"Feeling any better
A/N: "abc" – thoughts; "abc" – normal; "abc" – different language
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"Feeling any better?"
Rei heard a voice say as he wiped sleep off his eyes. He looked around the dim room and found himself in the bed he shared with Kai who is currently facing his laptop. Embarrassed, Rei quickly pulled himself off the covers and sat near his captain.
"Well, I guess you figured out my fear now. You know, the thunders and lightning and all. Sorry for the trouble Kai," Rei muttered shyly while tightening his jacket around his body as a wisp of cold air swept into the room.
'Master Kai! You made a discovery of love! Anyway, be back later!' Dranzer noted happily and bailed out immediately before her master could even react.
"Er, Kai? Are you sick? You're quite red." Rei asked. Despite the darkness, Rei saw the change of color upon his comrade's face which surprised him.
Realizing the damage, Kai tried to regain his composure and made a mental note to make Dranzer pay for getting him off guard.
"You've been out for two hours. The power lines were also down since then," Kai said, changing the subject.
Earlier, Kai couldn't stop himself from worrying that he jammed his fingers upon the keypad of his cell phone while dialing the nearest hospitals for details on what could possibly have happened to Rei. After some shouting and some threatening the doctors and first-aiders over the phone, the captain finally calmed down as he was informed that his 'friend' may have suffered a case of astraphobia, in layman's term, fear of thunders.
Unaware of his captain's flashbacks, Rei just nodded in reply and placed his chin over his knees as Kai continued reading a message from Mr. Dickens. Suddenly, Rei leaned closer to the screen to see the details, catching Kai off guard which made the Russian's eyes widen at the contact.
"The storm's pretty insane for blocking all roads to here. This area is a bit remote too. I guess we should stay put for the moment, right?" Rei stated, oblivious to his captain's state of emotions.
Snapping back to reality, Kai pretended not to hear Rei's comment and typed a short reply to their manager's message. Rei, in turn, stood up and headed towards the door and headed to the kitchen, yelling that he's going to fix something for the two of them to eat.
After Rei left, Kai let out a sigh of relief and walked towards the mirror.
"You're hopeless, Kai Hiwatari. You are."
oOo
Since the power source cannot be fixed until the storm becomes less dangerous, Rei and Kai just lit up a few candles and satisfy themselves with the meal at hand.
"This is all I can come up for tonight's dinner. I can't really see much in the dark and I don't want to risk burning the house so cup noodles should do. Sorry," Rei apologized as he gulped some soup.
'Candlight dinner! Not too shabby for a newbie, Master Kai.'
Kai rolled his eyes upon hearing his bit beast's voice.
'Don't think that I already forgot what you did earlier.'
'I couldn't help it. I'm just happy for you!'
'And you express happiness by being a bitch?'
'Urgh! Sorry but I'm like a bird, a phoenix to be more specific and NOT a dog.'
'Whatever. Just shut the hell up and mind your own business.'
'Oh no, that's not possible Master Kai! You know that I can't live without you!'
'Just shut up I said.'
Receiving no reply from his team mate, Rei continued his meal. For some time, he watched the swaying trees due to the mighty gusts of the wind then placed his cup down the table.
"Kai."
The blue-haired Russo-Japanese teen looked up to acknowledge his team mate, raising his eyebrows in inquiry.
"Remember when we all took a year off for ourselves? When you went to back to Russia while Max and Kenny stayed in America and Tyson joined his father's trips."
"…"
"Well, during that year, I traveled from one country to another and I sorta had this type of experience. Guess where?" Rei asked Kai amidst a lightning strike, slightly illuminating the darkness of the room.
Kai shoved some noodles into his mouth and said, "China?"
Rei laughed. "No, silly. Russia."
Kai placed his bowl and chopsticks down and faced Rei's amused features.
"What are you doing in Russia? Collecting snow?"
At this, Rei couldn't stop himself from laughing, making Kai feel uneasy.
"Sorry. I lost it. Who knew that the world-famous Ice King of the blading world could really crack a cheesy joke?" Rei said after finally returning to his senses.
"Hn." Kai remarked, ignoring Rei's comment. Deep inside, he's fighting a blush if such is possible. He just realized how poor his sense of humor is.
