Land of the Rising Sun

The wind stirred gently as Kurogane surveyed the rooftops of Shirasagi Castle with narrowed eyes. Tomoyo was most likely already asleep with Souma by her side. He could see four figures silhouetted by the moon, all dressed in black and bearing the seal of the Tsukuyomi. Out of the four, only one had had any valuable experience at all, something that Kurogane had complained vigorously about to the princess.

"You're the best we have, Kurogane," Tomoyo had explained, a twinkle in her violet eyes. "You could take on any assassins that dared to approach me, so why don't you let the apprentices have a little fun?"

Kurogane had grumbled and protested but as always, he had been sent away with a last order: Don't kill more than absolutely necessary.

He registered one of the trainees waving at him, signaling that he was going to go check something out. Kurogane signaled back to go ahead and report back quickly. If it actually was an assassin, there was no way Ryuuoh would be able to take him on – he was fairly skilled, sure, but this was only his second nighttime patrol, and assassins usually had years of training.

Ryuuoh reappeared after a few tense moments, gesturing frantically at Kurogane to come. After Kurogane swore out loud and leapt quickly across the tiled rooftops, pausing only to give quick whispered instructions to the other ninjas as he passed them. He looked back at where Ryuuoh had been, only to find that he had disappeared, no doubt trying to play hero.

Alone, Kurogane dropped down into the moonlight courtyard where the trainee had vanished. He barely made a sound as his feet touched down and he leaned forward slightly, reaching out a hand to balance himself.

He didn't miss the current of air that passed over his head, just barely skimming his hair. If he had been standing, the dagger would have plunged into his heart and killed him. Kurogane sprang into the air, retreating to a side of the courtyard. He scanned his surroundings and found them empty, yet the trajectory that the dagger was on suggested that its owner had been where he was now when he threw it.

Kurogane pulled out his katana and cast around him again. He heard nothing and saw nothing, and he couldn't sense a life force anywhere around him, except for one right behind him, and it was lying inert on the ground.

Tersely, Kurogane backed up carefully and after scouring around him again, he directed his attention towards Ryuuoh's motionless body. A dagger had been laid carefully on his chest, the tip just pricking his neck, and a vivid bruise was already blossoming at his temple. The message was clear: the apprentice was not the one the assassin had been sent to kill, and so his life had been spared. Kurogane grimaced and pulled off his cape to cover the boy with it. Ryuuoh wouldn't be pleased when he woke up. He picked up the blade and examined it, not surprised to find it of high quality and well weighted – assassins couldn't be expected to do their jobs as well with poor weapons, after all.

The appearance of the dagger did surprise him though. The entire thing was silver with dark blue swirls, which made it glint under the moonlight, something that no assassin should want. Kurogane was perplexed about the purpose of the designs on it, until he realized that it was humming in his hand. There must have been spells cast on it.

A faint whistle of air alerted Kurogane to the presence of someone behind him and he spun around, deflecting another knife and slicing forward with his katana. The assassin dodged it easily and Kurogane growled, pressing forward in a flurry of attacks. They all missed their mark as Kurogane's opponent retreated until his back was pressed against the wall. Kurogane grinned and swung his katana, only to feel a burning in his exposed arm as the assassin lunged forward and cut him.

Kurogane spun around, determined to hack off this annoying pest's head. To his surprise, his assailant was leaning against the fountain in the corridor and not running towards Tomoyo's rooms as he thought he would be. He wasn't even trying to kill Kurogane; he just stood and watched him with eyes that glimmered in the moonlight.

"You won't ever get through to the princess," Kurogane growled, wondering if the other man (although it could be a woman, you never knew) was an idiot. "Especially not just by standing there."

There was a brief pause and then the other man burst into laughter (definitely a man then, although his voice had somewhat of a feminine tinge to it). Still chuckling, the assassin suddenly extended an arm to Kurogane.

He barely had time to duck as the silver blur hurtled towards him and embedded itself in the wood behind him. He swore, not quietly, and ran forward to meet his opponent head on, dodging all the other daggers thrown his way. He even managed to sort of catch one by redirecting the momentum it carried with his katana, and hurled it back towards its original bearer.

