Title: Proxy

Author: Ghetto fabulous

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Chapter: 3

On Court, Off Court

"Are you insane?" Mrs. Hiwatari exclaimed, while reading the temperature on the thermometer, but not earning a response from her ignorant son. Instead, Kai had been glaring out the window, finding but another rainfall. Blasted water was what got him into this in the first place. Oh how he wished he wasn't there!

"I trusted you Kai, and I come home hearing you fainted at school! How do you expect I felt…?" She went on. Of course, he was valuing what she was saying- he wasn't that ignorant- but he already knew what she would say. He was in no position to fight, either.

He tried to remain conscious, albeit his constant trips back and forth from the reality of his infuriated mother, to the surreal darkness he'd rather stay with. His mom seemed so angry that she didn't realize he hadn't caught a word she said. Yawning silently, his steered his view to the slanted figure by the window. Rei too had been gazing at the rain. Longingly? Miserably? Proudly? He really couldn't tell, yet it was all the same for him.

The twins were put to bed long ago so it was oddly quiet, only making the rambling of his mother sound louder, juxtaposed to his now occasional wheeze and/or cough…and Rei's fatigued breathing. His mom had urged to him to sleep, but he pleaded to remain there by the window. Kai had originally thought it was to gain the satisfaction of hearing his chastisement, but he found no smirk. All this was making him feel awkward…but not as awkward as he had felt earlier…

Once he had fainted, he first regained consciousness in the infirmary, surrounded by only his friends,-Rei and his soon-arrived mother, but he could just barely see students gawking at him from the window. They were pointing and staring (he had never fainted before…and they were amazed Kai didn't have enough strength to shove the nurse away) and some were snickering. Funny…Rei didn't seem so happy. In fact, you might say he even looked somewhat worried. Probably just because his mom was around. Even Max and Tyson were concerned…and Kai treated them like dirt…making their very existence seem futile. Come to think of it…Kai didn't remember them ever being mean to him…was he really such an ass? Kai shook away the idea…all this illness was changing his train of thought.

Fortunately, he felt much better, and according to his schedule, he had Phys. Ed. Tomorrow and they were doing basketball. His favorite sport of all time. He loved everything about it, the rules, the game, the moves, the way his feet sounded as he pounded the ball up and down the court…he was completely in love with the rubbery grip his fingers had when they met with the bumpy texture of the ball. He would give anything to play a nice game of b-ball against Rei…maybe that would show him…the chances are he never even played! It was brilliant!

Minutes seemed to go by like hours and the lonely, monotonous tapping of the rain was beginning to lull him. Rei's head started to faintly bob up and down as he would drift off momentarily then wake himself up, waiting for Kai's mom's lengthy speech to end.

It was also raining the day Rei left his country…though it seemed to give and even more miserable effect to his mood and those of everyone who was bidding him farewell. He couldn't tell if those were tears or drops of rain rolling off the faces of his friends and family, and the stormy weather was all he could really look at during his boat ride. He remembered his beloved pink-haired girlfriend Mariah, holding onto him and sobbing, pleading him not to go. It was the most painful day if his life…but he had to go. He needed the education…and it would help him better the schools in his village. The departure was for all of them. Yet now he was inside a prosperous city, went to a thriving high school and made good friends, and all he could come to think of was that fateful day. He had reason to.

Goodness knew how hard it was to find the opening; Rei had spent weeks traveling back and forth from the market town nearby to find articles, posters, anything. One fateful day, his tired eyes, just before calling it quits and going home, had once more scanned the entire page and immediately stuck to it. The one. The one he needed to finally stop his tedious searching and get him here. He had spent the rest of the night at the village temple, thanking the spirits and giving offerings. Rei had never felt so lucky.

There he was again, drifting off into things he tried desperately to put behind him. Then again, it was probably his major tendency: never letting things go. By then, Kai was already asleep and his mom was ruffling his hair gently. Cute. When he tried to look out the window, he (just) realized it was pitch black out and a small photo laid against the sill caught his eye.

