LORD SUWA

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle or any of its characters. If I do, Kurogane and Fai would hook up a long time ago.

CHAPTER 04 – ROMANCE

Fai was distracted for the rest of the day after his encounter with Lord Suwa in the library. He was vaguely aware of what was going on around him. He talked with Fuu about work and family and listened to Primera-chan's complain about Shougo-san.

"So, there are five people in your family, Fai-san?" Primera-chan asked.

"Yes, two children, one…pet and two adults, including me," Fai answered distractedly. His mind was still in mess, wondering if Lord Suwa really had flirted with him.

"Are they your children, Fai-san? You're married, then?" Fuu asked interestedly.

That snapped Fai out of his musing. "Oh, no. Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan are not my children. I'm just their…guardian."

"What about the other adult, then?"

"He's also the children's guardian and my friend," Fai replied with a smile.

"A certain friend that was mention in you interview?" Shougo asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Shougo-san!"

"Shougo, you surprise us! Don't come out of nowhere like that. You're not a ghost!" Primera scolded half-heartedly while latching onto the older man's arm.

Fai blushed a faint shade of red at the mischievous look the butler gave him. "Yes, he is."

"Interesting," Shougo smirked. "You both are like parents to the children, then? Mommy and Daddy?"

Fai laughed at that, "Actually, I often tease him with that. It really grates on his nerves."

"Well, if he really like our lord like you said, then his reaction must be amusing or scary, depend on who you ask," Shougo snickered.

"Hmmm~ I don't really know about Lord Suwa but yes, his is quite amusing to me~"

"I feel like I miss something here. Don't you, Fuu-san?" Primera asked.

Fuu had just managed to open her mouth when Shougo cut her off. "Anyway, I just came to ask when do you plan to go home, Fai-san? I suggest you to be hurry if you want to arrive home before dark."

"Oh, Shougo-san is right!" Fuu exclaimed as she looked at the clock. "Wait here for a bit, Fai-san. I've packed some dinner for you to bring home."

"Huh? It's not necessary, Fuu-chan…"

"Oh, hush. You made many dishes today, Fai-san. And no matter how many people lived in the mansion, I don't think we can eat all of them for dinner tonight. I'll pack some for you and your family. Wait here," Fuu insisted.

"I'll help~," Primera said as she went after Fuu.

I suggest you go along with it. There really are too many foods tonight," Shougo said to Fai's reluctant expression.

Fai smiled at him. "Well, I'll just wait here then."

In the end, Fuu packed two very large baskets of food for him. Fai and Shougo who was waiting at the entrance hall looked at them with raised eyebrows. Fai can't help but laughed. "And how do you think I'm going to carry these home?" he asked.

"Uhm…," Fuu smiled sheepishly as how she realized she got carried away.

"Use one of our carriages," a voice said from above them.

Everyone turned around to find Lord Suwa stepping down the stairs towards them. Fuu immediately bowed to him in greetings. Primera followed her example. Shougo just nodded respectfully.

"My Lord," they greeted.

"Shougo, prepare a carriage to escort Fai home," Lord Suwa ordered his butler.

"Yes, My Lord," Shougo bowed before turning around and went off to his task.

"Fuu, Primera, why don't you two go back to the kitchen? I believe you still have a job to finish."

"Yes, My Lord. Please excuse us," Fuu and Primera replied with a bow.

In a flash, Fai was left alone with the other man in the entrance hall. Fai smiled at the lord while gulping nervously inside. It was quite out of character of him but he can't help but felt nervous around the other man after what had happened in the library.

Lord Suwa looked at him and said, "Don't smile if you don't feel like it. I don't like anything fake."

Fai blinked in surprise. It seemed this version of Kurogane can read him well, too. Fai found it rather annoying. He dropped his smile a bit. "It's not that I don't want to smile, Lord Suwa. It's just been a long day and I feel rather tired."

Lord Suwa nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for the ride offer, by the way. It's very generous of you, Lord Suwa," Fai said but the other man just waved it away with a tiny, tiny, near smile.

