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burningdarkfireTitle: Falling For You - Festival
Series: TRC
Pairing: KuroFai
Rating: PG
Length: about 3000 words, chapter 19 (19/26)
"Guess what, Kuro-tan?" A squealing blond mass hurled itself at Kurogane, who promptly dodged out of the way. "We're putting on a play for the Cultural Festival!"
Kurogane gaped at Fai, who stood in front of him, eyes shining with delight. "I miss one week of school for a vacation, and you tell me that I have to dress up like a fool and prance around on stage?"
"I haven't even told you the best part yet, Kuro-tan!" Fai bounced up and down. "I get to be the princess, and you're my prince!"
Kurogane stared at him for a few more moments, speechless. "HOW IS THAT THE BEST PART?" He roared once the words had sunk in.
"It'll be so much fun, Kuro-tan!" Fai's eyes literally sparkled as he skipped around Kurogane's room. "We'll get to dress up in costumes and perform for everyone!"
"Wait," Kurogane growled. "Why are you the princess?"
"The entire grade voted on it!" Fai replied enthusiastically. "Nearly everyone agreed that we should have the main roles!"
Kurogane groaned. "Why do they all hate me?"
"We better get to work, Kuro-tan!" Fai told him cheerfully, slapping him on the arm. "The play's in two weeks!"
"How am I supposed to memorize an entire play in two weeks?" Kurogane snapped, irritated. He wanted to find out whose idea this was and snap their neck.
Fai waved his hand at Kurogane dismissively. "You only come in at the end. The only reason you're in the play at all is to save me!"
"Why can't you just save yourself?" Kurogane grumbled. "Stupid useless princess. How hard is it to walk out of a castle?"
Fai pouted. "Don't you want to rescue me?"
"I don't like rescuing people that shouldn't need rescuing in the first place," Kurogane replied. "It's stupid."
"What if I deserved to be rescued?" Fai asked slyly. "Would Kuro-tan gallop in on a white horse dressed in shining armor to save me?"
Kurogane glared at him. "It's up to me to decide whether or not I want to rescue you, and if I do, I'll do it however I want."
Fai chuckled. "Kuro-tan would probably just kill the white horse anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane growled threateningly.
Kuro-tan is so mean and scary all the time!" Fai teased, poking Kurogane's cheek. "All his doom and gloom demeanor wouldn't look good with a white horsey!"
Kurogane sprang at Fai, who squealed in delight and dashed away, thumping down the stairs and out the door. He chased Fai all the way to the park, where they finally stopped, regaining their breath on the side of the soccer field.
"I won't do it," Kurogane huffed finally.
"Won't do what?" Fai asked absentmindedly, thumbing through the script that had been clutched in his hand.
"I refuse to make a fool out of myself!" Kurogane declared. "I won't be the prince!"
Fai looked up at him from where he was sprawled on the grass, a perfectly innocent look on his face. "I think the role as the horse is still open. I'm sure it would be fun getting Doumeki-kun or someone to ride you!"
Kurogane blanched. "The horse? That's it?"
"Maybe you could convince Watanuki-kun to switch with you," Fai suggested casually. "He didn't seem very happy about his role as the third fairy in the woods. He kept on complaining about the sparkly gown he has to wear."
Kurogane thought about it for a moment. "Maybe prince isn't so bad."
Fai smirked. "Thought so." He tossed Kurogane the script. "Let's rehearse!"
Kurogane flipped through the pages until the very end. "Where's my part?"
Fai got up and flicked over a few more pages then pointed to a spot. "We can start rehearsing here!"
"I have never seen any with skin this flawless, nor lips this smooth, nor …" Kurogane stopped and glared at Fai. "I'm supposed to say this to you?"
Fai grinned cheekily. "Well, I'm technically asleep."
"I refuse," Kurogane said flatly.
"You can't refuse though, Kuro-tan!" Fai whined. "It's part of the script!"
"Let's go through another part of the script then," he suggested, not entirely nicely.
Fai brightened up again. "Okay! I know just the part we should practice, over and over! It's the most important scene in the play, anyway. The one that everyone comes to see!"
Kurogane eyed him warily. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. "What scene are you talking about?"
"When Kuro-tan kisses me, of course!" Fai squealed. "Come on Kuro-tan, let's practice that part!"
