ACROSS THE PAGES
CHAPTER 3
It had been two weeks after the incident, before there were letters exchanged between the two again. They had not felt the need for it; although Rei would continue to make Kai's coffee in the mornings, there were no love notes, and there was no romanticizing.
They had kept the secret between them, and it was no more. The rest of the team felt as if it was only an extraordinary incident that had happened out of the blue, and perhaps it may have been –if it were not for that day.
That morning, when Kai had woken up, he'd figured everything was fine. It was a normal morning where he'd be sure to work the team to their rightful standards, and maybe ask Kenny about the updates. But first, of course, he had to get his daily dose of caffeine.
He dressed quickly, but efficiently, then walked, sock-clad, down the corridor to the kitchen. Drinking the scalding-hot plain black Espresso (San Giorgio Coffee no less), he replied to the rest of the teams' customary 'Good Morning's with his own personal 'Hn'. Sitting down for a few moments, browsing through the newspaper, before he opened his mouth to set out the program for the day.
Nothing came out.
He blinked, looking up and staring somewhat puzzledly at the 'Classified: School teacher needed' section towards the top of the paper. He tried again.
Still, nothing came out.
It was at this time that he started to rub his throat, clearing it. Yet, still, only a slight whispering cough came out.
Kai Hiwatari had lost his voice.
Quickly realizing this rather disconcerting fact, he spent a few moments in agitation before standing up stably. For if there was one thing that Kai Hiwatari wasn't, it was inefficient.
He tapped Rei's shoulder, then, at said blader's answering look, proceeded to drag Rei out of the dining room. Rei, thinking that maybe there was something wrong with his blade, immediately began to question his Captain anxiously.
"Is something wrong with Driger? What's up?"
Kai pointed at his throat.
"Huh?" Rei looked at him, somewhat baffledly.
Kai tapped his throat impatiently, tapping his toes on the floor. He looked backwards at the door, rather wary of one of the team walking in on them. Rei was trustable; the rest of the team was not.
He turned around, then pointedly opened his mouth, and performed his croak-whisper. Understanding began to make its way into Rei's eyes.
"So you've lost your voice," Rei said slowly.
Kai, starting to look at least a little annoyed, nodded.
"And you don't want the others to know."
Again, a nod.
Rei smiled, then dug around his pocket for something. Finding it, he lifted it up, the spirals of the notebook glinting a little in the sunlight.
"It's kind of old, but it'll do." Rei smiled a little. "Just write your thoughts out on the paper, and I'll um…tell the others."
Kai frowned a little. Taking the notebook, he examined it, taking in the slightly tattered cover. He looked at Rei, a questioning gaze on his face.
"I use it for everything," said Rei, a little embarrassed. "So it's kind of worn, but it's all I've got for now," he explained.
Kai nodded. He frowned, then wrote something in the little notepad.
Thanks.
Rei smiled for the rest of the day.
-
The smile had almost come to slipping though. The rest of the team had become quite accustomed to Kai's rather muffled answers and his wordless glares.
However, heaven wasn't always present for twenty four hours, as Rei found out. For of course, the team was used to Kai's orders.
"Um, Kai? What do we do today?" Max said tentatively.
Rei looked at Kai out of the corner of his eyes. Calmly, Kai passed a note into his fingers, behind their backs.
Tell them to run twenty laps. I want Kenny to do another analysis on Max's offense, defense isn't enough. Get Max into a battle with you; if he plays against Tyson or me, he'll get defensive and that's not what he needs to practice. Tyson's fitness regime is in my drawer.
Rei raised his eyebrows, then slipped out of the room. He came back, holding the paper high in the air, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
"Hey, Kai, is this the thing that you wanted?"
Kai, a little more relaxed, nodded.
Rei pretended to scan over the paper. "Oh, hey, it's for you, Tyson." He raised his eyebrows. Predictably, Tyson snatched the paper away. While he was groaning, Rei talked to the rest of the team.
"Hey, Max, you want to battle with me? I need some work on my defense, and Tyson looks like he's going to take all day."
"Hey, yeah!" exclaimed Kenny. "I need to update your data anyway," he said to Max, grinning.
"Okay," said the blonde-haired blader, good-naturedly.
Rei called out to Kai, who was smirking. "I suppose you want us to do twenty laps, slave driver?"
Kai nodded again, his smirk getting wider. Rei winked; everything was going to plan.
-
Rei stirred the mixture of herbs he'd cooked up in the kitchen. As soon as practice was over, he'd dug up a recipe for croaky throats that he'd gotten in China. He and Kai had exchanged notes all the way through practice, and almost everything had gone like clockwork. The other bladers hadn't suspected a thing –although Rei couldn't find a way to get them to run the remainder five laps since Kai had apparently gone back to the dojo.
Through the notes, Rei could read Kai's sense of humor; and now that he was stuck in the kitchen, he could read them again thoroughly. He chuckled at the sarcasm, and giggled at others, going through them in order.
Tell the greedy idiot to get up from that tree before he turns into a branch. He's already fat enough to match the trunk anyway.
Get the blondy to start moving his turtle; he doesn't have to take the creature at it's appearance so seriously.
Pull that Mop-head away from the screen before he needs even thicker glasses…you can already use those things as magnifying glasses, we don't need to use them as telescopes to see the stars as well.
