Kai flung open the door to his mansion violently after leaving the gym.
The housekeeper looked up startled, and hurriedly busied herself in another part of the huge building, wishing to be as out of the way as possible.
Kai in his solitary rage didn't notice, and stormed up the winding staircase in a beeline for his room.
By the time he had navigated his way around the numerous corridors and arrived at his room, his mood and sobered to border line depression.
How could Tyson have caught him off-guard like that?
Kai hated to admit it, but to land a mental and emotional blow like that, Tyson knew him better than he had once thought.
He flopped onto his bed and sighed.
He had originally introduced Tyson into his world of night clubbing and industrial music to try and earn the boy's trust again, after the disastrous episode in the previous world championships.
Looking back, he'd enjoyed those nights out; Tyson was ideal company when he needed to kick back and relax. He'd never questioned why Kai hadn't invited the rest of the team; he seemed to enjoy his leader's company as much as the music.
Kai suddenly found himself pining for those long gone nights of drink and dance, wishing he could still feel that slender boyish waist dancing just inches away from him.
He shook his head angrily; wishing wouldn't change anything, he might as well accept that things were different and get on with it. He stood up stiffly and headed towards the bathroom for a shower, slamming yet another door behind him.
Some hours later when Rei pulled his Seat convertible into the spacious drive, Kai was already waiting on the porch, arms folded and predictably scowling.
Rei signalled for him to jump in, and his heart simultaneously sank and skipped a beat when he realised the only spare seat was next to Tyson.
He was still shell shocked from the afternoon's confrontation and had to summon all his inner strength not to let his bitter disappointment show in his face as he settled into his seat.
Both boys sat in uncomfortable silence for the whole drive, neither daring to look at each other.
Rei was preoccupied with driving and listening to "Collective Suicide" by Terminal Choice, though the latter seemed to be claiming most of his attention, and Max often had to frantically grab the steering wheel to avoid on coming traffic as the convertible swayed across the busy road under Rei's unsteady hands.
Kai began to relax as he melted into the music, miming the words he knew so well.
He almost choked when he just barely heard Tyson actually singing quietly, but not quietly enough that Kai couldn't sense the emotion behind his subconscious karaoke.
Rei signalled that they'd arrived, and suggested they go ahead while he found a place to park. He was pleased when Max insisted on staying with him and snuggled his boyfriend affectionately, laughing at Tyson's mocking gag gestures.
"Aw Maxie you can't bear to be away from me for a single moment." He sighed contentedly as his cat like eyes scanned the sidewalk for a space.
"Uh...yeah sure." Max smiled sweetly, while at the same time preparing himself to grab the steering wheel again should Rei's attention sway.
Tyson and Kai were waiting at the door for them when they eventually walked round the corner, and Max could tell they were not comfortable in each others company.
After they had paid and left their coats in the cloakroom Max dragged Tyson into a corridor and demanded to know what was going on.
At first Tyson refused to answer, and then tried evading his questions, and finally Max became frustrated.
"Tyson we're all supposed to be friends, it's not right for you and Kai to be acting like enemies and expect us to butt out!" He sighed impatiently as Tyson's face became set with the stubbornness he'd come to expect from the headstrong boy.
"O.K fine, I get it!" Tyson spat irritably.
"So what's wrong with you two?" Max persisted, unwilling to give up when his friend was so obviously suffering.
"I would say lovers tiff, but I don't think that Russian sourpuss even knows the meaning of the word." Tyson replied, turning on his heel and heading back to the bar, where Rei was waiting with a double JD and Coke.
Max was stunned by what he'd heard but decided to keep it to his self.
He pushed his way through the doors to see Rei stood on the bar, surrounded by fan girls and chugging away at a large bottle of Smirnoff vodka.
Max groaned inwardly and pushed through the protesting crowd to his boyfriend who was now enthusiastically adding his own voice to "Dragula" which was currently pounding through the numerous speakers in the crowded room.
He perched on the end of the bar and scanned the room.
His sharp eyes quickly spotted Kai, who despite being surrounded by his own mob of fan girls appeared to be glaring at some obscure spot on the dance floor.
Max craned his neck to see where Kai was staring at and spotted Tyson who appeared to be dancing with a strange dark haired girl. She looked vaguely familiar, but in the gloom and smoke Max couldn't make out her face.
The rest of the night went by in a colourful blur, and it was gone 5am before Max realised his drink had been spiked. He sat up arching his back uncomfortably, vowing never to sleep on a metal bench again.
Suddenly his senses jolted; he didn't recognise anyone around him and the room didn't look familiar either, it certainly wasn't the one he'd fallen asleep in.
