A/N: Yes!! Another chapter! Man, am I cool! Now we start to really find out what Fai's deal is. It's all coming together according to plan! Mwa ha ha ha ha! Well, anyway… I'll define "nefarious" as given by the usual source. Nefarious /nifairee-us/ adj. Wicked.

There, that was simple. Now, read.


Nefarious

"Kyle!" Fei Wong shouted, bursting into his servant's room. "Kyle, I need you right…"

Kyle jumped and turned red as he faced his master. "Ah! M-my lord!"

He cleared his throat awkwardly, lowering his arms and moving his hips back into their normal position as he shut his enchanted music box with a snap, cutting off the foreign music that had been streaming from it. Fei Wong hurriedly lowered his eyes as Kyle jerked his shirt back on.

"What in the world were you doing?" Fei Wong asked distantly, not entirely sure that he wanted to know the answer to that.

"Erm… J-just brushing up on some dance moves before the ball," Kyle replied truthfully.

Fei Wong blinked at him. "What kind of ballroom dancing was that? I've never seen anything like it."

"Apparently, it's called 'skanking'," the servant said uncomfortably. "I'm told it's all the rage in a lot of southern countries…Ahem…you had something you wished to ask me, my lord?"

"Right," Fei Wong remembered. "The ball is only three days away and I haven't got a single thing to wear! You're coming shopping with me."

"Oh, um…ok," Kyle agreed reluctantly.

He didn't really like to shop with his master. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite so agonizing if Fei Wong didn't insist on asking him for every single outfit if these pants made his butt look big, or if that shirt went well with his eyes and so on and so forth. But it wasn't as though Kyle had much of a say in whether he wanted to come along or not; he was a servant and that was the type of shit he had been hired specifically to put up with.

He supposed he could always take the opportunity to get himself a new outfit for the ball as well. Maybe if he was busy trying on clothes himself, Fei Wong wouldn't bother him so much for his opinion. Kyle fought the urge to laugh dryly at that thought; as if something like that would stop him. As Fei Wong dragged him along to the tailor's Kyle wondered bitterly why he never made Xing Huo come along instead.


"Where are you taking me, Kuropon?" Fai asked, laughing as the prince pulled him along.

Fai wiped the sweat from his forehead, wishing Kurogane would slow down a bit so he could catch his breath; he was already pretty worn out from dance practice. They were currently both on lunch break, Fai from his daily rehearsal with the entertainers, Kurogane from his academic lessons. Suzuran had declared that they would be getting forty-five minutes for lunch, but when Kurogane had burst into the practice hall and impatiently called for Fai, she had smirked and changed it to an hour and fifteen minutes instead. Kurogane's face had turned red as he had grabbed the blond's hand, all the entertainers watching curiously, and dragged him out the door.

"What's our hurry?" Fai panted. "Can't we slow down a little?"

"I only have an hour for lunch," Kurogane replied shortly. "It'll take at least ten minutes to get there, and ten to get back so that means I've got forty minutes."

Fai fell silent, realizing that, as usual, he wouldn't be getting any explanation from Kurogane until they reached their destination. He was surprised when he saw that the prince wasn't taking him outside. Where could they be going within the castle that would take ten minutes to reach? Fai couldn't help feeling excited; the last time Kurogane had done this kind of thing, it meant that he had some sort of cute little surprise waiting for them. In spite of his somewhat rough nature, Kurogane could be surprisingly romantic at times. That was one of the things that Fai loved most about him. He knew that if he were to point this out to him, the prince would just blush and hurriedly deny it. The thought made Fai smile fondly to himself.

They were going up a flight of stone steps now. That made Fai even more curious; he had never been to the second floor of the palace before. He had kind of been hoping that they were going to the dining hall or somewhere like that. Dancing took a lot of energy and he was pretty hungry. Fai really hoped that wherever they were going would at least have food. His thoughts were revealed when his stomach growled loudly. He gave a sheepish little laugh and put a hand to it in attempt to quiet it.

