SHINE Survivor Challenges - Part One
So, some time back I entered the Survivor Contest over here at SHINE. Now, SHINE itself is an umbrella forum for Ouran High School Host Club, but for this seven day challenge we were allowed to pick any fandom we wanted and I, being the nerd I am, chose Tsubasa. x3
So, here they are! <3 Enjoy!
Challenge One: "My bathroom isn't bit enough for dancing."
Kuro-sama's Bathroom
-word count: 729-
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“What?”
“Please, Kuro-sama! I’ll be fast - “
“What’s wrong with your bathroom, eh? I don’t see why you need to traipse all the way across the house just to use mine!” Red eyes narrowed and the man dressed in black leaned against the doorframe to his room, effectively blocking the blond’s route both into his quarters and the adjoining bathroom. This just made the other man squirm.
“I told you. The water’s all cold, and I don’t know how to make it any warmer! It’s sooo cold, Kuro-pipi, it felt like pins, and needles, and knives, and at the same time it felt burning!”
Kurogane rolled his eyes. That explanation would explain the rather loud, girlish screams that had resonated not but a few minutes earlier that the brunette ninja had ridden off as belonging to one of the many girls they were rooming with after crash landing in a world that Mokona didn’t seem to be able to tell them a thing about (other than that there was a feather somewhere near by). It would also explain why Fai’s hair was a sopping-wet shade of brownish yellow and why the clothing he was wearing seemed haphazardly thrown on (his shirt was inside out and the seams stuck out at awkward angles] and like they had never been ironed in their entire existence. That, however, did not mean that Kurogane felt one PINCH of sympathy.
“Go use the kid’s bathroom.”
“Syaoran-kun’s a growing boy and needs his privacy.”
“Use one of the other two.”
“But Kuro-waaaaaaan!” Here, Fai implored his large, watery puppy-dog eyes and the whine that he knew grated on Kurogane’s nerves as much as his ear drums. “Pleeeeeease?!”
One second of puppy eyes.
Two seconds of utter glaring.
Three seconds of both.
“Be quick.”
“ThankyoueversomuchKuro-sama!” and, with that, Fai speed past Kurogane, nearly knocking the taller, tanner man out of the door frame.
Lofty and slightly miffed that the mage was going to be taking over yet another aspect of his life, Kurogane decided he would simply lay on his mattress (which he had pulled off the bed frame and placed on the floor, in the more traditional Japanese style he was used to) and try the bulky, loudly-colored “headphones” that seemed to be all the rage in this world, and indeed, after he noted the name ‘skullcandy’ written across the side in thick lettering and put the phones over his ears, things did seem reasonably quiet.
...Until he deduced that it was only this silent because the customary ‘rush’ of the shower was absent, and immediately suspicious, Kurogane sprang from his nesting and practically flew toward the closed bathroom door, from which direction he could only hear the ‘tap-tap’ of what sounded like feet against the tiled bathroom floor.
Wrenching open the bathroom door, Kurogane schooled his features into those of being generally P.O.’ed and angry and ready to yell, only to step forward into a huge puddle of water that had absolutely no purpose of being there and slipped, flailing forward and crashing into a warm and damp body, who let out a small squeak and toppled backward.
BAM!
It was not a soft landing. Not by any means. There seemed to even have been an audible ‘crack!’ when the blond’s head hit the tile, but when Kurogane yelped and jumped off of (for a moment, he feared, the dead corpse of) Fai, slightly squicked when thinking the person under him was naked, and then more squicked when wondering what the hell the the blond was doing still clothed. In the bathroom. When he’d used the excuse of coming in as ‘taking a shower’.
“Liar.”
“Hyuu~” Fai’s rather discombobulated gaze snapped to attention and focused in on “Kuro-sama’s” face. “Come to join me, Kuro-boom?”
“What the hell were you even doing in here!?”
“Taking a shower!”
“You’re not wet.” A mark of irritation appeared on the tanned man’s forehead, feeling ridiculous being here, looming over a possibly concussed liar that seemed more intent on giggling stupidly at the moment than answering his question coherently.
“I was...dancing.”
“...What. The. Fuck.”
More ridiculous giggles. “I was dancing~”
“...WHY THE FUCK COULDN’T YOU HAVE DONE THAT IN YOUR OWN ROOM!?!?”
“Hyuu, Kuro-sama...Your bathroom’s bigger than mine.”
“So!?”
“...more room for dancing. My bathroom’s too small for that.”
-
Challenge Two: ""Get Off." "You First.""
Playing Mind-Games With Kuro-Sama
-word count 1,367-
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“I don’t like this.”
“There, there. Calm down, Kuro-tan.”
“I can’t see anyone’s faces!”
“You’re not supposed to. It’s against the rules when out of the house in this world, silly.”
“Where’d the kid run off to, anyway?”
“Over there,” Fai said calmly, pointing toward a young boy and girl. “This world’s Tomoyo-chan is in that pretty, light-violet dress, and Syaoran-kun is in the darker purple suit.”
Kurogane huffed, pushing the plain black mask up the bridge of his nose while hitching up the elastic string that held the cover in front of his eyes and mouth. It was - according the the harried and erratic shop keeper who, upon seeing the traveler’s lack of proper facial attire for being out all but thrust three masquerade masks into their hands before buffering them out of his shop - rude to do such things in public, but the tan ninja could care less. This world already had too many rules about exposing your own face, and he thought it silly, even if the idiotic blond next to him thought they were fun and had even gone out and bought them fancy ones for the party they were currently attending. Fai had just gone all out for this ball, though, even before Mokona had ‘mekoy’ed when passing the dancing hall, which was undergoing decorations for the evening’s events.
