Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Through Glass ❯ Three AM and Flashbacks ( Chapter 2 )

Kurogane woke in darkness. As he scanned the room for the source of the sound that had startled him out of sleep a quick glance at the clock told him it was just after three in the morning. Suddenly there was the sound of someone coughing violently. The ninja looked down to see the mage curled into a ball, his whole body shaking with each cough.

 

“Fai!” Kurogane nearly shouted. Cautiously he turned the thin man over to face him. It was obvious that he was in pain, but he still tried to give Kurogane a small, reassuring smile. Just seeing the effort the mage put into the simple gesture pained him. He pulled the trembling blonde into his lap and held him as another coughing fit wracked his slim frame. Slowly the coughing subsided and Fai managed to catch his breath.

 

“Sorry Kuro-mu,” Fai panted into the stronger man's chest. “I didn't mean to wake you.”

 

“Are you alright?” Kurogane asked, ignoring Fai's overactive conscience.

 

“It's nothing,” Fai insisted. “Just a bad cold. It's late, or early depending on how you look at it. Let's just go back to sleep.”

 

Kurogane looked down at the blonde figure in his lap. Holding a hand to his forehead he felt that Fai was feverish. “Alright, but at least let me get you a glass of water first.”

 

Fai nodded weakly and moved so that Kurogane could get up. When the ninja returned the mage was already asleep. Not wanting to wake him he set the glass down on the bedside table and lay down beside his lover, wrapping his arms firmly around the blonde man's waist.

 

 

As soon as Kurogane woke the next morning he realized Fai was missing. Normally this wouldn't have worried him as the mage liked to cook breakfast for the two of them, but after the previous night's incident he felt his worry was justified. When he called Fai's name hand didn't receive an answer he set off to search their apartment. It didn't take him long to find the mage curled up asleep on the bathroom floor, his back pressed against the wall. Kurogane frowned at the sight. Fai was paler than usual and there were dark circles under his eyes. He knelt down next to the small man and stroked his cheek gently.

 

“Fai, wake up.”

 

Fai's blue eyes fluttered open to look into Kurogane's red ones. “Sorry. I woke up again last night feeling sick and I didn't want to wake you.”

 

Kurogane didn't answer. Instead he pressed a hand to Fai's forehead. His fever was worse and his hands were clammy. Carefully Kurogane lifted the smaller man from the floor, surprised at how light he was, and carried him out to the couch.

 

“Damn, Fai. I knew you'd lost a little weight, but this is ridiculous,” Kurogane said.

 

“Sorry,” Fai apologized again.

 

“Don't apologize,” Kurogane said as he laid the blonde down and shifted him so that he was resting in the taller man's lap. Absentmindedly the ninja stroked the mage's soft hair and Fai moved a little closer.

 

“You're warm Kuro-koi,” Fai mumbled as his eyes closed again.

 

Kurogane smiled down at him. He wondered just how long Fai had had this `cold' and not mentioned it. If it was bad enough for him not to hide the symptoms, Kurogane guessed this had been going on for quite a while. Mentally he kicked himself for not noticing sooner. Fai looked alright, though, while he was sleeping. He looked peaceful and if it hadn't been for the dark circles under his normally bright eyes no one would have guessed anything was wrong.

 

The fact that Fai had gone to sleep on his lap and thereby prevented him from getting up provided Kurogane with a wonderful opportunity to think about things. He remembered the day he met Fai. They had been in high school at the time. Kurogane had decided he'd rather not go to math class. Instead he had gone for a walk in the woods behind the school. There was a small pond in those woods and that was where he first saw Fai.

 

Kurogane ducked a couple more branches as he made his way through the forest. When he reached the pond he was surprised to see that there was already someone there. He stopped a few yards back, careful not to let the boy see him. Kurogane was surprised by just how pretty the boy was. He sat by the lake with his knees pulled up to his chest and his chin resting on them. His silver-blonde hair framed his angelic face perfectly, making his cerulean eyes seem even brighter. He was quite slender, his build almost feminine. He really was beautiful. But Kurogane noticed something else about him as well. It was the tear tracks staining the boy's face that made him notice it. There was certain hollowness about his sparkling blue eyes. More worrisome than that was the large smear of fresh blood staining one ivory cheek.

 

Cautiously the tall boy made his way toward the pretty stranger. The boy didn't seem to notice Kurogane at all until he was right next to him. He started slightly and looked up into the larger boy's red eyes. God, Kurogane thought to himself. He looks so familiar, but I can't place him.

 

“Hello,” the smaller boy said with a wistful smile. His voice was so melodic it would have made an opera singer jealous. “Do I know you?”

 

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Kurogane said, very conscious of how rough his voice sounded in comparison to this boy's. “My name's Kurogane.”

 

“Fai,” the boy said. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Nice to meet you too Fai,” Kurogane said. “So what brings you out here?”

 

“It's peaceful here,” the boy said, looking back out at the water. “It helps me think. You?”

 

“Skipping,” Kurogane answered.

 

“You're still in school?” Fai asked, seemingly amazed. Kurogane looked a few years older than he actually was.

 

Said teen nodded. “Why? How old are you?”

 

“I'm a senior. I'm eighteen,” the boy replied airily.

 

“Really?” It was Kurogane's turn to be surprised. This kid didn't look a day over fourteen. “So am I,” he finished awkwardly. Then he spotted the boy's wrist. “You're bleeding.”

