#Good luck getting Yuui to bed

[kyoko0001]

Redemption ~ A KuroFai Fanfiction ~ Chapter 4

Read the full story HERE 

Yuui awoke when he felt Fai jolt upright in bed. He was especially tired from practicing magic the day before and wasn't ready to get out of bed yet…

The sun wasn't even up yet.

Reluctantly peeling his eyes open, Yuui watched with a sleepy gaze while Fai woke the ninja who—unlike Yuui—had no issue jumping to his feet.

Was there something wrong?

Yuui watched as Kurogane put on his armor hastily and Fai tied his hair up in a tight ponytail at the back of his head before dressing quickly. The little blonde felt anxiety start to bubble in his stomach. This wasn't normal…

"What's the matter?" the child rubbed at his heavy eyes but made no move to get out of bed.

Both Kurogane and Fai suddenly seemed to remember he was there and paused in what they were doing to look at him. "He can't stay here alone. We'll drop him off at the village with old lady Katsuya." Kurogane's voice was ruff and Fai only nodded to the ninja.

"It's going to be ok." Fai tried to sooth him but Yuui knew the smile his brother was using was a farce. He could feel that Fai's magic was buzzing. "You remember grandma Katsuya? She runs the little shop?"

The little blonde felt himself lifted out of bed. He was wrapped in warm jacket and was carried out to the front of the house before he even had a chance to protest.

There really must be something wrong… Fai and Kurogane had always brought him along, or one of them would stay home to watch over him. He didn't want to go with the shop woman. He wanted to stay with Fai.

"Has it gotten through yet?" Kurogane grabbed his sword and Fai helped Yuui with his shoes before slipping into his own.

"No but the shield won't hold much longer at this rate." Yuui was again lifted by his brother and he clung closely to him. He had been living here with Fai and Kurogane for a little while know and this had never happened. "You need to take Yuui—If that barrier goes down its going to be casualties for sure."

Yuui didn't understand.

Rubbing at his eyes more furiously he tired to get his muddled thoughts to come together. He knew that Fai put up a big barrier around the village and the closest farms at night. It was to keep everyone safe from the monsters.

An hour or so before sunset his brother went to inner garden and wove the spell while dinner was cooking. It had happened every night like clockwork since he had first arrived. There had never been any problems. His brother was too good at magic for that wasn't he?

Yuui was lifted up by Kurogane and away from Fai. He got a small kiss on the forehead from his brother before the taller blonde grabbed his staff and drew a few runes in the air with his fingers. Within seconds he was gone with a whirl of sparking power.

Yuui could feel his magic ground somewhere in the distance before he felt a slam of powerful chilling energy hit him like a wave. If he held his breath and focused, he could feel it directed at the barrier. He could feel Fai's magic attempting to repair the spell and push more power into it.

"What's going on? Where did Fai go?" The ninja didn't seem bothered by his brother leaving and they moved quickly to the stable.

The wind took on an icy chill that caused him to shiver almost violently. Couldn't Kurogane feel that nauseating amount of power filling the air?

"Something is trying to get thought he barrier. We have to take care of it so you're going to behave for Katsuya." Yuui was settled on the edge of the stall and held on to one of the beams to steady himself.

"A monster?" Kurogane slung the saddle on the horses back before moving to secure it. Yuui knew that there were still many monsters, but both the ninja and his brother had told him that they were nothing to worry about if you knew how to fight.

"Yeah. No human in this land has that kind of strength." The bridle was slipped over the horse's ears and Kurogane lifted Yuui again, this time into the saddle.

"So why did Fai go alone!" Kurogane launched himself up behind him and sighed loudly.

"He can handle himself. Let's worry about you for now. We're going to go pretty fast so just hold on ok kid?" Again, before Yuui had a chance to protest the ninja kicked the animal and it bolted.

Yuui wasn't used to riding—he had ridded with Fai a few times but never this fast— and he felt like he was falling. Even with Kurogane's arm around his midsection holding him in place he felt as though he was going to slip off and fall onto the muddy path.

The cold air burned his cheeks and he tried to suck oxygen into his lungs as they made the trip to the small town on the edge of the estate at a brake neck pace.

