To Make It Up

Next chapter, yey! Hope you enjoy!

~*~

2

There was silence. A heavy one. Kurogane didn’t know how to react to that kind of confession. No one had ever declared they liked him in that way. He had devoted his life to protect princess Tomoyo, and he had spared no time to develop his personal life and interacting skills. He found those useless. Fighting and using a sword he was an expert, but in relationship matters… he sucked big time.

“Kuro-pon?” Fai asked. He was getting worried because the ninja hadn’t said a word yet, or reacted in any way. He looked into Kurogane’s eyes and saw confusion, anger, surprise… and something he couldn’t decipher. Was it hope?

Suddenly Fai was pushed away, and he nearly fell on the ground, but he managed to regain his footing.

Kurogane glared him hard and menacingly. “Keep your hands off. You are just playing some stupid game again… Well, I have had enough! From now on just stay the Hell out of my way!” He yelled in so much fury that he didn’t notice the resigned and teary look that fell over the blonde.

“I’m… sorry”, Fai said in a soft, quiet voice, and ran back into the house.

Kurogane flinched when the door slammed shut. He sighed heavily and slumped against the apple tree. The ninja felt a little guilty for shouting to Fai like that. He knew the mage could get overly angsty at times.

He stayed leaning on the tree for a while, thinking. Finally he decided to head back inside and seek out the idiot blonde.

---

Fai ran straight to his room and slumped on the bed. He curled up into a ball and started to sob, tears flowing down onto his pillow.

*Stupid Kuro-wan... Stupid me! Why did I tell him? I knew he doesn’t like me...* He reprimanded himself in his mind. How could he have even thought that Kurogane would ever return his feelings. That grumpy sneering man… His sobs turned into crying. He knew he should just have kept his distance. Nothing good ever happened when he let people close.

Fai tried to calm himself down, the sobs causing him to hiccup. He closed his eyes and sighed unhappily. After a few seconds he was asleep, the crying and emotional stress wearing him out.

---

The first place Kurogane thought to look for the mage was the blonde’s bedroom. He knocked on the door and waited. No answer or movement was heard from the other side to indicate Fai’s presence.

The ninja knocked again, more strongly. After still not getting a reaction he opened the door and peaked inside. He noticed Fai on the bed, back facing the door. His breathing seemed even, and Kurogane presumed him to be asleep.

He closed the door softly. Everything seemed to be alright, as the blonde wasn’t crying or anything… Just sleeping peacefully! So, the insufferable mage was playing some jest on his account! Kurogane had never thought Fai to be that wicked though.

Kurogane stalked away and headed for the kitchen. He needed something strong now, but as he didn’t care that much about alcohol, he decided to settle for a very strong coffee.

---

“We are back!” Lisa called, when she, Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona came from their shopping trip. They were each – except for Mokona – carrying a heavy bag of food, Sakura struggling a little with the weight of her’s. Syaoran had offered to carry it for her but Sakura had insisted to do her bid. She didn’t want to be a burden.

For answer to Lisa’s announcement, they heard frustrated yelling from the kitchen, and a loud ‘clank’.

“What on Earth…”, Lisa dropped the bag from her hands and rushed to the kitchen, Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona right behind her.

What greeted them there were a very angry looking Kurogane and a very broken coffee machine on the floor.

Kurogane hadn’t noticed their arrival and was seething to the machine.

“Umm… Kurogane? What… are you doing?” Syaoran asked carefully.

Kurogane whirled around and sniffed. “I’m trying to make some coffee but this damn… Thing isn’t very co-operative!” He glanced at the remains on the floor. “How does it even work?”

At this point Lisa had recovered from her shock and glared daggers at the bad tempered ninja.

“Look what you’ve done! My coffee machine! EXPENCIVE coffee machine! It’s ruined! How am I going to survive…”, she wailed and kneeled on the floor and gathered some of the remains.

