Disclaimer: We own none of the characters.

A/N: (devlinn reiko-sama) Sorry for the incredibly long wait. I meant to update earlier, but this story got pushed back on both of our agendas. Hopefully I can get this going for Sarcasmcat to take over with. LoL.

Chapter Ten

Hours had passed by with a tense atmosphere falling upon the house. The sun had gone down illuminating the sky with its husky tones of pink, purple, and orange before the night sky spread far and wide. The crescent moon moved with a peaceful wave setting along its course for the night.

The present team members remained scattered around the house trying to distract themselves from the disgruntled team captains. The others hadn't been there when Bryan stormed out but his absence was enough to determine the cause.

Rei decided to avoid all contact secluding himself in the shared room. After his shower and pulling out his sketchbook he quickly lost himself in his realm. Eyes glazed slightly as the pencil unconsciously drifted across the paper marking and creating a form of security for Rei.

He decided to let his hand and unconscious mind take over. Coming together was the picture of a forest shrouded in secrecy and giving off a sense of silence. There were no living animals seen only the barren outlines of trees wrapped together by a blanket of mist that descended to the ground as if to keep the picture grounded.

Inside his mind though, thoughts of Bryan swirled and pulled at him.

Why was Bryan leaving? Was it something he did? What couldn't Bryan handle anymore?

Too many questions for something with no answers. Too many thoughts that he was too wrapped up to hear the quietly footsteps and the small creak from the floorboards as the weight descended upon each one.

The white door swung open slightly allowing the imposing figure to peer into the room slightly. No lights were on but the room was slightly illuminated by the moonlight that managed to sneak past the tree branches that sat outside their window. Looking towards the beds, he noticed the outline of Rei lying on his stomach head turned away, cheek pressed against the pillow of his hands that lay on top of his sketchbook. The pencil Rei had been using could be seen peaking out of the top of Rei's head, intertwined with strands of ebony silk.

Slipping into the room, Bryan quietly moved over towards his bed, and reached under it pulling out a duffel bag. Placing the black bag on the bed he quietly opened the dresser drawer and removed the few clothing articles he had. Walking over to the bed he deposited them in the bag. Making another trip he obtained the last of his clothing. Opening the bedside table drawer he removed items placing them into the bag which quickly filled up.

Fifteen minutes later Bryan carefully zipped the now full bag. One final look around determined that nothing was left behind. Looking towards Rei's bed his eyes widened a bit as he noticed that the bed was emptied. His body tensed for a moment, before he turned around only to find Rei standing in front of him, golden eyes glowing and glaring at him. Bangs fell around Rei's face shaping the almost fierce look the neko-jin was trying to pull off.

"Rei what the fuck are you doing?" Bryan asked him between clenched teeth. Rei only stood still arms shaking slightly with tension. Bryan rolled his eyes and went to put a hand on the smaller blader's shoulder.

"Just get out of my way." He said harshly.

"No. Why do you have to leave? We've done nothing wrong." Rei replied moving back in front of Bryan to block his way. The Russian rolled his pale eyes.

"This isn't about you. I'm leaving because I need to."

"No you don't. You're leaving because you can't stand to be near us." Rei said accusingly taking a step back. Bryan only stared him down knowing he wasn't going to break down.

"Rei move now. Don't make this difficult for yourself. I'm leaving and I don't care what you or your team captain says. This isn't your business."

The neko-jin stared up at the Russian trying to understand why he wanted to leave. There was nothing in the past few months that he could remember that would press Bryan to leave. Looking to the window for a moment he brought his focus back to Bryan who stood in the middle of the room ready to rush past Rei. He sighed shoulders dropping.

"Bryan…why do you have to leave? I thought we were friends. I didn't do anything." Rei said quietly.

"I told you. You're not the reason. I can't stay here. I don't want to hurt anyone. Now. Move." Bryan quickly explained taking a few steps towards Rei and the door.

Rei shook his head.

"No. I'm not going to let you go. You're team won't be happy without you. Why would you want to do that to your team? They need you." Rei said as Bryan approached him. He saw the pale eyes focus on him, determined on getting out of the room.

"Rei, I'm not ready to be here. I can barely hold anything in. There have been so many times I've wanted to just let go. To actually harm again during a practice or not even that. The times I've wanted to pound someone, push them down the stairs, or even drown them. I can't help it and I need to fix that. I just can't do that here." Bryan said emotionless. He was toe to toe with Rei now staring into the wide eyes that swirled with confusion, fear, and anger.

A pale hand reached out to grab the door handle but was stopped as a lightning fast hand slapped it forcefully.