It was a slightly faded image; Rei could make out the young boy as Kai who (surprisingly) was grinning widely and clutching the side of a man's pants. Wait…man? He had a feeling who the man was, judging by how he had silver hair and Kai's mom (who was at his side) didn't. That explained the combination. The man was most definitely Kai's father…but Rei had yet to see him…he wondered why. Both the twins in the picture were infants and nestled snugly each in one of Mrs.Hiwatari's arms. The family seemed happy together; Mr. Hiwatari was doing the peace sign and his wife, whose arms were both occupied, made it look like she was kicking Kai from behind. The photo in whole was pretty interesting…yet throughout all the photos on the walls in the house, it was the sole one to have someone other than Kai, his mom and sisters in it. Peculiar…

"Dammit, I'm late!" Kai swore out loud and knocked down the alarm clock…even though it wasn't ringing. Something told him that Rei was already out to school and his mom had already left. This, of course, was all too true.

At this point, he expected a cough, a wheeze, maybe even a sneeze but nothing came. If it weren't for his belated state, this would have made him content but it didn't…Kai decided to skip brushing and headed straight to the showers. After tossing his clothes to the side, he climbed in.

Inside, he grabbed a nearby bar of "Irish Springs" and flicked on the shower. The knobs were set to warm water by default but something was wrong…very wrong. For a moment, no water came…and then all at once, a huge blast of ice cold water burst out into his face. He was confused…and needed to blame someone before angering himself. He tried to find some logic…cold water equals used up hot water. Used up hot water equals long shower. Long shower possibly from rinsing out long hair. Long hair equaled…Rei. Flames started to lick the insides of Kai's pupils once more.

"Damn you, Rei!" He took the liberty of screaming through large mouthfuls of freezing water. Oh, things weren't going to be pretty…

About ten minutes later, Kai managed to survive the entire shower in cold water…he was Kai after all, but the neko-jin had finished up the shampoo, leaving him with the sole option of using women's conditioner…yes, that's right, women's conditioner. He walked around; carrying that toxic smell and his hair had become limp over his face with a sleek finish…similar to those of the women in L'Oréal commercials. It made him resemble a female more than ever imaginable. If anyone brought that up, they should prepare for some pain. Lots of it.

Kai became bold and even skipped breakfast (not a very good idea mood-wise) and had rushed outside…in fact, he was in such a rush, he forgot his skateboard. By the time he made into school, he ran up the steps and attempted to pry the doors open, but they wouldn't budge. Simultaneously, the janitor walked by on the other side, his keys jingling. Kai's ears picked up the sound so he took in a deep breath and pleaded.

"Dai…Dai?" He called out, knowing for sure the old man would reply. The footsteps stopped.

"Whaddaya want now, kid? The raspy voice yelled back. Kai mouthed out the word 'please' and got down on his knees, sending him a look that said 'I'll owe you back'. The man caught this and relented.

"Okay, just this once…but you owe me big time, kid. I'm sure the principal's gotten to you about coming during school hours. If she catches me doing this, the board'll haul my ass outta here." Kai grinned appreciatively and ran inside.

"Oh, and keep the look, it…shows another 'side' to ya…" He cooed, following a laugh and a purr.

Kai would yell out a threat, but he had no time. By the time he slipped his things into his locker and slid into math, the bell had rung and people walked past him, snorting. The strange aroma filtered into the class and once everyone noticed that it was coming from him, sending him mock seductive looks. Whatever happened to the respect and fear he had was no longer there, and if Rei had been in that class, Kai would have most likely hung him, but for both their sakes, he was already in the gymnasium, ready for P.E.

When Kai had changed into his shorts and shirt, he entered the gym and proceeded to do warm ups with the other boys. His teacher had spotted him. And with his feminine mane, who couldn't?

