SHINE Survivor Challenges - Part Three
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 Seven: No 'm' words. "I am not god...yet." "I can't blow it - it's too small!"
Kuro-Sama's Record Adventure!
-word count 1,744-
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“Kuro-sama...what are you doing?”
Kurogane grunted, digging through pile after pile of records in the Temperance Hall Of Records in their recent world traveled to, Uthrain World. Here, Mokona insisted that there was one of Sakura’s feathers - but that it had been shipped towards a different island all together and that this hall of records was the only place they could possibly look in order to track it’s whereabouts. And thus, here they were. The ‘kid and the pork bun’, as the warrior had bluntly put it, were elsewhere, digging through their own collection of scrolls with itty-bitty text printed on the parchment, piles of dust covering each rack where the scrolls were kept.
Originally, it was just supposed to be a quick endeavors, but now...after trolling around the room in a bored fashion for almost half an hour, only to find the door locked, no key in sight and no possible way to contact the kid or Mokona, Fai had taken up residence on top of a large, oak desk and Kurogane had done the same on the floor. The room was hot, the small window refusing to open, and in light of the heat, both of them had shrugged off their coats and now vainly pulled at their shirts, trying to temp some nonexistent breeze in toward their bodies.
After about an hour of this, Kurogane had sword, picked up his lantern again and started browsing through the scrolls again and Fai simply slumped backwards, going from sitting to sprawling across the table, pushing the ink wells, blank scrolls and feathered pens onto the ground below him in an uncaring fashion. It wasn’t as if the blond was humming or, god forbid, singing...but at the same time, the huffed breaths seemed to grate on Kurogane’s nerves as he tried to concentrate on what was written before him. He bit his tongue, willing himself not to snap dramatically and all but rip Fai’s head off - just to stop the distracting sounds.
He was very good about it, too. For the first thirteen seconds. And then...
“Will you stop?”
“Stop what?”
“Breathing!”
“...I kinda have to breath, Kuro-sama. It’s what keeps this face skin so nice and rosy and....alive, you know..”
“Just...just stop, won’t you?”
Now Fai huffed, and a slight drip of annoyance edged his voice. “You know, I’m not god...yet, of course. I kinda NEED to breath...”
“You’re using up all the air.”
“Oh, come now, darling Kuro-wan...There’s a crack under the door. We have plenty of air to last until Syaoran-kun and Mokona come and find us, don’t cha know.”
Kurogane ‘tsk’ed and was sure to be showy and assure Fai saw when he ripped the two bottom corners of on scroll and stuffed the parchment into both ears. All he received in response was the brief appearance of a shiny pink tongue from behind (overly) rosy lips. Turning away, Kurogane soon discovered that his ear plugs didn’t do a lot in the like of sound, as he could immediately hear it when the wizard ‘thunk’ed his head back onto the table top and started to sing, probably singing to the blank and dark and imposing ceiling. Again, a jab of irritation shot through his body and the ninja rounded on his companion.
“SHUT UP!”
“I kinda like that...I wanna tap that, you can bet I’m gonna get - ...what, Kuro-boku? Did you say something?”
“Now you’re just being purposefully annoying, you know that!”
Even though - with Fai’s back still pressed to the table top and the scary, pissed off warrior towering over him in a dangerous loom - he was ultimately upside down, the blond still smiled, and waved cheerily. “I wasn’t doing anything, I swear.”
Kurogane ignored his insistence of innocence and slammed one of the numerous record books down directly next to the other’s ear, causing Fai to wince, shy away from the book and cover his ear protectively while the ninja spat, “If you’re going to be a difficult ass, you could at least pretend to be doing something useful like...looking for that stupid information that probably isn’t even IN this room, or else trying to get us out of this stupidly small section or the record hall!”
Pouting and wiggling his shoulders, Fai sat up, still cradling his head and favoring Kurogane with a hurt look. “Well, you didn’t have to go about asking in such a rude way, Kuro-wan...You could have just asked for help....”
“It will be a cold day in hell when I ask YOU - of all people - for help in any way, shape or form. Now, start looking!”
And he whirled back around to his own pile of books, scrolls and information as Fai pulled the large, leather bound book into his lap and started to flick through the worn pages with little to no interest, humming something that sounded distinctly like the song (the only song) that played on the radio in this world in the back of his throat. For some reason, although it was an annoying song in some Italian-esque language that easily grated Kurogane’s nerves raw, he didn’t care if the idiotic wizard found some simple way to amuse himself as long as he pitched in with the work.
Fai reached the third verse for the nineteenth time, the door knob did a wondrously amazing thing. It rattled, as if someone on the other side of the thick door had taken hold of the cool, golden bobble and was attempting to open it. However...something also seemed rather ‘off’ about it for, just as soon as the rattling started, it stopped and there was the dull sound of someone leaning up against the wood - or rather, someone being backed up against the door.
Hushed glances exchanged, Fai carefully closed the book with as little rustling as possible and slid from the table and Kurogane stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword apprehensively and inched toward the door to press his ear against it. Sure enough, two people were speaking in hushed tones - their voices considerably blanketed and softened by the blockade between the two hiding in the room and their own two persons, but none the less discernible.
“Come on, now, Subaru-kun...It’s not like it’s a bad idea or anything.”
“I don’t think...I can’t blow it. It’s too small!”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“I don’t think the Happenstance Queen would be pleased if we -”
“We’re not going to get caught, you adorable, green-eyed little brat~ Now, why not put those troubled thoughts to rest and get down on your -”
“I don’t think your brother’d be too incredibly pleased if he found out you were soliciting me to commit -”
“It’s not like this is treason, Subaru-kun. It’s perfectly acceptable for two grown adults to...Wait, how old are you again?”
“309.”
“Excellent. And, plus, Fuuma’s only in this for your darling twin brother and second -”
“I really don’t think - please don’t put your hands there!”
“What? You don’t like it when I touch you?”
“I just brushed my hair. I don’t need you screwing it up.”
Kurogane could do nothing but blink, jaw hanging open. This had to be....the weirdest conversation he had ever eavesdropped on. Not that he tried to eavesdrop on people often, but judging from the way that Fai was giggling behind his hand and the blond’s very personality traits that gave him the innate ability to do such devious things without feeling a hint of guilt or remorse, he guessed that it was pretty ridiculous anyway. But...really, nothing that involved him. So, shrugging he started to back away from the door, only to have his foot connect with something soft and warm and squishy that elicited a small squeak of pain from the blond behind him (later, Kurogane would deduce that the warm, squishy and soft thing had been Fai’s own foot, and that his companion had, at some point, stopped to take off his shoes). With a surprised exclamation that sounded like something between a growl and a shriek, they toppled over and - for this was not the first time - Fai’s head cracked against the ground. Or, rather, several strategically placed wooden coverings for the scrolls that had been so carelessly tossed aside.
For his part, Kurogane effectively did not squish the wizard against the ground, but landed himself in a pile of the leather bound shipping records, bashing his nose rather painfully into the very center of such book. And when he sat bolt upright, swearing violently and clutching his bleeding nose it was to find that Fai had not stirred from the spot he had fallen which bothered him for some reason that he couldn’t quite place his finger on, but...still...
“Oi. You alive, bastard?” It came out rather garbled, though he was sure that the other could still understand him, if he was still alive, that was.
Another book of records was open and splayed across the blond’s face and as Fai shakily rose his hands to pull said book from his facial area, Kurogane sighed - although weather from annoyance or relief, he didn’t know - and snatched the book by the spine and started to snap it closed before Fai objected.
“No, wait - Kuro-sama,” was the weakened sigh. Fai sat up, clutching his head. “...I found...what’s the word...? Your people - in your Japan...they call them Tsubasa, right?”
A dark eyebrow was raised. “...Feathers, you’re talking about?”
“...Shipment of Tsubasas?”
Kurogane glanced down toward the page that his finger held in place. And sure enough:
Shipment: Tsubasa variety
Destination: KinderHood
Departure: Uthrain
...Well, damn.
The door clicked open.
“Excuse me...but are you two alright?” It was the same person who was soliciting some sort of lewd behavior from the other person just seconds before. Well...it wasn’t necessarily nice to see him, but nice to put face to name [even if they already knew this face].
