Tyson: Thanks for the reviews everyone/hugs/

AOD83: Hey! ¬.¬' That's my line! Anyway, sorry the update took so long, my computer was playing up. I had to end up re-starting it all, so I lost EVERYTHING. I lost my plan for this story. And I was very pissed off. So expect chapter 8 to be up no later than in two weeks time, 'cos I have to write up my plan again...¬.¬'

Kai: Should we just get on with the story?

AOD83: One more thing! My apologies if this chapter seems a bit crappy. 8 will be better, I promise!

Fern: Yeah! Please REVIEW!


Dance Like No One's Watching


Chapter 7- A Change of Heart

Ray's POV

I felt the sudden light rub against my closed eye lids. Max must have opened the curtains.

I kept my eyes closed, trying to get used to the light. It seemed pretty strong, but it felt chilly. I don't think the sun was out. Maybe it's been snowing. I don't know.

Suddenly I felt something jump onto my bed and land on my legs, it felt awful. Like my bones had cracked.

I flung open my eyes in shock...

End POV

Ray flipped open his eyes at the sudden heavy weight that squashed his legs. A sudden flash of light stung his tired eyes. He squinted his eyes slightly, trying to make out the face that was sat at the end of the double bed. Ray held his hand over his temple, trying to dispose of the light, coming from the window which was exactly opposite him.

A familiar cheerful face smiled at him cheekily, watching him rub his dreary eyes. Ray wriggled his feet around, but was having a hard time trying to sit up. There seemed to be something holding his legs down.

Glancing up at the happy face, Ray smiled when he realized who it was. Fern.

Her red locks reflected off the window, and her bright cheeks warmed up Ray to see her sweet face as soon as he woke up. He wasn't so sure he wanted to be sat on though, but it was worth seeing Fern looking happy. She deserved to be happy after her hard life.

The two smiled at each other for a few seconds. Fern was sat crossed-legged on top of his knees, trying to keep her balance so she didn't suddenly topple off. Ray slowly used his elbows to push his upper body up, and made them rest on the mattress. He looked over to the right side of the bed. It was empty. Max must of already been up.

"Hey Ray! Look out of the window!" Fern said excitedly, and immediately rolled backwards off the bed and rushed to the window. The weight lifted off his legs, making Ray pull his legs towards him to avoid her sitting on them again. He felt curious to what Fern wanted, so he stepped out of bed, while giving his arms a stretch straight into the air. He was wearing stripy white and blue pajamas, loosely fastened together by buttons. He had nothing on his feet, so naturally, he could feel the cold stab him in the feet.

He suddenly realized, it was very cold. Colder than yesterday morning. He felt like getting back into bed again and curling up, but he resisted. Perhaps it had been snowing.

He stumbled towards the window, where Fern was looking out of, excitedly. He rested his arms on the windowsill, staring out of the window at what Fern was so excited about.

"Wow."

Thick, white snow covered the street. You could no longer see the old stone, grey pavements, they had been replaced with frosty, lumpy snow. Ray could see the small footprints below where people had been walking in it. The tops of the sky-scrapers looked as if they had white roofs, as they stood underneath the pale grey sky. The sky itself looked like it was full of snow, with the pale color and frosty air. It made the scenery more magical. The windowsills of the buildings had snow resting against them, as did the car roofs. Constant laughing of playing children could be heard through out the area, making Ray crack a smile on his face. It was beautiful.

Although, he could really feel the sharp cold air hit him like a knife, stood near the window. He glanced across at Fern. He didn't have to look down too far, unlike with Kenny. She was almost as tall as him. Fern was smiling heavily, still looking out at the snowy atmosphere. She was wearing her usual clothes- black top, straps, long, black baggy trousers. She even had her hair the same. Long, dark brown locks dangling down over her chest, while her bright red top half stayed neat and bouncy as always.

"It's going to be fun to train in this!" Fern smiled, still with her eyes focused on the window.

Ray twitched slightly. "Oh- yeah! The practice! I better get breakfast ready! Is Tyson up yet?"

This time Fern looked at him. "Don't worry! I made breakfast for everyone!" Fern smirked, watching Ray's face turn as red as her hair. "Hehe, don't worry, I made you some too! Max and Kenny have eaten theres already. And no, Tyson isn't up yet. Kai's in the bathroom. Hmmm...Kai has been in there for like, ten minutes..."

Ray laughed. "Aha. He'll be putting on his face paint. Nothing to worry about." Ray looked around, making sure no-one was listening. He leant forward, lowering his voice. "I think he's a little vain."

"Oh? You think?" Fern replied sarcastically.

Ray smiled. "Well, how about that breakfast?"

"Sure! Come with me! And if Tyson doesn't get up by half past, I'll eat his myself!" Fern said, as she walked through the long curtains and into the main room, followed by Ray.

Tyson was still in bed, much to Fern's annoyance. He had promised he would train her today, that was the whole point of her staying over..wasn't it?

