Chapter Twelve: Hopes and Fears


Aspin figured it was a testament to her feelings for Kane, that she was out of bed at 5:30 in the morning to see him off on his trip. The sky was deep blue, growing lighter towards the horizon. The moon was a sliver, the thickness of a thumbnail, high in the sky still, though it would fade when dawn hit. The grass was dusted with frosted dew making it crisp under the feet of the Varsity hockey team as they trundled like zombies to the bus.

She shivered and blew on her hands watching the way her breath was expelled like smoke, which floated for a while before dispersing on the frigid breeze.

"Cold?" she shivered again for completely different reasons as Kane's breath tickled her ear. Her neck prickled in awareness before she turned round to face him. Her reaction to seeing him made her heart accelerate and her desire grow. Her gaze flicked to his lips, then snapped back to his.

"Yes, it's freezing out here," she complained, hunching her shoulders.

Kane slipped his larger hands over hers, warming them while drawing her closer. He inhaled her subtle scent. "You're hands are like ice."

"No shit," she muttered, hoping her teeth didn't start to chatter. Mid December was always bitching cold.

He lifted each hand to his mouth and kissed them in succession, noting the heat flare in her eyes.

"Get on the fucking bus Kane."

He jerked his gaze up and snarled at the back of Amber as she stalked past him, a duffel bag slung casually over her shoulder.

"You should get on the bus," Aspin added.

Rolling his periwinkle eyes, he lowered his mouth to hers. He had intended to spend this long weekend with her without any interruptions but of course, the team would have to spoil those plans. He knew Aspin had been looking forward to it too, and it pissed him off that he had to put his team first. It wasn't as if he'd gain anything from the weekend away. Moreover, Aspin should have been coming with them. He knew they had both been thinking that when he'd told her. If she'd still been on the team then he'd have had no trouble going, it would have been fun then. Now it was bothersome.

Her arms coiled round his neck as his hands slid under her coat around her back splaying his fingers. Her lips parted to allow his tongue to stroke hers. With a moan of delight, she pressed closer to his lean frame, feeling the warmth of him pressing against her. He kissed her eagerly trying to show her how much he'd miss her all the while enjoying how her body fit against his.

"Suzoru, get on the bus now!"

He groaned and parted from her as his Coach yelled at him. "In a minute."

"You said that five minutes ago," Miyami told him cheerfully as she passed them with Johnny by her side.

He growled at her. It was all right for her, her boyfriend was coming on the trip with her. Though he had to admit, it wasn't a bad thing for Coach Hiwatari to bend the rule for them. He had no dislike for Miyami; and Johnny and he got on relatively well, so he supported the rule being bent. He'd hope Hiwatari would have done the same for him and Aspin if she'd still been on the team.

"Ok, this time you better go, Witch Bane."

He smirked at his girlfriend. She was gorgeous and sexy without even trying hard. Which was probably what made her more so, he supposed. Of course she was also amazingly good at irritating him, especially since she was stubborn, strong willed, prickly and reserved, he loved her for that alone.

"I'll call you later Aspirin."

"Well, I can't guarantee I'll answer, but you go right ahead." she shot back then kissed him hard enough to make his head empty. Pulling back, she extracted herself from his arms and grinned.

He dipped once more to taste her lips; then tried to clear his mind. "I'll miss you."

"I know."

Amused, he caught her and kissed her once more dreamily. "Say it back."

"I'll miss you too," she murmured stepping into him and pressing her face into the curve of his neck.

"Oi, Suzoru get you're butt on the bus!" Nicolai sighed and looked down at his clipboard and sighed. He seemed to be missing one or two people. Rolling his eyes, he glanced out the door of the bus. "KANE!"

"Yes! I'm coming!" the bluenette shouted back, said something else to his girlfriend then jogged to the bus, hitching his shoulder bag so it sat more firmly.

"Where's Kaeto?"

"Still sleeping last time I checked."

Nicolai raised a brow, and located Amber amongst the others. She was sitting in a single seat still wearing her pajama bottoms with a baggy sweatshirt. "Benson, are you planning on sleeping yourself?"

"Seems like a good idea to me." she replied lazily, annoying Kane by making him climb over her legs to get down the aisle. She stuck out her tongue to whatever comment he made, then turned back to Nicolai. "Hitoshi's gone to fetch her."

There was a hiss, and then a silver head bobbed up. "You sent Hitoshi up to our dorm with Shahero still in there sleeping? Shit. Well then we'll be waiting for another while then."

Johnny snickered at his girlfriends comment; then winced. "No we won't. Here comes Hurricane Hero."

"Oh shit, I'm so dead."

"You bet you are Ams." Arista quipped popping up for a moment from the seat in front of the Irish teen.

Nicolai followed their gaze to see Shahero marching across the lawn towards the bus; an expression of thunder on her face with Hitoshi strolling behind her, thumbs tucked in his pockets an easy smile on his face. Nicolai shook his head. Well this was just perfect. Hitoshi probably pissed Kaeto off, she'll be pissed with Benson and it would all just kick off. So much for the calm ride, he'd been looking forward too. He'd been hoping to take his own car, maybe take an hour or so and head off to see Jean, but it seemed he'd have to be on hand here.

Shahero stormed onto the bus after dumping her bag in the trunk, shooting a furious look over her shoulder at the assistant coach who stood back to let her on. Her searing blue gaze shot to Amber and the Irish girl offered a hopeful/apologetic smile, which Shahero met with ice.

"Oh shit."

Nicolai sighed. "Is everyone here?"

Amber muttered something but as the engine roared to life, he never heard it and he wasn't going to ask her to repeat it. He nodded as Hitoshi climbed on board and got out to talk to Judy Tate as she walked up.

Feeling something prod her neck, Amber looked round and sighed heavily. She closed her eyes, and opened them hoping that she hadn't seen what she'd thought she'd seen. Alas, her sight wasn't faulty. "You weren't sitting there before!"

Kai smiled blandly. "I moved. Don't like it; don't sit there."

She scowled as he basically threw her own words back at her. The boy had a damning memory, faultless and annoyingly so. Ignoring him, she flopped back on her seat. Johnny and Miyami sat in front of her on the other side. Shahero had moved to the back. Bryan had his own double seat near the back, as did Spencer. Kane and Ozuma were sitting beside each other talking to each other while Rei had the single and was listening to his Discman. Ian was lounged out over the long back seat, while Tala had taken the seat beside her, which was probably why Kai was now sitting behind her, other than sitting beside her; it was the closest he could get to Tala. Hitoshi was near the front; his body sprawled over the seat. Arista was sitting in front of her, but had said not to disturb her since she was going to sleep. Ruin was sitting in front of Arista opposite Hitoshi. Enrique and Michael strode onto the bus and moved to the back.

Nicolai got back on the bus followed by Tala who made his way down the aisle before dropping down onto the seat opposite her.

"Hey Benz."

"Suppity."

"Tired?"

"Exhausted. This is not normal. I feel sorry for Aspin though." Then with a grin, she turned to Kai. "Didn't notice Miriam getting up early for you."

Kai turned his cool gaze on her. "Why should she? It's too early. Just because I have to get up, why should she? I'm only going away for a couple of days, it's not like I'm going to forget her."

Amber rolled her eyes. Obviously, she wasn't going to get a rise out of him. Sighing she slumped back in her chair and tried to prop her feet up on the back of Arista's seat but her feet wouldn't reach. Giving up on any chance of comfort, she decided to eaves drop on Tala's conversation with Kai, but that soon bored her into a comatose. She hated sitting on her own.


Kirby slumped in her seat, her head resting on Tyson's shoulder as he talked amicably to Salima and Max. It was funny how easily Tyson seemed to make friends. Some people found him annoying, and sometimes she could see how his cheerful determination could get on some people's nerves but if they looked deeper, they'd see the genuine nice guy that he was.

It was odd, she thought, to look round and not see the senior team around their usual tables. Miriam was slightly depressed. She was gazing listlessly round the study hall as though she expected Kai to come breezing through the big oak doors. The image Kirby got in her head made her chuckle. Mariah seemed to be faring a tiny bit better since she was chuckling at Kevin and Joseph's antics as they engaged in a mini food fight.

She glanced up and smiled sleepily at her cousin Daichi as he dropped down exhausted into a spare space beside her. "Hey."

Daichi yawned and nodded, plucking a triangle of toast from her plate. He bit into it and chewed thoughtfully for a second. "It's cold."

"Understatement." Emily said; voice nasally. She sniffled miserably and settled down between Max and Kenny.

Kirby tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear and zeroed in on her friend. "Are you coming down with something, Ems?"

Emily nodded looking very peaky with her skin paler and looking jaundice compared to her orange hair and pale watery blue eyes framed by the thin wire frames she wore. "It's typical. I come down with a cold and Amber's not even here."

Kirby sighed feeling Daichi stiffen beside her. Daichi didn't fully support Amber's choice to become Wiccan; neither did Kirby to a degree. She wasn't very religious herself but she did believe in God and Jesus but Amber didn't. All the same, she was still Amber. She hadn't changed, much.

"Ask Salima," she suggested to the carrot haired girl.

"Oh yeah, Salima's into the herbal thing too. Thanks Kirby."

"No problem. Glad I could help."

"Has anyone decided what they're going to do today? What with their being no classes today, we should probably do something."

Emily shot Daichi a look out of red-rimmed eyes as she wiped her nose. "We're supposed to be studying."

"Emily, chill out. You're supposed to spend Monday studying, not today." Tyson said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

"Even if you studied all weekend, you still won't pass Tyson." she shot back.

"Now, now, you two. Calm down." Max intervened.

Kirby sighed and settled herself for a major clash of two complete opposites with Max playing piggy in the middle. Her gaze fell on Miguel as he walked into the hall laughing. As usual, she got a heightened sense of awareness around him. Then she frowned, as another figure appeared at his side, a girl she recognized from some of her classes. She was laughing with Miguel and lightly touching his arm. Something inside Kirby burned and she suddenly felt very odd.