Nothing seemed to faze the assassin though, who backed up nearly as quickly as Kurogane advanced. They reached the other end of the courtyard and this time Kurogane did succeed in pinning the other man against the wall. This level of skill was extraordinarily rare; he hadn't fought anyone that could dodge all his attacks so effortlessly since he had been in training. He planned to question this man thoroughly before killing him.

"Who sent you?" Kurogane snarled, one hand pointing his katana at the stranger's back and another holding the other's wrists together. When he received no answer, he gave him a rough shake. "I asked you a question! Who sent you to kill Tomoyo-hime?"

The other man started shaking and Kurogane growled angrily when he realized the assassin was laughing again. At him. At Kurogane, who was widely known as the best fighter in all of Nihon. He pressed his katana and felt the flesh beneath it give slightly.

"Tell me, or I'll kill you," he threatened, although he knew that if his opponent had any honor or loyalty at all, he wouldn't give up any information. They rarely did.

There was a sudden burning pain in his hand and Kurogane barely had time to register that the bastard had actually stabbed him with a dagger that must have been hidden up his sleeve before the other man sprang forward, planted his legs firmly against the wall, and pushed off, flipping over Kurogane's head and wrenching his wrists free of his grasp.

They turned to face each other quickly, both in a race to harm the other first. Kurogane saw another silver flash out of the corner of his eye and noticed that his opponent had thrown yet another dagger (how many of the damned things did he have?) and drawn a long silver knife with the other. Kurogane threw himself to the right and both blades missed him, though he had landed himself in a rather precarious position.

Raising his katana to block the blow that was sweeping down towards him, Kurogane thrust upwards and forced the assassin to jump backwards, giving him enough time to jump to his feet. Pressing forward again, back into the moonlit courtyard, Kurogane swept his hand forward and his opponent leaned back, anticipating the slash of his sword – only Kurogane threw a hira-shuriken instead of cutting with Ginryuu. The assassin's eyes widened in surprise as the small spinning star flew towards him (blue, his eyes were a shade of blue he had never seen before) and he reacted, but not quickly enough.

The shuriken sliced into his left eye and left a large cut on the side of the stranger's face. Clutching his eye, the assassin retreated, his hand dripping blood. Kurogane glared at him as he leapt lightly up the fountain to balance at its tip, the moon silhouetting him as he looked down at Kurogane.

With a sense of unease, Kurogane realized that the man was laughing, yet again. Laughing, when he had just lost an eye! "I'll ask you again," he snapped, readying his katana in case he was attacked again. "Who sent you to kill the princess?"

"That was quite a fight!" The assassin spoke for the first time, still chuckling. His voice was light and airy, as if they were discussing the weather on a sunny day rather than the battle they had just participated in. "I haven't been challenged like that in years by anyone other than His Majesty!"

"Who?" Kurogane demanded, frustrated. He wasn't about to tell the stranger that he had thought nearly the same thing while he fought. "Who do you serve?"

The laughter suddenly ceased and his voice became frosty. "I serve under no one." The assassin pulled off his mask and tore it to shreds, which he used to somewhat bind his still bleeding eye. Kurogane was shocked to see the blonde hair and pale skin, none of which any of his fellow countrymen, or even anyone in the surrounding countries, possessed. "At least, not anymore," the blond added more cheerfully, as if it was an afterthought.

"Who hired you, then?" Kurogane growled, not letting his surprise show. "Why are you trying to kill the princess?"

"I'm not trying to kill the princess." The assassin waved his hand dismissively, still holding onto his eye. Kurogane thought he saw the faint glow of magic.

"The Empress, then."

The blond jumped down, landing with the grace of a cat as he studied Kurogane. The ninja leveled his katana at the other man's throat, but was hesitant to attack when he seemed to be willing to talk.

"I'm not here to kill anyone of the royal family," the assassin clarified, smiling as he watched the ninja shift. "I'm here to kill you."

