Alleys of Venice

Chapitre One

Venezia

Argh. I couldn't help myself! I just had to make another Fai-Kurogane story. Probably a bit Sakura-Syaoran but who knows? Anyway, this is probably the third multi-chapitred Fai-Kurogane story for me… I hope you like it, seeing that 'Boo!' was an actual success. All right. Go me. :D

Note: If you have read the story The Thief Lord and the whole 'Scipio steals goods for the kids in the theatre' well, let's just say someone is similar to Scipio here. And also, I take Italian for my language in school so yeah; it's better than looking up Japanese and stuffing it into the story without really knowing how to form a sentence.

Another Note: Ashura and Fai are on good terms with each other, okay? Think of them as brothers; like, a friend who you've known for so long that they considered family. Yeah. I just can't make Ashura mean…;; And uh, since I didn't get up to 'that' one, I'll stick with the one from Shura Country.

Disclaimer: Y'know what? Why don't I just like, stamp the damnable disclaimer onto your forehead so you can see it everyday when you look in the mirror, reminding yourself that Muffinizer doesn't own any manga/anime yet, damn it?

Summary: Venezia, Italy was filled with homeless kids back in the time, kids who couldn't afford food unless they would pick pocket. Thieves like those were shunned away from his life, and weren't in for it if seen during the day. So when Fai D. Flowright meets a teenager the same age as him who helps those little pests, will he hate that person too?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weary azure eyes looked up at the sign that read 'Biblioteca'. A pale hand reached out to slide the door open, all the while trying to keep a pile of books from falling. The person stepped into the silent, dull room, humming silently as the same pale hands began sorting out the reference books in separate piles.

"Hmm… Trigonometry… Topology," the person muttered to themselves under their breath, softly placing the hard covered book in the pile of hard covers whilst the other went to the paper backs.

"Flowright-sempai, you can leave now," someone had called out from outside the room. Said person whipped their head around and smiled gratefully at the freshman before him.

"Ah, thank you, Fuji-kun." A tall, rather thin boy with unruly black hair had appeared before the older, smiling at him.

"Flowright-sempai..." The blond stopped him from talking, pushing a book into his chest.

"It's Fai, Fuji. Call me Fai, please." Fuji nodded and took the book from the older, placing it down on the table in the middle of the room.

"Oh, Flow- I mean, Fai-sempai," he called out before the blond stepped out of the library. Fai turned his head to look back and had a questioning look on his face.

"People are talking about Ashura-sempai; apparently he came back from Trentino. You are going to visit him, right? I heard that he's wanted to see you since this morning…"

The blonde's face brightened slightly before he regained his previous posture, smiling at the freshman. "I see. Thank you, Fuji-kun." Sliding the door open again, Fai slipped out of the library, leaving a rather puzzled boy in the room.

…

"… sama, please have something light to eat at least," a young teenager begged, holding out a tray that held two sunny-side ups including sausages on the side of the plate. Her shimmering amethyst eyes seemed to have reflected sorrow and pain, but the boy sitting in the black leather chair didn't seem to mind.

"Hn. Just leave the tray there and leave please, Daidouji-san."

The girl was about to protest, to yell out and threaten him to eat something or else, but she hesitated and was ready to turn on her heels and leave. "But Kurogane-sama, you cannot just skip meals like this everyday!"

Kurogane, who had piercing ruby eyes unlike Daidouji, stood up from his chair and took a sausage, nibbling on it before dropping it back on the plate.

"If I eat, then you'll leave me alone." It was more along the lines of a statement, but somewhere along the lines, Daidouji-san seemed to have picked it up as a question.

"Only if you eat, Kurogane-sama. If not, I have every right to tell mistress-." Before the girl could finish her sentence, Kurogane threateningly pointed a finger at her, scowling.

"You dare tell okaa-san and I will not hesitate to kick you out of this house. Understood?"