"Hey who's with Miguel?" Emily suddenly asked following her green haired friends gaze.

Kirby shrugged the famous Benson shrug. Salima, still laughing at something Tyson had said, turned and looked. "Oh Tamara Wheeler, she's a freshmen but she takes some sophomore classes. She's really smart and has had a crush on Miguel for as long as she's been here I think."

"Oh yeah, she's on the cheerleading squad, she's really nice. A good match for Miguel." Mariah suddenly jumped into the conversation.

"She's not really his type." Kirby said cautiously.

"Sure she is. Look, she's sweet, smart, she likes hockey, it's one of the reason's she joined the squad, to cheer on the team and she's pretty. Miguel could do a lot worse."

He could do better too. Kirby thought but kept the thought to herself, she would only upset the Tamara Wheeler fan club by blurting it out. Instead, she got to her feet and left the dining hall making a vague excuse to Joe that she needed to get something from her dorm.

Frowning Salima watched her young friend exit the hall, her shoulders tense and her eyes miserable. She turned to Mariah. "Well that was interesting."

The pink haired girl nodded considering. "You think Kirby has a thing for Miguel?"

"I don't know. But how ironic would it be that now Miguel's moved on from her, she finally realizes she likes him."

"Yeah, that would suck. You don't think Miguel is using Tamara to make Kirby jealous do you?"

Salima shook her head of red hair. "No, that's not Miguel's style. He's too nice a guy to do that."

Mariah sighed heavily. "We should get them together."

"I don't know Mari; that just sounds like trouble to me."

"Hmm, maybe. Well we'll see." she smiled, but the wheels were already turning.

"Hey where did Kirby go?" Miguel asked as he joined them with Tamara by his side. She smiled shyly at them before sitting on the seat Mariah invited her to sit in.

"Said something about having to get something from her dorm." Tyson replied over a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Miguel frowned then shrugged. "That's odd, she never usually forgets anything."

"Are you and Kirby close then?" Tamara asked tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear, a gesture she used to show she was really listening.

"Yeah, she's my VC and Daichi cousin."

"Oh." she smiled. "I just didn't know you two were that close outside of the team. I mean, I don't see you two around school together much."

Miguel shrugged. "Well we are. She's cool and fun to hang out with."

"Sounds like she'd be a great friend."

"She is." Miriam said coolly as she pulled up a chair. She sent a warning look to Tamara. "And who are you?"

Tamara flushed slightly, not anticipating a run in with the junior. "I'm Tamara."

"Miriam, leave her alone." Salima laughed.

"Don't worry about Miriam, Tammy; she just gets defensive over her friends. It's not personal." Mariah soothed with a grin at Miriam who smirked back but she kept an eye on Tamara not trusting her innocent facade.

Tamara smiled weakly, but watched Miriam watching her out of the corner of her eye. Feeling uncomfortable, she inched closer to Miguel. He looked at her and smiled bemused at her actions. The smile made her feel a whole lot better and after a while of being in his presence, she began to forget about the bluenette watching her.


The bus rocked over the bumpy road well into the country on the other side of Bakuten. The sun had risen and was spearing through the tall bare trees illuminating the wooded area in its watery light. The frost still lay in various patches where the sun hadn't yet warmed it.

On the bus, people slept or talked in low murmurs. Ruin and Hitoshi were playing cards; Miyami and Johnny were cuddling. Arista was sleeping as she had promised she would, as were Bryan and Spencer. Shahero was making fun of Kane and Ian much to Ozuma and Rei's amusement. And Michael and Enrique were looking at a magazine.

Tala rested his head back on the headrest, his long fingers absently running through the silky tresses of his Benz who lay across the seat, her head resting in his lap as she slept soundly.

"We're almost there." Kai commented, his eyes looking out the window before turning back to focus on his friend.

"Have you been here before?"

"My parents use to bring me here for my holidays, just a week here with them and then I'd be free to enjoy the rest of my holidays."

"So what's it like there?" Tala wondered as he stared out at the crisp brown and golden woodland.

"Yeah it's cool. There's this big house that everyone stays in when there's like a big school group going, or you can stay in the cabins if you're only a small group. We'll probably be in the big house; it's not so bad. There's a TV, a grand piano which children just mess on and the dorms aren't too bad, there are private showers attached to each one with hot water."

Tala snickered as his friend sighed in mock bliss. They'd once stayed in a hostel that had no hot water, no clean sheets and the mattresses were lumpy and the showers were very public. So public that Kai had considered getting his butt cheeks pierced together when one of the male residents kept checking him out. If Benz heard about that she'd have a field day, but Tala wasn't going to add fuel to Kai's ember.

"Sounds cool as long as I'm not bored stiff."

Kai smirked. "I doubt you'll be bored around Ruin, as for the stiff part well that's up to her."

Tala groaned. "You've been exposed to the Tigers; you're cruder than before."

"It's possible." Kai chuckled then watched bemused, as Tala had to catch Amber before she rolled off him as she slowly began to stir. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and locked on his, before she grimaced, stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes with her tiny gold fists.

"Shit, you're not a sight I want to ever see first thing in the morning." She lied glibly with a rusty voice. The point was he was a very nice sight, all fresh and amused. There had been laughter in his eyes, which made them darken, and at the same time, they held an inner light. His hair was typically mussed. The sun light had given him an almost angelic glow, but the devilishly sinful face ruined it.

"Ditto that." He snapped back wondering why he was so easily riled by her snarky childish comments, after all Brooklyn had never annoyed him but with one sentence or look she could get his back up when he wasn't steeled for it.

"Children please." Tala sighed warily and looked down on his petite friend, who easily rested on his lap with her legs folded to fit on the rest of the seat, it obstructed her view, but she wasn't looking out at the scenery anyway. Instead, she was staring boredly up at the roof of the bus.

"That stain looks like Ian, check out the long nose."

Intrigued, the red head followed her gaze. "Yeah… but it could also be a naked man."

"How do you… oh god! Dammit Tala!"

He laughed richly and noted with some smugness that Ruin cast a glance in his direction. He'd noticed she hadn't been looking at him recently, whether on purpose or not he had yet to find out.

"Do you suppose if someone bent down in front of Ian, they'd get bum-fucked, like accidentally?"

Tala grimaced. "Aw Benny!"

"No I'm being serious." She stated no trace of humor in her voice, but her eyes were bright with it as her lips quirked at his expression. "Ian's nose has to be a scary weapon, he could stick it anywhere, in any hole what so ever without even meaning to."

"Benson shut the fuck up!" a male voice shouted from the back.

Leaning further back so her hair cascaded almost to the floor, she tried to see who it was, but unfortunately couldn't. "Private conversation, dick-ass!" she shouted back then catching what she said, quickly added. "No pun intended."

Tala slapped his forehead. "Do you remember how Nic covered your mouth with tape?"

She winced remembering how sore it was to peel off. "Yeah."

"Well I'm going to do that, or worse wash your mouth out with soapy water. You're mother would cuff you round the ear for that language."

She scowled at him but apologized reluctantly. "Sorry."

"And you haven't apologized for spreading that rumor about me being gay."

Her lips quirked but she relented. "I'm sorry for that too."

"Now apologize to Kai."

She gazed steadily at him. "Don't push it!"

"Like I'd want her apology anyway." Kai muttered.

Amber angled her head so she could see the reserved azure haired teen. "Kiss my ass!"

His lips twitched. "No, but I could get Ian to do it."

The effect was humorous to say the least. Her eyes rounded then her face contorted in disgust. "Oh ick! God! Crying out loud, shit, fuck, goddammit!"

"Amber, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Nicolai called out from the front glaring at his goddaughter.

"No, I use my other mouth!" she snarled. "It's your son's fault anyway."

"You'd blame the devil if you thought you'd get away with it." Kai mumbled.

"First up, I don't believe in the devil, secondly what did you mean by that?"

He turned to her, fixing her with a look of disdain. "You never take responsibilities for your actions."

"Actually you're wrong. I do take responsibility for my actions; it's part of being Wiccan." She told him calmly; then cursed her stupidity. Telling him something like that would only result in him thinking less of her than he already did. Shit. Suddenly she frowned. Why did she care what he thought of her anyway? She shouldn't, she didn't. She was just fed up with people dissing her because of her chosen religion, a religion that she felt as comfortable in as her own skin. It sat well on her, unlike Christian-ism in its far too many forms. Religion caused too many problems and persecution in her mind, but still people needed to have faith in something. However, no one thought Wiccan was proper faith. Even her mother thought she was just going through a phase and her friends didn't understand it. Shit even Tala winced and clammed up when she said she was Wiccan, goddess knew what Kai would think.

Kai just shrugged. "Whatever, I'm not going to argue with you."

"I am quick witted!" Ian growled loudly as Shahero laughed so hard her sides ached. "I AM!"

"Sss-ure you are!" Shahero managed to gasp out and still sound cynical, a major skill in Amber's opinion.

"I AM!" if he'd been standing, he would have stomped his foot. Seeing the image so clearly, made Amber grin. Her previous argument with Kai was forgotten for the moment, to be fretted over later.

"Of course Ian's quick witted." She called back to Shahero, pushing away from Tala and struggling to her knees to look back at her sister. "His wit's just so quick, we never see it!"

Shahero snickered at Ian's triumphant expression vanish. "Oh I'm so sorry Ian!" she announced with mock sincerity.

He sneered at the ochre-eyed girl. "Oh and I suppose you think you're witty."

"Uh, Ian, see what comes out of my mouth at regular intervals? That's what you call wit!"

Kai snorted. "I think you're confusing wit with shit!"

Amber snapped her gaze to him, and then her lips twitched before she grinned. "That's good." She chuckled as she looked at Ian and her surprised teammates. "See Ian, that was being quick witted, you can't do that!" she turned back to Kai again. "I'm surprised Sharky, that actually put me to shame. That time."

"Benz!"

She sighed and rolled her eyes at Tala who watched her calmly. "I was being nice."

