Sorry about the wait, be prepared to wait longer yet, but I shall try my utmost to write when I am not stressing about my disse Sorry about the wait, be prepared to wait longer yet, but I shall try my utmost to write when I am not stressing about my dissertation.

Warnings: Naughtiness.

Pressure


True to their word, the following evening Takao and Max forcibly sat Rei down upon his beloved sofa and waved several DVDs in front of his nose.

"Do you prefer big tits, blondes, lesbians or spanking?" Takao asked conversationally.

Rei paled, none of them sounding particularly appealing. "I don't mind," he forced out. "Though I don't want the lesbians," he added upon further thought.

"Come on, Rei. Choose!" Max pleaded as if this was very important to him and Takao.

Rei glanced at the DVDs again and fought back the urge to blush. He'd never really liked large breasts, and the idea of hitting someone on the ass didn't seem very sexy to him, and he definitely didn't want to watch anything homosexual. "The blonde one?" he put forward. He liked blondes anyway. Well… he liked Max and he was blonde so…

"Okay!" Takao grinned, throwing the other disks down onto the coffee table. Rei brushed aside the temptation to kick them off.

"I remember this one from when I borrowed it from you," Max winked. "It was pretty good."

"Yeah, the chicks were so hot!" Takao said as he opened up the DVD player and slid the disk in. Then he stood up and bounded over to his chair. Max flicked the lights off and sauntered over to sit down too.

Rei shifted, not wanting to be in the room. What Takao and Max watched in their spare time was their business, but Rei honestly didn't want to be a part of it. The only reason why he was even tolerating this was because for the sake of his pride. If he made a big deal, then they'd want to know why he was so against something that seemed to be a normal male pursuit.

How, he wondered as the woman on the screen rubbed her face against a man's crotch and made a few dramatic noises, how could men watch this sort of thing together? Surely, since men were such basic and visual creatures, they'd get aroused. Why would anyone want to be sitting with a bunch of aroused boys? The thought that Rei would probably get an erection during the course of the 'movie', and that Takao and Max would know about it mortified him. He knew it was silly, but these sorts of thing were deeply personal to him. He just couldn't understand where the attraction laid in sitting in a room full of sexually aroused boys watching something that was better watched alone.

In all fairness, he thought as the woman on the screen starting almost violently sucking on the man's cock, he couldn't see the attraction in watching this. Sure, his mind wondered and he appreciated the overall sentiment, but it was all rather hideous. He had no problem with the penis, he'd seen his own often enough. He certainly didn't like the fish lips that encircled it though, or the clotted, matted, blackened eyelashes that fluttered with every downward plunge. Rei risked a glance over towards Takao and Max, only to find them staring at the screen intently. It made him feel stupid, so Rei looked back at the screen again, focusing on the act of fellatio and tried instead to imagine what it would be like to receive a blowjob. It was pretty amazing, judging by the way the man was grunting and clutching onto a head of blonde hair, jerking his hips frantically into her mouth. A hand felt pretty damned good, but something as warm and wet as a mouth would probably feel mind-blowing, so Rei tried to focus on imagining those sensations. Every time though, he thought he was starting to get into it, something the woman would do would repulse him.

Still, for the sake of saving face, Rei fixed his eyes on the screen and watched, trying not to flinch when he came on her face and she moaned like a cheap whore. For the rest of the movie, he watched with feigned interest, taking mental notes at odd points that he thought he could learn from.

When, thirty-five minutes, four apparent orgasms and countless moans, groans and over-dramatic screams later the movie ended, Max turned to Takao with a grin. "That was hot."

"I know! So, what did you think, Rei?" Takao smirked, eyes alight with playful deviousness.

"It was ummm…" Rei trailed off, feeling nervous at Takao and Max's expectant looks. "It was pretty intense, and hot, and it really hit the spot." He fought to prevent himself from pulling a face at his words. It really hit the spot? Takao and Max thankfully seemed satisfied with his answer.

"That's a boy, Rei!" Max smiled and gave him thumbs up.

"Well I say that we help further Rei's education and move onto 'Asian Chicks with big Tits volume three,'" Takao suggested. "After all, it might give him some ideas, what with Mao having those huuuuuge—"

"Yes, Takao," Rei interrupted, feeling something of a brotherly indignation. "We all know. Fine, put it on."

