I'm so sorry for the delay *mutters darkly* stupid trials. *big smile again * But now everything's cool, I've only got one more exam to do. Yay!

Here's the next chappie, I'm s sorry about the shortness, but I'll make it up to you with the next one. You definitely don't want to miss it. Or this one. Enjoy.

For the Love of …

Despite an earlier promise not only to Kai, but also to the other members of his team, Tyson reached for a glass of champagne from a passing waiter almost unconsciously.

"Tyson," Kai barked and the hand immediately snapped back. "Good boy."

Tyson glared at him before ignoring him and turning to the other members of his team. "Looks like we're the first here."

"Apart from your's and Max's fathers." Kenny pointed and the two younger boys grinned and ran over to greet them. "And it looks like Mr. Dickinson and Tyson's grandfather are here too. If you two don't mind?" Kai nodded and Kenny walked at a more dignified pace over to the adults.

"Alone at last," Rei whispered with a smile. Kai led him to the long table and they sat down next to each other. "We haven't had a moment together all day."

"Except for this morning." Kai grinned. "But I don't expect we'll have long alone together considering everyone is starting to arrive." Rei looked over to the door and he drooped slightly as he saw the All-Stars and the Majestics enter. Kai grinned at his tiger's disappointment.

"Maybe we can find another room somewhere later tonight," Rei breathed seductively. Kai looked over at him with a smirk.

"Count on it."

The two of them greeted the two teams with a smile and warm words. Michael grinned at the two of them as he saw them sitting so close together. Rei noticed and blushed slightly, causing the grin to widen. Robert also narrowed his eyes speculatively. Kai merely glanced calmly back at them and greeted them cordially.

It wasn't until The White Tigers and the Demolition Boys entered the room that things started to get even more interesting.

Lee led his team over to the long dining table where the All-Stars were situated at the far end and the Majestics at the other. Kai and Rei were talking with Michael and the other Bladebreakers were with the Majestics and the five adults. Lee grinned and approached the three boys nearest him.

Rei looked up and noticed him first. "Lee," he grinned, causing the other two to turn around.

Lee returned the smile. "Hey Rei. Kai." He smirked slightly. "Michael," he drawled.

The rest of the White Tigers greeted the three of them and the All-Stars. Mariah was about to move over to Rei, but was stopped and distracted by Emily who wanted to talk to her about something. She glared slightly and Kai, who was the only one who noticed, smirked and looked away.

Michael got up after the greetings were made and people were starting to be distracted. He moved over to Lee and grinned slightly. "How have you been?"

Lee grinned back. "Not as well as I could be."

"That's a shame to hear."

"Please try and behave yourselves, at least in front of us." Lee and Michael glared at Rei who looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Kai sniffed and sent a slight glare in Lee's direction.

Lee looked taken aback by the strange hostility, but Rei merely sighed.

"Kai, you aren't still sore about this morning are you?"

"What do you think."

Rei sighed. "Sorry Lee, Kai's just in a grumpy mood, though that isn't too strange for him." Rei grinned as Kai glared at him.

Lee nodded. "I suppose that's all right." The four of them turned as they noticed more people enter the room. The Demolition Boys had arrived.

Tala made his way with Bryan over to them. Noticing the closeness between Kai and Rei he grinned and nudged Bryan in the ribs. Which was unnecessary as Bryan had already noticed the couple. He narrowed his eyes with a sly grin.

"Kai, Rei. Good to see you two are on speaking terms." Kai glared at his ex-lover while Rei blushed slightly. Lee and Michael looked a bit confused at the greeting. Tala turned to them with a wink. "And I'm sure you two are just as glad to see each other as these two are."

"Tala," Kai growled warningly. Tala smirked at him and grinned openly at the looks of surprise on Lee and Michael's face.

"Wait, you two are …" Michael trailed off with wide eyes then grinned. "Well it took you long enough."

"What?" Kai looked a bit confused.

"Come on Kai, you didn't seriously think you two could hide anything from us?" Lee grinned. "Rei was obvious enough, but you were just as bad." Rei blushed again and chuckled nervously.

Kai glared at him, a bit darker than the light atmosphere around the table would have dictated. And Lee looked taken aback again. "Kai? Is something wrong?"

Rei looked over at his glowering lover and grinned suddenly. "Oh Kai, quit pouting over what happened this morning." Kai sniffed indignantly and turned away. Rei laughed at him. "Come one Kai, I was just teasing you—"

"And you managed to live?" Tala asked incredulously, drawing a few laughs from everyone.

"Rei, what happened this morning will never be spoken about to anyone, ever." Rei was about to protest this while everyone looked suddenly curious about the incident. Kai continued, cutting off any comments with a quick glare. "You will never speak of it to anyone, else I may never get to finish what I started this morning." Kai smirked as the colour fled from Rei's face.

"Never?" Rei choked.

"Never." Kai smirked again at the scowl.

"You're no fun Kai. I like teasing you."

"Think what you might enjoy more. Teasing me, or ..." He trailed off into another smirk.