"Stop try-"

"Hey we're here." Miyami suddenly announced and they all looked out the window as the bus rolled to a stop.

"Rejects?" Kane frowned catching sight of a familiar teal and deep green uniforms. "What the fuck are they doing here?"

Amber looked back at him; then turned in the direction he was looking. "Hey the rejects are here. And here's me thinking that Kane was just seeing things. Cool!"

Tala groaned, his lip curling in obvious distaste causing Kai to look at him. "What's up man?"

"The rejects."

"So? You're not giving me anything to understand here. They're pains in the ass but they're relatively harmless."

"They're Bakuten Highs team; me and Benz went to Bakuten elementary."

"So you know them from when you were a kid?"

Amber looked round on hearing that comment. "When were you a goat Tala? I thought at least, that would be something you'd tell me about. Does our friendship mean that little to you?"

Kai sighed. She was like a little child, always needing attention. She seemed to love hearing her own voice. He gazed levelly at her, her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed and her breathing was shallow. "What's wrong with you now?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. Yo, Coach? Hey where did your Dad go?"

"He went out to talk to the Rejects coach." Ruin answered, laying a card down on the book between her and Hitoshi, which they were using as a base for their game.

"Zagart? I wonder if the lush Doctor Kay came with them." Kane wondered.

"KANE!" Shahero growled and slammed the book she'd been reading down on his head, and then checked the spine as he cursed. "You're dating Aspin, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I was just asking a question."

"Is she the dark haired lovely?" Enrique asked licking his lips.

"First of all, she's way out of your league Enrique. She isn't a member of the pep squad. Secondly, she's a power hungry bitch who only wants her team, the losers that they are, to win and thirdly she'll use whatever method she can to use it. Even if it means seducing one of the opponents." Hitoshi lectured standing in the middle of the aisle to address the flirtatious blond.

Amber looked at him and nodded, understanding what he was talking about. Shahero looked between her friend and the man who wouldn't leave her alone. Did something happen with this Doctor K? Did she burn Hitoshi? Did he still have feelings for the woman? All these thoughts churned in her head and left her feeling very small and surprisingly lost.

The bus rocked as Nicolai climbed up the steps into the bus. He leaned down to talk to the bus driver who nodded, before he turned to his team. He watched the expression on their face and the look on Hitoshi's as he turned round, nodded to him, and dropped into his seat beside Ruin who offered the assistant coach a small smile. His son was frowning, looking slightly puzzled. Tala looked grim as did his goddaughter, though she cast a smile over her shoulder to the other petite female whose expression was hard to read. Miyami's eyes were slightly tinted crimson and Johnny's hand was clutching hers, rubbing it in a soothing motion.

"OK, it seems that the Rejects have booked this place too." As he said this, he wondered if anyone could even remember the real name of the Bakuten high team. He couldn't. They'd always been to him a minor annoyance. They proved to be no challenge to his team so to him it seemed like a waste of time to play them. However, he wouldn't make the same mistake as he had the last game. He wouldn't disappoint Amber again.

"That sucks! I guess we'll just have to turn around and go back home, gee too bad." Kane drawled with all the mock regret he could muster.

Nicolai chuckled. "Not exactly Kane. It just means we're going to have to share the house with them and our duties with them. I'm placing you all into teams of four with the Rejects so that... Yes Miyami?"

"Point of fact, they really aren't going to respond well to being called the Rejects all the time."

Nicolai nodded. "True, then again my team didn't come up with the name in the first place." he said pointedly looking at Tala who'd been the one who'd introduced the name to his team. He almost grinned as his goddaughter squirmed uncomfortably.

"It was Kane's fault, well Kane and Tala." she accused as she felt her coaches gaze burning into her.

Tala nudged her non-too-gently. "Snitch. They are rejects, each of the team applied for scholarship to Preston, they weren't accepted, only Ozuma, me, Kane, Rei and Amber were accepted."

"Then Bryan when he transferred." Amber added. "So yeah they are technically the rejects and they never win."

"Vindictive little fuckers though." Kane grumbled glowering out at them.

"They're not that bad." Rei said, always keeping the peace and seeing each side. "Just Foxy, he and Gordo have a pretty bad rep at the high school."

"That's because he was with Gordo when he was caught smoking pot."

"Pot Head." Tala muttered and Amber snickered at an obvious inside joke.

Arista looked round and poked her friend's knee. "What?"

The dark haired girl shook her head. "He's a pot head, that's all. Never mind, it was ages ago anyway."

"He still fucked with my car though." Kane growled cracking a knuckle.

Amber rounded on him exasperated. "If you hadn't shot him with a goddamn paintball, he wouldn't have fucked with your car. What idiot goes around shooting people with a paintball anyways?"

He met her gaze pointedly. "And what idiot goes around shooting people with a water gun?"

She opened her mouth, angry accusations on the tip of her tongue, then shut it, opened and shut it again before taking a breath and replying. "It was tourist season!"

Nicolai nodded at something Judy said and looked back at his team in time to hear the last piece of the argument he'd walked out on five minutes ago when he realized they were going off track. Tourist season? The thought made his lips twitch; he and James had done something similar when they were in college. "Right, listen up. The teams will not have leaders; I don't want a power struggle. The red team will consist of..." he trailed off checking his clipboard notes and rubbed his forehead instead of wincing. This wasn't going to go down well. He took a deep breath, better to get it over with quickly. "Kai, Ian, Amber and Michael. Team Blue is Tala, Ruin-"

"WHAT?" it came from two different sources. He looked up and regarded both Amber and Ian standing up glaring daggers at each other. Why, oh, why did he let Hitoshi do this? It was obvious the assistant coach liked causing confrontations by doing things like this. He felt sorry for his son being in his team, then took it back, he felt sorry for poor Michael. The boy was arrogant on the ice sure, but Michael wasn't a hot head and he was easy going round others as long as they didn't criticize his sports. Anything could set Amber off and her biggest match was Ian, her fuel was Kai. God knows when she'd burn out.

"Is there a problem?"

"I'm not working with it or it!" she declared pointing first at Ian, then at Kai, who only peered boredly up at her from beneath his bangs, his arms were folded and he was looking out the window while Tala tried to get his Benz under control. Shahero was saying something with sympathy to Ozuma while Miyami just leaned into Johnny and Arista slept. The rest of the team sat back to enjoy the show.

Nicolai sighed. "Amber..."

"Why can't I be in Tala's team? I'd be really good." she whined, then on a surge of inspiration, she locked her arm with her red headed friend and folding her arms, glared a challenge at her coach who ran a hand through his hair.

"You're not in Tala's team."

"Why not?" she growled and sounded to Kai like a petulant child, maybe giving her a tissue would shut her up he thought, wondering was there an off button for her, or a temporary method to shut her up. She was becoming a pain in the ass, childish, winging and generally just spoilt. "I'm not leaving Tala. We're stuck together, joined at the hip!"

"You're not."

"We are! Unless he's with Ruin," she conceded under her breath. Only Tala heard her while the others had a fair idea what she had said, especially when Tala poked her and she yelped squirming out of his way. Turning to him, she rolled up the side of her top under her jacket to see if he had bruised her. Seeing the red blotch on her golden skin, she snarled at him. "Look what you did!"

He bit his lip in an effort not to grin; then pulled back more of her top to reveal her back. "You have a tat?"

She angled her body to see the small of her back, noticing idly how Kai and Arista -who'd be awaken by the sharp yelp- had turned to see as well. "Oh no, cause I heard if you get a Tat there, you can't have that operation or whatever and I figured I'd need one of those or whatever. Mimi did that temp for me. Like it? I'm thinking of getting one on my shoulder blade though."

"What is it? A fairy?"

She beamed at him. "That's Lava Twilight, my fairy of ice. Sometimes she's very good and other times she's very naughty."

Miyami turned in her seat with a wicked grin. "She hasn't had much of chance to be naughty, yet, has she Bambi?"

Amber scowled. "Why do you call me that? I wanna know!"

Her silver haired friend shook her head and slid back into her seat again with a sly smirk.

"Lava Twilight comes from the Inme song." Arista informed Johnny when he questioned the name. "She's not that imaginative."

The Irish teen stuck her tongue out and slumped back in her chair. Then jolted when Nicolai called her name sharply. "Yes sir."

"That's an affirmative for the red team."

"What?" when he merely raised a brow in challenge she sighed and gave in, having a very odd sense of de ja vu, as though she'd seen that expression before. Probably from his son, she supposed. They were very alike, even though Nicolai was pretty cool and easy to talk to and funny when he wasn't ordering her around. She wouldn't know about Kai because he was always ordering her around or belittling her. Would it kill him to chillax for a little while? Probably, she decided.

"Blue Team is Tala, Ruin, Arista and Kane. Any problems?"

The four in question shook their heads but Amber gaped at him. "Why did they get a choice?"

"You would have too but you didn't wait for me to give it." He told her mildly; enjoying the look of pure outrage on her face, then the resignation that crossed as she folded herself up on the seat and made a show of whimpering while Tala patted her head like a little child. He slanted his gaze over to his son and grinned, prompting a reluctant smile. In his eyes, his son never smiled enough or enjoyed life, always being far too serious when he needn't be. He needed someone to bring some life and laughter into it. Some day that would happen, he just hoped his son would allow that to happen.

"What are these teams for?" Ruin wondered, silently wondering how much time she'd get to spend in Tala's company.

"You'll have to work together in team bonding exercises and in making the various meals and cleaning up, depending on what your team is down for on the rota that will be posted this evening."

"Can we get off soon? My bums numb." Shahero complained.

"I'll kick it for you!" Kane suggested at the same time Hitoshi suggested he'd rub it. She glowered at both of them.

"Yellow Team consists of Enrique, Rei, Shahero and Bryan. To answer your question Shahero, as soon as I tell you your teams, you're to get your bags and head to the upstairs dorms. Judy will show you around. Now Yellow team, got any problems?"