They stood like that awkwardly. Well, awkward for Fai. Lord Suwa looked calm and deep in thought. Fai found that he didn't like this one bit. Normally, he was the calm one while the other party was the nervous one. But ever since he met Kurogane, the situation was always reversed and Lord Suwa seemed to have the same trait as his alternate twin.

"So…," Lord Suwa said slowly, "Your family's fills with two children and two adults?"

"Eavesdropping much? That's so unlord-like of you, Lord Suwa," Fai teased. The other man just looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, the corner of his lips twitched into a tiny smirk. "Yeah, and a…family pet. Can't forget about Mokona. That's unforgiveable."

Now, the lord was openly smirking in amusement. "Unforgiveable? Kind of dramatic, don't you think?"

"Nope," Fai shook his head with a wide grin, "Mokona's like our family's mascot."

Lord Suwa smiled openly at that and, again, Fai was blown away by the expression he had never seen on Kurogane's face before. Fortunately, he recovered from his surprise more quickly this time that if he was lucky, the observant man would not notice anything.

"So, the children are you wards and the other adult is the friend you mention in your interview? The one you have a…feeling for?" Lord Suwa asked. His smile still in place complete with the amusement from before, but his eyes flashed for a second with something Fai could not describe in time before it was gone.

"Yes, that's right," Fai replied, blushing a bit as he remembered what was said about Kurogane in the interview. Why didn't he deny it at the time, he had no idea. But now, it seemed that he was teased for it every time the opportunity came.

"You two share the custody of the children? How come?" Lord Suwa asked again, this time with a bit of curiosity.

Fai shrugged. "It's complicated and the story's kind of unbelievable but, well, we're all happy with the arrangement. And I'm kind of fond of the kids. They're good kids."

"So…you all live together?"

"Yes."

Lord Suwa hummed. Fai looked up to find a thoughtful look on his face. His brows furrowed a bit. Fai was about to ask what was wrong when they both heard some neighing sounds signaling a carriage's arrival.

"I believe that's your ride," Lord Suwa said and led him to the enormous entrance door just as Shougo opened it from outside. The butler bowed to his master before helping Fai to carry the baskets into the carriage.

"I thank you once again for the ride, Lord Suwa," Fai said courteously.

Lord Suwa smiled charmingly and, much to the blond haired man's surprise, took a hold of and kissed the back of Fai's hand. Fai blushed harder than he ever had in his life. This was much, much more mind blowing than the carefree smile from before. Okay, so this Lord Suwa had a flirty, playboy kind of personality that Kurogane hadn't possessed. Fai didn't know how to feel or think about this.

"I bid you a good night, Fai," Lord Suwa said in low tone.

"A good night to you, too, Lord Suwa," Fai said in the end after his brain's mini blank out.

~ page break~

Fai was in a daze like state of mind for the rest of his ride to home. He still could not comprehend what Lord Suwa was doing by flirting with him like that. Yes, Fai was pretty sure now that the other man was flirting with him. But, why?

Surely not because he was attracted to Fai. Why would Lord Suwa attracted to him when his alternate twin, the original Kurogane Fai knew, had never been? Now, that was depressing, but still. They were supposed to be the same, right? Had the same soul and heart and all that jazz. So, why?

Maybe there was something in both Kuroganes' pasts that made them different from each other. That was why Lord Suwa was a little bit more…open than Kurogane was. Come to think of it, Fai didn't even know if Kurogane was gay. Maybe the ninja was straight. Maybe something in Lord Suwa's past turned him gay? Trauma with persistent little girl before he was ready when he was a child? Yes, that must be it.

Fai giggled at his own thoughts. Then his mood dampened a bit when he thought for the first time that, yes, maybe his Kurogane was just not into man after all. Fai always had liberated mind when it came to many things that he never thought about the very huge possibility of Kurogane being straight, like millions other people. After everything they had been through, Fai thought there was something between him and the black haired ninja that was special. Not as obvious as what Sakura and Syaoran had but still close enough.

