Hey y'all, me again with the next chappie. Hmm, I noticed that many of you share my sentiments about Mariah. Luckily, she's not in this chappie as much. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next installment.
Couldn't We Just Have Dinner And A Movie?
"He's been here for an hour almost, why hasn't he come down?"
"Tyson, be patient, maybe he has something to take care of." Max tried to placate the furiously pacing boy to no avail.
"Don't try and make excuses for him Max, Kai's always been anti-social and rude and a major bastard, but this takes things too far. I mean, the White Tigers are almost here."
"Would you like me to go check on him?" Kenny offered. "I have to put my laptop away anyway."
"Would you Chief?" Max smiled gratefully. "Thanks. We'll be here in case the White Tigers come."
"Sure thing. I'll be back in a jiffy." Kenny walked through the large lobby of the hotel and over to the elevator and proceeded up to the floor they were staying on. He made his way over to their small suite and entered the room he shared with Tyson and Max. He placed Dizzy on the table to recharge then walked over to the other side of their suite to Kai and Rei's room and knocked on the door.
"Kai?" Kenny called out cautiously.
The door opened after a short pause. Kai stood there looking at him curiously.
"What?" he asked coldly.
"We were wondering when you were coming down to dinner. The White Tigers will be here soon and Tyson's getting impatient."
Kai sighed and put his hand to his forehead. "Damn, I forgot. I'm not sure when I'll be down, Kenny. Rei's sick and I wanted to be here for him." Kenny's eyes widened behind his thick long fringe at this admission, but Kai didn't seem to notice his slip.
"Uh, sure that's fine, it's just we booked everything under your name and …" Kenny trailed off as Kai took out his wallet and gave him some money.
"If you need more just come back. I'm not going anywhere."
"Sure. Thanks Kai. Tell Rei that I hope he feels better soon."
Kai nodded and closed the door. Kenny stood staring at the dark wood for a long moment, trying to get his head around what he had just witnessed and hard.
"Well that certainly was unexpected."
* * *
"Kai?"
The slate haired blader turned to the origin of that troubled voice.
"Rei? Are you all right now?" In the locker rooms, Rei had passed out from shock and horror. The mental trauma of such an experience would have been so enormous for the poor boy, especially considering the girl who caused it was like a sister to him.
Kai watched in concern as tears trickled down Rei's cheeks and onto the pillow he was lying on. "Why Kai? Why did she … why?" Rei looked up at him imploringly with his agonised golden eyes.
Kai sighed and sat down beside Rei on the bed. "I don't know why. Obsession can lead people to do strange things."
"Obsession?"
"Yes." Kai looked at the pitiful figure lying beside him. "Rei, you couldn't have known that —"
"Known what?" Rei sat up and turned to him angrily. "That she liked me more than a friend or brother? But I did know Kai, and I didn't do anything about it. I didn't reciprocate in any way, but I didn't push her away either. God it's my fault." Rei's eyed opened wide in self-loathing. "God, it's my fault she tried to rape me."
Rei blanched suddenly and turned white. He grabbed a hand to his mouth and rushed out of the bed and into the bathroom. Kai quickly followed him and heard retching noises echoing through the room along with strangled sounding sobs. Kai entered the bathroom to see Rei wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was kneeling in front of the toilet, tears flooding down his cheeks.
"You're lucky you're not Tyson, because I would have hit you by now." Rei looked up startled at Kai's cold and unsympathetic tone of voice. Those crimson eyes were hard and unforgiving. "I thought you were stronger than this, Rei, I guess I was wrong."
Rei looked confused. "Kai ... what ...?"
Kai walked over and grabbed Rei by the back of his shirt and pulled him so that his face was before Kai's. "This is fucking pitiful Kon. Are you seriously going to let a weak whining female like Mariah dictate how you live? Prideless, fucking disgusting. And to think I once considered you an equal."
Rei glared at Kai and knocked his arms away. "Get the hell away from me."
