A/N: Whee spring break!! Ok, not that exciting. I'm just sitting around at home in lame-ass Wisconsin writing these redonculous fanfics and translating doujinshi and that kind of fun stuff. And this one didn't even turn out right, I don't think, but I'm at a loss for what to do. Been working on the damn thing for two weeks and it just keeps on seeming funky… But on the bright side, we finally find out in this chapter who Fai is so anxious to save. That's good, right? Ok, enough yacking; lets get cracking!


Reveal

Fai very carefully eased Kurogane's bedroom door open a crack and peeked through. The hallway beyond was dark and silent.

"Hold on," Kurogane said, pushing the door closed again so that he could have Fai's undivided attention. "Before we do this, which by the way, I still think is a really stupid idea 'cause we're gonna get caught, I should probably warn you: this palace is a totally different place at night."

Fai tilted his head cutely in puzzlement. "Mm? What do you mean, Kuropon?"

"I mean…" The prince hesitated, trying to decide the best way to explain. "The night watch guys are known for being… weird."

Fai smiled and waved aside his worries. "You're just trying to scare me, Kurotan. It's not going to work; I've already made up my mind. Besides, how would you know that?"

"Tch. Like I've never tried to sneak out before," Kurogane snorted. "And I'm not making it up! It's true!"

"Well, of course you would say that since you're afraid to go," the blond teased.

"I TOLD YOU ALREADY, I'M NOT AFRAID!!" Kurogane snapped. "I was just warning you, that's all!"

"Why?" Fai asked sweetly. "Are you worried about me?"

"Why the hell would I worry about an idiot like you?!" he retorted, though Fai could see a blush coming to his cheeks. "Jeez! Fine, I'll never warn you about anything ever again! But if we happen to run into any weird shit going on out there it's completely your fault!"

Fai laughed and turned back to the door, easing it open to check the hallway again. Still, he couldn't help being curious about what Kurogane was afraid they would see.

"The coast is clear," Fai whispered. "I'll follow your lead, Kurosama."

Kurogane gritted his teeth, thinking that it was stupid that he had to lead the way when he didn't even want any part of this. But Fai couldn't lead since he had no idea where the treasury room was, so Kurogane had no choice. Besides, if Kurogane refused, Fai would probably make another stupid comment about him being too afraid. His telling Fai that the treasury room would be locked when they got there would most likely elicit a similar response. This was so stupid, allowing himself to be dragged into a quest where he knew their desired outcome was impossible. But what could he do? Nothing; not a damn thing.

The two of them slipped out into the hallway and crept along it, going at a crouch, as if that would reduce their chances of being caught. Once they reached the intersection, Kurogane motioned Fai behind a large potted plant, then paused, listening carefully for any signs of life beyond their corridor. When he heard nothing, he peeked out and scanned the area with his eyes. There was no one there. Kurogane jerked his head towards the empty hallway as a sign for Fai to follow and continued on. The lack of guards so far was starting to unnerve him slightly. Had something happened? Not only had they not met anyone, but they couldn't hear anyone either.

The boys were just about to turn down their next hallway when their ears were met with some rather strange and disturbing noises. It startled Kurogane so badly that he jumped about a foot in the air. Fai was too busy trying to discern the source of the noises to tease him about being so jumpy. There was hard breathing, a thud, some smacking sounds, and a strange little squeak followed by some distressed whispers. Someone, probably more than one someone, was in the hallway that they needed to pass through and they were making a fair bit of noise. No thief would dare to be so loud, would they? Not only that, but as they cautiously approached the hallway, they noticed lantern light, too.

"R-Rikuo, stop that!" a panicked voice hissed. "Not here! Wh-wh-what if someone…!"

"Who's gonna be wandering around at this hour?" a second voice growled in a husky tone. "I made sure we'd be the only ones guarding this wing just for this purpose. It was a hassle to do and I'm not gonna let my effort go to waste. Honestly, Kazahaya; you worry way too much." The smacking noises resumed. Kurogane and Fai traded shocked expressions.

"They sound pretty busy," Fai breathed, a grin spreading across his face. "I think we can sneak past them. Besides, I wanna see what's going on; it sounds interesting!"

