Rating: M

Genre: Drama

Summary: Embark on a small journey into the fragile lives of those believed to have it all. Behind the cameras, monsters on the inside. But you might know them better as celebrities. AU, KaiTal, ReiBry, BrookBry, TyHil, anti-ReiMar.

Warnings: violence, drug use, sex, rape, mature themes, character death, and Kai's minor antagonism.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor do I own any of the recognisable characters featured in this story.

In no way do I promote any of the ideas presented in these chapters. I write with the sole purpose of entertaining and have no intention of spreading immoral ideas. This story is simply a reflection on what I believe to be the attitude of today's society in general. I will not accept any abuse related to the themes written in the following fanfiction.

(A/N): Fistly, I couldn't respond to two reviews because they were posted without being logged on, so I want to thank Alex V. and Loverose here. Alex V., I loved what you said about Tala; 'perfect in all its ruined glory'- I thought that was beautiful :D. And yeah Loverose, Tyson's dad was never actually called Bruce. I believe Ladya C. Maxine made it up originally but don't quote me on that because I could be wrong. Also, yeah Alex V. and Fairly-OddGirl got it, Kai did fuck Rei once. Think back to Ming-Ming's section in chapter 1, and what I said about Kai always having fucked all his clients. I can't stress enough how unimportant this is though; I didn't even notice it until after the fic was written, and added it in while editing because I thought it was an interesting little addition.

This and chapter 6 are the two shorter chapters of this story. So, I'm sorry if it seems a bit like a let-down from the last one. The awful thing is, I don't think it was worth the mega long wait in the least...Though having said that, given the content, you might actually like it after all.

In this chapter, the italics shows a flashback, not a dream.

Italics are memories, thoughts or any sort of dream. Bold are headlines or any form of magazine print

Enjoy!

Love on the Catwalk

By StZen

Chapter 4

Please Show Me Some Remorse

To enter through the ruby front door would have been too much of a perilous burden, and the chances of slipping inconspicuously into the house would be a lot easier if casually approached from the back door which led into the idle study. Rei concluded this in a matter of seconds and led his little girl by the hand round to the back of their house. Lin cast an eye up at her father suspiciously, but said nothing. She wasn't sure what they were doing, but it seemed unusual enough to be some form of whimsical adventure, if only for a few minutes.

She wondered if it had anything to do with the place her daddy had just driven her to, having picked her up from school. They hadn't taken the regular route home this time, and her father had stopped somewhere for quite some time, leaving her in the car seat for at least ten minutes before coming out to retrieve her. She hadn't thought much of the place, but guessed by the way her daddy was acting that this would be a long encounter.

About two hours successive, she had finally traipsed back to the car with her father, and they had headed for home.

Once they'd rounded the side of the large house undiscovered, Rei retrieved the key to the back study door and carefully opened it. His daughter was about to walk right in, but he knelt down in front of her before she could make a move.

'Lin,' he said softly, making her lean in slightly so as to hear him properly. 'Let's keep this little…meeting daddy just had a secret, okay?'

He looked at her hopefully, and received a probing look in return. 'Why?' she asked in a normal curious little girl's voice (plainly speaking, significantly louder than necessary).

Rei winced at the volume of her tone and his left eyebrow twitched slightly. 'Well,' he felt there was certainly no point in lying to his child, whether or not the questions continued to fly at him like wasps. 'I would just prefer it if mummy didn't know about it. There are important things that she probably wouldn't approve of.'

Without trying to figure out what the word 'approve' meant, Lin, much to Rei's utter relief, didn't question him further. Her and her daddy had something to share, and though she had no idea what it was, nor did she know why he didn't want mummy to know, this was something she had been let in on. Some secret shared just between them. Because in all honesty, Lin loved her mummy very much, but daddy wasn't the one who made her eat her vegetables, or tucked her in every single night. He was the mystery she looked up to more than anyone else, and now that he had chosen her over mummy to go with him to the place, to meet those men, it made her feel like there was something keeping them together. It made her feel special. The mind of a six-year-old didn't piece much more of the puzzle together than that. Her puzzle consisted of only two fitting pieces, not the four separate ones her father's did.

She smiled and nodded happily, 'Okay, daddy,' and her hair gently swept over the reflective marble floor as she pulled it free and ran silently to the stairs. Somewhere behind her agile figure and rippling sea of ebony, Rei let out a sigh of relief and blinked guiltily for a couple of seconds, before entering the house and slowly closing the door behind him.

He took a brief moment to look around him, and adjust his eyes to the dimness of a room never used. The study was furnished with the purpose of appearing managed, but everything in there had been purchased for appearances sake. Other than that, it was the only room in the house, besides her bedroom, where Lin's drawings were displayed. Many were framed and hung, while some were simply stuck directly to the walls with tape. Because if nobody ever went in there, why need they care if the walls were gradually spoiled with scribbles on paper?

