A/N: I'm baaaack! And I come bearing a continuation of the Taboo/Yard story. I just have a couple of things to say about this chapter:
First of all, back when I wrote Taboo, someone (or maybe it was several someones; I don't remember for sure) criticized my choice of characters that I made to be Fai's main persecutors, and since I'm bringing them back, albeit briefly, in this chapter, I felt the need to explain why I had chosen them in the first place. Fei Wang and Kyle- this one should be fairly obvious, since they're the main villains in Tsubasa. Seishirou- I try to use him as little as possible because I know he has a ton of hardcore fans and I never read anything with him in it so I'm pretty sure I'll end up screwing him up, but I needed someone. I chose him because of the incident in Outo where he "killed" Fai. Shaoron- I know he wouldn't be evil outside the Tsubasa context, but he did eat Fai's eyeball out and did quite a number on that world that the group visited very briefly before Infinity.
Secondly, I know that elementary schoolers don't get detention, but I wanted to continue with this storyline so I hope everyone will forgive me. I'm also pretty sure that a kid in detention wouldn't be required to skip regular school in order to be there, but that was necessary to the plot line, too, so I hope you can forgive that as well.
Thirdly… I've never been to detention (although I did go to the principal's office once in elementary school when I went nuts and flipped out on this kid who made some stupid little comment at me. I've always been a goody-goody and that experience basically scared the shit out of me so badly that I never tried anything like that again). So I don't really know what it's like there, and all I have to go on is what I've seen on movies. Heh. Ok, that's all I have to say, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Detention
Kurogane yawned and glanced at the clock above the classroom door. There was still a good twenty-five minutes before school started. He heaved a sigh. His mother had had to take him to school today because he'd overslept and missed the bus. Since the bus had to stop and pick up so many kids before reaching the school, he'd ended up arriving quite a while before it had. Kurogane grumbled to himself, thinking that he should have slept later so he didn't have to sit around in the lame ass classroom for so long before school started. For some reason, he always felt lethargic in the early summer, and now that school was about to end for the year, that lethargy was really starting to kick in.
Suddenly the classroom door slid open and someone pranced in, exhibiting way too much energy. It took him a moment through his daze to recognize the person as Fai. He was dressed adorably in khaki shorts and a new polo shirt, and his face was aglow with such joy that Kurogane almost felt the need to shield his eyes. The little blond grinned at him and skipped over to where his friend was sitting.
"Good morning, Kurochan!" he chirped. Kurogane opened his mouth to reply, but Fai leaned down and kissed his lips sweetly. The dark-haired boy's face went scarlet.
"Y-Y-YOU IDIOT!!" he sputtered. "DON'T JUST DO THAT OUT OF NOWHERE!! YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK?!"
"It's fine, Kuropin," Fai said easily. "No one else is even here yet."
Fai was right; the two of them were the only ones in the room so far. Their teacher, Mrs. Li, had been in earlier but she appeared to have stepped out for the moment. Kurogane didn't find reassurance in this, however.
"WHAT IF THE TEACHER WALKED IN?!"
Fai shrugged. "Well, Kuromyuu is very cute, so I'm sure Mrs. Li would understand."
"I'M NOT CUTE!!" Kurogane snapped back.
"Besides," the smaller boy continued, ignoring him, "I thought Kurochii liked my kisses."
The taller boy fell into a sullen silence. As much as he hated to admit it, Fai was right. He had grown to love the blond's kisses and if they were to suddenly stop, he was sure he'd go into withdrawal. True or not, the dark-haired boy was not about to admit this to Fai. Then again, to deny it would only bring trouble as well. Kurogane decided to just drop the whole thing.
Fai looked surprised. "Hmm? You're not even going to yell at me anymore?"
Kurogane sighed and shrugged. "'S not worth it. Anyway, I'm tired."
The smaller boy's face grew concerned as Kurogane laid his head down on his desk. "Is everything alright, Kurotan?" he asked softly, caressing his friend's cheek. "Are you sick?"
