written for livejournal's 'where are they now' meme, in which people could request a story and ask to see what happened a certain amount of time after its ending. cloverfield asked for 'the next world they go to'.

It was a relief when Mokana's earring lit up. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the world itself, but the wolf was fucking irritating and Kurogane would be glad to be away from it.

"You are the only person I know who could have a feud with his own soul," Fai said, amused.

"It's annoying," Kurogane replied. He was packing his belongings, neatly to keep them from being damaged, unlike the idiot peacock he slept with who just threw them into their bags and used his magic to keep them from looking like a pile of creases afterward. It seemed a waste of time to Kurogane.

"So are you," his wolf snapped back. It was sitting by the door, watching them. Fai's ferret was wrapped still around his throat.

"Shut up," Kurogane told it. "I can't wait to get rid of you."

"Maybe I'll be getting rid of you," said the wolf grumpily.

"Kuro-chan and Kuro-wolf are so similar," said Fai's daemon with some glee as her other half hummed agreement. Fai was pushing their beds apart, back to the way they had been when they were given the room.

"My name is not Kuro-wolf!" the wolf snapped. "Keep that up, tidbit, and maybe I'll -"

"Faiiiii," wailed the ferret. "He's being mean to us."

"He's a mean daemon," Fai agreed.

"He's rude," Kurogane snarled. "Rude and scruffy and too damn nosey."

"I'm your soul, idiot," said the wolf. "There's no point trying to shut me out of your bedroom."

"You could take a hint," Kurogane said, throwing his socks at his daemon, who simply caught them out of the air and trotted past him to leap onto Fai's bed and dropped them into Fai's bag. Fai made a pleased noise and scratched the wolf behind the ears, a deliciously intimate sensation that made Kurogane shiver all over.

A soft call came from the hallway and Syaoran's daemon flew through the open door, alighting on the back of the chair with mighty beats of her wings. She cocked her head, angling a thoughtful look at them through her wide golden eyes. Her talons were wrapped tightly around her perch.

"Hello there," Fai said lightly. "Is Syaoran-kun ready to go?"

"Yes, he is," she said politely. She could go much further from her human than theirs could, although when they'd asked Lyra why this was so she had gotten this sad look on her face and looked at Syaoran with haunted eyes before changing the topic. "He's waiting for you in the main hall."

"Well, I think we're both about ready," Fai said, leaning on his bag so he could shut it. Kurogane's wolf jumped off his bed and seized Ginryuu in its jaws.

"Yeah, me too," Kurogane said, hefting his bag and narrowing his eyes at his daemon. Fai sigh and stroked his ferret, who made a small noise and nipped at his fingers. "C'mon, let's go."

Fai opened the window to let Syaoran's falcon out; although she could fly in the hallways it was harder for her than the glide down to the main hall's room was. He closed it once she had gone and threw his bag over his shoulder. Kurogane held the door for him and shut it after him. "Is Kuro-wolf such a bother to you, Kuro-grumpy?" he asked as they made their way through the university's corridors. The daemon pricked its ears up but didn't say anything, couldn't with the sword in its mouth.

"Yes," Kurogane said, glaring at it.

"We didn't even get a chance to name them," Fai said sadly. The scholar had told them most daemons knew their names when they were made, but theirs, having only been 'discovered' recently, were an exception. She had known one other like them, she said, and a witch had named his daemon for him. Fai seemed hung up on being the one to bestow a name upon the wolf, although Kurogane had put his foot down, knowing both that the daemon would be gone when they left this world like the kudans had when they left Hanshin and that Fai would choose a stupid fucking nickname for it.

"You'll live," he replied, and Fai looked at him with knowing eyes.

"It seems fairly obvious to me that Kuro-puppy is so grumpy with Kuro-wolfy because Kuro-wolfy is too like him," he said. "What will you do if they don't go away when we change worlds?"

Kurogane stopped in the middle of the corridor, forcing Fai to turn around and look back at him. "Could that happen?" he asked, urgently. It wasn't so much the constant snarking of the damn wolf that made the idea sit uncomfortably with him, it was the thought of an enemy being able to see his soul and act accordingly.

Fai smiled and shrugged, and Kurogane narrowed his eyes. The wolf came to his side then, its ears pricked up; it nuzzled against Fai's legs, causing Kurogane to grit his teeth and swear at it in a low voice. It ignored him haughtily.

"Kuro-wolfy is so sweet," Fai crooned, and Kurogane rolled his eyes and seized Ginryuu from its mouth, stomping his way down the corridor. Fai's laughter rang out behind him loud and clear.

Lyra and Syaoran were talking when they arrived, sitting opposite each other at a long table still littered with breakfast debris. Their heads were bowed, brown hair and dark gold mixed, as they peered over a bronze clock-like object in Lyra's hands. Syaoran's falcon was sitting on the chair next to him; Mokana was examining the clock thing with Lyra's daemon.

"Fai," the falcon called when she caught sight of them. "Kurogane."

"There you are," Syaoran said, smiling. He turned his attention back to Lyra, bowing to her even as he stood up. His falcon flew to his shoulder. "I wish I could stay and see more of it, Miss. I'll keep in mind what you said about the underworld."

"Good luck," she replied, smiling.

"Goodbye," echoed her daemon.

"You ready to go, kid?" Kurogane said, and Syaoran nodded. He came to stand with them as Mokana lit up. Kurogane's daemon leaned against him heavily; he looked and saw Fai had his ferret in his hands, held up to his mouth, his lips moving as he murmured something into her ears. He looked down at his wolf, which looked up at him, its ears going back.

"What," it said.

"I guess you could be worse," Kurogane told it - him.

"You too," he said, and then the world was fading away from them in a blur as they were pulled backward, lights and colors speeding away.

The journey ended in water and Kurogane reacted instinctively; it wasn't the first time Mokana had landed them in an ocean. He looked around for the light source, scooped up the nearest body - light, small: Mokana - and forced his way to the surface with powerful kicks of his legs. His wet hair had plastered itself to his eyes and he shook his head to clear them as he gasped in air. Fai surfaced inches away from him, sucking in deep breaths; he looked ridiculous, like a drowned rat. "You okay, pest?" Kurogane asked, looking down to check on the cream puff.

Fai's ferret looked even more ridiculous wet than its master did.

"Oh no," Kurogane said.

"I like pest," said the ferret. "That can be my name!"

"Kuro-fluffy does a good doggy paddle," Fai said, grinning, and Kurogane looked over to see his wolf doing just that. Syaoran's falcon was resting on his head, looking miserable. Her feathers were soaked through.

"Why does this always happen to me," Kurogane groaned as Syaoran splashed over and took his bird gingerly from the wolf, careful not to touch him in the process.

"Because it's funny," Fai said sweetly, paddling over to Kurogane. "Can I have Pest back, please? It's not that I object to you having your hands all over her, it's just inconvenient when we're in the middle of the ocean and I can't tear your clothes off and fuck you."

"Oh, god," Syaoran said in a small appalled voice.

"I hate you all," Kurogane said.