[A/N] TheHatterMaddox: RaddxRika, take it away!

RaddxRika: …. Okay then, I will. Okay, so me and Maddie made this out of sheer boredom. This ficlet is going to be on BOTH of our accounts, for reference. Anyway. None of us are writing any specific parts/characters—we just pass the laptop back and forth until we get something we like. This is my first published fic, and I urge you to review! Also note- this is boy/boy, yaoi, and rated M for a REASON. Later chapters, my fangirls… ;)

[Fai]It took about three seconds. Maybe three and a half. Four. Four seconds for everything I believed I lived my life for, everything I thought I knew about myself to be destroyed. Everything, gone in seconds.

The men were thugs, but they were better than most mercenaries. More stealthy, and less reliant on brute force. They snuck up on us while we were trying to get an unwell Sakura to safety, six of them and by the time Kurogane and I realized halfway down a dead-end alley it was too late.

Kurogane took on the leader- who didn't seem interested in fighting any of the rest of us anyway. Syaoran hid Sakura somewhere; something I was only half aware of, as they were already on me. Next thing I knew we were back to back, holding them off and knocking out a few. It wasn't hard- fighting isn't something I need to actually think about- but I did have to pay attention, or I was going to get hurt.

Then, one of them found Sakura. I don't think Syaoran realized he had moved until he had already cut off the man's arm. Problem is- neither did I. Unfortunately, the man behind me did. I began to turn and I had enough time to see his sword descending in a perfectly timed swing that would have cut me right in half. Then there was black. And red.

Kuro-puu, swordless and dressed in the soft, unprotective clothing of the current world had jumped in, a second before the blow would have killed me. I stared. His eyes were red. So was the blood. He wobbled. He fell. That was three seconds.

It took the other half a second for my raw fear and blood boiling rage to pass my lips in a whistle that wasn't legal in any place that knew it existed. It took far less than that for me to pound him, even if he was dead. One punch, right to the center of what used to be a face. A swift kick, knocking him back into a wall, where he crumpled in a bloody heap. I knew I was shaking. I couldn't stop.

I turned, I smiled at Syaoran who had turned a second too late to see what had happened, and I walked. Every step was eons long, years separating me from him. But I did it- I had slipped enough already.

"Wha-" Syaoran was confused. Why wouldn't he be? After all, I didn't use magic. Didn't use to use magic. I dropped to my knees and I pulled his head into my lap, gentle even though my fingers were shaking. He didn't look at me- didn't glare, or grumble, or complain, even as I smoothed his hair back out of his face. A tear fell on his cloak- he insisted on wearing it, even here. Four seconds. It's brother fell on Kuro-tan's now-pale cheek. If I hadn't forced myself to breathe, I was sure I would have passed out from lack of oxygen. Even so, I wasn't sure how the air passed through the knot in my chest that made it seem that my throat was closing.

"Kuro-myu did it." I didn't know what I was saying, just things so he wouldn't bother me. So he would leave us alone. It was wrong. I didn't care. My voice shook, at least as much as the rest of my body, if not more. It probably terrified Syaoran. It definitely worried Sakura. I couldn't imagine why it would have ever mattered without him.

I think he said something. I'm not sure what. I don't know how we got back to our rooms, just that I carried him all the way- I didn't see anything else. I didn't hear, or think, if I could help it. Just healing spells- not my specialty, but I knew some. Most require a sacrifice, some small others not. At that point, I would have paid anything. That's when I stopped thinking altogether- anything else would have been too much. I wasn't even shaking anymore. There wasn't enough left of me in one piece for that.

[Kurogane]The idiot had almost gotten himself killed. Not watching his back, and some son of a bitch had tried to cut him in half. I didn't know I'd moved to block him until I saw the blood everywhere. My blood. I tried to keep standing, but couldn't, and I fell to ground. My sight was fuzzy, getting blacker around the edges. I figured, based on past experience and the feel of the wound that I had almost exactly a minute before I passed out.

