I don't understand why I wrote the last chapter in present. It's hard to write that way and I don't get what went through my head. So I'm changing it, cause it's easier to write in past term. I'll be re-writing the first chapter soon as possible. I just want to get this new chapter up.
Holy baloony, can't believe people liked this story. Well actually I can because I'm awesome and I write awesome story's with terrible grammar. *Cough* I do appreciate people pointing that out and I will go on my hunt for a BETA reader if this chapter isn't good enough, ke? I haven't found one yet cause I've been busy flunking school. I hope you're not to mad and still want to read this story xD
Now, I'm writing a note to everyone that reviewed the first chapter here but after that I'm just gonna thank everyone in name for reviewing. But this chapter took so long you deserve something special!
Black wolf-kot; I'm afraid to say to much but yes, it had a deeper meaning!
Nazrita; Thank you! That was my goal and I'm so glad I raised so many questions. Cause I love torturing people with questions.
Hubbafubba; Sorry you had to wait longer than a week =( I hope this chapter answer some of your questions!
Riyuwithoutthe.M xD; That made me laugh XD Tbh I haven't read the manga (I live in a country where manga is like a rare but delicious fruit) so I'm proud to say I made his character myself!
aishiteru ayu; Good! KaiXRei is the best there is!
Anon; Thank you, it means a lot when you put it like that! I'm hunting a BETA reader at this moment! :-)
Rangerapprentice; I made you read this story too! Or maybe you read this first... Anyway.. I hope your toe is alright now! After like a month.. Sorry for late update, again x) Oh, I never think a review is annoying. No matter how strange/random/fluffy it is!
KaiHiwRayKon; I love that my readers from my other story are here too :3 Thank you!
KedakaiOkami; I was really worried about that part so *pew* Glad it was approved! :D
Ma; Yaah, Kai is a funny person. But Rei isn't in denial! He is so not going there to eat lunch with Kai. Right? o.O"
Max: Thanks for the cookies! I love them :3
Everyone in school cheered for Friday like always, but for others Fridays were different. This Friday in particular was more of a torture for poor Max that was in pain from gym class the day before. It had been various ball sports and Max became a moving target for his classmates. It wasn't until Tyson started throwing balls around like a crazy man the other students stopped.
Rei didn't say anything about the situation and more quiet than usual, not that anyone could tell.
"Class dismissed!" Miss Fletcher said and everyone rushed up from their seats. Rei wasn't an exception. Max saw his raven-haired classmate disappear like smoke. He really liked that windowsill Max guessed.
"Tate! Your friend Tyson hurt my buddy yesterday during gym!" A classmate screamed and slamed his fist on Max's bench.
"But you... He didn't mean to!" He changed his mind, not wanting to upset his classmate further. If he just agreed and apologized they had to go away. Right?
"He still did it! Now we're a man short for practice!" He had no idea what practice his classmates were talking about but it had to be a teamsport. He was never included in those things.
"I'm sorry!" A blonde male student grabbed Max by his collar and dragged him up from his seat.
"You better be!" His fists clenched and Max panicked. He tried to break free but at the same time he doesn't want to start hitting his classmate.
"I need to borrow Max. The principal wants to see him," a calm but yet scary and dark voice said from behind the group of people. None of them dared to question what Rei just said.
"Your lucky day shrimp!" The student let go of Max that almost crawled to Rei's side. Without saying anything else the raven-haired teen leaved the classroom with Max behind.
"What does the principal want with me?" Max asked. Rei's eyes were focused on the stairs and his body was tense.
"Nothing," he responded and Max almost stopped walking. The principal didn't want to see him, Rei lied! Rei saved him! He knew he shouldn't let it get to his head but no one ever did something like that. Not even other new students, did Rei know how much this would affect his reputation? Another realization hit Max, Rei doesn't care about his reputation. He hates people, why would he want to be popular?
"Thanks a lot," he was beginning to understand how Rei was thinking. But he still didn't know if he could call Rei a friend.
"Whatever," they walked down the stairs and Max couldn't help but notice less people were glaring at him when he walked with his classmate.
