You didn't offend me in any way, so don't worry. We are merely debating and as long as we keep this civil, everything's fine.
Let me just say for once that one cannot deny the fact that Syaoran/Sakura will become a couple because, besides the obvious hints that they like each other, it has been established in a previous work that they are indeed soulmates. If we didn't have that piece of information, everyone would be free to interpret the interaction whichever way they chose, which is pretty obviously romantic, but there's a couple of dense people out there that would probalby merely see it as platonic. So, even if a pairing makes out and does the deed, if they are not explicitily stated to be a couple, there's still room for interpretation.
Now, let’s see, first and foremost, you have the interaction between the two since the first time the met. The blatantly flirtatious nature of Fay’s bantering (and do not say that that is simply Fay’s personality and that he acts that way towards everyone because it is a lie. He is rather polite to most strangers and he himself said that Kurogane had been the first person he ever treated that way when he had that conversation with Yuuko), the way Kurogane saw through Fay’s façade when no one else did, the way they compliment each other so nicely, etc. All of those are the most obvious aspects, and if you don’t see them, I am just inclined to believe that it is simply because you do not wish to.
Let’s continue with the latest development, Kurogane’s recent actions and his willingness to sacrifice anything (even returning to his cherished Nihon) in order to save Fay from dying, something which even if you do not interpret as romantic (which I cannot fathom how why but that’s merely me), you have to admit that it’s pretty significant. Kurogane, knowing that Yuuko would ask for a really high, perhaps even unreasonable, price did not hesitate even once. You have to also keep in mind that before this event, Kurogane had shown that he didn’t trust Yuuko and didn’t overall like her very much, so Fay must’ve been someone truly important for him if he reduced himself to asking for her help. Now, let’s speak about the price, which Yuuko said was incredibly high and it would be quite heavy to bear, so that’s why she had Kurogane asked to fill the underground reservoir and as an exchange, Subaru gave some of his blood. Another indication that Fay is highly important for Kurogane and notice how this situation mirrors the sacrifice Syaoran made at the beginning of the manga for the sake of Sakura. (But I guess since Syaoran and Sakura aren’t a same-sex couple there is no skepticism, right?) Also, it is important to notice, that Kurogane’s actions were incredibly selfish. Fay wanted to die yet Kurogane completely ignored his wishes and went against them. So, the argument that Kurogane was the only person that could do anything at the moment and that’s the reason he did it is simply ludicrous.
(Oh, and remember that line when Fay's drinking Kuro's and Kamui's blood? "His companion's feelings have reached him.." and the line on the splash page with Kuro, chapter 124 I believe, that says how Kurogane's "have come to understand the meaning of true strength"? Yeah, I don't think the timing of those lines were any coincidence. Neither does Yuuko, I'm sure.)
Fay’s quasi-love confession, I do not know how anyone can view it as non-significant and thing that the closeness he spoke of wasn’t romantic in any way, but nevermind. In his conversation with Yuuko he revealed how he had never given anyone nicknames ("Just accept them as a token of my love!" from the Tsubasa Character Book) before and had enjoy teasing Kurogane quite a bit (sounds a
lot like flirting to me) yet he never realize he had crossed the line. He would never forgive Kurogane from doing what he did for him because he feared getting any closer to the ninja. Yet, as we’ve seen in the recent chapters, he’s treating both Sakura and Mokona exactly as he treated them before and ignoring Kurogane. Why would that be? Perhaps because the closeness between him and Kurogane differs quite a bit from his closeness to Sakura and Mokona and thus presents a risk for him and perhaps even Kurogane. After all, Fay did state before does not want anyone to get harmed because of him, so that’s why he pushes everyone away. But in this case, he’s only pushing Kurogane away…
There are quite a lot of hints throughout the manga, but I would have to stay up all night if I wanted to list all of them. But I will list the one moment that made me a Kurogane/Fay fan and that I cannot comprehend how anyone can interpret as not meant to be romantic: in Outo, in the Clover bar, as Oruha sings that ballad of hers about waiting for someone to take her away and Kurogane, being his usual self, comments why she doesn’t leave is she wishes to. Then Fay states just how he’s always been waiting for someone to take him away and he tells who? Kurogane! Zomg, totally a coincidence, you say! And Yuuko dies because she’s said many times before that in the CLAMPverse there isn’t such a thing as coincidence and everything, everything happens for a reason.
Now, there are so many subtle hints ever since the beginning of the manga indicating that CLAMP meant for their relationship to develop into something else. One of the most prominent is the entire yin/yang, opposites attract and compliment each other thing the two of them have going on. There’s a lot of symbolism throughout the manga that supports this pairing quite a lot (and that, once again, if they weren’t both male I’m sure naysayers would’ve caught and accepted long time ago) and I will list some of them:
-Kudans: Kurogane’s a dragon. Fay’s is a phoenix. How’s that significant?
In some Chinese legends, an Emperor might be born with a birthmark in the shape of a dragon. The Empress of China was often identified with the Chinese phoenix...
In ancient China, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife, another common yin and yang metaphor.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenghuang)
-Kurogane’s color is black and Fay’s is white
-Kurogane’s other color is red and Fay’s is blue
-Daddy/mommy, enough said
-Notice the parallel the group has going once? Syaoran-Kurogane/Sakura-Fay. CLAMP has drawn several instances in which that parallel is remarked
And there’s surely more but I cannot recall everything right now. Also, I probably forgot some crucial things, like I always do, but you get the general idea. If you still cannot "see anything", then I can't help. It's simply a matter of whether your comfortable and accepting and know how CLAMP work.
To me, the fact that I've met people who've read TRC and are in fact following the English releases (which haven't gotten to Acid Tokyo) and have acknowledge the hints indicating the relationship between Kurogane and Fay is not merely brotherly or platonic and that it is bound to develop into something more is enough to tell me that the CLAMP meant for the relationship to be seen that way and that it is quite odd to "not see" the hints at all. Keep in mind that I'm speaking of straight males and females who aren't yaoi fans at all and that aren't also that familiar with CLAMP. They don't go looking for "yaoi" subtext like we fangirls do. Maybe because they don't have any problems with same-sex relationships (and you shouldn't have any problems with m/m or f/f pairings if you call yourself a CLAMP fan) and are quite tolerant?
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