She stood at the end of the bed, with her two hands placed on her hips, pulling Tyson an annoyed look. Max and Kenny watched as Fern began to tug at the duvet cover, resulting in getting kicked by Tyson.

"Urgh! He was meant to be up ages ago!" Fern snarled, sounding annoyed. Ray grabbed himself a plate of fresh salad which Fern had prepared. He sat down at the table, while watching Fern try to get Tyson out of bed.

"TYSON!" Fern screamed, pulling Tyson's foot towards herself. She tried to pull him out of bed, but he seemed to just simply grip the mattress. She sighed miserably, throwing her hands on her temple. Annoyed, she suddenly had an urge to use the bathroom...desperately. She felt drained after all of the food preparations this morning, as a treat for the Bladebreakers. And Max and Kenny had hogged the bathroom for ages this morning, and then Kai managed to beat her to it.

Literally running to the bathroom, through the bedroom, she stopped at the bathroom door. She held onto the handle, about to open it. 'AH WAIT- Kai's in there! Noooo! I need to go!'

Fern crossed her legs together, trying her best to hold it in. She steadily knocked on the door. "Kai? Hurry up!"

No answer.

"KAI?"

No answer again. Was he ignoring her? She just needed to use the toilet. He was only putting on face paint, how long did it take? Not willing to wait any longer, Fern opened the bathroom door, still squeezing her legs together.

Kai's POV

I was just finishing off painting my last lower triangle on my face. I heard Fern shout, telling me to hurry up.

No one tells me to hurry up.

She called again, she must really need the toilet. So I speeded up a little...then the door suddenly swung open...FERN? What was she doing? I saw her reflection in the mirror. I could of been on the toilet! I was that shocked I messed up my triangle! It's all smudged on my face now! Argh! I can't let Fern see me like this!

End POV

Kai was stood over the pale blue sink, with his back faced to Fern. Kai turned his head around a little, to see what she was doing. He turned straight back to the mirror again though, and placed his hand across his blue smudge on his face.

Her eyes were glued on him. She had even forgotten why she wanted to come into the bathroom in the first place, as her thoughts once again trailed away to Kai. He seemed so cold, yet he liked to look good. With his blue war paint, strong muscles, good body. He seemed so...unreal. Something Fern couldn't quite put her finger on.

She began to walk on the tiled, blue floor. Her soft, pink socks made the floor extra slippy, so she decided to use the wall to make her way over to Kai. She didn't want to suddenly slip over on the smooth tiles and look stupid in front of him. She didn't want to risk falling over. Fern sort of wanted to make an impression on him. She wanted to see him have fun and be happy, and if anyone was going to show him how, she was going to try and do it.

Kai glanced in the mirror, seeing Fern getting closer towards him. 'Why is she holding onto the wall...?'

He still had his smudge covered. Kai quickly ran his hand under the tap, and rubbed his face roughly. He lifted his hand up, to see the mark was still there! He felt his heart race faster and faster, as Fern came further towards him. He was staring at her in the mirror. He quickly tried to change his eye direction, and began to watch the shower instead in the mirror instead of watching her.

The bathroom was fairly big- it had a built-in shower and bath, a large vanity table and a wealthy-looking toilet. The whole room was pale blue, the only thing that stood out was the yellow shower curtain. The small bathroom window which stood next to Kai looked as if it had been dipped in snow- white flakes covered the glass, almost making the window freeze with the bearable cold. The room wasn't that cold though- there was a radiator attached to the wall, on full blast. Fern could feel it let off a boiling heat, as she trailed past it. She walked steadily around to Kai's right side, where his hand was placed on his cheek. She wondered why it was there, was he thinking? Or perhaps hiding something?

Kai looked down nervously at her, still with that side of his face covered. Fern giggled slightly. "Why are you covering your face?"

Kai stared down at her blankly. She noticed him blush slightly, he WAS hiding something. Fern grabbed hold of Kai's lower arm, and tugged at it. "Come on Kai! What are you hiding!"

Kai fought back, trying to keep his hand in place. "Nothing! Get out, leave me alone Fern!"

"Kai! Let go!" Fern cried curiously.

'It's just a stupid smudge! Why am I getting so bothered about it? I wish she'd stop that tugging, I'm loosing my grip! Stupid girl...' Before Kai knew it, Fern had already managed to pull away Kai's hand from his face without him knowing. He was too busy cursing her in his head.

Fern stood back and stared at the long, blue soggy mark on Kai's face. It was dripping off his chin, like he was bleeding blue blood! Kai glanced in the mirror. Blue paint crawled down his face, finally realizing Fern had won the little fight. He felt very stupid, letting Fern see him with paint dribbling down his cheek. He felt yet another small pale blush spread across his cheeks, but it soon disappeared when he heard Fern laughing.

"Hehe..is that what your bothered about? Don't worry- I don't care!" Fern smiled, grabbing a green flannel from the side of the sink. "Here, let me help!"

