[A/N: Thank you guys so much for you comments I really appreciate it. Here's chapter two, really hope you enjoy it. Comment.
Note: / / this indicates speaking in a different language / / ]
[Disclaimer: standard disclaimers apply]
Behind the Mask
[2] A Victim Of Consequence
Leaning up against the wall of the small compartment as it steadily moved upward, Rei concentrated on keeping the contents of his stomach just that. Something about being sick over an elevator ride seemed very flimsy, and Rei would be damned if he lowered himself to that in front his former captain. He racked his brains for something to say, the awkward silence was far from welcome, and in any case, he needed a distraction, but all that came to mind was the disturbing thoughts of collapsing of dizziness, which only managed to make the nausea that much worse.
"What makes you say it was robbery?" Rei turned confused eyes on the boy across from him, unaccustomed to the other actually instigating a conversation, but glad for the distraction none the less Rei shrugged his shoulders.
"What else would it be." He knew what else, the idea had come to his mind a thousand times, but each time it just seemed more farfetched, the idea that he was after someone rather than something.
The elevator came to an abrupt halt, the doors sliding open as Rei continued to contemplate the possibility. Blindly following Kai out the door and down the corridor to flat number 402, it was only then that Rei voiced the thought that had been heavily plaguing his mind since he woke up in the hospital one week ago.
"Do you think…" he spoke with some reservation, this was after all a difficult topic to approach. "Do you think maybe you were what they were looking for." He said hesitantly as Kai rummaged in his pockets for the keys.
Red eyes turned to him, he'd considered the thought but dismissed it almost immediately, "I wasn't staying at Tyson's."
"They could have made a mistake, you know… went to the wrong place. If they assumed that's where you would be."
Kai smirked at the younger boys naivety, "Voltaire wouldn't make that mistake." He said saying out loud the words that Rei had been trying to avoid. "Neither would Boris, it's too sloppy."
"So what then," Rei was thoroughly confused "Aren't you the one that suggested the idea."
Finally pulling his keys from his pocket Kai inserted the corresponding one into the slot on the door before turning it. "I said they weren't after me, that doesn't mean they weren't after someone else." He said pushing the door open to allow them both inside just as his phone began to ring. Pulling it from his pocket he picked up as he entered the dark flat.
"eĭ" he spoke in smooth Russian as disappeared into the darkness, leaving Rei in the open doorway, to contemplate his parting words.
Slipping his shoes off before stepping over the threshold Rei reached his hand out to the stretch of wall to the left of the door, assuming that's where the light switch would be. Smiling triumphantly as his hand came upon it, he flipped the switch, suddenly bringing the entrance into light.
Placing his shoes by the inside door he closed it behind him as he entered fully into the spacious apartment. Coming to stand in the middle of the large room, Rei allowed his eyes to wander, taking in the scenery.
The room was oddly shaped with four walls, behind him where the fifth should have been, was a small but well equipped kitchen, just visible over the bar that separated the two rooms. Black marble counter tops were accented by the pale oak of the cabinets that framed them. The gleaming silver of the coffee maker positioned at the end of the bar by the wall, matched the stove, and various other kitchen appliances, he doubted the teen ever used.
The central room, which he was still standing in, was luxurious to say the least the carpeting was of a pale beige color, contrasting greatly, and rather artistically, with the dark navy blue of the velvet sofas. The large plasma screen TV, which took up most of the front wall of the room where it hung, was surrounded by the latest in entertainment technology, not including the surround sound stereo system that was installed not only by the TV but around the entire room.
Taking in his surroundings Rei wondered briefly how the boy could afford all this, his winnings from the championships weren't enough to get him even half of this, and Rei knew he wasn't on good terms with his grandfather, the only living relative that Rei knew of.
/ / Yeah / / he spoke in clear Russian as he entered the flat.
/ / In mixed company are we / / answered the teasing voice over the phone, speaking as Kai did in his native tongue. / where are you? /
/ / I just got back. / / he answered making his way through the darkness to his bedroom.
/ / Delayed flight? / / he asked as Kai entered his room closing the door just as the lights in the other room came on.
/ / Not exactly, I had to make an extra stop. Any news? / / he slid the duffle bag off his shoulder and onto the floor by the door.