Neither Syaoran, nor Kurogane knew exactly how he’d managed it, but the blond had procured two invitations for the evening, and when he returned back to the miserable hovel they’d been rented under the title of an inn with two dresses, two suits and a date for the youngest of the travelers, Mokona had jumped for joy, and both she and Fai had set about the arduous task of persuading the other two to attend. Syaoran had been easy. It was Kuro-tan that took some work.
“Is there any danger.”
“Well, no, but -”
“Are those damned vampires hunters going to be there or something?”
“No, but -”
“Then why on earth do you two need me to go along with you!?”
But they’d worn away at him eventually, chipping at Kurogane’s patience and resolve with constant jabber and chit chat and then, finally, throwing up his hands and storming out of the room, the ninja had yelled “Al-fucking-right already!! I’ll go, now you two, shut up with the waltzes!” before storming out of the room as the white pork bun and mage high-fived happily.
One thing Fai had failed to mention until the possible was exactly how formal this event was going to be. So formal that, aside from the large, garish and utterly ridiculous masks and dresses was that everyone had to come in a male-female pair. And it appeared, in light of only finding one date between three men, Fai had improvised.
And now here they were. And Kurogane was intending to get heavily drunk.
“Hyuu, hyuu. Kuro-sama. Let’s go dancing!”
“No.”
“Alright, then. Let’s go talk to this world’s version of Yukito-san and Touya-san!”
“No.”
“The buffet table?”
“No.”
“The drinks?”
“No.” And now Kurogane was just being difficult.
“But, Kuro-samaaaaaaaa~” Fai whined in response, sprawling dramatically across the table and tipping his mask down in order to peer pleadingly over the top of it. “We’ve just been sitting here at this table! For the whole party - and, look! Syaoran-kun’s having fun over there.Why can’t we~?”
Kurogane ‘tch’ed irritably and looked away from the blond - pointedly ignoring the whining child-of-a-man wearing a dress in the next chair over - reclining in his golden-painted chair and glaring off into space. He was, in actuality, quite surprised that Fai let him sit in peace and quite for the time being - which was also amazingly suspicious, and so the tan man made a point to keep a subconscious eye on the blond for at least a little bit. Then he completely ignored him.
Which made it all more of a shock when there was suddenly something warm and heavy and dressed in a black dress with red trim and extravagant and feathery masquerade mask in his lap, pulling at his face and smiling like no one’s business. Kurogane stiffened, stilled by shock for a time before he balked and made to push the mage off him. Not that it worked. Fai refused to budge.
“Get off!”
“But, Kuro-sama, I’m bored~!”
“Get off! I will not be your entertainment!”
“Ah, but Kuro-fancy’s my date, tonight, isn’t he?”
“I will not be your ‘date’!”
“Won’t be Fai’s date? Be Yuui’s, then!” And here, Fai ruffled his hair affectionately and then ducked to the side to avoid a violent swipe at his head.
“I will not be Fai’s date, or Yuui’s date - I will just not be yours in general!” And Kurogane was just about ready to violently push the blond off his lap and unceremoniously dump him on the floor when he realized that...Fai was straddling...And leaning forward so that their...their....touching...and - WOAH!
Fai giggled as Kurogane’s glare shot into a look of disturbed surprise. “Tehehe...Wanna be my date, now?”
“N - what the hell are you doing!!?”
Fai shrugged. “Nothing...just copying what those couples in the corridors where they thought no one could see them. I saw them on my way to the bathroom.”
“What - what’s your point!?”
“...Kuro-sama...” and at this, the obnoxiously bubbly and vivacious voice that Fai favored more often than not dropped an octave and he leaned in father, rosy-painted cheeks flushed under the effects of the alcohol he’d consumed over the evening and the state of close proximity that the two were in. “...Now will you dance with me?”
He considered resisting again, but then there was that...that damned rocking motion again, and Fai was laughing lightly, and people were starting to give the two of them slightly disgusted looks, and Syaoran was trying to usher Tomoyo-chan away from anywhere they could possibly see the two adults from, and the blond man in his lap had fisted his hands in the material of his skirt and was hiking it up, exposing smooth, pale ankles strapped into tiny red high heels that matched the bejeweled mask he wore and the thin strips of red lace sewn into the otherwise black material of his ball gown. And snickering more.
“N...no...”
“Not even...One. Quick. Waltz?”
“G - get off.”
“You...” and now Fai’s hands had moved from his own clothing to the belt line of Kurogane’s pants. “...First.”
“Why, you little -”
“ACK!”
Woosh!
Thump.
A whine. “Kuro-push! You didn’t have to be so rough!”
“You were molesting me!! In front of EVERYONE! How was I supposed to be?”
“Gentle, caring, sweet, loving -”
“Shut - shut up!”
“Aw, Kuro-sama, you’re blushing!”
“I AM NOT!”
“Yes, you are~” Fai sang, but before the enraged ninja had the chance to scream and shout and pound the damned blond man into pulp like he wanted to, the mage was on his feet and smiling, dusting off his dress and waving at a few of the people who were currently staring at them in shock. “But, ah well. I suppose Kuro-rough doesn’t want to have any fun. Not that we can, now, anyway...Mokona found the feather.”
