Crystal: Heylo!!!! Hehe... I'm so happy you guys! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! ^_^
Tala: *frowns slightly* Hey, what about me? Don't you have something to say to me as well?
Crystal: Oh yes…Thanks so much for helping me, Tala-kun! I don't know what I'd do without you! *hugs and kisses Tala in the cheek*
Tala: *smirks* Too right, haha…too right.
Crystal: *rolls her eyes* Ok, ok, you don't have to rub it in. Anyway, here are some of my responses to the reviewers!
Devlinn Reiko-sama: LOL! Glad you like the letters! ^_^
Bluumberry: Haha…yeah Kai's being a total bitch to Rei. Poor Rei-chan. *pats Rei on the head* Anyway, mm…your guess is quite close, although I don't think Kai would gawk at Rei…well not yet at least. =D
StarryNightObsession: Haha…yup Kai's rude in that chapter. Oh, and your guess is right! ^_^ Have a Rei plushie! *hands her an exact replica of Rei* And yes, I'm taking this relationship slow…'cuz it'd be too weird if they start to like each other right away, although maybe I'll drop a few hints, here and there. =D
SilverNcold1: Lol…yes…Kai's so mean, thought he won't be in the next chapters. Muahaha…!!!
CRaZy NeK0-JiN: Thanks! ^_^
Platinum Rei: LOL, Kai won't be a jerk…in the future chapters.
Enelya Aldarion: Yes, I made Dizzi a person. =D And yes, Tala and Bryan are paired up here. ^_^ That's Tala's reward for helping me!
White Spirit Angel: They will fall for each other…very soon. I still don't know who confesses first though. ^_^;;
Bebe macy: LOL, thanks! ^_^ Oh and Macy, I prefer Crystal or Crystalinne. Hehe…you forgot! I'm really insulted! Hehe…just kidding!! =P
SoulSister: Yes…Kai did become mean at a short space of time…LOL. Anyways, I'm glad you find it amusing! ^_^
Legolas19: Thanks! ^_^
Keisan: Yeah…both letters were rude and uncouth in a way, LOL. And yes…it's the usual pairings! I'm really used to them, and I like how they're together and stuff, so yeah! And yes…agree to your feeling because were going on the same path here, not quite what I had in mind though, but still close enough, LOL! ^_^
Shaka Dragomir Nocturnus: Yes, yes…Kai's definitely a BIG meany…sigh…he should be disciplined for his actions. =D
FORFIRITH-on-a-sugar-high: Don't worry, I'll read your story! ^_^ Anyways, here's the next chapter!
Crystal: There! All done! ^_^ As a reward to all of you people out there, free pictures of any bishounen you like! *hands out the pictures*
Tala: Am I in there as well?
Crystal: -_-## I did say EVERY, or ANY bishounen right?
Tala: ^_^;; Oh, yeah right…hehe I knew that.
Crystal: Riggghhhhttt…anyway, I'm sort of tired of writing the Disclaimers and whatnot so just please look at the very first chapter if you want to see the Disclaimer, thank you! =) Now, on to the story!!
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Breathe – Chapter 4: Keep those letters coming; they're on a roll right now!
The advisor opened the door as the muffled answer told them to come in. Rei, Bryan, Max and Kenny went inside to see Lord Rai sitting by his working desk, while Lady Leila was standing right behind him. Judy Mizuhara is also there standing right beside Ichiro Minamoto. All of them are holding quite happy, secretive smiles that make Rei very suspicious.
"Err…one of the advisors told me that you wanted to talk to me?" asked Rei while taking a seat to a cushioned chair in front of the desk.
Lady Leila kept smiling happily. "Oh, yes. I just heard from one of the messengers that you received a letter from the young Hiwatari. So what did the le-"
The queen was cut off by Rei's sudden outburst. "He has bad manners and he's also not a very polite gentleman either!"
Lord Rai burrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean, son?"
"What I mean is, Father, I tried to be polite to him and all he did was give rude and uncouth comments!"
"Oh, Rei," his mother sighed. "Maybe the poor boy was just shy, that's all."
Hearing Lady Leila's comment, Bryan snorted under his breath and muttered something incoherent about Kai being a 'shy boy' making Kenny's dad look at him sternly and sharply. Kenny just sweatdropped at the queen's happy, naïve aura, while Max just stood there fiddling with his fingers, trying no to yell that he needed sweets…badly. And, if you look close at Rei, you could see his right eye twitching every once and a while.