Daidouji Tomoyo nodded dumbly before scurrying out of the room in panic. Kurogane sighed as he relaxed back into his chair, closing his eyes. His hand raked through his spiky short hair, thinking about the previous days in he had spent in the city they had last visited.

If only okaa-san had allowed me to stay back in Napoli… the teenager though bitterly as he dropped his hand back onto his lap, letting out a stressed groan.

From the open window in his room to the right of the desk he was sitting at a pigeon flew in, dropping a folded piece of paper in front of Kurogane before flying away. He opened the paper and read the sloppy message written on it, but he was still able to understand the cry of help.

'Kurogane-sempai,

Welcome back from Napoli. Now back to Venezia.

We'll need you to sneak into Marino's house again. We're running low on money and supplies. Touya-sempai twisted his ankle the other day and couldn't go in himself.

We're counting on you, okay? It's not like they'll notice that you stole anything.

Thanks.'

He frowned as he read the message multiple times.

He twisted his ankle again? What a klutz.

Getting up from the leather seat again, Kurogane pulled out a drawer, reaching for any necessary items he would need for the raid that night. He took gloves just in case it was that hard to get the supplies. After closing the drawer, he stared at the plate of food wearily once more.

Daidouji-san… Kurogane took a sausage and bit into it, grimacing at the oily taste of the meat.

Kurogane opened the biggest window in his room, south of his desk, and took a step onto the wide balcony. He took in a deep breath of the night sky, muttering almost inaudible words that only he himself could hear.

And then, as Kurogane leaned against the railing that bordered the balcony, he jumped off swiftly as if he had done this almost every night.

There was a rather loud splash, some muffled spluttering and then it was silent again.

…

Fai D. Flowright was stumbling through the city's alleyways while carrying two bags of groceries. He grunted as he blindly tripped over a rock on the ground again, cursing quietly as he lost his grip on one of the bags. Picking up the fruits and vegetables he had recently bought, Fai stuffed them in the brown paper bag again before setting off.

"That's it; get the gold spoon, Cane! We can make tons of Euros from that!" someone with a voice deep yet rather high shouted. Cats started screeching at the sudden exclamation and scattered away before Fai's feet.

"Shh! You make too much noise!" another scolded. A light smack was heard and then the previous boy let out a yelp.

"Both of you, shut up!" a boy who was busy doing something ordered, silencing the two. Curious, Fai walked down the alley until the narrow path ended and an apartment covered in vines appeared before him.

Fai looked up and spotted three figures on the roof of the apartment. One, apparently, was trying to break into the house by ripping the roof off, while the other two were fighting over what to get. Fai, being the good guy, dropped his grocery bags, ran up to the building and shouted,

"Hey! You three, get off of that apartment!" he yelled just enough for them to hear but not loud enough to wake up all of Venezia. One of the figures looked down from the roof, the person's head popping out. Fai could barely make out the unruly chestnut hair, but his eyes looked as black as the sky.

"Shh! We're trying to-."

"I know what you're trying to do!" Fai snapped. "It's wrong to steal from other people's house, especially the type of things that people treasure." He placed his hands on his hips, glaring at the boy who was looking at him intensely. During their talk, the third figure had jumped off the roof silently, approaching Fai as he was distracted.

"So get off the roof now before I call someone." Fai huffed and turned to pick up his bags when a cold hand wrapped around his waist, trapping him so he couldn't move. The person behind him took his other hand and placed it over Fai's mouth, shushing him.

"You won't tell anyone about this," the person whispered threateningly, his mouth right beside Fai's ear, "because if you do, you won't be able to see the next sunrise of tomorrow." Fai let out an audible gulp as the person before him slowly let go of him, painstakingly slow. "Understood?"

Unable to find his voice, Fai nodded quickly before running off to grab his bag of groceries and dashing into the alley once again.

Detour, schmetour. I'd rather walk fifteen miles than meet up with that guy again.

He glanced back once to catch the person's eyes. His jaw dropped as he saw the unreadable crimson-like eyes staring back at him and gulped again when he saw the playful smirk plastered on his face. Fai ran for his life.

