Yay, wonderful reviews. Glad you're all enjoying this and I know there hasn't been much Tala/Kai stuff, but I'm building up my plot. Lots of plot in this chapter. Hope you all enjoy.

Tala looked around cautiously. They were in another part of the complex, he'd never been here before. Bryan was as alert as he was, his eyes narrowed and wary.

            "Ah, boys, so glad you could make it."

            Tala turned to see Boris walking towards them. He was alone, which was a surprise.

            "What's this for?" Tala asked.

            "We're not going to meet with new clients are we?" Bryan glared at Boris.

            "You are indeed an intelligent one Bryan," Boris complimented him, gesturing that they follow him down the long hallway. "You are not meeting with new clients, but are in fact meeting with Mr. Voltaire."

            Bryan's eyes widened and Tala stopped in his tracks. "Mr. Voltaire?" he asked in surprise. "The owner? He wants to see us?"

            "Indeed. It is truly an honour for you both. None of my pets have ever had the privilege to meet him."

            Tala glared at Boris' back as they continued on. Privilege, yeah right. I'm not getting a good feeling about this particular 'meeting'. Tala glanced over at Bryan. The other man was staring at Boris suspiciously as well. He met Tala's gaze and Tala gulped, seeing the expression on his face. Bryan wasn't ruffled by much, but this situation had him on edge.

            I'm just glad that Rei's not with us, Tala thought. Boris is intimidating enough, but I've heard talks from the other employees that Voltaire is more than twice as harsh and has an even worse reputation. Seeing the way Boris straightened himself up and put on a calm facade to cover the nervousness, Tala was more than glad that Rei was not with them. This was not going to be a very pleasant meeting, for them at least.

*~*

Rei yawned and glanced at his watch and frowned. He wasn't one for caring about late nights, but he hadn't heard from Tala and Bryan for hours and it was getting rather late for him to be staying so long at Tyson's place. He called earlier and left a message with the address, but Bryan hadn't called back yet.

            "Something up Rei?" Lee asked curiously. The two boys had talked for a while in Tyson's room and done a few other things, played video games, teenage guy sort of things. Then they decided to go and join the adults again in whatever they were doing. Kenny was looking over a few managerial things in another room with Max, who was doing his best to distract him. Lee, Michael and Kai were sitting around the table talking about various things while playing a game of poker. Kai was winning. That is, until Rei showed up.

            Rei smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. I'll see your five and raise you two more." He threw the toothpicks they were using as chips into the pile in the middle.

            "I am so glad we aren't doing this for money," Michael muttered, looking at his cards worriedly. "I'd hate to think that I lost this much money to a kid. I'm out." He placed his cards down.

            Tyson watched them, not actually joining in the game. He played a few rounds, but usually preferred to watch, seeing as he wasn't very good. Rei looked over at Kai to see him studying his cards with a pensive look. Then he threw his 'chips' in with the rest. "I'm still in."

            Rei smirked and they showed their cards. Lee had two pair, queens and sevens, Kai three aces, but Rei managed a royal flush. The two older men looked away in disgust while Tyson laughed at them and Michael shook his head wryly. Rei was good.

            Rei smirked and pulled his winning towards himself. "Perhaps another game gentlemen?"

            "Not if you're as good with those," Lee muttered. Then he looked at Rei closely. "How did you manage to learn to play poker?"

            "Tala taught me. Bryan refused to play whenever we did because we used to beat him without even trying. Trust me, you don't want to go up against Tala, I only win half as many times as he does."

            "He sounds like an interesting guy," Kai commented as he got up to get a drink.

            "He is. You guys should meet him and Bryan. Why don't you all come over for dinner or something one time. I mean, you guys were so hospitable with me, it'd be nice to repay the favour."

            "There's no need for that Rei," Tyson told him. "Though I would love to come over for dinner one time." His eyes went dreamy. "If Bryan's cooking is exactly what you had today for lunch, I'd be in heaven." Rei grinned at this. He'd let Tyson try some of his lunch today and he hadn't stopped going on about it for quite a while.

            "That good?" Lee asked.

