Hullo all. I know I'm taking forever on the whole "update" thing. I'm not really working on this any more. But then again, if you wanted to know what's going on, I tend to update my profile with whatever I'm planning in this head o' mine.
Well, it seems you've all anticipated the plot in one way or another, but whatever. I might as well write it down.
Immense Thank You to the people who reviewed and made me get up off my lazy ass and try and write more of this. That would be…
Shaka Dragomir Nocturnus (hihi! So glad you like it! Refreshing to have a guy around. A straight one, even! ^^), MrsHiwatari, Kaiiko-chan (and I've got the pair of you!), artemis347 (you almost forgot about me ?! Waaiiii~!), SoulSister (thanks for sticking around ^^), Kim (just kidding? Too late! ^^), Bloody Mary (we're keeping it in the US, but thanks for the heads up), and Jay Kamiya (you're still here?! Jk darling. ^^).
Disclaimer: Red doesn't own beyblade. Rei doesn't own any of the characters you may recognize within this fanfic excepting Claire who is Red's only.
~~
Rei snuggled up against Kai and the blue-haired man wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Rei let out a contented purr and his eyes drifted shut.
"Would you like to go to bed now, love?" Kai murmured, burying his face into Rei's loose hair.
"Are you sure? I thought you were watching this movie?" Rei punctuated this with a yawn.
Kai slipped a kiss on Rei's cheek. "You can go to sleep if you'd like. I'll be ready in about half an hour."
"I don't like going to bed alone," Rei murmured, a small smile gracing his lips as his
"You're spoiled," Kai muttered, but turned off the television. Rei was about to stand up, but the phone wrung and Kai pushed him back down and stood up himself.
"I'll get the phone; you go ahead and get ready for bed."
"Fine, fine."
Rei wandered off into the bedroom, but was called back by Kai's sudden voice.
"Rei, something's happened to Claire. Mariah's on the phone."
"What?"
Rei woke up immediately and re-entered the front room.
"Claris has gone missing. One of the workers thinks they saw her go out with a man."
"Her father?"
Kai looked forlornly at Rei. "I can't let her go back to him."
Rei's lips parted slightly as he looked into Kai's eyes. A pain, long hidden, was showing up again, through this girl.
"Let me talk to Mariah," Rei sighed.
~~
The pair arrived at the orphanage and a ruffled-looking Mariah met them in front of the doors.
"Oh, thank god you came. We called the police but I don't think they're going to do anything soon. I need you to go find her for me, please!" the pink-haired woman pleaded.
She shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her. It was getting colder outside and the wind was picking up. It had been cloudy all day and it seemed at last the clouds were almost ready to release their burdens of snow.
"Do you know where this guy lives?" Kai asked harshly.
"Yes," Mariah murmured, glancing at him uneasily. "That's one of the few things I got out of the police."
"Good. Get in the car."
Mariah glanced at her childhood friend uneasily and he nodded at her.
She sighed, but took his example and slid into the back seat of the black car. Kai started the engine and reached over his shoulder into the back. Mariah stared at his open hand for a few moments before Kai grunted: "Do you have the address or not?"
"Oh!" she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and placed it in the pale hand. The fingers folded around it and the hand withdrew.
Kai glanced down at it from the road and back again.
"I know where this is," he grunted and then fell silent.
Rei sighed softly, knowing that Kai had gone into "Cold Bastard" mode. The crimson eyes were glaring down the street and the asphalt was giving way before him.
~~
Kai slowed down when they reached the street of the address marked on the paper.
"I don't want you to come in," Kai said quietly.
"Which one of us?" Rei asked, his voice hushing for no reason.
"Neither of you," Kai said brusquely, opening the door.
"Kai!" both of them complained at once.
"He could be dangerous," Kai said steadily.
"She's under my care!" Mariah exclaimed angrily, opening the door and stepping out beside Kai on the sidewalk. She glared him down, her warrior blood boiling with anger at the men screwing around with this child. How dare he deny her the ability to go help this poor little girl?
"This man is probably dangerous. He could hurt you." Kai said calmly.
"Well, what about me?" Rei protested; waiting until a battered car passed before stepping out and walking around the car to stand in front of his lover.
"I'm just as healthy of you! Kai, you're just being overprotective. We care about what happens to her too."
Kai sighed, outnumbered. He felt oddly like he was back living with the Bladebreakers. "Fine, come on then."
~~
Metal under the carpeted stairs clanged faintly as the trio stepped quickly up them. They soon found the number on the paper and Kai knocked on the door.
They stood in silence, waiting. There was a sound of footsteps and the door opened a crack.
"Whatdya want?" a rough voice growled.
"Where's…" Mariah got out furiously before Kai shoved the door with his shoulder, knocking the man behind it back a few steps.
"What do you think you're doin?" the man exclaimed angrily. With this glimpse into the apartment, Mariah spotted a flash of golden hair and exclaimed: "Kai, she's in there!"
Kai pushed the door open and Mariah dashed in behind him, with Rei behind. The rooms reeked of beer and dirty clothes. Claire was seated in a corner, clutching a teddy bear to her chest. She was dirty and unkempt, even though she had only been missing for about half a day. Mariah dashed over and scooped up the child, holder her to her chest protectively.
