FITTING IN
By: corn3ts
Beta reader: Scarlet M.Y
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade because the anime belongs to Takao Aoki!
A/N: Hello everyone, I'm back again! ^___^ I'm really sorry for not posting this chapter earlier ( My Beta had finished beta-ing this chappy for me last week ^^;;. ), it's because I have this certain project to deal about ^^;;. It's all about realistic arts and all, so I prioritized it first. ^_~ Anyway, thanks for those people who continued reading and reviewing FI despite of the fact that it already became dead ^^. To pay it all off, I'm giving you a slightly lengthy fic with a faintest hint of Kai/Rei for you all ^^. Hope you'll enjoy! ^___^
Scarlet M.Y Well, yeah, you're right about Kisa and Hiro thingy ^__^. ( BTW, thanks for beta-ing this chapter and for all those small and helpful advices you gave me! * hugs Scarlet M.Y * I'll try following them ^__^. ) To be honest, I'm a, err, fan of Hiro/Kisa * blush *. I don't know, I just like them, even though Hiro can be a brat sometime... or make that as always. ( Can you believe it? It's a hetero coupling! O_o )
BTW, since I have been long gone in this fanfic world, I just stumbled upon your pen page and saw that ... Bakura/Ryou fic!! * heartheart * And to say the least, it also dedicated to me! * squeals * You're really good, I wish I can do something like that! ^__~ Hope to see the next chapter soon!
Chapter Five: Moving In
Finally, afternoon came. Rei was able to get his refreshment, although it wasn't that big at all. He sighed as he jogged to his house. He hoped that maybe, he'll just forget about yesterday like his friends wanted him to do. After all, it's not what he thought would hurt him the most.
However, the thought of an early marriage between Ran Hiwatari and his mother, Fei Kon, was the thing that would surely shatter him into pieces. To be precise, the worst thing he would ever experience in his life.
Laughing at how silly the thought would be, he finally reached his house and to his surprise, he found a large truck parked beside their small house. The Chinese youth looked at the truck closely, and learned that almost half of the things inside it were first-class furniture. He couldn't help but gape. He thought he would only see those in the homes of people who were literally swimming in cash.
Wondering why it was there in the first place, he ran into the house, however, he didn't get there that easily. His mother was there in front of their gate, instructing some of the men putting the furniture inside their house.
"Please be careful with putting those inside." She requested as the workers grunted, nodding at her. "I'm sure he won't be happy if he saw his furniture being treated like this." The woman commented, golden eyes tinted with worry.
"His furniture?" breathed Rei, suddenly alarmed. Suspiciously, he walked towards his mother and cleared his throat. "Hi… mom." He greeted awkwardly as Fei turned to him. "What are those things doing in here?"
Fei looked at her son like he had suddenly lost his marbles. " To add beauty to our house, of course!"
"That's not what I meant, mom" He raised his gaze to the inside of their home, noting the beautifully varnished furniture that the men were struggling to carry. "I mean, they're first-class furniture, and they're expensive, so I was wondering... How come you bought those? You know we have no need for it." he explained calmly, looking expectantly at Fei.
The mother sighed. After all, her son wasn't a child anymore, and sometimes, reasoning with him would be useless. Teenagers were like that, weren't they? Stubborn and all those things that come with the rebel streak all teens seemed to have in them. She should have known that her engagement with Ran Hiwatari would be revealed to her son sooner or later. Sighing once more, she placed her hands on Rei's shoulder, concealing the fear she had and mentally preparing for whatever his son would say later on.
"But it's not me who bought this furniture.", whispered Fei, "It's Ran."
His eyes widened. "…What?"
"Rei," she started, averting her golden eyes away from her son's akin eyes. "I have something to tell you..."
"What is it, mom?" he tried to sound as eager as possible, however, his fraud attempt made him more nervous. He knew his mother was hiding something from him.
"Rei, I-I..." trailed Rei's mom, her voice obviously trembling. "... I- I'm already e- engaged with Ran Hiwatari, that is why he and his son will stay here beginning today so he and I can know each other more, as well as you and Kai..."
