Disclaimer: As of the first chapter. :)

Author's Message: Thank you all of you who encouraged me to go on. (You have amazing reading power! 100000000000 thumbs up to you guys! You guys have an immense amount of patience for story development! ^_^)

Chapter 4: Mud pie

Tyson surprised almost everyone in the class when he suddenly bounded up to Kai the moment Mr. Gideon called the end of chemistry class. Kai barely had his textbook closed when two tanned hands slammed onto his desktop and made him blink. He found himself looking up into a pair of familiar eyes and at an even more familiar grin.

"Walk home with me today, 'kay?" Tyson asked, although it was more of a rhetorical request than a proper option-filled question.

Kai could see many of those still remaining in the class looking over curiously, and with no small amount of shock, he might add. Tyson was probably the first...no, ONLY freshman who dared demand such a thing of Kai, and so familiarly too as though they had been chums all their lives. (Which they have...practically, but of course, no one needed to know that.) Why, even Kai's friends were shocked. Tala was frozen halfway through giving Bryan a customary after-the-last-class hug. He had his arms resting on Bryan's shoulders and was only about to pull the taller young man to him when Tyson came up to Kai the way he did.

Both the red-head and Bryan, his hair of the palest lilac, stared at Kai as if he had grown a second head. Ray was for once not being all clumsy and flustered even though Max was standing before him. Not many freshmen could talk to Kai without stuttering.

Kai lowered his gaze and made what he hoped was a good show at nonchalance as he gathered his stationery together and placed them in the pockets on the inside of his blazer.

"Hn," was all he said as he stood up.

"Cool! I'll see you later then!"

Tyson flashed him a smile that could have outdone the sun on many a summer's day before grabbing his two friends—a grinning Max (who shouted a "See ya, Ray!" as he was yanked off) and a trembling Kenny (who was scared shitless at the sight of all the bad boys of the class standing so close to him)—and making a speedy break for the door. Boy, that guy could run.

"Ah haaaaaaah!" Kai heard Tala cry. He quickly whipped his eyes away from the door through which Tyson had only darted out of and fixed the red-head with a leveled stare.

"I see that someone have not been telling us something," Tala continued to drawl, immune to Kai's look. Tala, Bryan, and even Ray, came up to him in record speed, plastering themselves in his personal space, and a certain red-head's voice urgently demanded, "So! He talked to you huh huh huh?"

Kai swore he never remembered Tala could be so annoying. Tala was usually bitchy, not cutesy annoying.

The dual-haired young man started to casually walk away, hands shoved inside his blazer pockets.

"Hey guys," a voice called from outside the class.

"Spencer!" Tala and Bryan greeted cheerily. "You will never guess what we just found out!"

The tall hulk of a young man came to a halt and looked at them questioningly. He was friends with all four of them—Kai, Ray, Tala and Bryan—but he didn't have many classes with them, seeing them mostly at their off-limits lunch table, during Physical Ed., CCAs, and after school.

"Don't listen to them," Kai told him as he walked past the taller figure.

Tala bounded up to Spencer and hissed conspiratorially, "Well, someone is actually very close to this pretty, hot guy in our class and he didn't tell any one of us."

"And that bothers you?" Kai asked over his shoulder.

"Well, well, well...it seems as if icy cold Kai Hiwatari may be able to have feelings after all," he heard Ray say with a chuckle. Everyone followed suit.

"So how close are you to that boy, Kai? Care to give details?" Bryan chimed, coming up beside Kai as they all walked towards their lockers.

"The way you people are at it, you might as well be gossipy girls," replied Kai, beginning to feel a little put off by all the attention he was getting.

"No girls in this school, so some of us have to take up the role," Tala pointed out. "Besides, this is simply being curious about a friend. Nothing wrong in that."

Kai only grunted as he stood before his locker and pulled it open after turning the right combination.

"He finally talked to me...that's all," he told them, stuffing his books in.