“She...what?”
“Oh, yeah. Mokona found Sakura-chan’s feather while we were out shopping. We just thought it would be nice if we all had a break, and you and Syaoran-kun cut loose for a little bit, so we decided we should come here tonight!”
“Why...why...YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!” and the brunette ninja sprung to his feet, knocking over the tiny chair he had been sitting in and nearly upsetting the table as he rushed past it to chase the damned blond mage, who turned and all but sprinted across the dance floor and out onto the moon lit, lawn of the manor.
Even after the two were gone, the guests could still hear:
“HYUU! KURO-SAMA’S ANGRY! ANNNNGRRRYYY!!”
“GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD! I’LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME!”
“HAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAH!”
-
Challenge Three: "In Which Tsubasa Becomes A Western"
Ain't Big Enough For Kuro-Sama And The Two Of Us
-word count 2,042-
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It was no real surprise that, on the Wednesday afternoon, just as the sun set in between the dusty mountains, that The Tombstone walked into the Dimensional Brothel, little brother at his side and the two other young men in handcuffs, even if they weren’t really prisoners. Hell, these men weren’t even the law around these parts, they just liked to pretend, ruthlessly, that they had some. And so, when TheTombstone sat down at the bar and kicked up his boots, onto the shiny surface of the wood, people shied away from the four of them.
“Bar keep!” The Tombstone snapped, pounding on the bar with the heel of his boot and throwing a sidelong wink at the prettier of the two men in shackles, who looked away as the other hissed evilly at him. “I’ll take...four whiskies! And two soda waters for the children.”
“Shut up!”
“Now, now, Kamui - that’s no way to talk to your elders. Look at Subaru, he’s being a good little boy.”
In response, the young man spat at the feet of the man who was eyeing him like a piece of meat, and was slapped wickedly across the face by the man who had just been holding his twin brother very tightly against his side whilst tempting him to try some of the stronger alcohol. Reeling backward, Kamui just about toppled over onto the ground, and would have done so in a very ungraceful face plant had it not been for the rather thick and muscular person who’s chest he smacked into instead.
“Seishiro,” a deep, evil voice rumbled throughout the brothel, making the previously quiet people even quieter - as if they’d stopped breathing at the very sight of the real sheriff of Tsubasa. “I thought I told you that you weren’t welcome around here.”
The Tombstone smiled psychotically at the tanned, muscular man in sweat stained clothing that dust seemed to cling to like a second skin. “Ah, but Kurogane...It was all just a little bit of fun. I didn’t hurt either of them, did I, Fuuma.”
“Why, you lying sack of cow shit - OW!” Kamui did not take kindly to being manhandled as he was tossed back toward the general direction of his brother and as Kurogane drew his gun.
Fuuma was laughing a tad, and ruffled the young man’s hair as he passed him. But he didn’t get a chance to do much anything else, because before he knew it, there was a hand in his shirt and a gun pressed to the underside of his chin.
“Why the hell are you back here?”
“Hey, hey there - take it easy, Sheriff,” the bandit attempted to appease, holding up both hands as he seemingly jingled from the coins in his side pouch and the many explosives that were hidden in his vest. “We’re only in here for the show.”
“What show!?” Kurogane demanded harshly, spittle flecking the man’s face.
It was Seishiro’s turn to chuckle. “It wasn’t as if we expected you to hear, Sheriff...” he drawled, taking a swig of his whiskey and casting suggestive, sidelong glances as Subaru. He then sighed. “Didn’t you know that The Mage was coming into town? He heard there’s a large sum of gold in your bank, and he’s come to put on a show.”
“A....show?” And here, Kurogane glowered, releasing the scruffy brunette who was laughing as maniacally as his brother before turning on his heel and storming out of the Dimensional brothel and down the dusty road toward the Piffle Bank. He could see horses tethered outside at the hitching post, reserved girls in summer dresses who were spending some well earned time in town to buy bolts of fabric and flowers for their hair, and the town mayor, shaking hands with a blond fellow with a large hat that easily obscured half his face.
Kurogane stopped short, some fifteen places to where the social exchange was taking place, and right next to the black carriage with two, pure white horses tethered to it. He could feel the bottom dropping out of his stomach, even before the air rippled and the front door exploded off the hinges with the force of three blocks of explosive.
People were thrown, screaming, every which-way and that, only to collapse in listless, quiet bundled in the middle of the road. Kurogane, himself, collided with the black carriage, and the horses reared, spooked and ready to run. He took a moment to put a calloused hand against one of the animal’s flanks to calm it before drawing his second gun and, armed with two weapons, charged at the gaping hole in a wall that had previously been the door to the bank. Only, he never reached that hole in the wall.
When the Sheriff was still a good five paces from the door, a figure leap from the smoke, a large bag filled with stacks of paper bills and gold coins swung over his shoulder an an idiotic grin spread across his face. Upon closer inspection, it was not even his smile, but more that of an artificial mask with a dramatically red smile painted on it. An even cackle resonated from behind that mask as the culprit behind the explosion spotted Kurogane, guns still drawn, and laughed.
“Oi. Fay. Are you ready to go~?” was the sing song demand that was called over the terrified screams and shouts from the villagers and terrified little children who had no idea what was going on.