"Yeah can we change the color?" Shahero demanded. "I don't like yellow, neither does Bryan, do you Bryanny?"

Bryan shook his head with a slight shrug to Spencer who chuckled.

"Then what color would you like?"

"Blue."

"You can't be blue."

"Blue/Black."

Nicolai sighed heavily. "Right, you can be the black team." He ground out scoring out the 'yellow' and scribbling 'black' onto his page; then glanced at Hitoshi. "As soon as I have an office set up, I want to see you."

Hitoshi grinned and laid a card down on the book. Ruin slapped her hand down on the pile. "Snap."

"Green Team are Ozuma, Spencer, Miyami and Johnny. Any problems green team?"

Miyami snuggled closer to Johnny. "None what so ever on my part."

"Nope."

The others shook their heads. "Well now that that's settled head to your rooms, no fighting with the rejects until we're here at least an hour, please."

The team got to their feet and shuffled off the bus with many complaints of stray hands, feet and other body parts. Nicolai watched them go and wondered vaguely what he'd let himself in for.


Amber flopped onto her bed and sighed. "Wow, it's going to be so weird not sharing with the others."

"I actually like the privacy." Ruin stated as she unpacked her clothes ranging from black to red and blue. Ruin's wardrobe only consisted of dark colors, or very vibrant colors on the dark side of the spectrum. No yellows in Ruin's wardrobe -only blacks, whites, reds, blues and some very dark green.

"Of course you like the privacy, but I miss Miyami and Shahero. I've always shared a room with those two and Arista."

"Well as I said it's only for tonight."

"Hmm… I wonder with whom Shahero's sharing. Miyami will be with Arista, so I wonder where Shahero will be. On her own or she could bunk down with one of us."

Ruin lifted a shoulder. "Let her bunk down with Miyami and Arista." When she caught Amber's shocked look, she added. "Look, you and me, we haven't been spending a lot of time together recently. I kind of miss our talks."

"Ok, not tonight, but tomorrow night everyone can bunk down in our room because-" she got to her feet and spun out on the pine floor. "It's so big! And then the next night Shahero can bunk in our room, ok?"

"Yeah that's a good idea."

"HEY!"

Amber stumbled back onto her bed at Shahero's angry exclamation as she stormed into the room. "Um, hey."

"Hello Shahero, what's wrong?" Ruin wondered sitting down and patting the space beside her.

Shahero dropped down on it with a growl. "Guess who I have to bunk with?"

"A flying cow?"

"No worse."

"Don't tell me my band of pink elephants snuck on?!" Ruin asked in her typical monotone voice making Amber giggle.

"I love how you say things like that."

"Ok, ok! We're talking about me!" Shahero cried directing their attention back to her.

"Who are you bunking with?" the Goth girl asked straight out as she got to her feet and deposited a top into the small vanity chest.

"Queen."

Amber blinked. "Who?"

Ruin looked at Shahero thoughtfully. "Queen… I know that name from somewhere. Oh, the girl Russia beat up before she was forced to go back home?"

"And bingo was her name-o." Shahero quipped while Amber still looked in the dark.

"WHO?!"

"Queen or Camie Quinn. Remember she had that thing for Zareth that night we went out to celebrate our exams? She was that dark haired girl with the mole, had a twin brother who called himself, King. Both of them were excessively arrogant, I mean King and Queen? Doesn't that imply incest?"

Amber made a face. "Ruin… I don't want to know…yuck! But I vaguely remember her, but she wasn't a member of the team, neither was King when I last talked to Foxy."

"Tala and Kai weren't members of our team the last time you talked."

"That bitch stole my boys." Amber pouted and then looked over at Shahero. "Is she still as bitchy?"

The blue-eyed teen observed her friend. "Do cows moo?"

"Depends on what cows you're talking about…ok so she's a bitch. What has she done so far?"

"Ugh, she made out hard core with your friend Foxy in the room while I was unpacking. He was perfectly nice and tried to move it on somewhere else, but she didn't want to. I hadn't even made her an enemy yet… she is now though."

Amber ran a hand through her hair. "No confrontations with the rejects, Coach says, and what his first item of business? Putting our most volatile member with their bitchiest!" she sighed dramatically. "Smart, real smart."

"Come on; let's go get some food or whatever."

"Food? I like that idea." Shahero stated perking up. They headed out of the dorm, Amber hanging back just a second to shrug on her fleece.


Tala placed his cyber-CD system on a shelf above his bed and looked round his dorm. It wasn't so bad, he supposed, compared to other dorms they'd been forced to share on other school trips. This dorm actually reminded him of the room he and Kai had shared back at Clonmel, actually thinking about that made him remember Amber's little rumor and left him grinning.

"What's so funny?" Kai asked as he walked in and dropped on to his bed, throwing a packet of Pringles to Tala.

Tala shook his head as he popped off the lid and ripped off the seal. "Nothing much."

"We'll have sleet before evening."

"Yeah I figured as much. Hey, what do you know about anorexia?"

Kai sat up on his bed catching the box his red haired friend fired back at him. So this was what was troubling Tala over the past couple of weeks since Coach had announced the trip. The red head had been subdued and often headed off on his own and every time the two of them were alone, Tala would bring something up but it would die when someone else entered the room. "Not much apart from it's an eating disorder. Why?"

"I over heard Amber and Ozuma talking that night Coach told us about the trip, he wanted to know if she was having a relapse."

"You mean she was anorexic?" twin blue brows shot up. Sure Ember was skinny but anorexic? Then he thought about it, she was incredibly skinny, often she slept through breakfast, she was often tired at times and once nodded off on his shoulder in study hall, and she ate very little when she was down for study hall.

"I don't know." Tala ran his hand over his face in frustration. "I think so, but I just don't know."

"What did she say to him?"

"Who?"

"Ozuma." Kai prompted patiently; selecting a thin crisp from the pile in his palm.

Tala chuckled softly. "She told him she never ate much during her period..." he trailed off losing his smile. "But I know her, she could just have used something she knew Ozuma would never question to put him off."

Yeah, that was true, Kai thought. Ember sure as hell knew how to use people's own thoughts and peeves against them, it was why she was so good at getting under peoples skin and how she was so good at easing people's anger. He's seen her diffuse a pissed Bryan without so much as a blink of an eye or even Johnny who was known to be a hot head, quelled under her words. She could give people what they wanted to hear and what they didn't want to hear and make it work for herself, which was why he was so wary of her. She could manipulate everything to her own liking; it made him nervous of her at times. Too long in her company would possibly end up with him bending to her will like every one else, she'd already manipulated him once but dammit, he just didn't know what exactly he was to make of her. Better just to stay the hell away from her, she wasn't one to be trusted.

Troubled he looked over at Tala who was staring into nothingness. If she wasn't to be trusted, why did Tala feel he could trust her so much when Tala was probably the smartest person he knew and was a great judge of character? Then again he'd been around Amber for so long, he probably wouldn't see her as he saw others. She'd given him no reason to mistrust her, yet how easily she forgave Tala made him uneasy. Would she hurt Tala in spite... yet each thought made his stomach churn but he couldn't tell if it was in disgust of what she could do, or was it self-disgust that he could think those things.

"Well who would know for certain?"

Tala shook his head. "With Amber, no one. She can hide things from herself therefore hide them from others. I was the only one who could read her better than anyone, and I left her. If she was anorexic, it was because of me."

Auburn eyes rolled in their sockets. "You're being self pitying."

"No, I'm being honest. Emotional trauma causes anorexia, pressure causes it-"

"Girls thinking they're fat cause's it."

Tala raised a blood red brow and if it hadn't been such an important topic, he might have laughed. "Amber thinking she's fat? Yeah good one, Kai."

"Fine. I don't know her, do I?"

"No you don't." Tala shot back. "And you don't want to." he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Give her a chance Hiwatari, you might be pleasantly surprised."

"So far all my experiences with Ember have been unpleasant."

"Ruin might know, if there's another who can read Benz better than herself, its Ruin." he got up and began to pace the room like a caged tiger.

Kai stroked his chin. "She probably would. If anything, Ruin's very observant. Where did she get the name from anyway?"

Tala grinned. "Benz and she got in a childish fight once, when Ruin being in one of her more bitchy moods broke something Benz was working on. When she asked Ruin why she'd done it, Ruin just shrugged and said that was what she did, ruin things so Amber called her Ruin. She flounced off and bitched to me about it, but Ruin became Ruin after that. It suits her much better than Morrigan."

Kai frowned; then shook his head. "Not really." at Tala's raised brow, he added. "Ruin's a cool name, no doubt but there was a goddess Morrigan in Celtic Mythology, she was goddess of war and death."

"Seriously?" A small smile of disbelief played over Tala's features. "Heh, maybe your knowledge of dead people and such is useful and interesting at times. Hmm, I wonder why Amber didn't know that. Benz use to read up on Gods and Goddesses all the time, use to have an obsession with the Greek gods, I suppose the Celtic ones didn't interest her."

"She's Irish."

"Her Father's Irish." Tala corrected quietly. "Her mother's Spanish."

"She... I guess her fathers neglect must upset her."

"Upset her?" Tala laughed bitterly. "It tore her up."

"She doesn't act like it."

"That's just it, Kai, Benny likes to act tough. Believe me; she was hurt when her father divorced her mother. Sometimes for her, everything's an act." he sighed heavily and sat down, his anxiety for his childhood friend weighed heavily on him. When the door opened, he snapped his gaze to it, ready to tell who ever it was to fuck off, but his words died in his throat as he looked on an old friend. "Zeo!"

The pleasure in Tala's tone had Kai relaxing yet left him feeling frustrated. Tala might have been the only one to help him figure out the Imp. God knows, no one else would be able to.

"Hey Tala, I heard you were back with the Tigers. I'm really glad. Amber's been missing you plenty. She hasn't been the same since you left. She was almost bouncing when she told me."