"Shy? But, Mother…he called Bryan a pathetic fool! He also called me thick headed! I don't think that is shy at all!" cried Rei.
Lord Rai and Lady Leila sighed slightly. They don't know what's going on, but they have to continue on with this arrangement. They already told the other kingdom about Rei's reluctant agreement and now they're planning for their needed supplies and necessities for the wedding. They were also planning to make the two boys meet, and they're still looking for the right date to set that up. So many things to do and so little time, both kingdoms agreed that the wedding would take place at Rei's 17th birthday…which is three months away by the looks of it.
"I'm sorry, Rei," Lady Leila apologized. "But I'm afraid that I'm still sticking to my theory. Young Hiwatari's just shy that's all. Besides, you will meet him very soon…although I'm not sure when, but in the mean time, you still have to right letters to each other. I promise, sweetie, this will be all over soon."
Rei sighed inwardly. This is it, there's no point of pleading his parents to cancel the arrangement. Both of them seemed happy and content, and he didn't want to ruin it because of his selfish reasons. Instead of glaring at them, or talk back at them, Rei just smiled grimly to his parents.
"It's alright I guess," he mumbled quietly, making his friends surprised. "May I please be excused?"
Lady Leila nodded and watched Rei walk out the door. After hearing the door close and footsteps from the outside fade, Lord Rai looked at Rei's friend's way. Bryan, Max and Kenny still has their surprised looks on their faces, making the king look at them with such amusement.
"Now that our little neko-jin is gone, let's get to business shall we?" Lord Rai gave them a secretive smile.
Kenny looked at them with great confusion written in his face. "What do you mean, your highness?"
Ichiro looked at his son, having a grin like the king's and said, "It means, that only you three have something to do with this."
"Don't worry, you three aren't in any trouble, unless you are and we don't know about it?" Judy added, looking at the three boys suspiciously.
"NO!" the three said quickly. Not wanting any conversations about getting into trouble or even the word trouble.
The four adults chuckled quietly while the boys just flushed from embarrassment.
"Anyway, the reason you were sent here, is because our discussion right now is about Rei," continued Lady Leila. "I know, or to be exact, we know that you're Rei's best friends and he tells you everything. We just wanted you to know that; we want you to encourage him about his engagement. It's a very good opportunity for him, I'm sure you all understand."
The three boys looked at Lady Leila's face. It showed great concern about her son so much. Lord Rai looked at them with a slight nervousness in his eyes. These three boys that are standing in right in front of them are the ones that Rei trusts the most…besides his parents, and the advisors. In return, they also trust Rei and their loyalties ties with him. If they agree with Rei about the engagement, then it would be very hard to convince them to encourage the raven-haired boy.
"We do understand," replied Bryan after that great deal of silence. "But you do know where our loyalties lie the most, right?"
Both Lord Rai and Lady Leila nodded their head solemnly. "Yes we know that, but just please agree with for this."
"Can I get more sweets if we help?" asked Max hopefully, making Bryan slap his own forehead.
Lady Leila giggled slightly. "You're free to take as many sweets as you like, even though if you say no or yes. Why are you asking us that?"
The poor blond just frowned in confusion. "But, Bryan said tha—"
"NO more coffee for you today, Maxie." Bryan clamped his hand over Max's mouth before the blond could speak anymore.
Before the adults could ask what Bryan said to Max, Kenny said that the three of them would do it, making the other two look at him with their mouths open (though Max's mouth was still covered by Bryan's hand) in shock.
"WHAT?"
"Well, think about it, sooner or later when they meet, they have to fall for each other right? Besides Rei deserves this, a LOT." Kenny explained. "Also, its already too late since I've probably assumed that the other kingdom has everything prepared like us."
Lord Rai gave Kenny a look of gratitude and gave Kenny's dad a look of great impression. "I'm very impressed of your son Ichiro, he will be a very fine advisor just like you are now."
Hearing this, Kenny blushed slightly bowing his head so that no one could see it. "Th-thank you, your highness."
Lady Leila stared at the other two, finally Bryan taking his hand off Max's mouth. "So, you would go along with this?"
Max nodded enthusiastically and yelled 'SURE!' while Bryan just nodded seriously with a very small smile etched on his face. "You can count on us. Although, I still don't know why…but sure I guess."
With that, Max, Kenny, and Bryan were dismissed finally breathing properly and thinking that they have to do this for their neko-jin friend.
"Does Rei has the letter?" asked Kenny.
