He staggered and fell against the wall, sliding down, hands across the large gash on his stomach. The wall was cold, smooth, and grey, and the only light came from the few places where the roof had caved in. It was quiet; he heard no footsteps, just saw Fai's feet appear in front of him as he stared at the ground.

He looked up at as Fai squatted down and reached for him, to pull one of Kurogane's hands away and bring it to his mouth to lick away the blood with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" Kurogane demanded of him, but Fai only smiled and let go of his hand.

"Let me see," he said, and pushed Kurogane's other hand away from the wound as he leaned down to look. Kurogane flinched as Fai touched the cut, ran his hand over it, then stared at Kurogane with a smile and licked the blood from his palm, smearing it over his face in the process.

"You taste good," Fai whispered as he licked the blood off his lips, then smiled more widely – more crazily. "Bleed for me," he urged as he extended his fingernails, razor-sharp, and plunged them into Kurogane's stomach. He twisted, then pulled them out as Kurogane doubled up in pain. Blood dripped down to the dusty floor.

Fai retracted his nails, then slid his fingers underneath Kurogane's chin, bringing his head up so that they were eye to eye.

"More," he said, his smile never faltering. "Give me more. I want more." He let go of Kurogane's chin and brought his hand back, fingers together, and extended his nails again. In one swift motion he plunged them into Kurogane's chest.

The agony was intense, almost unbearable, but somehow he bore it. He could feel and yet not feel it as Fai cut through his skin and muscle, cracking ribs as he cut out Kurogane's heart.

Kurogane watched as it was pulled from his chest, still beating, and Fai brought it to his mouth. It reminded of how Syaoran had eaten Fai's eye, a disturbingly clear but fleeting thought. As Fai opened his mouth to take a bite, everything went black.

Kurogane awoke in a cold sweat, heart pounding. His hands immediately flew to his chest, seeking – but there was no hole there, he was intact. Trembling, he sat up and wiped the sweat from his face with a hand. After a few minutes he got up, fumbling around in the dark, and made his way to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water.

He stared into the bottom of the sink basin for a long while, water dripping down off his hair and face as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He'd been having strange dreams lately, disturbing dreams, but so far none of them had been quite like this. This one had been so realistic, so painful – his stomach and chest ached with a phantom pain where Fai's nails had pierced and cut him, though it was quickly receding. But more disturbing than that had been the Fai in the dream – his expression. That same unchanging fake smile, but somehow... different.

Eventually he reached for a towel and dried his face, then looked at himself in the mirror for a few moments, questioning his reflection, then went back to bed.

#

"Morning, Kurogane!" Fai chirped at him as he entered the small kitchen of the apartment where they were staying and sat down. When he didn't get a response, Fai gave him a closer look. "What's wrong? You look tired. Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"Not really," Kurogane admitted. "I... I had a bad dream, and then I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Oh? What about? You can tell me," Fai said, but then was interrupted as Syaoran and Sakura appeared for breakfast and he greeted them cheerfully.

"It's... nothing," Kurogane said with a shake of his head. With a knowing smile, Fai turned back to the stove.

#

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"About what?"

"The dream you had last night, silly," Fai said with a smile. They were alone; Syaoran and Sakura had gone out to get more groceries for dinner, and collect information.

"It's really nothing..." Kurogane started, but Fai would have none of that.

"Come on, you can tell me. It's just a dream, after all."

"Just a dream..." he sighed. "I don't know what was more disturbing about it – that it felt so real, or what happened. It's not the first dream like this I've had lately, but..."

"What happened in it, then?" Fai asked.

Kurogane leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling as he ran his fingers through his hair. "It was about you. I was in some strange place – some ruined building or something – and I was wounded. I don't know how it happened; it was just there. Then you came, and..." he faltered, trailed off. Fai waited patiently for him to continue as he watched Kurogane's troubled expression. He took a deep breath. "You – you tore my heart out, and were going to eat it. And then I woke up."

"That's all?" Fai asked, sounding disappointed. "That's what you got all worked up and couldn't sleep over?"

"I told you, it wasn't like a normal dream," Kurogane insisted, looking at him in disbelief. "When I had it, it was like it was completely real. I can remember everything perfectly. The pain was real. Everything was real – except then I woke up and it wasn't."

"Hmm," Fai said, and bit his lip as he thought. "I know! Maybe it's just because we've all been so stressed lately... since Tokyo. We haven't really had any time to rest, it's just been one world after another. Maybe that's why you've been having these weird dreams," Fai suggested with a smile, pleased at explanation.

"Maybe," Kurogane responded glumly, then started and stared in fearful fascination as Fai extended his nails in front of Kurogane's face. "What are you –"

Fai drew the point of one nail across the top of Kurogane's exposed collarbone, leaving a trail of red along his skin where the blood beaded up at the surface, and then he bent down to lick it up as he retracted his nails.

"Don't freak me out like that," Kurogane scolded him in a wavering voice.

Fai chuckled as he licked up the last drops of blood. "Payback, Kurogane. Payback."