"So we figured, yeah," Tala said. "But from the looks of things, you guys must have talked...way before today...maybe..."—Tala leaned in closer to Kai, scrutinizing him with mock severity—"when we are not around?"

"And what is this I hear about from Bryan that he asked you to walk him home?" Spencer spoke from his own locker, which was right in between Bryan's and Ray's.

"Spencer," Kai said warningly. When madness ensued among them, Spencer was usually the calm center that Kai could turn to for some semblance of sanity but then, the taller guy only grinned.

"Yeah...that was a little sudden," this time it was Ray, the clamour of dismissal going on all around him as he closed his locker door with the usual air of peace.

"I had dinner at his house yesterday..." The moment Kai said that, he knew he was going to regret it.

Tala's eyes glinted at the piece of information, a thumb and forefinger forming a 'V' under his sharp chin.

"...with his grandfather and his adopted little brother," Kai found it necessary to add.

"HAH! A family dinner! There's something in that!" Tala burst out, casting a knowing look at Ray, who blushed and turned away.

Kai only rolled his eyes as he slammed his locker door shut.

As if to make a point to his friends, he turned his back to them and started to walk away, only to find himself looking once more into familiar eyes the colour of a stormy sea...wine...freshly-brewed tea...oh, he could never decide on which, but right then it was a warm, light-ish brown, glimmering with excitement as they stared up into his violet ones.

Tyson Granger stood before him, hands clasped behind his back, his bag slung across his lean shoulders, and lips stretched out into a smile both cheery and inviting.

"Ready, Kai?" he asked.

Before Kai could speak, Tala pushed his way to stand in front of the younger boy and was soon shaking the said boy's hand. Tyson looked up at the red-head, a little taken aback. As with all the freshmen, Tyson had not spoken to any of the "older guys who sat at the back", as the group was mostly known to be, save for Kai whom he had known for some time. He was by no means a shy boy, but something about the exclusiveness of the rebellious group kept him away. However, it seemed as if this red-headed young man was actually really friendly.

"Hey! You're Tala right?" he asked amiably.

"And you're...Tyson, aren't you?" Tala questioned him in return. "I thought you were really cute when I first saw you on the first day of school."

It was quite amusing for Tala to see the younger boy blush. There was something about the boy that quite took him, Tala mused. For one thing, those eyes...were so pretty...they looked so much like a girl's. That and the silky mane of midnight blue. The boy simply exuded a charm which all other freshmen lacked, making so little of them stand out. Tala's furtive wink at Kai clearly read, 'He's a very good catch!'

"I think you're pretty cool yourself," the bluenette replied with a smile.

"Cooler than Kai?" Tala asked a little teasingly. Kai frowned at him.

Tyson laughed at this and said, "If you meant that in terms of iciness, then no, you're not."

Tala released Tyson's hand and threw his head back in an unrestrained laugh. The others were doing the same except Kai, who could feel a vein twitching in his forehead as the others laughed at his expense...which rarely ever happened.

"Good one, Tyson! I like you already!" Tala practically shrieked over his laughter.

"Now, this is the first time we ever heard someone, besides ourselves, who could say such a thing about Kai, without being glared at to death!" Ray put in.

"I've had to deal with those probably far earlier than you guys," Tyson told them with a chuckle.

"Tyson," Kai cut in tersely through the laughter, walking away as he spoke. "Let's go."

"You have very nice friends, Kai!" Tyson remarked as they made their way down the street.

"Real nice," said Kai, oozing with sarcasm. He was still a little peeved at his friends' behaviour. He was going to be in for some teasing...for sure.

Tyson's voice grew a little quiet as he went on, "And I'm glad that you made friends, Kai. At least you are not such a loner now."

Kai turned to look at the younger boy when he heard that. Tyson was looking back at him, his lips curved into a smile that was all at once gentle and happy. Only in Tyson could Kai see someone who would feel happy for him for what he considered so trivial a matter. However, he recalled with a teeny smile of his own that Tyson was always one to make something important out of the things Kai considered trivial. Normally, he never saw the point, but Tyson could always make him see some good in it. Tala's wink could well have its worth, not that he was admitting to anything.

