This'll probably be the second- to- last chapter. I've kept... fairly consistant with this one... sort of.

Anyway, a tiny bit of yaoi, which, I'm sure if you've read this far, you're not going to mind. When I say tiny bit, I mean tiny bit. Don't get me wrong, I would have more then happily written full blown shmex, however, that'd get my account deleted. Oops!

(Part9)- The Penultimate Chapter.

Rei let a tiny, satisfied sigh leave his lips as he snuggled down further into the thick, cream blankets, shivering a little in pleasure. Not that he'd admit it to Kai, but after sharing a bed with someone else for several months, he found that having a double bed all to himself was really quite delightful.

Tired as he was, Rei found that sleep was still fleeting. He was exhausted, yet his mind refused to shut down. In stead it presented him with thoughts and images, one of which made him chuckle, the sound fluttering into the darkness of the room.

The particular image floating around in the confines of his mind was that of a rather annoyed Kai. At one time, being confronted by an angered Kai would have intimidated him somewhat. However, since Rei was one of the privileged few who could profess to actually knowing him, he found that his initial anxiousness has fast morphed into some kind of strange humour. After seeing Kai trip up over tables and letting out strings of curses over falling off beds, Rei had long since stopped viewing him as his big, scary team captain. Rather, he now saw Kai for what he was- a slightly melodramatic teenage boy.

It was more then a little refreshing.

In hindsight, Rei should have guessed that they would be given separate suites. Kai's mother and father may have been 'okay' with their relationship, but he doubted that they exactly encouraged the kind of things that they got up to. After all, Kai was still their baby. The idea of him having sex with anyone let alone another boy probably didn't sit all that comfortably with them. Not like Rei would even consider having sex with Kai in the same house as his parents. The thought horrified him.

Still though, Kai's reaction to his mother's insistence was quite hilarious. At first he had followed her up the stairs, silently glowering at her back, then he had defensively taken Rei's hand in his own and had gripped onto it with enough force to make Rei wince, and then his mother had delivered the finishing blow.

"Okay Rei, this is one of the guest rooms. It's nice and clean and we have extra blankets because of it being so chilly, though you shouldn't need them as we have the heating on full blast." At that point she had hugged him and sent him a cheerful smile, "If you need anything, we're just down here on the left and Kai's room is just over there." She indicated to a door three doors down on the opposite side of the corridor. Kai had frowned and opened his mouth to protest.

"Ummm…" Rei had interrupted, "I don't' mean to be a pain, but I have no sleeping stuff."

Alexia's eyes widened as if she had only just considered that fact.

"Oh yes!" she exclaimed, "Well, I'm sure Kai will lend you whatever you need," she had turned to Kai, "Go and get him what he needs Kai."

After much grumbling, Kai had returned with one of his t-shirts and a toothbrush.

"I haven't used it," he muttered as he had handed the brush over to his boyfriend.

Alexia had cocked her head to one side in confusion, "Kai I asked you to get him sleeping gear, not a shirt,"

Kai had spun around and stalked towards his room, opening the door and stepping into the room, "That is what he sleeps in, now if you'll excuse me, I'll be going to bed. Goodnight." Then the door was closed.

"Oops, I think I annoyed him," his mother had whispered, before she too, started moving off down the hallway. "Anyway, goodnight sweetheart,"

Rei had nodded and returned with a 'good night' of his own before entering his room, throwing his bag on the floor and flinging himself onto the freshly made double bed.

And now he was here. Shortly after he had brushed his teeth, un-bound his hair and replaced his shirt with Kai's (which, due to their height difference at the moment, came down to just above his knees), he had snuggled down into the blankets, feeling very good. He could finally be allowed to relax. After the long journey and the stress of meeting Kai's parents, he relished in the feel of his anxiousness slipping away from his muscles, leaving him feeling flaccid, lazy and pleasantly comfortable.

Rei sighed happily. The day hadn't been anywhere near as bad as he had feared. Kai's parents had been far nicer then he had ever hoped and they had not once looked at him with scorn or mistrust. Susumu had proved to be knowledgeable and friendly, showing a great deal of interest in Rei's chosen career, and supportive of that career. Alexia was exactly what Rei had hoped a mother to be like. She was bright, chatty, quirky and most of all- motherly. She loved poking fun at Kai and she loved to annoy him, but she always had that proud glint in her eye; proud that Kai was her son.

Rei really couldn't understand the reason for Kai's resentment of his parents. The feeling of maternal comfort or paternal guidance. The feeling that there were two people out there who loved you more then anything else on the face of the planet. How anyone could resent their parents was beyond Rei.

Rei sighed to himself. It was unfair of him to presume that. He really did have no idea what had been the cause of Kai's unhappiness. The one thing that he did know was that Kai didn't do being petty; therefore, Kai must have had good reason.

Plus, it was childish of him to presume that all parents were great. The little voice inside of him was adamant that any parents were better then none, but his more realistic mind told him that this was not so. He was not ignorant of the news and some of the terrible stories that came to light. Still though, Rei couldn't help but wonder the possibilities of 'what if'.

Without thinking, Rei buried his nose into the material of the shirt he wore. To his surprise the action soothed him, frowning; Rei moved his hand to lift the shirt to his nose and sniffed hesitantly.

Kai.

The faint, almost undetectable yet instantly recognisable scent reached him. Rei smiled and inhaled the scent again, silently thanking Kai. Even when Kai wasn't close by, the other had inexplicable knack of comforting him. Rei guessed it was something to do with the whole 'being in love' thing, otherwise he would've thought himself to be more then a little bit of a weirdo to be finding comfort in breathing in the presence of his boyfriend from his tee-shirt.

