A/N: My first piece of Kai/Rei! ^___^ This is my response to the "First
Kiss" fic rush challenge on the KaixReiML (check my profile for details!)
It took me about an hour or two to write, it isn't betaed or rewritten in
any way, and I enjoyed every second of the 820 words below!
Now read the fic, which (despite all appearances) is really untitled.
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"Hey, it's not cold out here at all!"
The voice sounded impressed. Kai's back stiffened when he realised that he recognised it. Resolutely, he stared straight ahead through the criss- crossed wire that enveloped the "sommet" of the Tour Eiffel. "Wow, from what they said, I thought for sure that- oof!"
Kai smiled to himself as he imagined Rei turning the corner and being hit by a blast of knife-blade air.
"I guess it is that cold after all. Hey Kai!"
Kai said nothing in response, but felt the whipping breeze blocked off from one side as Rei leaned next to him. He refused to look up, concentrating instead on the distinctive dome of the church of the Sacre Coeur. He waited for some rapturous comment about the view, as he'd been forced to hear from the clumps of tourists around him for the past few hours.
"Isn't it ugly?"
Kai blinked.
"I mean," Rei continued, "All these buildings in one place, each with a whole bunch of people inside! How many of those people are actually happy? Not many, I'll bet. And you just know that on the corner of every one of those streets that look so pretty up here, there's someone with a cup, begging for money."
So that was what he meant. He was looking beneath the supposedly pretty exterior to the ugliness beneath. Why he couldn't just ignore what he couldn't see and pay attention to what was right there in front of him was beyond Kai.
"Hey, Kai."
So he wasn't going to settle for silence after all.
"Kai."
"What?"
"Why are you so afraid to look people in the eye?"
Kai turned in an instant, looked Rei straight in the eye and said: "I'm not."
Rei's cheeks were flushed pink from the wind, and he was freezing cold, it was clear. However, he still met Kai's gaze steadily, and smiled, showing glimpses of his sharpened canines.
"I'm glad."
At that moment the wind changed.
Kai felt it, and he knew that Rei, a boy of the mountains, had as well. Suddenly, their hair was being blown in a different direction, and their clothes created brand new folds for the occasion.
Something else changed as well though, something within the air itself. At that moment, all bets were off, and all holds unbarred. Every inhibition in every bone of Kai Hiwatari's body was removed, and he found himself leaning towards Rei just as Rei leaned towards him.
There was no warmth in their kiss, no passion, and none of the flexibility reserved for the kisses of experience. Instead, it was rigid and mechanical, a case of lips just happening to meet on a windy day in France.
Many say that Paris is the city of romance, where amour is in the air, and true love hides around every corner. Well, not for these two. For them, the kiss was dry and tentative, the comforting _expression of two children trying to avoid something they're not ready for, though neither could tell you what.
Suddenly, the wind flicked northwards once more, and whatever air it was that had surrounded them so briefly was gone.
The kiss though, the kiss lasted just a moment too long, and for that terrible, overlapping moment, Kai was overwhelmed with utter disgust and repulsion. He pulled back and looked away, but not before Rei had seen his face.
For the minute that followed, Kai wondered if it was possible to feel someone else's hurt. He felt it for that minute, that full minute, seeping out of Rei and flowing over him like blood. He wanted to tell the other boy to leave, he wanted to walk out himself, and he really didn't want to have to meet those amber-
Why are you so afraid to look people in the eye?
Kai flinched at the memory and looked up furiously, out of pure spite.
But Rei's face was turned in the opposite direction. He stood up slowly, still facing away from Kai.
"I think I'll go back to the hotel. It's suddenly cold."
Rei stepped into the observation lounge, and Kai realised that he had his wish. Rei had left without saying a thing, without asking for anything, and without forcing Kai to face him. Things were simple once again.
He settled back to looking out over the city of Paris, seeing the church of Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the River Seine.
And it was ugly. All of it was ugly.
His hands balled into fists, and Kai stood up straight, teeth clenched.
"Damn you, Rei," he whispered harshly. "Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"
There was no point in staying. The view was tainted, and the wind was sharper than ever. Kai left like an unwelcome guest, avoiding the other guests by taking the stairs, certain that by the time he reached the ground, Rei would be long gone.