Kurogane flushed. "You want me to just kiss you?'
"It's not that hard!" Fai exclaimed. "Kuro-tan just has to pucker up, like this!" He proceeded to make loud smooching noises that made Kurogane recoil.
"Is there going to be anything I won't want to kill myself over in this play?" Kurogane asked, nearly tripping over a rock.
Fai considered it for a moment, before his face lit up. "What about the scene when we get married and you proclaim your undying love for me?"
Kurogane groaned.
-
"Hold still!" Tomoyo commanded, tugging at the swaths of fabric surrounding Fai. The blond just grinned even wider and clapped his hands together. "Fai-kun, you'll mess up your dress if you keep on wiggling!"
"No loss," Kurogane muttered. He had already been outfitted by his little sister and his complaints about the completely unnecessarily poufy sleeves had been hushed. "It's kind of freaky."
"Fai-kun makes a beautiful princess," Tomoyo declared, zipping up the back of his dress with a flourish. "There, all done!"
"That's what makes it freaky," Kurogane clarified. "He looks way too much like a girl." If fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he was completely flat-chested, Fai could've easily passed as a female.
"It's because Tomoyo-chan is so amazing with makeup!" Fai told her. He was way too happy with how he looked, in Kurogane's opinion.
"It was nothing," Tomoyo brushed it off and beamed at Fai. "You're just such a delight to work with, Fai-kun!"
"Is everyone ready?" Their teacher burst backstage, hair tousled and a slightly panicked look in his eyes. "Everyone in the first scene in costume?"
"Everyone's good to go!" Tomoyo chirped. "This'll be great!"
"Thank you again so much for doing this, Tomoyo-chan," the teacher said, relief evident on his face. "It was a huge help."
"No problem, Sensei!" The petite girl reassured him. "I had a lot of fun!"
"Okay then, everyone to their places!" All the students in the first scene rushed onstage, setting up everything needed behind the heavy curtain that still hid them from the audience. "Get out there, and have fun!"
Their teacher paused by Kurogane and Fai. "Suwa-san, please don't ruin the kissing scene again by punching Fluorite-san on the head. Just follow the script." With that, he swept onstage and launched into a speech about all the effort his class had put into preparing this play.
"That wasn't my fault," Kurogane muttered defensively, a bit late. "The idiot was winking at me."
Fai had cheerfully denied it and Kurogane had shouted himself hoarse that day. He knew he had seen the blond wink at him, when he was mentally preparing himself to kiss him. Luckily, they had only rehearsed that scene once, during the dress rehearsal yesterday. Kurogane was sure Fai would have driven him insane if he had had more opportunities.
A roar of applause drew Kurogane's attention. The curtain parted in the middle to reveal Doumeki and Himawari, the king and queen, cooing over a small bundle wrapped in cloth. Souma's voice echoed in the auditorium as she spoke her part as narrator.
A quick glance at Watanuki revealed that he was slowly becoming red, no doubt from repressing the ranting that usually came with this scene (although it might be that the collar of his dress was choking him; Tomoyo had really gone overboard with the sparkles and shiny decorations).
Soon enough, Watanuki made his appearance with several other faeries in a burst of glitter, which left them all stunned and unable to say their lines for several moments. Yuuko stalked onstage with her evil laughter already ringing through the auditorium and a matching smile plastered onto her face.
When it was Fai's turn to perform, he skipped out and nearly tripped over the hem of his dress. Kurogane heard a slight raise in the volume as everyone gushed over how beautiful the princess was. He nearly groaned when one of the women closest to him said, "I wish my Yuri-chan was as cute as that girl!"
"She's a bit lacking in certain areas though, don't you think?" Her companion whispered back. Kurogane resisted the urge to facepalm, knowing that it would just earn him strange looks.
When Fai pricked his finger and collapsed on cue, Kurogane swore he had positioned himself so that Kurogane could clearly see his grin. The blond looked way too happy to be cursed until a kiss could wake him up.
Finally, a little push from Tomoyo sent him onstage. He strode into full view of the audience, conscious of the murmurs that arose and wondering if they were good or bad.
"This must be the mystic castle!" He exclaimed, examining the backdrop. There was a brief silence and he peeked at the audience, instantly regretting it. Why were there so many people here just to watch a school play?