Kurogane paused before snatching the front of Fai’s clothing and hauling him to his feet before brushing past Seishiro and, outside the door, Subaru, too. And the last thing he called over his shoulder, disgust still evident enough to be laced into the slightly elated (because they were FINALLY out of that room) tone, “Don’t touch the green-eyed brat, you pervert.”
Challenge Eight: Good Secrets And Bad Ones
Kuro-Sama's Wife and Husband
-word count 2,147-
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There was a downright dangerous aura around Nihon’s greatest warrior that evening. Not that many people, be them old or younger, paid him much attention as he stormed through the castle favoring an even glare to anyone he passed - they were all too busy crowding around the windows, hoping to catch a glance at the visitors who were currently all staying in the carriage that had brought them here, the only thing visible of them were their bulky, coat shrouded outlines, occasionally shifting and allowing their shadows to shimmer behind the rice paper screen windows. But while their arrival meant a party for the other inhabitants of Nihon, it meant nothing pleasant for the ninja who had been pulled into the princess’s chambers just minutes before to be informed of something he had learned of as a child was coming into effect - something he’d long since pushed to the very back recesses of his mind. And now, after practically coming to blows with Souma while Tomoyo and Amaterasu sat on their chairs in tight purple and pink dresses and a matching hat which doubled as veils - a custom for unmarried women in their guests home country - for each, Kurogane was heading toward his sleeping quarters, trying to explain to himself what had just happened before he had to explain it to someone else. Someone who probably wouldn’t understand it, nor take it as lightly as he had - which was saying something.
He expected, of course, for there to be a longer search for the blond mage. He had expected having to traps through the gardens, farm houses, and libraries before even being able to eliminate thoughts of where Fai may have run off to. And he had expected for himself to be more emotionally prepared - and maybe hide his sword so that neither he nor Fai were tempted to stab someone with it. Of course, things were obviously not going how he expected, for the second that the door to his room was open, it was to reveal the wizard, sprawled over his bed in a bored manner, running a polishing rag over the blade of Sohi and smiling up at him when he noticed his presence.
“Oh, well, hi there, Kuro-sama. I was just....” the smile, bright, bubbly and vivacious and true, melted into something less happy, but none the less smily. “...What’s wrong, Kuro-pon...You look...mad.” And he sniggered. “Angrier than usual, I mean.”
“Yeah, well, you would be to, given...” he started to snap and then stopped with a huff, waving his hand in the blond’s direction and turning to leave to room again.
“Given?” Fai cocked his head to the side, sitting up and crossing his legs atop the thin mattress that belonged to his companion. “Awww~ What’s wrong, Kuro-pluu?”
He was temped - highly tempted - to smack the wall, or Fai. But resisted. “Nothing...”
“Aw, come on,” the mage jumped up from where he stood and practically flew toward the ninja, a rather slap-happy grin having taken up residence on his face. Kurogane half expected Fai to stop a foot or so away, but was not surprised when he was enveloped in a tight hug instead, pressing his face cheek to cheek with the imposing man’s and then pulling away, arms still lightly looped around the ninja’s neck, and that grin now completely wiped off his face. He was more than slightly put off about not having been pushed away. “....Kuro-sama...what’s wrong.”
He sighed, looking purposefully away. “Nothing...”
“Is this about the guests that arrived today?” And when he received a raised eyebrow look of surprise from Kurogane, Fai smiled, batting his eyelashes below the fringe of his bangs coyly. “Ohoho. You thought I wouldn’t figure it out, didn’t you! But, once again, you have underestimated my intelligence, oh so high and mighty Kuro-wan. For I, indeed, know you better than you know yourself, for I am your -”
“Shut up.”
“- one and only annoyance button. That’s right~ I know how to get under your skin like no other person -”
“Shut. Up.”
“- because you show more of yourself to me than you do anyone else,” and here, there was that sanctimonious little wink that spoke in volumes of perversion more than verbal words ever could. “A whoooooole lot more of yourself. Wouldn’t you ag -”
“I’m getting married.”
“- ree, Kuro-boku. I...” he trailed off, mouth still stuck in the perfect ‘o’ shape from the words he have been about to utter. Pale sapphire eyes searched a bland face for some sign that he was being lied to - something that, honestly, he knew how to deal with. But not...not this... “....Kuro-sama...”
There wasn’t any sign there.
Now Kurogane pushed him away.
Fai backed up, looking somewhere between scandalized and intensely hurt with still some hint of a smile that practically all but begged him to be lying, still. “...I...erm...If this is some sort of proposal, I may need time to think about it...”
“It’s not.”
“I’m still going to need time to think about this.”
It was a good deal disgusting how Fai did this. Pretend things were alright and fine, but then turn a cold shoulder and shun human contact, or else right out run away. He had done it before - many times. Too many times to count, really, but this time seemed more pronounced than those, only comparable to the initial reaction in Acid Tokyo and when they had last stood outside the Dimensional Witch’s house and the mage had asked, shame faced and refusing to look any of them in the eye, if he could continue to jump worlds, offering up any thought of ever returning to be with people he knew and cared about as the price for the earring that would assist him, much like Mokona had. Kurogane had known how to deal with him then. All it had taken was time, and then the offer of taking him home instead, but now... Honestly, he didn’t even know why the idiot was so upset about it. It wasn’t like they were bound to each other by anything other than...friendship? Was that an accurate vernacular? But it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like they were intimate. Not physically, anyway -
(They had been before - back in Shura country - but that had been a haze of consciousness, only made clear when Mokona, Syaoran and Sakura were in close relation to them. All together, it had been a seedy and shady relation that neither of them prided anything on and usually, altogether ignored. After all, at the time Fai was loyal to Ashura-ou, and Kurogane to Tomoyo, no matter how unchaste or innocent the relations were, they had never had the time for such simplistic things as love, kissing or the like. Sex, in Shura, had simply been a way to vent the stress and the anger.)
but, for some reason, it hurt to have to say, and have to hear.
“...How long is the engagement.”
“Fifteen years.”
“Oh. Well, that’s...lovely. Plenty of time to plan the wedding and, er...establish truces and talk about children...”
And here came the last bit, the tiny bit of information he was tempted to withhold to himself, because it was guaranteed to make the blond run. But then he’d have no room to complain and demand the truth from Fai in retrospects. So, with a resigned sigh, he pushed, “No. Fifteen years...ago.”
Silence.
“You - you were engaged.” It should have been a question, but the monotonous voice that the statement was voiced with made it more of an observation than anything else and the previously emotion-filled blue eyes snapped into a cold, hard and blank stare. “I see...Now, if you’ll excuse me...” He turned, planning to collect his book and jacket (for Fai had forever had a hard time adjusting to forever wearing the furisodes Tomoyo made for him - which, now thinking about it, only seemed to add insult to injury) only to pause while bent over, snatch one of the pillows off the head of the warriors tradition-styled bed and hurled it at him. “WHO THE FUCK TO!?!?”
Caught unaware, Kurogane had no time to prevent the thing from smashing into his head and balancing there for a moment like some obscured hat, and although it didn’t hurt, something snapped angrily inside him. “To some god damned princess named Chii,” he shouted back, grabbing the pillow before it fell to the ground and hurling it toward the ground where Fai stood.
“...You...you’re marrying my MOTHER!?!? You’re getting married to your world’s version of my mother, you know!”
“It’s not my choice!”
“You could have said no!”
“Tomoyo-hime arranged this. I didn’t exactly have a say.”
“And if you did?” Fai challenged, wiping the back of his hand ruefully across his face, which was starting to become stained a ruddy reddish color. Kurogane silently thanked the gods that his complexion was darker than the mage’s so he would never have to look that pathetic with a tear-stained colored face with not tears, although at the moment, it was not pathetic, more of enraging.
He paused, taking a long, drawn out breath to calm himself before exhaling. “If I had a say...I’d never get married.”
A moment of silence. Broken by a whimper as Fai bit his lower lip, swallowed hard and then smiled. “...I figured as much.” His head dipped and he moved toward where Kurogane stood, trying to negotiate his way past the burly man so he could escape this confrontation. “...Excuse me.”