"Nah, I'm always like this right before summer vacation," he mumbled, blushing slightly at Fai's worry for him.
Fai didn't look convinced. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?"
He felt Kurogane's forehead, checking for a fever, but his temperature was normal. Kurogane's blush deepened. "You think I'm lying? I don't tell lies. You're the one who has a problem with lying, not me."
Fai sighed and smiled apologetically at him. "I'm sorry, Kurosama… I didn't mean to make you mad, I just… I wanted to be sure that you were ok, because you're my most important person and… I love you."
He leaned forward and placed another soft kiss on his lips. Kurogane, by now, was so embarrassed that, if it were humanly possible, steam would have been pouring from his ears. Fai giggled as the flustered dark-haired boy cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his uniform. He pulled Kurogane close to let him rest his head on his shoulder while he stroked his raven hair.
"S-so…um," Kurogane stammered, carefully avoiding his eyes as he changed the subject, "what were you so excited about before when you came in?"
"Oh, right! I was so busy thinking about how cute Kuropyon is that I almost forgot!" Fai sang. "There's a big festival tonight! I thought maybe we could go together!"
Kurogane blinked. "…A festival, huh?"
"Mm hmm," the blond said, his eyelids lowered flirtatiously. "A lovers' festival."
"Lov-…Wh-what?!" Kurogane blushed deeply. "Forget it!"
"Hmm? But whyyyy?!" Fai cried. "I was all excited and everything! It'll be our first date!"
"It's too weird, two guys going to a lo-… a festival like that together!" He went quiet for a moment, his cheeks burning, his eyes averted. "…We can do something together by ourselves, so… just forget the festival thing, alright?"
"Nooo!!" Fai wailed. "I love you and I wanna go to the festival with you! I even spent all night thinking about how sweet Kurochii would look in his yukata!"
Kurogane heaved a sigh. There was just no dissuading Fai once he got one of these crazy ideas lodged in his head. Fai, taking his exhale as a sign of agreement, cheered and threw his arms around his shoulders, pressing their lips together happily once more. The blond was so happy that Kurogane didn't have the heart to point out that he hadn't exactly agreed.
"By the way, Kurowanwan," the smaller boy said excitedly. "Look what I have taped to the inside of my desk!"
He opened his desk. Taped to the inside on the lid was the picture that Kurogane had drawn him for his birthday. Kurogane's face blazed again and he quickly snapped Fai's desk shut. "Are you an idiot?!" he hissed furiously. "What are people gonna think if they see that?! They're already starting to think there's something going on with us!"
"But it makes me so happy every time I look at it…" Fai pouted. "Since people at school aren't usually very nice to me, I thought it might be nice to have it here to cheer me up…"
Kurogane felt a pang in his heart. As much as he hated mushy, lovey-dovey stuff, he was genuinely touched that his simple drawing could bring Fai such joy.
Fai noticed his internal conflict and grinned. "You're adorable, Kuropin. Have I told you that recently?"
"Shut up," he mumbled, shoving Fai away.
Fai was just reaching for him again to wrap him in his inescapable iron grip when the classroom door suddenly slid open again. The bus had arrived, bringing with it ninety-five percent of their classmates, including all the boys who had been part of the terrible bullying incidents that had happened in the winter and on Fai's birthday in the spring. There stood Fei Wang, Kyle, Seishirou and Syaoron, in all their stupid, annoying, butt-scented glory. Just looking at them, remembering what they had done to his precious Fai, made Kurogane's blood boil. Fai blushed slightly when he saw them, hurriedly jerked away from Kurogane and pretended to be busy looking for something in his desk. Apparently he hoped that if he didn't make eye contact, they wouldn't bother him. But he had been too late in pulling away from Kurogane; the bullies had already seen. Evil grins spread across their faces simultaneously. Fei Wang, the leader of the little gang, stepped forward menacingly.
"I thought I smelled something sick," he smirked. "I should've known it was you two gay-wads!"