As soon as these words left his mouth, there was another little squeak and the sound of something lightweight, most likely cloth, hitting the floor, somehow dimming the light from the lantern. Fai's grin widened and he turned into the hallway where all the noise was coming from. Kurogane, horrified, lunged after him, trying to jerk him back, but he missed Fai's arm and the boy quickly slipped past the point of safe return. The prince clenched his teeth again in frustration and hurried to catch up with his friend.

Fai looked back at him, his face full of silent laughter as he pointed to two figures at the end of the hall. One, a tall, dark-haired guard had the other figure, a shorter, slenderer, light-haired guard pinned against the wall. Kazahaya squirmed in half-hearted protest, his shirt draped, discarded, over the lantern, dimming the light. Rikuo was nipping and kissing his neck, moving downwards slowly, his hands running along Kazahaya's exposed skin. Kurogane and Fai were mesmerized by the scene that was unfolding before them. When Rikuo's mouth reached the other guard's nipple and drew a third little squeak out of Kazahaya, Kurogane snapped back to attention. The prince covered Fai's eyes and ushered him away.

Once they were sure they were well out of earshot of the guards, Kurogane turned to the blond with a scowl, his arms folded. "That's the kind of thing I was trying to warn you about! I told you this place got screwed up at night!"

"Kuromin tried to shelter me… That's really sweet of you," Fai breathed, his eyes sparkling.

"W-well, if I hadn't pulled you away, you would have just stood there, staring like a moron!" Kurogane hissed, his face turning scarlet. "I'm not gonna let us get caught because of something stupid like that!"

"Kuroryun tried to protect my virtue…"

"Shut up!"

"It makes me so happy!" Fai pounced on him, knocking the prince to the ground and locking him into an iron-grip hug.

"G-get off!" Kurogane choked, trying in vain to pry the blond off of him. "We-we're being too loud! Are you trying to get us caught?!"

"Eh? Who's there?" a man's distant voice demanded.

"Shit!" the prince gasped.

There was a long pause in which Kurogane jerked Fai beneath a little decorative table to hide in case the man came to see who was making so much noise. Apparently, whoever it was wrote their antics off as a figment of his imagination because there were no further questions. Once Kurogane was sure that the person had given up on them, he let out a little sigh of relief and wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Pull something like that again, and I'll kill you with my bare hands," Kurogane said in a deadly whisper.

"You're still blushing!" Fai giggled, poking the other boy's flushed cheek unconcernedly.

The prince swatted the blond's hands away, scowling darkly, and continued on towards the treasury room. Fai followed closely, his head turning this way and that as he scanned the hallways they passed for any more unusual action. They were nearing the treasury room now; Kurogane felt a wave of warm sweeping relief. The sooner they could give up this pointless little venture, the better.

Suddenly, Fai grabbed Kurogane's arm, causing him to jump again. He whipped around to face his companion to see the blond pointing down a side passage from which an odd green light was emanating, dancing along the walls. It was accompanied by some rather sinister-sounding muttering. Even though the hallway from which it came was not one that they needed to pass through, Kurogane allowed himself to be steered towards it by a curious Fai. Cautiously, the two of them peeked around the corner.

A guard with an unnaturally lanky body, glasses, and smooth black hair that stuck out in a few odd places was squatting in the middle of the hallway, tending what appeared to be a cauldron hanging over green flames. Kurogane's first thought was that the palace was on fire and that he needed to warn everyone, but then he saw that the flames seemed to be contained in some kind of portable stone fire pit. The contents of the cauldron bubbled sluggishly and appeared to be as green as the fire that heated it. The dancing green light shone on the guard's face, making him look extra menacing.

"Heh heh… this'll teach that jerk Doumeki to steal the special food that I've made for Himawari chan," he cackled. "A few drops of this laxative potion in his lunch and he'll never touch another one of my dishes ever again! Heh heh heh… he'll look like such a moron, having to run to the bathroom every five minutes! Serves him right, that gluttonous bastard!"

Kurogane and Fai traded looks of bewilderment, then shrugged. They both silently agreed that they'd rather not know exactly what was going on there and that they'd prefer not to find out if the guard's potion would end up working. The two of them had enough to worry about without getting involved in such underhanded battles of love and war and laxative potions. Kurogane tugged on Fai's pajama shirt and pointed towards a rather nondescript little door. The blond looked at the door, then back at his friend, a slight look of disbelief on his face.

