to go swimming?" Syaoran questioned, unbuckling his seatbelt. The male in question got out of the car and went to the side door, to haul peoples things out of the car,

"Of course we're going to go swimming. You think we're just here because of the view?" He was clearly teasing the brunette about the second part.

"It's one hell of a view," Sakura spoke up, still looking out the window. She hadn't been able to come here yet – though Syaoran had showed her pictures, and told her about what they did to pass the time.

Apparently Fai had been left in the dark completely though. As they gathered their things, she watched his face. He looked so much like a little kid at Christmas. He was excited, and expecting the unexpected.

Oh, he had no idea.

TT

They were all here. Literally.

Fai couldn't believe that his boyfriend had enough space for all of these people to sleep. Or enough food in those cupboards to fill the stomachs of all of their friends – but he did. Somehow.

Syaoran, Sakura, Chi, Hideki, Tomoyo, Fuuma, Kamui, Seishiro, Subaru, Shogo, Primera, Watanuki, Doumeki, Kurogane, and Fai himself. The whole gang.

Everyone had changed into their swimming suits already – some more quickly than others. But they were all meeting outside anyway.

"Be careful, alright?" Sakura looked slightly anxious, but Syaoran reassured her that they would all be fine. Watanuki had already told Doumeki that he was free to do as he pleased when it came to the outdoor activities. Fuuma and Kurogane were already heading for the base of the cliff. By the time they reached it, Fai came back outside – wearing his swimming boxers, and a t-shirt. He wasn't completely used to being shirtless in front of so many people.

"Fai? What's with the shirt?" Sakura questioned from under an umbrella. There were a few of the umbrella stands propped open already. The blonde smiled, looking sheepish. She didn't question him any further.

Fai noticed rather quickly that his boyfriend was missing.

"Look up," Sakura told him easily, stepping past him, and going towards the water. The blonde was momentarily confused, but he followed her instructions. He found, near the top of a cliff – Kurogane, Syaoran, Fuuma, Shogo, and Doumeki. He was about to dash up there after them, when Tomoyo stopped him.

"Just wait for them to come back down. Then you can go up with them."

Her words were cofusing to him, and they didn't seem to make any sense – but he stayed with her. She lead him to the waters edge, and sat down in the sand. Her feet rested where the water could reach them, and she pulled out her camera. She seemed to make a duty out of keeping it handy. Fai sat with her – anxious.

Kurogane seemed to be joking around with the guys – they'd finally reached the top. The raven looked to the cliffs edge, then back to his friends – a few times, Fai noticed. It made him nervous.

Then, he watched with horror as the male approached the edge…

…And jumped.

He knew that in your moment of panic, you wanted to do many things. Rush to help in some way…But he also knew that, in your moment of panic – you couldn't. Your whole body would freeze over completely.

That's exactly what happened to him. He froze.

Kurogane hit the water, and resurfaced a few seconds later. He rose out of the water, and shook his head from side to side. Fai exhaled – relieved.

"I told you didn't I?" Sakura's voice called his attention to his right,

"They get reckless."

"They do that for fun?" He looked back out to the water, just as Fuuma and Shogo worked as a team, to throw Syaoran into the water.

His attention was drawn to his boyfriend – who was swimming towards the shore. He looked like a God, of some sort. A dark, beautiful God. He propelled himself through the water with an ease that made the blonde blush. He blushed because he realized just how physically powerful Kurogane was – all over again.

The male in question reached shallow water, and walked out onto the shore,

"Recording already, Tomoyo?"

"Of course. I need some crazy cliff diving for this summer, caught on camera."

He chuckled, and turned his attention to his boyfriend,

"Fai? You alright?"

"…" He didn't know how to answer that. Was he alright? He'd just watched his boyfriend jump off a cliff – without any warning.

"I always forget what a thrill that is, until I'm back up there and jumping off the top again!" Fuuma's voice sounded as the male stepped onto the sand,

"Kamui, you should come jump with us. Please?"

The dark haired male seemed to ponder it a moment, before he agreed,

"I might as well. I know you won't leave me alone until I do it anyway."

