Part Twenty-Seven:
Fai was keenly aware of the awkwardness between him and Lord Suwa as they traveled for two days. They used to have a very congenial relationship, but now it was rather frosty. They only talked when necessary. Fai tried to ingratiate himself by cooking, of course, and doing an extra share of the work setting up camp the first night, suppressing the lazy streak Kurogane always berated him for when they camped out.
Lord Suwa and he sat around the campfire that first night in virtual silence. Fai had no idea what to say to the man to alleviate his shock and discomfort at the news that he and Kurogane were together. He tried to think about how he'd approach Ashura and tell him how much he loved Kurogane. Nothing came to mind, because he wasn't sure if Ashura would accept Fai's explanation that he wanted his first time to be with someone special and he only had a limited time to embrace that opportunity.
The next morning was just as chilly between the two of them, and that really stung Fai. He had had a good relationship with Lord Suwa. He'd had fun learning how to fight with a normal staff, and they had been allies at getting Kurogane's dander up. Now there was this giant rift Fai started to panic over. What if Lord Suwa despised him now? The idea really hurt him more than he could imagine.
Usually, he could care less what others thought of him, but Kurogane loved and respected his parents so much. He was afraid Lord Suwa's negative opinions would flavor what time he had left with Kurogane. What really disturbed Fai was that he'd grown to care and respect Kurogane's parents, and to lose their affection and mutual respect really wounded him.
Their second day had yielded no leads, so they set up camp under an oak tree. Fai cooked dinner in hopes Lord Suwa would melt a little. He thanked Fai in the most formal address in Nihongo, which meant that he had pushed Fai into the distance as far as respect; he was now on the level of a scullery maid. Fai felt disheartened, but, more importantly, he started to feel pissed off. The man was starting to treat him like dirt all because he was in love with Kurogane. It wasn't fair.
"You know, Lord Suwa, I think we have the same goal at heart: Kurogane's well being."
"If we did have the same goals, you wouldn't have thrown yourself at him."
Fai felt gob-smacked at the assumption. He took a deep, calming breath and then said, "It was your son that first approached me. He made the first move, not me. I was..." Fai felt heat coming to his face, but he pressed on, confessing, "...a virgin before Kurogane. So if you want to put the blame on who seduced who, put it on him."
Lord Suwa's eyes narrowed at that information. "You know you'll only ruin his status if his relationship with you is known."
"And I've gained status here with implementing my wards. I worked very hard at protecting Nihongo from demons. Why would I be looked down on because I have feelings for Kurogane? And why would he be looked down on having feelings for me? I just don't understand."
"You can't bear him a child, so get that through your head! You can't continue the Suwa bloodline."
Fai felt an angry fire coming to his belly. "My father never had blood children. He rescued me and my twin from abuse and a pit of rotting corpses. He set us as his successors. He has always lavished his love and protection on us. Our adoption stood when challenged, and it's our right to inherit all of Celes. Blood doesn't make a family, because I know my father loves me more than anything, as does my twin. Blood doesn't qualify a person to rule over other people, either. It's the quality of their character. This is what Ashura taught me."
Lord Suwa scowled. "Then what would you know of blood and its importance? You're a naive child. The people that came before bestowed knowledge and wisdom. They pass that down to us through blood."
"And with much respect, Lord Suwa, we had a training relationship. You aren't related to me, yet I learned from you. And I've learned from a man by the name of Demetri who wasn't related to me. Also, King Ashura taught me so much. All these things I've learned from others are very valuable and precious, but they were things from people not related to me. One day, I'll pass my knowledge on to someone else. Who knows if that person will be related to me by blood or not. It won't matter to me."
Lord Suwa ran his hand over his hair and wore an exasperated expression. "Look, then you don't understand the value of blood since you're only adopted. I'm sure your father is sincere in his feeling towards you, but you don't share his heritage. Most of all, you don't share our heritage, so you can't be with Kurogane in a meaningful way and make him happy!"
Fai felt as if Lord Suwa had slapped him in the face. He was considered a rootless orphan with no proper family, someone not good enough for Kurogane, not just because of his gender, but also because he was a foreigner. "I understand the value of happiness, as does my father. He'd never force me into some sort of sham, loveless marriage just to carry on something like a bloodline."