The change of subject didn't go unnoticed by his friend on the other line, but he chose not to pursue the topic, maybe now wasn't the best time. / / None yet / / he said instead / / I'll let you know if anything comes up. Talk to you later then. / /
/ / Bye / / hanging up, he snapped the phone shut dropping it onto his desk, alongside his keys. Before removing the jacket he still wore to throw it on the bed beside a pile of clothes and a heap of bed sheets he never bothered to make.
Contrary to popular belief, Kai Hiwatari was not the neat and well organized young man the world thought him to be; in fact he was rather more of a typically disorganized teenage boy. The cluttered mess that dominated his bedroom was a prime example of just that.
Kicking off his shoes he abandoned them wherever they landed amongst the multiple other pairs of shoes the strewn the floor, discarded and forgotten until he saw fit to wear them.
It wasn't until about an hour later when Rei had settled into the bedroom Kai had given him that they once again approached the topic that had plagued the young neko-jin's mind since Kai had first mentioned it. Rei understood perfectly clearly what Kai had meant, or rather who, when he had said 'someone else', but the thought just seemed so outlandish, who would be after him, and why.
"How do we know it's not just a coincidence." He said approaching Kai who sat at the bar examining something before him. Kai's raised eyebrow was enough to tell Rei what he thought of the idea, but he continued nonetheless, taking a sip from the steaming mug before.
"Then you're a victim of quite a series of coincidences." Taking the object of the countertop before him he dropped it in front of Rei, who gave him a questioning look at the sight of the piece of cloth enclosed in a plastic bag labeled 'evidence'.
"This was found at the scene of the break in," he explained. "The glove of your attacker, somehow you managed to rip it off him during the fight."
"So what does that have to do with intentions? And why do you have evidence from a crime scene?"
"The material contains traces of vaporized Botulinum" at Rei's confused stare he continued. "Botulinum is one of the most deadly poisons known to man. It attacks the nervous system, shutting it down completely leaving the victim in excruciating pain until death, which usually happens within hours."
Rei's eyes went wide in shock, "that's terrible" he managed to gasp out. "But then how come…" he trailed off, unable to finish the question.
"That's the effect it has on humans. The neko-jin race is entirely another story. Aside from being the deadliest of poisons, Botulinum is also known for being one of the few that can subdue a neko within minutes of inhalation. The pain you remember feeling is possibly an effect of the poison you inhaled, so is your loss of memory of the incident, you were passing in an out of consciousness most of the fight until you finally collapsed." He spoke all this calmly as if it was an everyday occurrence, and it somehow unnerved the young Chinese blader.
"That means…"
"It means whoever broke into Granger's Dojo that night wanted you, they knew you were there, which probably means they were watching you and knew exactly where to look. Your heritage isn't public knowledge Kon, its information that hasn't been disclosed to just anyone. This person doesn't only know who you are, but what you are, and they want you alive, which only makes them that much more dangerous."
"But…" Rei was at a loss for words 'this couldn't be real'. "I should have been in china by then." He countered, a valid argument, but Kai appeared to know otherwise.
"For this to be a coincidence Rei that would mean that you coincidentally missed your flight and had to go back to Tyson's. Where there was coincidentally a break in exactly the right place, and the man was coincidentally armed with Botulinum."
Rei watched the boy across from him as he sipped calmly at his coffee. The sight of him so collected was almost frightening, what kind of situations had this boy had to face for this to seem normal. Then something that Kai had said hit him 'coincidentally missed your flight', but he had missed his flight due to weather conditions. Right? It was just… bad luck.
"What do you mean 'coincidentally' missed my flight." He was getting frustrated now, and it showed in his voice, this was just too much all at once. "The roads were blocked, no one could have had any control over that."
"Why were the roads blocked Rei?"
"Weather conditions?" the other was starting to make him doubt himself.
"Where did you hear that from." Rei froze, he hadn't, he had just assumed, since the weather had been so harsh, tons of roads had been blocked he assumed that this was just one of them.
"Your car got stuck on a main highway; it would have been one of the first roads to have been cleared of the ice."
"There was an accident in the area that day." Rei mumbled, "It could have been…"
"…The cause for the road blockage." Kai finished when Rei couldn't, watching as the boy ran his hands tiredly through his hair, innocent bystanders attacked, it was as if he was trapped in some kind of drama, this couldn't be real.