The other kids laughed loudly. Fai tried to bury himself deeper in his desk, pretending not to have heard. Kurogane was not so passive. He jumped to his feet, his hands balling themselves into fists at his sides, his face burning brilliantly.
"Say one more thing," Kurogane snarled dangerously, "and I swear I'll tear your throat out with my bare hands!"
While the dark-haired boy was busy staring down Fei Wang, Kyle, Seishirou and Syaoron had snuck around behind Fai for a surprise attack. Seishirou looped his arm around Fai's neck, holding him in a headlock while Kyle snatched the drawing that Fai had taped to the inside lid of his desk. He didn't bother removing it carefully so it tore off the top and bottom of the picture where it had been secured with tape. Fai squeaked and struggled desperately against Seishirou's hold, wanting to rescue his prized drawing, but Seishirou tightened his grip, making Fai choke and gasp for air. Kyle looked at it and laughed in pure sinister glee. Syaoron snatched it so that he could have a look and he too laughed cruelly before holding it up for the rest of the class to see.
"Isn't this cute?" he sneered. "Hey, check out this picture that Kuro-gay drew for his boyfriend, the jinx!"
Kurogane whipped around as the rest of the class laughed, his eyes blazing with fury. Faster than anyone's eyes could follow, he jumped over his chair and sprinted to Fai's rescue. He took Seishirou first, punching him as hard as he could in the side of the head, knocking his glasses off with such force that they hit the wall and cracked, forcing him to let go of the little blond. He went for Syaoron next, driving his fist deep into his stomach. Kyle snatched the drawing from Syaoron, folded it expertly into a paper airplane, and threw it to Fei Wang. Kurogane lifted Syaoron off his feet by his lapels and threw him at Kyle as hard as he could, knocking them both into the desks behind them. Fai let out a little cry of pain and despair. Kurogane followed his gaze, and rounded on Fei Wang just in time to see him tearing the drawing to pieces, tossing the remnants on the ground and spitting on them.
The dark-haired boy threw another glance at Fai, saw silent tears beginning to roll down his fair cheeks and threw himself at Fei Wang, carelessly knocking aside the desks in his way. Kurogane grabbed him around the neck as hard as he could and dragged him from the classroom, completely heedless to Fei's choking and struggling. He didn't even notice Fei beating on him furiously, trying to free himself. Kurogane jerked him into the bathroom, kicked open the door of the first stall and plunged Fei's head into the toilet, holding him there roughly by a handful of his hair. After a few seconds, he yanked him out, letting him gasp and cough for a second before forcing it right back under the water. Kurogane actually managed to do this about two more times before a skinny but surprisingly strong arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back.
Kurogane looked up at the person who had stopped his rampage. He found himself staring into the frigid gray eyes of Ashura sensei, the fifth grade teacher. His face was completely devoid of its usual smile, and though he wasn't frowning, Kurogane found himself struck with just the smallest pang of fear sprouting in the midst of his blind rage. Other boys were flooding into the bathroom to see the infamous Ashura sensei in action against the equally infamous Kurogane Youou, while the girls lingered outside, shouting eager questions to their male friends who were inside. Kurogane and the teacher stared each other down for a moment before Kurogane looked back down at the gasping, sputtering frame of Fei Wang and dunked his head back into the toilet one last time.
Kurogane heaved a sigh, exhausted after his outburst and having to retell his story several times to the headmistress, Yuuko. Considering how badly he had flipped out on Fei, Kyle, Seishirou and Syaoron, he had walked away with a surprisingly mild sentence. They were even being punished, too, in an unusual act of justice. Kurogane wondered why they usually got off scot-free; Yuuko didn't seem like the type to put much stock in the rumors about Fai and the supposed curse that surrounded him. He didn't want to think that the only reason the other boys had been punished was because they had provoked him as well as Fai. Kurogane's punishment was to sit in detention until 7:30 that night.
