So I woke up one morning with an urge to write Kurogane as a girl, and I was curious how that would work, so I sat down and wrote what would turn out to be the first installment in a mini-series of standalone fics. This is the first one. (More notes at bottom.)

I'd like to thank the ever-wonderful Konnichipuu/Rieke/Bottan for drawing Kuro-girl for me here, with bonus Mokona & her favourite hiding place (drawing may not be safe for work, view responsibly!): konnichipuu. deviantart. com/ art/ Kurogane-as-a-girl-267131889

Rating: R
Pairing: Kuro/Fai
Warnings: Genderswap AU, Kurogane's naughty language, and worst of all, fish.

Lady of War, installment#1
(I could be your girl, but would you love me if I ruled the world?)

Fai was busy at the stove when the two of them returned home from work, and if he didn't hear the door open and close it was because he was too busy concentrating on the various pots and pans. He'd hoped to have a bit more time to finish the meal before they came home.

Truthfully he felt more than a little queasy - standing there keeping a furious eye on a boiling pan, wooden spatula in one hand and a cloth smelling strongly of garlic pressed tight over his mouth and nose to fight off the overwhelming scent of fish, and when Kurogane approached him from behind and spun him forcefully around for a kiss he flinched in surprise before relaxing into the ninja's mouth.

"Kuro-chan," he said, when he was released. "You're back. Good, I'm making dinner, it's going to be smoked salmon with sour cream sauce. On black ribbon noodles, which I haven't tried before, so I'm not sure how it's going to end up."

"You hate fish," Kurogane pointed out, red eyes narrowed, and Fai laughed. "What is this for?"

"It's for you," he said. "Since you and Syaoran-kun are working so hard~!"

"Huh," Kurogane said. The ninja's fingers were toying with his hair, and Fai mock-sighed as he felt his hair band being pulled out; he lunged for his lover's wrist and retrieved it.

"Kuro-sama, I'm trying to cook," he said, and was rewarded with a huff of amusement.

"Yeah. You should keep an eye on the food, unless you want it to burn," said the ninja, and bent to kiss him again, breath hot over Fai's throat. Fai become abruptly aware of warm calloused hands on his hips, blunt fingertips wriggling up underneath his turtle-neck, and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Now? In the kitchen?"

"Mmm," Kurogane murmured thoughtfully, and then nodded in sudden decision. "Yes. You have no idea how you look right now, mage."

"I'm cooking," Fai said with a grin, but one of Kurogane's hands was dragging up his belly, rough and strong from all that swordplay; and when the ninja's thumbnail scraped across his nipple Fai could no longer pretend he wasn't interested. His lover bent down for another kiss, and Fai gave into it, his eyes fluttering shut. Yes, this. It had been a very long day.

"Want you," Kurogane breathed, and Fai hummed, groping wildly behind him for the knobs controlling the gas hobs, flicking them off one at a time. Dinner could wait, but that didn't mean he had to ruin the pans. Kurogane's long fingers undid the buckle of his belt easily, and Fai raised his hands and set about removing his lover's clothing; turnabout was fair play and all.

First things first. "Kuro-sama, close the kitchen door," he ordered, and with a growl Kurogane went and did just that, taking away all that marvellous warmth.

"Happy now?"

"Oh, yes," Fai said cheerfully, hopping up onto the kitchen counter and peeling off his turtle-neck sweater. His bare feet drummed against the cupboard doors as Kurogane pulled a chair across the kitchen tiles and wedged it helpfully underneath the handle; poor Syaoran would probably get the message anyway, but there was no such thing as being too sure. That done, Kurogane came back, boots heavy and scraping against the kitchen tile, and settled between Fai's legs, body a warm sturdy thing that Fai wanted to touch. "Make yourself useful, Kuro-stud~!"

"It's -" A biting kiss to his jaw, "not-" another to his throat, "Kuro-" a third to the sweeping arch of his collarbone, "stud. Idiot."

"Hyuu," Fai breathed, eyes going half-lidded. "No, I can definitely see that." Kurogane was wearing a plain leather jerkin with lacing up the front and a pair of hip-huggingly tight jeans; Fai reached out and undid the knot holding the jerkin closed, and Kurogane grunted at the sudden cessation of the tightness there. The jerkin had left marks, and Fai rubbed at them gently with his fingertips; Kurogane growled and bent down to claim his mouth again, teeth nipping and sharp. The ninja hated being babied.