The animal came to a sudden stop and Yuui was crying loudly now as Kurogane hopped down and grabbed him roughly with one arm, cradling the trembling boy against his chest. Yuui could see that there were several people awake. They were all silent listening to a terrible noise coming from the distance—if he strained his ears, he could just barley hear it.

Grandma Katsuya agreed to take Yuui without a second thought and he was passed off without another word. With in seconds of being set down, Kurogane was again in the saddle and was heading off towards the direction of those terrible screeching noises.

Those awake all stood outside of their homes listening. There was a large crashing noise and another furious roar, and Yuui was hit with another wave of his brother's chilly magic.

Instead of being knit into the established barrier and hanging with the rest of the magic like a thick mist in the air, it ignited quickly and fizzled out into nothingness. He wiped at his tears and strained his senses to feel more from Fai.

His brother had been giving him daily magic lessons form the third or fourth day he came to Suwa. Most of that time had been spent on learning how to sense the patterns of magic and what they meant. Even from this distance he could tell that Fai was ok—using powerful spells—but alive.

"Let's come on and drink some Tea while we wait Yuui. Lord Kurogane and your older brother will handle this. No need to look so sad." The child was snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at his temporary guardian's kind smile.

Yuui didn't want to go inside… he wanted to go be with Fai and Kurogane.

He wanted his family.

The child's hand was grasped, and he was gently led inside the shop keepers house. He wordlessly followed her and continued to wipe at his teary cheeks with his free hand.

"You've only been in Suwa a little while." The old woman's voice was kind as she led Yuui into her kitchen and motioned for him to take a seat at the low table. He and Fai had visited her and her granddaughter a few times to bring them medicine. Grandma Katsuya had been nothing but kind to him since he had first arrived.

"This happens from time to time. No need to worry though."

How did she know though? If it could get though the barrier then it could break his brother's defenses and then what would happen to Fai?

"What it—they can't stop it? What if—" Yuui felt his stomach get even more queasy at the thought if loosing Fai again. He just wouldn't be able to handle that…

Not again.

Never again…

"They will. Together they single handedly cleared this land, so we could return to our homes after years of this place being over run with those creatures. We needn't worry." The old woman smiled at him and Yuui sniffled pitifully. He knew he should have more faith…

He felt another strong spell and reminded himself that was good.

There was so much of Fai's magic hanging in the air, it felt like a cold fog. Normally there was a hint of his unique magic pattern all over the house and the town and it was like a warm reminder that his brother was passively protecting everyone from the monsters.

Now though it was suffocating. Overpowering to the point that Yuui was chilled to the bone and the air felt like it did just before it rained in the winter time. A damp wet cold that made him want to hide in his futon or ask mama to turn on the heated blanket.

Yuui had never seen Fai use magic that felt so icy and—big. The shop keeper didn't seem to notice one way or the other… Neither had Kurogane.

Another icy chill washed over him, and he felt fresh tears fall from his eyes.

What if something did happen?

What could be so terribly powerful to overcome all the time Fai had spent maintaining the barrier every day?

As his anxiety rose his ability to follow the strings of his mismatched twin's magic diminished.

0o0o0

This was just his luck—A flipping dragon was all he needed to deal with tonight. Fai was attempting to knit the weak spots of the barrier back together when the grate beast screamed at what Fai assumed to be the top of its lungs.

What had they don't to make this behemoth so angry anyways?

There had been dragons in Celese, but they rarely came out of the mountains—especially big ones like this tough lady. Kuro-sama had told him that there hadn't been dragons in Suwa since his father was young.

While Fai had loved the twinkle in his lover's eyes as he relayed the stories of dragon hunting that had been passed down to him from his father—He had been appalled to hear that the creatures had been hunted to extinction.

Well… Near extinction apparently.

Fai didn't blame the dragons for leaving this land. He would have found a new place to live too if there were crazy ninja's with swords trying to hack him to bits. That had been years ago though and the mage knew for a fact that there had been no dragon hunting any time recently.

So why was Mrs. Dragon so angry with there little homestead?

The creature before him was old. Most likely hundreds of years old and its aura hummed of the natural magic of the land. Fai would have been in awe if the thing wasn't currently spitting fire at him while he was trying to focus his power on the weak points of the barrier.