            "Yeah, and you know what a good critic of food I am Lee."

            "What's so critical about liking every type of food you try?" Michael asked, punching Tyson lightly on the arm in jest.

            "Very funny, but even by my standard this was fantastic."

            "Actually," Rei said, "Bryan usually cooks a bit better than that. He was kind of rushed last night, so we just made something simple."

            "You mean there's something even better tasting than that? I can hardly believe it!" Tyson grabbed Rei by the arms. "You have to let me live with you!"

            Rei chuckled at him. "Why don't you just settle for an invitation now and then later we can think about serious plans for the future." Lee and Michael laughed at this while Kai smirked and shook his head in amusement. The kid was fun to be around.

            Suddenly there was a beeping noise that Tyson recognised and Rei moved away, getting out his phone. "Rei here." He smiled. "Hey Bryan, how did the meeting go?" The smile faded a bit. "That bad huh. Well, you know Boris … yeah, sure. I'll be waiting. Bye." Rei hung up and looked over at Tyson. "Bryan's coming to pick me up now. Sorry to have imposed for so long."

            "Hey, you're not an imposition," Tyson argued.

            "Tell that to my wounded pride," Michel muttered. Rei grinned at him.

            "I would," he replied, "but I think it crawled off somewhere in a hole to hide."

            "Where did you find this kid Tyson," Lee asked, grinning. "I want to keep him."

            Rei blushed slightly in embarrassment at the compliment. He quickly picked up the cards again and asked, "A new game perhaps?" Lee and Kai hesitated before sighing and nodding.

            "No way, I'll sit this out with Tyson," Michael pulled back from the table with a hake of his head. He grinned at Kai and Lee. "You two are just suckers for punishment."

            "I know," Kai said with a grin, "but then I've always had some slightly masochistic tendencies."

            Lee watched Kai closely and then pulled back away. "Sorry Rei, but I'm not playing with Kai when he's got that expression."

            Rei looked over at his single opponent and smirked. Kai was looking rather determined and slightly dangerous. Kai returned the smirk, a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Let's play then kitten."

            Rei glared slightly at the name and quickly dealt two cards to each of them. "Blackjack fine with you Hiwatari?"

            "Perfect." Kai picked up his cards while Rei turned one of his over. He frowned slightly seeing the ace of spades sitting on the table but just gestured for Rei to give him another card. Rei flipped one over for him. Five of hearts. Kai smirked and pulled it into his hand and laid his cards down on the table. Nine of clubs and seven of hearts with the five of hearts made his twenty-one.

            Rei shrugged and flipped over his other card. Kai swore. Jack of diamonds. Rei won.

            Rei grinned. "Another deal?"

            "Of course." Rei shuffled the pack again and they started all over again. The other three were completely captivated by the games. But during the games, Kai was gaining a hand over Rei mentally if not in his actual games.

            "You're not from around here Rei."

            "Nope, parents were from China."

            "Interesting. You were born here though."

            "Yeah."

            "Living with your guardians …?"

            "Almost five years now."

            "Nice guys?"

            "Fun, only a few years older than me."

            "My age?"

            "Twenty-two, twenty three."

            "Yeah. You must know some good places around here."

            "A few, anything in particular you want to know?"

            "Entertainment."

            "Halls? Clubs? Taverns? Arcades?"

            "Anything worthwhile."

            "Lots of places then, some I can't get into."

            "Of course."

            "You guys haven't been here long then."

            "Just got in."

            "I thought you were from around here though."

            "Suburbs, not city."

            "Right. Guess I could show you a few things."

            "Good, and if you can't help me maybe your guardians could."

            "Maybe."

            Kai smirked, as he watched Rei loose a bit of his cool. He glanced down and placed his cards down on the table. "I win."

            Rei frowned and looked down at his own cards. He'd put a three on top of his nineteen while Kai had gotten a straight twenty-one with his cards. He caught Kai's gaze and smiled slightly. "You're good."

            "I know."

            "I'm still better."

            "I'm sure you are."

