Here's the third chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! UlTiMaTe KaI LuVa- where I come from, there's nursery, primary school, secondary school, and then you do another two years in college optionally (year twelve and thirteen). I don't know if that's the same as what you have, but that's how I'm writing it because that's how I know it to be (it'd be stupid if I tried to write it as if it was happening in say, America, because I don't really know anything about American schools).
Oh, and Peachgirl? We (me, Peachmelba and Fire Fairy) agree with you- Lord of the Flies has a lot of…implications- but that just helps make it a bit more interesting than it could be- our English teacher has the kind of voice that sends you to sleep, so you gotta keep awake somehow…we do it by spotting the bits with UST (unresolved sexual tension)!
"Mr Hiwatari?" Rei came into his classroom at the end of the day and collapsed into his arms, bursting into tears. He was about halfway through his exams, and the stress was really getting to him. Kai held him close, kissed him gently, then let go. Rei stood up, knowing that in school their moments of intimacy could be nothing but short lived and stolen when they were sure no-one would be looking.
"Can I come round yours later?" Rei sniffed. "My cousins are staying over and all they do is whine at me..."
"Of course you can come round, Rei. Come on, don't cry. What was it today?"
"Physics."
"And you hate physics." Rei nodded and left. Kai watched him go, sighing.
Kai expected Rei to be severely depressed when he came round, so it was a surprise to him when Rei appeared looking only slightly less than cheerful. "I came through the park, and that Parkour guy was there again!"
"Oh?" Kai felt suddenly suspicious.
"He had this other guy with him, and he said that...if they came and saw me sometime and thought I was good, they would put me on their team!"
"Just like that?" Rei nodded and hugged him tightly around the waist. "What does he want in return?"
"Huh?"
"Well...if he's going to let you join his team, he must want something from you."
"Do you think so?" Rei pulled away slightly, looking up at Kai with worry written on his features. "But...I...I like free-running..."
"I know you do." And Kai did know; Rei had read into the sport ever since his first meeting with the man in the park, and now knew the technical names for everything he could do. He could practically quote the life story of the founder of the Parkour movement, and a lot of the other top free-runners. He was a walking Parkour information guide.
"I...didn't think to ask if there was anything I had to do in return..."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe he'll be there again tomorrow." Kai said, smiling. He knew with every fibre of his being that this Parkour idea was not only dangerous but stupid, but it seemed to make Rei so happy...and all he wanted was for Rei to be happy...
"He was there again!" Rei bounced in the door, infectiously happy despite the fact that his biology and chemistry exams had been on the same day. Kai smiled warmly and pulled Rei into a loving hug, closing the door behind him and then kissing him softly. "What did he say?"
"He said that there are no conditions to me joining the team, only that I have to go with them and free-run in famous places with them! But to me that isn't a bad thing! I'd -love- to go free-running in other places!" Rei's excitement made Kai feel uplifted, but he still felt a niggling doubt at the back of his mind. It just wasn't right, somehow. He pulled Rei down onto the couch to sit with him, and Rei kissed him, ardent in his happiness. Kai wound his fingers in Rei's hair, kissing him back passionately. It was a first, for them; they had never been so utterly intimate with each other before, but as the kiss deepened both found themselves wondering -why- it was a first.
"Rei..."
"Kai, I..." For a second Rei looked as if he were going to say the words which Kai feared but also secretly wanted to hear. "I liked that..." Kai nodded dumbly, eyes seeking out Rei's and holding them, moving closer and kissing the younger man again, winding his arms tightly around Rei's torso as Rei in turn wound his own arms around Kai's neck. They lay sprawled on the sofa, ignoring the TV as it waffled away in the background.
"Don't talk to me I might explode!" Rei fell onto Kai, crying. Kai half-lifted and half-dragged Rei into his flat. He had been expecting this. Rei had had his German speaking test today, with a teacher who absolutely hated him and scared him beyond belief, and maths. Kai had never enquired as to why, but Rei hated maths, and he loathed his teacher with a passion approaching venom. "Come on, don't cry...it can't have been that bad..."
"Bad? It was WORSE than bad! It was awful!" Rei wailed. "I've failed, I know I have! I just couldn't remember anything!"
"It's just an exam, Rei. Calm down." Kai held Rei against his chest, stroking the younger man's hair soothingly. Rei sniffed and snivelled for a while, then stopped crying and relaxed against Kai. "I think I would be insane by now if I didn't have you..." He whispered, smiling up at Kai tearfully. Kai kissed him on the nose and pulled him to the sofa, letting Rei snuggle up next to him. "It's only citizenship tomorrow...that'll be easy..." Rei said, voice thick with tears.
"Good. You need a break." Kai hesitated, then asked the question that had been bothering him for a while now. "What about that Parkour team?"
"I don't know. He wasn't there tonight. Today's been so crap!" Rei burst out, butting his head against Kai frustratedly.
"Well why don't we go to the park? I'll never be able to understand it, but flinging yourself off walls makes you feel better..."
And so going to the park after a hard day's exams became a regular occurence. However, one day, about a week before the exams were due to finish, someone joined Kai as he stood watching Rei. "You into Parkour?"
"Hm?"
"Well, you're here to watch that kid, aren't you? I swear, he's so talented I almost don't believe it... What did you say your name was again?"
"I didn't."
"Oh. So, uh...you just like to watch, or do you free-run yourself at all?"
"I really don't know anything about Parkour." Kai was becoming slightly irritated by this man and his familiar way of talking. He was tall and lanky and reminded Kai of something out of a cartoon. "Uh...if you don't like Parkour, why're you watching a kid -doing- Parkour?"
