uhhhhhh.. im so sorry everyone. i take a long time to update and i know that!!! *lol* but im just back recently from my one month trip to taiwan so during that period i didn't have the time at all.

thanks to everyone who reviewed (aznwhitetigergirl, life sucks, get used to it (what a long nick), CAt, i luv kai, devilburns, platinum rei, ninsg veen, b, ..., and cc). it's greatly appreciated. (right now im having a little of a writer's block after not writing for so long.. it's as if im totally cut off from the story)

and ive not visited ff.net for quite a while.. so today im like so shocked.. i don't ever know what the hell they did to the layout.. it's horrible now.

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Kai woke up. He was extremely grateful for that night's sleep. Now he felt refreshed, all ready for work. He did his morning preparations, ate his breakfast and was ready to go.

The door bell rang. Max had arrived. He went into house. Kai didn't even lock the door.

Kai heard the door open. He came out of his room and saw Max on the sofa.

"How did you come in?"
"Your door wasn't locked."
"What?????? I must be too tired yesterday."
"haha."

Kai pouted. Max saw it. He's cute at times. Kai saw Max stifle a laughter.

"What now?" he started to growl.
"Nothing. Let's go.

- - -

Kai's day went on as usual. During lunch break, he decided to check on the boy.

He opened the door quietly. He was sitting up on his bed, and Max was chatting with him.

Rei turned. He turned back to Max, his eyes getting bigger. "Who is he?"
"The person who brought you here." Max smiled at Rei.

Rei let out a sigh of relief. His many years with an improper upbringing made him wary of strangers. "Hi." He greeted, tilting his head slightly .

Kai walked over to them. "So how do you feel now?" he asked the boy.

"Much better!" Rei smiled widely.
"What's your name?"
"Rei!"

"Rei.. okay. Mine's Kai." Kai could not resist but lifted his hand to stroke Rei's hair. For a moment, there was eye contact, in which both of them quicly broke off. Kai swiftly withdrew his hand.

Rei blushed slightly, so did Kai, but Max was too happy to notice it. "So I'll leave it to the both of you then. I need to get back to work. See you, Kai. You too, Rei."

He then left, the room, leaving Kai alone with Rei. (a/n: okay. i can't resist this short note. im getting really happy at this part! *gets all excited!* they're together!!)

There was a short, uncomfortable silence. They didn't look at each other.

Kai got bothered. He broke the silence.

"So how old are you this year?"
"Sixteen. You?"
"Twenty-two. By the way, how did you get into such a mess?"

Rei looked up. Kai's eyes looked at him softly, intensely, it wasn't the usual hard stare he had.

Rei lowered his eyelids. "I was in a snuff fight." He started to tremble.

"It's okay. I'm here." Kai could sense Rei's anxiety.

"It's all because of my dad. My mom died while giving birth to me. So he thought I was a curse. Due to her death, he started drinking heavily, getting violent whenever he got drunk. He also forced me to join in the snuff fights to get money for him to keep up his drinking habit. He's unemployed."

Rei looked up again, his eyes were getting watery. "I don't know what to do.. if I return home everything.. will just start again." He let out small sobs.

At this point of time, Kai was at a lost. He wasn't the type to comfort anyone, let alone someone he didn't know too well. uhh... "I... "

The door opened and Max entered. "Hi again!" he said cheerfully, only to see Rei crying softly and Kai looking very lost. Okay. So it was a mistake to let Rei be with Kai alone. Should have known.

He nudged Kai. "What did you do you idiot?" he whispered.
"I don't know!! You ask him!" Kai got a bit irritated. "I DIDN'T do anything. I just asked him what happened, that's all."
"Fine. Fine."

Max turned to Rei. "Anything the matter?"
Rei was starting to calm down. He shook his head. "No. It has got nothing to do with Kai."

Kai rolled his eyes at Max.

Rei interrupted them. "Umm.. Max? Can I have some time with Kai?"

Kai froze. "Sure, why not?" Max answered cheerfully. He left the room again.

Kai felt extremely awkward.

"Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"I.. um. I would like to thank you." Rei slowly lifted his head, until his eyes met Kai's.

* * * * * * * * * *

*lol* i love cliffhangers!!! don't you? ^_____^

haha. excuse me from my crap. i feel evil right now. *lol* and so ive decided to end it as a cliffhanger.

Go visit my new site at h t t p : / / a s h e . j p okayk?? i bought it a month ago. my very first domain! and my blog has moved to h t t p : / / a s h e . j p / l o g / .

Lastly.... REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! or else i'll cry.
bubbye!