Even though the punishment hadn't been as heavy as he had expected, Kurogane was still highly displeased about it. He hated school; he hated sitting in class and being forced to learn all this pointless shit that he already knew and probably would never use, he hated a majority of the people in his class, and he hated how, after wasting eight hours a day in the worthless place, he was forced to bring more work home with him. Now he was being forced to stay in the cursed place for four extra hours. He laid his head down on his desk, thinking that at the very least he would be able to catch up on some sleep.
"Hey!" the supervisor called sharply. "No sleeping! Get your head off that desk right now!"
Kurogane snarled and grudgingly sat up.
"If I see you doing anything besides homework, you'll be in even deeper trouble," the supervisor warned. "Don't push your luck, kid."
Kurogane was only four hours into his sentence and already he was wishing for death. It was agonizingly boring; he only had so much homework he could do before he ran out of stuff to occupy himself. The room was small and warm, which only made it more difficult to stay awake. He had started to nod off several times, causing the supervisor to have to yell at him to snap him out of it.
Then there was this older girl a few desks away from him who kept making flirty eyes at him. It wasn't that she was bad-looking or anything, but the way she stared at him unblinkingly, constantly trying to draw his attention to her full pouty lips was a little creepy. No, actually it was a lot creepy. Kurogane tried giving her his meanest glare to scare her off, but she seemed to like that so he stopped. Then he tried to make a wall around himself with folders to block her view, but the supervisor just yelled at him again and forced him to take it down. He was pretty sure it wouldn't have helped much anyway; even for the few moments that he had had the wall up, he could still feel her gaze burning through the glossy cardstock of his folders.
He was highly relieved, therefore, when Fai appeared around noon to deliver his lunch. The supervisor and the older girl were busy retrieving their own food, allowing Fai a few moments to talk to his friend. The smaller boy sat down in the desk across from him, still looking crushed over the fate of his drawing, and Kurogane felt his heart aching in response to seeing Fai in pain. But Fai still had a smile for him, though it was the sad, apologetic one that Kurogane hated. He looked around to see that no one was watching and leaned forward to give Kurogane a quick kiss. Kurogane blushed but said nothing.
"Thank you for standing up for me again, Kurosama," the beautiful blond whispered.
"It wasn't that big of a deal," Kurogane mumbled, his cheeks still burning.
"I made lunch for you," Fai said, taking the carefully made bentou from his bag and setting on the desk in front of his friend. "Rice and grilled fish."
Kurogane removed the lid and looked down in surprise at the perfect meal that Fai had prepared for him.
"You made this?" he asked.
Fai's cheeks turned a bit pink. "Well, my mom helped a little. But I did most of the work!"
Kurogane snorted doubtfully as he picked up his chopsticks and tried some of the rice. It was ten times better than the rice that he could make himself.
"What do you think, Kurochuu?" Fai asked tentatively.
"Not bad," Kurogane admitted.
Fai's face split into a huge smile and Kurogane had to look away to hide a small grin of his own.
"So how long do you have to stay in detention?" Fai asked, still smiling a little.
Kurogane's heart sunk again when he remembered how long he would be trapped in this hell hole. "'Til 7:30 tonight," he replied glumly.
Fai's face fell. "But the festival starts at six thirty!"
"Doesn't really matter if we miss the first hour, right?" Kurogane asked, trying to calm him down. "Festivals usually last until midnight or something like that."
"Yes, but…" Fai sighed, looking deeply disappointed. "I don't want to miss any time with Kurowanwan… I… When I'm not with you, it kind of hurts, you know?"
The blond tried to smile but he just ended up looking miserable. "Sorry, Kuromyuu… You…you don't like it when I say lovey-dovey stuff like that, do you?"
"…Hmph," Kurogane replied elusively, a blush coming to his cheeks.
"Anyway, it's my fault that you're even in here in the first place," Fai continued sadly. "You only did those things because… you were trying to protect me."
"Yeah, well… if I had the chance, I'd just do it all over again," he growled. "I'm not sorry for what I did to those jerks. They deserved it."
Fai's sapphire eyes sparkled with deep affection. "If I wasn't worried that someone would see, I'd kiss you, Kurochuu."