"We've been waiting for you!" Watanuki finally called out, sounding more angry and relieved. He seemed to be rubbing more glitter out of his eyes.
Kurogane drew his prop sword. "Who's there?"
Watanuki and his fellow two faeries, two girls by the names of Karen and Yuzuriha, bowed to him. Yuzuriha spoke, sounding much more enthusiastic than Watanuki did. "We are faeries. We've been waiting for a brave young prince to come to this castle."
Karen took over here. "In this castle sleeps a beautiful princess. She continues to sleep because of a curse cast by a wicked witch."
Kurogane gritted his teeth and forced the words out. "That's a big problem. Is there anything I can do to help?" Impulsively, he muttered, "Feel free to say no." This invoked a wave of laughter from the audience.
Watanuki stepped up. "If you truly feel you want to save the princess …"
Kurogane grimaced. "Not really."
The audience chuckled again. Kurogane sighed and, ignoring the glares directed at him from their teacher, hefted his sword up. "I have this sword and my courage … I promise that I will dispel the curse from the princess!"
Yuuko appeared suddenly, illuminated by a spotlight. "So you are here, Prince!"
Kurogane pointed his sword at her. This was one of the lines that had taken him mere seconds to memorize. "You must be the wicked witch who cast the curse!"
Yuuko cackled. "Get him!" A swarm of his classmates surrounded him and Kurogane swung his sword around in practiced movements, watching them fall to the stage one by one with varying levels of dramatic swooning.
At last, he had the satisfaction of pretending to stab Yuuko. He grinned heartily as Yuuko staggered backwards, damning him as she fell. "I defeated the witch!" He hollered. He thought Yuuko shot him a smirk from her position at his feet, but decided to ignore it.
His surroundings went black for a moment as students rushed around, changing the backdrop and moving the bed onstage. The audience was applauding furiously, drowning out the hissed whispers and footsteps.
The lights sprang back on, temporarily blinding Kurogane. He squinted as his eyes readjusted, then realized he was supposed to be beside Fai. He hurried to his spot and stared at the bed, mentally preparing himself for the next few lines.
"Oh, what a b-beautiful princess," he stuttered, feeling a blush rising as he saw the small smirk on Fai's face. "I've never seen any with skin this flawless or-" Fai's lip twitched. Kurogane growled and swung around to face the faeries. "Okay, it's the damned princess. Instructions."
Watanuki looked taken aback but uttered his lines. "The only thing that will awaken the princess is a kiss from someone who truly loves her!"
Yuzuriha chipped in. "If you truly love her, then a kiss …"
Doing his best not to grimace in distaste, praying his face wasn't as red as it felt, and hoping against hope that Tomoyo was not recording this, Kurogane leaned forward over Fai.
When he had finally steeled himself and he had convinced himself that he was really going to do this, Fai cracked open one eye and whispered quietly, "Hyuu hyuu~ , Kuro-tan."
With a roar of outrage, Kurogane reared backwards. "That's it; you're dead!"
There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone gaped at him. "Th-that's not in the script," Yuzuriha pronounced at last.
"I don't care," Kurogane huffed, raising his sword as if to strike. "I don't love this princess and really, I would happier if he – I mean she, never bothered me again."
"You've never met the princess before," Karen said, trying to smooth over the situation. Striding up next to Kurogane, she gave him a sharp jab in the ribs. "You wouldn't know what she's like."
"I'm not kissing her," Kurogane replied stubbornly, sliding his sword back into its sheath and crossing his arms. He noticed the teacher gesturing wildly at him out of the corner of his eye but chose to ignore him.
Then a voice he only knew too well sounded out from the audience. "Kiss her!" Tomoyo called out. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Another voice that he recognized easily also chimed in. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Kurogane turned to glare at Yuuko.
The rest of the audience soon joined her, clamoring for a kiss. Kurogane flushed angrily when he noticed that pretty much all of his fellow actors and actresses were also chanting, including Souma into her microphone. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kurogane snapped. Yuzuriha was bold enough to skip forward and give Kurogane a little push towards Fai.
"Come on Kurogane-kun, give the audience what they're asking for!" She whispered into his ear, shooting him a grin as she retreated.