"He's my boyfriend."
"Oh." Kai turned slightly to look up into the man's eyes.
"Are you the one who offered him a place on a team?"
"Uh, yeah. The name's Mikalov. Mikalov Barsky. But you can call me Mick!"
"It would be better...if you left off him until his exams are over. There's only about a week of them left. But until then...he needs to revise. He needs to concentrate. He would be okay if you could do a GCSE in jumping, but I hardly think knowing about cat-leaps is going to help him in real exams."
"Gee, that's a bit harsh... I guess you don't agree with the teams and stuff then?"
"Not entirely, no. I want him to be happy, though. But...if he misses his exams, he might not end up happy. I told him that Parkour could wait. I still think it can."
"Well, we leave town in a few days. I'm sure there are other teams that'd take him, though..." Kai watched as Rei almost lost his balance and caught himself magnificently, swinging up onto the top of the monkey bars. "Perhaps you should go."
"Kai? Was that Mick you were talking to?"
"Yeah."
"Oh...he didn't stay? He said he was going to talk to me about the team..."
"Rei..." Rei caught the hesitant tone in Kai's voice and became instantly suspicious.
"What did you say to him, Kai?"
"I told him to leave you alone until after your exams." Rei gaped at him, then fumed.
"Why did you say that! Since when do you make my decisions for me!" Kai had never seen Rei so angry before. Upset, yes, sulky, yes, but never like this. "Why did you say that!" He repeated, demanding an answer which Kai found himself unable to give or explain.
"I..." He blinked. "I said it because I care, Rei. About you. It's only a week, Rei, not even that, and-"
"I know how long it is! The Parkour team LEAVES in four days!"
"And you were going to go with them anyway?"
"I might have done!"
"Well then you might as well have never bothered showing up to any of my lessons because the last exam is English!" Snapped back Kai. Rei sucked in his breath, raging.
"If I'd never come I would never have met you and maybe that would have been a good thing!" He yelled. Before Kai could register it, Rei had delivered a stinging slap to his face and stalked away.
Four days later, on the day before the English exam, Rei went home and dumped his bag on his bed, glaring at it as if it had bitten him. He felt as if he was going mad- exams, his family and his feelings to deal with, and no Kai with his level head and warm hugs to help him sort it out. He flopped down next to the bag, shoving it to the floor. It fell with a clunk and his mother started shouting at him from somewhere downstairs.
Rei reached under his bed and got out his English revision guide, leafing through it in an attempt to make it more interesting. But it couldn't. Only Kai had ever been able to make Rei interested in English. Ever since that day... Rei could still remember what Kai had said: "Go back inside. And in the future, NEVER speak to me like that again, or we will argue, and I will win."
And Kai had won, in the end, because he was sitting at home, undisturbed, while Rei, was lying on his bed with the weight of the world on his shoulders, trying to salvage his last shred of sanity and failing miserably. Somehow he couldn't stop thinking of Kai. He just couldn't get him out of his head. It was only when his mother at dinner told him to 'Stop looking like a lovelorn fool' that Rei finally realised. As soon as he'd finished, he ran back upstairs again, slamming his door behind him and earning himself another mouthful of whinging, from his Grandmother this time.
Kai looked at the empty desk in horror. Rei wasn't there. On the day that he had been going to swallow his pride and apologize, Rei...wasn't there. Did that mean-? Excusing himself Kai practically ran to his classroom, scrabbling through the papers on the desk. Rei would have left a note, he would have...
Kai collapsed into his chair, holding his head in his hands. No Rei. No note. Nothing. He sighed heavily and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. Suddenly he jumped up. There was a square of paper tucked into the light above his desk! He stood on his chair, wobbling, and pulled the paper down. It was an envelope with his name on, and Kai had marked enough of his essays to know that it was Rei's writing. He opened it, fingers scrabbling to unfold the paper inside. Two twenty-pound notes fluttered out and he let them fall, scanning the note quickly.
Kai...
I'm sorry. But I had to go. I had to see if I could be good at Parkour. I've put in the money to pay for the exam, and...Kai I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say...I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am. I hope you can forgive me...but I know you probably won't. I'm presuming you won't want to see me after this, so...goodbye. Thanks for putting up with me.
There was a crumpling circle on the page at that point, as if made by a tear.
I guess the promise I made you give me doesn't mean anything now, but thank you for making it all the same.
Yours,
Rei Kon
PS. I love you. Just so you know.
"Idiot..." Kai whispered. He read the note through again, then let it fall to his desk. He stared into space for a while, thinking. Rei was gone. Rei had left him. He didn't care about the stupid exam, that was trivial, unimportant, but Rei...Rei had gone... He felt a distinct rush of hate towards Mikalov for offering Rei a place on his team. He had stolen him. "I...love you too..." He whispered, not hearing the click of the door as it opened to reveal Tala.
"Really?"
"No. He...Tala...I..." Tala came closer and picked up the note, eyes flickering over it as Kai started to cry.
"What's Parkour?"
"Free-running...he got offered a place on a team..."
"That...really sucks." Kai nodded, then started to sob. Tala patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"I think I loved him too..." He choked. Tala sighed and wrapped Kai in a brotherly hug. Kai cried into Tala's shoulder, glad of a friend to talk to. After a while he stopped crying and Tala let go of him. "Come on, I'll drive you home."
Please R&R! The button's down there- look! Oh, and in case you were wondering about the money, in England if you miss your exam without a good reason (doctor's note or something like that) then you have to pay for it yourself- usually the school pays for your exams but if you don't turn up, zap! Bye bye forty pounds (dunno how much that is in dollars...) per exam.
