Chapter 2- Closer

A few days had passed, but Kai still felt unsure of what Rei was to him. Kai had thought about his raven-haired teammate as he fell asleep that night, but no words came to mind.

Sleep, however, seemed to be eluding Kai lately. He was awakened in the middle of the night by a cold draft from the open window. Groggily, Kai got up to close it.

Turning back to the bed, Kai saw that Rei was shivering. Kai didn't even have to think. Rei was cold, so Kai would warm him up. He lay down close to Rei and drew the blankets over them both. Rei was sleeping on his back, so Kai put one arm around his waist and rested his head on Rei's shoulder.

Kai was surprised how naturally this action came to him. "Here I am, totally confused in my head, buy my hands seem to do things on their own," Kai thought, "Does that mean I feel more strongly than I thought? Do I ... love him?"

The realization of his feelings filled him with a sudden warmth. "Yes," Kai mused silently, "I love him" Smiling, Kai nuzzled against Rei's sleeping form and fell asleep.

The next morning, Rei woke up in Kai's arms. He smiled and carefully turned to face Kai. "He looks so content when he's sleeping..." Rei thought. It was true, Kai's usual stern expression was gone along with his blue triangles.

Rei could have lay there forever, watching Kai sleeping, hearing him breathing softly. Kai, however, did wake up after a few minutes.

"Rei," he whispered with a smile when he noticed the amber eyes before him. Kai knew what he wanted to say, but when he sat up and opened his mouth, those words wouldn't come out. "I..." Kai just couldn't say the words. "I... um ... hope you weren't cold last night. I left the window open and it got pretty chilly in here."

Rei smiled and sat up too. "Of course not, I had you to keep me warm."

"Oh, that's good," Kai answered. Why couldn't he just say the words?

After a hard day of training, the Bladebreakers were all ready to eat. (especially Tyson) So they hit a restaurant for some dinner.

The way Tyson wolfed down his food was typical for him, but Max and Kenny were eating fast too.

"Um guys?" Rei asked, "Why are you eating so fast. You'll get sick."

"There's this awesome movie on HBO tonight," Max said.

"Yeah!" Tyson exclaimed. "We're gonna watch it in Max's room!"

"I really want to start processing the data from today," Kenny explained.

Rei frowned and looked at his half-finished plate. "But I can't eat that fast..."

"It's okay!" Tyson said, slapping $15 down on the table. "We'll give you our part of the bill and meet you back at the hotel later!"

Max and Kenny did the same. "Bye!" all of them called as they left.

"What idiots," Kai muttered.

"So you're staying?" Rei asked.

'Of course kitten, I'd never leave you alone' was what Kai wanted to say, but all that came out was, "Yeah."

When they finished, Kai and Rei began to slowly walk back to the hotel. They passed a small lakeside park where you could see the sun set from the top of a hill.

"It's beautiful," Rei commented as they walked by.

"Do you want to sit for a while?" Kai asked, "It's not like we're in a hurry."

Rei nodded happily and they sat down on a bench together. It was cool out, and the park was so peaceful and still. Everything about it was so calming.

A chilly breeze blew by them suddenly, and Kai automatically put his arm around Rei like he had the night before. Rei smiled and cuddled up against him just like a cat, laying his head on Kai's chest.

Suddenly Kai did something that neither he nor Rei would ever forget. He turned and, cupping Rei's chin, drew his lips close to Rei's. For a moment Kai paused and they could feel the warmth of each other's breath on their faces. Then, Kai kissed Rei. The neko melted in his arms.

"Kiss me again," Rei whispered when their lips parted.

Kai was pleasantly surprised. "Really?"

Rei wrapped his arms around Kai's neck and looked up at him with shining amber eyes. "Of course. I want you to kiss me over and over, until I can't even breathe. Don't you get it Kai? I love you."

Kai felt warm inside again and with a smile, obliged his kitten.

Author- where was my mind when I wrote that last part?

They soon began walking back to the hotel again, Kai with his arm around Rei for both their protection against the chill night air.

"Rei..." Kai began in a barely audible voice, "there's something I've been wanting to..."

"Look! Ice cream." Rei pointed out, unknowingly cutting Kai off. Sure enough, a couple blocks down, an ice cream shop had just turned on it's neon sign. "I'll race you!" Rei was so obviously happy.

Kai grinned. "Okay. One... Two... Three... go!"

Rei dashed ahead, laughing, while Kai hung back. Kai's legs were longer, so he wanted to give Rei a head start. Rei noticed his competition was not following ans stopped just as he stepped off the curb.

"Come on!" he urged playfully, turning to face Kai.

Kai started to run. "You asked for it!"

Not even the neko-jin saw the car coming. Rei turned around, but too late...