Suddenly, he felt Tyson take hold of his hand and then steer him away from what he knew was to be the route to both their homes. He had little time to question because he soon found himself in a playground. There were some children playing in it, their gleeful shouts, and childish taunting assaulting his ears immediately. Undeterred, Tyson pulled him into the sand-floored playground and plopped him into a vacant swing. The swing was made for children...half or a third of his age...so it was low, so low that he had to tuck his legs in under it.

"Wait here. I'll be right back," Tyson told him as he lifted the strap of his sling bag over his head and later plunking it down into Kai's lap.

"Tyson...what are you—"

Tyson was already dashing for the entrance at the whirlwind speed he was already becoming famous for.

Over a shoulder he shouted, "Don't go anywhere! Otherwise I'll beat the crap out of you tomorrow!"

Kai had no opportunity to say anything after that because Tyson disappeared behind the tall hedges which lined the street side. Not being able to do anything else, Kai sat in the swing, allowing himself to rock a little, just a little, and kick a bit of the sand with the end of his shoe. He stopped when he noticed some kids staring at him. What, with him looking profoundly out of place, of course they would stare. He sighed and found himself gazing about him, taking in the surroundings. Something about this playground seemed awfully familiar.

Not far off, Kai spotted the gates of an elementary school. His eyes widened. Elementary school had been such a thing of the past that he hardly recognized it at first. The elementary school-goers had been released and the majority of those in the playground were them.

Sounds of a scuffle caught his attention, and he noticed in a far corner a familiar little red-head wrestling a boy to the ground. At first, the red-head looked like was going to be forced out of the ring but he had squirmed himself loose of the other, burlier boy's grip and pushed his opponent right out amidst cheers and the splattering of disappointed groans.

"Aww man! I thought Daichi was going to lose for sure!" Kai heard a boy say to his companion. The boy handed the other a whole stick of gum as he made that dejected statement.

Kai smirked. Kids start gambling early... Wait, Daichi?

"Hey! It's that guy with the weird hair!"

Kai's eyes fixed on the red-head as the midget bounded up to stand in front of him, arms akimbo, and legs apart.

"Aren't you too old to be playing on the swing?" Daichi demanded loudly. Kai dug a pinky into his ear and motioned to clear it pointedly. This boy was louder than Tyson and Grandpa Granger put together. Much louder.

"What is it to you, twerp?"

"You aren't waiting for your girlfriend aren't ya?" Daichi demanded, and then grinned maddeningly before clasping his hands and widening his eyes to sickeningly huge proportions, all sparkles with surrounding opalescent flowers to boot. "Waiting for her so that you can tell her you wuv her?"

"She just ran out to get something," Kai heard himself say.

He immediately did a mental double take after that came out of his mouth. It was a little disconcerting how that line brought to his mind Tyson running out of the playground, the way he had earlier.

Trying not to think of it, Kai did the next best thing: he narrowed his eyes menacingly at Daichi.

Something of Tyson must have rubbed off Daichi. Either that, or the little boy was brought up by wolves before the Grangers adopted him because he only replied, unaffected by the stare, "Ah! Whatever! I need to go home and help Grandpa with dinner, since Tyson isn't going to be home for it today."

Kai frowned. If Tyson was not going to be home for dinner...that meant Tyson was planning on staying out?

"What did Tyson told you he was going to be doing?" Kai asked.

Daichi shrugged.

"Dunno. Said he had something important to do, and he won't say anything else after that."

"Anyway, my friends are going! I'm off. See ya, weirdo!"

Kai raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he watched the boy hurry after his friends. Who would have thought that he would meet Tyson's little brother here? And when did the little boy get there anyway? How long had Tyson been gone? It felt like a long, long time... and yet, no time at all. The sky was already obtaining a peachy hue about it. All of this was too familiar...down to the time of day. All it needed was for Tyson to...

"So! Have you figured it out yet?" Tyson's voice came to him and the running teen soon came to a halt before him, hands behind his back.