"That's it?" Fai mouthed.

Kurogane nodded. Fai approached it carefully and turned the doorknob. The prince watched in mild amusement as Fai's face fell. He tried it again. Fai could try the stupid door all night long. It wasn't going to open; the thing was locked up tight. Fai let out a little huff of disappointment and folded his arms. Kurogane snorted derisively and began to lead the way back to his room, but the blond stopped him.

"Don't you have a key or something?" he pouted.

"Why the hell would my parents give me the key to the treasury room?!" Kurogane hissed. "Anyway, you weren't really expecting it to just be left open, were you?"

"I don't know…" he replied sheepishly. "I guess I just didn't think about it…"

"Tch. Idiot," the prince grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I was gonna tell you that it would be locked, but you would've just said that I was afraid again so I decided not to."

Fai looked put out but at the same time, he felt just a tiniest bit of relief. He had been planning to swipe a few coins from the treasury to further his cause. But the thought of stealing from Kurogane's family, even if they did have plenty of money, made him feel terrible. They had done so much for him already, letting him stay here, feeding him, giving him a job… it seemed much too cruel to stab them in the back like that. At the same time, though, if he chose not to steal, the only other means of helping that person that Fai could think of would be to use Kurogane. Surely that would be much worse, right? Suddenly, Fai noticed Kurogane watching him curiously and he slipped his pout back on. "So we're just gonna go back to Kurokuro's room, then? That's no fun!"

Kurogane paused, thinking. He didn't really feel like going back to his room yet either and since they were already out, maybe… He had to redeem himself, he decided, after trying to refuse to go visit the treasury room. Fai probably still thought he was a chicken. Maybe if he suggested that they go somewhere else, somewhere more dangerous, Fai would change his mind. But where could they go? There really weren't that many dangerous places in the palace. Except for…

Kurogane turned to face Fai, a mischievous grin on his face. "We could go see the prison."

Fai looked stunned. "I…I don't know if that's such a good idea, Kuropin," he laughed nervously. "I mean…we…There'll be lots more guards there, right? We'd be caught for sure!"

Actually, Fai had other reasons for not wanting to go to the jail. Someone he knew was in there: that person. It wasn't that Fai didn't want to see that person; he really did, very badly. The problem was that he had no way of warning that person ahead of time not to show any signs of recognition towards him in front of Kurogane. That would lead to some awkward questions. But he did want to see how that person was doing. Now that he thought about it, this was a perfect opportunity to check on him. But what could he do about Kurogane?

"Forget it," Kurogane said, interrupting his thoughts. "You dragged me all the way out here, now it's my turn to pick where we go. You're not scared now, are you?"

The prince was wearing a very self-satisfied smirk, his arms crossed, waiting for Fai to give his response.

Fai hitched his own smile back into place. "Ok then; let's go."

Kurogane looked surprised that Fai had agreed, but eventually returned his grin.

"We should probably look at it from outside, though, right?" Fai asked. "I think we'll be less likely to run into guards out there than if we go right into the jail itself. Do the cells have windows?"

"Just little ones," Kurogane replied.

"So we can go and peek in at the prisoners, then," the blond whispered. "Hee hee! This will be so exciting!"

Kurogane silently wondered if they would be alright outside at night without coats or shoes. As warm as it had been during the daytime, the weather could get pretty chilly at night. Then he realized what a wimp he was being and quickly shook the thoughts from his head. He wasn't going to be the one to suggest that they go back for coats; if Fai could handle the temperatures outside in his pajamas, then so could he. Besides, they probably wouldn't be out there for that long.

"Do you know of a way we can get out without attracting any attention?" Fai asked, this time interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, out the servant's quarters," Kurogane hissed, starting to lead the way again. "Tomoyo and I use that door all the time."

After they had walked for a moment in silence, Fai grabbed his arm suddenly, making him jump again. Kurogane whipped around to face him, and saw him frozen with his head tilted to the side, one ear in the air, listening intently. Then he heard it, too; footsteps and voices, and they were headed their way. Without pausing to think, Kurogane grabbed Fai around the waist and darted into a side hallway. As he made to push the blond behind another large potted plant, Kurogane tripped, bringing Fai down with him and pinning him to the ground with his body. Frantically, the prince snatched his friend up and scrambled behind the plant, clutching Fai tightly to his chest, trying to stifle his own loud breathing by burying his face in Fai's shirt.

