The first part of this fic is to all of you who've ever taken the city bus ^^ I was partially inspired when I rode the bus this morning. Mostly though I was just going through all my plot bunnies and felt like finishing this one...My effort should be going towards other fics I need to finish but...I really enjoyed writing this.

So I hope you enjoy reading it! ^^

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but the Plot ^^ All characters belong to CLAMP

He checked his watch and scowled.

It was bad enough that he was already running behind. Now of all days the bus decides to run late as well! Of course it had to be today. Today was the early morning staff meeting at the school. That damn witch of a principal Yuko, was so adamant about everyone being there she threatened a pay decrease if they didn't show up.

Kurogane rubbed his temples. He never usually ran late. Quite the opposite actually, he was always early or on time. There was some unexpected construction near his house so he had to take a pretty long detour to the bus stop…only to miss the bus that would have gotten him to his workplace on time. He cursed.

Damn it all! The next bus wouldn't come for another half hour. What's worse is that it's been over 45 minutes since he began waiting. He checked his watch again. When he was impatient like this time never moved forward. He heaved an aggravated sigh of relief when he finally saw the top of the bus over the horizon.

Digging out his money, he checked his watch again. He had approximately 15 minutes to get to work if he was going to make it there on time. He sighed. Work was 30 minutes away, not including all the extra stops the bus would have to make from here on out.

Looked like he was getting a pay reduction.

Slowly accepting that fact, he slid the money into the machine and looked around for a seat. It was still early morning so it wasn't unusual to see an abundant amount of people making their way to work, but what was odd was that the only seat left was one next to a sleeping blonde man in a long white coat.

He quirked his eyebrow as he made his way to the vacant seat.

He eyed the man strangely. He must have been foreign or had foreign lineage. Blonde's weren't seen very often in Japan. That might have explained why no one else wanted to sit next to him and that even still, people were staring. It didn't matter to him one way or the other. All he cared about was that he had been standing outside in the harsh autumn breeze and was thankful for a chance to sit down.

The man next to him made a noise. Kurogane wondered idly if the man was waking up. To his surprise he wasn't waking up, just adjusting his position. Instead of resting his face against the cold plastic window…he tilted the other way and leaned against the Japanese man next to him. Kurogane flinched.

"What the hell?" he muttered. A few people surrounding them chuckled. He ignored them. Carefully he pushed the blonde away from him and back into the window. The man made a resulting whine and adjusted himself again. He stretched his legs out to the side, consequently entangling them in Kurogane's.

The taller man stood still and stared at him, appalled. Was this man seriously asleep? Or was he awake and TRYING to test Kurogane's nerves? With a harsh sigh, he non too gently kicked the man's legs back to his side. He paused when the blonde made no move or show of discomfort. Sensing that it was safe to let his guard down he relaxed into his seat and fixated his eyes on the streets.

He eyed the people around him as the blond man slept. A few had looks of amusement on their faces while others kept themselves turned away. Maybe this was the real reason why no one sat next to him. His fidgeting was annoying enough to drive anyone away. Unfortunately for Kurogane, more and more people were gathering onto the bus and standing. There was little chance of him being able to escape the blonde in this crowd.

He looked over at the man briefly. He didn't seem to be uncomfortable anymore and he wasn't moving that much. For a moment he thought that he could finally get some peace and not worry about strange sleeping men on the bus.

Until the bus drove through a small pothole in the road.

The effect of the bump hiked many passengers out of their seats and others off balance. While the bus driver waved a hand toward the passengers apologetically, Kurogane felt a warm weight on his shoulder. He frowned when he saw that the weight was the blonde man again, knocked over from his place by the window…and still asleep.

What kind of idiot slept through something like that?

Kurogane groaned in aggravation and rubbed his brows together. He might as well just let the idiot sleep on him until he had to leave. It wouldn't be long now anyway and whenever he tried to move him, something worse resulted from it anyway. He scoffed as he tilted the smaller man's head away from his so he didn't breathe on him.

Kurogane noticed that there were several stops from where he was to where he was going. He glanced down at the blonde man again and wondered whether he had missed his stop or not. It wouldn't be surprising considering he had slept like a log all this time. Kurogane hesitated as he placed his hand on the blonde. How do you wake up someone this heavily asleep?