Upon hearing those words from his mother's mouth, Rei couldn't help but gape at her in shock. His mother? Engaged? Hell, he never expected that at all. He parted his lips, waiting for words to come out, however nothing came. He shook his head as well to know if all of this were all true, and to deny the fact that his mother said it, but nothing happened.
It was real.
Gaining his composure back, Rei cleared his throat and merely laughed at his mom's earlier statement, attempting to sound as jovial as possible. He was about to say something, when suddenly, a familiar slate blue-haired youth appeared at the door, wearing a white T-shirt and black cargo pants. "Hey…" He called, receiving a nod from the woman, at the same time, a glare from the raven-haired boy. "I'm getting hungry. I looked in your refrigerator for some food but I found none.", he said dryly.
Rei's mom thought for a moment, forgetting the talk she and her son had like it never occurred at all. Quickly, she bowed to Kai, much to Rei's surprise, "I- I'm sorry Kai, but I forgot to say that I wasn't able to cook for dinner because of this," replied Fei, pointing to the large truck beside their house. The slate blue-haired teen sighed, clearly frustrated. "However, Rei can assist you with that. After all, he always cook our dinner during weekdays."
With that, Rei looked up to meet his mother's gaze, "B- But mom, it's weekends---"
"Make it quick." snapped Kai, interrupting whatever the other boy was attempting to say. No 'please', no nothing. Rei just glared at him. Who was he to order Rei around, anyway?
"Please sweetie, cook for Kai," begged Fei, returning her gaze back to the amber-eyed teen. "He had been here from the time you left the house. It's natural for him to get hungry."
Rei sighed, raising both his hands in defeat. "Okay, I'll cook for him." he agreed reluctantly as he looked at Kai for a while, sending an it's-not-for-you message to him. "Just wait for me inside the kitchen," Rei said with a fake grin. "I'll buy you some eggs to make you my special recipe!" The young boy smiled at him grimly, making the bluenette sigh.
// This has to be the weirdest day of my life... // Kai thought before entering inside the small house once more.
Once inside, Rei irritably stirred the rice, throwing small corns and green peas simultaneously in the frying pan. He gritted his teeth. He loathed this day very much, and the familiar slate-haired boy beside him thought likewise.
As if noticing the young boy's sudden change of attitude, Kai looked up from where he was sitting and stared at the aforementioned boy. "You're not that mad, are you?" he mocked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't deny it. It's obvious already."
The raven-haired boy turned the stove off. "Oh really, you think so?" He asked with sarcasm, letting out a small laugh. "Well then, you're right. I hate this day, as much as I hate you being in the same place as me!" he retorted. "There, happy?"
The older boy just shrugged. "I thought so" Kai said simply, closing his crimson eyes. "And you're at it again."
This time, Rei turned his body to Kai. "I'm what?" he asked, confused.
"I know you're not in favor of my father and your mother's marriage," answered the slate-haired boy. "And you'll do anything to prevent it, right?" he asked matter-of-factly.
Rei just snorted, returning to his earlier work. "Yes, I will." he confessed, pouring the fried rice in a bowl. "And I know that you'll do anything to stop it, too." he continued, turning his gaze back to the older boy daringly, looking for assurance, but it seems like he misinterpreted Kai's actions too much that the latter just glared at him in return. The Chinese boy raised his brow. What was Kai thinking?
"You're being selfish, Rei," The young boy couldn't believe the fact that Kai mentioned his name, but on the dark side, he stated Rei's name with pure disgust. "You're acting like a three year old brat who's in need of others' attention, you know."
The Chinese boy frowned. "You don't understand!" he growled. "Who wouldn't be anyway? My dad just died two months ago because of a heart attack, and here's my mom - returning to feeling young and love-sick once again - engaged to another guy, whom she just met after my dad died, who has a son that can be annoying as hell!" Rei yelled, his face now red because of the outburst.
Kai just stared back at him. "I don't think that's reason enough to stop the impending marriage between your mom and my dad." explained the older boy calmly. He knew that it was futile to say this to Rei, since the boy won't listen to him, after all. Yet, he had to, because he knew that they both didn't want what they knew was going to happen.
Truthfully, Kai just wanted to have a peaceful and serene life. Aside from that, he didn't even care for the raven-haired brat at all. Hell, he even wanted to strangle the boy so badly for saying those words to him. Rei just had to thank his lucky stars that he was a calm and composed person with self-control, unlike some people.