"Oooh, Rei's getting jealous," Max laughed good-naturedly.

Takao was already on his feet and slapping Rei on the back. "Looks like we've converted him, Max! He can't wait to get the next one on."

Rei made it through the next one, and part way into the spanking one, before Rei couldn't fight off the dual feelings of boredom and weariness from their earlier training. With a huge yawn, he stood up and stretched, drawing Takao and Max's eyes to him.

"Guys, it's been an interesting night, but I'm really tired and I'm going to head to bed," he announced. The other two glanced at one another before they started to snicker. Rei blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Going to go and blow your load, more like," Max giggled out.

"Awww, Rei, you don't have to be shy with us," Takao smiled.

Though Rei tried to fight it, he felt a hot blush spread across his cheeks. The thought hadn't even occurred to him that it might look like he was hurriedly running off to jerk off after that hour and a half of thrilling viewing. Still though, something told him that he shouldn't deny it. It was clearly a masculine tradition that he had not been taking part in, he didn't want to look any weirder by not being turned on by that… that.

So instead, Rei just smiled benignly and bade them goodnight. He ignored their laugher, and crude comments and made his way to his bathroom to brush his teeth. Once done, he walked back into his room, unsurprised to hear the wails of a woman in the throes of orgasm. He rolled his eyes, closed the door and flicked off his light before throwing himself onto his bed. Wriggling under the covers, Rei heaved a relieved sigh feeling extremely glad to have escaped.

Was it really so weird to find that stuff unappealing? Rei hated that he was so traditional and so prudish due to his upbringing, but he envisioned sex being about love. If not love, then at the very least, someone you liked and felt good with. Not about some woman with horribly large breasts being fucked from eight different positions by a man with an embarrassingly huge penis. Still, he supposed that he could learn from that sort of thing. For the future, when he was finally seeing someone who he cared about, or maybe even married.

Rei tried to picture it, touching his girlfriend in her intimate places, listening to her breathy sighs, plunging himself into her warmth, but he remained strangely unresponsive. After a couple of minutes, he shrugged it off, putting it down to the fact that he was tired.


Kai had returned by the time Rei, Takao and Max had made it back for lunch. They all welcomed him and invited him to eat with them, but he shrugged them off and slunk off to his room.

"What do you reckon has got his goat?" Takao wondered aloud.

Rei sent a little worried frown off in the general direction of Kai's room, before he wiped it from his face and moved into the kitchen. "How about something simple like udon?" he asked.

Takao and Max both agreed and set about making it while Rei walked out to go and knock on Kai's door.

The door swung open moments later with a distinctly annoyed looking Kai emerging to give him a questioning look.

Rei cocked his head. "You want something to eat?"

Kai's gaze shifted from Rei to the kitchen doorway and back. "No."

Rei frowned, impatient with rudeness from anyone, let alone Kai whom he had though had long since grown out of it. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry for interrupting," he replied with the tiniest hint of haughtiness.

"Wait," Kai spoke up as Rei made to walk away. When Rei turned back, Kai offered him an apologetic half smile. "Sorry, I'm just not hungry right now. I'll have something later."

Rei, a little more satisfied, but still worried, simply smiled and walked back into the kitchen.

"Is Kai not joining us?" Max asked when he returned.

"No," Rei said, reaching out to stir the noodles a little.

"He seems really pissed off," Takao mused. "Any idea what's bothering him?"

Rei shrugged. "No idea," he answered truthfully. "Max, can you grab the soy sauce for me?"

"Sure," said Max. He didn't need to be told where it was.

The noodles were ready in only another minute, and they dished them up and decided to eat while standing around in the kitchen talking about little things.

When they had finished, Max glanced at his watch and pulled a face. "I have to go, guys. I promised my father I'd help him take the stock into the back room later. It'll be good for my muscles anyway."

"Okay, Max. We had a good practice today," Rei smiled.

"Yeah, too bad, Max," Takao pouted.

"Maybe you should come with me, Taka," Max suggested.

Takao cocked his head in confusion. "Why?"

"Because," Max explained, "Kai's not in a very good mood and I think it'd be better if we left Rei to talk to him and make him feel better."

"Why Rei?"

"Yeah, why me?" Rei agreed. Not that he was complaining or anything, but he was genuinely curious.