…

"Oi, Kurogane-sempai!" the boy on the roof called from above, waving his arms in the air. "We still haven't gotten the spoon-!"

"Shh! You can't wake them up!" he scolded in a low whisper, glaring at him.

"Eh, Syaoran, shut up for a moment okay?" the person beside him muttered as the person stood up and dragged the boy away.

"Sakura-chan, let go!" Syaoran whined, kicking his feet in the air and tugging at the extended arm.

"Shut up."

…

Panting, sweating, running, gasping. Fai had finally ended up at his apartment, falling against the wooden door that too was covered in vines. Dreadfully he looked up at the number Fifty Seven that was carved into the wood in gold.

"Okaa-san, I'm home," he called out as he walked into the foyer, kicking off his shoes and shrugging his back pack off. He looked around in the kitchen, frowning. "Eh, okaa-san where are you?"

"Your okaa-san isn't here right now, Fai-kun." Not used to the voice being heard around here, Fai spun around quickly and rudely pointed at the person in front of him.

"Who the he-?"

First, Fai noticed the long, flowing pitch black hair covering the broad shoulders clad in a white, fluffy coat.

"Eh?" The blond jumped up in shock, not taking his eyes off of the being. "Ashura?" he exclaimed.

What? Wait, why… How did he get in? Fai thought as said boy smirked down at him.

"No need to be so surprised, Fai-kun. Your okaa-san let me look over you for the next few days. She's away at Milano for fashion business." Ashura let out a dry chuckle in a rather lady-like way. He waved his hand in the air while beckoning Fai over.

"I made you dinner," he said simply before leaving to set up the tables in the dining room. Fai's feet were still planted onto the ground, his blue eyes wide in shock.

Okaa-san would've told me before she left!

"Well, welcome back, Ashura!" Fai yelled out happily before running into the dining room himself.

…

Kurogane smiled at the treasures before him: golden spoons with gems on the handle, silver carvings engraved onto the handles too.

The boy Syaoran had been drooling over the golden items, touching them lightly as if they were going to break sooner with a careless touch. Sakura on the other hand just glanced over at them once and turned her back against them.

"This is stupid; stupid, stupid, stupid!" she grumbled under her breath as she began kicking pebbles here and there around the empty streets. "Don't we have enough money already?"

Syaoran sighed. "Well, Touya-sempai is still injured, Sakura! You can't forget your own brother." The emerald eyed girl stood still for a moment, just a brief second, but then began kicking the stones again.

"Shut up."

Kurogane placed the spoons into the leather bag once more, handing it over to Syaoran. "Here; go sell it to Celestino tomorrow morning. No less than three hundred Euro per piece, got it?" The younger boy nodded happily.

"Grazie, Kurogane-sempai!" With that the two kids ran off deeper into the alleyway, chasing off mice and pigeons that were still roaming around the land.

The teenager let out a sigh as he rested on an empty crate, legs propped up on top of another one in front of him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, just to catch some fresh air that was rarely found around the busy city of Venezia. After about a minute, Kurogane stood up to leave since he finished his work for the night.

Kicking the small pebbles with his feet, Kurogane made his way into the streets of Venezia and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat. But he stopped when he heard a piano playing off in the distance, somewhere in the apartments around him.

"I'm happy just to be with you

Just to see your smile

So take me

Somewhere far from here

Take me away

… To happiness…"

To Kurogane the song sounded rather depressing as if the singer had lost their true love of their life or something. Something in the back of his clicked as the same person began singing again.

"I'm happy just to be with you

Just to see your smile

So take me

Somewhere far from here

I wish…

For happiness…"

The voice sounded familiar, as if he had heard it five minutes ago. But the only person he's ever heard from was Sakura and Syaoran, and Syaoran didn't sound anything like the boy who was singing now.