"Right, I'll notify the king about our decision first thing in the morning," a man's voice said as the party trooped past the boys' hiding spot.

A second man sighed. "I'm glad we got that straightened out; I don't think I could've made it through another all-day session."

"I'm afraid we're not in the clear just yet," a third male voice told the others. Fai recognized it as belonging to Fujitaka. "Now that we've agreed to sign the treaty, there'll be a banquette to plan for the other king in honor of our newly formed alliance."

"I hate those stupid banquettes," a fourth man complained. "Can't we just sign the damn treaty and be done with it? Why do we have to make a big deal out of it? And why the hell do we have to be the ones to host it when it was the other bastard who proposed the treaty in the first place?"

Finally, the voices faded into the distance and the hallways became silent again. Kurogane sighed and leaned back against the wall, relieved that they hadn't been caught. Such was his relief that he even forgot that he was still holding Fai against him until he felt slender fingers begin playing with the buttons on his pajama shirt. He looked down in horror to see Fai look up from fiddling with his buttons and grin at him. Then he pressed his ear against Kurogane's chest.

"Poor Kuropiko; you were really scared, weren't you?" Fai cooed soothingly. "Your heart is pounding like a frightened little bunny's!"

He reached up and began to stroke Kurogane's hair. "There, there, Kuropin…don't be afraid. I'm here for you…"

Kurogane blushed and hurriedly shoved Fai away. "Shut up! You were scared, too, you bastard!" he hissed furiously.

"A little," Fai admitted, still looking amused. "But I knew that Kuropuu would protect me so I wasn't too afraid."

"Hmph!" Kurogane huffed, dusting himself off and starting to lead again.


Damn, it was freezing outside. It was so cold that Kurogane could see his breath, and already, his toes were starting to go numb. He glanced over at Fai to see if the blond was as cold as he was. Fai seemed not to notice the chill; he merely smiled patiently back at him, waiting for him to show him where to find the prison windows. Kurogane shivered and rubbed his hands on his arms to warm himself and let out a little breath of annoyance, irritated that Fai wasn't suffering as much as he was.

"I guess this probably feels pretty cold to Kuromin, huh?" Fai said thoughtfully. "And look at poor Kurochii shivering! Maybe we should have stopped to get our coats first, hmm?"

"I can handle it," Kurogane mumbled, not looking at him. Fai took his arm and held it against his body.

"I know it's not much, but please accept my warmth," he offered sweetly, nuzzling his cheek against the taller boy's shoulder. Kurogane's face flushed, but he didn't pull his arm away.

"L-look," he stammered, pointing to a narrow barred window at ground level.

The two of them crouched down and peeked inside. A boy of about fifteen with messy brown hair and mismatched eyes was sitting on the meager bunk, staring blankly at the opposite wall below the window, his hands and face stained with blood. Kurogane and Fai looked at each other and backed away from the window.

"Creepy," Fai said with a shudder, even though he was still smiling. "I wonder what he got brought in for."

"Did you s-see all that blood on him?" Kurogane asked, still shivering, trying not to let on how rattled he was. "It was p-probably murder."

"I bet you're right…" he agreed. Then he moved over to the next window and knelt down before it. "I wonder who's in this one."

The two of them bent down to look and both of them gasped when they saw glowing eyes staring back at them. They belonged to a strange-looking girl with short uneven pink hair and weird close-fitting clothes. The girl watched the two boys peering into her window with expressionless eyes. Even though she seemed to be aware of them, she didn't say a word, something that Kurogane and Fai both found strange but were thankful for all the same.

"That was weird," Fai remarked, standing up again. "Did you see the way her eyes were glowing? I wonder if she's some kind of magician or something…"

"Maybe," Kurogane replied disinterestedly, blowing into his cupped hands to warm them.

"Next one!" Fai chirped, kneeling down to have a look in the next window.

Kurogane didn't kneel down next to him; he was already freezing and the grass was probably wet. He was pretty sure that getting the knees of his pajama pants wet wasn't going to help him feel any warmer. The prince shivered again and rubbed his hands on his arms faster. Kurogane was so cold that he didn't even care about looking at criminals anymore; he just wanted to go back inside and get under his covers. Of course, he wasn't about to suggest this to Fai; not when he had just got done proving that he wasn't a chicken. He wasn't going to throw that away and let Fai think he was a pansy instead.