The words couldn't have had a better impact on him. The smile spilled over Tala's features. Zeo had always been good at knowing exactly what to say to make people feel better, even if he had no clue he was doing it. His hair was a striking mint green, long and tied back in a loose plait since it was too thick to tighten it. His eyes were a slightly darker color and were hooded by his bangs. Back in Bakuten he'd been the youngest member of their group and his innocence and his ability to make every one feel better about themselves made him a pleasure to be around. Then his skill at wielding a stick had made him a firm member of their little clique. Amber and he often found themselves at odds. It wasn't because she disliked him, but mainly because sometimes when he started whining, she got angry with him because she knew he was better than that. He'd become Tyson and Max's closest friend being the same age as them only for the fact that he was so clever he'd always been a year ahead of them.

"Yeah? Well it's nice to be back. So how are the rejects doing?"

Zeo shrugged. "Not too bad considering we're bottom of the league. But we're doing ok; we won against the Indians, though their big guy pretty much scared the wiggins out of me."

Wiggins? Kai raised a brow at his roommate then smothered a smile.

"I know what you mean." Unconsciously Tala's hand strayed to his ribs.

"Yeah we heard about your game. That was one heck of a sacrifice. We were listening on the radio, I really thought Amber had had it; Wyatt nearly threw up in his fear. Foxy was pretty much cursing the big git. But man, that was one heck of a move. You break anything?"

"No, and believe me I ain't willing to let you play doctor." Tala laughed at Zeo's face. "So what's the deal with Wyatt? I saw the way he blanked Benz, something going on there?"

Zeo nodded grimly. "Yeah. He worked up the courage to ask her out during the summer."

Kai, who'd tuned out the conversation, switched back on again at this announcement. He frowned as Tala winced. Now what was going on here? He'd seen the guy who'd blanked Amber and worried at it. A good looking guy, he remembered, and he'd seemed pretty much pushed around by their captain who'd been razzing him about something, probably Amber, he thought as he remembered how the petite Irish woman had inched closer to Arista who'd patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Oh, so what did she do?"

"Well Wyatt said she cut out his heart and stomped all over it. But that has to be completely bogus, she's not cold."

Tala shook his head. No, she wasn't cold, but she was inexperienced in those areas and probably handled it badly, which would explain her reaction when she saw Wyatt in the corridor as he'd been talking to Foxy. Poor Benny. "So she blew him off, and now he's ignoring the fact she exists?"

"Pretty much so. I'm sharing a dorm with him and he's not too pleased about her being here. I'm guessing every time she goes near him, he's going to bail. It sucks; they probably would have made a good couple."

Both Tala and Zeo looked sharply at Kai when he snorted at the comment, then shrugged. Zeo didn't make much of the ex-Shark captain and turned to look out the window, while Tala gave Kai another considering look.

"I don't think so Zeo. Benz would walk all over Wyatt, he probably knows that himself. She did what she thought was best, he's just being childish."

"He's embarrassed. Especially because Foxy keeps getting on to him about it, while King says that he can understand why Wyatt's embarrassed because it would be embarrassing when someone like Amber won't go out with him." there was a glitter in Zeo's eyes when he said that and his voice darkened as well.

Tala's fists clenched. "And what the fuck would King know about anything? He would fuck anything in his path with a hole."

Zeo's eyes widened at the words; then he burst out laughing. "Oh man, that's a good one. And so true."

The red head Russian's anger drained and his lips twitched. "Don't say that to him Zeo, otherwise you'll get your head kicked in."

"I know," he managed in between snickers. "But I'm going to tell Wyatt you called King a man whore, he'll get a laugh out of it. I'm glad you're here Tala. You always were there for the team."

"Yeah I miss you little guys too. Tell Foxy to watch his back though."

Zeo sobered and nodded before leaving them. When he was gone, Kai turned to Tala. "Something going on between you and their captain?"

"Don't tell me you haven't seen the family resemblance?"

Kai's brows rose. "A cousin? You never mentioned any other than Miguel."

"That's because Foxy's a shit fuck. The bastard's always been jealous of me and picked on Miguel most of his life. He's an arrogant shit for brains, but Amber, she doesn't see it. She and Foxy get along pretty well, but I can't stand him. He wants everything I have, and I trust him as far as I can throw him. I'm just betting he's been muscling in on Amber while I haven't been there. After all, it's something he'd do."

The bluenette frowned; this wasn't the Tala he knew. He knew Tala never liked Brooklyn that much, but he'd never seen this ultimate disgust and hatred come from his friend before. Usually he believed he was better than they were and he understood most people where jealous of him, but this Foxy person got right under Tala's skin.

"If Ember's as loyal as you say, it's going to take more than some pretty words to sway her from you. Now come on, I want something to eat."

Tala nodded. Yeah it would take more to sway Amber, but funnily he got the strangest feeling that Foxy wasn't the one he should be worried about, but the teen in front of him. Then he shook his head. Amber and Kai hated each other, didn't they?


"So when are you going to tell her?"

Nicolai watched the woman opposite him and grinned. "Who knows."

She rolled her eyes. "She'll find out and when she does, she'll hit the roof. If you know James, you know exactly how she'll react, Nicky. She'll feel betrayed because you knew who she was and you used that knowledge to get close to her."

Nicolai nodded. He valued her opinion and had a genuine affection for her. Her hair was golden brown and softly fell to her shoulder. Her eyes were the same brilliant blue of James's and held intelligence and a hint of mischievousness she'd carried with her since her youth when she'd played pranks on him and James and done other things such as stealing their clothes when they'd gone skinny-dipping. If anything, she was like a younger sister and he was filled with warmth at seeing her again. Her book-worm-ish tendencies had led her to becoming a teacher, which he supposed, was a very good profession for her, she'd be good at it. She knew how to deal with rebellious children especially boys. He idly wondered why it hadn't clicked with him that Kirby Preston-Lee being after all Amber's cousin was Anne's daughter and why hadn't he even thought about Ozuma and Daichi being Seth's boys. He'd been so caught up in Amber that he'd neglected to look at her cousins. Yes, James had been his best friend, but for most of the time, Seth and Anne had been like siblings to him. He'd have to look at the others more closely. So would that mean Bryan was Rory's or Ciara's, probably Ciara's, he assumed. Why hadn't it hit him that with his team he was surrounded by his family, hadn't Molly said he was like another son? Why had he given up that family when he'd given up his own? It was foolish; he realized that now. He missed them fiercely.

"You're probably right."

"I am right Nicky, I'm always right."

He snorted and grinned into his coffee. "Sure Anne."

"So how's Jean?"

"She's great. We've moved in next door to Treasa, coincidentally, so they're reliving their youth again with my money."

Anne grinned. "Really? Wish I could join them, but I'm always busy with school and monitoring detention and with Treasa having to work night shifts at the hospital, it's awkward. I must call up to see them; it would be nice to hang out with them again."

It was good to see that since James and Treasa had gotten the divorce, the Benson's hadn't deserted Treasa, then again, it wasn't their style. "So what about you and yours?"

"Well I have three daughters, all grown up. Julia has a son, but her and Crane aren't seeing eye-to-eye. Alyssa is still at Bakuten High, she wouldn't go to that prestigious school because she didn't want to be on her own, but she's going to Harvard hopefully. And Kirby, well Kirby is her usual self. She's following in her cousin's footsteps and playing hockey at your school."

Nicolai nodded. "She's good. Vice Captain and she seems to take orders pretty well when she sees sense in them. She's a lot like Amber, I noticed, but she's more open to others. Very bright girl you have there."

"She is." the pride wasn't concealed very well. "And what about your son? Is he here? I've been hearing a lot about him from Kirby. She likes him and Ozuma respects him."

"And Amber Marie and Bryan dislike him." Nicolai finished; then frowned. "Here he comes."

Anne turned with a slight smile on her lips, wondering about the boy who'd got under her niece's skin and there the two of them were sniping at each other like an old married couple. She smothered a smile at the thought.

"I didn't stomp on his heart!" Amber scowled at him. How could Zeo tell Hiwatari, her mortal adversary, something like that? Now she'd never live it down because he wouldn't possibly understand. He'd just assume that since Wyatt was the only guy who'd ever taken an interest in her, she should have just snapped him up because there'd be no one else. Bastard!

"That's not what I heard." Kai replied easily, enjoying razzing the petite girl to the point where her fury rendered her incapable of speech.

She swallowed and opened her mouth to spew something back at him, but couldn't find any words. Instead, she made a sound of frustration and stormed into the kitchen, Kai following leisurely behind her, so that when she stopped suddenly, he had a chance to slow and look over her head at what was going on. A woman sat at the pine table in the kitchen with his father. She was pretty and had the teacher vibe about her, but the amusement on her face made it seem younger and more approachable. She looked very at ease sitting there with his father; he just hoped she'd noticed the wedding band on his father's finger.

"Oi, Ember, move!"

If she heard him she didn't say anything, instead she made a sound of surprised joy and rushed over to the woman and threw her arms around her neck. "Aunty Anne! I didn't know you were here, no one told me."

Aunty Anne? Was the girl related to everyone? There was Ozuma, Daichi, Kirby, Bryan, Robert Jurgen... it seemed the Benson's bred like rabbits and were everywhere. It wouldn't surprise him if she was distantly related to everyone on the team. As long as he was left out of it, that was fine with him.

He made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard before pouring coffee into it. He settled down beside his father as Ember began to babble nonsense he wasn't interested in. "So how long are the rejects here for?"

"Oh we're just here for the weekend. Amber honey if you're getting yourself some coffee, would you refill mine please. And the milk is in the fridge, the third door from the sink sweet heart."

Kai smothered a smirk and cast a glance over his shoulder as Ember passed him, making sure to knock his shoulder as she passed.

"Kai this is one of the teachers from Bakuten, Anne Preston-Lee."

"Kirby's mother?"

"That's right."

Amber frowned as she heard the overly familiar way he used her cousins' name.

"You know Kirby?" Anne asked enjoying how her niece pretended she wasn't listening.

"Yeah for being related to the Imp, she's pretty nice."

