Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Reciprocity, Part II ❯ Chapter 1

This will eventually cross over with Part I, but it begins as a totally separate story.

Enjoy!

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Tsubasa.

 

“Remind me again, why do I have to be here?” a tall, raven haired man with deep crimson eyes said in a sour tone to the young woman seated next to him. His casual manner of speaking elicited a warm smile from the girl, no one but the lieutenant of Her Majesty's armies would dare address her with such nonchalance.

 

The young queen chided him gently, “Kurogane-san, its your role as the commander of the royal guard to attend all the banquets held in my honor, remember?”

 

The brooding man gave a grunt in reply.

 

“And you should really address me as Tomoyo-hime, Kuro-chan!” she said teasingly, knowing this would get a rise out of the swordsman and quite unable to help herself. It was true, however, the warrior too often disregarded formalities. Normally, Tomoyo didn't mind. She knew Kurogane had a soft heart beneath all his gruffness and he did his job well. But in public, he did need some reminding of the expected decorum.

 

Luckily, most of the guests seated at the exceedingly long dining table were busy with their own conversations, and didn't hear the man's comments. The Queen turned to resume her talk with another dignitary and Kuro found himself without a dinner partner. He picked at his plate and glanced around at the other guests. Most of them were from the country of Ceres and, in the pragmatic warrior's eyes, dressed far too ostentatiously. Most were in shades of white or cool blue, matching the colder climate. Although Ceres wasn't that far removed from Japan at its lowest tip, the weather was very different. And Kurogane didn't like the climate any better than the people. Moreover, he absolutely detested diplomatic affairs such as this, where everyone played nice when you knew, had negotiations not gone quite so smoothly, the same neighbors would've been slitting each other's throats. The swordsman felt a certain hypocrisy in it all. Give him a direct fight any day over all these schmoozing well-wishers.

 

As the man stabbed at his food, trying in vein to decipher just what the hell was on his plate, he suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to rise. Without looking up, he could feel that someone was watching him. Slowly, he lifted his gaze and was immediately confronted with a pair of startlingly icy blue eyes staring at him from across the table.

 

The other man's flaxen hair and pale porcelain skin (not to mention the eyes) were so striking that Kurogane wondered how he had managed to overlook this guest earlier. Had the man come in late? The swordsman thought for sure he would've noticed this, but he felt unnerved that he had failed to mark the man, as he prided himself on his abilities of observation.

 

“Do you not like what you see?” the blonde asked with a facile smile. Kurogane blinked. He'd been staring. The man's question had caught him off guard, something else that was unusual for the seasoned fighter.

 

Coming back to himself, the dark haired man wondered for a moment what the blonde was referring to- himself? Thankfully, the other man pointed down to Kuro's half-eaten meal and the warrior shifted uncomfortably, feeling somehow like a temperamental child who was refusing to eat his beets.

 

“My palate isn't used to such… unusual tastes,” Kurogane explained, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. God how he hated such matters of formality.

 

The blond brought a graceful and slender hand up to cover his mouth as a giggle escaped him.

 

Kuro's brow furrowed in frustration. He wasn't accustomed to being the source of such amusement.

 

“Enjoying yourself, are we?” came a smooth, deep voice.

 

The swordsman looked over to see Celes' King turn towards the blonde next to him with a raised brow.

 

Fai nodded and although his smile didn't fade, Kuro saw the mirth leave his eyes as Ashura addressed him.

 

Unconsciously, his scowl deepened, his eyes growing dark.

 

“Kurogane, you've barely eaten!” Tomoyo's voice suddenly chimed. “Have your attentions been diverted?”

 

The young girl smiled sweetly, but Kurogane felt himself grit his teeth. It was just like the Queen to tease him in public where she knew he wouldn't be able to protest.

 

“I don't know what you mean,” he grumbled in reply and began picking at his food once more.