"oi." he said, shaking the man's shoulder slightly. No response. He shook a little harder.

"Oi." he said a bit louder. The man moaned something in his sleep.

"nn…Yu…ui…" he said, his face contorting slightly. Kurogane paused.

Who the hell was Yuui? His girlfriend?

"Oi! Idiot. Wake Up. You might have missed your stop." he said, shaking the man's shoulder again. This time the man made a move that stunned even Kurogane. He brought his arms around Kurogane's neck and nuzzled his face between his shoulder and chin.

"Don't….wanna…Yuui…" he whined. Kurogane froze. His face heated slightly at the foreign contact. The light breath ghosting over his neck wasn't that unpleasant either. He glared.

"H-hey! Moron! Wake up!" he nearly shouted. By this time he had thoroughly attracted the attention of most of the passengers around him. All of which were sniggering under their breath. He sent them glares as well.

He pushed the sleeping man away from him rather harshly, successfully banging his head against the window. Kurogane couldn't believe it. After a slight grimace on his face…he went back to sleep! What was even worse was the fact that he slumped himself against Kurogane again.

Kurogane just stared at him…shell shocked. How could anyone sleep that heavily! It just didn't make sense to him! What kind of idiot could…

Unless he couldn't wake up.

He looked at the blonde again. Judging from his expression he didn't seem to be in any pain and his complexion was clear. He brought the back of his hand to the man's forehead. No fever. Was he really just a heavy sleeper? Or was there something medically wrong with him? He couldn't tell.

Looking up briefly he saw that his stop was slowly approaching. He hesitated before be made a quick decision to pull the "Stop Requested" cord and carry the man with him. There was a hospital in the direction of the school he worked at so he could drop the man off there. It would also give him an excuse as to why he didn't attend the staff meeting that morning.

He slung the man's arm over his neck and used his other hand to hang onto the blonde's waist. Several people looked at him oddly as he passed them. He had to admit that it looked pretty suspicious which, however convenient it was for him, also slightly unnerved him that no one spoke up about it. Even the bus driver remained silent as Kurogane dragged himself and the blonde off the vehicle. Were they really not going to say anything as one strange man stole away another strange man while he was asleep? He wasn't a deplorable person but what if he was? This idiot obviously couldn't detect a threat if his life depended on it…irony.

He shook the blonde again in another attempt to wake him up. Nothing. Not even a whine this time. He smacked him a bit for a reaction. Nothing. He frowned. Something had to be seriously wrong with this man.

He sighed as he knelt down and adjust the blonde so he was laying on his back. It was a much easier way to carry him and didn't look too suspicious. It was several blocks uphill until he reached the school and the hospital was just a block further than that. Maybe he should get him to the school nurse instead?

He shook his head. No way. This man needed a doctor. A high school nurse would be useless in his situation.

He was lucky the blonde was light. With all the years of kendo training in his youth and adulthood, Kurogane was anything but scrawny, but carrying another adult male uphill several blocks would eventually take it's toll. At one point the set the blonde down so he could tie his P.E. sweater around his waist. He took the chance to try to wake the blonde again. He even went as far as shouting in his face and a few harmless slaps. He winced which gave Kurogane a bit of hope that he was finally awakening. When his face relaxed back into sleep he frowned.

Groaning in aggravation, he continued his trek uphill. After all this labor, the cold breeze actually felt good. He briefly looked at the blonde and lazily wondered if he was cold. He seemed to be wearing a turtleneck under his long white coat but Kurogane couldn't ignore the little movements he made to curl himself into his back.

He stopped again and strategically draped his sweater over the blonde and made sure it stayed in place as he walked. He didn't try to wake him up again. He knew he should but had a feeling that he'd be just as unsuccessful as his previous attempts.

He saw the school campus coming into view. The biggest giveaway were the many cherry blossom trees that lined the road. They only bloomed for a short time in the spring so now, in autumn, they were practically bare. It was getting towards the beginning of winter after all. There were some stray leaves that flowed with the breeze but not many.

He heard the man behind him make a small noise. Kurogane paid little attention to it. He had made several grumbles and moans already. Sometimes they were coherent words but mostly it was just groggy mumbles. They were the only thing that told Kurogane the man was still alive. He humored the blonde and began talking to him.

"You finally awake?" he asked sarcastically, not expecting a response.