Letting out a growl - as he was NOT having any of this - Kurogane harshly grabbed at Fai’s wrist, not caring if he bruised him or not, and began to hauled him toward the main hall of the castle, where he could now hear the giggles, laughter and muffled speech of socialization. It would seem that the guests had finally removed themselves from the inside of their carriage and had decided to casually meet-and-greet with the subjects of the kingdom theirs was mixing with. A couple seemed perplexed that the supposed “prince” their beloved lady was supposed to be marrying to was no where in sight, and loudly voiced this to anyone who would listen over glasses of sake.
Fai argued with him while being dragged across the overlooking hallway that doubled as a balcony to the entrance hall, digging his feet into the stone, although without any form of shoes on, his socked feet slipped and slid if Kurogane pulled hard enough. He then proceeded to murmur all manner of curses, assurances that he was fine with this, and demands to be released under his breath, only to receive no sort of recognition from the brunette ninja that was leading him. The murmurs only became more frantic as they reached the top of the staircase, attracting attention from just about all the onlookers below them.
“Kuro-sama, stop it. I don’t know what you’re trying to -”
“Shut up,” was the whispered response, and he cast a mean glance over his shoulder that was more than enough to fix Fai’s vocal chords, even if his mouth continued to move like a fish, gaping open and closed. And then Kurogane tossed his head, favoring the whole assembly below them with something akin to a glare, but more professional, and spoke in a voice that projected. “I can’t marry your princess.”
Silence. And then the foreigners rose in an uproar, all all at the same time demanding ‘what!?’, ‘why not!?’, ‘are you insane!’ among cries of ‘treason!’ and glares that demanded an explanation from his own two princess. During this time, Fai successfully wrenched his wrist from Kurogane’s grasp and turned to flee up the stairs, only to find a muscly arm wrapped around his shoulders and dragging him back down the few stairs he’d managed to gain. He stumbled down, falling against Kurogane’s frame as the ninja raised a hand, a sign for silence as he prepared to explain.
“You see. By common law, I am already married. To this.” And the arm around the blond shook him, earning a glare from Fai before he wrapped his head around just what the other was saying. His face fell into shock. “I am sorry you had to come all this way,” Kurogane apologized, although his tone held no ounce of sincerity for the apology.
This time, instead of the loud demands for reasons, there was silence. Tomoyo smiled happily and Amaterasu rolled her eyes behind her veil. The lady dressed in light yellow between them seemingly cocked her head to the side and raised two dainty hands to lift and drape the lighter yellow veil back across her tiara.
“...Chii likes homosexuals. She is very happy for you two! Hyuu!”
Challenge Nine: Let's Play Dr.
Kuro-Sama's Toaster
-word count 757-
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Butter was all over the kitchen, smeared across the walls, cabinets and counters like they were gigantic and inedible pieces of toast. Kurogane was shocked by the amount of destruction he had walked in on, and the butter wasn’t even the thing that worried him the most. Fai, for his part, looked completely calm, perched on possibly the only un-buttered part of the marble counter and chewing on some of the bright orange and spongy material that this world used for bread and acting seemingly oblivious to the destruction all around him. Dropping his pack and sword by the door, the ninja’s brow furrowed and his lip drew upward in a sneer of disgust before he opened his mouth and ventured out on the preverbal limb.
“What...the fuck...happened here?” He demanded this haltingly, only to receive a look that clearly - when the blond looked around his person - he saw nothing queer.
Despite the upturned coffee maker, open and emptied refrigerator, broken condiment jars that seemed to have puked their contents all over the tiled floor, bent frying pans, spatulas that appeared to be sticking to the wall of their own accord and...had that, at one point, been a toaster? And yet, Fai’s smile at the question seemed like it would have been more appropriate on a gigantic poster. “What’s that supposed to mean~? I was just getting the bleach and brushes to help Greta-san clean.”
“...Right.”
Kurogane sighed, annoyed at himself for expecting the blond to give him a real answer - after all, he wasn’t THAT bright.
Fai smiled again and held up a full bottle of some weird, bright pink bleach for his companion to see. Honestly, Kurogane was tempted to ask if he was planning to clean THIS mess, but he almost didn’t want to even HEAR what the answer would be. But when had he ever not questioned the mage’s actions, or the reasons behind them?
As the blond mage started to babble happily, Kurogane found himself irritated and gnawing at his lower lip, knowing full well that, once his companion started, there was nothing he could do in the manner of words, for those words to stem. Except - maybe - cutting him off.
“Whoah, woah, woah - shut up,” Kurogane sneered with a scoff. “You still haven’t explained why the kitchen is in ruins, or why you did it in the first place, mage.”
Fai’s smile slipped off his face, visual emotions flipping from one to another (happy, sad, playful, excited) with amazing speed, just as if each emotion were on a flip-book page. He settled on bubbly.
“Awww, what makes you think I did anything to Greta-san’s kitchen, Kuro-sama,” he said snuffly. “I simply wanted to make something for her restaurant for her to bring in.” And he picked up the cooking insturment next to him; a rolling pin.
It was understandable - as he was that type of person - that Fai wanted to do something nice for their host. However, that did not explain why he deemed it necessary for the -being nice- process to include taking away the woman’s ability to make toast.
"What did the coffee maker ever do to you?”
“I was trying to make something new.” Fai shrugged softly. “It’s the coffee maker’s fault for being so lofty.”
“And the refrigerator?”
“I acted as the -” here, Fai struck a little pose “ - exterminator!”
“Wanna explain the butter?”
“Er, well, you see - um...” he attempted to explain but couldn’t quite get out past the idiotic smile on his face and the entire thing came out as a happy-go-lucky stutter.
Kurogane felt his eyebrows twitch in irritation. Fai was being difficult on purpose, he realized, and all the talk of extermination and officious coffee makers was no leading him ANYWHERE closer to comprehending what the blond wanted to be communicated in a revelation. But he ignored that miscommunication, instead choosing to calmly state his question non-verbally by pointing at (what had previously been) the toaster. Fai simply smiled with the air of a total boaster. Before answering, however, that smile melted into a large grin. His hands twitched as he straightened up proudly and toyed with the rolling pin.
“Oh...that thing tried to singe my hair. And, of course, you know that’s just not fair. So I beat the shit out of it with a rolling pin.” He smiled here, batting his eyelashes coyly with an expression that practically reeked with the essence of the sentence: ‘I think I win.’
Challenge Ten: Once Upon A Time - FINAL
Kuro-Sama's Brain Teaser
-word count 2,099-
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Once upon a time, there was a prince born of noble blood, raised to be a master of the sword and as a child - with what he lacked in social skills, he made up for in sheer will power and strength. This prince was reared with love, adoration and affection from both his parents until, one night, the King and Queen were mysteriously murdered by a large, disfigured black beast that, once the king’s body slumped against that of his true love, took the royal sword and turned it on the tearful child next to them. However, the young prince escaped with nothing more than a long and deep gash across his left arm, and - that night - swore an oath to never cry over anything again.
The prince was taken in by a neighboring noble woman, and spent the rest of his childhood fighting with her two sons and being exposed to the various wonders and horrifying features of the magical world - for this noble woman was a witch.
Later in life, it was only happenstance and pure luck that, once the young prince came of age, the witch received a distressed transmission from a neighboring kingdom, where a young sorceress and her sister, the queen, we being held captive by some strange black and blue beast. When this was heard, the prince leapt to his feet and, assuming that it was the same beast who had killed his mother and father, demanded the witch allowed him to go to the palace in the place of her eldest son. After what seemed careful consideration, the witch allowed him to partake on the journey, even gifting him a sword made form the finest metals, but she also insisted that her younger son - who has always been considerably weaker, and yet more sensible and powerful when it came to dealings with magic - accompany him.
Grudgingly, the prince conceded. The two saddled their white and black steeds that very night and set out on the grueling adventure.
For three days they rode, only stopping when they had to drink or eat. Exhaustion was imminent for both the young men and their horses, but by the time they reached the highest peak of their land, from which they could see their destination (a large, spindly castle, which the witch’s son insisted he could see a dark and evil and acrid presence swirling about, playing within the castle’s towers and over the front lawn before the gates) they had come too far to turn back.
However, by the time they reached the bottom of the peak, they happened across a fork in the road. Unsure of which route would be the fastest to get to their destination and aid the princess, the prince deemed they should split up, figuring that if he reached the palace first, he could jump right into battle and wage war on the beast, and if his childhood companion did, the mage could summon him there with his magics. Nodding in agreement and watching with his mix-matched eyes, the brunette mage took the left hand fork, and the prince took the right.
