Ok, so I wasn't going to post this for another week and a half, but I got bored, and I really wanted to get more reviews... six reviews for such a long chappie as four was is definitely not enough to tide me over. Oh well, what can I do? I'm at least grateful that I've got some reviewers, unlike some people. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Chapter six wont be posted until February (which is only a week away).

Immortal Blood

Chapter5: The Day After (OR Mariah's Worst Mistake)

***

The next morning, Kai woke up to find Rei and Li had both disappeared. He quietly moved over to where Mariah was lying on the floor and shook her awake. She slowly adjusted her eyes to the morning sun and sat up. She gave a yawn before turning her attention to Kai.

"Li and Rei are missing." He told her, trying not to let his worry become evident. She smiled, before letting his words sink in.

"He's always being reckless." She muttered and sighed. A frustrated growl was heard outside and a loud thump as something landed among the trash bins outside. Kai and Mariah looked at each other, perplexed, and headed outside to check it out.

They found Li (still as a black lion) about to tackle another large wild cat to the ground. The animal dodged swiftly, making Li miss his target. He snarled in frustration again. It dashed into the trees, followed by Li, who was hot on its trail. They disappeared for a few minutes before Li came out of the forest with his head bowed, snarling to himself. Mariah giggled to herself, making Kai turn to look at her.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"He lost track of Rei." She chuckled. Kai's eyes widened at this.

"That was Rei?" he asked, already knowing it was true. Mariah nodded her head. Li walked up to them and Mariah crouched down to pat his head. He nuzzled into her touch and began to purr. They looked quite cute together.

Suddenly, Li's ears swivelled around and he pulled back, sniffing the air. Something seemed to catch his attention.

"What is it?" Mariah asked, looking around, trying to find what he was searching for. Li didn't respond, only began to pace in the yard in front of them. Out of the blue, a large white blur shot down from the roof and tackled Li to the ground. They rolled for a few seconds, both fighting to be on the top. Kai was finally able to get a good look at Rei's lithe figure. He was a full grown white tiger.

"Wow." He whispered, more to himself that anyone else, but Mariah heard him and nodded. "He's beautiful. Kirei."

Both cats jumped apart. Li ran straight towards Rei, who stood his ground and braced for the impact. Li jumped at Rei and they began fighting again.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kai wondered aloud, noticing how physical they were getting. Li was getting green grass stains on his fur.

"No." Mariah responded. "Neither of them have their claws out so they can't do that much damage to each other. Being a Neko-jin, Li's wounds are more than likely to be healed by now." Kai nodded in understanding. They broke apart again and Rei roared something to Li. Li snorted and lowered his head, growling ferociously. Rei cheered and pranced back to Kai. Kai raised an eyebrow to Mariah for a translation.

"I think Li gave up." She replied. "Rei's always been the more dominant of the two if he's forced to be." Li charged at Rei again and tackled him to the grass. Rei yelped, startled and fell to the ground. They began to fight again. Mariah sighed.

"Here we go again. Both of them are too stubborn to give in." she exclaimed and shook her head. Kai nodded in agreement, knowing how Rei was. They fought until finally Rei pinned Li to the ground and lowered his head to the lion's. He snarled, seriously, at Li and his eyes flashed in anger. He was finished playing. Li responded with a low growl but didn't do anything else. Rei let Li up and both cats walked back to the lodge.

Figuring he couldn't tackle Rei anymore, Li jumped playfully at his girlfriend and assaulted her face with kisses. She began to laugh and wrapped her arms around his head. Rei, on the other hand was more timid. He stood patiently in front of Kai and waited for his approval of his appearance. Kai smiled.

"You're amazing." He told Rei. "And I already told you that you were beautiful." Rei padded up to Kai and licked his cheek. Kai chuckled at the rough texture running up his cheek, purposely smudging away his triangles. Rei lay down and rested his front paws and head in Kai's lap. Kai was running his fingers over the bunches of tightly coiled muscles just beneath Rei's fur. They were so powerful. He brought his hand to the back of Rei's head and began to lightly scratch his ears. Rei closed his eyes and leaned his head further into Kai's hand, beginning to purr loudly. Mariah laughed.