The two boys lapsed into a slightly embarrassed silence, Kurogane picking absentmindedly at a rip in his folder. They only looked up when the girl and the supervisor returned to the room with their lunches. Fai stood up, knowing that he would be kicked out soon anyway. He turned to leave, then paused and turned back around, a thoughtful expression on his beautiful face. The blond leaned down and put his hand around his mouth, beckoning Kurogane closer so that he could whisper something to him.
"I'll find a way to get you out of here, alright, Kuropin?" he hissed. "Just wait, ok?"
"Yeah, sure," Kurogane replied with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. Fai couldn't be serious about this. How in the world could he possibly hope to get him out of here without them being caught and dragged right back? Fai would be in trouble then, too. He wasn't that stupid, was he?
"I will," Fai whispered. "Just wait."
Before Kurogane could say anything else, Fai gave him a sly little smile and hurried out of the room.
Kurogane looked up at the clock desperately and groaned. It was only two minutes later than the last time he'd checked it. It felt like at least ten had gone by. That girl had started tossing notes to him. The supervisor appeared to either not notice or not care. Kurogane, too, did his best to ignore her, but he couldn't resist having a peek at the notes. Every time he opened one, he always wished he hadn't.
U R pretty cute. What is your name? My name is Jorougumo.
I'm in 5th grade. What grade R U in cutie?
Don't be shy pass me a note! Anyway I like shy boys lol!
I put a kiss on this 1 4 U. If you put UR tongue on it U can taste my lip gloss. Try it it tastes good.
Kurogane had to work hard to suppress a shudder at that last one. What kind of psycho was this girl and why couldn't she just leave him to suffer out the remainder of his sentence in peace?! Finally he got fed up and sent her a note back.
If I say I'm taken will you leave me alone?
He watched her read it out of the corner of his eye. His heart sunk when she laughed and quickly scribbled a note back to him.
Probably not. Who R U taken by? Is it that blond kid that was in here earlier? UR not gay R U? lol!
Try as he might to control himself, Kurogane's face burned when he read her response. He crumbled it up and stomped on it as hard as he could, doing his best to ignore her silent laughter. When she refused to give it a rest, he picked the note up again, tore it up and then stomped on it once more. Stupid girl, poking around where she wasn't wanted and making accusations like that! Fai had better get his skinny little ass over here and bust him out of here before he went crazy.
When the bell rang at three thirty, the butterflies in Fai's stomach went wild. It was time to set his plans in action. He had thought of several ideas over the course of the school day, but in the end, he had ended up scrapping them all. There were just too many factors working against him in order for any of the plans he had cooked up to be successful. For one thing, all of them required Kurogane to immediately realize what was going on so that he could escape while the supervisor was occupied. Not that Fai had any lack of confidence in Kurogane's intelligence, but if his escape plan was going to be good enough to fool the teacher, then there was no guarantee that Kurogane would recognize it as Fai's attempt to spring him loose. And if he was caught in the midst of an escape attempt, then there was no way he would be getting out of there. So basically, he had made a big promise and now he found himself without any means of fulfilling it. Fai bit his lip nervously, thinking hard. That was when he passed the soda machine…
Kurogane stretched his legs under his desk, trying to wake himself up. After that stupid girl had gotten tired of messing with him, things had become pretty dead and the room was warmer than ever. Normally he wouldn't bother trying to keep himself awake, but Fai had promised to help him escape so he had to keep his eyes open for the blond to set things in motion. He wasn't about to let himself sleep through Fai's attempt to help him escape. But he was just so sleepy…
Suddenly, the door opened and someone walked in. A small, skinny, blond someone. Kurogane was instantly alert. What the hell was Fai thinking, just walking in like that? He wasn't going to try telling the supervisor that Kurogane was wanted in the office, was he? That would never work! The supervisor had already seen Fai in there at lunch time, so he knew the two of them were friends. Kurogane stared at him intently, begging him silently not to do anything stupid, but Fai hardly looked at him. Instead he set a tall bottle of water on the supervisor's desk. The supervisor looked up at him and jumped when he recognized the visitor as Fai. His face contorted into a look of barely concealed disgust at the sight of the "jinxed" boy standing before him.