Passing through like a shadow, Rei reached the hall with the intention of also ascending the stairs, but was abruptly stopped by a piercing voice cutting through the silence. 'Rei?'

Wincing for the second time in the last few minutes, Rei bit his lip and exhaled around his teeth; he couldn't avoid this one. Holding his breath and still trying to be quiet as possible, though he knew it wouldn't make any difference, he stealthily tip-toed to the kitchen. Gently pushing open the ajar door, he prepared himself for anything that might be thrown at him, not expecting in the least, however, to be met with a literal object. The blur of silver flashed past him, smacked the wall, and clanged noisily to the floor, where he looked down at it with a bemused expression.

Tearing his eyes from it, he gaped at his wife disbelievingly. 'Did you just throw a fork at me?'

Mariah was on the opposite side of the kitchen table, by the window. She had been staring out of it moments before he'd entered, but had spun to get better force behind her throw, unfortunately resulting in a terrible aim. Her mood, much to Rei's vexation, was clear in about half a second. Anger would be a euphemism.

While he gaped with confusion at her, she glared daggers at him. Her lips were pursed tightly, and her eyes abnormally large. Her shoulders heaved slightly and he could tell her teeth were clenched behind her tight mouth, similar to her fists which were balled tightly at her sides. He gulped slightly, in spite of himself, and waited for her to explode. But she did quite an estimable job of keeping herself controlled, and simply said through her teeth, 'Take. a. look. at. that.'

She seethed between each word, giving off the impression she was about to spit fire at him. At the last word she slammed her hand down on the table so loudly, Rei jumped. Blinking a little, he didn't say a word but made his way over to where she stood. She turned back towards the window as he got nearer, but whatever she didn't want him to see, he wouldn't have done so anyway; he was too busy staring at table. Eyebrows furrowed in mild curiosity and confusion, he bent slightly and peered down at the magazine she had indicated to, not daring to touch it in case she'd sense the movement. He read the large title and frowned.

'Tala Ivanov?' he dared question in his bewilderment, 'What does this have to do with me?'

Forgetting herself for a moment, Mariah turned her head and shoulders back to face her husband, a very similar expression on her face. When she saw what he was looking at though, she spun back so fast he probably never saw her turn to begin with. 'The next page, for god's sake!' she snapped.

Almost afraid of what he'd find, Rei licked his lower lip nervously and gently flicked the wispy paper over. When he saw what was on the next page, he winced a little but also heaved a sigh of relief, having admittedly expected worse.

Kon caught sneaking around!

Evidently, Mariah couldn't see what could be much worse. Giving him a look which plainly said she was waiting for him to give a similar expression of shock, her chest began to heave again and Rei knew what was about to happen. The very same thing that happened quite regularly lately, but he couldn't quite remember when it had begun.

The silence which followed was sinister. Suddenly nothing within a hundred miles seemed to be moving, or breathing, except for Mariah and her deep inhalations.

Rei glimpsed over the fist few words and his eyes travelled to the low-quality photograph of his body hunched as he meandered down the street in various shades of grey. In the foreground the focus was directed to a silver car, proving that the photograph was taken quickly, poorly, and from a definite hiding place. Rei looked curiously at his figure, and wondered how anybody could see it and instantly assume it to be him. But that was before he caught sight of the longer strands of his hair, poking out from the bottom of his coat, where he always tucked it in to deter the public eye. One small slip which had been caught, one sure way of identification. It was him, no doubt about it. And though had it just stayed put, there could have been no proof, that hair showed the world that the man suspiciously speed-walking through the nasty streets of the opposite side of town, that man was undeniably Rei Kon.

He gulped, hoping he could make her see reason, and broke the silence. 'I-It's alright. Maybe it isn't so ba-'

Mariah cut him off in mid-word as she all but swooped towards him and snatched the article from the table. Several papers fell to the floor but nobody bothered to pick them up. Gripping it tightly, she raised both hands over her left shoulder and whacked him with it as hard as she could.

'You fucking idiot!' she screamed, hitting him again in intervals. 'What the fuck did you think you were doing?! Do you know how this is going to look?!'

'Mariah,' Rei stepped away from her and began to rub his head, disappointed but not in the least bit surprised at his wife's reaction. 'Look, is it all that bad? What does it-?'

Mariah cut through his words again, slamming the flimsy paper back on to the kitchen table. 'That you've been caught in the midst of some "suspicious actions", that you've been running around the east side of town doing god-knows what!' she yelled, accompanying her words with dramatic hand gestures. 'I can't believe you would be so stupid! I told you this would happen if you weren't fucking careful!'