"Ready to join us, Kai?" He said, evidently trying to get everyone to notice him. Winks were shot at him from across the gym. Rei's face grew red from stifling laughter. Kai was the official news of the class.

"As you know, we'll be starting our unit on Basketball this week." His teacher informed, but paused until the cheering was over. Their school was big on basketball. "I'm guessing you all know how to play?" Mr. Mathers asked, Kai expecting Rei to object. He didn't. "Well then I suggest skipping drills and starting with scrimmages."

Kai had been waiting for this for quite some time. Rei had messed up his day from the moment it started, and now it was his turn to put him in place. In front of everybody. This was his turf now.

His teacher had divided them into two groups for scrimmaging. The 'Reds' and 'Blues'. By a single thread of chance, both Kai and Rei were put on the Blue team. Rei didn't seem to care much, yet Kai was so devastated, he practically begged the teacher to switch him, but, as most students tend to repeat, what Mathers says, goes.

Now that they had decided on teams, the boys positioned themselves on the wooden court, waiting for the whistle to blow and the two Centers to go for the ball.

It blew.

The first quarter of the game dawned on them so quickly that it made Rei feel strangely akward. Almost immediately, the players were sprawled across the court and he, playing post, ran the side of the key, as Tala ran in with a breakaway. Tyson tried to block him as he was going for a lay-up, but he failed. The ball slipped from his finger and bounced against the rim, so Kai ran in and grabbed the rebound. This was Rei's chance.

"Kai! Pass!" He shouted, but his teammate merely grunted and attempted a lay-up himself. As Rei was dodging. Tyson, he slowly watched the ball fall in through the mesh.

He ran to Kai, hoping to high-five him but Kai ducked his hand. And he shrugged. They ran back to their side of the court and blocked their 'men' and Rei did a sufficient job of intercepting Tyson's pass to Kenny. As soon as the ball touched his fingers, he stormed off their zone, his teammates in tow. Kenny came up and trapped him, sheltering him with his arms, and Rei was too scared to pivot, since he'd end up knocking Kenny down while doing so, causing a fowl. He cursed and gritted his teeth. The only screen-setter available was Kai and well…that was pretty much enough a reason.

He slowly backed up while dribbling; only to see that Kenny's arm couldn't reach as far. To his astonishment, Kai was planted behind him, arms crossed against his chest. He blinked.

"Why are you-"

"Just go!" He chided, and watched as he dribbled off.

Kai followed up behind him and as he approached the net, he waited in outside the key. Rei stopped and passed it to him. Kai sent him a bemused look and Rei smiled. What is he on? He mused.

To the neko-jin's surprise, Kai ran back to half-court and smirked, giving Tala the signal and launching their invented play into effect. Tala ran beside him and caught the pass Kai sent him without looking. He paused and faked a long-distance pass to Rei, then dropping it behind him, where Kai received it and motioned with his head for Rei to move to the right. He threw the ball baseball-style in his direction.

As the ball soared through the heated air above them, Kai, being at a distance, could only watch as the neko-jin pounced into the air, grabbing it and halting its short journey. Averting the many hands seeking for it, he cradled the ball with his back, maroon eyes searching for a small exit to bounce-pass it from. He wondered why Rei was being so much nicer to him, was it because he was desperate for victory or did Rei really mean it?

Kai saw this and quickly ran past the many players and positioned himself to Rei's left calling for the ball. Rei quickly tossed it his way, riskily throwing over the opposite team. Kai leapt and caught it and before anyone on the other team could rush and make a barrier around him, he shot it towards the net, now leaving fate to give it entry. Rei watched impatiently as the basketball circled the rim once...twice and out it came. He had to get the rebound; the entire game depended on it. Rapidly sprinting towards it, he jumped, unaware of Kai leaping into the same direction. Unable to switch momentum in mid-air, the two bodies collapsed straight into each other.

CRASH

They both fell swiftly and painfully onto the court under them.

To Be Continued...