"Anything interesting in there?" he asked through clenched teeth to keep his teeth from chattering.

Fai stood and brushed himself off. "There's a fat guy with a funny mustache," the other boy shrugged. "That's kind of interesting, right?"

"Whatever," Kurogane grumbled.

Fai noticed Kurogane's loss of interest and looked at him concernedly. "Are you really cold, Kurosama? Do you want to go inside?"

"Tch! What do you think I am, some kind of baby?!" the prince snapped. "If you can stand it, then so can I!"

"But I lived outside for a long time," Fai reminded him, "so I'm used to the cold. Are you sure you don't want to go in?"

"I said I'm fine!" Kurogane insisted.

Fai threw him one last look of concern and then moved to the next window. He started when he saw the small figure huddled in the corner of the cell, knees drawn up to the chest, face buried in the arms, extremely long dirty blond hair cascading over the shoulders. Fai gasped, causing the prisoner to look up and echo his gasp. There, right in front of him, was that person; there was Fai, the real Fai! But if Fai had been shocked to see the top of his twin's head, it was nothing to what he felt when he saw his face. His cheeks were sallow and sunken in and his eyes were dull and sunken in as well. It wasn't just his face that was emaciated, Fai realized; his whole body was far too skinny. He looked like a skeleton with long hair.

"Y-Yuui…" the prisoner stuttered. "Is it really you? I thought you were…I mean, our magic…"

Fai (AKA Yuui) shook his head frantically to silence him and the prisoner stopped mid-sentence, looking puzzled.

"I'll be back," the free boy mouthed, a pained expression on his face. "Later."

The prisoner continued to look confused, wondering why they couldn't talk now.

"H-hey," Kurogane interrupted. "Who are you t-talking—ha…ha choo!"

"No one, Oujiwanko," Fai said quickly, throwing a last meaningful glance at his incarcerated twin before standing up.

"Liar," Kurogane said, sniffling and rubbing his nose. "I heard you…Ha choo!"

Fai frowned. He really hadn't said anything. Kurogane must have heard his twin talking and mistaken it for his voice. "I…I thought this prisoner was someone I knew, but it looks like I was wrong… I think we'd better go inside now; it sounds like Kuropyon might be getting a cold."

"Am not," the prince mumbled, rubbing his nose again and continuing to shiver. "I don't get sick."

"Of course you don't, Kurowanwan," Fai said gently, taking his arm again. "Come on, now."

Kurogane glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow as Fai led him inside. "I thought you said you weren't cold."

"…Mm? No, I'm not cold," Fai replied distractedly.

"Then how come you're shaking?" he growled.

The blond bowed his head, but didn't reply. The reason he was shaking was because his twin had looked like he was on the verge of death just now and Fai knew that it was entirely his fault. If he hadn't been such a coward, if he had just done what he was supposed to, the one whose name he had borrowed wouldn't be wasting away in that miserable cell. He could feel Kurogane's inquisitive eyes on him but to his relief, he didn't ask anymore questions.

After a moment of silence, the prince pulled his arm away from Fai, who had been hugging it to help keep his friend warm. The blond felt a jolt of pain at this but it was eased when he realized that Kurogane had only done this so that he could take his hand and hold it comfortingly. If Fai hadn't been so busy feeling guilty for what he had inadvertently done to his twin, he might have had the presence of mind to notice that this was the first time that Kurogane had ever initiated the hand-holding.


The two of them sighed with relief when they had managed to arrive safely back in Kurogane's bedroom and shut the door quietly behind them. Kurogane sat down on the floor and Fai made to follow his example, but stopped himself. The prince watched him questioningly as he crossed the room silently, took a blanket from the bed, and brought it back to wrap it around the other boy's shoulders. Although Kurogane said nothing, he was rather grateful to Fai for this. He had managed to warm up some since they had come back inside but he still couldn't feel his toes. Fai sat down beside him and laid his head against his shoulder.