Where was the kid? From the floor, all I could see where black boots- we were all wearing those, us and them. There was a thud, someone hitting something. Hard. I would have grinned if I could, but my face wasn't cooperating. Probably not a good sign as to how much blood I was losing.

I heard a whistle, far away and too high and ugly sounding. It hurt my ears, a stabbing sort of sound. The mage. So he'd finally decided to protect himself. It was about time. The pain was getting worse, eating away at upper body and nagging ay my concentration, but I was good at ignoring pain- they'd taught us that early. I shoved it away.

After a few moments I could hear footsteps that echoed wrong, they way they would sound through water. There were shapes moving in my sight, but I couldn't tell what they were anymore.

Something moved me, and though I couldn't see anything more than vague blobs of color, I could still feel their cool hands shaking. The kid then maybe? Or the girl? It couldn't have been the mage- damned idiot never stopped smiling. Then, instead of the cold hard cobble-stones pressed against my fore-head, my head was resting on something warm, soft. There were hands, cool on my fevered skin, brushing an irritating piece of hair from my face. Something warm fell on my shoulder, and my cheek- I hoped it wasn't blood.

I could hear them though I couldn't make out any words - the mage, the kid, the princess and even the pork bun. Even with my hearing almost gone, it's obnoxious voice came through loud and clear. I could see the yellowy-blond color of the mages hair and a white blob that was his unnaturally pale skin. The last thing I saw before everything went black was his eyes, the same (also unnatural) shockingly blue eyes, the only thing that was still clear. The only thing that hadn't blurred. Then I was gone.

[Fai]I didn't cry. But I didn't eat, or move, or talk, either. Syaoran had come in and sat with me by Kuro-tan's bed. He didn't try to make me talk, but put his hand on my shoulder, staying like that ten minutes before leaving. I didn't even glance at him waiting for the comfortable solitude to be returned to me, and the next time he came in, he sat across from me on the other side of the bed instead. Sakura came in often, with soup for us, and tea for me. I smiled at her, nodded, and threw the tea out the window the moment she left. Mokona came and went. I barely noticed. I was too afraid of him not being able to swallow if to give Kuro any soup, though I dripped some water into his dry mouth between breaths that were too jagged, too dry and too labored.

I didn't want the food, or the throwing-up I felt sure would follow it. I didn't want the sympathy. I didn't deserve the sympathy. Sakura washed Kuro's blood off of my hands in a small bowl, if only literally. Syaoran made me change clothes, but I insisted on doing it in the room, so he left rather than making me. I hated that there wasn't a mark on my skin. I wanted to fix that awful mistake, but I was too afraid. Kuro had gotten hurt to keep me that way, and I couldn't nullify his sacrifice out of selfishness. Cowardice. I wasn't capable of much more. Or even much different. It was my life's story. I figured it always would be.

[A/N]RaddxRika: **Throws laptop at Maddies' head** YOUR EFFING TURN THIS IS HARD!

TheHatter: OWW! **rubs head** You could have asked **sniffle**. So, now that Rika's dealt out her daily dosage of abuse, one with MY author's notes. Well, for one thing this is the first time I've ever co-written something. And (despite the high pain threshold required to survive) it has worked out fantastically! Almost effortless (eccept doding the missiles- she has a strong right arm. And left arm. But mostly right). JK people- please don't kill Rika. I need her to write this. Anyway, I love Kuro and Fai. If you read this far, I'm sure you do to! So, if you want more, review- it's how we know we're doing something right! And keep reading fangirls- it will come. You know what I mean.

TheHatter

RxR: Wow. So… Anyways, we promise lemons, whole baskets of them.

THM: **Jumps in front of and breaks in** And limes!

RxR: And limes. And all citrus. NOW LEAVE! **Throws out window** Bye, readers! Thanks for reading my first (published) fic ever!Come back soon~~~!

THM: **shouts from far, far away** (I told you she had a strong right-and left- arm!) GOOD-BYE MY FANS!

RxR: **shuts window**