Max rolled his eyes as if to say 'duh'. "Because, clearly, you guys are really close. I think Kai trusts you more than the rest of us combined. If he'd want to talk to anyone, I'd bet my blade it would be you."

"You really think so?" Rei asked, slightly astounded. Sure, he knew that he was Kai's closest friend, and that Kai thought a lot of his opinion, but he'd never been aware that it was so easy to see to everyone else.

"Of course I am. I think he'd be lost without you, Rei," Max grinned.

"I think he thinks a lot of us all," Takao frowned. "He just doesn't like admitting it."

"Oh, I'm sure of that too," Max said, "but he's been closest to Rei since day one."

"Yeah well… I guess I don't want to deal with an angry Kai, so I think I'll leave it to you anyway, Rei," Takao said with a guilty smile.

"Oh, thanks," Rei replied sarcastically.

They walked out of the kitchen until they stood in the main room of the apartment.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow, then," Max said.

"Yeah, after the Hell that is school," Takao groaned.

Rei laughed. "Fine. Oh, and phone Kyoujyu to see how he's getting on. I feel kind of bad for leaving him with all of the technical stuff again."

Takao frowned. "Don't. You know he loves that sort of stuff."

"I guess," Rei smiled.

"See you!" Max was already dragging Takao away. Rei waved and watched them leave before he walked towards Kai's door.

He knocked on it once and called out. "They've gone now." Then he walked away and sat down, putting on his favourite Chinese channel.

Rei started to grow worried when Kai still didn't emerge for a long while, and he figured that he must be really upset over whatever it was that was the matter. In fact, it took Kai nearly an hour to leave his room, the sound of the door clicking open jolting Rei from his viewing.

"You hungry?" Rei asked, jumping up form the couch.

Kai shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Well can I get you a drink?" Rei pushed.

Kai walked slowly over towards the settee. "Honestly, I'm fine. Stop worrying so much," he sighed as he sank down onto the plush seat.

"Kai—"

"Rei," Kai interrupted. "It's nothing, really. Can we just sit, have a few beers and just enjoy whatever shit's on TV?"

Rei eyed the clock. "Half past four's a little early to start don't you think?"

"It's Sunday afternoon," Kai shrugged.

"I see your point," Re smiled as he stood up. Quickly, he made his way to the kitchen, and grabbed a couple of cans of beer from the fridge. Kai knew Kai best, and if he decided that beer would help, then Rei would fetch it for him. "Here," he offered upon his return.

"Thanks," Kai replied, wasting no time in grabbing it from Rei, opening it, and gulping some down.

Rei watched him with faint worry. The speed at which Kai seemed to be drinking implied that he was only drinking to get drunk, and that meant that there was something weighing heavily on his mind that he wanted to forget.

"Is it… serious?" Rei asked tentatively as he watched Kai drain the can.

Kai stared at the can for a long moment, before he set it down on the coffee table. "No," he said simply.

"I don't believe you."

Kai gave him an annoyed glare for a half second, before he softened into weariness. "It's not serious. It's just… my parents are trying to shape my future in a way that I don't want it. There's nothing malicious or selfish to it. They just think that they're doing their best for me."

"What are they trying to do?" Rei asked in an almost coaxing manner.

"Look, I'm not going to say anything, because I won't do what they suggest. Simple as. I don't want to talk about it because it's non-existent. It's just annoyed me, that's all. Want another one?" Kai asked as he rose to his feet.

Rei blinked, and then cast his gaze down to his own unopened can. He looked back up at Kai. "Don't you think you're going a little too fast?"

Kai stared at him levelly for a moment, and then shrugged. "I'm not trying to get drunk, Rei, and I'm not going to." With that, he wandered off into the kitchen and returned a few moments later with another can.

Rei was pleased to notice that this time, Kai drained his can at a much slower rate, taking the odd mouthful over several minutes rather than downing it in one go. They settled into a comfortable silence, though Rei stole the odd glance, just to make sure that Kai was all right. It was just over an hour later that Kai set his fourth finished can down and turned to Rei.

Rei cocked his head to one side, looking at Kai expectantly as he opened his mouth to say something. He seemed to stop himself, because he closed his mouth and frowned. Rei made to prompt him, when Kai reached out to take a hold of his shoulders. Blinking once in surprise, Rei held his breath when Kai pulled him towards his body and leaned in to press his lips to Rei's.