Kurogane glared defiantly at the audience, making sure they knew that he did not want to do this. He placed a knee on the bed and one hand on either hand of Fai's head, and slowly lowered his head.
"Don't you dare try anything else funny," he hissed.
Fai barely moved. "Wouldn't dream of it, Kuro-tan."
"It's Kurogane," he grunted before plunging down to meet Fai's lips with his own. He barely lingered, wrenching his head back up mere moments after he had descended. "There!"
"Hyuu~" Fai giggled, 'awake' now. Kurogane scrambled backwards as he sat up, but Fai looped his arms around Kurogane's neck and wouldn't let go, no matter how much he wriggled or cursed. "My prince has saved me!"
Kurogane was forced to pick Fai up and carry him in his arms as Watanuki, with some encouragement from the audience, declared them husband and wife. He was glad that at least they didn't have to go through the long and equally painful marriage scene. Souma triumphantly declared that they lived happily ever after and had plenty of children due to the lack of birth control in those times, and since Prince Kurogane liked to fu-
Kurogane saw the teacher snatch the microphone out of Souma's hands and sighed in relief. The stage was a mass of confusion, as everyone swarmed around them and cheered. They were all briefly showered in glitter, during which Watanuki's wails of despair could be clearly heard, and Kurogane managed to dump Fai unceremoniously and wrestle his way backstage to change.
He was determined to never do this again.
-
Now (21 years and 5 months)
It wasn't much in terms of a first kiss, Kurogane reflected. Or of a decent school play. He had been teased for weeks by everyone that had seen the play; they all said something along the lines of how charming he was and made kissing noises. The teachers had remarked, with somewhat dazed looks, that it had been one of the most successful and most popular plays ever held.
Kurogane still shudders at the memory.
But it was their first kiss, so he can't forget.
-
A/N - Dedicated to my beta with lots of love, because she adores school plays. This one is stolen from the school play in CCS XD
Thanks for bearing with me during my rather lengthy struggle with these recent chapters and school; I'm pretty much settled into the new semester now so school shouldn't be giving me much trouble anymore.
We're drawing closer to the end ...
Series: TRC
Pairing: KuroFai
Rating: PG
Length: about 3000 words, chapter 19 (19/26)
Festival (15 Years and 0 Months Old)
July 12, 15: 14 Years and 7 Months Old
July 12, 15: 14 Years and 7 Months Old
"Guess what, Kuro-tan?" A squealing blond mass hurled itself at Kurogane, who promptly dodged out of the way. "We're putting on a play for the Cultural Festival!"
Kurogane gaped at Fai, who stood in front of him, eyes shining with delight. "I miss one week of school for a vacation, and you tell me that I have to dress up like a fool and prance around on stage?"
"I haven't even told you the best part yet, Kuro-tan!" Fai bounced up and down. "I get to be the princess, and you're my prince!"
Kurogane stared at him for a few more moments, speechless. "HOW IS THAT THE BEST PART?" He roared once the words had sunk in.
"It'll be so much fun, Kuro-tan!" Fai's eyes literally sparkled as he skipped around Kurogane's room. "We'll get to dress up in costumes and perform for everyone!"
"Wait," Kurogane growled. "Why are you the princess?"
"The entire grade voted on it!" Fai replied enthusiastically. "Nearly everyone agreed that we should have the main roles!"
Kurogane groaned. "Why do they all hate me?"
"We better get to work, Kuro-tan!" Fai told him cheerfully, slapping him on the arm. "The play's in two weeks!"
"How am I supposed to memorize an entire play in two weeks?" Kurogane snapped, irritated. He wanted to find out whose idea this was and snap their neck.
Fai waved his hand at Kurogane dismissively. "You only come in at the end. The only reason you're in the play at all is to save me!"
"Why can't you just save yourself?" Kurogane grumbled. "Stupid useless princess. How hard is it to walk out of a castle?"
Fai pouted. "Don't you want to rescue me?"
"I don't like rescuing people that shouldn't need rescuing in the first place," Kurogane replied. "It's stupid."
"What if I deserved to be rescued?" Fai asked slyly. "Would Kuro-tan gallop in on a white horse dressed in shining armor to save me?"
Kurogane glared at him. "It's up to me to decide whether or not I want to rescue you, and if I do, I'll do it however I want."