"Guess I'm kind of hungry, huh?" Fai said, hoping that Kurogane would recognize a hint when he heard it.

"Yeah, yeah," Kurogane sighed. "I get it; we'll be there in a minute."

"You still haven't told me where we're going," Fai pouted. "Why does it always have to be a secret?"

"Jeez, you're whiny!" the prince growled. "Just put a damn sock in it! I said we'll be there in a minute! And hurry up! If you were any slower I'd have a freaking beard by the time we got there!"

"Sorry, Kuropyon, but I'm tired!" Fai replied apologetically, giggling a little as he pictured Kurogane with a beard. "If you want to move faster, you might carry me…"

Kurogane let out a little snarl of frustration. Without any warning, he crouched down and slung Fai over his shoulder as though he were a sack of potatoes. The blond let out a little squeak of surprise at this treatment but Kurogane gave no indication that he cared or even noticed. He just continued up the steps as though he did this sort of thing every day.

Finally, Kurogane reached the top of the fourth flight of stairs and pushed open the door at the top. Fai shielded his eyes as he was suddenly dazzled by sunlight after having been carried up all those dimly-lit stairwells. Kurogane knelt down again to let Fai off, then stood, bent double, clutching his side as he tried to catch his breath. When the blond's eyes finally became used to the bright light, he looked around curiously. They appeared to be on the roof of the palace. He turned around to ask Kurogane what they were doing up here but when he saw what was waiting for them behind the prince, he gasped.

A blue blanket had been laid out on the rooftop, its surface scattered with different kinds of freshly cut flowers. The blanket was weighed down by dishes containing a variety of foods. Fai could see sandwiches, rice, tempura, salad, several kinds of fruit, some type of noodles and iced lemonade. Kurogane straightened up behind him and scratched the back of his head nervously, blushing as he waited for Fai to say something. Fai whipped around to face him, his eyes wide and sparkling, and threw his arms around the prince's shoulders.

"A rooftop picnic?!" he gushed, standing on his tiptoes so that he could kiss the other boy's lips. "That's so sweet! I love it! I'm surprised that Kurotan thought up something so romantic!"

"It was Tomoyo's idea," Kurogane mumbled, embarrassed by the burst of affection. Fai could tell that he was pleased though because after a moment he curled his arm around his boyfriend's slender waist and rested his cheek on top of his head.

"Right, let's eat!" Fai chirped, sitting down on the blanket and grabbing a sandwich eagerly.

His smile widened and his heart fluttered joyfully when Kurogane sat down beside him, filled a bowl with rice and tempura and pulled him into his lap before starting to eat. The two of them ate slowly and in silence, savoring the food and each other's presence. Fai leaned back against Kurogane, munching his sandwich happily. It amused him when he noticed that the prince's heart was beating quicker at the contact. He found it adorable that Kurogane was still so shy with him even though they had already confessed their love to each other.

"So the ball is only four days away, hmm?" Fai sighed.

"You don't have to tell me," Kurogane snorted. "My parents've been trying to bully me all week into helping them get ready for it."

"You will dance with me, won't you?" he asked hopefully.

The prince choked on his rice. "You'll have just finished dancing for your performance during the banquet, right? Won't you be sick of dancing by then?"

"Not if it's with Kuropii," Fai pouted. "Please? It would make me so happy!"

Kurogane gritted his teeth. Dancing with him wouldn't make Fai happy; it would make him laugh his ass off when he found out that… Damn it! Why did he always have to be such a stubborn idiot?! He should've known it would only come back to bite him in the butt later. But he knew that if Fai had his heart set on something, he wouldn't shut up about it until he got his way. The only solution would be to go to Tomoyo (she was the only one he would feel even remotely comfortable asking) and have her… Grr! Stupid Fai!

"Please?" Fai repeated.