For a moment, Rei felt his body stiffen unintentionally. It wasn't that he didn't want to, because he really enjoyed these practices, but they usually agreed to it beforehand; whether it was verbally, or with clear to read gestures. Kai had never just pulled him into a kiss, and it struck him as a bit strange. It was almost a bit… coupley. The thought sent a cold chill running through him and he shoved the thought aside immediately. Those stupid strange thoughts had no place in their arrangement, after all.

Closing his eyes, Rei relented figuring that, like before, it was more than likely that Kai was trying to soothe his frustrations by practicing his kissing on Rei. It was something that Rei could understand because, though they were strangely thrilling and exciting, it was certainly a relaxing pursuit and it often helped him to clear his mind, so he assumed that Kai was pretty much the same.

He decided to stop thinking about it so much when Kai pushed his tongue into his mouth. He pushed his tongue back against the other one, before retreating back a little to suckle on it a little, since he rather liked that when Kai did it to him. If Kai's small groan was anything to go by, so did Kai. Rei felt proud for a moment, before it faded when, to his surprise, Kai started pushing him backwards. It was a slow decent, but soon enough, Rei found himself laying down upon the cushions with Kai leaning over him. Surprisingly enough, he found himself oddly comfortable, despite the fact that his legs were folded kind of awkwardly. It felt kind of natural, like he should have been lying down from the start. It made things seem more even more personal, and he felt more and more pleased with this new situation with every kiss they exchanged.

After a while, Kai removed his mouth from Rei's, and Rei felt strangely disappointed, only to gasp a moment later as Kai moved to his neck. It sent shudders through him as his neck tingled pleasantly and he curled his toes without thought. He sighed in satisfaction and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift under the treatment, though when Kai started sucking on his neck just behind his ear, he squirmed slightly at the shiver that rippled down his spine. Heat rose to his cheeks, alighting them in a bright blush. Rei couldn't quite place why, but he suddenly felt a little nervous. The feeling was mostly crushed by the good sensations, so while his gut squirmed in what almost felt like a warning, he ignored it, because he also felt really good just letting Kai do as he willed. Really, he had no idea that people nuzzling and mouthing at your neck felt that amazing.

It was surprising just how hot he was starting to feel, though. The initial warming of his cheeks had spread over his chest, and he felt like it was tighter somehow, because he was finding it a struggle to keep breathing normally. He still managed to get a soft moaning sound out though, when Kai's mouth found his collarbone, and, almost as if he could sense the heat curling down through Rei's body, one of Kai's hands moved to rest upon Rei's left shoulder, before sliding gradually across his chest.

It was almost with a click that the warmth settled itself in the pit of his stomach and erupted out to inflame his entire body. He only had half a second to process the sudden realisation when he was alarmed by a sudden dramatic increase in heat in his lower regions. It took him a second further for him to realise that the temperature rise had come from another source of body heat joining his own. Another source being— Rei's eyes snapped open. Kai had grabbed him. Kai had grabbed his cock.

With a shout of panic and a shove, he dislodged Kai and sent him tumbling to the floor with a surprised noise. In a quick movement, Rei had pulled his legs up to curl up in front of him and raised his hands to his chest, not caring for a second how much he resembled a virginal girl. He stared with wide eyes at Kai as the other regained his bearings.

Sitting up while rubbing his head where he'd managed to bump it on the coffee table, Kai glared at him through slightly dazed eyes. "What the Hell was that for?"

"You grabbed me, Kai!" Rei shot back. His voice was a higher pitch than he would have liked, but for that moment, he was willing to ignore the fact that he was verging on hysteria as he felt it was rather justified. "You grabbed me. You touched me. I mean, I know we're practicing on each other and that you see me as a stand-in girl, but I'm not, Kai. I can't believe you'd get so carried away that you'd forget that it was me!"

Kai glared at him. "Last time I checked, Rei, girls don't have erections."

"I do not have an erection!"

Kai smirked, though it was completely devoid of humour. "Sure you don't, Rei. You just keep telling yourself that. You just keep hiding from the fact that you just got hard from a guy."

"Stop it!" Rei flinched. "Stop being so disgusting, Kai! Just stop it." Rei's eyes widened when he realised that his eyes had begun to water and his breathing had become laboured- sure signs that he was seconds away from bursting into tears. What the Hell was going on? His world had just shifted in a strange and horrible way and he was struggling not to fall apart.