"He's falling asleep." She giggled quietly. Li was lying down behind her with his body wrapped around her. She was laying back so he looked like a huge pillow. Li was pretty much asleep. Rei lifted his head and saw the way they were sitting together. After deciding that would get him as much contact with Kai as possible he got up and stretched before curling himself around Kai's back so his head rested in front of Li's. Kai leaned back and continued to rub his ears. Kai closed his eyes and turned his body so he was curled up on his side against Rei too. Kai and Mariah fell asleep again while Rei kept watch over them all. They stayed that way for a while.

***

When Max and Kenny came through for breakfast they were surprised to find the living room and kitchen thoroughly empty. They hadn't expected Takao to be up anytime soon, but they had figured that at least Kai would be around somewhere. Max decided to check the bedrooms while Kenny checked outside.

He knocked lightly on Rei and Kai's door and when he got no answer he pushed it open slightly. He found Gary and Kevin in the beds instead of who he thought would be there. They were fast asleep and snoring. He smiled and closed the door just as Kenny came racing up to him.

"What is it?" he asked. Kenny raised a finger to his lips, motioning for him to stay quiet and pulled him to the door. When they reached the door Kenny had left open they found Kai and Mariah asleep using two large cats at pillows.

"Is that...?" Max trailed off. Kenny shrugged.

"I don't know." He responded. Rei's ears twitched and swivelled around towards them. He gave them an unwelcome glare and nudged Kai awake.

Kai sat up and raised his arms with a yawn. Rei stood up and stretched his paws before he nudged his way past the two gawking teens and padded back into the lodge.

Kai stood up and looked at Max and Kenny, raising an eyebrow.

"Was that Rei?" Kenny spoke up. Max was still staring at Rei's retreating figure. Kai nodded. While they went back into the cabin, Kai began to wake Li and Mariah up. "Mariah, wake up." He shook her gruffly. "It's time for breakfast." He added. She moaned and rolled over.

"I can make breakfast for everyone." She mumbled, sitting up. "To repay you guys for letting us stay here." Kai ignored her offer and walked into the small house. She sighed and stood up, dusting of her clothes. Li felt the shift in her weight and opened an eye. She caught this and when he tried to pretend he was still sleeping she laughed.

"I know you're awake." She exclaimed. "And if you stay there you won't get any food." He rolled his eyes at her and, with a lot of moans and groans, pulled himself up and followed her inside.

***

While Mariah was cooking, Max set about the task of waking Takao and Kenny set the table for everyone. Li was lazing about on the couch with Rei until both of their stomachs protested for their lack of food. Li ignored it, while Rei pulled himself up from the couch to see what Mariah was frying.

She had a pan of bacon on the stove and smiled down sweetly to Rei.

"Hungry?" she asked. He nodded and gave her his cutest smile, hoping she would let him have a few strips. She used the tongs and picked up a few already cooked slices and placed them in his mouth.

"Do you think that's really healthy for a cat?" Kai asked her. He was leaning on the frame of the door with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes locked in their usual glare. He smiled at him and turned back to her cooking.

"Sure it is." She replied. "He's still Rei, even though he's a cat. He'll be back to normal before he can get sick." Kai didn't ease up on his glare, but turned and stalked out of the kitchen with Rei following.

"We're going to practice after lunch." He announced. "You and your team can join us if you'd like."

"Sure!" she exclaimed to his retreating back. She wasn't at all fazed by his cold attitude.

***

At the outdoor dish, Rei walked up to the dish with his launcher and blade in his mouth. Kai had to stifle his laugh when he put the launcher between his paws and set the ripcord between his teeth.

"How do you think you're going to be able to blade?" Kai asked, still trying to hold back his laughs. Rei glared at him fiercely. He had noticed that his method of launching wouldn't work. He snarled in frustration and backed away from the dish. Kai, thinking Rei had given up, walked up to the dish to face his next opponent. He was in for a shock when Rei returned to the dish with Takao holding his blade. Rei nudged Takao's leg, motioning for him to launch the blade.

"Three."

"Two."

"One. Let it RIP!!" Max and Kevin cried and both boys launched their blades. Rei pushed Takao out of the way and let loose a roar of challenge to Kai, which was echoed by Driger as the beast came out of his bit.

