Title: Proxy

Author: Ghetto fabulous

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Chapter: 2

Friction

Kai just stood there, confused and maybe even a little freaked out at the sight that lay before him. His mother smiled.

"Stellar! You've met! I'll get dinner ready."

Funny, mom was never that enthusiastic, Kai thought as he watched his sisters bounce up and down in front of him. Everyone was a bit off the edge today and it was getting to him. They never were this excited when he got home. His mom stuck her head back in the lobby.

"Sit down, boys. Get to know each other a bit. I'll be with you in a sec!" She skipped into the kitchen. Okay, now something was definitely going wrong. She was wearing her "Kiss the cook" apron she only wore at barbeques and get-togethers.

'Not like I'd ever want to.' He retorted under his breath so no one could hear.

As if Rei wasn't there, he strode towards the sofa and passed him by, making sure not to look at him but feeling his strong, golden gaze keeping intact behind him. Not like he cared or anything.

Kai settled himself onto the couch on the other side of the living room. For a moment, all they could do was glare, Kai wanting him to have his own life and Rei wondering whatever the heck his problem was. Christine and Monica broke the death-like silence. The hopped simultaneously onto Rei's lap, making Kai burn with anger. All it took was one more push to get Kai into physical vendetta and all over him as well.

"Kai! Kai! Rei was just reading us stories! He's so good at it too! He read us Aladdin and The Three Little Pigs and-" Her twin finished for her.

"And Snow-White!" She giggled and clapped her hands together repeatedly, "Did you know she didn't really die at all? She was cast under a spell!" Kai grimaced. It struck him as peculiar how he had made it home fast enough to read all that.

"I read that one to you already...several times..." Rei thought he almost heard him growl.

"Yeah, but Rei reads it better. Right, Monica?" She nodded. "He makes the characters sound like they're actually happy and makes it all feel so real..." She hugged Rei and tugged at his bangs; he winced and gently pried her hand off. Even he didn't like where this was going. He expected an outburst of some sort but was greeted with something much worse.

"That's it!" He got off and ran to the couch Rei was on. Monica squealed and ran to get her mom. Christine stood and watched, wide-eyed.

Instinctively, the raven-haired neko-jin pounced out of the way. Before they knew it, they were rolling over and over each other grabbing at whatever they could and letting out grunts of frustration.

"What- are- you- doing?" Rei breathed, still not completely clear with his sudden assault.

"Get- out- of- my- life-!" Kai hissed back, making sure not to let his glare meet anything but Rei's own. Their fingers were intertwined and they desperately tried pushing each other off the ground but failed miserably. They both mentally counted to three and let go, each falling onto their sides in the middle of the carpet. They both stood up and Rei dusted himself, careful not to lose contact with the flames burning in Kai's eyes, his returning the motion.

Kai took a step forward but Rei was not intimidated at the least. He wanted to know just what exactly this guy was trying to prove. There must have been something he wasn't following, and he wanted to know it. Kai wasn't much of a bad fighter, either.

The slate-haired Hiwatari lifted his fist, about to strike. He gave this guy all he had got. Still, no sign of fatigue appeared obvious on his face. He had journeyed to find what Rei was made of and came back empty-handed, but things came with time. No, he was wrong, the journey hadn't even begun.

Kai resumed his current intention to wham Rei in the face but his mom carefully stepping into the room stopped him. Monica stood protectively at her side, sticking her tongue out at Kai. This guy had even taken his sisters away from him. His mom folded her arms.

"Now just what is going on here?" This was the mom Kai recognized. "Monica here tells me you were fighting. Is this true?" Kai opened his mouth to speak but Rei beat him at it.

"Um, permission to speak, if I may..." He flashed a sweet smile and she was completely taken over. This boy was very well disciplined and really respected his elders. She glared at Kai with her garnet eyes; identical to his own and he gladly returned it. Kind of like the way she wished some people would be.

"Permission granted. Rei, dear, you don't have to talk like that here, we're all family." Those words stung Kai. Rei was only staying for a semester because of a special traveling program for credit; he didn't need to be promoted that high. They were completely fine as just him, his mother and sisters. What business did he have here? He rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hiwatari. Kai was just showing me his 'rad' spiky bracelet over here. Isn't that right, pal?" Kai shot him an inquiring look but Rei had responded with one that said 'We'll settle this later'. His mom didn't need to know about anything. Kai chuckled nervously.

"'Pal', huh? How cute, you're already friends! Wonderful!" She put on her euphoric face again, making her resemble the twins. "Now let's all get into the dining room and eat."

They followed her into the kitchen which was conveniently located right beside them. The house was much larger than the kind Rei had ever been in. Wallpaper with fruit patterns on them accompanied them through the kitchen out onto the other side where a large table sat.