"Were you the nice kind of popular in your former school? Going around and saving people like a superhero? Because that was so nice of you, saving me I mean. Thanks again," Max said with a huge smile but the other teen didn't respond.
"Hey, aren't you eating on the eight floor?" He asked when they reached the sixth floor. It wasn't so many students in the cafeteria but Max could see Tyson wave to show he got seats while Hilary tried to make him sit down. Max signaled he was just buying food.
"Who's that student next to Max?" Tyson asked while rubbing his head. Hilary punched him hard so he would sit down.
"Rei Kon. He's new in Max's class," Hilary said and Kenny looked up from his laptop. Computers were forbidden in school except for special cases. Kenny and a few other students hade dyslexia and therefore they were allowed to have computers.
"Rei Kon, started this Tuesday even though normally a new student starts on Mondays. He's from China, has average grades but no information about his former school can be found," Kenny said while looking at his laptop.
"Stop that chief, it's creepy!" Indeed, Kenny had information about every student on his laptop. Hilary agreed with Tyson, creepy.
"See you in next class!" Max said and Rei nodded. He got one sandwich and orange juice for lunch, not enough to get him filled up but enough for him to make it through the day.
"Bye," he responded before leaving. He didn't know if Kai was still there, buying lunch took some time. The saving Max did too, why did he do that? He made up his mind about not trying to befriend anyone at this new school and yet here he is befriending two people at once! Shouldn't he stop it?
"Great you're here! This is yours," a wild red-haired student appeared and showed a pink lunchbox in Rei's arms. He almost dropped it out of surprise but managed to balance everything.
"Thanks for cleaning it," he said while trying to switch hands so his sandwich wouldn't get mashed.
"The cake was delicious. Whoever made it is an excellent baker," Tala said and smiled slightly. Rei nodded in agreement.
"I'll tell them you said that. Now I have to eat," Tala nodded and moves out of the way so Rei could go to the windowsill. To his surprise Kai was still sitting there, his eyes fixed on something happening in the schoolyard.
Rei sat down on the left side. He followed Kai's gaze to the ground. He couldn't see very good but it looked like a group of students were gathered. He couldn't see exactly what they were doing either and tried to focus more. It looked like a group of people versus another group of people. No, that wasn't it.
"Shit.." Rei put his hand on the window. Kai was eating his lunch, uncaring about what was going on between the other students.
"Hey Kai. I just heard that our teacher for English is still sick and they didn't find a substitute for her. We quit for the day!" Kai looked at his friend in disbelief. Why couldn't they have been informed of that earlier?
"We can go to my place and slack while waiting for Bryan to quit," he suggested, finishing his sandwich. Tala nodded and was about to say something when he noticed how Rei was hugging the window to see what was happening on the ground below them.
"We should wait for that to finish tho," Kai said and pointed down. Tala moved closer and looked down. He couldn't recognize the students from where he stood but it didn't matter. It was always the same student at the same time everyday.
"What's going on down there?" Rei asked. His voice wasn't harsh anymore and his face blank.
"Just the everyday bullying, you know?" Tala said with a heavy sigh. Rei sat down normally but still looked down on the students. Yes, Rei knew much about bullying.
"No one is going to help him?" He questioned and threw away his sandwich in the nearest trash can. He wasn't hungry anymore.
"No," Kai answered and took a sip from his juice. He was watching Rei's every move, the younger teen was tense and his eyes didn't leave the students.
"The teachers will react soon enough," Tala said but Rei wasn't listening.
The targeted student was taking punch after punch, he couldn't defend himself. The only reason they were doing it was because he was different, not one of them. Somehow that was a good enough reason for students to beat someone down until they couldn't move anymore. Punch after punch while other students just stand and watch. They wouldn't stop it or get the teacher because they didn't want to be the one that's targeted.
~~~~~After class~~~~~
"Rei! What's your plans for this weekend? Want to met up with me?" Rei glared at the female student as response and packed his stuff. What happened earlier with Max and that other student during lunch put him in a very bad mood.