Now, Lord Suwa looked furious. "Are you accusing me of not caring about Kurogane's happiness and welfare? Don't you think I know what's coming this summer if he continues on with you? When you go back to Celes, it'll hurt him a great deal, and I don't want to see that."
Fai was silent. Kurogane wanted to carry through to the last moment, no matter the pain. But it was Kurogane's choice. "You haven't taken time to ask Kurogane what he wants. And what he wants, is me."
"Enough of this nonsense! When we get back, you'll pack immediately and go back to Edo. The sooner Kurogane is without you, the better off he'll be. You're no longer welcome in Suwa."
Fai felt the color drain from his face. "Kurogane promised to stay with me as long as possible. I'm determined to do the same. I won't leave unless he tells me to."
"Who do you think you are to defy me?"
Fai noticed a pasty, one-eyed man and also a man with garish, red hair step from the darkness behind Lord Suwa. Fai got to his feet as did Lord Suwa, both of them reaching for their weapons. Fai swirled around and saw a young Nihongo teenager and a man with glasses had snuck up behind him.
The man with glasses said, "I already know you and the man with the dragon tattoo won't surrender, so I won't bother making that request. You'll insist on fighting, but we'll succeed, and you will both end up under our control, anyway."
"So you're the foreign mages," Lord Suwa said, getting his sword and drawing it.
Fai finished grabbed up his magic staff. Fai said, "You're not mages, but espers."
"You're correct," the man with glasses said. "We want you to help us get back to our world, and then we want you to help us throw that would into utter chaos. You can do this by choice or we can force you."
"You four are criminals and will be brought to justice, here, in Nihongo. Don't send them anywhere, Fai," Lord Suwa ordered.
"I wasn't planning on letting them go," Fai said, tracing three runes and holding his palm towards the man with glasses. Meanwhile, Lord Suwa was sizing up the other two. Fai wished it was Kurogane at his back, but he trusted Lord Suwa to protect him.
"Why is it people always pick the hard way?" the garish redhead asked.
The man with glasses moved towards Fai so he let the binding spell go. He was shocked when the two in font of him disappeared and reappeared, escaping his hex. He looked at the teenager and remembered what Kurogane had told him months ago. This boy in font of him had to have a frightfully high level of telekinesis to be able to teleport. Fai rarely used his own telekinesis, relying on his magic to do most everything. "Two can play at that game."
Fai lashed out psychically at the boy to restrain him, but once again, they disappeared and reappeared, only this time to Fai's left. "I foresee every move you make. You can't win."
"I won't let you get away!"
He heard the clash of steel behind him and saw out of the corner of his eye Lord Suwa and the one-eyed man were mixing it up, sword against two very long knives. Fai lofted his staff when he sensed the teenager gathering the air around. He cast a stronger binding hex, but the teenager scattered the runes with his mind.
"Give up now and Lord Suwa won't get hurt," the man with glasses said. "Because it'll happen in five, four, three, two..."
Fai gasped when he saw the long knife slice into Lord Suwa's arm. Lord Suwa shrugged it off and yelled, "Fight, Fai! Now!"
Fai turned to his opponents and raised his staff. "Well, it looks like I'll have to use some other tricks up my sleeve."
Lord Suwa was afraid Fai had frozen in the middle of this fight, but he carried on and cast a pink bolt of fire at the other two tricky devils. His own set of opponents were madding. It was like fighting eight, slippery demons at once.
He finally got close enough to sink his blade in the one-eyed man's stomach and quickly yank it out. Lord Suwa was incredulous as the man kept coming after him, not even phased. He had to quickly dodge a punch to his kidneys from the redhead. He swung his sword at the man, but he dodged the blade with a cackle.
"Too slow," he gloated. "So why don't you take a nap."
Suddenly, Lord Suwa felt overwhelmed with the urge to fall asleep. There was a thick buzzing sound in his ears as he fought to resist. He was losing. He turned to Fai. "Run and get help!"
"Lord Suwa!" Fai shouted and was running towards him right as he fell into unconsciousness.
Fai scrambled to the ninja's side and shook his shoulders. Their four attackers were now placid. "What did you do him?"
"I used a telepathic Push on him," the redhead explained, rubbing his temples. "Damn, if he didn't hold for a really long time. I don't think I've met anyone more stubborn."
"So you see, now I'll let Farfarello and Schuldig finish the job killing Lord Suwa if you don't agree to come with us."