It was beautiful with emerald scales covering most of its muscular body. Sharp spins ran from its snout, all the way down its back to the tip of its tail. Said tail was slammed against the barrier.

While it was only an annoyed flick—it further cracked his magic that was already close to shattering. When Fai had constructed the barrier, he had designed it based on the strength of the demons they had seen so far.

He would have pumped a lot more power into it if he had expected their lovely visitor.

This particular barrier was a complicated spell that took time to weave. He had taken time to design one that would allow for humans and wildlife with pure intentions to pass though easily. Things like the demons or people with ill intentions would smack up against it.

If it went down, Fai would have to fight Mrs. Dragon and he wouldn't be able to shield the town or farms from her fire or the back lash of his own spells. It would take hours to relay the base spell—and they would just have to work around the lack of protection.

"Please go home Mrs. Dragon! I don't want to have to make you! It's really for your own good! People don't taste good—were too bony!" Fai called rather than swearing as she slammed her tail against his spell with more force.

Of course, the beast wouldn't understand him—but at least he felt as though he was trying. The dragons in his homeland didn't eat people. Not when there were meatier animals that didn't throw magic back at them when they were hunted.

He wasn't sure what Dragons usually ate in this land. In Celese they had lived off of chèvre de montagne and cerf de neige. Fai hadn't seen animals like those in Suwa, so he wasn't sure what was attracting her.

It couldn't be that Suwa was a nesting ground—even though there were mountains they were relatively small—and dragons hadn't been seen here is years.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence?

Dragons had strong instincts though, and this one seemed just like the ones from his homeland.

More fire was spit against his barrier and Fai sighed loudly.

He had hoped to fix the damage and wait for Kurogane before they tried to drive the beast off, but things were not going to last at this rate. The ninja needed to travel here by normal means and horses were only so fast.

Fai gripped his staff tightly—his power was still steadily flowing though the hot metal and up into the fluorite focus stone at the top—his will gripping the fraying ends of his cracking spell and tying them manually back together again.

With his free hand he drew the runes for a sizeable offensive spell before darting outside of the barrier. Carefully he dodged the lizard's tail and threw his spell, pushing power into the runes. He hoped to become the target of Mrs. Dragons frustration, so he could occupy her while he continued to knit the barrier back together.

It worked rather well considering. The spell hit and did little more than annoy the great creature, who's eyes followed Fai with an angry fascination. He continued on his way away from the barrier and the dragon turned to watch him.

He wove a few more runes together and tossed them her way—this time earning and angry roar back with molten fire. He was just barely able to throw up a personal shield in time by forcing power down though his arm and out of his fingertips to form a large cool solid wall.

It took some of the energy he was using to repair the barrier, but at least he hadn't been turned into a crispy snack.

As soon as the stream of fire ceased, Fai threw another spell with the same amount of force as the one before. He hoped that if he became enough of a pest the creature would give up on what ever it wanted and just leave.

Of course, without causing it any actual harm that was unlikely. Kuro-tan was going to claim him soft no doubt. If dragons were really a rarity in this land it would be a shame to truly harm her.

Besides—what if she had little baby dragons she was trying to feed?

Those oversized, razor sharp jaws snapped at him, and he had to kick off its snout to get enough distance between them to avoid it. Another angry roar accompanied by fire and Fai was starting to feel overwhelmed.

He had continued to focus on dodging Mrs. Dragons attempt to murder him while knitting the barrier back together. Once it was reinforced, he could push enough power into to keep everyone safe, until then he would have to stay on this side to prevent further damage.

As soon as he dropped his personal shield to throw another attack the beast snapped at him again. Fai used this as an opportunity to use her snout as a spring board and flip himself on top the beasts back.

This time Mrs. Dragons roar was particularly impressive as she shook her body like a wet dog. Fai swore under his breath and gripped one of the spines with his free hand and dug the sharp tip of his staff in between two scales in an attempt to keep his balance.

The lizards tail smacked into his personal shield and knocked him over on to more of the sharp spines—before he had a chance to register any pain, he heard a familiar angry voice behind him.

"What the FUCK." The dragon's attention whipped around to the sound of Kurogane's angry bellow and Fai smiled sheepishly at his partner.

"Hi Kuro-sama!" the blonde took advantage of Mrs. Dragons distraction and waved at his lover.