"Hey," Kurogane said eventually, "what were you saying back there to that prisoner? Something about magic…"

Fai started, horrified. He thought Kurogane wasn't going to ask him any questions about what had happened back there! Kurogane was watching him now closely, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he saw Fai's reaction to his question. Desperately, Fai slapped his smile back on.

"…I didn't mean real magic, of course," he answered, feigning casualness. "But I… Well, that prisoner looked like someone I know and… the two of us used to have fun learning easy little magic tricks together."

Kurogane stared at him, looking mostly unconvinced by Fai's improvised lie.

"You look like you don't believe me," the blond pouted. "You think I'm totally suspicious, don't you?"

"Yep," Kurogane answered simply.

"But it's true!" Fai insisted. "I'll even show you some! Do you have a coin I can borrow?"

Kurogane went to his dresser and pulled out a small gold coin. He returned to Fai, dropped it into his hands and folded his arms, watching expectantly. Fai turned the coin over absentmindedly in his slender fingers. Maybe he'd be able to divert Kurogane's attention when the magic trick was over so that he could pocket it. It would certainly help; this gold coin was worth quite a bit more than the silver ones he had collected so far. Besides, of the two of them, Fai was pretty sure he needed this coin a lot more than Kurogane did.

"Hey, are you gonna do the damn trick or what?" Kurogane asked, snapping Fai back into the present.

"Oh, right." Fai shook his head and slipped his smile back on. "Now you see it…" He held the coin up between his fingers so that Kurogane could see it clearly. Then he moved it down into his palm and squeezed his hand into a fist. When he opened his fist again, his hand was empty. "Now you don't!"

Kurogane looked momentarily surprised, but then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Stand up," he ordered. Fai obeyed and the prince checked the floor around where Fai had been sitting to see if he had just dropped the coin somewhere. When he didn't find it, he frowned.

"Open your mouth."

Fai opened his mouth. The coin wasn't there either. He plunged his hands into Fai's pockets feeling around for something metallic but they were empty. Kurogane let out a little breath in frustration, looking confused.

"Where is it, then?"

Fai grinned and leaned forward, allowing his fingers to skim the prince's cheek lightly as he reached behind Kurogane's ear.

"Silly Kurowanta," he giggled. "It was behind your ear the whole time and you didn't even notice!"

Kurogane blinked in surprise. He felt around behind his ear to see if there were any more coins lurking there. "How the hell…?"

"Magic," Fai answered smugly. "Pretty cool trick, huh?"

The prince stared at him uncertainly, looking mostly unconvinced. "This wasn't seriously what you were talking about to that guy back at the jail, was it? I mean, from the look on your face, it seemed like you hadn't seen this person in a long time so… why would the first words out of your mouth to him be about pointless little magic tricks like this?"

"We used to really have a lot of fun learning them together and doing them for our friends," Fai lied quickly. "I mean, you don't think I can do real magic, do you?"

"Hmph," Kurogane snorted doubtfully. "Show me another one."

"Ok… For this one, I'll need a handkerchief," Fai said.

Kurogane went back to his dresser and dug a white one out of one of the drawers. While he was busy doing this, Fai slipped the coin from his last trick into his pocket; surely a prince wouldn't miss one lousy coin. Kurogane brought his handkerchief back to Fai. Fai unfolded it and made a circle shape with his fingers.

"Watch; there's nothing else in my hand, right?" he asked, pulling the handkerchief through the circle of his fingers to prove it.

Then he poked the bottom half of the handkerchief into his closed fist and tugged it out through the bottom. The top half of the white handkerchief was still sticking out from the top of his fist, and the bottom half was sticking out from the bottom, only it had turned bright blue instead of being white. Fai looked up at Kurogane with a grin, giggling a little at the prince's look of surprise. He pulled the handkerchief all the way out through the bottom of his fist and revealed it now to be completely blue.

"How do you like that one, Kuronta?" Fai asked with a smile. Without waiting for an answer, he performed the trick again, this time turning the handkerchief red, then yellow, then green and back to white again. "Bet you wish you could do it, too, huh?"

Kurogane was dumbstruck. "Hold out your hand," he said eventually. Fai held out his hand and let Kurogane examine it as he tried to figure out how the trick worked. To the prince's disappointment, he found no answers there.

"Do another one," Kurogane demanded, pouting slightly.

Fai paused to think, then a mischievous smile spread across his lips. "I've got a good one."