And then there was a light tapping noise, as if someone was tapping against the window pane trying to catch his attention. Kurogane glanced up at the apartment he was standing beside and his eyes widened in surprise.

Midnight black hair, past his shoulders, amber eyes more intense than Syaoran's; it was captivating, absolutely gorgeous for a boy. The seventeen year old boy stared at the orbs for seconds until they vanished behind a curtain. It was then that Kurogane returned to reality.

Whoa, he thought simply before walking off. That guy has an amazing voice.

…

"Ashura, what're you looking at?" Fai asked as he shifted on the piano seat. Lazily the teenager craned his neck to stare at him.

"Oh, just this passerby. I must say, he was really cute." Ashura let out a sigh and plopped back down on the bed in the corner of the room. "You should go check him out someday, Fai-kun." Fai's eyes widened at the suggestive tone in Ashura's voice and let out a gasp.

"Y-You're kidding, right? I can't date another guy, that's just against my family rule!" Fai stammered as he stared down at the ivory keys of the piano trying to hide the growing pink stain on his cheeks. Ashura shrugged.

"Bleh, you and your straight ways. Look at me and Yasha; we're fine!" Fai rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Well that's because you pass as a girl." Brown eyes shot a look at the blue ones.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you," he snapped before. Then he waved his hand in the air, pointing to the piano. "Those notes aren't going to play for themselves, you know." Fai muttered inaudible words under his breath before turning to face the piano again.

"Hmph." And then his pale fingers touched the smooth, pearl white keys once more, his bent fingers skillfully dancing across the rows of keys.

"I'm happy just to be with you," Fai sang, his thin pale lips opening and closing, forming the letters of each word. His voice rang in the silent room for a moment before his fingertips went down on the keys again. "Just to see you smile, so please take me to happiness…"

Ashura fell back against the mattress with a soft grunt, listening to Fai sing the whole time. His deeper and matured voice followed, creating a harmony that spun around and twisting together to form music that was so beautiful, it was practically considered as holy compared to others.

"A bird in a cage, a bird without wings…"

"A bird without a voice, a lonely bird."

"So please."

"Take me…"

"To happiness."

…

Kurogane had the words stuck in his head all the way back home. It was ridiculous, it was annoying, it was preposterous; yet it was beautiful in more ways than one. "Take me to happiness," he repeated aloud without knowing it himself as he reached the front door of his house. "There's no such thing as happiness; that person will have a hard time getting there." With a click he turned the golden knob of their house, just to be greeted with a panicking maid.

"Kurogane-sama!" Tomoyo shrieked when he walked in casually, kicking off his boots. The teenager began walking past the younger girl when a rough hand pulled him to the side. A hand came down against his cheek, slapping him roughly.

Two red eyes, similar to Kurogane's, were boring into the teenager's orbs, a snarl on his face. "What did I tell you about jumping out the window and running away like that?" The man's grip on the boy's arm tightened.

"None of your business. You're not my father." Kurogane pulled his arm away, shot a disgusted look at the man staring back and walked up the stairs to his room.

"Kurogane, get back here!" the man shouted, throwing his arms in the air as he heard a slam above them. "Damn boy." A thin woman with long flowing hair, the same colour as Kurogane's hair, walked up to the aggravated man and patted him softly on the back.

"Calm down. He's just a growing boy. You can't punish him for everything." The man shrugged her pale hand off with a huff.

"Yeah well you don't know what he's doing behind our backs," he spat back, eyes glowering. The woman sighed as she held her hands up to her chest.

"I may not know what he's doing out in the real world, but I know what he's doing here. He's my son, after all." Kurogane's mother turned to leave, walking into the living room to pick up a book Kurogane had dropped there earlier in the day.

The young teenager was in his room; math book opened to a random page on the lit desk, and was currently trying to solve the problems on the page without pencil or paper. But he gave up on the third equation when the song from earlier echoed in his mind once more. Sure, he didn't mind it that much but it was distracting him from his… The student paused for a moment and let out a sigh. Admit it, Kurogane, he thought to himself grumpily, what you're doing is utterly insane. Just stop it and take a rest.