"What the ever-loving FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT!" The ninja roared nearly as loud as the dragon as he got off his horse. He didn't pay any mind as the animal turned tail and ran back to the village.

"Trying to scare the dragon away Kuro-silly." The mage chuckled before turning his attention back to his leg which had been punctured by one of the shorter, yet still unbelievably sharp spines.

The dragon shook its self almost violently this time in an attempt to throw Fai off and the blonde swore loudly as the wound on his leg was ripped. When the quaking stopped the beast roared again and tried to snap at Fai.

Kurogane waisted no time in throwing an attack at the behemoth drawing its attention away from Fai at the moment.

"Careful Kurogane! Stay on that side of the barrier this little lady is no joke." The blonde called, and the ninja let out a stream of curse words.

"Then why the fuck are you on that side of the god damn barrier, dumbass? Do you even have a brain in that thick scull of yours? Get the fuck down and stop playing."

Fai would have. Really, he wasn't enjoying his impromptu dragon ride. It was quite painful.

"I might be stuck." Kurogane attacked again. Fai was thankful he had weaved the ability for things to get out and not back in, when creating the original spell—though passing thought the barrier greatly weekend the ninja's attack.

"You have got to be kidding me." Fai grinned and pointed at his currently impaled left thigh.

"But stay on that side of the barrier! I can get unstuck." Fai was sure if he had been closer to the ninja, he would be able to see his eye brow twitch in irritation. Kurogane hated not being able to do anything and Fai knew it.

The dragon seemed to forget all about Fai and turned its undivided attention towards Kurogane. The blonde pushed an enormous amount of power into the weakest point of the barrier and it held though the next rain of fire.

Without Mrs. Dragon trying to shake him off like a bad cold—Fai was able to carefully use a bit of magic to saw thought the spine that was making its home in the tender flesh of his thigh.

As soon as the fire stopped Kurogane sent another attack at the dragon. The beast recoiled momentarily before swatting a clawed paw at the ninja, only to have it smack into the barrier.

"Kuro-tan be careful not to hurt her!" the mage again used his staff to steady himself on the beasts back as he attempted to stand. He mentally apologized for the discomfort it must be causing her. It probably wasn't more than a mosquito bite, but he still felt guilty as he continued to lean more weight on his staff.

His leg screeched in pain as he attempted to make use of his impaled muscles. His leg gave out under him and his butt settled ungracefully down on the emerald scales of the dragon.

"Fai—I am more worried about you then the god damn dragon. Are you ok you fucking idiot?" the dragon roared again and tried biting at the barrier this time, with little success.

Kuro-sama was so very sweet sometimes. Swearing aside.

Fai was more worried about the dragon with how angry the ninja looked.

"I'll be fine! Don't come over here!" Fai ignored the steam of curse words that were directed at him as he again tired to get to his feet—this time using his good leg to support the majority of his weight.

It left him dangerously off balance and he almost fell the next time the dragon lunged at the barrier. A fall from this height wouldn't kill him—but the injuries sustained would probably immobilize him on the wrong side of the barrier.

Why hadn't Mrs. Dragon just listened to him and left? Surely whatever she wanted wasn't worth an annoying person poking her and dancing around on her back—or an angry ninja planning her demise?

"Fuck this shit. Stay where you are, I'm gonna come get your sorry ass." Kurogane roared over the beast's angry growl. He charged the dragon and Fai felt a special kind of horror as he crossed the barrier and the dragon nailed him with its tail sending him flying.

Kurogane was neither as fast, nor as agile as Fai when it came to dodging. Normally the ninja would block an attack rather then dodge it because of this—he usually had the strength to do it.

No man—not matter how strong—could physically outmatch 14 tons of dragon muscles.

Fai screamed when Kurogane went flying back and bounced across the ground like a stone skipped across the water. He had only been hit with the tip of the long, muscular tail. Even with Fai attempting to shield him with magic—that kind of hit could be a game ender.

Thank god Fai had already had a defense spell ready for him… Anymore and he surely would have broken his spine… or neck… or scull… perhaps all three. Mrs. Dragon was not playing.

"Son of a mother fucking, cock sucking—" Kurogane screamed as he peeled himself off the ground and charged again.

