A/N: Three chapters within a week! I'm cruisin'! This is another one that I seriously considered chucking but decided at the last minute to try and salvage it. I hope my efforts were worthwhile!
Lone
Kurogane's eyes snapped open when he felt something cold and wet being pushed into his hand. Fai was smiling and kneeling beside him, silently offering him a glass of ice water which the ninja accepted gratefully.
"Kuropii looks all worn out even though we just woke up!" Fai remarked, ruffling Kurogane's hair fondly.
Kurogane snorted. "You just woke up, you mean. I got up at four to train."
"You must've had a pretty tough workout, huh?" the blond grinned as the warrior took a big gulp of his water. "Kuropun doesn't normally get this sweaty…"
"Yeah, well…" Kurogane paused guiltily.
The real reason he had had to work so hard at today's training session was because of his metal arm. Even though he had gotten it more than four months ago, he still wasn't really used to it. It was noticeably heavier than his real arm which not only threw off his balance but made it difficult to move as quickly as he used to be able to. It had been bothering him increasingly that he couldn't function the way he used to so he'd decided to throw himself into training harder than ever. He couldn't tell Fai this, though, because he knew the magician still kind of blamed himself for making him get it in the first place.
"I just felt like I was falling out of practice so I decided to get my ass in gear," Kurogane finished defensively.
If Fai detected his little white lie, he didn't give any indication; instead his grin widened. Kurogane's eyes narrowed in suspicion over the rim of his glass as he took another drink of water. He had no trouble seeing the mischief in that smile of his.
"Kuromyuu is getting his butt in gear, hmm?" Fai giggled. "I like the sound of that." Then the swordsman understood and his face reddened. "I…THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, YOU STUPID BASTARD!!"
Fai laughed. "We've been together for quite a while now and you still get so embarrassed when I say things like that! How cute, Kuroron!"
"Look, don't patronize me, asshole," Kurogane growled, trying to force the blush away. "Quit talking to me like I'm some kind of little kid or something."
The mage laughed again and continued to stroke Kurogane's hair. "I'm only playing with you, Kurochii. I don't mean anything by it; you know I love you."
"Hmph," Kurogane snorted, looking away sullenly.
"What, you don't believe me?" Fai pouted. "I would give you a kiss to prove it, but you're all sweaty and yucky right now."
Kurogane finished off the last of his water and sighed heavily, setting the empty glass down on the floor. "Fine," he snarled. "I'll go take a freaking bath!"
"Ah, so Kuromin does want my kisses?" Fai asked gleefully.
Kurogane's face flushed scarlet as the sorcerer pointed out his careless slipup. "I… Hey, don't go getting the wrong idea! I just don't like being sweaty, either!"
Fai grinned after him as he left for the bathroom. Kurogane was terrible at hiding how much he was in love with him and nothing gave Fai more pleasure than watching him try to do so.
The moment Kurogane was finished with his bath, Fai pounced on him and knocked him to the floor. Kurogane slipped the metal arm around Fai's slender waist and buried his real fingers in his golden hair. He couldn't suppress a grin as Fai began showering him with the promised kisses, purring as he did so.
"Now, do you remember what today is?" Fai asked between kisses.
Kurogane was silent for a moment, wondering if he should give the magician the answer he wanted or if he should mess with him for a bit. It wasn't often that Kurogane got an opportunity to push Fai's buttons for a change; of course he should take it. Anyway, did Fai really think he could possibly have forgotten when he had been reminding him every five seconds for the past week?
"It's Thursday," he grunted defiantly.
"Yes…" Fai agreed. "And?"
"July seventh," Kurogane continued.
Fai pouted. "Mm hmm… Anything else?"
The ninja almost had to bite his lip to conceal a smirk. "The anniversary…"
"Yes!" Fai chirped, looking thoroughly relieved that Kurogane hadn't forgotten.
"…Of the day that ninja manga I always read was first published," he finished, glancing sidelong at Fai's face to see his reaction.
"No!" the sorcerer cried, looking thoroughly crushed. "It's something way more important than that! Come on, Kurosama! Don't tell me you don't remember!"