"Ah, I appreciate the ride but…who exactly are you?" an airy, confused voice sounded from behind him. His eyes widened. In his surprise he suddenly dropped the man and spun around.

The nameless blonde fell unceremoniously on his bottom, making a slight grimace. He rubbed his behind as he cast Kurogane a hesitant smile.

"You could have warned me Mr. Kidnapper." he chuckled. Kurogane's jaw dropped, an utter look of incredulity on his face.

"WHAT THE HELL BASTARD! I'm no kidnapper! You were passed out on the goddamn bus like you were in a fucking coma!" he shouted, outraged. After all he'd done to try to wake the blonde… NOW he decides to just wake up!

The man tilted his head to the side before realization dawned on him and he chuckled nervously. Slowly he dusted himself off and stood up.

"I see now. I'm sorry for worrying you then. I didn't sleep at all last night. There's something that I was preparing for today and I guess I just got too nervous to sleep." he chuckled. Kurogane growled irately and rubbed his temples together. THAT was his excuse? And after all he did for the man. Damn idiot. Said idiot inched closer to Kurogane. He tilted his head to try to make eye contact as Kurogane hung his head toward the ground.

"Ah, Mr. Kidnapper. I'd like to not have to call you that. Do you have a name?" he inquired. Kurogane scoffed as he looked up. He supposed he owed the man at least that much. It was his decision to take him off that bus. He could've left him there and let him realize that he was late for whatever he was worried about. When he thought about it like that, he did sound like a kidnapper. He sighed.

"Kurogane. My name is Kurogane Suwa." he said. The blonde smiled.

"And I am Fai D. Flourite." he said. Kurogane looked at him oddly. Fai noticed this and quirked his eyebrow.

"What is it?" he asked. Kurogane shook his head.

"Nothing." he said as he turned around and started walking toward the school again.

"Sorry about the confusion. Good luck to you." he said, waving a dismissive hand towards the blonde behind him. When he heard no response he turned slightly. Fai was following him. He turned around.

"What?" he asked. Fai smiled.

"I'm curious. What is it about my name that you find odd?" he asked. Kurogane flushed slightly.

"I didn't say your name was odd." he retorted. Fai chuckled.

"It was your expression." he said. The taller man shook his head and resumed walking.

"Wait Kuro-tan!" Fai shouted. Kurogane stopped. He looked at the man appalled.

"What did you just call me!" he shouted. Fai laughed, putting his hands up in defeat.

"Kuro-tan. I had to say something to get your attention." he said. Kurogane frowned.

"You want to know what I think of your name?" he asked. Fai nodded. Kurogane rolled his eyes. It was fine if he was a bit later than he already was. Hopefully he missed the meeting entirely.

"You have three names." he said. Fai quirked his eyebrow.

"You mean First, Middle, Last?" he clarified. Kurogane nodded. He hesitated as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I suppose I was wondering what country you came from. People aren't born with three names in Japan." he said. Fai smiled as he walked beside him, encouraging the other to do the same. As they both walked toward the school as Fai continued the conversation.

"I was born in France. I moved here a few months ago with…someone." he hesitated. Before Kurogane could sense the mood and stop himself he asked.

"With Yuui?" he asked. Both his and Fai's eyes widened. He cursed himself for letting it slip that he knew that name. It wasn't any of his business.

"H-How did you know that?" he asked. Kurogane sighed and figured the truth was the best option here.

"You talk in your sleep." he said. After a moment of letting it sink in, Fai chuckled.

"Yuui's told me that before too." he said. Kurogane remained silent. He just met this man. And after letting slip that he knew something about him he hadn't told him….it was better not to pry, so he didn't ask who Yuui was.

"You said you had something important to go to today. Aren't you going to go to that?" he asked. Fai smiled.

"I am. But there's still two things that I want to know first." he said. Kurogane quirked his eyebrow at him but nodded.

"Fine." he said. Fai turned around and began walking backwards so he was facing Kurogane, ignoring the man's confused looks.

"Why did you take me off the bus?" he asked. Kurogane stopped and looked away. Fai stopped as well. He smiled when he saw that Kurogane was trying to manage an embarrassed blush on his face. He looked back at the blonde.