The accident hadn't been an accident at all, a plot to create a road blockage and keep him in Japan. They knew where he would go, it was his only option. 'This is too absurd', there had to be another explanation. Rei stared, it could have been a coincidence, fate, just his bad luck, it could have been all those things together, but something nagging in the back of his mind told him it wasn't.
Then again, one should never underestimate the power of denial. "What if you're just analyzing it way too much, your reading way too far into it?" Rei spoke as Kai rose from his seat on the barstool, leaving his now empty mug on the counter top; he rolled his eyes at the other boy before exiting the kitchen.
Rei stared at the empty mug before him, only traces of the black unsweetened liquid now graced the bottom of the mug. He yawned exhaustion sweeping over him, it was nearing midnight he determined checking the blinking numbers on the microwave across the kitchen. Taking the cup with him he stood, crossing the kitchen to deposit it in the empty sink before turning back and entering into the large room where Kai now sat, or rather lei, across the larger of the two couches, cell phone in hand pressed against his ear as he spoke through it in soft Russian.
"I'm going to bed now." He spoke, not expecting the other to answer. Kai didn't disappoint, his eyes focused on Rei's indicating that he had heard him and inclined his head in a short nod, attention still focused on the voice on the other line.
Needless to say Rei didn't sleep very well that night; he tossed and turned in the large bed staring at the ceiling, drifting in and out of sleep every half hour or so, which only resulted in an unbearable migraine the next morning.
It was around eight by the time Rei had emerged from his room, hair still damp from his shower. He made his way across the floor heading for the kitchen, he wasn't hungry but he needed to eat something, anything before he took those damn pills. Approaching the fridge he pulled it open by the handle, scanning the contents for anything he could stomach. Nothing, the fridge was loaded with drinks, but almost no food. Sighing he closed it extinguishing the light, and turned to lean against it, 'maybe there's something in the cabinets'.
Rei proved himself, once again, wrong as he released the handle allowing the final cabinet to slam shut, nothing edible. As if on cue the click of the lock sounded faintly and door to the apartment opened, allowing Kai entrance into the flat, Rei hadn't even realized he was gone. Kicking of his shoes by the door Kai came over to kitchen counter.
"What do you eat in this place?" Rei asked as he approached, to which Kai dropped the grocery bag on the counter next to him and proceeded to remove his coat and toss onto one of the neighboring barstools.
Rei rummaged through the bag, settling on some eggs and bacon he set to work preparing breakfast, smirking at the thought of his captain scanning a supermarket shelf.
"Where did you go?" Rei asked suddenly, as he pushed the eggs into two empty dishes he had found in an overhead cabinet and laid two strips of bacon in the now sizzling pan. Kai raised an eyebrow at that.
"I meant before, yesterday you came in with a bag, and it doesn't seem like you've been here for a while." He elaborated.
"I had business" he answered, and Rei knew he wouldn't hear anymore on the subject. Going back to reading the newspaper held now in his hand.
Going back to his breakfast Rei turned off the stove and dished out the bacon, before placing both plates on the marble surface and taking his seat. Kai dropped the paper before him open to an article on the 3rd page, and Rei took his cue to read it, as the other boy rounded the counter to sit across from him.
"What is it?"
"Another coincidence for you."
Rei's eyes widened as he scanned the page, taking in the words, but barely able to grasp their meaning. A hospital in central Tokyo attacked; a bomb had taken out half of the sixth floor. 'The sixth floor. Jutendo Hospital.' Were the only words that ran through Rei's mind, repeating themselves over and over again like broken record that just kept getting louder and louder, as the haunting headline glared up at him, 'Small Bomb Causes big Damage'.
"What was your room number in the hospital." Kai questioned, already knowing it was on the sixth floor.
"603" Rei answered distractedly. His head was beginning to hurt, he couldn't honestly say that ever fully believed it was just a coincidence, but this was just too much, he thought the worst had ended with that night. Snapping out of it he turned back to his captain. "I thought you said they wanted me alive?"
"They do, that's why the bomb went off at the other end of the floor, 'almost whipping out the entire floor' the explosion never reached 603, a distraction."
Rei's already none existent appetite was even more far gone as he stared down at the eggs on his plate, pushing them around with the fork held loosely in his hand, 'a distraction' all those innocent defenseless lives for a distraction. He stared at Kai's half eaten plate.