And that was how Ou Kurogane came to Valeria.
-
“Fai. Fai!”
“Chitose?”
“Fai, there’s a human here! A real human! What do I do? Do I tell Ashura-ou, or -”
“...No...no....” And the fae held up a single lengthy, spindly finger. “...Let’s play a bit of a game with him.”
Chi cocked her head to the side. “A...game? With a human?”
Fai simply nodded.
-
“Shit!” was his resounding swear. And this wasn’t the first time that the obscenity had been uttered - just the loudest he threw his flask against a the thick barricade of brambles that encased him. Threw it toward exactly where the opening archway had been just mere seconds ago, before some unholy presence deemed that it was appropriate to lock him into the dark, dank and depressing pathway that was surrounded by foliage on both sides and let little to no proper light in through those branches, nor those that had begun to grow over the top, forming something of a overhang above his head. The top was too high to cut with his sword. The sides were too thick to cut through. And the forward-way he was facing could easily be backwards for all he knew.
The right hand fork had turned out to be nothing but a twisting and turning path way that lead him right back to where he began, no matter which direction he spurred his white mare, Soel, onto. And then the steed had reared and taken off in one straight direction, bucking and thrashing her head from side to side like there were a million hornets chasing after her. Kurogane, desperately trying to regain control of his animal reigned her around, but Soel continued to run, seeming to gallop sideways for a moment before her flanks crashed through an opening to some thick sort of garden maze and collided with the other wall. The prince had been unharmed, yes, but VERY angry and the fact that the entrance closed before they had a chance to exit made things all the more annoying. And so, as it proved futile to escape by throwing things at the cursed hedge, he gave up and simply shouted, “SHIT!”
Soel neighed, tossing her head and twisting around to give her rider a disapproving glare.
“What!?” Kurogane demanded. “We’re lost now, thanks to you. And we don’t even know if this pathway leads to wherever the princess is.” He sneered. “We should have sent Watanuki this way.”
“Watanuki just has better luck than you,” was the prompt reply that nearly sent Kurogane reeling out of the saddle. However, trained horsemen didn’t succumb to such sudden things as their steeds talking that easily, and - if anything else - Kurogane was a trained everything-man and simply pulled VERY hard on the reigns, causing...whatever it was (for it was no longer his horse) to squeal in pain and whine childishly, “Kurogane-san...that HURTS!!”
“What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened?”
“You’re talking to me, dim wit.”
“Awwww~ I always talk to Kurogane-san. He just never talks back.” It was...an odd expression to envision on a horse’s features, but the prince could practically hear the conceit and tease. “...Watanuki talks to Larg~”
“I don’t want to hear about what that idiot does in his free time!” Kurogane snapped, smacking the spot between his eyebrows as he realized he was being defensive and holding conversation with a horse. A horse.
Soel lapsed into silence, which was a great deal more annoying than when she was talking to him. Not to mention...
“Oi...OI!”
The horse tossed her head. “Hmmm?”
“...You’re magical now, right? So’s this place, I’m guessing...” He was putting two and two together.
“Yes, Kurogane-san?”
“How do we get out of here...?”
“I don’t -”
Snap!
“What the -!?!?”
Something large and white suddenly seemed to just...flop out of an upper section of a hedge, crumpling on the ground with a very long and loud cry that sounded much more like the whistle of a boiling tea pot than anything human or animal. Kurogane balked, and Soel reared, neighing anomalistically and trying to both avoid trampling and trample the crying white ball of fluff. Everything seemed chaotic for but a split second, and then all things sane went out the window as flowers started to reign down, more animals (cats, mostly, and a couple birds) seemingly flew from the brambles, squealing excitedly, or else babbling to one another in VERY human voices.
“Sakura-chan, do you fancy coming home with me and -”
“SUBARU-KUN!”
“Stay away from him.”
“Bwahahah~!”
“Moro~? Moro, where are you?”
“Maro, I’m right here~!”
“You’re just an honorary Valerian!”
“I am loyal to this country!”
“SHUT UP!” Kurogane suddenly roared, finally finding his tongue after the initial shock from the sudden appearance of the other talking animals. He had heard of them - oh, yes, the tales of those who had wandered into the forests and found solace in animals who knew human tongues were what Watanuki and Doumeki had always demanded hearing whenever Yuuko, the witch, offered them stories - but now...he just wanted to leave. And although Watanuki had always been the most susceptible toward the presence of magical activity, Kurogane knew enough to feel it here, and know that it was fucking with him. “SHUT UP AND SHOW YOURSELF!”
...The cats started to drift away. And the last thing audible that Kurogane picked up on was, “He made him angry~”
And then things just got progressively darker and harder pressing in all around him, pawing at him lightly with an almost curious sense before - BAM! A burst of bright blue smoke seemed to collect out of no where and whisked into a blue ball before disappearing with a rather innocent ‘pouf’ and leaving a...a blue man in it’s place. With a huge smile across his face.
“Well, hiya, Kuro-sama!” the blue man giggled, waving excitedly as Kurogane simply blinked at him. “Welcome to Valeria.”
“Where?”
“Valeria?”
“Where the fuck is that?”
The....fae? Fae. Yes, the fae, Kurogane deduced. Anyway, the magical fairy beamed. “It’s my garden. Isn’t it pretty?”
He ‘tch’ed. “I’d like to get out of here, now. In case you’re not a dreamseerer, I have a task ahead of me. I must go to the palace of Nihon and rescue the princess and queen there at once! They’re going to -”
The blue man yawned, waving his hand languidly across his face. “There, there, Kuro-sama...They’re fine. Your bespectacled friend with the mix-matched eyes got there and now they’re all just spiffy.” And he ‘hmm’ed smugly, looking purposefully away from the prince and smiling. “They ARE wondering where you are, though. You really shouldn’t wander off, especially when there are important things to do. But, I suppose, you were fun to play with. You get angry easily, Kuro-sama~”
There were plenty of things the warrior would have liked to snap about as the fae murmured that sentence, but the one that irked him the most would have to be... “Don’t call me that! My name is Ou Kurogane, and I am a prince!”
“And my name’s Fai Flourite, and I have more power in my little toe than you do in your entire body. But let’s leave introductions aside~! Ah, here!” And...almost as if it were wet paint in the rain, the blue skin seemed to melt off of the other’s frame, leaving him pale, fair and clothed in nothing but pants, with bright blond hair springing wildly around his face. Pale blue wings with thin membranes and thick, pulsating veins running through them furled themselves close, tucked close against his back and barely visible. But what struck Kurogane the most was the odd, phoenix tattoo that seemed to be tattooed above his hip; it disconcerted him. But no matter how weird the other’s appearance was, at least now he looked reasonably human, and that made him easier to look at. Or scowl at, in Kurogane’s case.
“I want out.”
“But I like you here.”
“...So you put me here, then, too?”
“Ding ding, Kuro-sama~! I thought you’d be fun to play with, and - boy, you were! Chitose even bet me that you would be calm all the way through until the end of the maze, even with your Mokona -”
“My what?”
“-sorry, I believe you people call them horses...Even with your horse talking, and the animals, and - ah, man, I wish you had lasted until the third encounter. There was gonna be a -”
“I DON’T CARE!” Kurogane roared so loudly that even the ‘Mokona’ and the fae flinched. “LET ME OUT OF HERE! I’M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!”
“Now, now, Kuro-sama,” Fai attempted to sooth. “No need to get angry. It was just a little fun - I’m sure you’ve played games before.”
“NO I HAVEN’T!! NOW, STAY STILL WHILE I GUT YOU WITH MY SWORD!!!!” And he speedily dismounted, clumsier than usual, perhaps, but form the moment his feet hit the hard packed dirt ground, he was off running, swinging his sword wildly over his head and screaming angrily.
It was natural instinct, really, for the fae to jump and run. But, you see, he had the home field advantage, and found the human prince to be entertaining. If Kurogane wasn’t careful, he’d never return home at this rate~
-
Ya know...I tied with two other people for this~ xD All that was left was three - out of, like...seventeen! And I was one of them; although you can tell these things were forced out in less than seven hours each....