"That's some tough love there, Fuuma," Sakura teased, as she approached Syaoran. Fuuma laughed it off, and agreed.

"Fai, relax…I'm pretty sure Tomoyo wouldn't have let me go up there, if she knew that I would get hurt…Especially not with you here. She knows how concerned you get." Kurogane finally caught onto the fact that the male was wearing a t-shirt,

"What's with this?" He took hold of the shoulder of the shirt with his forefinger and thumb for a moment, before he released him once more.

"Is he okay? Sakura's voice sounded from somewhere behind Kurogane. Chi stepped forward, and lead her brother away from the others.

"Earth to Fai. Please, come back to this planet. Now, would be a good time."

He blinked, as it dawned on him that his sister was watching him.

"You went really far away this time. Are you alright?"

"…He jumped off a cliff." His sister smiled, and reassured him that they did this a lot – as Tomoyo had filled her in already.

"Chi, he didn't mention any of this. Not the cottage, not this place…And he definitely didn't tell me that they jump off of cliffs for thrills."

"It's very reckless. But, they wouldn't do it if they didn't know what the outcome would be. And he wouldn't do it if he knew it could go wrongly…Not with you here."

"…He jumped off a cliff…"

"Hey, what's going on?" The raven had worked his way over to the two of them. Fai still looked dazed.

"…You jumped off a cliff…"

"…Too many surprises for you in the past two days?"

The blonde nodded and held out his arms for the raven. Kurogane gladly scooped him up into his arms, before he plopped down in the sand – his boyfriend in his lap.

Chi sensed that she was no longer needed, and turned around to head back to the group.

Fai clung to his boyfriend. He hadn't been expecting any of the surprises that he'd been getting lately. The new house, the summer cottage…The fact that Kurogane had way too much money on his hands. It was ridiculous. He was so used to getting nice things once in a while, and considering them a luxury…The raven lived in luxury.

He was just thankful that the male didn't let it go to his head.

"Look, Fai…I know it's been surprise after surprise lately…I'm sorry. I must be making you crazy."

"…I just didn't think you'd…I mean…Some warning, would have been nice…"

The raven kissed the side of his head in apology, and the blonde settled down a little bit.

"Now…What's with the shirt?" Kurogane arched a brow, to show that he was both confused and interested. Fai smiled,

"Does it bother you that I'm not prancing around half naked?"

"A little bit." The raven was blushing slightly – because of the way Fai had worded his question.

"Well…I'm still a bit self-conscious…" He avoided the red eyed gaze. He knew that Kurogane would understand what he was referring to – but the raven wasn't speaking. Confused, Fai turned his attention back to his boyfriend.

Kurogane's gaze was focused on one of Fai's legs. It didn't take the blonde long to figure out what he was staring at – so he got to his feet.

"The group's waiting for us to come back…We should…Yeah…" He trailed off of his sentence, and hurried back to his friends. His boyfriend was dumbfounded, but he rose and trailed after him – lost in thought.

"Hey, Fai's back!" Fuuma cheered, grinning. The blonde in question smiled, and apologized for being so out of it. His sister was giving him a questioning stare – which he chose to ignore.

"You planning on staying in your t-shirt all day? I thought you'd go swimming with us," Fuuma feigned a look of hurt, and Fai found himself laughing.

"Alright, alright. The shirt will come off, on one condition – a condition from everyone…" He trailed off as everyone watched him – waiting,

"…I'm self-conscious…So please…Don't stare…" Kurogane had wandered back out to the group by then, in time to hear the others reassuring the blonde that no one would stare. Fai nodded, and tugged the shirt off over his head.

"Hey, free show!" Fuuma teased. Fai blushed, and tossed the shirt onto the sand – not caring about where it went.

He felt so exposed. The cut marks on his arms were visible, as were the few that he had on his stomach – though those weren't self-inflicted. His tattoo was also clearly visible – though no one was standing behind him at the moment. The only thing that was still basically hidden, was what Kurogane had been staring at.

Everyone bustled with conversation – mainly about cliff jumping. Fai wandered over to his boyfriend – who still looked like he wanted to ask about what he'd seen. The blonde avoided the males questions, and took hold of his hand. He'd turned his back on the others, and he didn't fail to notice that it got increasingly quiet.

