Smile

                                                      Smile

What made him smile? Kurogane couldn't tell. But he was always doing it. Smiling, that is. And it wasn't a real smile. It was a fake one. He used it all the time, as if by smiling he could erase everyone's worries. Worries he had no way of knowing about. He was an idiot and he knew it.

Not to say he wasn't intelligent, oh no. He was probably the most knowledgeable person in the group. He never acted liked it though. The man gave off a childish air, was immature and foolish. It was all Kurogane could do to pout up with him. He couldn't match the mysterious man's pace.

So, instead, he watched from behind, from where his cautious gaze didn't go. And there was so much to see.

How easy it was to read him too. What the mage didn't realize was the more he tried to keep people out, the closer they got to him. If he had acted cold and indifferent from the start there wouldn't have been a problem. But he didn't and now he was stuck with watchful he did not feel.

It was good that Kurogane was a ninja, observation was in the job description. So he saw the way the other man's eyes never seemed to linger on anything for long, how his muscles always seemed to tense at the slightest unknown noise. His was the mood of a man stalked. He appeared relaxed and carefree but Kurogane saw right through. He was trying so hard to isolate himself that he never noticed the gaping holes in his façade.

Kurogane did. He noticed how pale he got when the tiniest thing reminded him of the reason he was running. Of course, Kurogane didn't know anything about that. It wasn't any of his business so why should he care? Still, he saw the affects even in the mage's smallest actions. He made no secret of his knowledge either, dropping obvious hints to him that only made him to try to cover up more. Not that it worked.

What he wasn't aware of, however, was that his lying smile told Kurogane a truth for each fabrication.

And it frustrated him, it really did. That fake smile he gave him tore at something the stubborn man wouldn't acknowledge. Why did he have to be such an aggravating person? Why did he try to make people hate him? He was more trouble than he was worth. He shouldn't be bothered to care about the fool of a blond mage. Keyword being 'shouldn't'.

So slowly, watchfully, he began to pick at the surface of his companion, tearing at his walls in silence.

Then realization hit him. Funny how Death's creeping fingers could do that. And it was such a simple reason for his attentiveness of the other man.

'Next time,' Kurogane thought as he watched the mage writhe in pain while the vampiric blood made its way through his body.

'Next time, show me your real smile.'