Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ Whispered Scars ❯ Chapter 1

hentai-monkey here! Sorry it's been so long since I've written anything new. I've been commissioned to write some fluff, so I've done just that. However, we've also got a healthy helping of angst and a good dose of cliff-hangers for decoration, but its still fluff. Also, I must take no credit for this. I'm making no money, just getting some satisfaction that there is a new Kuro/Fai story to write for me. I'm thrilled.

 

Oh yes, there will be major ooc-ness here and later. Hopefully, that doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. Thank you!

 

Dedicated to hanyou-swimmer for being awesome and begging convincingly.

 

Raised welts danced permanently cross moonlit-pale skin. Once, there had been a raven-black tattoo on his back that his the scars. Once there had been somebody who hadn't cared about the scars, who hadn't cared about anything but himself, though he often pretended to care about him.

 

Fai D. Flowright grinned goofily at his reflection. It was a smile he practiced. If he couldn't smile then somebody would catch him sad. He would be interrogated and shunned. If he could hide this pain, hide it away from the others, what else was he hiding from them? There were so many questions that would have to be answered and he didn't have the heart to do it.

 

Alone, alone he could be sad; alone he could be his true self. He turned the hot water on, tempering it with a hint of cold so he wouldn't scald himself. His body hurt, the hot water was the only thing that soothed the pain in his body. Sliding his pants off, he stepped into the steamy water. The heat covered him, soothing the aches in his back.

 

“Hey! Idiot!” Kurogane's voice called angrily, knocking on the solid wood that separated them.

 

“I'm taking a shower, Kuro-chi!” Fai responded, his voice as normal as he could make it.

 

“Hurry it up!”

“What do you need? You can always come and shower with me!” Fai teased, his voice tinted with just a hint of lust.

 

“What in the hells are you talking about?!” Kurogane roared.

 

“I'll be through soon. Then you can have me all to yourself!”

“Shut up!”

An honest smile fell across his face and he fell back against the shower wall. The warm water flowed over him, soothing his sore muscles. Today, this world had given him a lot of grief. He'd suffered a terrible shock but none of his companions had noticed.

 

He'd always been a good actor.

 

Turning so his chest rested against the wall, he bowed his blond head and sighed as the heated water massaged his tense muscles. It wasn't possible. How had he been here? It just wasn't possible. He should have been sleeping, entombed at the bottom of the lake in a magical sleep.

 

Hot water slid down his cheeks and turned his ice-blue eyes upward, hoping to stem the flow of water. `I will not cry,' he thought futilely. Lathering the soap, he quickly rinsed his face before paying attention to his sore body. Cutting the flow of water, he towel dried and with one last glance at his smiling face, left the bathroom.

 

He hadn't expected to see the ninja glaring at the bathroom door when he came out. He hadn't even expected him to still be around. He quickly recovered and a large smile covered his face. “Kuro-chi! Have you been waiting for me?” he cheerfully asked.

 

“We need to talk. Get dressed.”

 

“What's the matter?” Fai asked with a hint of concern dancing in his cheerful voice.

 

“Get dressed!” Kurogane growled.

 

A smirk danced across Fai's face as he noticed more then a subtle amount of lust in the crimson eyes. It was hard to control the eyes display of emotions. A lifetime of pretending and Fai knew he was good enough. Deciding to play mean, the thin wizard stalked to the ninja and asked softly, “Don't you like my towel?”

 

A dangerous scowl darkened Kurogane's face and the ninja growled. His grip on the chair he occupied tensed and he looked away, a faint tint of pink coloring his strong cheeks. “Get dressed.”

 

“You're no fun!” Fai whined mock hurt coloring his voice.

 

“Why can't you ever be serious?”

 

“Why don't you smile?”

 

“Get. Dressed.” Kurogane repeated slowly.

 

“Of course,” Fai whispered. The goofy smile stayed in place as he turned his back to Kurogane.

 

“What did that to you?”

 

“Did what, Kuro-chi?”

 

“Come over here.”

 

Closing his ice-blue eyes, he obeyed the wizard. In the midst of his teasing, he'd forgotten he didn't have his scarred back covered. He'd almost fallen into the role of seductive teaser and it had cost him. With a smile, he opened his eyes and moved with familiar grace towards the ninja. With each step, he made sure his hips jutted forward just the right way, exposing a sliver of skin.