"This is the playground that we used to fight in," Kai responded with a little smile. He did not want to mention that it took him a while.

"Correct!" Tyson chirped before asking again, "And the day is?"

Kai frowned up at Tyson but was suddenly taken by how beautiful Tyson looked then. His hair, so much longer than it used to be was falling over one shoulder and since Tyson was bending down a little to lean towards him, the ponytail hung down, swaying with every little move that the bluenette made. The excitement he felt was laid bare in the way his eyes glimmered.

"The day?" Kai asked somewhat puzzled and distractedly.

"All these years and you never bothered remembering?"

"Remembering what?"

"Let me refresh your memory, gramps!" Tyson teased, pulling something out from behind his back. Pushing a disposable cake tin practically under Kai's nose, Tyson shouted gleefully as he peeled off the aluminum foil which covered it, "Happy birthday, Kai!"

Kai stared down at the object in astonishment. Memories already etched into his mind came flooding back fresher than ever, only this time, it did not smell like dirt. Something dark, smelling like chocolate was packed into the simple round aluminum cake tin. The top, slightly bulging out above the level of the rim, had multicoloured M&Ms arranged to spell his name...properly: "Kai". Two candles protruded out of the whole simple set-up and Tyson fished inside his blazer pockets until he came up with a lighter.

"I saw a recipe for mud pie that does not require ice-cream...so I tried it and this is the best one yet!" Tyson told him excitedly as he placed the dessert, not a very big one, onto Kai's lap. "I ran home to get it because I didn't want to bring it to school."

Kai watched, effectively speechless, as Tyson knelt down and lighted the candles after flicking the lighter inexpertly a few times. Once the candles were lighted, Tyson lifted a rapturous face, all aglow with the flickering light from the candles, to Kai. Soon, he was belting out in a "Happy Birthday" song. Normally, Kai would have been annoyed by something so pointless and embarrassing...but Tyson was doing everything so sincerely and eagerly, he could not help but sink into it, perhaps even appreciate it. There was a spreading warmth somewhere in him, what many would perhaps describe as a fuzzy sort of feeling in the depths of his being.

Kai remembered what sort of effect the boy's similar gesture had on him so many years back...and it was doing the same thing then. Tyson had always remembered Kai's birthday but never once told the latter his own. Kai remembered that he had to actually badger it out of the teachers (true Hiwatari style) before he found out, only to mail the gifts he bought to the younger boy instead of giving it to him in person. Tyson always thanked him for it in school. So it was like that, Kai mailing stuff and Tyson giving him odd trinkets, like fix-it-yourself figurines from those toy dispenser machines where you slot in coins to get those toys in little globes, for a straight five years or so. Their gifts were nothing big...but Kai would never ever admit to anyone that he kept all of the things Tyson gave him, even if they were those girly miniature furniture sets.

After Tyson suddenly left, Kai felt no need to acknowledge birthdays anymore, not even his own. The two most important dates in his life simply sunk into a quagmire of forgotten memories. That was until Tyson came bouncing back into his life and went all out to remind him what once was, what life perhaps meant. All those years apart and Tyson never forgot...only waited for the day.

"C'mon, Kai! Make a wish and blow out the candles!" Tyson's voice pierced through his reveries.

Kai started a little, looking wide-eyed first at the younger teen and then down at the candles.

"Clasp your hands like this, close your eyes, and make a wish!"

Tyson did exactly as he himself had instructed and was soon a divine picture as he knelt before Kai. Those pretty eyes blissfully closed, the hands clasped fervently to his chest, and with that smile, Kai felt this very strange pull to lean in and...

Kai pulled himself back with a harsh, mental yank just as Tyson opened his eyes again.

"It's really easy!" Tyson urged, reaching out and grabbing Kai's hands, pulling them together before intertwining the fingers into a clasp.

The touch of Tyson's hand on his shocked Kai, and he could feel his heart jump before settling into a wild hammering in his ribcage. At Tyson's continued insistence, he closed his eyes, however more to not look into that rapturous face than to make a genuine wish.