Kurogane recoiled slightly, noticing the smile on Fai's face.

Fai laughed. "No need to look so worried, Kuronpyu! I won't do anything bad to you!"

Kurogane didn't look convinced.

"I've never actually done this trick before, but it's supposed to feel really nice," the blond purred. "Kneel down in front of me and close your eyes."

"N-no way!" he sputtered. "You'll do something weird!"

Fai smiled softly, taking one of Kurogane's hands between both of his. "Trust me, Kuropii. Please?" The expression on the blond's face and in his eyes was so sweet and gentle that even though Kurogane told himself he had to resist him, he could feel himself being won over. The prince hesitated, then slowly knelt down and closed his eyes. He felt Fai put his hands on his cheeks and himself blushing slightly at the touch. Kurogane began to open his eyes.

"No peeking, Kuromin!" Fai scolded.

He shut them again. Kurogane's heart was beating faster now; what was Fai going to do to him? Would it hurt? Fai had said it would feel good but that smile he had worn when he'd thought of the trick made Kurogane highly suspicious.

Suddenly, something soft and warm touched his lips gently. Kurogane's eyes snapped open involuntarily. Fai's face was mere centimeters from his, his eyes closed. What in the world…? Was… Could this be what he thought it was? It had to be, right? There was no other explanation! The warmth and pressure against his mouth increased a little, pulled away, then increased again.

A kiss! Fai was kissing him! Kurogane could feel his face burning. That utter bastard! He was going to kick his ass! He was going to kill him! He was going to… kiss him back? What the hell?! That wasn't what he wanted to do! …But if it wasn't what he wanted to do, then why was his heart beating so fast? Why did the sensation of Fai's lips against his seem to feel like real magic? Why did he suddenly feel himself wishing that this moment could last forever?

Eventually, Fai pulled away, his hand drifting to his lips absentmindedly. He had kissed Kurogane partly to mess with him, and partly to make him forget about that comment back at the prison about his magic (which had actually been spoken by his twin). He had to make Kurogane fall for him, in order to save the real Fai, but…Fai's heart was aching. He hadn't meant for the kiss to be anything special so why had it felt so wonderful?

And now that he saw that misty, amorous look in Kurogane's eyes, the delicate blush across his cheeks… why did it make him feel like he had done something terrible? Fai didn't need to ask himself that question; he already knew the answer. It was because Kurogane's love for him was pure and innocent and without a selfish hidden agenda and Fai was toying with it, kicking it in the mud as though it was nothing but trash.

"I…I'm sorry, Kurosama; I… I shouldn't have…" The words I'm so selfish echoed in his head over and over again and before he knew it, his eyes were brimming with tears.

"I'll say you shouldn't have," Kurogane mumbled, his blush deepening. "Don't just kiss people without any warning, idiot."

An awkward silence hung on the air between them.

"Maybe we should go to bed now," Kurogane suggested.

Fai hesitated. He knew that if he crawled into that bed next to Kurogane and felt his warm body snuggled up beside him, and watched him slowly drift off to sleep, his mind filled with bliss and hopefulness for a beautiful romance with him, he wouldn't be able to take it. Kurogane might even try to hold him. That would break Fai's heart for sure. And yet for some unimaginable reason, he found himself wishing it would happen. No, that was out of the question; it would just be way too cruel to the prince. He tried to say that maybe it would be best if he just went back to Fujitaka's room and forget about sleeping over but his lips refused to form the words.

Kurogane turned off the light and turned to go to his bed when he noticed that Fai hadn't moved. He paused uncertainly before going to kneel in front of the other boy. The prince reached out hesitantly and touched Fai's shoulder. It shook uncontrollably beneath his fingers. Fai quickly bowed his head, biting his lip as he tried to keep his tears from falling. Why did it always have to be the ones he loved who always had to pay for his self-centeredness and cowardice? First his parents, then his twin, and now Kurogane… He was disgusted with himself.

"Hey…" the prince said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "What's up? You're shaking again…"

Fai opened his mouth, trying to tell him that he couldn't stay, but the words simply wouldn't come. His breathing quickened in his distress and even Fai himself could hear the suppressed emotion behind it. Obviously Kurogane heard it too because he suddenly looked uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to decide what to do to comfort Fai. This sort of thing really wasn't his strong point; Kurogane had never had to console anyone before and seeing his usually cheerful friend's normal defenses come crumbling as he watched disturbed him more deeply than he thought it should have.