So, here they are! <3 Enjoy!
Challenge Seven: No 'm' words. "I am not god...yet." "I can't blow it - it's too small!"
Kuro-Sama's Record Adventure!
-word count 1,744-
-
“Kuro-sama...what are you doing?”
Kurogane grunted, digging through pile after pile of records in the Temperance Hall Of Records in their recent world traveled to, Uthrain World. Here, Mokona insisted that there was one of Sakura’s feathers - but that it had been shipped towards a different island all together and that this hall of records was the only place they could possibly look in order to track it’s whereabouts. And thus, here they were. The ‘kid and the pork bun’, as the warrior had bluntly put it, were elsewhere, digging through their own collection of scrolls with itty-bitty text printed on the parchment, piles of dust covering each rack where the scrolls were kept.
Originally, it was just supposed to be a quick endeavors, but now...after trolling around the room in a bored fashion for almost half an hour, only to find the door locked, no key in sight and no possible way to contact the kid or Mokona, Fai had taken up residence on top of a large, oak desk and Kurogane had done the same on the floor. The room was hot, the small window refusing to open, and in light of the heat, both of them had shrugged off their coats and now vainly pulled at their shirts, trying to temp some nonexistent breeze in toward their bodies.
After about an hour of this, Kurogane had sword, picked up his lantern again and started browsing through the scrolls again and Fai simply slumped backwards, going from sitting to sprawling across the table, pushing the ink wells, blank scrolls and feathered pens onto the ground below him in an uncaring fashion. It wasn’t as if the blond was humming or, god forbid, singing...but at the same time, the huffed breaths seemed to grate on Kurogane’s nerves as he tried to concentrate on what was written before him. He bit his tongue, willing himself not to snap dramatically and all but rip Fai’s head off - just to stop the distracting sounds.
He was very good about it, too. For the first thirteen seconds. And then...
“Will you stop?”
“Stop what?”
“Breathing!”
“...I kinda have to breath, Kuro-sama. It’s what keeps this face skin so nice and rosy and....alive, you know..”
“Just...just stop, won’t you?”
Now Fai huffed, and a slight drip of annoyance edged his voice. “You know, I’m not god...yet, of course. I kinda NEED to breath...”
“You’re using up all the air.”
“Oh, come now, darling Kuro-wan...There’s a crack under the door. We have plenty of air to last until Syaoran-kun and Mokona come and find us, don’t cha know.”
Kurogane ‘tsk’ed and was sure to be showy and assure Fai saw when he ripped the two bottom corners of on scroll and stuffed the parchment into both ears. All he received in response was the brief appearance of a shiny pink tongue from behind (overly) rosy lips. Turning away, Kurogane soon discovered that his ear plugs didn’t do a lot in the like of sound, as he could immediately hear it when the wizard ‘thunk’ed his head back onto the table top and started to sing, probably singing to the blank and dark and imposing ceiling. Again, a jab of irritation shot through his body and the ninja rounded on his companion.
“SHUT UP!”
“I kinda like that...I wanna tap that, you can bet I’m gonna get - ...what, Kuro-boku? Did you say something?”
“Now you’re just being purposefully annoying, you know that!”
Even though - with Fai’s back still pressed to the table top and the scary, pissed off warrior towering over him in a dangerous loom - he was ultimately upside down, the blond still smiled, and waved cheerily. “I wasn’t doing anything, I swear.”
Kurogane ignored his insistence of innocence and slammed one of the numerous record books down directly next to the other’s ear, causing Fai to wince, shy away from the book and cover his ear protectively while the ninja spat, “If you’re going to be a difficult ass, you could at least pretend to be doing something useful like...looking for that stupid information that probably isn’t even IN this room, or else trying to get us out of this stupidly small section or the record hall!”
Pouting and wiggling his shoulders, Fai sat up, still cradling his head and favoring Kurogane with a hurt look. “Well, you didn’t have to go about asking in such a rude way, Kuro-wan...You could have just asked for help....”
“It will be a cold day in hell when I ask YOU - of all people - for help in any way, shape or form. Now, start looking!”
And he whirled back around to his own pile of books, scrolls and information as Fai pulled the large, leather bound book into his lap and started to flick through the worn pages with little to no interest, humming something that sounded distinctly like the song (the only song) that played on the radio in this world in the back of his throat. For some reason, although it was an annoying song in some Italian-esque language that easily grated Kurogane’s nerves raw, he didn’t care if the idiotic wizard found some simple way to amuse himself as long as he pitched in with the work.
Fai reached the third verse for the nineteenth time, the door knob did a wondrously amazing thing. It rattled, as if someone on the other side of the thick door had taken hold of the cool, golden bobble and was attempting to open it. However...something also seemed rather ‘off’ about it for, just as soon as the rattling started, it stopped and there was the dull sound of someone leaning up against the wood - or rather, someone being backed up against the door.
Hushed glances exchanged, Fai carefully closed the book with as little rustling as possible and slid from the table and Kurogane stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword apprehensively and inched toward the door to press his ear against it. Sure enough, two people were speaking in hushed tones - their voices considerably blanketed and softened by the blockade between the two hiding in the room and their own two persons, but none the less discernible.
“Come on, now, Subaru-kun...It’s not like it’s a bad idea or anything.”
“I don’t think...I can’t blow it. It’s too small!”
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“I don’t think the Happenstance Queen would be pleased if we -”
“We’re not going to get caught, you adorable, green-eyed little brat~ Now, why not put those troubled thoughts to rest and get down on your -”
“I don’t think your brother’d be too incredibly pleased if he found out you were soliciting me to commit -”
“It’s not like this is treason, Subaru-kun. It’s perfectly acceptable for two grown adults to...Wait, how old are you again?”
“309.”
“Excellent. And, plus, Fuuma’s only in this for your darling twin brother and second -”
“I really don’t think - please don’t put your hands there!”
“What? You don’t like it when I touch you?”
“I just brushed my hair. I don’t need you screwing it up.”
Kurogane could do nothing but blink, jaw hanging open. This had to be....the weirdest conversation he had ever eavesdropped on. Not that he tried to eavesdrop on people often, but judging from the way that Fai was giggling behind his hand and the blond’s very personality traits that gave him the innate ability to do such devious things without feeling a hint of guilt or remorse, he guessed that it was pretty ridiculous anyway. But...really, nothing that involved him. So, shrugging he started to back away from the door, only to have his foot connect with something soft and warm and squishy that elicited a small squeak of pain from the blond behind him (later, Kurogane would deduce that the warm, squishy and soft thing had been Fai’s own foot, and that his companion had, at some point, stopped to take off his shoes). With a surprised exclamation that sounded like something between a growl and a shriek, they toppled over and - for this was not the first time - Fai’s head cracked against the ground. Or, rather, several strategically placed wooden coverings for the scrolls that had been so carelessly tossed aside.
For his part, Kurogane effectively did not squish the wizard against the ground, but landed himself in a pile of the leather bound shipping records, bashing his nose rather painfully into the very center of such book. And when he sat bolt upright, swearing violently and clutching his bleeding nose it was to find that Fai had not stirred from the spot he had fallen which bothered him for some reason that he couldn’t quite place his finger on, but...still...
“Oi. You alive, bastard?” It came out rather garbled, though he was sure that the other could still understand him, if he was still alive, that was.
Another book of records was open and splayed across the blond’s face and as Fai shakily rose his hands to pull said book from his facial area, Kurogane sighed - although weather from annoyance or relief, he didn’t know - and snatched the book by the spine and started to snap it closed before Fai objected.
“No, wait - Kuro-sama,” was the weakened sigh. Fai sat up, clutching his head. “...I found...what’s the word...? Your people - in your Japan...they call them Tsubasa, right?”
A dark eyebrow was raised. “...Feathers, you’re talking about?”
“...Shipment of Tsubasas?”
Kurogane glanced down toward the page that his finger held in place. And sure enough:
Shipment: Tsubasa variety
Destination: KinderHood
Departure: Uthrain
...Well, damn.
The door clicked open.
“Excuse me...but are you two alright?” It was the same person who was soliciting some sort of lewd behavior from the other person just seconds before. Well...it wasn’t necessarily nice to see him, but nice to put face to name [even if they already knew this face].