"Kiss ass Hiwatari."

"Amber, behave." Anne sighed.

"Aunty Anne that was me being nice."

"You forget who you're talking to, now apologize."

Her dark slashing brows drew up in surprise then knitted in annoyance. She inhaled and crossed her arms in defiance. "No, I'm not apologizing to it. You've just fallen for his good looks and supposed charm, I know better.

"Amber-" what ever Nicolai had been about to say was drowned out by Kai.

"So you think I'm good looking, Ember?"

"I've got eyes don't I?" she snapped and had him wondering how she could compliment him and at the same time damn him with just an arch of a brow and a tone of voice. It was frustrating and at the same time intrigued him. "And quit calling me Ember."

"That's your name isn't it?"

"I'll add deaf to my list of your disabilities, maybe when the list is long enough I'll learn some compassion towards your unfortunate self." she replied as she returned to the table and passed her Aunt her mug. Instead of letting Kai retort and she was sure he was about to because he was now glaring at her; she turned to his father. "Were you that idiotic when you were that age?"

She didn't notice the look that passed Nicolai and Anne, but Kai picked up on it and how Anne nodded subtly, before grinning into her coffee. "Supposedly I was."

"Hereditary, I thought so. I suppose I can't really blame Hiwatari if it's genetic for him to be a dick ass."

"Benz, give it a rest."

They looked up at Tala's resigned voice as he dropped down into the chair beside Amber and snagged her coffee.

"Ok, look Hiwatari I'm sorry." she said solemnly, but her gaze was on Tala the whole time. He looked fatigued and it had come out in his request. Tala never usually looked tired, and that worried her. So saying nothing, she laid her head on his shoulder and played innocently with his larger hand. It looked pure white compared to the gold of her own skin.

They were total opposites, Kai thought as he watched the two of them, he was so fresh and pure while she was darkly exotic, yet they looked good together.

"Tala, are you eating properly?" Anne wondered as she studied the young man.

"Yes Aunty Anne. I'm just tired. Didn't sleep much last night."

"Why not?" this came from Amber, the concern in her voice and her expression was genuine.

Tala smiled down at her, his whole expression softening. "I just couldn't get much sleep. Maybe it was the excitement of getting away from school for a while."

A wicked grin spread over Amber's features. "Or maybe it was the thought of getting to spend some more time with Ruin."

Tala shot a quick look at Nicolai and was surprised when he didn't show any signs of annoyance. Saying nothing, he turned back to the petite girl. "I don't know where you get these ideas from. Someone's corrupting you and I won't rest till I find out who it is."

She shrugged non-commitedly. "Good luck with that. I've been surrounded all my life with guys who don't tone things down when I'm around. I think most of them have forgotten I'm female."

Kai made a comment but wisely disguised it with a cough, but the fact that he'd thought something warranted her to glare at him.

"You just shut up. Ow!" she winced as a reflex as her Aunt cuffed her ear. "You know violence solves nothing."

"No but it makes me feel good. Your mother would do the same if she was here."

"I'm well aware of that," the Irish girl grumbled and made Nicolai chuckle, earning a shy grin from his God daughter that Anne picked up and wondered about.

"So what's on for today Coach?"

"Ice breakers in a few minutes when we round every one up and we'll merge the two schools when it comes to the chores." Nicolai informed Tala who rolled his eyes.

"Why do we have ice breakers when we already know everyone here, including the rejects?"

"Good point, yeah I've known nearly all off those guys since they were in diapers."

"Didn't you wear diapers?" Kai smirked catching her slip up.

"Nah Amber went around commando."

"Oh shut up both- ow!" she tsked and scowled at her Aunt.

"Leave her alone Tala." Ruin ordered as she stalked into the kitchen and smiled warmly at Anne.

"Ruin." Anne said getting to her feet and embracing the Goth. "I haven't seen you in quite a while. How have you been?"

"I've been good, nothing to complain about."

Amber frowned. Nothing to complain about, my arse, she thought. Ruin Mulryan ha quite a lot to complain about, yet she didn't. Her parents were socialite fools who didn't care about their one and only daughter and saw her as a failure. Nevertheless, Ruin just shrugged off their obvious neglect. Didn't Ruin ever feel lonely? She remembered the reserved girl she'd met in their first year at Preston and how she'd been intrigued by her outward show of no emotions. Every one else had just brushed Ruin off, but Amber couldn't. She just couldn't help feeling there was more to Ruin and she hadn't given up no matter how callous Ruin had been, and when Tala had told her about her parents, Amber had vowed never to leave Ruin alone again. Family was important. Ruin didn't have much of one, so Amber was hers and vice versa. They'd sworn that in blood in their second year, Ruin mainly doing it to placate the Irish girl. Amber knew it, that sometimes Ruin went along with her just to amuse her, but in saying that Ruin would listen to her when she was being neurotic and always was there for her no matter what. The others found her annoying at times, she knew that, but when Ruin felt it, she didn't show it as easily as the others did. Ruin was just always there for her and knew her as no one else did or could.

"You'll be staying at Treasa's for Christmas this year?" Anne made it a question even though she knew Ruin always spent each Christmas with Amber since they first became friends, it would be an insult not to stay with them.

"Of course."

"Yup, we can throw stones at caroler's."

Nicolai grinned but inside he realized she'd probably be throwing stones at him when she realized what was going on. Would she finding out about him turn her completely against him, would they go right back to the start? He didn't think he would stand for that. Even her feelings towards his son were changing, she wasn't looking at him with contempt and the baiting was much the same as her baiting for Ian and Kane who she didn't see as enemies, not really.

"Here." Ruin handed Amber a CD case, her brow knitting when she noticed Tala's fatigued condition and it concerned her. Tala wasn't one to look tired easily, in fact, he rarely got sick as far as she knew but he could take some very serious migraines, she remembered. They could leave him paralyzed for a whole day, make him blind and his hands, which were usually so clever and skilled, fumble over the simplest of chores. Usually if he got his pills in him, they'd be eased; Ruin just hoped he'd brought them with him. She hated to see him in pain, it churned her up inside.

Amber took the CD case and grinned with glee. "You got it, thank you so much."

"What is it?" Tala asked, turning it over in her hands. "You're Lost Prophets CD? The one I gave you?"

"Mmm-Hmm."

"Why did you have it?" he asked looking at Ruin.

"I had to steal it back from Wyatt."

"Why did Wyatt have it?"

Amber squirmed. Not in front of Hiwatari, she tried to communicate with Tala but the probing gaze was insistent. "Ugh, I tried to convert Wyatt and for a while he completely acted like he liked them until I realized that the only reason he listened to it was because, you know and then he was avoiding me like the plague and I never got it back. So I got Ruin to steal it back."

Tala rolled his blue eyes. He'd just keep an eye on Wyatt while he was here. Any guys that were interested in his Benz were to be watched carefully. She was naive when it came to the male species even though she didn't believe it. Being friends was one thing, add in hormones and all rational thought went out the window, he could vouch for that. However, he was a superior being compared to Wyatt and another difference was that he actually had a chance with Ruin; Wyatt never had a chance with Amber.

"Has anyone got a Discman on them? I haven't heard some of these songs in ages, and it's not the same listening to Shahero's CD. Mine is special."

"It's the exact same." Ruin pointed out.

"It's so not."

"I got it to her." Tala explained.

"That's not it either. It's mine, which means it's special." Amber gloated hugging the CD close to her chest.

"Fight later, ice breakers now." Nicolai said getting to his feet and crossing to the sink to rinse out his mug. He listened to the groans of his team and with a jolt; he realized that this was exactly where he wanted to be. He felt like he was finally home. If he'd had a proper family, this would be how he'd want it to be. Sibling squabbles, sniping, warmth, and ease. It was good and right.


That night the two teams sat in the mess watching '10 things I hate about you', a left over movie from another groups stay. It made Kai and Kane decide to get Coach Hiwatari allow them to head into the nearest town.

Amber was curled up in Bryan's arms, almost asleep. Arista and Shahero dominated the couch having thrown Ian off it. Tala and Ruin were curled up on the love seat. Miyami and Johnny had both feigned exhaustion and headed to bed -no one believed they were sleeping. Spencer was slouched in a threadbare armchair. Kane, Ian and Kai took the floor, Kai having grabbed a beanbag. Zeo had found himself an inflatable chair. Foxy, King and Queen were all snug and cozy on a moth eaten mattress, in a way that made the Tigers raise their brows. Rei was out on the phone talking to Mariah. Michael had gone to bed after talking to Beth and Enrique was getting some more food with Ozuma -more than likely they'd end up discussing Sonia and girl problems.

Kai had noted how Wyatt had entered the room only to spot Amber and leave again. No, in his opinion, Wyatt was certainly not the guy to handle the virgin Amber. It annoyed him that he was even thinking like this. The spitfire sure wouldn't appreciate it. She'd rather scalp him. Idly he looked at the other team; most of them didn't interest him at all. Most teams were all the same in his eyes, except for his team he thought with reluctant pride.

Their captain, Foxy, was as blond as Tala was red. His eyes were a darker blue and his skin was bronzed. They were probably along the same weight, though Foxy was just an inch or so shorter than his cousin. Kai could see the family resemblance between Tala. Foxy and Miguel but personalities wise they were mostly very different, but it was obvious that Foxy wanted to out do Tala. He made no effort to conceal his jealousy in the earlier icebreakers. Unfortunately Foxy was now in the red group, so he'd have to deal with him all tomorrow. However, Benson telling him to shut his dick hole when he'd begun to diss Nicolai had been amusing and confusing. The girl was so contrary and unpredictable. Why had she defended his father so firmly? Moreover, how did his father know her aunt? There was definitely something odd going on.

"Stop it, Hiwatari." Amber mumbled sleepily. She shifted in Bryan's arms as he stroked her back. "I can feel you glaring at me."

"Why would he be looking at you? He'd be more likely to be looking at me, wouldn't you sugar?" Queen drawled with a seductive smile from Amber's feet.