"Yeah, what do you want?" he asked coldly.
Fai's face turned a delicate shade of pink. "Uh-um… Ashura sensei thought you might be thirsty after watching these guys all day, so he… he asked me to bring this to you."
The supervisor looked surprised. "Ashura sensei did?"
"Yes, so, um… enjoy!" Fai spun around to make his exit. For just a fraction of a second, he glanced in Kurogane's direction and winked, then left just as suddenly as he'd come.
Fai left the detention room feeling pretty smart. Not only had he alerted Kurogane that he was on the move but this could also work as a way of getting rid of the supervisor. If he drank that whole bottle of water, he would surely need to use the bathroom and that would give Kurogane a chance to escape. But it would take a while for the supervisor to finish off the bottle. There was nothing for Fai to do now but sit and wait.
Kurogane was starting to get worried. It had been an hour and twenty minutes since Fai had made his appearance but he hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since. Could he have been caught? If not, then what in the world was that fool blond waiting for? Kurogane watched impatiently as the supervisor drained the bottle of water that Fai had brought him. He wondered idly if that had been part of some plan of Fai's. Was he waiting for the supervisor to step out to use the bathroom? Well, whether that was Fai's intention or not, it wasn't working. The blond had better get moving if he wanted them to get to the festival on time.
Fai pouted, twisting the hem of his shirt anxiously as he looked at the clock again. How could that supervisor have consumed the whole bottle of water and not have to pee? Was the guy some kind of camel or something that could consume gallons of water without batting an eye? Apparently another plan was in order. But he didn't have any other plans! None of the ones he had come up with had been good enough! And if he didn't hurry, they wouldn't have time to go home and get their yukatas on before it was time for the festival to start! Fai began to pace back and forth beneath the clock, fiddling absently with a strand of his golden hair as he tried desperately to churn out a new idea. Perhaps if he sat outside the window with a sock puppet and refused to quit tapping on the glass, the supervisor would…
"Problems, Fai?" a smooth female voice asked from right beside him.
Fai started and looked up at the tall, shapely figure that had sneaked up on him. His heart nearly jumped out of his throat when he saw that it was Yuuko.
"Oh, no! Just waiting for my ride home, that's all!" he lied quickly, grinning.
Yuuko raised an eyebrow at him and glanced up at the clock. "Still? School got out almost an hour and a half ago. Are you sure they haven't forgotten? Maybe you should use the phone in the office and call to make sure."
"No, it's ok," Fai insisted, his grin still firmly in place. "My mom told me that she might be a little late, so…"
He trailed off as she smiled and reached out to run her fingers through his hair.
"Why don't you tell me the real reason that you're still here?" she requested calmly.
Fai smiled apologetically as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Ah ha ha, looks like you saw right through me, huh?" he laughed.
"Call it a woman's intuition," she said with a wink. "Now, if I had to guess… I'd say you were hoping to find a way to free Kurogane from detention. Am I right?"
"Hyuu! You really have me all figured out, don't you?" Fai whistled.
"Sure looks like it," she replied easily.
"Are you going to stop me?" he asked.
Yuuko was quiet for a moment, smiling as she looked him over. "What would you do if I said yes?"
Fai put a finger to his pale pink lips, considering his options. Then his smile reappeared, apologetic once again. "Hmm… actually, I might try to push you down, grab Kurotan from that room and run for it."
She laughed. "Really?"
"And if that didn't work, I suppose I would probably cry and see if I could make you feel sorry for me," he admitted, joining in on her laughter.
"I see," Yuuko said with thoughtful amusement. He had been honest about his intentions and showed that he was determined to rescue Kurogane, even at the cost of putting himself in some serious doody. That meant that the blond boy had passed her test.
"So… are you going to stop me?" Fai asked again.
"Well, I've always been a bit soft when it comes to children in love," she told him. She caressed his cheek in a sisterly manner. "You do love him, don't you?"