On the other side of the room, Rei snuggled under the bar sucking his thumb in his sleep, dreaming of his little Maxie and blissfully unaware of the besotted fan girls cooing over how cute he looked curled up in a ball.
Kai had gone into the other room after losing his mind battle against the green eyed monster threatening to consume him when he saw Tyson dancing with that stuck up goody-two-shoes. He leaned back to the wall and flopped heavily onto the floor, closing his eyes against the nauseating mental images invading his treasured memories of his lost friendship.
Eventually the lulling beat from VNV Nation's "Industrial Love" drowned him in heavy sleep and the rest of the early morning passed by without his notice.
Kai uttered a noise that was somewhere between a yawn and a pained moan as he arched his back while he woke.
Then his senses shot into life as he realised he wasn't in the club anymore.
His stony grey eyes seemed to flash with a life of their own, and to his horror, his first panicked thought was not for himself, but for someone else, who he had to mentally remind himself, he was supposed to be angry with. He cursed himself for his weakness, before looking up to see Rei trotting around the room unsteadily holding his head and wincing with every step.
Then Max walked in looking distastefully at a slice of burnt toast.
Finally unable to keep himself in check any longer Kai forced himself to tentatively voice his thoughts.
"Does anyone know where Tyson is?" He barely managed to keep his voice level, and was thankful that his growling could be blamed on a hangover, though unknown to the rest of the team, being a seasoned drinker, he no longer suffered the wrath of the morning after.
"I haven't seen him since last night, my drink got spiked and I zonked out." Max replied, glancing worriedly at Rei, who had suddenly woken up, and whose face was a picture of pure rage.
"Who in their right mind would do something like that to you?!" He exploded, ignoring the searing pain in his temple.
"I don't know, all I remember is seeing Tyson dancing with some dark haired girl." He stopped abruptly as recognition registered in Kai's troubled eyes. "Kai?"
"Would it happen to be the same dark haired girl that's standing behind you?" He replied with a barely concealed growl, but the hostile ice cold glare was plain in his eyes.
Both Max and Rei spun round to face the newcomer, neither knowing what to expect.
They were both relieved and surprised, but at the same time unnerved by Kai's hostility towards their old friend.
"I'm surprised you recognised me Kai, after all this time." The girl smirked from her standing spot at the foot of the stairs.
"Well you have changed a bit-" Max was cut off abruptly by a furious growl from Kai.
"Well you shouldn't be. You haven't changed at all Hillary, you're still a stuck up bitch!"
The housekeeper looked up startled, and hurriedly busied herself in another part of the huge building, wishing to be as out of the way as possible.
Kai in his solitary rage didn't notice, and stormed up the winding staircase in a beeline for his room.
By the time he had navigated his way around the numerous corridors and arrived at his room, his mood and sobered to border line depression.
How could Tyson have caught him off-guard like that?
Kai hated to admit it, but to land a mental and emotional blow like that, Tyson knew him better than he had once thought.
He flopped onto his bed and sighed.
He had originally introduced Tyson into his world of night clubbing and industrial music to try and earn the boy's trust again, after the disastrous episode in the previous world championships.
Looking back, he'd enjoyed those nights out; Tyson was ideal company when he needed to kick back and relax. He'd never questioned why Kai hadn't invited the rest of the team; he seemed to enjoy his leader's company as much as the music.
Kai suddenly found himself pining for those long gone nights of drink and dance, wishing he could still feel that slender boyish waist dancing just inches away from him.
He shook his head angrily; wishing wouldn't change anything, he might as well accept that things were different and get on with it. He stood up stiffly and headed towards the bathroom for a shower, slamming yet another door behind him.
Some hours later when Rei pulled his Seat convertible into the spacious drive, Kai was already waiting on the porch, arms folded and predictably scowling.
Rei signalled for him to jump in, and his heart simultaneously sank and skipped a beat when he realised the only spare seat was next to Tyson.
He was still shell shocked from the afternoon's confrontation and had to summon all his inner strength not to let his bitter disappointment show in his face as he settled into his seat.
Both boys sat in uncomfortable silence for the whole drive, neither daring to look at each other.
Rei was preoccupied with driving and listening to "Collective Suicide" by Terminal Choice, though the latter seemed to be claiming most of his attention, and Max often had to frantically grab the steering wheel to avoid on coming traffic as the convertible swayed across the busy road under Rei's unsteady hands.
Kai began to relax as he melted into the music, miming the words he knew so well.
He almost choked when he just barely heard Tyson actually singing quietly, but not quietly enough that Kai couldn't sense the emotion behind his subconscious karaoke.
Rei signalled that they'd arrived, and suggested they go ahead while he found a place to park. He was pleased when Max insisted on staying with him and snuggled his boyfriend affectionately, laughing at Tyson's mocking gag gestures.
