Notes: So I kind of like alternative universe (AU) stories, a lot. Lately I've been writing/reading a lot of Fai x Yuui Holitsuba fanfiction, and I wanted to try my hand at my own, so, since real-Fai is dead in main-TRC canon, I had to come up with conceivable AU settings in which he could appear. I asked my friends to help me get in the mood by prompting me with various settings, and they responded admirably.

All the stories within this fic are AU and unconnected. They will range in length from 100-2,000 words, be anything from fluff to angst, and they will feature Fai/Yuui, Kurogane/Fai, and Kurogane/Fai/Yuui. I hope you enjoy 'em.

prompt from bottan: roman gladiators

The crowd is still roaring as they exit the amphitheater, Rome's newest darlings dripping with sweat and blood. Other lesser slaves rush forth to take their arms; Fai tosses the shield at one of them, his heavy steel helmet and arm guard following. His gladius he hands over more carefully, knowing full well what could happen otherwise.

His shoulders are shaking and his limbs are heavy and painful; he took a few blows and some scrapes, but otherwise escaped lightly as always. Yuui was not so lucky, and Fai helps him remove his weapons with careful fingers as the slaves swarm around them.

They make it to their cell and he guides Yuui onto the cot, going onto his knees before his brother to trace the cut across Yuui's bare torso. Yuui swallows, his eyes fluttering closed, and Fai calls sharply for wine; the other slaves scatter, closing the door after them, and it is only then that Fai can put his hands to his brother's skin and exert his small stunted remains of magic, chasing infection out of the wound with fire as the restricting tattoo across his back glows sullenly in the gloom.

"Fai, I'm sorry," Yuui says in their mother tongue, and Fai shakes his head silently, indicating that Yuui has nothing to apologize for. They were outnumbered and they won, the two of them back to back against a dozen retiarii, even though one of them took Yuui's sword with his net at the very start. Twelve bodies lay dead on the sand, and they stood back to back while the crowd sang with joy and blood thirst.

He presses his thumbs to Yuui's sides and dips his head, touching his cheek to Yuui's knees, and then begins to unlace his sandals without looking. Yuui's hand settles in his hair - stiff and matted with blood, he will ask for water tonight to wash it - and strokes nonetheless.

"You're alive," Fai says. "That's all that matters."