Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Reciprocity, Part I ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

** Sorry I'm moving so slow on this, but I've got a lot in the works, so it'll be worth it! (Promise! ^_-)

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Tsubasa.

 

A rustling in the bed next to him woke Kurogane from his sleep. Assuming it was his lover, he reached out to pull him close, since, for some reason, he felt a sudden chill steal over him. When he felt another hand clasp over his own, however, it did not have the soft feel of the man he knew.

 

His eyes flying open, Kurogane was suddenly face-to-face with a man he only knew by reputation.

 

“Ashura.”

 

The King's smooth ivory features broke into a self-satisfied grin at the warrior's angry and confused expression. Kuro's crimson eyes burned with hatred as Ashura crushed his fingers and made it impossible for him to move away. The ruler leaned down closer to his seething adversary. “You sleep so soundly- all your night time exertions must be wearing you out.”

 

Not willing to give the insufferable man any sense of satisfaction, Kuro smiled back and said through clenched teeth, “Why, yes, they have.”

 

But Ashura wasn't one to be out-done. His cool veneer didn't crack. Dropping his head, he whispered against Kuro's ear, “I'll just bet- little Fai is terribly eager to please isn't he?” And just to needle him even deeper, the King added in a silky voice, “So exquisitely /tight/ as well, hmmm?”

 

In a quick flash the spiky-haired man freed himself from the King's grip and launched a solid fist straight at his face. Unfortunately, Ashura had anticipated his reaction and Kuro only hit air. In the next moment his body was thrown by some unseen force against the far wall.

 

“Tsk, tsk, you have such a temper!” Ashura said with an arrogant smile as he strode slowly across the room, his shoes clicking irritatingly against the marble floor.

 

As Kuro struggled against the invisible bonds, his mind reeled at this abrupt turn of events. He vaguely remembered seeing the King in the room last night, lifting a groggy Fai from the bed, but he had thought it was all a dream. With the realization that it was real the warrior's mind instantly turned to thoughts of his lover- where was he now? What had Ashura done to him and what was he planning to do with them both?

 

There was another concern that sprang to mind as well: how was it that the King was so suddenly endowed with an uncanny amount of magical power? The man's abilities seemed to have been boosted overnight.

 

“Where is Fai?” Kurogane demanded in a hostile tone when Ashura stepped up to him.

 

“He's in my chambers, sleeping” the King replied in a very matter-a-fact voice, the snide smile never leaving his lips. “I kept him up a good part of the night.”

 

Of all the events the long-time warrior could think of- whether on the battlefield or during his own personal conflicts- never could he recall feeling such a strong and volatile sense of abhorrence toward another human being. Unable to formulate this distinct brand of hatred into words, Kurogane simply spit in the King's face.

 

The ruler sighed as if he were dealing with a rather trying and temperamental child, wiping his cheek clean with a handkerchief pulled from within his robes.

 

Then he slapped the magic-bound man firmly across that face. Though it stung with a surprising vehemence, Kuro found some pleasure in the fact that he had at least raise the man's ire.

 

“That was for insolence,” the King told him coolly. Then he leaned in unpleasantly close to his captive and said, “I allow Fai his little dalliances with you because I know something you have yet to truly understand, I OWN him. And I know this because I am the one who has shaped him from his earliest memories.”

 

Kuro's crimson eyes, now blood red, narrowed at these words. Just what was it that Ashura was telling him?

 

“You see,” he continued, his voice dropping to a malicious whisper as he moved to speak directly into Kurogane's ear, “it wasn't Fai who killed those villagers years ago, it was ME.”

 

The samurai's breath caught in his throat, his eyes opening wide, unable to hide his dismay. And Ashura reveled in the captive's every naked reaction.

 

“Fai was the only living witness to that incident, the only one strong enough to survive, but he was left in a state of shock… so I erased his memories, leaving just enough in his mind to give him a vague impression of the events, but altered a few key elements. He's such a sensitive boy, it was quite easy to chain him to me through the guilt of his supposed murders.”

 

“You fucking bastard!” Kuro said, seething.

 

Ashura clicked his tongue at him as the man fought with all his strength against the magics holding him back.

 

“I'll tell him the truth!” the red-eyed warrior yelled, “I'll tell Fai everything!”

The King looked amused. “Go right ahead- tell him how he's been a fool since the day we met, tell him all about how wrong he was to follow me and to fight for me, tell him all about how he's been used and betrayed…” Ashura paused and lifted a hand to hold Kurogane's chin between his fingers, forcing his fiery eyes to meet his own. “Just let me be there, so I can see his spirit shatter.” A cruel grin split across Ashura's face, pearly white teeth gleaming like the jaws of some blood-hungry predator.

 

But before the samurai could retort, he felt, to his immediate revulsion, the other man's mouth press against his own. /If he puts his tongue in my mouth, he's loosing it!/ Kuro thought to himself, then his heart went out to Fai, who'd had to endure this harassment for so many years. He was amazed the blonde had any semblance of sanity left.

 

The King left then and Kurogane's body collapsed onto the floor as the magic that held him was released. He sat there alone for a long time, until the sun set and it grew dark about him, all the while his mind racing. Hours later, he heard the wide door open and the sound of familiar soft footfalls crossing the room towards him.

 

Fai had expected nothing less than to find Kuro slumped there on the cold floor, but even so, it crushed his heart. Ashura had told him he would be making a special `visit' to the captive, and the blonde was forced to remain in the King's room for the rest of the day, wondering what had happened. The wizard had known all along that their happiness was only temporary, but he had begun to hope despite the hard reality before him. It had been nice to feel hope again. But now…

 

When Fai didn't kneel down next to him, Kurogane looked up and he saw the despair returning to his lover's eyes.

 

“Fai, I-“

 

“I'm sorry!” the mage said suddenly, cutting him off. He lowered himself next to Kuro and to the swordsman's eyes the slender man looked like a pale flower wilting under the weight of one too many sorrows. “I haven't been able to do anything; I've been so useless. And now… now I…”

 

Kurogane wanted to repudiate these statements, but he sensed that Fai had something important to tell him, and refrained.

 

The blonde's cool blue eyes, brimming with unshed tears, suddenly looked up into the warrior's deep crimson gaze and he said, “I can't use any magic.”

 

“What?” Kuro asked, incredulous.

 

“Ashura said that if I refused to fight anymore, then I have no need for it. It seems the tattoo binds our powers together, and he can increase my power by giving over some of his own, or he can take mine for his own strength.”

 

Kurogane now knew why the King had been powerful enough to throw him against the wall with such little effort. He had drained Fai of nearly all his magic, and the wizard looked ashen pale.

 

“I had hoped,” Fai continued, his voice trembling as he fought his tears, “that maybe I could overpower him, or at least put him into a state of sleep long enough for us to escape, but now…” The man broke down, his hands clinging to his lover's shoulders as his tears spilled freely down his cheeks. He felt Kuro's hands frame his face and lift his eyes to face him.

 

To the wizard's bewilderment, the dark haired man was looking at him with a soft smile, his eyes clear and untroubled. Kuro's calloused thumbs brushed away his lover's tears and he reassured him, “It's alright, Fai.”

 

The blonde tried to pull away, shaking his head, refusing to open his heart to hope again, but Kurogane held him fast.

 

“Fai, look at me,” the man insisted, and he finally relented. “I'm sorry you've lost so much of your magic, I can't do anything about that.”

 

He paused. “But I think I know of a way he can escape from here.”

 

 

***I'll do my best to get the next chapter out asap! Reviews, of course, help the creative process, so please send `em my way! ^_-