"Fine! Whatever!" Kurogane snapped. He cursed himself as he felt his cheeks getting hot again.

Fai giggled and leaned back to kiss him under the chin gratefully. "Thank you, Kuropun. You're so sweet."

"Am not," the prince mumbled sullenly.

"You agreed to dance with me, even though you don't really like dancing and you planned a romantic rooftop picnic for us," Fai reminded him. "Face it, Kurokuro; you're a sweetie pie."

Kurogane blushed silently, trying to hide his embarrassment by tipping his bowl up and shoveling rice into his mouth with his chopsticks. Fai giggled and picked up a slice of watermelon.

"Hey, um…" Kurogane began awkwardly as Fai licked watermelon juice from his fingers. "You liked that chocolate stuff that we made for my mother's birthday, right?"

"Mm? Oh, yes," Fai answered. "It's one of my favorite desserts!"

Kurogane leaned forward and grabbed a small covered plate that Fai hadn't noticed before. "Here," he said, shoving the plate embarrassedly into the other boy's hands.

Fai uncovered the plate and felt his heart skip a beat. There, in the middle of the saucer, was a somewhat sloppy-looking version of the fondant au chocolat that he and Kurogane had made together. The blond tried rather unsuccessfully to conceal his widening grin.

"Did you make this all by yourself from memory, Kurowanko?" he asked delightedly.

"Well, I tried," Kurogane mumbled, carefully avoiding his eyes. "But I couldn't remember everything so I had to have one of the cooks help a little…"

Fai took a bite. It tasted better than he thought it would, what with Kurogane not exactly being an experienced chef. He noticed the prince watching him furtively out of the corner of his eye, waiting for his reaction. Fai smiled at him.

"You did very well, Kuropii," he assured him. "It's delicious."

"Hmph. Of course it is," Kurogane said, but Fai could see the relief on his face. "Well, I'm going back. I don't want to have to listen to the tutor's crap if I'm late."

Fai wiped his lips off on the back of his hand so that he could give the prince a kiss.

"Good luck on your lessons, Kurochii!" he piped. "I'm rooting for you!"

He watched Kurogane affectionately as he disappeared back into the palace while he finished up his treat.


"How about this one, my lord?" Kyle asked, holding a royal blue tunic up to the crack in the dressing room door for Fei Wong's consideration.

Fei Wong looked it over, then waved his hand dismissively and closed the door again. "The color would be good for any other occasion but it won't go well with blood."

"Blood, my lord?" Kyle asked nervously. Fei Wong emerged from the dressing room wearing a long black robe-like garment.

"Oh yes, there will be blood," he replied, grinning darkly.

Kyle was silent for a moment, staring at him in horror. Then he forced an anxious smile.

"You've perfected your villain smile, I see, my lord. I nearly wet my pants that time."

Fei Wong looked pleased with himself.

"But if you don't mind me asking, my lord, why are you expecting so much bloodshed?"

Fei Wong shrugged. "I figured that since we're already going to be there anyway, we might as well do a bit of conquering; expand the kingdom a little."

"You mean to take over Suwa, my lord?" Kyle asked, shocked.

"I just said that," Fei Wong said, looking annoyed. "You don't listen very well, do you?"

Then he turned around and looked at the back of his outfit in the mirror, still frowning. "Does this robe make my butt look big?"


Kurogane heaved a sigh and knocked reluctantly on Tomoyo's door.

"Come in!" her voice sang from inside.

The prince gritted his teeth as he pushed open the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw him.

"Prince Kurogane!" Tomoyo chirped, clapping her hands together. "What an unexpected surprise.

"Hey, look, uh…" Kurogane looked down at the floor, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "I need a favor."

"Of course you do," she agreed, smiling. "You never come to me unless you want something. Otherwise you'd make me come to you."

"Shut up, you," Kurogane growled. "You've got a lot of nerve to talk to your prince like that."