"Aw Maxie you can't bear to be away from me for a single moment." He sighed contentedly as his cat like eyes scanned the sidewalk for a space.
"Uh...yeah sure." Max smiled sweetly, while at the same time preparing himself to grab the steering wheel again should Rei's attention sway.
Tyson and Kai were waiting at the door for them when they eventually walked round the corner, and Max could tell they were not comfortable in each others company.
After they had paid and left their coats in the cloakroom Max dragged Tyson into a corridor and demanded to know what was going on.
At first Tyson refused to answer, and then tried evading his questions, and finally Max became frustrated.
"Tyson we're all supposed to be friends, it's not right for you and Kai to be acting like enemies and expect us to butt out!" He sighed impatiently as Tyson's face became set with the stubbornness he'd come to expect from the headstrong boy.
"O.K fine, I get it!" Tyson spat irritably.
"So what's wrong with you two?" Max persisted, unwilling to give up when his friend was so obviously suffering.
"I would say lovers tiff, but I don't think that Russian sourpuss even knows the meaning of the word." Tyson replied, turning on his heel and heading back to the bar, where Rei was waiting with a double JD and Coke.
Max was stunned by what he'd heard but decided to keep it to his self.
He pushed his way through the doors to see Rei stood on the bar, surrounded by fan girls and chugging away at a large bottle of Smirnoff vodka.
Max groaned inwardly and pushed through the protesting crowd to his boyfriend who was now enthusiastically adding his own voice to "Dragula" which was currently pounding through the numerous speakers in the crowded room.
He perched on the end of the bar and scanned the room.
His sharp eyes quickly spotted Kai, who despite being surrounded by his own mob of fan girls appeared to be glaring at some obscure spot on the dance floor.
Max craned his neck to see where Kai was staring at and spotted Tyson who appeared to be dancing with a strange dark haired girl. She looked vaguely familiar, but in the gloom and smoke Max couldn't make out her face.
The rest of the night went by in a colourful blur, and it was gone 5am before Max realised his drink had been spiked. He sat up arching his back uncomfortably, vowing never to sleep on a metal bench again.
Suddenly his senses jolted; he didn't recognise anyone around him and the room didn't look familiar either, it certainly wasn't the one he'd fallen asleep in.
On the other side of the room, Rei snuggled under the bar sucking his thumb in his sleep, dreaming of his little Maxie and blissfully unaware of the besotted fan girls cooing over how cute he looked curled up in a ball.
Kai had gone into the other room after losing his mind battle against the green eyed monster threatening to consume him when he saw Tyson dancing with that stuck up goody-two-shoes. He leaned back to the wall and flopped heavily onto the floor, closing his eyes against the nauseating mental images invading his treasured memories of his lost friendship.
Eventually the lulling beat from VNV Nation's "Industrial Love" drowned him in heavy sleep and the rest of the early morning passed by without his notice.
Kai uttered a noise that was somewhere between a yawn and a pained moan as he arched his back while he woke.
Then his senses shot into life as he realised he wasn't in the club anymore.
His stony grey eyes seemed to flash with a life of their own, and to his horror, his first panicked thought was not for himself, but for someone else, who he had to mentally remind himself, he was supposed to be angry with. He cursed himself for his weakness, before looking up to see Rei trotting around the room unsteadily holding his head and wincing with every step.
Then Max walked in looking distastefully at a slice of burnt toast.
Finally unable to keep himself in check any longer Kai forced himself to tentatively voice his thoughts.
"Does anyone know where Tyson is?" He barely managed to keep his voice level, and was thankful that his growling could be blamed on a hangover, though unknown to the rest of the team, being a seasoned drinker, he no longer suffered the wrath of the morning after.
"I haven't seen him since last night, my drink got spiked and I zonked out." Max replied, glancing worriedly at Rei, who had suddenly woken up, and whose face was a picture of pure rage.
"Who in their right mind would do something like that to you?!" He exploded, ignoring the searing pain in his temple.
"I don't know, all I remember is seeing Tyson dancing with some dark haired girl." He stopped abruptly as recognition registered in Kai's troubled eyes. "Kai?"
"Would it happen to be the same dark haired girl that's standing behind you?" He replied with a barely concealed growl, but the hostile ice cold glare was plain in his eyes.
Both Max and Rei spun round to face the newcomer, neither knowing what to expect.
They were both relieved and surprised, but at the same time unnerved by Kai's hostility towards their old friend.
"I'm surprised you recognised me Kai, after all this time." The girl smirked from her standing spot at the foot of the stairs.
"Well you have changed a bit-" Max was cut off abruptly by a furious growl from Kai.
"Well you shouldn't be. You haven't changed at all Hillary, you're still a stuck up bitch!"