Everything was already set and Mrs. Hiwatari placed the utensils on their plates as they pulled up their chairs and sat down. Kai personally chose the seat that lay opposite to Rei's, it being as far as he could possibly get from the neko-jin.

For a while, they hungrily ate their meal, the girls briefly explaining their day at school and their mom listening and commenting politely. Rei was first to finish and returned the look Kai had been giving him the entire time mockingly, Kai not being too impressed. After watching Rei leave the room, Kai stood up.

"Mom, why is he," He pointed to the nearly parted figure, "Wearing my PJs?" His mom shrugged.

"He's had a long night, traveling overseas. Poor guy had forgotten his own and was exhausted."

"Wait, wait. So you're letting him keep it?" She nodded while collecting the twin's plates.

"Sure, you live here; you can always get another pair. Stop being so possessive and assume your role as host to him. You should've seen him; he could barely keep his eyes open!"

"Judging by our day at school, I find that hard to believe" He muttered.

"Run that by me again?" But Kai didn't respond. He stalked up the stairs, determined to teach Rei a lesson or two.

He made it onto the second floor, looking from side to side, wondering where Rei could possibly be. What a chicken, he thought, running out on me. He grinned mentally, remembering that the only place Rei would be in was the guest room.

Running on the wooden floors he slid in front of the designated room. Hoping to surprise him, he swung the door open, expecting to find the neko- jin staring at him in shock. Instead, he came to see Rei asleep on the bed, his mane of hair now released from their rubber bondage. His raven strands were sprawled on the sheets, transcending down from pillow. Kai swore he might have heard him purr. Strange.

"Fine. I can play by your game. Don't expect this to be over, Kon." He whispered, "I'll be waiting..." And with that, Kai left the room, closing the door shut.

Rei kept his eyes shut until he heard the last of the footsteps down the hall. Opening them, he sighed in relief. That was too easy. He also wanted a piece of Kai...but that could wait. That was his last thought before pulling up his sheets, and going to bed...this time for real.

Kai groaned in bed and switched from side to side, even though it wasn't helpful. He finally sat up and broke into a coughing fit. His breath felt a whole lot heavier and it shook his whole frame. The air coming in and out of his body seemed to be taking a winding road down to his lungs, instead of the perfectly straight ones they took before. Kai's head felt light and woozy and he couldn't concentrate on a single object before him. He had the flu.

No problem, he thought, I'll be able to hide it before mom even notices it. Turning to the other side of his bed, he found himself staring directly into his mom's eyes, completely miserable and covered in worry. He cursed mentally when he quickly found his two sisters at her sides...and Rei behind her.

"Oh, Kai! I knew you shouldn't have been walking in the rain yesterday!" She placed her palm against his forehead.

"No mom, really, I'm fine!" His raspy voice left her completely incredulous.

"Are you kidding? I could hear your coughing from all the way downstairs! I'll have to arrange something with your doctor..."

"No, mom. Really, it's okay...after school..." His mom gasped.

"School? What makes you think you're going to school? That's absurd, Kai don't even think about school...you need your rest!"

"But mom-"

"But nothing. Rei knows his way now...and he'll fetch your homework. Now go to bed." Just then, an idea dawned on him. A pretty obvious one at that. He gave a stealthy grin, but his mom didn't notice. All she could see right now were the bags under his eyes and all she heard was his cough.

Just as she ran off to grab a thermometer, Rei smirked at him and whispered, "Don't worry, you won't get out of this just because you claim you're sick...I know what you're up to." Kai was furious and if it weren't for his current state, he'd be on Rei like he was before. It was like this had been meant to happen; Rei seemed to be taking advantage of it well.

After his mom had taken his temperature, she ran off too get the twins ready and Rei had already left. She kissed him on the forehead (he was too ill to react) and pulled on her raincoat, before grabbing the twins and running off to work. He smiled and waved at her, and carefully watched as the last of the car pulled out of the driveway. He smirked.

"Oh, hell no, not today." After changing into his uniform, he slid out of the door, making sure he had a coat and an umbrella this time.

I already missed homeroom, he thought, I might as well take my time and miss half of math. Kai twirled his umbrella and skipped into the puddles like a child. Even though he would never admit it, he loved the rain and never stopped getting wet.

The teacher switched her gaze from her fingernails to Rei's face. He blinked.

"Rei, would you know by any chance where your companion is? He's late." Sighing, he stared at the window, about to respond when something stopped him. He could see Kai's drenched figure enter the school, this making him widen his eyes but he managed not to gasp.

"Are you okay? It looks like you've seen a ghost..." He shook his head.

"No, it's just...really wet outside...Kai is sick today." She nodded and checked him off the list.

"Okay, you are dismissed." The sounds of chairs screeching soon filled the room. Rei grabbed his things and left the room with Kenny and Tala.

