(A/N: Ten reviews for two chappies! WOOT! It's a world record! Okay....so not really. =P Thanks for the reviews! ^O^

Anime Girl: Yes, I am evil. Thanks for noticing. XD Oh, wait...you were talking about Sakura...*sweatdrop* Run fast from Max! He'll be on sugar withdrawl! And the baddies are revealed!

Desi: *pats on the head* Change thyne name. Just look it up before you change it and find out if its been taken or not. ^^ And yes! MWHA! I AM NUMBER ONE! *gets smacked* Err...was. O_o;;; *likes new name betta* ^^ Kai in mortal danger? Who says? D

I'll save the boys...*grumbles* I had such a pretty headstone picked out for Kevin too. Darn. Just kidding. ^^

Tenma Koneko: Rei's not gonna die soon...though there's a chance he might just 'cause he's my fav character. I have an awful habit of killing off my fav character. T_T And I think we all need to change our pennames...We are ppl! Not numbers! *smacks ff.net* Unless, of course, you a) like the number u got or b)had a number to begin with. ^^

Curtis Zidane Ziraa: Can do! *smacks u with the Frying Pan of Reason!* XD Sorri about that, u asked for it. ^^;;; Hope that doesn't mean you'll stop liking the story though. T_T And yes, problems abound! Mwha!

Neko Oni: Aww....I won't kill Rei-chan...yet...D And Kai, you should get that twitch checked out. *nods* And poor, poor Rei-chan...*discreetly hands Rei some tampons* ^_~ Betcha he knows where 2 put those. And you shouls be scared of your over emotional clones. They're scaring me and I'm on the otherside of the internet connection. O.o;;;

Now, on with the fic!)

"And No Birds Sang"

Chapter 3: Three Drunkards

The music pounded steadily, even as Luiz disappeared back stage, mopping his brow with a towel. He paused, looking down at a green-eyed girl who was smiling up at him. He smiled back. "Hola, Mari," he greeted, his Spanish accent evident in his voice.

The green-eyed girl closed her eyes and tilted her head. "Ohayo, Luiz-chan. Dancing again?"

The blond man nodded and shrugged. "What can I say? The crowd loves me."

Mari, the girl, laughed lightly, and together they began walking toward Luiz's dressing room. She turned serious suddenly. Her eyes flashed and she looked sideways at Luiz. "I found him," she said softly, so that no one would overhear.

Luiz paused, raising an eyebrow. "Eh?"

Mari ducked inside the dressing room, her eyes darting about. She shut the door and locked it. She turned to face the blond man, who was seated on his chair, in front of his mirror. "Who are you talking about?"

Mari smiled smugly and folded her arms across her chest. "I found HIM."

Luiz looked at her, still confused. "Who's HIM?" he asked and Mari sighed in exasperation.

"My brother, you idiot." Her eyes flashed excitedly.

Luiz stood up. "Your...brother? Where? Where'd you find him?"

Mari smiled and closed her eyes. "Right here in the city. He was headed down to the Mandarin."

Luiz grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you sure it was him? I mean, it could have -"

Mari hissed and bared her teeth, her eyes slitting. "It was him, alright, Luiz."

Luiz let go of her. "How...did you know?"

"His eyes gave it away."

Luiz frowned. "Mari-chan, your eyes aren't even the same color as your brother's."

Mari frowned. "Luiz, they may not be the same color, but they're certainly as expressive as mine. You could drown in them."

Luiz nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, Mari-chan, you could drown in your eyes."

Luiz sat back down on his chair. Mari sat down on the edge of the vanity. A cruel smirk crossed her features. Luiz looked up at her. "So, what do we do now that we've found him?"

Mari's fangs poked from between her lips. "We get him to lead us back to that little rich bitch he calls Master," she said, a hint of malice in her voice.

Luiz smirked too. "And then...?"

Mari paused, as if thinking over her answer. "And then...then, we kill him."

~*~*~*

Rei shivered. It was long past midnight and the streets had since grown increasingly quiet. Even the numerous clubs and pubs were considerably quieter than before. Rei shivered. He didn't like being out here at this hour, not at all.

He was cautious. His eyes darted to and fro, watching, waiting. Something was going to happen, he just knew it was...

Just ahead of him, three considerably drunk men stumbled out of a bar, singing drunkly and staggring his way. "Oy, Fernado, pass the rum!"

"There is no rum, Diego, you drunken fool!"

"But there is beer!"

"Let's hear it for alcohol!"

And 'Fernando' and 'Deigo' threw an arm about each other's shoulders and began singing the praises of alcohol loudly into the nighttime streets. The third boy was considerably less drunk than his friends, but he too was drunk, nonetheless. 'Fernando' turned back to him, waving his hand. "Come on, Axel, join in!"

"We can be a singing quartet!" chimed in Diego.

Fernando paused to argue with Diego. "No, we'd be solo, because there's only three of us!"

Axel joined them. "We'd be a...a...hextet!"

"Of course! Silly us! We're a hextet!"

And they started stumbling along again, singing about hextets and wine and spirits and other such 'wonders' of the world.

Rei could merely stand there, completely dumbfounded. Oh yes, Grandpa was fond of his whiskey, but he'd never been this inebrated. Rei raised an eyebrow when the trio finally noticed him.

"Oy! You, yes you there, with the pretty eyes! What's a pretty young lass like you doing out here at this time?!"