            Rei's smile faded slightly as he saw the discerning look in Kai's eyes. Kai was getting too interested in him, Rei closed himself off slightly, the smile on his face fake. He saw Kai's eye narrow slightly at this and knew that he'd made the wrong move. Kai was going to find out what he wanted.

            Just then the doorbell rang and Lee Michael and Tyson jumped up and said in unison, "I'll get it." The tense atmosphere between the two at the table was getting too much and all three ran for the door.

            Rei continued to stare at Kai, though the bright expression was gone.

            "It's not nice to hide things you know," Kai commented quietly.

            "Sometimes it's necessary."

            Kai shrugged and broke his gaze, glancing up and behind Rei. Rei turned around and smiled.

            "Hey Bryan that was quick."

            Bryan shrugged. "I guess." He glanced over at Kai and Rei grinned seeing the look on his face. Kai stood up and walked around the table.

            "So you're Bryan."

            Bryan nodded. "I assume Rei's talked about Tala and I."

            "He's not as talkative as I'd have thought."

            Bryan glanced over at Rei. "So I've noticed." He looked back at Kai and smiled. "Thanks for looking after him for the afternoon."

            "No problem. He's fun to have around."

            "Speak for yourself," Michael muttered. Bryan looked over at him then at the table.

            He winced. "You let him play poker with you?" He shook shi head. "Wish I could have warned you about that."

            "Hey." Rei pouted. "We only played with toothpicks, not money."

            "For which I am very grateful, I can't have you taking people's money."

            Rei pouted again. "You're just jealous of my wonderful talents with cards."

            "Of course," Bryan replied indulgently. He looked back at Kai and smiled again. "Thanks again for this."

            Kai frowned. "You don't want a coffee or something?"

            Bryan shook his head. "Thanks but no, I should be getting the little kitten back home for some sleep."

            "Not tired," Rei told him with a grin. "Don't you want to hang out for a bit Bryan? After all it's Kai Hiwatari."

            Kai smiled at this. "Rei mentioned you were a fan."

            "So I gather." Bryan sighed. "However much I would love to though, we should get back home. Tala's not feeling that well."

            Rei looked at him and nodded. "Oh, okay then."

            Kai looked at them suspiciously, but he was the only one who seemed to notice the slight change in their tones as Bryan mentioned this. While Lee and Michael and Tyson saw them to the door, Kai watched them carefully. There was something up with them, but he didn't know enough to figure it out.

            Rei grinned. "Thanks again for having me over guys." He looked around. "But where's Kenny and Max?"

            "Making out in Kenny's office," Tyson hypothesized. "Max probably managed to seduce Kenny away from his work. He does it so often I wonder how Kenny gets anything done." Lee and Michael snickered at this."

            "Just making out then," Rei asked with a sly grin.

            "Yes, if they're doing anything else, I don't want to know about it." Tyson shivered and stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Thinking about Kenny like that … urgh … Rei, did you have to?" Rei laughed at him.

            Bryan smiled at the two of them, already he could see the bond forming between the two. "How about you all come over for dinner one time, just to make up for my impoliteness and for taking care of Rei."

            "Rei already offered," Tyson said. "And we accept." Lee was bout to say something but Tyson cut him off with a glare. "I said we accept, no arguments Lee."

            "He tried my cooking?" Bryan asked Rei who grinned and nodded. "Great then. Next Friday?"

            "Sure." Tyson grinned. "It's a date then."

            "Yeah." Rei looked back at Tyson with a smile that hid something else behind it. "A date. I'll see you tomorrow at school then."

            "Sure, see you Rei."

            Rei looked over at Lee and Michael. "It was nice meeting you and you too Kai," he called out to Kai who was standing back a bit.

            "Sure," Lee grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.

            "See you around Rei," Michael flashed him a grin.

            Kai stared at the two of them with an unreadable expression then nodded to them. "See you next Friday." He turned away as they walked outside.

            Rei looked over at Bryan as they walked towards his motorcycle. "How bad was it?"

            "Very. Do you really think I'd pass up an opportunity like that for anything not serious."

            Rei nodded. "What happened?"

            "Voltaire."

