Headcanon ficathon!

[reikah]

Well, it's been a while since the Olympics, so I thought I'd throw this here as a fun community event (don't worry, this isn't the summer challenge/contest, I'm still ironing that out).

Welcome to the Kurofai headcanon meme!

What is a headcanon? A headcanon, for those of you not familiar with the terminology, is "An idea, belief, or aspect of a story that is not mentioned in the media itself, but is accepted by either the reader themselves or the fandom in general. If it is confirmed by the author of the story, it becomes canon." (Thanks, urban dictionary!) Examples might include 'Fai has terrible metabolism, his feet get very cold' or 'one of Mokona's 108 techniques is Vibrate Mode' or anything else you feel is true but never confirmed in the text. Not all headcanons are worksafe.

How it works:

You leave a comment with one of your Kurofai headcanons. You can do so signed into a dreamwidth account or anonymously, for those of you without dreamwidth accounts/with embarrassing headcanons.

Someone else will write a short story based around your headcanon, and post it as a reply to you.

In short, it works a lot like clampkink - but for headcanons rather than kinks!

Anonymous commenting is enabled, but you do not need to post headcanons/stories anonymously if you don't want to. I'm also going to go ahead and label this post NOT WORKSAFE preemptively, so please be careful browsing where your computer access is monitored! Stories can be as long and short as you like, and as SFW/NSFW as you feel like, or, if you prefer, you can fill with fanart instead - both are excellent. For our rules on threesomes or moresomes, check the comm rules in our profiles.

That's all the nitty-gritty out of the way - now let's go ahead and share some headcanons!

Filled Headcanons
Fai's hands hurt after the tower - filled by cloverfield
Holitsuba!Fai gives Kurogane finger puppets to help him teach sex ed - filled by Anon
Fai always could use chopsticks - he just pretended not to as part of his harmless idiot act - filled by eijentu
Fai doesn't like to sleep alone - filled by Anon
Tomoyo hand-stitched Fai's furisode herself - filled by ereshkigali
Fai is disappointed to be alive after Outo - filled by farenmaddox
Kurogane is an absolute SAP - filled by zelinxia
When Fai began to suspect what was going on with Ashura, he evacuated the survivors of Ceres to another world, which the travelers then encounter during their journey - filled by Anon
Kurogane forced Fai to feed the first time in Infinity - filled by farenmaddox
Kuro-sama likes being tied up - filled by cloverfield
Yama & Outo - Kurogane realises he's fallen for Fai - filled by rinoa11
Kurogane had a crush on an older ninja who acted like Fai, who died - filled by zelinxia
Kurogane is really bad in bed the first time - filled by tsubasafan
BB!Fai remained friends with the little freckled girl from Ceres - being filled by farenmaddox
Kurogane expresses his love in subtle ways ("the moon is beautiful tonight," touching just the edge of Fay's sleeve, etc) - filled by zelinxia
Post-series, Fai needs to hear Kurogane's heartbeat to reassure himself his happiness isn't a dream - filled by uakari
Fai - real Fai, the one that died - was the older twin - filled by anon
Fai - real Fai, the one that died - was the older twin - filled by farenmaddox
Fai feels guilt over Kurogane's scars, and Kurogane thinks he needs to keep them hidden from Fai - filled by ereshkigali
Kurogane and Fai get married/bonded before the xxxHolic epilogue - filled by caffeine_buzz
Fai starred in a porn film during the group's travels & had fun - filled by misskirichan
Kuro-papa survived minus an arm and has been roaming dimensions looking for his son - filled by anon
Holitsuba - Yuuko & Fay have had sex before - filled by misskirichan
Holitsuba!Kurogane, Fai, and Yuui are all in a mutually satisfying relationship - filled by misskirichan
Holitsuba!Kurogane is the first person who hasn't been jealous of Fai and Yuui's closeness - filled by kittenkin
Kurogane prefers it when Fai tops - filled by xwittychickx
Fai feels guilt over Kurogane's scars, and Kurogane thinks he needs to keep them hidden from Fai - filled by sotongsotong
Kurogane is an absolute SAP - filled by anon
BB!Fai remained friends with the little freckled girl from Ceres - filled by anon
Kurogane forced Fai to feed the first time in Infinity - filled by sotongsotong