She carried on and began to wander aimlessly around the kitchen, but her rampage turned into background noise as Rei bent in again to look closely at the article. He prayed for the both of them that the name of a certain third person wouldn't be mentioned anywhere, and that the search had ended on the streets, as supposed to in the bars, cafés or even a certain apartment. His scanning found him no such thing, but he then discovered on the next page that there were several other photographs he hadn't see the first time. A couple more of a man unrecognisable to all but himself, walking on streets, standing by parks and restaurant entrances, and one specific print of a man anybody would recognise as him, walking out of the bank. And had he not looked so guarded in every single one, it could perhaps have just gone unnoticed. He could have kicked himself. Never had he realised how obvious his body language was; no wonder it seemed people could read him so easily.

The noise quietened down, and Mariah turned around to see her husband scanning the paper. She lowered her voice level but kept the bitter tone when she followed the small silence with 'they think it's a girl.'

'What?' Rei looked up.

'They think it's a girl, some skanky nobody that you're having an affair with.' She scoffed. 'But they have it wrong, I can see that. Believe me, I can. I know the truth, Rei Kon, that you are having an affair. And the skanky nobody part isn't far from wrong; the only difference is that this one is far from female.'

Rei could feel his temper rising. 'You can't think tha-!'

'Oh of course I know it, don't be obtuse!' Mariah's voice had gone back to screaming level. 'You might be able to fool the public, Rei, but you never fool me! How could you ever fool the woman who knows you better than anybody, huh?! You've been whoring yourself to that disgusting Kuznetsov, having that man in smut all over the fucking town!'

Rei snapped. 'You shut up!' he roared, even surprising himself a little at the harsh volume of his voice. 'I won't let you speak about him like that! Bryan Kuznetsov and I have been doing nothing, and what gives you that idea is beyond me, but I won't hear any more of this until you have calmed down!'

'I can't fucking calm down!' Mariah was bordering on hysteria now, and actually starting to shake a little. 'How the fuck do you expect me to be calm at this time, Rei? You tell me!'

'I won't talk about this any more!' Rei stated, ready to turn on his heel and leave. 'You're too irrational to deal with right now!'

The next thing he heard was a crash. The sound rendering him frozen stiff, his eyes widened as the noise reached his ears, of something expensive hitting the hard marble floor he had just taken a step on.

'Don't you walk away from me!' came Mariah's shrill cry at the same time as the porcelain vase was thrown. She was still quaking and her breaths were still heavy with rage.

Rei slowly turned, not once looking down to see the shards which splattered the floor, to face his wife. When he spoke, his voice was stiffly quiet, like a forced calm. 'If I can't get you to believe me in this matter, then I never had any hope at all.'

Mariah bit her quivering lip, but her heated glare remained fixated on him. 'I won't let you ruin my life.' She spoke only slightly louder than he had.

'And what about mine, Mariah? Does that not matter to you?'

He had touched a nerve. 'You had your chance!' she snapped. 'You've had years to make yourself happy and you've spent it wallowing in self-pity, hating me and hating our marriage! I can't turn a blind eye to everything, Rei!' she looked at his almost desperately. 'I refuse to accept your lies and allow myself to be fooled by my own wishful thinking-!'

She stopped abruptly, knowing she had said too much.

Rei didn't catch on. 'They aren't lies!' he bit back at her. 'I never lie to you, Mariah, and I never have! You're right, I haven't been sleeping with some random woman, but I haven't been sleeping with Bryan either!'

'You fucking liar!' Mariah had switched back into fury mode. 'You do lie to me; you've always lied to me! You told me you loved me when we married, you told me you would always stay at my side, you swore we would be fucking happy! But instead you turned your back on our fucking "happy" life and ogled like some senseless fish at every man who passed you by! You fucking whore, how dare you try and trick me!'

'You're fucking impossible!' Rei retorted.

'You're a fucking disgrace!' she swiped violently and intentionally knocked her small array of wine glasses to the ground, where they smashed beside the vase and the shards mixed together. The deep red liquid splattered the floor and stained Rei's jacket.

She wasn't done. 'All these fucking years of tolerating your sinful lusting and your fucking ingratitude!' she ranted, all the while storming through the kitchen and throwing various other objects to the ground, whether they were liable to shatter or not. 'All for you to throw it all away! And for what?! To ruin our reputations and spit on whatever the fuck we have left, to defy me in every possible way and have an affair behind my back?!'

'Mariah, stop!' thankfully for Rei, his demand didn't voice his desperation. He caught Mariah by the wrists as she reached for the fruit bowl and firmly held her still. She bared her teeth at him, still seething and clearly resenting being handled. 'Smash one more thing and I'm walking out.'

Mariah wrenched herself free, but didn't make a grab for anything else. 'You will not leave this house,' she ordered bluntly. 'If I had my way you would never leave again. You don't deserve it.'

'It's not for you to decide what I deserve,' Rei growled. 'and for good reason. If it were your place to decide my fate for me, I'd end up-'

'happy?!'

'…miserable.'