"THIS IS WHY I TOLD YOU TO STAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BARRIER!" the mage didn't usually get overly emotional—and screaming was not his style.

Gosh darn it though—for someone with no magic Kurogane was awfully ballsy.

"Shut up Fai." The blonde wove another defense spell and wrapped the ninja in it as the dragon screamed fire at the man.

To ballsy.

As he got closer the mage could see blood dripping from a wound on his head—as well as a bleeding gash on the man's chest where the Mrs. Dragons spins had broken though the hastily thrown together shield.

Kurogane managed to dodge the clawed paw, which moved much more slowly than the beasts tail had. Crouching he used the next swing of the oversized paw to give him a boost on to the beasts back.

Unlike Fai—he hadn't landed too close to the razor-sharp quills that lined its back. He quickly made his way his way to the blond and lifted him like a sack of flour.

Fai forced extra power into the shield to protect them from the next shower of fire and they made it back behind the barrier surprisingly fast. The ninja dropped Fai down onto the ground and knelt to check out his injures while Mrs. Dragon continued to rage against the barrier.

If this kept up much longer Fai's current magic reserves were going to start getting low. If they got to low, he wouldn't have the energy to maintain any sort of barrier let alone the one required to keep such a monstrous beast out of Suwa.

"No more fucking dragon riding you got that?" Kurogane's voice was tender as he spoke but Fai could see the anger in his eyes at seeing his lover injured.

It wasn't like he had done it on purpose…

"Only if you stay on this side of the barrier Kuro-tan." Fai took a deep breath before using his staff to hoist himself into a standing position. It was much easier to do on level, unmoving ground. Though, he was annoyed to feel the burn in his arms from forcing out so much power.

He always seemed to forget that his power was unbalanced now that he had given up the magic in his left eye to Yuuko. His left eye growing weaker—his right growing stronger. It was natures way of regulating his power, so he didn't harm himself. With it out of balance as it was now he suffered terrible side effects when he drained his reserves.

Normal use of his magic didn't bother him at all—battling with his magic unrestrained?

It was going to feel like he had run a marathon and drank tequila to rehydrate rather then water tomorrow. He was glad to have his wizard staff back—it took some of the strain of his body.

If he didn't use it, he would most likely be left with some pretty severe burns on his hands from pushing this much magic out though his fingertips.

"How the hell am I supposed to kill that thing if I am hiding behind a barrier that weakens my attacks?" The ninja stood as well and grabbed his sword before turning to face Mrs. Dragon.

"You're not?"

"Mage." Kuro-chan looked about ready to haul off and smack him upside the head and Fai couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you really want to kill the only dragon that's been seen in this land for a generation?" The middle of a battle was not the best place to reason with Kurogane—but they really should try and preserve the natural wildlife of Suwa shouldn't they?

"Uh… That's what we do. We kill dragon's idiot."

"But why? Let's scare her away she might have babies." Kurogane looked at him as though he might have sprouted a second head.

"Dragons kill people Fai." As if to emphasize his point—the dragon lunged at the barrier, bracing her two front paws against it and spitting hell fire at them with an angry roar. The blonde pushed more magic into the barrier to reinforce it once again—his arms starting to shake from the effort.

"So do other people! How many dragon attacks have there been in Suwa in the last decade?" Fai watched Kurogane's brows furrowed.

"That's not the point! That thing could flatten the whole village!"

"It is the point! Look how beautiful she is! Dragons are a sign of a healthy magical balance in the land! They hate people anyways because we are always trying to murder them." the dragon slammed its tail back into the barrier and Kurogane swung his sword angerly to throw another attack at it—forcing it to back up several hundred yards.

"She's trying to kill us right fucking now you idiot!"

"We just need to scare her away and she will stop. She's just angry Kuro-sama." Fai again forced more power at the shield and felt his arms scream in protest this time. He was at his limit.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me? You're joking right? That thing tires to fucking eat us and you want to save it?" the ninja's voice got threateningly low and Fai sighed.

Why did Kurogane have to be so ignorant?

"Just trust me. There an important part of your ecosystem whether you realize it or not!" Fai turned his attention back to Mrs. Dragon. He could see where her thick, scaly skin was starting to become damaged from battering against his barrier.

