Eheh, my contribution to the KaRe wave. Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year, all!
"Kai?" Kai looked up from his book to find Rei hovering in the doorway of the kitchen. "Could you come and help with the tree? All it needs is the angel putting on, but I can't reach..."
"Stand on a chair then."
"I don't want to spend Christmas with broken legs, Kai..." Rei replied, a small smile on his face. Kai sighed. He knew full damn well this was another attempt to make him join in the Christmas fun. It wasn't that he didn't -like- Christmas, far from it, he just didn't feel like spending too much time with Tyson, who had seemingly decided to spend the whole holiday on a sugar high.
No, Kai had his own plans for Christmas, which involved relaxing and getting through a few of the books he'd been meaning to read but had never quite gotten round to. Christmas was not a time for putting up with a hyperactive Tyson, that was for certain. "I know you're avoiding us, Kai. I sent the other three down to get some more tinsel for the fireplace. Surely I'm not too scary on my own?" Kai sighed and put down the book.
"How did you know?"
"Intuition. And the fact that you wince whenever Tyson starts giggling." Rei produced a silver angel from behind his back and held it out hopefully. Kai stood up, taking it and striding out to where the tree stood, sparkling with strings of fairy lights and tinsel. "Do you like it?"
"It looks...nice." Rei smiled and went back to putting up strings of Christmas cards on the walls. "Is that -mistletoe-?"
"What?" Rei looked up, then smiled. "Yeah. Tyson put it up." Kai was silent for a while, just watching Rei stapling cards to bits of ribbon, then he reached up, putting the angel in her rightful place at the top of the tree. Rei looked up briefly and smiled. "Thanks, Kai."
"Do you need help with the cards?"
"If you're offering..."Kai nodded, and Rei beamed at him. "Do you...not like Christmas, Kai?"
"Yes."
"What, yes you like it, or yes you don't?" Asked the neko-jin, handing Kai a ribbon and a blob of blu-tack. Kai squashed it in his fingers for a couple of seconds before replying.
"Yes, I like it." He turned his back on Rei to stick up the cards, not seeing the look of puzzlement on Rei's face.
"Kai...if you like it, why don't you join in more?"
"Because...I like Christmas to be quiet. Quiet and peaceful. That's how my Christmasses were when I was younger, that's how I like them to be." Rei handed him another ribbonful of cards, smiling softly.
"If I can get Tyson to be quiet for a night...will you come out and join in with us?" He looked hopeful. "I'm making mince pies..."
"Yeah, okay." Kai stuck up the cards and turned back to Rei, waiting for the next set. But the neko-jin was no longer stapling. He was staring at Kai with a strange look on his face. "Are you okay?"
"Kai...do you...I mean...don't you think Christmas is a time for being honest?"
"...I suppose..." Replied the Russian warily.
"And you're supposed to spend it with people who you love? And they should know how much you love them?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"I..."
The sound of the front door slamming made them both jump. Tyson ran into the room waving a carrier bag that spilled tinsel all over the place, giggling. Max and Kenny ran in after him, all laughing and joking. Rei heard the kitchen door close and sighed. So close to telling him...so close...
That night, Rei managed to get Tyson to settle down enough to sit and play games with Max quietly, while Kenny snoozed on the floor beside them. He was sitting on the sofa, watching them and smiling, when something weighed down the sofa beside him. "Are there any mince pies left?"
"Oh!" The shock of Kai coming into the same room as Tyson of his own free will left Rei floundering for a moment, then he pulled himself together and offered Kai the plate of mince pies that had been on the coffee table. Kai took one, smiling softly at Rei before taking a bite. "They're nice."
Rei glowed with pleasure, smiling back brightly. "I was...um...I was thinking of going Christmas shopping tomorrow Kai...do you...want to come with me?"
"Well...yeah, okay. I haven't bought anyone anything yet." Rei felt his insides swoop. Kai was being so...easy to get on with. The complete opposite to the way he'd been acting since the start of December... "Another mince pie?"
"Yeah, okay." The Russian replied, licking the crumbs of the last pie from his lips. "Are you trying to fatten me up or something?" Rei felt mortified for a second, but Kai was smiling at him, eyes twinkling. Rei smiled back, feeling as if Christmas was finally coming together...