She scoffed at him. 'More miserable than you make yourself now? What makes you think I would inflict the pain you inflict on yourself?'

'It doesn't matter who inflicts it,' he snapped, 'you, my darling wife, are the reason for it and always have been.'

After that statement which both of them resented but knew to be true, there was little left to say. The battle was done with, or at least postponed for the time being, but like all battles before this one, the air hadn't cleared. The war would continue on.

Firmly gritting her teeth, Mariah backed towards the kitchen door. Gathering her wits together having scattered them amongst the debris and paper which littered the floor, she spoke stiffly back to the aggravated man in the kitchen. 'You are going to fix this. You will see to it that our reputations don't suffer any more than they have. This affair you're having with Kuznetsov-don't interrupt me I don't give a fuck what you say!' she snapped, seeing him open his mouth to retort. He closed his lips again. 'This affair with Kuznetsov will stop now. I no longer give a damn what you do to humiliate yourself, but if it affects me I won't allow it. You will fix this, Rei. You'll put everything back to the way it was, so that we can forget this and pretend it never happened.'

As she disappeared and the door shut behind her, the silence which replaced her was broken briefly by Rei's foot violently throwing a chair on it's side and showering the kitchen with previously broken glass. Trying to release his anger, Rei took a seat beside the article which had begun the confrontation and rested his head on his hand. Never had he meant for this to happen. He had at least hoped to seek out the young girl who had understood him, and loved him once upon a time. He wanted to find her and use her to convince her livid current self to believe his words. She always used to listen to him. The sixteen-year-old he had once loved would have never accused him of lying to her.

What bothered him the most was his wishing her accusations were in fact true. A miniscule part of his mind scolded him for it, but the fact was that he hadn't been lying. He wished he could say that he was having an affair with Bryan. He wished he could be given such luxury. But admittedly, he did also wish that he could forget everything; hit his head exceptionally hard, and wake up with no memory of before, learn to love his wife again and be happy with what he'd been given. Of course he wished for this, but he would never admit this to her. And while his memory was still alive, he could never bring himself to try again. Kuznetsov gave him what she never could, and he knew his mind would not allow the younger man to ever be forgotten. He was what made this all worth it, the very reason Rei didn't take a bat and beat himself until his memory failed. Despite their financially-based relationship being far from what his wife assumed, and what Rei eventually hoped for, Bryan Kuznetsov had become a dangerous addiction.

xXx

For how long the room had been so still, neither Kai nor Tala had any idea. Hours that seemed like days had passed, taking the sun and replacing it with a deep blue glow which shone against the darkness through the window and formed a silhouette of Tala's profile. He motionlessly faced the opposite wall, and Kai sat with his back to Tala, feet so implanted on the wooden floor he felt he'd lose the ability to ever move them again soon. He could feel the light of the moon on his back; the shadow of Tala against him, while the real Tala remained where he was, and had been for such a long time.

Kai rubbed his tired eyes. How long had he gone without proper sleep? The four days had gone so fast, and still the mess in the living room remained untouched, as though somebody had set it out that way on purpose. Kai barely even looked at it anymore, and simply stepped over the residue whenever he headed towards the kitchen. Though he paid for this ignorance with several cuts on his feet, sensitive skin shred and pierced from sharp and reflective glass, now stained red along with the dusty carpet.

But despite his lack of sleep for worry he deemed stupid and scolded himself for, no part of him ever had much of a desire to rest anymore. He thought it unusual, but didn't question it. And this, he concluded, was why he sat in the dark, back to the redhead who unknowingly kept him awake, and wished against all odds that he might move or say something. But he didn't. Tala sat stiff like a waxwork, with arms and legs which hung like a ragdoll. His posture remained impeccable, and his eyes half-lidded, clearly staring at the wall and seeing something else. Kai turned his head to look at him, and sighed as the long eyelashes blinked.

He opened his mouth to speak. His phone interrupted him.

Tala didn't jump like Kai did, nor did he make any sign of getting up. It was enough to bring him out of his reverie though, but still he said nothing. His dull blue eyes glanced up towards the door, and he looked at it as though expecting it to make its way towards him. Those eyes continued to follow Kai as he walked out, glancing back at Tala with a hint of concern distinguishable amongst the palpable look of relief. When he left the room, Tala's eyes dropped to the floor and he turned his face towards the light shining in through the window.

Kai cursed as his unhealed wounds began to sting with every extended step taken towards the kitchen counter. Finally reaching the phone he hadn't touched since he'd set it down after finding Tala's apartment in disarray four days ago, he raised an eyebrow at the number he didn't recognise and flipped it open lazily.

'Kai Hiwatari speaking…'

Tala listened intently to Kai's alluring drawl from the bedroom, where he still sat with his head facing the window, glazed eyes staring at the floor and avoiding the window at all costs.