"Dranzer, ATTACK!" Kai yelled, praying not to lose like he did the last time. Dranzer flew at Driger, but Rei's blade seemed to spin faster after Rei's cry. It dodged Kai's attack and circled the dish a few times. Dranzer let out a cry and tried to follow. She didn't want to lose to a cat either. Rei's blade pounced onto Dranzer, his momentum slamming Dranzer into one side of the dish. Driger jumped back just as she hit it, waiting for her to return the attack. Kai's blade recovered from the crash quickly and flew at Driger. They collided head on and begin to use brute strength to try and force one blade out of the dish. Driger jumped into the air, allowing Dranzer to be sent to the other side of the dish with her force. Neither her or Kai had anticipated Rei's move.

"Finish the tiger!" Kai yelled, his impatience getting at him. His blade rushed at Driger and slammed into him. Driger wobbled for a minute from the hit, but jumped on top of Dranzer. Kai's blade tried to dislodge Rei's, but Dranzer was running out of spin and slowing down. Kai saw this and had to fight to keep his panic hidden. Suddenly Dranzer stopped moving altogether, while Driger continued spinning, almost mockingly, on the surface of the blade. Kai's blade had stopped, but because of Rei's Driger it continued to stand in the center of the dish.

Kai sighed and bowed his head in defeat. He realised that was the second time Rei had defeated Kai in the past two days.

"So you're a good blader as a cat too, ne?" Kai smiled at Rei. Rei jumped across the dish and tackled Kai to the ground. He gave him a playful lick and stepped back. Kai smiled and sat up. Rei called out to Li and nodded his head to the forest. Li nodded and they both took off into the trees. Everyone blinked.

"He has the attention span of a flea." Takao muttered. Everyone but Kai laughed. "Sounds like someone else I know." Kai muttered loud enough for Takao to hear. He shrugged and went back to practicing with Max, proving Kai's point.

Li and Rei came back out of the forest, looking scornfully at Kai and Mariah.

"What?" Mariah asked, oblivious to the reason behind her boyfriend's glare. He came up to her and grabbed a mouthful of her clothes and pulled. "You wanted us to follow?" she asked. Rei nodded. Kai rolled his eyes.

"We aren't mind readers, baka." He exclaimed to Rei, who snarled at the insult. Kai got up and followed the two cats and Mariah for a walk in the woods.

***

When the two felines had found a field, they had resumed their game of hide- and-seek from earlier, while Kai and Mariah sat down in the grass. Li began chasing Rei around the valley without any luck of catching him. Mariah laughed at her boyfriends efforts. Li gave a roar of frustration when Rei ran past Kai and Mariah and disappeared into a forest, just like the last time. With a sigh of defeat, he dashed in to follow, even though he knew he probably wouldn't find him. Rei had a knack for hiding in the woods. Kai and Mariah were left alone for a few minutes.

"When did you find out about Li being a Neko-jin?" Kai tried to start a conversation. Mariah smiled and picked up a blade of grass.

"He told me the day before his birthday." She replied, twirling the grass between her fingers. Kai nodded.

"How did you take it?"

"Very well." She lay back in the grass to look up at the blue sky. "Until his birthday. I don't really think I believed him, until I saw it with my own eyes." She laughed, remembering what had happened.

"What did you do?" Kai asked, semi-interested in how she took it.

"I think I screamed. This caused him to run because no one else knew." They both laughed. Mariah looked up at him.

"When did you find out?" she asked him. He stopped laughing and thought back. "Rei told me three days ago." He replied. "I guess I never believed him either, but he didn't know anything about being a Neko-jin, so I wasn't prepared for anything." Mariah nodded and closed her eyes, allowing a warm breeze wash over her.

"What did you do when he transformed?"

"I panicked." Kai smiled. "I told him to stay in my room and shut the door behind me and went straight to Kenny for answers. Of course the door was no problem for Rei and he broke out and came bounding into Kenny's room. That's how everyone else eventually found out." Mariah chuckled at the image she had in her mind.

"Ah. Rei's always been one to go against orders. He'll go out of his way to disobey them." She told Kai. Kai snorted.

"I could tell." He exclaimed. "He tries to look innocent when you try to reprimand him, too."

