Chapter Two — Silent Night, Raining Night

/Man, I am freezing!/ Rei shivered in the extremely cold breeze as he ran toward the airport, anxious to get inside the warmth of the waiting area as much as to greet his former team as they arrived in Moscow.

Sighing in relief as he finally got there, Rei looked at the arrivals times and realised he still had half an hour to wait. He decided to get a hot chocolate and sit down to wait for the White Tigers.

He thawed his frozen hands on the warm cup before taking a small sip of the boiling drink, trying not to wince at the stale taste of machine made hot beverages. He thought of the last time he'd had a hot chocolate. It was probably one of the best tasting ones he'd ever had. And it wasn't just because of the person who'd made it for him.

~~

"Damn, I didn't think it got this cold here." Rei shivered as he stood at the bus terminal, dripping wet and muttering darkly in the rain. Steam rose from his breath as he tried futilely to warm his hands with it. He looked out at the deserted bus terminal and glared at the dark night sky. After being in Japan for so long, Rei was looking forward to a change of scenery when he flew over to China on his way to Moscow, but he was stuck here, hundreds of kilometers away from where he wanted to be at this moment in time. He hadn't even realised he had gotten anything wrong until he got off the bus.

"Just great," he muttered irritably. "Trust me to get the times wrong and find myself being stranded at the bus terminal in a city I didn't even want to go to." Sighing, he picked up his luggage and sorted through it to see if there was anyone he could call.

"Hmm, Takao, Max and Kenny live a bit too far away, and it's really late. I'd hate to bother them like this. Mr. Dickinson probably wouldn't appreciate me calling out of the blue like this to ask for help. And Kai … well, Kai's probably no the best person to ask for help, even though he does live nearby." Rei sighed and flipped to the back of his address book where a list of chain motels and BBA centres resided in case of an emergency.

Rei found one nearby. "Well, this is an emergency I suppose." He smiled wryly despite his predicament and had to laugh at the mess he'd gotten himself into. He picked up his luggage and started to make his way through the city.

/It's good thing I pack light,/ he thought after realising how far away the motel was. He hadn't been training as hard as he should and was beginning to get a bit soft. /It's a good thing I didn't call Kai, or I'd have him berating me for being such a weakling./

Rei was turning another corner when the storm suddenly doubled in ferocity. "Damn," he muttered and started running, not really taking any notice of where he was going. He turned a few more corners and ran through a few alleys before he realised he was now thoroughly lost.

"Why does this happen to me?" he groaned to the near empty street. He wasn't even in the city any more, not really anyway. He was in a more residential area, one with large mansions and older houses. He looked back the way he came and could not see the lights of the city any more.

"Just great, I must have turned completely around and came out near the edge of town. Now I have to go twice as far to reach the motel."

He was so caught up in his muttering that Rei didn't notice another figure approaching him from a nearby park.

"Rei?"

The neko-jin whirled around at the sound of his name coming from a very familiar voice.

"Kai?"

The blunette nodded and looked at the drenched Chinese boy with confusion showing in his crimson eyes. "Um … what are you doing here?"

Rei smiled sheepishly and blushed faintly. "I … uh … I kinda messed up the times for my bus and accidentally ended up here."

"You're stranded."

"Yeah."

Kai turned and started walking away. Rei stared at him, dismayed at his lack of help, until the older boy called out to him, "Well, are you going to come and accept my hospitality, or stand there in the rain like a drowned kitten?" Rei glared slightly at the comment, but perked up when he realised Kai wasn't just going to leave him there.

Kai seemed to have caught what Rei had been thinking. He glanced at his raven-haired teammate and asked, with suppressed amusement, "Do you really believe I would have left you there?"

Rei laughed sheepishly. "Sorry Kai, I guess I should have known better."

"Why didn't you call when you realised you were stranded here?"

Rei detected the note of hurt in his captain's voice however much he tried to mask it. "I didn't think you would want me disturbing you at this time of night."

"Oh." Kai knew Rei was hiding his real reason and Rei knew that his deliberate omission had hurt the boy, but Rei didn't feel like hurting his captain more by telling him that he didn't want to ask him because he was afraid of him.

They walked in an awkward silence through the drizzle and night darkness until they reached one of the biggest mansions Rei had ever seen.

"Wow," he breathed upon first viewing it.

Kai walked in, seemingly unimpressed by his house or Rei's comment, but a small smile graced his face when he heard Rei's approval of his house. "Come on in. I'm the only one here right now. Most of the servants have left for a vacation as I had planned on leaving tomorrow and the ones that haven't won't be back here until later."

"Sure." Rei tried not to goggle as he was led through the gigantic hallways and strived not to peer into every room they passed by. Kai led him up to a guest bedroom next to his master room, or the newly made mater room. Voltaire's old room was technically the mansion's mater bedroom, but Kai refused to move into the room his grandfather had previously inhabited. Rei noticed his captain's shiver as he passed by the huge double doors that led to the room and studied Kai more closely.

What he found shocked him to the core.

He could see his captain's emotions.

Rei faltered in his step, causing Kai to look back at him in concern.

Concern? When had Kai ever shown any form of compassion on his face?

Rei could only recall one time: when he was lying on a stretcher after his match with Bryan at the world tournament. Kai's emotions were written all over his face then: concern, fear for Rei's condition, anger at the boy who had caused this, elation at Rei's win, and friendship for the boy lying before him. Rei treasured that brief moment of openness on Kai's face and hoped that it wouldn't be the only time that he would see Kai that open.

It seemed that his wish had been granted.

Rei smiled back at Kai and caught up with him and made his way into the room where he would be spending the night. "Thanks Kai," he said as he dumped his bags on the bed.