Something without out all those protective scales would have been badly burned from prolonged contact with it.

"You want me to attack it and not kill it?" Fai nodded and Kurogane signed.

No doubt the ninja knew that killing a dragon of this size would be a tall order for an army of men—let alone two. Being a big enough nuisance to scare the thing off though?

A little easier.

"Ok but I'm telling Yuui how reckless and stupid you are for wanting to keep that fucker around." Kurogane smirked before charging at the beast again.

"I told you to stay on this side of the barrier!" Fai forced as much power as he could spare into his next defense spell for the ninja and prayed that his fondness for magical creatures didn't cost him his soulmate.

Kurogane dodged the first tail swipe and Fai breathed a sigh of relief. The dragon's fire couldn't hurt him from within the shield—and he got close enough to land a good hit within seconds.

However—there was no dodging those teeth.

Fai heard the crunching of meatal and watched as the dragon picked the ninja up by his mechanical prosthetic before shacking him violently back in forth. As it was designed to do when put under tremendous strain—it came unattached—and Kurogane went flying.

Fai's spell caught him and protected him as he slid across the rough ground. The shield being worn down with every inch it grated against earth. Kurogane came back through the barrier and was slammed into a tree a few hundred yards away.

Oh yes. Mrs. Dragon was tremendously strong.

With his injured leg, the mage couldn't run to the ninja's side. His momentary panic at seeing his lover take such a terrible attack almost caused him to lose control of the barrier but his training as a war mage allowed him to hold the spell while he screamed his lovers name.

"I'm alive dammit… Don't get your fucking panties in a knot." Kurogane managed to push himself into a sitting position looking quite annoyed at his now missing arm.

Fai breath a sigh of relief. His shield had done its job… No broken spine, or neck, or scull. They were just down a prosthetic which was replaceable.

"You've been calling that thing a girl. How come?" Kurogane seemed suddenly distracted from the dragon that was again smashing against the barrier like a rabid dog going after a kitten.

"Males have patterns on there scales and frilles around there neck. There also smaller and—Oh my god is that a hatchling?" the blond felt his heart drop as the ninja lifted a screeching little lizard up by the loose skin on the back of its neck.

So that's why Mrs. Dragon was so angry with them. Her baby didn't have enough power to trigger the barrier and had most likely become frightened and hid in the shrubbery while its mother tried to rescue it.

The little squeals the hatchling let lose seemed to rally its mother's anger and she whipped her tail against the barrier and let out a mighty roar.

"How the fuck did you get in here you little piece of shit?" Kurogane glared at the baby as he staggered to his feet. The ninja walked with a limp as he slowly made his way to the edge of the barrier.

Fai watched Kurogane squat down, so he was closer to the ground, before tossing the hatchling outside of the barrier. "Get lost ugly."

The little dragon thumped ungracefully into the grass on the other side of the barrier and its mother instantly stopped her fussing in favor of watching the ninja carefully. He stood and stepped back slowly—not turning his back as he took short strides towards Fai.

As soon as he was deemed to be far enough away, she swung her long head gracefully down to sniff the hatchling that was still calling pitifully. There snouts just barely touched before Mrs. Dragon opened her mouth, and with care one wouldn't expect with so many sharp teeth, lifted her young. She deposited the hatchling onto her back where it wove its way between the many spines.

The mother dragon turned to look at Fai and Kurogane one last time before beating its great wings and taking to the midnight sky.

They stood there silently for a moment—just looking as the grate beast flew further and further away.

"That was a fucking waist of a good damn arm." Kurogane huffed and Fai chuckled.

"We'll get you a new one Kuro-daddy. You did a good deed." Fai hadn't thought to look for a stranded baby… he never new dragon hatchlings were so small?

It was suicide to try and get between a Mama dragon and her baby. Since they had lived in only the most secluded regions of Celese he had never had the pleasure to see a new hatchling.

While there was dragon hunting in his homeland—it never consisted of killing the creatures. Rather a wizard would track and attempt to charm one of the smaller dragons to bring it under his or her will. It was a dangerous sport, but left the dragon totally unharmed.

"Still say we should have slaughtered that thing before it can eat anyone." Kurogane hobbled back over to where he had set his sword down to pick up the hatchling and slid it into its sheath.