Unfilled Headcanons
Kurogane's father trained him the way Kurogane trained Syaoran.
Kurogane had a case of performance anxiety before he and Fai had sex the first time.
Kurogane is a virgin. Fay is not.
Kurogane takes particular notice of how Fai smells. Fai changes soap and Kurogane has to work up the courage to ask him to change it back.
Fai starts to experience some of Sakura's memories after C!Syaoran stores her feathers in his eye.
Fai and Yuui were born on a national holiday; this is considered an ill omen for Valeria
Kurogane accidentally kills his father during the fall of Suwa
Kurogane & Fai resettle Suwa post-series, and Kurogane grows his hair out like his father
Kurogane has a well-worn notebook filled with terrible poetry. Fai enjoys flipping through the pages and trying to guess which world each was written in.
Holitsuba - Kurogane and Fai keep tracking of whose on top with different coloured condoms. Fai steals Kurogane's in order to top more.
Fai slept around in Ceres (with men and women), but Kurogane is his first steady significant other.
Holitsuba!Kurogane hums to himself when he's in a good mood.
Fai is a creature composed out of magic, rather than human.
Kurogane's conscience sounds A LOT like Tomoyo.
Kurogane was devastated by Fai's 'good morning, Kurogane'.
Post-Clow arc: When Sakura and Syaoran went into the tube o'doom, they left their bodies as empty shells on the floor. Touya found them, and moved them into a long-term care wing at a hospital; waiting for their souls to come home again.
Fai is musically gifted, and every song he plays represents a specific memory/event from his life. Kurogane comes to realize this without Fai knowing it.
Kurogane is the worst boyfriend ever.
The other dimensional versions of Chi, Hideki and the twins live happily.
Fai was a virgin until he met Kurogane because Ashura-ou had some non-fatherly feelings towards him and though he couldn't openly have Fai he could stop others from even thinking of approaching Fai, and none dared to oppose the king.
Fai is uncomfortable with the Japanese way of bathing where everyone just strips naked and soak together.
Fai knew that he would live much longer than Kurogane and while traveling with Tsubasa!Shaoran has been trying to find a way for Kurogane and him to share the same lifespan.
Kurogane is loud in bed.
Kurogane and Fai shared a tent in Yama; Fai felt dirty after being assaulted by soldiers and begged Kurogane to clean him. They had sex regularly after that.

Comments

[farenmaddox]

ANOTHER HEADCANON OF MINE:

When Kurogane was first training to be a Shirasagi ninja, one of his mentors was an older ninja who has some of the same teasing mannerisms of Fai, and Kurogane had a MASSIVE CRUSH on this man. And then the mentor dies protecting Tomoyo from an assassin! :D

Paint in Black

[zelinxia]

(Long fill ahoy)

Five times young Kurogane was vulnerable and one time he wasn’t.

(Black. Adjective. A hue that’s absent of light. Sometimes seen as an infinite void, like darkness, like something locked away where nobody can touch it)


Kurogane wasn’t always violent and destructive, terrifying the court ladies and receiving scorns from Souma and Princess Tomoyo, and worse Amaterasu. When he was adopted into Shirasagi Castle, he calmed down for a while and turned quiet and reserved. Even when he expressed his desire to join the imperial family’s ninja force, he didn’t acquaint himself with other ninjas outside of training time. He’d either spent free time practicing on his own, ignoring what others were saying about him, or tending to other duties. But never forming close friendships or warming up with one of the mentors, a common custom practiced between an older ninja and his pupil-in-training.

That was, until he was paired with Yukiyo, a senior member who ranked on the second tier just beneath Souma. He was a strict teacher but had a great sense of humor and was easygoing with just about everyone in the troop. It wasn’t any surprise he was tasked to train Kurogane – with his patient attitude, it was hoped he’d be the one to break open Kurogane’s shell in the training field when Princess Tomoyo could not be at his side.