Kai could see it too, regretting his words immediately when he saw that Rei looked about ready to cry. His eyes softened and he sat up properly. "Rei…" he tried softly. Rei refused to even look at him, clearly fighting for some composure. "Rei, I'm sorry I got carried away. I'm under some stress from my family right now and I took my stress out on you and it all got out of hand. I'm sorry, okay?" His voice turned more soothing. He tried to smile, though Rei was still staring at his hands pressed to his chest. "And hey, the only reason you got aroused was because you got carried away too, right? You were probably thinking about some beautiful chick, right? It doesn't mean anything, Rei." He trailed off then, feeling completely out of his depth. Raising his hands, Kai went to touch Rei in some way, maybe pat his leg, or pull him into a hug, but he remained indecisive until after only a couple of moments, he moved his hands back into his lap. "Rei, please tell me that we're still friends," he said in a tiny voice, loathing the fact that he was letting neediness show, but knowing that he needed to make sure that he hadn't just managed to unintentionally destroy the only close friendship he'd ever had.

Rei looked up at him then, and forced a smile. "Of course we are. You're my best friend." He looked away, looking ashamed. "I- I'm sorry that I freaked out so much. I just…" he trailed off, unable to voice just one of the emotions from within the maelstrom raging inside him at that moment.

"I understand, Rei. It's okay," Kai smiled, voice as gentle as he could manage.

It clearly wasn't though, since the following silence revealed a tension thick enough to be cut with a knife. They remained frozen in place for a few minutes longer, staring at the floor, until Rei hesitantly stretched his legs back out, obviously deeming it safe enough to unfold himself from his defensive position. He moved around until he was standing and then paused. "Well… goodnight, Kai."

Kai glanced at the clock, but chose not to say anything about the fact that it was only ten-past six. "Night," he replied, watching Rei walk away. As soon as he was out of sight, he scowled furiously and whacked himself non- too gently on the arm. The frown quickly gave way to a rather sad expression as Kai stared with dull eyes at the coffee table, processing what he'd unintentionally done and the damage it might have caused to the one friendship he was willing to fight to the death for.

With a ragged sigh, he dragged his hand through his hair. "How could I have been so stupid?" he asked himself quietly. His shoulders slumped. "These are the days. It never rains but it pours," he muttered, and after a couple more moments, he too rose to his feet and headed into his bedroom to hide away for the rest of the day.


Though they were mature and wise enough not to say anything, Takao, Max, Kyoujyu, and Hiromi were very aware that something wasn't quite right between Rei and Kai.

They had both responded eagerly to Takao's suggestion of spending the week for preparation the school board had graciously given him, Kyoujyu and Hiromi around the apartment. After some arguing, Max's school had given him a similar deal and he too had been made extremely welcome. Not that it was strange for Kai and Rei welcome them into their home, but they weren't usually met with so much relief.

The atmosphere between Kai and Rei was weird. As far as they could tell, there hadn't been some kind of falling out, since they were both obviously trying to act normal towards one another, though their smiles and voices seemed strained and they seemed be avoiding any sort of bodily contact with each other. When they talked to one another, it looked more like they were doing it to keep up appearances rather than actually wanting to talk to each other.

Yes, something very strange had gone down, but though the rest of the team were positively itching to find out what it was, they knew better than to pry.

Hiromi thought that it was because this would be the last time that Kai would be entering the Japanese qualifiers as a player, and Rei and Kai were too masculine to admit that they were upset by it.

Max's theory was that one of them had found some terrible secret about the other. Something that they weren't supposed to know about and so, they were trying to pretend that it hadn't happened.

Kyoujyu suggested that it might be nerves of the on-coming tournament, but this was quickly dismissed by the others since, when it came to blading, Kai and Rei were nothing but confident in their abilities. Kyoujyu had hid behind his laptop and admitted that he was still nervous before competitions.

Takao had said that it was probably just Kai's fault somehow and he didn't care as long as they got it sorted out between them soon.

They had to get it sorted out soon. With the match day on Monday, they had only one day left to get any problems out of the way so that they could have a clear mind to blade with. Because they were a team, first and foremost, and if Kai or Rei forgot that, then it would be the team that suffered for it.


TBC...