Fai was furious, and there was no way he'd let these men near Lord Suwa. He went to loft his staff, but the teenager yanked it from him and shoved him against the oak tree with his telekinesis. Fai tried to shake off the dizziness from hitting his head, but he couldn't. That's when the one-eyed man pounced on Lord Suwa and held a knife to his neck.
Fai could sense the shield surrounding them; it was strong and he wouldn't be able to punch through it with his own telekinesis. He silently berated himself for not using his psychic ability more and he vowed to practice in the future.
The redhead walked up to him and said, "Why don't you give it a rest, too?"
Fai tried to fight against the violating telepath, the buzzing noise in his ears proved too much. He slumped against the tree and blacked out.
Kurogane escaped to the stables, where he could get some peace and quiet from all the preparation for tonight's banquet. It was to introduce Aya-chan to the villagers elders. He picked up his saddle and looked down the row of horses. A ride would be a welcome distraction.
It dawned on him that Fai had been jealous of the horse Ran sent when his eyes hit that particular horse. That's why Fai had said what he did after he broke Ran's nose. Kurogane gave a lop-sided smile at Fai's jealousy. He wasn't too keen on riding the horse anyway. Movement near the front of the stables caught his eye.
"Father?" he asked, seeing Lord Suwa's horse by the door. He set aside his saddle and walked to the door when he didn't get an answer. He was surprised to see Fai's horse as well, both unsaddled and wandering around loose. He put them in the corral at the side of the stables and went to the main house. He found Kentaro in his father's sitting room.
"Have you seen Father and my mage?"
"No. I haven't seen them."
A sense of dread hit. "Their horses came back, unsaddled."
"That's strange. We'll look for them."
A search around the Suwa family compound yield no results. Kurogane grimly set out to find the one person that could help him figure out what had happened to his father and his mage: cousin Ran.
Fai woke up laying next to Lord Suwa, his hands tied behind his back. Lord Suwa was waking up beside him, also tied up. It took a moment, but he realized they were lying in the bed of a wagon and it was probably midday.
The man with the glasses was driving while the teen sat at his side, sullen, ignored them. "Just to let you know, my name is Crawford and this is Nagi." Fai then looked over at the one-eyed man siting on the wagon's side rail beside Lord Suwa. "That's Farfarello."
Suddenly, the garish redhead pounced and straddled Fai's hips. Fai grew queasy at the man's wolfish grin. "And I'm Schuldig. My, my... you are an interesting little pet."
"Get off me!" Fai demanded, offended at his proximity and the demeaning word 'pet.'
"Why? Deep down inside you're a bit of a masochist, little pet, from what I pried from your head. You blame yourself for being born a twin and causing all sorts of calamity. You so desperately want to be punished for that. I could purge you of that guilt better than your boyfriend. I could cause you some exquisite pain that would absolve everything."
"Kurogane treats me with dignity and respect! He'd never do anything to harm me!"
"And that's fun, why?"
"You're a sick person! Get off of me!"
"No." The man leaned downed and bit his collar bone, hard. Fai struggled to get away but the man held him firm and continued to maul his neck.
"Stop! Don't you dare touch him, you filthy pig!" Lord Suwa shouted. Schuldig backed off only slightly and glared at the bound ninja.
"I read your mind, too. I thought you didn't want your son fucking this mage any longer. I'm taking care of that for you. I'll fix him right when we get off this world."
"I don't care what you do to me! I refuse to let you go from Nihongo," Fai said, trying to twist and squirm away from Schuldig's roving hands. The man grabbed his hair, yanked, and twisted it hard.
"Behave, my little pet, or I'll dole out some real punishment."
"Don't you touch him again, or I'll kill you myself," Lord Suwa threatened. Fai was scared to death of the lethal look in Lord Suwa's crimson eyes.
"I don't have to touch him to harm him," Schuldig bragged.
"Sebastian, cut it out. I'll let you play with our new, shiny pet when we get him home," Crawford said over his shoulder. Schuldig chuckled and removed his hands from Fai's hair.
Fai quivered in relief when Schuldig got off of him and sat at his feet. He found himself unable to meet Lord Suwa's eyes after such a personal thing was revealed. Yes, it was true, he sometimes found himself feeling guilty over being born a twin and sometimes desired twisted relief from that guilt. After all, it would have been so much better for Yuui if he hadn't been born.