Kurogane bristled, and took the time to aim his pistol at the blond bandit, only to feel and hear someone jump into the steering seat of the carriage behind him. Twirling, other gun pushing right into the other persons face, he was almost less than shocked to see another blond (the same one who had been talking to Mayor Touya just moments before), this time in a mask with a dramatic, bloody frown painted onto it’s features. “Oi! You! STOP!” Kurogane barked, but reeled back where the steel-toed boot swung in front of his face, almost clipping his nose.
“Hurry up, Fye,” the frowning blond sang back, his voice calm and saddened when compared to the hyper, melodically sweet voice of his partner. Brother? No...just doppleganger.
The other was skipping toward them now, humming a happy song that sounded distinctly like a dosey-doeing tune that just irked Kurogane to no end and caused a very pissed-off irritation mark to appear on his forehead. “Oi! You! Bandit! Shut up!” And, finding himself mad at the sad blond who had kicked him and the happy one who was whistling, he jumped up next to the kicking one and, after looping an arm stealthily around his neck, pushed the barrel of his pistol to the soft underside of his chin.
Fye skidded to a stop. “Hey...Kuro-sheriff...Let Fay go, okay~? We gotta be ske-daddling now.”
“Shut up!” The brunette man demanded. “You two ain’t going anywhere but the jail house, and then the rope.”
“Hey, hey...” There were hands on his arm, pulling lightly at the strangle-hold and glancing up at him through sooting blond bangs that had been exposed as his hat was knocked from atop his head. “You’re just going to get hurt if you get in the way, Mr...”
“I said shut up! There is no reason for you two to be doing this.”
And now the two stopped moving, simply staring at him with wide, identical sapphire blue eyes. And then...
“How would you know.”
“Everyone’s poor around here. You gotta do this to survive, now a days. There’s aren’t many good jobs for people now aways, unless they wanna work the railroad, or can afford school.”
“There isn’t much else to live for if you can’t even afford to live...”
And then they were quite again. Even the screams had subsided, as most people were either currently unconscious or too scared to move. Kurogane, faced with the once again infuriating bandits that had robbed this town once before when he was still a deputy, found himself morally conflicted with pounding some sense into these two men and to talk to them about the difference of right or wrong and maybe, just maybe, save their mortal souls. Like his mother would. But something told him that, at least on one of these people, the advise would be useless.
So, tightening his hold on the sad masked blonds neck and moved the gun so the barrel was all but embedded against the boys cheek, glad that he hadn’t fired the weapon, else the metal would be hot and the blond would not have stopped screaming. Lowering his voice a fraction, Kurogane grumbled, “Listen up, Fay, or Fye or whatever your name was -”
“- It’s Fay -”
“I said listen....Now, this is not the only choice the two of you have. There are tons of better things you could do with your life, and if you mess that up, it’s your fault, and no one else’s. And when - because there is no if - you mess yours and your brothers lives up, there isn’t gonna be enough time in the world or your miserable lives to fix that. You got me?” Upon receiving no response, Kurogane shook the blond, only to find that he was nothing more than dead weight, and must have passed out from the lack of sufficient oxygen reaching his lungs. “...Shit...”
Fay dropped onto the chair on the carriage with a dull thump, his mask falling askew a slight bit and making him look disfigured, even in a peaceful unconsciousness. Now glaring at the opened mouth smiling masked twin, Kurogane dismounted from the seat and stood in the dusty road again, still holding one gun at the ready, aiming it right between the remaining blond’s eyes.
“Now, you,” he demanded. “I don’t know how many people have told you how worthless stealing makes you seem, but I’mma say it again. This is pathetic, and you don’t deserve to live if your keep doing this...So. Give me that money, and take your brother, or partner or whatever out of this town and DON’T come back.”
Fye only nodded. And dropped the sack into the road before inching past the burley sheriff and clinging to his brother after cracking the whip at the horses. The pure white stallions reared before putting hoofs to the hard packed earth and speeding away, veering to avoid pedestrians and other animals while making this daring escape.
-
It took several minutes, and the arrival of Deputy Syaoran for Kurogane to swear, taking his hat and throwing it harshly on the ground and swear. He’d never even made them take off their masks...
-
“Oi...Oi, Yuui. Are you alright?” The smiling masked man nudged his twin with the tip of his shoe gently, pulling at the reigns of their horses to veer left while at the same time pulling the mask off his face.
“That Kurogane person’s a bit of a hard ass, isn’t he?” Yuui grumbled.
“I’ll say,” Fai agreed, pulling the horses to a stop at the edge of a field filled with tall corn stalks, wheat and bright yellow flowers. “Your stop.”
“Yeah...thanks.” The blond dismounted on shaky legs, leaning his frame over the wooden fence while catching his breath. “See you soon, Fai.”
“Bye, Yuui.”
“He had a point, you know.”
“Yeah. I know.” Fai snapped the reigns. And before Yuui could even blink, his twin was long gone, twisting and turning on the mountain pathways in a dash to find his next target.
Meanwhile, Yuui snuck into his house, burying the mask outside, underneath the porch, and took a long, well needed bath before cleaning the dust from the house and wait for his roommate to return from work.
-
“Are you tired?”
“Hm.”
“Sore?”
“Yes.”
“Hungry.”
“No.”
A sigh. “So? What happened today?”
“Nothing, Fai.”
“You sure, Kuro-pon~?”
“Positive.”