So the boy did so, throwing himself onto the silken covers of his bed. He let out a muffled groan as he tried flexing his tense muscles, shifting around in the bed to find a comfortable spot. After a moment of searching, grunting and more stressful groans, the teenager had managed to get entangled in the covers.

He tried sleeping like his conscience had told him too but the song he heard moments ago was still stuck in his head. Shaking his head wildly, Kurogane tried his best to get it out, but it remained, echoing in his half empty mind. With a frustrated cry the high school kid jumped out of bed, put on a pair of socks and threw the door open, stomping his way out of the room, down the stairs, through the hallways and finally to the kitchen.

Instead of sitting down on a chair and getting some uncooked pasta to chew on, he grabbed a carton of milk and chugged it down, some of the drink dripping down his chin. Kurogane paused to breath for a moment, wiping the milk off his chin. Throwing the carton out, the teenager leaned against the refrigerator with a bored look on his face. He had to admit, living in such a big house with a rich family was boring at times unless he was out in the streets.

Then the idea hit him. Properly standing up once more, he dashed for the front door, slipping on a pair of shoes and quietly stepped out of the house into the night.

…

Ashura's asleep, Fai thought happily as he closed the book of music for the final time that night. Pushing away the seat, he walked out of the small room, turning off the lights and closing the door. "Good night, Ashura."

The moment he reached his own bedroom, the blond turned around and made way to the small balcony that held the plants near the bathroom. His footsteps echoed in the silent hallways, sounds muffled by the carpeting on the floor. Once he reached the glass door, he slid it open and stepped outside of the balcony, welcoming the fresh air.

"Ah," he whispered to himself when he picked up a flower pot to place it in the corner of the balcony, "il fiore e bello, no?" But after a few moments of silence in the dark, Fai found it rather boring and unentertaining. He was going to occupy himself with watering the plants, but then a figure suddenly darted from the alleyway, right across the balcony he was standing on.

By instinct the teenager dropped the watering can, pulled off a lid that was covering a staircase leading down to the sidewalk from the balcony, and began running down the stairs. The fact that he was only wearing socks didn't stop him as he began to chase after the figure making way for the other apartments connected to his own. Bumping into wires that held laundry or rats that were scampering around for food, Fai chased after the person in pure curiosity.

A heck lot better than watering plants, he thought, breathing heavily while running in the unlit streets.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so chapitre one of Alleys of Venice is finished. I'm not too proud of it myself, seeing that I got ridiculously bored at the end and just had to make Fai run after the 'shadowy figure'. I have just a few things to go over and… then you can just review. Or you can review and forget about what I have to say. … Or you can just leave and not review, but that's rather harsh.

Notes: Venezia, Napoli, all those are just city-state things in Italy.

Biblioteca is a library in Italian. Simply put.

When Syaoran calls Kurogane 'Cane', it's just a small nickname I named for him; literally means Dog. If you wanted to call him the dog, you'd say Il cane.

And also when Kurogane says that each of the spoon would be about three hundred Euros, it's just the currency in Italy. Euro constantly changes day to day – unless it just stays the same – so I don't know how much one Euro is to American money. But let's just say it's a dollar twenty.

… I just see so many balconies in the movies we have to watch for Italian class; so everyone shall have a balcony! Yay!

The song Fai and Ashura sing is from Clover. To understand it, you must pay close attention. Even I don't get it at times, but the words put together sound very nice.

At the end, Fai goes "Ah, il fiore e bello" he's saying "Ah, the flowers are beautiful." I'm pretty sure that fiore is masculine, so the article would be masculine too. Is there a plural for fiore, or is it just like that? I don't know myself, so…

And there's the end of chapitre one. I hope there won't be as many notes as I have right now, but I only have a lot because I needed to sort stuff out. Good. Review, please!

-Muffinizer, paku.