Fai closed his eyes and let himself be tipped back as his lover took a step forward, cursing quietly as large hands fumbled with the zipper of his jeans. "Do you need any help, Kuro-tan?" he asked sweetly.

"No," Kurogane replied huffily, tugging harder. "This button's tiny, what the hell are you wearing, girl's jeans? I just - there we go - shit! Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Fai asked, trying to hide his amusement and put on an appropriately concerned face. He opened one eye and grinned to see Kurogane's intense scowl.

"Your fucking button flew off and smacked me right in the tit," Kurogane complained, rubbing at a small red mark on the slope of one of her magnificent breasts. Fai burst out laughing, which was probably the wrong thing to do judging from how his lover's eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry, Kuro-sore," he said, trying to look contrite, and she growled at him. "You know, if we ran cold water over it the mark would probably go away."

She glared at him, but he held out his arm, and with a deep sigh she stepped in between his legs again, one hand raised to shove irritably at the mark where the button had pinged her. Fai hooked one leg over her buttocks and Kurogane let him pull her toward him, bending down to bring their mouths together, and he felt her hand come up to card long blunt fingers through his hair. Looked like he was forgiven.

"Kuro-chan, we can't do anything with our pants on," he said sweetly, and she snorted and tugged on his zipper with her free hand, the teeth coming undone; he put his arms around her shoulders and lifted his hips as she dug her fingers into his waistband, peeling his jeans off slowly.

"You need to stop wearing these fucking things," she said with a groan; they were stuck. "Come on - move, brace yourself -"

"But you like it when I wear tight jeans," Fai replied. He batted his eyelashes, and she rolled her eyes and tugged; he slid across the kitchen counter top and instinctively flailed a hand backward to catch himself on something, but his fingers hooked on the edge of the pot with the fish in and then it was all over the floor, the lid rolling away with a clatter and the smell... he turned his head sharply to shove his face in his shoulder as she grunted at the water lapping at her feet, ardour extinguished rather mercilessly by that smell.

"So much for fish tonight, huh," she said.

"Throw it away," Fai said tightly. "It reeks, Kuro-sama, throw it away."

"You know fish is pretty common where I come from," she said, bending down to pick up the fish with her bare hands, and Fai lifted his face enough to watch the way her breasts moved when she did so. "If you want to come back with me you're gonna have to get over this," she continued, tossing the fish in the trash, "Or we'll never get laid."

"We'll see," said Fai, and smiled at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, her red eyes cool but indulgent, and he hopped off the counter. "Since that was meant to be dinner, I ought to improvise, I -"

"Mage," she said, in that throaty way she had when she wanted him, and he sucked in a deep breath and then expelled it quietly.

"Kuro-sama, I really shouldn't get distracted," he said, picking up the pot and returning it to the cooker, and reached for the mop in the corner to clean up the spilled water; she stepped quickly in front of him, so he slid his hand around the back of her neck and raised himself the inch or so necessary to kiss her.

"Later," he promised, and she subsided with a tightening of her mouth, turning away.

"Fine," she said. "But you had better not be kidding, mage."

"Would I ever?" Fai asked, giving her his most charming smile, and she snorted scornfully and stepped carefully over the growing puddle on the floor.

"It's a shame about the fish," she said, at the door, turning to give him a look from half-lidded, lazily amused eyes, and Fai found his heart beating with how much he loved this woman, this stubborn, loud, brave, dangerous woman. "They say salmon is supposed to enhance male performance."

"Why, Kuro-chan," he said, batting his eyelashes at her, "What are you implying? Are you not satisfied? Given how loud you were last night -"

She blushed and he grinned; victory. They were becoming rarer and rarer as time drew on. "Don't, idiot," she said, "Just... don't."

She closed the door quickly behind her, cutting off his amazing retort, and Fai pouted. She was so unfair.

Concluding notes: Inspiration for this story mostly came from the song 'Heavy Metal Lover' by Lady Gaga, because I have THE BEST MUSICAL TASTE EVER. *makes victory arms!*

Other than that, I guess I wanted to explore how different Kurogane would be if 'he' had been born a 'she' - and how being female would change her personality, her relationship with Fai, and their adventures throughout TRC!

There will be more in this 'verse - I have several other stories already written covering most of their adventures throughout the Tsubasa story and will be posting them shortly. :D

Hope you enjoyed!