"Hey!" the man exclaimed angrily. "That's my kid! You can't take her away from me!"
"She's not yours any more," Rei growled, stepping between the two. His eyes slitted dangerously.
"Oh yeah, pretty boy?"
"Mariah, just go out to the car with her," Kai said over his shoulder. "Teddy!" Claire exclaimed, reaching over Mariah's shoulder for the discarded toy. However, that's when Claire's father decided he had had enough and threw the first punch. It hit Rei on the cheek, but wasn't strong enough to knock the 'blader down. Mariah dashed back and scooped up the bear before quickly stepping over to stand behind Kai. Rei punched back, catching the slow man in the gut.
When he was sure Mariah was out and away, Kai stood in the door and called to Rei: "Come on, Rei! Let's get out of here."
Rei gave a final glare at the winded man before jogging out of the room and following Kai down the hallway. When they got out of the building and saw that Mariah was with Claire in the back seat Kai turned to Rei and examined the bruise that was already starting to form on the Chinese man's cheek.
Kai sighed and gently reached up to touch it, causing Rei to flinch away. Kai caught himself and walked away, sliding into the driver's seat. Rei walked around the car and got into the passenger seat beside Kai.
"Let's get home already," he said.
~~
Kai stood in the kitchen with Rei while Mariah tried to clean Claire in the bathroom. Rei was holding a cold pack to his cheek while Kai sipped a coffee nervously.
"Thank you for not stepping in," Rei sighed finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked, startled out of his ravine.
"I mean, thank you for not getting into that fight and being all over-protective," Rei replied, keeping his eyes down onto the table.
"Well, you can take care of yourself, right?" Kai answered, stepping behind Rei and setting down his mug on the table before hanging his arms around Rei's neck.
"Of course," Rei purred, looking up at him with a smile.
They were in the middle of a gentle kiss when Mariah stalked out of the bathroom, in a worse mood then before.
They separated quickly and Kai looked nonchalantly at the woman. "So how is she?"
"Well, I got her cleaned up, most of her, and it doesn't look like the father had time to…violate… her before we got there; although she did start crying when I tried to touch her upper legs."
Kai sighed and looked at Rei. "I don't think she should go back to the orphanage tonight. She can stay here." Rei stood up, backing his lover, and nodded.
"I don't think so…" Mariah said, chewing her bottom lip. "I mean, you're both men and I don't think…"
"I understand her, Mariah," Kai said quietly.
"I know you're right," she sighed, "but I don't like the idea of leaving her alone here."
"You don't trust us?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile.
"Yes, I do it's just…"
Rei walked up to her and embraced her quickly. "Don't worry about it," Rei said quietly. "She'll be safe here. If the father decides to follow us, the first place he'd go is back to the orphanage. You should go back there and make sure he's arrested as soon as he shows up."
"You're right," Mariah sighed and stepped towards the door, pulling on her coat.
"Come by tomorrow," Kai offered as Rei placed a quick kiss on his friend's cheek before she left.
"I will," she said definitively as she stepped out the door and pulled it shut behind her.
~~
When Kai stepped into the bathroom Claire was seated on the closed toilet, dressed in a shirt of Rei's. It was extremely large on her and made her look that much more fragile. She was silently hugging her teddy bear and looked up fearfully when Kai entered the small room. When she saw who it was she hopped down off the seat and ran to catch Kai's legs in her embrace.
"Kai-kai, I don't know what's going on… Why can't I stay with my daddy? Why am I here with you?"
Kai sighed and bent down, catching the girl in his arms gently.
"Claire, what your father was doing to you…he's not allowed to do that. We took you away from your father because we thought he was going to hurt you. You're safe here."
The girl whimpered and threaded her arms around Kai's neck. "I'm sleepy," she whispered in his ear. "But if I go to sleep then the bad dreams will come…"
Kai stood up, lifting the petite form with him. "Don't worry, I'll protect you…"
Kai carried Claire gently into his bedroom and lied her down on the bed. Claire, however, wouldn't let go of Kai's arm. "Stay with me?" she pleaded, her blue eyes sparkling with tears. Touched by her trust in him, Kai relented. "In just a moment, 'k? I'll be right back."
"Ok," she murmured, curling up under the sheets.
Kai stepped out of the room and almost banged into Rei.
"I'll sleep on the couch," he said with a smile.
"Rei…" Kai sighed as he turned back into the TV room. When he turned around again, Kai said quietly: "Thank you."
"Just take care of her, Kai" he replied before carefully pulling his shirt over his head and grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch.
Kai smiled, watching his lover curl up, and turned back into the room where his little charge was waiting for him.
"Alright Claire, time for bed" he murmured.
~~
Yey! I actually got an entire chapter done before leaving! ^^ Ironicly enough, I was watching an episode of V-Force on YTV as I wrote the last little bit of this. ^^ Well, here you are! I know the fight-scene sucks, I hate writing them ^^;;; Well, it was nessisary. So, hope I get a few chapters written while I'm soaking up the sun and we'll see ya in two weeks when I get back! ^-^
Reviews are loved and printed out to be taken with me for moral support!