"Don't be stupid," Kurogane growled. "You know how good my memory is. If it was really something important, there's no way I would forget it. You're just trying to screw with me like you always do."
Fai stared at him blankly, hardly able to believe that he was hearing. He honestly looked like he might cry. Kurogane wondered briefly if his joke had been too mean, then he shook himself. Was he turning into a severe softie or what? He used to kill people without so much as blinking an eye and now here he was feeling bad for almost making this stupid blond cry. It wasn't like he was actually going to blow off their anniversary; he had already made arrangements for that night and he had already gotten Fai a present. No harm done.
Kurogane sat up. "I can't believe what a moron you are," he sighed. Fai looked confused as Kurogane pulled him close so that he could kiss his lips. "Did you seriously think I'd forgotten when you've been talking about nothing else all freaking week long? Of course I remember that it's our anniversary."
Fai pouted and pounded Kurogane's shoulders in playful irritation. "You're so mean, Kurokuro! That was a terrible joke! You almost made me cry!"
"If you don't like having jokes played on you, then don't play them on other people, you idiot," Kurogane smirked, kissing him again. Then his face fell as he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, shit," he groaned. "Shit, shit, shit!"
"What is it, Kuropiko?" Fai asked, not sure whether to look concerned or not in case Kurogane was trying to play another prank on him.
"I'm on the nightshift tonight!" he snapped. He was furious with himself; how could he have been so stupid as to allow himself to be scheduled on the nightshift on his own anniversary?!
"Nooo!" Fai whined. "That's terrible! You have to go switch with someone or talk to Amaterasu-sama or…!"
Kurogane snorted; he had had enough experience with Amaterasu to know that her inflexibility was basically legendary, especially when she was dealing with him. He seriously doubted that talking to her would accomplish anything.
"Yeah, I don't think that would help anything at all," he told Fai flatly.
"Hmm? Why not?" the blond asked.
"Have you ever even talked to that bitch?" Kurogane started. "She's—"
"Yes, I have, actually," Fai interrupted with a grin. "The two of us had tea last week and we had a nice, long discussion about Kuropipi."
Kurogane stared at him, a mixture of disbelief and revulsion on his face. "…Are you serious?"
"Oh yes," the smaller man answered. "She even said that she'd give us her blessing if we ever decided to get married!"
As much as it made him squirm to think about Fai and Amaterasu discussing him over tea, Kurogane was filled with new hope. If she was that supportive of their relationship, then perhaps there was a chance that she would be willing to let him trade shifts with someone to celebrate their anniversary after all.
"Absolutely not," Amaterasu said, looking bored as usual.
"Hah?! Why the hell not?!" Kurogane roared.
She shrugged. "No real reason, actually, aside from the fact that it's the perfect chance to exact my revenge on you for all your past prick-ery."
"You twisted bitch…" the ninja snarled, his hands curling tightly into fists. "I thought you told that guy that if we decided to get married, you'd be happy."
"Well, yes," Amaterasu admitted. "I did have hopes that Fai might be able to tame the beast."
"So what gives?!" he demanded.
"Like I told you, revenge, mostly," she repeated.
Kurogane whipped around, seething, preparing to stomp back to his quarters to tell Fai the bad news.
"Don't be too bitter, Kurogane," Amaterasu called after him. "I'm doing you a favor here."
"HOW THE HELL CAN YOU CALL THIS A FAVOR?!"
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," she reminded him annoyingly. "Waiting for you to get back from your night duty will only make Fai all the more eager for whatever you have planned."
Kurogane was speechless with rage. After gaping at her for a few moments like an idiot, unable to think up a suitable comeback, he simply left her court in silent fury.
"Can't you just skip your shift, Kuromin?" Fai begged, clutching at the bottom of his cape pleadingly.
"I told you a thousand times, idiot: no!" Kurogane snapped. "I knew it was pointless to ask that heartless bitch! She's probably having a good laugh about it right now."
"Hmm…I really thought she would say it was ok…" the blond pouted.
