Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot!
I'm really sorry this took forever! Life has been hectic, got two other stories that are more fresh in my mind AND been struggling to sort out this chapter.
Like I said, I want to keep the plot basically the same as before, but there have been changes which meant I couldn't bring in some characters yet. So I've had to kind of make this chapter sort of a 'filler' to get some characters in. There's a lot of introducing in this chapter...but the story returns to normal after this one! Hope y'all don't mind!
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Chapter 4 – The Festival
The dreaded day had arrived. The White Tiger Village was holding that stupid festival on behalf of all the people who had spread their legs and gotten impregnated.
If you hadn't guessed, Kai was hardly thrilled about the idea.
He was just over one month in...way too early to start showing, but his mood swings definitely gave away he was pregnant.
Training was starting to get a little harder every day. He was getting tired more easily. He assumed he had a good few months before it would start affecting him. It pissed him off.
Rei had been used to him being moody since...well, the day they met. But it had levelled up over the past few weeks.
Recently, his partner had three distinct moods.
Normal Kai. Weepy Kai. Hellfire Kai.
Today's mood could officially be described as: Hellfire Kai.
Just the kind of mood for a party...
After they finished training, Rei took him home. He fell asleep almost right away, training had taken it out of him, leaving Rei to go and help set up for the festivities that he knew Kai was probably going to be miserable at.
He on the other hand, loved the parties his village threw.
There was music, dancing, food...everyone was together. They were always a blast...he really hoped Kai's mood improved before it started...this morning during training he lost it at Tyson because he'd called him 'preggers'.
In his defence, he'd told him he didn't like it and asked him to stop...and Tyson being Tyson hadn't listened...but Rei pretty much had to hold him back so he didn't beat the crap out of him.
Rei made his way to the open area where the festival would be held. There were already a good twenty people there setting up already. He made small talk with the ones he knew as he got to work putting out tables and chairs and hanging up lanterns.
After a good three hours of work, they were finally done. Now all they had to do was wait for the sun to go down.
He returned home, surprised to find Kai still fast asleep on the bed. He must have been tired. He debated on whether or not to wake him up...on the one hand, he wouldn't sleep well that night...on the other, it might end poorly for Rei.
He decided to suck it up and do it.
He cautiously sat beside him on he bed and gently shook his shoulder.
"Kai? You've been asleep for a while now...should probably wake up..." he said gently.
Kai groaned and rolled over, cracking his eyes open and stretching.
"How long did I sleep for?" he asked groggily.
"About three hours."
"Shit. Sorry..."
Rei was relieved his mood seemed to have improved.
"It's OK...you probably needed it. I had to go help set up for the party anyway."
Kai let out a deep groan.
"Do I really have to go? Sounds awful..." he complained.
Maybe Rei thought too soon about the mood.
"Yes, you do. Don't worry, it's just a few hours. But everyone put in a lot of effort for you guys. The least you can do is show up and pretend you're having a nice time...for me?"
Kai groaned again and rolled his eyes.
"Fine..."
As the day went on and the sun finally began to set, Rei still had a feeling Kai was going to be impossible tonight.
Kai was a punctual guy and hated to be kept waiting by anyone else. If he had to be somewhere, he'd be ready to go. But tonight he was taking his sweet time and Rei was having to force him to hustle. He was really dragging his feet, like a petulant child.
"Kai! I don't care if you're butt naked, if you're not ready in two minutes, I'm dragging you out as you are!" Rei yelled angrily up the stairs as he paced. He'd been ready to leave for twenty minutes.
Seconds later, Kai appeared at the top of the stairs and stomped down them, dressed in the red tunic he'd been ordered to wear.
Rei smiled.
"That one really does look nice on you...brings out your eyes..." he complemented, trying to butter him up a little.
Kai's eyes narrowed, seeing right through it.
"Shut up. Let's just go and show our faces so we can come back..." he grumbled moodily.
Rei rolled his eyes.
"I told you. A few hours. Be nice..." he warned.
Kai rolled his eyes back and they head out the door.