And, although given an intense ‘I feel like you’re lying to me’ look, Yuui turned his back on the worn out Sheriff who reclined at the wooden kitchen table and avoided the brunette for the rest of the evening.
-
So, here they are! <3 Enjoy!
Challenge One: "My bathroom isn't bit enough for dancing."
Kuro-sama's Bathroom
-word count: 729-
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“What?”
“Please, Kuro-sama! I’ll be fast - “
“What’s wrong with your bathroom, eh? I don’t see why you need to traipse all the way across the house just to use mine!” Red eyes narrowed and the man dressed in black leaned against the doorframe to his room, effectively blocking the blond’s route both into his quarters and the adjoining bathroom. This just made the other man squirm.
“I told you. The water’s all cold, and I don’t know how to make it any warmer! It’s sooo cold, Kuro-pipi, it felt like pins, and needles, and knives, and at the same time it felt burning!”
Kurogane rolled his eyes. That explanation would explain the rather loud, girlish screams that had resonated not but a few minutes earlier that the brunette ninja had ridden off as belonging to one of the many girls they were rooming with after crash landing in a world that Mokona didn’t seem to be able to tell them a thing about (other than that there was a feather somewhere near by). It would also explain why Fai’s hair was a sopping-wet shade of brownish yellow and why the clothing he was wearing seemed haphazardly thrown on (his shirt was inside out and the seams stuck out at awkward angles] and like they had never been ironed in their entire existence. That, however, did not mean that Kurogane felt one PINCH of sympathy.
“Go use the kid’s bathroom.”
“Syaoran-kun’s a growing boy and needs his privacy.”
“Use one of the other two.”
“But Kuro-waaaaaaan!” Here, Fai implored his large, watery puppy-dog eyes and the whine that he knew grated on Kurogane’s nerves as much as his ear drums. “Pleeeeeease?!”
One second of puppy eyes.
Two seconds of utter glaring.
Three seconds of both.
“Be quick.”
“ThankyoueversomuchKuro-sama!” and, with that, Fai speed past Kurogane, nearly knocking the taller, tanner man out of the door frame.
Lofty and slightly miffed that the mage was going to be taking over yet another aspect of his life, Kurogane decided he would simply lay on his mattress (which he had pulled off the bed frame and placed on the floor, in the more traditional Japanese style he was used to) and try the bulky, loudly-colored “headphones” that seemed to be all the rage in this world, and indeed, after he noted the name ‘skullcandy’ written across the side in thick lettering and put the phones over his ears, things did seem reasonably quiet.
...Until he deduced that it was only this silent because the customary ‘rush’ of the shower was absent, and immediately suspicious, Kurogane sprang from his nesting and practically flew toward the closed bathroom door, from which direction he could only hear the ‘tap-tap’ of what sounded like feet against the tiled bathroom floor.
Wrenching open the bathroom door, Kurogane schooled his features into those of being generally P.O.’ed and angry and ready to yell, only to step forward into a huge puddle of water that had absolutely no purpose of being there and slipped, flailing forward and crashing into a warm and damp body, who let out a small squeak and toppled backward.
BAM!
It was not a soft landing. Not by any means. There seemed to even have been an audible ‘crack!’ when the blond’s head hit the tile, but when Kurogane yelped and jumped off of (for a moment, he feared, the dead corpse of) Fai, slightly squicked when thinking the person under him was naked, and then more squicked when wondering what the hell the the blond was doing still clothed. In the bathroom. When he’d used the excuse of coming in as ‘taking a shower’.
“Liar.”
“Hyuu~” Fai’s rather discombobulated gaze snapped to attention and focused in on “Kuro-sama’s” face. “Come to join me, Kuro-boom?”
“What the hell were you even doing in here!?”
“Taking a shower!”
“You’re not wet.” A mark of irritation appeared on the tanned man’s forehead, feeling ridiculous being here, looming over a possibly concussed liar that seemed more intent on giggling stupidly at the moment than answering his question coherently.
“I was...dancing.”
“...What. The. Fuck.”
More ridiculous giggles. “I was dancing~”
“...WHY THE FUCK COULDN’T YOU HAVE DONE THAT IN YOUR OWN ROOM!?!?”
“Hyuu, Kuro-sama...Your bathroom’s bigger than mine.”
“So!?”
“...more room for dancing. My bathroom’s too small for that.”
-
Challenge Two: ""Get Off." "You First.""
Playing Mind-Games With Kuro-Sama
-word count 1,367-
-
“I don’t like this.”
“There, there. Calm down, Kuro-tan.”
“I can’t see anyone’s faces!”
“You’re not supposed to. It’s against the rules when out of the house in this world, silly.”
“Where’d the kid run off to, anyway?”
“Over there,” Fai said calmly, pointing toward a young boy and girl. “This world’s Tomoyo-chan is in that pretty, light-violet dress, and Syaoran-kun is in the darker purple suit.”
Kurogane huffed, pushing the plain black mask up the bridge of his nose while hitching up the elastic string that held the cover in front of his eyes and mouth. It was - according the the harried and erratic shop keeper who, upon seeing the traveler’s lack of proper facial attire for being out all but thrust three masquerade masks into their hands before buffering them out of his shop - rude to do such things in public, but the tan ninja could care less. This world already had too many rules about exposing your own face, and he thought it silly, even if the idiotic blond next to him thought they were fun and had even gone out and bought them fancy ones for the party they were currently attending. Fai had just gone all out for this ball, though, even before Mokona had ‘mekoy’ed when passing the dancing hall, which was undergoing decorations for the evening’s events.