Rei thanked the cashier of the department store and left, weighed down with bags of all shapes and sizes. He'd bought most of it with Kai, but they'd agreed to part company for half an hour to buy 'secret' presents. Actually...
Rei dragged his arm up, laden with things as it was, and checked his watch. Ten minutes till he had to meet Kai. Well, going early to get a coffee couldn't hurt, could it? He set off up the street, smiling at passers-by and admiring the decorations in all of the shop windows. The toy shop where he'd bought that teddy for Max, the chocolate shop where he'd bought everyone chocolates, and the shop where he'd bought Tyson that poster he'd been wanting...
Before very long, Rei was at the coffee shop, glad of a chance to put down his bags and relax with a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie with enough time to spare to think about how to talk to Kai. He was just waiting to be served when something about his person started to vibrate, shocking him into dropping the bag with cooking things in. It clattered and spilled out three wooden spoons and a pan, and so Rei had to grovel on the floor picking them up, face burning. He avoided the stares of the people around him by getting out his mobile, the source of all the trouble, and looking at it reproachfully. Horrible object.
'You have voicemail' was flashing on the screen. Trying to keep some semblance of dignity he held the phone to his ear, clicking. "Hey Rei..." Kai's voice muttered into his ear. "Um...I'm going to be held up for a while, so you might as well go on back without me...sorry..." And the message ended. Rei shoved his phone back in his pocket, sighing. Well, if Kai wasn't coming, there was no point sitting and drinking hot chocolate on his own. The whole point of asking Kai shopping was to be with Kai and -just- Kai!
Sighing, he left the shop, the happy feeling of having everyone's Christmas presents dampened by Kai's desertion.
Kai snuck in hours later, and bypassed Tyson, who was laughing hysterically at something on the TV. Rei watched him shut the kitchen door behind him, sighing. It seemed to have become his safe haven for the Christmas period. After a few minutes, he couldn't resist the temptation of going out to see the stoic Russian and find out exactly where he'd disappeared to.
"Kai?"
"Mm?" Kai looked up from his latest book.
"I...just wondered if you...wanted a coffee?"
"Okay." Rei clicked on the kettle and leaned against the worktop, sighing.
"So where did you go earlier, Kai?" A shrug.
"I was getting your present, but it took longer than I thought it would." The kettle rumbled and clicked, but Rei didn't pick it up.
"You know what I was saying last night, Kai?"
"...Yes."
"I...um..."
Rei had to stop himself from cursing out loud as the kitchen door slammed open and Max ran in, snatching some bananas from the fruitbowl and running out again. Awkward silence descended. "Um. Coffee." Rei said, blushing as he made Kai a coffee and himself a hot chocolate. "I'll...um...leave you to read then."
"Right." Rei left the kitchen, sighing.
Kai then spent the next three days ignoring everyone and disappearing out of the house for hours on end. Rei did think for a while that he would stay out for all of Christmas Eve as well, but no. He arrived late, again, carrying a box. "Kai?"
The kitchen door slammed.
Rei stared at it for a second, then felt tears sting his eyes. Kai was being even worse than at the -start- of the holiday...and it could only be because of what he'd said. Kai wasn't stupid, he must have realised...and if he was being so...so -difficult- it could only mean he wasn't interested! Sniffling, Rei went and sat in the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and starting to cry. After all the effort he'd made, the times he'd tried to get Kai on his own to talk to him...Kai had to know, he -had- to, or he wouldn't keep conveniently disappearing when Rei managed to get the others out of the house!
"Look at me...crying on Christmas Eve..." He muttered to himself, leaning his head back against the wall and sniffing. And then someone knocked on the door. "Um...is someone-?"
"Oh! Kai! I'm just...just washing my face..." He shot to his feet and turned the tap on. The door swung open and Rei felt his insides freeze with fear.
"Are you -crying-?"
"Um...it...it was the movie...it was so sad..." He sniffed, smiling. Kai looked at him suspiciously.
"They aren't watching a movie. They're watching stupid repeats of stupid comedy shows."
"They...I guess they changed the channel when I came in here. You know what they're like..." At this, Kai seemed finally satisfied. "Did you want to talk to me, or-?"
"No. I need the toilet." The Russian said pointedly, looking at it. Rei felt about three inches high, laughing nervously and brushing a hand across his forehead.