 

“Kurogane is a wonderful protector, but I'm afraid he'll never make a diplomat!” she said cheerfully across the table to Ashura.

 

“I suppose not,” the King replied genially, returning to his food.

 

Tomoyo sighed inwardly. She had been speaking with one of her other neighbors when she looked over to see Kurogane staring daggers across the table at the King. The man probably didn't even realize he was doing it. Kuro never tried to hide his emotions, which sometimes made these social functions rather difficult. Despite his perpetual frown at such events, the Queen had never seen him look quite so blatantly hostile. She hoped her teasing would distract him from whatever had irritated him so badly. It was too much to hope that Ashura hadn't noticed, however. The King was exceedingly shrewd and even now Tomoyo saw his eyes wander over to the swordsman, silently and subtly examining him.

 

The King's scrutiny of the spiky-haired guest did not go unnoticed by Fai either. What a shame, he thought. The odd-looking, red-eyed swordsman had been the only remotely amusing guest in the entire party. Except for the Queen, of course. The blonde instantly liked her easy and warm personality, but the King had told him to refrain from speaking with her unless he was directly addressed, which, unfortunately, had not happened yet that evening.

 

In actuality, the Queen was very curious about the enigmatic man at the King's side, but she had heard rumors about Ashura's possessive attitudes toward the man and thought it would be better to speak with him only after Ashura had properly introduced him. Which she was sure he would do… and he never did.

 

Kurogane's own curiosity was now stirring about the willowy blonde across from him. Although the King had turned to another conversation, his companion's mood remained subdued. As much as the warrior had hated the blonde's snickering, he found he disliked his silence even more. Kurogane had seen the exchange between him and the King and read the unspoken signals. He'd also heard the same gossip as his Queen: that Ashura kept many lovers, but he had a very intense relationship with one blonde waif in particular. He wondered now if the feelings in the relationship were mutual. He detested the way people with power would so often use it to manipulate or oppress others. That was one of the reasons he felt such loyalty toward Queen Tomoyo. Although the young ruler was obscenely cheerful, she was always fair, direct, and honest.

 

Kurogane doubted he would ever be able to say the same about King Ashura.

 

For the rest of the dreadfully long seven course meal Kuro found himself frequently glancing over to the blonde, watching the graceful way he raised his fork between his rose petal lips or brushed a stray hair from those penetrating glacial eyes. The man's presence affected him more than he would've liked to admit. It was slightly disturbing. And the more he watched, the more uneasy he grew about the man's relations with the King. The blonde seemed to refrain from speaking to anyone directly and simply sat there, like some porcelain doll or trophy that Ashura had allowed outside for the mere sake of showing off a prized possession. He hadn't even introduced the man to anyone.

 

When the meal was finally over, Kurogane was forced to endure a tour of Ashura's palace. However, it did afford him the opportunity to talk with the mysterious blonde man alone, if only for a few moments.

 

The large party of diplomats from Japan was led about the spacious grounds with one of the servants guiding and explaining the many marvels of the palace. Tomoyo fell behind when a particular painting caught her fancy. The King took note and the two rulers began a polite conversation about the delicacies of art. Observing from a distant corner, Kurogane shook his head. How did the Queen do it? The swordsman knew she personally detested this Ashura character, but there she was conversing with him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. As difficult as it was to command the thousands of troops under Japan's control, Kuro thought Tomoyo's duties carried a far heavier burden.

 

“How do you like the tour?” chimed a crystal voice behind him.

 

The warrior did not startle easily, but he had heard no footsteps and was surprised to see the slender blonde standing in a doorway. This man was making a habit of popping up out of nowhere. Kuro's brow ceased. At first he had thought that this waif was just a prominent and pampered companion of the King, but now he saw differently. If he had overlooked him at the meal, distracted by the gaudy surroundings and insipid conversation, it would have been one thing, but for him to appear at his side without the skilled fighter hearing the slightest footfall, that was something else.