'Hm…yes…what is this about exactly?' Tala heard Kai say. There was a pause. '…Mizu...?'

Tala looked back at the door. Mizu? What the hell was Mizu? He frowned in concentration as he tried to catch the end of Kai's phone call.

'Yes alright, I will be there. When?...Alright, that's fine. Thursday. I will sir, thankyou for your call.' He ended it in a business-like fashion, flicking the phone shut again and turning the thing off. That would do for now; he didn't think he could be bothered to deal with employees calling to find out where he was. Relatively soon they would begin to get concerned.

Scowling at the call he'd just received, Kai was about to turn towards the bedroom where he could hopefully bring Tala from his stupor, he heard a knock at the door and reluctantly opened it to see the paper at his feet. Without glancing down the hall, he picked it up and closed the door quietly behind him.

Skin and bone to be the face of fashion?

Kai's eyebrows slowly raised as his eyes scanned the article below the massive headline. Sure enough, as he had feared, the face that glared back at him through enhanced blue eyes was none other than the face of the once conceited wreck in the other room. Tala's hallow shadows glared at him unpleasantly from the page as Kai slowly tip-toed back to the kitchen counter, where the papers from the previous days had began to form a small heap. Eyebrows furrowed, Kai began to look through them, picking them up one after another and becoming increasingly frantic as he did so. All of them, each and every one; they all pointed towards the current fashion item's weight loss. Even the padded clothes he wore didn't seem to be fooling them anymore; the public were suddenly on board, and Tala could be effectively ruined, both financially and mentally. And for once, Kai considered the option of a client's destruction, and didn't automatically think of himself. He knew one thing, though; Tala was not well enough to see these yet. Perhaps he never again would be.

Cradling the papers in his hand, he glanced around frantically for a few moments before making his way over to the window in a flourish. In one swift movement, he'd wrenched the thing open and flung the papers out into the cold night air. Shutting the window again and stepping gingerly over the curtain rail on the ground, as though he were treading through a crime-scene, Kai let out a breath and made his way back to the bedroom.

Tala greeted him with a suspicious, albeit slightly croaky, tone. 'What the hell's Mizu?'

Kai was baffled. 'What?'

'What was that phone call about?'

'Oh,' Kai sat down on the bed again where Tala had changed position and was now half-sitting, half-lying against the head-board. 'Don't worry about it, something…commercial.' Kai chose his words carefully, slightly relieved when Tala didn't ask again. 'I have to attend a meeting in town on Thursday,' Kai lied through his teeth. 'I believe I'll need to leave early.'

'Will you come back?' Tala asked in a voice which didn't belong to him.

Kai turned back to look him in the eye. 'Of course.'

The pitiful situation wasn't even the worst part; Kai didn't even know if he would be able to keep his promise and come back. But he wouldn't break this to Tala, not yet. He'd wait and see what he could do to exonerate himself first.

He made to flick the light switch on, his eyes suddenly aware of how much darker the room was than the living room he'd just emerged from.

'No.'

Kai stopped in mid-reach. 'What?'

'Don't turn on the light. I don't want you to look at me; I don't want anybody to look…'

'Tala,' Kai's steps made the floorboards creak as he moved back to sit opposite Tala on the bed. He rested a hand on Tala's knee and he felt the bone flinch beneath him. 'you can't let them get to you. They say these things about you because they can't appreciate true art. And by believing them you've given in.'

'Bullshit,' Tala murmured. 'They're all right. This isn't art; this isn't anything. This is hideous,' he indicated towards his face and chest with the boney fingers of his right hand.

Kai said nothing more, rightly assuming there was nothing left to say. His eyes drooped to see Tala in such a state, and he cared not for the lack of fresh air making him soft and weak. Besides, he knew that between the two of them, there was no doubt who the stronger was.

Tala watched Kai sit still in the shadows, shoulders moving ever so slightly with each breath, hand still planted gently on Tala's knee bone. It felt so nice there; it fit so well. And he gently closed his eyes as he thought back to not long ago, when he saw the photograph of this very man in the paper; a hard-ass who looked like he could take on anything. He remembered the smirk Kai's voice had always brought to his features before he'd turned into this tender bag of waste. He now had Kai Hot-Sex-On-Legs Hiwatari seated by him on his bed, and it just seemed such a shame to let it all slide. That man had stopped turning him on the moment he'd shown an act of sensitivity; it was sad but true. Tala was, of course, grateful for him being there, but what he wanted more than anything at that moment was the Kai Hiwatari from the filthy old paper in the parking lot miles away. The urge was suddenly very strong for that gentle hand to move at him forcefully, to remove the clothes from his sallow skin and force Tala to take it like a man.

He opened his eyes. 'Kai,' he was appalled at how feeble his determined voice sounded, 'touch me.'

Kai gave him an odd look. 'You can't be serious'.