This is pointless, Kai found himself thinking.

Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he was actually wondering what he should wish for. It was easy to simply put on a show of making a wish and then opening his eyes and blowing out the candles before taking the cake home and instructing the servants to put it in the fridge. Only he didn't. He was actually pondering over the one thing he would want to come true. It was no easy task because Tyson's face kept surfacing in his mind, smiling at him—little Tyson with no front teeth, a slightly older Tyson just on the cusp of teenagehood, and the current Tyson, a young man of seventeen.

Finally, Kai gave up and spoke out loud that he wished he would get an 'A+' for the upcoming Math test.

"You are not supposed to say it out loud! Or else it won't come true!" Tyson shouted at him. "And now, blow out all the candles in one breath! Blow!"

There was so much urgency in Tyson's voice that Kai actually felt like he ought to comply otherwise something bad was going to happen. He opened his eyes and blew out the candles easily in a single puff for there were only two of them.

"I'm not twenty," Kai pointed out, looking down at the pink candles. Pink?!

"You will be in two years," Tyson reasoned. With a laugh, he added, pulling them out, "Well, I wanted to put eighteen on this...but Grandpa said it might burn such a tiny cake down. It is rather tiny, isn't it?"

Tyson inspected the cake as he said so. It was bigger than a muffin but not quite the size of a regular pie.

Before he could stop himself, Kai actually found himself consoling, "It is just the right size for us."

"Aww! That's cool!" Fishing in his bag, which he had grabbed from Kai before placing the cake on the other's lap, he brought out a packet of serviettes and a butter knife with triumph.

"You really thought of everything didn't you?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mm hmm!"

It was hard not to keep down the rising blush as Tyson thrust the knife into his hand and guided it to cut the first slice of the cake, all the while kneeling before him. Kai realised that if it wasn't for the cake on his lap, their position would seem rather...compromising.

Once the slice was on the serviette that Tyson had readied for it, Kai took his first bite out of it in the midst of Tyson's anxiously watching eyes. Kai had to avert his own eyes as he chewed, feeling a little put off by his...sudden shyness. Why was he feeling so... And only with this bluenette too? This was seriously not flattering to his reputation as the school's resident bad boy.

"How...is it?" Tyson asked hesitantly.

"It's fine," Kai told him curtly, still not looking at him.

"Phew, at least that's something," replied Tyson with a grin.

Kai profoundly felt what a liar he was. It was actually the best thing he had ever tasted.

"Oh! And before I forgot!" Tyson cried out just as they stopped at the gate to his house.

The bluenette probed about in his bag until he came up with a little brown package.

Handing it to Kai, he said, "Here!"

"What is it?" Kai asked, taking the package from his friend.

"The limited edition dresser to the furniture set I gave you a long time ago."

Kai was glad for the bad lighting once more for he felt his cheeks flush tellingly. How did the younger teen know that Kai still kept those things? And how did he know that Kai was missing a dresser for the bedroom set?

"You can expect the dining room set for your birthday next year!" Tyson joked.

"Why are all your gifts so pointless?" Kai asked.

"Because you lack pointlessness in your life," Tyson told him with a laugh.

"And this coming from someone who aces Literature?"

Tyson started to push the tall wooden gates open as he turned and spoke, "It is human to make pointless things have a point."

Kai stared at the bluenette after he made that statement and actually found himself smiling.

"I hate to admit it, but you have a point," he said finally.

"See you tomorrow, Kai! And better get that reading done. You don't want Romero to start picking on you to read up front again."

"I'm way ahead of you, Tyson."

Light laughter tinkled, as Kai heard the bluenette ask, "What? Reading or in pretending to read?"

Kai smirked and turned to walk away. The gate closed behind him and he felt it safe to open the package and take out the dresser. It even came with drawers that could be pulled out and a small mirror.

Kai shoved the gift back into its package and the package into his bag before he could see himself in the mirror.

Next Chapter: Looking For a Juliet