"Anyway, to keep it simple, Tala and I spent a night without electricity because he forgot to pay his bills and it was snowing really hard," the Chinese teen finished his story along with his meal.
"What's with you and Tala anyway?" Kai inquired. He noticed that when he asked the same question earlier, Rei didn't respond.
Hearing Kai raise the same question he asked after Tala's call, Rei felt that he can no longer escape the discussion. Actually, he doesn't know what Kai's reaction will be and he does not want his captain to feel different about him. Que sera sera. Here it goes.
RING! RING! RING!
"I'll go get it!" Rei volunteered quickly and bolted to the living room. Save! Thank you so much, Kami-sama!
"Good evening! This is the Blade Breakers' place and you are currently talking to Rei. May I know who is on the line?" greeted Rei, trying to make his voice louder to defy the continuous rainfall and wind blows outside.
"Bryan. Put Kai on the line." The voice from the other line growled icily, making Rei wince. He knows Bryan is subjected to some psycho-sadistic tendencies and he still can't help but shiver with the sharpness of Bryan's manner of speaking.
"Err, sure Bryan. Kai your call," Rei called out from the living room. As he passed the phone to Kai, Rei mouthed 'I'll just be in the kitchen' to which Kai just nodded in acknowledgement. It took a few moments before Kai lifted the contraption to his ear, waiting for Rei to return to the kitchen.
"How are things?" Kai finally said to his fellow Russian. He noticed that his childhood friends are successively calling him since morning.
"Worse than worst. Tala flew to Japan this evening without any warning despite the knowledge of the stormy weather in some areas there."
Kai glimpsed at Rei's shadow. Tala's been reckless once more due to some unknown reason but Kai can feel what his red-headed friend, more likely, rival is up to and he does not like the very idea of it. As the situation calls him, Kai in turn conversed with Bryan in Russian.
"That person. Did he tell you why he suddenly decided to travel to Japan?"
"He just stuffed his things, chanting mushy things which freaked Ian and Spencer then headed to the airport."
"Tala had 'it' again? What was he saying?"
"Tell other people that these words touched my tongue due to that red-head moron and I swear that I'll cut out yours before you can say 'Russia'."
Kai smiled to himself as Bryan seriously threatened him for asking the falcon wielder to repeat 'the words' Tala supposedly said before leaving their homeland.
"Whatever."
"I warned you Hiwatari."
"I know."
"He said that he's going to fight for the one who holds his heart."
oOo
Kai can't sleep. He tried all the childish tricks just to fall asleep such as counting imaginary jumping sheep and covering his face with the comforter but sleep won't delude him. And the bluenette Bladebreaker knows why.
Out of frustration, Kai lifted his body off the bed towards the window. Letting himself loose, he sighed and watched the rain water flow down the moist window. Tala. That person really does rash actions at a whim. What bothered Kai is Bryan's narration of the red head's drastic change in personality. Sure, Tala's still fierce and sharp but he never wore his heart on his sleeves like that. He's a rational, that redhead.
"Master Kai, how long do you plan deluding yourself? You're neither stupid nor blind not to realize that something's going on, rather something happened between Tala and Rei." Kai's female companion told him gently.
"I still remember what you did earlier."
"Come on Master, you know you can't take the feeling of being angry with me."
"Yeah, because I wish to strangle you which is physically impossible."
"MASTER!"
"Fine, I'm letting this one slip."
"Tala's occupying too much of your thoughts?"
Kai didn't reply. Even without admitting it, Kai knows that Dranzer can read through his thoughts. Stupid pride. If he just can drop his guard once and for all, maybe he wouldn't have a hard time spilling his heart out. Well, that's just the first part of his problem. He's known to be the stoic captain of the Bladebreakers plus, the person he likes, well, loves most is a guy.
It's still raining hard outside and even with the closed windows, Kai can feel the crisp wisps of wind.
When will this stop?
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IceSpirit: OMG! I'm way past the deadline I have set for myself! I am so sorry! I don't know if this chappie is good enough for the wait but rest assured that the next chapter is an explosive one. Anyways, I still hope that you liked it. Reviews are very much appreciated! 'Til the next chapter!