"Sorry. I...I'll..." He walked out, shutting the door behind himself and biting his lip. He didn't think he could stand it for much longer... "Tyson? I'm going for a walk, okay?"
"Okay!"
Rei sighed, grabbing his coat from the back of the chair and pulling it on.
Ten minutes later he was sitting on a freezing bench in the park, staring at a lump of rock. It was an ugly rock, jutting up out of the path and looking like some kind of squat, malevolent toad. Rei glared at it. "It isn't fair." He told it moodily.
"What's not fair?" Rei leapt up off the bench, his heart thudding in his chest. But it was only Kai.
"K-Kai!" He laughed, that same stupid, nervous laugh he had before. "You scared me!"
"Sorry." The Russian moved closer, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I was just a little shocked..."
"I'm not talking about just now, Rei. I'm not stupid. I know you weren't watching any movie. What were you crying about?" Rei stood for a second, stunned.
"No...I was watching a movie..." He lied automatically.
"Don't lie to me Rei. I find you shut up in the bathroom crying and then you walk out of the house without a word." Rei bit his lip. Should he tell the truth, or-
"Kai...I...I..." He trailed off into silence. He couldn't tell him. Not when he knew his feelings weren't returned. "I'm homesick..." He looked away, just in case Kai could tell by his eyes that he was lying through his teeth. "I miss Lee...and Mariah...and..." An awkward hand clamped over his shoulder, but he kept looking down, to the side, anywhere but at Kai. Slowly, hesitantly, a pair of arms wrapped around him, loosely, as if Kai wasn't sure if the gesture would be appreciated.
Rei snuggled his face into the Russian's chest and started to cry again, feeling like a hopeless, helpless, lying excuse for a friend...he was taking advantage of Kai being kind, Kai didn't even like him, he wouldn't want to be held up having to comfort him about something he wasn't even upset about! But he wanted him to care...he wanted it so much...
"I'm sorry..." He whispered, standing back. Kai regarded him with an odd expression on his face.
"It's okay. Let's...go back."
"Yeah. Okay." They walked back in complete silence. Rei could feel it gnawing at him, and he wanted to say something...but the longer the silence went on the harder it was to think of something to say that wouldn't sound stupid, and...
They found Tyson running around the kitchen as they walked in the door, and Kai stumped off to turf him out. Rei watched him for a second then decided to go to bed early. Really early. Anything but have to think about Kai, and how much Kai didn't like him back, and how much Kai would -never- like him back...
He shut the bedroom door behind himself and changed into his pyjamas. He didn't much like them and he didn't often wear them, but it was so cold in December... His fingers brushed the material absently as he flopped down among the blankets and pulled them up over his head. And then he sighed. It was Christmas day tomorrow and what was he doing? Being happy and enjoying the occasion with his friends? Making them the cookies he'd promised to make? No, he was sitting in his bed like a petulant child, getting upset over nothing.
But it wasn't over -nothing-! It was over Kai...and Kai meant so much more to him than nothing... The door creaked open and he froze, ready to feign sleep if someone moved the blankets. "Rei?" Tyson's voice. "Are you awake?"
"Does it look like it Tyson?" Kai's voice sounded, sarcastic and annoyed. "Leave him alone, he isn't feeling well. Come on, get out." Rei thought thankful thoughts in Kai's direction and eventually drifted off to sleep...
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" Someone leapt onto Rei's bed, jolting him awake and shocking him into leaping to his feet, ready to attack whoever this assailant was. But it was only Tyson, bouncing (literally) with happiness. "Happy Christmas, Tyson."
"Come on come on come on we need you to come out so we can open the presents!" Tyson gabbled. Rei smiled, laughing. Tyson was so excited, bless him...
He let the enthusiastic bluenette lead him out into the main room, where the others were waiting. "Oh! Oh! Who gets the first present?" Max asked, jumping up and down with Tyson. Rei smiled.
"Why not Kai?" And so Kai had one of his presents thrust at him. Rei watched him opening it, and knew he was doing it slowly to annoy Tyson. And... "Rei?" The neko-jin blinked. He hadn't even realised it was his present Kai had been unwrapping. "How did you know I wanted this?"
"Oh...I saw you looking at it when we were out, and I sort of put two and two together..." Said Rei, blushing. Kai smiled at him, then looked back down at the CD in his hand, reading the tracklist.
