Author's Notes:

Hello, everybody! I'd like to let you all know that I am once again participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so I will be busy working on my original projects for the rest of November. To compensate for the time commitment, I will be temporarily reducing my update schedule to one chapter per week. With luck, the three-day update cycle will resume at the start of December. Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you'll continue to stick with me until this fic is complete.

Chapter One-Hundred Thirty-One

Fai paced in the dining hall, agitation making his claws extend. It had been two days since he'd last seen his companions, and had it not been for the terse note Kurogane had left on Fai's door, he'd have thought they'd both been swept away by Fei-Wang Reed.

One of the serving women gave him a pitying smile as she set a mug of alcohol in front of him. She said nothing, having realized shortly after Fai had arrived that they couldn't communicate, although Fai doubted she knew why their languages had suddenly become incompatible. It's bad enough that they slipped away in the middle of the night, Fai thought, frustrated. But did they have to take Mokona with them?

He supposed he didn't need Mokona's translation abilities to survive. Often, the palace servants attended to his needs without being asked, either because they did that for everyone or, more likely, because Tomoyo had named him an honored guest. But Nihon's incomprehensible language pressed against his sensitive ears like water pushing through cracks in a dam. He couldn't shut it out, and he couldn't understand a word of it, only infer things based on inflection and body language.

An hour ago, using gestures instead of words, he'd managed to request something to eat. He hadn't been able to communicate to the servants his distaste for fish, which meant that he'd spent almost an hour picking at a tray of raw sushi, trying to find the edible bits. Even though he only needed blood to live—and Kurogane had deprived him of that, too, by leaving so abruptly—he also partook in a variety of human food in order to get the nutrients missing from his liquid diet. The craving for food—solid food—had taunted him all of yesterday and most of this morning. It was almost enough to make raw fish seem appetizing. Almost.

"They have to come back soon," he muttered, talking to himself for lack of any other company. They know we have to go to Clow soon. Neither of them would risk missing this chance. Stomach quivering, he grabbed the mug left behind by the serving girl and lifted it to his lips. The liquid slid down his throat, harsh and unforgiving as acid, but with enough alcohol in it to make even the most experienced alcoholic stagger. Apparently, his vampire metabolism negated the effects of alcohol, as even he should have been rendered as clumsy as a minutes-old horse after drinking four mugs of the stuff. No wonder Kuro-chan has such a high tolerance for alcohol. He'd need it just to keep from passing out.

" . . . heard that Fuuma-san would be staying a few weeks," said a girl walking past the table. Fai's head snapped up as her speech, previously unintelligible, registered as words to his mind. Abruptly, he was on his feet, reaching out with all his senses, wishing he had his magic so he could trace Mokona's magical signature. Without it, he was forced to settle for heading outside to wait for the others.

He strode through the halls, moving past the infirmary until he reached one of the main exterior doors. After the others had disappeared, he'd spent a few hours following their scent trail, giving up when it had merely continued along the path leading out of the castle. If they were returning by the same route, they'd meet him here.

Moments later, he heard the clatter of hooves across the dirt path. He waited, arms crossed, peering down the path as he waited for his companions to arrive. It took him almost a minute to realize that the hoof-beats were still half a mile off, audible to his ears only because his agitation had sharpened his vampire senses. Annoyed with himself, he sat down, fingers twitching. When a horse finally appeared as a smudge on the horizon, he rose, tense, as if waiting for a fight. His vision sharpened, achieving even greater acuity as he allowed his nails to lengthen.

What he saw surprised him. He hadn't known what to expect from his returning companions—perhaps nervousness, or guilt, or irritation. Perhaps concern that they hadn't left themselves enough time to prepare for the battle ahead.

Instead, they were smiling.

As they drew near, Fai darted over to meet them. Kurogane's horse whinnied uneasily at his sudden appearance, calming only when the ninja patted its neck. The casual affection—aimed at a horse, no less—made Fai forget what he'd wanted to say.

"In case you're wondering," the ninja said, sliding out of the saddle, "the witch hasn't contacted us yet, so we've still got time."

The reminder of their unknown deadline rerouted Fai's earlier frustration. "Time? How much time do you think we have left? Syaoran-kun should still be recovering, in bed, where it's safe, and you . . . How could you be so irresponsible? What if something had happened while you were off in demon country? And believe me, I know. You two may have been wrapped up in each other ever since we arrived, but I've been learning more about this world, and I know how dangerous—"

"Would you shut up for five seconds?" Kurogane demanded. "If something bad had happened, I'd have handled it. It's not like I went out there unarmed." His thick fingers coiled around the simple sword at his waist. Fai judged the weapon to be of good quality, though it lacked the adornments of Kurogane's usual weapons. It occurred to him that, unlike Souhi, this sword had likely been mass-produced rather than custom-made.