"I had tried waking you up, but when you didn't I thought you were sick, or something. There's a hospital close to the school I work at so I was going to take you there." he said, beginning to walk forward again. Fai watched him and smiled as he stepped in pace beside the man again.

"Well it looks like Kuro-tan may have a gruff exterior but inside he's just a softhearted and sensitive-"

"Don't you EVEN finish that sentence!" Kurogane shouted irately. Fai laughed.

"Wah! Kuro-tan's angry!" he mocked. Kurogane ground his teeth.

"Will you knock it off! It's Kurogane idiot!" he shouted. Fai pouted.

"That's not a nice thing to say to someone you just met." he said. Kurogane huffed.

"You're one to talk, spouting weird names like that." he said brusquely. Fai smiled.

"They're called nicknames Kuro-tan. Fine, then how about Kuro-sama? Or maybe Kuro-run? Kuro-pon?" he asked. Kurogane clenched his fists.

"Are you mocking me?" he said through gritted teeth. Fai shook his head.

"Not at all. I sincerely think they suit you." he chuckled.

"What the hell makes you think that!" he shouted. Fai laughed.

"Ne, Kuro-sama. Don't you want to know the second thing I wanted to ask you?" he asked. Kurogane rolled his eyes.

"It's Kurogane." he said. Fai smiled.

"You haven't noticed yet have you?" he asked. Kurogane looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean?"

Fai smiled. As if by the blonde's will, a light but cold gust of autumn wind blew past them. Kurogane sneezed as a result. He paused as he noticed that his arms and chest felt abnormally cold. He looked down to find that he was only wearing his undershirt. His sweater was…

He glanced at Fai. The blonde smiled as he held out Kurogane's sweater he was hiding behind his back.

"Kuro-sama finally noticed!" he chimed. Kurogane blushed as he swiped back his sweater. Fai laughed.

"Such a shame. Kuro-run really was a sight to look at." he joked. Kurogane huffed.

"Shut up." he said, pulling it on.

The two walked in silence for a while. The school wasn't much further away. Kurogane would glance at the blonde every once in a while. Didn't he say he needed to be somewhere? Why doesn't he just go?

"Ne Kuro-sama…" Fai said. Kurogane tensed at the name.

"For the last time it's Kurogane!" he said vehemently. Fai smiled, ignoring him.

"You said that you worked at a school. What do you do?" he asked. Kurogane was taken aback. They had just passed the campus gates and approaching the front door. Kurogane stopped.

"I teach P.E. here." he said. Fai's eyes widened.

"You teach? That's surprising. Kuro-tan looks like the type to be a school janitor." he laughed. Kurogane clenched his teeth.

"What the hell! I'm a damn good teacher!"

"That may be so, but you're a horrible employee." a woman's voice said, disapproval laced through her words.

Kurogane paled. He recognized that voice all too well. He shut his eyes, the vein in his temple throbbing. Maybe if he willed it hard enough she'll go away.

"I'm still here…Kurogane-sensei." the woman said, mocking. Kurogane cursed. He swore she could read minds. Hence why he always called her 'witch'. The tall curvaceous woman glared dangerously at Kurogane.

"I told all the staff to be here at 7." she scolded, stalking towards him. Kurogane groaned inwardly. She was the last person he wanted to deal with. Fai raised his hand as if to intervene.

"I'm sorry. I believe that it's my fault. Mr. Kuro-sama-sensei was doing me a favor this morning." he said. She turned her attention to Fai and smiled. Kurogane glared at Fai. Not only had he just addressed him with an absurdly ridiculous nickname in front of his employer…but he phrased the rest of it way too loosely. There was bound to be a misunderstanding. Kurogane counted his assumptions as correct when he saw the woman's lecherous grin. He could feel his pulse increase and that vein in his forehead throb even more.

"Well, and who might you be? An…acquaintance of Kurogane-sensei?" the woman asked. Fai smiled.

"That's right. My name is Fai D. Flourite. I met Kuro-sama a little while ago." the blonde said. Kurogane rubbed his temples as he pleaded the blonde to just stop talking. Kurogane's employer held her hand out, a friendly smile on her face as she introduced herself.

"Well it's nice to meet you Fai-san! My name is Yuko Ichihara. Principal and Chairman of Horitsuba Gakuen." she said. Fai shook her hand and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too Yuko-san!" he said. Yuko narrowed her eyes as she caught a glimpse of Kurogane quietly walking away toward the entrance of the school.