Kurogane frowned down at Fai, allowing him to glimpse a small portion of his disappointment. Fai gave him a soft sad smile, taking Kurogane's hand and bringing it to his cheek.
"Kurochan really wanted to spend time with me tonight, didn't he?" the magician cooed.
"Well, it is our anniversary," Kurogane grumbled, blushing.
"I really wanted to spend time with you, too…" Fai said, cuddling against him. "Is there any way I could come with you?"
"No," Kurogane said resolutely. "I'm not letting you get hurt if the castle falls under attack tonight. Anyway, I have to be on patrol, so we still couldn't do anything."
He stroked Fai's hair lovingly. "We can just celebrate it tomorrow."
Fai sighed as Kurogane pulled away from him. "It's time for me to go."
The sorcerer kissed his lips passionately.
"Jeez," Kurogane said, slightly embarrassed. "I'm only gonna be gone one night, not a whole freaking month!"
Fai kissed him again, just as passionately as before.
Kurogane cleared his throat, blushing as they parted. "Don't wait up for me," he mumbled. "And this room has booby traps everywhere so you better not touch anything, either."
Fai closed his eyes and heaved a sigh, hugging himself. He considered allowing himself into a deep pit of self-pity over being all alone on his anniversary night and wallowing in it until Kurogane returned. Then he decided that he didn't feel like it. It would be one thing if Kurogane had left him alone on purpose, or if he had made no effort to change his shift but he had done both of those things, making this unfortunate turn of events completely beyond their control. What was the point in feeling sorry for himself when the one he loved had done everything in his power to make him happy? And although he was sure Kurogane would never say anything, he knew it would upset the ninja if he came home to find that Fai had cried himself to sleep.
Still, he really didn't feel like turning in early, either. Fai looked around the darkening room. Kurogane had warned him not to touch anything because it was booby trapped… The magician couldn't help wondering if the room was booby trapped because there was something here that he didn't want anyone to see. He amused himself with trying to figure out what kind of thing Kurogane might be hiding. Perhaps he had kept his man-purse from Celes? Fai giggled. He had been too wrapped up in his angst trip to tease the swordsman about wearing that thing at the time, but now that he had let all that go, it struck him just how funny it was. Just think of the treasures it might contain! Kurogane's powder puff, a sandwich in case he got hungry, a band-aid, his Mokona Fan Club membership card… Fai snorted with laughter.
Or maybe it was something cute that he was embarrassed to admit to having. Like a stuffed toy doggy or a love story he had written as a teenager or a picture of his first crush with hearts drawn all over it. Fai squirmed with poorly suppressed squeals of adoration. He couldn't wait to find out what his lover might have stashed away under the protection of his deadly hidden snares. Fai hummed a happy little tune as he began digging. The sorcerer opened up Kurogane's bottom dresser drawer carelessly. A flock of ten or so poisonous darts shot out right at his face, but Fai leaned backwards, limbo-style, and avoided them easily, leaving them to embed themselves several inches into the opposite wall.
This turned out to be where Kurogane kept his boxer shorts. Fai pieced through each pair, hoping to find some hidden item in between the folded laundry, or come across a pair that was decorated with hearts or something. Aside from the fact that this was Kurogane's underwear that he was piecing through, the drawer turned out to be rather disappointing. Every pair of boxers was plain and black without any sort of cute or interesting spark to them. Fai could only get so many thrills out of picturing Kurogane modeling them for him before getting bored.
He folded them all up again and placed them back in the drawer neatly. Fai thought it had been rather overkill of the ninja to place his boxers under the lethal guard of ten poison darts, but then Kurogane had always been very possessive of what was his. At least the warrior could rest easy knowing that his undies were well-protected. Fai shut the drawer and moved on to the next one.
This one had some sort of mini flamethrower device rigged up to it. Fai unhooked it with his delicate, nimble fingers and set it aside. Inside was a series of hand-held weapons. Fai was just reaching for a curiously-shaped knife when he pricked his finger on a shuriken. He gasped in pain and watched a red droplet leak from his fingertip before sticking it quickly into his mouth in order to soothe it. The blond decided to just skip that particular drawer and slid it shut again.