"Umm…why you ask?" asked Max curiously, tilting his head like a small child would do.
Kenny explained that if Rei has the letter…then he would rip it apart and feed it to the goats and cows. Suddenly, both boys paled, imagining a very pissed off Rei destroying the letter, cackling like a witch. Seeing the two, Bryan just sighed and smacked them at the back of their heads.
"Idiots, I have the letter," Bryan smirked, showing them the piece of parchment. "You actually think that I would allow Rei obliterate his fiancé's letter?"
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Meanwhile, Rei was pacing back and forth in the bedroom, making Driger look at him back and forth as well. The poor neko-jin just couldn't help but wonder why would Kai be so cold hearted and a bastard. Sure his own letter was quite rude, but still…he's very much disagreed to every little thing about the idea. The raven-haired boy even asked if they could be friends! Shaking his head, Rei finally decided that he regretted to ask that question to the other boy and also that this Kai person should be remorse of his actions because he's not going to know what hit him.
'We'll see, he shouldn't be messing with Rei Kon,' thought the neko-jin, smiling humourlessly. 'He'll never know what hit him, ha, damn right!'
After that thought, Rei went to the small desk where a piece of paper, a quill and an ink bottle lay. He sat down by the wooded chair and started to reply back at the letter. Until he noticed that the letter wasn't in his possession right now. Rei started to search everywhere in his chambers.
"Driger," asked Rei, making the tiger look at him. "When I came in here, did you see me holding a letter?"
Listening to his master, Driger shook his furry head and went back to his catnap. Rei sighed and thought where else would he put the letter. He pondered where he went today when he got the letter. Suddenly, something clicked and the raven-haired boy remembered that he received the letter from one of the chambermaids in the library. With that, he left his chambers and went directly to the library. On the way, he saw his friends walking his way.
"HEY REI!" Max waved his arms so hard that he was smacking both Bryan and Kenny (Max was in the middle).
"Ow, Mizuhara! Stop that!" Bryan growled, annoyed because of the smacking.
Rei just sweatdropped at the sight and greeted them, stifling a laugh. "Hey you guys. Oh, I was wondering…did you happen to have the letter when we left the library like half an hour ago?"
The other three looked at each other nervously with the same thoughts running through their heads. 'What if he obliterates it?'
"Umm…why do you need it Rei?" squeaked Max.
Rei looked at his friends suspiciously. "I need it because I'm going to reply back to my fiancé now?" The raven-haired boy emphasized the word fiancé so that it would mean that he's disgusted by the word.
"Oh," Kenny replied, laughing nervously. "Hehe…ok then, Rei. Can we come with you?"
Rei just nodded and shrug, and motioned the three to follow them in his chambers. The others just walked silently behind him, making the neko-jin more suspicious. Usually, when they walk to the corridors, Max would keep on singing these songs, while Bryan would just tell him to shut up and Kenny would just keep on blabbering about anything to him. They finally got to the chambers and went inside. The three saw Driger sleeping in the bed purring and sat by the edge of it.
"So, what did you guys do when I left Father's study?" asked Rei while sitting back at the wooded chair by the desk.
'Oh no!' "Ermm…well, Bryan got into…uh...trouble- yeah! He got into trouble…" Kenny felt Bryan giving him death glare.
"Yeah! Bryan got into trouble, because he set the…uh…oh! He set the stables on fire…" Max trailed off; smacking himself mentally for thinking how could Bryan set the stables on fire.
Rei frowned. Since when did Bryan set something on fire? Besides wouldn't he have noticed the smoke ascending up the sky? Almost reading his mind, Bryan punched Max on the arm rather too hard and glared at Kenny.
"It's not the stables you idiots! And I didn't set fire to ANYTHING! I just threw tomatoes to the cooks in kitchens that's all." Bryan explained, although he knew that the neko-jin wasn't convinced. He was right, Rei is still doubtful about his "mischievousness" but didn't push on the subject so the three were glad.
"Right…" said Rei. "Anyway, as usual, Bryan's being an ass, but lets drop off the subject." He took a deep breath and said, "I don't believe that Hiwatari guy! I tried to be nice to him and all he does is bitch at me!"
"And I don't think he's being shy too," Max added his two cents in. "I mean, for one thing he called Bryan a pathetic fool, and Bryan usually does the insulting."
Bryan growled. "That's because he doesn't know who I am, and let me tell you this: if he did know me, then he would wish that he was never been born!"