'Kai, I swear,' he reached for Kai's wrist before Kai had a chance to move his hand. 'I've never wanted anything so strongly in my life. I beg you, just do this for me.'

'Tala,' the red-head looked at him hopefully. 'I…I can't. I can't do that to you, not now-'

'Listen,' Tala cut him off, roughly pulling him by the wrist until their noses were only inches apart. 'I need this.'

In a state of being rather dismayed at Tala's weak force being enough to drag him across the bed, and confused at being told he could touch but not look, Kai could only look rather helplessly into the eyes which were beginning to re-gain their colour, and know that he would not win. His brain was fighting a battle on two fronts, against Tala and his own bodily instincts. He'd have no choice but to surrender this time.

'You…you really want me to?' he asked in utter disbelief, both at Tala and himself.

'We both do.'

Kai stared into the blue lakes which were beginning to freeze again. Maybe he was right; perhaps Kai could revive them both. 'Besides,' his thoughts told him as he thought back to those few moments on the stairs, and what had been on his mind before he entered Tala's apartment four days ago. 'you can't deny yourself this.'

Circulation pumping with the prospect of having the willing red-head, after such a long and painful wait, a fire lit within his eyes as he pulled Tala towards him into a heated embrace. Their lips moved against eachother as he gently pushed Tala back against the pillow, following him all the while and pressing their chests together.

Tala moaned as Kai began listen to his instincts and take charge. He removed his own clothes quickly and pulled Tala's off after him. Bracing himself over the bare frail body beneath him, he traced his fingers over Tala's chest. With every rib his finger passed over, he gave a smile, until his hand sunk as it slid towards the remains of Tala's abdomen. Tala ran his thin fingers through Kai's perfect hair and tried to ignore the shame he felt with knowledge that Kai could see him for what he was. He bit his lip as though Kai's touch was physically painful, burning as it located every bone in his tiny body.

But Kai's mind was on a different track. Enjoying the hands working at his scalp, he bowed his head and began to drag his nose and lips over Tala's chest this time, his hand moving up and down Tala's side, passing over his jutting hip bone.

Suddenly, Tala let out a whimper. 'Don't.'

Kai stopped and looked up. 'Don't what?' he asked gently, reluctant to stop what he'd been doing but anxious that Tala had changed his mind.

'Put my shirt back on, please,' he whispered.

Kai was astounded and shamefully disappointed. 'Come on, Tala, don't make me do that.'

The red-head shook his head and made to get up, but Kai was quicker. Seizing each wrist in his hands, he pushed Tala back against the pillow and straddled him. Tala looked up at him incredulously.

'You can't surely be ashamed of this…' Kai risked letting go of Tala's left wrist and moved his fingers back over the bumps he felt on Tala's chest. 'You think this makes you hideous? Tala, this makes you beautiful.'

'You sound like them,' Tala referred to the designers and modelling agencies with quite a bit of disgust, surprising even himself. What did he even believe anymore? Whose side was he on now?

'I don't want you to listen to the public, Tala.' Kai continued to trace the dips and bumps that pushed through the wan skin. 'I don't want you to be what they promote. They don't know what beauty is, but I do. And fat girls parading around in clothes to fit the average person doesn't cover it. I won't let you turn into that.'

Hearing these words disturbed Tala greatly, but nothing disturbed him as much as the fact that he was hearing his own beliefs being told back to him. And on top of that, hearing Kai state them was returning his credence. The one man who could change his mind, and his will had even managed to override Tala's.

Smiling gratefully, Tala seized Kai behind the neck and lunched forward to meet his mouth half-way. Kai followed Tala again as they lay back down, and continued to run his hands up and down Tala's body, and felt Tala's working over his own muscular form. As Kai's practised hands began to move over his thighs, Tala could feel himself harden as his pulse increased and he began to get hot. It had been so long since he'd had something as good as this, and he concluded that had he waited much longer he probably would have perished of deprivation. But at the same time, he looked into Kai's determined glare and remembered his parking-lot fantasy. It was Kai he wanted to see in ecstasy, not himself.

Just as Kai's fingers worked their way up to his erection, Tala found the strength amidst the pleasure surge to sit up slightly and press a hand against Kai's chest, holding him off. Kai looked confused, but Tala simply found his breath and stated 'Switch places.'

Kai raised an eyebrow, but obliged without disobedience. He had never liked being the submissive one, but for this rare occasion he felt he could allow Tala to have his moment. But suddenly his head was thrown back against the pillow and his fingers gripped the edge of the mattress as Tala began without warning. His tongue circled quickly around the tip of Kai's penis while his hand stroked the inside of his thigh. He smirked at Kai's reaction, enjoying pleasuring Kai as much as he would if it were the other way round. His tongue slowed down for a few seconds and then picked up speed again, as he moved his mouth up and down Kai's shaft.