The next drawer was guarded with more darts and contained Kurogane's undershirts. These, too, were plain and black and boring. Any other person might have decided there was nothing worthwhile to see here and closed the drawer but the mage was able to find some happiness in the neat order of his lover's shirt drawer. Fai grinned as he removed his own shirt so that he could slip on the ninja's oversized garment. Even though it had been washed after the last time Kurogane had worn it, to Fai it felt pleasantly warm and smelled like the swordsman's cologne.
He sat there, hugging it closer to himself, breathing in the scent. It filled him with an overpowering desire to have Kurogane there, holding him and stroking his hair the way he did late at night when he thought Fai was already asleep. The wizard looked out the window at the sun. It had sunk almost completely below the horizon, meaning that there were only a couple more hours until Kurogane would be with him again.
Fai closed the shirt drawer and wandered over to Kurogane's closet. He was about to slide it open when he noticed a fine clear string attached to the door handle. After following upwards with his eyes, he noticed that it was connected to some kind of precariously balanced container positioned above the door. Fai wasn't sure what it contained, but he was fairly certain that it wouldn't just be water. Acid would be his guess. Fai snipped the string and carefully opened the door.
The closet was basically empty, except for a highly polished oblong box made of red wood. Fai reached for it eagerly. Who would use such a pretty box to contain something that was completely trivial? It probably held something of importance to Kurogane. Fai's body tingled with excitement as he began to reach for it. Then he paused. He could see rusted nails lining the niche that one would normally use to open the box, two flamethrowers rigged up to fry the face of anyone who tried to peek inside, more poison darts hiding in the back wall and a razor sharp ax on a pendulum secured to one side of the closet, waiting to chop an intruder's head off if they opened the box. Fai only got more excited. Something guarded by so many deathtraps must be really special to Kurogane.
It took Fai the better part of forty-five minutes to disarm the traps. It all had to be done very carefully so as not to accidentally set them off and it left him tired and sweaty. Whatever was in that box had better be good, considering all the work he was going through to break in to it. His fingers trembled with excitement and fatigue as he slowly lifted the lid. Fai was right when he guessed that the box contained something important. Inside sat Kurogane's most valued possession: his sword, Ginryuu. The sorcerer was slightly disappointed. This wasn't the kind of prize he had been hoping to find.
He was about to close it and just go to bed when he realized that Ginryuu was not the only thing inside the box. Fai lifted the sword out carefully and set it aside, then blinked in surprise when he realized what he was looking at. There was Fai's red bowtie from Outo, his bandana from Yamano, his goggles from Piffle, his black bowtie from Recourt, his gloves from Tokyo, his spiked collar from Infinity and his ponytail with the ribbon around it (Fai had asked Kurogane to cut his hair for him upon their return to Japan).
Fai was in shock. He couldn't believe that the warrior had kept all this stuff. Of course the memorabilia started from Outo, because that was when the two of them had discovered their feelings for each other. Fai had lost his tie in his battle against Seishirou and Kurogane, thinking the blond was dead, kept it to remember him by. That made enough sense to him. But why hadn't Kurogane disposed of it when he'd found out that Fai had survived? He had seen Kurogane take it out of his pocket and toss it carelessly on the ground once Fai revealed that he was no longer dead. That had to mean that Kurogane couldn't bear to part with it so he had gone back and retrieved it.
Fai had given him the other things, the ones from Yamano, Piffle, and Recourt, partially as a joke after the Outo incident. Each time, Kurogane had made a show of being irritated by his teasing and tossed the items aside. Apparently it had all been an act so that Fai wouldn't know he was keeping this stuff. He must have given it to Mokona to store for him until they got back to Japan, but how he had managed to keep Mokona quiet about it was anybody's guess. Since Fai had been trying to distance himself from Kurogane between Tokyo and Celes, he hadn't given him the usual souvenir. That meant that Kurogane had had to take the initiative to collect the gloves and the collar on his own. The ponytail had been personally rescued by Kurogane as well without any wheedling or prompting from Fai.