Now, Fai was having a doubt about it and the feeling was not good.

Fai was brought out of his musing when the carriage stopped rather abruptly. The coachman told him that they had arrived at their destination. Fai thanked him and left the carriage, baskets in both hands. He watched as the carriage disappeared from view before walking to the front door.

"Sakura-chan~," Fai called as he opened the door with a little bit difficulty.

The girl immediately ran out of her room. Her face brightened. "Fai-san, you're home!" She helped him with one of the baskets, "What are these, Fai-san?"

"Our dinner, Sakura-chan," Fai replied cheerfully, "And breakfast and lunch…seeing how many the foods are."

"Welcome home, Fai-san," Syaoran greeted as he came in from the back door. It looked like he had just finished some chores at the backyard. He looked at the baskets and the contents Sakura kept bringing out. "Where are all these come from?"

"It's today's practice results at the manor, Syaoran-kun. Since not all of the chefs are familiar with foreign dishes. We were told to practice cooking the meals that were assigned to us. Mine is the oriental kind," Fai explained lightly.

Syaoran counted all of them. "Uhm…I don't think many of these foods can last long for us to eat, Fai-san," he said. "Kurogane-san has to work late since there are new shipments at the docks. Maybe I can bring some for him?"

"What a great idea, Syaoran-kun!" Fai clapped. "I'll do it! Mommy will bring meals for daddy at work!"

"Yay~ Daddy will be happy~,"Mokona cheered.

"And maybe some more for the other workers. Surely they would appreciate it and that way, there would be no food getting waste," Syaoran said.

It was decided, then. Fai ran to take a quick shower while Sakura and Syaoran helped to pack some of the foods that would not last until next morning. Soon, Fai was on his way to the harbor, fake-whistling happily. Kurogane would not know what would hit him.

~ page break~

Things at the docks were quiet and loud at the same time. On one side, ships were honking and humming. Warehouses were buzzing with activities as crates and containers were being move around. There were several posts where workers took a break from their shifts. Most of the workers preferred to spend their break time at a nearby bar but some of them preferred to be ready for work anytime they were called. Kurogane was among those that were in the middle of their break in one of the posts, enjoying the hot mug of coffee.

On the other side of the docks, Fai got lost several times; asking some porters or stewards for direction before he found Kurogane's workplace. He found the man sipping from a mug while chatting quietly with some other men. He grinned mischievously, took a long, deep breath before calling out.

"Kuroriiiiiin~!" Fai called with the highest, most clingy voice he could manage.

The result was satisfying. Kurogane spat out his drink right into one of his coworkers' face. Said coworker was shouting in outrage, wiping the coffee off his face while Kurogane coughing violently. The surrounding people were either laughing at them or looking to Fai's direction.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kurogane snapped, and if Fai looked closely, he could see some horror in the ninja's eyes, which made Fai all the more giddy.

"Why~ to bring my Kurotan some home cooked meal, of course~ I heard from the children that you're working late tonight," Fai said, batting his eyelashes shyly.

Kurogane flushed when the men wolf-whistling and teasing him.

"Hey, new guy, that's your wife? I didn't know you have such a lovely wife," a big man with rugged appearance teased and laughed.

"Yeah! What a beauty he is~"

More laughter ensued.

"He's not my wife!" Kurogane yelled at them. "And you, mage…!"

"I bring your favorite curry rice," Fai said, lifting the smaller basket he was carrying.

That was enough to stop any protest from Kurogane. He was still glaring, though. He shot a look at the larger basket on Fai's other hand before glaring back at the wizard. Fai grinned.

"There's a practice at the manor and I got a lot of shares of the food to bring home. Me and the kids thought it would be nice to bring some for you and your friends here," Fai explained.

Everyone perked up at that, clearly they had no qualm to eavesdropping.

