Okay! Here's the update. I'm so happy I had time to finish this although it's a bit short. Sorry for that. I just had two major exams, a finals project to finish and a report to do. I was like literally dying. I thought my brain was going to explode. Thankfully, it didn't and my friends helped me out. Yay my friends! ^^

Now, let's get on to the new chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE, ONLY THE STORYLINE OF THIS FANFIC.

Enjoy! :D

Chapter 2: Strange Sensations

It wasn't love at first sight but Kai could definitely feel something as he stared into those golden orbs. It was a feeling that he's never felt before; not for any reason and not towards anybody. It was an odd and rather confusing feeling that Kai was literally frozen in his place holding Rei's wrist.

"Um… could you let go now please?" Rei's soft voice snapped Kai out and he blinked twice before finally realizing that he was still gripping Rei's wrist and immediately let go.

"Sorry" Kai apologized in a really low voice. He was desperately hiding those light tints of red on his pale cheeks out of embarrassment.

"I was the one who wasn't looking at where I was going so I'm sorry too" Rei smiled. Kai simply nodded and there he noticed the slightly visible stain on Rei's white suit.

"Ah I better get going. Sorry again!" Rei said and ran off to the men's bathroom. Kai watched him turn the corner and was quickly out of his sight.

"I thought you've bailed out on us but no, you were actually out here flirting with some chick" Tala muttered suddenly appearing beside Kai. Kai snapped out of his daze and frowned.

"He was a guy, you idiot" Kai said as he walked pass Tala and to the parking lot.

"Of course he's a guy—Wait what? And where the hell are you going?" Tala exclaimed. Kai paid no attention to him and quickly rode in the cab he called. It's really embarrassing riding a cab when you have your own Mercedes Benz but Kai didn't really have a choice. Bryan had the keys and returning back to the diner hall was too much of a hassle. To Kai that is.

"You freakin' asshole!" Tala fumed as the cab sped away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rei splashed water on his face and looked back at his reflection on the mirror. He could see that he was growing pale and felt that it was about time he went home. He was starting to feel sick as well and it wasn't long till he started coughing blood.

"Damn it, why now?" Rei thought to himself. He quickly fished out his phone from his pocket and dialed Hilary's number.

"Hilary, I'm going home" he said, his voice was starting to crack.

"What? Wait, where are you now?" Hilary replied already having a guess why Rei was going to leave so suddenly.

"I'm on my way to get a cab" Rei replied covering his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Hang on a sec, I'll come with you"

"No don't worry. I'll be fine. I can still walk on my own. Tell Max and Tyson I had an urgent matter to attend to"

"But—"

"Just stay there Hil. It'll be impolite if we both left so suddenly. I'll be alright, I promise" Rei smiled reassuringly though he knows that Hilary can't see it.

"Alright. I'll try to get home as soon as possible too. Take care on your way" Hilary said, worry was evident in her voice. Rei chuckled, pleased with the fact that Hilary was getting so worried about him.

"Yes, yes."

When Kai arrived in his manor, he went straight to his bed. It wasn't a really tiring day but he felt as if his energy has been completely drained out of him. Maybe it was because Tala has been shouting and nagging at him the whole day. He sighed. Surely, when those two arrive home as well, he'll be bombarded with more nagging and endless curses.

Kai, Tala and Bryan have been friends since their childhood back in Russia. When Kai's family left for Japan when he was thirteen, Tala and Bryan decided to tag along saying life was becoming pretty boring and that living in a new country would be much more fun. Then Kai's parents had a divorce and went separate ways leaving Kai to live in the mansion in Japan with his grandfather. And then a few more years later, Kai's grandfather died and all his estates and fortune was left in Kai's name thus giving him full authority in the company and automatically became its president.

He rose again from his bed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He picked up his reading glasses as well as the five-hundred-page book he bought a few days ago, from his bedside table. He wasn't really feeling sleepy and reading would help him relax for a while. He opened the book and started scanning through the words. He wanted to focus on what he was reading but his mind would always drift and the face of that raven-haired guy from the hotel always popped in. He could still feel his skin in his hold and it was only then that he realized the guy actually felt a bit cold.

"Come to think of it, he was also rather pale" he thought. Then he sighed, thinking that he didn't even properly introduce himself.

It was only three years ago when Rei first found out about his weakening health. It was a yet to be known disease that was hereditary and existed only to the people in their village. He was told that his great grandfather had the same illness and died because of it. At first, Rei thought it was a simple fever but as time went by, he realized it was more to that when he started to frequently lose consciousness, have painful headaches and worse of all, cough blood. It was then that he consulted with a doctor and was told about his condition. It seemed that his disease targeted his respiratory system and the virus was starting to destroy them. There was no cure but there were certain medicines that helped ease the pain and prolong his life.

Rei never told anyone about this. He didn't want to make them worry about him and kept it strongly hidden between him and his doctor, Hiro Granger. It was a pretty hard secret to keep since Hiro was actually Tyson's older brother. Rei thought Tyson was the one who will find out about his sickness but instead, it was Hilary who did right after she lived with him. He begged her to keep it a secret as well.

"What? Why would you want to do that?" Hilary asked.

"Because it's not important…"

"Rei, you're seriously sick and might even die yet you call that not important? Did the virus damage your brain cells or something?" The brunette cocked her eyebrow at him.

"Just please, don't tell them. At least not yet…"

"So when do you plan on telling them? When you're a minute away from death? Rei they have the right to know."