"What about me and my friends?" Another female student suggested. Max felt sorry for Rei, he doesn't like his popularity at all.
"Move," Rei ordered with his chilly voice. He thinks it's amazing how after four days they still try to talk with him. Can't people get a hint?
Suddenly Max feel Rei grab his shoulder. His first reaction is to scream and try to run but Rei isn't hurting him so he decide to do none of that.
"I'm going home with Max so I would appreciate it if you could be quiet and let us go," at this the whole class went silent. Max felt himself being pushed forward by Rei like a shield until they were out of the classroom.
"So what's your plans for this weekend?" Max asked and tried to ignore the death-glares his classmates were sending him. He knew what Rei said was so their classmates would leave him alone but it still made him a little happy.
"Work. What about you?" Rei answered in normal conversation tone. He didn't seem mad anymore and his face had a bored expression again.
"Why do you work on weekends?" Max asked but only got a shrug as answer. "I'm meeting with friends, then studying. You're welcome to join in if you want!" He said fast to avoid silence. They had some stairs to go and he didn't want to ramble all those steps.
"No," his 'no' isn't as hard as it was to his classmates but Max was still disappointed. Then again he suspected Rei would say no. He must have other friends that are way cooler.
"Ah, I know I already said this but thank you. For saving me," Max smiled again. He knew what his classmates would have done if Rei hadn't saved him.
"Stop saying thanks. It feels like I did something special," Rei said and Max thinks he's being modest but at the same time it feels like something else.
"You did. Not many people in our school stand up for other students," Max explained and his smile drops a little. Rei's eyes narrow.
"People shouldn't behave like that. What I did was normal," Max blinked at that statement. Then he chuckled and smiled again.
"You sound like an old friend of mine. Until they got to him," silence fell into the air but it's not uncomfortable. It's just that they were being followed by a group of female students and didn't feel like talking with eavesdroppers stalking them.
They reached the third floor and continued in silence towards their lockers keeping an eye on the group that was stalking them.
"See you on Monday. Have a nice weekend!" Max said as Rei continued to walk towards the school toilets on the third floor.
"Same," he responded and disappeared around the corner. Max didn't wait, he knew Rei wanted to walk alone. He had to meet up Tyson anyway, that lucky bastard finished school earlier!
~~~Later~~
"No! Why are they going there? That's so stupid! Has this woman ever watched horror movies?" Max yelled and hid behind a pillow.
"They haven't even gotten there yet!" Tyson explained with a loud voice and stuffed his face with popcorn.
"All hail to Tyson's English!" Tala said. A pillow hit him hard in his face and he counter attacked with chips.
"Stop that! You're not children," Hilary lectured them while Max crawled behind everyone's back to avoid the TV. "Now let's watch the movie," she sat down on the floor beside Tala with a new bowl of chips. "Wait, why are we watching this movie now? We were supposed to wait until Max and Kenny fell asleep!" She sighed in defeat.
"What is he doing here?" Tyson asked and pointed at Tala. Max peaked out from their backs.
"I invited him because he's the only person that isn't afraid!" He then hid under the carpet again.
"Wise choice!" Kenny agreed from the other side of the carpet.
"This is going to be a long night," Hilary said and Tala chuckled. He enjoyed being with Max and the others, they were so easy going and somewhat relaxing to be around.
~~~Same Time elsewhere~~~
Rei took a milk carton and walked towards the cash register. It was getting dark outside but he had to buy milk. Part of his daily routine milk was deadly important and he couldn't possible live a whole weekend without it.
"That will be two-hundred and thirty-one," the cashier said and he handed over the money. He did everything quick and doesn't wait for the receipt.
When he walked outside the chilly wind hit him. He hid his face behind his black hood, his hair falling free on his left side.
Rei picked up his smaller earphones from his pockets, he didn't like walking around with headphones if he wasn't familiar with his surroundings. He was just about to press the Play button on his phone when he heard something. He couldn't hear what it was and decided to ignore it. He shouldn't meddle in other peoples business. But he didn't press Play and kept alert. It was completely dark outside except from the few street lights that were placed ten steps from each other.