"Now, Prince Kurogane; is that any way to treat someone you expect a favor from?" Tomoyo asked, putting a hand to her heart as though she was offended. In reality, this was just a normal trade off between the two of them; she would tease him, he would remind her that he basically owned her, and she would pretend to be emotionally wounded. Both of them knew by now how the game worked.

"Anyway, what was it that you wanted?" she asked cheerfully.

"I…" He hesitated again, running a hand backward through his hair. "Well, that stupid guy wants me to dance with him at the ball…"

Tomoyo grinned. "By 'stupid guy', do you mean Fai kun?"

Kurogane blushed a little. "Yeah, him. Anyway, the problem is that I don't know how to…"

She giggled as he trailed off, his blush deepening. Tomoyo could guess exactly what he was going to ask from her but he was so fun to mess with that she decided to feign ignorance.

"Hmm?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyes at him. "What was that? You don't know how to what?"

"I don't know how to dance, alright?!" he snapped, his hands balling into fists at his sides.

"Oh dear, that is unfortunate," Tomoyo said dramatically. "But how can I help?"

"You can teach me how," Kurogane growled impatiently.

"Really? You want me to teach you how to dance?" she asked, stifling another wave of giggles. "Well, I suppose I might be able to fit you into my busy schedule somewhere… But of course, I can't do this for free, you know! Dancing skills don't grow on trees, you know."

Kurogane snorted. He had been expecting her to demand compensation but hoped maybe she wouldn't this time. The prince figured that this was what he got for being so short with her all the time. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Wellll…" Tomoyo began innocently, twirling a strand of her long dark hair around her finger. "I was just thinking that I needed someone to model some of my new outfits for me…"

Damn; that was the one thing that the prince had been praying that she wouldn't ask him to do. He hated that, and she knew it.

"Forget it!" he snarled, folding his arms stubbornly. "I don't wanna wear your dumb girly clothes!"

"How sad," she sighed, looking regretful. "I guess you'll just have to tell Fai kun that you can't dance with him. He'll be so disappointed… I wonder if he'll cry. That would just break my heart!"

Kurogane remembered the last time he had seen Fai with tears rolling down his pale cheeks and he felt a slight lump rising in his throat. Then he growled and punched the wall.

"Dammit! Fine! I'll do it! But you'd better not make me wear any of your damn dresses!" the prince warned.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that you've changed your mind!" Tomoyo trilled delightedly. "And I'm sure Fai kun will be, too!"

"He'd better be," Kurogane grumbled, folding his arms again. "Otherwise I'll kick his scrawny little ass."


The night of the ball finally arrived but Fai did not feel the joy and excitement he had expected this evening to bring. Instead he felt anxious, his insides twisted hideously with guilt. He had felt the first gnawings of it after his romantic rooftop picnic with Kurogane. Before, he had been in too much of a high from the realization of his genuine love for the prince and their romance coming to fruition to be aware of it. But now that he had become somewhat accustomed to being with Kurogane, some of that initial thrill had worn off, allowing room for far less pleasant feelings and realizations to surface in its place.

Fai was disgusted with himself. He had a lot of nerve, being happy and going on dates and letting Kurogane hold and kiss him when his twin was in that dark, damp jail cell literally wasting away. The reason he had decided to stay in the palace in the first place was in hopes of collecting enough money to bail the real Fai out, or to make Kurogane fall in love with him so that Fai could persuade him to order his release. Instead what had he done? He had basically given up on coin collecting and allowed himself to truly fall in love with the prince, making it impossible to just use him and lose him. Whose fault was it that his brother was locked up in the first place?! Fai should be the one dying in the darkness, not his twin.

"Hey," a soft voice said in his ear, startling him. "What's up?"

