Author's Note – This is a whole Team Frozen Dark chapter, mostly focusing on Reo. I hope you'll like it. I tried fulfilling guest reader Anaya and Faeza's request in this, though this chapter was preplanned. Hope you like it!

Dedicated to Guest Readers Anaya, Eve90512, and Faeza!

Pawn

The spoon clanked on the plates. Alice served Golden Rice to Reo, who was sitting on one end of the table. He had Sianna on one adjacent side and an empty chair for Alice on another. Beside Sianna, Naomi was eating quietly. Shinyu was in front of Naomi, merrily swinging her head while eating and Joh on the other end of the table. Breaking the silence in between them, Sianna said, "Reo, Alice cooked the Golden Rice. Tell us how it is?" He tasted it and said with the food still in his mouth, "Mmm… It's yummy. Thanks, Alice." Alice blushed and said, "You're Welcome, Reo." Sianna looked totally annoyed to see how stupid her brother is to not notice an obvious hint. 'That oblivious Moron,' she thought. Alice sat on her chair.

Shinyu and Joh had now finished eating and put down their spoons on the plate. Reo looked at them from over his glasses, shoved a spoon full of rice in his mouth, and said, "I have a message from mother." Suddenly, everyone and everything was silent, there was no screeching of spoons on the plate. The air started to fill with fear and in the quietness, Reo cleared his throat and said, "She wants Shinyu back in Russia after the school year is over."

Shinyu looked at him in fear. She mouthed a 'no' and nodded her head in denial. Reo continued, "I want to oppose mother but I cannot do it alone-" He was cut by Joh, who said, "Why not let her go?" Shinyu was horrified. Her body started to tremble as she watched her older brother in fear with only one thing on mind – 'Why?'

It was not sure if he regretted what he said but his actions hurt the little speechless child. Reo scolded Joh, "You need to know what you are saying. Shinyu is your sister-"

"She is NOT our sister!" he cut in and yelled. A chair screeched as it rubbed against the floor and Shinyu ran away weeping, slamming the door of her room behind her. "Joh! In your room, now!" Sianna got up and shouted at him. He stormed into his room. Reo rubbed his forehead with his palm. Sianna gestured Naomi to go too. She got up and silently left. Alice placed her hand on his back supportively. He shrugged her hand down and said, "I think I need a break. I'll be in my room." He got up and went upstairs.

Alice and Sianna looked at each other and sighed. Sianna started to keep all the food in the fridge and said, "I guess we all need a break."

"I've had enough for today," Alice added and started helping Sianna. When they were done, they went upstairs together in Sianna's room. Sianna lay on the bed while Alice searched for something. Sianna looked at her and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"My clothes. I think I left it in Reo's room after changing," she replied as she still looked for her clothes. Sianna gave a smirk and asked, "What were you doing in his room." Alice threw a pillow at her face and said, "I said I was changing while you and your oblivious brother were having your sibling moment. He does not even notice me." Sianna picked up a magazine and said, "Whatever. Take a look at what Shinyu is doing, okay?"

"Sure," she replied and went out of the room. She strode downstairs and peeked through Shinyu's door. She saw that the lights were turned off already and Shinyu was lying on the bed sleeping. She saw that Shinyu was breathing heavily and was having a nightmare. She got inside and sat beside her on the bed. Shinyu suddenly woke up and gasped, breathing heavily and heart beating rapidly.

"Baby girl, are you okay?" Alice stroked her hair and said worriedly, "Were you having a nightmare?" She nodded. Alice hugged her and said, "It is okay. It was just a nightmare. Everything is fine." She laid her back on the bed and tucked her in her sheet and went out. Shinyu seemed to have fallen asleep right then. She went upstairs and opened the door of Reo's room. She flushed as she looked inside. Scarlet color rose on her face like the mercury in a thermometer. Reo was shirtless and had really messy wet hair. Alice immediately regretted not knocking first. He wore a white shirt and left the top two buttons open without even saying anything in a composite manner.

Alice looked down in embarrassment and said, "I am sorry, I should have knocked." He looked at her as if he just noticed her and said, "Oh! didn't see you there. Come in." She walked inside in embarrassment and shuttered, "I- I left my clothes here."

He picked up the teal colored clothes lying on the bed and gave it to her. She smiled blushingly and took it. He cupped her face in his hand and pulled her close. Her face turned scarlet. He gave a crooked sort of smiled and said, "You are really cute." He left her and walked to his drawer and pulled out a necklace. It had a silver chain and an oval turquoise stone. He said showing it to her, "It belongs to my grandmother. My mother said that she died long before I was born. I wanted to give it to you."

"Why?" she asked, "It looks expensive. I cannot take it." He went behind her and pulled back her hair to see her neck. He put the necklace around her neck and said, "I see you have an interest in turquoise color, so why not?" He turned her around and continued, "And for your information, the stone is not real."

Alice examined the stone and noticed that something was written on it – 'Mein Herz Gehört Dir'. She asked him, "What does this mean?" He looked at it and replied, "I don't know. It is not in Russian." She looked at it once more while he went and sat on the bed. She looked at him and thought that maybe she can spend some time with him. She went and sat beside him. He seemed distracted and disturbed, so she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine," he replied in an unusual disturbed tone. She knew something was wrong and said, "You can always talk to me, you know." He looked at her thinking if he can really be open to her. It was quite hard to open up to anyone as it was hard for him to trust anyone but her eyes were filled with affection for him. He somehow wanted to trust her. He sighed and replied, "I am worried about Shinyu."