One

“Hey kid,” Yukiyo said when he first addressed Kurogane as his mentor, “you sure you’re a human? Sometimes you seem so stiff beyond a proper ninja. Lighten up now and then.”

“I!” he reacted in anger. His cheeks burned red and he was fuming.

Yukiyo laughed and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, grin changing into a soft smile, and said, “Being withdrawn might be useful, but sometimes that can go too far. I’ll teach you how to control your emotions so it won’t go extreme one way or another, alright?”

His teasing reminded him of his father. His smile and gentle assurance was very much like his mother. Kurogane was overcome with emotion and grief after Yukiyo managed to calm his anger down, but he put it aside for now, not wanting to become so vulnerable to his new mentor.

Later that night, after much tossing and turning restlessly, tears helped him fall asleep.

Two

At first he didn’t appreciate Yukiyo teasing him. He lashed back when it wasn’t inappropriate, scowled when he needed to maintain respect boundaries between student and teacher. Yukiyo also worked him hard, from the crack of dawn to supper time. It was rigorous than any training he had done in Suwa, but being a ninja for the imperial family had somewhat different expectations and discipline than being the protector and lord of a province.

Yet Yukiyo was still the only senior member who treated Kurogane with kindness, with an open sense of camaraderie, someone who wasn’t afraid to push him, guide him, and also be a friend to him. What Kurogane didn’t know he missed, what he was aching for, was someone he could rely on. Princess Tomoyo was a treasured friend, too, but there were things he couldn’t turn to her for like how he did with his father in his youth. Nobody could ever replace the late Lord of Suwa as his father figure – he was the only one – but Yukiyo was a good mentor, and with his graceful skills and charms, Kurogane felt drawn towards him.

Unlike most relationships, even between married couples who must be discreet with affection in public, the one between warriors, particularly a teacher and his student, was very physical. At first Kurogane would only be in contact with Yukiyo when they sparred, his bokken touching him, and he could indirectly feel his stature. But over time, claps on his shoulder became pats on the head, grabs on his wrist turned to brushes against his arm. And as the teasing continued, Kurogane welcomed them with familiarity. He actually liked them, clung to them as unspoken affection beneath playful words.

When they parted for the day, he felt lonely without his master’s presence. He would lay in bed still unable to sleep. These nights it wasn’t the fear of losing control in his sleep that was keeping up. It was thinking about Yukiyo, the warmth from his laughs, the caring and patient side he never failed to display. Kurogane was consumed by him, infatuated even, feeling so vulnerable to these emotions and Yukiyo that he couldn’t shake them off quite so easily.

He then realized he was in love for the first time.

Three

A year had passed when Kurogane was finally inducted in the ninja force at the age of fifteen. In the important ceremony, he was knighted by Princess Tomoyo and bestowed the copy of Ginryuu (silver scales for Suwa’s prized metal, golden head for good luck in battle, and garnet encrusted eyes for fury and passion). He recited his oath to serve his eternal loyalty to the princess, and only her, until his death, to protect her at all cost. (But a curious, rebellious part of him wondered if a similar type of loyalty could be partitioned to someone else, someone who was also important and increasingly enveloping his mind and heart).

There was a small feast held in his and other sworn in ninjas that night. He still hadn’t gotten acquainted with many of them, and the company wasn’t as pleasant as he would have liked to. Yukiyo and the other senior ninjas sat at a different table, and at times when no one near him was looking, he’d eye in the direction of his master, who was laughing in uproar over tales and jokes. He was drinking heavily, but was still keeping it up. Kurogane had only known one other person who had a famously strong alcohol tolerance: his mother. Sometimes his teacher happened to eye him back, which Kurogane then hurriedly looked away, cheeks flushing and heart pounding heavily. He didn’t mind if the others at his table teased him that he was drinking too much and making him flush deep red – anything was better than admitting what was on his mind. He would have to keep a better check on his emotions.