'Ugh, fuck…' Kai's eyes screwed shut and he bit hard on his hand to stop himself from crying out. He couldn't quite get over the shock of what was happening, and he began to regret not having his clients do this to him before. But damn, despite his expectations, Tala was good.

When Tala began to run his finger slowly over Kai's hole and gently stroke his testicles, it became a little too much. Tala gave a final suck and Kai bucked as he felt himself release into Tala's mouth. The white liquid dribbled down the red-head's chin as he smiled at knowing he'd achieved his fantasy. And Kai's panting and the beads of sweat on his toned chest plainly showed that he had given the reaction Tala had wanted.

Wiping his face on the back of his hand, Tala gently laid himself down beside the recovering Kai. 'Ball's in your court,' he muttered, wondering how his voice was still sounding damaged and frail after that power-boost.

Kai didn't need telling twice. Rising above Tala again to take the position he'd been in before, he quickly warmed himself up again and positioned himself, still wet from Tala's mouth. Wrapping his arms around Tala's frail body, he gently pushed his way inside. Tala pushed his head back to face the ceiling and smiled, his eyes squinting. Kai couldn't tell if he was hurting him or not, but assumed Tala to be quite well-practised, judging by the treatment he'd just received. Still trying not to be too rough, which was difficult for somebody like Kai Hiwatari, he pushed himself in and out, working up a rhythm with his movements and still tentatively embracing Tala throughout. And Tala in return panted and moaned, moving with Kai and kissing his neck in perfect time. Kai marvelled at the whole experience; something he was so used to, and yet completely different. This didn't feel much like sex; this felt very much like making love. But however bizarre, Kai didn't dislike it. And judging from Tala's reactions, he wasn't too bothered either.

But it wasn't too long before Kai realised he needed to speed up; his body was beginning to get bored. Latching his mouth to Tala's neck, he heard a groan in the red-head's throat as he began to increase the force and speed with every thrust. The groan became longer and released itself from Tala's mouth as he felt Kai's penis continuously hit his prostate. His own erection twitched between their heated bodies as Kai pushed down on him harder, as though trying to make the pale body sink beneath the mattress. It wasn't long before Tala could no longer hold on, and he dug his yellow finger nails into Kai's back as he coated both of their chests in the same fluid which had been previously dripping down his chin. And as he contracted, Kai released too, for a second time. His fluid flooded into Tala and the red-head smiled as Kai ardently kissed him again, still cradling his skeletal body as he withdrew himself from inside Tala.

Kai lifted himself on to his elbows and the two of them glared through their glazed eyes at eachother. Neither of them said a word, just exhaled through their lips as their chests heaved. And finally, Kai lifted himself from Tala and lay down beside him, breathing still heaving but eyes tired, for the first time in four days. He was ready to settle down to sleep.

Tala lay still as Kai wrapped protective arms around his delicate frame, nestling down at his side and burying his nose in the crook of Tala's neck.

xXx

The wispy strands of ebony twisted around her little fingers, as Lin continued to wait strapped into the car seat, her patience beginning to wane. In an impatient little girl's mind, it seemed like years since her daddy had stepped out of the car, but according to the numbers on the dashboard it had only been ten minutes. In that time, Lin had sat in silence, caught eyes with those who passed her by, counted the red cars that whizzed past, and twirled her beautiful hair in her fingers. Braiding and re-braiding could only be entertaining for so long though, she had figured out. But still she sat obediently where she'd been told to stay, blinking at the curious faces of the people who saw her, and waiting for her daddy to come back down the dark staircase she'd watched him ascend ten minutes before.

When she began to consider starting on her dreaded homework (seven new words to learn and five structured sentences on what she wanted to be when she grew up), she finally caught sight of her daddy jogging down the steps again and towards the car.

'Come on, Lin,' he said, his apologetic expression mirrored with no words. 'Looks like this is going to take a little longer than I thought.'

And without saying a word of objection, Lin allowed her seat belt to be unbuckled, and took her daddy's hand as they walked back towards the staircase. The little girl gulped at the ominous sight before her. The stairs appeared to round a corner of complete shadow, barely assisted by the filthy yellow light which shone little light over the brick walls and only silhouetted the dead insects that had been stupid enough to fly right into it. Clinging to her daddy's hand tight, she followed his quick pace and tried to avoid staring up at the flickering light, or the remaining insects buzzing about it, and the sprayed black writing on the red brick walls.

When they reached the top floor, her daddy reached for the handle and opened it, gently pushing Lin inside before him. Her lips pressed tight together, her large eyes scanned the room she'd been pushed into. She was standing in a small hallway, but in the distance she could make out a living room and a couple of other doors.

'Yeah, it was a good idea to bring her up. Wouldn't want to leave her alone in a place like this, y'know…' a man had stepped in front of Lin's field of vision. She stared up at him. He was very tall, but he wore a playful smile. She smiled shyly back at him, and they ventured further into the apartment.