"You bring food for us, sir?" a young man asked, a hopeful look in his eyes because, sure they could get food from the bar or some stands but they mostly tasted like crap. Not to mention, everybody loved free food.

Fai did not answer. He just smiled and handed the large basket to the young man. Everyone immediately gathered around him, peeking into the basket in amazement because, hey, those were meals that were going to be served at Lord Suwa's party. They were made by professional chefs and with top quality ingredients and recipes that the men could only dream about.

"Kurogane, did I mention that you have a lovely and thoughtful wife? You treat him right, okay?" the big, rugged man from before said again as he stole a box of food away with him.

"He's not my wife!" Kurogane snapped again.

"Sure, he's not," someone said, clearly not believing him, and then turned to Fai, "Thank you for the food, sir!"

"Yes! Thank you!" many said cheerily as they dug in.

"Oh my God! This is delicious! You're a lucky man, new guy!"

"You're welcome," Fai said with a pretty smile.

Some of the men blushed while some other gave flirty smiles or smirks in return. Kurogane growled as he grabbed Fai's arm and dragged him to a less crowded corner. The cat-calling began.

"Oh, look! He drags the man to a quiet corner for private time!"

"Not his wife, my ass!"

"Kiss him thank you for us!"

"Eat your food and choke to death!" Kuroagane roared at them while kept dragging a giggling Fai away.

They reached a corner full of wooden crates and stopped. Kurogane turned and glared at the mage, his face was still red but Fai didn't know whether it was from anger or embarrassment cause by the teasing from his coworkers. Either way, it was a cute look on him, Fai thought.

"Why are you here?" Kurogane growled.

Fai frowned a bit. Kurogane blinked at the unusual expression on the smaller man's face. "I told you, to bring you dinner. It's Syaoran-kun's idea, if you want to know," he answered.

"You cooked all of that?" Kurogane asked, gesturing to the other direction where everyone was eating.

"Naw~ Just this one," Fai smiled, lifting the small basket he still carrying. "Want to eat together? I kind of left the house before eating. Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan and Mokona-chan are enjoying their dinner right now, so don't worry about them."

"I'm not worried," Kurogane said. He lifted the basket's lid. "Curry rice?"

Fai smiled. He sat on one of the wooden crates and patted the space beside him. Kurogane sat a bit further than the indicated space. Fai shrugged and place the basket between them and then preparing their food.

"So…what were you doing at work today anyway? You guys cooking all day like crazy? Because you just fed a battalion of dock workers over there."

"Yeah, just some practice for the party because they want to served some foreign dishes. I even got some books for reference," Fai said, "I don't think it would be like this every day, though."

Kurogane humphed as he dug in his dinner. Fai was eating a simple sandwich because it was easy to eat and not messy. He glanced at Kurogane expectantly. If the ninja noticed, he didn't say anything. That was until he couldn't take it anymore after Fai wouldn't stop looking even after being ignored.

"What?"

"How's the meal?" Fai asked.

"What? You want me praise you for your cooking?" Kurogane asked incredulously.

"It's only polite after someone cook for you and took the trouble bringing it here, too," Fai pointed out, eyes shining expectantly.

Kurogane looked like he wanted to argue but didn't say anything as he took in Fai's expression. There was something there… He sighed. "It's good, like usual. Why'd you want to be praise anyway? You know you're good in this."

"Doesn't change the fact that it's nice to hear it once in awhile," Fai beamed with happiness.

The taller man narrowed his eyes, looking at Fai in suspicion. Fai tilted his head in confusion. It was weird. They hadn't burst into another shouting match yet – well, Kurogane shouting while Fai teasing and laughing and running away from swinging sword – which was unusual, hence the weird feeling. But there was something else in place, a tension that Kurogane did not understand. Fai blinked.

"What's wrong?" Fai asked.

"Nothing," Kurogane looked away.

"Ne, Kurorin…"

"It's Kurogane!" the ninja corrected out of habit.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Do you have family back in Nihon?"

Kurogane shot him a look. "Why do you ask that?"