Fai chuckled. "Kuro-tan would probably just kill the white horse anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane growled threateningly.
Kuro-tan is so mean and scary all the time!" Fai teased, poking Kurogane's cheek. "All his doom and gloom demeanor wouldn't look good with a white horsey!"
Kurogane sprang at Fai, who squealed in delight and dashed away, thumping down the stairs and out the door. He chased Fai all the way to the park, where they finally stopped, regaining their breath on the side of the soccer field.
"I won't do it," Kurogane huffed finally.
"Won't do what?" Fai asked absentmindedly, thumbing through the script that had been clutched in his hand.
"I refuse to make a fool out of myself!" Kurogane declared. "I won't be the prince!"
Fai looked up at him from where he was sprawled on the grass, a perfectly innocent look on his face. "I think the role as the horse is still open. I'm sure it would be fun getting Doumeki-kun or someone to ride you!"
Kurogane blanched. "The horse? That's it?"
"Maybe you could convince Watanuki-kun to switch with you," Fai suggested casually. "He didn't seem very happy about his role as the third fairy in the woods. He kept on complaining about the sparkly gown he has to wear."
Kurogane thought about it for a moment. "Maybe prince isn't so bad."
Fai smirked. "Thought so." He tossed Kurogane the script. "Let's rehearse!"
Kurogane flipped through the pages until the very end. "Where's my part?"
Fai got up and flicked over a few more pages then pointed to a spot. "We can start rehearsing here!"
"I have never seen any with skin this flawless, nor lips this smooth, nor …" Kurogane stopped and glared at Fai. "I'm supposed to say this to you?"
Fai grinned cheekily. "Well, I'm technically asleep."
"I refuse," Kurogane said flatly.
"You can't refuse though, Kuro-tan!" Fai whined. "It's part of the script!"
"Let's go through another part of the script then," he suggested, not entirely nicely.
Fai brightened up again. "Okay! I know just the part we should practice, over and over! It's the most important scene in the play, anyway. The one that everyone comes to see!"
Kurogane eyed him warily. He had a bad feeling he knew where this was going. "What scene are you talking about?"
"When Kuro-tan kisses me, of course!" Fai squealed. "Come on Kuro-tan, let's practice that part!"
Kurogane flushed. "You want me to just kiss you?'
"It's not that hard!" Fai exclaimed. "Kuro-tan just has to pucker up, like this!" He proceeded to make loud smooching noises that made Kurogane recoil.
"Is there going to be anything I won't want to kill myself over in this play?" Kurogane asked, nearly tripping over a rock.
Fai considered it for a moment, before his face lit up. "What about the scene when we get married and you proclaim your undying love for me?"
Kurogane groaned.
-
"Hold still!" Tomoyo commanded, tugging at the swaths of fabric surrounding Fai. The blond just grinned even wider and clapped his hands together. "Fai-kun, you'll mess up your dress if you keep on wiggling!"
"No loss," Kurogane muttered. He had already been outfitted by his little sister and his complaints about the completely unnecessarily poufy sleeves had been hushed. "It's kind of freaky."
"Fai-kun makes a beautiful princess," Tomoyo declared, zipping up the back of his dress with a flourish. "There, all done!"
"That's what makes it freaky," Kurogane clarified. "He looks way too much like a girl." If fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he was completely flat-chested, Fai could've easily passed as a female.
"It's because Tomoyo-chan is so amazing with makeup!" Fai told her. He was way too happy with how he looked, in Kurogane's opinion.
"It was nothing," Tomoyo brushed it off and beamed at Fai. "You're just such a delight to work with, Fai-kun!"
"Is everyone ready?" Their teacher burst backstage, hair tousled and a slightly panicked look in his eyes. "Everyone in the first scene in costume?"
"Everyone's good to go!" Tomoyo chirped. "This'll be great!"
"Thank you again so much for doing this, Tomoyo-chan," the teacher said, relief evident on his face. "It was a huge help."
"No problem, Sensei!" The petite girl reassured him. "I had a lot of fun!"
"Okay then, everyone to their places!" All the students in the first scene rushed onstage, setting up everything needed behind the heavy curtain that still hid them from the audience. "Get out there, and have fun!"