Kurogane paused before snatching the front of Fai’s clothing and hauling him to his feet before brushing past Seishiro and, outside the door, Subaru, too. And the last thing he called over his shoulder, disgust still evident enough to be laced into the slightly elated (because they were FINALLY out of that room) tone, “Don’t touch the green-eyed brat, you pervert.”
Challenge Eight: Good Secrets And Bad Ones
Kuro-Sama's Wife and Husband
-word count 2,147-
-
There was a downright dangerous aura around Nihon’s greatest warrior that evening. Not that many people, be them old or younger, paid him much attention as he stormed through the castle favoring an even glare to anyone he passed - they were all too busy crowding around the windows, hoping to catch a glance at the visitors who were currently all staying in the carriage that had brought them here, the only thing visible of them were their bulky, coat shrouded outlines, occasionally shifting and allowing their shadows to shimmer behind the rice paper screen windows. But while their arrival meant a party for the other inhabitants of Nihon, it meant nothing pleasant for the ninja who had been pulled into the princess’s chambers just minutes before to be informed of something he had learned of as a child was coming into effect - something he’d long since pushed to the very back recesses of his mind. And now, after practically coming to blows with Souma while Tomoyo and Amaterasu sat on their chairs in tight purple and pink dresses and a matching hat which doubled as veils - a custom for unmarried women in their guests home country - for each, Kurogane was heading toward his sleeping quarters, trying to explain to himself what had just happened before he had to explain it to someone else. Someone who probably wouldn’t understand it, nor take it as lightly as he had - which was saying something.
He expected, of course, for there to be a longer search for the blond mage. He had expected having to traps through the gardens, farm houses, and libraries before even being able to eliminate thoughts of where Fai may have run off to. And he had expected for himself to be more emotionally prepared - and maybe hide his sword so that neither he nor Fai were tempted to stab someone with it. Of course, things were obviously not going how he expected, for the second that the door to his room was open, it was to reveal the wizard, sprawled over his bed in a bored manner, running a polishing rag over the blade of Sohi and smiling up at him when he noticed his presence.
“Oh, well, hi there, Kuro-sama. I was just....” the smile, bright, bubbly and vivacious and true, melted into something less happy, but none the less smily. “...What’s wrong, Kuro-pon...You look...mad.” And he sniggered. “Angrier than usual, I mean.”
“Yeah, well, you would be to, given...” he started to snap and then stopped with a huff, waving his hand in the blond’s direction and turning to leave to room again.
“Given?” Fai cocked his head to the side, sitting up and crossing his legs atop the thin mattress that belonged to his companion. “Awww~ What’s wrong, Kuro-pluu?”
He was temped - highly tempted - to smack the wall, or Fai. But resisted. “Nothing...”
“Aw, come on,” the mage jumped up from where he stood and practically flew toward the ninja, a rather slap-happy grin having taken up residence on his face. Kurogane half expected Fai to stop a foot or so away, but was not surprised when he was enveloped in a tight hug instead, pressing his face cheek to cheek with the imposing man’s and then pulling away, arms still lightly looped around the ninja’s neck, and that grin now completely wiped off his face. He was more than slightly put off about not having been pushed away. “....Kuro-sama...what’s wrong.”
He sighed, looking purposefully away. “Nothing...”
“Is this about the guests that arrived today?” And when he received a raised eyebrow look of surprise from Kurogane, Fai smiled, batting his eyelashes below the fringe of his bangs coyly. “Ohoho. You thought I wouldn’t figure it out, didn’t you! But, once again, you have underestimated my intelligence, oh so high and mighty Kuro-wan. For I, indeed, know you better than you know yourself, for I am your -”
“Shut up.”
“- one and only annoyance button. That’s right~ I know how to get under your skin like no other person -”
“Shut. Up.”
“- because you show more of yourself to me than you do anyone else,” and here, there was that sanctimonious little wink that spoke in volumes of perversion more than verbal words ever could. “A whoooooole lot more of yourself. Wouldn’t you ag -”
“I’m getting married.”
“- ree, Kuro-boku. I...” he trailed off, mouth still stuck in the perfect ‘o’ shape from the words he have been about to utter. Pale sapphire eyes searched a bland face for some sign that he was being lied to - something that, honestly, he knew how to deal with. But not...not this... “....Kuro-sama...”
There wasn’t any sign there.
Now Kurogane pushed him away.
Fai backed up, looking somewhere between scandalized and intensely hurt with still some hint of a smile that practically all but begged him to be lying, still. “...I...erm...If this is some sort of proposal, I may need time to think about it...”
“It’s not.”
“I’m still going to need time to think about this.”
It was a good deal disgusting how Fai did this. Pretend things were alright and fine, but then turn a cold shoulder and shun human contact, or else right out run away. He had done it before - many times. Too many times to count, really, but this time seemed more pronounced than those, only comparable to the initial reaction in Acid Tokyo and when they had last stood outside the Dimensional Witch’s house and the mage had asked, shame faced and refusing to look any of them in the eye, if he could continue to jump worlds, offering up any thought of ever returning to be with people he knew and cared about as the price for the earring that would assist him, much like Mokona had. Kurogane had known how to deal with him then. All it had taken was time, and then the offer of taking him home instead, but now... Honestly, he didn’t even know why the idiot was so upset about it. It wasn’t like they were bound to each other by anything other than...friendship? Was that an accurate vernacular? But it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like they were intimate. Not physically, anyway -
(They had been before - back in Shura country - but that had been a haze of consciousness, only made clear when Mokona, Syaoran and Sakura were in close relation to them. All together, it had been a seedy and shady relation that neither of them prided anything on and usually, altogether ignored. After all, at the time Fai was loyal to Ashura-ou, and Kurogane to Tomoyo, no matter how unchaste or innocent the relations were, they had never had the time for such simplistic things as love, kissing or the like. Sex, in Shura, had simply been a way to vent the stress and the anger.)
but, for some reason, it hurt to have to say, and have to hear.
“...How long is the engagement.”
“Fifteen years.”
“Oh. Well, that’s...lovely. Plenty of time to plan the wedding and, er...establish truces and talk about children...”
And here came the last bit, the tiny bit of information he was tempted to withhold to himself, because it was guaranteed to make the blond run. But then he’d have no room to complain and demand the truth from Fai in retrospects. So, with a resigned sigh, he pushed, “No. Fifteen years...ago.”
Silence.
“You - you were engaged.” It should have been a question, but the monotonous voice that the statement was voiced with made it more of an observation than anything else and the previously emotion-filled blue eyes snapped into a cold, hard and blank stare. “I see...Now, if you’ll excuse me...” He turned, planning to collect his book and jacket (for Fai had forever had a hard time adjusting to forever wearing the furisodes Tomoyo made for him - which, now thinking about it, only seemed to add insult to injury) only to pause while bent over, snatch one of the pillows off the head of the warriors tradition-styled bed and hurled it at him. “WHO THE FUCK TO!?!?”
Caught unaware, Kurogane had no time to prevent the thing from smashing into his head and balancing there for a moment like some obscured hat, and although it didn’t hurt, something snapped angrily inside him. “To some god damned princess named Chii,” he shouted back, grabbing the pillow before it fell to the ground and hurling it toward the ground where Fai stood.
“...You...you’re marrying my MOTHER!?!? You’re getting married to your world’s version of my mother, you know!”
“It’s not my choice!”
“You could have said no!”
“Tomoyo-hime arranged this. I didn’t exactly have a say.”
“And if you did?” Fai challenged, wiping the back of his hand ruefully across his face, which was starting to become stained a ruddy reddish color. Kurogane silently thanked the gods that his complexion was darker than the mage’s so he would never have to look that pathetic with a tear-stained colored face with not tears, although at the moment, it was not pathetic, more of enraging.
He paused, taking a long, drawn out breath to calm himself before exhaling. “If I had a say...I’d never get married.”
A moment of silence. Broken by a whimper as Fai bit his lower lip, swallowed hard and then smiled. “...I figured as much.” His head dipped and he moved toward where Kurogane stood, trying to negotiate his way past the burly man so he could escape this confrontation. “...Excuse me.”