Neither Syaoran, nor Kurogane knew exactly how he’d managed it, but the blond had procured two invitations for the evening, and when he returned back to the miserable hovel they’d been rented under the title of an inn with two dresses, two suits and a date for the youngest of the travelers, Mokona had jumped for joy, and both she and Fai had set about the arduous task of persuading the other two to attend. Syaoran had been easy. It was Kuro-tan that took some work.
“Is there any danger.”
“Well, no, but -”
“Are those damned vampires hunters going to be there or something?”
“No, but -”
“Then why on earth do you two need me to go along with you!?”
But they’d worn away at him eventually, chipping at Kurogane’s patience and resolve with constant jabber and chit chat and then, finally, throwing up his hands and storming out of the room, the ninja had yelled “Al-fucking-right already!! I’ll go, now you two, shut up with the waltzes!” before storming out of the room as the white pork bun and mage high-fived happily.
One thing Fai had failed to mention until the possible was exactly how formal this event was going to be. So formal that, aside from the large, garish and utterly ridiculous masks and dresses was that everyone had to come in a male-female pair. And it appeared, in light of only finding one date between three men, Fai had improvised.
And now here they were. And Kurogane was intending to get heavily drunk.
“Hyuu, hyuu. Kuro-sama. Let’s go dancing!”
“No.”
“Alright, then. Let’s go talk to this world’s version of Yukito-san and Touya-san!”
“No.”
“The buffet table?”
“No.”
“The drinks?”
“No.” And now Kurogane was just being difficult.
“But, Kuro-samaaaaaaaa~” Fai whined in response, sprawling dramatically across the table and tipping his mask down in order to peer pleadingly over the top of it. “We’ve just been sitting here at this table! For the whole party - and, look! Syaoran-kun’s having fun over there.Why can’t we~?”
Kurogane ‘tch’ed irritably and looked away from the blond - pointedly ignoring the whining child-of-a-man wearing a dress in the next chair over - reclining in his golden-painted chair and glaring off into space. He was, in actuality, quite surprised that Fai let him sit in peace and quite for the time being - which was also amazingly suspicious, and so the tan man made a point to keep a subconscious eye on the blond for at least a little bit. Then he completely ignored him.
Which made it all more of a shock when there was suddenly something warm and heavy and dressed in a black dress with red trim and extravagant and feathery masquerade mask in his lap, pulling at his face and smiling like no one’s business. Kurogane stiffened, stilled by shock for a time before he balked and made to push the mage off him. Not that it worked. Fai refused to budge.
“Get off!”
“But, Kuro-sama, I’m bored~!”
“Get off! I will not be your entertainment!”
“Ah, but Kuro-fancy’s my date, tonight, isn’t he?”
“I will not be your ‘date’!”
“Won’t be Fai’s date? Be Yuui’s, then!” And here, Fai ruffled his hair affectionately and then ducked to the side to avoid a violent swipe at his head.
“I will not be Fai’s date, or Yuui’s date - I will just not be yours in general!” And Kurogane was just about ready to violently push the blond off his lap and unceremoniously dump him on the floor when he realized that...Fai was straddling...And leaning forward so that their...their....touching...and - WOAH!
Fai giggled as Kurogane’s glare shot into a look of disturbed surprise. “Tehehe...Wanna be my date, now?”
“N - what the hell are you doing!!?”
Fai shrugged. “Nothing...just copying what those couples in the corridors where they thought no one could see them. I saw them on my way to the bathroom.”
“What - what’s your point!?”
“...Kuro-sama...” and at this, the obnoxiously bubbly and vivacious voice that Fai favored more often than not dropped an octave and he leaned in father, rosy-painted cheeks flushed under the effects of the alcohol he’d consumed over the evening and the state of close proximity that the two were in. “...Now will you dance with me?”
He considered resisting again, but then there was that...that damned rocking motion again, and Fai was laughing lightly, and people were starting to give the two of them slightly disgusted looks, and Syaoran was trying to usher Tomoyo-chan away from anywhere they could possibly see the two adults from, and the blond man in his lap had fisted his hands in the material of his skirt and was hiking it up, exposing smooth, pale ankles strapped into tiny red high heels that matched the bejeweled mask he wore and the thin strips of red lace sewn into the otherwise black material of his ball gown. And snickering more.
“N...no...”
“Not even...One. Quick. Waltz?”
“G - get off.”
“You...” and now Fai’s hands had moved from his own clothing to the belt line of Kurogane’s pants. “...First.”
“Why, you little -”
“ACK!”
Woosh!
Thump.
A whine. “Kuro-push! You didn’t have to be so rough!”
“You were molesting me!! In front of EVERYONE! How was I supposed to be?”
“Gentle, caring, sweet, loving -”
“Shut - shut up!”
“Aw, Kuro-sama, you’re blushing!”
“I AM NOT!”
“Yes, you are~” Fai sang, but before the enraged ninja had the chance to scream and shout and pound the damned blond man into pulp like he wanted to, the mage was on his feet and smiling, dusting off his dress and waving at a few of the people who were currently staring at them in shock. “But, ah well. I suppose Kuro-rough doesn’t want to have any fun. Not that we can, now, anyway...Mokona found the feather.”
“She...what?”