Their teacher paused by Kurogane and Fai. "Suwa-san, please don't ruin the kissing scene again by punching Fluorite-san on the head. Just follow the script." With that, he swept onstage and launched into a speech about all the effort his class had put into preparing this play.
"That wasn't my fault," Kurogane muttered defensively, a bit late. "The idiot was winking at me."
Fai had cheerfully denied it and Kurogane had shouted himself hoarse that day. He knew he had seen the blond wink at him, when he was mentally preparing himself to kiss him. Luckily, they had only rehearsed that scene once, during the dress rehearsal yesterday. Kurogane was sure Fai would have driven him insane if he had had more opportunities.
A roar of applause drew Kurogane's attention. The curtain parted in the middle to reveal Doumeki and Himawari, the king and queen, cooing over a small bundle wrapped in cloth. Souma's voice echoed in the auditorium as she spoke her part as narrator.
A quick glance at Watanuki revealed that he was slowly becoming red, no doubt from repressing the ranting that usually came with this scene (although it might be that the collar of his dress was choking him; Tomoyo had really gone overboard with the sparkles and shiny decorations).
Soon enough, Watanuki made his appearance with several other faeries in a burst of glitter, which left them all stunned and unable to say their lines for several moments. Yuuko stalked onstage with her evil laughter already ringing through the auditorium and a matching smile plastered onto her face.
When it was Fai's turn to perform, he skipped out and nearly tripped over the hem of his dress. Kurogane heard a slight raise in the volume as everyone gushed over how beautiful the princess was. He nearly groaned when one of the women closest to him said, "I wish my Yuri-chan was as cute as that girl!"
"She's a bit lacking in certain areas though, don't you think?" Her companion whispered back. Kurogane resisted the urge to facepalm, knowing that it would just earn him strange looks.
When Fai pricked his finger and collapsed on cue, Kurogane swore he had positioned himself so that Kurogane could clearly see his grin. The blond looked way too happy to be cursed until a kiss could wake him up.
Finally, a little push from Tomoyo sent him onstage. He strode into full view of the audience, conscious of the murmurs that arose and wondering if they were good or bad.
"This must be the mystic castle!" He exclaimed, examining the backdrop. There was a brief silence and he peeked at the audience, instantly regretting it. Why were there so many people here just to watch a school play?
"We've been waiting for you!" Watanuki finally called out, sounding more angry and relieved. He seemed to be rubbing more glitter out of his eyes.
Kurogane drew his prop sword. "Who's there?"
Watanuki and his fellow two faeries, two girls by the names of Karen and Yuzuriha, bowed to him. Yuzuriha spoke, sounding much more enthusiastic than Watanuki did. "We are faeries. We've been waiting for a brave young prince to come to this castle."
Karen took over here. "In this castle sleeps a beautiful princess. She continues to sleep because of a curse cast by a wicked witch."
Kurogane gritted his teeth and forced the words out. "That's a big problem. Is there anything I can do to help?" Impulsively, he muttered, "Feel free to say no." This invoked a wave of laughter from the audience.
Watanuki stepped up. "If you truly feel you want to save the princess …"
Kurogane grimaced. "Not really."
The audience chuckled again. Kurogane sighed and, ignoring the glares directed at him from their teacher, hefted his sword up. "I have this sword and my courage … I promise that I will dispel the curse from the princess!"
Yuuko appeared suddenly, illuminated by a spotlight. "So you are here, Prince!"
Kurogane pointed his sword at her. This was one of the lines that had taken him mere seconds to memorize. "You must be the wicked witch who cast the curse!"
Yuuko cackled. "Get him!" A swarm of his classmates surrounded him and Kurogane swung his sword around in practiced movements, watching them fall to the stage one by one with varying levels of dramatic swooning.
At last, he had the satisfaction of pretending to stab Yuuko. He grinned heartily as Yuuko staggered backwards, damning him as she fell. "I defeated the witch!" He hollered. He thought Yuuko shot him a smirk from her position at his feet, but decided to ignore it.
His surroundings went black for a moment as students rushed around, changing the backdrop and moving the bed onstage. The audience was applauding furiously, drowning out the hissed whispers and footsteps.
The lights sprang back on, temporarily blinding Kurogane. He squinted as his eyes readjusted, then realized he was supposed to be beside Fai. He hurried to his spot and stared at the bed, mentally preparing himself for the next few lines.