After calming his self from the earlier outburst, Rei was finally able to match Kai's infamous glare and laughed at him arrogantly. "It looks like I'm the villain in here," he said with a smirk. "Well then, Mr. Hero-wannabe, which side are you---"
"I'm not in either parent's side, simply because I don't care for them," snapped Kai, suppressing his urge to hit the brunette. "I just wanted to make things clearer and better, that's all." he replied calmly. He couldn't help himself but to smirk when he saw the other youth's surprised look.
Rei was left speechless. // So Kai isn't in either parent's side, but why is it that he sounded like he did support one of them?… // he thought inwardly, although he knew what the answer to that would be.
When things got awkward for the both of them, Kai was the first one to quit their growing argument, deciding to leave the kitchen for a while. But before he went, he looked at Rei for the last time and said, "Just stop the damn revenge already. You know it will lead you to nowhere..." Kai warned, leaving the other boy contemplating with his feelings.
As soon as Kai's dad was home, Fei welcomed him with a warm embrace and a chaste kiss. Both finally entered their so-called shared home. Upon walking to the kitchen, Fei stopped in front of the door when she found out Kai was eating alone. Following his fiancee's pace, Ran stared at the person inside the kitchen and smiled. "Good Evening, Kai." greeted the father to his son, receiving a snort from the latter.
"There's no good in this evening, dad." Kai answered coldly before standing up and putting his plate in the sink.
Looking around the place, Fei finally stared at Kai. "Where's Rei?" she asked worriedly, "He never skipped dinner before..." she said. She thought it was her fault why her son skipped dinner that night, and she blamed herself fully for that.
She really had to apologize to Rei.
After drinking his cold water, Kai answered, "He said he's full and just needed some rest."
"Oh." is all Fei could say.
Silence followed. Not wanting Fei to be sad again, Ran placed his arms around Fei's shoulder and patted her with comfort. "Don't worry about Rei," replied the blue-haired man, smiling reassuringly at the Chinese lady. "Maybe he was just tired because of school works."
"Well, maybe he is..." She murmured, smiling softly to her thoughtful fiance. The latter then kissed the tip of her nose, and the couple remained like that, leaning their heads against each other like that the slate-haired boy wasn't even there in the first place.
Kai just looked away from the two with disgust. Ever since before, he loathed watching mushy scenes - He swore he'll kill the person who even brought that issue up - because he thought it was cheesy, and that seeing them doing that in front of him was pathetic. Thus, without any warning, he rose from his seat, grabbing a small plate, and placed some fried rice on it before heading upstairs.
Fei stopped whatever they were doing and tried to call Kai's name, asking whether the slate-haired teen can eat them all, but Kai's father shook his head and put his arms around Fei's shoulder once more, smiling softly.
"Let him be," whispered Ran, "I'm sure he won't eat them all."
Upon arriving upstairs, Kai headed to the room which he knew was Rei's. Holding the plate with his left hand, he knocked on the door using his right hand. As soon as he opened it, he was welcomed by a sad raven-haired boy looking down at the ground. Quickly, the bluenette cleared his throat, retrieving Rei's attention back, "Hey!" he snapped.
The Chinese boy cocked his head in shock. Instantly, he averted his amber eyes away, "Look, I'm too tired to even argue with you, so can you---"
Kai cut whatever he was saying by placing the plate on top of Rei's head. The latter took the thing on top of his head, and when he found out that it was the fried rice he had cooked earlier, he raised his brows at the other boy, "W- What's this?" he stuttered.
"Eat." ordered the cold teen, handing the chopsticks to Rei's hands before walking towards his own room, leaving the amber-eyed boy in utter shock.
- To be continued
I kinda hate that part where Rei and Kai fight, because it sounded so childish ^^ ( I tried so many times revising it, but it all came out in the same way, so... ), but I was really happy with the outcome of this chapter, - since it was long to occupy my slowness in updating - although it was totally OOC for them two ^^. I hope you'll forgive me with the slowness and weirdness of this fic, since that's how my imaginations work. * Blames her mind *
Anyway, that' all for today and again, please review! This kind of gesture makes me totally happy and makes up my day! Later days! ^___^