She gave a genuine smile and said, "What about it?" He didn't have difficulty in talking to her anymore. He continued, "You heard what Joh said during dinner, right?" She nodded mindfully, "Yeah."

"Well, Shinyu is our half-sister. She was born a year after our father died. We were kids but we somehow knew that her father and our father weren't the same people. She was really weak when she was a kid and when she started to gain more strength, Uncle Boris did experiments on her and she became weak again."

"Does that make her any different?" she said matter-of-factly. She gave a sad smile and held his hand in her and said, "Shinyu is the strongest person I have ever known. She easily pranks us with her genius mind. She is intelligent, thoughtful, and strong. Do not worry about her, worry about yourself." He looked at her stunned and asked, "What do you mean?" She looked him in the eyes with seriousness yet affection and said, "You are sad about something other than that."

"No, I am not," he said in assurance. He thought for a while but he didn't get anything. Alice put her hand on his chest and said, "Think, Reo. There is something that is bothering you for long. It is the reason why you don't trust anyone." Reo got up and walked to the chessboard that was on the table. The chess pieces were of black and white glass arranged on a wooden chessboard. Reo picked up a black pawn and said, "I am treated like this little guy here. He is not that powerful and only takes one step. He works for the queen who is free to roam anywhere on the board."

He dropped the pawn and it broke into millions of pieces. Alice gasped at the sight. She understood his point. She got up and stood beside her and said, "The pawn is really powerful that you don't understand it. If it reaches the end of the board it can turn into a bishop or a castle or a knight or even a queen!" She looked at him and gave a smile. He sighed and said, "I don't know why but when you say something like that, I feel like I can do anything."

"You can do anything and everything," she said and took him to his bed. When she was about to leave he held her hand and pulled her down to sit on the bed and hugged her. They were like that for a while. Alice almost dozed off but she got up only to find that Reo was deep into his slumber in her arms. She laid him on his bed and sat on the floor with her head on the mattress and fell asleep there.

In the morning, Sianna knocked on the door of Joh's room harshly. Naomi came out wearing Joh's black oversize hoodie, rubbing her eyes in drowsiness. She was wearing white shorts underneath. Sianna started scolding her for something while Alice came downstairs. Sianna looked at her curiously and asked, "What were you doing upstairs?" She looked at her bandaged palm and shot questions at her, "How did you get hurt? Why didn't you come back last night? What happened to you?"

Alice just couldn't say anything to her while she shot questions at her. Alice replied to her calmly, "It is nothing. Nothing happened to me. I was in Reo's room last night." Sianna gasped with sparkling eyes and squealed, "Tell me everything!"

She dragged her into the kitchen and rapidly fired questions. Naomi and Shinyu joined in too and all they did was give a smirk. Reo suddenly popped up from behind and asked in a cold but not harsh tone, "What are you girls babbling about?"

He managed to startle the girls while Alice blushed badly as he was right behind her. Sianna stammered, "R-Reo, What are y-you doing here?" He looked at the shelf behind her and said, "I want the keys of the car." Sianna grabbed the keys and gave it to him. He added before leaving, "Sorry girls, I am borrowing Alice for a while. It might be a little long. Do continue your gossip without her." He pulled Alice by her hand and took her to the car.

Reo took her to the market and bought some beyblade parts. He didn't say anything to her during the ride. While coming back, he stopped in front of the Church. It was a quiet alley and as it was Friday, the Church was closed too. Alice felt awkwardness running down her spine. It was just too silent. Cutting down the silence and awkwardness, Alice asked, "Reo, Is there something you want from the Church?"

"No," he replied and took out the car key from the socket. He took off his glasses and kept it in front of the gear. His lavender eyes shone beautifully on his fair skin. He said in hidden sadness, "Riri and I used to come here to freshen our mood. This is where we confessed."

She looked down in dismay with the thought, 'He still likes Riri.' Reo held her hand and continued, "I want to start my new relationship from here, a relationship that won't feel toxic." She looked back at him, he was smiling at her. She just wanted to confirm he was talking about her so she asked, "Are you talking about a relationship with-"

"You," he completed her. She was mentally glad that he wanted that but her words said something else, "Don't you love Riri?"

"The Ice Queen?" he chuckled, "I did but I am glad to see she is happy with Kai so I taught myself to move on and love someone who can return the same love. You have always been nice to me and loved me every since-" He couldn't complete himself as a pair of soft cherry lips touched his and made him petrified. He was blushing like a red tomato. It was the first time she saw him so embarrassed and flushed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Oh my God! I wanted to post this chapter for so long. It was my most awaited chapter. I had planned this chapter even before I planned BIT. I am so glad that I could bring a few of the scenes, including this, from the first concept of the story. The concept of Reo and Riri spending time in front of the church came from my past relationship.

I hope you like it! Please review! The exhibition matches are starting in the next chapter. It will be a lot of fun (at least for me).