To his surprise, Yukiyo invited him to his chamber after supper was over, where Kurogane knew they would have more privacy, him having the privilege of having his own room. It was a warm summer evening, cicadas chirping loudly outside of the windows. Yukiyo had already changed into his evening yukata, the drapes of his neck outrageously exposed, and Kurogane couldn’t help but blush furiously. He distracted himself by looking at his own bare feet, wondering if he really had too much to drink, until he felt warm fingers holding his chin.

Sweet, warm brown eyes met his with deep thoughts, and he forced himself to maintain contact.

“Kurogane…”

“Yes, Sensei?”

Yukiyo frowned. “Can you forgive me for being too soft on you?”

“What? I don’t understand…”

“Ordinarily we would have started this complete relationship once I became your mentor,” he said. “But since you were too closed, too reserved a year ago, I couldn’t dare to intrude too soon.”

“Oh.” He realized that Yukiyo was talking about wakashudo, the formal brotherhood contract between an older warrior – the master – and his student. They were already operating on some principles, Kurogane learning from Yukiyo. But what they haven’t done was became lovers, under a strict binding they would not have other male lovers until Kurogane came of age. The loyalty would always remain until their deaths. But now that Yukiyo was bringing this up, and the fact they were alone…

“Oh.”

“But then I’ve seen the way you look at me, how you react differently to my regards for you. And now that you are fully a ninja under the service of the Tsukuyomi, it is time, Kurogane. Please kneel before me.”

Kurogane did as was told, all the while trying to keep his composure as much as he could. He couldn’t believe it. While Yukiyo didn’t outright express any sentiment that he returned pure, romantic love, he was going to be his lover along with his mentor. They recited the oath, and as it went further along, Kurogane felt his breath shaking even more.

He couldn’t believe what was happening, until the oaths were ended and no string of words were exchanged for the rest of the night as soon as Yukiyo initiated the kiss; and he relented into his master and new lover, hungrily, achingly, with want and need and desire and affection for this man he was deeply in love with, who meant everything to him.

Four

“I’ll protect you,” he vowed, breathing in Yukiyo’s neck.

“That’s not how it works. We’re both sworn to protect Tsukuyomi.”

“I don’t care,” Kurogane scowls. He didn’t know why emotions were suddenly roiling up in his stomach, and he knew he ought to keep a better control of it especially now, but he couldn’t. “If I can become stronger I will protect Tomoyo-hime first and foremost and then you, Sensei.”

“You’re too stubborn,” his master said teasingly. He brushed away bits of Kurogane’s hair affectionately, and then said sternly, “I know you’re a good kid, Kurogane, and whoever receives your love will be fortunate. But I won’t always be that someone you can treasure. We are warriors and protectors for the imperial family, and our lives are pledged to die in their place if need be.”

“Don’t say that!”

“Kurogane.”

He knew he crossed the line defying his master. Kurogane bitterly felt the pain of losing his parents, of not being able to protect them. He didn’t want it to happen to Yukiyo either.

“I don’t care. I’ll protect you no matter what.” (Because you’re precious to me) he wanted to say (and I don’t want to lose you), but knew he couldn’t, let alone even dared.

Yukiyo sighed and shook his head, smiling. “Come, it’s been a very late night. Let’s get some sleep.”

Five

Sometimes he still wondered if Yukiyo was secretly a dreamseer too, much like Princess Tomoyo.

A few months after Yukiyo and he first kissed and had sex, assassins raided the castle. The senior ninjas were stationed around the highest threats while Yukiyo was stationed to protect Tomoyo. Kurogane was not stationed near him.

One of the things he learned was to listen to his gut and react to it as fast as he could. When he felt something awful in him, he hurried to where Tomoyo and Yukiyo were hiding, because he promised to protect both of them. He knew the princess would be safe because she was strong and had the best bodyguards, but if Yukiyo guarding was on his own…

(He arrived just as an assassin overwhelmed Yukiyo and stabbed him in his neck opening.)

Tomoyo’s scream was quickly muted in his utter, utter rage and despair, as the old, familiar demons clawed in his head and shut down the urge to fall apart right then and there, and with the hot blade of Ginryuu at his disposal he quickly eliminated Yukiyo’s murderer. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, and he thought he’d never have to feel that pain again, but he was wrong.