Rei's cheeks flushed with anger. He wasn't a girl! The trio stopped and Fernando continued on. "I say, did you get lost?"

Diego clicked his tongue in his mouth. "Pretty lasses shouldn't wander the streets at night - 'tis far too dangerous -"

Axel, the third, interrupted, "What, with all those murderers and rapists and what! No place for a pretty gal, such as yourself." He winked at Rei and the neko-jin shuddered.

Fernando smiled drunkenly. "I say, why don't you come with us? We're pretty safe -"

Rei wasn't so sure about that and he raised and eyebrow. Diego continued. "Much better than rapists and murderers at any rate."

Axel chimed in. "Aye, and we wouldn't dream of laying a hand on such a pretty lass, without her consent of course." He winked again.

Fernando slurred, "I say, and you do look rather underage. Jailbait for us oldtimers!"

The three drunkards laughed uproariously and Rei felt his eye twitch. "I'm not a girl," he said lowly.

Fernando raised an eyebrow. "Eh? What's that? Not a girl, eh? Oy, fellas, she says she's not a lass!"

More laughted and Rei felt his eyes twitch more. He was getting rather annoyed. Fernando draped and arm about his shoulders. "At any rate, lassie, er, laddie, whichever ya be, the streets ain't safe for one such as pretty as yourself."

Rei wasn't sure that last sentence made any sense, but then again, neither did this whole situation. Diego was now on the other side of him, smiling at him. He could smell the alcohol on his breath and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"We've got a nice stead we can put ya up in, lass. Fernando won't mind sleeping on the floor."

"By my word, indeed I do!"

Diego smacked Fernando. "It won't do for a lady to sleep on the floor, Fernando!"

Rei's eyes twitched some more. "I'm telling you, I'm not a girl."

Diego patted him on the shoulder. "Of course, lass. Whatever ya say."

They continued steering the poor neko-jin down the street, trying to remember where they lived, amongst much banter. All the while, Rei's eye kept twitching.

~*~*~*

Early morning light filtered in through the window. A loud knocking on the door echoed in his ears. Kai opened an eye, then rolled over. "What is it?" he mumbled into the pillow.

The door swung open and in walked Emily. The bossy red-head strode by the bed and flung open the curtains, letting the sunlight pour in and burn Kai's eyes. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, just to make sure he was awake.

"I'm up," he growled, glaring at her from under the pillow.

"Just to inform you, Sir, you have a meeting in twenty minutes."

Kai blinked. "Twenty minutes?! Oh, shit!"

The door clicked shut and Emily was gone. Almost frantically, Kai hauled himself out of bed, nearly tripping himself with the sheets. Hastily, he dashed about, dressing, combing his hair, washing his face ....

About fifteen minutes later, Kai was dressed and groomed and frantically searching his office for his briefcase. "Where the hell did I put that?" he growled, slamming shut another empty drawer.

He pondered a moment or two. He'd put the briefcase down...where had he set it down? Oh, that was right. He'd set it down outside Rei's room - no, inside the room, the night before Rei was supposed to leave. And...

"Oh," he said softly, then charged out of the room, back upstairs to Rei's room.

He opened the door, sighing when he found it completely vacant. He missed Rei and the neko-jin hadn't even been gone two days. He glanced at the floor, and sure enough, there was his breifcase, sitting on the floor, right where he'd left it. He sighed in relief. He got down on his knees and opened it up, finding...

"Clothes?" he nearly shrieked, the realization hit him in the head like a brick. "Oh, fuck..."

~*~*~*~*

"Hello?" came the annoying, high-pitched voice of the secretary.

Kai held the phone to his ear with his shoulder. His hands were busy stuffing clothes into a suitcase. "Konnichi wa, Mizuki-san. This is Hiwatari Kai calling. I need to speak with Pedro-san immediately."

"Just a moment, please, Mister Hiwatari."

There was a beeping sound that signalled he was on hold. He nearly lost his balance, trying to shut the suitcase.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Pedro-san."

"Ah, Hiwatari. You're late for our meeting."

"That's what I'm calling about. I need to cancell said meeting because-"

He paused. He couldn't tell Pedro the real reason - he had to make up an excuse and fast! "My...er...Aunt has just passed on."

"Oh, I see. That's too bad, Hiwatari. I suppose I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

"Well, you see..."Kai began, thinking up a lie as he went along. "I have to go out of town for the funeral. I'll be gone for about a week."

There was a crackling silence. "Very well, then Kai. I expect to see you in my office a week from now, at nine-o'clock sharp."

Click. Pedro had hung up. Kai sighed in relief and set down the phone. He'd bought it! Kai grinned to himself. He now had one week to recover the misplaced money! He slammed shut his suitcase and tore out of the room, intent on catching the next train to the city.

~*~*~*~*

Pedro smirked, twirling the phone cord about on his finger. "Yes, Jose. I just got a call from Hiwatari."

"What did he say?"

"He said he was going out of town for a week..."

"He doesn't have the money, then."

"It's just as I said, Jose. He's given the money to the neko-jin."

"So, now, I get there before he does?"

"Exactly."

Static. Pedro smirked to himself and placed the phone on the cradle. The plane was in action...

"We'll teach Hiwatari to send off his valuables."

~*~*~*~*

[A/N: Taa-daa. Another chapter. Sorry if it was short, I wanted to finish it before I went to work. XP R&R pleez?]