“Oh, yeah. Mokona found Sakura-chan’s feather while we were out shopping. We just thought it would be nice if we all had a break, and you and Syaoran-kun cut loose for a little bit, so we decided we should come here tonight!”
“Why...why...YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!” and the brunette ninja sprung to his feet, knocking over the tiny chair he had been sitting in and nearly upsetting the table as he rushed past it to chase the damned blond mage, who turned and all but sprinted across the dance floor and out onto the moon lit, lawn of the manor.
Even after the two were gone, the guests could still hear:
“HYUU! KURO-SAMA’S ANGRY! ANNNNGRRRYYY!!”
“GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD! I’LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME!”
“HAHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAH!”
-
Challenge Three: "In Which Tsubasa Becomes A Western"
Ain't Big Enough For Kuro-Sama And The Two Of Us
-word count 2,042-
-
It was no real surprise that, on the Wednesday afternoon, just as the sun set in between the dusty mountains, that The Tombstone walked into the Dimensional Brothel, little brother at his side and the two other young men in handcuffs, even if they weren’t really prisoners. Hell, these men weren’t even the law around these parts, they just liked to pretend, ruthlessly, that they had some. And so, when TheTombstone sat down at the bar and kicked up his boots, onto the shiny surface of the wood, people shied away from the four of them.
“Bar keep!” The Tombstone snapped, pounding on the bar with the heel of his boot and throwing a sidelong wink at the prettier of the two men in shackles, who looked away as the other hissed evilly at him. “I’ll take...four whiskies! And two soda waters for the children.”
“Shut up!”
“Now, now, Kamui - that’s no way to talk to your elders. Look at Subaru, he’s being a good little boy.”
In response, the young man spat at the feet of the man who was eyeing him like a piece of meat, and was slapped wickedly across the face by the man who had just been holding his twin brother very tightly against his side whilst tempting him to try some of the stronger alcohol. Reeling backward, Kamui just about toppled over onto the ground, and would have done so in a very ungraceful face plant had it not been for the rather thick and muscular person who’s chest he smacked into instead.
“Seishiro,” a deep, evil voice rumbled throughout the brothel, making the previously quiet people even quieter - as if they’d stopped breathing at the very sight of the real sheriff of Tsubasa. “I thought I told you that you weren’t welcome around here.”
The Tombstone smiled psychotically at the tanned, muscular man in sweat stained clothing that dust seemed to cling to like a second skin. “Ah, but Kurogane...It was all just a little bit of fun. I didn’t hurt either of them, did I, Fuuma.”
“Why, you lying sack of cow shit - OW!” Kamui did not take kindly to being manhandled as he was tossed back toward the general direction of his brother and as Kurogane drew his gun.
Fuuma was laughing a tad, and ruffled the young man’s hair as he passed him. But he didn’t get a chance to do much anything else, because before he knew it, there was a hand in his shirt and a gun pressed to the underside of his chin.
“Why the hell are you back here?”
“Hey, hey there - take it easy, Sheriff,” the bandit attempted to appease, holding up both hands as he seemingly jingled from the coins in his side pouch and the many explosives that were hidden in his vest. “We’re only in here for the show.”
“What show!?” Kurogane demanded harshly, spittle flecking the man’s face.
It was Seishiro’s turn to chuckle. “It wasn’t as if we expected you to hear, Sheriff...” he drawled, taking a swig of his whiskey and casting suggestive, sidelong glances as Subaru. He then sighed. “Didn’t you know that The Mage was coming into town? He heard there’s a large sum of gold in your bank, and he’s come to put on a show.”
“A....show?” And here, Kurogane glowered, releasing the scruffy brunette who was laughing as maniacally as his brother before turning on his heel and storming out of the Dimensional brothel and down the dusty road toward the Piffle Bank. He could see horses tethered outside at the hitching post, reserved girls in summer dresses who were spending some well earned time in town to buy bolts of fabric and flowers for their hair, and the town mayor, shaking hands with a blond fellow with a large hat that easily obscured half his face.
Kurogane stopped short, some fifteen places to where the social exchange was taking place, and right next to the black carriage with two, pure white horses tethered to it. He could feel the bottom dropping out of his stomach, even before the air rippled and the front door exploded off the hinges with the force of three blocks of explosive.
People were thrown, screaming, every which-way and that, only to collapse in listless, quiet bundled in the middle of the road. Kurogane, himself, collided with the black carriage, and the horses reared, spooked and ready to run. He took a moment to put a calloused hand against one of the animal’s flanks to calm it before drawing his second gun and, armed with two weapons, charged at the gaping hole in a wall that had previously been the door to the bank. Only, he never reached that hole in the wall.
When the Sheriff was still a good five paces from the door, a figure leap from the smoke, a large bag filled with stacks of paper bills and gold coins swung over his shoulder an an idiotic grin spread across his face. Upon closer inspection, it was not even his smile, but more that of an artificial mask with a dramatically red smile painted on it. An even cackle resonated from behind that mask as the culprit behind the explosion spotted Kurogane, guns still drawn, and laughed.
“Oi. Fay. Are you ready to go~?” was the sing song demand that was called over the terrified screams and shouts from the villagers and terrified little children who had no idea what was going on.