Suddenly Kai felt a thrush of wet soggy flannel rub against his skin. 'What's she doing?' Kai quickly moved his head backwards, staring open-mouthed at the girl. She just simply smiled at him.

"Kai! Hold still or I won't be able to clean it for you!" Fern said, leaning in to clean off the paint again.

This time, she gently slid the flannel smoothly over the smudge gently, trying not to rub too hard or she'd burn his skin. Kai felt that same warm presence fill in his stomach. He wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want to push her away and tell her to back off. She seemed to want to help him. Like she cared for him.

"Hn..I wish she'd get off me...feels nice...warm...? No! It doesn't! She's a girl! Wiping up my mess! On my face! This isn't right! Is it...But..I can't stop her...it's so comforting. It's like..once you get into blading. You can't stop. It becomes a hobby. A job even. This is the exact seem feeling. I don't want this feeling to stop..but why...'

Fern smiled at him as she concentrated hard on getting the smudge off his skin. Rubbing a guy's face wasn't exactly ideal, but it seemed to keep her mind off things. She actually enjoyed it. A small blush boiled over her face...What was she thinking? Enjoying it? She knew she always had quite a soft spot for Kai since the first time they trained together, but she didn't expect it to be taken this far...like rubbing his face with a flannel?

Kai noticed Fern's eye sometimes keep off track, and wander over at him. He simply rolled his eyes, trying to make it seem like he wasn't bothered and he didn't really want her to be doing this. But he did. A feeling he couldn't understand.

The warm feeling inside Kai's stomach suddenly disappeared, as Fern slowly took away the flannel, and examined his clean face. "There!" She smiled proudly, examining her work. "Much better!" She flung the flannel back over the sink.

"Hn." Kai turned his back to Fern. She smiled, she figured it meant 'thanks.'

He turned back to the mirror, and began mixing his face paint with less water this time, so it didn't drip down his face like it did last time. The red head continued to watch Kai put on his paint, keeping up a daft smile on her face. She stood with her hands behind her back, watching Kai like an owl. Kai took one second to quickly glance down at her. She made him bubble up inside when he saw her staring at him, with that daft look on her face, like a dog begging for walkies. He raised both of his eyebrows.

'Is she still here?' Kai felt a little uneasy that she was stood watching him- it was a little off-putting. He felt like he was going to slip again. Then she'd just want to rub it off with the flannel again.

Kai wasn't enjoying the silence, so he decided to start a conversation- even though he didn't feel like talking. Anything to avoid this dreadful silence. "So...is Tyson up?"

"Nope..." Fern sighed.

Kai shook his head in annoyance that Tyson wasn't up yet. He scowled to himself. Not only was Tyson meant to be up ages ago, but he had promised to practice with Fern. Going back on his word would be just pathetic. 'Pathetic...' Kai raised his eyebrows at his own thoughts. He was saying and thinking alot of things lately which even he didn't understand. He seemed unsure to why, and what his feelings were at the moment. But he knew one thing. Since Fern came into his life, he had changed. He felt softer around her. He almost smudged his face paint again on his face, at the thoughts. He roughly wiped away his current thoughts and told himself nothing's changed. Nothing had changed, apart from Fern sort of joining the group. 'Nothing's changed...'

He suddenly felt rather sorry for Fern. She seemed to excited about this training, and Tyson had let her down by sleeping in. "I'll practice with you today."

Without thinking, his thoughts slipped out of his mind and came out of his mouth. Even Fern couldn't believe it. 'Did he just...-'

Kai realized what he had just said. 'Wait..what's wrong with me? Why-...Never mind..' He saw Fern was shocked by his words too. This was Kai Hiwatari, a cold and mysterious teenager offering to help her train. Even she couldn't understand it. 'I guess miracles can happen..'

"You mean that?" Fern cried happily, watching Kai's jaw drop slowly at his own words.

'I just...couldn't help it. I was thinking about it, and before I knew it I was saying it! How can this be..but I can't go back on my word now..her face..it brightened up when I suggested it. She has had a rough time..I guess a few hours won't hurt...'

"I said what I meant. But you had better not waste my time. You better be ready!" Kai said coldly.

"Yes! I am ready!" Fern beamed. She was so happy, she even gave Kai a quick hug before leaving the bathroom. He felt insecure, he tried to push her away. But he got used to her body warmth, he just had to live this feeling. It was good.

Fern let go, and began to head towards the bathroom door, as Kai watched softly. She stopped before she exited the room, and turned her head around slightly so she could look at Kai. "Thanks Kai! I'll be waiting out here for you!"

Kai watched the girl happily skip out of the room, pulling the door shut as she went out. He watched the same spot where she once stood..when he said those words...He couldn't understand it. He didn't realize that unanswered questions and confusion were so frustrating.

'You'll find out the answers soon, Kai..' Dranzer sniggered quietly in Kai's head.