The wandered down the dark dirt track and headed in to the large, open, wooded area where the festival was set up. The darkness lit by red paper lanterns and torches. Fireflies fluttered in the night air. Kai didn't change his sour expression, but admitted to himself inwardly that it was beautiful.
As they approached the loud, large crowd of people, people began to recognize Rei and called out to him. Noticing Kai with him, they went through about half an hour of the same conversation with multiple people Kai had never seen in his life.
"This is my boyfriend Kai. Yes, he's pregnant. No, he's not a neko-jin. No, I've never heard of a non neko getting pregnant either...Yes, we're thrilled."
Kai stayed quiet unless directly spoken to...he just wanted to go home. This was already getting on his nerves.
"Hey, Kai!" came Aoba's voice.
Perfect...just what he needed...
He turned just as the smiling Chinese reached them.
"You're finally here! Come on, we've got to go." he said brightly as he took his arm.
"...go where?" Kai asked.
"We're the guests of honor! We sit up at the stage!" Aoba beamed.
'Fuckin' A...' he whined to himself.
Kai was dragged through a crowd of intrigued stares, which he despised, to the long table decorated in red and gold cloth. The other moms-to-be already in their seats along it.
Aoba greeted them and forced Kai to do the same. He dragged him over to sit next to each other at the end, being the only males.
They didn't wait long, Tao appeared and held his hands up. There was a hush amongst the crowd as they waited for him to speak.
"Friends! We're joined tonight to celebrate the miracle of creation..." he began.
Kai rolled his eyes and rested his head in his hand, forgetting he was in plain view. He hated this.
Tao went on for a good ten minutes...he was really on a roll about the beauty of life and birth and the wonders of nature.
"...and speaking of miracles...we've recently gained a new, extraordinary member..." Tao said proudly as he turned and gestured to Kai.
Kai tensed.
"...please, no..."
"Just when we thought it was only two neko men that could bare children...this young man appears and proves us wrong. We're honored to have you here in our village."
Kai forced a smile as he felt the ocean of eyes on him as they clapped. Tyson and Max snickered behind their hands at his blatant discomfort and Rei nudged their ribs.
"On that note, let's start the celebrations! Everyone, enjoy yourselves!" he cried out excitedly as a musicians made their way on to the stage in front of them and began to play traditional music.
Kai went to stand up and get off the stage, but Aoba held him back.
"...not yet..." he whispered to him.
"...why not?" he asked.
"People are gonna come congratulate us."
"What the hell for!?" he whispered, annoyed. He just wanted to get out of view.
Aoba cocked a brow at him at his stupid question.
As Aoba said, people he'd never met came up to him and congratulated him, telling him he must be so excited followed by a million questions about his personal life he had no interest in answering.
His patience soon wore thin. He didn't care if he was expected to stay sat, he stood up the first chance he could and wandered off the stage. He hated all this attention on him. He hated the prying. It was too many people. He felt suffocated. He needed to breathe for a minute.
He slipped out of the festival and wandered in to the woods. The sound of the music becoming quieter the further he got.
He found a log and sat himself down. Taking in the silence and relishing it.
That was, until he heard rustling.
He instantly shot up. Weary of the presence he felt.
A young woman stepped out of the shadows, a soft smile on her face. Her skin tanned, but pale. Her eyes a hazy green and her hair jet black.
"You must be Kai..." she said gently, as if she'd been looking for him.
"...who wants to know?" Kai asked cautiously, getting a bad feeling from her.
"Just a concerned friend..." she said innocently.
"I've never called a stranger a friend..." Kai said back.
The woman's face fell.
"I just couldn't stand by and watch as Rei ruined the life of an innocent man and child...I saw you come this way and thought I would take my chance to warn you..."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"Warn me about what?" he asked, unconvinced by her.
"...come with me..." she said as she took his arm and lead him back through the woods towards the festival.
They stopped at the edge of the wooded area, still covered by the trees but unseen by the others.
"See that woman Rei is talking to?"