The closer he got to the small road leading towards the park the clearer he could hear it. Muffled voices. The sound of someone being beaten.
Rei knew better than to go look for it, those people fighting could be drunk or worse. But he still had to walk through the park to get home.
"No!" He heard a scream before someone ran into him. Rei wasn't prepared for it and fell backwards. He dropped the plastic bag that hit the ground next to him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Rei yelled at the person laying on the ground next to him. The milk was pouring out on the ground.
The person didn't answer. Rei could see the person was a he and he had something on his face. Blood. Behind them he heard other people coming closer. Rei should just run away so they wouldn't catch him, he was planning to. But when he saw the person's face and the blood covering it he also saw it was a boy around his own age. He couldn't walk away from that.
"Get up. Up!" Rei ordered and dragged the boy up. He was shaking of fear but walked with Rei and didn't even try to get away.
"Pick up your speed!" Rei tugged the boy's arm and they started jogging through the park.
The boy didn't understand if the stranger was saving him or planning something else but had no choice but to follow. The stranger's gripped around his wrist was hard. They ran faster than the men behind them and the boy was thankful he at least escaped them.
~~~~~Saturday~~~~~
"This is so awesome!" Tyson said with a grin. Hilary sighed. Of course Tyson thought so, he didn't understand eating so much was embarrassing his friends. Max didn't seem to care though, which made her more irritated.. They were in need of another person, preferably a girl. Tala could be nice to hang out with but he was unpredictable and sometimes disappeared from school for days without even texting. They all knew something was clearly wrong but if they dared to ask Tala would explode or run away so they stopped asking.
"Could we check out the computer store?" Kenny asked and pointed at the store. There was several stores in the mall and not many of them were small, mostly students worked on weekends because the popular stores needed all the help they could get and the payment was fairly good.
"Sure! Let's visit the alien store!" Tyson grabbed Max by his arms and saluted. The alien store can be explained easily; People in the computer store are often smart and tend to talk like smart people leaving lost souls (Like Tyson) very confused and well... lost in the use of computer terms.
"It's not an alien store; you're just too stupid to understand anything!" Hilary explained in a not so nice way. Tyson glared at her and poorly defended himself as they walked inside.
"It's not me that's stupid. It's these nerds that talk alien language! No offense Chief," Tyson added and was completely oblivious to the many people looking at him.
"Sure it is Tyson. Let's just try and keep it low," Max said and smiled at his friend. That's when they noticed how many girls were standing outside the store. They were glued to the window and pointed at something inside the store.
"What are they looking at?" Hilary looked around. There were no celebrities in the store that she could see. What were those girls going on about?
"Judging from what girls usually talk about I'm sure it's him," Kenny pointed in one direction and they turned their heads to see. The person Kenny was pointing at was a staff-member putting stuff back on the shelf. His black hair almost touched the ground and was tied in a low ponytail.
~~~~Monday~~~~
Max stretched and yawned before sitting down. He had been stuck the whole Sunday with homework and he still wasn't done with them. At least the Saturday had been fun. Kenny would disagree though, having his time in the electronic store stolen away.
"There he is! I think I'm going to confess today!" A female student squealed and her friends agree.
"You know he's hanging with Max right? He's probably hanging with the rest of that 'retard' gang too," a male student said with dry voice and his friends chuckled.
"Shut up!" The female student screamed and whacked his head. They didn't think he had any right to judge someone so perfect as Rei Kon.
Rei walked in and chose to once again ignore what happened around him. His hair was tied in a low ponytail that looked a little rushed. His classmates thought it looked cool but Max wanted to know what made Rei rush. Did he oversleep? Maybe he has a sibling that messed it up?
"Morning!" Max said with a nervous smile. He learned that he should never say 'Good morning' to Rei. Because according to Rei no morning was good.
"Yah. Hey," Rei responded and sat down by the window. He wasn't so cranky for someone that slept late. Maybe he just rushed for another reason.