"No he wouldn't, he's got a girlfriend. And I said glaring not looking." Amber replied without any heat since she was too tired, instead, she nuzzled further into Bryan.

Queen shot her a look of disgust, then curled her lips into a female smile when she glanced at the dark broody Kai. There was definitely something going on between the Tiger Captain and the minx. She wondered if Tala noticed. Probably not, she decided, he was concentrating too much on the Gothic goddess. Though what their relationship was, Queen was having a hard time defining.

She cast glance at her bother and noticed his gaze was roaming around the room, settling on nothing in particular. Where Queen was dark and lush, King was light and dignified. She preferred the boldness of attack; he preferred the subtlety of planning. They matched perfectly.

She turned to Foxy and licked her upper lip slowly and deliberately. When his eyes darkened and he shifted closer, a foot appeared between them. She snarled and looked up into the cold lilac eyes.

"If you want to continue that, I suggest you get a room." Bryan said softly, but it still made her skin crawl. She didn't know how the girl in his arms could feel so comfortable and safe there.

"We have a room." She replied with a hiss.

"Queen prefers an audience."

The team grinned at Amber's mumbled comment.

"Shut up Benson, at least I've kissed a guy, can you even say that?" Queen demanded scathingly, her slender sculpted brow arching haughtily.

Amber eyes snapped open and locked with Kai's, who happened to be sitting opposite her, watching her intently. She turned in Bryan's arms to sneer down at the girl below her. "From what I've heard, it's not just a boy, in fact it's not just boys you've kissed and done a hell of a lot more with!" she snapped, her topaz eyes blazing. She heard some of the surprised gasps from the others and immediately regretted what she'd said because of her short fuse. It was none of her business who Queen liked or what she did and she probably wouldn't have said anything if it hadn't been for Kai sitting there. For a guy who didn't like her, and vice versa, he seemed to be there for most of her important and embarrassing moments.

"Watch what you say." King threatened; his voice low.

Bryan's grip on his baby cousin tightened. "Don't threaten Amber, or I'll break the finger you lay on her." Shahero stated sitting up straighter.

"I don't like threats from little girls."

"She's not making a threat, she's making a promise." Ruin's sultry voice out through the tension, calm and deadly.

"All of you give it a rest. Queen make out with Foxy, Amber keep that trap of yours shut." Kai told them wearily turning back to the film. He didn't see the flash of hurt in the ochre eyes that looked at him or how they hardened but Ruin did and she wasn't happy.


"Hey Rath, what's going on with you and Hiwatari?"

The two girls were getting ready for bed, Amber in her usual cotton pj. top and boxers and Ruin in a long black Nirvana T-shirt. Amber shot her a bewildered look. "Um, which one?"

Ruin thought about it for a moment running a hand through her hair, contemplating whether to take her make up off or not. Tala would be coming over in a little while -or so he'd told them- so keeping it on would be the best idea since she felt naked without it, but then she'd probably fall asleep with it on and that would leave her skin dry and her eyes black. She'd remove it.

"Well?"

"Both." Ruin decided.

Amber grimaced and shrugged, grabbing a brush to tackle her hair. "Not much to say on both counts. I like Nicolai; he's cool. His son on the other hand is a major brat on an authority high." Her expression turned harder and there was a certain bite to her words, which made Ruin's brow rise.

"So he did hurt you." Ruin surmised.

The younger girl opened her mouth to deny, then clamped it shut, clenching her jaw. She hated when Ruin saw right through her. "I hadn't done anything to him." She grumbled then added. "Or Queen."

"And you think he should have taken your side?" Ruin made it a question as she cleansed her skin, leaving it painfully naked and vulnerable.

"Over Queen?" Amber demanded as if it was obvious. "Any day. Tigers stick together!"

"And Kai's a tiger, is he?" her friend queried watching her pace the room through the mirror.

The Irish teen stopped and stared at her as though she were simple. "Well he wears the uniform, he plays in the games and he wears the captain's C, so you tell me?"

"Well it's just that if I were Kai, I'd be having some doubts."

Amber scowled darkly at her friend's nonchalant reply. "Is that a dig at me?"

"It's a dig at your treatment of him, since he showed up. You haven't just been cautious or unfriendly; you've been down right rude. And you've been encouraging the others to respond to him in the same way."

Rude? The word echoed in her head. She hadn't been rude, had she? She'd been childish, bitchy even, but that had been completely different to being rude. She could be vindictive sure, and even mean but she realized that she'd been all of the above to Kai before he'd even done anything to warrant it. Moreover, she treated Ian better and he was forever annoying her. Nevertheless, Kai was just so smarmy and full of himself, sometimes she just wanted to slap that know it all smirk off his face. And wasn't that just a part of her problem with him? That without doing anything to her at all he'd gained such a huge reaction from her. She didn't even want to acknowledge his existence but she always noticed him. She even seemed to find herself seeking him out just so they could have a fight or she could sneer at him so he wouldn't know how much he affected her. In addition, he did affect her, even though she didn't want it. All the same, he hadn't done anything to deserve her maltreatment of him.

"I've been a brat, haven't I?"

"Not so much recently, but yes." Ruin replied, turning to face her, her eyes warm and her mouth soft. "Want to talk about it?"

Sighing, the ochre-eyed girl flopped down on the bed. "I don't know. Ok." She turned over onto her stomach. "Yes. Kai's infuriating."

Ruin crossed to her bed and sat on it, crossed legged. "How so?"

"He always looks down on me, as though he's so much better, smarter and cooler than me. Bullshit! He's not better than me at everything; I got a higher mark in that last History pop quiz. I feel that I'm always competing with him; Tala was my best friend first. Now he's Kai's."

"And yours."

She smiled fondly. "Yeah and mine, and I would say yours, except I think friendships isn't what you want from him."

"Very perceptive." Ruin acknowledged. "But we're not talking about me."

"We should. You always listened to me. You know if you need to talk I'm here, I'm not as shallow or naïve as I sometimes seem."

"I know Ams, and I'm grateful for that. But right now, I'm more worried about you?"

"You know, I'm glad it's you Tala's interested in. You won't feel threatened by mine and Tala's relationship and I won't feel threatened by yours and Tala's."

"In other words you're not jealous." Ruin's words were measured. Amber had this little knack of evading questions about her personal life, and most times, she didn't notice it.

"Exactly. Girls like Clover or Kennedie would take Tala away from me or try to because they'd feel like they were entitled to more of him, which wasn't true. Hey Ruin?"

"Hmm?" Ruin looked up from chipping her black nail varnish. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"If you feel I'm taking Tala away from you, tell me, ok? Cause sometimes I'm really selfish without realizing it." The words were uncertain and delivered in a small voice, causing to Ruin study her.

"Look Tala and I are really casual, I enjoy his company and talking to him, but you know that you're really important to him. If you feel I'm taking Tala from you, say so."

"What? I don't think that. Besides you don't see the way Tala looks at you, I do. He doesn't look at any other girl like that."

"Except maybe you." Ruin pointed out, climbing under the covers.

Amber made a face. "Goddess I hope not."

"You hope not what?"

Both girls snapped their gazes to the door where Tala had just entered and was now shutting the door with a soft click.

"Oh I forgot you were coming…" Amber trailed off amused when she realized Tala wasn't listening to her but looking at Ruin with a look of hungry adoration. She cast a look at Ruin who wriggled her brows as if to say -don't-ask-me.

"Tala."

Tala snapped his gaze to Amber as her lilting voice penetrated his very imaginative thoughts. He was glad he remembered to tug on a gray t-shirt and sweats over his boxers. He didn't want to make Amber uncomfortable, yet... "Sorry?"

"I said I forgot you were coming."

"Oh don't I feel loved." Tala muttered sardonically as he crossed to Ruin and made himself comfortable by stretching out on her bed, laying his head on her lap.

"So are you guys going to be talking all night?" Amber wondered as she stifled a yawn.

"Probably."

"We'll keep our voices down if you want to sleep." Ruin supplied.

"You're going to go to sleep? Why?"

"Because." Amber started patiently. "I get cranky when I don't get enough sleep."

Tala nodded. "Yeah I seem to recall that. Especially that time at my fourteenth birthday, you were pretty bitchy."

Amber glowered remembering how they all decided to crash in his dorm and she'd gone to sleep while they'd stayed up talking. She'd woken to Tala and Ruin arguing about the peanut they'd attempted to stick up her nose.

"I wouldn't have been so grouchy if I hadn't had a peanut up my nose."

Ruin smirked while Tala laughed. "Yeah that's right, I forgot about that."

"Hmm. So can you guys keep the noise down?"

"No problem. If you want, Benz, you can sleep in my bed."

Amber looked at him dubiously; then shrugged. "Sure, what number?"

"Three," Tala replied watching as she climbed out of her bed, grabbed Joe, her teddy bear and headed out of the dorm calling out good night as she exited.

When she'd left, Ruin looked down at him as she trickled her fingertips over his facial features. He was stunning, intelligent and conniving. She admired all three. "Who're you sharing with?"

Tala opened his eyes and gazed up into the depthless brown of hers. Her delicate touches caused his body to react so that the wolfish grin he offered was strained around the edges. "Kai."

Ruin closed her eyes and curbed the urge to groan. "Tala do you want them to kill each other?"

"No. I want them to abide each other. They both matter to me and their fighting is getting on my nerves."

"Aw poor baby," she mocked, sighing when he turned his lips to brush them over her fingertips. Something sweet began to grow but she squished it before it had a chance. "So what do you want to talk about?"

Tala quirked a brow at her brisk, business-like tone. "I don't know," he admitted; then his expression changed to something wicked, he shifted until he was over her, his lower body pinned her to the mattress.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Tala grinned. Christ that tone and expression did him in every time. Was there anything sexier than that Lady-of-the-manner tone with her brow winged up in tepid fascination, deep brown eyes blurry, soft mouth parted and breathing shallow? Probably not, he accepted. That tone drove him mad, mad for her.