The thing that touched Fai the deepest was the fact that not only had Kurogane saved all this stuff, but he had chosen to keep it in the same box with his most prized possession. If he hadn't known Kurogane better, he would have thought that he had just tossed those things into that box simply because it was a convenient place to keep them. But Kurogane wasn't like that; it was extremely rare that he did anything thoughtlessly. He had put them in there because they were things that reminded him of his most precious person, and Ginryuu was the weapon he planned on using to defend that person. Fai squealed joyfully. He loved it when Kurogane showed his deep and poetic side.
Suddenly, the door to the room slid open, startling Fai. He whipped around and saw Kurogane standing in the doorway, holding a bottle of expensive-looking liquor. He stared at Fai, who was still kneeling before the box. His following expressions were priceless: first he looked alarmed, thinking that his lover was about to die in five different horrific ways right before his eyes for opening the box, then he looked confused, wondering how in the world the blond had managed to avoid all his lethal traps, and lastly he looked irritated and embarrassed that Fai had discovered his hidden treasures. Fai's face lit up in a 1,000 watt smile.
"Kurosama!" Completely ignoring the fact that the ninja had a glass bottle in his hand, he tackled Kurogane to the ground and pressed their lips together joyfully.
"Watch it! You're gonna make me break the bottle, you idiot," Kurogane growled, though Fai could tell he wasn't as angry as he wanted to make him think he was. He threaded his fingers through Fai's golden hair and pulled him close for another kiss.
"You're home early!" Fai chirped, sighing happily as he nuzzled against him. "I thought Kuropun would be gone all night!"
"Yeah, well… Tomoyo hime came and put Amaterasu in her place, so…" he shrugged. Then his scowl returned, and with it a slight blush. "But I told you not to touch anything, dumb ass. What the hell were you doing digging through my stuff?"
Fai laughed. "I just wanted to know what Kuropyon was hiding with all these traps. I might've known it would be something cute like this."
"Shut up," Kurogane grumbled, his blush deepening.
"You even saved my ponytail!" he marveled, touching their lips together softly. "That's so sweet, Kuromyuu!"
"You want me to leave again?" the swordsman warned.
"Nooo!" Fai cried, clinging to him as tightly as he could. "I missed you too much!"
"Then shut up about that crap and have a drink," Kurogane said, producing two chilled glasses. "And you'd better like it. This stuff cost me a fortune."
Fai let the ninja pour him a glass, then cuddled up in his lap to drink it while Kurogane held him.
"But you know…" Fai mused. "I wasn't as lonely here by myself as I thought I'd be."
Kurogane looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. Fai smiled and kissed the underside of his chin.
"Well, I knew Kurowanta would come running back to me as fast as he could once his shift was over," the sorcerer grinned. "Plus… I just felt so nice and warm."
Kurogane snorted. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"I always feel warm when Kuropii is thinking nice things about me," Fai told him sweetly.
Kurogane blushed again and hurriedly looked down at the ground, causing Fai to giggle at his shyness.
"You were thinking about me the whole time you were at work, weren't you?" the blond asked softly.
"…It is our anniversary," Kurogane mumbled lamely into his glass, his cheeks roughly the same shade as the burgundy wine.
Fai plucked the glass from his grip, set it aside and pushed him down on his back so that he could kiss him passionately. "As long as I know that Kurorin loves me and is thinking about me, I don't ever feel like I'm really alone."
"It won't bother you to never have a second to yourself?" Kurogane asked.
"Not as long as Kurochuu is the one that's with me," Fai answered resolutely.
"Good," he grunted. "I thought I was gonna have to tell you to suck it up and get used to it."
A/N: I feel like I'm getting into a rut with my endings. They all seem the same to me. Please tell me this is only my imagination. Well, that's thirty challenges down, meaning only twenty more to go. To be honest, I was afraid I wouldn't make it this far. It's all thanks to your reviews keeping me motivated. Thanks so much!