His smile grew as he stretched out and closed his eyes. He really was lucky. Kai loved him enough for two people. Kai took care of him. Kai told him when he was wrong. Kai helped him find the right path. Kai made him laugh. Most of all, Kai made him like himself, after all, if someone like Kai Hiwatari could love a little urchin like him, he couldn't be that bad. Rei started to drift, finally letting his mind shut off.

It couldn't have been long after that when his light doze was broken by the sound of the door to his room opening and closing. Blinking tiredly, Rei sat up watching as the shadow moved quietly across the room to the other side of the bed.

Without invitation the owner of that shadow invited himself into Rei's bed and slid in besides him.

"Lie down," He ordered.

Rei blinked a couple more times before tiredly sinking back down into the covers, his back to the room invader. Seconds later, hands moved forwards to grasp as his hips, before sliding across to twine around his waist, one hand sliding up under his shirt to rest against his stomach.

"Get off!" Rei yelped. The body moved closer until it was pressed up against his back.

"Quiet down!" Came an annoyed grunt.

Rei moved his hand down to the other and made an attempt to shift it, "Seriously, let go!"

"What on Earth has gotten into you?

"Your hands are freezing, that's what!" Rei muttered.

"Oh," The hand seemed to retreat for a second, before it moved back into its original place. Rei was too tired to resist this time and just tried to ignore the feeling of chilled skin. He felt himself starting to drift again when he was jolted back into awareness due to the warm breath that travelled across his ear. "How about you help me warm them up then?" A tongue dipped into his ear for further emphasis. If Rei wasn't so exhausted, he would have shuddered in pleasure.

As it was, he was just really, really tired.

"How about I not?" Rei murmured and buried his face further into the blankets.

"Come on kitty- cat, I'm cold and I want that gift you promised me," Kai whined, rubbing himself up against Rei's back to make his point clear.

Rei opened his eyes with effort and bit back a yawn, dully noting that Kai's hand had moved around to molest his behind. "Kai, I am not having sex with you while your mother and father are four doors down the hall," he replied, voice husky with sleep, "and," he paused to yawn, "I would rather give you that gift when I'm not likely to fall asleep in the middle of giving it."

"But Rei! It's my birthday now." Kai demanded.

Rei closed his eyes, "Actually, it's not. It's past twelve." He mumbled.

"Fuck that," Kai spat, before he sighed and rested his head against Rei's shoulder. "We don't have to go all the way, just let me-"

"Kai! I just want to sleep! Sort yourself out if you're that desperate, just let me sleep, please!" Rei begged, tiredness shortening his temper.

Kai seemed about to snap back when he suddenly thought better of it, realising that Rei's mood was due to the fact that he was tired. "All right. Sorry, I didn't mean to be so pushy." He said softly.

Rei smiled to himself and turned around to snuggle into Kai's side. "S'fine" he slurred, "Sorry for snapping at you."

Kai shifted his arm to rub Rei's side gently, this time to soothe him into sleep, "It's hard to do, but I guess I'll forgive you, in truth I only came in here because I felt lonely in bed alone. I guess I'm just too used to your presence." He smiled when he saw Rei chuckle, already half asleep. "Oh, hey, before you go to sleep, do you still have Dranzer on you?"

Rei nodded, "In my bag," he sighed.

"Okay," Kai slipped out from the bed and padded across the room, using the moonlight to find his way to the bag that Rei had previously cast aside. Picking it up, he moved to the bedside table and switched the lamp on. Rei's eyes scrunched up a little before relaxing again. Kai smiled again and got back under the covers, before settling the bag upon his lap and reaching in, searching around for his faithful blade. He withdrew his hand and angled the bag towards the light, and, spotting his target; he dipped his hand in and retrieved his blade. As he did so, something else caught his attention. Setting his blade upon the bedside table, he reached back in and picked it up.

He was surprised to find a white envelope with his name written in simple, black text across the front. He placed the bag back on the floor and returned his attention to his find. He glanced across to Rei, only to find him sound asleep.

He looked back at the envelope and turned it around in his hands, only to find it sealed. He flipped it round again, finding that the writing at the front taunted him. It was addressed to him, so then; didn't he have a right to open it? It couldn't be a card or a gift, as Rei had said, his birthday was over. Maybe it was something that Rei had forgotten? Perhaps. It could also be something that his mother had slipped in, but that seemed unlikely. The last option was that it was something that Rei was unwilling, or worried about giving to Kai. If that was the problem, Kai would sooner know then not know.

Hoping that Rei would not be angry with him later, Kai let his curiosity get the better of him. Carefully he opened the envelope and reached in, holding whatever it was up to the light, in order for him to read the writing upon it.

Kai's eyes widened and he looked across to Rei in shock.

Rei slept on, oblivious to the heaviness that had settled upon his boyfriend's heart.

Oooohhh! What does it saaaaaay!

Thankfully, I've started writing the next bit and coursework is over, so it'll be done by next week.

Also: A note on height difference- In the series itself, Rei and Kai stay about the same height, however, when viewed side on, even in 'G-Rev' Kai is a fraction taller then Rei. Since I'm working on Kai being about 17, he would have had a growth spurt at around 16. Did Rei? Well... not really. People seem to like writing Rei to be taller then Kai, and if you want to, go right ahead! It's a free world, however, I've taken into account that Rei Chinese notedly short race, Kai Russian/Japanese (Russian) Notedly tall race.

Ergo Rei shortie, Kai medium/ slightly tall. He's still kinda short though. I mean look at when he was on Neo Borg... the little short arse.