"Well, now Amber's gone we can..." he trailed off as he, finding a hole in the shoulder of her t-shirt, began to nuzzle at the supple and vulnerable skin right there.

Her breath hitched as flames of desire began to lick along her skin. His teeth scraping along the delicate flesh had her hips arching in sinuous invitation. Her brain was turning to mush again and she needed to think. She released her arms from where he'd trapped them under the covers between them. She pressed them against his chest feeling the warm muscles underneath. She tried to push him away so she could think freely. God she needed to think.

"Dammit Ruin," he growled, before ruthlessly kissing her into submission.

She fought against him for dominance then with a groan of need, she fought for more of him.

He couldn't get enough of her. Gripping her hands, he locked them over her head pinning her effectively in a position that gave him complete control over her. Holding her there with one hand, his other hand streaked down the soft inside of her arm. She was so incredibly soft at the inside of her elbow even as her mouth was hot and restless against his. He swallowed her breathless whimpers and absorbed her demands for more.

He tore his mouth from hers reluctantly and nibbled over her jaw, before moving to that silk-like skin. Her eyes rolled back in her head in pleasure. Why... was it... so hard to... um...

With a growl, she shoved Tala off her.

He rolled until he lay beside her. "Shit what the hell's wrong now?"

She sat up, running a hand over her hair as she tried to think. Her gaze fell on Amber's empty bed. "What makes you think that when Amber finds out who she'll be bunking with, she won't come back here?"

Tala groaned, frustration leaking out of every pore. "If it was any other excuse Ruin, I'd have ignored it."

"Oh would you?"

"Don't start." he ordered sharply. "That tone will just shatter any control I may have left."

"Hmph." So he though he had control? Ruin took a cleansing breath, her heartbeat was still erratic, and her blood still flashed fire.

"So what do you want to do now?" he wondered, propping himself up on his elbow to look down on her visage.

She shrugged and muffled a yawn. "I don't know, I can't think." when she caught his smug grin, she schooled her features to appear bland. "I'm tired."

He sighed and got to his feet, doubly glad he'd had sense to pull on his sweats. "I'll go then."

"It's ok. You can bunk in here."

"Thanks."

She quirked an amused brow when he moved towards Amber's bed. "Tala you can sleep in with me."

He looked dubious. "Ah... I don't know Ruin. My controls not that good."

She smirked at the compliment. "I trust you."

I don't, he thought, but climbed into bed with her, spooning her body closely with his.


"You can't sleep in here," Kai stated stubbornly; arms crossed over a naked compact chest that Amber desperately tried to ignore.

"I don't have much of a choice." she replied with equal stubbornness, though standing there in an over sized pj shirt which was hanging off her shoulder and in a pair of loose boxers, no socks and holding on to Joe; she didn't think Hiwatari would take her too seriously.

"Why not?" he was grateful his expression and tone were annoyed and unsympathetic, despite the fact that she looked innocently appealing in the shorts and shirt. Every time his gaze met those large topaz eyes, his gut clenched almost painfully. Dammit, that wasn't supposed to happen. He shouldn't have been so attracted to a girl he could barely stand to be around. It was being so far from Miriam, he decided, trying to work up a sneer for the bear.

"Because Tala is over with Ruin."

"And?"

And! Did she have to explain it to him? He was doing it on purpose, she decided. Just because, in the warm glow of the deceptive lamp light, he looked gorgeous and beautiful didn't mean he wasn't the same devious shit fuck captain of hers. "And they're probably doing the mattress rumba!"

Kai blinked. "The what?"

"Mattress rumba," she repeated with an exasperated roll of her eyes.

"And what is that when it's at home?"

She groaned. "In other words, they're doing it! Idiot," she added under her breath, not noticing how his eyes flared.

"What? Sex?"

"Well the give idiot-boy a banana," she snapped with extra venom. She felt so naked and vulnerable in front of him without her sneakers and jeans. She had no Armour to defend so she attacked.

"You could have just said that they were having sex."

"Well I didn't think you were so thick. A boy and girl in the same room, you do the math!" she growled.

Kai smirked slow and maliciously making her itchy. "Me and you are in the same room, are we having sex? You wouldn't be a virgin, if that's how you think sex works."

Color bloomed on her cheeks as her eyes flared. "Ok, let's clear this up right now. I know how sex works, I'm innocent not naive or stupid. It's not rocket science, and it's none of your goddamn business."

Her breaths were coming in short gasps, her face was flushed, eyes bright, hair sleek and long. She looked amazing. His fiery Imp... was climbing into Tala's bed and had a cute butt from what he could tell as the thin cotton stretched over it.

"You're not sleeping here!" his rasped.

She looked at him steely. "Are you going to carry me out?"

The challenge was directed with a jerk of her chin and a defiant gleam in her eyes. Having seen it all too often, he could recognize it easily. Usually he met it, but the thought of carrying her, knowing how cruel fate could be made him uneasy. If he lifted her, he thought, the top would probably slide and leave him touching the smooth golden skin she was exposing as she stretched. Before he could stop them, thoughts of what it would be like to lay his lips on the smoothness of her shoulders plagued his mind.

Disgusted with himself, he shoved the covers off and stalked out of the room. He needed air, he needed a goddamn cold shower, and he needed to talk to Miriam. God what was wrong with him? Physical attraction could be understandable on first meeting a pretty girl, but he wasn't meeting Amber for the first time, hell the first time he met her, he hadn't been attracted and she was nothing but bitchy and mean tempered since he'd first came here. So what was going on with him? He was sick and missing Miriam, that's all. He'd go talk to her.


It was pitch black when he'd arrived back at his dorm. Not out of consideration but for his own sanity did he not turn on the light and he'd ended up rapping his knee smartly on the side of the bed. The girl in the other bed didn't wake just cuddled her teddy bear closer. He'd climbed into bed and eventually had fallen asleep. Which was why he was so disgruntled at being woken 5 minutes later; or so it seemed. He groaned and rolled over on the bed.

"What?" he demanded; voice gritty with sleep.

"I had a nightmare," was the whispered confession.

Against his better judgment, he opened his eyes. She was standing over him. Her eyes were almost luminescent in the dark, her hair was no longer sleek and she was trembling.

Frowning and rubbing a hand over his face, he sat up looking at his radio alarm clock. 2:59. Oh god!

"What?" he repeated, trying to clear the fuzziness from his brain.

"I had a nightmare."

"What about?" he asked resigned.

"Spiders."

"Spiders can't hurt you, go back to sleep."

"They were spinning a web from my chin to my nose. I couldn't breath. I don't like spiders," she whispered.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

She was dreading that question. The others always suggested, so she didn't have to. Nevertheless, she plunged ahead. "Can I sleep in your bed?"

"With me?" It could almost have been squeaked and almost made her smile, if she wasn't dreading his answer. She bit her lip and nodded. "What? No. NO!"

"Fine! Can you at least walk me over to Bryan's room?"

"Why can't you go?"

"It's dark and I could walk straight into a spider's web. Besides, I don't know which room he's in." her cheeks were burning with humiliation, her voice no more than a whisper. She wanted Bryan, she wanted Tala; she wanted anyone who wasn't Kai Hiwatari. Tears of self-pity rose like a tidal wave but she forced them back.

Kai groaned then cursed. He shoved off the covers and got out of the bed with barely contained violence. He nudged her out of his way and stalked to her bed. As he pushed her bed over to his, Amber had time to admire the subtle muscles in his smooth back, which was punctuated by a small mole on his left shoulder blade. Some rippled under the phoenix tattoo and made her finger tips itch to trace it. Furious with herself, she clenched her fists. Amazed at the sheer strength, she stared at her bed, which now pressed against his.

"Get in," Kai commanded and numbly she obeyed. "Now you go to sleep and stay on your side. I don't want to wake up with you latched to my side."

"Oh drop dead. I wouldn't dream of going near you."

"Humph," he muttered getting in and pulling his covers up, shutting his eyes tight, hoping to shut out her. Now he knew where that scent he always caught wisps of in S.H. came from.

Her.

"Hey Kai?"

He grunted and turned. Away. He heard the bed shift and figured she was giving up. Or he did, until something cold brushed his leg. "Dammit Benson, I thought I told you to stay on your own side."

"I am on my own side."

Reluctant he rolled over and groaned. So she was. However, she was just beside the damn boundary line. He sighed.

"Hey Kai?"

"Just go to sleep Ember."

"In a minute. Kai?"

"What? Have you got an obsession with my name?"

"Can you stop living and breathing jerk-ogen for a moment?" she demanded, sitting up in her bed and looking at him.

"Fine. What is it?"

"Do you think I've been rude to you?"

He sighed heavily, and pillowed his head on his folded arms. "No, I don't think that," he said, then paused. "I know it."

Her face fell. "Oh. I didn't realize I was that bad. I'm sorry."

He'd seen her apologies before, thank you very much. "Whatever."

"No listen. I know I'm often bitchy and childish, and that's fine with me. However, I don't like to be out and out rude. So I'm sorry."

Kai sat up and looked at her in the quiet darkness, it seemed to intimate for their conversation, yet sleeping beside her would just make it seem more so. "I've seen you apologize and not mean it before, how do I know that you mean it this time?"

She gaped at him surprised. Giving him a bogus apology had never occurred to her. "I've never faked an apology to you before. I don't apologize to people I don't like very often, generally because they don't deserve it. You do. Therefore, I apologize. If you throw it back in my face Hiwatari, you'll never get another."

He had to admit, he liked it better when she called him Kai. "Just go to sleep Benson."

"Fine," she bit out.

"Look I'm not throwing it back. I just need to think about it," and everything else, he silently added. Why was he even trying to explain to her? Why was it so important to him that he didn't push her away now? "Ok?"

"Yeah sure. Night." She slid down the bed and pulled her sheets up to her chin, and curled up in a little ball as far away from Kai as possible.

"Sweet dreams," he murmured and felt her smile.


TBC