Fai looked up and saw Kurogane standing behind him, his hand resting concernedly on the blond's shoulder. There was worry in his penetrating scarlet eyes as well, though most other people would probably fail to recognize it as such. Nevertheless, the sound of Kurogane's voice had brought him back to the present. Fai was sitting in one of the small rooms off of the main dining hall with the rest of the entertainers, having a quick supper before it was time for them to go out and perform. He had only been picking at his food, and obviously Kurogane had noticed.

Fai quickly forced a smile. "Oh, it's nothing, Kuropipi… I guess I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

Kurogane's eyes narrowed, studying him suspiciously. Fai could tell that he was trying to decide whether or not to believe him.

"Hmph," he huffed finally. "You'd better not be lying."

Fai lowered his eyes guiltily, trying to go back to his food. Apparently the prince saw this action for what it really was because he sat down beside him and put his arm around Fai's shoulders, pulling him gruffly against his chest.

"You can tell me, you know," Kurogane said sullenly. "You're the one who said it makes people feel better if they talk about their problems."

It took every ounce of resolve he possessed for Fai to push him gently away. "Really, Kuropon; I'm just nervous."

Kurogane frowned at him, looking slightly hurt, but he didn't pursue the matter any further.

"Prince Kurogane!" a servant called from the doorway.

Kurogane stood. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"The king and queen wish for you to help them welcome our guests."

The prince sighed heavily, annoyed by the stupid formalities. "We'll finish this talk later," he muttered to Fai before leaving.

Fai lowered his head, his mind filled with a sickening cocktail of shame and self-loathing. He didn't want to finish their talk later; it would only cause him to have to tell more lies to Kurogane, and he hated doing that. It made him feel like a traitor. The blond sighed, hurriedly wiping his eyes on his sleeve and busied himself with scooping the leftover food from his plate into his napkin and wrapping it up. The least he could do to make up for his hideous selfishness was bring his starving brother some extra food. He left the little care package in his discarded shoe for safe-keeping and filed silently out with his fellow entertainers into the main dining hall.


Fai felt sick the moment he entered the main dining hall, though it wasn't a nervous type of sickness or an indigestion type of sickness. For some reason, as soon as he stepped into the main dining hall, he was almost choked by an overwhelming sense of foreboding, as though he was anticipating something terrible to happen. That didn't make any sense, though; there were more guards here than he had ever seen around the palace before. The chances that anyone would get away with anything in this type of setting were basically zero. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling…

"Fai san, are you ok?" Sakura asked as they neared the stage. "You're shaking."

"Hmm?" he said distractedly. "Oh, yes…Just a little nervous, I guess."

"Don't worry, you're a great dancer," she assured him sweetly. "You'll do fine, I know it."

He tried to return her confident smile, but even he could tell that it came out lopsided. Sakura didn't have time to question him any further, though, because it was time for them to take their places. He was in the back row; Suzuran had tried to insist that his beauty be showcased by placing him in the front, but Fai had refused saying that he didn't deserve such a place of honor when the others had seniority over him.

Even as their dance began, he was so distracted that he wasn't even paying attention to his movements. Instead Fai trusted his body to remember them. He wished he could see Kurogane; certainly the sight of the prince's face would calm him at least a little. Kurogane was nowhere to be seen, though Fai supposed that he was probably in the midst of the knot of guards near the high table. He could see the top of the king's head. Fai knew from the short time he had spent as prince of Celes that there were all kinds of annoying formalities to be observed when greeting the king of a new ally country. He could just barely glimpse the very top of the other king's head, too, though only enough to see that he, like Kurogane's father, had black hair as well.

Just as the guards began to separate to allow the royals to take their places at the high table, Fai's view of them was blocked by Himawari and Nakuru who were situated in front of him. The blond was too busy now just trying to force himself to keep moving to really care. Where was this sick feeling coming from? It made him think of walking through pitch darkness, knowing that a hungry monster was lurking somewhere just out of sight and having only a stick to use as a weapon. What evil could be hiding among all these guards and other people that would be capable of causing such a feeling?