Kurogane bristled, and took the time to aim his pistol at the blond bandit, only to feel and hear someone jump into the steering seat of the carriage behind him. Twirling, other gun pushing right into the other persons face, he was almost less than shocked to see another blond (the same one who had been talking to Mayor Touya just moments before), this time in a mask with a dramatic, bloody frown painted onto it’s features. “Oi! You! STOP!” Kurogane barked, but reeled back where the steel-toed boot swung in front of his face, almost clipping his nose.
“Hurry up, Fye,” the frowning blond sang back, his voice calm and saddened when compared to the hyper, melodically sweet voice of his partner. Brother? No...just doppleganger.
The other was skipping toward them now, humming a happy song that sounded distinctly like a dosey-doeing tune that just irked Kurogane to no end and caused a very pissed-off irritation mark to appear on his forehead. “Oi! You! Bandit! Shut up!” And, finding himself mad at the sad blond who had kicked him and the happy one who was whistling, he jumped up next to the kicking one and, after looping an arm stealthily around his neck, pushed the barrel of his pistol to the soft underside of his chin.
Fye skidded to a stop. “Hey...Kuro-sheriff...Let Fay go, okay~? We gotta be ske-daddling now.”
“Shut up!” The brunette man demanded. “You two ain’t going anywhere but the jail house, and then the rope.”
“Hey, hey...” There were hands on his arm, pulling lightly at the strangle-hold and glancing up at him through sooting blond bangs that had been exposed as his hat was knocked from atop his head. “You’re just going to get hurt if you get in the way, Mr...”
“I said shut up! There is no reason for you two to be doing this.”
And now the two stopped moving, simply staring at him with wide, identical sapphire blue eyes. And then...
“How would you know.”
“Everyone’s poor around here. You gotta do this to survive, now a days. There’s aren’t many good jobs for people now aways, unless they wanna work the railroad, or can afford school.”
“There isn’t much else to live for if you can’t even afford to live...”
And then they were quite again. Even the screams had subsided, as most people were either currently unconscious or too scared to move. Kurogane, faced with the once again infuriating bandits that had robbed this town once before when he was still a deputy, found himself morally conflicted with pounding some sense into these two men and to talk to them about the difference of right or wrong and maybe, just maybe, save their mortal souls. Like his mother would. But something told him that, at least on one of these people, the advise would be useless.
So, tightening his hold on the sad masked blonds neck and moved the gun so the barrel was all but embedded against the boys cheek, glad that he hadn’t fired the weapon, else the metal would be hot and the blond would not have stopped screaming. Lowering his voice a fraction, Kurogane grumbled, “Listen up, Fay, or Fye or whatever your name was -”
“- It’s Fay -”
“I said listen....Now, this is not the only choice the two of you have. There are tons of better things you could do with your life, and if you mess that up, it’s your fault, and no one else’s. And when - because there is no if - you mess yours and your brothers lives up, there isn’t gonna be enough time in the world or your miserable lives to fix that. You got me?” Upon receiving no response, Kurogane shook the blond, only to find that he was nothing more than dead weight, and must have passed out from the lack of sufficient oxygen reaching his lungs. “...Shit...”
Fay dropped onto the chair on the carriage with a dull thump, his mask falling askew a slight bit and making him look disfigured, even in a peaceful unconsciousness. Now glaring at the opened mouth smiling masked twin, Kurogane dismounted from the seat and stood in the dusty road again, still holding one gun at the ready, aiming it right between the remaining blond’s eyes.
“Now, you,” he demanded. “I don’t know how many people have told you how worthless stealing makes you seem, but I’mma say it again. This is pathetic, and you don’t deserve to live if your keep doing this...So. Give me that money, and take your brother, or partner or whatever out of this town and DON’T come back.”
Fye only nodded. And dropped the sack into the road before inching past the burley sheriff and clinging to his brother after cracking the whip at the horses. The pure white stallions reared before putting hoofs to the hard packed earth and speeding away, veering to avoid pedestrians and other animals while making this daring escape.
-
It took several minutes, and the arrival of Deputy Syaoran for Kurogane to swear, taking his hat and throwing it harshly on the ground and swear. He’d never even made them take off their masks...
-
“Oi...Oi, Yuui. Are you alright?” The smiling masked man nudged his twin with the tip of his shoe gently, pulling at the reigns of their horses to veer left while at the same time pulling the mask off his face.
“That Kurogane person’s a bit of a hard ass, isn’t he?” Yuui grumbled.
“I’ll say,” Fai agreed, pulling the horses to a stop at the edge of a field filled with tall corn stalks, wheat and bright yellow flowers. “Your stop.”
“Yeah...thanks.” The blond dismounted on shaky legs, leaning his frame over the wooden fence while catching his breath. “See you soon, Fai.”
“Bye, Yuui.”
“He had a point, you know.”
“Yeah. I know.” Fai snapped the reigns. And before Yuui could even blink, his twin was long gone, twisting and turning on the mountain pathways in a dash to find his next target.
Meanwhile, Yuui snuck into his house, burying the mask outside, underneath the porch, and took a long, well needed bath before cleaning the dust from the house and wait for his roommate to return from work.
-
“Are you tired?”
“Hm.”
“Sore?”
“Yes.”
“Hungry.”
“No.”
A sigh. “So? What happened today?”
“Nothing, Fai.”
“You sure, Kuro-pon~?”
“Positive.”
And, although given an intense ‘I feel like you’re lying to me’ look, Yuui turned his back on the worn out Sheriff who reclined at the wooden kitchen table and avoided the brunette for the rest of the evening.
-