Kai's eyes scanned the crowd and spotted him. He was talking to a woman roughly the same age as him. He wore a figure-hugging ocean blue dress. Her long, dark hair had a natural wave.
"I see her..."
"That's the woman he cheated on his pregnant girlfriend with."
Kai choked on the air in his throat.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh no...you're not his first..." she said glumly.
Kai frowned.
"You better start making some sense..." he warned.
She turned to him, pain in her eyes.
"Almost three years ago, Rei was in a relationship with my sister...we're from another tribe not too far from here...it's never been a great relationship between the two villages, being old fashioned like they are, we're forbidden to be with people from opposing villages." she explained.
Kai listened.
"How they met exactly, I'm not sure. She never would tell me. But my sister fell for him hard and fast. She gave herself to him and she fell pregnant. She plucked up the courage to tell him a few months later, he abandoned her. She came here to try and work something out, but he was with her over there...whether they were already together before he and my sister were, I'm not sure..."
Kai's eyebrows furrowed, processing the story.
"She came back to our village broken hearted. She obviously couldn't hide that she was pregnant forever. She cracked and admitted he was the father...our village disowned her. She was forced to leave the village. I tried to go looking for her, to help her somehow. I found her dead in the forest...she must have fallen..."
Her voice trailed off and her eyes glistened and she turned to him.
"...so I can't let that man destroy any more lives..." she sniffed.
Kai's mind raced. It couldn't possibly be true...but who was this woman and why would she lie? She seemed genuine.
"Just...be careful...you can't trust him..." she said, concerned.
Kai felt himself beginning to crack and believe it. It was a far-fetched story...but again, why would she lie?
Rei had never told him about being able to get men pregnant...what else hadn't he told him?
Was this why he left his village to begin with? The timing added up...
He looked back. The woman he was talking to was leaning in pretty close.
He felt a stab of jealousy.
"But how come-" he started, turning his head back to her.
But she'd disappeared.
He looked around, shocked at her sudden vanishing. Who the hell was she?
He turned back to watch his partner talking cosily with the woman he supposedly had a history with...and felt jealous rage bubble.
He stormed out from the woods back to the crowd, ignoring the everyone. Eyes fixed on Rei and the woman.
Rei caught his eye as he got close to them.
"Ah! There you are! Having fun?" he asked.
Kai glared.
"We're leaving..." he said bluntly, folding his arms.
Rei frowned.
"...Why? Did something happen?"
Kai's glare moved from Rei to the woman.
Rei noticed and realised he hadn't introduced them yet.
"Oh! Kai, this is Mia, one of my oldest friends! And Mia..." he said with excitement in his voice, "This is Kai..."
Mia's amber eyes beamed, despite the less than friendly glare she was getting.
"It's soooo nice to meet you finally! Rei's harped on about you every time we've talked since your team first formed...he's been like a love sick puppy since you first met! I'm so glad you two got together!" she put her arms around Rei and hugged him, resting her head on his shoulder, "he deserves to be happy, he's such a great guy, isn't he?!"
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"Yeh...isn't he just..." he replied dryly, feeling another stab of anger at her draping herself on him.
Both Rei and Mia felt the tension.
"We're leaving. Now." he barked again.
"...why?" Rei asked, worried about the sudden iciness.
A small growl rumbled out his throat and he roughly took Rei's hand, starting to drag him away.
"Whoa, whoa! What's the matter?" Rei asked impatiently, pulling his arm out of Kai's hold. It was the third time he'd asked now.
"Yeh! Don't go!" Mia pleaded, "we haven't seen each other in forever and I'm only just meeting you!"
She went to put an arm around Rei again.
Kai let out another growl and stepped between them before she could reach him, giving her a rough push and shoving her away from him.
She let out a surprised, scared shriek as she staggered back.
"Touch him again. I dare you." he snarled.
"Kai what the hell!?" Rei yelled.
Kai turned back to him and gave him a shove too.
"Were you ever going to tell me about her?! Or your other conquest you knocked up and left?"