"How was your weekend?" Max asked with a relaxed smile. It didn't seem like Rei would bash his head in. Could it really be, were they friends? Max didn't know what to think really.
"Stressful," Rei stretched and his back cracked. "Yours?" He asked and did some weird, kinda scary, motion with his neck so it cracked. He sighed and smiled slightly, he had been working on that one all morning.
"Eh, it was good..." Max said, unsure if he should say something about the cracking or not. He decided not to. "The gang watched movies at Kenny's house. Or actually Tyson watched Silent Hill, Kenny screamed, Hilary disappeared, Tala laughed his ass off and I hid in the bathroom," he explained with a laugh. Rei chuckled lightly.
"Was it that scary?" He questioned and watched the teacher that just came in. He was preparing papers and other things for the lesson.
"You haven't seen it?" Max raised his eyebrows in surprise. Everyone had watched 'Silent Hill'. It's one of those famous horror movies.
"I don't watch movies," Rei picked up his notebook and pen. Max was about the ask why Rei didn't watch movies when the teacher coughed.
"Everyone open your notebooks and stop talking!"
~~~~After Class~~~~
"Finally lunch," Max sighed and packed his stuff together in his bag fast. This day be brought a bento and it's good food. He wanted to hurry and eat it before Michael found him.
"Agreed," Rei muttered and took his own bento out. This time it was the right color and had a little note attached to it.
They walked with each other to the stairs where they usually departed, Rei was comfortable around Max but still didn't like to be around all those other students. Max could still feel something was different with Rei today but he wasn't sure of what.
Rei forced himself up the stairs on the inside, on the outside he had perfect composure and could hear people whisper and girls giggle. What he would give to get away from that and to get home.
To his surprise Kai wasn't there yet, and Rei thought it took forever to crawl up those stairs.
"Great. I'll just sit here," he said and sat down on the left side. He opened the lunchbox and let out a deep breath in relief. It was the correct food inside the correct box. He started eating and it didn't take long until Kai arrived. Of course by that time Rei had already finished his food.
"Your eating speed is inhuman," Kai's voice wasn't mean. It sounded more like he was stating fact. Or is that mean? Rei wasn't sure yet so he decided it wasn't mean.
"I tend not to think about it," why did Kai say that? Did he think Rei was weird? Why did he care about what Kai thought would be a better question.
"What did you do this weekend?" Kai wasn't good at small talk but he wanted to hear the younger student talk. He knows it might irritate the younger teen but it was worth it to see those amber eyes.
"Mostly work. You?" Rei took a sip from his drink and made a face. To much lemon in the water, he wasn't prepared for that.
"Studied," Kai wanted to ask why Rei would work. He's only 15, why would he have to work? Kai mentally slapped himself, just because Rei went to Sakura High that didn't mean he was a rich and spoiled brat like the majority of students.
"Didn't you hang out with anyone?" Kai asked to try and get his mind off thinking how rich Rei is. Maybe working was just a way for him to have something to do? Or he really needed the money to afford the school. Shouldn't the parents pay that?
"Not really. I find social gatherings a waste of time," he responded and finished his water. Kai nod slightly but he found it hard to believe someone like Rei doesn't spend time with his friends. Kai knew he himself is far from winning an award for 'Most social Guy' but even he thought a whole weekend of just homework is boring.
"How are you planning on escaping the Halloween party?" Kai asked and looked at his sandwich. He had to buy his lunch everyday and envied Rei for having someone that cook his food everyday.
"Halloween party?" Rei asked but didn't sound so interested. Whatever it was he wasn't planning on going. It would be for the best.
The Halloween party was something every student look forward to. The chance to drink like there is no tomorrow, to dress up like tramps and to use the excuse 'Sorry babe, I didn't know which catwoman was you.' Guys could dress up in latex and leather because it's Halloween.
The first part is in school, the student dress more like goofy ghosts, the school becomes a haunted house and the parents often came. This is the only time everyone was treated like equals in school because it wasn't not Michael and his friends that took care of this event.