Rei rolled his eyes. "Ok…"
"Since your going to be busy and all, we'll just leave you to write the letter ok, Rei?" said Kenny.
"YEAH! Think really, really, really, hard about what you're going to say to him!" Max gave a slight wink at Rei. Bryan just smirked and left the room with Kenny and Max in tow.
Rei shook his head and chuckled silently. 'Let the writing of the letters begin!'
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At the Hiwatari kingdom, things are really getting out of hand. Kai found out that Tyson read the letter that was suppose to be only his and sent the poor boy to the infirmary. The stoic boy almost killed Tala and Dizzi as well, although not as much when he beat the crap out of Tyson.
"You know…you never showed us the letter you wrote to Rei," Dizzi said to Kai, frowning slightly. "Why is that?"
Kai ignored the girl and just gave her a death glare, which she was immune to. Tala just chuckled with amusement. They were outside near the lake where Dizzi and Tala were skipping rocks to see which rocks skips longer, while Kai just leaned into one of the trees with his arms crossed and crimson eyes closed. Tyson is still in the infirmary, being treated by the healers. According to them, Tyson has a black eye on both eyes, he has a broken left ankle, and his right arm is twisted. Because of Tyson's injuries, Kai of course got into trouble. Heir or no heir, it was still mean and harsh, so Kai's consequences are one: he would be a little more nicer to Tyson (since Kai's least favourite out his friends is him), and two: when he meets his fiancé, he would be nice to him and introduce him to his friends.
"Diz, unless you want your ribs all scrambled up, don't talk to Mr. Stupidity over there. Besides, who knows…maybe Rei wrote back then we could read it, instead of Tyson." The red headed boy gave a lop-sided grin.
Dizzi sighed. "I wonder when we would meet him. I heard that Lord Hiwatari and the other kingdom are still looking for the right date for them to meet."
"Yeah, that's what I heard too." Tala held his chin up with his index finger and thumb. "Maybe, they'll come here to the pala—"
"WOULD YOU STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT STUPID ENGAGEMENT!" Kai has finally lost it. One more word about that engagement crap, and he would explode! Even inside the castle, servants, cooks, chambermaids, messengers, EVERYONE! They keep on talking about the wedding!
Dizzi walked over to Kai and said, "Ok, Kai, take a deep breath, that's it. Inhale, exhale, inhale, and exhale." Kai did what Dizzi told him to do, it worked a little bit although…his eyes still has that looks that could kill someone in a nanosecond.
"How about going back to the castle? It's almost dinner time anyway," suggested Tala.
Dizzi agreed and started to walk right beside Tala, while Kai just grunted and walked behind the other two. While walking, Tala looked over to his shoulder to see Kai was lost to his thoughts. Seeing this opportunity, the icy, blue-eyed boy engaged the dark violet-eyed girl into a conversation.
"Do you think that when we arrive at the castle, we'll get a letter from Rei now?" asked Tala, whispering so Kai couldn't here what he was saying.
Dizzi shrugged. "Who knows? Besides, I've heard that our kingdom and the other kingdom are planning that both Kai and Rei should meet at this small castle that our kingdom built. I'm not sure about the exact location though…"
Tala's eyes twinkled oh so suddenly. "Really now…I never knew that."
Before Dizzi could continue, the three saw the castle entrance already and on the entrance stood a messenger. Not any messenger from their kingdom, but a messenger from the Kon Kingdom. He was just standing there, eyes shifting from one place to another like someone is watching him. But who wouldn't? It's almost dark and there could be people lurking around…
"Erm…are you the Young Hiwatari of the northern lands?" asked the messenger to Kai.
The slate-haired boy just grunted and nodded slightly, while Tala said, "Yeah he is. Though there's no use giving him letters and such, because he just incinerates them right away, so might as well give it to either one us." He gave look to Dizzi's way and then pointed to himself. Dizzi knew what Tala meant and nodded encouraging at the messenger to give the letter to one of them.
The messenger thought about it for a moment and then reluctantly handed the letter to the red headed boy. Seeing that sadistic smile from Tala's face, Kai suddenly snatched the letter away from the messenger and stormed off inside the castle leaving a petrified messenger, a weirdo, hyper Dizzi, and a sadistic Tala by the entrance.
"Wow…that worked well," Kai heard Dizzi tell Tala who just chuckled. The crimson-eyed boy just scoffed and continued to walk through the castle. He couldn't help but look at the letter, smirking slightly. Not only that Rei's thick headed, he also doesn't get it when he's not wanted. He opened the letter to read it then incinerate it like what he did to the other letter…if he could find the first one at least. Anyway, Kai opened the letter and started to read.