Rei couldn't help but let out a slight laugh.
"...what are you talking about?!"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." he hissed violently.
"I really don't!" Rei let out, exasperated, "Are you saying you think Mia and I are having an affair?!"
"Not yet maybe, but you two have a history, don't you? Admit it! And by the sound of it you were doing it behind that other girl's back!"
Rei just stared, perplexed at the nonsense he was rambling.
"Where the hell did you get all this from!? What girl!?"
"The one that was carrying your child that you abandoned! I'm not your first, am I!?" he yelled, shaking.
Rei reached up and touched Kai's forehead with the back of his hand, Kai flinched away violently.
"Don't touch me!" he growled.
"I'm just checking to see if you have a fever...I honestly don't know how else to explain this! Where on earth did you come up with all this?!"
Kai looked like he was going to explode.
"Don't you dare put this on me like I'm insane! I talked to the sister, Rei! She told me everything!"
"What sister!?" Rei yelled, getting fed up.
"From the next village! The sister of the girlfriend you got pregnant and then abandoned! She died because of you! That's why you left the village, isn't it?"
Rei let out an annoyed sigh.
"I don't know who you talked to, but that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Someone told you I got a girl from the next village pregnant while being with Mia? She's my oldest friend, Kai! That would be like fucking my sister! Also, if I left the village in disgrace for getting someone pregnant, how am I being welcomed back with open arms with you?!"
Kai hadn't thought of that...
Mia cleared her throat.
"Maybe we should calm down..."
Kai snarled at her.
"You stay out of this..."
She let out a sigh.
"Kai...you don't understand...we're just close frien-"
"Just shut up! I don't want to hear it!" he yelled back, irritated.
"What's going on here, guys?" came a voice behind them.
The three of them turned to see Aoba stood, looking concerned, rubbing his hand over his swollen belly.
"Someone told Kai that Mia and I used to be an item and that I got someone from another village pregnant?" Rei explained very vaguely, his tone letting Kai know it was absolute garbage.
Aoba frowned.
"Who told you that?" he asked Kai.
Kai felt his eyes well up. He was frustrated and hurt, even though he didn't know if he believed it or not.
"I don't know who she was! She said she was from the next village! And you can all stop looking at me like I'm nuts! Why would she come all the way here just to lie to someone she's never met!?" he yelled, his voice cracking as he got more upset.
Aoba's maternal instinct kicked in and he stepped forward to comfort him, putting his arm around his shoulder.
"Shh...don't get worked up, it's not good for the baby...now listen, I can vouch for them. We grew up together. They've never been like that with each other. Just good friends. I don't know who that woman was, but she's lying. We'll look in to it and get to the bottom of it, all right?" he soothed.
Kai tried to calm the rush of hormonal emotions. He didn't want to cry in front of them all. He pulled himself away from Aoba's hold before turning and walking away.
"Where are you going?" Rei asked.
"Home." he snapped.
"Yeh...let's talk about this in private..." Rei agreed tiredly.
"I don't think so..." Kai spat as he turned around, "you better not come back tonight. Sleep at Tyson's." he barked before storming off, leaving them all speechless.
"So...That's Kai..." Mia said finally, breaking the silence.
Rei cringed, embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry, Mia...that's not the introduction I had in mind..."
"It's all right...he'll come round. I just wonder who filled his head with all that? Sounds like someone from outside the village, but why?"
Rei sighed.
"I don't know...but how do I convince Kai its not true?"
"Let him sleep on it...he'll figure out himself it's too ridiculous to be true." Aoba comforted.
"I don't know what to do...I can't leave him on his own, he's so worked up. But if I go home, he'll be even more upset..." Rei said sadly.
"I'll go talk to him in a while." Aoba offered kindly, "Check he's all right."
"Thank you..." Rei breathed out gratefully.
Rei went to get Max, Tyson and Kenny. Informing them he'd be staying with them tonight. He'd explain later.
As promised, Aoba left it about an hour before going to Rei and Kai's to check on him. He was curled on the couch asleep. His face tear stained.