Kurogane's eyes widened in surprise and he saw another silver blur flying at him. The dagger nicked his side and sliced another painful wound open. "You bastard!" Kurogane shouted, lashing outwards.

The other man laughed again, dodging all his attacks just like before. "Well, as fun as this has been, I really should take my leave now. I think I've outstayed my welcome, and I need to get this eye seen to. You have quite the aim."

"I was aiming for your neck." Kurogane kept on pressing forward, but the blond was as slippery as a fish.

"You probably shouldn't admit that," he grinned, white teeth flashing. With a sudden burst of energy, the assassin sprang backwards, out of Kurogane's reach, and leapt onto the roof. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you again, huh, Kuro-chan?"

Kurogane let out a furious howl and chased him, but by the time he made it onto the roof, he saw that the other man had already disappeared somewhere amongst the various roofs that jutted out. One of the other ninjas, who he had given strict orders to guard Tomoyo's room along with the two others, appeared nervously a few moments later.

"Kurogane-san?" He asked nervously, well aware of the murder in the ninja's burning eyes. "Did you kill the intruder?"

"No," Kurogane said shortly, ignoring the look of astonishment that crossed his companion's face. "Where there any others?"

"None that we could find," he replied slowly, as if still in shock. "Is Ryuuoh-kun okay?"

Guiltily, Kurogane realized that he had completely forgotten about the young boy. "He's unconscious."

"I'll carry him to the infirmary," the other ninja offered.

Kurogane nodded wearily and headed towards Tomoyo's room, walking through the hallways so that he could question the guards stationed there, but no one reported any other intruders either. Puzzled, Kurogane continued onwards without answering their questions about the blood splattered on his clothes. It was illogical that someone would be sent solely to target him and not one of the royal family; even if he died, there were enough competent ninjas around to ensure the safety of the princess and the empress. There was always the chance that the assassin had been lying, but it seemed a strange thing to lie about.

And what was with that nickname?

"Kurogane," Tomoyo greeted him. Someone, Souma by the looks of it, had already roused her and told her what happened. "So you didn't kill anyone tonight?"

Kurogane grunted irritably. "Make you happy?"

Tomoyo giggled but quickly became serious. "What happened?'

Kurogane relayed a description of the assassin and his weapons, as well as what he had said. "When he left, he said he would be seeing me again."

Tomoyo frowned. "I haven't dreamed of anyone with the description that you provided, Kurogane. I'll ask Souma to gather a few people tomorrow and investigate. You can stay here, Kurogane."

Kurogane growled but knew better than to argue with Tomoyo. "Fine, but if they find him, they have to bring him back here."

Tomoyo looked at him curiously, a smile playing on her lips. "Why's that? Did you take a liking to him?"

Kurogane flushed. "No," he said firmly. "But I want to be the one to kill him."

"That's not very romantic, Kurogane," Tomoyo laughed. "It's not really the proper way to court anyone, even if he is your equal in fighting!"

"He's not my equal," Kurogane ground out between clenched teeth. "And I'm not attracted to him. He dies at my hands, because of that stupid nickname!"

"What did he say?" Tomoyo demanded, giggling. "Was it cute?"

Kurogane snorted. "It was disgusting."

"But what was it?" Tomoyo pestered him, purple eyes wide with amusement.

Kurogane muttered and tried to shake her off, but she persisted. "Alright, alright! He called me Kuro-chan! Are you satisfied now?"

Tomoyo squealed. "How cute!"

"Don't you dare tell anyone!" He threatened, eyes narrowed.

Souma chuckled, drawing his attention to her for the first time that night. "Wait 'til everyone hears the assassin called you Kuro-chan, and got away alive."

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

A/N - This pretty much begged to be written, although it's hardly an original idea ^^' It centers around the idea that Tomoyo never sends Kurogane off and he meets his world's version of Fai. I did my best to bring out Kurogane's awful personality from before, but since it was mostly a fighting scene with someone that was Kurogane's equal, I'm not sure if it came out well o.O (also, this is the longest fighting scene I've ever written! Huzzah!)

It's a 'oneshot' because I have no idea where it goes from here XD