It was necessary though, to give them the opportunity to see the tattoo. This way, they wouldn't stare later. Chi, Hideki and Tomoyo had seen it already, so they weren't surprised by it. However…The others…

Subaru, Seishiro, and Kamui only looked long enough to see the design, before they looked away again. Shogo, Primera, Watanuki, and Doumeki stared for a little while longer – two of the four knew what the scar represented, and soon they too, looked away. Syaoran and Fuuma looked away as well. They didn't really know much about the tattoo – besides the obvious fact that it was huge.

Sakura was the only one still staring.

She knew what the tattoo represented. She knew what it covered. She'd never seen the scars left over on his back beforehand, and now – seeing the dark contrast of the tattoo ink against Fai's skin – she was overwhelmed by how much damage had truly been left behind.

"Sakura-chan. I can feel your eyes on me you know." He didn't bother with turning around. He knew it was her.

The others focused their attention on her, murmuring their confusion.

"And yes…It's exactly what you think it is," Fai continued, still not turning to face her. Sakura didn't move at first, but she couldn't stand there for long. Kurogane – sensing this – turned his boyfriend around to face the caramel haired girl.

She didn't take long in hurtling her body against that of her best friend. She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his skin, as the tears cascaded down her cheeks. It took Fai a moment before he was able to wrap his arms around his best friend.

Only Fai's family, as well as Tomoyo, Doumeki, Watanuki, and Kurogane, seemed to know what was going on. No one else knew about the blondes history. No one else knew why Sakura was crying over a tattoo.

No one else knew what the tattoo was hiding.

TT

"Syaoran-kun was allowed to go, so why can't I?" He was persistent in this. He refused to give it up. He was going to damn well give this a try.

"The kid knows what he's doing – he's had practice." It was the same useless argument, again and again.

"Then let me practice. Let me work my way up." Why was this so difficult to understand?

"No. It's reckless." He wouldn't put him in harms way.

"That's hypocritical." It was a statement, and an accusation. Fai was not going to surrender to his boyfriend. He would not give in to his demands that he did not attempt to do the jump.

"Relax Fai…I'll stay down here with you, while they go do the jump," Fuuma offered, attempting to break up the fight before it got out of hand. Fai didn't get a chance to say anything further. Kurogane nodded, and took off with the people who were 'allowed,' to go and do the jump.

Fai slumped down in the sand, easily becoming moody. His boyfriend hesitated a little ways away, but the blonde ignored him. Fuuma was beside him in no time.

"Are you sure you want to sit that close to me? You just took Kurogane's side over mine." He usually only called him that when he was pissing him off…Like now.

Fuuma laughed, seeming rather fearless,

"Well, don't look too happy or anything…But I'm just waiting for them to get about halfway up that cliff. Because once you reach that point – you can't see a damn thing, besides what's right in front of you."

The blonde kept his head bowed, but he smiled a bit,

"Thanks Fuuma."

TT

They'd reached the top of the cliff already. Kurogane was disappointed to see that he couldn't see Fuuma or Fai anywhere. They must have gone back inside while he wasn't looking – which simply irritated him further. He hated the idea of the two of them alone together – it put terrible images in his head.

Kamui however, never looked concerned about his boyfriends whereabouts. His face remained neutral.

Kurogane made sure that he was the last one to jump into the water, and when he was on his way back, he realized that people were staring at the top of the cliff.

"…Son of a…"

TT

"Alright, this is way too high up for a starting point…But, he's pissed you off, so I can see why you want to rebel. Now…Am I jumping with you, or before you?"

"Before. If I'm going to spite him, then I'm going to do it properly." He looked over the edge at the clear blue water. It looked so pure, and welcoming. Yet from up here, it also looked somewhat horrifying.

"…Alright. Don't try anything too fancy. It's bad enough that you chose the highest area as your starting point…But, I believe in you. I think you'll do just fine." The male grinned as he said it, then nodded, and took his jump. His body fell forward, and he tumbled effortlessly and in a vertical position – landing himself feet first in the water. When he surfaced, he swam backwards a bit – making room.