"Thanks...I've been meaning to buy it for ages, but..."
"Come on come on, another present!"
Rei watched the rest of them unwrapping theirs before they finally got around to him. A fluffy teddy bear from Max, three huge bars of chocolate from Tyson and a set of pens from Kenny. And then...Kai's present. It was big and square, and wrapped in red paper. Slowly, carefully, he tore off a corner of the paper. The box -wiggled-. Rei looked up doubtfully and then started unwrapping again. The box squeaked. "Kai..."
"Just open it..." Rei did so, peeling off the paper until he was left holding the box Kai had been carrying the night before. "Open the box..." There was a note of apprehension in Kai's voice, as if he were unsure, uncertain...
"Oh!" Rei almost didn't believe his eyes. Nestled inside the box on top of an old jumper was a tiny black kitten. It mewled as it saw Rei and tried to climb towards him. Rei gave a cry of joy and picked the little creature up, cradling it in his arms. "I had to get up and wrap it just before you came out..." Kai said nervously as Rei nuzzled at the kitten and stroked it, joyful.
"It's -beautiful-!" He exclaimed. "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"Boy."
"Oh! He's so cute!" Rei fussed his new pet, tickling him behind the ears and cuddling him close to his chest. "I'm going to call him...um..." He looked straight into Kai's eyes for the first time, and saw that the Russian was still afraid. "I'm going to call him Valentine..." He whispered. "Because I love him, and Saint Valentine is all to do with love..." The statement of course was half directed at Kai, who then contrived to look very confused.
They started to clear the mess away while Valentine chased paper across the floor, batting at it and biting it playfully. While Tyson and Max were wrapping Kenny up in the paper, Kai sneaked over to Rei, who was still fussing Valentine. "That's where I've been the past few days. I...made Tala look after him so you wouldn't find out, and I had to make sure he was looking after him properly..."
"He's -beautiful-, Kai..."
But hold on...if Kai had been leaving the house to look after Valentine...then maybe... Rei swallowed. Now or never. Now or never. "Kai, I-" Lips. Strong arms. Valentine coaxed from his hands. And that smell. The smell of ice, of winter, of -Kai-... His arms moved automatically, winding around Kai's neck and dragging him closer, Rei standing on his tiptoes and Kai holding him, warm and firm...he felt as if he were about to cry when the kiss ended, but as he stood looking up into Kai's sincere, afraid eyes, he laughed, smiling. "Very honest..."
"Rei..."
"I'm joking. Kai...I...I've been trying to say it all week, and...with you being out so much of the time...well it was difficult to tell if..."
"You weren't homesick." It wasn't a question, but Rei answered anyway.
"No...I...I didn't think you liked me back...I thought you were avoiding me..."
"And that made you cry?" Rei looked up, sighing.
"Yeah. Because I...love you. There, I've told you now. I can have an honest Christmas at least..." There was an indignant squeak from beside them, and Rei turned to find Valentine balancing on the back of the sofa, looking piteous. The neko-jin laughed and picked the little kitten up, cuddling him close. He looked up at Kai and hesitated. The Russian was looking at him in that strange way again...
He reached out, and Rei assumed he was going to stroke Valentine, but no. A cool hand cupped his cheek, making him look straight into Kai's eyes. "Do you mean that?"
"What?"
"That you love me. Did you mean it?"
"I...yes..." The look became, if possible, stranger.
"I love you too." That, Rei had to admit, shocked him more than a little. So much so that he almost dropped Valentine, who clung to his sleeve and squeaked. At that, Kai did actually stroke the kitten, smiling. "Why do you think I took so much time getting your present?"
"I..." Rei thought for a second then turned, snuggling Valentine up in the cushions before turning back and placing his hands firmly on Kai's shoulders. "What are you doing?"
"Walk backwards."
"What? Why?" Asked Kai, looking puzzled. Rei pushed him gently until he obeyed, stepping backwards little by little until Rei stopped him. "Rei, what-"
"Look up, Kai." The Russian did so.
A smirk crept across his face. "Mistletoe. Well...I'm not one to break tradition..."
As Rei felt Kai's lips touch his own, he closed his eyes, thinking that this Christmas really was gearing up to be the best one he'd ever had...
Fin
Well, that's it. And it's a oneshot, so no more chapters.
R&R please!