Letting out a growl - as he was NOT having any of this - Kurogane harshly grabbed at Fai’s wrist, not caring if he bruised him or not, and began to hauled him toward the main hall of the castle, where he could now hear the giggles, laughter and muffled speech of socialization. It would seem that the guests had finally removed themselves from the inside of their carriage and had decided to casually meet-and-greet with the subjects of the kingdom theirs was mixing with. A couple seemed perplexed that the supposed “prince” their beloved lady was supposed to be marrying to was no where in sight, and loudly voiced this to anyone who would listen over glasses of sake.
Fai argued with him while being dragged across the overlooking hallway that doubled as a balcony to the entrance hall, digging his feet into the stone, although without any form of shoes on, his socked feet slipped and slid if Kurogane pulled hard enough. He then proceeded to murmur all manner of curses, assurances that he was fine with this, and demands to be released under his breath, only to receive no sort of recognition from the brunette ninja that was leading him. The murmurs only became more frantic as they reached the top of the staircase, attracting attention from just about all the onlookers below them.
“Kuro-sama, stop it. I don’t know what you’re trying to -”
“Shut up,” was the whispered response, and he cast a mean glance over his shoulder that was more than enough to fix Fai’s vocal chords, even if his mouth continued to move like a fish, gaping open and closed. And then Kurogane tossed his head, favoring the whole assembly below them with something akin to a glare, but more professional, and spoke in a voice that projected. “I can’t marry your princess.”
Silence. And then the foreigners rose in an uproar, all all at the same time demanding ‘what!?’, ‘why not!?’, ‘are you insane!’ among cries of ‘treason!’ and glares that demanded an explanation from his own two princess. During this time, Fai successfully wrenched his wrist from Kurogane’s grasp and turned to flee up the stairs, only to find a muscly arm wrapped around his shoulders and dragging him back down the few stairs he’d managed to gain. He stumbled down, falling against Kurogane’s frame as the ninja raised a hand, a sign for silence as he prepared to explain.
“You see. By common law, I am already married. To this.” And the arm around the blond shook him, earning a glare from Fai before he wrapped his head around just what the other was saying. His face fell into shock. “I am sorry you had to come all this way,” Kurogane apologized, although his tone held no ounce of sincerity for the apology.
This time, instead of the loud demands for reasons, there was silence. Tomoyo smiled happily and Amaterasu rolled her eyes behind her veil. The lady dressed in light yellow between them seemingly cocked her head to the side and raised two dainty hands to lift and drape the lighter yellow veil back across her tiara.
“...Chii likes homosexuals. She is very happy for you two! Hyuu!”
Challenge Nine: Let's Play Dr.
Kuro-Sama's Toaster
-word count 757-
-
Butter was all over the kitchen, smeared across the walls, cabinets and counters like they were gigantic and inedible pieces of toast. Kurogane was shocked by the amount of destruction he had walked in on, and the butter wasn’t even the thing that worried him the most. Fai, for his part, looked completely calm, perched on possibly the only un-buttered part of the marble counter and chewing on some of the bright orange and spongy material that this world used for bread and acting seemingly oblivious to the destruction all around him. Dropping his pack and sword by the door, the ninja’s brow furrowed and his lip drew upward in a sneer of disgust before he opened his mouth and ventured out on the preverbal limb.
“What...the fuck...happened here?” He demanded this haltingly, only to receive a look that clearly - when the blond looked around his person - he saw nothing queer.
Despite the upturned coffee maker, open and emptied refrigerator, broken condiment jars that seemed to have puked their contents all over the tiled floor, bent frying pans, spatulas that appeared to be sticking to the wall of their own accord and...had that, at one point, been a toaster? And yet, Fai’s smile at the question seemed like it would have been more appropriate on a gigantic poster. “What’s that supposed to mean~? I was just getting the bleach and brushes to help Greta-san clean.”
“...Right.”
Kurogane sighed, annoyed at himself for expecting the blond to give him a real answer - after all, he wasn’t THAT bright.
Fai smiled again and held up a full bottle of some weird, bright pink bleach for his companion to see. Honestly, Kurogane was tempted to ask if he was planning to clean THIS mess, but he almost didn’t want to even HEAR what the answer would be. But when had he ever not questioned the mage’s actions, or the reasons behind them?
As the blond mage started to babble happily, Kurogane found himself irritated and gnawing at his lower lip, knowing full well that, once his companion started, there was nothing he could do in the manner of words, for those words to stem. Except - maybe - cutting him off.
“Whoah, woah, woah - shut up,” Kurogane sneered with a scoff. “You still haven’t explained why the kitchen is in ruins, or why you did it in the first place, mage.”
Fai’s smile slipped off his face, visual emotions flipping from one to another (happy, sad, playful, excited) with amazing speed, just as if each emotion were on a flip-book page. He settled on bubbly.
“Awww, what makes you think I did anything to Greta-san’s kitchen, Kuro-sama,” he said snuffly. “I simply wanted to make something for her restaurant for her to bring in.” And he picked up the cooking insturment next to him; a rolling pin.
It was understandable - as he was that type of person - that Fai wanted to do something nice for their host. However, that did not explain why he deemed it necessary for the -being nice- process to include taking away the woman’s ability to make toast.
"What did the coffee maker ever do to you?”
“I was trying to make something new.” Fai shrugged softly. “It’s the coffee maker’s fault for being so lofty.”
“And the refrigerator?”
“I acted as the -” here, Fai struck a little pose “ - exterminator!”
“Wanna explain the butter?”
“Er, well, you see - um...” he attempted to explain but couldn’t quite get out past the idiotic smile on his face and the entire thing came out as a happy-go-lucky stutter.
Kurogane felt his eyebrows twitch in irritation. Fai was being difficult on purpose, he realized, and all the talk of extermination and officious coffee makers was no leading him ANYWHERE closer to comprehending what the blond wanted to be communicated in a revelation. But he ignored that miscommunication, instead choosing to calmly state his question non-verbally by pointing at (what had previously been) the toaster. Fai simply smiled with the air of a total boaster. Before answering, however, that smile melted into a large grin. His hands twitched as he straightened up proudly and toyed with the rolling pin.
“Oh...that thing tried to singe my hair. And, of course, you know that’s just not fair. So I beat the shit out of it with a rolling pin.” He smiled here, batting his eyelashes coyly with an expression that practically reeked with the essence of the sentence: ‘I think I win.’
Challenge Ten: Once Upon A Time - FINAL
Kuro-Sama's Brain Teaser
-word count 2,099-
-
Once upon a time, there was a prince born of noble blood, raised to be a master of the sword and as a child - with what he lacked in social skills, he made up for in sheer will power and strength. This prince was reared with love, adoration and affection from both his parents until, one night, the King and Queen were mysteriously murdered by a large, disfigured black beast that, once the king’s body slumped against that of his true love, took the royal sword and turned it on the tearful child next to them. However, the young prince escaped with nothing more than a long and deep gash across his left arm, and - that night - swore an oath to never cry over anything again.
The prince was taken in by a neighboring noble woman, and spent the rest of his childhood fighting with her two sons and being exposed to the various wonders and horrifying features of the magical world - for this noble woman was a witch.
Later in life, it was only happenstance and pure luck that, once the young prince came of age, the witch received a distressed transmission from a neighboring kingdom, where a young sorceress and her sister, the queen, we being held captive by some strange black and blue beast. When this was heard, the prince leapt to his feet and, assuming that it was the same beast who had killed his mother and father, demanded the witch allowed him to go to the palace in the place of her eldest son. After what seemed careful consideration, the witch allowed him to partake on the journey, even gifting him a sword made form the finest metals, but she also insisted that her younger son - who has always been considerably weaker, and yet more sensible and powerful when it came to dealings with magic - accompany him.
Grudgingly, the prince conceded. The two saddled their white and black steeds that very night and set out on the grueling adventure.
For three days they rode, only stopping when they had to drink or eat. Exhaustion was imminent for both the young men and their horses, but by the time they reached the highest peak of their land, from which they could see their destination (a large, spindly castle, which the witch’s son insisted he could see a dark and evil and acrid presence swirling about, playing within the castle’s towers and over the front lawn before the gates) they had come too far to turn back.
However, by the time they reached the bottom of the peak, they happened across a fork in the road. Unsure of which route would be the fastest to get to their destination and aid the princess, the prince deemed they should split up, figuring that if he reached the palace first, he could jump right into battle and wage war on the beast, and if his childhood companion did, the mage could summon him there with his magics. Nodding in agreement and watching with his mix-matched eyes, the brunette mage took the left hand fork, and the prince took the right.