Soon after, it was time for lunch and the three were sauntering down to the cafeteria, along with Max and a friend of his with wild blue hair in a ponytail tucked under his cap (bending school rules). The teachers and principal were so familiar with him and his mischief they didn't really bother. Most of them watched him and sighed, muttering "Good 'ol Tyson's at it again..." Max laughed.

"And then Tyson went 'I'm sorry Miss, but I ate my dog's homework...' " He began to laugh some more. "And Ms. Fitzhue looked like she would explode!" The four joined him in chorus.

Tyson grinned proudly, arms behind his head as he walked. It was known that he won the award for best prankster...several times. His nostrils twitched as they approached their destination.

"Awesome! Pizza!" He quickened his pace, the other boys in undertow. They ceased to argue with him since it probably was pizza; Tyson never mistook the scent of food...it was like an instinct. He patted his belly.

Max sighed in relief at the new sense of freedom. This was normally the time of day Kai would grab him by the front of his collar and shove him into a random locker. If only he was absent everyday...then he would become used to this sensation. He glanced at Rei in admiration. Rei was so brave...he could stand up to him and Kai would back down so easily. He was so glad that he was there. It was like all the tension and uncertainty had dissolved. He loved it.

Rei caught him staring and arched a brow...Max grinned back sheepishly and the neko-jin sweat-dropped and waved back, not quite sure what had happened. Max proudly wore his neon shirt today without fear of it being torn up or thrown (along with the rest of him) into a trash can.

Kai breathed heavily as he slipped out of his soaking jacket and hung it in his locker. He grinned as he realized he was just in time for lunch, already missing two classes. Just as quickly, he remembered the science test that he had not studied for was directly after lunch. He groaned, desperate to find something to glare at or stare down.

He hastily made his way to the cafeteria while calculating the change within his palms. Suddenly, he could feel the strange rumbling in his chest and his breath cut short, his breath was reduced to a wheeze and he let out a whooping cough that rang through the halls and made people jump. He cursed out loud and leaned against a locker, clutching the front of his shirt and panting, getting strange looks out of students passing by. Oh, how he wished he could punch them. He had just enough strength to tell them off but was glad there was no teacher around. The least thing he needed was letting a fretting adult take care of the situation.

Sighing as his wave of dizziness washed away, he decided lunch would be over soon and walked until the two doors came in view. Weakly pulling them apart, he stepped in, greeted with the loud chatter of students...everywhere. It was so relatively quiet in the hall compared to the cafeteria...the loudness making his head pound. It surprised him that his body wasn't as immune as he thought when it came to catching sickness, right now, he felt like he was crossing the thin line that kept him conscious.

Maneuvering through the crowds of people, he stood in line, staring at the menu and making a selection as he waited. Switching his view, he eyed the room blankly, eyes falling against something familiar. Something he didn't like. One (miraculously) empty table, with a few people on the other side, he recognized the party as Tala, Kenny, Rei (he glared at the realization), Max and his blue-haired friend he didn't bother to know but hated equally.

They all sat and conversed happily, apparently friends but he didn't understand why Rei was with them. They didn't like him, did they? That's how it seemed at the moment. Kai could hear them laugh as Tyson made a few comments and it was as that point he caught Max's worried stare. He blocked it with his common 'expect more from me later' glare he often gave but frowned as he realized it didn't affect him. Not like it did before. Could it be Max wasn't a wuss anymore? Nah, impossible. It was surprising how much he missed being sick for half a day.

Curious, he straightened himself and strode towards their table, Tala being the first to notice and waving. He was immediately joined by his companions, Rei crossing his arms and grunting. Max was staring at him straight in the face without squirming like he normally did and that irritated him. It was then that he figured out that Rei's presence made him feel secure, judging by how he defended him the last time. His current condition kept him from jumping anyone the way they did before. The other boys blinked.

"Coming for more?" Rei inquired coolly. Kenny, Tala, Max and Tyson had no idea about the personal vendetta between the two.

"Are you asking for some?" He snapped. Rei just shook his head.

"Poor, poor Kai. He's sick and can't admit the fact that he can't fight in his condition. I refuse to knock any ill weakling senseless. Don't act like you have a chance, it makes you look pathetic." Kai could feel heat coming up to his face. Instead of swarming his cheeks, it felt more like it was coming out from his eyes eager to match those of Rei, now officially his rival. Their friends could felt the tension ad tried breaking them up but, alas, the war had begun. A war in which they had no control.

Flames of rage began growing and licking every part of his body, making him feel hotter and hotter until he felt dizzy. His face was now visibly red and his mind felt weightless, barely being able to scrutinize the the faces of the boys in front of him. He would lean over and there was nothing he could do; his entire body was numb and he had lost control. Groaning, Kai limped once fell forward, unconscious.

"Kai...Kai!"

To Be Continued...