Rei pouted again. The two of them were both laughing inwardly at the looks of shock on Lee and Michael's faces as well as the grin on Tala's and Bryan's raised eyebrow. "Fine," he agreed with a sigh. "I won't tell them about how totally fantastic ... mrmph!"

Kai blushed slightly and clamped a hand quickly over Rei's mouth.

"Oh my god!" Everyone turned to stare at Tala. "You two actually had sex!"

Kenny, who was walking past at that moment heard the rather loud statement said by the captain of the Demolition Boys and saw Rei and Kai with him. "I knew it!" he cried out, making everyone look at him. "I wasn't crazy, you two are together!"

Rei was blushing too much and could barely make a coherent sound. Kai wasn't much better. He faced Kenny and opened his mouth a few times as though to speak, but nothing seemed to come out.

"This explains a lot. This morning for one." Here both boys sunk further into their seats then Kenny continued to list things off on his fingers. "Three days ago walking in to find you two together in bed naked like that."

"What?" Four pairs of eyes widened and stared at Kenny in shock. Everyone else was starting to realise there was something interesting going on and looked over at the small group curiously.

"Then there were those weird sound coming from the shower and your room after that. The party as well, Rei was acting rather flirtatiously."

"You managed to notice that through your drunken stupor?" Kai muttered darkly.

"For your information Kai, I wasn't that drunk."

"You guys have been together for three days already?" Tala asked curiously. "Then what the hell was that stupid fight all about yesterday?"

"We haven't been together for three days," Kai hissed, noticing everyone's eyes on them. "And we weren't naked Kenny."

"Okay maybe not, but why were you all snuggly then?" Kai blushed at this and let Rei answer with a sheepish grin and a laugh.

"Kai's really warm at night. I tend to migrate over to him during the night." Rei suddenly laughed mischievously. "Actually, the first time I did it, seeing his reaction when he woke up was priceless."

Kai groaned. "Rei you aren't going to ..." He trailed off seeing the evil smirk on his beloved's face. "Fine, just don't incriminate me too much."

"Would I do that?" Rei asked innocently.

"So when was this?"

"During the Russian tournament. The night before the finals after Kai got back we just all kind of fell into bed. Of course, having my sleeping partner away for so long, I'd fallen into the habit of sleeping into the middle of the bed."

"I wasn't gone that long!" Kai protested.

"I know, but it still happened. Anyway, that night was really cold, so in my new habit, I unconsciously moved over during the night and sought out the warmth on the other side of the bed."

"So that was what the yelling was about that morning," Kenny murmured. "I knew the story about Kai being afraid of spiders was a bit off."

Everyone laughed at this and Kai blushed slightly, glaring at Kenny. Rei grinned and continued. "Anyway, as Kenny said, I Kai woke up and totally freaked out on me. He yelled and kind of pushed me off the bed. I woke up and yelled back. After a while we managed to wake the rest of the team. They asked what was wrong, and Kai, being the macho ice man he was didn't want the others knowing he'd freaked out over touching someone, said that he'd seen a spider as he woke up and in his half-asleep stupor got a bit scared."

Kai glared around as the people listening in on this started laughing. He especially glared at Tala who had almost fallen off his chair at the tale.

"So," Kenny finally asked once he'd wiped the tears from his eyes and sat down near Michael, looking over at the couple. "When exactly did you two get together then?"

Rei answered again, seeing as Kai wasn't really in the mood for talking with anyone at the moment. "Yesterday, after you guys went out to the movies. We'd actually had a fight in the morning about ... something that happened the night before after the party and weren't on speaking terms."

"Okay, I have to ask this," Tala smirked and looked at both of them with a grin. "Who made the first move?"

"Which time?" Rei asked.

Tala's eyes opened wide in surprise and there were a few choked coughs around the table. Rei blushed slightly. "Okay, what exactly were you talking about? Because Kai kissed me the first time."

Tala rolled his eyes. "I know all about that one, you told me about that. I'm talking about last night. Who made the first move?"

Rei grinned. "I did."

Tala swore and pouted slightly, surprising everyone. Bryan grinned at this. "Pay up Tala."

"This is so not fair, the one time I actually believe in Kai and he lets me down." Tala got out his wallet and handed over a note to Bryan.

"Tala, it was twenty, not ten." Tala glared at his grinning teammate and grudgingly handed over another note. "Thanks." Bryan pocketed the money and turned back to Rei winking. "Guess my pep talk helped a bit."

Rei blushed slightly and grinned. "Guess it did."

"I do not want to know what he said to you," Kai muttered. "Though I am grateful for the results." Rei laughed at him and so did everyone else.

"Hey, what's everyone laughing at?" Tyson and Max walked over and sat down beside Kenny. "We heard a lot of noise over here and were wondering what was so funny." Tyson looked over at Kenny for embellishment, but the brunette just grinned. "Kai? Rei?"

"Don't worry Tyson," Rei said. "I'm sure you'll find out."