"Eat, you need to take your medication." His captain's words broke the harsh silence; denial could only go so far.
He shook his head he couldn't eat. "What if they find me?"
"That's for me to worry about not you." Kai answered, that's why he had come, why he was here now, but how could he expect him not to worry about, to pretend as if nothing was wrong, there was no way Rei would let Kai put himself through that much danger. It was clear that these people had no reservations on who they took down in their path to get to him; he couldn't let Kai be one of those people.
"If I go back to china they can't get to me." Rei spoke his thoughts out loud, his mind finally catching up with him, he just needed to get away from them, hide, and what better place to do so than a remote mountain village on an uncharted island. "I'll just disappear and there won't be a problem."
"Don't be dense that's how they found you the first time, it's too predictable a move, and for you to get on a flight, it has to be documented, obviously, they have access to those documents."
"What if I take a boat then?"he tried desperately.
"Then you could still be walking right into their trap, haven't you listened to a word I said. They know you're part neko, which means there is a big chance they're from that island of yours."
Rei's mind was reeling, 'no way, there was no way', his fist crashed hard on the counter, but Kai didn't flinch "They wouldn't do that, they wouldn't betray me like that, none of them."
"You're such a child Kon, you're so naïve." Rei's slitted eyes continued to glare at his former captain, completely unaware of the throbbing pain in his already damaged right hand, the calm voice of the other grated further on his already worn nerves, how could he be so calm.
"Why do you care, why did you even come for me!" Rei shouted now at the boy seated across the counter, unable to accept the reality of what might be happening. "You've never cared, what's the difference now, I've never mattered before, none of us have. You're no longer our captain, the team is done, so why are you still here. Why did you come back just to throw this in my face?" Rei screamed, why was he doing this to him, why couldn't he just leave him alone.
"Team or no team, you're still my responsibility until you reach home." Kai answered calmly, Rei's accusations trying his nerves but he kept calm, he didn't know what he was saying. "Which you have so far failed to do."
"So just dump me there and be done with it." His frustrated voice continued to yell at the undeserving boy across from him.
"You know I can't do that." He answered simply standing from his seat and crossing the kitchen. Rei slumped into his seat, suddenly tired again, he hadn't even realized he had been standing.
Staring at the counter before him Rei wasn't sure how much longer he sat there, unable to gather his scattered thoughts; he didn't know what to think. 'Shit' he shouldn't have done that, Kai was only trying to help, who was he kidding, he was helping, if it hadn't been for Kai he would have long gone by now. He had been the one who informed the police of the attack that night when Tyson had called him. He had showed up at the Dojo only minutes after he had been informed of the break in. He had been the one with the gun to the man's head and the threatening words. He had been the one to pull him from the hospital mere hours before the detonation of the bomb. He felt as if all the blood was rushing to his head, he could have been long gone be now, possibly even dead once those bastards had finished with him. His unidentifiable body found days, maybe weeks later in the city gutters or some unmarked dumpster cross-town, but Kai had gotten him out on time. He was feeling lightheaded now, dropping his head into his hands, elbows resting on the counter before him, he tried not to think about where or what he would have been now, if the real coincidence hadn't occurred, if the circumstances were just a little bit worse, if luck was not on his side.
The sound of marble against ceramic barely reached Rei's ears as a mug was placed next to him, something hot judging by the steam, vanilla tea from the smell that filled his senses somehow calming him slightly.
"You should at least have something to drink, before you take your medication." Kai's voice came from behind him, as he took the plate out from in front of him. Rei listened as he scraped the remains of breakfast into the trash bin and deposited the two plates and frying pan into the sink. Then opening a drawer somewhere behind him and closing it again he walked back over and placed the bottle of pills on the bar top before Rei, causing to lift his head up out of his hands.
Why was he doing this, why did he continue to help him, even after everything he'd said. "I'm sorry…I…." he didn't know what to say.
"Forget it." Was the short reply, he seemed unfazed, but Rei knew he had simply grown accustom to the mood swings of the neko-jin, though they had never been directed at him. Checking his watch Kai spoke again, this time from somewhere to his left, where Rei assumed he was pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I'm supposed to meet with Dickenson in an hour, if you can finish that and get dressed quickly; I'll take you with me."
'Mr. Dickenson' he vaguely remembered something about him, something from a dream maybe, but he couldn't place it.
TBC...