Kai smirked. "Or what? You'll cry on me? Blame yourself for your problems? Blame me? Weakling." Kai snorted.
Rei glared at him again. "What the fuck would you know Kai? I told you to get lost."
Kai backed towards the door, his unwavering gaze still fixed on Rei. "Strength is something we determine for ourselves Rei. You decide if you are strong or weak. I say you chose weakness. Prove me wrong Rei." He turned and walked out of the room. Prove me wrong.
* * *
"I guess Mr. Sourpuss won't be joining us then." Tyson smirked slightly as they were shown to their table. "Man, how rude can you get?"
"Tyson," Max said warningly. "Not now. We have company." He glanced over at the White Tigers and smiled. "Excuse him, you know how Tyson can get sometimes."
Lee laughed. "Yeah we know. It's fine Max. But I am curious about Kai, where is he? And where's Rei?"
Kenny, who had just finished the transaction payments with the manager came over, hearing he question. "Rei's sick. Kai wanted to watch over him in case he needed anything."
Tyson's jaw dropped and Max's eyes opened wide.
"K-Kai d-did what?" Tyson stuttered once he picked himself up.
"He's worried about Rei?" Max looked amazed. "Well, I'll be. Wondered will never cease."
The four White Tigers looked astounded. This was not normal Kai behaviour, at least to them. "I never knew that Kai was capable of caring," Lee murmured. "I guess I underestimated him."
"No, actually Kai's always looking after everyone. He just never admits to anything or accepts any thanks or praise for it." Kenny led them to their table.
"What do you mean Chief?" Max looked a bit confused.
"Well, think about it, who's always there when we're sick with medicine or bandages or anything to make us feel better? Or what about when there's something bothering us, Kai's always there to take our minds off it until we're ready to deal with it."
Tyson nodded. "That's true. When I found out my cat died Kai made me train until I was too exhausted to think about it. I loved that cat and I wouldn't have been able to do anything at all if he hadn't made me so angry." Tyson smiled. "He is one seriously weird dude."
"Yeah." Max nodded. "Now that I think about it, whenever Kai's telling us off, or saying something snide, he's usually doing what he can so that we either become better bladers or are able to feel better about something."
"So you're saying that the whole 'ice-cold perfect blader' image is just an act to cover up that he's really a nice guy?" Kevin looked a bit sceptical as he sat down.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far. Kai can actually be a bastard at times, but he always does what he can to help us." Tyson shrugged and picked up a menu. "Kai's weird like that. He blows hot and cold." Everyone else nodded and sat down, following Tyson's lead and picking up a menu to order.
"Uh ... lets see." Tyson frowned as he tried to think. "I'll have the ... hey, it's Kai." Everyone looked up from their menus to see the tall blader of their previous conversation approaching their table. "Hey Kai, where's Rei?"
"Wallowing in self-pity," Kai muttered and sat down beside Lee and Kenny. "Tyson, don't eat too much, I don't want to have to hold your hair for you again as you regurgitate everything. If you're still hungry after this, wait for an hour then eat."
Tyson glared at him. "I'm not that bad."
"Oh? How about last week after that huge buffet."
"That was the oysters. They were off."
"Then what about Tuesday?"
"I had the flu."
"So did Kenny, he didn't puke. What about the following Saturday?"
"Well, that was ... uh ... I ..."
Kai smirked. "I rest my case. And try to go easy on my wallet with your choices." Kai shook his head and looked over at Kenny and frowned. "How much seep did you get last night?"
"Uh, not much. I was trying to stop those two." He pointed at Max and Tyson, who protested against the accusation. "Then I had to straighten things up this morning."
"You didn't get to finish Draciel's analysis?"
"No. I can finish tonight if you want."
"No, tomorrow's fine. Just make sure Max is ready for the next battle. That means I want a proper analysis. No coffee and late nights, I don't want you making mistakes that could cost us a match. Move onto Dragoon after that. Tyson can be our fourth next battle. That should give you enough time."
