It's short, it's not particularly sweet, and it's a good 'ol Kai's POV. About Rei, of course! It might be a bit pointless, but it's 1:04 in the morning here I am right now...


Sometimes I feel as if I am living in a zoo. Tyson, for a start, would definitely make a good monkey, capering about and gibbering at people. After all, that's what he does anyway. Then there's Max, who would evidently be some kind of cute fluffy thing from a petting zoo. Insufferably cute but will still bite you occasionally for no reason. Maybe a rabbit or a squirrel or something. Kenny would be some kind of insect- his glasses always remind me of those compounded eyes bugs have.

It's strange, then, that the one person in our team who -is- part-animal doesn't act like it. Rei Kon, our resident tiger. He is certainly strong, and he has determination. Traits that humans admire but can never imitate, and yet these 'human' qualities appear in someone who is not fully human. He is one of the reasons why I think humanity isn't all it's cracked up to be.

When I look at him, beautiful, proud and strong, I feel ashamed to be who I am...what I am. That he should be so perfect, and I should be so disgusting. It amazes me. That is why, when I compare us all to animals in a zoo, Rei becomes the human outside, watching us with interest, shocked at how strange we are.

As a human I scorn monkeys and rabbits as dumb animals, but every day he puts up with prejudices because he -is- part-animal, and yet I have no prejudice against him. I adore him. It is really quite strange, how the whole situation is a mix of ironies. Still throughout all of this analysis, which I have been making since I discovered he was not a full human, I have come to one conclusion. Rei is an amazing person.

He does not want things, or lust for things. He doesn't want to be in power. He doesn't want anything other than to be happy. I once asked him what would make him happy. He replied. "I don't know, but when I find it I'll know." Such simple optimism, optimism that I wish I could share, but being the only heir of my Grandfather I must not strive for happiness. I must aim to be the cleverest, the strongest, and the most ruthless. True human qualities, ones that Rei does not feel and does not seek to feel.

Perhaps that is not so: Rei does seek to be strong, but he seeks his own strength, not strength over others, strength to rule and chastise with. I look at him, and I hate myself, because he is such a paragon of perfection. He is light-years beyond the best I could ever be.

When his eyes meet mine, I become the inhuman one not through my blood but through my heart. His amber eyes gaze into me and find inside, cowering in a cage of misery and loneliness, a single wolf, desperate to be loved and wanted but trapped by chains it cannot break by itself.

I live to watch Rei and learn about him, for the things he makes me think and the way he make me feel. I sometimes wonder if I might be in love with him, but as soon as the thought is there it goes, replaced by visions of his feline grace and utter selflessness. That is why, even in the chatter and noise of the zoo, the lone wolf can find peace watching the real human.


Hum. This was a bit...freaky. I'm not sure if the meaning is clear, but it's on about Rei not being a full human and Kai being a human by blood, but in spirit it's the other way around because Rei is so kind and Kai is so bitter and twisted. Anyway, R&R please!