He went and got a blanket and covered him up. He felt for him. Of course they all knew the story wasn't true. But he put himself in Kai's shoes. Someone who didn't grow up with them. If a total stranger came and told him that, of course there would be doubt. It was too out of the blue. But they'd figure it out...
He quietly let himself out, leaving him to sleep.
Rei tossed and turned on Tyson's floor all night. Why would someone make something up like that about him? He didn't have any enemies here...not that he was aware of? And how would he convince Kai it wasn't true?
He also felt hurt that Kai had bought it. Why didn't he trust him?
Before he knew it, the light from the rising sun came streaming in through the window.
He managed to sleep for another hour or so before he made himself get up. He doubted Kai was awake yet, anyway.
After he washed and dressed, he made a quick stop at another place before he made his way home. Knowing how he could show him the truth.
He quietly let himself in and found Kai asleep on the couch.
He sat himself by him gently and stroked his hair, the contact made the other stir from his sleep.
His eyes slowly opened.
"Morning..." Rei said softly.
As he came to, Kai remembered the night before and sat himself up, glaring at him.
"I told you not to be here..." he spat.
"I know. And if I'd done anything wrong, I'd listen to you. But I'm not letting this go on. Get up. I'm going to prove it to you."
Kai kept his glare as he did as he was told, curious to know what he was going to do to prove it to him.
He came down after getting dressed and Rei took his hand, leading him out the house.
They stayed silent as Kai followed him. They walked down the dirt track to an area of houses.
Rei lead him to the front door of one of them and knocked.
"...Whose house is this?" Kai questioned.
He stayed quiet and the door opened. Mia was smiling at them.
"Morning! Come in, breakfast is almost ready." she announced before letting them in.
Kai gave Rei a questioning look. What the hell was this?
Rei took his arm and pulled him in to Mia's kitchen. At the table, a tall man around the same age was sat with a book, he looked up from it when he heard them enter.
"Ah! Hi there!" he said brightly as he stood up, making his way to Kai.
"You feeling better? I wanted to meet you last night but they said you felt unwell and had to go home..." he asked, concerned.
"Uh..." Kai hesitated, not sure what was happening.
Mia smiled and stood next to the man, wrapping her arm round him.
"My husband Bao here was so looking forward to meeting you! So Rei suggested we meet this morning."
Kai blinked at them.
Husband...?
There was a thud from upstairs.
"...hold that thought...be right back." Bao sighed before leaving the kitchen.
"What is this?" Kai demanded as soon as he left.
"Mia is married, Kai...happily. How many years now, Mia?"
"Six years." she smiled.
"So no, there was never a thing between us." Rei added.
Kai glared angrily again.
"You couldn't have told me this last night instead of dragging me here and making me look an idiot?" he growled.
"I tried to tell you...you were a little...upset." Mia defended, "besides, I wanted us to start again. And my husband really was dying to meet you...what do you say, Kai?"
Before he could answer, footsteps came rapidly in to the kitchen.
Two small boys ran in excitedly, followed by Bao.
"Uncle Rei's here! Uncle Rei's here!" the older one yelled excitedly.
"Hey guys! Long time no see! Wow, you're getting so big!" Rei said, beaming back at them and ruffling their hair.
The two small pairs of amber eyes went from Rei to the stranger beside him. The little one got shy and hid behind his big brother.
"Who's that?" the older one asked, staring at the strange looking man in his kitchen.
"This is Kai, uncle Rei's...husband!" Mia explained.
The younger boy came around from behind his brother and copied his wide eyed stare.
Kai shifted uncomfortably.
"Are you having a baby?" the older one asked, taking in his blue tunic with the 'carrier' character on the sleeve.
"Uh...yeh..." Kai replied nervously. He wasn't exactly good with kids.
The older one grinned and ran forward at him, placing his little hands on Kai's stomach and rubbed it. The little one giggled and copied his brother.
Kai instantly held his hands up.
"Um..." he looked to Rei and Mia for help, "what are they doing?!" he whispered.