Fai's smile softened and his cheeks colored slightly. "…Yes… very much."
Yuuko squealed in delight, nuzzling her face into his hair as she hugged him. "Aww! That's just adorable! I totally support you two!"
"You won't stop me, then?" he asked, his hopeful smile widening.
"Of course not!" Yuuko declared. "Who am I to interfere with true love?"
Fai smiled, looking a little embarrassed. Then his face fell as he remembered that he still had no idea how he was going to go about this.
"Something wrong?" Yuuko asked.
"Well… the problem is that no matter how badly I want to rescue Kurosama, I still don't know how I should do it," he admitted. "I've been working on it since lunchtime, but none of my ideas seemed good enough…"
Yuuko looked thoughtful. "Hmm… That is a problem."
"Yeah…" Fai agreed, lapsing into silence.
Yuuko let him stew for a moment before speaking up again. "What if I offered to help? Would you accept?"
Fai blinked at her in surprise, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. Did she realize who she was talking to? He was the cursed boy whom pretty much everyone in town, adults and children alike, hated. Why would she want to associate with him, let alone help him? But she was smiling at him, awaiting his answer, and Fai had to admit that he could definitely use some assistance.
"Alright," he agreed gratefully.
Kurogane's head nodded sleepily. Jorougumo had been allowed to go home, meaning that he no longer had her to make him uncomfortable enough to stay awake, plus he had long since run out of homework and had basically given up on the idea of Fai rescuing him. The supervisor was immersed in a car magazine and wasn't paying attention to him anymore. The dark-haired boy stifled a yawn and lowered his head onto his desk, thinking that he may finally get the nap he had been longing for all day long. He was very surprised, therefore, when the window beside him was suddenly kicked open.
Kurogane and the supervisor both jumped to their feet, startled by the unexpected appearance of two black-clad figures who had burst in through the open window. One of the figures was small and skinny and held a length of rope. The other was tall, with an hourglass figure and long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she carried a bow and arrows. Rather than having a sharp arrowhead on the arrows, however, there was a flat heart-shaped stamp at the end.
"Who the hell are you?!" the supervisor demanded.
"We're ninjas!" the smaller figure replied cheerfully. "We've come to rescue Kuropon from detention!"
"What?!" the supervisor spat.
"Yes, that's exactly right!" the female intruder agreed. "So out of the way or I will have no choice but to shoot you!"
"Look, I don't know who you guys are, but you can't just burst in here, and--!"
The female intruder strung one of her strange arrows. "Goodness, he sure talks a lot, doesn't he? I guess I have no choice, then."
She took aim and let her arrow fly.
"Bull's eye!" she sang.
As soon as the supervisor had keeled over backwards, the smaller figure dashed forward and pounced on Kurogane, knocking off his feet. Kurogane struggled, but his attacker lifted up the bottom portion of his ski mask and pressed his lips softly against the dark-haired boy's. Kurogane blushed and stopped thrashing. He recognized that kiss. This person who had burst in and tackled him like a crazed maniac was Fai. Kurogane would know those soft lips and that sincere love anywhere. And even though he had had plenty of previous experience with Fai's affection before, Kurogane could still feel his heart fluttering joyfully at the contact. It was as if he was kissing him for the first time. Kurogane was so swept up in the sensation of Fai's kiss that he didn't even realize that he was being tied up until the blond's slender fingers were finishing up the final knot.
"H-HEY!! WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!" Kurogane roared, his face burning crimson. "UNTIE ME, YOU MORON!!"
"Sorry, Kuropon," Fai grinned, tweaking his nose playfully, "but I can't have you squirming around while we're making our escape."
"I CAN WALK JUST FINE ON MY OWN!!" he snapped. "LET ME OUT OF THESE STUPID ROPES RIGHT NOW!! AND WHO THE HECK IS SHE?!"
"I already told you, Kurochii: she's a ninja," the little blond answered patiently. "Now, it's time to make our daring escape!"