And that was how Ou Kurogane came to Valeria.
-
“Fai. Fai!”
“Chitose?”
“Fai, there’s a human here! A real human! What do I do? Do I tell Ashura-ou, or -”
“...No...no....” And the fae held up a single lengthy, spindly finger. “...Let’s play a bit of a game with him.”
Chi cocked her head to the side. “A...game? With a human?”
Fai simply nodded.
-
“Shit!” was his resounding swear. And this wasn’t the first time that the obscenity had been uttered - just the loudest he threw his flask against a the thick barricade of brambles that encased him. Threw it toward exactly where the opening archway had been just mere seconds ago, before some unholy presence deemed that it was appropriate to lock him into the dark, dank and depressing pathway that was surrounded by foliage on both sides and let little to no proper light in through those branches, nor those that had begun to grow over the top, forming something of a overhang above his head. The top was too high to cut with his sword. The sides were too thick to cut through. And the forward-way he was facing could easily be backwards for all he knew.
The right hand fork had turned out to be nothing but a twisting and turning path way that lead him right back to where he began, no matter which direction he spurred his white mare, Soel, onto. And then the steed had reared and taken off in one straight direction, bucking and thrashing her head from side to side like there were a million hornets chasing after her. Kurogane, desperately trying to regain control of his animal reigned her around, but Soel continued to run, seeming to gallop sideways for a moment before her flanks crashed through an opening to some thick sort of garden maze and collided with the other wall. The prince had been unharmed, yes, but VERY angry and the fact that the entrance closed before they had a chance to exit made things all the more annoying. And so, as it proved futile to escape by throwing things at the cursed hedge, he gave up and simply shouted, “SHIT!”
Soel neighed, tossing her head and twisting around to give her rider a disapproving glare.
“What!?” Kurogane demanded. “We’re lost now, thanks to you. And we don’t even know if this pathway leads to wherever the princess is.” He sneered. “We should have sent Watanuki this way.”
“Watanuki just has better luck than you,” was the prompt reply that nearly sent Kurogane reeling out of the saddle. However, trained horsemen didn’t succumb to such sudden things as their steeds talking that easily, and - if anything else - Kurogane was a trained everything-man and simply pulled VERY hard on the reigns, causing...whatever it was (for it was no longer his horse) to squeal in pain and whine childishly, “Kurogane-san...that HURTS!!”
“What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened?”
“You’re talking to me, dim wit.”
“Awwww~ I always talk to Kurogane-san. He just never talks back.” It was...an odd expression to envision on a horse’s features, but the prince could practically hear the conceit and tease. “...Watanuki talks to Larg~”
“I don’t want to hear about what that idiot does in his free time!” Kurogane snapped, smacking the spot between his eyebrows as he realized he was being defensive and holding conversation with a horse. A horse.
Soel lapsed into silence, which was a great deal more annoying than when she was talking to him. Not to mention...
“Oi...OI!”
The horse tossed her head. “Hmmm?”
“...You’re magical now, right? So’s this place, I’m guessing...” He was putting two and two together.
“Yes, Kurogane-san?”
“How do we get out of here...?”
“I don’t -”
Snap!
“What the -!?!?”
Something large and white suddenly seemed to just...flop out of an upper section of a hedge, crumpling on the ground with a very long and loud cry that sounded much more like the whistle of a boiling tea pot than anything human or animal. Kurogane balked, and Soel reared, neighing anomalistically and trying to both avoid trampling and trample the crying white ball of fluff. Everything seemed chaotic for but a split second, and then all things sane went out the window as flowers started to reign down, more animals (cats, mostly, and a couple birds) seemingly flew from the brambles, squealing excitedly, or else babbling to one another in VERY human voices.
“Sakura-chan, do you fancy coming home with me and -”
“SUBARU-KUN!”
“Stay away from him.”
“Bwahahah~!”
“Moro~? Moro, where are you?”
“Maro, I’m right here~!”
“You’re just an honorary Valerian!”
“I am loyal to this country!”
“SHUT UP!” Kurogane suddenly roared, finally finding his tongue after the initial shock from the sudden appearance of the other talking animals. He had heard of them - oh, yes, the tales of those who had wandered into the forests and found solace in animals who knew human tongues were what Watanuki and Doumeki had always demanded hearing whenever Yuuko, the witch, offered them stories - but now...he just wanted to leave. And although Watanuki had always been the most susceptible toward the presence of magical activity, Kurogane knew enough to feel it here, and know that it was fucking with him. “SHUT UP AND SHOW YOURSELF!”
...The cats started to drift away. And the last thing audible that Kurogane picked up on was, “He made him angry~”
And then things just got progressively darker and harder pressing in all around him, pawing at him lightly with an almost curious sense before - BAM! A burst of bright blue smoke seemed to collect out of no where and whisked into a blue ball before disappearing with a rather innocent ‘pouf’ and leaving a...a blue man in it’s place. With a huge smile across his face.
“Well, hiya, Kuro-sama!” the blue man giggled, waving excitedly as Kurogane simply blinked at him. “Welcome to Valeria.”
“Where?”
“Valeria?”
“Where the fuck is that?”
The....fae? Fae. Yes, the fae, Kurogane deduced. Anyway, the magical fairy beamed. “It’s my garden. Isn’t it pretty?”
He ‘tch’ed. “I’d like to get out of here, now. In case you’re not a dreamseerer, I have a task ahead of me. I must go to the palace of Nihon and rescue the princess and queen there at once! They’re going to -”
The blue man yawned, waving his hand languidly across his face. “There, there, Kuro-sama...They’re fine. Your bespectacled friend with the mix-matched eyes got there and now they’re all just spiffy.” And he ‘hmm’ed smugly, looking purposefully away from the prince and smiling. “They ARE wondering where you are, though. You really shouldn’t wander off, especially when there are important things to do. But, I suppose, you were fun to play with. You get angry easily, Kuro-sama~”
There were plenty of things the warrior would have liked to snap about as the fae murmured that sentence, but the one that irked him the most would have to be... “Don’t call me that! My name is Ou Kurogane, and I am a prince!”
“And my name’s Fai Flourite, and I have more power in my little toe than you do in your entire body. But let’s leave introductions aside~! Ah, here!” And...almost as if it were wet paint in the rain, the blue skin seemed to melt off of the other’s frame, leaving him pale, fair and clothed in nothing but pants, with bright blond hair springing wildly around his face. Pale blue wings with thin membranes and thick, pulsating veins running through them furled themselves close, tucked close against his back and barely visible. But what struck Kurogane the most was the odd, phoenix tattoo that seemed to be tattooed above his hip; it disconcerted him. But no matter how weird the other’s appearance was, at least now he looked reasonably human, and that made him easier to look at. Or scowl at, in Kurogane’s case.
“I want out.”
“But I like you here.”
“...So you put me here, then, too?”
“Ding ding, Kuro-sama~! I thought you’d be fun to play with, and - boy, you were! Chitose even bet me that you would be calm all the way through until the end of the maze, even with your Mokona -”
“My what?”
“-sorry, I believe you people call them horses...Even with your horse talking, and the animals, and - ah, man, I wish you had lasted until the third encounter. There was gonna be a -”
“I DON’T CARE!” Kurogane roared so loudly that even the ‘Mokona’ and the fae flinched. “LET ME OUT OF HERE! I’M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE!”
“Now, now, Kuro-sama,” Fai attempted to sooth. “No need to get angry. It was just a little fun - I’m sure you’ve played games before.”
“NO I HAVEN’T!! NOW, STAY STILL WHILE I GUT YOU WITH MY SWORD!!!!” And he speedily dismounted, clumsier than usual, perhaps, but form the moment his feet hit the hard packed dirt ground, he was off running, swinging his sword wildly over his head and screaming angrily.
It was natural instinct, really, for the fae to jump and run. But, you see, he had the home field advantage, and found the human prince to be entertaining. If Kurogane wasn’t careful, he’d never return home at this rate~
-
Ya know...I tied with two other people for this~ xD All that was left was three - out of, like...seventeen! And I was one of them; although you can tell these things were forced out in less than seven hours each....