Rei snickered at the last one, at the same time noticing that there weren't really any comments directed to him, apart from 'take a rest'.
Kai must have just been aware that I've got something to blackmail him with. Not that I would, but it's just the thing he would think of.
A tapping of fingers next to him, made him turn to the right. A raised eyebrow greeted him, as Kai scrutinized his face. He smiled.
"Just thinking," he explained.
Kai nodded; then shrugged his head towards the soup. Vaguely, Rei noted that Kai seemed to be more expressive when he was rendered mute.
"It's for your throat. It'll make it better; less like a huge cotton ball's been stuck down there with a bamboo stick."
Again, that slight indication of the head to show he understood. Rei, looking at the time, switched off the gas, and ladled a small portion into a nearby bowl. His hand stopped Kai's wandering hand.
"It's not ready yet; if it's too hot, it'll hurt your throat even more."
They stood, waiting for the mixture to cool down. When it did, Rei handed the bowl to the Captain, silently ordering him to drink.
As the herbal drink seemed to slip down his throat, Kai closed his eyes in a little relief. The cool herbs soothed his hoarse throat, and helped the muscles to relax a little bit better.
He opened his eyes to see his team mate pouring the rest into a container. "It works?"
Kai tried out his voice. "Yea," he muttered, rather whispery and faint. Rei tilted his head to the side.
"It won't work so soon, you need to rest." A pause. "Drink the rest day by day, a bowl every evening."
Rei placed the container into the fridge. "Don't overuse your voice, try to keep off it for a few more days."
Kai tried out his voice one more time. "Thanks."
And Rei smiled in his dreams that night.
Author's Note: I left the notes in because I wanted you guys to read them. Oh yeah, and secondly, I'd like you guys to read the parts of my responses that are in bold because that's for all of you, not just that specific reviewer; I just don't like writing the same thing twice, because it seems like it makes the person less special. Which you guys aren't. So yeah.
Responses to reviewers: JJCJ: WHOA! You really DID read one of my other fics; I haven't had anyone become interested in my fiction solely for the purpose of my writing before. Thank you so much for the review, although I'm afraid I'm sticking to Across the Pages, as From Tokyo with Love sounds rather like From Russia With Love (which was what I wanted the original title to be until I found out it was another fanfiction AND it came from a James Bond movie).
ProzacFairy: Kai is going soft, but they're just comrades right now, and I want them to depend on each other as friends first. I never really fall in love at first sight, myself, I go in as a friend to the person first, so this is also based on my own experience.
SilkYuzu: You poor thing, I had to update late! Everything's going crazy right now, as I've just gotten into a new course, and I have to do the PSATs, the SATs and even look at the SAT 2s! I'm somewhat in a fix since I also got myself into a speech festival of all things (I have terrible stage fright), because my old English teacher persuaded me to. My chapters may be irregular, especially since I'm going to the Philippines in approximately 1 week, so I may post a chapter next Monday and then have a gap of 2 weeks!
Reis1gurl: I'm glad you love my story! I love yours (although I'm afraid I don't review as tirelessly as you do…I've got too many to read these days, and I concentrate on reading each one. I usually make a gigantic review at the end to sort of try and make up…although I too, know that it's not the same as a constant review; always remind the authoress that you're there! I love the little notes too…they were my inspiration!
Hi: This is the season with Saint Shields, Zeo, King and Queen etc. The 'current' situation which is displayed in the Prologue is AFTER the season, but BEFORE the one after it (you know, where Kai fights Rei in one of the episodes?). However, right now, they're reverted to the past where the whole story ACTUALLY starts, where they're in the middle of the Saint Shields series. Tell me if this confuses you more, and thanks for telling me about Bryan because that was an honest mistake! I was thinking about that battle while I was typing, so yeah.
Beloved a.k.a The Fool: Well, hi! Thank you for the compliments, in case you're wondering, I had a huge smile on my face for the rest of the day…actually that applies to all the reviewers, but yours made the smile extra special! I'm sorry, but 'Ray' is actually the AMERICAN form of his name. 'Rei' is actually the correct form, as it's the Japanese one, AND it sounds like that in Chinese anyway (I'm from Hong Kong). But thank you for asking instead of accusing, it means a lot to me, as I've been pretty much accused for things for what seems like all my life, and never asked.
PandaPjays: Since you like Across the Pages better, you should be happy I'm keeping it! Thank you for loving my fic, it's currently feeling very loved right now, as is its authoress! Don't hide it, please? I like being loved…and my fic would blush if it could, really! I've always loved KaiRei since Ultimate Kai Luva burst into the classroom just SAYING the couple. I'd never thought of it, but I had this image of Rei just placing his head on Kai's shoulder, with Kai's mouth still hard, and proud, but his eyes softened just that little bit, and his head tilted onto Rei's just that little bit…
Kaei Kon: I can almost hug you for that comment. Please settle for the virtual version! Anyway, thank you for that, I'll look forward to seeing your reviews!
Echo in the Dark: Right, this is a response to BOTH your reviews. The first one was so enthusiastic that it broke my heart to give you guys that authoress' note. I truly, truly apologize, and it may seem like an excuse, but everything's piling up on me. The fact that my uncle from America has just come over doesn't help at all, considering that it's tradition to take him everywhere! Please, please don't kill me!
No-name: No, I'm afraid I'm not, I live in Hong Kong.