Kurogane blinked at him, a mixture of confusion and irritation on his face. "How in the world are you planning to get me out of here when I'm all tied up like this? The supervisor isn't watching anymore, anyway; just untie me and let me walk!"
"But that wouldn't be as cool!" the mysterious female "ninja" pointed out.
"She's right, what would be the fun in just walking away?" Fai asked. "I'm going to carry you away!"
As much as Kurogane loved Fai and appreciated him getting him out of detention a whole hour and a half early, the dark-haired boy really wanted to punch him in the nose when he said that. "ARE YOU COMPLETELY RETARDED?! THERE'S NO FREAKING WAY YOU'RE GOING TO CARRY ME ALL THE WAY HOME!! I'M BIGGER THAN YOU ARE, MORON!!"
"I can so!" Fai insisted. "Just watch!"
The little blond made a valiant attempt to pick Kurogane up. He actually managed to get him about two inches off the ground before his strength gave out and he had to drop him again, panting.
"Well, it looks like you've got this situation pretty much under control," Yuuko said, grinning under her ski mask. "I'll just leave you two lovebirds to it, alright?"
"Love… HEY!! WE'RE NOT—GET BACK HERE, YOU!!" Kurogane howled, his face flushing deeply.
"Quit moving around, Kurochan," Fai requested, putting his arms around his waist as he prepared to pick him up again. "It's much harder for me to carry you to safety when you keep squirming."
Kurogane watched in silent exasperation as Fai tried again and again to sling him over his shoulder. He even removed his ski mask, finding it too warm when he was doing such strenuous work. Kurogane could see little beads of sweat standing out against Fai's pale skin. Finally, Fai stopped, exhausted and discouraged.
"Why don't you just give up?" Kurogane suggested in a dull tone. "It's not going to work, so just forget about it."
"I can't…" the smaller boy squeaked. "Kurosama never gives up on me when I need to be rescued, so I…" He sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I feel so useless, having to be saved all the time… I thought maybe, just this once, I could be Kurotan's hero."
Kurogane stared at him. This wasn't the answer he had been expecting Fai to give him.
Fai smiled sadly. "Guess I was wrong, huh?" He lowered his eyes in shame. "I'll… I'll never be anything but a hassle for Kuropipi…"
Kurogane heaved a sigh. He could see that this was going to be another one of those increasingly frequent moments where he would have to force himself to swallow his pride and admit his true feelings to his disheartened lover. This kind of thing seemed to happen a lot now that he and Fai were together. He growled as he struggled to free his arms from the ropes that bound him and swept the smaller boy into a hug.
"Look, you already saved me, alright? I'm out of detention. Being stuck in this stupid room for another hour and a half would be a way bigger hassle than spending my whole life with you, so…"
Fai pulled away slightly in surprise so he could study Kurogane's face when he trailed off. The taller boy's cheeks were bright pink.
"So, thanks, I guess…" he finished in a mumble.
Fai couldn't help smiling as he pulled Kurogane close once more. Even though Kurogane was brash and hot-tempered most of the time, all that was worth it for the rare moments when he shyly exposed his feelings to Fai. The little blond stood on his tiptoes so that he could kiss him.
"You're welcome, Kurochan," he breathed. "I was happy to do it."
"Yeah…so, now can you untie me?" Kurogane huffed, still blushing. "I'm starting to lose the feeling in my legs."
Fai obligingly knelt down and untied him. Kurogane stretched his legs gingerly, wincing at the strange tingly feeling that was running through them.
"So," the dark-haired boy said eventually, once some of the feeling had returned to his legs, "are we gonna go to that festival thing or what?"
Fai nodded eagerly and flashed him a smile of pure joy as he took his hand, lacing their fingers together happily. The two of them stepped over the incapacitated body of the supervisor and began to make their way home to change for the festival.
A/N: Man, I had such a hard time writing this. I'll bet it shows, too, doesn't it? This definitely isn't one of my better ones.
And just because I know someone's going to ask, the supervisor isn't meant to be a Clamp character. He's just a random guy that I was too lazy to give a proper name.