Everyone stared at her wonderingly. Kurogane just huffed. “It’s just a stupid machine. Which doesn’t even work…”

“Well, not anymore, obviously! I need my coffee. It’s my elixir!” She looked at Kurogane. “You’re going to buy me a new one”, she demanded.

Kurogane was going to protest but Syaoran cut in. “I’m sure Kurogane-san will repay the damage he’s caused. Right, Kurogane-san?” the boy looked at the ninja pleadingly.

Kurogane sighed and nodded.

“Should we… Unpack the bags?” Sakura asked softly.

Lisa rose from the floor. “Yeah. If you’ll, you too Kurogane, unpack them so I’ll clear the coffee machine into the rubbish.”

They nodded, Kurogane a little reluctantly, and set to do their chores.

---

Blue eyes opened and blinked a few times before a hand came to rub them. Fai rose and stretched luxuriously. A knock on the door started him and he stood to go open the door.

“Sakura-chan?” Fai asked when he stood in front of the princess.

Sakura smiled warmly at the blonde. “I came to tell you that dinner is ready.”

“Ah, thank you, Sakura-chan. I’ll be right down in a minute. I’d like to freshen up a little bit because I haven’t really woken up from my nap yet”, Fai smiled at the girl he was so fond of.

“Alright, Fai-san. But don’t be too long. The food might get cold.”

“I won’t”, he assured her, and at that Sakura went back downstairs.

Fai closed the door and sighed. He wasn’t really hungry at the moment, but he didn’t want Sakura to get worried about him. And he especially didn’t want to face Kurogane right now, after all that happened.

He opened the door again and went to the bathroom, which was next to his room. Fai looked himself in the mirror. He noted his eyes. They were a little red and swollen from crying. The blonde turned the tap on and splashed some cold water against his face. It woke him fully.

Fai grabbed a towel and wiped his face dry. He glanced at his reflection again before heading out, and to dinner.

---

Kurogane sat at the kitchen table with Syaoran and Sakura, while Lisa bustled to place the food on the table.

“Sakura, would you go get Fai to dinner?” Lisa asked. Sakura nodded and went to fetch the blonde.

The brunette then sat as well and gestured Syaoran and Kurogane to help them selves.

“It looks delicious, Lisa-san!” Syaoran complimented after shovelling some rabbit stew and potatoes on his plate.

Lisa’s eyes twinkled. “Thank you, Syaoran. It’s my own recipe. I hope it tastes like as it looks.”

Kurogane too filled his plate with the food. He grabbed the fork and knife that were placed for him, and eyed them distastefully. *Why do all the people in the worlds we end up to, use these kinds of utensils?*

Sakura emerged into the kitchen then.

“Where’s Fai-san?” Syaoran asked.

“Oh, he told he wanted to freshen up a bit before coming”, Sakura told him and sat beside the boy. Syaoran rushed to fill her plate. Sakura blushed at this kind of fussing, and thanked him shyly. Syaoran smiled in return and resumed his own eating.

Kurogane stabbed a potato and brought it to his mouth. He eyed the kids and thought them so obvious. And by the looks of it, Lisa thought that too, by how she was looking at them, a strange twinkle in her eyes.

Kurogane was just going to impale another potato when he noticed Fai enter the room. The mage glanced at Kurogane’s way and their eyes locked. Fai looked liked he wanted to bolt right out from the kitchen, but then forced himself to brake the gaze and sat at the only available seat, right next to the ninja.

The whole dinner went under the heavy curtain of tension that emanated from Kurogane and Fai. No one dared say anything, and they ate in an uncomfortable silence, Lisa eyeing the two from the corner of her eye. She noticed the blonde fidget in his seat and Kurogane looking kind of nervous. Something was up between the two, and she was going to find out what.

---

After the dinner Lisa cornered Kurogane in the living room, while he was watching the TV. She sat beside him and glared at him.

“Ok, what have you done?” She demanded.

~*~

Poor Fai... *Slaps Kurogane*