However, in all their months together, Kurogane would never fully indulged this whim. He held Fai in too high of regard to truly hurt him. Still, that didn't mean Kurogane wouldn't roughhouse with him from time to time. In all, it was too embarrassing that it was out in the open to Kurogane's father, who had enough issues with him.
Fai was starting to really loath this group of espers. Crawford halted the wagon and turned towards Fai. "Before we take you into our safe house, I'll give you one last chance to be agreeable."
"No," Fai said flatly. Crawford looked displeased.
"If not, I'll turn you over to Schuldig and Farfarello."
"I don't care," Fai said. "I've survived worse than anything you can do to me."
"Then we'll let Lord Suwa take your punishment for you until you become more agreeable," Crawford said.
Fai hit panicked as they grabbed them. His magic, unfocused because it wasn't directed by a rune set, lashed out in an arc of pink lightening. It struck Farfarello, but Nagi was able to teleport Schuldig and Crawford to safety outside of the wagon.
"That was close," Schuldig muttered as Farfarello shrugged off the hit.
"Don't try that again," Crawford ordered, marching up to the wagon with a scowl.
"I couldn't help it!" Fai remembered when it had happened one particular day. Fai had been whipped within an inch of his life by his biological grandfather, but it was when the man went towards Yuui that his magic struck out. It hit his grandfather, and the man retreated, fearful of another attack, leaving Yuui unscathed but in tears over Fai.
"Well you better help it," Crawford said. Schwarz approached cautiously and plucked them from the wagon. They were marched to a small, run-down cabin next to the woods. After they got them inside, they had Lord Suwa and Fai sit on the ground, back to back, and tied them together. "Now, before we leave Nihongo, we have to plot out what we're going to do in Japan."
"Can't we just go?" Schuldig asked.
"If we give him enough time, he may see the sense of cooperating with us. Besides, I don't want to go back to our world unprepared. More than likely, Rosenkreuz has already sent Berger and his crew in our place. Eliminating them is our top priority."
Crawford then gathered the rest of Schwarz around the fireplace, ignoring Fai and Lord Suwa while they plotted.
"Mage," Lord Suwa said in a low tone.
"Yes, sir," he whispered back.
"Your magic, it didn't work when that man threatened you, but when he threatened me it lashed out."
"It works that way with me. I don't take very good care of myself. Your son doesn't like that I do that sometimes and has been working at getting me to change my thinking."
Lord Suwa sighed. "I thought that maybe the case. I've seen him chew you out for doing reckless things, and it always struck me as odd."
"We need to figure a way out of here," Fai said.
"I know. Be patient. An opportunity will present itself. But, mage, under no circumstances are you let them leave Nihongo."
Fai didn't reply. Banishing those four cretins would make Fai happy right now.
"This was where they camped. This is Fai's," Kurogane said to Ran, holding up his grandfather's bow. Kurogane slung it over his shoulder along with the quiver.
"The only people I know that would have a chance at taking down you father and the mage is Schwarz," Mamoru said, examining the small campsite. "There was obviously a fight here, but only a tiny amount of blood on the ground. Your father and the mage are probably still alive. But I wonder why they would kidnap them. They usually just kill their victims."
"Maybe they have some use for them. They might ransom my father. They could get a lot of raw resources from Suwa. My mage is very powerful. If they heard about the things he can do, then they may want use him. Didn't you say they were power hungry? They could use either for an advantage."
Youji came riding up on his horse. "I found fresh wagon tracks. For once, I'm grateful for all this rainy weather. But we better hurry. Those storm clouds won't hold back forever."
"Kentaro, break this campsite down and go tell mother the news. I don't want her uninformed, but try not to worry her. Tell her we're close and we'll be home soon."
"Be careful, young master," Kentaro warned.
He nodded. "I will."
His relationship with his father's advisor had thawed a great deal since their contentious travels around Suwa. Kurogane accepted the man really did have his best interests at heart, and he hadn't pried any further into his and Fai's relationship.
"Let's go, already," Ken said, scrambling to get on his horse.
Kurogane mounted up and looked over at his cousin's grim face. "We'll bring them to justice."
"We better, or someone will pay," Ran said. They road off, Youji in the lead, pointing out the wagon tracks.
To be continued.