 

“I know,” Fai said, making a point of staring at the water. There was something so hopeless about him.

 

“You're bleeding a lot,” Kurogane repeated to emphasize his point. “Too much.”

 

“It'll stop,” Fai said emotionlessly, still refusing to look at him.

 

Slowly realization dawned on Kurogane. “Did you…?”

 

He grabbed Fai's wrist. Oddly enough Fai didn't protest. In fact, he hardly seemed to notice. Kurogane barely held back a gasp as he rolled back the bloodstained sleeve. Five fresh, deep cuts adorned the boy's already scared wrist.

 

“Let me stitch this for you,” Kurogane said after a moment. That was it. No reprimand, no accusations, simply an offer of help.

 

That got Fai's attention. He snapped his head around to look deep into Kurogane's blood-coloured eyes. There was no trace of anger or disgust there, not a hint of malice, no sign that the offer was merely a cruel joke. Instead he found concern.

 

“Why?” Fai asked, wary of the kindness the stranger was showing him.

 

“Because it needs to be cleaned and taken care of” was Kurogane's simple answer.

 

“Alright,” Fai said. He'd just have to stay on his guard.

 

“Come on,” Kurogane said, helping him up. “I'll take you home with me.”

 

Fai tensed, bringing Kurogane around to face him again. The red eyed teen could see the fear in the smaller boy's face and noticed a dark purple bruise on his left cheek, rendered almost invisible by the smear of blood.

 

“I'm not gonna do anything to you,” Kurogane assured him gently. It seemed this kid was in pretty bad shape.

 

Fai swallowed hard and nodded. There was something different about this guy. He wasn't like the last person who had offered to `help' him.

 

After walking for about seven minutes Fai found himself staring at the door of a somewhat shabby-looking apartment. It reminded him strongly of his own…

 

“Well, here we are,” Kurogane announced, opening the door. “It isn't much, but its home.”

 

“You live alone?” Fai asked, taking note of the appearance of the place as he was led inside. Kurogane nodded. Fai nodded back and said, “Me too. In fact, I live downstairs. I knew this place looked familiar.”

 

Kurogane decided to ignore the fact that the kid hadn't recognized his own home and go for the more interesting question. “Wait, if you live downstairs and you go to my school and you're in my grade then why have I never seen you before?”

 

“You probably just haven't noticed. Most people don't,” Fai said with another wistful smile as Kurogane returned with rubbing alcohol and a needle and thread. There was something melancholic about the smaller boy's gesture. He hissed as Kurogane began to clean out the cuts with alcohol.

 

“Sorry,” the taller of the two said. He noticed that, while Fai winced at the alcohol, he didn't so much as flinch when the needle was driven into his skin.

 

“You know,” Fai began thoughtfully. Kurogane was about half way done with the second cut. Stitches were nothing new to him. “Everyone else who's seen that has either been freaked out by it or yelled at me. Either way they didn't speak to me again.”

 

Kurogane, for the second time that day, was shocked. Damn, this kid was good at that. “What about your friends?”

 

Fai shrugged. “I don't really have any. I keep to myself mostly, you know?”

 

Kurogane just stared at him for a moment. “That's not healthy. Especially for someone like you. I don't even do that. I mean, it's not like I have a lot of people I'm close to or anything, but I'm not completely alone. I'll bet that's the reason for all of this, isn't it?” he asked, indicating the scars that littered Fai's pale wrist.

 

Fai simply shrugged, earning him another speechless stare from Kurogane. “I guess. It's the only way I know of to stop the pain.”

 

“There have to be other ways besides doing this,” Kurogane insisted, going back to his stitching.

 

“There is one other,” Fai said. “But that would be worse.”

 

“Worse?” Kurogane seemed shocked. “How could it be worse? This could kill you!”

 

“Exactly,” Fai said, his clear blue eyes hardening. “Could. Meaning there's a chance I'll live. The other way would kill me. It would take a while, but I would inevitably die from it.”

 

This time Kurogane didn't even bother to reply as Fai stared at the floor.

 

“Hey Kurogane?” the pale boy said shyly.

 

“Hm?” Kurogane hummed to show he was listening. “There,” he said, tying of the stitches in the last of the five gashes and looking up at Fai.

 

“If you want you could come down to my place for dinner. I can cook for us,” Fai offered nervously. “It's just that it's getting late and neither of us have eaten. Besides, I figure you've been so kind to me, I should do something in return.”

 

Kurogane frowned at the boy's obvious nervousness. Fai stared down at the ground again and Kurogane instantly knew he'd made a mistake.

 

“I'd like that,” he said gently.

 

The boy looked back up at him, a genuine smile lighting up his face. “Really?”

 

Kurogane nodded. He really did like the idea of getting to know Fai better. Besides, if it would help, he was willing to do it. After all, he was no stranger to pain either.

 

 

After that Kurogane saw Fai more and more often. It wasn't long before they had become close friends. It didn't take long, either, before they were more than that.

 

With a sigh Kurogane picked up Fai's left wrist, careful not to wake him. He could still see the scars from the cuts he had stitched that day.

 

“Fai, you idiot,” he murmured in a gentle whisper. “I love you.”

 

With that he kissed Fai on the forehead and settled down to sleep.