"No probs. Did you want something to drink?"

"Sure, I'll be down after I change into something dry."

"Sure." Kai closed the door behind him as he left, leaving Rei to ponder his captain's new behaviour as he changed.

Upon emerging downstairs in something warmer and more comfortable than before, Rei found Kai in the mansion's large kitchen making hot chocolate. Kai offered his guest a small smile before returning his attention to his task. Rei suddenly felt uncomfortable and very ungrateful. Here Kai was doing everything he could to make him welcome in his home and he'd believed the opposite of his captain — no his friend.

"Kai, I'm sorry," he offered with his golden eyes lowered in shame. Kai didn't have to ask what he was talking about. There was another silence where Kai poured their drinks.

He slid one over to where Rei was sitting and smiled at him in amusement. "Call next time," he advised and sipped his drink. Rei looked up at him and returned the smile, knowing everything was forgiven.

Kai didn't really need words around him, he had become attuned to Kai's ways in the time they had traveled together. Rei was probably the only one of the Bladebreakers to know Kai and his moods well enough to know what he wanted or what he was feeling even when he'd said nothing. He'd always felt slightly honoured that Kai had let him know that much about him. He knew now that it wasn't that Kai let him, but he understood him like the others couldn't and Kai respected that about him, which in turn led to Kai learning more about him without him saying anything to the older boy. It was a silent friendship that they had built, neither boy needed to fill the void with mindless chatter.

They shared a companionable silence that was familiar and comforting to them both. Rei supposed that this is what a real friendship felt like, one that needed no words to express feelings and thoughts. And he thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it.

He sipped his chocolate and smiled at the taste. He'd never had such a perfectly made hot chocolate before. He smiled at Kai again, thanking him for knowing that he liked more sugar than was normal for most people and taking this into account when making his drink.

The rest of the night passed much the same way, neither needing to talk to express the gratefulness they felt for each others company.

~~

Rei smiled as he finished the foul tasting chocolate. The change in Kai's attitude and behaviour had continued the next day when they flew over to China then caught a train to Moscow (all courtesy of Kai's private jet and almost unlimited funds). Rei discovered that he had never had such an enjoyable time travelling as he had with Kai that time. He hoped that he could spend more time alone with his captain some time so he could enjoy that feeling again.

A call sounded over the intercom. The plane he'd been waiting for had arrived.

Sure enough, a few minutes later he could hear Mariah's voice carrying through the airport. As usual she was hyped up and loud. Kevin was the first one to appear. He looked to have been running to get away from Mariah and her loud antics. He spotted Rei and couldn't control himself.

"Rei!" He ran over and grabbed the golden eyed boy in a giant embrace. At his yell, Gary came through and spotted his old friend and lumbered over himself to pick both Rei and Kevin up to capture them in a huge bear hug that took their breath away.

"Urgh! Gary, let me go!" Kevin tried to squirm out of his friend's grip but found he couldn't.

"Sorry." Gary let them both down so that Mariah could run up to her old love and embrace him.

"Oh, Rei, we've missed you so much." She cried on his shoulder.

Rei smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I missed you all too."

"That's good to hear." Mariah let go of Rei to let Lee come through and shake Rei's hand. "It's good to see you my brother." Rei smiled and Lee grabbed him in a hug.

"You too Lee." Rei smiled at all of them. "This is so cool all of us seeing each other again. I'm sure the guys can't wait either."

"Let's get going then," Lee suggested. "I know I wouldn't mind seeing everyone again."

"Except Kai," Mariah muttered under her breath, but both Rei and Lee caught her comment.

"Mariah!" They both chided her. "That wasn't nice," Lee admonished her.

"Yeah, Kai's not that bad any more." Rei tried to convince her, but she would have none of it.

"I'll believe that when I see it." She walked out to call them a taxi. Kevin shrugged as if to say 'she hasn't changed a bit' and followed her out with Gary waddling behind.

"Don't mind her," Lee told the frustrated Rei. "She's still a bit sore about what happened last year."

"Yeah, well things have changed, and besides there were circumstances that —"

"Nothing will change her mind I fear. Just ignore it and enjoy yourself, after all, all our friends are going to be here. Don't let a silly thing like this spoil our fun." Lee smiled invitingly and Rei laughed.

"You always did know how to cheer me up Lee." Rei walked out to where Mariah and the others had disappeared.

"I know. How did you ever manage without me?"

Rei laughed again. "You've met Takao, you tell me."

Lee laughed. "Now there's a boy who can get a laugh out of any situation."

"Almost any." Rei's face took on a slightly melancholy expression and Lee knew he was thinking on Mariah's words and the situation they had stemmed from. Lee decided not to say anything about it. Instead, for the entire ride over to the stadium he avoided the subject and only talked of things about home that he knew Rei would like to hear. Eventually, the merriment was back to the way it was when the White Tigers first arrived.

They got out and made their way into the stadium, joking and laughing and talking of various things. Rei didn't quite know where to go, which had the White Tigers laughing at him while he tried to find out where to go. Rei finally caught sight of what appeared to be Kai and Takao some way ahead of them. He tried calling out to them, but they couldn't hear, so he gestured for the White Tigers to follow him while he tried to catch up with them.

Rei almost lost them around a corner, but realised they had walked into a room in the hallway. He gestured for his friends to hurry and walked in after them.

"Takao, Kai, didn't you hear me calling?" Rei smiled as he berated them, but his smile faded as he noticed why everyone was staring at something. Lee, Mariah, Gary and Kevin rushed in and stopped, also staring at the figure who obviously enjoyed the attention he was getting.

Re stepped forward and was the first to speak to the figure.

"Tala?"