Her daddy and the man sat down at the counter, and she was free to wander around the living room. She wondered, as she slowly walked around the room as though inspecting it, why her daddy was paying her so little attention. He didn't smile at her, or even spare her a second glance after the man had entered the hall. Now they just spoke seriously in the kitchen, and she was left alone.

Their mumbling voices fading into the background, Lin decided to have a little adventure. Putting her little finger to her cheek thoughtfully, she decided to try the bedroom with the open door first. Correctly assuming that her father wouldn't notice in the slightest if she wandered off, she smiled to herself and ran for the bedroom door. The first thing she saw when she entered was the unmade bed, but she didn't notice until it was a second too late that there was already somebody else lying on it.

The man looked up from his book at the little girl, his confusion evident in his expression. Lin stared back at him with equal curiosity, her head tilted slightly to one side. Finally, he put down the book he'd been reading and smiled at her, getting up and stretching out his back. Lin giggled and mimicked his action, before walking from the room with him following.

'Hey Bry,' he addressed the man talking to Lin's dad. The friendly giant looked over and smiled at them.

'Sorry Brook, did she disturb you?'

'Not at all,' he shook his head and walked over, Lin following him with fascination. She heard the definite change in his deep smooth tone when he stated 'Kon' by way of greeting with her daddy.

And to her confusion, he in turn nodded slightly and muttered 'Kingston'. She concluded the two men must not like eachother, but wasn't nearly old enough to understand the reasons why.

But suddenly all curiosity left her as something furry passed her by and jumped to the couch. She gasped 'daddy, look!'

Her father's eyes flicked quickly in her direction and he offered her a humouring smile, but to his provocation the man he had been talking so intently with rose from his stool and made his way over. He took Lin's hand and led her to the couch, where she sat beside the animal and began to gently stroke it's head.

'The cat's name is Zeus,' he told her. 'It's Brooklyn's. He has a bird aswell.'

The other man chuckled as he made his way back to the bedroom, a glass of water in his hand.

'Really?' Lin asked in awe, her eyes widening again. She'd always found animals fascinating, but her mother had never allowed a pet in their house. 'He has both?'

'Yeah,' the man smiled fondly at the other man's retreating figure 'he's crazy, isn't he?'

Lin giggled, but soon the man was dragged away again by her daddy's voice. She frowned at no longer having someone to play with, but continued to stoke the cat contentedly until her father finally came to retrieve her from the sofa. She had waved goodbye cheerfully to the tall man with the lavender hair, and he'd grinned back at her and smiled oddly at her father. Lin took one final moment to wave goodbye to the cat, before the door closed on the two of them and she took her father's hand, facing the awful staircase again.

That had been a mere two hours ago, and now it felt as though the bout of happiness that one cat had brought would never resurface again. Lin sat on top of the stairs, her usual perching place in times like these, and clutched at Drigger while the voices raised themselves again. Louder and louder, until a silence formed.

'Don't you walk away from me!'

And then a crash. And for a little while after, she heard nothing else. Wiping the tear forming in the corner of her left eye on the back of her hand, she stood and slowly retreated to her room. She drew out her writing book from her little school bag, and scribbled seven sentences of a life opposite to the one her parents had; a small house with a cat, and a dog and a bird; only her and her animals. Nobody to yell. Nobody to fight.

xXx

'…-hara, sir, Mizuhara. Renowned lawyer with wimpy employees. So as I was saying, we would like to get this sorted as soon as possible…perfect. Whenever you would like…alright. You're welcome, sir.'

'Well,' Max addressed the man standing at his door as he placed the phone back on it's receiver. 'Seeing as you were all too afraid to do your jobs, I arranged a time with Kai Hiwatari to appear in court.'

'Was…was it really that simple?' his employee asked in disbelief.

Max looked thoughtful for a moment and shrugged. 'I think I caught him at a good time, to be honest. He sounded a little…hurried.'

'We will meet with the girl tomorrow to review. When did you arrange for the court case?'

Max yawned a little behind his hand and shortly said 'Thursday.'

(A/N): So who remembers the song Boom Boom by the Venga Boys? Well, that's what I was listening to while I wrote this chapter :D –smiles proudly-. Very appropriate and completely necessary, I thought.

Ah, Kai is so twisted I love it! I don't think the lemon was as good this time, so sorry about that. The next one might be better :P But shit, it wasn't actually that short in the end, considering there was basically nothing in comparison to the last chapter. I managed to add on about 3000 words when editing :S

Poor little Lin :(, she breaks my heart. Man, unfortunately for Rei, I totally dig Bryan and Brooklyn as a couple :D But, well, we'll see what happens later...

Sorry about the lateness of this once again. It's because I've decided to re-write all the chapters except the last. Honestly, writing it in advance was a total waste of time, I may as well have written nothing…

Please review!