By the time their dance was over, Fai's head was swimming terribly and he could feel sweat running down his face and back. As soon as the entertainers broke formation, all of them turned to him worriedly. "Fai kun, what's the matter?! You're so pale!" "You're shaking!" "Are you sick?! Do you want to go lie down?!" "Chii?" "Here, climb onto my back, ok? You look like you're about to collapse!" "I'll get some water!" "He doesn't have a fever…" Their voices swirled around him and Fai couldn't even tell who was saying what. He felt himself being pushed onto someone's back any being carried off the stage. Fai closed his eyes tightly and looped his arms around the girl's neck, wishing it was Kurogane who was carrying him.


Once he was out of the main dining hall, Fai's mysterious sickness receded as quickly as it had come, though he was still feeling apprehensive. He had never experienced a feeling like that before. It couldn't just be coincidence, right? But then again, how could there be anything evil enough in the dining hall to bring him that sort of terror? Fai snorted in amusement as he imagined a giant rump-roast demon bursting out from one of the many covered dishes that covered the tables and going on a rampage. Somehow that just didn't seem very likely.

It was rather difficult to convince the other entertainers of his sudden recovery, however.

"Really, you don't need to worry about me," he tried to tell them as they fussed over him. "I feel much better now."

They had laid him out on a bed of pillows and brought him cold water to drink while Sumomo hurried off to find a healer. Fai tried to kindly brush Chiharu off as she laid a cool washcloth out on his forehead, but she ignored his protests. Eventually, he gave up with a sigh and just let them do as they pleased. Obviously there was no dissuading them. Suddenly the door burst open to admit a worried-looking Kurogane with Sumomo trailing in his wake. Before Fai could say anything to him, the prince dismissed the gaggle of girls with an imperious wave of his hand and knelt down at Fai's side. Kurogane waited until he heard the door snap shut again before sweeping Fai fiercely into his arms.

"I knew something was wrong!" he snarled, hugging the little blond almost desperately. "Why do you keep lying to me, you idiot?! Why do you have to have all these damn secrets?!"

"Sorry, Kurosama," Fai said, hugging him back. He cursed himself mentally as he did this; he had made a promise to himself to try to put more distance between them for Kurogane's sake. "It's nothing to worry about, though; it was just nervousness."

Kurogane pulled away and grasped Fai by the shoulders. "You're still lying!" he shouted, shaking him slightly. Although most people would only have been able to see anger in Kurogane's face, Fai could see deep pain there as well and it broke his heart to know that he was causing it.

"Don't you trust me?" the prince asked almost desperately, staring deep into Fai's deep blue eyes.

The blond smiled sadly at him. "I told you it was best not to get involved with me. You'll only be hurt."

"Shut up!" Kurogane snapped, hugging him close again. "Quit being such a dumbass! I don't know why you keep saying stupid shit like that but stop it! You're pissing me off!"

"It's because I love you, Kurotan," Fai breathed. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Could you really forgive me if I just let it happen without even trying to warn you?"

"I'll always…" Kurogane mumbled, but he ended so quietly that Fai didn't catch the last part.

"Hmm? What was that, Kuromun?" he asked.

"I said…" the prince hesitated, and Fai could tell that he was blushing. "I said I'll always forgive you, no matter what."

Fai closed his eyes, his heart torn between adoration and agony. "Please don't promise things like that, Kurochii."

"Well, I do promise," Kurogane replied defiantly. "What are you going to do about it?"

Fai let out a shaky sigh. "I don't know. I'll probably just love you even more, I guess."

Kurogane pulled away from him so that he could kiss his lips. That kiss nearly broke Fai's heart, but he couldn't help wishing it would last forever.


"The ball's starting."

"I know, but… I really don't feel like dancing anymore."

"You bastard! You're the one that was begging me to dance with you at the damn ball!"

"I…I changed my mind."

"Like hell you did. We're dancing. Get up."