"Oh, what a b-beautiful princess," he stuttered, feeling a blush rising as he saw the small smirk on Fai's face. "I've never seen any with skin this flawless or-" Fai's lip twitched. Kurogane growled and swung around to face the faeries. "Okay, it's the damned princess. Instructions."
Watanuki looked taken aback but uttered his lines. "The only thing that will awaken the princess is a kiss from someone who truly loves her!"
Yuzuriha chipped in. "If you truly love her, then a kiss …"
Doing his best not to grimace in distaste, praying his face wasn't as red as it felt, and hoping against hope that Tomoyo was not recording this, Kurogane leaned forward over Fai.
When he had finally steeled himself and he had convinced himself that he was really going to do this, Fai cracked open one eye and whispered quietly, "Hyuu hyuu~ , Kuro-tan."
With a roar of outrage, Kurogane reared backwards. "That's it; you're dead!"
There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone gaped at him. "Th-that's not in the script," Yuzuriha pronounced at last.
"I don't care," Kurogane huffed, raising his sword as if to strike. "I don't love this princess and really, I would happier if he – I mean she, never bothered me again."
"You've never met the princess before," Karen said, trying to smooth over the situation. Striding up next to Kurogane, she gave him a sharp jab in the ribs. "You wouldn't know what she's like."
"I'm not kissing her," Kurogane replied stubbornly, sliding his sword back into its sheath and crossing his arms. He noticed the teacher gesturing wildly at him out of the corner of his eye but chose to ignore him.
Then a voice he only knew too well sounded out from the audience. "Kiss her!" Tomoyo called out. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Another voice that he recognized easily also chimed in. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Kurogane turned to glare at Yuuko.
The rest of the audience soon joined her, clamoring for a kiss. Kurogane flushed angrily when he noticed that pretty much all of his fellow actors and actresses were also chanting, including Souma into her microphone. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kurogane snapped. Yuzuriha was bold enough to skip forward and give Kurogane a little push towards Fai.
"Come on Kurogane-kun, give the audience what they're asking for!" She whispered into his ear, shooting him a grin as she retreated.
Kurogane glared defiantly at the audience, making sure they knew that he did not want to do this. He placed a knee on the bed and one hand on either hand of Fai's head, and slowly lowered his head.
"Don't you dare try anything else funny," he hissed.
Fai barely moved. "Wouldn't dream of it, Kuro-tan."
"It's Kurogane," he grunted before plunging down to meet Fai's lips with his own. He barely lingered, wrenching his head back up mere moments after he had descended. "There!"
"Hyuu~" Fai giggled, 'awake' now. Kurogane scrambled backwards as he sat up, but Fai looped his arms around Kurogane's neck and wouldn't let go, no matter how much he wriggled or cursed. "My prince has saved me!"
Kurogane was forced to pick Fai up and carry him in his arms as Watanuki, with some encouragement from the audience, declared them husband and wife. He was glad that at least they didn't have to go through the long and equally painful marriage scene. Souma triumphantly declared that they lived happily ever after and had plenty of children due to the lack of birth control in those times, and since Prince Kurogane liked to fu-
Kurogane saw the teacher snatch the microphone out of Souma's hands and sighed in relief. The stage was a mass of confusion, as everyone swarmed around them and cheered. They were all briefly showered in glitter, during which Watanuki's wails of despair could be clearly heard, and Kurogane managed to dump Fai unceremoniously and wrestle his way backstage to change.
He was determined to never do this again.
-
Now (21 years and 5 months)
It wasn't much in terms of a first kiss, Kurogane reflected. Or of a decent school play. He had been teased for weeks by everyone that had seen the play; they all said something along the lines of how charming he was and made kissing noises. The teachers had remarked, with somewhat dazed looks, that it had been one of the most successful and most popular plays ever held.
Kurogane still shudders at the memory.
But it was their first kiss, so he can't forget.
-
A/N - Dedicated to my beta with lots of love, because she adores school plays. This one is stolen from the school play in CCS XD
Thanks for bearing with me during my rather lengthy struggle with these recent chapters and school; I'm pretty much settled into the new semester now so school shouldn't be giving me much trouble anymore.
We're drawing closer to the end ...