 

“Turn around,” Kurogane murmured. He stood and pulled the wizard closer to him. “What happened to you?” he asked as he traced the aged wounds with the tips of his fingers.

 

Bowing his head, Fai whispered, “I don't remember. It was so long ago, Kuro-chi.”

 

“You must think I'm some kind of idiot to think I'd believe that. Who did that to you?” Kurogane asked again, anger coloring his voice as his fingers continued to trace the various wounds. “It was him, wasn't it? The one you're running from. The one sleeping.”

 

The wizard's sudden tensing and bowed head told him all he needed to know. The wizard had been hurt by the man. A lot. Badly. No wonder he ran from him. But… “Why didn't you kill him?” Kurogane asked quietly.

 

“Did you try to kill the princess who sent you away? When you see her again, will you try to kill her?” Fai asked instead.

 

“No. I'm glad I'm here. But this isn't about me. I want to know why you didn't fight. Why didn't you try to stop him?”

“Because I couldn't,” Fai whispered, wrapping his long arms around himself. “I couldn't hit him.”

 

“Why, damnit? Tell me why!”

“Because I loved him!” Fai yelled, turning on his heel to glare at Kurogane. All hints of amusement, real or false were gone. “I loved him,” he repeated desperately.

 

Kurogane was silent as he stared into the icy-blue eyes. “Fai,” he murmured, wrapping his arms slowly around the thin shoulders.

 

“Stop it.” Fai's voice was cold and commanding, nothing like it should have been. The thin body trembled in Kurogane's arms, of what, the ninja couldn't say. “Let me go.”

 

“You saw him today. That's why you stuttered while we were out. That's why you've been off today, isn't it?”

 

“Y-you noticed?” Fai stuttered softly.

 

“I noticed,” Kurogane repeated softly. Tears filled the ice-blue eyes as they closed, too afraid to look into the crimson ones.

 

“Am I important to you?”

 

“Important to me? Haven't you noticed or are you truly an idiot?”

 

“Kuro-chan,” Fai whimpered, wrapping his long arms around Kurogane's waist. “Hold me?”

 

Adjusting his arms, Kurogane pulled Fai close, holding the wizard as close as he could. The thin man trembled as he fought the urge to cry.

 

“Weren't you the one who said there was strength in tears?” Kurogane asked softly.

 

“Weren't you the one who said it was weakness? And you hate weakness,” Fai whispered.

 

“It's okay for you to cry. I won't hold it against you.”

 

Fai's breath hitched as his grip tightened on Kurogane's shirt. Hot tears flowed slowly down his thin cheeks. His body shook as he cried. His knees shook as he held onto Kurogane. “I loved him,” he whimpered. “I loved him.”

 

“You can stop now.”

 

Fai whimpered and moved within Kurogane's embrace. Pressing his face into the black fabric, he murmured, “Can I love you?”

 

“I'd prefer it.”

 

“Kuro-chi,” Fai whimpered. “Kuro-chi.”

 

With a soft sigh, Kurogane pulled Fai down with him as he fell into the chair behind him. He closed his eyes as he shifted Fai in his lap. The wizard cuddled against him, oblivious of his current state of undress.

 

“You can love me. I'm not going to hurt you.”

 

“Will you kiss me?” Fai whispered.

 

Kurogane smiled as he turned to meet Fai's expectant face. Pressing his lips to the wizard's, he closed his crimson eyes and melted into the kiss. Fai wrapped his arms around Kurogane's neck, arching against the larger body. The kiss, chaste and innocent, was over before it could escalate.

 

“Will you protect me?”

 

“I'll kill for you Fai,” Kurogane whispered, pressing his lips to Fai's warm forehead. “I want to know about these,” he murmured, tracing the scars.

 

“Let me get dressed?”

 

“Nope. I like it better this way anyway.”

 

“I don't want you to see.”

 

“I don't care. I want to. They give you character,” Kurogane murmured.

 

Fai smiled sadly, his beautiful face torn between a smile and tears. “Thank you,” he whispered, leaning into Kurogane.

 

The ninja couldn't say anything; he didn't know what to say. He just held the wizard, held him to his heart. The wizard turned a smiling face up to Kurogane and murmured, “I can hear your heart.”

 

“Good. It's going to protect you from now until eternity,” Kurogane whispered. “Don't keep this from me. I want to know what happened. Tell me?”