"I doubt we will ever see her again Kuro-chan." Fai turned his attention back to his injured leg and sighed before easing his sore body down onto the grass. Setting his staff aside he looked at the dragon spine that was currently an unwelcome guest in his thigh muscle.

"Will you come pull this out?" The mage was a baby when it came to his own injures. Kurogane would rip that sucker out of there like a band aid.

"Yeah. One sec." the raven-haired man plopped down next to Fai tiredly on the ground. Carefully, so as not to cut himself, he griped the emerald spine and locked eyes with the blonde. "On the count of three ok?"

"Ok. Just don't do that thing where you say, 'Count of three' and really do it on two. Promise?" Fai herd Kurogane grunt in agreement and he covered his eyes with his hands.

He knew if he tensed it was going to hurt worse.

"Deep breath—Ready for the count?" Fai nodded and did his best to relax.

"Read—OUCH." Kurogane tugged the spine free rather easily before he even started counting. Tossing it to the side he slammed his hand down over the wound that was now squirting an impressive amount of blood on the both of them. "You said you wouldn't do that!"

"I said I wouldn't do it on two, moron. That's pay back for being a dumb fuck anyways." The ninja didn't seem concerned at all with his partners words. "How long till you can walk?"

"This vampire healing thing isn't an exact science you know? If it is, I haven't figured it out yet." Fai placed one of his hands over Kurogane's. "You can have your hand back I got this—" Kurogane took his hand back and wiped the sticky blood off on his pants. "—anyways I drank a few days ago so it should be sooner rather then later."

"Ok. As soon as you can were gonna have to walk back because the horse booked it."

They sat there for the better part of an hour in silence. They were both exhausted and sore at this point and the walk back to the village was going to draining. Just as the sun started to peak over the horizon, they decided it was time to go home and get cleaned up.

Fai's wound was still very painful but was no longer bleeding. Muscle knitting back together took time though and both he and Kurogane were supporting each other's weight and as they hobbled back to the main road.

It took them well over a few hours to make a trip that usually would take them less than one on horseback. It was well past the time the village was up and about when they made it to Grandma Katsuya's door.

Of course—as soon as they made it to the entrance of the village, they were rushed by the any and all of the towns people who were outside. Fai assumed they looked dreadful all scraped up and covered in blood like they were.

Yuui must have heard the commotion because he all but tackled the two of them before they had even seen him coming.

"W—why are you… yo—you're… Fai?" The older blond felt his heart broke into tiny pieces at the absolute distraught look on his little twin's face.

"Were ok. Just a little roughed up We'll be ok—Oh no—Yuui stop crying…" Fai wanted to lift the crying child into his arms and snuggle his tears away. He feared his arms would give out of he tired to lift him now though—he was starting to feel the effects of overusing his power and his arms felt like jelly.

The choked sob that came out of Yuui's mouth while he wrapped his little arms around the both of them was enough to even make Kurogane frown and furrow his brows.

"A—are you gonna… Ar—are you g—gon die?" his voice cracked as he forced the last word out and he started sobbing again.

Fai felt tears prickle at the corners of his own eyes. Before he had a chance to gather his thoughts to answer, Kurogane had used his only arm to wrap around the child's waist and lift him up into a tight embrace.

"Nah. Don't be stupid."

Fai wrapped both his arms around the ninja and sandwiched Yuui between them as he continued to cry so hard his body shook. "We're not going anywhere Yuui." The blond promised.

Neither he nor Kurogane cared that they were making a scene in the middle of the village—and they stayed like that for a while.

The ninja, though injured, carried Yuui all the way home. By the time they had made it through the front door Yuui was had calmed down and was now only sniffling and hiccupping into the crook of the red eyed mans neck.

Poor thing.

Kurogane set him down and Fai only now realized that they had left his shoes that Katsuya's… he would worry about it later today after a good rest. He had never gotten the chance to thank her for looking after Yuui ether…

Kurogane thumped down to take off his shoes. Fai sat more gracefully—though his thigh screeched in pain as he did so, and they tiredly got there shoes off.

"You didn't sleep at all at Grandma Katsuya's did you?" Yuui shook his head no and rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "That's ok. We can all take a nap after a hot bath and something to eat."

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