"Sure," Tyson muttered, looking over at the two older Bladebreakers suspiciously. Rei grinned back at him while Kai gave him a bland look.

Kai scratched at his neck, moving his scarf slightly to reveal his mark.

"Is it bothering you?" Rei asked.

"Not really. I probably shouldn't have worn my scarf just yet though." Kai smiled reassuringly at him, making Tyson's eyes narrow further.

"All right Kai, now I know something's up. You've been acting nice, too nice, for a while now. I know you changed a bit after the world tournament, but this is going a bit far."

"I don't know what you're talking about Tyson." Kai calmly met his teammate's gaze and took a sip of his drink.

Max's yell made him spit it out.

"Oh my gosh Kai! You have one of those marks like Rei, but it's worse!" Kai clamped a hand to his neck and blushed slightly, causing quite a few people to chuckle into their drinks. Tala, Bryan, Lee and Michael were clearly loving this.

Tyson gasped slightly. "Ack! No way! I finally figured it out." He glanced from Rei to Kai and back again, watching their strange reactions. "I had my suspicions, but I never thought they were true!"

Max looked at him curiously. "What are you talking about Tyson?' he asked innocently.

"Think about it Maxie," Tyson urged him.

Max concentrated really hard then gasped. "Oh no! Giant vampire mosquitoes!"

Their reactions to his guess weren't quite what Max was expecting.

Tyson and Kenny groaned and put their heads in their hands, muttering about the naivete of their friend. Tala and Bryan burst out laughing while Michael and Lee looked at Max as though he were on something he shouldn't be. Rei and Kai just stared thinking the exact same thing: How could anyone be that naive?

Max looked a bit confused. "So there's no giant vampire mosquitoes?"

Tyson grabbed his friend and pulled him away from the table and whispered something in his ear. Max frowned slightly then gasped.

"No way!" Tyson nodded to Max's disbelief and continued. "No way! No way!" He looked back over at Kai and Rei and blushed slightly. "It's weird, I never would have thought of that."

"Obviously not," Tyson muttered pulling away from his friend.

Max scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. "Guess I was kind of silly with the whole mosquito thing."

"Just a little Maxie." The two of them rejoined the table and things returned to the topic of the day: Kai and Rei.

After a while, things died down a bit and everyone soon took their seats to begin dinner. Things were a bit quieter and more subdued for a while as everyone started to drift away.

"You know Kai, you never answered my question from last night."

Kai looked over at Rei curiously. The only ones still with them were Tala, Bryan, Lee and Michael. Everyone had eventually gotten bored and decided to engage other people in conversation.

"What question?" Rei grinned slyly and Kai blushed. "Oh. That one."

"Yeah."

Kai shifted nervously in his seat. "Could we possibly talk about this elsewhere." That got the other four's immediate attention. Tala was grinning at Kai.

"What question Kai?"

Kai blushed and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "This is none of your business Tala. Rei just seems to find enjoyment in making me squirm in public."

"I get that sadistic side from being around you too long Kai. You only have yourself to blame. Now spill. How many times and when."

Kai growled. "Fine. Once, yesterday morning."

"Really?"

"Yes, now your turn. If so, how many and when."

Rei shrugged. "Fair's fair. Now, let me think." Rei frowned slightly in concentration and seemed to be counting. Kai started to blush after a short amount of time.

"You're not serious?" he muttered.

"Perfectly serious Kai." Rei smirked.

"Fine then. How about recently."

"Fine. Three times. A few days ago, when we first arrived here. Then the day after. And then yesterday, though obviously not in the morning. I didn't get up early enough."

Kai blushed. "No way," he muttered.

Rei smirked again. "Believe it Kai."

"How long had you liked me for?"

Rei flushed slightly. "Basically since the first time I met you."

"Really?" Rei met Kai's eyes when he heard the astonished admission. "I had no idea."

"I know. I'm good at hiding my feelings."

"I'll say."

Rei looked at him curiously. "So what about you? For how long?"

Kai looked uncomfortable. He glanced over at Tala, who was still trying to decipher, along with the other three, the meanings behind their first few comments. Tala felt his gaze and looked at him curiously. Rei watched the two of them cautiously and let it drop, knowing that what Kai said might hurt someone.

"It's okay," Tala murmured softly. "I wouldn't mind knowing either."

"You sure?" Kai asked. Tala nodded, though it was obvious he was steeling himself for Kai's reply. Kai sighed and looked back at Rei. "I was starting to have inklings around the time of the Asian tournament, but nothing serious until after I'd come back to the Bladebreakers in the World tournament."

"Wow." Rei grinned. "Guess we're both a little slow when it comes to these sort of things." There was a round of laughter at this and the topic soon shifted to more mundane things.

They were unaware of a furious gaze fixed on them throughout the night. Murderous golden eyes fumed and glinted with a need for vengeance.

AN: He, he, I love teasing Kai. It's fun to make him flustered. Next chappie is the tournament … very important stuff happening there. Until then. Laters.