Kai stopped in his tracks and stared; first at this… thing that Max, with a blush, had thrust in his hand; then after the other boy in disbelief as he literally ran out of the door. What, exactly, did he expect him to do with it? And what was this even about?

It was a music tape, the kind you could put the music on yourself. A bit obsolete in these days of CDs, MP3s and i-Pods. Unmarked, no track listing. He wondered whether it could be a mix tape – perish the thought. Surely people only gave them to the people they liked… wait.

He glanced at the tape again, a lot more apprehensively, pondering what to do.

Well, he supposed he could play it. Might be a start and it could put his mind at ease that it wasn't a mix tape. But he paused, thinking. He didn't have a tape player anymore, nor did he know of many people that did. And to be honest, he didn't really want to go traipsing around looking for one, even to solve the mystery of Max's behaviour.

Remembering his team mate, he berated himself for his idiocy. Of course he knew someone with a tape player. Presumably Max had made it himself, and that would require a player.

With a sigh, he set off after the runaway, still wondering why he didn't just chuck it away and go back to what he was doing. But no, that was what the old Kai would have done – somehow, being with the Bladebreakers had made him change his attitude, and he made a conscious effort now to put others first. He expected Max would be quietly offended if he didn't at least give the tape a listen, and that would cause much unneeded friction within the team; something to be avoided if at all possible. And besides, now he was curious as to what it contained.

Someday, life would be simpler, he mused. There wouldn't be any need to please anyone. He could be as brusque as he liked without consequence. Actually, scrap that. He'd turn into his grandfather – that would be a definite negative consequence. These thoughts filled up the time it took to search the house for Max, who seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

All right then, thought Kai. If Max wanted him to listen to the tape so much, he would have to sacrifice his right to give permission for his stuff to be borrowed. Once again, he mounted the stairs in pursuit of Max's room. Upon reaching it, he pushed the door open, flicked on the light, and waded through the piles of random possessions that littered the floor towards the old CD player sitting on the chest of drawers.

After locating the bit that the tape went into, Kai wound it back as far as it would go and pressed play. The tape hissed and crackled a bit, but otherwise there was silence. Kai let out the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, exactly, but he'd been expecting something.

As he was thinking this, a slow, gushy love song filled the air. He groaned inwardly. How awkward. Poor Max; however was he going to tell him? This was going to play havoc with team dynamics as well.

Suddenly, the song changed dramatically and jarringly. "Never going to give you up, never going to let you down…"

He recognised the song – Rick Astley?

He was distracted by a burst of giggles coming from behind the door, which he stormed over to and wrenched open. This revealed Max, Tyson and Kenny, doubled up with laughter.

Max got a grip on himself first, and instead of apologising that instant to him, which he should have done, in Kai's opinion, merely turned to Tyson, a triumphant look on his face.

"See? I told you I could rickroll Kai!"


Extra disclaimer of joy: I don't own "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. Thank goodness.

This plot bunny had to be written as soon as it popped into my head! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

SapphyTheElf