Shome Tsubasa Shtuff

Pillar

'Even the strongest of pillars, when broken, need something to support them.'

If there was anything Syaoran knew about Kurogane, in the short time that he had known him, was that the man never wavered. He was a constant, steady presence in everyone's crazy hectic lives. As bad as Syaoran felt about it, he had to admit that there were times when he took advantage of the sturdy pillar that was Kurogane. Weather or not the man knew he was their support pillar, he never acted like he was under that pressure. Never acted like he felt the stress of everyone relying on him, relying on him to hold them up and together so this warm almost home that they had built wouldn't crumble. But they had seen times when that sturdy pillar had broken just a tiny bit, even if it didn't want to.

It happened one night, Sakura and Syaoran were making quick work of the dishes, as they washed and dried them Fai lounged in the livingroom, a book in his hands and the radio playing softly in the background. It was peaceful and quiet. Just as Syaoran was about to tell Sakura that he could finish up the rest of the dishes, the door creaked open and Kurogane stepped in. "Welcome home." Syaoran and Sakura chorused, but if Kurogane heard them or not he gave no acknowledgement. Instead, he did something rather uncharacteristic of him. He dropped Ginryu unceremoniously on the floor before dragging himself into the livingroom where he promptly fell on top of Fai. Syaoran blinked. Fai made a soft sound as the air was knocked out of him and raised a slightly amused slightly concerned eyebrow at the ninja, who had manuvered so his arms were wrapped around Fai's back and his face was burried in his chest. It was like the peaceful atmosphere from before had vanished the second Kurogane had gotten back, and Syaoran could feel worry bubbling up inside him like poison, threatening to rob his breath and choke him. With one quick glance at both Sakura and Fai he noticed he wasn't the only one feeling that way. Fai moved slowly, placing the book down on the coffee table before his hands moved to Kurogane's hair, running his hands through it in a worried manner before speaking softly. "Kuro-sama...what's wrong?" The ninja gave a quiet sigh, his face still hidden in Fai's chest. "...nothing." Fai's methodic movements stopped for a moment and his gaze lifted up to look at Sakura and Syaoran, furrowing his eyebrows and looking a little like a lost child on a busy street. Syaoran felt worry close his throat and when he looked at Sakura he saw her eyes overflowing with concern, eyebrows nitted closely together. Fai looked back down at Kurogane and frowned. "...are you okay...?" He asked, in a voice so quiet it was barely a whisper and soon after that felt the practically invisible shake of Kurogane's head. Fai felt his heart in his throat but managed a small smile, wrapping an arm around his wide shoulders. He felt Kurogane's own arms tighten in responce and suddenly found himself wishing that these times, times when Kurogane was almost at his breaking point, weren't the only times when he openly sought affection from the blonde. He wished there was more moments for him to feel his strong arms around him, the roughness of his hair, the pounding of his heart. Fai heard the quiet footsteps of Syaoran and Sakura leaving the room and was greatful, since Kurogane didn't like it when anyone worried about him, especially those two. He was quiet for a minute and went back to running his fingers through dark hair. Then he smiled and spoke gently. "Do you want to stay like this a bit?" Kurogane lifted his head, red eyes worn and tired, worry lines etched into his forehead and he spoke quietly. "...please..." Fai wondered if it was possible for a persons heart to swell and break at the same time, but pushed the thought away and smoothed the lines in the ninja's forehead and placed a gentle kiss there instead. "Okay..." He murmured into the warm skin and felt Kurogane lower his head back to Fai's chest. 

When Syaoran and Sakura came back to check on them an hour later, they found the two of them sound asleep with eased expressions on their faces.