Now read the fic, which (despite all appearances) is really untitled.
-------
"Hey, it's not cold out here at all!"
The voice sounded impressed. Kai's back stiffened when he realised that he recognised it. Resolutely, he stared straight ahead through the criss- crossed wire that enveloped the "sommet" of the Tour Eiffel. "Wow, from what they said, I thought for sure that- oof!"
Kai smiled to himself as he imagined Rei turning the corner and being hit by a blast of knife-blade air.
"I guess it is that cold after all. Hey Kai!"
Kai said nothing in response, but felt the whipping breeze blocked off from one side as Rei leaned next to him. He refused to look up, concentrating instead on the distinctive dome of the church of the Sacre Coeur. He waited for some rapturous comment about the view, as he'd been forced to hear from the clumps of tourists around him for the past few hours.
"Isn't it ugly?"
Kai blinked.
"I mean," Rei continued, "All these buildings in one place, each with a whole bunch of people inside! How many of those people are actually happy? Not many, I'll bet. And you just know that on the corner of every one of those streets that look so pretty up here, there's someone with a cup, begging for money."
So that was what he meant. He was looking beneath the supposedly pretty exterior to the ugliness beneath. Why he couldn't just ignore what he couldn't see and pay attention to what was right there in front of him was beyond Kai.
"Hey, Kai."
So he wasn't going to settle for silence after all.
"Kai."
"What?"
"Why are you so afraid to look people in the eye?"
Kai turned in an instant, looked Rei straight in the eye and said: "I'm not."
Rei's cheeks were flushed pink from the wind, and he was freezing cold, it was clear. However, he still met Kai's gaze steadily, and smiled, showing glimpses of his sharpened canines.
"I'm glad."
At that moment the wind changed.
Kai felt it, and he knew that Rei, a boy of the mountains, had as well. Suddenly, their hair was being blown in a different direction, and their clothes created brand new folds for the occasion.
Something else changed as well though, something within the air itself. At that moment, all bets were off, and all holds unbarred. Every inhibition in every bone of Kai Hiwatari's body was removed, and he found himself leaning towards Rei just as Rei leaned towards him.
There was no warmth in their kiss, no passion, and none of the flexibility reserved for the kisses of experience. Instead, it was rigid and mechanical, a case of lips just happening to meet on a windy day in France.
Many say that Paris is the city of romance, where amour is in the air, and true love hides around every corner. Well, not for these two. For them, the kiss was dry and tentative, the comforting _expression of two children trying to avoid something they're not ready for, though neither could tell you what.
Suddenly, the wind flicked northwards once more, and whatever air it was that had surrounded them so briefly was gone.
The kiss though, the kiss lasted just a moment too long, and for that terrible, overlapping moment, Kai was overwhelmed with utter disgust and repulsion. He pulled back and looked away, but not before Rei had seen his face.
For the minute that followed, Kai wondered if it was possible to feel someone else's hurt. He felt it for that minute, that full minute, seeping out of Rei and flowing over him like blood. He wanted to tell the other boy to leave, he wanted to walk out himself, and he really didn't want to have to meet those amber-
Why are you so afraid to look people in the eye?
Kai flinched at the memory and looked up furiously, out of pure spite.
But Rei's face was turned in the opposite direction. He stood up slowly, still facing away from Kai.
"I think I'll go back to the hotel. It's suddenly cold."
Rei stepped into the observation lounge, and Kai realised that he had his wish. Rei had left without saying a thing, without asking for anything, and without forcing Kai to face him. Things were simple once again.
He settled back to looking out over the city of Paris, seeing the church of Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, the River Seine.
And it was ugly. All of it was ugly.
His hands balled into fists, and Kai stood up straight, teeth clenched.
"Damn you, Rei," he whispered harshly. "Why couldn't you just leave it alone?"
There was no point in staying. The view was tainted, and the wind was sharper than ever. Kai left like an unwelcome guest, avoiding the other guests by taking the stairs, certain that by the time he reached the ground, Rei would be long gone.