"I know. But now is not the right time to tell them. Please just understand Hilary. Promise me you'll never tell anyone."

Seeing how Rei looked so desperate about the matter, Hilary was forced to nod. And she kept her promise. Although, there were times when she was so tempted in telling Max the truth. His puppy dog eyes are seriously dangerous.

"Rei, how are you?" Hilary asked as she opened the door of Rei's room. She found him curled underneath the comforter shivering. She quickly dropped her bag on the floor and rushed to his side. She touched his forehead and sighed. He didn't have a fever and was simply feeling cold. She chuckled quietly and turned on the heater.

"If you're cold just turn this on. What's this doing here if you're not going to use it?" Hilary said. Rei just moaned. She then sat down next to Rei and brushed his hair. She wore a forlorn smile thinking of the possibility that she might never see Rei again. Her eyes began to form tears and she quickly wiped them off, slightly slapping her cheeks to erase the thought.

"We'll find a way to cure you Rei. I know we will" she whispered and kissed the top of Rei's head before proceeding back to her own room.

It's an early Saturday morning and even without his alarm clock ringing, Kai got up from his bed much earlier than his usual wake-up time. He went to the kitchen counter to prepare himself a hot mug of coffee. Seeing his car already parked in front of the mansion, he knew Tala and Bryan were already home. This was actually kind of a surprise since he expected them to not really come home, thinking they'd taken a detour in a hotel. Since it was barely four in the morning, all his servants were still sleeping. And since he likes being alone and doing things on his own as well, he doesn't bother to wake them up anymore to make them do such simple things.

After his coffee was done, he moved to the veranda and sat by the coffee table there. He wore his glasses as he scanned through the pages of the newspaper. Only the chirping of the birds and the soft breeze of the wind can be heard. These are one of Kai's favorite times. Early mornings sure are the best times to relax by yourself and reflect on certain things.

While reading the advertising section of the newspaper, he noticed the picture on the bottom left corner. It was Rei holding an award for his café. He won the "Café of the Year" award and beside him was Hilary.

"So he's Rei Kon then. Chateau de Fleurs huh…" Kai thought and sipped from his mug. He took the phone from the table and dialed Mr. Dickenson's number. He's one of the major shareholders of the company and he was supposed to have a meeting with him.

"Hello, Mr. Dickenson, about the place of our meeting…" Kai said.

"Well, you seem to be doing pretty well here, Rei." Mr. Dickenson, the owner of the hotel where Rei used to work said as entered the café. Rei was in the middle of cleaning a table and his face was quickly filled with bliss when he saw the 'chubby old man'. It was a nickname Hilary accidentally gave the business man before she was properly introduced to him.

"It's so nice for you to visit today, Mr. Dickenson" Hilary said assisting him to a vacant seat.

"Well aside from visiting, I'm having a meeting with a very important person here" Mr. Dickenson replied receiving the menu list from Hilary.

"A very important someone? Are you meeting your wife here?"

"No, no. I'm talking about a business partner" Mr. Dickenson laughed. Aside from being his former boss, Mr. Dickenson also helps in the café's funding.

"By the way, the idea of putting cakes on the menu was great. Thank you for always supporting us Mr. Dickenson" Rei said as he took an order from a lady.

"Oh it was nothing my dear boy. I'm just happy to be of help" Mr. Dickenson laughed. Rei smiled back at him.

A black Mercedes Benz then pulled up to the café's parking space. Three men in a black expensive looking suit emerged from it. They entered the café and Hilary had her eyes grow wide and she gasped upon seeing who they were.

"Mr. Hiwatari?" Hilary said. Kai looked at Hilary then to the person who was behind her.

"You know each other?" Mr. Dickenson asked.

"I used to work for one of their branches in Hokkaido" Hilary replied.

"Ms. Tachibana, fancy meeting you here. Wow, you look good in a waitress outfit" Tala said jumping from behind Kai, to take a better look at Hilary.

"Why thank you, Mr. Ivanov. And it' a pleasure meeting you again." Hilary tittered.

Kai on the other hand was looking at Rei who was busy assisting a young boy in choosing a cake. The kid gave Rei the money and aside from his change, he also gave him a lollipop. When the kid left, Kai took this chance to finally talk to Rei and maybe properly introduce himself.

"You seem fine now." He voiced out his presence. Rei spun on his heels to see who talked to him.

"Ah, it's you again" he said with a bright smile.

"You looked pale the other night I was worried." Tala, Bryan, Hilary and even Mr. Dickenson all had their jaws fall open, eyes almost shot out of their sockets when Kai spoke these words. Kai worried? He never worries anybody, they thought.

"Did Kai just said what I think he just said?" Tala whispered to Bryan. The lilac-haired silently responded by nodding his head. Slowly a grin formed on Tala's face, his interest piqued.

"O-oh, uh, I was just a bit sick from the wine that's all" Rei replied (or rather lied).

"In any case, we weren't properly introduced. I'm Kai Hiwatari." Kai said offering his hand.

"Pleased to meet you Mr. Hiwatari, my name's Rei, Rei Kon."

And at that moment their hands touched together again as they shook hands, Kai felt the same weird sensation he felt back in the hotel. It was truly different and he was very much interested why this guy just had so much effect on him.

And that is it! I hope you liked it ^^

Thank you to those who added this story to their favorites list already and gave such nice reviews. I was so happy to know that you liked it and was actually waiting for my next story to come up. You guys made my day. :D

Leave a review and make me smile ^^

See you all on the next update.