"I thought you didn't want to dance."

"Get up. We'll go outside. I don't want to be with all those morons in there. If my parents see me dancing with you…"

"Kuropyon's mother will tease him, right?"

"Anyway, it's too loud in there. Come on."

Fai sighed reluctantly and went over to slip on his shoes. The second Kurogane looked away Fai slipped the napkin full of food into his pocket, hoping he would be able to sneak off at some point to bring it to his twin. Maybe he wouldn't feel quite so terrible about his recent behavior if he could just bring it to him. Fai doubted that it would work, but still, he could hope. As soon as Fai had his shoes on, Kurogane grabbed his hand and pulled him outside to the courtyard.

Once they were a decent distance away from the indoor proceedings, Kurogane nervously put one arm around Fai's slender waist the way Tomoyo had taught him and took his hand in his. As if he was going to let Fai change his mind about wanting to dance after the hell and humiliation that Kurogane had endured to get Tomoyo to give him lessons. Plus, he decided that maybe dancing wouldn't be so bad if it was with Fai. Any excuse to hold him close was good enough for him.

The blond put his arm around Kurogane's shoulders and couldn't help smiling at him as he waited for the prince to start. Since Kurogane was so averse to learning how to do "girly" things, Fai was curious to see whether he was actually capable of dancing. The dark-haired boy took a deep breath and began to lead nervously.

Fai had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from giggling at the look of concentration on Kurogane's face. Normally he would have just allowed himself to laugh but he didn't want to shatter the shy prince's confidence. Besides, Kurogane was actually doing a pretty fair job; at least he hadn't stepped on Fai's foot yet. Oh, there he did it. But Fai didn't mind; he could tell that Kurogane's dancing was a newly acquired skill, most likely something he had learned just for the occasion. The blond was touched that someone would go to such lengths just to make him happy.

"I'm surprised, Kuropon," Fai admitted. "I didn't think you'd be able to dance but you're actually doing a pretty good job. Where did you learn to do it so well?"

Kurogane cleared his throat, blushing, and looked carefully over the top of his boyfriend's head. "Tomoyo."

Fai smiled again and laid his cheek against the taller boy's shoulder affectionately. "She's a good teacher," he whispered.

Fai realized then that he was again breaking his promise to distance himself from Kurogane. He had no business indulging in romance when his brother was locked up and dying in that miserable jail cell, he reminded himself. Why did he have to keep being so selfish, even after he realized that he was doing it and resolved to stop? Why did he have to be such a disgusting person? Why did Kurogane have to be so overwhelmingly perfect and adorable when Fai couldn't rightfully keep him as his own? Still, the thought of pushing Kurogane away hurt him deeply.

The music from inside eventually began to slow down as the song came to an end. On the last note, Kurogane gently kissed his lips again.

"I… I have to… go to the bathroom, Kurowanko," Fai lied once they had pulled apart. "I'll be right back, ok?"

Without waiting for a response, Fai hurried away, heading towards the jail. As soon as he had rounded the corner, he sniffled and hastily wiped away the tears that were beginning to fill his eyes.

Kurogane watched him go suspiciously. Fai had had that tone in his voice when he had said that; the tone he always had when he was telling a lie. There weren't any bathrooms that way either, unless Fai planned on using the bushes. Kurogane decided to follow him at a safe distance, telling himself sternly that if it turned out that Fai had been telling the truth he was not going to stick around and watch. That would just be creepy and gross.

As he trailed Fai, he saw the smaller boy pass by several perfectly good clumps of bushes. Just as he had thought; Fai had been lying. And was Kurogane imagining things or was the blond leading him towards the jail? No, he hadn't been imagining things; the prince could see barred windows. He stepped behind a nearby tree to watch and listen.


"Fai!" Yuui hissed. "Where are you?!"

"Yuui? Is it really you?" Fai asked disbelievingly, approaching the barred window. "Where have you been?"