"Come on," Kurogane prompted, helping Fai to his feet and half dragging him over to the bed.

When Fai refused to lie down, Kurogane heaved a sigh, swept him easily off his feet and deposited him unceremoniously on the bed. Fai told himself that he had to stop this, that he couldn't let Kurogane hold and comfort him, that he couldn't let himself actually fall for the prince but even as he told himself these things, he realized he was fighting a losing battle. Somewhere along the way when he had been trying to make Kurogane fall for him, he had fallen rather seriously for Kurogane. Of all the stupid, careless things to do, this had to be the worst.

Kurogane climbed into bed beside him and stared at the blond's back, which was facing him. The prince's heart was in turmoil. He was sure that Fai was crying, or at least on the verge of tears and he felt the overwhelming need to do something for him. The only question was what. What could he possibly say to comfort him? He didn't even know what Fai was so upset about. Was he afraid that Kurogane was mad at him for that kiss? Well, he certainly should be mad at him, but for some reason he wasn't…at all. In fact, when he thought about what had happened, that he and Fai had actually kissed, he found his heart suddenly feeling light as a feather.

"Jeez…" Kurogane grumbled, feigning irritation. "Just come here, you idiot."

Without waiting for Fai to respond, the prince forced the other boy to turn towards him, wrapped his arms around the little blond and pulled him close. When Fai suddenly found his cheek against Kurogane's warm, solid body, his breath caught in his chest. He could hear Kurogane's heart pounding, excited yet terrified, as his hand began to slowly stroke Fai's golden hair. No! He needed to push Kurogane away! But Fai couldn't make himself do it. It felt good to be held like this when his heart was broken and it felt like there was no one in the whole world that he could turn to. Instead of pushing Kurogane away, Fai returned the nervous embrace, finally allowing his tears to fall as he buried his face in his friend's shoulder.

Even though Kurogane took no pleasure in Fai's pain, he found that being able to hold him this way felt almost as magical as their kiss had. He ran his fingers slowly through Fai's hair, relishing the feeling of the silky strands against his palm. His hair smelled nice, as though it had been freshly washed. Hesitantly, the prince kissed the top of Fai's head. For some reason, him kissing the top of the blond's head drew a little sob out of Fai. He tried it again experimentally and again Fai whimpered.

"P-please don't…Kurosama…" he begged. "I…I don't deserve you…S-so please…"

"You don't like it…?" Kurogane asked faintly.

"I…I didn't say that," Fai admitted through his tears, sniffling. "It's just…I'm so…Y-you're not making it any easier f-for…"

Kurogane silenced him by pulling away slightly and lifting Fai's chin gently so that he could meet his anguished eyes. As soon as ruby met sapphire, Kurogane was overwhelmed by the sudden desire to kiss the other boy and he gently pressed their lips together again. Fai's lips tasted slightly salty from his tears, yet somehow just as sweet as they had been the first time he had experienced them. Fai pulled away with a gasp, trembling uncontrollably.

"Don't… Y-you don't want… to g-get involved with me…" he insisted.

"Stop saying crap like that! I do want to get involved with you!" Kurogane snarled, shaking him by the shoulders. "I love you!"

The prince stopped, stunned by his own confession. He hadn't been planning to say it, hadn't even known that was how he'd felt, but now that the words had left his mouth, he realized it was true. It being true didn't stop his face from glowing red like the setting sun.

Fai gripped his friend's shirt in his fingers. "N-no…"

"Yes!" he said fiercely. "I love you! I love you…"

He kissed Fai again, more forcefully this time. Once they'd broken apart, Fai heaved a sigh as he nestled his cheek against the prince's chest.

"…Kuromin…Why d-do you have to be s-so wonderful?" he mumbled.

Kurogane couldn't resist smirking slightly at that. The next time he looked down at the blond, he was fast asleep in his arms.


A/N: So there it is. Are you surprised? Usually my fics end when they've confessed to each other but not this one! Hah!

Ahem… It also looks like this'll be a little longer than I had anticipated; maybe two or three more chapters. So those'll be up sometime. Ta ta for now!