Rei snickered.
"They're not animals, Kai, they can talk...why don't you ask them yourself?"
"Fine..." Kai huffed, the little hands still on his stomach.
"What are you two doing?" he asked as softly as he could.
"If you rub a belly with a baby in it, you get good luck." the older answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh...well...I think that's enough now."
The older giggled and continued to rub.
It was Mia's turn to snicker.
"All right, you two. Hands off. Time for breakfast!"
The boys cheered and took their places at the table.
Mia gestured for Rei and Kai to have a seat, too.
"So...how old are they?" Kai asked Rei.
Rei rolled his eyes.
"Don't be afraid of them, they're little kids! Talk to them."
"Uh...how old are you?" Kai asked.
The older one smiled.
"I'm five."
The little one stared blankly and held up two fingers.
"No...you just had your birthday, remember?" his brother corrected, fixing his little brother's hand to hold up three fingers.
"What are their names?" Kai asked Rei.
Rei lifted a brow at him. Kai sighed.
"What are your names?" he asked the boys.
"I'm Jin." the older introduced.
"Li." the little one said sweetly.
Mia came back to the table with bowls of congee for each of them before placing some fresh fruit in the middle.
"Eat up boys!" she said before turning to Kai and gently rubbing his stomach, "especially you..."
As they ate, Bao and the the two boys bombarded Kai with questions about himself. After sensing Kai was getting a bit overwhelmed, Mia changed the topic and started going down memory lane, telling Kai stories from their childhood.
"It was actually thanks to Rei that Mia and I got together." Bao started, following on from the previous story, "I was too nervous to ask her out...he got fed up listening to me whine, so he pushed us both in to the school cleaning closet and locked us in until I did it."
Rei and Mia laughed.
"Yeh...cause a girl really wants to be asked out on her first date surrounded by brooms..." Mia said sarcastically.
"Hey, memorable though, right?" Rei added.
As Kai listened to the stories, he realised there's no way any of what that woman said was true. It was obvious Rei and Mia had a brother/sister kind of relationship. He should have known that last night...
They kept chatting for a while after breakfast before taking their leave, the two boys waving furiously at them through the window.
"All right, next stop..." Rei announced as they walked back down the path.
"Where are we going?" Kai asked.
"I ran in to Aoba on the way back this morning. He asked us to drop by after."
Kai nodded. He didn't go to T'ai Chi this morning...probably something about that.
They arrived at Aoba's and knocked on the door. He answered almost immediately.
"Kai! Rei! There you are! Everything all right with you two, I see?"
Rei and Kai looked at each other. Kai let out an apologetic smile.
"Yeh...we're fine."
Rei smiled back.
"Great! Well, come on in...sorry to interrupt your morning, but Shou really wanted to meet you...I can't believe you've been here a month and you haven't met yet."
They followed Aoba through to the living room and he sat them both down before he called up the stairs. A few seconds later, a man walked in.
"Kai, this is my husband, Shou!" Aoba introduced.
Shou shook his hand.
"Really nice to finally meet you." he smiled.
"I'll make tea, be right back!" Aoba announced, he turned to go to the kitchen, but he was stopped by Shou.
"Oh no you don't, you go and sit down, I'll get it!" he said lovingly before kissing his pregnant partner on the cheek and heading to the kitchen. Aoba did as he was told and took a seat, shifting to get himself in to a comfortable position, one hand on his large stomach.
The three of them chatted for a few minutes before Shou returned with a tray, setting himself down next to his partner and pouring tea. He handed a cup to Rei and Kai.
"Where's Mei?" Rei asked, looking around.
Kai looked confused.
"Who's Mei?"
Aoba laughed, "What do you mean 'Who's Mei?', she's our daughter! I told you, right?"
Kai shook his head. Aoba's face dropped.
"You've been here a month and come here several times and I never mentioned her!?" Aoba said in disbelief at himself.
Kai couldn't help but smirk at his reaction. He looked horrified at himself.