"Oh, yeah. I've seen that look too often. I just wish I could say no to it."

"Yeah." Kai sighed and lay down beside Mariah in the grass. Mariah turned her head to look at Kai in his peacefulness. He seemed to be completely at ease. Not a muscle in his body was tense. She smiled at him.

"You know, you're a really nice guy when you're not guarding yourself against other people." She told him, sitting up. She was still looking at him. He opened his eyes and looked at her sternly.

"Really?" he asked, not sure if she was being truthful or sincere. She smiled and leaned closer.

"Yeah." Kai was too surprised that someone actually thought he was nice to notice what Mariah was doing. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. When he finally was able to move his arms he pushed her off him and wiped his mouth in disgust.

"I don't feel that way for you, Mariah." He spat. "You have a boyfriend." He added. She lowered her head in shame.

Suddenly, from behind them, Rei leapt out of the trees and, landing between her and Kai, he snarled at her, crouching low to the ground. She immediately scrambled a few feet away from him. He had his teeth bared violently and every hair on his body was standing on end in anger. His eyes were narrowed to slits and he growled. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"Gomen nasai." She cried, holding her hands up to protect herself. "It was a spur of the moment thing." Rei, still snarling, stepped forward, his muscles tensing as if he was going to attack her. She shifted back again, a strangled cry escaping her throat.

Li jumped out of the woods and took a stance in front of Mariah to protect her. He hadn't any idea what was going on but he knew Rei was out of line trying to attack Mariah. He snarled at his best friend when he showed no signs of letting up on his girlfriend. Leaving him with no other choice, Li jumped at Rei and they began to fight. Rei roared, adrenalin pumping through his veins and he brought his paws around to slash Li. Both cats had their claws fully extended and both Kai and Mariah saw that they weren't playing around. They were looking to draw blood from this fight.

Kai jumped onto Rei while Mariah wrapped her arms around Li's neck. Both of them pulled back and had to use all their strength to hold them apart.

"Li, stop!" Mariah yelled. She knew Rei had every right to want to rip her head off. "He's mad because I kissed Kai." She exclaimed. Immediately Li stopped straining against Mariah and turned around to look at her. She closed her eyes, seeing the hurt and betrayal in his eyes. Just as the sun set behind the mountains, Li transformed back to human and Mariah's hands slumped back to her side.

"How could you?" he asked, his voice eliciting all the hurt and disgust he was feeling at that moment.

"Li, I'm sorry." She tried to explain but he held up a hand to silence her. He couldn't listen to her excuses just yet. He took of back into the forest to get away from it all. "Li!" Mariah called. She didn't know what she would do if Li left her. Her heart felt like it was fighting its way up her throat to run after him and she decided to follow it.

"I-I'm so sorry for what I did..." She trailed off, afraid to look Rei in his raging amber eyes. She ran into the forest, following Li, leaving Kai and Rei in the valley.

Kai still had his arms wrapped around Rei's neck and let go when he began to fight the hold. Rei whirled around to face him. He seemed to be calm again except for the narrowed eyes and the fang revealed by his slightly curled lip. He snarled softly at Kai.

"I didn't kiss her." Kai stated firmly. "I pushed her away." Rei let go of his glare only to have a hurt expression replace it. He growled low before taking off in the direction of their lodging, opposite from the way in which Li and Mariah dashed.

When Rei had disappeared into the woods, Kai sighed and stood from the grass.

"How do I always end up alone?" he wondered aloud to himself before heading off in the direction Rei went, slowly.

~Finis

Please please review!! I'd really like a good present for mah birthday (tomorrow). I was originally going to post Rei's birthday on my own... but it took too long. N e waz.. Happy Birthday to me! (audience: *unenthusiastically* Yay... )

Even if you didn't like mah story I'd at least like to hear your opinion so I can know what do do for the next chapter... but I DON'T want reviews telling me that Rei or Kai isn't gay... (I've only gotten two like that for my stories... and the first one was actually a really cool review. Unfortunately that person only read AWFS as if it was a friendship thing... no way would they read this one...).

Ja ne, Konbanwa, Konnichiwa, Oyasumi, Ohayo, etc... depending on where you are right now.