            Rei paled and Bryan grabbed him before he could collapse. Rei had heard the stories abut the old man, like everyone else, but they seemed to disturb him more, perhaps because he was still younger than most of the company.

            Rei bowed his head. "Let's get home then."

            Bryan nodded and moved away, tossing one of the helmets towards him and getting on. Rei buckled the helmet on then pulled himself up behind Bryan holding on tightly. With a quick rev, Bryan was off, driving them back to their home.

*~*

"You know, he looked kind of familiar," Lee commented as he closed the door after Bryan and Rei.

            "Rei said that Bryan's been to basically all of your concerts."

            "Wow," Michael looked impressed. "A big fan then. Cool, too bad he had to leave, he seems kind of interesting. Don't you think so Kai?"

            Kai looked over at them and nodded. "I guess." He pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, but seeing Tyson's stern glare he grinned. "Guess I'll just take this outside."

            "Good, though I still think you shouldn't be doing it."

            Kai shrugged moving away. "My body, not yours. Though I'm sure you wish it was."

            Tyson blushed bright red while the other two laughed. Flirting with Tyson was one of Kai's new ways to get under his skin. It was kind of fun too, the boy wasn't as used to it as his band members. He continued on outside and closed the door firmly behind him, knowing Tyson got annoyed when any hint of smoke got inside. He quickly lit up a cigarette and inhaled. Strangely enough Tyson's aversion to the habit was having an effect on him also. He hadn't been smoking as much as before. This was the first in a few days, his packet had lasted almost a month.

            He'd been out there only a minute before his phone rang. Kai pulled it out of his pocket. "Yes?"

            "Kai, it's nice to see you're as polite as ever."

            "As polite as I'll ever be to you. What do you want Voltaire?"

            "To the point, I like that. You know you're my heir and sole inheritor, I thought it might be best if you got to know the companies you'd be gaining upon my death."

            "You know that I'm going to be selling them and giving the money to charity."

            "So you say, but I know there's one company I'm sure you couldn't do that to."

            Kai paled. "Biovolt."

            "Indeed. I wanted you to have a quick look around on Saturday, perhaps see what possible advantages it might hold for you."

            "I'm not interested."

            "But I insist Kai. Two of my associates will be around at four in the afternoon to pick you up if you're not there by then."

            Kai swore. "I'll be there."

            "Good. I'm sure you'll like it very much once you see the wonderful services we offer here. Even you should be able to find something to occupy your time grandson." Kai could hear the smirking amusement in his voice as he hung up. He stared at his phone for a while before shoving it away in his pocket. He then took another drag of his cigarette and stared up at the sky, his crimson eyes cold and dark.

            "Fucking sick bastard," he spat before taking a last drag. He put out the stub in an ashtray that had been left outside for him by Tyson when they moved in then moved to go back inside. He caught sight of the cheerful boy through the glass sliding door and he recalled a comment made by Voltaire once a few weeks ago. His hands clenched in fists before he opened the door and stepped inside.

            "Hey Kai, want a mint?"

            Kai glared at Tyson who only grinned and held out the packet. He took one then asked, "Shouldn't you be sleeping by now, you do have school tomorrow."

            "Yeah, I just wanted to say goodnight."

            "And give me a mint."

            "And give you a mint. I hope you take the hint."

            Kai smiled and shook his head. "I've been hearing and seeing the hints, not taking them."

            "Oh well, can't blame me for trying. Night Kai." Tyson dashed up the stairs to his room.

            "Kai." Kai turned to see Michael and Lee standing nearby. "We were thinking of heading p as well, it's kind of late."

            Kai nodded. "Sure, I'll pack things up down here."

            "Thanks Kai. Night." Kai waved at them both and headed to the table to pack up the playing cards and toothpick scattered all over the table. His mind was drawn back to the raven haired mystery and he pondered on Rei as he cleaned up wondering what exactly it was that the boy was hiding from everyone.

AN: Hmm, Kai seems very interested in Rei's business. He may just get his nose burned. He he, anyways, next chapter is where all the good stuff happens. But you'll have to wait until I've written it up. *sigh* oh well, Laters.