"It's really all right, Fai-san," Syaoran said, dismounting with relative ease, given his condition. He still wore a carpet of bandages over his wounds, but he looked healthier—and more relaxed—than he had the last time Fai had seen him. "We didn't see a single demon."

It wasn't the words, but the lack of tension in Syaoran's shoulders, that stole away Fai's frustration. Whatever had happened to them while they'd been out, the boy had clearly benefited from it, and Fai couldn't really argue that he needed more time to heal, since he'd been out of the castle for an entire day and a half with only Kurogane for support. Fai sighed. "You'll need to get your bandages changed, in any case. You may be well enough to walk, but you're not back at full strength yet."

Syaoran nodded, glancing at Kurogane. The ninja tousled his hair, then jerked his chin in the direction of the medical wing. "The mage is right. Go on. I'll come get you later."

The boy gripped Kurogane's hand, squeezing it gently before heading toward the medical wing. Fai watched him go, then turned to Kurogane. "What happened? Where did you take him?"

"None of your business."

His eyes narrowed. "Isn't it?"

To his surprise, the ninja actually squirmed a little under his stare. "I took him to Suwa."

Fai frowned. Kurogane had mentioned Suwa in the note he'd left, which had led Fai to discover that he'd taken Syaoran and Mokona into demon country, but something else rippled at the edge of his recollection, like a half-forgotten dream that had suddenly become relevant. Suwa. Where had he heard that before?

Suspicion wove through the ninja's voice. "You know anything about that?"

"I don't . . . I'm not sure. The name sounds familiar . . ." His spine went rigid as the pieces clicked together. Because the only reason the name would resonate in his mind like this was if he'd heard it before he'd started this journey. Hastily, he said, "I didn't have any part in it. I would've intervened if . . ." If intervening wouldn't have risked my brother's life. "I couldn't. I didn't know. By the time he told me, it had already been done."

"He? You're talking about—" Kurogane broke off suddenly, fury passing over his face. Fai flinched, half expecting the ninja to hit him. But after a moment, Kurogane let out a breath. "I believe you."

Fai stared at him. "What?"

"I believe that if you'd been able to stop it, you would have, no matter what you had hanging over your head." A bitter edge crept into his voice. "You should have told me you knew."

"I . . . didn't know very much. He . . . Fei-Wang Reed told me things, things he thought I needed to know so that one day, I'd be able to betray you. He told me that he'd tried to make you his pawn, but that someone else had intervened before he could. But I knew that to do such a thing, he'd need to destroy something precious to you, then offer you a way to get it back. I knew, but I couldn't . . ." He trailed off, waiting for the shouting, the accusations.

Quietly, Kurogane said, "He murdered my mother, sent demons to destroy my homeland, and left me to face a thousand monsters, alone, with the sword my father was holding when he died. I got over it."

Fai stared at him. "You . . . got over it?"

"Yeah. I did. So now you know."

"And Syaoran-kun? Does he know?" It seemed like a horrible story for a boy Syaoran's age to know, even though he'd experienced far more trauma than most adults.

"He's known since that country with the library. He saw it when the other kid opened that book." Kurogane shook his head. "I don't care that he knows. I don't care that you know. It's in the past now, and I don't want your sympathy."

No, you wouldn't, would you? He looked down, thinking. No wonder he went back to his home, knowing that in a few days, we'll be going up against the one who destroyed it. It occurred to him that Kurogane probably hadn't returned to his childhood home to grieve, but rather for the extra shot of motivation. At his core, Kurogane still sought vengeance for what had been done to him. And not just to him, he thought, glancing over his shoulder toward the medical wing, but to Syaoran-kun, and Sakura-chan, even me. "You really do care, don't you?" Fai murmured, more to himself than the ninja.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing. But judging from the maps I saw, you and Syaoran-kun rode quite the distance these past few days. You'll both need rest."

"Yeah, fine. I was going to get some sleep anyway." The ninja strode past him, opening the door. He paused as his fingers closed around the handle. "Hey, mage."

"Yes?"

"There anything else I should know? Since apparently our enemy decided to confide in you about what he tried to do to me?"

Fai blinked, then shook his head. "Nothing you don't already know. He didn't give me much information, only . . . only commands. Things he required of me before he resurrected my brother."

The ninja's eyes stayed steady on his face. "You realize he never meant to keep that promise, right?"

A shadow of a smile touched his lips. "Desperation makes believers of us all. It's a lot easier to see in hindsight that he never intended to revive Fai, but I had to cling to that promise to stay sane, to justify what I needed to do." He sighed. "If you're worrying about whether I'm committed to this fight—"

"I'm not."

"Good." His smile grew darker. "Because if I get the chance, I'd like to know what it feels like to have his blood running down my hands."