He was able to snap out of it quicker than when he lost his family and homeland, but he still raged, still screamed and had to be held down, begging to be let go, but it was too late he had failed again to protect someone important to him and he was tired of crying but he still cried because that’s what you did when you lose someone you loved.

One

He never wanted to love someone that dangerously close again, and have that unlucky chance of losing them when he should have protected them. Losing his parents was unbearable. Losing Yukiyo was the last straw.

And so, over the years he shut himself off, never letting that emotion betray him and his duty, always remaining closed, away from others.

You couldn’t get stronger if you let yourself be vulnerable.

(Steel. Noun. Any form of iron, having qualities of hardness and strength. Cold, sharp, like the heart of the jaded warrior.)

Re: Paint in Black

[rinoa11]

*wibbles* I'm just gonna wibble in my bunk here. Poor Kuro baby

Re: Paint in Black

[(Anonymous)]

(( this particular anon is steadfastsonnet btw, I just can't get my phone to sign in :/ ))


5EVER HEADCANNON!
Oh my god! I love this fill on soooooo many levels!!!!

Theres the part 1/kuro/black vs part 2/gane/steel format for a start, and you worked it wakashudo!!! djctfuchh Did I ever mention I did a paper (kinda) on that? And this fic fills an important gap for me in Kurogane's development.

I could go on and on, but I'm on my phone in a car so I should probably stop here, but this was an excellent fill!

Re: Paint in Black

[renlylittlerose]

Oh my, what's with everyone adding even more tragedy to our babies' lives?

Loved this one, everything about it was so good *o*. And I loved how you used the meaning of Kurogane's name there.

Re: Paint in Black

[farenmaddox]

OMG OMG OMG OMG



This is fucking gorgeous, for so many reasons that they are uncountable. I am not going to give in to my urge to quote your entire fill back at you, but please rest assured that I loved it to absolute BITS. I love the structure you used, I love your portrayal of Yukiyo as being so stern and yet so affectionate (exactly what Kurogane needed at that moment in his life, just, WOW he was perfect) and just EVERYTHING. I love that Kurogane's personality remains so consistent and glowing throughout this, even when he's so derpily in love with his mentor. And can I talk about how much I love him being such a little dork about it? Uggghhh he's so cute. Not being able to sleep because he's up all night thinking about his crush? I MEAN. I CAN'T. His stubborn nature clashing against his desire to show Yukiyo respect, and his insistence that he'll find a way to protect Tomoyo and his mentor both is just perfect. And of course it makes the ending TERRIBLE. Why do we do this to ourselves, Xia? Why the angstiest of headcanons? WHY COULDN'T OUR HEADCANON BE THAT YUKIYO LIVED?

I can't believe you wrote so much for this, and I'm just thrilled and grateful. I'm so glad you wrote this. Thanks, bb.

Re: Paint in Black

[tsubasafan]

I love this headcanon. ;w; bby

Re: Paint in Black

[uakari]

xiaaaaaaaa

;^;

my heart

Re: Paint in Black

[misskirichan]

This was simply fantastic. I love that you did it in the '5 times' style. It really created a lot of emotional impact, being able to show the cornerstone memories of what Kurogane felt for Yukiyo, and how it not only impacted his relationship with Fai later on, but how the loss of his parents also made him reluctant to open up to Yukiyo initially.

We don't get to see a lot about Kurogane's training in-canon, so this was a real treat. I love that you presented such a wonderful look at Kurogane and how he was 'forged' in his younger years. I also really appreciated the detail about the ninja hierarchy and relating traditions you wove into the story.

Also, the way that you tied in 'Black' and 'Steel' was awesome. That was one of my favorite things about this fill. Again, you did such an amazing job on this. :D

Re: Paint in Black

[cloverfield]

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ;A;

please excuse me while I BAWL LIKE A BABY

why are you so good at the Kuro-angst it's perfect and cruel and horribly sad and I just

;A;