 

This seemingly frail man was definitely capable of more than he appeared to be. Because of his considerable stealth, Kuro might have taken him for a personal bodyguard- but his demure attitude contradicted any such notions. The inconsistency itched at his mind. Something wasn't right with this picture.

 

Kurogane shrugged his shoulders noncommittally in answer to the other man's question. The blonde gave him a knowing smile.

 

“These diplomatic affairs don't really suit you do they?” he asked.

 

“What makes you say that?” Kurogane replied gruffly. His Queen and the King of Celes were slowly making their way to the next room, but Fai made no move to follow them, so the warrior decided to hang back as well. His curiosity about this enigma was getting the better of him and he hoped to get some answers if they were out of earshot of the rulers.

 

“You're Her Majesty's Commander of the royal guard and army, correct? I hardly think such a bland affair as this would appeal to you,” the man told him.

 

Kurogane shifted his weight uneasily. The man was right, of course, but he didn't want to admit it. “What about you?” he retorted, “you haven't exactly looked thrilled either.” His red eyes gave the blonde a sidelong glance and realized he must have made his companion uncomfortable. The playful light left the man's eyes and his smile fell to a frown.

 

“Haven't I?” he said softly, a sad gleam flickering in his cool blue eyes. For a brief moment, Kuro was witness to the world of melancholy swirling inside this strange man's icy stare. An almost electric charge rippled through his spine at the sight of his exposed pain. Then it was gone, just as quickly as it came, and the dark haired man wondered if had all been in his imagination.

 

“I've made a bad impression now, haven't I?” the blonde said. A sexy little pout formed over his pink lips, eliciting an unwanted pang of lust from the stern swordsman.

 

Kurogane pulled his eyes away from the source of his sudden attraction and scowled.

“You haven't made any impression at all,” he said stubbornly.

 

“Oh! Don't be mean, Kuro-sama!”

 

The warrior's crimson eyes widened. “Don't shorten my name! I don't even know you!” he said through gritted teeth.

 

The other man laughed. “/Now/ I must have made an impression, right?”

 

Kuro shook his head and began to walk, hoping to catch up to his Queen and shake off this strange man.

 

“Kuro-san!” the blonde whined and the swordsman felt a tug at his sleeve. “Let me show you something before we catch up to the others!” he said, pulling a very grumpy Kurogane through the wake of his renewed enthusiasm.

 

“I know you're bored, so let me show you the one thing you might like in this stuffy place!”

 

Resigned to his fate, Kurogane followed and soon found himself face to face with what looked to be an ancient Japanese sumi-e ink painting, but one unlike any he'd ever seen. Whereas most of the ink drawings he'd seen were ordered and fluid, this was filled with a vivid chaos. It was a scene of war that seemed to splash across the surface with angry, aggressive strokes and although it was done all in black, Kurogane could almost see the red bleeding through as the lone, painted warrior cut down his enemies. The samurai's expression reflected the fury of battle that Kuro himself had felt surge through him so many times before. The scene struck a deep cord within him and resonated against the back of his mind.

 

When the first wave of wonder had subsided, Kurogane was left to question how such a painting had ended up in the palace of Celes, rather than in his own country.

 

“How… how did this come here?”

 

The man next to him smiled, a warm real smile unlike the facile grins he'd presented previously. “You like it then?”

 

All the swordsman could do was nod.

 

“I believe it was taken from the former Imperial Palace of Japan several hundred years ago when Celes briefly overran the country during the Twelve Year War,” the blonde explained.

 

Kurogane marveled that this man he had just met had somehow pinned him so well that he managed to bring him straight to the one painting that displayed all the mixed emotion and thrill he felt within himself during battle.

 

“Who are you?” he asked as the blonde started to walk back toward the door.

 

Glacial eyes sparkled. “Fai,” he said with a wink, “call me Fai.”

 

 

*** Reviews welcome! ^_^