"I'm so sorry…" Yuui apologized guiltily. "I meant to visit you sooner, but… I've been distracted… But look, I brought you some food!"

He lowered the napkin carefully down into Fai's hands. The starving boy dropped to his hands and knees and began shoveling the food into his mouth ravenously.

"Mmm," he sighed. "I'd just about forgotten what real food tastes like…"

Yuui shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "Fai… I'm… I'm a terrible brother… While you were here in this terrible place, I… I mean, I'm the one who should be in here; not you… If I had just gone out and picked pockets that day like I was supposed to instead of making you do it…"

"Yuui… You need to stop blaming yourself for my being in here," Fai interrupted. "We were always taught that stealing is wrong, so it's only natural that you wouldn't be comfortable doing it. Besides, I was the one who was stupid enough to try stealing from that noble. That's what landed me in here, not you."

"But you shouldn't even have been stealing that day!" Yuui insisted. "It was my turn!"

"Anyway, that's not important now," Fai interrupted again. "I'm just glad you're alive. I was so afraid when I lost contact with you… I wonder why our magic just stopped working. Do you think there's some kind of magical barrier on this jail?"

"But we didn't lose contact until after you'd been here for a while, remember?" Yuui pointed out.

"Oh, that's right…" Fai agreed. "Maybe… Do you think it's because I haven't been getting enough blood?"

"That could be," Yuui nodded slowly.

"That has to be it," Fai said. "Because now that I think about it, I lost my connection with you about two months after they moved my cellmate out. He found me trying to take some of his blood and it really freaked him out. He begged so much that the guards finally agreed to move him to another cell."

"I wonder how long we can go without blood…" Yuui mused aloud.

"I'm afraid I might find out soon," Fai sighed wearily. "I can feel myself getting weaker every day."

"I wish I could give you some of my blood…" Yuui said sadly.

"Well, vampire's blood is poisonous to other vampires," Fai reminded him. "What about you? Have you been able to get blood since you've been here."

Yuui shook his head. "I…don't want to drink from anyone here… They're all so nice to me; I'd feel even more like a disgusting parasite than I usually do…"

"By the way, I wanted to ask you… What were you doing with the prince last time you visited me?" Fai asked. "Don't tell me you two are friends."

"Well, actually…" Yuui paused awkwardly. "You see, I got this plan to… to trick him into falling in love with me so that I could ask him to release you…"

Fai was silent for a moment. "Is it working?"

"…Well, yes…"


As soon as Kurogane heard those words leave his boyfriend's mouth, he felt as though his whole world was crashing down around him. So Fai wasn't really in love with him? It was all just a trick so that he could get him to release… Who was this person? Fai called him Fai and the prisoner called him Yuui… That confused him. So Fai wasn't even really called Fai? He had lied about that too? Fai (or Yuui, rather) had mentioned something about being a terrible brother. Was the prisoner really Fai's (Yuui's?) brother or had he meant something else? Their voices sounded almost exactly the same; that had to mean that they were actual brothers, then, right?

But it had all been a lie? Fai wasn't really in love with him? Fai wasn't even actually named Fai? It had all been a trick? Kurogane had heard these words from Fai himself, but he still had a hard time believing them to be true. And what was that nonsense about vampires…? His legs were feeling weak so he had to sit down. It seemed that the only thing that Fai hadn't lied about was that fact that getting involved with him would only bring pain.

The prince, normally so uncaring and brash, could feel his eyes filling with tears that were hot with pain and humiliation. How could he have been so stupid? He never should have had anything to do with that dumb blond; he should have kicked him out right away! How could he have been so blind? Kurogane was so distracted by his racing thoughts that he didn't even sense the three demons approaching him until it was too late.


A/N: Dun dun dun! Cliff hanger! Ok, I'm tired now. No more author's notes for me; I'm going to bed. Good night! (Reviews make my dreams so much sweeter!)