Rei walked down the stairs with a troubled head, attending to the first Halloween party in school was a must. It seemed that every student would be there and wouldn't be good for him to stand out. He wanted to stay distant from people but if he was the only one not going to that party people might notice it. It had nothing to do with the fact that Kai was going.
"Hey! Are you Rei Kon?" Another wild students appeared from thin air and surprised Rei. The student was one year older than Rei and had blonde hair, he wasn't that much taller and his uniform was clean and tidy. He had been waiting for Rei to come to the sixth floor a while.
"Yah. Why?" Rei asked and skipped the pleasantries. The blonde student smiled.
"I'm Enrique. I come in peace to tell you that you should rethink your friend choice. Michael will come after you if you're friends with Max," he explained with the same smile on his face. Rei straightened up.
"I couldn't care less what other people think," he responded with cold voice. Enrique's smile disappeared for a second before he laughs.
"I admire your spirit. Take care," he said and hurried up the stairs. Rei looked as he went off and frowned. He had gotten himself in a situation befriending the outcast of the school. Enrique must have been one if the popular students because the girl squealed and waved after him, but why would he warn Rei? Double morality, great.
Rei sat down and noticed Max wasn't in the class yet so he start building his barrier for the lesson. He could hear whisper around him but ignored it.
"Pick up your books!" The teacher ordered but Max still wasn't in his place. Half the lesson pass before he shows up without saying anything.
After a lesson filled with silence and actual studying Max sighed in relief when it end. Rei hasn't asked about Max's absence and wouldn't ask either, he had a feeling Michael was involved. Whoever Michael was Rei wanted nothing to do with him, but his rage didn't want to let it go.
"You missed a big part of the lesson," the teacher said with firm voice. Max looked down on his desk.
"I'll work home," he said and the teacher agreed.
"This next lesson will be a group work so you should work with Raymond to catch up," Max blinked. He couldn't remember anyone named Raymond.
"Sir, I'm from China so it's just Rei," Rei said in a slightly polite tone and the teacher looked surprised.
"My mistake. Well then I'm sure you and Max will work well together," he said and walked away. Max let out a chuckle at the teacher's mistake and how polite Rei suddenly was towards the teacher.
"Could you help me today? You can come home with me or the other way around," Max asked with a smile but Rei looked slightly annoyed.
"I can't today, have to be home early," he said with annoyed voice and packed his stuff. They walked out of the classroom together.
"But if you can tomorrow I could come to your place," he said in normal tone. Max can't help but wonder why Rei didn't invite him but decided to leave that question for later.
"Okay then. How long will you stay? Probably have to ask dad to buy food so it's enough for everyone," Max said and laughed. He had to make his dad buy fast food, no way Rei could eat trash for dinner.
Rei mentally cursed and his speed slowed down a little. He either had to make dinner and make sure she'd eat it before going to bed or hurry home before dinner time. None of those options were possible unless he planned on teleporting from Max's place.
"I'm not sure," they stopped by their lockers and opened them up. "Could I take your phone number so I can call you later tonight?" Max looked surprised at first but a huge smiley quickly took over.
"Sure! Hand me your phone and I'll add me," he said and reached out his right hand. Rei quickly picked up his phone from his bag.
It had a gray color and wasn't modern but looked almost new apart from some color losing. When Max added himself he pushed the wrong button sometimes, not being used to this model of phone, and noticed that Rei had very few numbers in his phone. He didn't read the names tho, knowing himself he wouldn't like it.
"Here. If you want I can give you the number to my dad too so your parents can talk with him," Max's dad never found it so important but some parents were like hawks. Hilary's mother for example called every fifth minute to make sure she was still alive.
"No that won't be necessary," Rei said with a faint smile and closed his locker.
Dum-dum-dum! Okay it's like 2 PM, or AM here... to tired to go English clock. it's 02.45, that's like 3 AM? So I'm tired. Next update won't take this long. I hope. I won't reveal anything about what's to come, that's for you to read! Now press that cool, new and modern review button! :D