"Just curious. I realize I don't really know anything about you," Fai replied honestly.

"Same about you, but I don't ask you anything about it."

"But you're always being nosy and make comments about me and my behavior," Fai didn't have to say 'suicidal behavior', but both of them could hear the unspoken words. "So, do you have family in Nihon?"

Kurogane was silent for a moment, before he answered with a simple, "No."

"Really? No parents or siblings or wife or kids?"

"No."

"Me too," Fai hummed. "Anyone like a family?"

"People in the castle, the squads…the kids."

Fai smiled fondly. "Yes, Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun have that effect, huh. Mokona, too."

Kurogane grunted in agreement.

"Do you like curry rice because your mother cooked it?" Fai asked again.

This time, Kurogane glared before looking away. There was a pained look in his eyes. Fai felt that he just stepped into a minefield. Maybe the lost of his mother was a more painful history than Lord Suwa's.

"Sorry, you don't have to…"

"Yes," Kurogane cut him off with his answer.

Awkward silence.

"Do you have any lover waiting back home?"

Kurogane glared again. "Why are you being so nosy tonight?" he snapped.

Fai grinned. "So you do have a lover. Female lover or male lover?"

"I don't have any lover!"

"Really?" Fai asked in surprise.

"I don't have any time for that kind of thing. Why so surprise?" Kurogane snapped again.

"Because Kurotan's the type everyone would drooling after, of course. That's if he doesn't glare and being mean at any potential lover. Are you a virgin?"

Kurogane went red in the face, embarrassed and pissed off at the same time. "No, I'm not a freaking virgin! I just don't have time for anything serious!"

Fai nodded at his answer. Kurogane calmed down. He stole a glance at the smaller man. He looked like he was debating with himself about something before he finally asked.

"What about you?" Kurogane asked with a nonchalant tone.

Fai shook his head. "Never have a lover before," he answered honestly.

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Mm-hmm~ People tend to frown upon my preference," Fai said vaguely.

"Meaning?" Kurogane looked confused and annoyed at being confused in the first place. It always felt like being teased or pranked when he felt confused around the wizard.

Fai bit his lips. He didn't know whether it was a good idea to tell Kurogane or not. Then again, Lord Suwa was flirting with him today and pretty open-minded when the nature of his feeling for his friend was revealed at the interview. And they were teased by his coworkers just moments before and Kurogane didn't look angry about it… well, not more than the usual pissed off look he had when he got teased anyway. The people in this world seemed pretty open-minded. Maybe Kurogane would be just as open-minded.

"I like men," Fai finally said, looking at Kurogane in the eyes, daring him to say something.

"Oh," Kurogane said casually, "And the people in your world don't like that?"

Fai blinked and then shrugged. "Most of them not. Some people don't mind but they were in the minority. A very, very small minority. That's why I never had a chance to have a lover."

Kurogane hummed. "Your world's stupid. Don't mind them, you're not there anymore."

Fai smiled. "I know. And I'm thankful for that. I get to meet people in this journey. I even meet someone special in this world."

Fai didn't see it, but Kurogane's eyebrow ticked a bit at the words. "This Lord Suwa you're working for?" he asked.

Fai looked at Kurogane in surprise. He grinned his trademark chesire grin. "Yes. He's a very attractive man. Spent the evening talking and flirting with me. Even used his carriage to bring me home. He's a nice guy."

Kurogane stood up abruptly. He handed the food container to Fai and turned around, walking away.

"Kurorin?"

"I'm going back to work. You go home and be with the kids," Kurogane said, looking over his shoulder.

Fai felt his heart thudding loudly in his chest as he watched Kurogane went back to his coworkers and together they went back to work. Kurogane looked…not angry exactly, but from the dark look in his eyes, he looked upset. He was upset because of Fai's story about Lord Suwa. Maybe it was just his wistful thinking but…was it possible that Kurogane was jealous?

~ End of Chapter 04 ~

AN: Sorry for the slow update. Been busy…