"She's almost six!" Shou filled him in. "Poor thing got the flu. We couldn't risk Aoba catching it, being pregnant so she's been at his parents being spoiled by grandma and grandpa."
"Wow..." Rei interjected, "I can't believe she's nearly six already!"
Aoba smiled, "Yep, they sure grow fast...you'll find that out soon enough."
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Shou rose quickly to answer it.
About half an hour later, there was another knock at the door. Shou went to get it, and seconds later a small girl came running in to the living room, climbing on to the couch and throwing her arms around Aoba.
"DAAADDDY!" she shouted happily, Aoba laughed and pulled her in to a tight hug.
"Hey, baby girl! I missed you so much! Are you feeling better now?"
Kai couldn't help but tense. This was the third child he was meeting today and it wasn't even 10am.
The girl nodded, before catching Rei and Kai in the corner of her eye and turning to stare at them. The two boys briefly did the same.
She was a very pretty little girl. Thick, jet-black hair was braided in to pigtails that rested on her shoulders, they were tied with baby pink ribbons, which matched her pink dress. Her eyes big and amber like the other Neko-jin.
She smiled when she finally recognised Rei and crawled off the couch and over to him, hugging his legs.
"Rei! You're back!" she squealed happily.
Rei smiled and leaned down, picking her up and sitting her on his lap. "Hey, kiddo! Long time no see! Have you been a good girl?"
Mei nodded, smiling. The smile faded when she looked over to the person she didn't recognise.
She stood up on Rei's lap and leaned in to Rei's ear. "Who's this?" she whispered.
Rei gestured to Kai, "This is Kai, he's my boyfriend!"
"They're having a baby, too!" Aoba added.
Mei's eyes sparkled and she smiled as she looked at Kai.
Kai felt awkward again.
"Hey, Mei! Nice to meet you." he said sweetly.
Mei crawled over from Rei to Kai and lightly poked his stomach. "You're not very big yet..." she observed.
Before Kai could reply, she climbed on him, standing on his legs as she did to Rei, she held Kai's shoulders to balance and stared at him intensely in the face.
"You have weird eyes... But I like them..." Kai blinked, not really sure what to do. Her gaze went from his eyes to his hair. "You have cool hair, too...I like blue, it's my favorite color. Can I touch it?" she asked.
"Uhhhh...sure?" he answered awkwardly as a little hand reached up and gently brushed through his hair. The little girl giggled slightly, "It's really soft..."
Shou walked over and picked her up off of Kai's lap, "Ok little lady...I think you've inspected Kai enough for now." Aoba and Rei laughed affectionately.
Rei took Kai's hand, "Well, I think we should get going and leave them too it. Thanks for the tea, guys! And it's nice to see you Mei! We should go swimming again some time soon!"
The little girl's face beamed.
"Yeh!" she squealed happily "Can Kai come too?" she asked.
Rei chuckled, "Sure he can!"
Aoba smiled and looked over to Kai, "Looks like you have a fan!"
Kai blinked a few times, he wasn't used to children. He brought himself out of his little daze and stood up. Saying their goodbyes, they returned home
They were silent as they walked.
Kai turned his head to face Rei.
"Rei...?"
"Hn?"
"...I'm really sorry."
Rei also turned his head to face him.
"It's all right...it wasn't really your fault...I just wish I knew who it was."
"I should have believed you..." Kai said guiltily.
"Well...yes, I wish you had. But I can understand...I'm just glad you believe me now."
Kai nodded and left it at that. He wanted to forget the whole thing.
Rei, on the other hand, was still going through a list in his head of everyone he'd ever met, trying to figure out who would have set him up like that.
He couldn't think of a single person.
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End of chapter!
I know this was an odd chapter. Things happened but they didn't...I realise it was a filler. But it was kind of necessary I felt, to keep it the same as before. My apologies!
I promise the next chapter and chapters from now will have more of a story! I just needed to get some characters in before I can move on!
I'll try and get the next one up sooner!
Thanks for reading and sorry for a filler chapter after such a long wait!