To Kai Hiwatari:
You call yourself royalty! Well, guess what, you don't look like one! For one thing, you're like a hungry power maniac that kills dreams of people! Hmm…don't know how that came out. Anyway, another thing is that: you should BE in HELL right now for your actions! Arghh…I don't even know why or how you became the Heir of your kingdom in the first place!
You know, I never get pissed off at ANYONE (point to the obvious on my first letter). But right now, I think I'll make an exception. I've tried to be nice to you and all you do is talk trash! Well guess what? You're over the line, mister! I swear to all of the gods from above, when I see you, I'll skin you alive! And I mean that literally and figuratively! I've warned you about my temper, and I don't want ANYONE to get hurt just because of my stupid temper, but guess what? If there are ANY people that got hurt because of it, it'll be YOUR fault! You son of a—
Sigh…I guess I'll leave it here. But beware Hiwatari: When I see you, you better run and scream like a banshee, because you won't know what's going to hit you. Oh, and before I forget, I don't bite…well not that hard at least.
Sincerely,
Rei Kon
Kai stared at the letter and suddenly out of nowhere, he started to laugh. Even though he hates his fianc's guts, he sure can make him laugh. And he should take that as a compliment, since hardly anything can make Kai laugh like that. Haha…skin him alive my ass. Kai decided that he would keep that letter as a jester prop, so if Tyson would piss him off again, all he would do is take the letter out and read it. But he thought that it would be too selfish if he would leave the letter unanswered, so he went inside the library and got out the writing necessities. Just before he could start writing the letter, the doors of the library slammed open revealing Dizzi, and Tala coming inside the room.
"Oh! You're writing the letter already?" asked Dizzi, bubbling with excitement. "Your fiancé must have written something that got you all excited."
Tala laughed. "Since when did Kai get all exci—oww!" Dizzi stomped her foot to Tala's quite hard.
"I wouldn't finish that question if I were you, Ivanov."
Kai just ignored the other two and kept on writing. 'He'll never know what hit him…hah, my ass!'
Dizzi took Rei's letter and started to read. As she read the letter, she started to frown. Finally finishing the letter, the dark violet-eyed girl took a huge, deep breath and smacked Kai by the head, making the poor boy slam his head by the desk.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?!" asked Kai, glaring furiously at Dizzi, while rubbing his forehead because of the impact on the desk.
"Obviously, the whole thing was entirely your fault." Dizzi just simply said while handing the letter to Tala to see if she was right.
"What do you mean my fault?!"
"Well I don't know what he wrote on his letter, or your reply…but I think I'm with Dizzi on this one." Tala told the other two while folding the letter in half and secretly pocketing it into his clothes.
"Why is that?!" Kai was practically seething with anger, ready to kill someone any second…
"For one thing, he says that he tried to be nice to you, although all you did was talk back like some kind of macho dude. And secondly, you never know if he's telling the truth if he'll skin you alive or not." Tala explained, while Dizzi is just nodding her head away, agreeing to what Tala has to say.
"We'll leave you to cool off now, if you need us--not kill, need us, we'll be in the infirmary visiting Tyson." With that, Tala and Dizzi left the library, one with a mischievous smile, and another with a grim expression on their faces.
"Why are you smiling about, Tala?" asked Dizzi in confusion.
Tala just kept on grinning and said, "Three, two, one…"
"TALA!!!! GIVE THAT DAMN LETTER BACK NOW!"
Tala gave a loud laugh and turned to Dizzi who turned surprised. "That's what I'm smiling about."
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Crystal: Weeee…I'm done chapter 4! ^________________^
Tala: Haha…Kai being called Mr. Stupidity…now that's hilarious.
Crystal: *nods* Although you're very lucky, Kai came by earlier looking for you. Anyways, I have one question for all of you readers: Which is better: Tala being the seme, and Bryan being the uke; OR Tala being the uke, and Bryan being the seme?
Tala: *blushes* What the heck are you poisoning to your readers heads, Crystalinne?!
Crystal: -_-## I'm not poisoning ANYBODY!! It's just that I can't make up my mind who's going to be the seme and who's going to be the uke, that's all! So, please help me with this and I'll be very grateful! Until next time, this me Crystal and…
Tala: and Tala…
Crystal: Saying good-bye to you all! Please don't forget to R&R and see you next time! *waves happily*