Contains SPOILERS for...well, pretty much the entire manga. I at least allude to the Tokyo, Celes, and Dream World arcs (and a few others probably) several times. So if you don't wanna ruin the entire series for yourself then please turn away now. You have been forewarned!

On another note, I'm really hoping I did a good job with Kurogane's character. I didn't want to make him sound all mushy-like and I really wanted to write something that would illustrate what Fai truly means to him without him saying the typical "I love you." I wanted this to sound realistic and for Kurogane to remain in-character. Please tell me what you think!

Oh! And yet another note! I got into Tsubasa by watching the dubbed anime. I watched all 52 episodes about a couple years ago (I think) and hated the ending. Hated. Recently, I re-watched the first 42 episodes and watched the OVA's (still dubbed), but I've also gone and read the entire manga so I know what happens and all that. My point is that I will tend to use many dub terms. For example, I believe Kurogane refers to Mokona as "manjuu" or something like that in Japanese, but in this I have him calling Mokona "cream puff." I'm familiar with the famous "Kuro-rin" and "Kuro-sama" nicknames now, but "Kuro-puu," "Kurgy," and "Kuro-cutie" will forever be ingrained in my mind. "Kurger-burger" is just weird.

Confessions of a Ninja

You know I hated your guts when I first met you. Actually, I just thought you were a complete moron at the witch's shop, but once we got to that first world and you opened that big mouth of yours, I wanted to freaking rip your head off! Honestly, Fai, you're the most annoying person I've ever met in my life. The way you always had that stupid ass smile plastered on your face (even when it seriously wasn't called for), the way you always acted so damn cheerful, and those nicknames! You don't call anyone else those ridiculous names! Why me?

That was my first impression. You still get under my skin, by the way! But I guess...some things have changed.

It wasn't very long until I started to realize some things about you. You were running away, you were hiding, you were lying.

And hell, you lied a lot.

I was suspicious of you. Out of our little group, I figured that you were the most two-faced bastard of all of us. The kid and the princess (and especially the cream puff) were easy to read; there wasn't really too much to them...and now that I look back on everything, I'm amazed at how I see everything so differently. But that's off-topic.

I could just tell you were hiding things. One of us would say something that would make you react; your facial expression would change for a split second but you would cover it up again with that outrageous grin like nothing had happened. At first it was a fluke and you just happened to be in my line of vision at the time so I accidentally noticed it. After that, you were always in my line of vision. I started to notice other things like how you'd obviously had previous experience with battle, although it wasn't much of a surprise; I could tell by the way you moved and even the kid noticed it. But you were so reckless to the point that I thought you wanted to get hurt and die. That you didn't care about your life.

Through all of this, you always managed to keep up your facade no matter what. I could tell that (mostly) everyone we'd met along the way all thought the same way as I did when I first met you: that you were an idiot. And you meant for that on purpose. It was bothersome that you even managed to fool me, but nothing can escape me for long.

The more I watched you, the more things changed. I called you out quite a few times, but you kept brushing it off with a smile, a laugh, and a change of topic. But after a while even you started to crack a little under that constant pressure. I was gradually breaking through that stupid mask of yours with a nudge here and a push there. Sometimes, you'd let something slip. And really...what was so bad about being honest?

It was the one part of you that I actually didn't mind.

Somewhere along the way, somehow, for some freakish reason, I came to the point that I'd risk everything to save your life and make you want to save your life. I didn't care what the price was to save you. I wasn't really listening when the witch told me her terms because I knew that no matter what they were, I'd agree to them if only to save you. Call me crazy. The vampire already implied that I was when he questioned why I would agree to being your "game" when I didn't even understand what it meant. On a side note, it's honestly a little disturbing that you drink my blood on a regular basis now, but I guess I don't mind since it's essential to your survival.

You hated me after that. You stopped using your stupid, ridiculous nicknames for me and started calling me by my full name. I can't believe you had the nerve to do that. It pissed me off! That you had the nerve, that is. Not because I missed your nicknames. So don't start getting any ideas!

You hated me and I accepted it. I wanted you to live more than yourself (which isn't saying much), but I paid the price for making that decision for you. Literally. Besides, the tables turned not too long after that.

It wasn't long until it was my turn to hate you.

It would have been so easy to charge right at you with my sword (which you so conveniently made easier to access) and slice that infuriating mouth of yours off your face and cut you in half or pierce my blade right through your skull. At least, it would've been easy if you didn't fight back like you usually did, but no, the one time I wanted to kill you (...well okay, wanted to kill you and actually acted on it), you fight back. Figures. You were Fei Wong Reed's little pawn the entire time. You were screwing with us the entire time. You were a traitor.

You were told by that bastard to kill me if I got in the way.

Hah!

Like I'd ever let you kill me.

Oh yeah, I hated you alright, but not because of something stupid like me feeling hurt and betrayed. I'm a seasoned ninja after all; dealing with spies, traitors, and disloyalty kinda comes with the job sometimes. No, it was because you were being stupid yourself! Honestly, I knew you were a coward, running away from your problems, I knew you were a liar and a fool, but I never thought you were weak enough to give up on your own life because of that man.

You should've been smart enough to realize that he was lying to you! He was manipulating you; couldn't you see that? Idiot!

But I guess you got over that eventually. And I had to lose an arm for you in the process, moron.

Now that I'm looking back, I guess the reason why I suddenly wanted to save your life in Tokyo was because I had started to notice certain things about you without even realizing it. Things like how your eyes were so intense when you were honest and how much I preferred that over your frivolous behaviour simply because it was genuine and true. There were other things too. Like how you act like a fool but you really aren't. You're a master of your own craft. And if you weren't an idiot, it'd be admirable. You can at least hold your own in a fight without needing me to have to come to your rescue all the time like some damsel in distress (I don't know how the kid doesn't get tired of that). You don't need me to constantly worry about your well-being and you don't depend on me for your safety. You know how to take care of yourself; you know how to make your own decisions without being influenced by anyone else (anymore). You have a clever mind and an even quicker mouth. You can even watch my back and I trust you to do that now. I've seen you grow in the short amount of time that I've known you; not physically, but mentally. You've become strong. Strong enough to be my partner; my equal. Not only in battle, but in life as well.

It's also because of you that I've learned the meaning of true strength. And don't expect me to thank you for it or anything!

A lot of the times, things will happen in life without you ever intending for it to happen in the first place. I never even wanted to learn what "true strength" is, but now that I have I'm glad that I did because I've become a better and stronger man. We both have, and it's because we helped and supported each other in our own ways as we walked down that one path side by side to reach our goals. Our paths were so intertwined with each other that things just happened the way they did.

You and I share a hell of an unbreakable bond that'll last a lifetime (because if demons, having an eyeball eaten and an arm cut off, a megalomaniacal bastard, his army of robot soldiers, converging dimensions, and basically the end of the entire universe won't tear us apart, I don't know what will). I could care less what you look like, how much older or younger you may be, or whether you're a man or a woman. I don't give a damn about any of that because no matter what world, time, or dimension, you'll always be Fai D. Fluorite. And I wouldn't have it any other way you idiot.