"More than enough." Kenny returned to his menu and decided on something.
The White Tigers were looking at Kai strangely. He raised an eyebrow at their stares then ignored them, monitoring the choices his team made. Tyson glanced over at Kai then ordered something moderately sized — considering Tyson's usual standards. When it came to Max, Kai interrupted again.
"Only one desert Max. I do not want to be chasing you around while you're on a sugar-high. Not to mention we're running out of aspirin for your headaches."
Max's face fell. "Sure." He still managed to order the most sugary desert on the menu. Kai shook his head at this and looked away. Not ordering anything for himself yet. The White Tigers all ordered theirs then Kai ordered a large soup and a steak.
Tyson raised an eyebrow. "And you were saying something about me?"
"The soup's not for me."
"Who is it for?" Tyson looked confused.
"Just wait." Tyson shrugged Kai's comment away and started a conversation with Kevin and Gary while they waited for their orders. Max and Kenny talked together about what Kenny had done to Draciel already. Kai watched Lee and Mariah talking together.
The dark-haired neko-jin did not seem to have any idea about Mariah's previous actions that afternoon. Kai's eyes narrowed as he watched the pink-haired girl smile and laugh at Lee's quips. Her eyes only flickered towards him once during their talk.
Her face turned smug and her eyes glinted.
She knew that Rei had told Kai everything, and she was still obviously bent on having Rei, despite Kai's possible — more like inevitable — intervention.
Kai glared at her then looked away as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He smiled slightly and looked down at the drink menu, pretending as though he hadn't seen anything.
The stalking neko-jin approached the table silently, no one else noticing a thing.
Three. Two. One. Kai silently counted down before a fist hit his jaw.
"Rei! What the hell are you doing?!" Tyson leapt up to turn Rei around and glare at him furiously.
"You should be asking Kai that." Rei spat.
"Now Rei." To everyone's amazement, Kai turned his head to reveal that he had nothing worse than a small split on his lip. He gently licked the trickle of blood away and smiled at his attacker, getting up from his seat. "Is that any way to treat your captain?"
"What about me? Was that any way to treat me before?!" Rei tried to go for Kai again, but Tyson grabbed him and stopped him from touching Kai.
"You sound upset. Did you like what I had to say?"
"Bastard." Rei managed to wriggle out of Tyson's grasp and throw another punch at Kai's face, but this one was caught quite easily by the older boy's open palm. Rei drew in closer to throw another punch which was just as ineffectual as the first.
"Fucking bastard," Rei hissed, his face so close to Kai's he could feel the other boy's calm breaths.
"At least you're not brooding and thinking up ways to hurt yourself," Kai shot back with a venomous glare.
Rei's eyes widened slightly. "What … how did …?" He glared at Kai again. "You set this up didn't you? Jeez, I can't believe you." Rei growled in frustration.
Kai shut him up with a glare. "One warning though. You try and blame yourself again, you will have to face me. Now tell me, what are you more afraid of, trying to deal with your problems and more on, or me." Kai's smirk told Rei that he already knew his decision.
Rei growled again and pulled away. "Why the hell do you have to be so right all the time?"
"Because I'm your captain and I have to be." Kai sat down and gestured to the seat next to him and Kenny. Rei didn't move, folding his arms across his chest. Kai just glared and barked, "Sit," and Rei did. He pushed the soup over to Rei.
"You know I hate you," Rei told Kai.
"I know you do. Now eat." Rei gave him another half-hearted glare then started eating.
Everyone was looking at the two of them rather strangely, but Lee was the first to speak.
"My friend," Lee patted Kai's shoulder, "I think I finally understand why you won the World Championships, and not us."
Everyone laughed at this and even Kai cracked a smile. No one's eyes were focused on a pair of long, pink-lashed golden eyes fixed hungrily on their prey.
AN: There we go. It's shorter that the first chapter, sorry about that. Still, with a last line like that, can you possibly imagine what's going to happen next time? Until then. Laters.