At the top of the cliff, Fai stared down into the water. He couldn't force himself to jump – at least, not now. Now that he was alone, and left alone in a high place that he was unfamiliar with.

He had separatation anxiety from Kurogane…It didn't take long for it to kick in. He stepped away from the edge, and turned around – intending to walk back down the cliff. But he paused.

He would reach him quicker by jumping…And he'd still get to spite him. And he was sure that he could do it too…If he did it at a run…

He turned himself back around, inhaled deeply, exhaled loudly, clenched and unclenched his fists…And then, he ran. Ran for the edge. Ran right to it, before taking the leap.

He got that feeling in his stomach, that he sometimes got when he went down a big hill on a roller coaster. Where you felt that tingling sensation, as if you'd left you'd left your stomach behind you. The feeling lasted until he hit the water. And – when he hit it – it was almost like hitting concrete. He hadn't predicted the landing, and now he wished he'd listened to Fuuma. But there was no turning back the clock.

He allowed himself to sink a little bit – still conscious. He supposed that if his childhood didn't look the way it did, then upon hitting the water – he would have been knocked into unconsciousness. However, he was awake. Slightly stunned, but definitely conscious. He forced his body to move – as he was in a deep need of air. As he surfaced, he blinked, and coughed slightly. Fuuma was in front of him, and Kurogane was swimming in their direction.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine. My body was just a little stunned upon impact. I'll assure you, I was completely conscious the entire time, and my stomach has returned to its proper place."

Fuuma – who was treading water – laughed. It was that contagious laughter that would get an entire room giggling. Fai loved it immediately.

"I love how you just threw all of that together. Especially the last bit." The male didn't get to laugh for long, before the raven reached them.

"Are you alright?" He was staring at Fai – who grinned and laughed, and reassured him that he was just fine.

"Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Do what? Scare you? You started it, don't forget." He hated being treated like a child. He was eighteen years old dammit. He'd had a birthday come to pass already, and now he was legally an adult.

He would not be treated like a child.

"That's different. I knew what I was doing!"

"…" Fai didn't feel like arguing. Why bother? He took a deep gulp of air, and headed underwater. He opened his eyes when he was under, and propelled himself through the water – towards the shore. He could hear muffled voices – his name he was sure, was among the many things being said.

"Shit, he's fast." Kurogane was dumbfounded. His boyfriend moved with ease beneath the surface – barely coming up for air. He supposed all of those years of abuse must have helped him to learn a few things. Swimming, for instance, was very recreational. It let you get away from everyone, and everything. And – if you were fast enough – then nothing could touch you.

TT

"Fai! What were you thinking?" Sakura hollered – clearly upset.

"Relax, Sakura-chan. If that had been a suicide attempt…There wouldn't have been water beneath me." He plopped down on his towel.

"That isn't funny." His expression told her enough. He hadn't been joking around about it. He hadn't been performing a suicide attempt…If he had been, he wouldn't be here anymore.

"Your skin is all red, Fai-san," Watanuki murmured, surprised, and worried.

"I just jumped off a cliff. My body isn't used to slamming into water at that speed, or from that height."

The blonde closed his eyes, and sighed. He felt amazing. A little pained from the impact…But amazing, nonetheless. The breeze that passed made his hair dance across his forehead, and occassionally against his cheeks.

It didn't take long for something warm to rest against his chest. Even without opening his eyes – he knew that it was Kurogane. This body was one that he had memorized. The raven had his head on Fai's chest, and his arms wrapped around him. His thumb was running back and forth along one of the blondes arms, gently.

He murmured an apology, and stated that he'd been a jerk. Fai smiled, opening his eyes,

"You're my favourite jerk though."

"Does that mean that you still love me?"

"Hyuu~ Why would we break-up over an argument, Kuro-rin?" He reached up to stroke his fingers through the ebony locks that he loved so much. They were bound to fight. Things were going to get out of hand now and then. That was life.

That was love.

TT

(A.N: Don't worry, this isn't the end. I have more to it, I promise – though I don't know when that will be posted. But there is more! And there is more cliff jumping ahead…And a campfire…And maybe even some smex. –cough-cough-cough- So, R&R? Appreciate it!)