"I'm not letting you go." Rei said pressing back against the door. Bryan ignored the slight stinging sensation that tingled at the red mark forming on his wrist.

"Move." He said sternly.

"No."

"Rei I - "

"No, now you listen." Rei said cutting Bryan off. Tanned arms reached up and grabbed Bryan's shirt fisting the material till knuckles turned white. "You can't leave. You're not going to be able to fix yourself just be leaving us. You'll be all alone. It'll make it worse. You have to stay here. That's why we're all here. No one here is in good condition, but we're not going to run away because we think no one can fix us." Rei said forcefully trying to keep Bryan in place.

Bryan stared down before grabbing Rei's wrists in his larger hands and pushed the nekojin back against the door hearing a slight intake of breath. Clenching the wrists tighter he could feel the bones easily and the pulse that quickened. Rei's eyes silted slightly as he pushed back against Bryan in futile. His body came into contact with the solid form as he tried to wrestle his wrists out of Bryan's grasps as his own fingers were still tangled in the material of the other's shirt. Bryan quickly moved to the side and before he knew it he had released Rei throwing the smaller form out of the way, watching the body fall and crash into one of the legs of the bed. A small cry of pain was heard, but Bryan had already shifted his bag on his shoulder and moved towards the door and left without a word.

Rei felt the air pass him before he collided with the end of the bed. Closing his eyes he gripped his side as the burning sensation took over. His eyes watered a bit as he rocked himself threw the waves of pain. Biting his lip, he cracked an eye open to stare at the empty room. He hung his head not wanting to admit that Bryan was actually gone now. Shaking his head and murmuring to himself, he started to slide himself across the floor when something in front caught his eye. Reaching out he pawed at the small piece before sliding it over to him. Fumbling for a moment he managed to pick it up and through blurry eyes he managed to make out the picture of Falborg that decorated the bit-chip.

Bryan had left without it. Or it must have fallen out of a pocket when Rei tried to stop him. Sliding closer to the floor he slid back a bit till his body was almost hidden under the bed. He held his hand in front of him studying the bitbeast. The sound of footsteps coming closer made him close his hand around the bit-chip and move his arm around till he found a pocket. Putting the chip in he quickly brought his hand back just as the door to the room opened.

Light from the hallway filtered into the room and outlined the figure that quickly entered the room. Their eyes met for a second before Kai took quick steps kneeling down in front of Rei.

"Rei are you okay? What happened?" Kai asked quickly and sternly. Rei dropped his head letting it rest on his hands.

Kai not in the mood for guessing snatched Rei's hands before the neko-jin hissed in pain. Pale hands loosened their grip.

"Rei come on out from under there. I want to see what happened." Kai said tugging slightly. The black-haired boy seemed to think this over for a few moments before he pushed himself out from under the bed as Kai helped him to stand and then sit down on his bed. Flicking on the bedside night, Kai immediately saw the slight bruising that wrapped around Rei's wrists.

"Fucking asshole." Kai swore knowing what Bryan did.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Kai asked, eye resting on the neko-jin's teary eyes.

"No, he just grabbed me and pushed me aside." Rei lied not bothering to tell Kai of the slight bruise forming around his side. Kai sighed letting go of Rei's hands sitting next to Rei on the bed.

"Is he gone?" Rei asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm." Kai replied.

"Why?"

"Because he is a selfish asshole who can't think for himself." Kai said covering sadness with anger.

"Will he come back?" Rei asked eyes moving to the bed Bryan had occupied.

"No, not to this place. I don't know when we'll see him again. Tala was ranting at him but he didn't stop. I'm not sure if Tala followed him outside or gave up." Kai replied leaning back on his hands. Moving his eyes he reached for the sketchbook handing it over to Rei who took it loosely.

"I think you should go to bed. I know what just happened is unforgivable, but it's not going to change anything. I don't want you to get sick blaming yourself all night." Kai said. Rei nodded slightly putting his sketchbook away and pulling the pencil out of his hair.

Kai stood up allowing Rei to get under the covers before he turned the light off and walked back to the door.

"Night Rei." He said before exiting the room, door closing behind him.

"Night Kai." Rei whispered closing his eyes as he tried to suppress the loneliness that overcame him. He turned to face the other way but only managed to stay still before turning again.

After a half an hour of pitiful tossing and turning Rei opened his eyes to see the empty bed across. Slowly he pulled back his covers and padded across the room. He pulled back the covers dropped into the bed that was cold. Throwing the blanket over his head he was engulfed with the faint smell that reminded him of Bryan. Gripping the pillow he allowed himself to be lullaby to sleep with the faint reminder of him.

Wow, this is way longer then I thought it would be. Oh well when ideas build…

Enjoy.