"And where do you think you're going Kurogane-sensei?" Yuko admonished, freezing the man in his tracks. She smirked at him.

"You still have a meeting you need to attend." she said. Kurogane glared.

"I refuse. Dock my pay, do what you want. I have a class to teach." he said stubbornly. Yuko shook her head.

"I don't think so. You're going." she said. She then turned to Fai and smiled.

"Fai-san you should come too!" she said. Fai grinned.

"I would love to Yuko-san." he said. Kurogane narrowed his eyes.

"You mustn't look that way at your employer Kurogane-sensei. It's rude." Yuko said, not even turning around.

"LIKE I GIVE A DAMN!" he shouted. Yuko ignored him as she led Fai towards the entrance.

"You and Kurogane-sensei seem pretty close for acquaintances. Maybe if you come to the meeting he'll come too?" she suggested, feigning a whisper in Fai's ear. Kurogane heard her and growled.

"Fine I'll go! Just quit spouting weird crap!" the man blustered. Yuko flicked him in the temple as she and Fai passed him.

"Then we'll see you at the meeting then. You have 5 minutes or you will have NO pay this month. The documents you'll need to look over are on your desk." she said, waving a dismissive hand as she and Fai walked into the school. Kurogane scoffed as he ran to his office on the first floor to pick up the documents he needed and sprint to the third floor council room, where all the other faculty members were situated. On the way up the stairs he was able to briefly skim the papers. Something about the Chemistry teacher's early retirement last summer.

He threw open the door, effectively startling his colleagues…save for Yuko. She glanced at the clock and smirked.

"Impressive Kurogane-sensei. 4 minutes and 53 seconds. You get your pay this month…but only half." she smiled. Kurogane uttered a few curses under his breath as he took a seat. He noticed that the blonde idiot wasn't anywhere in the room. Did he finally go to where he needed to be? Yuko grinned at her employees as she started the meeting.

"Everyone. I'm sure you're all aware that the chemistry teacher, Soseki-sensei, has filed for early retirement this past summer. It's taken quite a while to find a replacement for him but I believe this man will become a good role model for the students here at Horitsuba Gakuen." she said. She turned to the door that Kurogane had come through a few minutes previous.

"You can come in now." she called. When the person stepped through the door, Kurogane swiftly stood up, knocking his chair over and slammed his hands on the table. The other faculty looked at him oddly while others focused on the newcomer. Yuko grinned.

"Is there something wrong Kurogane-sensei?" she sneered. Kurogane couldn't even muster the ability to formulate a come-back. He just slowly sat back down.

"N-No." he said, still in shock. Yuko smiled.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Horitsuba Gakuen's new chemistry teacher. His name is Fai D. Flourite. Please make him feel welcome." she said. Fai walked up to the front of the room and bowed low to everyone.

"It's very nice to meet all of you. My name is Fai Flourite. I look forward to working with all of you." he said smiling benignly. While the rest of the faculty all greeted him, Kurogane sat at the end of the table. He rubbed his temples together. FAI was the new teacher!

How the hell had this happened?

"It must be fate that you two met before now." Yuko said, sensing the distress from the man.

"Like hell it is. More like a fucking coincidence" he muttered. Yuko leaned in closer to him.

"There's no such thing as coincidence." she whispered. Kurogane snapped his head up.

"SHUT UP!"

Fai glanced over at Kurogane and smiled.

"It looks like we're going to be colleagues Kuro-tan." he said. Kurogane groaned as the rest of the staff gave him incredulous looks and covered their mouths to keep from laughing too loud at he name.

He gave himself a headache when he realized that he wouldn't have had to deal with any of this aggravation if he didn't miss that bus this morning.

Like many of my other fics I wasn't quite sure how to end this. It kinda went in it's own direction when I was writing it so the ending might seem a bit abrupt or random. I suppose I'm not too concerned about it this time because I had an IMMENSE amount of fun writing this ^^ Which makes me even happier that it's finished.

I might have been so excited to post it that I skipped over some grammatical mistakes so if you spot any, let me know and I'll fix them! ^^ Thanks!

R&R please if you've ever missed the bus!

R&R please if you're everyone else! XD